Henry Schneider (1910-1998)

President of the Henry and Lucy Moses Fund (1942-1998)

Columbia Law School (Class, 1934)


Descriptive Summary
	Creator	Henry Schneider, Esq. and the Finance Division, Individuals' External Assets Branch, Division of Investigation of Cartels and External Assets (DICEA)
	Title	Henry Schneider Collection
	Dates:	1945-1946
	Quantity:	.4 cu. ft.
	Identification:	Diamond 2

[Access Points]

Document Types

Subject Topics

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Processing Timeline

Provenance

Biographical Note

Descriptive Summary

Folder List

Arrangement

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Use Restrictions

Schedule a Research Appointment

Henry Schneider (1910-1998) served in the United States Army from September 1942 to October 1945. The Henry Schneider Collection documents his service as an U.S. Army officer immediately after World War II. Schneider served as a Deputy Chief under Colonel Bernard Bernstein (1908-1990), Director, Finance Division, Individuals' External Assets Branch, Division of Investigation of Cartels and External Assets (DICEA). As a deputy chief, Schneider was primarily engaged in identifying the economic assets of, accumulating evidence about and conducting interrogations against Nazi organizations and war criminals.

Henry Schneider was born in Brooklyn, New York on April 18, 1910. He pursued his undergraduate education at the College of the City of New York (A.B. 1931). Schneider attended the Columbia University Law School, where he served as a distinguished member of the Board of Editors of the Columbia Law Review (1932-1934) and received his J.D. degree with honors in 1934.

After his army service, Henry Schneider rejoined the firm of Moses & Singer LLP, where he had begun his legal career in 1934. At Moses & Singer, Schneider specialized in tax, trust and estate law, and corporate law. Schneider was known to his partners and legal colleagues as an exemplar of the attorney as counselor bringing a rare combination of uncommon good sense and extraordinary legal acumen to all who were fortunate enough to receive his counsel.

Throughout his life, Henry Schneider remained active in philanthropy. As President of the Henry and Lucy Moses Fund (1942-1998) and as a long-time advisor to the noted philanthropist Lucy G. Moses, he made matchless contributions to the welfare of New York City and its residents. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center and played a major role in the creation of the Lucy Moses School for Music and Dance. Schneider was also a Trustee of the Central Park Conservancy and a pioneer in efforts to improve Central Park. He was a lifelong supporter of Columbia University and instrumental in the creation of the Chairs now held by the Deans of Columbia College and the Columbia Law School. Many other organizations also benefited from his charitable efforts such as the Montefiore Medical Center, Mount Sinai Medical Center, UJA-Federation and AIDS charities.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

Available for faculty, students, and researchers engaged in scholarly or publication projects.

Use Restrictions:

Permission to publish or quote from any written materials must be obtained in writing from Whitney S. Bagnall, Head of Special Collections


[Access Points]
	Subject Topics:
		Cartels - Germany.
		Ford Werke AG.
		Germany (Territory under Allied occupation, 1945: U.S. Zone).
		Industries - Germany.
		Lawyers, Military.
		Nuremberg Trial of Major German War Criminals, Nuremberg, Germany, 1945-1946.
		Restitution and indemnification claims (1933- ).
		Rohm & Haas Company.
		United States -- Army - Lawyers.
		World War, 1939-1945 -- Confiscations and contributions - Germany.
		World War, 1939-1945 -- Germany - Claims.
	Document Types::
		Interrogation Transcripts.
		Reports.

Administrative Information

Provenance:

Gift of Henry Schneider's wife, Mrs. Jacqueline B. Schneider in 1999.

Preferred Citation:


	First Citation:	The first citation should take the following form: Henry Schneider Collection, Arthur W. Diamond Law Library, Columbia University Law School, New York, NY (HSC-CLS: Box # - Folder #.)


	Second Citation:	After the first full citation, all additional citations my take the following form: (HSC-CLS: Box # - Folder #.)

Processing Timeline:

Oct. 2000 - Papers processed and electronic finding aid created by Christopher M. Laico, Archivist.

July 2004 - Manuscript scanned by Yelena Grinberg (Barnard College, BA; Juilliard School, MM and DMA).

Folder List


Folder 1:
	This folder contains the testimony of Orvis A. Schmidt (1912-1967), Director of Foreign Funds Control, U.S. Treasury Department, before U.S. Senator (Dem., W.Va.), Harley M. Kilgore's (1893-1956) Subcommittee on German Espionage of the Senate Military Affairs Committee. Throughout the second half of 1945, Senator Kilgore held several hearings that focused on German economic penetration of neutral countries and related matters.
Folders 2-14:
	These folders contain some of the asset and safe haven reports and interrogation transcripts produced by the Finance Division, Individuals' External Assets Branch, Division of Investigation of Cartels and External Assets (DICEA). Colonel Bernard Bernstein (1908-1990) served as the director of DICEA (1944-1945). As a DICEA Deputy Chief, Henry Schneider was principally engaged in identifying the economic assets of, accumulating evidence about and conducting interrogations against Nazi organizations and war criminals.
	The DICEA operated under the U.S. Group Control Council, Germany (USGCC) and the Office of Military Government for Germany (U.S.) [OMGUS].
	The USGCC functioned from May 8 to October 1, 1945, as the agency of the first Military Governor, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969). The USGCC administered occupied Germany during the immediate postwar period.
	On October 1, 1945, many of the functions of the USGCC were transferred to the Office of Military Government for Germany (U.S.)[OMGUS]. OMGUS was responsible for administering the U.S. zone of occupation and U.S. sector of Berlin, and for functioning as the U.S. element of organizations comprising the Allied Control Authority, the name given to the four-power occupation control system. On December 5, 1949, OMGUS was formally abolished and its functions transferred to the U.S. High Commissioner for Germany (USHCG).
Arrangement:
	Due to the collection's small size, the documents have been arranged chronologically. If a document was undated, it was given a [n.d.] designation and then catalogued chronologically utilizing the contextual clues provided by the surrounding documents.
Box	Folder	Title	Date
1	1	Statement of Orvis A. Schmidt, Director of Foreign Funds Control, U.S. Treasury Department before U.S. Senator (Dem., W.Va.), Harley M. Kilgore's Subcommittee on German Espionage of the Senate Military Affairs Committee.	07.02.45
1	2	Some Leads on German Foreign Exchange Agencies, Headquarters, U.S. Forces, European Theater, Office of Military Government (U.S. Zone), Individuals' External Assets Branch, Finance Division.	n.d.
1	3	Interim Report on the investigation of R�hm & Haas, GmbH, Darmstadt, Headquarters, U.S. Forces, European Theater, G-5 Division, Financial Branch.	08.31.45
1	4	Report on Ford Werke Aktiengesellschaft. Headquarters, U.S. Forces, European Theater, G-5 Division, Financial Branch.	09.05.45
1	5	Interim Report and Recommendations. Office of Military Government (Germany) U.S. Division of Investigation of Cartels and External Assets. Zone.	11.28.45
1	6	Transcript of Record of Interrogation of Hermann Goering, Palace of Justice, Nuremberg.	12.22.45
1	7	Report on External Assets of Hermann Goering. Headquarters, U.S. Forces, European Theater, Office of Military Government (U.S Zone), Finance Division, Individuals' External Assets Branch.	n.d.
1	8	Transcript of Record of Interrogation of Joachim von Ribbentrop, Palace of Justice, Nuremberg.	12.27.45
1	9	Preliminary Report on the Ribbentrop External Assets Investigation. Headquarters, U.S. Forces, European Theater, Office of Military Government (U.S Zone), Finance Division, Individuals' External Assets Branch.	n.d.
1	10	Preliminary Report on the External Assets of Heinrich Himmler. Headquarters, U.S. Forces, European Theater, Office of Military Government (U.S Zone), Finance Division, Individuals' External Assets Branch. XX	n.d.
1	11	Preliminary Report on External Assets of Ernst Kaltenbrunner. Headquarters, U.S. Forces, European Theater, Office of Military Government (U.S Zone), Individuals' External Assets Branch.	n.d.
1	12	Preliminary Report on External Assets of Walter Schellenberg. Headquarters, U.S. Forces, European Theater, Office of Military Government (U.S Zone), Finance Division, Individuals' External Assets Branch.	n.d.
1	13	Preliminary Report on External Assets of RSHA [Reichssicherheitshauptamt - Reich Security Office]. Plus Appendices A-HH. Headquarters, U.S. Forces, European Theater, Office of Military Government (U.S. Zone), Finance Division, Individuals' External Assets Branch.	n.d.
1	14	Final Report and Recommendations. Headquarters, U.S. Forces, European Theater, Office of Military Government (U.S. Zone), Finance Division, Individuals' External Assets Branch.	02.08.46

FINAL REPORT

Pages 1-9

Pages 10-18

Pages 19-27

Related Columbia Law School Collection

Telford Taylor Papers (1918-1997) (Bulk, 1949-1992)
Papers document Taylor's career as Chief of Counsel for War Crimes, Nuremberg Military Tribunal (1946-1949), civil liberties attorney, legal scholar and historian.

Related Columbia University Collection

Reminiscences of Orvis Adrian Schmidt (1912-1967) [Banker]: Oral History (1961)
This oral history is part of the World Bank Project and contains discussions about World Bank loan policy. (Access: Open, 1 tape reel, Control No.: NXCP87-A1291). Located at Columbia University. Oral History Research Office, Box 20, Room 801 Butler Library, New York, NY 10027.

For access to this oral history, please contact: Butler Oral History Research Office.