Unfinished People: Eastern European Jews Encounter America by Ruth Gay 1996

Winner of the 1997 National Jewish Book Award

Ruth Gay uses the details of everyday living, such as food, furniture, and fashion to narrate the experiences of Eastern European Jewish immigrants adjusting to life in America. Drawing on her own life growing up with immigrant parents in the Bronx, and citing sources whose authors explore similar themes, she paints a picture of a community constantly evolving.

Gay starts with a chapter called “There” in which she discusses the conditions in Eastern Europe that precipitated the great wave of immigration during the decades at the end of the 19th century and those at the beginning of the 20th.  She discusses such topics as anti-Semitism and progroms, poverty, enforced military service, and the restrictions imposed by Orthodox Judaism. The main section of the memoir analyzes many aspects of the immigrant Jewish community in the Bronx during the period until World War II.  The last section of the book called “Here” serves as a conclusion, highlighting some of the major points in the main section.

The core of the book deals with two generations: the first generation – the immigrant parents, and the second generation – their children. Gay astutely uses domestic issues to illuminate the difficulties and accommodations that took place. Generally speaking, the immigrant generation started by holding on to their Old World customs. For example, when it came to food, they bought what they knew and prepared and served it according to custom. But little by little many abandoned the strictures of kashruth and varied their eating habits. Other religious traditions also were largely put aside. Mothers stopped shaving their heads and wearing wigs; fathers cut off their beards and forelocks. The custom of arranged marriages also became marginalized, mainly because many young immigrants had arrived without parents and had the freedom to make their own choices. 

Immigrant parents, no longer hermetically sealed in the shtetl, not comfortable with English, and  having adapted as much as they cared to, frequently did not want their children to move further away from family customs and traditions But their children’s assimilation proceeded whether they liked it or not. To illustrate these points Gay has an interesting discussion about how she and her friends looked to American movies and novels as well as magazine and newspaper articles for clues in how to look and behave like an American. 

This memoir provides a thoughtful investigation into the day-to-day lives of Eastern European immigrants in New York. The author quotes many interesting sources from early Yiddish and English memoirs, movies, theater, essays and fiction as well as contemporary magazine ads and Yiddish song lyrics that reveal what was on the minds of members of the community. She also frequently quotes and translates Yiddish words, phrases and sayings. A perfect example: when she skinned a knee as a child, her mother would say, “Es vet nisht shatn tsum khasene.” Her translation: “It won’t interfere with your getting married.”



This book includes a useful “A Note on Sources” where the author records the works she consulted.

To read the New York Times obituary of Ruth Gay who died in 2006 click here.

Click here for a link to a website dedicated to a historical accounting of synagogues in the Bronx.

The following list of family members and their relationships is brief and incomplete because the author seems to have deliberately left out family names out of respect for privacy. I have augmented the names she mentions in the body of the book as well as in her Acknowledgements with names mentioned in the NYTimes obituary cited above.

People
? – married ? Slotkin – author’s parents
    Ruth Slotkin – married Nathan Glazer (divorced) married Peter Gay
        Sarah Glazer Khedouri – daughter of Ruth and Nathan
        Sophie Glazer – daughter of Ruth and Nathan
        Elizabeth Glazer – daughter of Ruth and Nathan;  married to William Montgomery
    Shirley Slotkin Gorenstein – sister of Ruth
    Caroll Boltin – sister of Ruth
Asher (Harry)  – brother of author’s mother; married Feigele (Fanny)
Elke  – sister of author’s mother; married Moyshe -
Chana  - sister of author’s mother
Philip and Anna – uncle and aunt of Ruth – specific relationship not clear
Shloyme and Necha-Leah – uncle and aunt of Ruth – relationship not clear
Jake  and Lena – uncle and aunt of Ruth – relationship not clear
 Shayndel – aunt of Ruth – relationship not clear

Places
Rutki, Poland
New York City, NY
The Bronx, NY

The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride 1995

"There are two voices in this complex and moving narrative, and -- on the surface -- they could not seem more different. One is the voice of a black musician, composer and writer ... The second voice is that of Rachel Shilsky, daughter of a failed itinerant Orthodox Jewish rabbi. Inevitably, these voices are connected and ultimately convergent, for Rachel Shilsky and James McBride are mother and son." from a review by H. Jack Geiger in the New York Times 3/31/96

In this engaging memoir, which was designated an American Library Association Notable Book, James McBride, musician, composer and writer, sensed when he was quite young that his mother was different. She was white; her two husbands had been black, as were her twelve children. He realized she never talked about her family or her origins. He knew nothing about his maternal grandparents. He tried many times to solve the puzzle, but she deflected all questions. The older he got, the more confused he became about his identity as well as hers, and he felt that in order to better understand himself he had to know who she was.

Ruth Shilsky McBride Jordan lived with her family in poor neighborhoods in New York City, and when the children needed school clothes she would take them shopping on the Lower East Side and bargain with the merchants in what McBride learned was Yiddish. Eventually, through questioning his older siblings, he learned she had been born into an Orthodox Jewish family. When he went off to college, he extracted her maiden from her for a form he needed to complete. After being urged to for many years, she finally agreed to tell her story which she dictated into a tape-recorder. McBride uses her voice to tell her story in alternate chapters which are linked and contrasted to his chapters in which he tells the story of his growing up.

Rochel (Ruth) Shilksy’s story starts with her parents’ arranged marriage in Europe, a marriage of convenience between a physically handicapped young woman from a family of means to a poor young man. Rochel’s father became an itinerant rabbi in the United States but eventually settled in Suffolk, Virginia, where, when his contract to serve as a rabbi was not renewed, he opened a grocery store. His word was law; he compelled his wife and children to work all hours and subjected them to physical abuse. Eventually, Ruth ran away to New York where her mother’s parents and sisters lived, but once she started dating Andrew McBride, her family disowned her and cut all ties.

James McBride's mother paints a vivid picture of growing up in an Orthodox Jewish immigrant family in a segregated southern town that was not open to the small Jewish community in their midst. She feared her father, felt guilty about leaving her increasingly helpless mother and her younger sister, but felt she had to leave in order to survive.

In his chapters Andrew McBride rounds out the picture of his mother’s life by filling in the details of what is what like growing up as her son and how despite her seemingly complete break with her Jewish roots, she instilled in her twelve children what are commonly referred to as “Jewish” values. For example, she made sure that they all were enrolled in public schools in "better" neighborhoods where the student population was predominantly Jewish. And she made sure her children took advantage of what the city had to offer – from museums to music lessons.

Delving into his mother’s past revealed stories that totally surprised McBride. He learned about his Jewish heritage and heard from her why she had no ties to her family and had hidden her painful past. Her finally, but reluctantly, revealing her past, helped him to better understand his roots.

To read a New York Times obituary and see a photo of Ruth McBride Jordan who died in 2010, click here.

People
Family
Fishel Shilsky – married to Hudis
    Sam (Zylksa) Shilsky – son of Hudis
    Ruchel Dwajra Zylska (changed to Rachel Deborah Shilsky, then first name changed to Ruth) – daughter of Fishel and Hudis; married to Andrew McBride; 2nd marriage to Hunter Jordan
        Andrew Dennis McBride – son of Ruth and Andrew; married to Becky
        Rosetta McBride – daughter of Ruth and Andrew
        William McBride – son of Ruth and Andrew
        David McBride – son of Ruth and Andrew
        Helen McBride-Richter – daughter of Ruth and Andrew
        Richard McBride – son of Ruth and Andrew
        Dorothy McBride-Wesley – daughter of Ruth and Andrew
        James McBride – son of Ruth and Andrew; married Stephanie Payne
            Azure McBride – daughter of James and Ruth
            Jordan McBride – son of James and Ruth
        Kathy Jordan – son of Ruth and Hunter
            Gyasi and Maya - children of Kathy
        Judy Jordan – daughter of Ruth and Hunter
        Hunter Jordan – son of Ruth and Hunter
        Henry Jordan – son of Ruth and Hunter
    Gladys Shilsky – daughter of Fishel and Hudis

Laurie – sister of Hudis; married to Paul Shiffman
Harold ? – brother of Hudis
Bernadette – sister of Hudis
Mary – sister of Hudis – married to Isaac
    Lois and Enid – daughters of Mary
Rhonda – sister of Hudis
Betsy – sister of Hudis

Friends
Israel Levy
Aubrey Rubenstein
Gerry Jaffe
Halina Wind – married to George Preston
    David Lee Preston – son of Halina; married to Rondee
    Shari Preston – daughter of Halina
Leon Wind – brother of Halina

Places
Dobryzn, Poland
New York City, NY
Ewing, New Jersey

“And Prairie Dogs Weren’t Kosher”: Jewish Women in the Upper Midwest since 1855 written and edited by Linda Mack Schloff 1996

"'And Prairie Dogs Weren't Kosher' begins to fill a void in American Jewish history and admirably expands our access to the religious, cultural, and social lives of women in the middle of America and their contributions to the larger community." -- Nebraska History, 1997, Vol. 78 No. 2

This lovely book, full of photos of Jewish women and their families, their homes, their farms, businesses and institutions, was prompted by an exhibit mounted by the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest and the Minnesota Historical Society. An introduction by Linda Mack Schloff discusses the motivation behind creating the book and lays out its goals and format. Each of six chapters starts with an introductory essay written by Schloff on one of six topics, then ends with a collage of voices collected from many unpublished memoirs and oral histories.

The first chapter covers life in the old country – why Jewish immigrants left in the first place and why they traveled to the upper Midwest; the second deals with what they found when they arrived and how they initially managed. The next four chapters are about establishing life and community by looking at four areas: domestic life, women and work, women and the synagogue and women and organizations. 

There is a lot to learn here about Jewish immigration to and settlement in the Midwest. Schloff talks about the poverty and the precarious lives Jewish immigrants were fleeing, only to find themselves struggling with versions of those same problems in America. Immigrants  were often lured to the Midwest to relatives and former neighbors who had already settled there. One reason for this was the Homestead Act of 1862 which awarded free plots of land to those who came out and claimed them. Others arrived in cities like Fargo, Duluth, Minneapolis and St. Paul because Jewish immigration agencies like the Industrial Removal Office promoted settlement in areas other than on the crowded East Coast.

But those who staked claims, intending to commit to homesteading, found farming very difficult due to a combination of terrain, weather, isolation, and inexperience. Jewish farming communities like Painted Woods and Devils Lake in present-day North Dakota and Bethlehem Yehudah and Cremieux in present-day South Dakota were short lived. Those who moved directly to the cities didn’t necessarily have it easy, but density engendered support systems, both institutional and informal, and many who started out farming eventually moved to the city where many opened or worked in small retail businesses, and where they and their growing children could socialize within a burgeoning Jewish community.

The chapter on domestic work is interesting in that it describes how the immigrant women maintained and adapted their religion and its customs to a new country and new conditions. Keeping kosher was a challenge, especially outside the major cities, and many gave it up. Since many of the synagogues they founded were affiliated with the Reform movement, that was not an issue, but it was a challenge for those who wanted to maintain Kashrut and who did not live in a major city. There are interesting details about how holidays such as Chanukah were celebrated and rituals like confirmation created, both in resistance and at the same time influenced by the surrounding Christian community.

Many women thrived in leadership roles that emerged from the growing establishment of synagogues. Women whose places of worship were affiliated with the Reform and Convservative movements could now attend services and sit together with their families and eventually take an active part in the service. They avidly attended adult education classes and they raised money to help sustain Sunday and Hebrew schools, to increase building funds, and to send money to Palestine/Israel. They established Loan and Benevolent Societies and branches of national organizations like Hadassah and the National Council of Jewish Women. This volunteer work gave them experience and skills that many of them put to good use when they were ready to work in part and full-time jobs.

Much of what these women experienced was what Jewish immigrant women experienced throughout the country, establishing homes and adjusting their religious practice to new circumstances, but this book interestingly and ably demonstrates the particularly unique experiences of the Jewish women of the north Midwest.

To consult a site that has an extensive list of links to Western Jewish Historical Societies, Archives and Museums, click here.

People and Places
Jeannette L. Agrant
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
sister named Sarah

Julius and Hanna Austrian
Madeleine Island, Wisconsin

Rachel Minenberg Baker
New York City to outside of Ashley, North Dakota

Sarah Balkind
from Russia to St. Paul, Minnesota
        Daisy Ginsburg Mains – granddaughter of Sarah

Bernice Banen
Hibbing, Minnesota

Sarah Bendersky – married Noah Schlasinger
from Odessa – Ukraine

David and Fannie Berman
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Sarah Cohen Berman
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Solomon Bailin
from Sosnitza, Ukraine to Sioux City, Iowa

Rosalyn Baker
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Ida Balick
St. Paul, Minnesota

Marshall Beaubaire
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Craney Goldman Bellin
Beresenova, Ukraine to McKenzie County, North Dakota

Benjamin N. Berger
from Ostrowiec, Poland to Fargo, North Dakota

Steven and Carol Porter Berlin
Minot, North Dakota to St. Paul, Minnesota
    Rebecca Berlin – daughter of Steven and Carol

Sarah Cohen Berman
    Rose Berman Goldstein – daughter of Sarah
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Theresa Ackerman Berman
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Shana Gitl ?
from Kresilev, Ukraine to Grand Forks, North Dakota
Ethel Krochock Bernstein – granddaughter of Shana Gitl

Max and Bella Borow
from Lithuania to New York to Bethlehem, Pennsyvania to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Fargo, North Dakota
    Pearl Borow Goodman – daughter of Max and Bella

Laura Rapaport Borsten
born in North Dakota, moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota

Eleanore Bresky
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Michael and Inna Gendelman Brezman
    Anna – daughter of Michael and Inna
    Twin Cities, Minnesota

Fanny Fliegelman Brin
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Howard and Ruth Firestone Brin
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Lillian, Frieda, Jennie and Nellie Brody (siblings)
near Regan, South Dakota
(Nellie’s married name Werner)

Mary Burton
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Sadie Chanen
Natalie Chanen (Goldstein) - daughter of Sadie
Faye Chanen (Garelick) – daughter of Sadie
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Sam Char
Warsaw, Poland to St. Paul, Minnesota

Sam Cheit
    Inez Cheit – daughter of Sam
Hague, North Dakota

Abe and Sarah Cohen
    Ida Cohen Goldberg – daughter of Abe and Sarah
outside of Duluth, Minnesota

Emanuel Cohen
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Fannie Cohen
St. Paul, Minnesota

Jean Cohen
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Libby Cohen
        Rose Berman Goldstein – granddaughter of Libby
From Kalwaria, Lithuania to Minneapolis, Minnesota

Nina Morais Cohen
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Joe Cohn
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Blanche Colman
Deadwood, South Dakota

Isaac and Ida Cook
    Etta Cook Josephs – daughter of Isaac and Ida
Duluth, Minnesota

Burt Cooper
Albert Lea, Minnesota

Ida Blehert Davis
St. Paul, Minnesota

Marlchen Deutsch
from Karlsruhe, Germany to Davenport, Iowa to Minneapolis, Minnesota

Ellen Dinerstein
St. Paul, Minnesota

Joe Dokovna
near Wing, North Dakota

Cecelia Dolf
    Samuel Dolf – son of Cecelia
Morton County, North Dakota

Galina Khaikina Dreytser
from Leningrad, Russia to St. Paul, Minnesota

Sophie Dudovitz
St. Paul, Minnesota

Gladys Jacobs Field
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Milton and Irma Cain Firestone
    Ruth Firestone Brin – daughter of Milton and Irma (separate entry)
St. Paul, Minnesota

Miles Fiterman
Thief River Falls, Minnesota to Minneapolis, Minnesota

Rachel Freedland
    Morris Freedland – son of Rachel
near Osseo, Minnesota

Sophie Frishberg
St. Paul, Minnesota

Bessie Furman
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Ida Geller
Fargo, North Dakota

Toba Marcowitz Geller
Halliday, North Dakota

Florence Silverstein Gidding
Duluth, Minnesota

Norton Giller
Grand Forks, North Dakota

Rose Gillman
St. Paul, Minnesota

Harry Ginsberg
Sarah Lee Ginsberg – niece of Harry
Grand Forks, North Dakota

Jonathan and Julie Gordon Ginsburg
She grew up in Albert Lea Minnesota; they live in St. Paul, Minnesota

Abe and Fannie Overman Goldfine
Fannie’s family from Russia to Superior, Wisconsin, then she to Duluth, Minnesota
    Manley Goldfine – son of Abe and Fannie

Mary T. Goldman
St. Paul, Minnesota

Rose Barzon Goldman
Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Daniel J. Elazar – nephew of Rose

Anna Goldstein
    Al and Esther Goldstein – children of Anna
Solen, North Dakota

Fannie Feinstein Goldstein
from Russia to New Haven, Connecticut to St. Paul, Minnesota
        Sylvia Feinstein Peilen – granddaughter of Fannie

Millie King Goldstone
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Albert Gordon
Minneapolis, Minnesota

George Gordon
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Jeff Gordon
Albert Lea, Minnesota
(cousin of Julie Gordon Ginsburg)

Annette Green
St. Paul, Minnesota

Charles and Anne Garon Greenberg
St. Paul, Minnesota

Morris and Rhana Lewis Greenberg
near Eveleth, Minnesota
(see entry for Rhana’s mother Sarah Lewis)

Hyman Greenstein
outskirts of North Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bea Grossman
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Rachel Haas
St. Paul, Minnesota

Charles and Etta Hallock
from Lithuania to Duluth, Minnesota to Hibbing, Minnesota
    Kopple Hallock – son of Charles and Etta

Marice Lipschultz Halper
St. Paul, Minnesota

Blanche Halpern (Goldberg)
Minneapolis, Minnesota to Hebron, North Dakota
Frances Halpern – sister to Blanche
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Frieda, Minette, Shirley, and Leo Handelman (siblings)
parents from Rumania to Chicago, Illinois to outside of Wilton, North Dakota

Emma Herbst
Fargo, North Dakota

Emmanuel Hess
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Dorothy Mosow Hurwitz

Viola Hoffman Hymes
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Rachel Bella Kahn – married Abraham Calof
    Minnie Calof – daughter of Rachel and Abraham
from Belaya Tserkov, Ukraine to North Dakota

Celia and Pearl Kamins (sisters)
Dodge, North Dakota

Sophie Katz
from Berdichev, Ukraine

Doris Kirschner
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Lena Kopelman
    Rose, Dorothy, and Jeanette Kopelman (Saval) – daughters of Lena
Fargo, North Dakota

Eva Kremenetsky – married Joe Losk
Rose Kremenetsky (sister of Eva) – married Charles Losk (brother of Joe)
Henry Krementesky (brother of Eva and Rose) – married Dora Weinberg
Near Wilton, North Dakota
(Losks’ mother from Odessa, Ukraine to Anamoose, North Dakota)

 ? Kruger
Dorothy Mosow Hurwitz – daughter of ? Kruger
Alcester, South Dakota to Sioux City, Iowa

Lena Leiderscheider
North Dakota

Ethel Levey
St. Paul, Minnesota

Jennie Levitt
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Sarah and Philip Levin
from Kovna region, Lithuania to Fargo, North Dakota

Eva Levy
Grand Forks, North Dakota to Wells, Minnesota to St. Paul, Minnesota

Sarah Lewis
Chisholm, Minnesota
    Rhana Lewis Greenberg – daughter of Sarah (see separate entry)

Edith Linoff
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Sylvia Lipschultz
St. Paul, Minnesota

Leah Lisovsky
from Odessa, Ukraine to Minneapolis, Minnesota

Rochele Gila Mann
Fargo, North Dakota

Hannah Marcus
    Rachel Marcus Shapiro – daughter of Hanna
    Eda Marcus Schlessinger – daughter of Hanna
Bowman County, North Dakota

Cecyle Eirinberg Marsh
Delmont, South Dakota

Frieda Aurach Marcowitz
near Ashley, North Dakota

Edith Guttman Mesonznick
Aberdeen, South Dakota

Edith Milavetz
St. Paul, Minnesota

Frances Kaufman Milavetz
Virginia, Minnesota

Israel Mill
    Manacha and Max Mill – sons of Israel
        Rose Mill Sweed – granddaughter of Israel (not clear which of Israel’s son is her father)

Edith, Hilda, Charles and Zelda Modelevsky (relationships to each other not clear)
from Pulan (outside of Zhitomir), Ukraine to St. Paul, Minnesota

Fannie Mondshine
Duluth, Minnesota
(sister of Ray Rosenblat)

Sophie Naftalin
Fargo, North Dakota

Tillie Naftalin
Fargo, North Dakota

Sarah Newman
Marion Newman – daughter of Sarah
Brainerd, Minnesota

Lena Oreckovsky
Duluth, Minnesota

Rose Levy Overbach
St. Cloud, Minnesota

Ruth Rauch Peilen
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Norman Perl
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Marvin Pertzik
St. Paul, Minnesota

Hannah Phillips
    Sarah Phillips – daughter of Hannah
outside Moorhead, Minnesota to near Fargo, North Dakota
        Henry Fine – grandchild of Hanna Phillips; nephew of Sarah Phillips

Isadore Pitts

Abraham and Augusta Machowsky Pomerance
from southern Russia to New York City to Grand Forks, North Dakota to near Lehr, North Dakota
    Rita Pomerance Gusack – daughter of Abraham and Augusta

Beatrice Premack
Aberdeen, South Dakota

Rose Rapaport (Schwartz)
Laura Rapaport (Borsten)
McIntosh County, North Dakota to Wishek, North Dakota
mother from Bialystock to Pittsburgh to the border of the Dakotas
Felix Rappaport – brother of Rose and Laura’s father

Belle Woolpy Rauch
from Russia to Minneapolis

Rhoda Redleaf
St. Paul, Minnesota

Baszion Rees
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Sarah Rivkin
Fargo, North Dakota

Emily Zvorist Rodd
Bismark, North Dakota

Anna Labovich Rosen
Family from Rumania to area near Souris River, North Dakota

Sophia Shankman Rosenauer
from Leningrad, Soviet Union to St. Paul, Minnesota

Betty Rosenberg
Chicago, Illinois to Beach, North Dakota

Sylvia Kremen Rosenberg
near Wilton, North Dakota

Ray Rosenblat
Duluth, Minnesota
(sister of Fannie Mondshine)

Jennie Rosenthal
St. Paul, Minnesota

Rose Rosenthal
St. Paul, Minnesota

Winnie Lewis Roth
Hibbing, Minnesota

Clara Rothman
Rumania to Mineapolis, Minnesota
Slovie Solomon Apple – daughter of Clara

Marilyn Mankoff Rovner
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Ada Rubenstein
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Sima Tiba Rudnitsky
Superior, Wisconsin

Edith Rutman
St. Paul, Minnesota

Sara Bashefkin Ryder
St. Paul, Minnesota (had worked in Nemadji, Minnesota)

Leon and Anna Salet
Mankato, Minnesota

Morris Mordecai Samuel

Ida Levitan Sanders
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Noah and Sarah Schlasinger
from Odessa to near Ashley, North Dakota
    Ethel Schaslinger Overby – daughter of Noah and Sarah

David and Mochel Schloff
Hazen, North Dakota

Fannie Schwartz
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Max and Bessie Halpern Schwartz
Minneapolis, Minnesota to Belfield, North Dakota

Simon and Sadie Schwartz
St. Paul, Minnesota

Willy Schwartz
from Lechenich, Germany to Trinidad to outside St. Paul, Minnesota

Esther Seltzer
Andrea and Julie Seltzer – daughters of Esther
Albert Lea, Minnesota

Sarah Yager Shalett
from Ukraine to Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Sherna Shalett Vinograd – daughter of Sarah

Molly Shapiro
Fargo, North Dakota

Myer Shark
Devils Lake, North Dakota

Elizabeth Banick Sherman
Grand Forks, North Dakota

Theodore Shuirman
Keewatin, Minnesota

Minnie Shuman
    Florence Shuman Sher – daughter of Minnie
West Union, Iowa

Tillie Siegel
Fargo, North Dakota

Janet Silberstein
St. Paul, Minnesota

Rachel Singer
    Lael Singer-Miller – daughter of Rachel
Duluth, Minnesota

Jane Sinitsky
from Leningrad to St. Paul, Minnesota

Nadia Ackerman Smirnov
from the Soviet Union to St. Paul, Minnesota
    Masha Smirnov – daughter of Nadia

Edward Sokol
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Ralph Stacker
St. Paul, Minnesota

George Stillman
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Rose Feldman Straus
from Latvia to Minot, North Dakota

Zlota Rivka Svidelsky
from Zhitomir, Ukraine to St. Paul, Minnesota

Marsha Tankenoff
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Morris Tenenbaum
from Lithuania to St. Paul, Minnesota

Solomon and Sarah Thal
    Elsie Thal – daughter of Sarah and Solomon
    Jacob Thal – son of Sarah and Solomon
from Ellingen, Germany to Berg, Germany, to Nelson County, North Dakota to Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Sam Thal – brother of Solomon
Dakota Territory

Sophie Turnoy Trupin
from Selz in Russian Poland to near Wilton, North Dakota

Amelia Ullmann – married to Joseph
From Germany to St. Paul, Minnesota

Ruth Usem
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Cecilia Rose Waldman
St. Paul, Minnesota

Judah Wechsler
St. Paul, Minnesota

Felicia Weingarten
St. Paul, Minnesota

Muriel Wexler
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Theodore Wolf
Mankato to Sheldon, Iowa

Eli S. Woolfan
Hibbing, Minnesota

Jeannette Wrottenberg
North Dakota prairie

Anne Rothenberg Zabel
Sioux City, Iowa to Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Belle Zimmerman
Wisconsin

Martin and Elka Abrahamson Zincow
St. Paul, Minnesota

I Love Gootie by Max Apple 1998

"Gootie left her grandson a rich inheritance of Yiddish culture and folk wisdom, and a love of storytelling. Apple’s biography is thus also about the source of his unique writer’s mind; listening to Gootie, it’s easy to see the origin of his ability to spin a good story. Fresh, affectionate, and moving."
 from a review in Kirkus Reviews 5/9/1998

In this charming memoir, a sequel to Apple’s popular memoir, Roommates: My Grandfather’s Story, the author writes about his grandmother, Sheyni Gootkie, whose family name became Gootie.  In the introduction he explains that in his book promotion tours for Roommates members of the audience would frequently ask questions about his grandmother and he would put them off by saying she was a private person, she always stayed at home, there wasn’t that much to say. But at one point he realized that in fact if he summoned up her Yiddish voice, her life and the stories she told became quite vivid. And he understood that her story telling was a gift she gave him.

Max Apple (b. 1941) grew up in an old-fashioned extended immigrant Jewish family. He and his two sisters lived with their parents and their mother’s Yiddish-speaking, religiously observant parents, Rocky and Gootie Goodstein, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Apple, the younger of the three children and fluent in Yiddish, was particularly attached to both of his grandparents. His grandmother stayed up with him at night while he did his homework at the kitchen table, and it was during these late hours that they forged their bond. She lived in her mind in the shtetl Serei in Lithuania and recreated life in the shtetl with great vividness, enthralling Apple with tales of her family and the community. He especially enjoyed the long involved story she told of her betrothal and marriage to his grandfather, and he remembered vividly her stories about terrifying pogroms.

Gootie never fully adapted to American life. She shopped in America, she had a bank account, but she never learned much English and interacted mostly with family – predominantly with Max’s family but she also had three brothers nearby. She had old-world values, didn’t trust much of what modern America had to offer, and tried to impose her values on the author by inventing a future for him and urging him to live it. Education was unimportant to her. She imagined him being economically secure as a store owner, wearing a suit with a vest outfitted with a gold pocket watch, and she pressed her points. When he was still in high school and he told her thought he’d become a printer, she was not pleased. She didn’t want him dirtying his hands on someone else’s machines. If he owned a store, she told him, he’d only have one machine to deal with – a cash register.

The tension between the old world and the new – Apple’s love and respect for his grandparents, but his also understanding that he was committed to living in a different world – is what drives both memoirs. In I Love Gootie his grandmother’s enduring love for him is palpable. It is clear that he realizes how much he is in her debt.

To read an earlier post of a review of Max Apple's Roommates, click here.

To read an interesting first-hand account of returning to Serei, Lithuania in 1998 which includes photos written by Chana Rosen, click here.

People
Beryl Leib – Rachel Leah
Joseph – son of Beryl Leib and Rachel Leah; married Sarah
    Louis - son of Beryl Leib and Rachel Leah
    Leo – son of Beryl Leib and Rachel Leah; married to Yachy
    Eserkey - son of Beryl Leib and Rachel Leah
    Sheyni Gootkie – daughter of Beryl Leib and Rachel Leah; married Yerachmiel Goodstein
        Mottele (Max) Goodstein – son of Sheyni and Yerachmiel
        Bashy Goodstein – married Sam Apple
            Max Apple – son of Bashy and Sam; married Talya Fishman; author
            Bailey – daughter of Bashy and Sam
            Maxine – daughter of Bashy and Sam
Friends
Sol Levinsky
Ben Rosen

Places
Serei, Lithuania
Yagistov, Poland
Odessa, Russia
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Muskegon, Michigan
Alma, Michigan

Roommates: My Grandfather’s Story by Max Apple 1994

"The bare facts seem to bespeak yet another Jewish family comedy of interference and smothering, but Max Apple's affection for the old man tells another story entirely." from a review in the New York Times by Andrew Bergman, June 19,1994

In this enjoyable and moving memoir, Max Apple (b. 1941) recreates his younger self. He grew up in a home in Grand Rapids, Michigan that included his immediate family and his immigrant maternal grandparents. Apple’s grandfather, nicknamed Rocky, lived a life that was totally entwined in that of his only grandson. In some ways it was a mutual admiration society, but it involved constant battles.

Max Apple and his sisters grew up speaking Yiddish in a home full of the tension between the Old World and the new. The family observed Kashrut, getting their meat monthly from Detroit, and they never ate out. According to Rocky, a truly educated Jewish boy learned Hebrew and studied the Talmud, a copy of which Rocky seemed to always have with him for his own study. Rocky was devoted to the local synagogue minyan but could only get Max to go to synagogue with him on Saturdays. Max edged toward assimilation by becoming absorbed in baseball and the intricacies of the game.

Rocky lived until he was well over 100, and because he outlived his wife, his son, and his son-in-law, his grandson encouraged him to come live with him. They were roommates for a time in Ann Arbor and then when the author, already married, went to work in Houston, Rocky and the author’s mother moved into a home close by.

Their last verbal exchange, as his grandfather lay dying in a hospital bed in 1982, was in Yiddish, a language that encompassed the Old World of his grandfather and the world of the author’s childhood – the language of home. And after his death, at the burial, Apple was proud to be able to refuse the prayer book the rabbi handed him and to say Kaddish from memory.

To read an interview with Max Apple about the writing of Roommates, click here.

People
Herman (Yerachmiel) Goodstein – married Gootie
    Max Goodstein – son of Herman and Gootie
    Bashy Goodstein – daughter of Herman and Gootie; married to Sam Apple
        Bailey Apple – daughter of Bashy and Sam
        Maxine Apple – daughter of Bashy and Sam
        Max Apple – son of Bashy and Sam; married Debby; author
            Jessica and Sam – children of Max and Debby

Joe – Gootie’s brother
Mamie – a cousin of author’s mother

Friends and Acquaintances
Joel Kerner
Harry Zeff
Alan Perlis

Places
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Muskegon – Michigan

The Souvenir: A Daughter Discovers Her Father’s War by Louise Steinman 2001

"Only when we begin to share our stories, she discovers, can we also begin to approach the humanity we aspire to, and at the same time feel shame at the brutal bestiality of which we are all too capable."
 from a New York Times review by Diane Cole 12/02/01

When Louise Steinman was emptying her parents’ condominium after they had both died in 1990, she found a strong box that included 474 letters her father had written to her mother from the Pacific front where he had been stationed during World War II from August of 1943 until December of 1945. Also in the box was an envelope that contained a small Japanese flag with Japanese characters written on it. Her father Norman Steinman, who had immigrated to New York with his mother and sister when he was five and a half years old from Zhitomir, Ukraine, came home from serving in World War II a changed man, moody and uncommunicative. His wife and four children (the oldest of whom was born nine months after he went off to war) knew never to ask him about the war and to stay away from him if something triggered one of his rages.

Finding this trove of newsy, often emotional letters to her mother, as well as finding the Japanese flag, motivated the writer to investigate her father’s war years in an attempt to know her father as a young soldier. She learned that he had been an infantryman who had been shipped to the Philippines where he participated in one of the most difficult battles in Luzon as the Japanese tried to keep the Americans at bay and away from Japan.

She was also intent on finding out more about the Japanese flag her father had kept along with the letters. She started by having the writing on the flag translated and learned that the young Japanese soldier/owner of the flag, whose name was on the flag, had received it as a good-luck gift from family and friends who had signed their names on it. More investigation revealed that he had been killed in the Philippines shortly after he enlisted.

The author initially had her doubts about whether to search for his family, and whether to return the flag. She reports that her brother Larry asked her a provocative question: If their father had fought in Europe and had come home with a German flag with a swastika on it, would she be trying to find that soldier’s family and return the flag? A provocative question, indeed, one for which she has no ready answer. But she proceeded to visit the Philippines and then Japan where she returned the flag to the soldier’s family.

Steinman discusses the atrocities the Japanese visited on their enemies as well as those that resulted from the Americans dropping the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In researching wartime propaganda, brainwashing and military training, she cites literature that discusses the need to dehumanize the enemy as a way to rationalize torturing and killing them. She finds an obvious example in objectifying the enemy in her father’s easy use of “Japs” and “Nips.”

Like many children of survivors of concentration camps, she grew up with a father who had a traumatizing experience.  Research now informs us that he suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome that at that time went unlabeled, undiagnosed and untreated. A by-product of war, it claimed many victims and their families. She realizes that the damage war inflicts lingers through generations.

To read an article about late-onset Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome suffered by those who survived World War II, click here.

People
Herschel (Harry) Steinman – married Rebecca
    Ruth Steinman - daughter of Herschel and Rebecca
    Norman Steinman – son of Hershel and Rebecaa; married Anne Weiskopf
          Ruth Steinman – daughter of Norman and Anne; married to Matthew Solomon
             Jennifer Solomon – daughter of Ruth and Matthew
         Larry Steinman - son of Norman and Anne
         Louise Steinman – daughter of Norman and Anne; married Lloyd Hamrol; author
         Kenneth Steinman - son of Norman and Anne
   
Louis Weiskopf – married Sarah
     Anne Weiskopf - daughter of Louis and Sarah; married Norman Steinman (see above)
     Doris Weiskopt - daughter of Louis and Sarah

Friends and Acquaintances
    Sam Wengrow
    Morrie Franklin
    Sylvan Katz

Places
Zhitomir, Ukraine 
Bronx, New York
New York City, NY
Culver City, California
Luzon, The Philippines

We Are Here: Memories of the Lithuanian Holocaust by Ellen Cassedy 2012

Interviewing locals, uncovering forgotten archives and encountering a strange old man who wants to 'speak to a Jew' before he dies, Cassedy weaves together a historical quilt that provides important context. From a review by Abe Novick published in the Baltimore Jewish Times on 4/27/2012

Ellen Cassedy, a journalist, felt many emotional connections to the Jewish Lithuania where her maternal grandfather immigrated from, and, after her mother died, she especially missed the Yiddish that helped to connect her to that world. So she enrolled in a summer Yiddish course at Vilnius University in Lithuania and visited towns, streets and buildings that were connected to the life of her family.

She had two other goals as well. Before she left for Lithuania she visited her grandfather’s elderly half-brother, Willie, the last surviving member of her grandfather’s generation, who had been a prisoner of the Shavl ghetto. He looked at maps with her and gave her information she wanted to check out. And she also was interested in assessing how contemporary Lithuanian institutions and ordinary Lithuanian citizens were dealing with their roles in all but eliminating the Lithuanian Jewish community.

The author had a challenging but rewarding stay in Lithuania. She was overwhelmed by the intensity of her Yiddish classes. The same was true about her travels around Lithuania and her conversations with both Jewish and non-Jewish citizens. All of it was emotionally exhausting, but she found her Yiddish improved in leaps and bounds. And in her travels, in some cases she found what she assumed she’d find: many Lithuanians ignorant of their own history. But she also met Lithuanians who had played a role in saving Jews and heard stories about others who had hidden Jews in barns and attics and had passed food over the ghetto walls.

What was most enlightening to Cassedy and what she spends some time developing are the essential questions she began to formulate after her encounters with both Jews and non-Jews. She conducts an interesting analysis of the supposedly opposing terms: victim and collaborator, enforcer and protector, resister and bystander. And her discussion of how you define resistance both within and outside the ghetto is thought provoking, as is her discussion of forgiveness, condemnation, revenge and hatred.

In this engaging memoir the author, who begins with an informative overview of Lithuanian Jewish history and then takes us through the horrors of World War II and its aftermath, ends in the present, contemplating the future. She takes comfort in learning that young Lithuanians are far better informed because of the many thoughtful programs and exhibits that have been designed by Jews and non-Jews.. She learns that they are presented at schools and museums, and she sees that markers memorializing murdered Jews have become part of the landscape. She hopes against hope that lessons about the past will take hold and inform the future.

To consult a Lithuania Holocaust atlas, click here.
 To read an interview with Ellen Cassedy about the writing of this memoir click here.

People
Dovid Mikhl Levinas – married Asne; second wife Soreh
    Yankl (Jack) Levinas – son of Dovid Mikhl and Asne
        Ellen Cassedy – married Jeff Blum; author
            Tim and Meg Blum – children of Ellen and Jeff
    Shaya Levinas – son of Dovid Mikhl and Asne
    Aaron Levin(as) – son of Dovid Mikhl and Asne; married Sonya
        Asya Levin Shindelman – daughter of Aaron and Sonya
        Vova Levin – son of Aaron and Sonya
    Taybe Levinaite – daughter of Dovid Mikhl and Asne
    Soreh Levinaite – daughter of Dovid Mikhl and Asne
    Rikle Levinaite – daughter of Dovid Mikhl and Asne
    Luba Levinaite – daughter of Dovid Mikhl and Asne
    Menachem Mendel Levinas – son of Dovid Mikhl and Asne
    Pinchas Levinas – son of Dovid Mikhl and Asne
    William Levin(as)– son of Dovid Mikhl and Soreh; married Manya
        David and Daniel Levin – cousins of author; probably sons of William and Manya

Friends and Acquaintances and Sources
Mendy Cahan
Yitskhok Niborski
Khanan Bordin
Irena Veisaite (Veis, Weiss)
Shimon Alperovitch
Efroyim Gens
Jacob Gens – brother to Efroyim
Abner Kovner
Itzik Wittenberg
Leonidas Donskis
Regina Kopilevich
Emanuel Zingeris
Rokhl Kostanian
Milan Chersonskij
Shimon Davidovitch
Dana Pomerants
Boris Stein
Levi Shalit
Eliezer Yerushalmi
Khayim Zhilinski

Places
Vilnius (Vilna), Lithuania
Vilna ghetto, Lithuania
The Chor Shul (the Choral Synagogue), Vilnius
Rokiskis, Lithuania
Siauliai (Shavl), Lithuania
Shavl ghetto, Lithuania
Kaunus (Kovno), Lithuania
Kovno ghetto, Lithuania
Ponar forest, Lithuania
Kedainiai, Lithuania
Birzai, Lithuania
Butrimonys, Lithuania
Bajorai, Lithuania
Sobibor Concentration Camp, Poland
Dachau Concentration Camp, Germany
Irkutsk, Siberia
Vorkuta, Siberia

MetaMaus: A Look Inside a Modern Classic by Art Spiegelman 2011

"The three longest chapters [of MetaMaus] provide nuanced and richly illustrated answers to the questions every reader has probably asked: 'Why the Holocaust?' 'Why mice?' and 'Why comics?'" from a review by Patricia Hagen in the Star Tribune, 11/19/2011

Art Spiegelman, author of the award-winning Maus, has written a memoir that looks back at the making of Maus and elaborates on its many themes. The body of the commentary comes in the form of conversations with the professor/scholar Hillary Chute, wherein she poses a question or states an observation and Spiegelman responds. Spiegelman provides background information about himself and his Holocaust survivor parents and carefully reasoned artistic explanations for many of the decisions he made as he was working on Maus. Also, Spiegelman gave her access to his files, and the book includes many early sketches, notes, and panels as well as related material which had been published elsewhere.

Spiegelman talked to Chute about what fueled his growing interest in trying to draw and write about the Holocaust. He never had any intention of using it in his art but he found himself inevitably moving in that direction, partly as a way to try to connect to his father with whom he’d had a difficult relationship, but also because the Holocaust was what had enveloped him his whole life. When he decided to tell his father’s story he had to wrestle with the issue of making art out of Holocaust experiences. He was intent in doing so without sentimentalizing his father’s story, branding all stories by and about survivors that rely on excessive sentiment “Holokitsch.”

Some of the most interesting material is the author’s discussions about memory and accuracy. Once he knew he needed to tell this story, he needed to immerse himself in history, worrying all the time about getting it right. He had dual concerns: getting his father’s story right and also being accurate about the larger story of the Holocaust. He needed to constantly prod his father for more details and check them against historical material whenever possible. He needed to visit Auschwitz.

Much of the book is taken up with discussions about Spiegelman’s use of the comic book form to tell his family’s story and his metaphoric use of animals to represent the characters. Spiegelman discusses what was innovative and the various forms of resistance Maus received, both before publication and after. He also discusses who his influences were in the world of alternative comic book art and how the fame Maus has brought him has affected him as a person and as an artist. There is an interesting discussion of the difficulty of translating Maus into other languages and the reception Maus had in various countries.

In addition to the discussions listed above, this volume also includes ancillary material:

After Maus was published Art Spiegelman learned of an extensive Spiegelman family tree created by a second cousin, Simon Spiegelman, which is included along with a two-page narrative history of the family written by his cousin. There is also a Zylberberg family tree. Both trees are reproduced below in list form without birth and death dates which can be found on the trees reproduced in the book.

The book also includes many more family photos than in the original Maus, a transcript of Spiegelman’s interviews with his father, a short chapter that includes interviews with women who knew his mother, a chronology - 1906-2010, and an index.

MetaMaus also includes a DVD. Part I is a digitally reproduced version of the complete Maus where you can also click to hear Spiegelman’s father’s voice and see digitally reproduced versions of sketches and drafts. Part II includes some of the same ancillary material found in the paper version of MetaMaus discussed above, but also additional material which forms a digital archive: sketches and drawings by the author, a collection called Anja’s Bookshelf which includes postwar Polish pamphlets on the war and the camps, a home movie of Spiegelman’s trip to Auschwitz, and essays by Spiegelman and others written about Maus and originally published elsewhere.

For a short history of Auschwitz through photos and text, click here.
For the earlier post on this blog of a review of Maus click here.

Family
Author’s father’s family
Majer Szpigelman – married Zysla
Chaim Lajb Szpigelman – son of Majer and Zysla; married Fajgla Szpringer
        Moszek Moshe Szpigelman –  son of Chaim and Fajgla; married Chana Zysla Rajsfeld   
            Icek Wolf Szpigelman – son of Moszek and Chana
            Hendla Szpigelman – daughter of Moszek and Chana
            Maria Laja Szpigelman – daughter of Moszek and Chana
            Rajza Szpigelman – daughter of Moszek and Chana
            Majer Jozef Szpigelman – son of Moszek and Chana
            Jakob Szymon Szpigelman – son of Moszek and Chana
Menachem Mendl Szpigelman – son of Chaim and Fajga; married Chaja Majerczik; married Chaja Sura Lauber (2nd wife)
        Majer Jozef Szpigelman – son of Menachem and Chaja Majerczik
        Andzua Hendla Szpigelman – daughter of Menachem and Chaja Majerczik
        Berek Szpigelman – son of Menachem and Chaja Majerczik
        Rywka Zysla Szpigelman – daughter of Menachem and Chaja Majerczik
        Lola Szpigelman – daughter of Menachem and Chaja Majerczik
        Regina Szpigelman – daughter of Menachem and Chaja Majerczik
        Eliash Szpigelman – son of Menachem and Chaja Majerczik
        Miloch Szpigelman – son of Menachem and Chaja Sura; married Gutcha
        Pesach Szpigelman – son of Menachem and Chaja Sura
        Haskel Szpigelman – son of Menachem and Chaja Sura
Majer Szpigelman – son of Chaim and Fajgla; married Ruchla Altman
        Ziser Szpigelman – son of Majer and Ruchla
        Mordka Hillel Szpigelman – son of Majer and Ruchla
        Abram Wolf Szpigelman – son of Majer and Ruchla
        Faigla Rywka Szpigelman – daughter of Majer and Ruchla
        Arie Szpigelman – son of Majer and Ruchla
        Zysla Szpigelman – daughter of Majer and Ruchla
        Szlama Becalel Szpigelman – son of Majer and Ruchla
Jozef Henoch Szpigelman – son of Chaim and Fajgla; married Zysla Zylbersztajn
        Jakob Szlama Szpigelman – son of Jozef and Zysla
        Fajgla Rywka Szpigelman – daughter of Jozef and Zysla
        Abram Szaja Szpigelman – son of Jozef and Zysla
        Pinkus Eli Szpigelman – son of Jozef and Zysla
        Frajda Rachela Szpigelman – daughter of Jozef and Zysla
        Chaja Sura Szpigelman – daughter of Jozef and Zysla
        Hendla Szpigelman – daughter of Jozef and Zysla
        Jacheta Szpigelman – daughter of Jozef and Zysla
        Mariem Szpigelman – daughter of Jozef and Zysla
Sara Szpigelman – daughter of Chaim and Fajgla; married Fajwel Kronenberg
            Fela (Fajgla)  Szpigelman – daughter of Sara and Fajwel
            Majer (Max) Szpigelman – son of Sara and Fajwel
            Burech Mordka Szpigelman – son of Sara and Fajwel
            Jacheta Szpigelman – daughter of Sara and Fajwel
            Chaim Lajb Szpigelman – son of Sara and Fajwel
            Jakob Josef Szpigelman – son of Sara and Fajwel
            Dawid Moszek Szpigelman – son of Sara and Fajwel
        Chana Ruchla Szpigelman – daughter of Chaim and Fajgla; married Mendel Zygrajch
            Fajgla Szpigelman – daughter of Chana and Mendel
            Ajzik Szpigelman – son of Chana and Mendel
            Fiszel Szpigelman – son of Chana and Mendel
            Majer Szpigelman – son of Chana and Mendel
            Pejsach Szpigelman – son of Chana and Mendel
            Dworja Ita Szpigelman – daughter of Chana and Mendel
            Chaim Lajb Szpigelman – son of Chana and Mendel
            Abram Jakob Szpigelman – son of Chana and Mendel
        Abram Szpigelman – son of Chaim and Fajgla; married Pesla Zylberszac; married Chaja Goldberg (2nd wife)
            Izrael Szymon Szpigelman – son of Abram and Pesla
            Fela (Faigla) Szpigelman – daughter of Abram and Chaja
            Vladek (William) Szpigelman (Spiegelman) – son of Abram and Chaja; married Anja Zylberberg; married Mala Kurland (2nd wife)
                Richieu Szpigelman – son of Vladek and Anja
                Arthur Szpigelman (Spiegelman) – son of Vladek and Anja; married to Francoise; (author)
                    Nadja and Dasheill Spiegelman – children of Arthur and Francoise   
            Marcus (Mordka) Szpigelman – son of Abram and Chaja
            Moses (Mojzesz) Szpigelman – son of Abram and Chaja
            Mendel Szpigelman – son of Abram and Chaja
            Leon (Chaim Lajb) Szpigelman – son of Abram and Chaja
            Zosha (Zysla) Szpigelman – daughter of Abram and Chaja
            Yadja (Jacheta) Szpigelman – daughter of Abram and Chaja
            Pinek (Pejsach) Szpigelman – son of Abram and Chaja
        Wolf Szpigelman – son of Chaim and Fajgla; married Sura Rywka
            Max (Majer) Szpigelman – son of Wolf and Sura
            Lorre (Zysla Laja) Szpigelman – daughter of Wolf and Sura
            Frieda (Fajgla) Szpigelman – daughter of Wolf and Sura
            Lotte (Liba) Szpigelman – daughter of Wolf and Sura
            Toni (Tauba Chana) Szpigelman – daughter of Wolf and Sura
            Helene (Chaja) Szpigelman – daughter of Wold and Sura

Author’s mother’s family
Heschl Karmiol – married Ruchla
    Malka Karmiol – daughter of Heschl and Ruchla; married Israel Itzah Zylberberg
        Herman Zylberberg – son of Malka and Israel; married Hela
            Lolek Zylberberg – son of Herman and Hela; married Lonia
                Rachel Zylberberg daughter of Lolek and Lonia
                                                Laurie Zylberberg – daughter of Lolek and Lonia
                Andrew Zylberberg – son of Lolek and Lona; married Cynthia
                    Elaine, Karen, and Allison Zylberberg – children of Andrew and Cynthia
        Levek Zylberberg – son of Malka and Israel
        Tosha Zylberberg – daughter of Malka and Israel; married Wolf Steinkeller
            Bibi Steinkeller – daughter of Tosha and Wolf
        Anja Zylberberg – daughter of Malka and Israel; married Vladek Spiegelman
            Richieu – son of Anja and Vladek
            Arthur – son of Anja and Vladek – married Francoise Mouly (see above); author
        Josef Zylberberg – son of Malka and Israel; married to Mina

            Marysia Winogron – second cousin of Anja’s (father’s were first cousins)
                Leonard and David Winogron – sons of Marysia

Friends and Acquaintances
David and Ita Kracauer
Paul Pavel
Renya Ostry
Alter Mandelbaum
Blima Mandelbaum (Blanca Thurm) – Alter’s daughter
Avraham MAndelbaum – Alter’s nephew
Liba Eibschutz – Alter’s neice
Marisha Shubert
Hanka Sucher (Hanna Heron)

Places
Dabrowa, Poland
Sosnowiec, Poland
Stara Sosnowiec, Poland
Srodula, Poland
Zawiercie, Poland
Bielsko, Poland
Dachau, Poland
Lodz, Poland
Birkenau Concentration Camp
Auschwitz Concentration Camp
Ravensbruck-Malhoff Concentration Camp
Sweden
Norristown, Pa
Fort Tryon Park, NYC
Rego Park, Queens, NYC
Soho, NYC

My Russian Grandmother and Her American Vacuum Cleaner: a family memoir by Meir Shalev 2009 in Hebrew, 2011 in English

"Shalev’s sentences deserve to be read out loud. He says he’s sticking to the facts here, even though his storytelling can be circular, with stories within stories and different versions of the same story ..." from a review by Sandee Brawarsky in the Jewish Week, 11/22/2011

The Israeli writer, Meir Shalev, has written an entertaining and enlightening memoir whose setting is Nahalal, a moshav founded in 1921 in Palestine. His maternal grandparents were early settlers, having immigrated from Ukraine. Shalev, who was born in 1948 in Nahalal, but who later moved to Jerusalem, recreates the early difficult years of the moshav. The settlement’s development and survival depended upon backbreaking labor. But Shalev relates that his grandfather, who had the temperament and interests of a writer/poet, was not really cut out for that kind of life. He writes that it was his grandmother who kept the farm functioning, relying on the help of her children: five boys and two girls.

Shalev’s grandfather’s brother left Ukraine and decided to immigrate to America, a life decision his brother in Palestine completely disdained. Shalev uses the two brothers’ different life choices as the amusing pivot of his story, writing the tale in a tone meant to entertain its readers. He describes in detail his grandmother’s obsession for keeping her house clean, constantly dusting in a setting where dust whirled all the time. He then tells us that he learned that many years ago his grandfather’s brother in California had sent his grandmother a new-fangled vacuum cleaner from America. But all he knew about the unseen vacuum cleaner was that she had locked it up and did not use it. The locked-up vacuum cleaner became a family legend and Shalev spins out various contradictory versions of its fate - stories told to him by various family members.

As the tale surrounding the mystery of the unused vacuum cleaner unwinds, we also learn about early settler ideology and day to day life on the moshav. This is a lovingly, but clear-sighted, look at the life of a large Israeli farm family whose roots in Israel go back to the difficult life of early pioneers.

Note: It's too bad that the Hebrew title of this memoir was not translated and used as its title in English. Ha'Davar Haya Kakha  means This is How It Was which conveys the importance of storytelling, both to his grandmother whose stories started with that phrase and of course to the author, a gifted storyteller, who carries on the tradition. He opens the memoir with that phrase.


To watch and listen to Meir Shalev give a talk and answer questions about this memoir at the 6th and I Historic Synagogue in Washington D.C. click here.

People
Mordechai Zvi Pekker – married ?; 2nd marriage to Batya
    Shoshanna Pekker – daughter of Mordechai Zvi and ?; married Aharon Ben-Barak (see below)
    Moshe Pekker – son of Mordechai Zvi and Batya
    Yitzhak Pekker – son of Mordechai Zvi and Batya
    Yaacov Pekker – son of Mordechai Zvi and Batya
    Tonia Pekker – daughter of Mordechai Zvi and Batya; married Aharon Ben-Barak (see below)

    Yeshayahu (Sam) (brother of Aharon)
    Aharon Ben-Barak – married  Shoshanna Pekker; married 2nd wife Tonia Pekker
        Itamar Ben-Barak – son of Aharon and Shoshanna
        Benyamin Ben-Barak – son of Aharon and Shoshanna
        Micha Ben-Barak – son of Aharon and Tonia; married to Tzafira
        Batya Ben-Barak – daughter of Aharon and Tonia
            Meir Shalev – son of Batya and Yitzhak Shalev; author
            Rafaela Shalev – daughter of Yitzhak and Batya
            Zur Shalev – son of Yitzhak and Batya
                Roni and Naomi Shalev – daughters of Zur

        Menachem Ben-Barak – son of Aharon and Tonia; married Penina
            Zohar and Gila Ben-Barak – children of Menachem and Penina
        Batsheva Ben-Barak (twin of Menachem) – daughter of Aharon and Tonia; married Arik
            Nadal – son of Batsheva and Arik
        Yair Ben-Barak – son of Aharon and Tonia; married Tzilla
    Sarah Ben-Barak – sister of Yeshayahu (Sam) and Aharon

Meir Shalev – married Zipporah
    Yitzhak Shalev – son of Meir and Zippora; married Batya Ben-Barak (see above)
        Meir Shalev – son of Yitzhak and Batya; author (see above)
    Mordechai Shalev – son of Meir and Zippora; married Rika

Friends and Acquaintances
Shmuel Pinneles
David Shahar
Penina Gary
Thelma Yellin
Ze’ev Smilansky
Haim Shorer
Motke Habinsky
Yitzhak Ben Yaakov
Nahum Sneh

Places
Makarov, Ukraine
Rokitno, Ukraine
Nahalal, Israel
Los Angeles, California
Kibbutz Ginosar, Israel
Kfar Yehoshua, Israel
Herzliya, Israel
Kibbutz Hanita, Israel
K’far Chabad, Israel
Kfar Monash, Israel
Kiryat Haim, Israel