The Abe L. Plotkin Collection
Biographical Note
Abe L. Plotkin (1913-2007) was a 1935 graduate of St. Thomas College. He served as a cryptographer with the 284th Field Artillery attached to the United States Third Army during World War II and was awarded four battle stars for his service. As the war was winding down he witnessed the liberation of the Ohrdruf concentration camp, the first camp liberated by American soldiers. Plotkin photographed parts of the camp and the condition of camp inmates. Later, Plotkin disregarded the Army's non-fraternization rule and visited Camp Frainam, a displaced persons camp on the outskirts of Munich. One of his photographs of displaced persons housed in this camp was published by The Forward, a Jewish newspaper in New York. The photo was one of the first post-liberation pictures published in United States.
Plotkin became a liaison between the displaced persons and their relatives and friends in the outside world. Inmates would provide him with the names and, often incomplete, addresses of relatives and friends in the United States. Plotkin would forward that information to a number of Jewish newspapers in the United States. The newspapers would publish the information in hopes of establishing contact between the parties. One time Plotkin carried a duffel bag half-filled with letters from displaced persons to Paris where they would be mailed by a Jewish relief organization. Plotkin also engaged in extensive letter writing in search of the relatives and friends of the displaced persons.
Although Plotkin had purchased personal items with his own money to distribute in the camp, he realized that the needs of the displaced persons were substantial and were not being met by official military aid. He suggested to a friend, Chaplain Max Wall that the Chaplain should appeal to soldiers to write home and request five pound packages be sent to displaced persons. The appeal resulted in the delivery of much needed personal items. Plotkin also suggested to his brother that the Israel Lodge of Odd Fellows in Scranton conduct a clothing drive for displaced persons. The lodge sent approximately two tons of clothing.
Since the war had ended and Plotkin's services as a cryptographer were no longer necessary, he was retrained for the military police. He had befriended a number of displaced persons and was able, unofficially wielding the authority of an MP, to prevent a married couple from being evicted from a room in a German house. He attended a wedding, a Yom Kippur service and also sat in on meetings of members of the Palestinian Jewish Brigade who were attempting to emigrate to Palestine, in spite of a British blockade.
Plotkin's efforts to aid displaced persons had become known in a number of relief organizations and he was offered a position with the Joint Distribution Committee. Although he seriously considered the opportunity, he decided to return to the United States and be reunited with his family.In Scranton, Plotkin built a successful career in the shoe business but remained active in a wide variety of community service organizations. He served as president of the Young Men's Hebrew Association, president of the Easter Seals (where he originated an ad hoc committee for the transportation of the aging and handicapped which evolved into COLTS, the Lackawanna Transportation System), and as an original board member of Allied Services for the Handicapped. He continued to speak regularly about the Holocaust and the need for religious and ethnic tolerance to grammar, high school, and college classes as well as to civic organizations. He was given many awards over the years including the J.C. Penney Golden Rule Award for Community Service, the Community Leadership Award by Volunteer Action Service, and the Frank O'Hara Alumni Award for Community Service from The University of Scranton. He was also chosen as "Man of the Year" at an international meeting of the Prescription Footwear Association. Plotkin died in January 2007.
Scope and Content Note
The Abe Plotkin Collection contains material and from the donor's United States Army experience in Germany during the last weeks of World War II and the ensuing months. This material is primarily a small collection of photographs taken of the Ohrdruf Concentration camp and of Holocaust survivors a.k.a. displaced persons, and collection of correspondence to and from Plotkin concerning his experiences as the war was ending and after liberation of the camps. Then Plotkin became involved with concentration camp survivors and attempted to provide aid and assistance to them. There are 42 photographs and 42 items of correspondence. Some of the material, while still related to the Holocaust, dates from the 1990s.
The majority of the collection, approximately 1.5 cubic feet, contains Plotkin's Holocaust awareness teaching materials from the 1980s-1990s. Mr. Plotkin has been actively involved in teaching about the Holocaust and tolerance to grammar, high school, and college students. Included in the collection are materials that he used in class in the form of mounted photographs, posters, and other visual aids as well as training materials that he acquired from various Holocaust teaching seminars.
After the war, Plotkin returned to Scranton where he worked in the shoe business. He was also involved in the number of social service organizations including the Easter Seals (serving as president 1957-1960) and Allied Services for the Handicapped. There is a limited amount of material related to these organizations. There are three folders of material on Allied Services covering the period 1957-1961. There are six folders of material on the Easter Seals covering the period 1957-1997. Both sets of material contain correspondence, board minutes, program materials, and other documents.
Telephone: (570) 941-6341
Fax: (570) 941-7817
Email: Michael Knies, Special Collections Librarian
