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Edmund H. Immergut Collection Addenda

 Collection
Identifier: AR 25704

Scope and Content Note

The collection's focus is on the time between the death of Edmund's mother and his naturalization in the United States in 1957. Much of the collection pertains to Edmund Immergut's immigration.

Folder 1/1 contains the correspondence between Edmund and the U.S. immigration officials, as well as a few letters of recommendation of Edmund's colleagues and friends, which supported his application for an immigration visa. Professor Frederick R. Eirich of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, for example, described in a letter to the Selective Service System in 1951, that Edmund Immergut was an indispensable person at the institute and his knowledge was of national importance.

Edmund's argument for an immigration visa was based on the political circumstances in post-war Austria and the remaining danger for Jews in Austria on the one hand, and on the other hand he pointed out that he had established himself in his years of residence in American society and that he felt at home in the United States.

However, he blamed an American military policeman for his mother's death: In 1946 his mother, Nelly Bleier, was killed by a drunken American military policeman in Shanghai. The military policeman drove into her with a car. After that accident, Edmund wasn't able to finance his study in Shanghai anymore. He decided to apply for a student's visa for the United States.

In Folder 1/2 official documents concerning Edmund's immigration into the United States are stored. He expected to get support from his close relatives in the United States. He obtained a student visa and moved to San Francisco in 1946. In the following years he studied in the United States and struggled hard to receive the American citizenship. The official documents represent his struggle and show that he had a few advocates and supporters.

Folder 1/3 holds biographical documents about Edmund H. Immergut. It contains his birth certificate as well as his marriage certificate and his passport and other official documents. Folder 1/4 contains documents concerning his school and university career. For example it includes school reports, study reports as well as certificates of his university degrees.

Folder 1/5 consists of papers of Edmund Immergut's family. In this folder the documents of Edmunds parents and other relatives are stored. In 1938 all Jewish-Austrian citizens had to fill out documents regarding their personal effects. Furthermore one document from a cemetery in Bogota concerning the grave of Edmund's father is in the folder. Additionally an oversized folder exists, containing oversized folder original school reports and study reports as well as university certificates and degrees.

Dates

  • 1928-1974
  • Majority of material found within 1946-1957

Creator

Language of Materials

The collection is in English, Chinese, Swedish and German.

Access Restrictions

Open to researchers.

Access Information

Collection is digitized. Follow the links in the Container List to access the digitized materials.

Use Restrictions

There may be some restrictions on the use of the collection. For more information, contact:

Leo Baeck Institute, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011

email: lbaeck@lbi.cjh.org

Biographical Note

Edmund H. (Heinz/Henry) Immergut was born in 1928 in Vienna, Austria. He left Austria with his parents in 1938, and arrived in China in January 1939. In 1946 his mother, Nelly Immergut, died in China as a pedestrian in a road accident. After his wife's death Walter Immergut, Edmund’s father, left Shanghai to establish himself in Bogota, Colombia. In the same year Edmund H. Immergut moved into the United States, where he lived as non-resident from 1946 to 1952. Following his university studies he started a career in science and worked for the Polytechnic Institute of New York. He became a specialist for polymer chemistry. He also got invited as a Research Fellow to the Fysikalisk Institute in Sweden in 1954. One year later, in 1955, he married Britta Hässel in Stockholm. On December 30th 1957 he got naturalized in the United States. In 1966 he was elected as a Fellow of The New York Academy of Science.

Extent

0.5 Linear Feet

Abstract

The collection deals with Edmund H. Immergut's path of immigration from Austria to Shanghai and later to the United States. Based on correspondence and official documents, Edmund's struggle to become naturalized in the United States is presented in this collection.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in one series containing five folders.

Related Material

This collection represents addenda to the original "Edmund H. Immergut collection," AR 11058, which contains primarily original materials pertaining to the Immergut family in Austria and in Shanghai, China.

Title
Guide to the Edmund H. Immergut Collection Addenda 1928-1974 AR 25704
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by Stephan Daiber
Date
© 2017
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is in English.
Edition statement
This version was derived from Edmund_H_Immergut_Addenda.xml

Revision Statements

  • April 11, 2018 : Links to digital objects added in Container List.

Repository Details

Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository

Contact:
15 West 16th Street
New York NY 10011 United States