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Oral history interview with Peretz Leshem

Oral History | Digitized | Accession Number: 1995.A.1272.335 | RG Number: RG-50.120.0335

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    Oral history interview with Peretz Leshem

    Overview

    Interview Summary
    Peretz Leshem (né Fritz Lichtenstein), born in Saxony, Germany in 1903, describes growing up as one of four children; his father who owned a textile factory; participating in the Zionist youth movement early in his life; joining the German Army for one year; the political parties that arose after WWI; founding another Zionist organization “Jüdiche Wanderbundt” with his friends; returning to Frankfurt, Germany to help reorganize the Bundestag; his marriage to his first wife, Betty Frölich; moving to Palestine in 1926 to Kibbutz Yagur; joining the Mapai (Labor) Party; being sent to Germany to be the director of the Hechalutz near Berlin; writing a book, Strasse zu Rettung; meeting in Vienna, Austria with representatives of the Histadrut; returning to Germany in 1934 to prepare for Aliya Jews in Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Czechoslovakia and Luxemburg; the Histadrut sending him to England to work with the Youth Aliya movement; his activities in Scotland and Ireland; being sent in 1942 to Portugal as head of the Joint to organize the immigration from Spain and Portugal; Wilfrid Israel giving him a list of people who had permits to immigrate to Palestine; the 600-700 refugees in Portugal; meeting refugees in Camp Miranda and the conditions there; opening and heading the office of the Sochnut (Jewish Agency) in Lisbon, Portugal; having to get permission from Germany in order to have a ship from Portugal cross the Mediterranean, and how in January 1944 the refugees from Portugal got on the boat Nyasa and 756 immigrants finally arrived in Haifa, Palestine (Israel); bringing his family from England to Lisbon; getting Franco to ask Hitler to allow 700 refugees from Salonika to enter Spain and then continue to Morocco and Palestine; his dealings with Silberstein, head of the Joint in Switzerland; the Jewish communities in Morocco and Algeria; his thoughts on the Holocaust; and his thoughts on his work during WWII.
    Interviewee
    Perez Leshem
    Date
    interview:  1998 January 30
    Credit Line
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, courtesy of the Jeff and Toby Herr Foundation

    Physical Details

    Language
    Hebrew
    Extent
    7 videocasettes (Betacam SP) : sound, color ; 1/2 in..

    Rights & Restrictions

    Conditions on Access
    There are no known restrictions on access to this material.
    Conditions on Use
    No restrictions on use

    Keywords & Subjects

    Administrative Notes

    Provenance
    Nathan Beyrak conducted the interview with Peretz Leshem in Israel on January 30, 1998. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received the tapes of the interview on June 10, 1999, as an accretion to the original collection of Israel Documentation Project interviews received by transfer in February 1995.
    Funding Note
    The production of this interview was made possible by Jeff and Toby Herr.
    The cataloging of this oral history interview has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
    Record last modified:
    2023-11-16 08:16:15
    This page:
    https:​/​/collections.ushmm.org​/search​/catalog​/irn503268

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