Funeral services were held here today for Isaac Charchat, president of the container shipping firm United Cargo Corporation, who died last Saturday of heart failure at New York Hospital. He was 81 years old.
Born in Sweden, the son of a wealthy businessman, Charchat became a United States citizen 35 years ago. He built his early career in shipping. When World War II brought that business to a halt, he used his time to develop a unique accounting system, one of the first to utilize computers.
In the late 1950’s, he revolutionized the world maritime trade by introducing containerized cargoes, a concept he later used to create what was dubbed the “Landbridge” from the Far East to Europe across the continental United States.
Last year, Shengold Publishers in New York published Charchat’s autobiographical novel, “A Constant Reminder,” that, though in fiction form, is based on the facts of Charchat’s life. He warns of the possibility of history to repeat itself in its most evil aspects.
The book seeks to explain and to detail the historical dynamics that led to the Holocaust, an aspect which Charchat felt was infrequently and inadequately dealt with by those who chronicle the horrors of the Holocaust.
Earlier this month, Charchat participated in the Jerusalem International Book Fair. He was also involved in the distribution of books of foreign publishers in the United States and England. He said recently that Israel, more than any other community, is a melting pot of languages. “It is the perfect setting for such a fair,” he said.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
