Brandeis Library Acquires Caroline Goldbach Israeli Stamp Collection

The collection highlights how “ordinary” lives can reflect much broader historical narratives. Caroline Goldbach, nee Meyers (1922-2020), lived her entire life in Indianapolis, Ind. There, she met Fritz Goldbach, who had fled Nazi Germany in December 1938, six weeks after Kristallnacht. Fritz’s two sisters, Ilse Chorin and Martha Speyer, escaped to Israel. Over the years, Ilse and Martha, along with other family friends, sent stamps from Israel to Caroline, forming a material link among the dispersed siblings. The collection was donated to Special Collections by Caroline Goldbach's two daughters, Anne Goldbach and Lisa Goldbach Geisse.

Stamps also highlight additional aspects of Israeli society, culture, and scientific achievements. And one celebrates Kibbutz Tirat Zvi, whose 1938 founders included a large number of recent immigrants from Germany, and home to Ilse Goldbach Chorin and her family. The Goldbach Collection beautifully complements an as yet uncataloged collection of earlier Israeli stamps held by the library.

For more information on these collections and other collections, email ascdepartment@brandeis.edu or Judaica Librarian Rachel Greenblatt at rgreenblatt@branedies.edu. For more on Brandeis’s distinctive collections, visit the Brandeis University Archives and Special Collections website.