London, MINA – For over half a century, Harvard University has been quietly assembling one of the world’s largest archives of Israeli and Jewish life, a collection so extensive it reportedly surpasses holdings in Israel itself, according to an investigation by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
The project began in the 1960s under Dr. Charles Berlin, curator of Harvard’s Judaica Division, and evolved from routine acquisitions into a systematic effort to collect nearly everything produced in Israel.
The archive now contains millions of items, including photographs, government reports, political flyers, audio recordings, and even everyday materials like discarded junk mail, much of which was supplied by Israeli librarians and volunteers.
The driving philosophy behind the effort was revealed when Berlin was asked why Harvard was collecting such minor or informal documents.
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His defining response was: “Are you completely sure that you (in Israel) will survive?” This approach was seen by some Israeli institutions as a vote of no confidence in the country’s future, while others cooperated, accepting that the materials might otherwise have been lost.
Today, while significant portions of the archive have been digitized for Harvard researchers, access to the physical collection remains tightly controlled by the university.[]
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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