United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Isidore Lipschutz (1891-1983) was born in Antwerp, Belgium to Jacob Mayer Lipschutz and Anna Marie Weinberg. He formed a successful diamond firm with his brother-in-law, Charles Gutwirth, became an industry leader, and organized and presided over the diamond section for the 1930, 1935, 1937, and 1939 World’s Fairs. He became politically active when Hitler came to power and initiated a boycott campaign against German goods in Belgium. During the period of Kindertransports, he turned his diamond-cutting factory into dormitories for children en route to England. He immigrated to the United States in 1938 and continued his political involvement with organizations promoting democracy, human rights, and the creation of the State of Israel. He also supported Isaac Schneersohn’s establishment of the Memorial of the Unknown Jewish Martyr in Paris, now part of the Mémorial de la Shoah.
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The Isidore Lipschutz papers are arranged as four series: I. Memorial of the Unknown Jewish Martyr, approximately 1950-1957, II. Photographs, 1937-1942, III. Printed materials, 1939-1961, IV. Subject files, 1940-1975
The Isidore Lipschutz papers contain records documenting the establishment of the Memorial of the Unknown Jewish Martyr (Mémorial de la Shoah) in Paris as well as photographs, printed materials, and a correspondence file documenting Isidore Lipschutz’s anti‐Nazi activities and political involvement with organizations promoting democracy, human rights, and the creation of the State of Israel. Records documenting the establishment of the Memorial of the Unknown Jewish Martyr include reproductions of letters from heads of state and dignitaries supporting the project as well as original correspondence, photographs, printed materials, and reports documenting the project’s development. Photographs depict Isidore Lipschutz at the New York World’s Fair and at a Committee for a Jewish Army dinner, a group of Kindertransport children at the Lipschutz diamond factory, and a poster from the Paris World’s Fair. Printed materials are primarily comprised of issues of the weekly French journal Aux Écoutes and news bulletins from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and the Overseas News Agency. Printed materials also include publications from organizations promoting democracy, human rights, and the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine, a copy of Low on the War: A Cartoon Commentary of the Years 1939‐1940, a pamphlet by the Friends of Democracy, Inc., entitled Father Coughlin: Self‐Condemned, and an advertisement for Joseph E. McWilliams’ 1940 American Destiny Party candidacy. Subject files contain correspondence, memoranda, printed materials, and reports documenting Isidore Lipschutz’s interest in politics and humanitarianism and in organizations promoting those interests, including, among others, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Anti‐Defamation League, the Council of Churches of the City of New York, the Friends of Democracy, Inc., the Non‐Sectarian Anti‐Nazi League to Champion Human Rights, Inc., the World Without War Council, and the Zionist Organization of America.
Isidore Lipschutz papers