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Si Frumkin (1930-2009) Papers

 Collection
Identifier: P-871

Scope and Content Note

The Si Frumkin Papers include Mr. Frumkin’s articles on the subject of the Holocaust, Israel, the Soviet Union and Soviet Jews from the mid- and the late 1980’s, and a video interview with him and video recordings of several television programs related to the topic of the Soviet Jewry. The documents include articles, news clippings and video recordings.

Dates

  • Creation: undated, 1985, 1988-1989
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 1988 - 1989

Creator

Access Restrictions

The collection is open to all researchers, except items that may be restricted due to their fragility, or privacy.

Use Restrictions

No permission is required to quote, reproduce or otherwise publish manuscript materials found in this collection, as long as the usage is scholarly, educational, and non-commercial. For inquiries about other usage, please contact the Director of Collections and Engagement at mmeyers@ajhs.org.

For reference questions, please email: inquiries@cjh.org

Historical Note

The Papers of Si Frumkin represent one collection housed within the Archive of the American Soviet Jewry Movement (AASJM). These papers reflect the effort, beginning in the 1960s through the late 1980s, of thousands of American Jews of all denominations and political orientations to stop the persecution and discrimination of Jews in the Soviet Union. The American Soviet Jewry Movement (ASJM) is considered to be the most influential Movements of the American Jewish community in the 20th century. The beginnings of the organized American Soviet Jewry Movement became a model for efforts to aid Soviet Jews in other countries, among them Great Britain, Canada, and France. The movement can be traced to the early 1960s, when the first organizations were created to address the specific problem of the persecution and isolation of Soviet Jews by the government of the Soviet Union.

A Holocaust survivor, Si Frumkin was one of the leading figures in the American Soviet Jewry Movement. He was the founder of the Southern California Council for Soviet Jews, the founder of the Association of Soviet Jewish Emigres and served on the Board of Directors of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews. During more than two decades of innovative activism, Mr. Frumkin organized pickets and demonstrations at cultural and athletic events, including rallies of tens of thousands of participants, direct phone calls to Soviet Jews, mailings of post cards to the USSR and the massive distribution of Prisoner of Conscience medallions. Mr. Frumkin visited the Soviet Union to provide direct aid to the Refuseniks and returned with unique and valuable information on the situation of Soviet Jewry that was widely publicized by the American mass media. Fluent in Russian, he kept in close contact with Jewish activists in the USSR. Mr. Frumkin lectured extensively, wrote numerous magazine and newspaper articles, and appeared in a number of television and radio programs, speaking on the subject of Soviet Jews.

Extent

0.5 Linear Feet (1 manuscript box)

Language of Materials

English

Russian

Abstract

The Si Frumkin Papers include Mr. Frumkin’s articles on the subject of the Holocaust, Israel, the Soviet Union and Soviet Jews from the mid- and the late 1980’s, and a video interview with him and video recordings of several television programs related to the topic of the Soviet Jewry. The documents include articles, news clippings and video recordings.

Arrangement

The collection is organized into one series arranged alphabetically.

Acquisition Information

Donated by Si Frumkin in 2007.

Digitization Note

All unique, playable videocassettes were digitized and made fully accessible in 2016-2017.

Related Material

The Papers of Si Frumkin is one individual collection within the Archive of the American Soviet Jewry Movement (AASJM) located at the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS). Other Soviet Jewry Movement collections at AJHS include the records of Action for Soviet Jewry (I-487), the National Conference on Soviet Jewry (NCSJ; I-181 and I-181A), the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (I-410), Medical Mobilization for Soviet Jewry, the papers of Joel Ackerman (P-787), Julia Mates Cheney (P-806), Jerry Goodman (P-863), Laurel and Alan J. Gould (P-866), and Carolyn W. Sanger (P-870).

Individual accounts of activities within the Soviet Jewry Movement are preserved in the UJA Oral History Collection (I-433), which includes accounts from members of the following organizations: the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews, Bay Area Council on Soviet Jews (BACSJ), Seattle Action for Soviet Jews, Houston Action for Soviet Jews, Chicago Action for Soviet Jews, Colorado Committee of Concern for Soviet Jews and the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. Interviewees include accounts by Lillian Forman (BACSJ), Ann Polunsky, Morey Schapira, Myrtle Sitowitz, Deborah Turkin, David Waksberg, Sylvia Weinberg and Dolores Wilkenfeld. In addition, posters related to the Soviet Jewry Movement can be found in the Jewish Student Organizations Collection (I-61).

Additional materials from other collections include records dealing with the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (SSSJ) located within the North American Jewish Students Appeal (NAJSA, I-338) and the records of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council (NJCRAC, I-172). Related records are also located at the AJHS in Newton Centre, MA including memorabilia and ephemera of the New England Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (I-237) and the Records of the Student Coalition for Soviet Jewry – Brandeis University (I-493).

Title
Guide to the Si Frumkin (1930-2009) Papers, undated, 1985, 1988-1989 *P-871
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by Andrey Filimonov
Date
© 2009
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is in English.
Sponsor
Digitization of videocassettes was made possible through the generous support of the Blavatnik Foundation.

Revision Statements

  • July 2017: dao links for videocassettes, digitization note, and sponsor statement added by Leanora Lange.
  • October 2020: RJohnstone: post-ASpace migration cleanup.

Repository Details

Part of the American Jewish Historical Society Repository

Contact:
15 West 16th Street
New York NY 10011 United States