Great-Aunt Carol
This is an interview with my great-aunt Carol. She is my grandma's older sister and her parents were Moe and Fanny Berman. My aunt is the only person in my family who remembers her grandparents who came to America from Russia. In this interview she talks about her memories about her grandparents and how our family has assimilated over the years in America.
Can you tell me how your parents met?
My father Moe Berman lived on the Lower East Side and was a member of the gang of guys called the “All of Us Boys.” They were inseparable, and would jump from tenement roof to roof for entertainment. At one time they heard gunshots and escaped into a hallway. Another member of the group was Moe’s best friend Sam Holtz. Moe would spend a lot of time with Sam and visa versa. When going to Sam’s house he found himself falling in love with Sam’s sister Fanny, and the rest is history. My mother Fanny married Moe at the age of eighteen. They moved to Easton and at the beginning owned two shops. My father had many of the “All of Us Boys” come to Easton to work in the stores. And my mother, a young woman of eighteen, and a newlywed would cook all day to feed all these new arrivals.
What are some of your earliest memories of your grandparent’s?
My father’s mother Clara died in the early 1900’s and I don’t know what became of his father Isaac Berman, but my mother’s parents were alive. My mother’s mother was Chava Berkman Holtz from Dobrzyn, Poland and she lived in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. I remember she spoke no English, but she knew that I liked cherry compote with peaches. So every time we traveled to Brooklyn, my Grandmother would make me compote. Eventually I was old enough to take the subway and I would go to see her myself and get my favorite dish. Chava’s husband, my grandfather Fishel (Philip) Holtz from Lipno, Poland lived in Brooklyn as well, but the two were not compatible, so they lived separately. In those days you didn’t divorce. Fischel had a shop where he made aprons. Chava was very involved in her community and helped form a yeshiva for women. She also owned a Mikvah (the place for Jewish women to go for ceremonial bath). My sister Elaine would stand outside the Mikvah, and shout “my grandmother need customers. Please come in!”
Is there anything that you know about life on the Lower East Side in regards to your ancestors?
In the early 1900’s there were flu and influenza outbreaks that took the lives of my Aunt Ester Holtz and my uncle Morris Holtz. Tenement housing was tight and unhygienic. The Holtz family at that time was still living on the Lower East Side. My father Moe told me once that he saw Morris walking in the street on the Lower East Side one day and was informed that he had died the next. Morris was 18 when he passed away.
Do you feel that our religion and culture has adapted from generation to generation?
For my family not much had changed. Although my grandparents were orthodox and we were probably conservative, all members of the family kept kosher. Even in Easton, PA where there were very few Jews, but there was a synagogue, a kosher deli, and a kosher butcher called Greenwald's, between 6th and 7th Street. I recall only one argument that took place during Passover one year. My grandmother Chava told my mother that she couldn’t use fresh garlic; that it wasn’t kosher for Passover. Chava insisted that only ground garlic could be used. It was the one time that things really got heated. It would be pretty difficult today to find out whether my grandmother was correct about the garlic thing. My sisters and I continued the tradition of being kosher when we had families of our own.
Can you tell me how your parents met?
My father Moe Berman lived on the Lower East Side and was a member of the gang of guys called the “All of Us Boys.” They were inseparable, and would jump from tenement roof to roof for entertainment. At one time they heard gunshots and escaped into a hallway. Another member of the group was Moe’s best friend Sam Holtz. Moe would spend a lot of time with Sam and visa versa. When going to Sam’s house he found himself falling in love with Sam’s sister Fanny, and the rest is history. My mother Fanny married Moe at the age of eighteen. They moved to Easton and at the beginning owned two shops. My father had many of the “All of Us Boys” come to Easton to work in the stores. And my mother, a young woman of eighteen, and a newlywed would cook all day to feed all these new arrivals.
What are some of your earliest memories of your grandparent’s?
My father’s mother Clara died in the early 1900’s and I don’t know what became of his father Isaac Berman, but my mother’s parents were alive. My mother’s mother was Chava Berkman Holtz from Dobrzyn, Poland and she lived in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. I remember she spoke no English, but she knew that I liked cherry compote with peaches. So every time we traveled to Brooklyn, my Grandmother would make me compote. Eventually I was old enough to take the subway and I would go to see her myself and get my favorite dish. Chava’s husband, my grandfather Fishel (Philip) Holtz from Lipno, Poland lived in Brooklyn as well, but the two were not compatible, so they lived separately. In those days you didn’t divorce. Fischel had a shop where he made aprons. Chava was very involved in her community and helped form a yeshiva for women. She also owned a Mikvah (the place for Jewish women to go for ceremonial bath). My sister Elaine would stand outside the Mikvah, and shout “my grandmother need customers. Please come in!”
Is there anything that you know about life on the Lower East Side in regards to your ancestors?
In the early 1900’s there were flu and influenza outbreaks that took the lives of my Aunt Ester Holtz and my uncle Morris Holtz. Tenement housing was tight and unhygienic. The Holtz family at that time was still living on the Lower East Side. My father Moe told me once that he saw Morris walking in the street on the Lower East Side one day and was informed that he had died the next. Morris was 18 when he passed away.
Do you feel that our religion and culture has adapted from generation to generation?
For my family not much had changed. Although my grandparents were orthodox and we were probably conservative, all members of the family kept kosher. Even in Easton, PA where there were very few Jews, but there was a synagogue, a kosher deli, and a kosher butcher called Greenwald's, between 6th and 7th Street. I recall only one argument that took place during Passover one year. My grandmother Chava told my mother that she couldn’t use fresh garlic; that it wasn’t kosher for Passover. Chava insisted that only ground garlic could be used. It was the one time that things really got heated. It would be pretty difficult today to find out whether my grandmother was correct about the garlic thing. My sisters and I continued the tradition of being kosher when we had families of our own.