Sonia Wachtin oral history interview, 1975

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Wachtin, Sonia
Title
Sonia Wachtin oral history interview
Dates
1975 (inclusive)
Quantity
1 sound cassette (60 min.); transcript
Collection Number
3139 (Accession No. 3139-001)
Summary
Tape recorded interview telling how Sonia Wachtin had to leave her birthplace in Russian Crimea because the police called her in to talk to her about the kinds of books she read and her friends and talks about various life incidents
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Open to all users.

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Sonia Wachtin was born 1900 and died 1989.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Tape-recorded interview conducted by J. Schreiber and M. Rosenbaum on 3/18/75.

Mrs. Sonia Pass Wachtin tells how she had to leave her birthplace in the Russian Crimea because the police called her in to talk to her about the kinds of books she read and her friends. She came to New York via Riga on the last Russian steamship into New York before the Russian Revolution. Her parents' friends' son showed her around New York and became her fiance. Her parents came and they remained in New York for two years before moving to Seattle. Her fiance, George Wachtin, followed and went to the University of Washington and graduated as a pharmacist. She and George ran away from a big wedding being planned jointly for her and George and for her sister Bose and David Pase. She tells of life for a young married woman in the Hebrew Free Loan organization and in Bikur Cholim. Then she talks at some length about the formation of Hadassah in Seattle. After World War I, she and George lived for four years in San Francisco where he worked as a pharmacist and then in Vancouver, BC where he was an interpreter. Later, he acted as an interpreter for non-Jewish Russians in jail in Seattle and was also a steamship ticket agent. He was the first Jewish travel agent in Seattle.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Alternative Forms Available

Listen to the audio recording and view the transcript of this interview on the Libraries Digital Collections site.

Restrictions on Use

Creator's literary rights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Donated by J. Schrieber and M. Rosenbaum, 3/18/1975.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Jews--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Jews--Washington (State)--Seattle--Interviews

Personal Names

  • Wachtin, George
  • Wachtin, Sonia--Archives

Corporate Names

  • Congregation Bikur Cholim (Seattle, Wash.)
  • Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America. Seattle Chapter
  • Hebrew Free Loan Association (U.S.)

Other Creators

  • Personal Names
    • Rosenbaum, Mildred Hardin (creator)
    • Schrieber, Jeanette (creator)
    Corporate Names
    • Jewish Archives (University of Washington) (creator)
    • Washington State Jewish Archives (University of Washington)

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)

Other Creators

  • Corporate Names
    • Washington State Jewish Archives (University of Washington)