Josef Schneider (b. 1927 Riga, d. 2006 Jerusalem) was a Jewish activist, refusenik and photographer. Born in Riga to a Zionist family, he was drafted into the Soviet army in 1944. After demobilization in 1951 he returned to Riga. His request to emigrate to Israel in the early 1950's was refused and he subsequently became one of Riga’s most prominent Jewish activists. While working in a photo studio, he copied, duplicated and distributed Jewish "samizdat" (printed material banned by the state). He also taught Hebrew, maintained connections with the Israeli Embassy in Moscow and established a Latvian snipers’ club in Riga where young Jewish people could be trained in self-defense. Schneider was arrested in 1957 by the KGB for anti-Soviet activities and sentenced to four years in a labor camp. There, he continued to engage in Zionist activities by teaching Hebrew to other prisoners, talking about Israel and celebrating Jewish holidays. Schneider was released in 1961 and repatriated to Israel in 1969 where he found work as a photographer for the Israel Police. Josef Schneider's private collection contains many photographs of synagogues, Jewish sites and Jewish events as well as unique photographs taken by Schneider during his imprisonment in Dubrovlag (a Gulag labor camp). Also included are photographs of Waffen-SS officers and Nazi collaborators during WWII, photographs from Schneider’s army service, subjects photographed at his Riga studio and portraits of refuseniks. The collection includes personal family photographs and images taken by Josef Schneider after his emigration from the U.S.S.R - in Israel as well as countries in Central and Western Europe. Some depict demonstrations for Jewish repatriation from the U.S.S.R. The archive also contains documents about Schneider’s Jewish activities in the U.S.S.R. and his life in Israel: photocopies of letters from the family to his uncle and aunt in Israel (1929-1932); Josef Schneider’s personal file and materials held by the KGB (1957-1958); personal documents; Anti-Zionist publications from the U.S.S.R. as well as press clippings and publications about Schneider’s Jewish activities. There are also letters to Josef Schneider from correspondents in Latvia, Israel, Germany and other countries regarding Nazi collaborators, political prisoners and more (1967-1986) as well as copies of letters from Soviet labor camps.--
Josef Schneider collection
Enlarge text Shrink textTitle |
Josef Schneider collection. |
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Contributors |
Soviet Union. Komitet gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti Israel. Shagrirut Mishṭeret Yiśraʼel |
Notes |
סגור לעיון עקב צנעת הפרט. |
Host Item |
Schneider, Josef - Private Collection |
Level of Description |
Fonds Record |
Biographical summary |
Josef Schneider was born in Riga in 1927 to a Zionist family. At the onset of the war with Nazi Germany Josef and his mother evacuated from Riga to the Urals and from there to Kyrgyzstan. In 1944 Josef was drafted into the army and returned to Riga after demobilization in 1951. In the early 1950s, he requested permission to emigrate to Israel but this was refused. He soon became one of Riga's most prominent Jewish activists. Working in a photo studio, he copied, duplicated and distributed Jewish samizdat. He maintained connections with the Israeli embassy in Moscow and received Jewish-related materials. He also established a Latvian snipers’ club in Riga where young Jewish people could be trained in self-defense. Josef Schneider revealed and explained the meaning of Jewish heritage and the State of Israel to these people and also taught them Hebrew, using textbooks sent from his uncle in Israel. In 1957, Schneider was arrested by the KGB for anti-Soviet activities and accused of listening to ‘Voice of Israel’ radio broadcasts, keeping records with fabrications against the Soviet Union, maintaining a written connection with his uncle, planning an illegal departure from the Soviet Union to Israel, possessing illegal weapons, preparing an assassination attempt against the Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser and more. He was sentenced to four years in a labor camp. There, in Mordovia, Josef continued to engage in Zionist activities. He taught Hebrew to others prisoners, spoke with them about Israel and Jewish holidays. Schneider was released in 1961 and repatriated to Israel in 1969. He worked as a photographer for the Israel Police's photography laboratory. He was also a photographer at the Chancery of the Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir (1970-1971). Josef Schneider died in Jerusalem in 2006. |
Ownership history |
The documents were transferred to The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People by Josef Schneider's son - Uri Schneider. |
Language Note |
Russian, Hebrew, Yiddish, German |
National Library system number |
990043423590205171 |
Links |
פרטים על מיקום החומר/Location&access |
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תנאי השימוש:
Prohibition of copying
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MARC RECORDS
Tags
- Refuseniks -- Latvia -- Rīga
- Zionism -- Latvia
- Jews -- Persecutions -- Latvia -- Riga
- Underground literature -- Soviet Union
- Hebrew language -- Study and teaching -- Soviet Union
- Jews -- Soviet Union
- Internment camps -- Soviet Union
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Soviet Union
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Collaborationists -- Soviet Union
- Rīga (Latvia)
- Israel
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