Manuscript Collection - Chava Rosenfarb Papers

Identity area

Reference code

Title

Chava Rosenfarb Papers

Date(s)

  • 1940-2014 (Creation)

Level of description

Manuscript Collection

Extent and medium

22 boxes (3.5 metres)

Context area

Name of creator

(1923-2011)

Biographical history

Chava Rosenfarb (1923-2011) was a prominent Yiddish poet, author, playwright and a Holocaust survivor. Born in Lodz, Poland, Rosenfarb received a secular Yiddish and Polish education before being incarcerated in the Lodz ghetto where she received her high school diploma. She began writing poetry in the Ghetto and was recognized early for her talent. Having survived Auschwitz, the Sasel labour camp, and Bergen Belsen, the author emigrated to Canada in 1950 where she wrote prolifically until the end of her life. She is the recipient of numerous awards including Israel’s Manger Prize, the Canadian Jewish Book Award, and two J.I Segal Awards.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Includes drafts and proofs of The Tree of Life [Der Boym Fun Lebn]; Bociany [a novel about life in a Polish shtetl] and Of Lodz and Love; Survivors [translated from the Yiddish by Goldie Morgentaler]; address and daybooks; most of the printed manuscript of Briv tsu Abrashn; Bird of the Ghetto; correspondence with family, friends, authors, editors and publishers, including Isaac Bashevis Singer, printer and publisher Israel London, Elaine Kalman Naves, and other material related to the life and work of author Chava Rosenfarb.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Material may be requested in person at the Fisher Library Reference Desk, or in advance using our online stack retrieval request form: https://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/stack-retrieval-form.

Conditions governing reproduction

Language of material

  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Polish
  • Yiddish

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    Language and script notes

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    Existence and location of copies

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    Description control area

    Description identifier

    Institution identifier

    Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto

    Rules and/or conventions used

    Dates of creation revision deletion

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        Accession area