Goldfoot Genealogy

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                  

My father's uncle was Max Turn, originally Turshinsky of Równa, Lódzkie, Poland, who immigrated to the States in April 1903 with Nate at age 17 and later  married his Aunt Alice Jermulowski/e., half sister of his mother, Zlata Jermulowske.  I found on his living room table, a black and white photo of his great grandfather, a Talmud Scholar.  I was allowed to borrow it and use it as a model for my picture, above, that I did in oils.  

Max and Alice lived for many years in LaGrande, Oregon.  He finally was the owner of the Turn Furniture Store in LaGrande.  Max and Alice were perfect for each other.  Both were very short people, like my Bubba, Alice's sister.  Alice was what you call a balla-boostah, a perfect wife.  She always had goodies in the freezer to pull out and use in entertaining.  One time I dropped in late at night and she did that;  had cake and ice cream to serve.  She was always prepared.  I think they did a lot of entertaining in LaGrande. Max died in 1986 in Portland.  Alice died in 1990.  I had visited them at the Robinson Home in Portland, a retirement home which they had helped to start.  I remember that Alice called out to Max, thinking he was "upstairs."  She didn't realize he had passed away. 

          Alice and myself at the Robinson Home                             

She was 93 years 11 months and 25 days old when she passed away, outdoing my mother's life span.  Max had been 96 years 4 months and 20 days old when he passed away!  They were both doing something right! 

                        The Talmud, comes in a set
 

The Talmud was one of two created, the Palestinian one and the Babylonian one.  They both were the collection of the records of academic discussion and of judicial administration of Jewish Law in more than one country during many academics and in more than one country during several centuries after 200 CE.  In essence, you had to know your Tanakh (bible) pretty well in order to understand the discussions about it all.  It was the academic end of knowing the Tanakh.  He must have been very smart.  

            A traditional seder with the family members; a time to rejoice when you have so many of your precious family with you

No wonder when my mother, young brother and I were invited to Max and Alice's home for a seder during Passover.  I was a little girl, as I remember, maybe in 1950 then, and it was the longest seder I have ever had the pleasure of participating in.  Our great uncle Max read every word.  Nothing was left out.  I was too young then to be impressed, but I am now.  Wow!  He was good!  Where was my father-Max's direct relative?  Working as usual.  Our Jewish education was happening during that seder.  This is what happened to one Jewish man's family, how it was acclimated to living in a free society.  My father's father had been accidently killed in a horse and wagon accident when my father was 4, so he had been fatherless.  Uncle Max was trying to supplement his education this way since he didn't have a father figure.  

                                                                                                               David and Nadene Goldfoot             

Joel Verbin                                                                                                                             David Verbin

Also at the seder  was Alice and Max's daughter, Sylvia and her little boys, Joel and David Verbin who were about 10 years younger than me.  I can't remember if Abner from Nebraska, their father, was there or not, just the boys.  Joel went on and became the father of Daniel who I have contact with today.  He's also like me;  a writer.  He's been a reporter for a newspaper for many years and lives in Canada.  

I met Max and Alice's  other daughter, Annette one time, a beautiful lady and tall!  She married a doctor Sagall  and lived in Massachusetts.  I was so impressed with her.  She was like a model.  

I was  able to trace Max's family line to Shal "Saul " Turshinsky born about 1845 and his wife, Rebecca.  Their son, Samuel "Yiserol Leib" Turshinsky TURSZYNSKA" was born in Lodz, Poland in 1866.  He had married a well-known surnamed lady, Sussa Etta "Sarah" Yeta Packouz.  As it turns out, my father's insurance company for years was the Packouz Insurance Company.  Ah, he was keeping it in the family !  I never knew we were related!  

This is about one Jewish descendant from Poland and how his ancestors have spread out all over North America.  It's what happens so often.  My painting hangs in my living room, reminding me of my heritage.  Without it I'd feel deprived.  What brought Max to the States in 1903?  

 A considerable segment of the Polish peasantry abandoned the overburdened land. Millions of Poles emigrated to North America and other destinations, and millions more migrated to cities to form the new industrial labour force. 

These shifts stimulated fresh social tensions. Urban workers bore the full range of hardships associated with early capitalism, and the intensely nationalistic atmosphere of the day bred frictions between Poles and the other peoples remaining from the old heterogeneous Commonwealth of Two Nations. 

Aunt Jenny-sister of Alice and my bubba, and my tall mother.  

The movement of the former noble class into cities created a new urban professional class. However, the peasants that tried to move to the cities, found all the better positions already occupied by Jews and Germans. 

This contributed to the national tensions among the Poles, Germans, and Jews. At this time the Jewish population in Prussian Poland tended to identify with and want to belong to Germany, insofar as the latter, like the Jews themselves, had a more urbanized, cosmopolitan outlook. Another factor, not to be overlooked or underestimated is the traditional language spoken by the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, Yiddish, is also a Germanic language written in Hebrew characters, which afforded some natural compatibility with the German language dominated Austria-Hungarian and Prussian cultures.                       

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Poland_(1795%E2%80%931918)

Labels: genealogy my oil painting, Goldfoot, Packouz, Poland, Turshinsky, Verbin