This collection portrays the work of the poet Nelly Sachs. Much of the collection grew out of an exhibition of her works by the Leo Baeck Institute in April 1967. It contains copies of Nelly Sachs's correspondence, writing, newspaper clippings about her and her works. One focus of the collection is on the Nobel Prize in literature Sachs received in 1966

Several series contain documents pertaining to Nelly Sachs's writing. The first of these is Series III: Writings and Translations by Nelly Sachs. This series holds copies of her writing, as well as translations of her poems. Newspaper clippings found in Series V contain articles about and reviews of her writing. Radio programs and essays concerning Nelly Sachs, which will be found in Series VI, also discuss her work

Information on the awarding of the Nobel Prize to Nelly Sachs will also be found in many areas of the collection. Much information on this topic will be found in Series I: Personal Documents, which holds documents on the Nobel Prize and the ceremony in which it was given to Nelly Sachs, as well as information on other awards she received. This material includes photos of the Prize itself, programs of the events, and copies of speeches given at the ceremony. Many clippings from Series V also mention the Nobel Prize being granted to Nelly Sachs. Finally Series VIII: Addenda contains a broadcast address on the Nobel Prize

Correspondence is located in two series of the collection. Series II contains Nelly Sachs's personal correspondence, whereas correspondence concerning the Leo Baeck Institutes 1967 exhibition on Nelly Sachs will be found in Series IV

Nelly Sachs was born as Leonie Sachs, on December 10, 1891, in the Tiergarten section of Berlin. She grew up as the only child of the manufacturer William Sachs and Margarete Sachs, nee Karger, in comfortable circumstances. Her first exposure to German literature was in her fathers library. She received private lessons for several years, until she began attending the private girls school Aubert in 1903. Her greatest wish at this point in her life was to become a dancer

In 1908 Sachs completed school. She began writing to the Swedish writer Selma Lagerloef, whose writing she admired, when she was 15 years old, and her first published work "Legenden und Erzaehlungen" (Legends and Stories) was written in a similar fashion as Lagerloefs. During this time, some of her poetry was published in several publications, much of it written in the Romantic style. Her father, with whom she was very close, died in 1930, after a long illness

After the Nazis rose to power in Germany Sachs was only allowed to write for Jewish newspapers. She was picked up by the Gestapo several times. Near the end of 1937 she was arrested with a close friend who was active in the Resistance. Nelly never saw her friend again, whose identity she never revealed. He was deported to a concentration camp where he later died. It was during the 1930s that Sachs began to develop an interest in Jewish mysticism, which would later be reflected in her writing

It was through the work of friends that Nelly Sachs was finally able to escape Germany. A friend of hers, Gudrun Harlan, was able to contact the Swedish writer Selma Lagerloef. Selma Lagerloef, with the aid of the Swedish royal family, assisted Nelly Sachs in acquiring a visa for Sweden, shortly after receiving deportation orders for a work camp. Nelly Sachs and her mother took one of the last flights to Sweden and arrived on May 16, 1940 in Stockholm. Not yet fluent in Swedish, Nelly Sachs began translating Swedish poetry in addition to working on her own writing

In 1943 the first reports reached Sweden of the concentration camps, and Nelly Sachs discovered that her friend had been a victim of this terror. With the exception of her mother, who had fled with her to Sweden, all of her family members and many friends were also lost in the Holocaust. Out of this period came her work In den "Wohnungen des Todes" (In the Habitations of Death), published in 1947, with a series of poems entitled "Gebete für den toten Braeutigam," followed by "Sternverdunklung (Eclipse of Stars) in 1949. Shortly thereafter came her well- known play "Eli, ein Mysterienspiel vom Leiden Israels" which would later be made into a radio play in West Germany. Three years later her mother died

In 1952 Nelly Sachs received Swedish citizenship

Although Sachs was a well-known translator of Swedish poetry, it was some time before publishers in Germany were prepared to publish her works. She was not noticed until some of her poems were published in the magazine Texte und Zeichen in 1956. In 1957 her book "Und niemand weiss weiter" (And No One Knows How to Go On) was published, and in 1959 "Flucht und Verwandlung" (Flight and Metamorphosis). A visit to Germany brought Sachs great trauma. After returning to Sweden, Sachs suffered a nervous breakdown and spent 1960-1963 in a psychiatric hospital caused by fears which stemmed from her life in Germany during the Nazi period. During this time she wrote her work "Noch feiert Tod das Leben", published in 1961

Nelly Sachs received many awards for her work. In 1957 she became a member of the Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung in Darmstadt. The following year she was the first winner of the Lyricist's Prize of the Swedish Writers' Union (Schwedischen Schriftstellersverband). Sachs won the Meersburger Droste-Preis for female poets in 1960. In 1961 she became a member in the Hamburg free academy for art. That same year the city of Dortmund established a Nelly Sachs Prize, named after its first winner. In 1963 Nelly Sachs became a member of the Bavarian academy of arts. In 1965 she received the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. Nelly Sachs reached her high point when she was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1966, together with the Israeli writer Shmuel Yosef Agnon. Finally, in 1967 Nelly Sachs received honorary citizenship from the city of her birth, Berlin. During the same year her work "O, die Schornsteine" (O, the Chimneys) was published

Nelly Sachs died on May 12, 1970 in Stockholm, where she was buried in the Jewish cemetery

See also the catalog to the Nelly Sachs exhibition at the Leo Baeck Institute: "Exhibit, documenting the life and work of Nelly Sachs, Nobel laureate in literature, 1966. Catalog. New York: Leo Baeck Institute, 1966." (PT 2637 A2 Z5 L4)

The following individuals are mentioned in this collection; Agnon, Shmuel ; Berendsohn, Walter ; Buber, Martin ; Celan, Paul ; Domin, Hilde ; Enzensberger, Hans Magnus ; Labus, Hannah ; Pergament, Moses ; Tau, Max, 1897-1976

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