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 camp, and emigrated to the United States, where he became a prominent textile manufacturer and activist involved in issues relating to Soviet Jewry.

Biography Si Frumkin was born on November 5, 1930, in Kaunas, Lithuania, to Mykolas and Zila (née Waisapel) Frumkinas. After the war, Frumkin studied in Switzerland and England before briefly immigrating to Venezuela, where he was reunited with his mother, who had been deported to Poland. With Zev Yaroslavsky, Frumkin protested against Soviet cultural events in Los Angeles. In 1970, Si Frumkin, Louis Rosenblum, Harold Light, and other local activists formed the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews as an umbrella organization for the various grassroots organizations in existence. As a founding member of the Association of Soviet Jewish Emigres, Frumkin assisted Soviet Jews who immigrated to Southern California settle in their new homes.

In his later years, Frumkin also worked to help Ethiopian Jews emigrate and was involved with the Israel-Christian Nexus, an organization of Jews and evangelical Christians that support Israel’s right to exist.

Si Frumkin died on May 15, 2009, in Los Angeles, California.