jack altschul paper

Altschul Immigration 1

Sociological Analysis of Altschul Immigration

Ethnic Background Paper (APA style)

Fr. David Altschul

SOC 3825: Race and Ethnic Relations

Professor: Mary Kelly, Ph. D.

November 28, 2003


Sociological Analysis of Altschul Immigration

“A migration is the result of the ‘push and pull’ between two territories. It

takes place when there is a strong enough attractive force from one side, or

an expelling force from the other. On the whole, a migration is the result of

the reciprocal action between these two forces” (Kulischer, 1943, p. 12)

Introduction

This paper is about Jack (Isidore) Altschul, my paternal grandfather,

and his immigration to America. In particular, we will consider the “push

and pull” factors that forced him out of Polish Russia and drew him to the

United States. We will compare his immigrant experience as a young Jewish

boy and his life in America with some of the larger ethnic trends of early

twentieth century Jews. His particular experiences are drawn from personal

interviews, family memoirs, and personal recollections. The larger ethnic

experience is taken from scholarly journals, relevant books and some

internet accounts.

Historical Background in Russian Poland

Those within the Pale of Jewish Settlement were not at rest in 1895,

the year of my grandfather’s birth. Tsar Nicholas II (1894-1917) had just

been crowned in 1894 after the untimely death of his father, Tsar Alexander

III (1881-94) (Kurth, 1998, p. 32, 46-7). For the previous thirteen years,

Russian Jews had been “made to pay” for the assassination of the “tsar

liberator,” Alexander II (1855-81)(Lindemann, 1997, p. 62), who had freed

the serfs and had reformed the Jewish military laws of Tsar Nicholas I


(1825-55). The new administration viewed his assassination as proof that

his previous liberal policies had failed. Alexander III purposed to return the

Russian Empire to a stronger autocracy than ever. The Jews could breathe

more freely under the reign of Alexander II, but in 1881, they were accused

of complicity in his assassination. Thus, began the era of pogroms (Pearce,

2000). Tsar Nicholas II, perhaps out of family loyalty, said that he would

pursue the same policies “with the same firmness and strictness as my

unforgettable father did.” (Pinson, 1946, p. 135)

Jack was born May 15, 1895 in Lomza in the west region of the

Russian Pale, which later became part of Poland. Starting with Empress

Catherine the Great (1762-96) (Ascher, 1972, p. 164) the majority of the

Jews throughout the Empire had been relocated to the large restricted area

stretching from Eastern Poland through the Ukraine to the Black Sea

(Lindemann, 1997, p. 62). Many restrictions established under Nicholas I

had been reversed under Alexander II, but during the reign of Alexander III,

previous privileges and exceptions were overturned.

“During the year 1881 there were pogroms in 215 places, even in

such urban centers as Odessa, Kiev, and Warsaw” (Pinson, 1946, 131).

Between 1881 and 1905 the worst of the pogroms occurred in the Pale of

Settlement (Ruud & Stepanov, 1999, pp. 225-226). Lomza was a gubernia,

an administrative center for the Russian government. Less than 50 miles

northeast from Lomza was Bialystok, a larger regional city. In Bialystok,

during a 3 month period in 1905, 96 Jews were killed, the synagogue was


assaulted, the Jewish Quarter was bombed, and individual Jews on the

streets were terrorized. Bialystok was the site of another pogrom on June 1,

1906 when 78 Jews were killed and 84 severely injured (Wiesenthal, 1986,

pp. 94-5, 123,143, 169-170). In close proximity to Lomza, what happened in

Bialystok was a snapshot of the 670 pogroms that exploded throughout the

Pale after the failed October revolution of 1905 (Pinson, 1946, p. 138):

“In the Pale, the Jews feared everything: the tsar, the

government, the army, and the law. For them, the Pale would always

be a land of trouble and danger… In 1905, the government crushed a

growing movement for Jewish freedom. More and more Jews came to

believe there was only one solution to their problem – an exodus to

America” (Sagan, 1993, pp. 13-15; Kulischer, 1943, p. 24).

Yet Jack’s family did have some special privileges. In our family

history, it has come down to us that Herzl Altschul, Jack’s father, was a

well-to-do proprietor of an inn (Altschul, 1979, p. 5). They were among the

few Jewish families in Lomza that actually owned their own property and

business. Thus, their inn was sanctioned by the Russian government (Strell,

2003). My father once told me that the Tsar even liked our beer!

This was in keeping with the historical realities of the time. In 1882,

the infamous May Laws were published placing many limitations on the

owning, leasing, or renting property by Jews. On December 22, 1882 further

restrictions were issued regarding the sale of liquor in inns or taverns of

Jews. Only those who actually owned their residence or place of business


could do so. That my great-grandfather kept his inn indicated they were

indeed “well-to-do” (Altschul, 1979, p. 5; Melle, 2002), and actually owned

their property (Ruud & Stepanov, 1999, pp. 230-1).

Jack was the middle child of 10 brothers and sisters. Two of his

brothers would join him in America. Benjamin, the oldest, came first and

David, the youngest, came after the First World War. However, his father

Herzl, his mother Fanny (maiden name Markowitz), and his other sisters

and brothers hoped for better days to come in Lomza. Unfortunately, things

eventually went from bad to worse. There were 11,000 Jewish residents in

Lomza at the beginning of World War II. By the end of the war, not one

Jewish soul in Lomza remained. The 8000 that didn’t die by the Aktions

(where the Nazis would have the Jews dig a ditch and shoot them) were

then taken either to Zambrov or Auschwitz concentration camps

(Encyclopedia Judaica, 1971, pp. 468-9). All that would remain of Herzl

Altschul’s legacy on earth now rested with three of his sons in America.

Other Push Factors

Another disconcerting development was the Tsarist attitude toward a

French forgery that had been translated into Russian, called The Protocols

of the Elders of Zion. The Russian translation of the Protocols, distributed in

1903 in the Russian newspaper, The Banner, provided further ideological

rationale for anti-Semitism. Contrary to popular opinion, the latest research

shows that its distribution throughout Russia (and the Pale) came, not

because of the secret police, the Okhranka, but due to a growing religious


belief that the Antichrist was soon to appear and that Zionism was his

movement (Ruud & Stepanov, 1999, pp. 204-8). Accusations of “Christ-

killers” and the Passover “blood-libels” had continued to have been used

since the medieval period to justify European discrimination against the

Jews (Lindemann, 1997, pp. 35-9; Ruud & Stepanov, 1999, pp. 246-48;

Marcus, J. R., 1990, p. 127). Due to existing labor competition issues

between the Jews and peasant Russians and Poles, the Prologues provided

new religious ideology for the pogroms. It should be noted that this forgery

was later used by Hitler and today by radical Muslim extremists to stir up

“Judeophobia” (Pinson, 1946, p. 134-5, 149; Lindemann, 1997, pp. 301-6).

In addition to the pogroms and the structural discrimination of tsarist

Russia, the other significant factor in Jack Altschul’s emigration from

Poland was the family’s concern over serving in the Tsarist Army. The

failure of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-5 had been partly blamed on the

Jews (Lindemann, 1997, p. 302). The history of life under Tsar Nicholas I

was still very much alive in Jewish shtetls, the villages throughout the Pale.

During that period, for purposes of conversion and assimilation, young

Jewish boys were drafted and forced to serve for 25 years. The draft

included boys from 12 to 25 years, but sometimes children “of eight and ten

were listed as twelve and over” to complete the quotas of the ‘catchers’

(Pinson, 1946, pp.126-7). Under Tsar Alexander II, the 25 years were

reduced to 6 years, based on a draft lottery among all classes of the empire.

But with the promised return to previous policies, many Jewish mothers


were sure that this would include the army (Smitha, 2003). Mistreatment of

Jewish soldiers during the Russo-Japanese War assured them that the future

for young Jewish men was bleak. 47 of the nearly 3000 Jewish soldiers who

lost their lives in the Russo-Japanese conflict were from the area of Lomza,

including one Altschul (Feldblyum, 1998). Then, after brave service, the

defeat was blamed on them (Lindemann, 1997, p. 275)! In the case of

Benjamin, Jack and David Altschul, the family needed to find a way to get

them to America. Indeed, Benjamin’s daughter, Helen, confirmed that the

primary reason they left Lomza was “to avoid serving in the Tsar’s army”

(Strell, 2003).

American Historical Perspective

President Theodore Roosevelt had arbitrated the resolution of the

Russo-Japanese War in 1905. When Jack Altschul arrived in 1908 this same

President was seeking to establish a climate of assimilation in America.

Consider a portion of the speech he later gave during the Wilson

administration against cultural pluralism:

“Americanism is a matter of the spirit and of the soul. Our

allegiance must be purely to the United States. The one absolutely

certain way of bringing this nation to ruin … would be to permit it to

become a tangle of squabbling nationalities… There is no room in this

country for hyphenated” (Rose, 1993, p. 192).

Hyphenated, of course, would be Irish-American, Jewish-American,

Afro-American. Teddy Roosevelt was promoting the “melting pot.” Others


during this period were trying to present a “mosaic” model of pluralism

(Marger, 2003, p. 524). Portraying this idea, Horace Kallen wrote, “Men

may change their clothes, their politics, their wives, their religions, their

philosophies to a greater or lesser extent: they cannot change their

grandfathers. Jews or Poles or Anglo-Saxons would have to cease to be”

(Rose, 1993, p. 200). Through such an ethnic maze my grandfather had to

“wend his way.”

The Pull Factors

There were two factors that especially drew young Jack to America.

The first were the accomplishments of his Uncle Louis. The second was the

“chain migration” from Uncle Louis and his brother Benjamin. The goldeneh

medina (Sagan, 1993), i.e. the “Golden Land” of America, must have looked

like heaven to a 13 year-old boy in the midst of the pogroms!

Louis Altschul, brother of Herzl, had come to the United States in

1891. He started in the fur business and then was able to move into real

estate, where he became a multi-millionaire. He was the developer of

Fordham Road and the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, founder of the Bronx

Hospital, founder of the Altschul Foundation (a charity), a major donor

toward the reforestation of Palestine, and was mentioned in Who’s Who in

America (Altschul, 1979, p. 5; Encyclopedia Judaica, 1971, pp. 782-3; Strell,

2003). He was the epitome of the American dream accomplished in a very

short period of time. His story was consistent with those who did “make it:”

“If they remained in the garment industry, it was unusual for such men to


become extremely rich – multimillionaires, say. The really big money was

elsewhere, in real estate and liquor, the movies and junk” (Howe, 1976, p.

162). Uncle Louis made his “really big money” in real estate.

He sponsored Jack’s brother Benjamin, who started in the fine jewelry

business. At first he also stayed with Uncle Louis. They sponsored Jack’s

immigration in 1908. Since he was only 13, in order to make it through

customs, he had to tell them that he was 16. This example of “chain-

migration,” one member of the family making it possible for another to

come, was consistent with many of the Jewish immigrants at the time:

“Their access to kin-based resources can be seen in that 62

percent of Jewish immigrants who arrived in the United States

between 1908 and 1914 had their passage paid for by relatives. In

contrast, among non-Jews, less than half that fraction (29 percent)

received such aid” (Gold, 1999).

Life in America

The scene, I was told, was straight out of Little Lord Fauntleroy. My

Uncle Louis would have them come down nightly to a formal dinner at a

very long table, attended to by maids, with many settings of silver, and, of

course, proper attire. Often he and Uncle Louis would sit across from each

other at the opposite ends of this very long table. He felt like he was in

prison with no social life. Uncle Louis had a reputation for “iron discipline”

(Altschul, 1979, p. 5; Altschul, 2003). Not far away were the exciting parts

of the city. So, one night, young Jack ran away.


Although, for his decision to run away, Jack was disowned and written

out of his Uncle Louis’s will, this same uncle secretly made sure that he was

taught the fur trade. Jack’s brother-in-law, Sam Jacobs, was also in New

York, who taught my grandfather the fur business. He apparently was the

conduit for Uncle Louis’s secret kindness. Only later did we know about the

contact with Uncle Louis. Uncle Sam, throughout our family history, is

always remembered for his kindness and love. It was a clear example of

both chain migration and the familial help of many Jewish families that

immigrated to America (Gold, 1999; Altschul, 1979, p. 5; Altschul, J., 2003).

Uncle Sam told my Aunt Joann that they stayed in a “little hole in the

wall” in New York while they struggled to make it in furs (Altschul, J.,

2003). They lived in the middle of the garment district. “The Jewish

immigrants were concentrated in the clothing industry—a special feature of

the Jewish occupational structure of Eastern Europe. Only in textiles and

clothing did more than half of the immigrant workers have previous working

experience” (Kahan, 1978, p. 238). Kahan also includes “fur goods” in the

clothing industry.

Jack’s transition to the Midwest is reflected in what happened to the

larger Jewish immigrant community. Gold, quoting Kahan, refers to this

general pattern that reflects our family experience:

“Because much of the actual work of garment assembly was

done in apartment-based sweatshops (a form of production introduced

by immigrant Jews), the cost of setting up one's own enterprise was


extremely low. Consequently, many employees were able to save up

the small investment needed to become self-employed. At the same

time, the location of businesses in and near residential tenements

permitted owners to put their family members, relatives, and recently

arrived friends to work. Moreover, because the garment industry was

so heavily saturated by Jews, it was soon characterized by vertical

integration and a multilevel system of ethnic-based cooperation that is

now referred to as an "enclave economy." Bonds rooted in language,

religion, and common region of origin brought together workers and

employers with suppliers, manufacturers, subcontractors, and

retailers. While wages were kept low, flexibility and stability were

maximized. Moreover, as long as the garment industry continued to

expand--from the manufacturing of clothes to the broader area of

retail sales--and new arrivals came in from overseas, avenues for

mobility were insured” (Gold, 1999)

Indeed, “mobility was insured.” First, Uncle Sam moved to St. Louis,

where he established Custom Furs Company. Jack enlisted and fought in

World War I. Interestingly, he and his younger brother David fought on

opposite sides during the War. The German advance had liberated many

Jewish communities from oppressive conditions under Tsarist rule.

“Subsequent German history has made it nearly unbearable for many

readers to learn of the extent to which Russian Jews in 1914 looked to

Germany with favor and hope” (Lindemann, 1997, p. 397). Thus, due to the


German favor bestowed on the Jews of the Pale at this time, David fought on

the German side (Altschul, 1979, p. 5).

After the war, Jack joined Uncle Sam in St. Louis. Together, they

continued to cut, sew and sell furs. In 1920, they sponsored their younger

brother David, who remained in St. Louis the rest of his life. In St. Louis

Jack met the beau of his life, my grandmother Dorothy, a young Southern

Belle from Paducah, Kentucky.

In our family history, it was said that neither Jack nor Benjamin was

“religious,” in that they weren’t practicing Jews in one of the Orthodox,

Conservative, or Reform branches of Judaism (Strell, 2003). Whether it was

the desolation of synagogues, the pogroms, the revolutionary fever in

Russia, the disillusionment and anger of many young people, the call for

returning to Palestine, or the lure of the goldeneh medina, many let go of

the ancient traditions, while “maintaining a sense of piety toward religious

occasions” (Howe, 1976, p. 106). This sense of piety is reflected in the

consideration Jack gave his family regarding Dorothy.

After falling in love with Dorothy Tolbert, they were faced with a

cultural and religious dilemma. Dorothy was a Scots-Irish Methodist, a

goyisher girl! Jack came from a family with a history of rabbis, Talmudic

scholars, innkeepers and wealthy entrepreneurs. The very surname Altschul

came from the Alt-schul or “old synagogue” in 15th century Prague, where

the family were prominent patrons of this synagogue (Encyclopedia Judaica,

1971; Brody, H., Milwitzky, W., Singer, I., & Porter, A., 2002).


Yet, he loved Dorothy! “Because of a conflict in religion they parted

for a year while Jack returned to New York and they could make a decision

on marriage. About a year later they were married in a civil ceremony in St.

Louis. They were later married by a rabbi to placate Jack’s family in New

York” (Altschul, 1979, p. 6). The vacillation speaks to the struggle with

assimilation for many Jewish immigrants (Lindemann, 1997, pp. 534, 543).

For the rest of his life, although he never formerly joined a church, with

Dorothy “he attended church Sunday and worshipped daily” (Altschul, 1979,

p. 6). I remember speaking with him in 1972 when he told me, “I accepted

Jesus as Messiah with your grandma!”

It was while Jack and Dorothy were living in St. Louis that they gave

birth to their first child, William, my father, in 1923. During the depression,

Jack had to sell his company and moved to Kansas City to work for a larger

fur company, Alaskan Furs. Myron Wang, the current owner, remembers

how his father, Phil, and my grandfather spoke Yiddish together. During

that time he worked as a fur mechanic and in sales, doing fur shows with

Meyer Finkel in regional Midwestern towns (Wang, 2003). In the 1950s he

opened Altschul and Son, a fur repair shop on 46th and Troost Avenue where

he worked until he retired in 1965.

It should be noted that one aspect of Jack’s spiritual presence is found

in that most notable of Hasidic virtues – joy! “Perhaps we should also look

to the influence of Hasidism for the secret of the well-springs of joy. Good

cheer did not stop sparkling in Jews even in the later pre-Holocaust period


when everything began to totter and when signs of imminent breakup

became increasingly apparent to the long-established Jewry of Eastern

Europe” (Klepfisz, 1986, p. 355). My grandfather Jack was noted for his joy,

his humor and his jokes! Once I remarked about how funny “granddaddy”

was to my father. He soberly replied, “He’s a real comedian! But that’s to

cover so much pain. He doesn’t like to talk about his past” (Altschul, 2003).

For Jack Altschul, the “joy of Yiddish” was a major coping tool in his

American experience (Altschul, 1979, p. 6; Rosten, 1968).

Conclusion

When comparing Jack’s experience with that of the larger Jewish

community, we certainly find commonality in the push factors. The pogroms

of Russia, the racial discrimination, and the possibility of being drafted into

the Tsar’s army all provided a painful impetus to leave.

In addition, his coming to the United States because of the pull of the

economic opportunities and chain migration fit the classic immigration

pattern of most of the over two million Jewish immigrants between 1880

and 1924. His experiences in the garment district coincide with the vast

majority. His moving into the Midwest as a result of the expanding garment

economy is consistent with many other families (Gold, 1999).

Jack’s decisions to run away from his Uncle Louis and to marry

Dorothy set him at variance with the Jewish norm. Intermarriage is still

regarded by some as “the bloodless Holocaust” because of the potential for

dissolution of the Jewish community (Lindemann, 1997, pp. 534, 543). Yet


for Jack it was much simpler. He loved America and all that it offered. He

chose to assimilate, to embrace, to merge with America (Marger, 2003, p.

254-5) – the “land of the free and the home of the brave.” Perhaps Edna

Finkel, daughter of Phil Wang, the founder of Alaskan Furs summed up

Jack’s life the best when she said, “Your grandfather was very Jewish! But,

he married a Gentile woman! So, what was he to do? He had to live his life!”

(Finkel, 2003)


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jack altschul paper

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