Edmund H. Immergut Collection Addenda

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.