WAUAbramsSydney5806.xml Abrams (Sydney) Oral History Interview Guide to the Oral History Interview with Sydney Abrams Finding aid prepared by S. Kemp Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries 2014 (Last modified: 8/26/2021)

Allen Library BOX 352900 Seattle, Washington 98195-2900 speccoll@uw.edu URL:

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2021-08-26 22:55:14 +0000. Description is written in: English, Latin script. Describing Archives: A Content Standard Abrams, Sydney A.,$d1927- Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries Oral history interview with Sydney Abrams 5806 5806-001 2 compact disks and 1 vertical file 2012 Oral history interview of Sydney Abrams English

Sydney Abrams was born in Seattle, Washington, in 1927, and attended the Seattle Talmud Torah Hebrew school. In 1947 he served as a volunteer seaman in a clandestine operation to transport Holocaust survivors and refugees to Palestine. Abrams was one of three Seattleites to participate in the operation organized by the Haganah Palestine Jewish underground. He was married to the painter Maria Frank Abrams.

Oral history interview conducted by Susan Weingarten and Doris Steifel on February 8, 2012. In the interview, Abrams talks about his life growing up in the Jewish neighborhood around Garfield High School in Seattle, his father's tailoring store at First and Seneca called United Tailors and Clothiers, living through the Great Depression and the Hoovervillites along Seattle's waterfront, his time at the University of Washington, the purchase of the former USS Paducah by the Israeli group Haganah to transport Jewish refugees recounted in the book "Running the Palestine blockade" by Rudolph Patzert. Abrams also speaks of Aliya Bet.

Forms part of the Washington State Jewish Archives.

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

Open to all users

Request at UW

No restrictions on use.

Donor: Sydney Abrams, 2012.

Abrams, Sydney A., 1927- --Interviews Businesspeople--Washington (State)--Seattle--Interviews Haganah (Organization)--History--Sources Holocaust survivors--Cyprus--History--Sources Jewish refugees--Palestine--History--Sources Jews--Washington (State)--Seattle--Interviews Jews--Washington (State)--Seattle--History--Sources Palestine--Emigration and immigration--History--Sources Palestine--Politics and government--1917-1948--History--Sources Seattle (Wash.)--20th century--History--Sources. Steifel, Doris, interviewer. Washington State Jewish Archives (University of Washington) Weingarten, Susan, interviewer. Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington) Jewish Americans Seattle Oral Histories Sound Recordings