This collection of correspondence and papers relates to the infamous Bern trial of the distributors of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, in particular to the appeal, which took place between 27 October and 1 November 1937, in which the original verdict, convicting the distributors of falsification and plagiarism, was overturned on a legal technicality, although the appellants were not compensated.

The material, which was originally housed in a folder entitled 'Protokolle Prozess Bern Appellation' (front cover); 'Bern Protokolle Prozess II Instanz' (spine), appears to have emanated from the offices of the appellants legal team- many of the papers bear the stamp of the law firm Roth, Ruef & Joss, Bern, Bahnhofplatz 6. Their custodial history prior to deposit is unknown. At some point they must have come into the possession of Hans Jonak von Freyenwald, since the collection has been referred to as the 'Freyenwald Collection at the Wiener Library'.

Jonak von Freyenwald, born 1878 in Vienna; held various civil service posts until retirement in 1922. He worked for the Anti-semitic organisation Weltdienst between 1934 and 1940 in Erfurt, then Frankfurt. Between 1934 and 1937 he worked as an academic assistant for the Swiss defendants and their lawyers in the Bern trial of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

The original order has been retained. All of the material is in German.