FDR Library to launch Holocaust collections project

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum is set to embark on a project aimed at linking its Holocaust-related materials.

The nation’s first presidential library, located in Hyde Park, will on Monday launch the Henry Morgenthau Jr. Holocaust Collections: A Curatorial Project. The announcement will take place on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

According to the library, the effort will be, “a pathfinding initiative to discover unique but dispersed Holocaust subject material across the Roosevelt Library’s archival holdings.”

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Paul Sparrow, director of the FDR Library, said the project “will be an essential resource for Holocaust Scholars the world over.”

The late Henry Morgenthau Jr. was FDR’s Treasury secretary; an advocate for refugees; and he played a pivotal role in the establishment of the War Refugee Board. Morgenthau also owned a farm in Hopewell Junction that remains in the family today.

FDR, the 32nd president and commander-in-chief during World War II, was born, lived and is buried in Hyde Park.

The project will start with an analysis of three major library collections: the Morgenthau Papers & Diaries; the Records of the War Refugee Board; and the Rudolf Vrba Papers. Digital technology will be used to improve access to these materials, which will eventually be made available through the library’s website, www.fdrlibrary.org.

According to the library, Rudolf Vrba was one of two people to escape from the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, and he co-wrote a detailed report regarding operations at the camp. The Rudolf Vrba papers are a new addition to the library and will be opened to the public for the first time.

Monday’s announcement, which is not open to the public, is scheduled to be attended by Morgenthau’s son, former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau; FDR Library Trustee William J. vanden Heuvel and Vrba’s widow, Robin Vrba.

During the administration of President Jimmy Carter, vanden Heuvel served as U.S. Ambassador to the European office of the United Nations in Geneva and U. S. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations.

Robert Morgenthau, the former Manhattan district attorney, co-owns Hopewell Junction-based Fishkill Farms with his son Josh Morgenthau.

John W. Barry: jobarry@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-437-4822, Twitter: @JohnBarryPoJo