This archival collection housed at the Colburn School contains Herbert Zipper’s handwritten letters while at at Dachau and Buchenwald, letters he received from his family while imprisoned, identification papers from the Nazi regime, original manuscripts, photographs, extensive audiovisual materials, objects and art from his exile and travels around the world during his 92-year life. The Zipper Archive also includes material from Trudl Zipper, an influential dancer, choreographer, and teacher for whom Colburn’s Trudl Zipper Dance Institute is named.
The collection was originally bequeathed to Crossroads School by Herbert Zipper and retrieved from Zipper’s home, garage, and office spaces by Paul Cummins after Zipper’s death in April 1997. Since then, the collection has been housed at Crossroads School and in 2019, Crossroads School donated the collection to the Colburn School.
Letter from Herbert Zipper, sent November 6, 1938 while imprisoned at Buchenwald [English translation]
Buchenwald discharge papers for Herbert Zipper, dated February 20, 1939
Words to Dachau Lied, based on the infamous slogan of the camp “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work will set you free)
Handwritten manuscript for Two Dances for Trudl, composed by Herbert Zipper for his wife
Photograph of Herbert Zipper leading the Manila Symphony Orchestra in 1969
Photograph of Herbert Zipper leading a concert at the 32nd Street Magnet School in the 1980’s in Los Angeles
Photograph of Herbert Zipper
Photograph of Trudl Zipper
Two Dances for Trudl, performed by students from the Colburn Conservatory of Music and Dance Academy in 2021
The Colburn School’s Zipper Orchestra performing for LA schoolchildren in 2022
USC Shoah Foundation: With Music and Poetry, Herbert Zipper Reached for Humanity in Dachau
USC Shoah Foundation: Video of interview with Herbert Zipper
US Holocaust Memorial Museum: recording of Dachau Lied
Colburn School: Herbert Zipper’s life and legacy at Colburn
Colburn School: Trudl Zipper’s life and legacy at Colburn
Dachau Song: The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of Herbert Zipper