Hyman Robert Levitan collection
Extent and Medium
box
oversize folders
1
2
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Barbara Randall
Funding Note: The cataloging of this collection has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Barbara Randall donated the Hyman Robert Levitan collection to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in September 2010. Barbara Randall is the daughter of Hyman Robert Levitan.
Scope and Content
The Hyman Robert Levitan collection consists of documents, newspaper clippings and photographs related to Hyman Robert (Bob) Levitan, a World War II veteran, who became the captain of the SS Ben Hecht and illegally transported a group of refugees, mainly Holocaust survivors, to Palestine in 1947. The ship was intercepted by British warships and the passengers and crew were imprisoned. The crew was released after six months, while the refugees were eventually allowed into Palestine. The collection includes photographs taken on the ship and in prison, newspaper clippings, magazine clippings, and documents related to Bob Levitan and the SS Ben Hecht, which was financed by supporters of the Bergson group.
System of Arrangement
The Bob Levitan collection is arranged in a single series.
People
- Levitan, Hyman Robert.
- Hecht, Ben, 1893-1964.
Corporate Bodies
- SS Ben Hecht (Ship)
Subjects
- Palestine.
- Palestine--Emigration and immigration.
Genre
- Newspaper clippings.
- Memoirs.
- Photographs.
- Document
- Correspondence.