Marcel Wolf Zyto papers

The Marcel Wolf Zyto papers include pre-war, wartime, and post-war biographical materials documenting Marcel Wolf Zyto, who survived the war living under the false name of Marcel or Pierre Benoît in France, as well as his parents and his sister. The collection also includes restitution files documenting Zyto’s efforts to receive restitution from the French, German, and Swiss governments, and subject files documenting Zyto’s autobiography, his support for a memorial plaque for Jean-Jacques Rothstein, and his search for his sister’s burial place.

Jacob and Syma Zyto materials include copies and translations of their marriage certificate, Jacob’s nationalization certificate, a certificate from Marcel permitting Syma to sell their Paris apartment, and records provided by Marcel in support of his mother’s immigration to America. Many of the documents are photocopies. Marcel Wolf Zyto materials include his certificate of French nationality, reissued birth certificates, a certificate declaring that he refused to collaborate with the German occupiers, French passport and voter registration cards, correspondence about the status of his French citizenship in 1962, and notes for a 2006 speech. False identification papers include an identification card, ration book with tickets, calling card, work card, a service card for André Citroën, real estate and residence certificates, service requisition orders, and labor transfer notices, all in the name Marcel Pierre Benoît, Pierre Marcel Benoît, or Marcel Zito. Education records include identification cards, certificates, diplomas, documenting Zyto’s education in pharmaceuticals, factory management, and law in France and at University College and City College in New York. Employment records include certificates documenting Zyto’s work at La Grande Pharmacie Gambetta and Laboratoire de la “Gynaldene” as well as a clipping documenting his work at Wyeth International. French Army documents include certificates, identification papers, orders, permissions, and discharge and demobilization papers documenting Zyto’s military service in France. Immigration records include correspondence, affidavits, and financial documents. This series also includes a birth certificate for Henriette Zyto.

Restitution files document Zyto’s efforts in the 1990s and 2000s to obtain restitution from the French government through the CIVS commission, the German government through the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, and Swiss government through the Swiss Fund for Needy Victims of the Holocaust and the Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation.

Subject files include correspondence, printed materials, photographs, and copies of records documenting Zyto’s book Improbable Survival!, his support for the restoration of a memorial plaque for Jean-Jacques Rothstein in Paris, his research into his Polish family history, and his search for the burial place of his sister Henriette.

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