Werner Dambitsch Collection ; 1916-2006

Digital images of photographs and some correspondence, spanning the life of the musician Werner Dambitsch (Warner Danby)Werner Wilhelm Dambitsch was born on June 23, 1913 in Breslau (Wroclaw, Poland), living in the city’s traditional Jewish neighborhood. His father was the textile merchant Felix Dambitsch (1872-1938). His mother, Leontine née Meyer (1889-1945) was born in Grünberg, Silesia (Zielona Gora, Poland.) After her husband’s death in 1938 she was deported to Theresienstadt and then murdered in Auschwitz.Werner was interested in music from an early age, but he had to acquire his first instrument, a saxophone, with his own earned money. He did this in 1932 at the age of 19 and founded with four friends the ‘Excentric Jazz Orchester’. Under the Nazis, he joined the ‘Arbeitsgemeinschaft jüdischer Künstler’, and the band – Erstes Jüdisches Jazz Orchester (EJO) - became part of the ‘Reichsverband der jüdischen Kulturbünde’. They had their last performance in April of 1938; all five musicians managed to leave Germany – Werner went to New York and the others emigrated to Saigon, Shanghai, Bogota, and Buenos Aires respectively.Like many other German émigrés, Werner went first to Cuba, before immigrating to Cincinnati, Ohio with the help of an old friend, Bela Klein from Breslau.In 1940, Werner joined the US Army in order to acquire US citizenship. He then changed his name to Warner W. Danby and was stationed at Camp Ritchie, interrogating German prisoners of war. There he met his wife Karin, née Engels, originally from Switzerland. After the war, Warner Danby went into the tractor business, never to return to music again. He died in New York on Dec. 12, 1983.Finding aid available onlinedigitizedHeinz Heilborn, Rudi Moses, Günther Lewinsohn, Arthur Goldman

“Neu ist, dass die Leute sich nicht nur für die Einsteins interessieren“ : Die Geschichte des jüdischen Alltags in Deutschland vom 17. Jahrhundert bis 1945, herausgegeben vom Leo-Baeck-Institut, wurde bei einem Symposium im Berliner Jüdischen Museum vorgestellt.

Transcript of a broadcast from Deutschlandfunk Köln about the presentation of a book on Jewish everyday life ((17th century to 1945) during a conference at the Jewish Museum Berlin.The broadcast on August 15, 2003 was part of a series “Schalom - Jüdisches Leben heute”.The book, Geschichte des juedischen Alltags in Deutschland vom 17. Jahrhundert bis 1945 / Muenchen : C.H. Beck, 2003, is available at the LBI Library, call number DS 135 G3 G48

“Israel als Sehnsuchtsort“ : Porträt des Historikers Michael Brenner und seines neuen Buchs über Israel.

Transcript of a broadcast from Deutschlandfunk Köln about Michael Brenner, International President of the Leo-Baeck-Institute, and his new book about Israel.The broadcast on January 29, 2017 was part of a series “Schalom - Jüdisches Leben heute”.David Dambitsc

Etwas lernen aus den 30er Jahren“ : www.1938projekt.org – neues Online-Projekt des Leo Baeck Instituts.

Transcript of a broadcast from Deutschlandfunk Köln about the online project "1938 Posts from the Past" by the Leo-Baeck-Institute in New York.The broadcast on April 13, 2018 was part of a series “Schalom - Jüdisches Leben heute”.Throughout 2018, using documents from the Leo Baeck Institute’s – archives in New York/Berlin, the project updated its site daily with personal letters, diaries, and photographs, saved by Austrian and German Jews - one for each day in 1938. These materials illustrate the range of reactions and emotions that individuals and families had as they struggled to escape Germany and Austria in order to survive

Nicht nur an das Furchtbarste erinnern, sondern auch an das Fruchtbare : Das Leo Baeck Archiv im Juedischen Museum Berlin hat seine Arbeit aufgenommen.

Radio talk about the opening of the Berlin branch of the Leo Baeck Institute Archives at the Juedisches Museum, BerlinMr. Dambitsch, DavidMay 3, 2002, 3:50 P

Betty Scholem - Gershom Scholem : Mutter und Sohn im Briefwechsel 1917-1946.

Transcript of a broadcast from RIAS-Berlin with David Dambitsch’s review of a new book, containing the correspondence between Gershom Scholem and his mother Betty.The broadcast on November 16, 1989 was part of a series “Kulturzeit”.The book, Scholem, Betty (Hirsch) 1866-1946, ‘Mutter und Sohn im Briefwechsel, 1917-1946‘ / Muenchen : C.H. Beck, 1989 is available at the LBI Library, call number BM 755 S32 A43.David Dambitsc

Prof. Dr. Gershom Scholem im Gespräch mit David Dambitsch.

Transcript of a broadcast from RIAS-Berlin: Gershom Scholem talking about his memoirs ‘From Berlin to Jerusalem : memories of my youth’ and his first visit to Berlin after the war.The broadcast on November 30, 1981 was part of a series “Podium”.The book by Gershom Scholem, 'From Berlin to Jerusalem : memories of my youth' / New York : Schocken Books, 1980 is available in the LBI Library, call number BM 755 S32 A512 1980.David Dambitsc