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The Litman Family Archive
Argentina - Paraguay - Israel
An Extensive Jewish Family Archive of Betar, Zionist Education, Medicine, Immigration and Family History, c. 1940s–1966
For sale, An exceptionally comprehensive and remarkably well-preserved Jewish family archive documenting the lives of the Litman and Feldman families across Argentina, Paraguay and Israel during the mid-twentieth century. Preserved as a single family archive, the collection combines photographs, official documents, correspondence, autobiographical writings, military records, educational material and family memorabilia, allowing the reconstruction of more than two decades of Jewish communal, educational and family life in South America and Israel.
At the center of the archive stands Dr. Shalom (Salomon) Litman, born in Buenos Aires in 1934. Unlike most family archives, this collection contains Litman’s own handwritten curriculum vitae, enabling his life to be reconstructed through original contemporary documentation rather than later family tradition.
The archive follows Litman from his youth in Betar, where numerous original photographs document his participation in Betar Camp No. 13, instructors’ groups, camps, youth activities, sporting events and educational programs. Particularly noteworthy are photographs identified as depicting Moshe Gold, head of Betar, together with Shalom Litman and other Betar activists, providing a rare visual record of Revisionist Zionist youth activity in South America after the Second World War.
Litman’s career as a Jewish educator is exceptionally well documented. Large original photographs record his work at the H.N. Bialik School in Asunción, Paraguay, where he served as an educator and later principal. Classroom photographs show him teaching Hebrew classes, including one identified as “Kvuẓat HaKotsrim” (The Reapers). Additional photographs document seminars, graduation ceremonies, faculty gatherings and school activities, illustrating the daily life of one of Paraguay’s principal Jewish educational institutions.
A remarkable group of photographs documents official visits by representatives of the Jewish Agency and Israeli public figures to the Jewish community of Asunción. Several loose photographs can be confidently associated with damaged album pages titled “With Jewish Agency Representatives,” as surviving album pages retain empty spaces and physical traces where these photographs had originally been mounted. Together they reconstruct a sequence of official events including visits to the Bialik School, formal receptions, public gatherings and banquets, with Shalom Litman appearing alongside Jewish Agency representatives throughout.
The archive also preserves extensive documentation of Litman’s compulsory service in the Argentine Army. Included are his Argentine military enrollment booklet together with numerous original military photographs showing him in uniform, unit portraits, weapons training, mounted exercises, barracks life and medical service. These photographs provide an unusually complete visual record of the military experience of a young Argentine Jew during the 1950s.
Following his military service, Litman studied medicine at the University of Buenos Aires, graduating in 1964 before specializing in psychiatry. His curriculum vitae records his academic and professional development, while photographs taken in medical settings complement the documentary record. Together they trace his transition from educator and Zionist activist to physician.
Another important section of the archive documents repeated journeys between South America and Israel prior to the family’s permanent immigration. Original albums preserve photographs aboard the Italian liner Conte Grande, including a documented Hanukkah celebration at sea, together with photographs of Naples, the Acropolis in Athens, arrival at Haifa, Jerusalem, and numerous handwritten Hebrew captions expressing the emotional significance of Zionist travel. The documentation demonstrates that these early visits preceded the family’s permanent Aliyah. Shalom Litman and his wife Berta (“Perla”) Feldman immigrated permanently to Israel in 1966.
The archive equally preserves the history of the Feldman family. Included are official documents belonging to Berta (“Perla”) Feldman Litman, together with the Foreigner’s Passport of her father, Jacob Yosef Feldman, whose documents illuminate the family’s migration from Poland to Argentina. Of exceptional importance is a substantial family biography of the Feldman family, tracing their origins in Łomazy, Poland, Jacob Feldman’s immigration to Argentina in 1928, the fate of relatives during the Holocaust, the family’s later history in South America, and the eventual migration of surviving family members to Israel. This narrative provides invaluable historical context for the documents and photographs preserved in the archive.
Beyond its official documentation, the archive preserves the family’s private voice. Included are approximately twenty original handwritten family letters, written primarily in Yiddish, with Hebrew and occasional Spanish, sent from Buenos Aires during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Together they document everyday family life, relationships, immigration, language and continuing ties between South America and Israel.
Also included is an original 25-page handwritten memory notebook belonging to Shalom Litman, bearing the stamp of the Jewish organization Javerim, containing personal messages written by friends and acquaintances during the mid-1950s. The archive further includes greeting cards, New Year cards, postcards, financial documents, business cards, newspaper clippings, family correspondence and numerous other personal papers.
The photographic archive extends far beyond formal portraits. Hundreds of original photographs document Jewish family life, holidays, weddings, communal celebrations, educational institutions, youth movements, military service, travel, immigration, domestic life and several generations of the Litman and Feldman families. Contemporary handwritten captions throughout the albums identify individuals, locations and events, greatly enhancing the documentary value of the collection.
The collection consists of approximately 300 original photographs, documents and manuscripts, preserved together by one family over several decades. The continuity between autobiographical writings, official records, photographs, correspondence and family memoirs makes it possible to reconstruct the history of one Jewish family from pre-war Eastern Europe through Argentina and Paraguay to their eventual settlement in Israel.
An important archive for the study of Latin American Jewry, Betar, Zionist education, Jewish Agency activity, Argentine military history, Jewish migration, family history, Holocaust memory, and the social history of Jewish communities in South America.
Additional high-resolution photographs of every section of the archive are available upon request.
Offered as one intact family archive.
