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Three World War II-dated TLSs signed "Jascha” and “Jascha Heifetz," dated to 1941 and 1942, each one page, 6.75 x 10, sent to his New York attorneys regarding Heifetz's efforts to obtain visas for the artist Grigory Gluckman and his wife, Anna. The earliest letter, personal letterhead, October 10, 1941, sent to Saul P. Pryor of Jaffe & Jaffe, in full: “Enclosed you will find the forms filled out the best way I could, and signed. You suggested in your letter that you will obtain the letters of reference and the affidavit from the ‘responsible source.’ I would also appreciate your getting an affidavit from a bank officer, or anything in lieu of such. I trust that by this time you have a copy of the Federal Tax Return from Mr. Edelman. Enclosed also find my letter addressed to the Department of State as you requested. The expediency of this matter is of the utmost importance to Mr. Gluckmann’s state of mind, and I would greatly appreciate your giving it your earliest possible attention.” Heifetz adds his initials after a handwritten postscript: “The date on letter to Dept. of State was printed by mistake – it’s sufficiently scratched off to permit another date.” The second letter, also to Pryor, dated October 20, 1941, in full: “Enclosed, you will find Form C filled as suggested in your letter.”
The third letter, Harbor Island, California letterhead, sent to Henry Jaffe on April 3, 1942: “Upon arrival here I found the enclosed. Since this is a hangover of the Gluckmann affair and since not too much effort was spent by your office during the time of Gluckmann’s arrival, I would feel much happier and I am sure you would want me to feel that way, if you will take care of this for me and really see what you can do in order to expedite matters for the Gluckmanns. You know him and you know how jittery he gets, so please for his and my sakes really do what you can. I shall be in New York towards the end of April and hope I can see you then. My best to Jean and yourself, in which Florence joins.” In overall fine condition.
Accompanied by a full and detailed legal folder containing ample documentation on Heifetz’s efforts to obtain visas for the Gluckmanns, which includes notarized affidavits of support, financial disclosures, tax records, immigration correspondence, citizenship recommendations, and wartime alien-registration forms; several documents contain secretarial signatures signed on behalf of Heifetz. The archive traces violin virtuoso Jascha Heifetz’s sustained efforts to help Russian-born painter Grigory Gluckmann and his wife, Anna, escape wartime Europe and secure permanent residence in the United States during the Vichy France period. Acting as both sponsor and advocate, Heifetz leveraged his influence, his considerable wealth, and his status as a naturalized American citizen to satisfy strict U.S. immigration requirements, repeatedly attesting to the couple’s character, financial stability, and “imminent danger” while residing in Nice, France. The file culminates in 1941 alien-registration address cards personally completed and signed by Grigory and Anna after their arrival in New York, evidence of Heifetz’s successful intervention.
Grigory Gluckmann (1898-1973) was a Russian-born painter active in Berlin, Paris, New York, and Los Angeles. Born in Vitebsk, Russia, he studied for three years at the Art Academy in Moscow before leaving Russia in 1920 in the aftermath of the Revolution and settling in Berlin, where he changed his surname from Glickman to Gluckmann. In 1924, he traveled through Italy for nine months, producing numerous paintings, before relocating to Paris later that year and holding his first one-man exhibition at the Galerie Druet. Gluckmann subsequently exhibited widely throughout Europe, including at the Leicester Galleries in London, and in 1937 received a prize at the Paris Salon. He made his American debut that same year with a one-man exhibition at the John Levy Galleries in New York. Following the German occupation of Paris during World War II, Gluckmann and his wife, Anna Sorochovitsch, fled to Nice, France, where violinist Jascha Heifetz, one of the most celebrated violinists of the twentieth century, undertook extensive efforts to secure American visas for the couple through affidavits of support, financial guarantees, and immigration sponsorship. The Gluckmanns immigrated to New York in 1941 and relocated to California in 1945, where Gluckmann exhibited regularly at the Dalzell Hatfield Galleries in Los Angeles while continuing to show in New York galleries and illustrating several books. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in London in 1948 and of the Benjamin Franklin Society in 1968, and continued painting until his death in 1973.
