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When we still lived in Reisha, Leon Wiesenfeld seemed to be one of the prominent personalities in our town. As long as fifty years ago, his Yiddish plays were presented on the stage. Large posters on the walls in huge type announced that “at the request of the public”, such and such a drama by Wiesenfeld was to be performed for the 3^rd time by an amateur group.

In the half century that has gone by since those days, Leon Wiesenfeld has had a rich and varied career as a writer, journalist, editor and a public figure in Jewish life far beyond his native Galicia. Now that he is well past his 80^th birthday, he has graduated from the daily Yiddish press, whose steady decline set in some years ago, and is active as the publisher and editor of an Anglo-Jewish magazine which, from its first page to its last, breathes of the soil of Israel and is pervaded by the spirit of Zionism. He is still active in communal affairs, still the warm-hearted and sensitive Reisha Jew. His closely typed Yiddish letters are the impressive testimony of an undaunted soul. He has adapted himself, it is true, to the English language as his vehicle and he publishes an American style illustrated magazine; but he does it with good taste. And his heart is still with the old type scholarly Jews who faithfully engage in their community requirements.

Now that his life has reached its eventide, it is refreshing to read not only his numerous journalistic and literary productions, but also his stimulating private correspondence, in which he refers to his lifelong dream of settling in Israel. But his self-respect and his established stature as a public spokesman, make him hesitate to become a citizen or a resident of a country without full mastery of its language. His letters to his townspeople are permeated with the charming light and humour of a Jewish scholar.

A fleeting glance at a special collection of Yiddish and Anglo-Jewish periodicals in the United States and the general press in Cleveland is enough to give us an idea of the high regard and admiration his friends have for Leon and Esther Wiesenfeld. One finds special issues devoted to them and reports of anniversary celebrations of Leon Wiesenfeld's journalistic, literary and communal activities. Thus, in 1931, a banquet was arranged for him from the most prominent people in Cleveland, to mark his 25^th year as a writer. Again, in 1937, 66 various organizations joined to arrange a celebration for Mr. & Mrs. Wiesenfeld on the occasion of their 25^th marriage anniversary. The late Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, a very close friend of the Wiesenfelds, was the chairman and main speaker. More than 800 people participated in this celebration. His 70^th birthday was another great public event for the Wiesenfelds. But all this was finally more than enough for them. On their 50^th marriage anniversary, they quietly celebrated only with their relatives and close friends. They refused to agree to any more public celebrations.

Two years ago, a book by Leon Wiesenfeld appeared in English, telling the story of Cleveland's Jewry between the years 1920 and 1930's. It is an outstanding little volume which gives the history of the Cleveland Jewish community. Many events and momentous developments are discussed succinctly and lucidly, with a critical eye that is not devoid of humour and irony. At the same time, the author's warm Jewishness and humanity are reflected in this book.

His wife, Esther, nee Amsterdam, has been Leon's faithful and stimulating companion throughout his life, and is a fitting and complementary influence to his own dynamic personality. Esther is an individual in her own right. While still in Reisha, she served as chairman of the local Hakoah Sports Club and as vice-chairman of the “Poalei Zion” organisation. She was active in every organization where she could be of assistance to the poor and especially to children and workers. She was the founder of the Workers' Children Home and served

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as its President until she left Reisha to join her husband in the United States. Long before she left, however, she did a great deal for newly born children of poor parents. Esther Wiesenfeld has shown a remarkable knack of getting others to help her in her activities, and managed to enlist the support of many women of the educated circles for the organizations in which she was interested. Many of the Jewish women in Reisha were particularly impressed with all she did on behalf of poor women in confinement and their new born infants, for whose benefit she initiated a campaign for clothes.

As Chairman of the Hakoah Sports Club, she succeeded in cooperation with Dr. Samuel Reich, in securing official recognition for that body by the Polish League for Sport, resulting in allocations of sports clothes and funds. This helped to put Hakoah on the map in Poland.

On settling in Cleveland, Esther Wiesenfeld, together with her husband, organized the United Galician Jews of Cleveland. Soon afterwards, this local Association became affiliated with the all-American body, of which Leon Wiesenfeld is still Honorary Vice-President. At that time, the money raised by the Association of Galician Jews in the United States was applied in the main for helping Jewish artisans in Galicia and training their apprentices. But Esther's special concern was the remittance of funds to the Jewish Hospital and the Workmen's Children Home in Reisha. When the Jews of Reisha were destroyed in the Holocaust, the funds were diverted to Israel.

Esther Wiesenfeld is, indeed an exemplary type of a communal-minded Jewess.

Wiesenfeld's “Jewish Voice Pictorial” has become the vehicle of his journalistic endeavours. It is tastefully put together; it is beautiful in appearance; the photographs are large and impressive and tell a story by themselves. That is the story of the Jewish struggle for survival and dignity and of the upbuilding of Israel and its pulsating, exciting life. It is also the story of an untiring concern for the welfare of Israel.

While Israel comes first in the Jewish Voice Pictorial, American Jewry is either interwoven or receives a special treatment which is both illuminating and inspiring. One learns of American Jews in the past and in the present; one sees their portraits; one reads a great deal of pleasingly presented information about Jews in American life – in its arts and crafts, and in its literature, sciences and in its business and economic activities. Leon Wiesenfeld's felicitous pen reaches into every nook and corner of Jewish life and Jewish destiny.

But while he knew how to adapt himself to the present-day reality and in the spirit of America, Wiesenfeld remains at heart an incurable romantic full of nostalgia for the years when modern ideas of Jewish renaissance first began to shape in his native Galicia. That was an atmosphere far removed from the practical business environment in which he now has to move. It is a world gone by with only here-and-there a memory or a remnant which he seeks to keep alive by his warm correspondence with his old friends or in his writing about the old days in Galicia. He is distressed at the indifference he finds in respect to the history of his home town, Reisha, and is seeking to remedy the situation.

Leon Wiesenfeld began his journalistic carrier in 1907 in Der Yiddisher Journal published in London, while he resided in Berlin. Soon afterwards, he once again returned to Reisha and there he published a bi-weekly called Gerechtigkeit. At the same time, he was the local correspondent of Der Tog, a Yiddish daily published in Cracow and edited by the late Yona Krepel. During World War I, when he was in Prague, together with many other refugees, he published a bi-weekly Yiddish-German newspaper called Prager Yiddishe Zeitung. There he found very pleasing assistance from Dr. Max Brod, the renowned great philosopher, poet and writer. He also wrote for the local Jewish organ, Selbstwehr (Self-Defence) and later, also for the daily Prager Tageblatt. Back in Reisha in 1918, he published a Yiddish weekly Di Yiddishe Folkszeitung. At the same time, he contributed to the daily Polish language, Nowy Dziennik and to the German-Jewish daily, Wiener Morgen Zeitung in Vienna.

In 1920, he left Reisha for the United States. On arriving there, he began contributing to the Jewish Daily Forward in New York, but did not find the atmosphere there to his liking and moved to Philadelphia, where he worked on the Jewish Daily World. Then, he returned to New York and there he became the editor of the Brooklyn Neie Zeitung which was published in Yiddish and English. His next and final destination was Cleveland. There he worked first as Associate Editor and in due course as Editor-in-Chief of the Yiddishe Welt (The Jewish World). In Cleveland, Wiesenfeld became a leading figure not only in the field of Jewish journalism

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but in communal, cultural and Zionist affairs. He is still a member of the Zionist Organization and several other local and national organizations. A heart attack put him out of circulation for a while, but as soon as he recovered, he resumed his activities at full blast. Printer's ink and communal work are in his blood, and he cannot get them out of his system.

Among his literary works one should note the novel The Rabbi's Daughter, based on the legend of the beautiful daughter of the Rabbi of Tyrnau in Hungary, for whose sake the local prince adopted Judaism. Five periodicals in the United States, Canada and Argentina bought the rights to publish this work. He also wrote two Yiddish plays. The first on Cerissene Neshumes, produced in the Yiddish theatres in the United States and in 1919, produced by amateurs in Reisha. The second, Liebe und Yiches, was produced in Cracow, Reisha, Tarnow, Lancut and finally in Lemberg.

His play, Cerrissene Neshumes was based entirely on a Jewish affair in Reisha. It was a conversion of the daughter of Zygmund Zwergel, the owner of a beer tavern in Ruskawiesz that induced him to write this successful show. Dr. Ezekiel Levin, the youngest son of Rabbi Nathan Levin, who was the local correspondent of the Polish-Jewish language daily, Nowy Dziennik in Cracow, praised the play in his paper and urged Wiesenfeld to continue writing plays. In this respect, this reviewer was not the only one to make such suggestion. It so happened that on the day when the show was performed, Mr. Morgenthaus was a professor of the Columbian University of the American Army. One, a relative of the Morgenthau's was a professor of the Columbia University in New York and the other, whose name was Maurice Samuel, came to see the show. The professor, not understanding the Yiddish performance, did not have to say much. But Maurice Samuel, now known as the author of many books, spoke fluent Yiddish. He too advised Wiesenfeld to continue to write Yiddish plays. But Wiesenfeld gave it up and devoted himself entirely to journalism.

Leon Wiesenfeld is known also as a fearless fighter. (See his article in the Yiddish section of this book concerning the pogrom in 1919 in Reisha). In Cleveland, he organized thousands of Jews to combat Nazism after Hitler grabbed the power in Germany. He organised the boycott against German goods in Cleveland and fought against the Nazi in his city.

Wiesenfeld is always eager for activity which is new and offers a challenge. That is why he had to help his town-mates in Israel in the publishing of this book which is now before the reader. He has taken a strong interest in this project, saw to our supply of paper, and has found ways of enlisting the active support of several Reisha Jews in the United States.

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Over 7,000 Jews are fighting in the front lines in the Greek Army. Government and army leaders are full of praise for the great patriotism which the Jews are displaying for their country. The Archbishop of Athens expressed to the Chief Rabbi, the gratitude of the Greek people and church for the valour of the Jewish defenders of Greece. The Jews take pride that the first officer killed in action was a Jew – Colonel Mordecai Frizis. The above picture shows Dr. Z.H. Koretz, Chief Rabbi of Greece, and who was made an honorary member of Parnassos, leading Greek Literary Society – the first time in Greek history that a Jew was so honoured.

At that time, (Rzeszow) was still one of the major centres of Hassidic rabbis, rabbinic dynasties and dayanim (associate rabbis who acted as judges in the Rabbinical Court – Bet Din). All this made for a very active Jewish life there. It was an era in which Hassidism in Reishe reached its zenith. Almost two-thirds of Reisha's Jews lived according to the Hassidic way of life and many, if not most, often travelled to their respective Hassidic rabbis for a visit.

At that time, Reisha numbered three Hassidic rabbis of its town. One of them was the renowned Reisha Reb Lezerl, who had a large number of followers, many of whom came to him from various towns in Galicia and Hungary. In the year 5663 (1903), the well-known Rabbi of Plansha, Reb Abraham Hayyim Horwitz of the Ropshitz Hassidic dynasty, settled in Reishe. At about that time too, the Rabbi of Sokolov, Reb Yehuda Ungar, also settled there. These three were the leaders and the pride of Hassidic life in the city.

There was also a Chief Rabbi and several rabbis of lesser stature. In addition, Reishe prided itself on a number of rabbis and religious scholars who went forth to serve Jewish communities in all parts of Europe. One of these was Rabbi Dr. Zvi Hersch Koretz, who became Chief Rabbi of Greece. He lived in Saloniki, which, at that time, had a Jewish population of over 50,000 and was the largest Jewish community in Greece.

Rabbi Koretz, born in Reishe, was the son of Leser Koretz, a prominent businessman and philanthropist. He was a cousin of mine and some four years younger. When I was a youngster, wearing long ear-locks (peyot), dressed in long Hassidic robe, studying in “Heder” and living in a Hassidic atmosphere, Zvi Koretz was a student in a secular school. He was always busy with his books and seldom had time to play. When I pleaded with him to come down to the court-yard to play with me on the lawn, he usually refused.

Besides his lessons at school, he also studied Torah in all its branches. He did not attend a “Heder”. His father, a wealthy man, was able to afford private Jewish teachers who taught him Bible, and later Talmud and commentaries. In addition to the time he spent with his tutors, Zvi utilized every free moment to study on his own. Once, I visited the home of my uncle Leser. I was then an advanced student at the House of Study (Bet Hamidrash), with my Bar Mitzvah behind me and my cousin Zvi was a student at the Gymnasium (secular high-school). I was astounded to find him sitting at the table studying Gemara (Talmud).

Zvi graduated from the Gymnasium with high honours which was unusual for a Jewish student at that time because of the discrimination against Jews. He was the youngest in his class. Later, he went to Vienna, where he studied first Medicine and later, Philosophy and Theology. Four years later, he

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graduated from the University of Vienna with a “Doctor of Philosophy” degree.

In 1927, he married Gitta Zweigel, daughter of a well-known Orthodox Jewish family in Hamburg. They settled in Berlin where he became a professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary. In 1933, he was chosen to be Chief Rabbi of Greece. Rabbi Koretz settled in Saloniki, then the largest Jewish centre in Greece, where there were also several Sephardi Rabbis. In those days, one was Rabbi Yaakov Meir, one of the prominent rabbis of Saloniki who later became Chief Rabbi of Palestine. Another well-known rabbi of Saloniki was Rabbi Ben-Zion Uziel, who became Chief Rabbi of the Sephardi Jews in Tel-Aviv. The Jewish population of Saloniki and other Greek cities had 41 Sephardic rabbis and needed a Chief Rabbi for the whole country.

In addition to his religious duties, the Chief Rabbi served as representative of the Jewish community to the Greek Government. The Saloniki Jewish community had requested the Jewish community of Berlin to select one of its rabbis and scholars for the office of Chief Rabbi of Greece. One of the requirements was that the person recommended must be proficient in the Greek language and possess a wide and general education.

The Berlin community became interested and since Rabbi Koretz knew Greek as well as other languages, he was recommended. In 1933, he became Chief Rabbi. Within a short time, he attained renown as an exceptionally learned scholar. He was popular with the Jewish communities throughout the country and was particularly well-liked in Government circles, enjoying a close friendship with King George and the then Prime Minister, Metaxas. Greek Government leaders and diplomats were often guests at his home.

All rabbis in Greece were under the jurisdiction of the Chief Rabbi. Saloniki at that time had ten rabbis, most of them Sephardim. Since Rabbi Koretz was an Ashkenazi, they resented him at first. Rabbi Koretz was not only a great scholar, but also an impressive personality with much diplomatic tact. He was popular among the Sephardi Jews of Greece and in time, won the approval of the Sephardi rabbis who had opposed him originally. His free access to the royal palace made it possible for him to be helpful to Greek Jewry in many instances.

When the Nazi invaded Greece in 1941, they immediately embarked upon the annihilation of the Jews. Rabbi Koretz had an opportunity to escape to Eretz Israel but he refused to leave his people.

On right: Rabbi Z. Koretz

The Jews of Greece shared the fate of the Jews in other European countries. The Nazi were determined to destroy them all and no one could stop them. The efforts of Rabbi Koretz were futile. Finally, the Nazi deported him to Bergen-Belsen, where he died the death of a martyr, after great suffering together with six million other Jewish martyrs.

Gitta, the wife of Rabbi Koretz, and his two children, Aryeh and Lily, miraculously survived the Holocaust. After the destruction of the Nazi regime, they were freed from the concentration camp and were admitted to Palestine, then under British control, where they settled. Following the establishment of the State of Israel, the Koretz family moved to Tel-Aviv where they now reside.

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When the Jews in Greater Miami, Florida, spoke of radio, their thoughts immediately turned to Simon (Simha) Seiden, who was Director of the Sunday programme. “The Jewish Forum of the Air” on Station “WMIE 1140”. Indeed, Seiden achieved great popularity, both in the immediate area and elsewhere in the State of Florida.

In 1957, Seiden celebrated his tenth anniversary with the “Jewish Forum of the Air”, a programme which he had established in 1947, and which met with popular approval from its inception.

As Producer and Director, he arranged the entire programme himself. A versatile man, he was composer, writer, announcer, commentator and performer.

A typical “Forum” programme opened on Sunday morning at 10h30 with talk by Seiden on subjects connected with local, state and world affairs. A large part of the talk was devoted to important Jewish matters. In this respect, he proved himself a brilliant commentator. His selection and analysis of newsworthy items was most interesting, and he presented them artistically, logically and impressively. While his programme was partly recorded, he frequently had guest artists and prominent speakers; but he still was the Star of the show, as he filed most of it by himself.

During his 12 years of broadcasting, Seiden performed a great service to the Jewish community. This service did not end with the cultural aspects. He also served many humanitarian causes through his radio programme which brought so much joy and happiness to so many people.

An example of Seiden's services to humanity on his Radio broadcast, appeared in the “Jewish Floridian”, February 8^th, 1952:

“Simon Seiden, of the “Jewish forum of the Air”, has cooperated with the greater Miami Section of the National Council of Jewish Women in locating persons and reuniting families, the Council has announced. Reports indicate that Seiden has been instrumental in successfully aiding some 500 cases since his arrival in Miami. His service has been of particular importance, the Council indicated, to recently arrived immigrants”.

Such recognition exemplifies the many humanitarian achievements of Seiden through his programme.

In recognition of his outstanding work, Seiden received an official personal message from President Dwight D. Eisenhower, from Abba Eban, then Ambassador of Israel to the United States, and from many other outstanding notables.

Simon Seiden was born on September 1^st, 1888, in Ropshitz, near Reishe. In 1910, he married the daughter of Pinhas Grouner in Reisha and established his name there, becoming an active social worker and leader of the local Zionist Organization. In 1923, he was the Reishe delegate to the Zionist Congress in Carlsbad. He was also the editor of the Reishe journal: “Die Yiddishe Zeitung”. In 1925, he was elected member of the Reisha City Council.

Seiden immigrated to the United States in 1936, making New York his home, and became active in the Reisher Benevolent Society. He also helped in organizing a committee to raise funds for the building of a new Jewish hospital in Reishe.

When the Nazi occupied Poland, the Jewish population of Reishe including Seiden's wife, Malka, two sons, Moses and Ezekiel and a daughter, Bella, were all killed by the Nazi.

In 1945, Seiden left New York and established his residence in Miami, where he married Miriam Jacobi, a Reishe girl, and again engaged in social and community work. In 1947, he became the founder, producer and director of the Radio programme, “The Jewish Forum of the Air”, which reached a high level of popularity with the Jewish population in the State of Florida.

In 1960, Seiden became ill. He passed away on September 1^st, 1960, at the age of 72. A great Reishe personality. May he rest in peace.

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I am, along with my two cousins, Arieh Koretz, his sister Lily Scheinberg-Koretz and their wonderful mother, Gitta Koretz, the only survivors of the entire Koretz Clan.

Grandfather Koretz was born, raised and had died shortly before the war in Rzeszow. By profession, he was a contractor and builder of state roads and streets, and during the Austrian Empire, had been known in all of Galicia as an excellent builder. At the age of 22 in 1889, he had developed a new residential section where he had built many houses on Ogrodowa Street, and his permanent residence on Kopernika 11, where we were all born and raised. In later years, he also became a businessman. Grandfather was a very generous man, from his bounty not only his whole family took advantage, but also many friends. He had also a very friendly personality.

My Grandmother Koretz was born near Tarnow, and moved to Rzeszow after her marriage. I had always the greatest admiration for her. She was good natured and although very pious, she was very tolerant, above all, she was a great lady. She had taught me many things, among them, self-respect and respect for the other fellow man. She often would repeat to me that Kuved one must earn and not run after it. She died at the age of 74, although during the occupation but at her home, and had been spared to see the destruction of her own family and people.

My Grandparents had 9 children: 5 daughters and 4 sons and they all perished during the war in the Nazi concentration camps.

The oldest daughter was my beloved mother, Alta Wolf, she, with my father Jacob Wolf and sister Siunia and brother Milek, had perished at the hands of the Nazis. The second daughter, Cecilia, was a very capable writer of poems and also a good painter.

Rose Silverman had lived in Belgium. She was known as a very clever businesswoman, and she and her 2 daughters, Felicie and Doris, were shot by the Nazi in Belgium while fleeing to Switzerland.

Lea Koretz was known in the family for her good taste and artistic ability. Giza Lion, the youngest of the daughters, lived in Krosno. She was full of life, always singing and dancing. She, her husband, Ing. Joseph Lion and their son, Leon, died during the war. My oldest uncle, Dr. Hirsch Koretz, Rabbi of Salonica, to me uncle Henek, I admired him not only for his exceptional ability as a scholar, educator and linguist, but also for his exceptional capacity to absorb knowledge. Besides his scholarly attributes, I admired him also for his athletic capacity and sense of humour. His beloved family thanks God he was spared having survived Bergen-Belsen, and now lives in Tel-Aviv.

Abraham Koretz, to us Romek, had a wonderful sense of humour and a great dramatic talent, above all, a heart of gold as we said in the family. He, his wife Helena and son Victor, perished in Krakow.

Jacob Koretz, us Janek, was a graduate in Economics from the University of Vienna. He was always composed, quiet and we all admired him for his culinary art. He, his wife, Cesia Wolf, who was also my first cousin, were shot in Stryj.

David Koretz, the youngest of the boys was known in the family as an independent businessman at the age of 19. He, his wife Libka and 2 children, also perished during the war.

As I grew up together with my aunts and uncles, I remember them more like brothers and sisters, and I shall never forget their kindness and generosity towards me and the wonderful times we spent together, especially during our Holidays. I miss them all very much. Blessed be their memory.

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Zvi Simba Leder's book: “Reisher Yidden” roused considerable echoes among Jewish readers in America. This work was a faithful description of the life of the Rzeszow Jews until the beginning of World War I and was the first book of interest about Rzeszow. Critics in the Yiddish Press of the U.S.A, Argentina, Brazil, etc., hailed it and considered it an important contribution to historical Jewish literature. Zvi Simha Leder became famous overnight in the Jewish world.

I would like to add a few particulars on his background and personality.

When I first met him in 1908, Zvi Simha Leder was already a young man seeking his way in the world. He had just left the “Kloiz” (Hassidic conventicle) and the Talmud. He had thrown off the yoke of Hassidim, and like other Jewish youths, began getting acquainted with “non-Jewish” literature. This, however, was not enough for him and he strove for something more exalted.

That year, there appeared in Rzeszow a Jewish Weekly by the name of “Die Reisher Volks-Zeitung”, which we both found unsatisfactory. At about the same time, a bi-weekly publication by the name of “Die Gerechtigkeit” first appeared. It was edited by Mendel Karp, who died as a young man. Both Leder and I wrote for this paper. I wrote articles and he wrote the literary page. Even in those days, he was noted for his literary talent. When Mendel Karp was “removed” from editorship and I was appointed to this “lofty” position, Leder went on writing until the money ran out and the paper ceased to appear.

Leder was a Yiddishist and a follower of the National political line of Dr. Birnbaum. He helped to establish a Yiddish Society in Rzeszow, and was an enthusiastic propagandist of Yiddish among the educated youth who spoke Polish. He was also active in various public affairs. Public affairs were simply in his blood, and remained his main occupation to this very day.

In 1913, he emigrated to the United States where he met with all the physical and mental hardships facing new immigrants. But even in this difficult phase, he was active in public affairs. He joined the Zionist Austro-Hungarian Society where he soon became one of the prominent figures. He also joined the “Rzeszower Young Men's Social and Benevolent Society”, in which he was very active and which he helped to put on its legs.

At about this period, Leder married the daughter of a Rabbi and started out in commerce. A son and a daughter were born to him, but unfortunately, his wife died while a young woman. He never remarried and raised his children in the best possible fashion, being both mother and father to them.

One day, he became tired of New York and settled in Washington. It appears that his prospects, both personal and social, were better there. He became the representative of a Viennese News Agency. At about the same time, he became the correspondent for the “Illustrierte Zeitung” in Vienna.

Some time later, he went on a long trip to Europe and his impressions of the countries he visited were published in one of the largest newspapers in Washington. Thus, his desire for writing, which had absorbed him since his days in the “Gerechtigkeit” in Rzeszow, were satisfied. Eventually, he turned to commerce once again and opened a large store in Washington, but the itch for writing never left him. Once his son was old enough to take over the management of the business, he settled down to write his famous “Rzeszower Yidden”.

Today, the name of Zvi Simha Leder is familiar to Jews in Buenos Aires, South Africa, Israel and wherever Jewish publications appear. He is a regular contributor to these newspapers, and also contributes to the Anglo-Jewish newspaper appearing in Washington, here he resides.

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Premier Ben Gurion with Irving Low

The mere fact that Mr. Low is a generous giver according to his means, would hardly justify an article on him. We, Jews, have had generous donors throughout our history and American Jewry, at the present stage, is particularly well-known for its generosity on behalf of overseas and local Jewish causes and on behalf of general causes. What we do not, however, have in much abundance these days are donors who also take an active intimate interest in the causes to which they contributed. Mr. Low is one of the few. He is a good American and a good Jew. Whether he contributes to a general American cause or to a specifically Jewish cause, he gives more than his check: he gives of his heart, of his mind, of his skill and experience and above all, of his warm human nature. He does not seek mere recognition. He does not stand on ceremony. Where he thinks the situation demands it, he is ready to act as a mere messenger boy.

As we said, Irving Low is active as a leader or co-worker in over 20 different organizations and institutions. Let us briefly discuss what they are:

West New York has a magnificent Jewish Centre which carries on a variety of activities. Irving Low was one of the founders of the Centre and served, for a long time, as its President. West New York also has a fine Hebrew School in which the children are given a first-class Jewish education. Irving Low was one of its founders and is now its President. He is also among the active leaders of the two temples in West New York – the Orthodox and the Conservative. Until lately, he served as General Chairman of the Israel Bonds campaign which, in a comparatively short time, managed to sell over three million dollars- worth of Israel bonds. When he later visited Israel, he was received with due honours by the then President, the late Mr. Ben-Zvi and the then Premier, Mr. Ben-Gurion.

He is now the Vice-President of the North Hudson United Jewish Appeal, Director of the Hudson County Yeshivah; Vice-President of the Hebrew Orphans' Home and the Home for the Aged in Jersey City. He is a loyal Zionist and is a member of the Executive Board of the ZOA as well as a B'nai B'rith. Recently, he was elected President of the Rzeszower Club in New York, which consists of a large number of recent immigrants who managed to escape the Hitler Hell in their native town in Galicia.

So far Mr. Low's Jewish activities.

At the same time, Irving Low, as a good neighbour, has not neglected his obligation to his community in general. He has shown as much interest in general matters in his city as in Jewish matters. He has given generously of himself and induced his Jewish friends to do likewise. In this field, too, his interests, activities and contributions were not confined to his own municipality, but extended to the neighbouring communities as well. His contributions have been appreciated and his personal prestige has grown. This has had its effect on the attitude of the Christian

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community of West New York towards their Jewish fellow-citizens.

The non-Jewish citizens of West New York showed their appreciation of Mr. Low's qualities when they recently elected him President of the Kiwanis Club, where he had previously served as Vice-President. This is a national organization which has been in existence for many years and has branches practically in every city in the Union. It is liberal in spirit and does not discriminate against Jews. Yet, the election of Irving Low constitutes an important milestone: it was the first time a Jew was elected President by a non-Jewish majority. No wonder the event was hailed by the Jews of West New York.

Mr. Low is a trustee of the West New York Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Board of Directors of the North Hudson Hospital; and a member of the Executive Board of the Alexander Hamilton Council of Boy Scouts of America and of a few other important institutions and organizations.

There is nothing unusual in this country for a person to belong to a number of organizations. There are thousands of such people. But 95% of them are mere passive members whose only contribution is the dues they pay or the donation they make. In this regard, Irving Low is certainly an exception to the rule. He is ever ready with his time and counsel in all the institutions he supports or is active, Jewish or general.

Such is the Irving Low who arrived in America 45 years ago, with 35 cents in his pocket. Irving Low was born 65 years ago in the town of Rzeszow in Central Galicia, a town the Jews called Reishe. His father, a deeply religious man, prominent in his community, was a dairy man. He gave his son a thorough traditional Jewish schooling and looked forward to having him join in his small business, in which he and his wife worked very hard. Those great expectations were fulfilled when the boy reached the “mature” age of eight years.

The boy would rise early in the morning while his little comrades were still asleep, and go around distributing milk to the customers, come summer, come winter. After completing his route, he would come to cheder (Hebrew school) in time for the daily studies to prepare to grow up a virtuous and pious Jewish scholar like his father. This went on until past the age of adolescence.

But times changed and the young lad was affected by their spirit. Besides, he was himself a spirited young man with a keen mind and a zest for life. He began finding his daily drudgery at home too dull. He developed other cultural interests beyond the narrow confines of the traditional Jewish piety. He became interested in the problems of the Jewish people and of the world. He became a secret Zionist – secret not because Zionism was banned by the law of the land, Galicia was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire which, compared to Czarist Russia, was a paradise of liberty, and even in Czarist Russia, the ban on Zionist activities was not as strict and thorough as it was in the Soviet Russia. But, Irving's pious father, like the extreme orthodox Jews of Meah Shearim in Jerusalem, and of Williamsburg in Brooklyn today, was opposed to Zionism as a presumptuous attempt to interfere with the Almighty. The same extremely orthodox attitude frowned on the reading of Jewish newspapers, but Irving read them, in secret, of course.

At the age of 20, despite his parents' opposition, Irving Low decided to seek his fortunes in this country where the family had some relatives. He arrived in New York late in 1920. Before he learned to speak English, he was given a job in a grocery store in Hackensack, New Jersey, about an hour's journey from New York, across the Hudson. He worked hard and earned little but did manage to save up enough ”capital” to go into business for himself, after a year at his job in Hackensack. By that time, that is by the end of the years, he could carry on a simple conversation in English.

He picked a spot in another township in New Jersey, West New York, where, in 1921, he opened a small grocery store. He worked harder than in Hackensack, rising early in the morning and working until late at night. He slept in the store – that was his home. He worked up a trade of customers who liked to buy from him and to whom he used to carry their purchased groceries in the evenings. A year went by. The business developed. He needed assistance. But he was afraid to trust the business to a stranger. The most practical solution was marriage. Before long, he married a relative who brought him a great deal of happiness.

Today, Irving Low is the owner of a large supermarket in West New York and has extensive holdings in real estate. No, he is not a multimillionaire, but a rather modest man of means. He is the father of three gifted sons, and the grandfather of

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a lovely girl. Mr. and Mrs. Low lead a very happy family life.

During World War II, when Hitler's murderers seized the town of his birth, they brutally put to death many thousands of Jews. His father sought to save as many Jews as he could and hid them in the cellars of his dairy. But the monsters broke into the cellars and killed everyone in them, including Irving's parents and his only sister. He and one brother, whom he brought into this country, then remained the sole survivors of their family.

The townspeople of Rzeszow are now preparing a project to memorialize the martyrs of their home town. Irving Low is taking a very active interest in this project, by considerable financial contributions and other worthy means. When he visited Israel some years ago, he helped to organize a United Rzeszower Relief Committee to which he made a substantial contribution.

From every point of view, a man of Mr. Low's calibre deserves to be known outside his immediate circle.

Irving and Regina Low

His life story is somewhat typical of the Jewry of the Old Country, yet atypical in result. The political unrest of the early years of the 20^th century caused great changes in Jewish life. On the periphery surrounding all, there was economic and civic oppression. Within the Jewish communities, there was quiet agitation changing old patterns and infecting all with new ideas. Zionism brought an extension of space and hope away from the ghetto; the Haskalah with its ideas of modernization, opened up new vistas for the mind which led to the spread of secular learning and a reaction against the physical and mental restraints of the ghetto. One either closed his eyes and ears and retained the old pattern… and died; or, one felt the call to move, both mentally and physically, from old surroundings and seek a place in the New World. Irving Low took the latter step.

Eliezer Low, Irving's father, was well-known and respected, not only in his business affairs but also for his hospitality. Well educated in the pattern of the day, his door was open for every traveller and it was most natural that when a Rabbi came to town, he stayed with Reb Eliezer Low and his family. Zippora Low, usually called Tzippe, occupied herself with the manifold duties of the household, looking after the welfare of family and visitor. Some of the traits of Eliezer Low have

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been carried on by his son, Irving, then known as Yitzhak. It has been said that Eliezer was good natured, soft hearted, yet withal a man of strong will and determination. With all this, the home was a happy place, filled with the warmth of the finest of Jewish tradition, and the large house resounded with voices of Hassidim and Rabbis from Rimanow, Tchortko war Sadagora.

It was in these surroundings that the oldest son, Yitzhak, was prepared to carry on the customs and business of his father. His first teacher was Rabbi Moishe Schlissel, noted for his profound knowledge of Jewish learning. Yitzhak was an apt student and when Reb Moshe Schlissel could teach him no more, the young student sat at the feet of Reb David Pakeles, a well-known authority on the Talmud and its commentaries.

His mind sharpened by his Talmudic studies, young Yitzhak was soon attracted to more secular fields of study. The winds of change carried ideas of Zionism, of new ideas into the quiet, Hassidic town of Reishe. The constant struggle of the ‘new’ and the ‘old’ created great mental ferment. Yitzhak found this new learning most exciting, and soon, he was selling the ‘shekel’ to all who would listen, particularly to the customers of his father's dairy, to whom he delivered milk, learning always being equated with work.

At the tender age of 11 (tender by our standards), Yitzhak took his first steps in cultural-social activities when he became Treasurer of the “Tikkun Sforim” Society of the Riminow Hassidic synagogue in Reishe. He performed his duties with application and ability, characteristics which personify him to this day.

But, in the midst of all this, time moved inexorably. The year was 1918. World War I was drawing to a close and Poland was emerging as an independent State. As has happened so many times in the past, anti-Semitism became the programme of the day and on a black day in May, 1919, the 3^rd to be exact, a pogrom, which lasted 2 days, broke out in Reische. The quiet of the Sabbath was desecrated by the rabble which broke out in the great Synagogue, where they tore the prayer shawl from the shoulders of the beadle, the venerable Moishe Tepper, and left him beaten and broken. Yitzhak Low did not escape the effects of the pogrom. He was caught at the railroad station by a gang of Polish hooligans who gave him a beating, the scars of which he bears to this day. In time the wounds healed, but Yitzhak Low now became Irving Low in mind, he decided to leave Poland. He became a ‘chalutz’, leaving on ‘hachshara’, hoping to reach Eretz Israel. The difficulties that beset him in his attempt to reach the Promised Land were many, and instead of Israel, Irving Low finally came to the shores of these United States.

The years were filled with struggle. There was a family to be raised and the problem of adjusting to the American way of life. By hard work, perseverance, and by using all his capabilities, he climbed the ladder of material success. In the midst of all of this economic activity, he never was too busy to devote his time to the affairs of the community., and as time moved on, the shadows Word War II began to move in on the horizon.

It soon became apparent that not only were the people of Reisha in danger, but all Polish Jewry. Irving Low tried every door, in New York and Washington to seek help…but none was forthcoming. When the Nazi invaded Rzeszow, Reisha was no more. The list of martyrs became longer and longer as the facts came to light. Reb Eliezer Low died in Reisha on the 3^rd of Iyyar, to be followed by his mother, his younger sister Leah, together with her husband and their children.

The war had barely come to an end when Irving Low began the stupendous task of trying to resume contact with the survivors of Rzeszow. Many of them had returned to the wreckage from Wroclaw in Poland. The first ray of hope to the survivors came from Irving Low whose first gift, literally, kept them alive and whose packages of clothing, food and supplies helped alleviate the almost hopeless situation. Everyone wanted to leave Poland and it was the task of rescuing the survivors of Reishe that Irving Low dedicated himself, and over the years, he has continued these efforts to brings them to the United States or to Israel.

Itzhak Low, now Irving Low, has a well-earned reputation of being easy-going and sociable, and so he is, when the occasion demands. On the other hand, he is an energetic man of determination whether it be for his business, his family, his old country, landsleit or Israel. The dream of Israel that came to Yitzhak Low has always been his star. Fate caused

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him to migrate to the United States, but in his heart, he has always retained the love of Israel that began so long ago when he sold the first ‘shekel’.

His work in the United States for Israel is perhaps one of Irving Low's greatest contributions to the current American scene. As President of the North Hudson Israel Bond Drive, he scored immense success in the sales of these Bonds but over and above this, he succeeded in creating an interest in Israel's economic growth to such an extent that Israel Rogosin, a great American industrialist, began a series of large investments in Israel's economic future.

Besides all these activities, Irving Low has become a community leader in Jewish cultural expansion. His range of effort extends from his home community of West New York in Jew Jersey to New York and beyond. In accord with the highest of humanistic ideals, his concern is for man, without regard to race or religion. Philanthropy for anyone who needs it has been his watchword and this had led to activity in a large number of charitable and social efforts. Capping his community status and in recognition of his efforts for the community, in 1965, he became President of the Kiwanis Club of West New York, thus adding lustre to a name well-worthy of that recognition.

As an indication of the scope and range of his activities mention of a few of the organizations will serve: Society for Economic Aid for Israel; United Jewish Appeal of North Hudson, over which he presided for several years; North Hudson Israel Bond Drive; Shaarei Tzedek Synagogue Reisha Committee; Executive member of the American Zionist Organization; B'nai Brith, member of the Executive Board of North Hudson Hospital, and a member of the Planning Commission of the Town of West New York. He has been honoured by the Association of Reisha Settlers in Israel who have named their Benevolent Fund after him.

Levi Eshkol, Premier of Israel with Irving Low

Even though Irving Low did not reach Israel in his first attempt, he has endeavoured to make good his early dream by visiting Israel five times in the last decade. In 1953, during the several weeks that he spent there, he met the leading personalities of the State including Ben-Gurion, Eshkol and others. On one of his trips, he was accompanied by his youngest son, Counsellor Stanley Low, whom he wished to introduce to his old friends and to the new land of promise.

In conclusion, it may well be said that the lessons learned long ago in Rzeszow-Reishe in the period before and after the two World Wars, which included the finest and perhaps final renaissance of Polish Jewry, have always remained deep in the heart of Irving Low.

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