The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Edgar Kupfer-Koberwitz Dachau Diaries 1942-1945
© 2006 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Kupfer-Koberwitz, Edgar. Dachau Diaries |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1942-1945 |
| Size: | 6 linear feet (9 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | The Edgar Kupfer-Koberwitz Papers contain his original diary and other documents pertaining to his imprisonment at Dachau. The early volumes are practically illegible from water damage. A folder containing the issues of Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte in which the diary was published is also included. |
The collection is open for research.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Kupfer-Koberwitz, Edgar. Dachau Diaries, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Edgar Kupfer was born in the town of Koberwitz, Germany on April 24, 1906. He received his education in various cities across that country, including Bonn, Regensburg and Stuttgart. When his parents were divorced he left school to support his mother and sister. He remained with them and worked various jobs in factories, stores and banks. Kupfer's parents were later reconciled, and in the aftermath of a disappointing love affair Kupfer left Germany for Italy in 1925. Between 1925 and 1940, he moved between Germany and Italy, working in many types of jobs, including for newspapers, travel bureaus, and as a model for a sculptor of monuments.
In 1940, Kupfer was taken into custody by German police as an enemy of the German state, presumably for his pacifist ideology. He was imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp for the duration of World War II. By pretending to be simple-minded, Kupfer received a clerk's job in the camp's store room, which gave him the opportunity to clandestinely begin a diary. He recorded incidents of concentration camp life on tiny slips of paper. He hid the pages of his diary from prison guards by concealing them among business papers. He later buried them, where some of the pages sustained water damage.
While at Dachau, Kupfer continued to practice the vegetarianism he had embraced years before, dividing his meat ration amongst fellow prisoners. In his diary, he explained his belief that humans' ability to cruelly deny the humanity of others stemmed from widespread brutality of humans towards animals. He explained, "I believe as long as man tortures and kills animals, he will torture and kill humans as well—and wars will be waged—for killing must be practiced and learned on a small scale. We should try to overcome our own small thoughtless cruelty, to avoid it, and to abolish it." During his regime, in an attack on pacifist organizations, Hitler banned all vegetarian organizations and arrested their leaders in German-occupied territories.
Despite nearly being consumed by typhus, Kupfer survived his imprisonment at Dachau and was among the more than 67,000 prisoners liberated by American forces on April 29, 2945. Kupfer expressed his gratitude at having evaded death in the camp: "The day is over, this April 29 1945. I will celebrate it for the rest of my life as my second birthday, as the day that gifted me life anew." Vowing to use his writings to publicize his experiences and views, Kupfer attained the assistance of Thomas Emmet of the Counter Intelligence Corps to save his manuscript from deterioration in its hiding place.
Kupfer took great pains to establish the genuineness of his manuscript. To demonstrate its authenticity, he unearthed it in the presence of Counter Intelligence Corps agents. Kupfer also created and circulated a questionnaire among former Dachau inmates, gathering statements about his behavior in camp and his general trustworthiness. The Dachau Diary was serialized in the journal Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte under the title "Als Haftling in Dachau." From his Dachau notes, Kupfer also wrote an essay on vegetarianism which was published in the book Radical Vegetarianism, written by Mark Mathew Braunstein in 1981.
Mr. Kupfer, a resident of Chicago in the postwar period, donated his diaries to the University of Chicago in April 1, 1954.
The Edgar Kupfer-Koberwitz Papers contain the original diaries and a few other documents pertaining to Kupfer's imprisonment at Dachau. Those include letters from the U.S. Army C.I.C. regarding Kupfer, survey responses from Kupfer's fellow Dachau inmates establishing his good character, a postcard with a photograph of Kupfer, and a photocopy of Kupfer's postwar identification card. The early journal volumes are nearly illegible from water damage. A folder containing the issues of Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte in which the diary was published and a typewritten copy of Kupfer's essay "Animals My Brethren" are also included.
| Box 1 Folder 1 | Diary 1 |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Diary 2 |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | Diary 3 |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | Diary 4 |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | Diary 5 |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | Diary 6 |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | Diary 7 |
| Box 1 Folder 8 | Diary 8 |
| Box 1 Folder 9 | Diary 9 |
| Box 2 Folder 1 | Diary 10 |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | Diary 11 |
| Box 2 Folder 3 | Diary 12 |
| Box 2 Folder 4 | Diary 13 |
| Box 2 Folder 5 | Diary 14 |
| Box 2 Folder 6 | Diary 15 |
| Box 2 Folder 7 | Diary 16 |
| Box 2 Folder 8 | Diary 17 |
| Box 2 Folder 9 | Diary 18 |
| Box 2 Folder 10 | Diary 19 |
| Box 3 Folder 1 | Diary 20 |
| Box 3 Folder 2 | Diary 21 |
| Box 3 Folder 3 | Diary 22 |
| Box 3 Folder 4 | Diary 23 |
| Box 3 Folder 5 | Diary 24 |
| Box 3 Folder 6 | Diary 25 |
| Box 3 Folder 7 | Diary 26 |
| Box 3 Folder 8 | Diary 27 |
| Box 3 Folder 9 | Diary 28 |
| Box 3 Folder 10 | Diary 29 |
| Box 3 Folder 11 | Diary 30 |
| Box 3 Folder 12 | Diary 31 |
| Box 3 Folder 13 | Diary 32 |
| Box 4 Folder 1 | Diary 33 |
| Box 4 Folder 2 | Diary 34 |
| Box 4 Folder 3 | Diary 35 |
| Box 4 Folder 4 | Diary 36 |
| Box 4 Folder 5 | Diary 37 |
| Box 4 Folder 6 | Diary 38 |
| Box 4 Folder 7 | Diary 39 |
| Box 4 Folder 8 | Diary 40 |
| Box 4 Folder 9 | Diary 41 |
| Box 5 Folder 1 | Diary 42 |
| Box 5 Folder 2 | Diary 43 |
| Box 5 Folder 3 | Diary 44 |
| Box 5 Folder 4 | Diary 45 |
| Box 5 Folder 5 | Diary 46 |
| Box 5 Folder 6 | Diary 47 |
| Box 5 Folder 7 | "Vorwort - Georvich an Lage Dachau" |
| Box 5 Folder 8 | "Vorwort" |
| Box 5 Folder 9 | "Das Ende" |
| Box 5 Folder 10 | Bechefft Prazftt (Tuge) Dachau |
| Box 5 Folder 11 | "Animals My Brethren," an essay by Kupfer |
| Box 5 Folder 12 | Photocopy of Kupfer Identification Card, Issued 10 Nov. 1945 |
| Box 5 Folder 13 | Postcard with Photograph of Kupfer and dog |
| Box 5 Folder 14 | Kupfer CIC Staff Pass, permitting him to enter and leave camp |
| Box 5 Folder 15 | German Military Government Concentration Camp Inmate Questionnaire, completed by Kupfer |
| Box 5 Folder 16 | Letter from CIC Establishing the Authenticity of the Kupfer Diaries, 29 Oct. 1945 |
| Box 5 Folder 17 | Letter from U.S. C.I.C. establishing that Kupfer had diaries in his possession and should use discretion in disclosing their existence. |
| Box 5 Folder 18 | Piece of Paper reading "Reserved for CIC, 7th Army" and bearing illegible signature |
| Box 5 Folder 19 | Piece of paper reading "Off Limits: Do Not Disturb or Remove Anything From This Room by Order of C.I.C. 7th Army, E. Baraty, Special Agent, C.I.C., Camp Dachau" |
| Box 6 Folder 1 | A 33 (26 Juni 1904) |
| Box 6 Folder 2 | A 2314-B 2408 Franzosisch |
| Box 6 Folder 3 | B 34-182 (26 Juni 1904) |
| Box 6 Folder 4 | C 183-D 251 (26 Juni 1904) |
| Box 6 Folder 5 | C 2409-D 2535 (9 Juli 1904) Franzosisch |
| Box 6 Folder 6 | E 252-F 343 (26 Juni 1904) |
| Box 6 Folder 7 | E2536-G 2604 (9 Juli 1904) Franzosisch |
| Box 6 Folder 8 | G 344-421, 835-88 (26 Juni 1904) |
| Box 6 Folder 9 | Goethe 422-834 |
| Box 6 Folder 10 | H 889-1079 (26 Juni 1904) |
| Box 6 Folder 11 | H 2605-L 2719 (9 Juli 1904) Franzosisch |
| Box 6 Folder 12 | H 2605-L 2719 (9 Juli 1904) Franzosisch |
| Box 6 Folder 13 | Italienisch 3095-3351 (30 Juni 1904) |
| Box 7 Folder 1 | J 2042-2084 (26 Juli 1904) |
| Box 7 Folder 2 | K 1121-1254 (26 Juni 1904) |
| Box 7 Folder 3 | L 1255-1404 (26 Juni 1904) |
| Box 7 Folder 4 | M 2714-2814 (9 Juli 1904) Franzosisch |
| Box 7 Folder 5 | M 1405-1506 (26 Juni 1904) |
| Box 7 Folder 6 | N 2815-O 2873 (9 Juli 1904) Franzosisch |
| Box 7 Folder 7 | NO 1507-PQ 1597 (26 Juni 1904) |
| Box 7 Folder 8 | R 2974-S 3005 (9 Juli 1904) |
| Box 7 Folder 9 | R 1598-1658 (26 Juni 1904) |
| Box 7 Folder 10 | S 1659-1698 -1895-2041 (26 Juni 1904) |
| Box 7 Folder 11 | Schiller 1699-1874 |
| Box 8 Folder 1 | Spanisch 3352-3388 (29 Juni 1904) |
| Box 8 Folder 2 | T 3006-W 3094 (9 Juli 1904) |
| Box 8 Folder 3 | U 2085-V 2147 (26 Juni 1904) |
| Box 8 Folder 4 | W 2148-Z 2313 (26 Juni 1904) |
| Box 8 Folder 5 | Y 1080-1120 (26 Juni 1904) |
| Box 9 Folder 1 | Anfang |
| Box 9 Folder 2 | Kupfer - Gitachtue Meines Kameradin (Mehrare Spocken) Originale (These appear to be transcripts of interviews of Kupfer's fellow inmates at Dachau attesting to his character and actions while imprisoned there) |
| Box 9 Folder 3 | Published Text: Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte |