2 July 1938

Iish Lends a Book to Kautsky's

The IISH had existed a scant three years when, on July 2, 1938, a celebrity visited the reading room. Luise Kautsky and her husband Karl had been forced to settle in Amsterdam in March 1938, as they escaped from the Nazis. The much respected social-democrats were sheltered by Dutch supporters in the Netherlands. Although his health was deteriorating and his eyesight limited, the 83-year-old Kautsky continued to work and keep abreast of political developments. At the IISH the Kautskys borrowed La Naissance du Fascisme, a book purchased in 1938. Reading room assistant Berti Willekes Mac Donald helped fill out the request form. She and her husband to be, the Russian Menshevik Boris Sapir, became close friends of the Kautsky family. The Kautsky archive was transferred to the IISH after Karl's death in October 1938.

See also:

•  Kautsky papers (in German)
•  Kautsky papers online

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