Iowa: WWII refugees and helping hands, April 15

Google is my friend - I continually find interesting stories that may shed light on why our ancestors went to a specific place or the experiences they went through.

This West Branch Times (Iowa) story certainly provided a glimpse into the help received by Jewish refugees, 1939-1943. Perhaps it will provide clues or links to your own family history.

Next week will mark 70 years since four Europeans, fleeing for their lives from Nazi Germany, found refuge in West Branch at Scattergood School. More and more would come, and in four years 186 “Scattergoodians” passed through what became the Scattergood Hostel from 1939 to 1943.

Cedar County Historical Society Museum recently acquired an exhibit marking the school’s World War II contribution and at 7 p.m. April 15 will host an official public opening and dedication of the 200-square-foot display.

Some 85 percent of the refugees were Jewish. The average stay was four months, and in that time the Quakers helped the visitors learn English, American history and geography. In return, the guests pitched in with gardening, yardwork, farming and household chores like dishes and laundry. Even the men.

“That was totally unheard of ... (such chores) were not part of European culture,” Museum Recording Secretary Sandy Harmel said. “But they all did it.”

Although the school was a victim of the Depression and had closed in 1931, the Friends heard that the refugees needed a place to stay while getting acclimated and thought the school was appropriate. It could house from 25-30 individuals at each time.

Many of the refugees came alone, some as children. Some waited to return home. Some were forced to leave family behind. Many never saw their families alive again.

“I ask kids to imagine what it would be like if they lost all their friends, toys, and most of their family and moving miles away to a land where they don’t know the language,” she said. Scattergood staff produced a newsletter to give them updates on the war.

The exhibit includes large panels explaining the history of Quakers and Jews until WWII, and includes furnishings and items of the times, along with display cases of actual items preserved from the hostel and photographs of the guests.

Three people with ties to the hostel have confirmed their attendance, Harmel said. One is George Willoughby, now living in New Jersey, whose mother helped open the hostel and then helped work on staff. Another is George’s daughter, Sally. A third is Nicole Hakel, now living in Philadelphia, who was a guest when she was between 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 years old. Harmel said that Hakel tells her she still has vivid memories of her visit, despite her young age at the time.

The exhibit is from Traces, a WWII museum in St. Paul, Minnesota.

See the link above for events connected with the exhibit, such as a 6pm, April 15 lecture and slide show by Traces founder Michael Luick-Thrames, author of “Out of Hitler’s Reach.”

This day in Jewish history

This Day in Jewish History is an interesting blog mentioned previously on Tracing the Tribe. New readers may find it useful in understanding the impact of historical events on their families.

Compiled by Mitchell A. Levin, it is part of the adult education Jewish History Study Group at Temple Judah in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Here is a portion of the entry for October 21 :

1553 BCE (11 Cheshvan 2207): On the civil calendar, this date marked the death of Rachel, the matriarch and wife of Jacob, at the age of 36. She died during the childbirth of Benjamin, near Efrat, and is buried in Beit Lechem (Bethlehem).

1096: During the First Crusade, the Turks destroyed the portion of the Crusader army led by Peter the Hermit. Peter escaped and joined the main crusader army. The main body took Jerusalem from the Moslems in 1099. The Crusaders slaughtered the Jews of Europe as they made their way to the Holy Land. When they got to Jerusalem, the continued their bloody behavior as they slaughtered the Jews living in David’s City.

1512: In what may have been one of the most reaching decisions in the history of academia, Martin Luther joined the theological faculty of the University of Wittenberg. It would be almost five years to the day (October 31, 1517) from his appointment, that Luther would post his 95 Theses on the door of Wittenberg’s Castle. (This gives a whole new meaning to the term “publish or perish”). Seven years after his appointment (1519) “Luther denounced the doctrines” regarding the treatment of the Jews. His final view of the Jews would be codified in the 1544 pamphlet “Concerning The Jews and Their Lies” that included a call for burning synagogues and destroying the homes of Jews.

1553: Volumes of the Talmud were burned in Venice

1781: In Austria, Joseph II rescinded the law forcing Jews to war a distinctive badge. The regulation had been in effect since 1267, more then 600 years.

1833: Birthdate of Alfred Bernhard Nobel, creator of dynamite and the Nobel Prizes. As of 2005,at least 170 Jews and persons of half-Jewish ancestry have been awarded the Nobel Prize, accounting for 22% of all individual recipients worldwide between 1901 and 2005, and constituting 37% of all US recipients during the same period. In the scientific research fields of Chemistry, Economics, Medicine, and Physics, the corresponding world and U.S. percentages are 26% and 39%, respectively. (Jews currently make up approximately 0.25% of the world's population and 2% of the US population.)

· Chemistry (28 prize winners, 19% of world total, 27% of US total)
· Economics (22 prize winners, 39% of world total, 53% of US total)· Literature (13 prize winners, 13% of world total, 27% of US total)
· Physiology or Medicine (52 prize winners, 28% of world total, 42% of US total)
· Peace (9 prize winners, 10% of world total, 11% of US total)3
· Physics (46 prize winners, 26% of world total, 38% of US total)

Take a look at the site. Its entries will help place your ancestors in history and you may learn what happened in their communities during certain historical events.

Iowa: Celebrating Alexander Levi

A Dubuque museum highlights Iowa's Jewish history as it focuses on Alexander Levi, the city's first Jewish settler. "From Distant Places to Dubuque's Shores: 175 Years of Jewish Life" runs through December 30, at the National Mississippi River Museum Aquarium.

Click here for the exhibit website.

In July, I received an email from lead project director Karin Pritikin who informed me about The Alexander Levi Project, and Tracing the Tribe posted here at that time.

I am posting information again as this project may be of interest to other congregations and organizations who also wish to honor early Jewish settlers or the history of a Jewish community. This is the time of year when boards get together and discuss future plans so I hope this information may capture the imagination of other groups. Funding solutions are noted which may be useful for similar projects.

Has your community or congregation carried out a project? Are you planning to develop one or are you now considering the possibilities? I'd like to hear about it. Such projects further awareness of Jewish history and provide opportunities for genealogists to get involved in important projects in diverse ways.

Pritikin is vice president of Temple Beth El in Dubuque, Iowa, and the project director of a museum exhibit conceived by a group of congregants to honor the 175th anniversary of the arrival of Levi - Iowa's first Jewish settler - designed to coincide with Dubuque's own 175th anniversary.

"From Distant Places to Dubuque's Shores: 175 Years of Jewish Presence in the Tri-State Region" focuses on the city's Jewish community, but also details how entrepreneurial "new Americans" have shaped the civic and cultural landscape.

In February, the Dubuque City Council unanimously approved funding the project as part of a competitive award designed to encourage community-based groups to participate in the city's anniversary celebration. The group has also received a mini-grant from Humanities Iowa and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Open now, the exhibit is at The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, a Smithsonian affiliate. In conjunction, Temple Beth El held a two-day Jewish Family Reunion weekend (August 23-24) focusing on past clergy, congregants and everyone with a Jewish connection to Dubuque.

For more on the exhibit, click here.

Dubuque's first Jewish settler, Levi became the state's first naturalized citizen, spent 50 years as a Mason and served as Dubuque Justice of the Peace. A successful miner and mine provisioner, Levi's dry-goods establishment became one of the largest and best-known retail stores of its time.

An immigrant from France in 1833, he was followed by other French Jews. By the end of the 19th century most of the city's Jews were from Russia or Poland. Levi founded the first congregation; the community eventually founded several synagogues, a cemetery, schools and more.

Organizers received a $5,000 competitive award from the city of Dubuque and a $3,000 "mini grant" from Humanities Iowa/The National Endowment for the Humanities to create a multimedia exhibit. Dubuque's climate of religious tolerance is indicated by the fact that Levi was a donor for the first Catholic Church, Jews were elected and appointed to government posts at the local and state levels; and the 1939 dedication of Temple Beth El was presided over by a Catholic judge, included an ecumenical service with Methodist clergy participation and attended by residents of many faiths.

Read the story at the link above; there is also a multimedia section and more. Karin Pritikin is the lead exhibit organizer for the Alexander Levi Heritage Project, a volunteer projet of Dubuque's Temple Beth El.

Iowa: 175th anniversary of first Jewish settler

An email from Karin Pritikin informed me about The Alexander Levi Project.

She's vice president of Temple Beth El in Dubuque, Iowa, and the project director of a museum exhibit conceived by a group of congregants to honor the 175th anniversary of the arrival of Alexander Levi - Iowa's first Jewish settler - designed to coincide with Dubuque's own 175th anniversary.

"From Distant Places to Dubuque's Shores: 175 Years of Jewish Presence in the Tri-State Region " focuses on the city's Jewish community, but also details how entrepreneurial "new Americans" have shaped the civic and cultural landscape.

In February, the Dubuque City Council unanimously approved funding the project as part of a competitive award designed to encourage community-based groups to participate in the city's anniversary celebration. The group has also received a mini-grant from Humanities Iowa and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Project will run from August 15-December 30 at The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, a Smithsonian affiliate. In conjunction, Temple Beth El will hold a two-day Jewish Family Reunion weekend, August 23-24, focusing on past clergy, congregants and anyone with a Jewish connection to Dubuque. There will be programming, a dinner and an exhibit viewing.

For more on the exhibit, click here.