Collection of the Van Leer Stichting (Van Leer Institute) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1941-1959

Collection of the Van Leer Stichting (Van Leer Institute) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1941-1959
 
 The Van Leer Stichting (Van Leer Institute) was established in 1941 following anti-Jewish legislation in the Netherlands; financing of the institute came from the dissolution of the factory of B. van Leer, a Jewish industrialist who emigrated from the Netherlands to the United States; the anti-Jewish legislation, whose implementation in the Netherlands was appointed to H. A. Rauter, isolated the Jews from the cultural life in the Netherlands as of 15/09/1941; the Van Leer Institute provided a response, on one hand, to the unemployment among Jewish artists, and a response to the need for culture and entertainment in the Jewish community, on the other hand; the Van Leer Institute established a Jewish symphony orchestra, named the Joodsche Symphonie Orkest, and a Jewish theater group and other frameworks that enabled artists to earn a livelihood; many performances were held in the Joodschen Schouwburg theater, also known as the Hollandsche Schouwburg, whose structure was turned into a central place for detention in 1942; the Germans forced the dissolution of the Van Leer Institute in 1943; the Van Leer Institute resumed its activities after the war in the context of the organization, De Joodse Invalide, to give help to disabled Jews in the Netherlands;
 
 Included in the collection:
 
 Announcement regarding a performance of the Joodsche Symphonie Orkest; 
 
 Activity reports prepared by the Van Leer Institute in Amsterdam; 
 
 Protocols of meetings and correspondence with various people, regarding dismissals, monies and allocations to artists, 1942-1943;
 
 Internal correspondence of the Van Leer Institute, regarding the terms of employment of musicians in the Joodsche Symphonie Orkest, including contracts, salaries and insurance in The Hague;
 
 Correspondence by S. J. van Lier, regarding continuation of the use of the institute's funds, 1946-1959;
 
 Accounts notebook, 1941.