Samuel Scheps

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Samuel Scheps (born May 19, 1904 in Łódź , Congress Poland ; † November 15, 1999 in Geneva ) was a Swiss Zionist , escape helper and publicist .

Life

Scheps was born as the son of an industrialist in Łódź , the then Congress Poland . From 1921 to 1922 he studied philology and history in Krakow ; from 1922 to 1924 history, economics and law at the Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin . In 1924 he moved to the University of Basel , where he studied economics , law, history and philosophy and, in 1926, submitted his dissertation on the currency and central bank policy of the Republic of Poland . After receiving his doctorate in 1927 , he married Lily Scheps in 1928, with whom he had three children: Dorith (* 1930), Marc (* 1932) and Ruth (* 1945). In 1931 he received citizenship from the canton of Basel-Stadt . In 1999 Scheps died in Geneva .

After his death, the estate of Scheps came from his daughter Dorith via Professor Heiko Haumann of the History Department of the University of Basel to the Institute for Jewish Studies of the same. After water damage , it was then taken to the Archives for Contemporary History at ETH Zurich . The library of Samuel Scheps was not taken over, but is still in Basel . The documents on the Swiss Zionist Association are unique and illustrate the association's history as well as the history of numerous local Zionist associations in Switzerland in the 1920s. The holdings also contain documents on the biography as well as a lot of correspondence with Zionist personalities on various topics. It does not contain the documents for the activity in the Palestine Office . However, these did not fall victim to the water damage, but may have been handed over to another archive a long time ago. Among other things, the Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem contain a partial estate from Samuel Scheps (A496).

Zionism

Scheps had been a committed Zionist since the mid-1920s. From 1928 to 1946 he was Vice President of the Swiss Zionist Association, from 1935 head of the Jewish National Fund in Switzerland and from 1937 to 1946 director of the Swiss Palestine Office, a branch of the Jewish Agency that organized emigration to Palestine. At the beginning of the war , this office was transferred from Basel to Geneva, from where Scheps worked from that point in time.

Scheps made a major contribution to the cooperation between the Jewish communities of Western and Eastern Europe . He founded Ivri Houg for Hebrew and Jewish Culture and was also involved in founding a committee that resulted in The Swiss Friends of the Hebrew University (CHFHU).

At the time of National Socialism , Scheps became an important person in refugee aid . He worked on obtaining certificates and money for the departure of countless families and individuals and organized five rescue ships. Risking his own life, he traveled through Germany and other occupied countries ( Austria , Hungary , Romania , Yugoslavia ) to negotiate opportunities to leave the country. In 1942 he was also one of the first to hear about the “ final solution to the Jewish question ” from the German industrialist Eduard Schulte (1891–1966) . In 1945 he helped in the search for survivors and actively participated in the organization of the first great post-war aliyah (entry into Palestine).

In 1946 he resigned from all public offices.

Economy and journalism

In 1946, Scheps founded Scopa SA in Geneva, which was responsible for importing Israeli products into Switzerland. He headed this until 1962. In 1959 he was a co-founder of the Banque de Crédit International (ICB) in Geneva and became Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors.

He is also the author of numerous articles, essays and monographs on economics, history, literature and philosophy. These were written in German, Polish, Hebrew or French. He put a special focus on all forms of cultural osmosis between Polish Jews and the Polish society around them. He also summarized his activities for the rescue of European Jews between 1933 and 1945 in his article Bâle, Genève et Istanbul - Centers de sauvetage et d'Aliya 1933–1945 .

Scheps received various honors. For example, he was made Honorary Governor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1970 and Honorary President of the Swiss Zionist Association in 1994.

Fonts (selection)

  • The currency and central bank policy of the Republic of Poland. Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel 1926.
  • The monetary aspect of Swiss economic policy: keynote address at the annual meeting of the Swiss Society for Economics and Statistics. 1963.

Literature (selection)

  • Dr. Samuel Scheps. In: Personalities of Europe: Switzerland. Iatas, Stansstad 1974.
  • Heiko Haumann: Samuel Scheps. In: Heiko Haumann (ed.): The First Zionist Congress of 1897. Causes, significance, topicality . Karger, Basel 1997.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h Samuel Scheps. (PDF) Archive for Contemporary History at ETH Zurich, accessed on June 6, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b Heiko Haumann: The first Zionist Congress of 1897 - causes, significance, topicality . Karger, 1997.
  3. ↑ Serge Michel: Base de Suisse, Samuel a sauvé of milliers de juifs pendant la guerre . In: Le Nouveau Quotidien . September 29, 1997.
  4. ^ A b Samuel Scheps: Bâle, Genève et Istanbul - Centers de sauvetage et d'Aliya 1933–1945 . In: SSIP 43 . Basel October 1976.
  5. ↑ Gaston Haas: 1941-1943. What people in Switzerland knew about the extermination of the Jews . In: Contributions à l'histoire et à la culture des Juifs en Suisse, SIG / FSCI . Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel and Frankfurt am Main 1994.
  6. ^ Samuel Scheps: La "Nuit de Cristal": souvenirs et actualités . In: Israelitisches Wochenblatt . March 3, 1989.
  7. ↑ Samuel Scheps: Breaking the Silence . In: Israelitisches Wochenblatt . 2nd December 1988.
personal data
SURNAME Scheps, Samuel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss Zionist, escape helper and publicist
DATE OF BIRTH May 19, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Łódź , Congress Poland
DATE OF DEATH November 15, 1999
Place of death Geneva