Library of Congress Interview with Victor D. Comras The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project VICTOR D. COMRAS Interviewed by: Charles Stuart Kennedy Initial interview date: April 16, 2002 Copyright 2004 ADST Q: Today is April 16, 2002. This is an interview with Victor D. Comras. Let's start off with when and where you were born and something about your parents. COMRAS: I was born on July 4th, 1943 in Forest Hills, New York, during a very dark period in United States History. Having just come out of the Depression, our men and women were engaged in a battle for survival. This was one of the darkest periods in World War II. And my parents, like millions of Americans, were greatly worried about the course of the war and our soldiers overseas. Giving voice to their emotions, they named me “Victor.” I guess that was particularly apt given the patriotic date of my birth. They never let me forget that it was something special to be an American. I'm the third of 3 children. I had a brother who's now passed away and I have a sister. Q: Let's first talk about your father. What type of work was he involved in? What do you know about his background? Do you know what Comras means? COMRAS: My father had immigrated to the United States in 1912 as a small boy. He came from a small, predominately Jewish village close to the Latvian-Lithuanian border. He was never sure on which side, because, when he left, it was all part of Russia. His father, Jacob, my grandfather, had served for short time in the Tsarist's Army during the Interview with Victor D. Comras http://www.loc.gov/item/mfdipbib001340 Library of Congress Russo-Japanese War. Yet, he, and his family became an identified target of persecution during the pogroms that followed that war. He hid his family and escaped to Great Britain. There he earned enough money to transport himself, his wife, and their two children (my father Manny and my Aunt Betty) to the United States. They settled, with other relatives in Syracuse, New York. But, shortly after they arrived Jacob, my grandfather, died. My father and Aunt worked their way through high school and college, and both earned degrees in Pharmacy. They found part-time jobs in drug stores around the city, and slowly earned enough to put down a small payment on their own Pharmacy. They opened their first Pharmacy in New York in the late 1920s. Despite the depression, they made a success of their business and were able to move to a new pharmacy in downtown New York City, near Times Square. In 1932 my father, leaving his sister in charge of the store, took off to see the world. Traveling with a relative and friend, they went to Britain, France, Germany, Austria, and Poland. They also went to visit their native village. There he met and married my mother whose maiden name was Zita Kessel and brought her back to the States. His traveling companion, my Uncle Joe, also found his wife there - He married Zita's younger sister, Claire, and also brought her back to the States. There are many stories as to the meaning or origin of the “Comras” name. Supposedly, there is a Comras River somewhere in that part of the world and maybe the name comes from that. The other story is that it was shortened from Comerovski. There are still people named “Comras” living in Eastern Europe - in Latvia and Lithuania today. I don't know too much about the name other than it probably stems from that origin. Most are of Jewish background. Q: Was it from a shtetls or from city folk? Interview with Victor D. Comras http://www.loc.gov/item/mfdipbib001340 Library of Congress COMRAS: Probably a shtetls, but again I'm not that sure. These were from small communities right along the Latvian-Lithuanian border. Q: Your father got to the United States when?COMRAS: He came as a boy. His parents brought him here. They immigrated about 1908/1909. Q: Where did he grow up? COMRAS: He grew up in Syracuse, New York, and then New York City. Q: What type of schooling did he have? COMRAS: He went through school, including university, and was a pharmacist. Q: So the family got right into the educational thing. Where did he go to university? COMRAS: The University of Syracuse, where he got his pharmacy degree in the 1920s. Q: Did he continue in pharmacy? COMRAS: He continued as a pharmacist, has his own pharmacy in New York City for many years. Q: What do you know about your mother's background? COMRAS: Again, he went back to Latvia and married my mother, brought her to the United States. She was a housewife and mother. She passed away when I was just a small boy in 1952. Q: Where you grew up, was it a Jewish community or was it a fairly mixed community? COMRAS: I was raised in a fairly mixed community. Just after the war my parents moved to Miami Beach, Florida. That was in 1946. I spent most of my childhood in Florida. I Interview with Victor D. Comras http://www.loc.gov/item/mfdipbib001340 Library of Congress attended Fisher Elementary and Junior High School. However, most of my high school was away from home. I attended Riverside Military Academy, which had campuses in Gainesville, Georgia and Hollywood, Florida, where it moved for the winter months. I also spent my junior high school year at Miami Beach High School. I must have been a little bit brighter at that time because Georgetown University accepted me after my 11th grade and I started at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service in 1960. I guess I never graduated from High School! Q: How was Miami Beach at that time? It was sort of renowned later on as being a place where older New York Jews went to retire. Was that part of your environment or were you in a different part? COMRAS: Miami Beach was a unique city, and a great place to grow up. I guess I was subjected to a number of positive influences there. This included the older generation that had come down from New York. But, my world was one of kids my own age. Q: How did you find being a kid in Miami Beach? COMRAS: It was a great place to grow up. We had the surf and sand; sports; boating and fishing, and plenty of sunshine. It was a safe, secure and friendly environment. Q: What were your interests as a young lad? Were you doing much reading? Sports? COMRAS: I guess I was a typical youngster: I enjoyed sports. I loved to read. I played chess. I went swimming and boating, and was active in the Boy Scouts. I was very close to my brother and sister. My brother was nine years older. And my sister was seven years older. I was really the baby of the family. Both my brother and sister were an enormous influence on me, especially after my mother died. My sister, Rema, was always very interested in international affairs. She shared that interest with me. I Interview with Victor D. Comras http://www.loc.gov/item/mfdipbib001340 Library of Congress remember that I was chosen at the second or third grade to be the junior International Red Cross Class Representative. That may have been my first and only elected office. I remember also that my sister became interested in the work of the State Department and the Foreign Service. She talked to me a lot about it. I think she is responsible for waking up my own interest in a possible diplomatic career. I excelled in school in history and geography. And early on, I decided to work toward an international career, if possible, in the U.S. Foreign Service. I knew already by my junior year in high school what I wanted to do. Q: Did you run across anybody who had had anything to do with that? COMRAS: Not until Georgetown University, besides my sister, who had a strong interest in it, although she never joined the Foreign Service. Q: You got out of Miami before the Castro revolution. COMRAS: No, I was in Florida during the Castro revolution. I remember when he came to Miami in 1957. I remember seeing him in the Dade County public park and seeing the hero's welcome he received when he first came to the United States. I also witnessed the aftermath. The local reaction to the repression in Cuba and the waves of immigration - of those fleeing Castro's Cuba. Q: Was Spanish a language that was around much in high school? COMRAS: Spanish has always been an important language in South Florida. Florida was a gateway to the Caribbean and Latin America. Of course, the Cuban influx into South Florida has turned Spanish into South Florida's second language. I guess I should have learned Spanish. But, I never did. I was really never very good at foreign languages. I took Russian and French in High School and College. But, I wasn't very good. I finally did Interview with Victor D. Comras http://www.loc.gov/item/mfdipbib001340 Library of Congress master French, but that was with a lot of help, and incentive, from my future wife, who spoke French as her first Language. Q: Why Riverside Military Academy? COMRAS: Well, I was pretty rebellious in my youngster.