While attempting to write a history of my life, I was intrigued by the following two quotes:
History is principally the inaccurate narration of events which ought not to have
All the historical books which contain no lies are extremely tedious.-Anatole France from The Crime of Sylverstre Bonnard.
Because I began recording the events of my past after my 80th birthday, I am quite sure that there are memory lapses and distortions of past events during my lifetime. There are no members of the past generation left to challenge the events of my distant past history and the members of my family who are in my age bracket probably will also have memory lapses and distorted historical perspectives. However, my narration will at least provide a general sense of events which did occur..
NATE A copy of my birth certificate received from the City of New York, Department of health, Bureau of Records and Statistics, Borough of Brooklyn, New York, is written evidence that I was born and have a name. Jacob Krieger, M.D., 518 Stone Avenue, Brooklyn, NY delivered Nathan Radin on Wednesday, January 22, 1919 (Wednesday, Shevat 21, 5679 on Jewish Calendar). The father was David Radin, age 33, and was a shirt Operator. The mother was Annie Radin, age 34, and was a housewife. The maiden name of the mother was Annie Kleiner. Apparently I was born at home, which was at 569 Rockaway Avenue, Brooklyn, New York.In 1919, Rockaway Avenue was part of a large Jewish district. Growing older, I asked where I came from and the answer was that at birth an angel hits a baby on the center of the upper lip and that makes the baby forget where he or she came from. During my younger years, I did not know that my mother had no formal education, brought tall tales from the old country, and had many superstitions.
MOTHER AND FATHER Information about where my parents originated came slowly over the years. It was when it was too late to ask my parents questions about their origin that I became interested in tracing their past. I did know that my parents were Jewish-Russian immigrants. Our original surname was Rodniansky.
According to my fathers’s naturalization papers David Rodniansky and Chava (or Chana, Channah, Hannah, Anna) Claner (or Kleiner) were married in Odessa on November 20, 1909. Mosha (or Moishe) Rodniansky, later Morris (also known as Munyeh) Radin, was born in Odessa , presumably during the month of May, 1911. ! do not know what my father’s occupation was in Russia. What I do know, is that he left Russia to emigrate to the United States of America. According to the Ellis Island Passenger Record, David Rodniansky left Rotterdam, South Holland, The Netherlands, and arrived at Ellis Island on a Holland America ship, the Ryndam, on Tuesday, November 12, 1912. My father’s residents was listed as Nikolaiev and the occupation was curiosity Iron foundryman. Chava and a son Morris Rodniansky were left in Nikolayev ( city near Odessa). David Rodniansky was detained on Ellis Island for one night until his brother Joseph came to get him.
Curiosity led me to look at the back of a photograph of my father and I was surprised to find a message written in the language Yiddish. A translated version of the message is as follows:
I am sending you the card. Look at me to what has happened to me. Here you see me in a pose. So in America I am seen in all sorts of poses.
There was no date on this picture postcard. It is of interest to notice that my father addressed my mother with the surname Radin and still signed the card with the surname Rodniansky.
In the late summer of 1914, the ancient monarchies of Austria, Russia and Germany plunged their countries into a world war which engulfed Europe. World War I ended with an armistice between the Allies and Germany which was signed on November 11, 1918, and marked the end of fighting on the Western Front. Meanwhile, on the Eastern Front the The Russian Revolution began February 1917 (March in the Gregorian calendar). The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a Provisional government. In the second revolution, during October, the Provisional Government was removed and replaced with a Bolshevik (Communist) government.
It must have been almost impossible for someone to Russia to travel to the United States of American through war-ravaged Europe. The story of the travels of my mother and my brother, Morris, to come New York City to join my father in 1917 is one that may never be re-created. As a youngster, my mother often told me that she and Morris came to Japan, but how she came there is unknown. From a batch of family photographs given to me by a cousin, a postcard fell to the floor. This postcard had a picture of 300 stone steps to the Temple Kobe and a message written in Yiddish on the reverse side. A translated version of this message is as follows:
I am sending you a letter with a woman who is leaving now. She gave me 10 yen here. So I ask that you pay the 10 yen to whoever brings you the card, and you should thank her. You can imagine what kind of fine lady she is. May God grant her health for our good heart. I think that she will tell you everything. She saw the child and also about me.
Morris kisses and kisses you. I wish that we may see each other soon.
The year 1916 appeared on a side of the postcard. When my mother and Morris arrived in Japan, where and how they lived, and how they were supported financially cannot be answered. I suspect that my father was able to send my mother small sums of money to maintain an meager existence. Finally, when my father accumulated enough money he was unable to pay the way for my mother and Morris to join him in New York City.
A distant relative who was related to me by a second marriage of my father was unable to locate the ship manifest for the voyage to the United States of America by my mother and Morris. The ship, Sado Maru, sailed from Kobe, Japan on September 5, 1917 and arrived in Seattle, Washington, September 24, 1917. The age of my mother on the ship manifest is 35 years and the age of Mosha is four years. Being that I was born in Brooklyn, New York, it becomes obvious that my mother and Morris were able to join my father in New York City.
RODNIANSKY FAMILY The maiden name of my paternal grandmother was Sonya Hinda Posner and my paternal grandfather’s name was Nechemia (or Nechemiah) Rodniansky. Their children, Moses, David (my father), Joseph, Isaac, and two sisters were born in Surazh, Russia. Surazh was a shtetl (town) in Chernegev Gubernia
At the Odessa Archives, a researcher, Galina, found that Moses Rodniansky married Feiga Brustein, in the year 1899. According to an Ellis Island Passenger Record, Moses (age 35 years), Fanni (age 28 yeas) and Nackem (orNachum) (age 6 years) Rodniansky departed from Rotterdam, South Holland, The Netherlands, on a Holland America ship, the S.S. Statendam, March 10, 1906. The ship arrived at Ellis Island on March 21,1906. Sadly, Nackem died on March 19, 1906, at 8 p.m. of diphtheria. On the ship manifest it is stated that Moses Rodniansky arrived at Ellis Island from Odessa at the age of 35 years and with $353.03. It is also stated that he was going to visit Uncle David Posner, 1 Howard Street. Another fascinating story has been lost in time as Moses and Fanny Rodniansky somehow managed to ope a store for seaman supplies and a habadashery. Their address was 31 South Street, New York, NY. South Street at the southern tip of Manhattan was at the beginning of the 20th century a thriving area for international commerce due to the harbor having adequate docking facilities. During the decade of the1920s, Moses and Fanny bought real estate out on Long Island. He and Fanny lived on a 45 acre farm at 825 Merrick Road in Nassau County. The western border of the farm land was Ocean Avenue and the farm was on the north side of Merrick Road. There was a garage (gas station) on the corner of Ocean Avenue and Merrick Road. The New York City Borough of Queens was west of Ocean Avenue and Hook Creek Boulevard (which is south of Merrick Road and becomes Ocean Avenue north of Merrick Road.
According to a Ellis Island Passenger Record, my father’s brother Joseph, Josepf on the ship manifest)came from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro, Federal District, Brazil and departed for the United States of America from the Port of Santos. The date of arrival on the ship Byron at Ellis Island was February 27, 1907. Joseph was single and 19 years old. Informtion much later in life brought out that there was another fascinating story that should have been told in more detail. Joseph emigrated from Russia and came to Argintina where he was a cowboy (gaucho). A recorded birthdate for Joseph was March 22,1888. His first occupation was a cutter at a tie factory. Joseph initially lived with his brother Moses at 31 South Street, New York City. Bertha Sherson, born in Russia on March 17, 1890, and Joseph were married I believe in Philadephia, PA. Their first child, Ruth was born on June 4, 1913 in Philadelphia. According to the census of 1920, the residence of Joseph, Bertha, and Ruthwas
343 Wilson Avenue, Brooklyn, Kings County, NY. Joseph eventuall opened a store on Myrtle Avenue and gradually went from manufacturing neckwear to such as women’s house dresses. During my early years, Joseph and Bertha lived in a two story house in Ridgewood, Queens (1840 Summerfield Street).
The Ellis Island Passenger Record had my father’s youngest brother Isaac, Itzig on the ship manifest, depart on the Holland American ship Noordam from the Port of Rotterdam, South Holland, The Netherlands. Itzig (Isaac in te United States) arrived at Ellis Island on June 04, 1907. The date of arrival at Ellis Island was June 04, 1907. Itzig’s age on arrival was16 years, several days before his perceived birthday on June 17, 1890? The time between the departure of Isaac from Ellis Island and the U.S. Census in 1920 is a story that has not been told clearly. Bits and pieces indicate that Isaac had a job in the arms industry during World War I. During this time interval, Isaac married Miriam, became a pharmacist, and learned English very well. The census data of May 21, 1925 from the Kings County (Eastern Division), Brooklyn, New York, the place of residence was 162 Blake Avenue, Brooklyn, Kings County, New York. Isaac, age 30 years Niriam age 27 years (Russian Alien), daughter Hilda: age 5 years (born in New York) and daughter Zelma (later Zina), age 1 6/12 years(born in Connecticut) were the residents.
The four brothers who emigrated to the United States of America (USA) all changed their surnames. Moses Rodniansy became known as Max Rodninsky and the other brothers changed their surnames to Radi.
NATE My immediate family known to me during my childhood were my mother (Anna) and father (David Radin), Uncle Max (Moses Rodninsky) and Aunt Fanny; Uncle Joe (Joseph Radin) and Aunt Bertha and my cousins Ruth and Norman; and Uncle Isaac (Isaac Radin) and Aunt Miriam and my cousins Hilda, Zina, and Vivian.
My mother’s maiden name was Chava (or Channah) Kleiner (or Claner). My mother and father were married in Odessa on November 20, 1909. My brother Morris was born before my father came to the USA in 1912. In New York City my father became a sewing machine operator in a shirt making shop. My mother and Morris came to the USA during World War I via Japan. I have no knowledge about their trip although I remember there were some stories about life in Japan.
Uncle Max had a seaman supply store on South Street in Manhattan. During the decade of the1920s, Uncle Max bought real estate out on Long Island. He and Aunt Fanny lived on a 45 acre farm on Merrick Road in Nassau County. The western border of the farm land was Ocean Avenue and the farm was on the north side of Merrick Road. There was a garage (gas station) on the corner of Ocean Avenue and Merrick Road. The New York City Borough of Queens was west of Ocean Avenue and Hook Creek Boulevard (which is south of Merrick Road and becomes Ocean Avenue north of Merrick Road.
Uncle Joe was involved in necktie manufacturing and then went into the low-price dress-making business. He had a store on Myrtle Avenue in Ridgewood, Queens. During
my early years, Uncle Joe and Aunt Bertha lived in a two story house in Ridgewood, Queens (1840 Summerfield Street).
Uncle Isaac was a pharmacist. Uncle Isaacs first drug store (or pharmacy) that I think I remember was on Avenue J in Brooklyn. I believe we visited the family in an apartment near the store. Then there was a pharmacy on 110th Street in Manhattan. There were other moves and the last store that I remember that Uncle Isaac had was in Astoria, Queens.
I have a fleeting picture of a boy holding me in his arms. Is this a memory of a real event or is it a memory that is playing tricks? If the memory is real, then I assume the boy was my brother Morris. My brother died in 1922 and I have no idea how I reacted to this event. After the death of Morris, my mother would mention him quite often. There was always an element of a comparison between Morris and myself. I was not the same as Morris but my mother wanting me to be as smart and as good as he was made her remembrance of the past develop a strange sibling rivalry. Thus, a difficult situation arose as Morris was not there for some kind of retaliation.
I was told that at a very early age that I reacted to visits by Uncle Max and Aunt Fanny with the statement “Uncle Moira (Yiddish for afraid)” and that I would try to hide under a bed.
A memory that is rather distinct is of a time when we lived in Coney Island. We lived off Mermaid Avenue at 2869 West 21st Street, Brooklyn, New York. Twin girls lived in our building. Their names were Anna and Ida. I do have a faded photo of the girls and myself. My other memory of living in Coney Island is that I was knocked down by a gang of roller skaters and this resulted in a right leg fractured tibia. I wore a plaster cast and when it came time to remove the cast, the physician said (as a joke, he thought) that he was going to get a hatchet in the next room to chop my leg off in case he could not remove the cast .I was terrified. When the cast was removed my leg looked withered. Anyway, I eventually recovered from this fracture.
More distinct memorable events, although blurred, seem to start with our move to 938 Gates Avenue in Brooklyn. My father having been a sewing machine operator in a shirt-making factory (or sweat shop for all I know) decided to go into business for himself. To describe where we lived on Gates Avenue, I will start with a view looking at our building. I do not remember how many stories the building had although I think there were anywhere from four to six floors (no elevator—all walk-up). In front of the entry to the building there were one or two steps on the outside of the building (call it a stoop). Our store was to the right of the stoop; the store doorway was to the right of the stoop and there was a large window to the right of the doorway. Once inside the store, there was a small counter on the right (that my father built). Further back , my father had built a long wooden table along the right wall and this was for spreading and cutting goods. On the left wall side there were some sewing machines. Going through a door in back of the
store there was a room (call it a middle room) that had a window-like opening to the back room, a kitchen. In the kitchen, at the wall on the right there was a coal-burning stove, a sink and then a wash tub (two compartments) which was covered to give a working surface for kitchen activities. I believe there was a round wooden table in the center of the kitchen There was a bed for me on the left wall side and I keep thinking it might have been a large crib for a while. There were two windows in the back wall of the kitchen and I could climb out of one of the windows to play in a small back yard. We had a bin in the basement and it was used to store coal. I do believe that my father tried to make some wine in the bin by fermenting some grapes. We did have an icebox somewhere in the ktchen. We purchased blocks of ice from a man who came around on Gates Avenue with a wagon load of ice. He would use a pointed tool to break off a chunk of ice which would fit in our icebox. A horse provided the power to move the ice wagon. I believe that we also had milk delivered by a milkman who came around with a wagon drawn by a horse. My mother and father slept in the middle room. There was a toilet in a small space and I do not remember much more about it. I remember bathing in one of the wash tub compartments. Where my mother and father bathed, I do not know.
When we moved into the store on Gates Avenue, I remember finding a large pile of about four square inch colored square paper sheets. I remember that the variety of colors fascinated me and that I played with the paper squares for quite a long time. I just have vague memories of living behind the store. Some playmates were children who lived above our store. There were Buddy and Celeste (not related). They were Irish. I should mention that the neighborhood was predominantly Irish and Italian with a few Jewish people here and there. I do remember quite clearly of some kids on the block calling me "a dirty Jew." I could not understand why I was called this as my mother made sure I was always clean and dressed in clean clothes. I asked my mother about this and I do not remember her response. Of course, as an adult I under stand why I was addressed as a dirty
I do remember having pneumonia or some severe respiratory infection. Our physician was Dr. Brusilow. Dr. Brusilow made house calls and his charge was one dollar more than for an office visit. I think that a home visit was three dollars. Someone was called in to do a cupping technique (“bankus?”); in other words I remember a bunch of cups on my chest. Obviously, I recovered and probably in spite of whatever the medical treatment was.
Going back to my view of our building from the street, in our building there was a store to the left of the stoop. There were about six to eight buildings like the one I described to the left of our building. To the right of store there was a building that was further back from the front of the buildings described and I believe that there was a store on the street level. To the right of this stores there was a long outside stairway. Down the block to the left , the cross street was Ralph Avenue and to the right there was Patchen Avenue. At the corner of Gates Avenue and Patchen Avenue there was a pharmacy and I believe it was named Rudnick’s. As I am describing the area from my view facing the building that we moved into, to my back down the block toward Ralph Avenue there was a school, PS (Public School) 26. I remember that quite often I walked with my mother to a market on Gates Avenue which was quite a long way from the cross-street Patchen Avenue. A mode of transportation for the public was the trolley car. There were trolley tracks on Gates Avenue. A hazy memory of the many winters while living on Gates Avenue is the piles of snow at the curbs and the children climbing onto the top of the snow banks.
It was the Ralph Avenue trolley car line hat we used to go to the Brownsville area of Brooklyn. It was in this area that Dr. Brusilow had his office in his home. Also, there were relatives of Aunt Fanny, the Brusteins who lived in the Brownsville area. We would also visit with a family who had a store and who lived in the rooms behind the store. I believe their surname was Wax and that one member of this family was my mother’s cousin.
My father seemed to do well in the store on Gates Avenue where he started the business venture with custom-made shirts. After a while my father started to make gingham aprons and dresses. I think the aprons were one for thirty-five cents ($0.35) or three for a dollar ($1.00). The dresses were one dollar each and I believe later there were some for two dollars each. So as the business succeeded, we moved our home from the back of the store to a "railroad apartment" above a store at the other end of the block of our buildings. I remember walking up a flight of stairs and entering the apartment on the right. The entry was into the kitchen, which of course was at the back of the apartment. The reason for this apartment being called a "railroad apartment or flat" was that as one looked toward the front of the building there was a long straight passageway to the front room which had windows overlooking Gates Avenue. The front room could be said to be a living room today. It was for entertaining guests. I actually do not remember any use for that room. I slept in the room behind the front room. The kitchen was the social center for the family. There was a round wooden table at the center of the kitchen and that served as an area for meals, entertaining (if any), and doing homework. We did not live in this apartment very long. My father moved the store to Broadway, under the BMT elevated train tracks near one of the exits to the Halsey Street station. We moved to a three-room apartment on Madison Street (831 Madison Street). There was a living room where I slept on a bed made up after opening a couch, a kitchen and a bedroom for my mother and father. I spent a lot of time in back of the store. I know that my father worked long hours from early morning to about 10 o'clock at night. My mother was a helper and also spent many hours in the store. Business was good , especially until 1928 before the Wall Street crash and the great depression. My father bought out a store next to his and expanded his place by breaking down the wall between the stores. There was talk of going in to business together with my father's brothers Joseph (who was a tie-maker and went into the same business as my father—reasonably-priced dresses), Isaac (a pharmacist), and another person whose last name was Fagin. This group could not come to any agreement and this venture ended before it got started.
I had a bout of bad nightmares while living on Madison Avenue and a visit to a "nerve doctor" ended up with a suggestion which was get him a pair of roller skates. Interestingly enough when I did get a pair and skated all over the neighborhood; the nightmares stopped. The only preventative health measure during my childhood was a vaccination for smallpox. I had encounters with the mumps and chicken pox, but I do not think I had the measles. There were colds, sore throats, and the grippe (as it was called). Treatments bring back memories of Musterol or Mustard Plasters on my chest. As I grew older I had the mumps and chicken pox. While living on Gates Avenue, perhaps at the age of eight, I was pushed by some kids and I fell breaking three permanent teeth in front of my mouth. There was a very short stub left on the right-most tooth, a good part of the left-most tooth was intact and one in the middle was in between. A dentist suggested that nothing could be done until I was much older so a bridge could be built. It was also at the time of this age that I was discovered to be very nearsighted. I believe it was Aunt Fanny who took me to an "eye-doctor" and I ended with glasses.
There was a time before I began going to school that my mother must have been quite ill. Our back rooms were filled with a number of woman and one of the woman must have been Aunt Bertha. The woman took care of my mother and I suspect there was some cooking for meals. I distinctly remember that this illness occurred before I began going to school as cousin Ruth started to teach me the alphabet. My mother got well before Ruth was there to finish the teaching job.
I should mention that I spoke Yiddish as that was the language spoken by my mother and father. I do not remember how much English I knew. My mother and father spoke Russian when they did not want me to know what they were talking about. Eventually my mother taught me to read Yiddish and to write in that language. I read printed Yiddish text and I remember being able to read items in the Jewish newspaper, The Forward. There was an ongoing humorous "soap story" called Yenta Telabenda written by Covenor (a pen name I believe as I met his daughter in my early teens; more about this later).
I probably began going to school immediately after my sixth birthday which would mean that I entered first grade at PS 26 in February, 1925. My first teacher was Miss or Mrs. Tear. I remember a seemingly tall lady with gray or white hair. We sat at assigned desks and we had to clasp our hands together when we were not doing something. I think that I did well in school. It was in grade 2B that mother got me a tutor for some reason. It is sufficient to say that I skipped a grade at the end of the term. I believe I was annoyed because I left friends behind when I skipped to 3B. I do have a recollection that in the third grade it was announced that there would be a period when boys would go to the woodworking shop and the girls would take sewing lessons. Being that my father was a sewing machine operator I asked when the boys would have a sewing class. I got ribbed unmercifully by the boys in the class. I do not really remember much about the rest of my days in PS 26. There are recollections of going outside to clean the blackboard erasers by clapping two together. This was a reward for being a nice pupil. It was at the age of twelve that I left PS 26 (September 1931) when I was in the grade 8A (more later).
My favorite toys were the Gilbert Erector Sets, Tinkertoy, and Lincoln Logs. I wanted my parents to get me an electric train set made by Lionel, but this request never was met.
I apparently picked up good reading habits. When I was in the upper grades, the newspaper that I read [probably mostly comics -Gasoline Alley with Skeesix, Moon Mullins, Dick Tracy (later perhaps) and later, Terry and the Pirates)] was the Daily News. Whenever a Tom Swift book was published, it was purchased for me. Books from a series about an aviator were also purchased for me. Somewhere along the line I read books about the Rover Boys, the Bobbsey Twins, and others that I cannot recall. It was in the era before I was thirteen that I began reading books that could be checked out from the public library. Zane Grey and Jack London books are the ones that come to mind.
My mother was an orthodox Jewess and my father claimed that he was an atheist. I was sent to Hebrew school (cheder) where I was taught to read the old testament in Hebrew. There was no teaching of literal translati from the Hebrew. The stories in the old testament were just related and I assumed that they were from the Hebrew text that we read. I do not know at what age I started to go to Hebrew school although I suspect it might have been after the age of nine or ten. I distinctly remember my mother going through the candle lighting ceremony every Friday night. When the high holy holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur came about my mother went to worship in a synagogue. I would go somewhere with my father. It was before the holidays that I would get a new outfit of clothes for the next year. I somehow remember suits that had knickers (short trousers and jackets) with which I used long socks (or stockings). I seem to have worn shirts and ties in school, at least for class photos. and of course with suits for dress-up purposes.
Here were many Sundays when we would take the BMT Broadway line train to downtown Manhattan or should I say the eastside of Manhattan. Delancey, Eldridge, and Orchard Streets, and Second Avenue are all streets that pop into my mind. We went to stores where my father purchased goods for the store and then we would have lunch somewhere. Ratners, a vegetarian restaurant, is one of the places we used to go for lunch (about 40 or 50 years later we went to Ratner’s with our friends Bernard and Alice Meyer and I remarked that I had not been in this restaurant for many years. A waiter then said, that he hadn’t seen me since my bar mitzvah). Ratners finally closed in 2002 as their clientele were now just about gone from the neighborhood.
We went to the Yiddish Theater for Sunday matinee performances. The names of Molly Picon and Maurice Schwartz come to mind as those who were in some of the plays we saw. I am quite certain that I was taken to the movies and when I did get older I went to the movies for serials of westerns on Saturdays. Names that come to mind are Tom Mix and Hoot Gibson. There were drawings for prizes on Saturdays at the movies and I once won a baseball glove. Of course, I was a real dud as a ball player. My father took me to one of the first talking movies, Al Jolson in the Jazz Singer. I do not remember the year, but when visiting Uncle Joe on a Sunday, all the kids there were taken to a movie called Just Imagine with El Brendel. This movie was about the world of the future and it was quite impressive. I do not remember when we got a radio, however, it may have been at the time we moved to our Madison Avenue apartment. I do remember listening to Uncle Don, Chandu the Magician, and the Amos and Andy.
We had a close relationship with my father's family. There were visits to Uncle Max and Aunt Fanny on their farm in Valley Stream. I remember going there by Long Island Railroad to the Rosedale Station and then I think we walked a long way to get to the farm. Eventually we were able to take the BMT line on Broadway to the last station in Jamaica and taking a Bee Line bus to Merrick Road and Hook Creek Blvd. Quite ofter there were members of Aunt Fanny’s family at the farm when we visited on occasional Sundays.I do remember coming home from the farm with a good number of times Uncle Joe’s car. I was told that I would say I was so tired when we drove up to our store on Gates Avenue that would Uncle Joe drive the car to my bed. There were visits to Uncle Joe and Aunt Bertha on Summerfield Street. There many times that lots of family members were at Uncle Joe's house. Of course there was Norman to play with and a cousin of his, Laura Stolovitz. Our other cousins like Vivian and Zina Radin (Isaac and Miriam"s side of the family) would be at Uncle Joe's place at times. Being that Vivian and Zina's sister Hilda was older than myself and Norman, I do not remember if she was ever at Uncle Joe's place. Uncle Isaac had a pharmacy on Avenue J in Brooklyn and it was near a subway station. I do remember visiting Uncle Isaac and Aunt Miriam in Brooklyn. Somewhere along the line I seemed to spend time with cousin Norman. I think he had a bike and I wonder if came to see us in our store. Norman and I seemed to have many interests in common. I do not remember the time frame, however, Norman had a place in his basement where he set up a chemistry lab. I seem to remember bottles of chemicals on a shelf. Norman, I believe also had a collection of Frank Merriwell books, and magazines such as Amazing Stories and Astounding Stories. Of course Norman's sister Ruth was older than us so I did not have much in common with her. I do remember that she had a good singing voice and she played the violin. Norman became quite a piano player. My mother apparently rescued a violin from Aunt Bertha; this was a violin that Morris had played, or at least had.. I was not Morris and I was, and am, tone deaf; thank goodness that my mother did not pursue a violin playing career for me. I must admit that I do like that instrument and I favor violin concertos in my later years.
The summers in New York City were hot. Early in the 1920s I remember spending some time with my mother in Coney Island. I remember cousin Vivian staying overnight with my mother and myself once when we roomed in Coney Island. We graduated to taking the Lackawanna Railroad to the Catskills some summers. There was a steam locomotive that belched black smoke, so when we were there was always a warning to shut the windows before entering a tunnel. We stayed in places near Parksville and Livingston Manor. I do have photos at a vacation place with my mother, Aunt Bertha, Norman and Ruth. There is a photo of myself with Hilda standing behind me at one of the summer vacation places.
In the wintertime and sometimes in springtime we would go too Lakewood, New Jersey. I remember staying at Hotel Jacobs for Passover one year. The person conducting the service for the hotel Seder asked my mother if I would ask the four questions in English. My mother was indignant and said I would ask the four questions and it would have to be in Hebrew. My father came for the Seder and both my parents were proud when I recited the four questions both in Hebrew and English; I believe that there were over 100 people at the seder.
When I was older I was sent to camp. I believe the first camp I went to was Maple Lake Camp in the Catskills. I remember shopping in Manhattan at Spalding's for camp clothing. I also went to a pine Grove summer camp. Norman was at camp with me one summer and that one may have been around Honesdale, Pennsylvania. For this time period in my life I do not remember the correct names, dates and locations for all the summer camps I was sent to for the summers. I do know that I went to a camp one summer in Massachusetts where I believe Aunt Miriam was on the staff. To get to this camp, the campers went on an overnight boat ride from New York City to Boston. What is memorable about this summer is that I had to be taken to a dentist in Lowell. In some other camp I chased butterflies, caught some with a net, killed them in a jar with cyanide, mounted them and then framed them. In one camp or another I was in the cast of some play. I had a very small part.
My mother apparently had a cousin who had a dry goods store in Brownsville. We visited them and there were two children whose names I do not remember. It is possible that the boys name was Abraham. The surname I believe was Wax, or something close. Being the memory of the cousin is nebulous, a try to locate the family was not successful. .
My mother and father had many arguments. They were what I would call Type A today. My mother had severe hypertension brought on supposedly by the death of Morris (and I suspect other stressful factors such as her brother and sister were back in the old country). Anyway one argument, which was quite violent occurred after my mother and I got back from the Catskills one summer. My mother found a photo taken of my father and Mary Orloff on Uncle Max's farm. This event may have had more to it than I knew at the time of this argument.
It was during the winter of 1931 that I was diagnosed as having rheumatic fever. I only recall the odor of wintergreen oil used to ease severe wrist pain. I remember clearly that when Dr. Brusilow stated that I had heart murmur, my mother’s face became ashen probably due to thinking about the loss of Morris because of a heart problem. I was taken to a “heart specialist”, a Dr. Wykoff (fee = $25.00), who suggested that I should be taken away from the severe New York winter climate.
During the fall we left New York City on a New York Central train, The Broadway Limited, and we changed to I believe the Southern Pacific Railroad in Chicago. We had a drawing room for this trip. I do not remember the exact events after our arrival in Los Angeles. I believe that we stayed in a hotel for a while. We moved to a furnished apartment in Boyle Heights. The address was 1945 New Jersey Avenue. Looking at the apartments from the street, it seems to me that there were attached one-story buildings with a courtyard in the center. There was an outside stairway to get into the courtyard. Our building was near the street on the right. One entered into the living room on the left. There was a large window or some windows looking into the courtyard at the right of the entry door. There was a sofa along the window wall. On the left wall of the living room, there was an entry into a hall from which one entered a bedroom and a bathroom. In the living room, on the back wall, there was a bed in a closet and this was lowered at night for me to sleep on. There was an entry on the back living room wall, near the right wall, to the kitchen.
Soon after we settled down in Los Angeles, my father opened a dress store in Glendale. As usual, he set up a shop with a table for spreading goods and sewing machines to manufacture aprons and dresses. My father purchased a Chevrolet sedan and he had someone drive him to work and
back to our living quarters. I don’t believe that my father ever was able to get a driver’s license. I do remember driving to a beach (I believe Long Beach, CA) during some weekends, but I do not remember who drove the car.
I did not go to school during the fall of 1931. My mother kept me still and my activities were limited. I remember sitting outside of our unit during the daytime. Someone came in to work with me toward my Bar Mitzvah. Aunt Bertha had given me phylacteries (tefillin) and a tallith, so I practiced how to become a pious Jew. I remember my mother telling me how her mother always wished to live long enough to be at her son’s (my mother’s brother) Bar Mitzvah and then her mother wished to live long enough to be at his wedding.
My mother talked about dying for quite a while. I overheard her telling friends that she was not well. I heard about systolic blood pressure values of over 200. My mother gave me a silver coin, a dollar I believe, and told me to keep it and she told me she felt that she was going to die soon. She was prophetic. It was late afternoon on Wednesday, January 27, 1932 that my mother was on her hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floor. Maybe she was getting the house ready for my Bar Mitzvah which would occur on Friday, Shevat 21, 5692 or January 29, 1932. Frankly, I do not remember ay arrangements for me to go to a synagogue for the Bar Mitzvah or if arrangements had been made for a home ceremony. I was sitting on the couch when my mother suddenly stood up, fell onto a chair and then made it to the couch. My father was not home and I did not know what to do as my mother was lying on the couch and perhaps moaning. I ran across the courtyard and asked a neighbor to look in at what was going on. The neighbor called an ambulance. I sat on the side of the bathtub in our bathroom. There was a tumult in our living room as neighbors came in. My father came home when the ambulance arrived. My mother was taken out to the ambulance and my father left with her. I do not remember if my father came to me before he left; I do not think so. I was taken across the courtyard where I sat in the living room of our neighbors unit. All I know now, is that I must have been in shock. I just sat and waited. I do not know what time it was when my father walked into our neighbors unit. He had tears in his eyes and he headed straight for a telephone. Nothing was said to me. My father placed a long distance call to Uncle Joe and he told him that my mother died. I do not remember talking with my father at all that evening but this may be that my memory of that night is confused. My mother had died of a cerebral hemorrhage. I slept in the neighbors house not only that night but several more nights. I do remember sitting in my neighbors living room all of the next day staring into space; I must have been numb. Of course my father was out taking care of various matters. He closed the store in Glendale and he apparently found a fast way to sell the sewing machines and store fixtures. Arrangements were made to bring my mother’s body to New York for burial. We also packed up and left for New York City on the same train with the body. I do not remember much of anything about the cross-country trip. I remember seeing my mother’s casket being removed from the baggage car when we arrived in New York City. I do not remember which railroad station we were in when we arrived, however, I believe we were met by family. I was taken to the farm by Uncle Max and Aunt Fanny. I was not allowed to attend my mother’s funeral. I stayed with a relative of Aunt Fanny in Brownsville during the funeral. Looking back, I believe it was a mistake not to let me attend my mother’s funeral. Perhaps, her death might have become more real had I seen the casket lowered into the grave hole and shovelfuls of dirt completed the burial process..
Apparently arrangements had been made for me to live with Uncle Max and Aunt Fanny. I was taken for a physical examination and the news was that my heart murmur was gone. As a matter of interest, it was in 1994 when I had an ultrasound cardiogram that the technician ope
rating the asked if I ever had rheumatic fever. Apparently there were signs during the process of an area of damage that could be due to the past illness. Considering that I passed the physical examination which was given when I was drafted into the army during World War II, the heart valve damage was not apparent by the usual examination using a stethoscope.
I was enrolled in the Valley Stream Junior High School. I traveled to and from school on the Bee Line bus and then there was a long walk to the school from the bus stop. I do not remember in which grade I was placed nor do I remember the subjects studied except one. That one was the geography class which I remember enjoying. It was during this term in school that I missed classes quite a few times as I had a series of sore throats and respiratory illnesses. I do not remember much about my life on the farm. I believe Uncle Max planted corn during the summer. A cow on the farm furnished us with fresh milk. Milk straight from the cow was warm and tasty. There were Saturday nights that I accompanied Uncle Max and Aunt Fanny to meetings of the First Odessa Young Man’s Society. We also visited Aunt Fanny’s family, the Brusteins. We went to a Seder that spring at the Brusteins.
I do not remember seeing my father after the funeral. I believe it was sometime in April that Uncle Max and Aunt Fanny took me to see my father off on the ship the Bremen. It was then that I was told that my father and Mary Orloff were married. They were off to Russia to visit relatives. My father’s mother was still alive in Russia. I do not know if my father and Mary visited my mother’s relatives in Russia. I do know that all communication with my mother’s relatives stopped after my mother’s death. When my father and Mary returned from their trip there came a discussion about how to address Mary. I just could not call her mother. So, it was decided that I should address Mary as Aunt Mary. There was an offer by Uncle Max to adopt me and I believe I objected. Looking back, that may have been a mistake on my part, but how could a 13-year old whose adored mother left him, male a decision of that magnitude