Isaac Bitton collection photographs of the prisoners exchange of Libyan and Tunisian Jews for German POWs in 1944

Identifier
irn503025
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • RG-19.011.02
Level of Description
Item
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

folder

1

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Isaac Bitton was born on March 31, 1926 to Isaac and Simy (Shocrun) in Lisbon, Portugal. In 1943 or 1944, he and his brother, Joseph, immigrated to Palestine where he joined the ranks of the Palestine Police Railroad Division followed by the Jewish Brigade of the British Army where he served in Belgium. At the end of the war, Bitton returned to Palestine where he worked as an undercover agent for the Haganah before joining the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) from 1947 to 1951 as a Sergeant Major. He rejoined the army in 1956 during the Suez Crisis. In 1959, he immigrated to the United States, with his wife, Miriam, and three children, Tamar, Daniel, and Michael, eventually settling down in Woodstock, Illinois. Here he became a successful executive and business community leader. He died on July 14, 2006. As a young man, Isaac worked in the Lisbon “soup kitchen” to feed the Jewish refugees prior to WWII. While there, he met the disgraced Portuguese diplomat Aristides de Sousa Mendes. Mendes had been dismissed from his post in Bordeaux, France for disobeying orders by granting visas to thousands of Jews fleeing Nazi oppression. Bitton was active in getting "Righteous Among the Nations" recognition for Mendes. [from Finding Aid of Isaac Bitton Papers at the American Sephardi Federation at the Center for Jewish History]

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

The materials were collected by Isaac Bitton during the years since the Holocaust.

Scope and Content

Contains six gelatin silver copyprints of Libyan and Tunisian Jews who were exchanged for German POWs in 1944. The photos depict the refugees in preparation for the emigration from Lisbon, Portugal, to Palestine in October 1944.

System of Arrangement

Arrangement is thematic

People

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.