A historian has donated a trove of materials on his research and interviews with Holocaust rescuers Oskar and Emilie Schindler to Chapman University, officials announced Friday.
Historian David M. Crowe has given the university and its Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Memorial Library interview transcripts, his notes and copies of archival documents gathered during his research on the Schindlers. Some of the materials were obtained by Crowe following the publication of his 2004 biography of Schindler.
"The Oskar Schindler Archive is a transformative gift that adds an extraordinary resource to the Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Memorial Library," said Marilyn Harran, director of Chapman's Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education and Stern Chair in Holocaust History.
"Dr. Crowe's collection is rich in materials that will interest scholars researching the Holocaust and World War II, and also those more generally interested in the topic of rescue. The fact that this archive contains, in one place, copies of documents from research sites around the world makes it truly remarkable."
"Along with our recent acquisition of a perpetual license through ProQuest to the USC Shoah Visual History Archive, this is a transformative gift for our program in Holocaust education and research."
Crowe has lectured and taught at Chapman.
"After each visit, I have come away deeply impressed with the leadership and commitment of the Rodgers Center for Holocaust Education and of the university to Holocaust education and research," Crowe said.
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"This, coupled with the close ties of the center to three 'Schindler Jews' -- Leopold and Ludmilla Page and Leon Leyson -- convinced me that Chapman was the perfect home for the Oskar Schindler archive.
"Leopold and Ludmilla played the key role in convincing Thomas Keneally and Steven Spielberg to share with the world, in 'Schindler's List,' the remarkable story of the Schindlers' efforts to save their Jewish workers during the Holocaust."
Chapman President Daniele Struppa said she expects the archive "will not only draw our own faculty and students, but also will draw interest from scholars far beyond California."
