S.S. Navemar - Saul Sperling Collection
Scope and Content Note
This collection consists of files of Saul Sperling, the lawyer for many of the plaintiffs in the case brought by passengers of the S.S. Navemar against the owners of the ship, Compania Española de Navegacion Maritima. The collection includes notes, correspondence, legal papers, and bills. The notes are handwritten by Saul Sperling and relate to the case. Most of the notes are dated and numbered, ranging from September 16, 1941 to February 16, 1945. The correspondence is with lawyers, clients, and officials. The lawyers included in the correspondence include Louis Arnold, Mr. Stewart of Foley & Martin, Edwin Bourke, Myron Kleban, and Maurice Kreis. The legal papers include powers of attorney, sworn statements, and interview transcripts, and lists of claims. Other materials used in the case and included in this collection alongside the legal papers are addresses of passengers, pages of the ship’s log book, and questionnaires.
Dates
- Creation: 1941-1953
Creator
- Sperling, Saul (Person)
Language of Materials
The collection is in English.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open to researchers.
Access Information
Readers may access the collection by visiting the Lillian Goldman Reading Room at the Center for Jewish History. We recommend reserving the collection in advance; please visit the LBI Online Catalog and click on the "Request" button.
Historical Note
The S.S. Navemar was a Spanish merchant ship that operated during World War II. The ship departed from Seville, Spain on July 30, 1941 with over 1,000 Jewish refugees aboard, far more than it was equipped to carry. During the 48-day voyage, illness and hunger afflicted the refugees. Six died on board, and a seventh died upon arrival in New York. The S.S. Navemar arrived in New York on September 12, 1941. Almost immediately after arrival in New York, passengers began organizing a law suit against the company that owned the S.S. Navemar, the Compania Española de Navegacion Maritima. Passengers made claims for personal injury, damage to personal property, and death. The lawyer Saul Sperling represented 251 of the 578 passenger-claimants in this case. The S.S. Navemar was sunk in January of 1942, allegedly by an Axis U-boat.
Extent
0.25 Linear Feet
Abstract
This collection contains the papers of lawyer Saul Sperling related to the lawsuit brought by passengers of the S.S. Navemar against the owners of the ship in 1941-1942 for death, personal injury, and property damage that occurred during the difficult journey. Many passengers were Jewish refugees fleeing Europe. Materials include Saul Sperling’s notes, correspondence, legal documents, and bills.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged by document type.
Digitization Note
The collection was digitized and made accessible in its entirety.
Separated Material
Photographs in this collection have been separated to the LBI Photograph Collection and can be viewed online: Photographs from the S.S. Navemar - Saul Sperling Collection
A folder of clippings related to the Navemar case was separated to the LBI Clippings Collection, where it can be found under the collection number AR 3857C.
Processing Information
Materials were rehoused into acid-free archival folders. Envelopes that contained no further information than what could be found on their related pieces of correspondence were removed.
Subject
- Sperling, Saul (Person)
- Compania Española de Navegacion Maritima (Organization)
- Navemar (Ship) (Organization)
Genre / Form
Geographic
Occupation
Topical
- Title
- Guide to the S.S. Navemar - Saul Sperling Collection 1941-1953 AR 3857
- Author
- Processed by Leanora Lange
- Date
- © 2014
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Description is in English.
- Sponsor
- Processing made possible by the Leon Levy Foundation and the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany. Digitization made possible by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany.
Repository Details
Part of the Leo Baeck Institute Repository
