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Elaine Kelsky: Do you read a lot? Mrs. Newman?
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Esther Newman: Day and night. Especially now, since I was sick and I can't
do any hard work. I read all the time.
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Kelsky: Do you have a library card?
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Newman: No, I don't need one. My children own so many books. I just hope I
can read them all.
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Kelsky: Well, when you first came to Pittsburgh, did you take out a card
at the library-?
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Newman: In Hazlewood, yes, yes.
Kelsky: And you read them as much as you-?
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Newman: As much as I as much as I was able to. And all the papers and
magazines. I always read a lot.
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Kelsky: Uh, do you read in Hebrew?
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Newman: I used to. I can, but, uh, I don't, uh, read any, uh, papers or
anything in Hebrew now, just the American.
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Kelsky: Uh, when do they still have a Hebrew paper in Pittsburgh?
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Newman: Not in Pittsburgh. It comes from New York. The. The Forverts. A
lot of people read them.
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Kelsky: And have you read the book? World of Our Fathers. It's about the
Jewish immigrants. Have you read?
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Newman: No, I read Our Crowd, which was something similar to that, I
think. I read so many books I wouldn't remember, but I don't remember this
one that you're mentioning.
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Kelsky: Did you read the book, By Myself, I'M a Book?
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Newman: Of course I'm in that book, too. Except I wouldn't recognize it.
You know, I don't care. It wasn't that, you know.
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Kelsky: Did you enjoy doing that?
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Newman: Yes. Yes, yes. I told the girl everything I knew that she asked
me. I told her.
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Kelsky: Do you like sports?
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Newman: Yes, I do. I'm a very, very big baseball fan because my husband
was. And I got to know it real well and liked to attend the game once in a
while. But I watched them all and listened to them and very interested.
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Kelsky: Who's your favorite, uh, baseball player?
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Newman: Well, there were many--[telephone rings]
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Kelsky: Do you have a favorite baseball player?
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Newman: Well, every, every season there are there are others that you,
that you favor. I used to like Mazeroski. I liked Clemente. And now I
like--
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Kelsky: Stargell.
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Newman: Willie Stargell? Yes. I was very much interested when his wife was
sick. In fact, I always inquired now that she's all right. And, uh. I Like
a lot of them, I favoured them. You know, those that are good, but they
can't all be very good. And I'm disappointed when they, uh, get somebody
they think is going to be real good. And then it turns out not so good.
Like, now I'm a little bit upset that they got rid of, um, Sanguillén. So
I don't know whether this was a good deal or not, but of course I can't.
You know, I just go along with them.
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Kelsky: We also, uh, new manager. New--
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Newman: Oh, that's what I mean. Yeah. New managers and this, and this is,
uh, instead of, uh, Murtaugh they got this manager, and I just read in the
paper last night that they don't know whether any manager was worth giving
away two players, especially Sanguillén and $100,000. So the management,
live up to the management. What do I know? That's just guessing, you know?
But, uh, I enjoy it.
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Kelsky: Do you like football?
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Newman: I am trying to get interested in it. And I have so many teachers.
I know the gist of it, you know? But I can't, I can't. I watch it, but I
can't see exactly what they are doing, good or bad.
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Kelsky: Did they have any kind of sports in the Hungary when you were
growing up?
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Newman: Well see, they must have had. But I, I didn't know about them.
They just played ball and stuff like that. But nothing like this going on
now. I don't know what, what they had in those days really.
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Kelsky: Did you just play, uh, catch?
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Newman: That's all. Catch.
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Kelsky: Jump rope?
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Newman: Yes and how? Yeah. I love the jump rope. I says I should have kept
it up because at one time I was pretty heavy. I says, I never gotten that
heavy. I should have kept up rope jumping.
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Kelsky: Did they have boxing in those days? And, uh,--
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Newman: Not that I know of. I heard about it, but, uh, nothing. You know,
it's a, no television. No radio. We didn't know what was going on too much
and rest of the country.
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Kelsky: Did you ice skate as a girl?
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Newman: No.
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Kelsky: And do you remember the Depression in 1930?
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Newman: Do I remember it? I lived through it. Yes, ma'am. The depression
was something. Pretty nearly broke us. Took a long time to get back.
Shoot.
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Kelsky: Did it? Um. How did it affect the children? Were they young?
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Newman: Thank goodness the children were young, and they. They knew there
was a depression, but they didn't. Understand that that much because we
didn't cry to the children. We managed to. See that they have everything
they needed. I did all my own sewing. And you didn't have to go out and buy
clothes for them. And thank goodness that this day they say, I don't
remember ever being hungry. So she--is--my daughter says, I don't know
whether it was my mother's good management or something, but I never knew
that he missed anything. So thank God for that.
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Kelsky: And you were able to keep your business and your house, at that
time?
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Newman: Yes, yes. He kept the business and the house. It was very, very
hard because, in fact, he had to keep some of our customers on the books,
you know, and to give them what they wanted. Not knowing whether they'll
ever pay for it. Some of them are very thankful to this day. Have someone
who corresponds with me to this day. An old man. I'll never forget that Mr.
Newman did for me because he kept me during the Depression when I couldn't
pay, and he didn't know whether he'd ever get paid.
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Kelsky: Mhm, yeah, And, um, you belonged to the congregation in Hazelwood
as soon as you-?
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Newman: Oh, yes. My husband belonged before he was married. He belonged to
the congregation. And then we formed a sisterhood. And I came there. And we
had rejoined the Council of Jewish Women then. And they sent us Sunday
school teachers. So we organized a Sunday school. And that's what the
sisterhood did. Taking care of the of the congre-, sister of, the Sunday
School. We made bake sales and rummage sales and luncheons and. Maybe 2 or
3 other women and myself did all that and we managed to have a,
supeintendant, and a, superintendent. We paid the superintendent, but not
the teachers. We didn't have to pay them. But so many times a year, at the
end of the year, we used to buy them nice gifts. And the congregation. They
had services every Saturday morning, but barely. They could barely manage
to get ten men together. And for the high holidays there were more. So we
had to hire a canter. The canter always stayed at my house. We paid him so
much for the few days and we had all our children home and we managed to
get enough people that we should be able to have services in Hazelwood.
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Kelsky: How many belonged to the congregation?
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Newman: Well, at one time we had like 30 people, but it always got smaller
and smaller, dwindled down to almost nothing because people moved away to
Squirrel Hill. They still have their businesses in Hazelwood, but they
lived in Squirrel Hill.
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Kelsky: And where did you meet? Where was this show [??]?
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Newman: Uh, first we met at each other's homes, and we hired the hall for
the high holidays. But finally, in 1927, we built the synagogue. In
Hazelwood. And it was very nice. That's what they, we had our meetings
afterwards and all the, uh, affairs that we were making, and we managed
very well. When my husband died, we had to sell the-the building and we got
$18,000 and distributed it among the organizations in Squirrel Hill, the
home for the Aged. And contributed health [??] and a few others.
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Kelsky: You didn't have a rabbi all the time?
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Newman: No, we couldn't. We we hired a teacher for the children to keep,
to teach them Hebrew. He had a sort of a Hebrew school also. And we had to
pay for that. Each one had to pay for that. It was very hard, very hard to
raise the children in Jewish tradition. But, uh.
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Kelsky: All these teachers that didn't take pay for their teaching, did
they?
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Newman: They were young girls and they wanted to teach Sunday school. And
in those days they they didn't get paid. Like today. We used to pay them
their car fare and buy them a gift. Once in a while. And. And do you
remember the name Miriam Schoenfeld? Kelsky: No. Newman: She was a big
social worker, and she took care of all these Sunday schools. And. At the
end of the year when confirmation came, we used to get so many from
different places McKees Rocks, Carnegie, uh, Hazelwood and a few other
places, and we'd go like, most of the time, to the B'nai Israel and had our
confirmations there. It was very nice.
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Kelsky: Well, if you didn't have a rabbi who conducted the services
Saturday morning.
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Newman: There were old men that were able to lead the congregation in
prayers. There were a few old men that were always able to do it. Yes.
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Kelsky: In Hungary. Did you have a congregation in your neighborhood?
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Newman: Yes. Yes, there was, in Hungary, there was a there was a, a
synagogue. And they had a rabbi to teach the children and there was a
cantor. We didn't have an actual rabbi like they have here, a leader,
because the city was too close. If we needed any kind of rabbinical advice
or anything, we just used to go to the city. Nearest city was Munkatch.
That was the nearest city. But otherwise we had a Hebrew, couple of Hebrew
teachers, and a canter, and we had a nice synagogue. And from there on, the
children, when they got to be like 12, 13 years old, they used to go on to
the yeshiva, used to go to other cities, those that wanted to, and others
went to learn a trade.
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Kelsky: Were the boys that went to Hebrew school, here?
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Newman: Yeah.
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Kelsky: Was it right in the town or-?
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Newman: Right in the town. Yes. In fact, I have a brother. A rabbi. Who
went through that Hebrew school and from there he went to the yeshiva and
he came to this country. He didn't want to go to work. He was 16. He almost
know everything about Hebrew teachings and he went to yeashiva in New York.
First he went to an Orthodox yeshiva until he was 21, and from there he
went to the theological seminary and to Harvard. College and got his
doctorate at Harvard. And today he's a big, famous rabbi. Retired already.
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Kelsky: Oh. Where does he live?
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Newman: He lives in Buffalo. His last pulpit was in Buffalo, New York. And
now he's in California. Every winter, he goes to California, and teaches at
the--at some kind of a--some kind of a seminary or something. I-I just, I
just got a letter from him, and, uh, the rest of the time, he goes to
Israel every year and, uh, lives in, in Buffalo. He loves it there.
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Kelsky: How old is he now?
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Newman: He's now about 68. He retired three years ago. Yes.
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Kelsky: Were there any other rabbis in your family?
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Newman: No, no. He's the only one. That's what he loved to do. And he
wrote many, many books. He writes constantly. And is very, very well known.
How do I know that, I.
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Kelsky: Did you say he was an Orthodox rabbi?
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Newman: He was an Orthodox rabbi at first. He was in an Orthodox school in
Springfield, Massachusetts, for 19 years. And he wanted something bigger.
He had three daughters who were growing up and was too small a town for, to
raise them there. And finally he got this congregation in Buffalo. And it
was, it was conservative because after the Orthodox seminary yeshiva, he
went to the seminary, that. Jewish Theological Seminary. And he became a
conservative rabbi, but he's quite orthodox himself. Quite religious. He
was very well liked. And, uh. They are happy, others are married, one is
married to a rabbi. And one is, one teaches at the University of Buffalo.
The summer. And one is with IBM. For many, many years. He has a big, big
position at IBM.
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Kelsky: And do you ever have family gatherings?
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Newman: Oh, yes. You want to see that over there? The family tree. Three
years ago, my children decided that we want to have a family reunion. We
had a family reunion at the social hall. A catered affair, like a wedding.
And all my relatives that were able to come, came from California, Chicago,
Cleveland, New York, Brooklyn. It was beautiful. Over a hundred of us.
Yeah, everybody with their children. It was beautiful.
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Kelsky: Did they come from, uh, Israel or-?
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Newman: No. Nobody came from Israel. No, That would have been too much.
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Kelsky: How many people? You said over a hundred.
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Newman: Over a hundred people at that family reunion. Yeah, a baby who was
only a couple of months old, that they brought from Buffalo.
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Kelsky: That must have been something.
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Newman: It was beautiful. It was beautiful. Everybody. I can't stop
talking about it. And my brother had made this family tree and everybody's
name there. All the--.
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Kelsky: How far back does that tree go?
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Newman: Well, that tree goes back as far as my parents. Kelsky: Mhm.
Newman: My parents. But, she's got marked down, especially my youngest
daughter. She was always very, very interested in that. So I could give her
my grandparents, you know? And, uh, other than that, I couldn't recall.
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Kelsky: And in Hungary, did you have family gatherings, too?
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Newman: Not too much? No, not too much.
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Kelsky: And when you did-
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Newman: Ypu went visiting, you know, but not gathering where everybody
came together at the same time. I used to love to go to my grandparents to
visit for, or over the holiday, because there were many of them there and
they had a big home and a big dining hall. And it was just, just beautiful.
I just loved to go there. And I, I remember the way they conducted
themselves. And I used to enjoy it so much. And I recall that so many times
even now. That their China and silver and napkins and embroidered
tablecloths. Everything was just as beautiful and nice as I see here now.
As I do myself.
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Kelsky: And they never came to America?
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Newman: No, no, they never came. My grandparents were very much against us
coming here. Why do we have to leave? Little did they know that we saved
the rest of the family by doing that. That we got them out here before
Hitler got Ahold of them? Yes.
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Kelsky: Were there many from your family in the, uh, Holocaust?
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Newman: I lost my brother, who was my immediate family, and my father lost
his whole family there. His father died before that. But his mother was 86
years old and she was killed with the rest of the family, all the sons and
daughters and some of their children.
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Kelsky: Did anyone survive it?
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Newman: Yes, Some of the some of the children survived it. Some of them
are here in Cleveland now and in California and New York. A lot of them
survived it and a lot of them are in Israel. Yes. How they surviveit?
Everybody has a story to tell, how they were able to survive. Some of the
neighbors sheltered them. Really risking their own lives, Gentile people
risking their own lives and sheltered them and save their lives. Somehow
some of them were saved.
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Kelsky: In Hungary. What did you do in the evenings to-?
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Newman: Crochet, embroider. Always something. I always crocheted and
embroidered all my life to this day. I love to crochet.
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Kelsky: Did you ever get together with your girlfriends in the evening?
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Newman: No, because the streets were dark. It wasn't safe even then for
the, for the young girl. Jewish girl. It wasn't safe to walk out on the
street. You weren't allowed to mingle. You know, we used to see lovers
walking on the streets. Boys and girls. But not Jewish girls.
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Kelsky: And you mean because of their upbringing or just-?
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Newman: Because of our upbringing that we didn't date like they date now,
and, uh, we're just afraid. Because the boys were pretty rambunctious. And
they--wasn't safe.
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Kelsky: Did you ever have any social affairs in the congregation in
Hungary?
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Newman: No.
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Kelsky: No.
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Newman: Only on Purim and simple stores. They had, you know, dancing and
singing. But no, no social affairs.
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Kelsky: And what about the congregation in Hazelwood? Did you, uh, you
have social affairs there?
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Newman: Yes, yes. Back [??] socials, luncheons. Many, many affairs.
Dinners. We used to go down there and do our cooking there and prepare
everything and that's what was our social affairs and picnics. We had one
picnic a year which brought in so much money.
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Kelsky: Did you, um, get together with other congregations?
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Newman: No. No, we didn't get together with other congregations. We
couldn't. It was, it was just too far apart. And each one had their own,
you know?
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Kelsky: What was the closest congregation to you?
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Newman: Well, The Homestead. We used to go to the Homestead socials, to
their affairs. We used to attend them. I used to go to their card parties.
But otherwise we never merged for social affairs.
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Kelsky: Did you have any other contact with the Homestead? Uh.
Congregation?
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Newman: No, no. The only contact we had is, uh, we bought a piece of
burial ground from them. And those that were members at that time have
their burial plots there.
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Kelsky: And that cemetery is still in existence?
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Newman: Yes, and it's one of the most beautiful cemeteries in this area.
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Kelsky: Is it right in Hempstead?
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Newman: It-it's on the fringe of it. You know, it's very close. It's in
actually. In, uh. Uh Munhall. Yes.
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Newman: Very nice place. And we had, we bought for a lump sum, we bought
50 graves--and that was enough for the members of our congregation. So
those of us that are still living have our plots there; that were members
at that time.
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Kelsky: And then Hungary and your congregation, did you have a burial plot
right in the town?
00:21:38.000 --> 00:22:08.000
Newman: No, not right in the town. I just remembered that they had this,
they had to take them to a distant, I don't know how far it was, but all
our people from that town was-were taken to that town. Whatever it was. I
don't know whether we owned that or we had to buy each plot, but that was
the place, that was the closest place that they were taken for burial.
00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:14.000
Kelsky: And did they have any, um, musical programs in your town and.
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Newman: Well, there was an organized band which had nothing to do with the
congregation or Jewish congregation. But the town itself, I remember, had a
band, and every once in a while they marched through the village and
everybody was out. It was, we had no victrolas in those days. We had no, no
music or no, you know, no radio. When that band marched through the
township, everybody was out and it was beautiful. It was wonderful. And
then when we heard the Christmas carolers singing even, that was very, very
pleasant to hear. Because it was music. I always loved music and whenever I
heard music, was very enjoyable.
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Kelsky: Did you celebrate Hanukkah there, like we do here?
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Newman: Uh, not to such extent. It, it, we celebrate it, but it wasn't. We
gave, we gave Hanukkah money. It wasn't gifts like that. But we used to
give to children, that was Hanukkah money.
00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:28.000
Newman: But now it really flourished here. It wasn't like that here
either. Always like it is now, which is very nice.
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Kelsky: And on Passover, did you have a, Seders there?
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:38.000
Newman: Yes. Yes, Seders, exactly like here. Two seders each family get
on.
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Kelsky: Did your family come from around the-?
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Newman: No, no, because nobody would ride on a holiday and there was no
such a thing that children from a distant city would come home. Well, we
didn't have any. We were all young then, you know. But only those that
lived in the township. They were married children and lived in their own
homes but in the same village. So they would come together to the parents.
But otherwise it wasn't like it is now. But we all have our seders and we
enjoy them. They were beautiful. So beautiful.
00:24:23.000 --> 00:24:24.000
Unknown: What's up? Time is up.
00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:30.000
Kelsky: What? What about the food in America when you first came over?
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Newman: Well. I think everyone that came over right away thought that the
food wasn't as good as it was in Europe. But I came to the conclusion.
Except fruits. Fruits we only ate ripe off of the vines or trees. Which is
true if you get that here of the trees or vines, it's just as good. But I
came to the conclusion that food here, it seems that it was better in
Europe because there were certain things that we only ate once a year on a
certain holiday we would make certain dishes. Well, that was only once a
year. And the fruits only that were in season. Vegetables, only when it was
in season. I says, Here you can get everything all year round and you can
get it whenever you want it. So you think it's not as good as it was in
Europe. In Europe it tasted better because you ate it very, you know,
occasionally. And that's what I think now. I think I enjoy my food very
much. I think everything is very good.
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Kelsky: Did you think that when you first came here?
00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:48.000
Newman: No, I didn't. But it took me time to find, to come to this
conclusion. To find out that this is what's wrong, because there's a lot of
good food here and we all eat very good, I think.
00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:50.000
Kelsky: Did you have bananas over there?
00:25:50.000 --> 00:26:03.000
Newman: No, no. I never saw bananas or grapefruits. Uh. Maybe in the big
cities they had it, but they had to have it ship from someplace. Well, they
didn't ship it to the small towns, you know, like where I lived.
00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:06.000
Kelsky: What did you think of a banana when you first saw it?
00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:28.000
Newman: Well, you know, they, they always try to fool someone. If someone
came from Europe, they eat this. I said you eat this. Yeah. So they look at
me and wanted to see if I'll know what to do. So they thought, I'm going to
bite into it. Well, then I saw a little opening. I said, I can't bite into
this. And finally I, I opened it. That was my first experience with the
banana.
00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:37.000
Kelsky: Was there anything else that was new to you in the food line?
Tomatoes?
00:26:37.000 --> 00:27:16.000
Newman: Well, no, we had tomatoes, but we never ate tomatoes raw. We only
used tomatoes for cooking. I never remember eating a tomato in Europe. Then
I got to like them very much and we put up a lot of preserves in Europe. We
used a lot of, uh. We made syrup out of, uh, red raspberries. And we used
it with soda water, like, for a drink. And we preserved other fruits.
That's about all I can say.
00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:22.000
Kelsky: Do you have, uh, fresh poultry over there, chickens and-?
00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:53.000
Newman: Well, everybody raised their own chickens. And then we had the
shochet who came and killed them. And my mother used to get attached to the
chickens and she says, I'm a, which one am I going to kill this week? I
hate to kill this one. I hate to kill this one. And--[laughter]. But we had
fresh poultry. In fact, it was always killed the day that we were going to,
you know, use it. Like for Saturday, we killed it on on Friday morning and
cooked it right away.
00:27:53.000 --> 00:28:02.000
Kelsky: And when you first came to Pittsburgh, did they sell, the produce
and things on the street, or did they have stores?
00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:25.000
Newman: The stores. Stores like in New York, they were butcher shops and
chicken stores. On the street, they sold fruits and roasted chestnuts on
the pushcarts, you know, and pickles and stuff like that. I don't know
whether they still do that in New York. I doubt it.
00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:30.000
Kelsky: Were the streets in New York, crowded with pushcarts?
00:28:30.000 --> 00:29:30.000
Newman: Yes. Oh, yes. They, material remnants and whatever you wanted, you
found on pushcarts. And that was, that was, that man's business or a
woman's business that was there. They couldn't rent the store and they paid
a certain tax or something. And some of them were driven all the time
because they went from one place to another to avoid paying of tax, you
know. But that was their business; In pushcarts. And they did very well. A
lot of them. All depends what they were selling.
