The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project LAWRENCE I. PLOTKIN Interviewed by: Charles Stuart Kennedy Initial interview date: June 21, 2004 Copyright 2005 ADST TABLE OF CONTENTS Background Born in Chicago Illinois" raised in Southern California University of California at Los Angeles University of Indiana Fort Wayne Indiana" Lecturer 1967-1972 Entered the Foreign Service .USIA/ 1970 State Department FSI" Polish language training 1970-1971 Warsa2 Poland" USIA 1971-1976 Security Fulbright Program 4edia Uprising Catholic Church Environment U.S. Culture Po6nan Poland" Consular Officer 1976-1977 Po6nan fairs Environment 4arriage Panama City Panama" USIA Program Officer 1977-1980 Canal treaty President Torrijos Canal 9one Environment Noriega Shah of Iran issue 4exico 0 Washington DC" USIA 4exico and Central America desk 1980-1980 Sandinistas El Salvador Charles Wick CIA Relations 2ith 4exico Washington DC" USIA Program 4gr. Europe and East Asia 1980-1985 >Anti-America? programs Robert 4applethorpe State Department FSI" Serbian language trainee 1985-1986 Belgrade Yugoslavia" Cultural Affairs Officer 1986-1990 Fulbright Exchange Program International Aisitors Program Cultural Programs American studies Environment Washington DC" USIA Personnel Officer Europe 1990-1991 Washington DC USIA Director European Fulbright Program 1991-1990 Benjamin Franklin .4uskie/ Program Bilateral Commissions Brantee repatriation problems Beorge Soros project Private foundations Albania program Sofia Bulgaria" USIA Public Affairs Officer .PAO/ 1991-1997 Elections Programs 4edia Democracy Commission Non-Bovernment Organi6ations .NBOCS/ Former communists American University of Bulgaria Yugoslavia 4acedonia Roma Environment Bovernment NATO and Europe 1 De2ish community US interests Demonstrations Washington DC" USIA Deputy Policy officer Europe 1997 Transferred to Department of State 1998 State Department" Deputy Policy Officer Europe .EUREPA/ 1998-2000 Television Ex-Yugoslavia Aoice of America Dayton Accords USIA Program Former USSR countries Comments on State >Takeover? of USIA Retirement 2000 State Department >While Actually Employed? Assignments EUREPA 9agreb Yugoslavia Public Affairs Officer EUREACE Aolunteer INTERVIEW Q: Today is the 21st of June, 2004. This is an interview with Lawrence I. Plot)in. What does the +I, stand for- PLOTFIN: Isadore. Q: Well, begin with when and where were you born- PLOTFIN: I 2as born on October 21 1909 in Chicago Illinois. Q: Where in Chicago- PLOTFIN: Northside Cub fans. Q: Where did your father.s side of the family come from- PLOTFIN: All Plotkins ICve ever encountered come from bet2een Warsa2 and 4osco2. 2 Both sides of my family came from a small to2n no2 in Poland though it has moved back and forth several times among Russia Poland and Belarus. ItCs about ten miles 2est of the Bug River and is called Siemyatiche. The to2n probably never had more than 10 000 inhabitants and in the late 19th century 2as predominantly De2ish. Q: Do you )now when the family e0odus too) place and the circumstances- PLOTFIN: 4y immediate family arrived in the U.S. one-by-one bet2een 1900 and 1917 driven from Poland by a combination of repression against De2s there and the hope of opportunity here. 4y fatherCs father Nachman Plotkin 2as the first to make the move. He arrived in 1900 at the age of about 21. 4y fatherCs mother born Denny .or Shajna/ Weiss came over shortly thereafter. They met and married in Chicago. Q: What did your great grandfather do in Poland- PLOTFIN: ICm not sure ho2 accurate the information is but I 2as told the family had a pottery factory of some kind in Poland. I donCt kno2 anything about its si6e. Q: 1our grandfather was the first one over here. Did you )now him- PLOTFIN: Yes Huite 2ell. Not as 2ell as I 2ould like to have. I 2as in my early t2enties 2hen he died and like so many of us didnCt ask him the kind of Huestions I 2ould ask him today. Q: What did he do- PLOTFIN: He arrived in Chicago follo2ing the arrival of others 2ho had come from the same part of Poland and joined an established community of Polish-De2ish immigrants 2ithin the larger community in Chicago. It 2as on the north side of the city. His home and business 2as run from a building on Evergreen Street. He o2ned and operated a hauling business initially using horses and 2agons and later using trucks. Q: 1our father- PLOTFIN: 4y father 2as born in Chicago on 4ay 9 1911. He 2ent to public schools there but got himself in trouble in the seventh grade. The story I 2as told 2as that he didnCt 2ant to go s2imming and ended up pushing the s2imming instructor into the s2imming pool. He ever 2ent back to school again. It 2as some 2hile before his family kne2 2hat he had done because he 2ent out and found himself a job I something you could do at 10 or 11 in those days. This 2ould have been roughly 1900. Finally the school contacted my grandparents and asked >Where is AbeJ? When his parents confronted him 2ith the truth his response 2as >ICm out" ICm earning some money" I donKtC 2ant to go back to school"? and that apparently 2as the end of the discussion. Q: What did he wor) his way into doing- 3 PLOTFIN: He ended up 2orking in 2holesale liHuor sales in Los Angeles. He and his brother had o2ned a package store and bar in Chicago. After the 2ar one of his contacts offered him a job in liHuor sales. We moved to L.A. in Duly 1915. We made the trip in a 1909 Chevy and ICm told that I stood I this 2as before anyone thought of seatbelts - all the 2ay to the 2est coast. Q: Was your father in the military- PLOTFIN: He had fallen on an icy side2alk and cracked a couple of vertebrae in his spine in a fall as a young man so 2as 1F. It eventually reHuired surgery. He 2orked as a foreman in an aircraft factory in Chicago during the Second World War building the gunnerCs bubbles for bombers. Q: How about your mother3s side. PLOTFIN: They 2ere from the same part of Poland although 2ith a rather different history. Eastern Poland 2as at that time part of Russia. Poland didnCt exist as a state" its territory had been divided among Bermany Prussia and Austria. 4y motherCs father Louis Rothstein 2ho died relatively young and 2hom I never kne2 2as in the Polish underground and 2as a 2anted man by the Russians for some incident in 2hich heCd participated. He 2as smuggled out of the country and 2orked his 2ay to the United States. He 2as a tailor. Her mother Rebecca Resnick arrived in about 1912 my only grandparent 2ho didnCt enter the U.S. through Ellis Island. She 2as sponsored by an uncle already in the U.S. 2as sent a ticket that 2as at least above steerage and entered via Philadelphia. Q: Did any of the older generation of your family go on to university- PLOTFIN: No. The first person in my family and the only one before me to get a university education 2as one of my fatherKs older brothers Sam. He earned a degree in architecture from the University of Chicago but graduated as the depression hit and never practiced. His entire 2orking career 2as spent as a tool design engineer. 4y fatherCs eldest brother Isadore 2as a classical violinist 2ith the Chicago Symphony. He and several other musicians 2ere killed 2hen their car 2as hit by a train at one of ChicagoCs many crossings. 4y father had an older sister as 2ell Boldie 2ho played a crucial role in my life. She introduced my parents to each other. Q: How did your mother and father meet and what was your mother doing- PLOTFIN: 4y mother 2as the eldest of four children. Her father died 2hen she 2as still in high school in the 11th grade. She left school to help support the family. The family moved to Los Angeles .ICm not sure ho2 that came about/ and she found a job there 2orking as a sales girl and helping to raise her significantly younger brother and sister. One of her jobs 2as at the FarmerCs 4arket in West Los Angeles at a nut and dried fruit 4 stall. At about the same time my father 2ho 2as the youngest of the four children in his family 2as visiting his older sister. She had married and moved to Los Angeles in the mid-C00s. His sister kne2 my motherCs mother and 2as instrumental in my parentCs meeting one another in Los Angeles. 4y father returned to Chicago and a short time later my mother and her family returned to 4il2aukee 2here sheCd been born but they kept in touch and romance blossomed. Q: Where in Los Angeles did your family move to in 1445- PLOTFIN: Initially the East Side to a community called City Terrace at the eastern edge of Los Angeles. The next to2n east 2as Alhambra 2hich is outside of L.A.Cs borders. Bet2een City Terrace and Alhambra there 2ere fields 2ith horses running free and Bird Egg Creek 2here I caught tadpoles. Not the Los Angeles of today or 2hat people think of 2hen L.A. is mentioned. But of course Bird Egg Creek and the fields are all paved over no2. Q: 1ou mentioned that you are Jewish. How religious was your family- PLOTFIN: Not very. I did go to Hebre2 school afternoons and I 2as bar mit6vahed but it 2as largely for the sake of grandparents. 4y parents 2ere very secular never attended synagogue regularly and didnCt keep kosher. I am less religious than they 2ere. Q: Did you have enough Jewish identity to be aware of pertinent world events- PLOTFIN: DonCt mistake me.