Morton E. Levitan Papers

Collection

Identifier: M2147

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Collection contains copies of Morton's account of being a German prisoner of war in 1945 (n.d.), copies of German propaganda leaflet about Levitan (March 1945), books of poetry written by Levitan (1995, 2002).

Dates

1945-2002

Creator

Levitan, Morton E.,1916-2005. (Person)
Levitan, Morton E., 1916-2005, (Person)

Language of Materials

Material is in English unless otherwise noted.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from material in the collection should be discussed with the appropriate librarian or archivist. Permission for publication may be given on behalf of the Denver Public Library as the owner of the physical item. It is not intended to include or permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained by the customer. The imply Library does not assume any responsibility for infringement of copyright or publication rights of the manuscript held by the writer, heirs, donors, or executors. Reproduction restrictions are decided on a case-by-case basis.

Biographical / Historical

Morton Levitan was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 15, 1916 to Louis and Henrietta Levitan. He grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut and Far Rockaway, New York. He spent most of his life in Helena, Montana and Seattle, Washington. Levitan attended City College of New York and received a medical degree from the University of Geneva. He enlisted in the Army in 1943 and was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division where he served in the 85th Medical 2nd Headquarters Battalion. Levitan began his military training at Camp Hale, Colorado before being transferred with the rest of the 10th to Camp Swift, Texas, and was then deployed to Italy where he served as a Captain in the Medical Corps. On February 22, 1945 he was captured by the Germans and was a prisoner of war until he was liberated at the end of the war. Levitan worked as a Veterans Administration physician in Lake City, Florida and Fort Harrison, Montana, and had a private practice in Seattle, Washington. During the Vietnam War, he participated in the Volunteer Physicians in Viet Nam program, serving in DaNang, South Vietnam. He was also a volunteer at the Tom Dooley hospital in Thailand. After his retirement he continued to attend classes at the University of Washington, and wrote poetry. He was an active member of the Mt. Rainier Chapter of the 10th Mountain Division Association. Morton Elias Levitan passed away on March 23, 2005 at the age of 88 and is buried at Tahoma National Cemetary. He had a companion, Laokham Kamsoi, four children and five grandchildren.