who we are.
Heritage and History AG is a history research and editorial production company based in Zurich and specialized in the register of personal and community events of the different German speaking Jewish populations in Europe, which immigrated to Brazil during the 20th century, as a result of the persecution of the national socialist regime. The majority of these populations were already domiciled for centuries in regions in today’s countries in Central and East Europe, such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia. A fundamental task of this research is to bring out the cultural, scientific and economic contribution of these immigrants to the Brazilian society which offered them a new home.
Heritage and History wants to constitute a collection of documents, photography and Judaica objects from the assets of the families which immigrated to Brazil. In this collection, there will also be testimonials and video recordings of the immigrants an theirs descendants. This work of archiving and researching is also performed by a local team of specialists with researchers, archivists, translators and photographers, with the support of Heritage and History. Along this process, the collection will generate a centre for documentation, information and reference, based in Rio de Janeiro.
Besides the archive and research facilities, this centre will dispose of a library and a multimedia unit. Heritage and History will publish biographies from the collection about the fate of the German Jewish families in the historical context of the 20th century. Scientific and information exchange with other researchers, institutions and companies is an important activity in this process. Heritage and History believes that making know-how available is the key to perpetuate knowledge.
Charles Steiman
Executive Director
E-mail: it(a)heritageandhistory.ch
Partners and resources
Archive of the Associação Religiosa Israelita (ARI), Rio de Janeiro
Archive of the Congregação Israelita Paulista (CIP), São Paulo
National Archive, Brazil
General Archive of the City of Rio de Janeiro
Jewish Historical Archive of Brazil, São Paulo
Library Rabino Dr. Henrique Lemle, Rio de Janeiro
Library of the Abraham Geiger Kolleg, Potsdam
Casa Stefan Zweig, Petrópolis
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, Frankfurt am Main
Family Klabin, Rio de Janeiro
Family Lemle, Rio de Janeiro
Jewish Museum, Frankfurt am Main
Jewish Museum, Rio de Janeiro
Leo Baeck Institute, New York
Archive Fritz Brotzen, Rio de Janeiro
Stadtarchiv Frankfurt am Main
Foundation Biblioteca Nacional, Rio de Janeiro
The Wiener Library, London