14 November 2012

Avrum's Women, Part 7: Feiga's Family

RMS Aquitania, Cunard Line
So far, we've determine that Feiga Grinfeld, who arrived in New York on the Aquitania accompanied by my great grandfather Avrum Garber, and Fannie Greenfield of Cincinnati were one and the same. We have not determined how she is related to my family. You may review my research and findings at the following links:

Avrum's Women, Part 2: Feiga Grinfeld
Avrum's Women, Part 3: Following Feiga (and Raya)
Avrum's Women, Part 4: The Trouble with Harry
Avrum's Women, Part 5: Finding Feiga 
Avrum's Women, Part 6: Added Confirmation
Avrum's Women, Part 8: Fannie's Story
Avrum's Women, Part 9: Fannie's brother Morris
Avrum's Women, Part 10: Morris Lederman - Who's your Mama? 
Avrum's Women, Part 11: Garber Y-DNA = Lederman Y-DNA 
Avrum's Women, Part 12: Finding Family with Family Finder  
Avrum's Women, Part 13: Bond of Brothers  

Obituary

At this point it seemed that a little family time should be prescribed. I found the prescription in Fannie Greenfield's obituary in the Cincinnati Post
Services will be held at 1 pm Wednesday at the Weil Funeral Home, 3901 Reading Road, for Mrs. Fannie Greenfield, mother of Robert Greenfield, proprietor of the Main Army Store in Norwood. Burial will be at Adath Israel Cemetery at Lick Run, Price Hill.
Mrs. Greenfield died Monday at her home, 3990 Parker Place. In addition to Robert Greenfield, she is survived by two other children, Mrs. Harry Young of Cincinnati and Mrs. Joseph Saltzman of Louisville, a brother, Morris Liderman of Detroit, and six grandchildren.[1]
There were two great new pieces of information in this obituary: Mrs. Joseph Saltzman and Morris Liderman (more on him in a future post). Prior to acquiring Fannie's naturalization records in early November, this was the first evidence I'd located regarding Leja Grinfeld. Apparently she'd married Joseph Saltzman and moved to Louisville. 

Family Contacts

Via Inter-Library Loan, I located Adath Louisville, which chronicles the history of the Jewish community in Louisville. Joseph Saltzman was a Rabbi and a Hebrew teacher who arrived in Louisville with his wife Leah in 1921. They were newly arrived from the Old Country and had learned of a teaching job at the Louisville Hebrew School from relatives in Cincinnati. Rebbitzen Leah Saltzman was a Hebrew teacher, as well, and started teaching at the school in the 1930s. According the Adath Louisville
She was one of the few women ever privileged to attend a Russian gymnasium (the equivalent of junior college) and carved out a niche as a beloved teacher on her own.[2]
Rabbi Saltzman and Leah taught at the school into the 1960s.  

Leah Grinfeld Saltzman, 1899-1965
I located Leah with her family, husband Joseph and two daughters, in Louisville in 1930 and 1940 U.S. Census records.[3] In addition, via an online index provided by the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Library, I located an obituary for Leah published in the Cincinnati Enquirer. Within a day, the librarian emailed Leah's obituary. [4]

Leah's obituary gave me her daughters' married names and cities of residence at the time of Leah's death (I will not share the full information here since I prefer to protect Leah's daughters' privacy). I tried to contact her younger daughter via her husband who had an online presence. No response. Frustration.  

While I waited for a response that was not to come, I checked the JewishGen Family Finder for the shtetl of Baranovka.[5] The names I'd been tracing were represented by one researcher who was not only seeking the names Greenfield and Saltzman, but also bore one of  the descendant surnames I'd been tracking. N.M. turned out to be the wife of Leah's grandson.

I first contacted N.M. just about this time last year - right before Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving she told me that Leah's younger daughter, whom I'd tried to contact, was not interested in talking with me. I understand. I came to them out of the blue. But I have to admit this was my first outright rejection in many tries. 

N.M., however, was a fellow researcher and helpful. She told me Fannie and Leah's story and, more recently shared an original document from Baranovka. She has not yet located a photo of Fannie, but I'm ever hopeful.

Next up: Feiga's story.

Notes
1. "Mrs. Fannie Greenfield," Cincinnati Post, 02 December 1942, Collection of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Library, page 20.
2. Landau, Herman, Adath Louisville (Herman Landau and Associates, Louisville, KY: 1981), pp. 79-82.
3. 1930 U.S. Census, Jefferson County, Kentucky, population schedule, Louisville City, Enumeration District 56-71, sheet 14-A, dwelling  230, family 274, Joseph Saltzman; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 12 November 2011); 1940 U.S. Census, Jefferson County, Kentucky, population schedule, Louisville City, Enumeration District 121-136, sheet 11-A, household 244, Joseph Saltzman; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 8 November 2012).
4. "Mrs. Joseph Saltzman," Cincinnati Enquirer, 12 January 1965, Collection of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Library, page 19, column 7.
5. The Family Finder is an online tool that allows researchers to list the surnames they are seeking and the towns they are researching. It also allows searches by surname, town or both. One may contact researchers via a message system supported by JewishGen.  

11 November 2012

Bernard "Sonny" Garber, Flight Engineer, Top Turret Gunner

Bernard Garber, 1919-2002
My father's  time in the armed forces during World War II was an important part of his life - he was proud to have served. But Bernard "Sonny" Garber, did not talk much about his Army Air Corps experience. He'd enlisted in the Army Air Corps on 2 February 1942.[1] I recall him saying that he knew he was about to be drafted and wanted to choose his branch of service. He was 23 years old.

For a kid from Brooklyn, training in Arizona was memorable. He was enthralled with the desert around Tucson and the open spaces. He had hoped to be a pilot but, like so many, washed out. He received his gunner's wings in Kingman, AZ in March of 1944.

There are great challenges for those of us researching our ancestors who served during WWII in the Army Air Corps. A fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri destroyed 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files on 12 July 1973. In March of 2008, I requested my father's service records and received only three pages: his Final Payment Roll - essentially his mustering out papers. He was discharged from Fort Dix on 3 September 1945.

Among the papers my brother and I found in my parents' home was a draft of an article that was sent by the Army on 14 April 1945 for publication in the Brooklyn Citizen. The photo, above, was published with the article.
AN EIGHTH AIR FORCE BOMBER STATION, England - - Shown beside his top turret guns on his B-17 Flying Fortress is Technical Sergeant Bernard Garber, 25 year old aerial engineer from Brooklyn, New York.
Sgt. Garber has recently been awarded the third Oak Leaf Cluster to the Air Medal for "meritorious achievement" while participating in the Eighth Air Force attacks on vital industrial targets and enemy held installations in Germany. The official citation accompanying the award commented on the "courage, coolness and skill displayed by Sgt. Garber on all occasions," as reflecting "great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of the United States." The presentation was made by his group commander, Colonel Wm. J. Wrigglesworth of Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
As a member of the 447th Bomb. Group, a unit of the Third Air Division, the division which has been cited by the President for the now historic England-Africa shuttle mission bombing of Messerschmitt factories at Regensburg, Germany, Sgt. Garber is flying combat missions in what is considered to the the toughest theatre of aerial warfare.
The son of Mr. and Mrs. B. [sic, should be 'J.'] Garber of 2595 Ocean Ave., Brooklyn, Sgt. Garber before entering the Army Air Forces in February, 1942, was employed by the McKinley & Edwards [sic, should be 'McKinley Edwards'] Co. of New York City. He received his gunner's wings in March, 1944, at Kingman, Arizona.
Colonel Wrigglesworth commanded the base at Rattlesden, England. With this and the above information I made an inquiry on a WWII Eighth Air Force online discussion forum and received some great information from Keith Hardie a frequent participant on the forum.

Wessling Crew: B.Garber is kneeling, 2nd from left
Bernard Garber was in the 447th Bomb Group, 709th Bomb Squadron, John V. Wessling Crew . The crew, as reported on the 8 January 1945 loading list (which may have been one of my father's last missions) [2]:
  • Pilot: 1st Lt. John V. Wessling
  • Co-Pilot: Lt. T.J. Foley
  • Navigator: 1st Lt. W.C. Rausch
  • Bombardier: 1st Lt. A.M. Smith
  • Top Turret Gunner: Tech. Sgt. B. Garber
  • Radio: Tech. Sgt. C.D. Koehler
  • Ball Turret Gunner: Staff Sgt. H.F. Olafson
  • Waist Gunner: Staff Sgt. M.S. Taylor
  • Tail Gunner: Staff Sgt. A.V. Stanley
Keith also provided a partial list of missions for the Wessling Crew.[2]
        -->
Date
Ship
Target
28 Sep 1944
Dixie Marie
Merseberg
2 Oct 1944
Scheherazade
Kassel/Henschel
3 Oct 1944
The Big Ass Bird
Giedbelstadt
5 Oct 1944
Shack Happy
Munster/Loddenhede
14 Oct 1944
Devil’s Mate II
Cologne
15 Oct 1944
The Big Ass Bird
Cologne
17 Oct 1944
The Big Ass Bird
Cologne
18 Oct 1944
Uninvited
Kassel/Mittefeld
19 Oct 1944
The Big Ass Bird
Mannheim
25 Oct 1944
American Beauty
Hamburg
26 Oct 1944
The Big Ass Bird
Hannover
30 Oct 1944
The Big Ass Bird
Merseberg
2 Nov 1944
The Big Ass Bird
Merseberg
26 Nov 1944
?
Hamm
27 Nov 1944
Lady Jane/Stinky
Bingen
30 Nov 1944
Wolf Wagon
Lutzkendorf (Merseberg area)
4 Dec 1944
The Big Ass Bird
Mainz
8 Jan 1945
The Black Brassiere
Frankfurt


My father was in the top turret of the plane - a very exposed position. One story my father related to us was that there had been an airman who was jealous of my father's position on the plane. Somehow it was arranged that this man would go on one mission and take the top turret. The man returned having taken some scrapnel in his bottom. My father was amused. 

We attributed my father's luck to the fact that he had a very small bottom. This makes it all the more amusing that the plane his crew flew most often was The Big Ass Bird. It had been painted by Nicholas H. Fingelly of Bridgeport, Connecticut.

My father finished all of his missions - no mean feat in the Eighth Air Force, a group that lost many planes and airmen. He completed his missions before many of his comrades in arms and was fortunate to return to the States before the war ended. He considered that his early arrival home gave him a leg up on courting my mother. 

Thank you, Dad, for all your service. I love you and miss you.

Notes
1. US World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946, database online, Ancestry.com (http://ancestry.com : accessed 11 November 2012), Bernard Garber, NARA Record Group 64.
2. Army Air Forces.com Forum (447th BG-Rattlesden), Army Air Forces.com, (http://forum.armyairforces.com : accessed 11-13 January 2009), query "Seeking info on Tech Sgt Bernard Garber"

04 November 2012

Avrum's Women, Part 6: Added Confirmation

Avrum's Women, Part 2: Feiga Grinfeld
Avrum's Women, Part 3: Following Feiga (and Raya)
Avrum's Women, Part 4: The Trouble with Harry
Avrum's Women, Part 5: Finding Feiga
Avrum's Women, Part 6: Added Confirmation
Avrum's Women, Part 7: Feiga's Family
Avrum's Women, Part 8: Fannie's Story
Avrum's Women, Part 9: Fannie's brother Morris 
Avrum's Women, Part 10: Morris Lederman - Who's your Mama?
Avrum's Women, Part 11: Garber Y-DNA = Lederman Y-DNA 
Avrum's Women, Part 12: Finding Family with Family Finder  
Avrum's Women, Part 13: Bond of Brothers 

After Halloween I find it hard to resist left-over candy. But, there's hardly anything sweeter than getting a new record in the mail, especially one that bolsters ones research. And kudos to the Great Lakes Region, National Archives in Chicago for taking the prize as the most responsive records repository with which I've ever dealt. 

The 1930 U.S. Census indicated that Robert Greenfield had become a U.S. citizen and that Feiga and Ray Greenfield had filed their papers to do so.[1] By the 1940 U.S. Census both Feiga and Ray were recorded as citizens.[2] 

So, it was with some optimism that I ordered microfilm roll 1,819,412 from the Family History Library.[3] The roll promised to hold the Greenfield naturalization petition records (if they existed) from the U.S. District Court of the Southern District, Ohio. 

The Family History Library notified me on Monday, 29 October that the roll had arrived at my preferred Regional Family History Center in Mesa, AZ. The next afternoon in Mesa I loaded the roll on the microfilm reader and located the indexed records for Feiga, Ray and Robert Greenfield who were all naturalized in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio.

Fannie Greenfield indexed naturalization petition record
On Tuesday evening, 30 October, I determined that the Great Lakes Region, National Archives would have the Hamilton County, Ohio records and I placed an online order for the naturalization records for Fannie Greenfield and Ray Greenfield. On Wednesday morning I received an email saying the records had been located and shipped. This Friday afternoon, 2 November, they arrived in the mail. (I have wondered why the Chicago National Archives branch doesn't offer to scan and email the records - but, the U.S. Postal Service came through with flying colors - and I'm really not complaining.)

Fannie Greenfield, as shown in my most recent post, was indeed Feiga Grinfeld who'd arrived at New York Harbor with my great grandfather Avrum Garber on 10 November 1922 aboard the Aquitania.[4] Her Declaration of Intention, the first papers individuals filed in the naturalization process, indicated that prior to emigration she'd been living in Warsaw. She had been born in Baranovka and was a widow who had been married to Schachna Grinfeld.[6]

I found the Warsaw residence information interesting. When Avrum's youngest children, Feiga and Aron Garber, arrived in New York in the Spring of 1922, they had identified their cousin Feiga Grunfeld of Warsaw as their closest relative in Europe.[5] I'd thought that Volhynia Gubernia, also known as Wolin, could have been misidentified as Warsaw on the manifest since I'd never known any of my relatives to have lived in Warsaw. And on Feiga's manifest, both Feiga and Avrum stated they'd been most recently living in "Wollin." [4] But, both Feiga's Declaration of Intention and Petition identify Warsaw as her last residence prior to emigration.

Fannie's 1932 Petition for Citizenship confirms the information on her Declaration and other information about her family and origins. She was a widow with three grown children (Leah Grinfeld Salzman of Louisville, Kentucky and Robert and Ray of Cincinnati, Ohio).[7] 

The document also provides some new information that, ultimately may provide some additional color to the story of my great grandfather's emigration. The British manifest for Feiga and Awrum's voyage indicated that the Aquitania of the Cunard line had sailed from Southampton, England on 4 November 1922. [8] Fannie's Petition indicates that she had initially sailed from Rotterdam, Holland. So, now, instead of assessing a travel route from Labun to Southampton, I must consider Labun (to perhaps Baranovka) to Warsaw to Rotterdam to Southampton. Perhaps Avrum lived for a few months in Warsaw after his youngest children left for the United States? More questions for another time.


Right now I'm savoring the sweet taste of a modicum of research success (as well as those darn Milky Ways). More questions will be answered when I contact Fannie's living relatives (and get over my chocolate cravings).

Notes
1. 1930 U.S. Census, Hamilton County, Ohio, population schedule, Cincinnati, Enumeration District 31-151, sheet 23-A, dwelling  223, family 442, Fanny Greenfield; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 October 2011).
2. 1940 U.S. Census, Hamilton County, Ohio, population schedule, Cincinnati, Enumeration District 91-208, sheet 65-B, household 100, Fannie Greenfield; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 June 2012).
3. Hamilton County, Ohio, United States District Court (Ohio: Southern District). Naturalization Index (Ohio), 1852-1991. Family History Library microfilm 1,819,412, Salt Lake City, Utah.
4. "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 18 June 2012), manifest, Aquitania, Southampton to New York, arriving 10 November 1922, list 4, Feiga Grinfeld; citing National Archives Microfilm Serial T715.
5. "New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 19 June 2012), manifest, Lapland, Antwerp to New York, arriving 2 April 1922, list 7, Feiga and Aron Garber, citing National Archives Microfilm Serial T715.
6.  Hamilton County, Ohio, United States District Court (Ohio: Southern District). Declaration of Intention no. 16529, Faiga Grinfeld, 29 March 1929.
7. Hamilton County, Ohio, United States District Court (Ohio: Southern District). Petition for Citizenship no. 9857, Faiga Grinfeld, 12 January 1932.
8. "Passenger Lists Leaving UK, 1890-1960," digital images, FindMyPast.co.uk (http://www.findmypast.co.uk : accessed 1 January 2009), manifest, Aquitania, Southampton to New York, departing 4 November 1922, ticket numbers 8667 and 8668, Faija Grinfeld and Awrum Garber.