Skip to main content Skip to main navigation

Bernard Gotfryd photograph collection

Call Number

PR 276

Date

1960-2011 (bulk 1961-1990), inclusive

Creator

Extent

10.78 Linear feet (16 boxes plus four flat file folders)

Language of Materials

English .

Abstract

The Bernard Gotfryd Photograph Collection spans the period from 1960-2011 and primarily contains portraits of prominent people, photographs of New York City, material related to Gotfryd's career as a photographer, and materials related to his activities as a Holocaust Survivor speaker and author.

Biographical Note

Bernard Gotfryd was born in 1924 in Radom, Poland, and became interested in photography at an early age. When World War II broke out and schools were closed to Jewish students, Gotfryd found work as an apprentice in a photography studio. While working in the studio, he began aiding the Polish underground by passing on photographs taken by Nazi officers of war atrocities. After an unsuccessful escape attempt in October 1943, Gotfryd was apprehended and shipped to Maidanek. By the war's end, Gotfryd had survived six concentration camps.

In 1947, Gotfryd immigrated to the United States, where he worked as a photographer and studied photojournalism. After being drafted into the U.S. Army in 1949 and going through basic training, Gotfryd was assigned to the Signal Corps as a combat photographer. In 1952, he married his wife, Gina. They lived in Astoria, Queens until early 1954, when they moved to the Cambria Heights section of Queens. They raised two children, Howard and Eva, in this neighborhood, before relocating in the early 1970's to Forest Hills, Queens.

Gotfryd joined the staff of Newsweek in 1957, where he worked for more than thirty years. His photography for Newsweek encompasses a broad sampling of celebrity portraits and events in the U.S. in the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's, including numerous photos in and around New York City.

It was while working for Newsweek, covering the Holocaust Survivors Gathering in Washington, D.C., in April 1983 that Gotfryd was moved to write about his own experiences. First published in Newsweek, his stories were published in 1990 as a collection, titled Anton the Dove Fancier and Other Tales of the Holocaust. An expanded edition of the book was published in 2000. In addition the book Widuje ich w snach: Nowe Opowiadania (I can see them in my dreams: The new stories) was published in English and Polish in 2008, and Stolarz Isaak, Em Murem in polish in 2009. Gotfryd also has given numerous talks to school children and others about his experiences during World War II.

Sources: Gotfryd, Bernard. Anton the Dove Fancier and Other Tales of the Holocaust. New York: Washington Square Press, Pocket Books, 1990.

Gotfryd, Bernard. Anton the Dove Fancier and Other Tales of the Holocaust (expanded edition). Cleveland: John Hopkins University Press, 2000.

Gotfryd, Bernard. The Intimate Eye: Portraits by Bernard Gotfryd. New York: Riverside Book Company, [2006].

Arrangement

The collection is divided by format and subject into five series: Slides, Photographs, Oversize Material, Manuscript Material, and Holocaust Survivor Material. The series are further divided by topic, with Portraits and Subjects arranged separately. Portraits are arranged alphabetically by the sitter's name. Subjects are arranged alphabetically by topic. In some cases where multiple prints exist of a subject a separate folder is assigned.

The cross-reference "See:" indicates that the item is filed elsewhere under the listed name. "See also:" indicates where additional related materials are filed for that subject.

Scope and Contents

The Bernard Gotfryd Photograph Collection contains over 1000 photographs and several folders of manuscript material spanning the period from 1961-2011. The collection primarily contains portraits of prominent people, photographs of New York City, material related to Gotfryd's career as a photographer, and materials related to his activities as a Holocaust Survivor speaker and author. The bulk of the photographs and career-related manuscript material range from 1963-1988, while the bulk of the Holocaust Survivor material ranges from 1990-2009. The collection is divided into five series: Slides, Photographs, Oversize Material, Manuscript Material, and Holocaust Survivor Material

Series I. Slides is comprised of mainly 35mm, mounted slides as well as several 120mm slides taken from 1963 to 1991. Images include portraits, locations and events and are divided into three subseries: Portraits; Subjects; Subjects-New York City. See the container list for the names of portrait subjects and the topics of events.

Series II. Photographs is primarily comprised of gelatin silver prints and a few color photographs between 8 x 10 and 16 x 20, taken between 1962 and 1987. It is divided into five subseries comprising unmounted and mounted photographs of prominent individuals and of events and locations. Subject names or topics are listed in the container list.

Series III. Oversize Material contains mounted and unmounted photographic prints larger than 16 x 20 as well as various oversize clippings and ephemera.

Series IV. Manuscript Material contains material related to Gotfryd's career as a photojournalist and his work as an author and lecturer. The material is divided into two subseries: Correspondence and Ephemera.

Series V. Holocaust Survivor Material, dating between 1990 and 2011, contains materials relating to Bernard Gotfryd's speaking engagements and writings about the Holocaust. The series includes copies of three of Gotfryd's books, general correspondence, thank you notes and artwork from students and adults, writing drafts, and magazines with his articles or stories.

Access Restrictions

The collection is open to qualified researchers. Portions of the collection that have been photocopied or microfilmed will be brought to the researcher in that format; microfilm can be made available through Interlibrary Loan.

Use Restrictions

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to:

Department of Rights and Reproductions The New-York Historical Society 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194 rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org 212-485-9228

Permission to reproduce or quote text from this collection in a publication must be requested from and granted in writing by the Library Director, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194.

The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials. Unpublished materials created before January 1, 1978 cannot be quoted in publication without permission of the copyright holder.

Photocopying

Photocopying will be undertaken by staff only, and is limited to twenty exposures of stable, unbound material per day. Researchers may not accrue unused copy amounts from previous days. On-site researchers may print out unlimited copies from microfilm reader-printer machines at a per-exposure rate; see guidelines in the reading room for details.

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as: Bernard Gotfryd Photograph Collection, PR 276, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.

Provenance

Gift of Bernard Gotfryd, 2008. Additional items received in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

Related Materials

Four other organizations hold collections of Bernard Gotfryd's photographs and papers:

The Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2010650142/

The Hoover Institution: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt8q2nf3rc/?query=Gotfryd

The Brooklyn Historical Society: http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/bhs/v1987_003_gotfryd/

The Hebrew Home at Riverdale: http://www.hebrewhome.org/exh_gotfryd.asp

Collection processed by

Kelly McAnnaney with additions by Twila Rios; finding aid revised 2013 by Twila Rios

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:46:19 -0400.
Language: Description is in English

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024