Rockport History Book Club
Mass Refugee Movements in History
Wednesday, October 27,
2021
Wednesday,
October 27, 2021. Mass Refugee movements in History. Movements of a large number from one
nation to another can and have changed the face of the earth. Read about any
era on this topic or read about the phenomenon as a whole. Consider the
movement of Arab nationals today into Europe, or the pre-historic migration of
peoples from Siberia to North America. Or perhaps Irish victims of the potato
famine coming to America and Canada in the 1840s. [Proposed by Sam
Coulbourn]
The story of Adam Aronson from
Jerozolimska 3
3 Jerozolimska St.
I would like to tell you a story. One of those that holds a special place in my heart. A few years ago, Helena and Aleksander from Mi Polin, gave me a couple of addresses of buildings where they found traces of mezuzahs. My task was to discover the history of their pre-war inhabitants.
Usually, I start my genealogical research by collecting information about one’s last known ancestors. In this case, I started my work with the address I got from Helena and Aleks: Jerozolimska 3, Tomaszów Mazowiecki. Based on the address books, documents from DP camps, the records kept in the Jewish Historical Institute’s archive and various internet sources, I managed to discover a beautiful story and put the pieces together.
Thanks to the address book from
1939, I learned that the inhabitant of 3 Jerozolimska Street was Alfred
Aronson. It turned out that he was an industrialist and the son of the
co-owner of the Textile Factory Samuel Steinman and Artur Aronson,
which was established as a result of the merger of the two companies in 1908.
Kazimierz Rędziński mentioned the charity work of Samuel and Artur’s business
in his work Szkolnictwo żydowskie w Tomaszowie Mazowieckim (Jewish
Education in Tomaszów Mazowiecki):
“Samuel Steinmann and Artur
Aronson donated two sewing machines and a cutting table to the girls’ school to
teach them tailoring, as well as 12/4 fabrics for winter coats for 5 poor
schoolgirls. The coats were made for: Złoty Skrobisz from class III, Selma
Pakul from class II and Sara Kon, Ita Rosental and L. Szuster from class I34. ”
In the publication of the Pasaże
Pamięci Foundation we can read:
“In 1914, the Samuel Steinman
and Artur Aronson textile factory produced woolen fabrics worth 700,000 rubles.
At that time, the factory employed as many as 200 workers on 82 looms and 3,840
spindles. […] In 1927, the company “Fabryka Sukna Samuel Steinman i Artur
Aronson” had a worsted spinning mill with 3640 spindles and a weaving mill with
70 looms. It employed 180 workers. In 1930, as a result of the crisis, there
were numerous layoffs, and in 1931 the factory was completely closed due to
losses. After the crisis subsided, production was resumed at a relatively low
level. “
To find out more about Alfred’s fate, I went through the
documents kept in the Jewish Historical Institute’s archive. And there I found
two important things: the post-war registration card from the Central Committee
of Jews in Poland of Artur Adam Aronson, son of Alfred, and a
personal file describing his fate between 1947-1948.
The registration cards were filled out by Jewish survivors
and submitted to the Central Committee of Jews in Poland. Purpose of this
committee was to represent them before the state authorities and to organize
care and assistance for those who survived the Holocaust.
Thanks to such a card, I learned that Artur Adam
Aronson was born on October 8, 1934 in TomaszówMazowiecki to Alfred Joachim Aronson and Wanda nee Borensztajn.
When the war broke out, the Aronson family was moved to the ghetto in Tomaszów,
where Alfred became a member of the Jewish Police Service and Judenrat. After
the liquidation of the ghetto, the family was separated. Artur and his mother
were taken to Auschwitz, where she died shortly thereafter.
Alfred was probably in Warsaw for
a while, and later was taken to Germany. According to the Pasaże Pamięci
Foundation, Karol Weyman (also spelt Wejman) helped Jews in
the Tomaszów ghetto – including his high school friend (and later wife), Maria
Aronson, and her brother, Alfred. He helped them to get out of
the ghetto and move to Warsaw.
The documentation of JOINT (American Jewish
Joint Distribution Committee) and DP camps shows that Alfred was a prisoner
of the Bergen-Belsen camp, and after the liberation he was in Stuttgart. On July
8, 1947 he left Germany and emigrated to the United States to join his
relatives.
Source:
International Tracing Service, Bad Arolsen
His son, then 11-year-old Artur, was in Auschwitz during
the liberation. After the war, he was found by his former governess, Maria
Sroka, with whom he stayed in Łódź. Alfred located his son quite quickly
and tried to to bring him to the United States. Because of the legal issues and
immigration formalities, the whole process took more than a year. Moreover, it
turned out that it was very hard for Maria and Artur to say good bye. The
following letter leaves no doubt.
“Supposedly, the boy had confided
to her (Maria) several times that he was afraid of a sea voyage. […] Besides,
we got the impression that Mrs. S. would not like to part with the boy
overnight and we believe that it is not advisable to press on her to allow him
to travel through France.”
Initially, Artur was to leave Gdynia on October 26, 1948 on board the Batory ship. Ultimately, due to complications and problems with booking, he got on the train on November 28 and under the care of Zygfryd Baltuch, he went to Paris. Artur boarded the Queen Elizabeth ship and departed from Cherbourg, France, on December 16, 1948. He arrived in New York on December 21, 1948.
This is how the story was supposed to end. However, while
writing this article and summing up the story after a few years, I decided to
check a few more things. I googled Arthur with no particular expectations and
it was a good move.
This way I found out that Artur
wrote an essay on the history of the Burza destroyer (“The Burza was a
destroyer“), for which he won the Westcott Prize in 1958,
and I came across a real gem – The Personal
Navigator blog with the article
called “My unforgettable roommate Art Aronson”.
Thanks to the blog’s author,
Samuel Coulbourn, I was able to learn about Arthur’s further story. Reading the
article, I felt like I was reading about the life of an old friend. Samuel and
Artur studied together at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. According to Samuel,
Aronson was fluent in Polish, English, German and Russian, and no academic
subject was difficult for him. He was brilliant, friendly and cheerful despite
the cruel events he experienced as a child. He was also an excellent artist and
he used to illustrate Naval Academy magazines.
Sadly Artur died in Syracuse, New
York on October 8, 2008. I was lucky to to get in touch with Samuel who allowed
me to use their photo and provided me with some additional information. Artur
was married to Eleonore and they had no children.
I am amazed by the fact that the story, which now has the beginning, the middle and the end, has began with one small trace on somebody’s doorframe.
Źródła:
- Archiwum
Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego
- Fundacja
Pasaże Pamięci
- Mi Polin
- Pasaże
pamięci. Śladami kultury tomaszowskich Żydów
- The
Personal Navigator
- Kazimierz
Rędziński, Szkolnictwo żydowskie w Tomaszowie Mazowieckim
- International
Tracing Service, Bad Arolsen
Thanks to the address book from 1939, I learned that the inhabitant of 3 Jerozolimska Street was Alfred Aronson. It turned out that he was an industrialist and the son of the co-owner of the Textile Factory Samuel Steinman and Artur Aronson, which was established as a result of the merger of the two companies in 1908. Kazimierz Rędziński mentioned the charity work of Samuel and Artur’s business in his work Szkolnictwo żydowskie w Tomaszowie Mazowieckim (Jewish Education in Tomaszów Mazowiecki):
“Samuel Steinmann and Artur
Aronson donated two sewing machines and a cutting table to the girls’ school to
teach them tailoring, as well as 12/4 fabrics for winter coats for 5 poor
schoolgirls. The coats were made for: Złoty Skrobisz from class III, Selma
Pakul from class II and Sara Kon, Ita Rosental and L. Szuster from class I34. ”
In the publication of the Pasaże
Pamięci Foundation we can read:
“In 1914, the Samuel Steinman
and Artur Aronson textile factory produced woolen fabrics worth 700,000 rubles.
At that time, the factory employed as many as 200 workers on 82 looms and 3,840
spindles. […] In 1927, the company “Fabryka Sukna Samuel Steinman i Artur
Aronson” had a worsted spinning mill with 3640 spindles and a weaving mill with
70 looms. It employed 180 workers. In 1930, as a result of the crisis, there
were numerous layoffs, and in 1931 the factory was completely closed due to
losses. After the crisis subsided, production was resumed at a relatively low
level. “
Research report by Marta Mackowiak, who researches family stories. See her website at Genealogia – Marta Maćkowiak – Duchy Przodków – Cześć, jestem Marta i jestem genealożką. Jestem tu, żeby dzielić się swoją wiedzą na temat genealogii, przodków i dawnych czasach. (martamackowiak.com)
My Unforgettable Roommate, Art Aronson
Class of 1957 at formation, ready to man whaleboats
Our
four years at the Naval Academy began with two months of Plebe summer, and I
remember that as endless drills, running, sweating, waiting to catch a boat
across the Severn river to fire on the rifle range, sweating as we rowed the
heavy old whaleboats, running an obstacle course, swimming, playing tennis,
basketball, golf, marching drills, flying little seaplanes and landing in the
river near the Academy, more marching, more sweating.
I met Arthur Aronson sometime that summer (1953), and he
asked me to join him as a roommate, along with another young man, Milton H.
Bank, of Pontiac, MI. When it was time for the Brigade to return for
the academic year, we moved to our Plebe year room, in Bancroft Hall.
Art Aronson R, and a classmate on Midshipman Cruise, 1954
Arthur was probably the most brilliant
person I have ever met. He spoke not only Polish and flawless
English, but German and Russian, and was conversant in Yiddish. He
could gobble up whatever subject the Academy threw at us— Calculus,
Thermodynamics, Steam Engineering, Naval Gunnery, Physics, English, History,
Navigation, and then took the time to help his less brilliant classmates
understand.
Art
was also an excellent artist and developed a cartoon style that he used to
illustrate Naval Academy magazines all four years of his time
at Annapolis.
In
the spring of 1955, in my second year at Annapolis, I took the train
to New York with Art. We went to see his New
York stomping grounds and meet his father. According to Art,
his father was quite a ladies’ man. However, also according to Art,
during the war he had been one of several men at Auschwitz who were
working in a factory building ammunition boxes for the Wehrmacht. The
crafty elder Aronson invented a way to build these wooden boxes so they looked
fine when they were inspected, but when loaded with ammunition and in use in
the field, the bottoms would fall out. The Polish Jews also
sabotaged socks that had been knitted in the camp for shipment to the Nazi
soldiers on the Eastern front by quietly slashing through each box of socks, so
that the socks were useless for protecting their wearers in the brutal Russian
winter.
Arthur
and I, in our blue Midshipman uniforms, visited the United Nations on this
short spring vacation in New York. By this time, we both spoke
a good bit of Russian, and enjoyed using it to converse without others being
able to understand. At the U.N. we visited the only conference of
delegates that was in session at the time, a round table of women discussing
women’s international issues. We were both wearing headphones, which
could be switched to hear the discussion in any of several
languages. We chose Russian, and were listening to this rather
haughty, self-important Soviet woman say, “In the Soviet Union women have
freedoms that women in other countries can only dream about.”
When
you are wearing headphones and talk with someone, unless you are careful you
talk really loud, and so all of a sudden the women delegates around their
circular table were looking at these two American midshipmen, talking
Russian. One had just said to the other, “Kakoi bol’shoi govno!” or,
“What a load of (expletive)!”
We
were asked to leave.
That
same day we visited Rockefeller Center, or wherever Dave Garroway was
having the Today show (1955), and joined the crowd of onlookers when the cast
did their outdoors stand-up.
When
it was time to head back to Annapolis, we boarded the train at Grand Central. On
the train we sat near two young women, and Art, who was always more skilled at
this than I, started a conversation with them. One was reading her
history text book, and we began to discuss it, and asked them where they were
from, etc.
Art
and I got off the train at Baltimore, and the girls continued on
to Washington. They were traveling
from Boston to Washington for a visit with a friend
there.
After
we got back to Annapolis, I thought it might be nice to send a letter to
one of those girls. We started an exchange, I invited her down for a weekend at
the Academy, we later got engaged, and were married a day after graduation, on
June 8, 1957. We stayed married until her death in 2018.
I can thank Art for arranging that
meeting!
Art Aronson, at right, in 2002.
Arthur
died September 4, 2008, in Syracuse, NY.
HISTORY BOOK CLU B
TOPICS FOR 2021-22
Wednesday, December 1, 2021.
[Moved back one week to avoid conflict with Thanksgiving.] Is the American Empire in retreat? Roman troops met their match in German forests and Parthian
deserts, and there was decay at home, and suddenly, the Roman Empire was gone.
America saw the limits of empire as helicopters lifted escapees from the
American Embassy in Saigon in 1975, and then again in a dramatic exodus from
Kabul in 2021. We keep learning that our military power can destroy but it
cannot build. China is growing and
aiming at world-wide supremacy, and Russia is straining to recover its
super-power. At home there are signs of decay, as our democracy is challenged,
millions resist cures for a pandemic and our spirit is tested. Is this the
twilight of American ascendance? [Proposed by Sam Coulbourn]
There will be no later meeting
in December.
2022
Wednesday, January 26, 2022. World War II at Home.
World War II raged from the jungles
of Burma to the steppes of Russia, all over the world. But this is a look at the Home Front, from
Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats to children collecting tin cans and
lead toothpaste tubes, paper and even jars of grease for “The War Effort”. It
includes the movement of many thousands of Black Americans from menial jobs in
the South to better paying jobs in the North, working in defense plants. Millions of women also joined the work force
as men went to fight overseas. Also, how Hollywood helped with patriotic films
and propaganda cartoons, as well as War Bond drives. [Proposed by Cindy
Grove].
Landing of Pedro Cabral in future Brazil,
1500. Painting by
Oscar da Silva, 1922.
Wednesday,
February 23, 2022. South America has a rich history, from Incas and other
indigenous peoples to colonization by Spanish, Portuguese, and other European
nations, onward to monarchy in Argentina, slavery, and struggling democracies. It’s
the history of Machu Pichu, exploration and exploitation of the Amazon, Simon
Bolivar, Pedro Cabral, Juan Peron, Hugo Chavez, Augusto Pinochet, The Falklands
War, Shining Path. Select any period,
any nation or group, and let us learn together. [Proposed
by Sam Coulbourn]
Wednesday,
March 30, 2022. Reconstruction, 1865-77 Abraham Lincoln had a clear picture of what should be
done after the end of the War Between the States, but his assassination meant
that Andrew Johnson, the Democrat who succeeded him, would be President. Read
about this dangerous, murderous time in our history as we sought to regain the
11 Confederate States in the Union. Read about the growth of white
supremacist organizations, and the different ways that America handled the end
of slavery, and welcoming (?) millions of newly freed Africans to
America. [Proposed by Mary Beth Smith]
Ethel and Julius Rosenberg
Wednesday,
April 27, 2022. Trials of historical
significance. Read
about the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials
(1945-46), or the Trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (1951), Burning of the Reichstag
trial (1933), or the Trial
of Galileo Galilei (1633), Martin Luther
and the Diet of Worms, (1521) (not what it sounds like), the Trial and Death of
Socrates by Plato (399 BC), or many more. [Proposed
by Janos Posfai]
Henry Ford
Wednesday,
June 29, 2022. Assassinations and executions
of leaders. Read the stories of how
famous people were assassinated and what came after. From modern times--- Anwar
Sadat, Olaf Palme, Yitzhak Rabin, Aldo Moro, Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, or Presidents
Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy, or Franz Ferdinand, King of Albania,
Nicholas II of Russia, or earlier-- Henry VI, James III, Henry III, Julius Caesar.
[Proposed by Janos Posfai]
Ironclad USS Monitor, 1862
Wednesday, June 29, 2022. Game changing maritime inventions. Read about the days of ships propelled by sail, oars, coal or oil, paddle wheelers, steam engines, or warships like dreadnought, submarines, aircraft carriers, or torpedoes, propellers, chronometers, sextants, etc. [Proposed by Janos Posfai]
Wednesday, July 27, 2022. How Should We Deal With China? Let's dig into the history of China and try to learn how the United States should approach China, in terms of human rights, trade policy, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Global Warming, Nuclear Weapon Proliferation, autonomous weapons, public health, and much more. We are tremendously interdependent: should we continue to view China as an Opponent?
