P.48 - Aryeh Kubovy Personal Collection

P.48 - Aryeh Kubovy Personal Collection The Collection includes mainly documentation from 1951-1952, the years when Dr. Aryeh Kubovy served as the Legate for Israel in Czechoslovakia and Poland. Aryeh Leon Kubovy (Kubovitzki) was born in Kursenai, Lithuania, in 1896. In 1906 his family emigrated to Belgium, where he acquired the rest of his education. He completed his studies for a Doctorate in Classical Philology and Law at the University of Brussels and Liége University. In 1926 he became a Belgian citizen. He worked as a lawyer from 1926-1940, first in Antwerp and afterwards in Brussels. He was a lawyer and a noteworthy Zionist activist . After the rise to power of the Nazi Party in 1933, Kubovy was one of the planners of the economic boycott of Germany. He concerned himself with defending the rights of Jews, and initiated the establishment of Jewish councils in order to coordinate activities on behalf of the Jews. In 1936 he was involved with the founding of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) and he was elected to lead it. When World War II broke out, he escaped from Belgium and went to the United States where he was appointed Director of the World Jewish Congress Rescue Department. In July 1945 he was appointed WJC General Secretary. In 1946 he made aliya to Eretz Israel, In August 1951 Kubovy was appointed as the Israel Legate in Czechoslovakia and Poland. In 1952 Czechoslovakia demanded that Israel recall Kubovy who was accused of interfering in internal matters, activities on behalf of the aliya of Jews to Israel and maintaining contact with Rudolf Slánský, one of the defendants in the Prague Trials who was found guilty of treason. In March 1959 Kubovy was appointed Chairman of the Yad Vashem administration, a position which he held until his death from illness, 16 May 1966.