Skip to Main Content

Parkes Library, Special Collections, Hartley Library: Archives

The Parkes Library was established by James Parkes, a tireless campaigner against anti-Semitism, and is a major resource for the study of Jewish/non-Jewish relations across the ages.

Letter books of the secretary of the Board of Guardians for the Relief of the Jewish Poor (MS 173)

Virtual Reading Room

Records of the Anglo-Jewish Association up to 1945 have been digitised and are accessible online through the Archives Virtual Reading Room. Since the 1870s the AJA has offered support for Jewish philanthropic interests in the English speaking world and has been closely involved with many Jewish communites overseas.

Archives on Microfilm

The Parkes Library holds the following archive collections on microfilm:

  • Archives of the Central British Fund for World Jewish Relief (Research Publications) Microfilm 40048035- Guide shelved at Parkes Z/BZ 6651.C46 
  • Immigrant in America. Unit 7: Jew (Primary Source Microfilm) Microfilm 00250939-00250961
  • Records of the Displaced Persons Camps in Germany (YIVO Institute for Jewish Research) Microfilm 00420721
  • Testaments to the Holocaust Series 3 : The Henriques Archive from the Wiener Library, London (Primary Source Media) Microfilm 00186882-

Special Collections, Hartley Library

Special Collections is an important centre for the study of Anglo-Jewish history in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries and for the relations between the Jewish and non-Jewish worlds.

Anglo-Jewish Archives - over 850 collections including important holdings for prominent individuals and organisations e.g.:

  • Chief Rabbi Sir Israel Brodie (MS 206)
  • Sir Basil Henriques (MS 307)
  • Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz (MS 175)
  • Rabbi Solomon Schonfeld (MS 183) 
  • Jewish Board of Guardians (MS 173)
  • Institute of Jewish Affairs (MS 238)
  • Union of Jewish Women (MS 129)

Interfaith Collections include the papers of James Parkes (MS 60) and the Council of Christians and Jews (MS 65).

Nuremberg Trials material (MS 200) includes transcripts for the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and for the twelve subsequent US zonal trials at Nuremberg.

See Introduction to the Anglo-Jewish Archives to find out more about the collections and Visiting Special Collections for information on how to access them.

Re-sourcing Jewish History and Culture

A variety of primary sources, discussed, edited and curated by members of the Parkes Institute can be found on the Re-sourcing Jewish history and Culture site. These are available for everyone to use. 

Online Archive Collections

Archives Unbound provides members of the University with digital access to a number of archive collections held elsewhere. Those relevant to Parkes include: