May 2, 1996 Contact: Barbara McKenna (408) 459-2495; mckenna@ua.ucsc.edu

MAY 6 OPENING PRESENTS ARCHIVE DOCUMENTING ONE FAMILY'S EXPERIENCES FROM WWII

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--A reception is planned to celebrate the opening of a special archive recently acquired by the University Library at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The archive documents the family history of a local woman who narrowly escaped Nazi persecution during World War II.

A short program is planned to introduce the Neufeld Family Archive, presented last year to UCSC by Anne Neufeld Levin, a Santa Cruz resident. The opening takes place on Monday, May 6, at 3 p.m. in Special Collections in McHenry Library and is free and open to the public. A reception follows.

At the age of three, Levin fled from Austria with her parents, Henry and Hedy Neufeld, just as Hitler's troops invaded Czechoslovakia. Last year, on the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, she donated her extensive family archive to the university. Housed at Special Collections in McHenry Library, the archive includes documents, photos, memorabilia, and letters that were carefully preserved first by her parents and then by Levin.

Among the items on display will be the letter Levin's father wrote to the American couple who took in her brother when he was sent ahead of the rest of the family. "My father wrote the letter thinking he would never see my brother again," Levin said. Also included are the identity papers, passports, and other correspondence that Levin's family carried following the Nazi occupation of Austria, many marked with swastikas or a large 'J', which identified the carrier as Jewish.

Also in the archive are family mementos such as the handmade lacework of Hedy Neufeld.

Anne Levin is a longtime supporter of UCSC. She is a trustee and past president of the UCSC Foundation. At the same time that she donated her family archive, Levin presented the university with a $250,000 gift to establish the Neufeld-Levin Holocaust Chair. The interdisciplinary endowed chair will support teaching, research, and public service related to the study of the Holocaust. Levin also provided funding to establish the Neufeld-Levin Holocaust Lecture Series at UCSC's Stevenson College. Each year, the series presents a prominent scholar in the field of Holocaust studies.

A selection of materials from the archive will be on exhibit from May 6 through June 14 in Special Collections, which is open Monday through Friday and Saturday, May 18, from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. Guests at the May 6 opening may park free after 2:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts parking lot (lot # 126). For more information, call (408) 459-2547.

This release is also available on the World Wide Web at UCSC's "Services for Journalists" site (http://www.ucsc.edu/news/journalist.html).

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