In the fall of
1892, immigration was temporarily halted because of the discovery of
a few cases of typhus in the United States and an outbreak of
cholera in Germany.53 At the end of that year immigration
resumed but at reduced levels, and it remained fairly constant over
the balance of the last decade of the 19th century. In the first
year of the new century, Romanians in great numbers started the long
trek to the
Goldene Medine,
and
they were followed, after the
Kishinev
pogroms, by
increased Russian Jewish immigration.
News of
the
Kishinev
pogroms drew the
immigrants of the Jewish quarter in Philadelphia together for the
first time. Mass meetings to aid the victims of the slaughter were
hastily called. "The pathetic scenes enacted in the Kesher Israel
Synagogue, Fourth and Lombard streets, last Sunday, when men and
women arose in their seats and lamented the loss of parents and
sisters and brothers, were repeated with distressing frequency."54
The lamentations were the first of many to come.
On October 17, 1905 liberal
elements in Russian society were strong enough to force the czar to
issue a
manifesto guaranteeing limited rights to the subjects of Russia.55
Stronger and better organized, another segment of the general
population of Russia with ultraconservative ideas, the
pogromschiks,
determined that the czar had gone too far. They
included Black Hundreds (members of a militant, anti-Semitic,
quasimilitary organization), the
narod
(workers and
peasants), troops, police, hooligans, and recently released
prisoners. They were embarrassed that the czar was forced to act
against his will, horrified that the absolute authority of the czar
had been challenged, and, as always, they were bent on slaughter.56
Spontaneously and as planned, wild mobs turned the full might of
mayhem and butchery against the Jewish nation in Russia. During the
last two weeks of October 1905, over six hundred pogroms took place,
mostly in southern Russia. Although the death toll was not as high
as it would be for the pogroms following World War I,
word of the
pogroms, coming so unexpectedly, produced a gloom over the city of
Philadelphia and over all centers of Jewry throughout the world.
Because
the 1905 pogroms occurred mainly in southern Russia, and because a
great part of the Russian Jewish population of Philadelphia came
from that area, there was hardly a family in Philadelphia untouched
by the murder and terror.58 Within two weeks after word
of the pogroms reached Philadelphia, $55,000 was raised to send to
Russia. The money came from Jew and Christian alike. Italians and
Hungarians, as well as other nationalities, gave generously. The
horror of the pogroms touched all, from the mayor on down. On one
day, more than one hundred meetings were held in Philadelphia for
the purpose of raising additional funds for the thousands of
victims.
Jews met at Emunas Israel-Oheb Sholem; Judge Mayer Sulzberger
addressed a huge gathering at Kesher Israel. Mass meetings were held
at B'nai Reuben, New Auditorium Hall, and other halls and synagogues
in the Jewish quarter.
Two weeks
later the gloom of the city was given expression in a march of
mourning. On Wednesday, November 29, 1905,
Philadelphia witnessed what
was described in the Press
as "perhaps the saddest sight which
has ever been seen in the streets of this city and one which made
the profoundest sort of an impression on those who gathered to see
it pass."59 Ten thousand men and women, each with a black
flag in hand, marched under great banners of dull black. In a line
that formed on S. 3rd Street near Bainbridge, the march began. A
band accompanied the marchers and played "unspeakably
sad,
minor
harmonies." Although it rained all day, some of the older women had
no head covering and only scant protection for their feet. At 4th
and Catharine Streets labor unions joined. Small black flags hung
from almost every house in the Jewish streets. The mourners
proceeded to Pennsylvania Hall at 6th &
Carpenter Streets, where over two
thousand Zionists joined. The music of the Zionists and a
self-defense society band spoke of revolt. And the march continued.
From there it went through the Italian quarter. The Italians crowded
on the sidewalks of their narrow streets to watch the men, women,
and children pass by. Many of the Italians, after the custom of
their country, doffed their hats as the symbols of mourning were
carried by. In the center of the parade was a chorus of forty men
who at intervals sang folk songs of Russia. "At times the
effect was like a great organ, and the quiet which prevailed on the
streets was like that of a vast cathedral."60
The victims of the pogroms and their families began to stagger into
every part of Philadelphia where Russian Jews lived. This was not a
migration. This was a veritable flight. They came, not as before in
ones and twos, but as whole families, not wanting to leave anyone
behind. By 1908, the Russian colonies of Philadelphia were
overflowing with recent arrivals. And still they came, by the
thousands.61 The emigration of Leon Boonin and his young
sisters and brothers into the port of Philadelphia is typical of
this period of heavy immigration.62 In 1910, the children
had been left orphans in Russia and wished to be united with two
older brothers in Philadelphia, Mendell and Abraham.
The brothers in
Philadelphia sought the advice of Isadore Joseph Cooper, confidant,
advisor, and ticket agent who had offices near the Washington Avenue
immigrant station on Pier 53.
Cooper
assured the family safe passage and arrival. As part of his service,
Cooper wrote letters of introduction. This is the letter that Cooper
mailed to the family of Mendell and Abraham in Russia (Linderman is
not further identified):
My dear Mr. Linderman:
Kindly see that the bearers
of
this note are
well cared for during their voyage. They are orphans and are bound
to an uncle and two brothers, which relatives are personal friends
of
mine. Any courtesy
shown them will be greatly appreciated by yours truly
T. J. Cooper
Cooper suggested that the family travel in the summer,
as winter crossings of the Atlantic were not favored, especially for
young children. He urged that tickets be bought for a sailing direct
from Hamburg so that the North Sea did not have to be crossed in a
smaller vessel. The family did travel in the summer, but did not
take Cooper's advice concerning the North Sea passage and paid
dearly, as they crossed to Grimsby, England, in rough weather on a
small boat all very sick. The family's tickets were via Liverpool,
England, to Philadelphia on the American Line. Mendell and Abraham
believed that a direct sailing from Hamburg might mean a landing in
New York and an examination at Ellis Island, something the family
wanted to avoid, if possible. One of the children had a limp, and it
was feared, based on rumors in the immigrant community, that an
examination at Ellis Island would be more strict. Many favored
inspections at immigrant stations other than Ellis Island63
In his Memoirs,
Leon wrote:
We reached
Hull, England [in the beginning of August, 1911] and traveled by
train to Liverpool. There we were obliged to load our own baggage
into large express wagons because of a strike of the longshoremen.
Some of our baggage was very heavy. We had two large sacks each of
which required two men to handle, and also a number of heavy
suitcases. We
were all taken, together with our baggage, and brought to a poor
section of the city and deposited in a large courtyard shaped like a
horseshoe with only one large entrance gate. The large yard
was
paved with
cobble stones, the buildings were old and had corrugated iron
awnings in front of them, which gave the whole place a dreary and
shabby appearance.
While in Liverpool, shipping
officials tried to get the immigrants to sail to the port of New
York (because a strike then in progress affected sailings to
Philadelphia) but Leon, and most of the Philadelphiabound
immigrants, would not change their minds. Within several weeks,
however, the strike was settled and the six brothers and sisters
boarded the S.S.
Dominion
of the American Line, bound for
Philadelphia.
After an exhilarating voyage, the younger children had free run of
one of the decks and their older brothers and sisters met members of
the opposite sex unsupervised on moonlit decks,
... [w]e entered the Delaware River
early in the morning and were sailing up it all day. Everyone was on
deck and all were in good spirits. The sight of land and the
realization that we were, at last, approaching our goal, served as a
tonic to our strained nerves. We were now in a holiday mood and all
very talkative. My own knowledge of the geographic location of
Philadelphia was very poor and I kept wondering why we were
traveling so long in sight of land and had not as yet reached port.
This, together with my subdued anxiety of our approaching final
contact with the immigration authorities, somewhat dampened my
spirits.
The S. S.
Dominion
docked at
the foot of Washington Avenue late in the afternoon and the
immigrants, after an inspection conducted on board ship, began to
disembark. Families with questionable entrance credentials were made
to wait. Darkness fell, inspections stopped, the anchor was raised,
and the ship made for the open river. Leon wrote:
Again we felt greatly disturbed and disappointed. The fact that
many of our immigrant passengers were already admitted gave those of
us who now remained on board a feeling of sadness and jealousy mixed
with fear; and no matter how we all tried to maintain our composure,
that sullen feeling prevailed. I was especially disturbed at the
thought that the day's excitement might affect the children's sleep
and cause them to appear tired and, in particular that their eyes
might not be fully rested when confronted with the immigration
examiners.
The next morning the ship again was docked at the Washington Avenue
landing. Leon was on deck early. He felt much cheered as a man who
introduced himself as the person delegated by Mendell and Abraham to
go over the immigration process contacted him.
Everything went smoothly, however, and the children
were admitted. Leon concluded the story:
We disembarked
at Front and Washington Avenues and joined Mendell, Abe., Uncle
Goldberg and Fanny who were awaiting for us. After the exchange of
greetings we all marched on foot up Washington Avenue to Fifth
Street, and up Fifth Street to Carpenter Street where Uncle Goldberg
and his family lived. There we spent part of the afternoon and
proceeded by streetcar to our new residence at Seventh and Snyder
Avenue where brother Abe. had his drug store.
Until the very beginning of World
War I, shtetl
Jews continued to make plans to
leave Eastern Europe as they had for almost two generations, but the
war immediately choked off immigration. After four long years of
battle, much of it fought in the heartland of Polish and Russian
Jewry, the war ended - but not for the Jews. In the month of
November 1918 there were pogroms of varying dimensions in hundreds
of towns and townlets in Poland. Shops were plundered, houses
looted, synagogues desecrated, and Jews assaulted and killed.64
Pogroms broke out in Lemberg, Przemysl, Kielce, Brzesko, and
Chrzanow. On November I11, 1918, World War I ended, but for the Jews
of Poland pogroms erupted that same day after the authorities
disarmed the Jewish militia.65
Regular
ocean transportation of passengers was not immediately resumed after
the war's end, but of more immediate concern to east European Jewry
was overcoming the difficulties of leaving Poland and the newly
forming Soviet Union. At this time immigration into the United
States remained basically unrestricted, but Jews of the former
Russian Empire who wanted to leave faced terrifying obstacles in the
lands of their birth.66 What was the reaction in
Philadelphia to the pogroms in Poland? An editorial in the
Public
Ledger
stated: "Civilization will be a
mockery and democracy a delusion so long as any nation tolerates or
permits the sort of treatment which has been meted out to the Jews
of Poland." Outrage was expressed that such things could happen.
Very little public outrage in Philadelphia, however, was aimed
directly at the Poles themselves. Convinced that no more could be
done,
the Jews of the city planned a
march.
On Monday, June 2, 1919, Jewish
working men and women of Philadelphia were released from their jobs
at noon. School children were dismissed after the morning session.
Jewish businesses throughout the city closed. Hundreds of stores
along South Street displayed cards explaining that they were closed
because of the protest against the massacres in Poland. Men, women,
and children gathered on S. 5th Street at Washington Avenue, for by
that time the heart of immigrant Jewish Philadelphia was located
south of Washington Avenue. And from Washington Avenue
representatives of the Jewish population, under the general
leadership of the Philadelphia Federation of Ukrainian Jews,
gathered and reached south to McKean Street. Mourning garb was worn
by all. Women wore black skirts, white waists (blouses) and crepe
arm bands. Men were dressed in dark clothing. In uniform, recently
discharged servicemen who had just returned from France was a were
numerous, a surprised reporter for the
Evening Bulletin
wrote:
"The number of soldiers, sailors and marines in the parade
revelation of the contribution made by local Jews to the winning of
the war. The veterans marched excellently, despite the heat. "67
Twelve hundred Jewish soldiers, sailors and marines marched
together. Wounded veterans rode.
A
total of forty thousand Jews began to march up 5th Street through
the old Jewish quarter. First came the veterans. Next, three
thousand members of the "Ladies' Waistmakers Union," most probably
the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, followed; and
after them came representatives of three hundred lodges of Brith
Sholom and two hundred lodges of the
Arbeiter Ring
(The Workmen's Circle). The
Blue and White Flag of Zion was carried by hundreds of marchers.
Others bore
American flags.68 (Additional
organizations in the march are found in
Appendix A.)
Fifth Street from Washington Avenue to Walnut Street
was jammed from curb line to house wall. From there the marchers
wound their way to the Metropolitan Opera House on North Broad
Street where speeches were made. The
Public Ledger
reported that in none of the
speeches was there a word of malice or ill feeling towards the hopes
and aspirations of the new Polish republic. "The speakers simply
demanded that the leaders of that state be made to understand that
they could not expect to stand shoulder to shoulder with civilized
nations in the new order of things so long as any minority under
their government was to be subjected to murder and denied
fundamental rights because of its religious professions."69
THE DOORS CLOSE - 1919
TO 1924
The movement of east European Jewry into the port of Philadelphia,
halted for over four years by World War I, did not resume
immediately. On January
30, 1919, the
Haverford,
identified by four masts and
a "too outrageously tall" funnel, arrived at the foot of Washington
Avenue on its first sailing after the armistice, carrying
returning
soldiers from Europe.
On the next sailing from Brest, the
Haverford,
the solitary survivor
of the American Line, carried 2,084 troops on board.70
Regular sailings resumed from Liverpool that year and in the summer
the ship not only began
bringing immigrants to
the port of Philadelphia, it also brought war orphans and French
brides.71
Despite the per centum limit law of
1921, immigration continued unabated
into
Philadelphia, but three years later the great movement of emigrants
into the United States came to an end with the passage of the Quota
Act of 1924.72
Summer sailings of the
Haverford
had to be
cancelled and, although the
Haverford
did make
a sailing in September, it was to be its last. On September 29,
1924, the last immigrant ship to bring passengers to the port of
Philadelphia, the
Canopic
of the White
Star Line,
docked at the Washington Avenue Immigrant Station.73
Losing $35,000 on this sailing alone, the
Canopic
carried 127 cabin passengers, but only 91 steerage passengers.
Regular emigrant passenger sailings into the port of Philadelphia
were abandoned.
Forty-three years of immigration had split the east European Jewish
community. Those that made it to the New World were more than
geographically separated from those left behind. The American half
of east European Jewry was to know relative prosperity and security
in the years ahead, while European Jewry, often barred from leaving
the countries of their birth and refused asylum by the world at
large, was to know fear, darkness and death. The grand experiment in
the United States was over. The doors were closed.74
The immigrants settled around South Street and many opened shops
there and on surrounding streets.
Life
was difficult but few would have traded places with their relatives
in Eastern Europe. The years passed quickly. The 1920's were
prosperous, a time to save a little money and perhaps move to one of
the neighborhoods away from downtown. The stock market crash of 1929
did not hit the immigrants immediately, but the following year their
world came crashing down.
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