Moving away to new surroundings is always a hardship for children. For Jack, Bill and Reggie, there was no problem. They could adjust easily, they were teen-age grown-ups. This period was the first time that I had my Dad with me. I have been searching my mind and trying to recover moments of action with him and this is the first scene that emerges. We had walked down to 13th Avenue and 50th Street to discuss registration in the Yeshiva Etz Chaim, transferring from the one on Wilson Ave. For some reason, we did not register. It may have been the cost, or the long distance walk, or that I did not qualify……………………. Whatever, it forced us to register in the Public School in Sunset Park, PS 169, which was several blocks from our home. I don’t know who made the decision, but the Americanization of the Roth clan began here. My mother brought me in for the 4th grade registration and gave my name as Irving (nee Isaac). I quickly learned why my parents were concerned. We were surrounded by various ethnic groups and the school children were mixed, boys and girls and assorted origins. My previous experience in school was all boys and all Jewish. It was a new world for me………………… (At this point, I retired to bed and visions played out in my mind like a movie).Scene One………. The teacher was holding up a cardboard with a word printed on it and we were asked to read it and explain its meaning. She approached Irving and stopped about 10 feet from his desk. Irving , please read and explain. Irving hesitated and said, ” I can’t see it clearly”. Oh, my, she said, we will have to send you for an eye examination. Irving got fitted with glasses, his left eye was weak. When he returned to class, the young classmates had their fun by taunting him with ” Four eyes Irv”and ” Cockeyed”. Kids can really be nasty and inconsiderate………….. The scene then shifted to a young boy, an Irish kid, who found a Jewboy ,that he could torment. Irving didn’t know him from class, He would wait until we were dismissed from school and he would taunt Irv with insulting remarks. Irv learned through experience to keep walking and ignore the insulter. This went on for weeks and got to the point that Irv would run around the path surrounding the lake in Sunset Park until the tormentor lost his breath and dropped out of the race. …………..( These moments were difficult , but seemed to benefit me later in life) When Irv was drafted, he was placed in limited service due to 20/200 eyesight. And when Irv went into high school, he was selected to tryout for the track team by the famous track coach, Barney Hyman.
Archive for November, 2007
46th St., (cont’d)moving in
Being only 10 yrs. old, I had no decision to make or any ideas to present in the matter of placement of furniture and our sleeping arrangements. So, I have no recollection of these matters. Also, I was a shy sort of boy, who always followed orders from the upper echelon of Mom, Pop and 3 elder siblings. Our arrangement evolved thusly: Mom and Pop in the left rear bedroom and the 4 boys in the right rear bedroom. Both had windows facing the back , where the garage and small garden plot was located. The 4 boys and the two beds, which were crammed into the room L-shaped, took up all of the space. We slept 2 in a bed and as I remember, I partnered with Jack and sometimes we rotated, because I have memories of Bill joining me and Nat mentions that he also slept with me. Sounds like a Free Love Society. The two girls were easily placed in the front room, known as the Sun Porch. I think there were some complaints from the female contingent of the family, possibly due to the fact that it was so far from the bathroom. And if I am not mistaken, the bathroom, only one, for 8 people must have presented a problem. I’m not able to recall any particular scenes, but I’m sure that it finally worked out. And I’m trying to to recall whether we had a bathroom in the basement. And speaking of the basement, this area became most important to me during my teen-aging period. Between these bedroom areas, we had the bathroom, small foyer and closets, leading into our daily dining room, with the kitchen along side facing the driveway. Off the side of this dining ares was a doorway leading to a small stairway that allowed one to exit or enter from the driveway. The stairway continues down to the basement. Moving forward towards the sun porch was the formal dining room, and then the entertainment room with a small alcove, actually the under-part of the 2nd floor staircase entrance for our tenants. It would have been the piano room, but we never had one. I think our record player was there. After these arrangements were accomplished, we went into the next phase. I can only describe my experiences and will try to recollect in the next chapter. (Schools)
WWII,memoirs
It’s called “Six degrees of separation”. I was surprised when I read the obituary notice that Norman Lipton had died Nov. 2001. He was well known in the photo industry and I became acquainted with him because he was active in PMDA meetings, an industry association. He did P.R. work for many manufacturers and for photo related government bureaus. He and I were friendly, sort of a nodding association.
What threw me for a loop, was the obit report that he was stationed at Fort Wright Air Base in Spokane, Wa., during WWII. He served in the Photographic Engineering Division.
I entered Ft. Wright Field in Sept 1942 and was placed in the Air Force Engineering Division. I managed to get appointed to a photographic job, to build up a photo record of the establishment of our new battalion, which was preparing to go to No.Africa. Our group had no facilities. We encamped a few miles away from Ft. Wright and built a new campsite to form the 854th Bn. Our Bn. had no equipment for me to record our work, so arrangements were made for me to report daily to the Ft. Wright photo dep’t, where they had darkroom facilities and Speed Graphic cameras. Well, we never crossed paths. I only learned of our close connection when I read his obituary.
Now, another strange connection crops up. A recent article about E.Leitz & Co., the makers of the Leica camera was sent to me by Mark’s mother-in-law, Suzie’s Mom, about the aid the company gave Jewish employees jobs in overseas offices. Herein lies another strange connection, I quote from the obit “Norman’s association with the photo industry started in 1938 when Augustus Wolfman, advertising manager of E.Leitz, Inc., hired Norman as an editor/writer. Here he learned about 35mm photography. I wonder if Norman knew about the effort the Leitz Co. was involved in to save the lives of its Jewish employees.
This is the article sent to me by Betty Bergerac:
The Leica is the pioneer 35mm camera. It is a German product – precise, minimalist, and utterly efficient. Behind its worldwide acceptance as a creative tool was a family-owned, socially oriented firm that, during the Nazi era, acted with uncommon grace, generosity and modesty.
E. Leitz Inc., designer and manufacturer of Germany’s most famous photographic product, saved its Jews. And Ernst Leitz II, the steely eyed Protestant patriarch who headed the closely held firm as the Holocaust loomed across Europe, acted in such a way as to earn the title, “the photography industry’s Schindler.” The ‘Leica Freedom Train” As soon as Adolf Hitler was named chancellor of Germany in 1933, Ernst Leitz II began receiving frantic calls from Jewish associates, asking for his help in getting them and their families out of the country.
As Christians, Leitz and his family were immune to Nazi Germany’s Nuremberg laws, which restricted the movement of Jews and limited their professional activities. To help his Jewish workers and colleagues, Leitz quietly established what has become known among historians of the Holocaust as “the Leica Freedom Train,” a covert means of allowing Jews to leave Germany in the guise of Leitz employees being assigned overseas . Employees, retailers, family members, even friends of family members were “assigned” to Leitz sales offices in France, Britain, Hong Kong and the United States.
Leitz’s activities intensified after the Kristallnacht of November during which synagogues and Jewish shops were burned across Germany. Before long, German “employees” were disembarking from the ocean liner Bremen at a New York pier and making their way to the Manhattan office of Leitz Inc., where executives quickly found them jobs in the photographic industry.* Each new arrival had around his or her neck the symbol of freedom – a new Leitz camera. Refugees were paid a stipend until they could find work. Out of this migration came designers, repair technicians, salespeople, marketers and writers for the photographic press.
Keeping the story quiet,the “Leica Freedom Train” was at its height in 1938 and early 1939 delivering groups of refugees to New York every few weeks. Then, with the invasion of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, Germany closed its borders. By that time, hundreds of endangered Jews had escaped to America, thanks to the Leitzes’ efforts. How did Ernst Leitz II and his staff get away with it? Leitz Inc. was an internationally recognized brand that reflected credit on the newly resurgent Reich. The company produced range-finders and other optical systems for the German military. Also, the Nazi governme desperately needed hard currency from abroad, and Leitz’s single biggest market for optical goods was the United States. Even so, members of the Leitz family and firm suffered for their good
works. A top executive, Alfred Turk, was jailed for working to help Jews and freed only after the payment of a large bribe. Leitz’s daughter, Elsie Kuhn-Leitz, was imprisoned by the Gestapo after she was caught at the border, helping Jewish women cross into Switzerland. She eventually was freed but endured rough treatment in the course of questioning. She also fell under suspicion when she attempted to improve the living conditions of 700 to 800 Ukrainian slave laborers, all of them women, who had been assigned to work in the plant during the 1940s. After the war, Kuhn-Leitz received numerous honors for her humanitarian efforts, among them the Officier d’honneur des Palms Academic from France in 1965 and the Aristide Briand Medal from the European Academy in the
1970s. Why has no one told this story until now? According to the late Norman Lipton, a freelance writer and editor, the Leitz family wanted no publicity for its heroic efforts. Only after the last member of the Leitz family was dead did the “Leica Freedom Train” finally come to light.
It is now the subject of a book, “The Greatest Invention of the Leitz Family: The Leica Freedom Train,” by Frank Dabba Smith, a California-born Rabbi currently living in England.
46th St., (continued)
I’ve given you a description of the new home we were moving into, and the upscale environment. While writing about it, I realized that my parents had achieved the American dream of success and deserve our gratitude for creating a close relationship among their six children and also aunts, uncles and their offspring. So I feel that a little background re: Israel Roth and Annie (Hinde) Kurtz is called for.
Israel Roth was born Jan.25,1885. he arrived in 1904 in N.Y on the SS Maltke, from Hamburg. He was 19 yrs. old. (there is some discrepancy , which needs clarification. I have a notation that he left home at age 17. Did he wander thru Europe for two yrs. prior to boarding the ship?
Hinde (Annie) Kurtz was born Aug. 1884. She traveled with her mother Rivke Kurtz on the SS.Albano from Hamburg, arriving in N.Y 1n 1896. She was 12 yrs. old. Her father, Markus arrived inN.Y in June 1886, two yr. after she was born. He started life in the U.S. as a peddler and settled in Manchester, N.H., where he set up a junkyard business.
How and when Pop and Mom met is a mystery. We only know that a (Landsman}
from their hometown (Mielitz, Galicia/Austria) introduced them. It’s called a Shiddach). Immigrant families who settled in states with no Jewish mate prospects would contact their native Societies and ask for help in locating a suitable mate for their son or daughter. Mielitze Chevra (brotherhood) was helpful in making a match for Israel and Hinde.
I recall a story of how my father wooed his potential bride. He rented a horse and buggy and took Hinde for a tour of Brooklyn and Coney Island. Reminds me of how I wooed my future bride. I also took her to Coney Island, but I couldn’t afford a horse and buggy. We took the subway train. My parents were married on June 17th 1908.
According to the 1910 census they lived at 97 Pitt St. in NYC. That’s where Jack was born in March of 1909, followed by William, born 1911 Regina born Aug 1913 @ 117 Cannon St. NYC., then Irving (Isaac) born June 1917, Nathaniel, June 1921 and last Blanche ( Blime) Oct. 1924 (all born at 299 So. 2nd St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This is the clan that is now settling into a better environment,in the year 1927. I am 10 yrs, of age . (to be continued)
WWII memoirs, sanitation
An article in the NY Times relating to the worldwide problems caused by the lack of
hygienic toilets is no joke. 42% of the world population suffer from illnesses due to pollution, caused by a lack of proper disposal of human waste. The article reminded me of my experiences while I was in the armed service in WWII. My first introduction to the type of public facilities available for use by travelers, was in No. Africa, when we landed in Casablanca. We had set up our camp, where we quarantined for a period of about three weeks, to adjust to the environment. I was doing a little sight-seeing when I had the urge. So, I asked an officer near me, who was talking to a native, “Is there a toilet or men’s room nearby”? Yes”, he replied,and the native pointed to a large white stucco building. about 20 feet away. It was open to the public and I walked in. I was the only person there and when I looked for toilets, I saw only white tiled compartments that looked like shower facilities. I rushed out to speak with the advisers and they informed me that the hole in the floor and the foot platforms are for squatting. I was totally surprised and embarrassed by the entire encounter. Well, you gotta do, when you gotta go.
While our entire battalion was stationed on this hill outside of the main city, we were kept busy and in shape by marching and doing drills, plus lots of crawling on the ground. It was early morning. We had roll call and we were told to be ready for crawling and moving forward while holding a rifle in our hands, emulating warfare action. So, here I was earnestly moving towards a distant habitation, an Arab village, when I looked up, while flat on the ground, when a villager walks almost 15 feet from my position and he picks up hi garment and squats down. It seemed to me that he was laughing at me. He had a slightly amusing expression on his face. There he was doing his morning ablution and I’m headed straight towards him. Of course, I got up immediately and reported this to the officer. This exercise was abolished at once. We were an engineering outfit that followed the advancing troops. We were connected to the Air Force, so we would sometimes stay in place for several weeks and move on if possible. This scene happened in Italy, after we conquered Sicily. We moved on to the boot of Italy and after traveling by trucks through Taranto, we encamped in the center of a building project that looked like a housing development. We set up our pup-tents in the large grassy plot in the center area with the tenements surrounding us. The inhabitants were waving flags and cheering us. They were watching, while we unloaded and set up our sleeping area. And then the first important facility we built is the latrine. Being engineers, we have the tools to dig the trench and the lumber to build seating platforms. This was done quickly, but we had no time to put up a tent to cover this 6 hole latrine. So, you gotta do what you gotta do. As we relieved ourselves, the ladies who were hanging out of their windows were gabbing and watching. They, the Italian populace saw nothing wrong with this. We Anericanos were really embarrassed, but we learned to cope.
820-46th street, brooklyn
I have no recollection of our move to the 2 family h0use, that my father purchased. It was a real upgrade for us. We were in a community of low buildings. No apartments of four stories high and no fire escapes overlooking the street. The houses had small lawns in front and separate staircases, one for lower level and the other for the 2nd floor. The house was all brick, red color. We had a driveway going toward the rear, where our garage was located, room for 1 car, and a garden plot alongside. There was also room enough for setting up tables for card playing or just gathering to talk. Our house was located near 8th Avenue, to our left. Rizzuto’s Hardware store was on the corner, which had a second level with two apartments. One apartment was occupied by our cousin the Marders, Hilda and Ralph, my mom’s niece and nephew, who moved in several years later. Opposite them, on the corner was the Ritz Theatre. At the other end, on 9th Ave. we had the Talmud Torah, which I attended for about 3 years until my Bar Mitzvah. At the other corner, was the Windsor apartment house, the only multi-story housing, 4 or 5 stories, in which my Tante Gussie and her family lived. I have no idea when they joined our community, but this was how close Pop’s family was. Another member, Tante Nicha (the Zuckerbrods) moved into a house located on 46th street between 9th and tenth avenue, 1 block away. When Reggie and Mike Maltz married, they moved into an apartment house on the other side of 8th Ave. a short distance from our house. We had a cozy family enclave, almost like a shtetl. This gathering of the clan was not immediate. It took several years. I estimate that we lived in this house for twenty years The location chosen by Pop was excellent. We had two synagogues nearby, one on 8th Ave and the other on 9th ave. Our schools were close. PS169, 1st to 6th grade, on 6th Ave and 44th st., Pershing Jr. H.S, on 10th ave and 49th st. and New Utrecht H.S. on 79th St., A short train ride from the 46th St train stop on the BMT line, which I would often walk, to save the cost of a nickel. I need to mention that our streets were all tree-lined, one Sycamore in front of each house, planted by the Park Dep’t free of charge. Coming from the crowded Williamsburg environment, this seemed like suburbia. This was truly an upgrade for our family due to the achievement of Papa Roth, who developed a wholesale business, supplying dairy products to grocers, mostly eggs bought from farmers in So. Jersey. My estimation that the year was 1926, when the economy was strong and Pop could swing the mortgage to buy the house.
In response to Michael’s comment, the cost of this house was $16,00.00. This was a large sum for those days. How would you calculate it? What is the inflation rate,when a worker’s salary could be $15.00 per week. I wonder how much we received when the house was sold. Anybody know?
