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Finding Aid for Paul Kiess papers
6032
6032
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Title: Paul Kiess papers
Collection number: 6032
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
3.25 linear ft.
5 boxes
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1939-1941
Date (inclusive): 1915-1941
Abstract: This collection contains the personal papers of Dr. Paul Kiess. The collection contains personal correspondence and correspondence
with Christian organizations in the US, photographs, newspaper clippings, outlines for Dr. Kiess' speeches, and ephemera.
Dr. Paul Kiess, a Protestant, was a legal adviser, a lector of the Thüringische Verlagsanstalt und Druckerei, and Urania Verlagsbuchhandlung
in Jena, Thuringia, and a member of the Thuringian parliament. Paul and his wife Edith, a half Jew, left Germany in 1935 and
went into exile in Prague, Czechoslovakia, France, and London, before emigrating to the United States where Edith studied
for her professional qualifying examinations in New York, and Paul went to Princeton where he lectured at various Christian
organizations, and studied for his American bar exam.
creator:
Kiess, Edith
creator:
Kiess, Paul
The collection contains Paul Kiess' personal and business correspondence during the years of exile and the first years after
his emigration to the United States, correspondence with various Christian rescue organizations, texts and manuscripts by
himself and others, newspaper clippings from American newspapers about the war and politics in Germany, and a few photographs
and ephemera. The bulk of the collection dates from 1939-1941 though a few earlier materials are present as well.
Paul Kiess was born on January 10, 1894 in Berlin, Germany. He worked as a legal adviser, and as lector of the Thüringische
Verlagsanstalt und Druckerei, and Urania Verlagsbuchhandlung in Jena, Thuringia. From 1920 to 1933, Paul Kiess was a member
of the Thuringian parliament.
In autumn 1926, Paul Kiess married Edith Kiess, nee Kramer, a half Jew. Edith was born in Riga on January 19, 1900 to her
parents Julius Israel Kramer, a merchant, and her mother Sara Kramer nee Jakobsohn. Through her marriage with Paul, Edith
became a German citizen. Edith had taken courses with Albert Einstein at Berlin University (Ausländerkurse; an institution
founded by Albert Einstein to enable Jewish students to study if refused by German universities). She received a diploma as
Bacteriologist. She then finished her medical studies at Jena University, receiving a diploma as a German physician on September
12, 1930. Edith worked as a physician at the university hospital of Jena until the first anti-Jewish boycott of the Nazis,
April 1, 1933. On April 6, 1933 she had to leave the hospital.
After the Nazis came to power, Paul Kiess, a Protestant, defended Dr. Kuno Fiedler in court. Fiedler, a philosopher and Protestant
minister, had declined to publicly present a hate prayer on the order of the Nazis. In 1935, it became impossible for Paul
Kiess to remain a lawyer in Jena due to his defense work for many Jews. In addition, his marriage to a half Jew put him in
danger of being sent to a concentration camp.
Edith and Paul Kiess left Germany on December 24, 1935. They went to Prague, Czechoslovakia, where Edith took courses in medical
massage while Paul explored various business opportunities.
Via France (Paul) and London (Edith), the couple emigrated to the United States. They arrived in New York in January 1939.
The emigration was made possible through the written intervention of Thomas Mann, who was a close friend of Fiedler. While
Edith Kiess stayed in New York, where she studied for her professional qualifying examinations, Paul went to Princeton where
he lectured at various Christian organizations, and studied for his bar exam.
The collection contains published materials; researchers are reminded of the copyright restrictions imposed by publishers
on reusing their articles and parts of books. It is the responsibility of researchers to acquire permission from publishers
when reusing such materials. The copyright to unpublished materials belongs to the heirs of the writers. Permission to publish,
quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access.
The collection was rehoused and described by Michaela Ullmann and Lisa Ebiner Gavet in 2013.
[Box/folder# or item name], Paul Kiess papers, Collection no. 6032, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern
California
Subjects and Indexing Terms
American Committee for Christian German Refugees. -- Archives
Kiess, Edith -- Archives
Kiess, Paul -- Archives
Clippings
Correspondence
Ephemera
Exiles--Germany--20th century--Archival resources
Germany--Emigration and immigration--History--1933-1945--Archival resources
Germany--Politics and government--20th century--Archival resources
New York (N.Y.)--Emigration and immigration--20th century--Archival resources
Newspapers
Notes
Persecution--Germany--20th century--Archival resources
Photographs
World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--Archival resources