Si Frumkin

Si Frumkin (born Simas Frumkinas) (November 5, 1930 – May 15, 2009) was a Lithuanian-born Jew who survived imprisonment at the Dachau Nazi concentration camps, and emigrated to the United States, where he became a prominent textile manufacturer and activist involved in issues relating Soviet Jewry. He arrived in New York in 1949 and graduated from New York University in 1953. Shortly after graduation, he moved to Los Angeles and took over Universal Drapery Fabrics, a downtown textile company. At night, he earned a master's degree in history at Cal State Northridge. Once the plight of Soviet Jews caught his attention he focused on activism.

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Si (Simon) Frumkin

Si Frumkin was born in Kaunas (Kovno), Lithuania. He lived through one of the most turbulent times in history, when Lithuania was absorbed into the Soviet Union, then invaded by Nazi Germany. As a child, he was rounded up into the Kovno Ghetto with other Jews, and then transported to the dreaded Dachau concentration camp. Si was still a child when he was liberated. After the war, he remained in Europe in a displaced persons camp in Italy under the care and protection of the Jewish Brigade. Then he lived in Switzerland, England and Venezuela. In 1949 he came to the United States to attend college at NYU. Upon graduation, he rejoined his mother, who had survived the Holocaust and was living in the Los Angeles area. Together with his stepfather, he built Universal Drapery Fabrics into a successful business. In the 1960s, Si rose to prominence as a leader in the Americans for Democratic Action. Later in the decade, he would rise to prominence as one of the most important leaders in the international movement on behalf of Jews in the USSR. Si founded the Southern California Council for Soviet Jews. He was one of the co-founders of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews and for many years presided over it. Si, together with now County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, helped to make the plight of Soviet Jews a front and center issue in U.S. – Soviet relations. This led to the freedom of at least 1.5 million Jews. Si was featured in many movies, including the documentaries “Kovno Ghetto” and “Refusenik”, as well as giving numerous interviews to radio and television channels. Si became one of the leading figures in the Russian speaking community not only in California but throughout the United States of America. He founded the Association of Holocaust Survivors from the Former Soviet Union. He conducted the very first Holocaust survivors’ interviews for Spielberg’s Shoa Foundation. He gave witness statements in the California and US Senate on the Holocaust issues. Si was a talented and prolific writer. His articles appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the National Review, the Forward, the B’nai Brith Messenger, the Israel Today, the Jewish Journal, as well as the Panorama and many other publications in America and abroad. Si spoke eight languages and participated as a consultant and translator in many important meetings with then Governor Ronald Reagan and other political leaders. Upon his death on May 15, 2009 his Obituary was published on the 1st page of Los Angeles Times and Tributes to him were issued by the US House of Representatives, the California State Assembly, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the Mayor of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles City Council, The West Hollywood City Council and by many other well known entities and individuals. Website: www.sifrumkin.com Access to Si Frumkin's Archives: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt6h4nf75kwww.sifrumkin.com www.sifrumkin.com