William A. Spiegler collection related to Josiah E. DuBois, Jr.

This collection contains material collected by the late historian William A. Spiegler, who was preparing to write a biography of Josiah E. DuBois, Jr. Though much of the collection consists of copies from various archival sources and publications, it is an excellent resource for historians studying DuBois and his work with the War Refugee Board and on the I.G. Farben trial. The collection includes original and copied drafts, with handwritten changes, corrections, and notes, of “The Report to the Secretary on the Acquiescence of this Government in the Murder of the Jews,” “Personal Report to the President,” and “Memorandum for Secretary Hull.” The “Acquiescence” report has received a great deal of scholarly attention and though a few scholars have mentioned seeing the drafts, they were not previously accessible. The collection also contains a photocopy of notes which DuBois made on a visit to the State Department in December 1943 regarding State Department cables 354 and 482; this visit, too, has received a great deal of scholarly attention, though DuBois’ notes have never previously been available. The collection also contains DuBois’ travel paperwork for the multiple overseas trips he took on behalf of the Treasury Department during the war, incoming and outgoing correspondence logs, and copies of Treasury Department bureaucratic memorandum. A small notebook he kept while in Europe in the summer of 1945 for the Moscow Conference is also included. There is also a great deal of correspondence between DuBois and Edward Johnson, who assisted DuBois in the preparation and writing of The Devil’s Chemists and documentation regarding DuBois’ attempts to market his work. Copyright Holder: Mr. Louis Spiegler Josiah Ellis DuBois, Jr., was born in Camden, NJ on October 21, 1912 to Josiah Ellis DuBois, Sr. and Amelia Ayles DuBois. The oldest of eight children, DuBois graduated from high school in Woodbury, NJ, at age fourteen and from the University of Pennsylvania at eighteen. He received his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1934. He married Dorothy Clement DuBois and joined the Treasury Department in January 1936. He briefly left Washington prior to the outbreak of World War II to join his brother in a family law practice, but rejoined the Treasury Department in 1941, working in the office of the General Counsel and with Foreign Funds Control. In 1943, he and other Treasury Department lawyers documented the State Department’s delays and obstruction related to the persecution of Jews and other victims of Nazi persecution. DuBois is credited with the initial draft of “The Report to the Secretary on the Acquiescence of this Government in the Murder of the Jews,” which was presented to Secretary of State Henry Morgenthau in January 1944. On the basis of the Treasury Department’s work, President Roosevelt signed an Executive Order creating the War Refugee Board, with which DuBois served as general counsel. He participated in the Moscow Conference and with post-war economic and war crimes planning. He resigned from the Treasury Department in 1946. In 1947, he went to Nuremberg, Germany, and was the chief American prosecutor of United States v. Carl Krauch, et al., otherwise known as Military Tribunal VI, or the I.G. Farben trial. After returning to the United States, he wrote The Devil’s Chemists (1952) about the trial. He stayed in private practice in New Jersey for the rest of his career. Josiah DuBois passed away on August 1, 1983.