TABLE OF CONTENTS
Box and Folder Listing
A Finding Aid
to the
George Vida
Papers
1948-1966
Manuscript
Collection No. 620
Introduction |
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| Name: | The George Vida Papers. | |
| Dates: | 1948-1966. | |
| Abstract: | The George Vida papers describe the career of George Vida as rabbi and chaplain. The collection consists of four folders in one box containing birth certificates signed by Vida and records of circumcisions, marriages and a funeral performed by Rabbi Vida. The span dates of the collection are 1939-1989. | |
| Quantity: | .4 linear feet;1 Hollinger box. | |
| Identification: | Manuscript Collection No. 620. | |
Biographical Sketch
George Vida was born on July 31, 1906 and ordained as a rabbi in 1937. By 1939 he had found refuge from the Nazis by emigrating with his wife, Amy Vida, and children from Czechoslovakia to the United States. In 1940, Vida received his U.S. citizenship.
From 1943-1961, Vida served in the United States Army as a chaplain. During his military career he traveled in Europe -- England, Scotland, Belgium, and Germany. While in Europe he was devoted to helping those who had suffered by the hands of the Nazis. His work within the DP camps is documented in his book, From Doom to Dawn: A Jewish Chaplain's Story of Displaced Persons, published in 1962.
Little documentation was found describing Vida's life after he retired from the Army in 1961. During most of the 1960s he was active in the Rockville, Maryland area, especially at Beth Tikva, Rockville-Wheaton Synagogue. From 1971-1989 he was active in the Berkeley, California area. By 1981 he was serving as one of the rabbis and scholars-in-residence for Temple Beth El in Berkeley. Also by 1981 the Rabbi George Vida Library of Temple Beth El, described as one of the finest congregational libraries in the area, had been named in his honor.
Rabbi George Vida died on July 24, 1989.
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Scope and Content Note
The George Vida Papers describe the career of George Vida as rabbi and chaplain. The collection consists of four folders in one box containing birth certificates signed by Vida and records of circumcision, marriages and a funerals performed by Rabbi Vida.
The documents are arranged by the recorded life cycle event and are in chronological order within the folders. Many documents record information of interest to genealogists, including names of participants, Hebrew names of participants, location and date of the ceremony, and the occupations and city of origins of some participants. The materials in the collection span the years 1939-1989.
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Organization |
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| The papers are organized into a single series. | ||
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Arrangement
See descriptions of individual series.
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Restrictions
Access Information
The George Vida Papers are open to all users and available in the reading room of the American Jewish Archives.
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Related Material
One folder of documents recording conversions performed by Rabbi Vida was removed to the American Jewish Archives Conversions and Life Cycle Certificates Collection (Manuscript Collection No. 55). One record of a related marriage remains in the conversions folder.
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Administrative Information
Citations
Footnotes and bibliographic references should refer to the George Vida Papers and the American Jewish Archives.
Provenance
The George Vida Papers were donated to the American Jewish Archives by Rabbi Gary Tishoff, Berkeley, California., March 1991.
Processing Information
Processed by Tammy Topper and Kathleen L. Spray, November 1997
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Box and Folder Listing
Series A: General Files.
| Note to Researchers: To request materials,
please note the collection number, as well as the box and folder
numbers shown below. The first folder documents births and circumcisions of Jewish children at Fort Lee, Virginia, and at several locations in Germany from 1951-1961; at Rockville, Maryland from 1962-1968; and at Berkeley, California from 1975-1989. The next two folders document marriages performed by Vida from 1939 to 1980. The folder Rabbi Vida labeled "Weddings performed in U.S." contains records of marriages performed from 1944-1950 in the states of New York, New Jersey, Missouri (St. Louis), and Pennsylvannia (Philadelphia). The folder Vida labeled "Marriages" contains records of marriages performed from 1944-1980 in Missouri (Ft. Leonard Wood), Germany, Virginia (Ft. Lee, Richmond), New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and California. The last folder contains the record of a funeral held in Berlin, Germany for a British soldier, Reuben Silver, on April 17, 1961. |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Birth and Circumcision records, 1951-1989 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Weddings performed in U.S., 1939-1950 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Marriages, 1944-1980. | ||||||||||||
| 4 |
Funeral (Berlin, Germany), 17 April 1961 | ||||||||||||
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The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives.