Contents

• Introductory notes and survey
• Features about selected archives and their Trotskyana collections
• Index of collection creators

Introductory notes and survey

[For introductory notes see Public Archives : America]
Features are provided (or will be provided in the future) about archival collections relevant to Trotsky and Trotskyism preserved at:

• International Institute of Social History (IISH) (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
• Glasgow University Library, Special Collections Department (Glasgow, Britain)
• Glasgow Caledonian University (Glasgow, Britain)
• Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick (MRC) (Coventry, Britain)
• Brynmor Jones Library, University of Hull (BJL) (Hull, Britain)
• Senate House Library, University of London (SHL) (London, Britain)
• Schweizerisches Sozialarchiv (SSA) (Zurich, Switzerland)
• Archiv APO und Soziale Bewegungen (APO-Archiv) (Berlin, Germany)
• Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Archiv der Sozialen Demokratie (FES) (Bonn, Germany)
• Bibliothèque de Documentation Internationale Contemporaine - Musée d’Histoire Contemporaine (BDIC) (Nanterre, France). Under construction
• Arbejdermuseet & Arbejderbevægelsens Bibliotek og Arkiv (ABA) (Copenhagen, Denmark)
• Archives de l’Institut de Sociologie de Bruxelles (Brussels, Belgium)
• AMSAB - Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis (Gent, Belgium)
• Dokumentationsarchiv des Österreichischen Widerstandes (DÖW) (Vienna, Austria). Under construction

Features about selective archives
 and their Trotskyana collections
 

International Institute of Social History
(Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
 

Some general informations about IISH.
The Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis (IISG) at Amsterdam (The Netherlands), better known under its English name International Institute of Social History (IISH), is one of the world’s largest and best organized documentary and research facilities in the field of social history in general and the history of the international labour movement in particular. Its holdings, as a rule, are open to the public. As of 2004, IISH holds over 2,700 archival collections, some 1,000,000 printed volumes and as many audio-visual items including photographs and posters, altogether amounting to more than 10,000 shelfmetres.
IISH is host to a considerable number of organizations and institutions, e.g. IALHInet, an international library network on labour history, ID-Archiv, a documentation centre for new social and alternative movements in Germany, the International Association of Labour History Institutions (IALHI), the Internationale Marx-Engels-Stiftung (IMES) (charged with the editing of the collected works of Marx and Engels, MEGA), Nederlands Persmuseum (Netherlands Press Museum), Nederlands Economisch Historisch Archief (Netherlands Economic History Archive, (NEHA), Gosudarstvennaia Obshchestvenno-Politicheskaia Biblioteka (Social-Political State Library, Moscow), etc.
IISH is issuing and/or sponsoring various scholarly journals and newsletters in English or Dutch, as for example International Review of Social History (IRSH), Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis, Jaarboek voor Vrouwengeschiedenis, MEGA-Studien. IISH maintains branch offices in Berlin and Moscow, too. It closely co-operates with social history research facilities all over the world. It carries out and stimulates scholarly research and is at the same time a well-respected meeting place for researchers from all over the world organizing conferences and symposia. An impressive number of books resulting from research work done at IISH have been published either by international academic publishing houses or by IISH’s own inhouse publishing unit, Uitgeverij Stichting beheer IISG; a significant number of publications has been authored (or co-authored) by IISH staff members. Additionally, there are several dozen working papers and research papers available on the IISH server in digital format, downloadable for free. The Biographical dictionary of socialism and the worker’s movement in the Netherlands can also be consulted on-line. IALHI serials service provides topical on-line contents of some 100 relevant journals and newsletters.
The IISH online catalogue (OPAC) holds records of almost all books, pamphlets and journals in the library of the IISH including the holdings of the Netherlands Press Museum and of Netherlands Economic History Archive. The catalogue also includes records of almost all IISH archival collections and of most of its image and sound collections. As of spring 2004, the catalogue altogether holds some 900,000 records, among them 2,700 archival collections. Archival search tools, however, are not part of the IISH OPAC.
IISH is located at Cruquiusweg 31, NL-1019, AT Amsterdam, The Netherlands, tel.: +31-20-6685866. For general information e-mail to: info@iisg.nl. As of 2004, Director of the IISH is Jaap Klosterman.

About the IISH website and the electronic finding aids.
IISH maintains an exhaustive and excellently designed website where detailed informations (chiefly in English, partly in Dutch, German and other languages) are provided about generalities, services, hours, addresses, news, events, collections, databases, digitized collections, research projects, staff members, own book publications and publishers, annual reports, journals, and exhibitions. An extraordinary extensive link collection is provided, too, listing more than 3,000 links, among them more than 1,600 to major websites for labour history, more than 360 to major women and gender studies websites, and more than 800 to websites which have linked theirs to IISH. Thanks to the WWW, remote users outnumber those in IISH’s reading room by about 150:1.
Of special interest to those who are seeking information about IISH's very rich archival collections should be the index page called Archives, providing information about more of 2,800 (as of Sept. 2005) collections preserved at IISH. Users have various options to browse the archives index, e.g. by A-Z or by country; a list of all archives (518 KB) is available, too. Every index entry is linked to a brief description of the respective collection (descriptions of Dutch archives are in Dutch, those of non-Dutch archives in English). As of Autumn 2005, IISH provides full inventories or similar finding aids for more than 1,000 archival collections, accessible by a link in the respective brief description.
It should be mentioned here, too, that for a considerable number of collections printed and published guides or inventories are also available,  published as a rule within the IISG werkuitgave (IISG working paper) numbered series. For more information concerning the archives collections you may contact Mieke Ijzermans at mij@iisg.nl.

Some notes about IISH’s history.
The IISH was officially established in November 1935, but its history goes back to 1914 when Nicolaas Wilhelmus Posthumus (1880-1960), a social democrat, pioneer of modern economic history in The Netherlands and an outstanding book and document collector, set up the Netherlands Economic History Archive (NEHA), concentrating on the preservation of archives of companies and related organizations and other sources relevant to economic history. In view of the menace of fascism and barbarism in Germany and other European countries and in view of the unfolding Stalinist tyranny in the USSR, Posthumus decided to take care of and to safe from destruction or dispersal the 'paper legacy', as archives could be defined, of those social movements as well of their leaders and theoreticians threatened by fascism and/or Stalinism. Posthumus intended to set up a politically neutral, scholarly institution and was fortunate to meet Nehemia de Lieme, the director of a big Dutch insurance company, De Centrale, which had close ties to the social-democratic movement whom he could convince of his initiative. Thus, thanks to extraordinary funds provided by De Centrale, the institute could be built up in the second half of the 1930s with a special focus on saving relevant material from all over Europe, for example the archival legacy of Marx and Engels, the Kautsky papers, the archives of the SPD (Social-Democratic Party of Germany), etc. In view of the threat of a new World War, Posthumus, IISH’s first director - he retired in 1952 - set up a subsidiary of the IISH in Britain where the most valuable archives were taken to safety since it became clear that Hitler’s troops would not stop at The Netherlands’ border even in case of Dutch neutrality. In July 1940, after The Netherlands had been occupied by the Wehrmacht, the IISH was closed, and in the following months most of those IISH holdings which had remained at Amsterdam instead of being evacuated to Britain were shipped to Germany. The bulk of the stolen material was only rediscovered in 1946 near Hannover (British occupation zone) and could soon be brought back to Amsterdam. Other portions of the IISH holdings were later found in Poland and in the USSR; all in all, war-time losses proved remarkably small. Nevertheless, it took almost a decade before IISH was back to normal. Thanks to financial assistance from the University of Amsterdam, the City of Amsterdam, the Wiedergutmachungsfonds and the Ford Foundation, the IISH could be re-opened in 1951 and gradually began to recover during the 1950s; in the 1960s and 1970s, benefiting from a remarkably growing interest in social research, it could resume its task of saving archives and acquiring relevant material on a large scale. Since 1979 the IISH has worked within the framework of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In view of constantly growing holdings, IISH found a new accomodation in Amsterdam’s eastern docks redevelopment area in 1989. In recent years the focus of collection development has shifted to Asia (IISH maintains branch offices in Ankara, Karachi, Dakha and Semarang) and to Eastern Europe; since the dissolution of the USSR the IISH has closely co-operated with the Rossiiskii Centr Khraneniia i Izucheniia Dokumentov Noveishei Istorii, part of the former Institut Marksizma-Leninizma in Moscow where the collections are partly complementary to the archives of the IISH.

Some notes about the Trotsky Papers at IISH.
When in 1929 Leon Trotsky, his wife Natalia Sedova and their son Lev Sedov were expelled from the USSR they took a considerable part of their papers with them. From the very beginning of their exile years, Trotsky and Sedov spent the rest of their days tirelessly exposing the counter-revolutionary policies of Stalin and the ruling caste of Soviet bureaucrats. They began to build up an International Left Opposition which eventually resulted in the creation of a new, Fourth International. Both men maintained hundreds of contacts to militants in various countries of the world, extensively exchanging letters with them. Trotsky was more busy then ever before writing manuscripts for books and journals, edited the Biulleten’ oppozitsii and for some years could even keep letter contact with oppositional Bolcheviks in the USSR. He never ceased writing, not even under the most trying of circumstances, unwanted by bourgeois governments, slandered and attacked by the Stalinists, with his closest collaborators either arrested, broken or murdered by the GPU. The papers of Trotsky and Sedov documented their life and tireless struggle and also functioned as a means of defence, e.g. against the monstrous charges leveled against them in the famous Moscow witch trials of the 1930s. Quite understandably, Trotsky was almost as much concerned about the safety of his archives as about his own life. IISH acquired 3 portions of the Trotsky papers (or, Trotsky-Sedov papers, respectively):
— In December 1935 Trotsky sold a portion of his extensive papers, some 800 documents covering the years 1917-1922 (containing hundreds of letters, telegrams and memoranda exchanged between Lenin and him), to the just founded IISH. This collection was called by Trotsky himself the Lenin-Trotsky correspondence although there were included communications from others, too. In 1939 these papers were evacuated to Oxford and only after WW II returned to Amsterdam and were later published.
— In 1936 negotiations about the purchase of further parts of Trotsky’s archives were successfully carried on between IISH and Sedov, then living in Paris and acting on behalf of his father then living in Norway. Some parts of this acquisition had already been transported to the Paris branch office of the IISH when in the night of Nov. 6/7, 1936 the office was broken into with the object of taking possession of Trotsky’s archives (see note below). According to Sedov only a portion of those papers actually were stolen - probably by agents of Stalin’s secret service - while other portions remained untouched but eventually, legally or illegally, came into Boris Nicolaevsky’s hands instead of arriving at IISH - indeed an archival mystery story - and were only re-discovered some 50 years later within the gigantic Nicolaevsky Collection which in 1963 had been deposited at Hoover Institution, Stanford, California. Trotsky, again very concerned about the fate of his archives, decided to take his papers to Mexico when leaving Europe in winter 1936/37. As mentioned elsewhere, he sold his archives some years later to Harvard University; these archives later became known as the Trotsky Papers at Houghton Library, Cambridge, Mass.
— However, a certain part of Trotsky’s papers remained in Europe when he set sails for Mexico. After the death of his son Lev Sedov in Paris (February 1938), Trotsky himself got in contact with IISH in order to transfer the remaining portion of his Paris archives to the IISH for saving them. The IISH annual report of 1939 made mention of a collection acquisition from a certain 'Abel', obviously a codeword for Leon Trotsky who often refered to his archfoe Stalin as 'Cain'. The collection was probably acquired in July 1939 and consisted chiefly of manuscripts and correspondence from 1929 to 1937 including a lively letter exchange between Trotsky, Sedov and Sedova, records of the International Secretariat of the International Left Opposition and its successors, and correspondence with and between various Trotskyists in Europe. This collection of papers has been designated by the IISH as Lev Trotsky and the International Left Opposition (ILO) / International Communist League (ICL) 1917-1919 (1920-1929) 1930-1934 (-1939). It consists of some 1,300 items (6 m) listed in an on-line inventory (see also below.)

Sources/further information:

• Hutink, M.: Het Trotski-Archief, in: Hutink,  M.: De papieren van de revolutie, Amsterdam, 1986, pp.85-90.
• Veen, Hermien van: Inventory of the collection Lev Trotsky and the International Left Opposition (ILO) / International Communist League (ICL) 1917-1919 (1920-1929) 1930-1934 (-1937). Amsterdam : Stichting beheer IISG, 1990. 61 pp. (IISG-werkuitgaven ; 15)
• Guide to the international archives and collections at the IISH, Amsterdam / Jaap Haag and Atie van der Horst (eds). Amsterdam : IISH, 1999. 608 pp. [Printed guide to all IISH non-Dutch archive collections as of 1998. IISH’s journal International Review of Social History annually publishes supplements to the Guide.]
• Bibliography of the IISH in the twentieth century. [Part of IISH’s website. More than 300 titles about IISH’s history, collections etc. are listed.]

Collections relevant to Trotsky/Trotskyism preserved at IISH:

Note: For detailed annotations concerning the scope, contents and history of the collections listed here see the highlighted abstracts, on-line finding aids, or the printed guide mentioned above.

• Cornelissen, Igor, period: 1936-1999. Size: 6.5 m. On-line finding aid not yet available; preliminary inventory in the repository. Abstract.
• Deutscher, Isaac, period: 1929-1967. Size: 7.35 m. On-line finding aid. See also our bio-bibliographical sketch [PDF] about Isaac Deutscher within TrotskyanaNet.
• Dolleman, Willem F., period: 1911-1983. Size: 1 m. On-line finding aid.
• Dunayevskaja, Raja, period: 1924-1987. 8 microfilms (copies from originals held at Reuther Library, Archives of Labor & Urban Affairs, Wayne State University (Detroit, Mich.) On-line finding aid not yet available. Abstract
• Fourth International. International Secretariat, period: 1958-1959. Size: 0.12 m. On-line finding aid not yet available; list in the repository. Abstract. This collection contains correspondence of the IS with the Latin American Bureau of the FI, with representatives of the FI in various countries and with Patrick O’Daniel (Sherry Mangan).
• Gruppe Internationale Marxisten (GIM). Deutsche Sektion der IV. Internationale, Ortsgruppe Hamburg ..., period: 1970-1986. Size: 3.62 m. On-line finding aid
• Hart, Piet van’t (ps.: Max Perthus), period: 1916-1983. Size: 1.35 m. On-line finding aid.
• Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire (France), period: 1968-1989. Size: 0.6 m. On-line finding aid not yet available. Abstract.
• Ligue Communiste (France), period: 1929-1938. Size: 1.25 m. On-line finding aid.
• Mandel, Ernest Esra, period: 1943-1995. Size: 18.25 m (consultation restricted). Also  contains papers of Gisela Mandel (b. Scholtz), Mandel’s first wife. On-line finding aid. For a short description see also the Ernest Mandel section within TrotskyanaNet
• Prager, Rodolphe, period: (1889-) 1921-1996. Size: 9.75 m. On-line finding aid.
• Quatrième Internationale Posadiste, period: 1962-1981. Size: 0.75 m. On-line finding aid not yet available; list in the repository. Abstract.
• Revolutionair-Socialistische Partij (RSP), period: 1928-1940. Size: 1.4 m. On-line finding aid. A printed inventory is also available.
• Revolutionnair-Communistische Partij (RCP), period: 1949-1960 (-1980). Size: 0.15 m. On-line finding aid not yet available. Abstract.
• Rühle, Otto, period: 1933-1943. Size: 0.35 m. On-line finding aid.
• Santen, Sal, period: (1912) 1932-1998. Size: 2.75 m. On-line finding aid. See also our bio-bibliographical sketch [PDF] about Sal Santen.
• Samary, Catherine, period: 1949-1989. Size: 0.25 m Abstract.
• Scheuer, Georg, period: (1937-) 1940-1949 (-1954). Size: 1,4 m. On-line finding aid.
• Sneevliet, Henk, period: (1901) 1907-1942 (1945-1984). Size: 6.8 m. On-line finding aid.
• Socialistiese Arbeiderspartij, period: (1938-) 1970-1999. Size: 37.5 m. On-line finding aid.
• Thalmann, Paul and Clara Thalmann-Ensner, period: 1920-1986. Size: 3 m. On-line finding aid.
• Tichelman, Fritjof, period: ca. (1910-) 1945-1990. Size: 2.9 m. On-line finding aid not yet available. Abstract.
• Trotsky, Lev - International Left Opposition (ILO), period: 1917-1919 (1920-1929) 1930-1934 (-1939). Size: 6 m. On-line finding aid. A printed inventory is also available.
• Vereeken, Georges, period: 1925-1978. Size: 7 m. On-line finding aid not yet available; inventory and list in repository. Abstract.
• Jacobs-Veber, Sara [Weber, Sara], period: 1935, 1940-1961. Size: 0.1 m. On-line finding aid not yet available. Abstract.

Glasgow University Library, Special Collections Department
(Glasgow, Britain)

Built up over a period of more than 500 years by purchase, gift and bequest, the Special Collections Department today houses more than 200,000 manuscript items and around 2,000,000 printed works including over 1,000 incunabula. As of 2004, Keeper of Special Collections is David Weston. The address of the Special Collections Department is: Hillhead Street, Glasgow G12 8QE, Scotland, Tel.: +44 (0)141 330 6767, e-mail: special@lib.gla.ac.uk.
With regard to Trotsky research, the Special Collections Department, a division of Glasgow University Library (GUL) at Glasgow, Scotland (Britain), cannot be considered as an archival repository, at least in a narrower sense of the term, since there are housed hardly unpublished or manuscript materials but books, pamphlets and other published items. However, we decided to feature it within the framework of this chapter since GUL Special Collections Department undoubtedly houses one of the world’s most exhaustive collections of Trotsky’s works.
The Trotsky Collection at Special Collections Department is closely connected with the name of the late Louis Sinclair (1909-1990), an internationally renowned Trotsky bibliographer and scholar who for several decades of his life extensively and systematically collected the works of Leon Trotsky in some 40 languages; his life and work has been featured in a separate section of TrotskyanaNet called Louis Sinclair. In 1983 he generously donated his unique collection of Trotsky’s writings to Glasgow University Library, insisting that this donation was treated as an 'anonymous' gift and that the books should not be supplied with bookplates or the like indicating whence they came. Thus the Sinclair Trotskyana Collection is hosted simply as The Trotsky Collection by the Special Collections Department of GUL. The original gift comprised some 1,800 editions of Trotsky's works – a considerable portion of which can be considered as rare books – ranging from his first ever published booklet (dated 1900) to reprints and posthumously published works from the 1970s and 1980s. Additionally the donation comprised hundreds of discrete journal and newspaper issues, clippings etc. containing contributions by Trotsky as well as a considerable number of secondary items about him. Last not least the Trotsky Collection also contains copies of Sinclair’s valuable unpublished bibliographical works on the pre-history of the Fourth International, as for example his The IS papers : source material for the history of the 4th International (typescript 1984, 359 pp.)
During the following years the Trotsky Collection has been augmented with other gifts, e.g. with a collection of papers and printed material which was donated by Tamara Deutscher, the widow of Trotsky's biographer Isaac Deutscher. Copies of two Trotsky films shot by Alex Buchman [bio-bibliographical sketch, PDF, 77 Kb] at Coyoacán in 1939/40 are also contained in the Trotsky Collection.
A small selection of GUL's rich Trotskyana holdings, altogether comprising some 5,000 items, was displayed at the library in autumn 1987 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Russian October revolution.
A card index of Trotsky's works arranged by language, together with an index of secondary materials and periodical items is availabe in the reading room of the Special Collections Department; many titles contained in the Sinclair donation are also to retrieve by browsing through the University Library's OPAC. A copy of Sinclair's painstaking Leon Trotsky : a bibliography in the Special Collections Department reference shelves contains the call numbers of the works in the collection, too. According to an information we got some years ago from David Weston, Head of the Special Collections Department, it is hoped at some point to issue a catalogue of the complete collection.

Sources:

• Trotsky : a display of material from the University's Trotsky Collection, Glasgow University Library, 26 October - 18 December / [introd. by David Weston]. [Glasgow : University Library, 1987]. [9 pp.]
• Leon Trotsky - a virtual exhibition / Glasgow University Library, Special Collections Department.  [Introd., chronology and catalogue written by David Weston, Oct. 1987 (adapted for the web by Sharon Lawler, Oct. 2007). The Trotsky Collection, a personal overview by Geoffrfey Swain]. Dated Oct. 2007, retrieved Febr. 2008
• Trotsky Collection [part of the website of GUL’s Special Collections Department. Last update: May 5, 2003. - Retrieved July 1, 2004]
• Lovell, Frank: Louis Sinclair (1909-1990), in: Bulletin in Defense of Marxism, 1990 (77), p. 34.

Glasgow Caledonian University
(Glasgow, Britain)

In 2002 the Library of the Glasgow Caledonian University (until 1993 named Glasgow Polytechnic) acquired some 370 boxes of Trotskyist related material for their archives. The collection is called:

• Glasgow Caledonian Archive of the Trotskyist Tradition (GCATT). According to the GCATT website a collection level description is in preparation (as of 2004). For further information Carole McCallum, the university archivist, should be consulted at C.McCallum@gcal.ac.uk. GCATT includes material relating to the Socialist Labour League (SLL), the Workers Revolutionary Party (WRP) and other British Trotskyist groups with a definite international thread running through the archive. Both English and foreign language material has been identified along with a vast selection of international newspapers, newsletters, pamphlets, journals and briefing documents. The archive will not be fully processed in the immediate future.

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
(Coventry, Britain)

The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is affiliated to the University of Warwick Library which is situated at Coventry CV4 7AL, England, phone: (0)24 76524219, fax: (0)24 76524211, e-mail: archives@warwick.ac.uk. MRC was founded in 1973. Its mission is collecting the primary sources for British political, social and economic history with special emphasis of labour history and the history of industrial relations. By far the biggest and most eminent archive of this kind in Britain, its principal holdings are made up by records of trade unions, political parties and pressure groups including the extra-parliamentary Left. As of 2004, Christine Woodland (e-mail: c.woodland@warwick.ac.uk) functions as archivist.
The holdings of MRC are quite considerable, amounting to several 1,000 shelfmetres of ephemera and archival collections. A summary guide to the Modern Records Centre’s holdings as part of MRC’s website provides an impression and a first orientation regarding the rich collections of personal and institutional papers preserved by MRC. Within each of the 9 sections of the summary guide, entries are arranged alphabetically and each entry comprises the name of the organization or individual, dates of the records held and the accession number; highlighted reference numbers indicate links to more detailed descriptions (collection level descriptions, as a rule) of the respective archive holding; search functions are integrated.

Some printed sources of information about MRC’s activities and collections have been issued by the University of Warwick, Coventry:

• Report. [ISSN 0309-1198, publ. annually in December since 1973]
• Information Bulletin. [ISSN 0309-0418, issued semi-annually in February and June]
• Storey, Richard and Janet Druker: Guide to the Modern Records Centre. 1977
• Storey, Richard and Christine Woodland: Summary guide to the Modern Records Centre. 1995. [Richard Storey was MRC’s long-time archivist.]

The following collections preserved at MRC are of special relevance to Trotskyism research:

• Colin Barker Papers (International Socialism Group), 1938-1975. 0.286 cubic m. Depositor’s prior permission is needed for access. Colin Barker (b. 1939) deposited this collection in 1977. Barker was a member of the International Socialists (IS) from 1962 and served on its Executive and National Committee in the 1960s and 1970s; furthermore he was co-editor of the journal International Socialism for several years. The collection includes minutes, circulars, bulletins and reports (1964-73), some correspondence, subject files and leftist newspaper issues. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.152.
• Tony Cliff Papers, 1945-2002. 0.23 cubic m. The collection consists of publications, drafts of publications, notes for speeches and other material. It is regarded as an initial deposit, i.e. further deposits are expected. Acquired from Tony Cliff’s family. Tony Cliff (1917-2000) was the founder of the Socialist Review Group, the International Socialist Tendency and a longtime leader of its British arm, the SWP (Socialist Workers Party) and of its predecessor, the IS (International Socialists). The collection was weeded for duplicates. There are no access restrictions. A container list is available in the respository. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.459.
• Jimmy Deane Papers, 1940-1965. 1.24 cubic m. Papers of Jimmy Deane (1921-2002), a veteran of the British Trotskyist movement, delegate to the International Secretariat of the Fourth International, and co-founder of the Revolutionary Socialist League (RSL) in 1956. He later left Britain, dropped from active politics but remained loyal to his convictions. Besides some 3,000 letters, the collection includes minutes, reports and other records of the Workers’ International League (WIL) and of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP). The collection was transferred to MRC from All Saints Library, Manchester Metropolitan University, in 1993 on indefinite loan. Original card index describing the collection is available in the searchroom. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.325.
• Hugo Dewar Papers, 1933-1937. 0.104 cubic m. No access restrictions. The collection consists of papers of Hugo Dewar (1908-1980), co-founder of the legendary Balham Group, a pioneering British Trotskyist group, and of the Marxist League. The collection includes unpublished manuscripts of H. Dewar, left-wing pamphlets and journals, press cuttings and a complete set of the very rare Red Flag (1933-1937). Donated to MRC in 1979 with further deposits added in 1980 and 1995. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.206.
• Reg Groves Papers, 1929-1976. 0.416 cubic m. No access restrictions. Reg(inald) Groves (1908-1988) was a pioneer of British Trotskyism who later turned to Christian socialism. The collection was purchased in 1977-80; journals and other material not belonging in an archival context were transferred to Warwick University Library. The collection includes minutes, correspondence and printed matter with regard to the British Left Opposition (BLO), 1929-33, material relating to Dewar’s role in the Labour Party, manuscripts of Dewar’s writings and miscellaneous material relating to his studies and to British labour history. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.172.
• Denzil Dean Harber papers, 1930s-1940s. 0.104 cubic m. No access restrictions. D.D. Harber (1909-1966) was a veteran of the British Trotskyist movement who actively worked in the Militant Group, the Revolutionary Socialist League (RSL-1930s) and the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) between 1932 and 1949. The collection includes papers (correspondence, minutes, circulars, etc.) of the just mentioned groups as well as of the Balham Group and the  Workers’ International League (WIL). The collection was deposited at MRC by the Harber family in 1977. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.151.
• Richard Hyman Papers (International Socialism Group), 1970-1973. 0.104 cubic m. No access restrictions. The collection is yet uncatalogued. It was deposited by R. Hyman (b. 1942) in 1980. Hyman is professor of industrial relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science and until 2001 was professor at Warwick University Business School. The papers include items documenting the industrial work of the International Socialists in the early 1970s. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.084.
• Steve Jefferys Papers (International Socialism Group / Socialist Workers Party), 1965-1980. 0.206 cubic m. No access restrictions. The collection was deposited by Steve Jefferys in 1982. Jefferys (b. 1945) is a longtime member of the International Socialists (IS) and its successor organization, the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). In the 1960s he was a leading student activist at LSE, later became a full-time industrial organizer and now teaches at the Department of Economics and Economic History, Manchester Metropolitan University. The papers include IS/SWP Executive Council papers, branch minutes, subject files, papers relating to student politics at LSE, manuscript notes,  and various publications. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.244.
• Richard Kuper Papers (International Socialism Group/Socialist Workers Party), 1950-1979. 0.206 cubic m. The collection was deposited at MRC by Richard Kuper, a former student activist and member of the International Socialists (IS) and of its successor, the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) led by Tony Cliff. The papers consist primarily of minutes, subjects files, records concerning student policy, miscellaneous publications and copies of the Socialist Review Group minutes (1950-53). On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.250.
• Frank Maitland / Henry Sara Papers, 1927-1955. 0.103 cubic m. No access restrictions. The collection was deposited with MRC in 1974, containing chiefly papers related to Trotskyist political activities including material of the British Section of the International Left Opposition (BSILO), press-cuttings and some correspondence. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.15.
• Bob Purdie Papers, 1951-1976. 0.26 cubic m. No access restrictions. The collection was purchased by MRC in 1977. Bob Purdie (b. 1940) has been an active member of the Amalgamated Engineering Union on Clydebank and successively a member of the Young Socialists, the Socialist Labour League (SLL) and the International Marxist Group (IMG), where he served as a full-timer, a member of the Central Committee (1967-1974) and a staff writer with its organ Red Weekly. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Finding aid available in the repository. Call phrase: MSS.149.
• Stirling Smith Papers (International Socialism Group / Socialist Workers Party), 1971-1977. 0.052 cubic m. No access restrictions. Smith was involved in student politics at Hull University. This small collection primarily consists of leaflets and other ephemera. Deposited by Smith in 1979. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.205.
• (Ken) Tarbuck Papers, 1937-1955 (with some publications from 1960s). 0.1545 cubic m. No access restrictions. This collection was purchased in 1974 from Ken Tarbuck (1930-1995), a longtime member of the British Trotskyist movement and a collector of source material. It was weeded for duplicates. The collection contains leaflets, discussion bulletins, press cuttings, photographs, minutes and other documents related to the Revolutionary Socialist League (1937-42), Workers’ International League (1940s), Revolutionary Communist Party (1944-49), Socialist Review Group, as well as material from other left-wing organizations including some from North America. The collection has been catalogued in 1977 and a copy of this catalogue is available in paper format in the searchroom. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.75.
• Alan Thornett Papers, 1951-ca.1997. 0.364 cubic m. The collection was deposited by Alan Thornett in 1998. Alan Thornett (b. 1937) has been a longtime activist in various factions of British Trotskyism. He worked at Cowley Morris autoplant, was shop steward there and an activist of the TGWU. He was also a longtime member of the Healyite Socialist Labour League (SLL) before breaking away with his own group, Workers Socialist League (WSL), and later joined the British adherents of the United Secretariat of the Fourth International. The Thornett papers principally contain minutes of district committee meetings of the TGWU, shop stewards’ collecting books, correspondence files, press cuttings, motor industry publications, personal papers, publications by Alan Thornett, trade union publications, etc. Paper copies of the catalogue of the collection are available in the searchroom. On-line guide and inventory (collection level description and inventory list/catalogue) available. Call phrase: MSS.391.
• E.A. Whelan Papers, 1939-1974. 1.43 cubic m. No access restrictions. The collection was purchased by MRC from E.A. Whelan in 1975. Whelan was a member of the International Marxist Group (IMG) in the 1970s. The papers include IMG minutes and related documents, internal discussion bulletins, letters to members and organizers, correspondence, leaflets, pamphlets, newsletters and journals. A detailed file level description is available in paper format in the searchroom. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.095.
• Harry Wicks Papers, 1920s-1980s. 0.468 cubic m. No access restrictions. Harry Wicks (1905-1989) was a railwayman, joined the British CP in 1920 and was selected to study at the International Lenin School (Moscow). In the 1930s Wicks got involved with the British Section of the International Left Opposition and remained a lifelong Trotskyist, later becoming a member of the Workers League. Study notes from his time at the Lenin School form a great part of this archive. The collection includes also writings, study courses, correspondence and miscellaneous publications regarding communism and Trotskyism from the 1920s to the 1980s. The collection was deposited by Harry Wicks in 1975. Some years later he donated further material to MRC, chiefly consisting of his collection of journals, pamphlets and ephemera concerning the Labour Party, communist and Trotskyist politics. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.102.
• International Marxist Group, 1964-1975. 1.352 cubic m. No access restrictions. The collection was deposited by the International Marxist Group (IMG) in 1976; six further deposits followed by its successor organization, the last in 1989. The IMG was the (official) British section of the Fourth International (United Secretariat) from 1966 to 1982 when it was renamed Socialist League (SL, also known under the name of its paper, Socialist Action). The collection consists of IMG discussion and internal information bulletins, preconference discussion bulletins, miscellaneous items on its international work, reports and leaflets on its students’ work, women’s work, etc. Also included are IMG/SL National and Political Committee minutes, notes to organizers, accounts, membership returns and printed material as well as internal circulars and similar documents of the Fourth International and of some of its national sections. A container list (file level description) for the initial deposit is available in paper format at the searchroom. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.128.
• Papers of the International Marxist Group, 1970-1976 (predominantly 1972-1973). 0,026 cubic m. No access restrictions. Collected by a student at the University of York in the early 1970s, the papers have been deposited at MRC in 2002. The collection includes publications, pamphlets, leaflets, some circulars, discussion documents and information sheets produced by York-based left-wing organizations, including IMG York branch. The collection was weeded for duplicates. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.433.
• International Marxist Group, 1970s (Papers of Chris Bambery). 0.104 cubic m. No access restrictions. Some of the papers are badly water damaged. This collection was deposited in 2001 by Chris Bambery, a former member of the IMG who later joined the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and became its national secretary. The collection consists of IMG internal discussion and pre-conference bulletins, miscellaneous papers and circulars dating from the 1970s. The papers have not yet been fully catalogued. A container list is available in paper format in the searchroom. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.419.
• [Note: Another archive containing papers of the International Marxist Group (IMG) is deposited at the British Library of Political and Economic Science, the working library of the London School of Economics (LSE); for an online-findlist of this collection click here.
• Papers of the Spartacist League, 1964-1991. 0.286 cubic m. No access restrictions. The collection was acquired in 1986 and was weeded for duplicates. It consists chiefly of serial publications, miscellaneous publications and leaflets issued by the British Spartacist League and by its American sister organization of the same name. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.275.
• Records of Bookmark Publications, 1979-1991. 0.338 cubic m. No access restrictions. Uncatalogued collection of Bookmark Publications, together with correspondence, circulars, reports and SWP committee papers. Bookmark Publications has been a publishing endeavour of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP); publishing of books and pamphlets began in 1979. On-line guide (collection level description) available. Call phrase: MSS.348.

Brynmor Jones Library, University of Hull
(Hull, Britain)

The archival and manuscript holdings of the University of Hull - some 750,000 documents and files amongst over 120 larger and over 300 smaller collections - are preserved by Archives and Special Collections, Brynmor Jones Library. E-Mail: archives@hull.ac.uk.

Among the archives housed there is one of special relevance to Trotskyism research:

• The Jock Haston Papers, 1913-1965. Some 4,000 items (31 boxes). This valuable collection was deposited by Jock Haston in 1967. Jock Haston (1913-1986) became a communist in the early 1930s whilst a merchant seaman, left the party at the time of the Moscow show trials and became a Trotskyist being involved in various groups of the splintered British Trotskyist scene of the 1930s and 1940s. In 1944 the RCP (Revolutionary Communist Party) was launched as a merger of some of the hitherto rival groups and Haston became secretary of the newly founded party which - for the very first time in the history of British Trotskyism - contested a parliamentary election (Neath by-election with Haston running as candidate) in April 1945. However, the RCP some years later began to suffer from factionalism and splits which eventually ended in its dissolution in 1949 with Haston quickly joining the Labour Party. The Jock Haston Papers are an important primary source for the study of the radical left in Britain, containing innumerable records (e.g. minutes, internal bulletins, broadsheets, memoranda, correspondence) of the RCP, the WIL (Workers’ International League), RSL (Revolutionary Socialist League), Marxist League, Militant Labour League and other groups. The collection also includes documents from the Trotsky Defence Committee, from the Fourth International, from Trotskyist movements in the United States and other foreign countries, from the Communist Party, the Labour Party and the Independent Labour Party. A short on-line abstract is available; a more detailed collection description and container list is to be found via HUMAD2, Hull University’s manuscripts and archives database. The reference code of the collection is DJH, the number of the collection is 130.

Senate House Library, University of London
 (London, Britain)

The Senate House Library (SHL) forms part of the University of London Library Services. It provides resources to support research to the highest international standards. Senate House Library’s Special Collections Department houses a considerable number of archival collections including named special collections. Collection level descriptions are searchable in the Library’s MASC24 (Mapping access to special collections in the London region) catalogue. With regard to Trotsky(ism) research, there are two collections which should be of special interest:

• The Al Richardson and Jim Higgins Collection, ca. 1884-2003. Al (Alec Stuart) Richardson (1941-2003) was a long-time activist of various British socialist and Trotskyist groups, co-founder and moving spirit of Socialist Platform as well as the scholarly journal Revolutionary History, a renowned historian of the British Trotskyist movement and at the same time a classical scholar and Egyptologist. Jim (James Robert) Higgins (1930-2002) was a long-time member of the International Socialists (later, Socialist Workers Party) of Britain which he left in 1977 becoming a journalist and author. Their collections comprise several thousand books and pamphlets, numerous periodicals, bulletins, memos and press cuttings as well as archival and manuscript material relating to Marxism, socialism and particularly to the politics and action of various Trotskyist groups both in Britain and on an international scale. The Richardson/Higgins collection was received by SHL as a donation from Socialist Platform in 2004.  It is thought that it is one of the best collections of its kind in Britian. The boxes have been left in the order they were deposited. A box list (container level description, 124 KB, 38 pp.), prepared by George Savvides, is available on-line. The reference code of the collection is MS 1117.
• The Ron Heisler Collection, ca. 1790-2003. Ron Heisler created this collection containing some 18,000 books, some 19,000 pamphlets and some 3,000 periodical titles over many years. Covering much of the world, there is special emphasis on Britain and Irland including items issued by radical groups, amongst them many publications of Trotskyist and New Left groups. The collection was donated by Mr. Ron Heisler in 2004. Cataloguing is to commence in 2004-2005, and records will be available via the MASC25 catalogue. Direct access to the Library’s electronic catalogue for archives and manuscripts will be available in 2005. As of December 2004, there is only a short collection level description available on-line.

Schweizerisches Sozialarchiv
(Zurich, Switzerland)

The Schweizerisches Sozialarchiv [Swiss Social Archives] (SSA) was founded in 1906 as Zentralstelle für Soziale Literatur. It is a society funded by the City of Zurich, the Kanton of Zurich, by the Swiss Federal State and by private persons. Jakob Tanner, professor at Zurich University, functions as president of the SSA (as of 2004). During First World War, Russian emigrants Lenin and Trotsky were among the users of the SSA. The website of SSA gives further details about the history, acquisition profile and publications of the SSA.  Its holdings are amounting to some 100,000 books, several thousand serials (650 current), several 100,000 pieces of ephemeral writings (or, grey literature, such as little brochures, leaflets); SSA also houses a very considerable newspaper clippings collection comprising some 1,400,000 documents, filed within the framework of subject and country dossiers. Within the archives section of the SSA the various parties of the Swiss left (social-democrat, communist, Maoist, Trotskyist, New Left, Green, etc.) and their regional branches are very well represented; altogether SSA holds some 250 archives of corporate bodies and some 70 archives of individual persons; additionally it holds a letter collection with correspondence and autographs of socialists whose papers are preserved elsewhere. Unfortunately there are not yet on-line finding aids, only unpublished inventory lists and similar finding tools which are available in the respective repositories. Short collection level descriptions are available on-line via lists of collection holdings.
The following collections preserved at SSA are relevant to Trotskyism research:

• Trotzkismus Schweiz, ca. 1932. 0.1 m. Acquired in 1978. Containing copies of letters from and to Trotsky and some miscellaneous material. Call phrase: Ar 201.45.
• Archiv “Dinge der Zeit”, 1945-1995. 1.1 m. Dinge der Zeit was a journal issued by former Trotskyist Joseph Weber (1901-1959), also known under various pseudonyms such as Johre. The papers contained in this collection (e.g. correspondence of Joseph Weber, Max Laufer and others who co-edited Dinge der Zeit or contributed to it) are of some relevance to the study of left dissident thinking in the period after the Second World War. Call phrase: Ar 201.39.
• RML/SAP Schweiz, 1943-1990. 6.4 m. RML (Revolutionäre Marxistische Liga) and its successor, SAP (Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei) have been the Swiss section of the Fourth International (United Secretariat) since 1969. The collection consists of proceedings and minutes of their leading bodies, secretarial files, notes on budgets and members, subject files, files of regional/cantonal branches, educational courses, and material of the Fourth International. Call phrase: Ar 65.
• RML/SAP Schaffhausen, 1976-1989. 1 m. Records of a regional branch of RML/SAP. Call phrase: Ar 61.
• RML/SAP Zug, 1970-1990. 1.6 m. Records of a regional branch of RM/SAP. Call phrase: Ar 59.
• Nelz, Walter (1909-1990), 1918-1982. 1 m. Papers of Walter Nelz, a veteran of Swiss Trotskyism, co-founder and leader of the MAS (Marxistische Aktion der Schweiz) who was imprisoned during the Second World War and in this time abandoned Trotskyism. After the War he founded the Sozialistischer Kulturbund Humanitas and became a staff member of SSA and for many decades was charged with its newspaper clipping collection. The collection includes personal papers, correspondence, manuscripts, material about his trial and about the activities of the MAS. Call phrase: Ar 120.
  See also our bio-bibliographical sketch [PDF] about Walter Nelz.
• Steiger, Jost von (1917-2007). 1.8 m. Papers of Jost von Steiger, a geologist and since the 1930s a member of the Swiss section of the Fourth International (MAS, later RML, later SAP) and around 1963 member of the United Secretariat. Imprisoned during WW II. Call phrase: Ar 155
   

Archiv APO und Soziale Bewegungen
(Berlin, Germany)

The Archiv APO und Soziale Bewegungen (APO-Archiv) [APO=Außerparlamentarische Opposition/Extra-parliamentary opposition] is affiliated to the Fachbereich Politik- und Sozialwissenschaften (Otto-Suhr-Institut, OSI), a faculty of the Freie Universität Berlin. It is situated at Malteser Strasse 74-100, 12249 Berlin, e-mail: archapo@zedat.fu-berlin.de, phone: +49-(0)30- 83870513. It maintains a website featuring the history and mission of the archive and containing on-line publications. The founder, spiritus rector and archivist of this facility – by far the biggest and most eminent on the subject of German extra-parliamentary opposition and related movements of the 1960s and 1970s – is Siegward Lönnendonker. As of 2004, the holdings of the APO-Archiv comprise some 1,300 shelfmetres containing some 6,000 brochures and 4,286 folders. The collections are arranged into 30 subject groups, like for example SDS-Archiv, Gerichtsverhandlungen, Anarchisten und Situationisten, Berufsverbot, Sonderbestand Raubdrucke. A greater part of the holdings have been catalogued with LIDOS, a literature documentation system. The archive is frequently consulted not only by students and historians of the social and political impact of the students’ movement, but also by journalists and other researchers seeking for original iconographic resources, nonprint documents, symbols of the movement etc. in order to display them in exhibitions or to make use of them in documentary film.

Literature:
Schröder, Jürgen: The Berlin Archives 'Außerparlamentarische Opposition und Soziale Bewegung - APO Archiv' ..., in: Journal of Trotsky Studies, 1.1993, pp. 129-132.
[Anon.]: Archiv des Zentralinstituts für sozialwissenschaftliche Forschung an der Freien Universität Berlin, in: Jahrbuch Extremismus und Demokratie, 3.1991, pp. 422-423.

With regard to Trotskyism research, attention should be paid to the following group of holdings preserved at APO-Archiv:

• Trotzkismus-Archiv. Some 330 folders and cardboard sleeves plus some 350 brochures. Free access without restrictions. The Trotskyism collection chiefly consists of the following archives: organization records and/or various documents (organs, bulletins, leaflets, circulars, etc.) of a number of German and foreign Trotskyist parties, groups and sects (including some material from international Trotskyist tendencies), e.g.: KJO Spartacus, Gruppe Internationale Marxisten (GIM) (incl. some dissenting splinter groups), Internationale Arbeiterkorrespondenz (IAK) (later renamed Internationale Sozialistische Arbeiterorganisation, ISA), Gruppe Arbeitermacht (GAM), Bund Sozialistischer Arbeiter (BSA), Lutte Ouvrière (LO, France), Sozialistische Arbeitergruppe (SAG), Trotzkistische Liga Deutschlands (TLD), Sozialistische Alternative Voran (SAV). Rich material on Trotskyism is also contained in the personal archives of Peter Brandt (son of Willy Brandt and former KJO Spartacus activist) and Rudolf Steinke who made scholarly research on German Trotskyism and who deposited their papers at APO-Archiv. No on-line finding aid, only local indices. A brief on-line survey is available.

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
(Bonn, Germany)

The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (Bonn) houses the so-called Trotzkismus-Archiv which originally was established around 1980 by Prof. em. Hermann Weber (b. 1926), the doyen of the scholarly research on German communism, at Mannheim University. Weber’s intention was to create a resource centre for journals, newsletters, copies, microfilms, pamphlets, books, as well as some personal archives and collections relating to the history of (German) Trotskyism. The Hermann Weber collection predominantly consists of printed materials, chiefly booklets and brochures from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. However, the collection also contains a considerable amount of bulletins, newsletters and other printed or mimeographed periodicals (including many factory and student papers), issued by German Trotskyists and by a variety of other left-wing organizations, including some from Britain, France, the U.S. and other countries as well as by international bodies of the Trotskyist movement. The collection contains also some secondary sources (incl. many anti-Trotskyist items).
In 2004, the Trotzkismus-Archiv (Sammlung Hermann Weber) was handed over to the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (Friedrich Ebert Foundation) (FES, Bonn), a private cultural non-profit institution committed to social democracy (for a short English-language flyer about FES click here), which maintains inter alia the Archiv der Sozialen Demokratie (AdsD, Archives of Social Democracy) and a well-known library, also known as Bibliothek der Sozialen Demokratie (Library of Social Democracy), being by far the largest library in Germany specialised in collecting and cataloguing the literature of and about the German and international labour movements. Most of the printed or mimeographed items contained in Weber’s Trotzkismus-Archiv collection have been integrated into the rich holdings of FES’s library as a special collection (“Sammlung  Hermann Weber, Trotzkismus-Archiv” + call no.) and have been catalogued in the library’s OPAC. These items (but not letters, memoranda and other personal archivalia) are documented in a printed inventory:

Das Trotzkismus-Archiv (Sammlung Hermann Weber) in der Bibliothek der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung : ein Bestandsverzeichnis / bearb. von Anne Bärhausen und Gabriele Rose. [Hrsg.: Rüdiger Zimmermann]. - Bonn : Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2007. - 228 pp. (Veröffentlichungen der Bibliothek der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung ; 19) ISBN 978-3-89892-779-6

Of course the most important archival collection within the Trotzkismus-Archiv are the papers of the late Georg (“Schorsch”) Jungclas, a veteran of the German Trotskyist movement (some 120 folders containing manuscripts, letters, bulletins, pamphlets and journals, among them some rare items from the 1940s and 1950s). As at 2007 there is no online finding aid but only container lists for internal use.
The postal address is: Archiv der Sozialen Demkratie der FES, Godesberger Allee 149, 53170 Bonn, the e-mail address for archival queries is archiv.auskunft@fes.de. 

Bibliothèque de Documentation Internationale Contemporaine
 - Musée d’Histoire Contemporaine
(Nanterre, France)

The Bibliothèque de Documentation Internationale Contemporaine - Musée d’Histoire Contemporaine (BDIC) [Library of Contemporary International Documentation - Museum of Contemporary History] was founded in 1914 and is by far the largest collection in France with regard to the political and social history of the 20th century. The history of labour and the various sectors of the workers’ movement are well represented within the holdings of BDIC which amount to some 1.3 mio. bibliographical units with special emphasis on French publications and archival collections. BDIC is located at the campus of the University of Nanterre (University of Paris X), the address is: BDIC, 6, Allée de l’Université, F 92001 Nanterre, tel.: +33-1-47 21 40 22, fax: +33-1-40 97 79 40.
Information about BDIC’s archival holdings relating to Trotsky and Trotskyism will follow on TrotskyanaNet.

Arbejdermuseet & Arbejderbevægelsens Bibliotek og Arkiv
 (Copenhagen, Denmark)

Arbejdermuseet & Arbejderbevægelsens Bibliotek og Arkiv (The Workers Museum & The Labour Movement Library and Archives) has recently been formed by a merger of the two institutions reflected in its now official name. Arbejderbevægelsens Bibliotek og Arkiv (ABA for short) - the Labour Movement Library and Archive - was founded in 1909 aimed at collecting material relating to the Danish and international working class movements in all their aspects including trade union orientations. ABA functions as an independent and nonprofit organization, funds are provided by Landsorganisationen i Danmark (LO, the Confederation of Danish Trade Unions) and by the Danish government. It is the biggest facility of its kind in Northern Europe. The address is Rømergade 22, DK 1362 Copenhagen K, tel.: +45-33932575, e-mail: am@arbejdermuseet.dk.
The library consists of some 60,000 books, 7,000 serials, out of which some 700 are currently received, and some 1,350 trade union bulletins. Almost all Danish workers’ dailies are represented in the library either as hard copies or on microfilm. The library also houses a considerable number of non-Danish labour movement publications, chiefly in German and English language. Furthermore the collections include thousands of pamphlets and ephemera including newsletters and bulletins which were published only for a very limited period.
The archive contains some 2,000 organizational collections, for example records of the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions and of the political parties of the Danish workers’ movement: Social Democratic Party (SD), Socialist People’s Party (SF), Left-wing Socialists (VS), Communist Party (DKP). The archive also contains some 275 personal files, some 2,000,000 photographs, some 7,000 posters, some 2,000 films, videotapes and grammophone records as well as some 650 banners. Great portions of ABA’s library and archive holdings are recorded in its online catalogue which allows a combined research across all ABA collections thanks to applying the so-called Z39.50 protocol technique; computer registration of older collections is under way. ABA has published a considerable number of bibliographical and related works, e.g. ABA’s bibliografiske serie (1973-  ), Årsskrift (1985-2000, ISSN 0900-2723), Arbejderbevægelsen i Danmark - historisk og aktuelt (1978-1992, ISSN 0105-2233); furthermore it participates in the editorial work of the scholarly journal Arbejderhistorie (ISSN 0107-8461).
With regard to Trotsky(ism) research, the following archival collections preserved at ABA should be mentioned:

• Børge Trolle Arkiv, 1933-1966. 4 boxes. Containing correspondence, manuscripts, and other papers by Børge Trolle (1917-2004), Danish Trotskyist, author and filmmaker, including material of and about the Fourth International and Danish Trotskyism. Archive no.: 47.
• Poul Moth Arkiv, 1937-1953. 1 box. Correspondence and various writings of Poul Moth (1898-1976), Danish Trotskyist. Archive no.: 265.
• Preben Kinch Arkiv, 1949-1959. 1 box. Correspondence and various writings of Preben Kinch (1926-1989), Danish Trotskyist. Archive no.: 264.
• John Andersson Arkiv, 1945-1967. 3 boxes. Donation made by John Andersson (1893-1962) in 2003. Archive no.: 276.
• Georg Moltved Arkiv, 1950-1976. 1 box. Papers of Georg Moltved (1881-1971), a veteran of Danish Trotskyism, including correspondence with E. Mandel, P. Frank, L. Sinclair, fragments and manuscripts. Please note, that a greater portion of Moltved’s personal papers was deposited by his family at Riksarkivet, Copenhagen. See also our bio-bibliographical sketch [PDF] about Georg Moltved.
• Lev Trotskij Arkiv. Archive no.: 69. [No details known as of Nov. 2004.]
• Socialistisk Arbejderparti Arkiv, 1960-1998. 64 boxes. Records of the Socialistisk Arbejderparti (SAP, Socialist Workers’ Party), Danish section of the Fourth International, and its forerunners (Revolutionære Socialisters Forbund, Revolutionære Socialister) and youth organizations (Socialistisk Ungdoms Forbund, Socialistisk Ungdoms Forum). Archive no.: 2304.
• International Secretariat of the 4. International Arkiv, 1927-1965. 2 boxes. Archive no.: 2307.

Archives de l’Institut de Sociologie de Bruxelles
(Brussels, Belgium)

The Archives de l’Institut de Sociologie de Bruxelles [Archives of the Institute of Sociology at Brussels] form part of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) [Free University Brussels]. As of 2004 the institute is headed by J. Gotovitch, internationally renowned expert on the history of communism. The address of the institute is: Avenue Jeanne 44, 1050 Bruxelles, e-mail: is@ulb.ac.be. Among the archival collections preserved at the ISB the following is of special interest with regard to the history of Belgian Trotskyism:

• Les archives Hennaut. Adhémar Hennaut was a founder and leader of one current of Belgian Trotskyism, the Ligue des Communistes Internationalistes de Belgique (LCI) during the 1930s. The collection includes a complete set of the internal bulletins of the LCI, minutes and proceedings of the LCI and Hennaut’s correspondence. There are not yet on-line guides or finding aids.

AMSAB - Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis,
(Gent, Belgium)

The Archief en Museum van de Socialistische Arbeidersbeweging (AMSAB) [Archives and Museum of the Socialist Workers’ Movement] was founded in May 1980, continuing the work of the Nationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis (NISG) which was launched in the 1930s but was closed and dissolved during World War II and not being reconstructed after the War. In 1999 AMSAB was renamed: AMSAB - Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis [AMSAB - Institute of Social History]. AMSAB’s adress is: Bagattenstraat 174, B 9000 Gent, tel.: +32-9-224 00 79, fax: +32-9-233 67 11, e-mail: info@amsab.be. As of autumn 2004, the homepage of AMSAB and its online catalogue have been in the process of re-organizing. Part of AMSAB’s holdings are preserved and managed at Antwerpen; address: AMSAB-Centrum Antwerpen, Lamorinièrestraat 233, B 2018 Antwerpen, tel. +32-3-239 42 87, fax +32-3-281 73 22. As of 2004, director of AMSAB is Dr. Wouter Steenhaut, president is Prof. em. Herman Balthazar.
AMSAB is the largest documentation centre relating to the Belgian labour movement with special focus on the Flemish part of the country. Its holdings comprise some 50,000 books, some 3,100 serials, some 400,000 photographs, some 1,000 films, and a considerable number of flags, posters, etc. It holds records of almost all Belgian socialist and leftist parties, of Flemish trade unions and of groups and tendencies forming the new and alternative social movements (women’s movement, peace movement, environmental movement, etc.) AMSAB is not only a library and an archive, but at the same time functions as a research centre counting some 3,000 visitors every year. AMSAB also hosts conferences and issues scholarly publications including a quarterly journal titled Brood & Rozen : tijdschrift voor de geschiedenis van sociale bewegingen (ISSN 1370-7477, until 1995 published with title AMSAB-tijdingen).
With regard to Trotskyism research the following AMSAB collection is of special relevance:

• Archief van de Belgische Afdeling van de Vierde Internationale (Fonds Léon Lesoil). 138 boxes (15.18 m). This rich collection documents the history of the Belgian section - which changed its name several times (Opposition Communiste de Gauche, Ligue Communiste Internationaliste, Parti Socialiste Révolutionnaire, Parti Communiste Révolutionnaire, Parti Communiste Internationaliste, Ligue Révolutionnaire des Travailleurs, or their respective Flemish denominations) of the Trotskyist Fourth International and its precursors from 1930 to the 1970s. The collection consists of Trotskyist archival resources assembled and preserved by the late Emile van Ceulen, a veteran of the Belgian Trotskyist movement who died in 1989, and of documents (journals, papers, bulletins, etc.) which were preserved by the Stichting Léon Lesoil, a centre of study, documentation and publishing set up by the Belgian section of the FI. In 1982 the Stichting Léon Lesoil deposited its entire collection, called Fonds Léon Lesoil, at AMSAB. In the following years the collection was amended by donations from individuals as well as by some regional branches of the Ligue Révolutionnaire des Travailleurs / Revolutionaire Arbeiders Liga (LRT/RAL). The collection includes innumerable internal bulletins, minutes of meetings, correspondence, reports and other internal documents, amongst them material documenting the relations between the Belgian section and other Trotskyist groups, its involvement in international matters, etc. Printed (published) documents have been removed from the collection and now form part of AMSAB’s rich library holdings. Thus, AMSAB is not only a goldmine of archival records concerning the history of the Belgian section of the FI and some other groups which had split away from it but also provides a rich collection of Trotskyist journals and newsletters, both from Belgium and abroad, issued during some 5 decades and including papers which were produced under the conditions of underground struggle, brutal repression, persecution and war and which are hardly to be found anywhere else. Call no.: B 67d - B 70d/B 132b - B 133c/rek 3c. The archive no. is 045. A short abstract is to be found via AMSAB’s OPAC2.
  An exhaustive printed inventory of the collection is also provided by AMSAB:
  Coninck, Rik de: Inventaris van het Archief van de Belgische Afdeling van de Vierde Internationale. Gent : AMSAB, 1997. 235 pp. (AMSAB werkinstrumenten ; 9). Besides an inventory of the collection, this book contains a historical introduction about the Trotskyist movement in Belgium, a lot of details about the history, contents and scope of the archive, and a name index. Further information about this collection can be found in: Coninck, Rik de: De inventaris van het Archief van del Belgische Afdeling van de Vierde Internationale, in: Brood & rozen, 1997 (3), pp. 62-66.

Additionally, there is a fully indexed repertory listing more than 600 periodicals and some 700 books and pamphlets which were taken from the Fonds Léon Lesoil and added to AMSAB’s library holdings:
Lievijns, Luc: Repertorium van de periodieken, boeken en brochures uit het Archief van de Belgische Afdeling van de Vierde Internationale. Gent : AMSAB, 1997. 265 pp. (AMSAB werkinstrumenten ; 7) See also abstract by Luc Lievijns in Brood & rozen, 1997 (3), p.67.

Dokumentationsarchiv des Österreichischen Widerstandes
(Vienna, Austria)

The Dokumentationsarchiv des Österreichischen Widerstandes (DÖW) [Documentation Archives of the Austrian Resistance] is situated at Altes Rathaus, Wipplingstrasse 6-8, A-1010 Vienna, Austria, tel. +43-1-53436/90319.
Information about its holdings so far as they are relevant to Trotsky(ism) research will be provided later.

Index of collection creators

Andersson, John (1893-1962)
Balham Group : Modern Records Centre (Reg Groves Papers)
Balham Group : Modern Records Centre (Denzil Dean Harber Papers)
Bambery, Chris
Barker, Colin (b. 1939)
Belgische Afdeling van de Vierde Internationale (BAVI)
Bookmark Publications
Brandt, Peter (b. 1948)
British Left Opposition (BLO)
British Section of the International Left Opposition (BSILO) : Modern Records Centre (Frank Maitland/Henry Sara Papers)
British Section of the International Left Opposition (BSILO) : Modern Records Centre (Harry Wicks Papers)
Bund Sozialistischer Arbeiter (BSA)
Cliff, Tony (1917-2000)
Cornelissen, Igor (b. 1935)
Deane, Jimmy (1921-2002)
Deutscher, Isaac (1907-1967)
Dewar, Hugo (1908-1980)
Dinge der Zeit [Journal]
Dolleman, Willem (1894-1942)
Dunayevskaya, Raya (1910-1987)
Fonds Léon Lesoil
Fourth International, International Secretariat (FI/IS)
Groves, Reg (1908-1988)
Gruppe Arbeitermacht (GAM)
Gruppe Internationale Marxisten