Look to the rock from which you were hewn Vol. 28, No. 4, Fall 2004

jewish historical society chicago jewish history

IN THIS ISSUE Isaac Rosenfeld: Humboldt Park’s Jewish Book Month: Troubled Literary “Golden Boy” CJHS Publications and BY WALTER ROTH Books by Members of the Society he Humboldt Park neighborhood has given us at least two great Vera Caspary: Chicagoan Jewish writers—Saul Bellow and Isaac Rosenfeld. They were friends Wrote “Laura” and Much T in a group of intellectual boys who attended Tuley High School More in Hollywood during the Depression. Bellow is world-famous. In 1976 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He has won the Pulitzer Prize, three National Marshall Sklare: Book Awards, and many other honors. Now, at age 89, he is a cultural icon. Chicagoan Studied Rosenfeld had some early successes; he won a prestigious literary award Jewish Identity on the from the Partisan Review, and a job at The New Republic. He wrote Suburban Frontier constantly—novels, short stories, poems, and many essays. Irving Howe Celebrate 350! called him the “golden boy” of the New York intelligentsia. But Rosenfeld Exhibitions at Jewish died young, and today he is all but unknown outside of academia. Historical Institutions Isaac Rosenfeld was born on March 10, 1918. His young mother, Around the USA Miriam, died when he was just 22 months old. His father, Sam, From the Archives: remarried, but the family tragedies Society Elects “My Kind of Town” continued. His second wife bore a Board Members retarded daughter; the wife died, Report on CJHS The CJHS open meeting on October 31 Meeting: and Sam married her much younger sister. They had a volatile relation- October 31 was preceded by a The Politics of Chicago brief business meeting. President Jewry, 1850-2004 ship, and the marriage almost broke up several times. Walter Roth offered a review of The family lived in a two-story the Society’s activities in 2004, apartment building near Humboldt noting our special May lecture Park. Isaac’s grandparents and his celebrating the 350th year of two unmarried aunts lived on the Jewish life in America, “Haym first floor. In a time of great unem- Salomon in Chicago.” ployment, Sam had a job and was He then conducted the able to provide for the family. He election of members to the took pride in his son’s intellectual Board of Directors. Edward H. achievements, but was domineering Mazur was elected to a three- and emotionally unavailable. Isaac, year term; current Board who suffered from frequent physical members Carolyn Eastwood, Clare Greenberg, David H. Caroline and Marcus Spiegel. ailments, would retreat, alone, to his room and his many books. Heller, and Burt Robin were re- See article on page 12. elected to three-year terms. ❖ continued on page 4 2 Chicago Jewish History Fall 2004 President’s Column Look to the rock from which you were hewn

chicago jewish historical society I NEVER HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO EMBRACE AND KISS A CATHOLIC PRIEST Officers 2004-2005 until my recent trip to northern Italy in the first Walter Roth President week of September 2004. There, in the foothills Burt Robin Vice President of the Maritime Alps, on the border between Dr. Carolyn Eastwood Secretary France and Italy, I had that opportunity—and I Herman Draznin Treasurer acted on it. The priest in question was Don Directors Leah Axelrod Walter Roth Francesco Brondello. At the age of 84, Don Francesco, with the Harold T. Berc help of his assistants, had managed to bring himself to the foot of an Charles B. Bernstein Italian mountain path where sixty-one years earlier a group of Rachel Heimovics Braun* Dr. Irving Cutler were crossing from Occupied France. They were seeking safety in Dr. Rachelle Gold Italy after the Badoglio government capitulated to the Allies in Clare Greenberg September 1943. However, in response to the Italian surrender, the Dr. Adele Hast* German Army invaded the north of Italy, and these Jews, after their Dr. David H. Heller perilous mountain crossing, would need help in hiding from the Janet Iltis Nazi invaders. Among the refugees were a mother and her two Marshall D. Krolick young daughters, Gitta and Chaya—my future wife. Roslyn Lettvin The crossing is commemorated annually with a Walk of Mark Mandle Remembrance. This year’s commemoration was special. Through Dr. Edward H. Mazur Chaya’s great efforts in securing the necessary papers, Don Francesco Seymour H. Persky had been awarded the title “Righteous Among the Nations” by Yad Muriel Robin Rogers* Vashem in for his courageous deeds in behalf of Jews Norman D. Schwartz* during World War II. He was too infirm to travel to Jerusalem, so Dr. Milton Shulman Dr. N. Sue Weiler the ceremony was being held in his own country. *Indicates Past President The scene was almost surreal; we were high enough that clouds surrounded us. Goats and cows with bells around their necks grazed Chicago Jewish History in the distance, while mountain streams could be heard rushing by. Chicago Jewish History is published And there sat the priest, a friendly smile on his face, welcoming quarterly by the Chicago Jewish Historical Society at 618 South Chaya and me, our children and grandchildren, Gitta and her Avenue, Chicago, family, and friends and relatives from America, , and Germany. 60605. (312)663-5634. The trek up the mountain was difficult. I walked about halfway Single copies $4.00 postpaid. up. Others continued further, and a few reached the top. (Next year Successor to Society News. the walk will start in France, where it began in 1943.) Editor/Designer At that time the young Don Francesco was assistant priest in the Bev Chubat parish of Valdieri, a small town Immediate Past Editor in the Italian border province of SWITZER- Joe Kraus Cuneo. He was a flamboyant LAND figure, an excellent skier, who Editor Emeritus could be seen skimming across Milan Irwin J. Suloway G Editorial Board the Alps with his red hair and FRANCE black cape flapping in the wind. David Heller, Burt Robin, G As a member of the Italian Turin ITALY Walter Roth, Norman Schwartz, and Milton Shulman Resistance, he helped the Jewish Cuneo M G Send all submissions to: refugees by bringing them A Genoa R A L G Valdieri Bev Chubat I T P G winter clothes, providing false IM S papers and financial aid, and E 415 Fullerton Parkway, #1102

➤ Chicago, IL 60614-2842 Nice G N E-mail: [email protected] continued on page 15 Chicago Jewish History Fall 2004 3

1654-2004 Celebrate 350 Years of Jewish Life in America!

Visit these important American Texas Jewish Jewish Museum Jewish institutions via their web sites. You will find fascinating Historical Society of Maryland online timelines, virtual museums, P.O. Box 10193 15 Lloyd Street and lots of links. Better yet, visit Austin, TX 78766-0193 Baltimore, MD 21202 in person during this historic year. (713) 723-1406 (410) 732-6400 The Texas Jewish Historical Society, Weaving Women’s Words: Milwaukee Jewish the Texas State Historical Associa- Baltimore Stories: tion, and the Center for American Through 2004. Historical Society History at the University of Texas This unique exhibition presents oral 1360 North Prospect Avenue are in the initial stages of compiling histories by Baltimore Jewish Milwaukee, WI 53202 a history of the Jews of Texas, women with specially commis- (414) 390-5700 tentatively titled Lone Stars of sioned works of art by prominent As a service to the community, the David: The Jews of Texas. The book artists from across the nation and Milwaukee Jewish Federation that the Society helped underwrite, portraits by renowned photographer established the Milwaukee Jewish Jewish Stars in Texas by Hollace Joan Roth. Weaving Women’s Historical Society in 1986. All of Weiner, about rabbis who rose to Words is organized by the Jewish the materials in the Society’s vast prominence, is now available. Women’s Archive (Boston). and varied collections are available Ordering information can be found Lives Lost, Lives Found: for examination and research. on the Society’s web site. Baltimore’s German Jewish —www.milwaukeejewishhistorical.org —www.txjhs.org Refugees, 1933-1945: Through April 2005. This original JMM exhibition Jewish Museum Southwest Jewish breaks new ground in telling the of Florida Archives story of the German Jewish refugees who found haven in Baltimore 301 Washington Avenue 1052 North Highland Avenue during the Nazi era. The exhibition Miami Beach, FL 33139 Tucson, AZ 85721 brings to life a dramatic, compelling (305) 672-5044 (520) 621-5774 tale of dispossession and adaptation Located in a restored historic Art The Leona G. and David A. Bloom and explores how the local Jewish Deco building on South Beach that Southwest Jewish Archives at the community assisted the newcomers. was formerly an Orthodox University of Arizona Library —www.jewishmuseummd.org , the Museum collects, presents several educational exhibits preserves, and interprets the Florida confirming that pioneer Jews placed Jewish experience since 1763. a priority on maintaining their CORRECTIONS: On page 8 of MOSAIC: Jewish Life in Florida beliefs, values, and traditions amid CJH Summer 2004 we published an is the Museum’s core exhibit. the hazards of the nation’s frontier. incorrect street address, web site, and exhibition opening date. The Jews of Broward County: The Bloom Archives is also a Jewish Historical Society of Greater Through January 30, 2005. resource for historical research, such as the study of Crypto-Jews in the Washington is located at Historic photos, sweeping murals, U.S. Southwest. Between 1992 and 600 I Street NW, Washington, DC. documents, and artifacts portray the 1995, the Archives distributed a Web site is www.jhsgw.org. story of the many roles Jews have quarterly newsletter, Southwest “Jewish Washington: Scrapbook of played in developing the home to Jewish History (SJH). You will find an American Community” opens Florida’s largest Jewish population. selected SJH articles linked to pages Sunday, December 5, at the —www.jewishmuseum.com throughout the web site. City Museum, 801 K Street NW. —http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu continued on page 4 4 Chicago Jewish History Fall 2004

Celebrate 350! Isaac Rosenfeld continued from page 1 continued from page 3 any of the Jews who lived in the Humboldt Park neighborhood Museum of the were of East European origin. They were secular Yiddish speakers Mfor whom philosophy and politics replaced traditional Jewish Southern Jewish religious observance. Ceshinsky’s Music and Book Store, at 2750 West Experience Division Street, was their meeting place. There they might read and discuss Since 1986, the Museum of the the works of Eliot, Bakunin, and Tolstoy—in the Yiddish language. Southern Jewish Experience has Isaac attended after-school Yiddish classes at the neighborhood Sholom worked to preserve, interpret, Aleichem Institute. As a young man, he published stories in Yiddish as well and document the long and rich as English, and wrote a hilarious Yiddish translation of Eliot’s Prufrock. tradition of Jewish life in the Young Isaac earned a reputation for being a “genius”—precocious and South. The Museum currently serious, interested in philosophy and politics. Bellow wrote of Rosenfeld uses two contemporary and “holding forth” on Schopenhauer at Tuley High, “with perfect authority and historically significant seriousness—a thirteen-year-old wearing short pants.” Isaac, as well as some properties: of his Tuley High School friends, were active in the Trotskyite Spartacus Youth League and the People’s Socialist Youth League. Natchez Site After graduating from Tuley in 1935, Isaac entered the University of Temple B’nai Israel Chicago. He later wrote: “Politics was everywhere…one ate it, drank it, and 213 South Commerce Street sleep gave no escape, for it furnished terror to dreams; Hitler, Mussolini, the at Washington Street Moscow Trials, the , Stalinism…NRA, WPA, and the Natchez, MS 39120 New Deal, and the approach of inevitable war.” (601) 362-6357 Isaac left home during his college years and lived in shabby Hyde Park rooming houses, perhaps in rejection of his father’s petit bourgeois emphasis Temple B’nai Israel houses the on neatness and correctness. Later, his bohemian habitats became scenes of oldest Jewish congregation in squalor. But his student work was brilliant. He studied philosophy and Mississippi (1843). Sephardic politics and wrote fiction and poetry. In 1937 he received the prestigious Jewish traders first settled in John Billings Kisk Award for a group of lyric poems. A critic wrote that Natchez in the 1700s. “two subjects that haunt Isaac’s work first appear here; his interest in Jews Current Exhibit: Of Passover and Judaism…and the possibility or impossibility of love and community.” and Pilgrimage: The Natchez Isaac graduated from the in 1941 with an M.A. Jewish Experience He married a fellow student, Vasiliki Sarantakis, and moved to New York to Utica Site work on a Ph.D. in logic at N.Y.U. During his first year, he changed his major to the humanities. Henry S. Jacobs Camp It was at this point that his writing career blossomed. His poetry, essays, near Jackson, Mississippi. reviews and short stories were being published in leading magazines. He was See web site or phone for also an editor for a time of The New Republic. In 1944, the Partisan Review directions. (601) 362-6357 had published his story, “The Hand that Fed Me,” to great acclaim. In the Beautiful rural setting on a 300- same year, Saul Bellow had published his first novel, Dangling Man. Because acre site that offers innovative the heroes of their stories were “underground men,” the two young writers programming to hundreds of came to be known as “The Chicago Dostoyevskians.” Rosenfeld and Bellow Henry S. Jacobs campers each were friends, but they were also rivals. Bellow felt at that time that the summer as well as groups of all younger man, Isaac, was besting him in talent and recognition. ages throughout the year. The Museum has a self-guided tour y 1945 Isaac and Vasiliki had two children, George and Eleni. That and is open by appointment. year he won the Partisan Review’s Novelette Award for “The Colony,” a chapter from a novel he never completed. It is set in a Current Exhibit: B Jewish summer resort in Michigan, based on Schwartz’s in Benton Harbor, Alsace to America where he and his father had vacationed. The following year he succeeded in —www.msje.org equalling his friend Bellow’s accomplishment in getting a novel published. Chicago Jewish History Fall 2004 5

Passage from Home is a first-person narrative told from the viewpoint of an alienated, book-smart, 14- year-old Humboldt Park boy. Isaac’s family members were the models for some of the characters. There are leavening bits of Yiddish humor, but the hero’s deliberate emotional distancing from those around him—written in the existential style of the day—begins to alienate the reader, too. Although the novel received good reviews, it did not sell well. It was overshadowed by the popularity of a very different book about family life in the Depression, also narrated by a teenager, the best seller, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith. Saul Bellow’s next book, The Victim, appeared in 1947. His great novel, The Adventures of Augie March, a first-person narrative of a Jewish boy coming of age in Chicago, was published in 1953. hen Isaac’s writing dropped off in the late 1940s—Bellow has written that his friend W was “severly blocked”—he turned to the theories of the psychiatrist and biophysicist Wilhelm Reich, who seemed to offer a vision that explained the Isaac Rosenfeld and his daughter Eleni, 1945. link between unreleased sexual energy and neurotic Collection of Miriam Passin. behavior, and even irrational social movements. He preached “redemption in the power of the unblocked libido,” and invented the orgone box, a device that he Writings By and About Isaac Rosenfeld. claimed would restore energy to the person sitting Out of print listings can be found at the Chicago Public inside it. Isaac had a homemade version. For a time Library and the Asher Library, Spertus Institute. Bellow, too, was a Reichian. Both writers eventually PASSAGE FROM HOME. By Isaac Rosenfeld. (New gave up on the theory. (The orgone box was declared a World, 1946; World/Meridian, 1961.) Out of print. fraud by the Food and Drug Adminstration in 1957.) Isaac’s second novel The Enemy, a Kafkaesque story, ALPHA AND OMEGA: Stories. By Isaac Rosenfeld. was not accepted for publication, and he worked with (Viking, 1966.) The collection includes “The Hand unsuccessful results on a book about Gandhi. Isaac’s That Fed Me” and “King Solomon.” Out of print. marriage broke up in 1951, and he left New York. AN AGE OF ENORMITY: Life and Writing in the He was on the University of Minnesota faculty for Forties and Fifties. By Isaac Rosenfeld. Edited and two years, then returned to his home town to teach at Introduced by Theodore Solotaroff. Foreword by Saul the Downtown Center of The University of Chicago. Bellow. (World, 1962.) Out of print. He lived for a time in a wretched room on Woodlawn Avenue in Hyde Park, then moved to an apartment on PRESERVING THE HUNGER: An Isaac Rosenfeld Walton Place. He died there, alone, of a massive heart Reader. Edited and Introduced by Mark Shechner. attack on July 14, 1956. He was 38 years old. He is (Wayne State University Press, 1988.) buried in the Workmen’s Circle Cemetery in Waldheim HIM WITH HIS FOOT IN HIS MOUTH AND OTHER next to the grave of his mother. STORIES. By Saul Bellow. Includes “Zetland: By a Isaac’s writings on the Holocaust in the 1940s Character Witness.” A portrait of Rosenfeld—here indicate a profound personal identification with the called “Zet.” (Harper & Row, 1984; Penguin, 1998.) destruction of European Jewry that “undermined and “First Loves of Isaac Rosenfeld.” nullified all previous conceptions of man or morality.” By Stephen J. For him, the new categories were “terror beyond evil” Zipperstein. (Jewish Social Studies; Volume 5, Numbers and “joy beyond good.” The latter reflects Isaac’s belief 1 & 2; online at http://iupjournals.org/jss.) that a moment of ecstatic joy—of the kind enjoyed by a “Prufrock Shmufrock.” By Gene Bluestein. (Yiddish; continued on page 6 Volume 7, Number 1; Queens College Press,1987.) 6 Chicago Jewish History Fall 2004

Isaac Rosenfeld continued from page 5 T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (excerpts) Hassidic rabbi—is all that we can expect, rather than Let us go then, you and I, the general good we long for. When the evening is spread out against the sky Some of his essays on Jewish subjects carried Like a patient etherized upon a table; harsh criticism of religious observance. In one piece Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets, he characterized the kosher laws as symbolic of sexual The muttering retreats taboos; for example, the separation of meat and milk Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels meant the separation of male and female and the And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells; prohibition of sexual intercourse. Streets that follow like a tedious argument In a 1952 Commentary review of Abraham Of insidious intent Cahan’s, The Rise of David Levinsky, Isaac criticizes To lead you to an overwhelming question… the book’s main character, an assimilated American Oh, do not ask, “What is it?” diaspora Jew, who is “bound to endless yearning after Let us go and make our visit. yearning.” Jewish and American culture and character In the room the women come and go share a “similar play on striving and fulfillment,” Talking of Michelangelo. Isaac wrote, and this made for Jews’ “virtually flawless … Americanization.” I grow old…I grow old… is last published essay was “Life In Chicago.” I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. It appeared posthumously in the June 1957 Shall I part my hair behind? Dare I eat a peach? issue of Commentary. It is a home town boy’s H I shall wear white flannel trousers and walk upon the reply to A.J. Liebling, an outsider, who had published beach. a series of uncomplimentary articles about Chicago, I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. called “The Second City,” in The New Yorker. However, 1956 was not a great year for our city; Isaac I do not think that they will sing to me. despaired our lack of theater, predicted the demise of Isaac Rosenfeld (1918-1956) our new Lyric Opera, and ridiculed the Kimpton A Yiddish “Translation” of the Prufrock excerpts regime at the University of Chicago. He did hold out Nu-zhe, kum-zhe, ikh un du hope for the city’s cultural awakening under its newly Ven der ovnt shteyt unter dem himl elected mayor, Richard J. Daley. Vi a leymener goylem af tishebov. Isaac’s last fiction, the short story “King Lomir geyn gikh, durkh geselekh vos dreyen zikh Solomon,” was also published posthumously. The old Vi di bord bay dem rov. King is living in a messy house, dressed in an Oyf der vant undershirt, thinking about his death. He lives in a Fun dem koshern restoran city that is a cross between Jerusalem and the Lower Hengt a shmutsiker betgevant. East Side. He is unmoved by the Queen of Sheba, but Un vantsn tantsn karahod. Es geyt a geroykh does contract a 99-year oil lease with her before she fun gefilte fish un nase zokn. leaves town. “The counselors vouch for it, they swear Oy, Bashe, freg nit kayn kashe, a dayge dir! they have seen the proof. That King Solomon now Lomir oyfefenen di tir. takes to bed, not with a virgin, as his father, David, In tsimer vu di vayber zenen did in his old age, or even with a dancing girl, but Redt men fun Marz un Lenin. with a hot water bottle to warm him.…” I recently attended a gathering in Hyde Park for … the noted editor, Ted Solotaroff, who spoke of the Ikh ver alt, ikh ver alt importance of Bellow and Rosenfeld in the shaping of Un der pupik vert mir kalt. American Jewish literature. He was in Chicago to give Zol ikh oyskemen di hor, a talk on his two memoirs, Truth Comes in Blows and Meg ikh oyfesn a flom? First Loves, as part of the excellent Nextbook Writers Ikh vel onton vayse hoyzn Series. You can order free tickets for future programs Un shpatsirn bay dem yom. at www.nextbook.org or phone (888) 621-2230. ❖ Ikh vel hern di yam-meydn zingen Khad Gadyo. WALTER ROTH is the president of CJHS. Ikh vel zey entfern, Borech-abo. Chicago Jewish History Fall 2004 7

CJHS Publications Doris Minsky Memorial Fund Prize Winners: Doris Minsky was a founder, These books, unless otherwise noted, may be ordered directly director, and officer of the from the Society office at (312) 663-5634. Society. The Fund was established in her memory for CHICAGO JEWISH HISTORY: A WALK TO SHUL: Chicago the purpose of publishing INDEX 1977-2002. of Lawndale monographs on the history of the Compiled by Adele Hast. and Stops on the Way. Jews of Chicago. Submissions 2002. Chicago Jewish Historical By Bea Kraus and Norman D. were judged, and cash prizes Society. 23 pp. Index of the Schwartz. 2003. 159 pages, awarded, by the CJHS Society’s quarterly journal. paper, $19.95. Offers a street- Publications Committee. Reference copies can be found by-street stroll past the Jewish 1. CHICAGO JEWISH at Asher Library, Spertus institutions and businesses of STREET PEDDLERS. Institute. Limited quantity long-ago Lawndale. Illustrated. By Carolyn Eastwood and available from CJHS office. MEMORIES OF LAWNDALE. VIDEO: ROMANCE OF A By Beatrice Michaels Shapiro. SYNAGOGUES OF CHICAGO. PEOPLE: 100 Years of Jewish History in Chicago, 1991. 103 pages, paper, $5.00. Edited by Irving Cutler, Illustrated.* Norman D. Schwartz, and 1833-1933. Beverly Siegel, Sidney Sorkin. Project Executive Producer/ Director. 2. THE CHAYDER, THE supervised by Clare Greenberg. 1997. 30 minutes, $29.95. YESHIVA AND I. By Morris 1991. Chicago Jewish Historical Distributed by Ergo Media, Inc., Springer and MEMORIES OF Society. Computerized compil- P.O. Box 2037, Teaneck, NJ THE MANOR. By Eva Gross. ation of synagogue listings in 10766. www.ergomedia.com. Memoir of the Jeffery Manor Chicago city directories since neighborhood. 1993. 95 pages, THE ROMANCE OF A 1851. Every year’s complete paper, $5.00. Illustrated. PEOPLE. 2000. 80 pages listings; a one line summary of 3. THE CANTORS: Gifted (72-page facsimile plus 8 pages each congregation; its active Voices Remembered. of new material), paper, $15.00. years; street address; name of Program book for the pageant- By Bea Kraus. 1996. 85 pages, rabbi; name of president if drama presented at Soldier paper, $5.00. Illustrated, available. Reference copies can be Field on Jewish Day at 4. MY FATHER, MYSELF: found at the Chicago Public A Century of Progress, the A Son’s Memoir of His Library and Asher Library at Chicago World’s Fair of 1933.* Father, Rabbi Yehudah D. Spertus Institute. Goldman, America’s THE CHICAGO JEWISH Oldest Practicing Rabbi. HISTORY OF THE JEWS OF HISTORICAL SOCIETY: By Rabbi Alex J. Goldman. CHICAGO. By Hyman L. A Ten Year History. Meites. 1924. Facsimile 1997. 120 pages, paper, $5.00. By Irwin J. Suloway. 1988. 32 Illustrated, Republication with pages, paper, $3.00. Illustrated. Introduction. 1990. Chicago 5. THROUGH THE EYES OF Jewish Historical Society. The THE GERMAN-JEWISH THEIR CHILDREN. By Myron original 1924 edition and the EMIGRATION OF THE 1930s H. Fox. 2001. 160 pages, paper, 1990 facsimile are both now AND ITS IMPACT ON $7.50. Dramatic tale of the out of print. Copies of both CHICAGO. By Walter Roth. Chicago Taxi Wars. Illustrated. books can be found at the 1980. 24 pages, paper, $3.00. Books distributed by Chicago Public Library and Report on a symposium held at * Academy Chicago Publishers Asher Library, Spertus Institute Congregation Ezra-Habonim 363 West Erie, Chicago, IL of Jewish Studies. on November 18, 1979. (312) 751-7300 wwww.academychicago.com 8 Chicago Jewish History Fall 2004

Books by CJHS Members

Many of these books are available at retail stores and online booksellers. Some can be ordered directly from the publisher or author. Those listed as OP (out-of-print) may be purchased from used book dealers. Some can be found at the Chicago Public Library and/or the Asher Library, Spertus Institute.

THE JEWS OF CHICAGO: From Shtetl to Suburb. By Irving Cutler. 1996. University of Illinois Press; 315 pages, $29.95. Vividly told ’s Jewish community, by a founding Board member of the Society. (His CJHS “Chicago Jewish Roots” always sell out!) Illustrated. JEWISH CHICAGO: A PICTORIAL HISTORY. By Irving Cutler. 2000. Arcadia Publishing; 128 pages, paper, $18.99. A sentimental snapshot of the city’s Jewish community––its cultural, religious, economic, and everyday life. Includes 230 photographs and maps. WOMEN BUILDING CHICAGO, 1790-1990: A Biographical LOOKING BACKWARD: True Dictionary. Edited by Adele Hast and Rima Lunin Schultz. 2001. Stories from Chicago’s Jewish University Press; 1,088 pages, $75.00. Of the over 400 individual entries in Past. By Walter Roth. 2002. this invaluable reference, forty are Jewish women. Illustrated. Academy Chicago Publishers; 305 BRIDGES TO AN AMERICAN CITY: A Guide to Chicago’s Landsman- pages, $27.95. The unknown story shaften, 1870 to 1990. By Sidney Sorkin. 1993. Peter Lang Publishing; of Jewish participation in Chicago’s 480 pages, $35.00. A thorough study of the hundreds of service organi- great fair of 1893 is only one of the zations, named after their Old World origins, that were a significant part of fascinating nuggets of history the immigrant experience. Order directly from Mr. Sorkin (847) 541-2188. unearthed and polished by Walter A TIME TO REMEMBER: A History of the Jewish Community in Roth in the pages of Chicago Jewish South Haven. By Bea Kraus. 1999. Priscilla Press; 287 pages, paper, $24.95. History. Now, for the first time, the Covers the 1920s through the 1950s, when this town on the Lake Michigan material has been collected in a shore was a thriving Jewish summer resort community. Illustrated. single volume, chronicling events and people from the late 1800s to A PLACE TO REMEMBER: South Haven—A Success From the the end of World War II. Illustrated. Beginning. By Bea Kraus. 2003. Priscilla Press; 316 pages, paper, $24.95. Companion to A Time to Remember ranges from early America to the AN ACCIDENTAL ANARCHIST. By present day. Illustrated. Order both online at www.BKrausBooks.com. Walter Roth and Joe Kraus. 1998. Rudi Publishing. Reissued by NEAR WEST SIDE STORIES: Struggles for Community in Chicago’s Academy Chicago Publishers; 211 Maxwell Street Neighborhood. By Carolyn Eastwood. 2002. Lake pages, paper, $16.95. The story of Claremont Press; 355 pages, paper, $17.95. Four extraordinary “ordinary” young Lazarus Averbuch’s fatal 1908 individuals who tried to save their neighborhood and the market that was at encounter with Chicago Police its core. Illustrated. Available on CD or audiocassette from Recording for Chief George Shippy. Illustrated. the Blind and Dyslexic, 18 S. Michigan Ave.,Ste. 806, Chicago, IL 60603. THE FLORIDA JEWISH HERITAGE “Street Vending” by Carolyn Eastwood. In THE OXFORD ENCYCLOPEDIA TRAIL. By Rachel B. Heimovics OF FOOD AND DRINK IN AMERICA. 2004. Oxford University Press. For and Marcia Zerivitz. 2000. Florida contents and price go to the publisher’s web site: www.oup.com/us. Enter Department of State; 44 pages, paper. 24006 in the promo code box; it will take you to the OEFDA page. Fully illustrated. $10.50 each for PRAIRIE DIRECTORY OF NORTH AMERICA: US & Canada. By one or two copies. if ordered from Charlotte Adelman and Bernard L. Schwartz. 2002. Lawndale Enterprises; The Jewish Museum of Florida, 301 352 pages, paper, $19.95. The first-ever guide for visits to the prairie, an Washington Ave., Miami Beach, FL. ecosystem unique to North America. 50 pages devoted to Illinois prairie. 33139-6965. (305) 672-5044. P.O. Box 561, Wilmette, IL 60091-0561 or www.Lawndaleenterprises.com. Chicago Jewish History Fall 2004 9

CHICAGO’S GREAT WHITE CITY: A Postal History BREAKING GROUND: Careers of 20 Chicago Panorama of the 1893 World’s Columbian Jewish Women. By Beatrice Michaels Shapiro. 2004. Exposition. By Dr. Harvey M. Karlen. 2004. Berk- Author House; 137 pages, paper, $15.50. Interviews with Hill Publishers; 283 pages, $83.00 + 4.00 s/h. The successful women—many of whom broke barriers in Parliament of Religions, Sol Bloom, Hannah Greene- male-dominated professions—about balancing career baum Solomon, the first postcards! 480 illustrations. and family, and the role of Judaism in their lives. At The author was inducted into the Philatelic Writers bookstores or from the publisher (888) 280-7715. Hall of Fame in 2003. Order from Berk-Hill ON YOUR OWN IN COLLEGE. By William C. Resnick Publishers, P.O. Box 833, Oak Park, IL 60303. and David H. Heller. 1963, 1964, 1969. Charles E. CANDLES BURNED IN CHICAGO: A History of 53 Merrill Books, Inc.; 275 pages, O.P. (out of print). Memorial Commemorations of the Advice for college freshmen, with selected readings. Ghetto Uprising. The Midwest Jewish Council. Kenan Heise, editor; N. Sue Weiler, contributing SHORT SEA SAGAS. By Harold T. Berc. 2002. Athena editor. 2004. Author House; 132 pages, paper, $18.00. Press; 190 pages, paper, $17.95. Unusual tales of over The stirring memorial gatherings mounted by a group two hundred ships—mutinies, unusual sinkings, of Jewish Chicagoans and their friends from 1944 to mystery ships sailing for years without crews, piracy, 1996. Make checks payable to The Midwest Jewish wartime disasters and phenomena of the unknown. Council, P.O. Box 59032, Chicago, IL 60659-0032. Concludes with a chapter on the author’s experiences as a U.S. Navy combat officer in WW II. Illustrated. LEGACY: The Saga of A German-Jewish Family G Across Time and Circumstance. By Werner L. THE ART OF THE YIDDISH FOLK SONG. Sima Frank. 2003. Avotaynu Foundation, Inc.; 926 pages plus Miller, soprano; Arnold Miller, piano. 4 CDs $15.00 CD of family history, $49.00. A portion of the book each; 5 audiotapes $10.00 each. Splendid interpretations deals with the author’s immigration to Chicago, and of beloved favorites. From Sima Miller, 8610 Avers growing up in Hyde Park. Order by phone or online: Ave., Skokie, IL 60076, or phone (847) 873-6409. (800) 286-8296 or www.avotaynu.com. MINYANS FOR A PRAIRIE CITY: The Politics of Other Books of Interest Chicago Jewry 1850-1914. By Edward H. Mazur. 1990. Garland; 428 pages, O.P. (out of print), $75.00. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHICAGO. Edited by James See page 14 of this CJH for an article on Dr. Mazur. R. Grossman, Ann Durkin Keating, and Janice L. Reiff. “Jewish Chicago: From Diversity to Community” 2004. The University of Chicago Press; 1117 pages, by Edward H. Mazur. Pages 46-68 in THE ETHNIC $65.00. The “Judaism” entry was written by Rabbi FRONTIER. Holli and d’A Jones, editors. 1984. . Illustrated. Eerdmans Publishing Company; paper, O.P,, $19.95. FABULOUS SMALL JEWS. By Joseph Epstein. 2004. BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN Mariner Books/Houghton Miflin Company; 340 pages, MAYORS, 1820-1980. Holli and d’A Jones, editors; paper, $13.00. Eighteen gracefully comic stories about Edward H. Mazur, contributing editor. 1981. Chicago Jewish men of a certain age who feel them- Greenwood Press; 441 pages, O.P., $49.95. selves adrift in the radically changed values of the day. JACK OF HEARTS—A FULL DECK. By Jack W. Ardell. MACHERS AND ROCKERS: Chess Records and 2004. Earth Star Publications; 50 pages, paper, special the Business of Rock & Roll. By Rich Cohen. 2004. CJHS members’ price $17.00 + 3.00 s/h. A collection of Norton; 220 pages, $22.95. How Leonard Chess, an original, family-friendly short stories and poems. enterprising Jewish immigrant from , and Illustrated by the author. Order from Ardell Art & Muddy Waters, a talented black immigrant from Craft, 5140 S. Fairview, #8, Downers Grove, IL 60515. Mississippi, made music history in Chicago. THE STAINED GLASS WINDOWS AT TEMPLE ROSA RAISA: A Biography of a Diva with Selec- SHOLOM. By Norman D. Schwartz and Rolf Achilles. tions from Her Memoirs. By Charles Mintzer. 2001. Photographs by Rich Master. Design by Dianne Burgis. Northeastern University Press; 342 pages, $30.00. The 2001. Temple Sholom of Chicago; 20 pages, paper, $5.00. Jewish soprano from Bialystok, Rosa Raisa (1894- Full color monograph describes and documents the 1964), was a mainstay of Chicago opera. Adoring West twelve sets of beautiful windows. (773) 525-4707. Siders called her undzer Reizeleh (our Rosie). Illustrated. 10 Chicago Jewish History Fall 2004 Writer Vera Caspary: The Secrets of a South Sider in Hollywood

ow did Vera Caspary, a With her intelligence, talent, sheltered Jewish girl born and spirit, Vera moved quickly from Hin an inhibited era, defy stenographer to advertising copy- the conventions of her background writer. At night, at home, she was to become an eminent and highly writing her first novel, The White paid novelist (Laura), playwright, Girl. She had been writing stories and screenwriter (A Letter to Three and plays as far back as she could Wives, Les Girls)? She reveals the remember. The mother of one of private details of her life in her auto- her girlfriends was a published biography, The Secrets of Grown-ups author, role model, and advisor. (McGraw-Hill, 1979). Vera and her friends went to the She was born in 1899 on the movies and theater as often as South Side of Chicago into a family possible. Vera and her first lover, her of German and Sephardic heritage. office boss, spent weekends at the The first grown-up secret in her Indiana Dunes (another secret). story is her mother’s. A woman well She left Chicago for New York over the age of forty when she and a job with Bernarr McFadden’s became pregnant with Vera, she publishing house, and looked back kept her “shameful” condition only in the pages of her second concealed under loose house dresses novel, Thicker Than Water (1931), and tea gowns. Eventually she about a Chicago Jewish family adjusted to what had seemed a Vera Caspary, 1946. much like her own. horror, and regarded the baby as Photograph by Alfredo Valente. Her play of that year, Blind something of a miracle. The rest of Mice, was adapted into the movie Vera’s family—her father, two black people—Judge Reginald Working Girls. Her 1932 play, The grown brothers, and a sister—loved, Barnett and his wife, Ida B. Wells, Night of June 13th, was adapted into spoiled, and bossed the little girl. the lawyer and social activist—there a movie of the same name. Vera credits Dr. Emil G. Hirsch was an outcry from the neighbors. Throughout the ’30s, her stories of Sinai Congregation for giving her Vera’s father led a small faction about women juggling romance and an adult, broad-minded education against the protesters; he had grown independence were adapted into in Sunday School, and later in up as an Abolitionist in Wisconsin. films. Her 1943 novel, Laura, was Saturday confirmation class. Yet the Casparys’ contact with the made into a memorable movie. She Her family lived in half of a Barnetts extended only to greetings became a well-paid screenwriter. double house on Rhodes Avenue. —nothing more neighborly. Her misguided two-year mem- When the other half was rented to Vera opted for secretarial school bership in the Communist Party in instead of college after graduating the mid-1930s later caused much The Society Welcomes from Phillips High. She claimed anguish. Marriage, in her forties, to New Members that she did not want to burden her film producer Isadore Goldsmith, brought happiness. She retired from Barbara Bernstein elderly father, a buyer of millinery the movie business in 1961, moved Judith Dash trimmings for a State Street store, with the expense. Her secret reason, to New York, and continued writing Norman Edelstein she tells us in her memoir: she was a novels until her death in 1987. Leo J. Krupp very thin girl, dark-haired, with a You can find copies of Vera Robert Packer sallow complexion—and weren’t all Caspary’s lively autobiography and Marilyn Block Ruskin co-eds fair beauties, confidently her many novels at the Chicago Lisa Thaler pursuing their Mrs. degrees? Public Library.—Bev Chubat Chicago Jewish History Fall 2004 11 Sociologist Marshall Sklare: A Study of North Shore Suburban Jews

ome people are familiar with only two books on a sociologist). I suggest that you skim over the tables S Chicago Jewish history—History of the Jews of and most of the book, and read Chapter Four: “The Chicago by H.L. Meites (1924) and The Jews of Synagogues of Lakeville: Institutional Analysis.” Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb by Irving Cutler (1996). Sklare describes five congregations, four in There are other wonderful books that deserve to be Highland Park and one in Glencoe. All five grew read. One of my favorites is Jewish Identity on the dramatically in the 1950s, all are still around today, and Suburban Frontier: A Study of Group Survival in the none have merged. (There are two breakaways, though, Open Society by Marshall Sklare and Joseph Greenblum Am Shalom in Glencoe and Moriah in Deerfield.) (The University of Chicago Press, 1967, 1979). Nathan Glazer reviewed the book in Commentary This is a sociological study that explores the state of magazine in 1968, and lauds the specialness of the American Judaism in 1957 by examining a suburban synagogue institutional analysis. He writes that “the community the authors call “Lakeville.” The American most original part of the book is its study of the five Jewish Committee sponsored the Lakeville Study. temples and synagogues of Lakeville. Nowhere, so far as You have to know a few things about the main I know, in the literature of American religious sociology author. Marshall Sklare (1921-1992) was born in do we have an analysis in such depth of the congrega- Chicago. He graduated from both Northwestern tional pattern of an American community, and there is University and the College of Jewish Studies (now certainly no such account of the congregational pattern Spertus College), received his M.A. from the University of an American Jewish community.” of Chicago, and Ph.D. from Columbia University. He Twenty years after the 1957 study, another survey was Professor of Sociology at Yeshiva University from was made in Lakeville/Highland Park, and a second 1966 to 1970 before going to Brandeis University edition of the book was published, with an added (1970-1990), where he founded the Cohen Center for chapter describing changes in the community following Modern Jewish Studies, the first research center devoted the Yom Kippur War. I think you’ll find the synagogue to social scientific study of contemporary American analysis so interesting, you may end up reading the Jewry. Marshall Sklare was the acknowledged “dean” of other chapters of the book.—Mark Mandle American Jewish sociology. He chose Chicago, his home town, as his sample community, Sklare disguises the names of the institutions and personalities in his and called it “Lake City.” analysis. Mark Mandle tells us who’s who in the 1957 study. For his suburban subject, he looked for a community where SYNAGOGUE/RABBI PSEUDONYMS “vocationally successful individuals” North Shore Congregation Israel Isaac Mayer Wise Temple with a high level of secular Edgar Siskin Herbert Greenberg education were to be found, where “Jews were accepted as participants North Suburban Synagogue Beth El Solomon Schecter Synagogue and supporters of cultural enter- Phillip Lipis David Ginzberg prises,” and where “different strands Lakeside Congregation David Einhorn Temple of the American Jewish population (Don’t know rabbi’s name) Edward Isaacs were represented: the descendants Congregation Solel Samuel Hirsch Temple of both ‘uptown’ Jews and Arnold Jacob Wolf Samuel Aaron ‘downtown’ Jews.” The suburb he Congregation B'nai Torah Max Lilienthal Temple chose, and called “Lakeville,” was Sholem Singer Joshua Cohen actually Highland Park. The book can be dry reading. It Also mentioned: has lots of tables that only a Chicago Sinai Congregation Samuel Holdheim Temple sociologist could love (and I’m not KAM [Isaiah Israel] Congregation Samuel Adler Temple 12 Chicago Jewish History Fall 2004

FROM THE My Kind of Town: CHICAGO JEWISH archives Jewish Immigration to Chicago in the Twentieth Century BY JOY KINGSOLVER Digital images by Tina Nauha

ictured here are a few of the items on exhibit in the Gallery of Chicago Jewish History, on the Psixth floor at Spertus Institute, 618 South Michigan Avenue. This exhibition includes documents, photographs, and artifacts selected from the collections of the Chicago Jewish Archives to give an overview of the Jewish immigrant experience in Chicago. Historians divide early Jewish immigration into three waves, or periods. The first wave (1654–1820) occurred before Chicago was settled; Sephardic Jews came from Brazil, Holland, and elsewhere to settle in New Amsterdam and elsewhere in the colonies. The second wave lasted from 1820 to 1880; during this period, thousands of German Jewish immigrants came in search of economic opportunites. Many were single men who established themselves as peddlers or in small businesses, and Midwestern cities such as Chicago offered promising business opportunities. The third Caroline and Marcus Spiegel, c. 1850, around the wave spanned the years 1880-1924. Russian and time of their marriage. Marcus, a German Eastern European Jews flocked to the not immigrant, was killed in the Civil War; Caroline only for the economic opportunity, but also because of was the first recorded Jewish convert in Chicago. oppression and anti-Semitism. Chicago’s Russian Jewish community swelled, and by 1920, the total number of Jews in Chicago had grown to 250,000.

Rae Glickman and Celia Rubenstein A sweatshop on the West Side of Chicago, 1903. in the Glickman Deli, c. 1925. Chicago Jewish History Fall 2004 13

n the 20th century, there were two additional periods of significant Jewish immigration. As the I Nazi threat spread fear across Europe, Jews began to seek safety in the United States and in many other places around the world. It is estimated that about 150,000 Jews from German-speaking Europe came to the United States in the 1930s and 40s. A wave of Soviet Jewish immigration took place in the 1970s; over 100,000 Russian Jews came to the Paul and Gabriella Rosenbaum’s extended family, United States during this period. This was possible , c. 1938, just before the family fled. because of an organized campaign to aid Soviet Jews which caught the attention of the U.S. government and of the international community. Chicago was a center of activity through groups like NITFOS (National Interreligious Task Force on Soviety Jewry) and through the Jewish Federation, which helped many Soviet immigrants find jobs and housing. The Chicago Jewish Archives is looking for photographs, artifacts, passports, letters, and other material to add to its collections. Our special mission is to document the history of Jewish Chicago; your donation of archival material helps us to preserve this history and make it available for research. Call Joy Kingsolver, Archives Director, at (312) 322-1741 or email [email protected]. Letters can be addressed to the Chicago Jewish Archives, 618 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago IL 60605. German passport of Karl and Irma Nussbaum, We appreciate your support! August 1939. Note that they were assigned the mandatory middle names “Israel” and “Sarah” to indicate their Jewish identity. “My Kind of Town: Jewish Immigration to Chicago in the Twentieth Century.” Gallery of Chicago Jewish History, Sixth Floor, Spertus Institute, 618 South Michigan Avenue. The exhibition is free and open to the public during library hours: Monday through Wednesday 9–6; Thursday 9–7; Friday 9–3; on Sundays see the reference librarian on the fifth floor for access. Through February 13, 2005.

Chicago’s labor leaders at the Vigil for Soviet Jewry, Civic Center Plaza, 1973. 14 Chicago Jewish History Fall 2004 October 31 Open Meeting: The Politics of Chicago Jewry, 1850-2004

lection Day was less than a week away when we presented our program Woodlawn or Hyde Park, and were E in the sanctuary of Temple Sholom, 3480 North Lake Shore Drive. uneasy about the growing political Vice-President Burt Robin introduced our speaker, Edward H. Mazur. power of the West Side. Dr. Mazur began by noting that “any analysis of Jews, elections, and The battle for control of politics must begin with a short history of the Jewish experiences in Chicago Chicago’s Jewish electorate peaked —plural.” First, there were the so-called German Jews, immigrants, or in the 1911 mayoral race between children of immigrants, from Bavaria, Prussia, Bohemia, Western Poland, U. of C. professor Charles Merriam Holland, and Western Austria. Until about 1880, the American Jewish and Carter Harrison II. German population of 250,000 was almost entirely German-speaking. Second, there Jews led by Julius Rosenwald, the were the East European Jews, who arrived in Greenebaum family, and Dr. Emil great numbers from 1880 to 1920. G. Hirsch, supported Merriam. 1850 to 1893 was a period of divided Harrison’s Jewish supporters allegiances. Agitation over slavery, the Civil included Adolph J. Sabath; his War, and Reconstruction, and the rapid rise protégé, Harry Fisher; and future of industrialization led most Chicago Jews governor Henry Horner. into the Republican Party. (Democrats like Sabath came to Chicago in Ald. Henry Greenebaum became Republicans 1881. He became a lawyer, a in the 1860s, and remained lifelong successful real estate speculator, and Republicans.) In 1870, Edward Salomon, a in 1906 was elected to the U.S. native of Schleswig-Holstein, a Civil War Congress, representing the West hero, was elected Clerk of Cook County. Side. He served until his death on Between 1880 and 1900, the Republicans election night in 1952. He had just rewarded Chicago Jews with minor appointive been re-elected. and elective offices. Young Henry Horner worked for Mayor Harrison’s election in he first Jews of any significance in the 1897, and political good fortune T Democratic Party were Yiddish speakers followed. By 1930 he was a five- from Bohemia who appealed to both Czechs term jurist who led the Democratic and Jews. Three figures—Adolf Kraus, ticket in votes. Two years later the William Loeffler, and A. J. Sabath—organized Party nominated him for governor, the East European Jewish electorate, delivered and he was victorious. Dr. Mazur the votes, and received personal and group stated that the candidacy of Henry status, power, patronage, and influence. Horner for governor in 1932 and While the German Jews fought for 1936 was one factor in Chicago’s “honest and economic men” who were non- Jewish voters becoming “a rock solid Above: Adolph J. Sabath. partisan if not Republican, the East European bloc in the Democratic Party.” (1866–1952). Democrat; Jews were interested in jobs, lower license fees represented the West Side (important to the many Jewish peddlers), and est Side boss Jacob Arvey of Chicago in the U.S. repeal of Sunday blue laws. The East W amassed great power in the Congress, 1906–1952. Europeans were actually more independent Democratic Party. His last success Below: Henry Horner. than the German Jews in this period, as they came in 1948 when he “anointed” (1878-1940). Democrat; voted Democratic in local elections but candidates Adlai Stevenson and Paul Judge of the Probate Court Republican in state and national contests. Douglas, and they were winners. of Cook County; Governor The Progressive Era (1890-1914) found Dr. Mazur discussed many other of Illinois, 1933–1940. many advocates of municipal reform among Chicago Jewish politicians before Photos from History of the the members of the Standard Club. These concluding his talk with a cautious Jews of Chicago, 1924. prosperous, acculturated Jews lived in look ahead to November 2. ❖ Chicago Jewish History Fall 2004 15 Marian Cutler, A Founding Board Member of CJHS Marian Horovitz Cutler died on September 18, after a long struggle with cancer and heart disease. When the Chicago Jewish Historical Society was formed in 1976, Marian and her husband, Dr. Irving Cutler, were among the founding members. As the Society grew, Marian was an active member of our Board of Directors. During the the 1980s, the Society’s years of greatest growth, she served as Membership Marian and Irv Cutler. Committee chair, and also on our Editorial Board. Image courtesy of The Chicago Jewish News. Marian had worked for suburban ; and her editing, proofreading, and typing skills were Marian and Irv were married for 53 years, and invaluable in the preparation of Irv Cutler’s books. together they traveled to all the continents, except Her baking expertise was known to everyone who Antarctica. In addition to her husband, Marian is took Irv’s “Chicago Jewish Roots” bus tours. About survived by son Daniel, daughter Susan (Joab halfway through the old neighborhoods, Irv would Silverglade), four grandchildren, a brother, two sisters, bring out a large tin, from which he would offer and many nieces and nephews. ❖ Marian’s delicious, freshly homemade chocolate chip cookies. (“The Cookie Lady” was given President’s Column continued from page 2 an award by the Geographic Society of Chicago, recognizing her efforts delivering letters from Jews in Italy across the mountains to their in baking countless cookies for families remaining in France. He was caught by the Nazis, tours organized in its name.) imprisoned for a time and tortured (and he has the scars to prove it). Many of the Jews who crossed the mountains from France into Italy were later captured and sent to their death in Auschwitz in cattle cars, some of which are now on exhibit at a railroad station Anthony Eastwood near Valdieri. Anthony Eastwood, husband of At the ceremony we also met with the family of Andreina Blue, Dr. Carolyn Eastwood, recording who had helped Chaya, Gitta, and their mother by supplying food secretary of the Society, died on and safe haven in the caves of the mountains. Andreina was one of August 20 of pneumonia and the many resisters to the Nazis when they invaded northern Italy. cancer at the age of 82. She is deceased, but her daughter Anna, though 78 years of age, is Tony was born in Cheshire, hale and hearty. Anna’s daughter, granddaughter, and their spouses England. He and Carolyn married were also with us. in 1950 and had four children. The story of this miraculous escape is not mine and should be When she became a member of told by my wife. I have been assured that she is doing so, in the the CJHS Board, he would accom- form of a book. Let me add, however, that if you visit Italy, do plan pany her to our open meetings. It to spend a few days up near the city of Cuneo and town of Valdieri. was a pleasure to listen to Tony’s There are still small communities of Jewish survivors of the mellow, British-accented voice. Holocaust who will welcome you. After his retirement from Borg The spirit of Don Francesco Brondello seems to permeate the Warner Research in the mid-1980s, area, and I found nothing but welcome for Jews from these Italian he employed his fine voice to record people who helped other human beings, risking their own lives in readings for the blind. doing so. That is why I was glad to embrace this priest with all my Other survivors include his sons gratitude. He had helped to save the life of my wife, the mother of Christopher and Peter, daughters my children, and the grandmother of my grandchildren. Without Wendy Collier and Victoria him, none of them would be alive today. ❖ Sumner, and two grandchildren. ❖ 16 Chicago Jewish History Fall 2004 About the Society

What We Are Volunteer Opportunities Membership The Chicago Jewish Historical Would you like to become more Membership in the Society is open Society was founded in 1977 and is involved in the activities of the to all interested persons and in part an outgrowth of local Jewish Chicago Jewish Historical Society? organizations and includes a participation in the American We invite you to take part. Please subscription to Chicago Jewish Bicentennial Celebration of 1976. contact any of the committee History, discounts on Society tours Muriel Robin was the founding chairpersons listed here. and at the Spertus Museum store, president. The Society has as its I Membership Committee and the opportunity to learn and purpose the discovery, preservation Dr. Rachelle Gold inform others about Chicago Jewish and dissemination of information (773)338-6975 and history and its preservation. concerning the Jewish experience in Mark Mandle Dues Structure the Chicago area. (773)929-2853, Co-Chairs Membership runs on a calendar What We Do I Oral History Committee year, from January through The Society seeks out, collects and Dr. N. Sue Weiler, Chair December. New members joining preserves written, spoken and (312)922-2294 after July 1 are given an initial photographic records; publishes I Program Committee membership through December of the following year. historical information, holds public Charles Bernstein, Chair meetings at which various aspects of (773)324-6362 Life Membership ...... $1000 Chicago Jewish history are treated; I Tour Committee Historian ...... 500 mounts appropriate exhibits; and Leah Axelrod, Chair Scholar...... 250 offers tours of Jewish historical sites. (847)432-7003 Sponsor...... 100 Patron/Family...... 50 Individual/Senior Family ...... 35 Synagogue/Organization...... 25 www.chicagojewishhistory.org Senior Individual/Student...... 20 The Society is now online! Browse our Web site for information about Make checks payable to the our upcoming programs. Read past issues of our quarterly journal. Chicago Jewish Historical Society, Discover links to many interesting Jewish sites. Use the printable and mail to our office at 618 South membership application. We welcome your inquiries and comments. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL e-mail: [email protected] 60605. Dues are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

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