Kulturgemeinschaft der Emigranten in Zürich (1941-1945): Historisches Archiv

The "Kulturgemeinschaft der Emigranten in Zürich" (Cultural Alliance of Emigrants in Zurich) was founded in October 1941 by Jewish refugees with the goal to alleviate discouragement among the emigrants through the furthering of social and cultural bonds. The Alliance organized cultural events such as theater and ballet performances, lectures, and readings for the Jewish refugees in the holding camps. The Alliance was also active in designing recreational activities. Beginning in the Summer 1944 the Alliance began to address postwar issues, especially questions of repatriation and continued emigration, through a special commission. Together with the "Schweizerische Zentralstelle für Flüchtlingshilfe" (SZF), the Alliance was successful in securing a voice for Jewish emigrants during the refugee conference in Montreux in February and March 1945. A coalition of members of the Alliance organized in Zurich in May 1945 the "Schutzverband Deutscher Schriftsteller in der Schweiz" (SDS) as a successor organization to the "Schutzverband deutscher Schriftsteller" which had been founded in Paris in 1933. Renamed in 1952 as the "Schutzverband der Schriftsteller deutscher Sprache im Ausland" and in 1968 as the "Internationaler Schutzverband deutschsprachiger Schriftsteller," the SDS appealed until its disbandment in 1985 for the creation of a library for exile literature (today known as the "Exilarchiv der Deutschen Bibliothek in Frankfurt am Main"). [Source: AfZ's finding aid to this collection]