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Sidney Kaufman Papers

Call Number

ALBA.058

Dates

1937-1945, inclusive
; 1937-1939, bulk

Creator

Kaufman, Sidney

Extent

0.5 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

Sidney Kaufman served in the International Brigades in Spain from July 1937 through February 1939. Kaufman later served in World War II transporting troops in the South Pacific. He was a lifelong member of the Marine Cooks and Stewards Union and the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union. The collection contains Kaufman's correspondence, mementos, military documents, and newspaper articles, primarily dating from his time in Spain.

Historical/Biographical Note

Sidney Kaufman was born in 1914. He was a merchant seaman working out of New York when he decided to volunteer for the International Brigades in Spain. Arriving in Spain in July 1937, Kaufman served as a runner with the British battalion, spent several months in the 35th artillery battery, and was commissar of an anti-tank battery attached to the Slavic battalion on the Aragon Front. In January 1939, when most International Brigaders were making their way out of the country, Kaufman was trapped in Barcelona as Franco's forces prepared to enter the city. Kaufman spent the following three weeks traveling the countryside, searching for a means of escape. In February, he finally made it over the border into France, only to be held in a French detention camp for several days before being granted passage home. Kaufman later served in World War II transporting troops in the South Pacific. A lifelong member of the Marine Cooks and Stewards Union and the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, Kaufman retired in 1979.

Sources:

Elizabeth C. Compa, "Sid Kaufman's Odyssey out of Spain," The Volunteer, June 2005.

Arrangement

Series I is arranged alphabetically; the scrapbook has been placed at the end of the collection.

The files are grouped into one series:

Missing Title

  1. I. Spanish Civil War and World War II.

Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of letters and postcards from Kaufman to his parents and others, as well as letters to Kaufman in Spain; military orders (the bulk of which are in Spanish); newspaper articles; propaganda of the International Brigades and the Partit Socialista Unificat (P.S.U.), including a pop-up card; a fascist propaganda leaflet; and other items. Of particular note is a journal Kaufman kept during the period when he was searching for a way out of Spain. Kaufman's scrapbook, located at the end of the collection, contains items from the Spanish Civil War, including letters, postcards, newspaper articles, stamps, tickets, and other mementos. Material from World War II includes a V-Mail with a cartoon by Spanish Civil War veteran Vincent Lossowski and clippings about Lossowski and other International Brigades veterans in World War II.

Access Restrictions

Materials are open to researchers. Please contact the Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives for more information and to schedule an appointment, tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu or 212-998-2630.

Use Restrictions

Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives (ALBA), were transferred to New York University in November 2000 by the ALBA Board of Governors. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from the Tamiment Library & Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. For more information, contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu or 212-998-2630.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date; Collection name; Collection number; box number; folder number;
Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Acquired from Brandeis University, January 2001.

Provenance

The Sidney Kaufman Papers were donated to the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives by Sidney Kaufman between 1977 and 1979 in three different accessions. This collection came to New York University in January 2001 as part of the original acquisition of ALBA collections, formerly housed at Brandeis University.

Separated Material

Audiocassettes from the Sidney Kaufman Collection have been transferred to the audio section of the ALBA collection in the Tamiment Library. On the recordings, made in 1977, Kaufman reads portions of and discusses the journal contained in this collection.

Related Material at the Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives

ALBA collections at the Tamiment Library.

Collection processed by

Wendy Scheir

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-20 16:34:22 -0400.
Language: Description is in English.

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from kaufman.doc

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012