Samuel Waitzman Papers
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Abstract
Samuel Waitzman (1911-1982) was a veteran of the Spanish Civil War and World War II. The Samuel Waitzman Papers (dated 1937-1945) contain several handwritten diaries and notebooks written during Waitzman's service fighting for the international brigades in the Spanish Civil War (1937-1938). His papers also contain letters and clippings sent to his sisters during his deployment as a soldier in Europe during WWII (1943-1945).
Biographical / Historical
Samuel Waitzman was a Jewish American volunteer who fought with the Abraham Lincoln Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. Waitzman was born in New York City on February 19, 1911. He attended City College of New York, and later worked as a journalist. He was also a member of the Young Communist League and the Communist Party. In March 1937, he traveled to Spain to fight in the Spanish Civil War where he served in the XV Brigade, Washington Battalion; Brigade Transport; 35th Division, Sanidad; XV Brigade, Sanidad; and finally the British Batallion. He fought in battles at Brunete, Quinto, Belchite, Fuentes del Ebro, Teruel, Seguro de los BaƱos, and in the Ebro Offensive. He was wounded in battle July 28, 1937, and eventually returned to the United Stated in December 1938. During World War II Wiatzman served as a private in the Army Medical Corps where he earned a Bronze Star.
Arrangement
This collection has not been arranged by an archivist. The materials are arranged in the order in which they were received from the donor.
Content Description
The Samuel Waitzman Papers (dated 1937-1945) contain several handwritten journals and notebooks written during Samuel Waitzman's service fighting for the international brigades in the Spanish Civil War (1937-1938) and letters and clippings sent to his sisters during his deployment as a soldier in Europe during WWII (1943-1945). Waitzman's journal entries are inconsistent in their frequency, and in many cases the exact date of his entries is difficult to discern. His entries are largely reflective and include detailed descriptions of his day-to-day experiences, rather than a comprehensive account of his time in the Abraham Lincoln Brigades. Correspondence in the collections primarily consists of letters written to his sister Dorothy during World War II, which discuss the fighting Germany and leave time he spent in Paris, France. Waitzman also sent his sister clippings from Stars and Stripes, the daily newspaper of U.S. armed forces in the European Theater operations. Other correspondence includes two letters to his sister Freida "Fritzie," which discuss the progress of the Allied troops and her upcoming marriage.
Subjects
Conditions Governing Access
Open to users without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by creator Samuel Waitzman, the creator of this collection, were relinquished and transferred to the public domain in 2017 by Mimi Waitzman. These materials are governed by a Creative Commons CC0 license. Users need not secure permission from the Tamiment library to publish or reproduce materials in this collection.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Samuel Weitzman Papers; ALBA 301; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Mimi Waitzman in May 2017. The accession number associated with this gift is 2017.027.
About this Guide
Processing Information
At the time of accessioning materials were placed in archival housing and a collection-level finding aid was created to describe materials in this collection. Correspondence, which was originally loose in a box, hae been placed in folders by recipient. Journals and notebooks have not been arranged by an archivist.