Elly Borochowicz's unprocessed papers comprise six linear feet. The materials included in this collection date from 1913 to 1985. Only a few items precede 1942. The bulk of the records range from 1942 to 1984. While there are a few personal photographs among the records, the collection contains almost solely paper materials. Among the materials are office correspondence and personal correspondence, reports, memos to the Executive council of the AFL CIO, newspaper clippings, translations of correspondence and foreign press articles, printed materials, and Elly and Leo Borochowicz's manuscripts and research notes. Most of the collection is in English. There is, however, a considerable amount of material in German, much less in French, and some of Leo Borochowicz's research notes are in Russian.
The collection conceptually falls into three broad series. (For a description of the actual arrangement, see the container listing.) The first series includes personal documents such as resumes and letters recommending Leo Borochowicz's admission to the New School for Social Research. The second series consists of work related papers. This series consists of four sub series, office files, individual correspondents and topics, a section concerning labor in the Soviet Union and China, and a section concerning Yugoslavia. The third broad series includes personal papers. This series breaks down into two sub series, manuscripts and personal correspondence. While the collection was originally in considerable dissaray, the folder headings which Elly Borochowicz assigned to these materials were generally accurate descriptions of their contents. As far as possible, Elly Borochowicz's original arrangement of these documents guided their present order.
The Personal Documents series contains resumes, correspondence concerning the attempted publication of Elly's manuscript on Germany in the post WWI years, letters regarding Leo's admission to the New School for Social Research and several other items. The Work Related Materials primarily contain reports and correspondence. Most documents concern the efforts of the AFL and AFL-CIO to counteract the U.S. There is especially thorough documentation on Germany. Principal correspondents, in addition to Elly and Leo Borochowicz, are Jay Lovestone and Irving Brown, head of the International Affairs Department of the AFL-CIO. Some correspondence is in German. There are several folders of articles, reports and speeches written by Elly for Lovestone, George Meany and others. There are copies of Soviet and Chinese labor regulations and reports on labor in these and other countries. The Writings and Personal Correspondence series contains a lengthy correspondence, entirely in German, between Elly and Leo Borochowicz, 1950-53, and other correspondence. There are also lectures given by Elly in 1942 at Cedar Crest Women's College (PA), a typescript of her unpublished "Political struggle for economic reconstruction" which discusses the German situation in the years 1918-20. Materials created by Leo include brief constitutional histories of 46 countries done for a UN human rights project, research notes on Russia, and papers written for classes taken at the New School.
The collection falls into three broad series. The first series includes personal documents such as resumes and letters recommending Leo Borochowicz's admission to the New School for Social Research. The second series consists of work related papers. This series consists of four sub series, office files, individual correspondents and topics, a section concerning labor in the Soviet Union and China, and a section concerning Yugoslavia. The third broad series includes personal papers. This series breaks down into two sub series, manuscripts and personal correspondence. While the collection was originally in considerable dissaray, the folder headings which Elly Borochowicz assigned to these materials were generally accurate descriptions of their contents. As far as possible, Elly Borochowicz's original arrangement of these documents guided their present order.
I. Personal Documents
This series contains few documents. It includes resumes, letters concerning the possible publication of Elly Borochowicz's manuscript, and letters regarding Leo Borochowicz's admission to the New School for Social Research. This is the only artificially assembled sub series. While there was a folder devoted to Leo Borochowicz's school documents, resumes and letters concerning Elly Borochowicz's manuscript were found loose among research notes. This is a valuable section as it sheds light on the various parts of the whole collection. For instance, the notes written in Russian long remained a mystery until a letter was found written by Leo Borochowicz to a Professor Pollock apologizing for a delay in his research on Russia due to an illness from which his wife was suffering at the time.
Il. Work Related Materials
A. Office Files, 1948 1985
Elly Borochowicz had marked several folders variously "FTUN", "Office", "Office Mail", and "AFL CIO Int'l Affairs Dpt". These folder titles represent different names for the same types of documents. Within these folders were correspondence between Lovestone and Leo Borochowicz, Lovestone and Elly Borochowicz, correspondence from Irving Brown and various German and French labor leaders. (Elly and Leo Borochowicz kept carbon copies of their outgoing correspondence, and, therefore, their letters are unsigned copies.) Also within these folders were reports and draft reports to the Executive Council of the AFL CIO and the ICFTU, press clips from foreign labor papers, translations, and printed matter. Sometimes reports and memos were attached to correspondence; in other instances, they were not. The documents within folders were in very rough chronological order. For instance, a folder might contain primarily documents written in 1963. Perhaps a few documents from 1962 and 1964 would be included as well. As far as possible, the documents have been arranged in chronological order. Where attachments existed, they have been kept together with the correct piece of correspondence. Correspondence and loose attachments have been paired when it seemed likely that they were related. Where items seemed incorrectly attached to correspondence, the item remained attached to the correspondence, and a note questioning the relationship of the attached items has been included. Internal evidence and original location of items were considered when determining placement of undated materials. The undated pieces were then placed in a folder with an assigned year or years. These items follow dated material of the same year. For instance, after a folder entitled "Correspondence and Reports 6/72 12/72" , might be placed a folder entitled "Correspondence and Reports. Undated 1972". Probably because of their familiarity with the German culture and the German language, Elly and Leo Borochowicz, in their work for the AFL CIO, concerned themselves primarily with events and developments in Germany. The researcher will find material concerning many nations in this collection, however the bulk of the material relates to Germany. Through knowledge gained from their contacts with labor leaders from the German Trade Union Center (Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB)) and political leaders in the German Socialist Party (SPD) and through a thorough reading of the German press, Elly and Leo Borochowicz wrote analyses of developments within the German labor movement. Much of the emphasis on German affairs must also be due to the widely held belief that Germany stood as the bulwark against communist Russia. Any attempts made by Soviet trade union officials to develop contacts with German trade unions were viewed by the International Affairs Department of the AFL CIO as an attempt to subvert the free labor movement which would end in a take over of Germany by Russia. Thus, for instance, when certain trade unions within the DGB pursued a policy of "Ostkontakte", a free exchange of ideas and visits between German trade unions and trade unions behind the Iron Curtain, there is in the present collection a corresponding spate of reports and correspondence denouncing this policy. There is some material on France throughout the collection, but the treatment of France in this collection is spotty. The most extensive treatment of developments in France occurs in the mid 1960's after Charles De Gaulle regained power in France. De Gaulle desired to follow a more neutralist course in his relations with the Communist world than one with which the United States government and the International Affairs Department of the AFL CIO felt comfortable. De Gaulle's movements were viewed as a threat which would weaken North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and any attempt to weaken NATO was perceived by those in the International Affairs Department of the AFL CIO as a threat to the security of the Western World. There is also a fair amount of material in the late 1950 s and through the 1960's concerning African trade unions. Irving Brown as well as Elly Borochowicz and Jay Lovestone saw in the African Revolutionary movements a chance to develop free trade union movements in Africa, and they considered it essential that America act as a guide in the trade union movements of emerging nations such as Algeria and Tunisia before the Soviet controlled WFTU took over these fledgling trade unions. Several themes recur throughout this series. The AFL CIO's relationship with the ICFTU appears often in the correspondence and reports. Jay Lovestone and Irving Brown often attended ICFTU conferences and wrote Elly Borochowicz their impressions of these meetings. Generally, they viewed the ICFTU as ineffectual and not aggressive enough in countering the "communist threat". The importance of NATO to the Free World is also a constant theme. The descriptions of deceitful and subversive tactics employed by the Soviet Union is the predominant preoccupation of the actors in this collection. Almost every document within this series, directly or indirectly, refers to the communist threat. The AFL¬CIO's support of the Vietnam war is often discussed. Finally, the publication of the FTUN is a constant concern for both Elly Borochowicz and Lovestone. In their letters, they discussed the articles to be included in each issue, and they discussed the constant editing of articles to make them appropriate for the FTUN readership. It should be noted that while much has been written of Jay Lovestone's activities in Latin America, very little of the collection touches upon that part of the world. Further, there has been much speculation concerning Lovestone's connections to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). While the knowledgeable researcher may, based upon prior research, be able to draw inferences and conclusions concerning Lovestone's connections to the CIA from it, there is almost no direct mention of the CIA in this collection. What comments were made were made by way of e s t .
B. Individual Correspondents and Topics, 1949 1985
In a few instances, Elly Borochowicz grouped material by a particular person or topic. There are, for instance, a few folders originally entitled, "Correspondence George Leber". There were two folders entitled "Articles Written by Me and Comments about Them". These materials fall within the purview of "Work Related Papers" because they concern Elly Borochowicz's work for either the AFL CIO or Jay Lovestone. Again, correspondence and reports were arranged in chronological order. Most of the material from individual correspondents is in German, and, therefore, no fair impression of the content of these materials can yet be ventured. The folders entitled "Articles Written by Me ..." are intriguing because they include published pieces signed by George Meany and Jay Lovestone. A study of the whole collection reveals that Elly helped write speeches for Meany and often wrote drafts for reports presented by Jay Lovestone to the Executive Council.
C. The Soviet Union and China, 1938 1956
In folders originally marked "Manuscripts Leo and Elly", there were, in addition to Elly and Leo Borochowicz's manuscripts, several documents and reports concerning Russia and China. The various documents include English copies of Soviet and Chinese labor regulations. For instance, there are Soviet trade union statutes and by laws. There is also a document entitled "Regulations Governing Supplies to the Ukhta Pechora Camp". Each Document has been placed in a separate folder and arranged alphabetically by title. Several of the reports are independent studies written by authors other than Elly and Leo Borochowicz. Primarily, these reports discuss forced labor in the Soviet Union and in China. Each report has been placed in a separate folder and arranged alphabetically by author. From information gleaned from documents found with some of these reports, it seems likely that these reports belong with "Work Related Papers". (Appendix A). These reports provided Elly Borochowicz and Lovestone and other researchers for the International Affairs Department with material for the FTUN
D. Yugoslavia
Several folders were originally devoted to Yugoslavia. Correspondence and reports concerning Yugoslavia have been arranged chronologically. The emphasis of these materials is the undemocratic nature of the Yugoslavian trade unions. There are also several pamphlets relating to Yugoslavia and periodicals in English distributed by the Yugoslavian government. These pamphlets and periodicals have been arranged chronologically. They have been kept in the collection because they may give the researcher a clue to the materials used by Elly and Leo Borochowicz in writing reports and memos.
II. Leo and Elly's Manuscripts, 1942 1985
Included in this series are manuscript papers and research notes not associated with the work of the FTUC or the International Affairs Department of the AFL CIO, correspondence between Elly and Leo Borochowicz when Leo Borochowicz was in Germany, Elly Borochowicz's correspondence with personal friends, and letters of condolence following Leo Borochowicz's death.
A. Elly Borochowicz s Manuscript Papers
i. Lectures, 1942
In 1942, Elly Borochowicz gave at least three lectures on Nazi Germany at Cedar Crest Women's college in Pennsylvania. The circumstances under which she gave these lectures are not clear. We do not know whether she was a guest speaker in a regular class or whether she gave these talks at an informal meeting. The lectures, as they appear in the collection, are written out; there are no typed copies. Each lecture has been placed in its own folder. In these lectures, Elly considered post war reconstruction, the position of women in Nazi Germany, and the Church in Nazi Germany.
ii. Manuscript
While still in Germany, Elly Borochowicz began work on her manuscript on Germany between 1918 and 1920 entitled Political Struggle for Economic Reconstruction. This section includes handwritten drafts of the manuscript, typed written copies in German and English and some of the notes she assembled while pursuing her topic. In addition to providing a general survey of Germany in the early twentieth century, this manuscript deals chiefly with the social and political developments in Germany following World War I (WWI), and Borochowicz pays particular attention to the role of the labor movement in these changes. The manuscript also discusses the Soviets' influence in the German uprisings of 1918 and their reactions to those uprisings.
B. Leo Borochowicz's Papers
i. School Papers, 1948
As mentioned earlier, Leo Borochowicz continued his education at the New School for Social Research in 1947. It seems likely that a number of the papers in this collection are research papers he wrote during his studies at the New School. Unlike the memos and reports he wrote during his work for the Free Trade Union Committee, these papers have cover sheets. All are dated in 1948. They have footnotes such formalities were not observed in his office work and they deal with a wide variety of topics, many of which would not have been of particular interest to the aims of the Free Trade Union Committee. Finally, these papers are far more descriptive than analytical. Elly Borochowicz saved a number of these research papers, and each paper has been placed in a separate folder and arranged alphabetically by title.
ii. Human Rights, 1940
Leo Borochowicz was involved in a project for the UN in which he wrote brief constitutional histories of forty six countries throughout the world. These histories range in length from one to eight pages, and each one traces the development of constitutional rights, such as the freedom to worship and rights of assembly, and the development of social legislation. While these summaries were found together, there was no discernible order among them, and they have been placed in alphabetical order by country.
iii. Research on Russia, 1944(?)
Leo Borochowicz worked on a research project for a Dr. Pollock. It is not clear whether or not he completed this project. We have a number of Leo Borochowicz hand written research notes, many of which are in Russian and a very brief summary of initial findings. The notes were taken on stencil pads and have been left as they were found. The brief summary has been placed in a folder preceding the notes.
D. Personal Correspondence, 1949 1985
Elly Borochowicz kept her personal correspondence separate from office correspondence. There is a very lengthy correspondence between her and her husband in the early 1950's. All of these letters are in German, and it is not certain whether they shed light on the work of the FTUC. Elly Borochowicz also had a number of friends with whom she maintained contact. She kept the letters of individuals separated from each other and this arrangement has been maintained. The letters however have been arranged chronologically. Much of this correspondence is in German; some is in English. While this correspondence may not directly bear upon her work for the AFL CIO, it reveals Borochowicz's personality. Elly Borochowicz was very professional and objective in her office work, and little of her personality seeps through her office mail. Her personal correspondence, however, shows a woman who is sympathetic and warm yet honest and direct in her opinions and judgements.
E. Condolences, 1953
Leo Borochowicz died in 1953, and Elly Borochowicz received many letters of condolence. These too she separated from her other personal correspondence, and this separation was respected in the present arrangement. Aside from being in a folder separate from her other personal correspondence, there was no discernible order within these letters. Since Elly Borochowicz s friends and acquaintances sent these letters in a very brief space of time, they have been arranged alphabetically by the senders last name as opposed to chronologically. This section gives us an idea of Elly and Leo Borochowicz's circle of friends and tells us something of Leo Borochowicz's personality.
