Pregozen, Irving_1981/1/17, Oral History, January 17, 1981

Born in 1923 to a very Zionistic family. In teens became a ham radio operator and served in Signal Corps during World War II. Then, worked at MIT Radar School training officers on equipment. In 1946 went to New Jersey to learn about life on a kibbutz in preparation for going to Palestine. In July 1948, he got a job on the S.S. Director, a ship that was being overhauled in order to take Jews out of Europe and bring them to Israel. The ship stopped in Marseilles and picked up 1,300 refugees and brought them to Haifa, Israel, during the War of Independence.In January 1949, he joined a kibbutz and stayed for two years. After that, he worked with the Israeli Navy in a radar lab for about 2 years, and returned to the United States in 1952 in order to further his education.