Eleanore Yenkin
Today we are interviewing Eleanore Yenkin and it is Friday, June 7, 1991, and my name is Bette Young and we’re going to be talking about how Eleanore’s father came to Columbus. Okay, go ahead.
Yenkin: Well, I’ll start out by saying that my mother, Sarah Leah London Weiner – her maiden name was London – was brought to America from Sweden when my mother was 4 years old.
Interviewer: Okay, go ahead. Tell me about your mother.
Yenkin: Samuel Weiner, better known as Sam Weiner, came to Columbus from Pittsburgh. All of his family lived in Pittsburgh but they had learned that my father’s sister, Mayme, wanted a Jewish divorce and Mayme, Aunt Mayme, lived in Marion, Ohio, and her husband had gotten into some very serious difficulty and she was, she did not want to live with him because of this and, he would not give her a Jewish divorce so my father went to Marion, Ohio, to help his sister, Mayme, get a Jewish divorce, which they did receive and then my father came on to Columbus and Aunt Mayme went back to Pittsburgh, where she later married someone who lived in Philadelphia. Her husband was the president of a large
insurance company there with the name, his name was Ben Freifelter. My father came to Columbus and got a job in one of the foundries down on South Parsons Avenue and he would bring customers to Jacob Schottenstein’s business which was on E. Long Street.
Interviewer: What was it?
Yenkin: It was a combination bicycle and clothing . . . .
Interviewer: Oh.
Yenkin: and just sort of a general . . . .
Interviewer: A general store? Yeah.
Yenkin: And my father, Sam Weiner, he was a very handsome person and most likeable. And he would bring customers over and later he got a job with Jacob Schotten- stein. I think he was making $7 a week at that time. And my mother was living at the home of Jacob, her aunt and uncle, who were Jacob and Sarah Schottenstein.
Interviewer: How are they related now? Sarah Schottenstein was your father’s sister?
Yenkin: Sarah Schottenstein was my mother’s aunt.
Interviewer: Okay.
Yenkin: . . . . on my grandmother, on my . . . .
Interviewer: Oh.
Yenkin: mother’s side and Sarah Schottenstein were sisters.
Interviewer: What was Sarah’s maiden name?
Yenkin: My mother, let me see. It was, some were called Gilberg and some were called Goldberg.
Interviewer: Oh. Sarah Goldberg. Here in Columbus?
Yenkin: Yeah. Harry Gilbert’s . . . .
Interviewer: Oh, they’re related to . . . .
Yenkin: Harry Gilbert’s father and my mother’s mother were brother and sister and Dr. Ziskind’s mother and my grandmother were sisters. There is a whole, the Gilberts . . . .
Interviewer: How are they related? Who were the Goldbergs? Were . . . . the
Goldbergs? Was it the Goldbergs . . . .
Yenkin: We were not related to the Goldbergs of this city but some of the Gilberts called themselves Goldberg.
Interviewer: I see.
Yenkin: From the east, in New York.
Interviewer: I see, yeah.
Yenkin: . . . . Goldberg . . . . and my uncle, this Jacob Schottenstein, invited my father, when my father was working for him, invited him over to his home for dinner, where he met my mother who was a very favorite niece and was living with them.
Interviewer: She was very pretty, too?
Yenkin: Yes, she was red-haired and very lovely looking.
Interviewer: . . . .
Yenkin: And they fell in love and they were married and, that’s the story of how my . . . . And then my father opened up a little store. His store, his first store, was at 33 E. Long Street.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: The next building over from High Street at Long, at 33 E. Long.
Interviewer: Oh, uh huh.
Yenkin: And . . . .
Interviewer: I think that might be on the other tape, too.
Yenkin: Maybe it might be.
Interviewer: Well, you’ve been talking, you’ve really been telling us a lot about where he worked and your wonderful stories about you and how your mother used to take you out of school and take you to a picture show.
Yenkin: Oh yes, every Wednesday. My mother and her three little girls.
Interviewer: Isn’t that cute?
Yenkin: . . . . Ruth Kanter and . . . . Helen Zelkowitz and my mother would take us to, get us excused from Eastwood Avenue School, with was a very small school at that time and really, the . . . . of Columbus went to the school. I think there was just about 65 students.
Interviewer: Huh.
Yenkin: And . . . .
Interviewer: So what is your, what we didn’t have a chance to talk about was your parents’ activity in the community. What did they . . . .
Yenkin: My mother belonged to several organizations at that time. I know, I remember the name as the Ezras Noshim Society.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: And also there was a charity organization that mother belonged to. But mother was not, mother had quite a few children and she was very busy taking care of us. My father was very involved in the synagogue.
Interviewer: Which one? Agudas Achim?
Yenkin: And it was at the corner of Washington and Donaldson.
Interviewer: Right. When was that founded?
Yenkin: And his, and he and Abe Martlin were the two co-signers to the mortgage . . . .
Interviewer: Really?
Yenkin: for the Agudas Achim and that was on, yeah . . . .
Interviewer: What year was that?
Yenkin: I don’t know the year but my father had children at that time so he took on quite a responsibility.
Interviewer: He sure did.
Yenkin: And, I’m trying to think what . . . . and my father was always a trustee, one of the trustees of Agudas Achim, which meant that there were a few men that were involved in the running of the Agudas Achim.
Interviewer: . . . . Who were the other men?
Yenkin: Sol Ruben . . . .
Interviewer: Was that Lou Ruben’s father?
Yenkin: Silverstein. Mr. Silverstein. Or Zilberstein. I think it was spelled with a Z, though. Zilberstein. And let’s see, Abe Martlin. These were the early ones. I’m not thinking of ones when I was in Sunday School.
Interviewer: Oh, before?
Yenkin: These were before that and Mr. Wasserman, Mr. Wasserman was the husband of Fannie Wasserman. Do you recall that?
Interviewer: No
Yenkin: She was the mother of Stan, of Mrs. Stanley Schwartz, Ann Schwartz.
Interviewer: Oh, that’s interesting. I didn’t know that. Uh huh.
Yenkin: And so there was just a handful of people . . . . but . . . .
Interviewer: Was he involved in anything political or anything like that?
Yenkin: Oh yes. My father was very big in the political and he, when he
decided to build a building in the east end, which was a new area in Columbus
and Dad decided to close his business at 33 E. Long and open up in the east end,
new section.
Interviewer: Uh huh.
Yenkin: He bought the building at 952 Mt. Vernon Avenue.
Interviewer: . . . .
Yenkin: My father was very influential in carrying the vote of the whole . .
. .
Interviewer: Oh was he? Uh huh.
Yenkin: He was a . . . . He went to Cleveland . . . . to represent a certain
group in the election. The man was very . . . . and he also had great knowledge
of the court system and used to enjoy listening to cases and my father was a
good friend of many of the leading attorneys at that time. I remember the name
Judge Black and let me see, others whose names escape me right now.
Interviewer: Well . . . . Okay. Do you think that we could, do you want to go
on or should we switch gears and talk about you and your life? Is there anything
else you’d like to say about your parents?
Yenkin: Well my father’s and mother’s life was saddened by the death of
my brother Bernard and it really changed their life and activities and . . . .
Interviewer: . . . .
Yenkin: to a great extent, particularly my mother. Because my mother used to
love to go to meetings and be part of Jewish life.
Interviewer: Well.
Yenkin: Yeah.
Interviewer: . . . .
Yenkin: My brother Bernard was at a swimming pool on Nelson Road with Bill
Kahn and a young man by the name of Aaron Zuckerman, at that time. And my
brother had a sad experience. Dr. Kahn was his doctor.
Interviewer: Was it Bill Kahn’s father?
Yenkin: I’m sorry?
Interviewer: Was Dr. Kahn Bill Kahn’s father?
Yenkin: Oh no.
Interviewer: No?
Yenkin: Dr. Kahn was married to a Lazarus.
Interviewer: Oh.
Yenkin: He was, he was the noted Jewish doctor in Columbus.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: But unfortunately he misdiagnosed my brother and then they called, my
father did, keep talking about getting consultation and when they finally did
call the doctor whose name . . . .
Interviewer: I think it’s on the other tape. I think this whole section is
. . . .
Yenkin: Well anyway, he said that . . . .
Interviewer: . . . .
Yenkin: . . . . had diphtheria.
Interviewer: Oh my.
Yenkin: He passed away. He was just called too late . . . . with many . . . .
but it was too late and it was a tremendous . . . .
Interviewer: How old was he?
Yenkin: He was 16.
Interviewer: Oh.
Yenkin: And the Central, Central High School had named my brother, had named
their graduating book . . . .
Interviewer: In memory of him?
Yenkin: Because he was going to be. . . . His class was the first class to go
into the new Central High building.
Interviewer: Uh huh.
Yenkin: And Bernard didn’t make it.
Interviewer: Too bad.
Yenkin: . . . .
Interviewer: I don’t think . . . .
Yenkin: That . . . .
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: That was the high point of . . . . the whole family . . . .
Interviewer: I imagine.
Yenkin: But, so, where do you want me to go?
Interviewer: I want you to go back to your, to how you met your husband.
Yenkin: Well, I was at the University, at Ohio State University, and we
learned that I didn’t have the proper credits. I had never taken chemistry or
higher mathematics. I had taken what was called a straight commercial course. My
coun—, there was no counseling at that time and I didn’t know that I couldn’t
attend college and I found . . . . another . . . . going to college and so I was
there for about two and a half years when the dean called me in and said that I
couldn’t graduate unless I had these credits and in those years, I just
thought I would just choose to . . . . or choose whatever to go back to high
school and get my credits. And so I dropped out of the University and I decided
to use my education that I had in the commercial area, shorthand and typing and
bookkeeping. I had known Abe Yenkin’s sister Bess. I had never met Abe or Ben
or any of the family. We just didn’t know them.
Interviewer: Huh.
Yenkin: And Bess and I were sorority sisters and I was saying that I . . . .
Interviewer: Who was that, Bess . . . .
Yenkin: Bess Yenkin.
Interviewer: Yenkin?
Yenkin: Was her . . . . She was the only sister to Abe.
Interviewer: Isn’t she married to, wasn’t she married to . . . .
Yenkin: She was married to Ben . . . .
Interviewer: Oh that was right. Okay. Elaine is Jeff’s mother.
Yenkin: And her children are Elaine and Rita.
Interviewer: Right.
Yenkin: And so I mentioned I was going to be getting a job and she said,
“Well my brother needs a secretary but you would have to just be perfect.
He never takes anyone who isn’t perfect.” And I thought I was perfect.
(Laughter)
Yenkin: So I applied for the job and he gave me the job immediately. I think
he was taken with the way I looked . . . . and so I was at the Frey-Yenkin Paint
Company.
Interviewer: Oh. Where did Frey come from? The name?
Yenkin: Sorry?
Interviewer: Where did the name Frey come from?
Yenkin: Well, Mr. Frey was an owner.
Interviewer: Oh, I see.
Yenkin: He and my father-in-law and my husband had gone into business
together.
Interviewer: I see.
Yenkin: Mr. Frey made the black paint and he came to use the telephone where
my father-in-law and my husband were in the fur business.
Interviewer: Oh, for heaven’s sake.
Yenkin: And Mr. Frey couldn’t afford a telephone so he would come over to
use the telephone and in the conversation after his using the telephone, they
found out that they would go into business together. And that’s how . . . .
Interviewer: Oh, for heaven’s sake.
Yenkin: And in later years, they bought Mr. Frey out.
Interviewer: So anyhow, you went to work for him. Was he, was this, was it .
. . . in your ages. Was there a difference in your ages?
Yenkin: My husband was 27 and I was 20 and . . . .
Interviewer: He was an older man?
Yenkin: Well, yes. I had no . . . . And I was going with someone else . . . .
and we were having a wonderful time and there was one fellow, Stanley Sackett,
who was . . . . and then there was Harold Zelko who was very . . . . so I really
had no intentions of getting married to him at that time and, but Abe, who was
Mr. Yenkin, and always Mr. Yenkin, and I was referred to as Miss Weiner, and I
just thought he was just so special and observed him so closely because I just
never ever thought that a Jewish fellow could be of such strong character and
knowledgeable . . . .
Interviewer: Really?
Yenkin: Oh his operations in the office were so, oh, let me say they were so
strictly business and to the point and he was very likeable to all the people
that came in, but he had such dignity and just the way he spoke with people. I
just thought it was outstanding and I . . . .
Interviewer: You sound . . . .
Yenkin: I used to come home and talk about Mr. Yenkin and pretty soon, Mr.
Yenkin started asking me if I would go out with him and I told him I couldn’t
and that I wouldn’t and that my parents were very much against any other . . .
. they thought I had too many boyfriends in the first place. In those years, you
know, we were guarded so well, we just . . . .
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: And anyway, I had a birthday and Abe asked me if I would go out and
finally I said I would and somehow or other, we just, I admired Abe. It was just
a strong admiration more than anything else and we had him over for dinner and I
had never met them before and I didn’t know the names of family except for
Bess.
Interviewer: Yeah. Where did they live?
Yenkin: They lived at that time, they had moved from S. 22nd Street to this
home at 381 S. Drexel.
Interviewer: Really?
Yenkin: Uh huh.
Interviewer: My word. Where is 381 S. Drexel?
Yenkin: Well it’s right at Brentwood and Drexel. That was the home that we
lived in.
Interviewer: Oh sure. Oh, for heaven’s sake. I didn’t realize that they
had . . . .
Yenkin: It was a very, it was a six-room home and Abe and his father, on the
first $10,000 that they made, they had put that down on that home. They did
everything together.
Interviewer: They sure were farsighted, weren’t they?
Yenkin: Yes.
Interviewer: Very.
Yenkin: Yes.
Interviewer: There weren’t very many Jewish people living out there?
Yenkin: Not too many.
Interviewer: Huh.
Yenkin: Not too many.
Interviewer: So . . . .
Yenkin: And it, that home at that time belonged to the family of Ralph
Rosenthal.
Interviewer: You’re kidding?
Yenkin: Uh huh. I think the Rosenthals built the house.
Interviewer: I’ll be darned.
Yenkin: Uh huh. And of course in later years, in ’46, 1946, Abe and I moved
back into the house.
Interviewer: So, I didn’t realize that the Ralph Rosenthal family was . . .
. all this years. ‘Cause what . . . . I forget, she just died, she was . . . .
Helen. Is that the Ralph Rosenthal you’re talking about, the dentist?
Yenkin: No.
Interviewer: Oh, I know who you’re talking about.
Yenkin: . . . .
Interviewer: I know who you’re talking about. They moved here and then they
moved away and they were German Jews. I know who you’re talking about. They
moved here. I don’t think they ever had kids. But they moved away and then
they moved back, and then they moved away again.
Yenkin: Well, when Ralph, when Ralph married.
Interviewer: . . . .
Yenkin: I can’t think of her name. She was a lovely, lovely person.
Interviewer: I can’t think of her name either.
Yenkin: When I . . . .
Interviewer: . . . .
Yenkin: . . . . Ralph . . . . I don’t remember . . . . I don’t remember
whether that it was Ralph Rosenthal’s home or his parents’ home. But I know
he lived there.
Interviewer: That was, yes. So . . . . You two got married . . . . Anyhow, he
started taking you out and you went and met his family?
Yenkin: Yes.
Interviewer: And you liked them?
Yenkin: And . . . .
Interviewer: And they liked you?
Yenkin: My parents were shocked that he could because they thought I would be
marrying some of the young men I was going with. And Abe and I got married and .
. . .
Interviewer: Where did you live?
Yenkin: We lived, oh, at that time we were . . . .
Interviewer: What was that, an apartment?
Yenkin: Looking for an apartment.
Interviewer: What year was that?
Yenkin: 1930. Just really, just the beginning of the Depression, and we
started looking for an apartment and apartments were $80 a month and that was a
lot of money.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: And of course the business was small and they were . . . .
responsible. I mean my father-in-law had Ben and Fred and another . . . . Yenkin
. . . . and so Abe asked me if I would mind moving in and explained that he had
put his money in the house and I would feel . . . . Well, we both acknowledged
that I had a wonderful mother-in-law . . . .
Interviewer: You must have. Two women in the same house.
Yenkin: She was so wonderful and she loved me very much. I mean she used to
express that to me. And so we lived there; Bernie was born, I lived . . . .
Bernie and also my daughter Sandra, we lived there.
Interviewer: Really?
Yenkin: Well, Sandy, Sandra was born and then we moved out when Sandy was
nine months old. We moved out. Bernie was five years old.
Interviewer: . . . .
Yenkin: . . . . and
Interviewer: Oh, my.
Yenkin: It was . . . .
Interviewer: . . . .
Yenkin: . . . .
Interviewer: . . . .
Yenkin: We lived in a home on Bryden Road, 2188 Bryden Road. It was next door
to the home of Ed Schlezinger’s parents.
Interviewer: Oh, no kidding?
Yenkin: And Ed was courting Madelyn Maybrook at that time. And we had a
lovely home there but when we first bought it, we couldn’t afford to move into
it so we rented it to the Frank Family and they had about, I think there were
about eight daughters or something in that family and needless to say, the water
bill was very high.
Interviewer: You paid the water bill?
Yenkin: Those years . . . . they moved years you know, after they moved, I
sort of . . . . relevant . . . . high and we . . . .
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: So anyway we, we moved in 194-. I can’t remember the year then. Let
me see. ’40 – I think it was ’41. And Linda was born and . . . . Not in the
home but . . . .
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: we always were living there and . . . .
Interviewer: . . . . of the family . . . . in ’46?
Yenkin: Yes, we moved because Mother and Dad Yenkin moved to the Royal York.
Interviewer: Oh.
Yenkin: . . . . to make it easier for them . . . . and it was quite run down
because all the families had lived there. Ben and Helen moved in and lived there
and then Fred and Lillian moved in and lived there and Bess and Nate moved in
and lived there. And so the house needed a great deal of care because it hadn’t
been given any kind of care . . . . So when we, Dad Yenkin and Abe were so fond
of that house that they didn’t want to give it up and so they asked if we
would move back in and I said I would, providing that I be permitted to . . . .
Interviewer: Decorate it?
Yenkin: . . . . all the work that it needed and from my six-room house with
one bathroom, I proceeded with the help of a black person and a man from
Reynoldsburg or Pataskala, I think at that time, he was 60 and I thought that
was pretty old.
Interviewer: Yeah, at that time it was.
Yenkin: But he, Mr. Headlee was his name, and those two men did a great deal
of the construction and we did have also a Mr. Stegmiller, builder, and I think
it became like a . . . . oh somewhere like I think, it was about a 13- or
14-room home after that.
Interviewer: Really?
Yenkin: I had the third floor completely gutted and . . . .
Interviewer: Redone?
Yenkin: made into a beautiful area and took the second floor bathroom and put
it up in the third floor where there wasn’t a bathroom.
Interviewer: You put bathrooms on the second floor?
Yenkin: And we put in a completely furnished, all new windows, added a
tremendous kitchen and a large bedroom on the second floor. The kitchen . . . .
was extended and off of the dining room I made a very large Florida room.
Interviewer: Yeah, I remember that.
Yenkin: And I . . . .
Interviewer: And you had a rec room, a recreation room.
Yenkin: And I also made a larger room out of the sun room. So we just did a
lot of addition to the house and brought it up to that period. It was one of
those lovely homes.
Interviewer: Oh sure, I remember.
Yenkin: And we lived there . . . . matter of fact, I think it was . . . .
1986.
Interviewer: Oh, I didn’t realize. Who lives there now?
Yenkin: A doctor and his wife. Dr. Lewis bought the home and he bought the
whole family . . . . it was . . . . home.
Interviewer: Yeah, I bet.
Yenkin: And . . . .
Interviewer: Well you always lived near Fred; the brothers always lived near
one another?
Yenkin: Yes.
Interviewer: Ben and Fred?
Yenkin: Uh huh and what else can I tell you? I had my sister, Tillie Ziskind,
who was married to Dr. Ziskind . . . . and Susan is her daughter.
Interviewer: And they were first cousins who got married, Tillie and . . . .
Yenkin: They were first, I think first cousins once removed.
Interviewer: Oh.
Yenkin: See her m—-, Dr. Ziskind’s mother was my sister’s great aunt.
Interviewer: I see.
Yenkin: . . . .
Interviewer: She was a very good bridge player.
Yenkin: Excellent. And she taught me how to play maj and is still missed by
many of her non-Jewish fans . . . .
Interviewer: Oh yeah, I’m sure.
Yenkin: that . . . . played bridge with.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: They still talk about Tillie.
Interviewer: Yeah. Well your sisters have all done interesting things. Your
one sister is the one in Mt. Vernon.
Yenkin: . . . . Yes, and she was married to Dr. Max Kanter and her children
are Leah, Sadie and Buzzy Kanter, Sammy Kanter.
Interviewer: Right.
Yenkin: And then my sister Helen got married; she was married to Charles
Zelkowitz of Mt. Vernon and their son, Stephen . . . .
Interviewer: Are they related too, somehow?
Yenkin: . . . .
Interviewer: . . . . Charles . . . .
Yenkin: Yes, they were consins.
Interviewer: Yeah, uh huh.
Yenkin: On my father’s side.
Interviewer: Right. Uh huh, uh huh.
Yenkin: . . . .
Interviewer: Yeah . . . . and . . . .
Yenkin: He was married to Donna and they have children, Jonathan and Julie.
Interviewer: Uh huh.
Yenkin: And of course my brother Abe, who was just . . . . everyone called
him Bumble, was just crazy about him.
Interviewer: Really?
Yenkin: . . . . used to go with that group. Would always talk about my
brother . . . .
Interviewer: Really? Why did they call him that?
Yenkin: Uh huh.
Interviewer: Why did they call him that?
Yenkin: Well he was very tall and handsome and most likeable and a marvelous
dancer and loved to go out and have wonderful times with his friends and he was
always coming home with a blue ribbon for dancing.
Interviewer: Wow.
Yenkin: Yeah. But he was, he met Martha and they got married. They have the
two children, Sam and Sharon.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: Sharon’s married to Martin Cooper. They live in Minneapolis.
Interviewer: Where does Sam live? Does he live here?
Yenkin: Sam is a wonderful attorney here and past president of Agudas Achim
Synagogue and a most likeable, wonderful person.
Interviewer: Now . . . . different . . . . Is it Sammy Kanter?
Yenkin: Sam Kanter.
Interviewer: Kanter . . . . a lawyer too and he teaches law?
Yenkin: He’s a what?
Interviewer: An attorney and he teaches law?
Yenkin: He is an attorney but he was teaching law and right now he is not in
that area . . . . But Sam Weiner is a very noted attorney here in this city.
Interviewer: Is he married?
Yenkin: Yes, he’s married to Frances Mormol who came from Akron.
Interviewer: Uh huh.
Yenkin: And they live over at Bishop’s Square and they are a wonderful
couple and what can I tell you?
Interviewer: Tell me about your activities in the community. There are so
many I don’t even know where you . . . .
Yenkin: Well, I started really being a volunteer I think when I was about 22
years old. Fannie Gilbert and I were the Infant Welfare Chairmen of Hadassah and
then we, then I was working with Rose Schiff and Molly and Henrietta and, her
name escapes me, I can’t think of her first name. And we did a lot of work
together and the Federation was formed. I think it was formed at Esther, at
Esther Melton’s home, although we had . . . .
Interviewer: It wasn’t called that, though. It was called the United Jewish
Fund, right?
Yenkin: Yeah, it really started as a group of women who were given to relieve
. . . .
Interviewer: . . . .
Yenkin: I’m trying to remember. . . . We have pictures of Mrs. Levy from
the Union and I have all these pictures and I know that I was in that group. We
were all, we were all, I don’t know whether we were presidents of Sisterhood.
It was in ’39 then ’cause that’s when I was President of the Sisterhood at
Agudas Achim.
Interviewer: Oh really. You were young!
Yenkin: . . . .
Interviewer: You were a young president.
Yenkin: Yeah. And my picture was . . . .
Interviewer: Yeah you told me that. You told me that.
Yenkin: Have you seen it?
Interviewer: I don’t know but you told me that it was in the paper and . .
. .
Yenkin: Yes, and quite a . . . .
Interviewer: I’d love to see it.
Yenkin: And there was this group. I think there must have been about . . . .
Reva Gordon was in it. I don’t have it before me but I know Elizabeth Goldberg
was in it and different women from the community.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: . . . . that were, I would say, I don’t want to say . . . .
Interviewer: Had positions of leadership?
Yenkin: They were leaders in the community.
Interviewer: They had positions of leadership?
Yenkin: Yeah. And that was the group really and anyway, that was the
beginning and I did a great deal of work in the Council of Jewish Women and that
. . . . the Jewish Family Service when Lazar Brenner was Director of Jewish
Family Service.
Interviewer: Oh, uh huh.
Yenkin: And so I had just about, I don’t know how many friends from the new
Americans of . . . .
Interviewer: That era?
Yenkin: Of that era of the first Holocaust.
Interviewer: Yeah, of the Holo—–. Yeah.
Yenkin: And I had a store that was given to me by Willie Schwartz. I don’t
know whether I told that story.
Interviewer: No.
Yenkin: Willie Schwart was the baker and . . . .
Interviewer: Oh, Schwartz’s Bakery?
Yenkin: Yes.
Interviewer: I remember him.
Yenkin: And we needed a store just because I was given so many things and I
would go out and ask for things. I think I was known as the old clothes lady or
something. I had furniture.
Interviewer: Yours was the first “nearly new shop”?
Yenkin: Definitely.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: And it was over on, I think it was Fulton Street and I’d go over
there regularly and I had a black man by the name of Walme and I think for $3 he
would send a low table load of furniture to a family that needed a bedroom or a
breakfast room set. Whatever it was, we would . . . .
Interviewer: Free? Free? Was it free to these people?
Yenkin: I’m sorry?
Interviewer: Was it free? Did you donate it free to these people?
Yenkin: Yes, oh yes. Everything was free and they would come to the store.
Many of them lived close by the store. That was where Rose Sugarman would find
places for them on, on Fulton and Mound and Rich Street in that, in those
terrible areas of prostitution and what have you. We, we weren’t set up like
we are today or even ten years ago. It was just “find someplace for
them” and it was just very little money and the community wasn’t
organized like it is today and so there was very, very little money for help.
Interviewer: Yeah. Sounds . . . .
Yenkin: And it was a great deal of volunteer work being done and so I had
this store and I met Gerda Baruch at that time who was a relative of Max
Herzberg and we became very good friends and I would pick Gerda up and take her
around . . . . store.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: And we would organize our merchandise and meet the people and there
were many stories connected to that . . . .
Interviewer: . . . . This was just something you did on your own?
Yenkin: This was, well they really didn’t, there was no one on Council who
ever came to our store . . . .
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: ever paid our . . . . and Reva Gordon wouldn’t permit me to take
pictures. I really wanted to take pictures of the families and the store but she
said it would only be exploiting them. But today they like to have pictures and
I don’t have pictures but I have a lot of . . . .
Interviewer: Well so . . . .
Yenkin: But I have all my notes on that.
Interviewer: So who . . . . the store? Who was sponsoring the store? . . . .
privately or the Federation or . . . .
Yenkin: I was running the store and the Council really, I was doing it as a
member of Council.
Interviewer: I see.
Yenkin: But also as a worker, a very strong worker, for the Jewish Family
Service.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: And Jewish Family Service, I don’t think, knows anything about this
but, I mean, over the years you know, they just, it was Lazar Brenner and he
knew I was running the store and I’m sure the Council knew because I would
report it at the Board meeting.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: But Mr. Schwartz, Willie Schwartz, I must say that . . . . said he
would not give me the store in the name of the Council of Jewish Women but he
would give it to me in the name of EleanoreYenkin.
Interviewer: Oh, for heaven’s sake. You what? Yeah . . . . Okay, so he gave
you the store?
Yenkin: He gave us the store and I will say the store came with awfully long
rats and I was scared to death of . . . .
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: to be beside a rat, and my sister would chase me around the block
with an ant in her hand, but so we used to stamp our feet and make a lot of
noise when we would enter so we wouldn’t, because, and then did have the store
. . . .
Interviewer: Exterminated?
Yenkin: Yes.
Interviewer: How long was that store there?
Yenkin: Oh I think we had that store at least four or five years.
Interviewer: During the war?
Yenkin: And it was very meaningful for the people and I, when I think back
and I think of certain names and I won’t mention them because maybe they would
be embarrassed, but I remember certain families that came here. This little boy
was looking out the window, they lived on Mound Street, and I knocked on the
door and I said: “Would you let me in?” and he shook his head no and
his teeth were rotten and he was a handsome little fellow with big black eyes
and his mother and sister had gone to market and he was told not to let anybody
in and he wouldn’t let anybody in and I had, I know they needed sheets and
they needed coal and they ne—-, and I was very busy working with Rose Javis
who was connected with the Schonthal Center.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: She was the social worker there. And, under Rose Sugarman, who was
quite a sergeant-at-arms. I don’t think you ever knew Rose Sugarman.
Interviewer: No.
Yenkin: But I think I’m safe in saying she was a real sergeant and there
were some wonderful stories that came out and the funny thing is that, what is
the name of, I know she was a friend of your family. She and I had gone out on
this, oh such a blistery, horrible freezing day, to visit a woman who was
supposedly to have a baby very soon and our car, my car was swirling around and
I said, “Listen, let’s don’t go today. Let’s go tomorrow.” So we
went back home and the next day we started out and we got to her home and we
were sitting there talking; we had to go up the fire escape in the back. She
lived up over Doc Kanter, Dr. Abe Kanter’s office that was on Livingston
Avenue. We had to go up to her home on a fire escape and I’m petrified on open
steps anyway and the bushes . . . . these were the steel open step fire escape .
. . .
Interviewer: And you actually had high heels on, I bet?
Yenkin: I’m sorry?
Interviewer: You had high heels on?
Yenkin: (Laughs) . . . .
Interviewer: You were all dressed up?
Yenkin: And we went up . . . . and were sitting there and she served us this
lovely baked goods. All of a sudden . . . . white . . . . she gave out a cry,
“Oy!”, like in Jewish.
. . . . her water had broken and she ran out of the, she ran to the bathroom
. . . . I know so well. He daughter married, shoot . . . .
Interviewer: Were they in town?
Yenkin: She did live in town?
Interviewer: Lazar?
Yenkin: No it was her, what was her first son that married, I have to think
who that is. Anyway . . . .
Interviewer: I don’t know; I’m trying to think . . . .
Yenkin: She was a short attractive woman – belonged to the Temple and . . . .
Interviewer: Were her kids my age?
Yenkin: . . . . married . . . . and that was his second marriage and her son
got married . . . . her son just married the Shamansky girl from Mt. Vernon.
Interviewer: Oh, I know who you’re talking about.
Yenkin: . . . .
Interviewer: I know who you’re talking about because Fanny . . . . was
telling me about . . . .
Yenkin: Right. So lo and behold, she was going to give birth to this child.
Well I called the Schonthal Center immediately and talked to my friend Rose
Javis. I went, I had to go downstairs to use Abe Kanter’s telephone because
she didn’t have . . . .
Interviewer: Why . . . . Kanter probably could have delivered it. Couldn’t
Abe Kanter have delivered it?
Yenkin: Well he wasn’t in the office.
Interviewer: Oh.
Yenkin: So, and I said, “Rose, this is Eleanore Yenkin, and Mrs. Sluizer’s
water broke.” And Rose, who was a maiden and had never gotten married,
said, “I knew it was cold but I didn’t know it was that cold.”
Interviewer: (Laughs)
Yenkin: And I said, “It’s not Mrs. Sluizer’s plumbing; it’s Mrs.
Sluizer.”
Interviewer: Ha, ha.
Yenkin: The funny thing is that I told that story and about five years later,
it came from New York, from this woman.
Interviewer: You’re kidding.
Yenkin: And I was so upset because that absolutely happened in Columbus,
Ohio, right over Abe Kanter’s office.
Interviewer: So what happened? What happened with her?
Yenkin: Anyway . . . .
Interviewer: Where was her husband, working?
Yenkin: I’m sorry?
Interviewer: Her husband was working?
Yenkin: He was working in the, at, oh I know the name. Silberstein’s Iron
and, you know, their yard; you know they had this . . . .
Interviewer: A scrap yard?
Yenkin: . . . . with these things in my ear but . . . . in my eyes . . . . I
can’t think how to speak. So Victor who spoke about four languages, Victor was
four years old.
Interviewer: He spoke four languages at the age of four?
Yenkin: Yes, yes.
Interviewer: My word.
Yenkin: Oh yes and so I said, “Look, Lill,” to Lill Blashek. I
said, “I have, I have to be home but I will take Victor with me. Would you
go to the hospital with Mrs. Sluizer?” She said, well, she would. Oh the
boy, I’m getting ahead of myself. I called this Rose Javis and I said,
“You’d better call the emergency squad. Do you want me to call
them?” So I went down and into the middle of the street so that they would
know where to come because it was in a sort of a strategic place. I didn’t
think they’d find it. And I waved them on (dead tape) . . . . I looked at him
and I said, “Listen, we’re not going to let that baby be born in this
house.” It is not, the home was not clean, the woman was not well. She was
physically and mentally exhausted and . . . .
Interviewer: How long had she been in this country?
Yenkin: Well she had really, she was here two years and she was not well. She
was one of the people who just wasn’t too well, mentally and physically. She
was having a hard time. And I said, “She is not going to deliver her baby
here. She is paid for at Ohio State University Hospital and that’s where she
is going.” He said, “Don’t tell me where she’s going. She’s
going to have that baby here.” I said, “I’m telling you she isn’t
going to have her baby here and I’m not going to put all that on her!” So
they examined her and they said they thought the baby would be coming soon. Well
the baby didn’t come. Lill went in the emergency with Mrs. Sluizer and Victor
and I, and at this turn I was having a very difficult and sad conversation . . .
. He did not want to come to my house. He wanted to go to his friend, David
Boiman. David lived in the same . . . .
Interviewer: Really? What’s his last name?
Yenkin: Boiman – B-O-I-M-A-N. I think he does, he used to have a bicycle shop
over on Main and Montrose . . . .
Interviewer: . . . . Yeah.
Yenkin: I knew his father very well. His father is . . . . now. And so he
wanted to go to his friend who was four years old, David Boiman, and I knew Mrs.
Boiman very well and he was crying and telling me in Yiddish, which I did not
speak too well at that time, in Yiddish, but I did know when he said,
“David Boiman”, I knew that’s where he wanted to go. And I was at
this point . . . . I was looking forward to having this wonderful young man in
my house and I was thinking all the things I was going to do with him and he
wouldn’t let me do it. So I took him to David Boiman’s and instead of Mrs.
Sluizer’s husband going to the hospital to help his wife. he came over to the
Boiman’s and relaxed.
Interviewer: (Laughs)
Yenkin: We were all very mad at him.
Interviewer: Was this the second child?
Yenkin: Yes, the second child. Mr. Sluizer was a strong man in the circus in
Russia. Somewhere in the . . . .
Interviewer: Oh, for heaven’s sake.
Yenkin: Europe and anyway, so he was bending iron over at the foundry . . . .
Interviewer: . . . .
Yenkin: Iron and steel or whatever they call it.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: And . . . .
Interviewer: That’s funny.
Yenkin: So Mrs. Sluizer didn’t deliver until about 12 or 14 hours and poor
Lill, was still staying there but she finally did go home.
Indistinct
Yenkin: . . . . but she finally did perform after a few hours and Mrs.
Sluizer did give birth to a lovely little girl named Mary.
Interviewer: So you people, like Lill and whoever helped you . . . . did it
on your own?
Yenkin: Yeah, well we were working for the Council, actually, we were
representatives of Jewish Women and actually, the Council of Jewish Women,
before the period of that time, of the New Americans, didn’t have a program
that was appealing enough to a lot of people. They were doing more community
work in the non-Jewish area.
Interviewer: Right, right.
Yenkin: And then they took this on and then took on Israel . . . .
Interviewer: Did you feel, did you feel any difference between people, I mean
did you, you didn’t feel uncomfortable when you were with certain groups of
people and not others, did you?
Yenkin: I felt very comfortable with the people that needed people. I mean, I
felt that I needed people and they needed people. I always felt . . . .
Interviewer: ‘Cause I know I . . . .
Yenkin: strongly for regardless of color or creed.
Interviewer: No, I’m talking about the difference between this whole
German-Jewish thing in town.
Yenkin: Oh.
Interviewer: I don’t think you ever . . . . that there was . . . .
Yenkin: I was active in Council of Jewish Women so I felt really, I felt
slightly uncomfortable.
Interviewer: Did you?
Yenkin: Yeah, slightly. There were some people that I was almost afraid that
they were out to . . . . but . . . .
Interviewer: Really?
Yenkin: Uh huh. But really, it was through that picture in the paper that the
German Jews started . . . .
Interviewer: Really?
Yenkin: Yes, start, they called me, people from the Temple called me to
congratulate me on . . . .
Interviewer: What was your . . . .
Yenkin: Being a first, they called it. I really had no knowledge of this;
this stuff that they called “the front page society”.
Indistinct
Yenkin: . . . . the front page society and I was the first Jewish woman that
actually had their picture . . . .
Interviewer: Really?
Yenkin: It was such a lovely picture that they put it on the front page
society.
Interviewer: Now, let me ask you something about Winding Hollow. Did you join
Winding Hollow?
Yenkin: We joined Winding Hollow in 1945, I think . . . . ’45, and we just
loved it and we felt very at home there. People were most, well the Yenkin
Family, being the three brothers . . . .
Interviewer: Right.
Yenkin: . . . . came in kind of . . . . and they were all well liked and in
different ways, you know.
Interviewer: And all of . . . . the three women were too.
Yenkin: Thank you. We had so much fun there. Helen and Lillian and I
participated in the show.
Interviewer: In the play? Yeah. Oh yeah.
Yenkin: We were . . . . On one occasion when we were preparing for that show,
we were, we were laughing so much that Helen’s neighbors reported us because
we were very noisy. We were putting, we were making a Chinese, a Chinese, what
is that thing called with the wheels and all . . . .
Interviewer: . . . .
Yenkin: The thing that they pulled them in?
Interviewer: Oh, a rickshaw?
Yenkin: A rickshaw, yeah. Isn’t that awful? And we were laughing so
hysterically at the, at all the things we were going to be doing that we were
reported and . . . .
Indistinct
Interviewer: Too bad they don’t have those shows now.
Yenkin: I’m sorry?
Interviewer: It’s too bad they don’t seem to continue to have those
shows.
Yenkin: We have pictures of that. I have pictures and we won the first prize.
I’ll never forget that. Our big competition was Marge Gurvis who had gone to
New York and bought something that made her whole body gold and I mean it was
really, she really got to a tremendous extent . . . . and it was . . . .
wonderful make-up which she had. But ours, there were three of us and I was
represented the Chinese prints and whatever . . . . I worked and Helen and
Lillian were the coolies and I . . . .
Interviewer: How funny.
Yenkin: . . . .
Interviewer: How funny.
Yenkin: that we had, we just, well one of these days, I’ll explain it. It’s
just hard to talk about it.
Interviewer: What if they, how long is there, I mean did they start these
shows right away or do you remember when they started, or . . . .
Yenkin: So I was in several shows and I remember . . . .
Interviewer: There, I remember . . . .
Yenkin: I was . . . . I was the only girl and there was this line-up of all
the important men of the Club who had served in the first World War.
Interviewer: Oh, my word.
Yenkin: And I sang a song: “There’s something about a soldier that is
fine, fine, fine,” and I had an outfit on that I remember Rabbi . . . .
Maybe I’m speaking out of turn, made me out of one of these . . . . but he
came up to me after the show and he said, “I’d like to be your stage-door
Johnnie.”
Laughter
Yenkin: Oh he was, it was quite a smash. But oh, it was in the days of
Frances Gunder- sheimer and Mrs. Levy and Bob Greene was terrific . . . .
Interviewer: Oh yeah.
Yenkin: He was a producer out of this world and he was also . . . . he was
one of the main hits of the show.
Interviewer: He was?
Yenkin: . . . . was when he was . . . . doing the shows that he, but this
other one where we were the Chinese, that was a Ladies’ Day event.
Interviewer: Oh, uh huh.
Yenkin: And we came in with this rickshaw and it looked like they were
carrying me because we had it fixed up; we had . . . .
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: Can I say this?
Interviewer: Sure.
Yenkin: We had used the clothes props from the clothes line.
Interviewer: Oh.
Yenkin: As the bars and so they, they were carrying that and I had on a
Chine–, we all wore silk hose over our faces so it made us look Chinese. The
two girls wore yarmulkees and medical white coats so it looked like coolies,
with black pants and I was dressed as the emperor or whatever and we wore, oh,
it was . . . . mink tails and we . . . .
Laughter
Yenkin: . . . . our little braids and we came sort of in a bounce, running
and it looked like they were carrying me because I was in the middle . . . .
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: and the clothes and we had . . . . might be so they couldn’t see us
. . . . license sticker. And oh, and Lill had something extended where it . . .
. out . . . . leg like they were my leg.
Interviewer: Like they were your leg?
Yenkin: Like they were my leg and I put shoes on them, ballet slippers. Oh, I
tell you we did, it was terrific . . . .
Interviewer: Sounds like it.
Yenkin: . . . . wonderful make-up. And when we came in, I looked . . . .
Interviewer: They don’t do anything like that out there any more, do they?
Yenkin: No, not to that extent.
Interviewer: There is another thing I wanted . . . .
Yenkin: . . . .
Interviewer: I mean I think it’s so interesting to hear all these things
that you did as a volunteer, real hands-on kinds of things.
Yenkin: I’m sorry?
Interviewer: Real hands-on kinds of things.
Yenkin: Uh huh.
Interviewer: I mean walking up, I mean . . . .
Yenkin: Yeah.
Interviewer: I don’t . . . . people volunteer like that any more. Too bad.
Yenkin: I don’t think they do. Well I think they carry baskets to people .
. . . things. Of course we have the nearly new shop where people come in . . . .
out what they want but it is on a different level. I think this was more, you
felt like you were part of a family. . . . I used to, I had all these people
that I saw that . . . . several of them have passed away . . . .
Interviewer: . . . .
Yenkin: . . . . the Holocaust and but I see many of my friends from that
period and I think that . . . .
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: A lot.
Interviewer: It’s different. It’s just different today. I think people
are missing out. I think when they started paying people to do the things that
volunteers used to do is when it, probably when it changed.
Yenkin: Uh huh.
Interviewer: Yeah. Well, what do you . . . .
Yenkin: I don’t think there was any paying except for Rose Sugarman and
Rose Javis who were there but even with that, Essie Goorey and I used to meet, I
just was with Essie the other day . . . .
Interviewer: Oh, were you really?
Yenkin: Uh huh, someone had us to lunch. It was so lovely and we were
reminiscing a great deal about meeting the families up at the train station and
I would take, when I met them, I’d take them out to breakfast and then . . . .
Interviewer: What did you speak? How did you communicate with them?
Yenkin: Oh, it was very hard. I’d, I was ashamed to say that I didn’t
know, that I didn’t know Yiddish and when this one man asked me about fabreek,
I thought he was talking about fabric and I was thinking of the Resler pants
factory. I’m ashamed to admit it and I said, “Ir hoben pants
factory” and that isn’t a Jewish word . . . . and I just didn’t, I
didn’t know much Jewish . . . . and I’ve been . . . .
Interviewer: What does it mean? Fabreek?
Yenkin: Fabreek is a factory.
Interviewer: Oh.
Yenkin: And I thought it had to do with fabric.
Interviewer: Yeah, well that was . . . .
Yenkin: So I just . . . .
Interviewer: So do you know Yiddish now?
Yenkin: I’m sorry?
Interviewer: Do you know Yiddish now? Do you know any . . . .
Yenkin: I’m teaching myself. Yes I really want to learn Yiddish and I know
a little bit more, oh, I know much more than I did.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: Uh huh.
Interviewer: Does your husband know Yiddish?
Yenkin: Oh yes. See they spoke Yiddish in the house.
Interviewer: Oh they did?
Yenkin: And, but I didn’t know Yiddish . . . . didn’t speak Yiddish in
the house.
Interviewer: Uh huh.
Yenkin: . . . . they want us to understand and we didn’t pay any attention
. . . .
Interviewer: . . . . just want to ask you one other thing and them I’m
going to have to run . . . . What do you, what’s the most meaningful kind of
experience you had as a volunteer?
Yenkin: I think my most meaningful was working with the New Americans that
came from Europe and just realizing and thanking God that I was in the position
that I was in and I was, and it made it very meaningful to me because I kept
thinking how I would like to have been accepted . . . . and I just, to me, those
were much closer friends than anybody . . . .
Interviewer: Right.
Yenkin: other than my immediate family.
Interviewer: Really?
Yenkin: Uh huh. Yes, I, I . . . .
Interviewer: . . . .
Yenkin: esteem that and . . . .
Interviewer: Why?
Yenkin: I don’t know. I felt a very strong bond and I just kept feeling the
need of helping and seeing if I could in any way help them and . . . . and we
had a wonderful time together. I mean they were . . . . things that were so
meaningful. I mean just so like you were really doing something.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: And that was to me the most, I would say that era was . . . .
Interviewer: Was that during the war or after?
Yenkin: I did also enjoy my presidency of the Agudas Achim because we
initiated a lot of things. We had membership drives and my cousin Edith Taxon
and I, we had many affairs at my home and . . . .
Interviewer: Who was the Rabbi? Who was the Rabbi then when you did all this?
Yenkin: When I got married, it was Rabbi Werne and the Rabbi I think was
Rabbi Hirschsprung.
Interviewer: He was after Rabbi . . . .
Yenkin: I’m sorry?
Interviewer: He was before or after Rabbi . . . .
Yenkin: He was after Rabbi . . . .
Interviewer: Which was the one, I was talking with some of the people who
belong to the synagogue and they were talking about a rabbi who attracted all of
these kids from Ohio State. They used to come on Friday night. Which one was
that?
Yenkin: At what point? It might have been Hirschsprung. Or Werne. They both
were, I don’t know whether it was Rabbi Rubenstein or not. But we . . . .
Interviewer: . . . . I know it wasn’t Rabbi Rubenstein.
Yenkin: It was either Rabbi Werne or Rabbi Hirschsprung . . . . we had . . .
. open . . . . on Friday night?
Interviewer: Oh, did you?
Yenkin: My parents, we used to walk to the synagogue on Friday night.
Interviewer: On Friday night?
Yenkin: Regardless, after dinner, regardless of weather . . . .
Interviewer: They had something after dinner on Friday night?
Yenkin: Yes. Uh huh. Like from 8 to 9 o’clock. For . . . .
Interviewer: . . . .
Yenkin: to 9:40.
Interviewer: Just like in Reform?
Yenkin: It was; I’m sorry?
Interviewer: Just like in Reform? They don’t do that now.
Yenkin: Well it was . . . .
Interviewer: . . . .
Yenkin: . . . .
Interviewer: . . . . do it now?
Yenkin: Well, we had that, it wasn’t that we had, it was more of a
beautiful way to spend Friday evening. You also could go to the shul on
the Sabbath.
Interviewer: Right.
Yenkin: But Friday night was also part of . . . .
Interviewer: Was there a . . . .
Yenkin: . . . . we had an English service.
Interviewer: Oh . . . .
Yenkin: . . . . I remember Patty Rappaport used to sing and there would be .
. . .
Interviewer: You didn’t have a cantor?
Yenkin: Oh we always had a cantor.
Interviewer: Well what would she sing?
Yenkin: But it was a different service.
Interviewer: Oh, I see.
Yenkin: She sang maybe “God Bless America” and “Hatikva”
and it would open up that way and then we’d have readings, English readings;
everything was in English.
Interviewer: Interesting.
Yenkin: . . . . sort of just . . . . and we would have occasionally there
would be a student, a very bright student from Ohio State that would speak. I
remember . . . . Leibovitz who was a Sunday School teacher and later turned out
to be an outstanding lawyer and judge, I believe in Cleveland.
Interviewer: Really?
Yenkin: And he was connected with our synagogue as a Sunday School teacher
and he also would speak . . . . would speak to the young . . . . you know . . .
.
Interviewer: Yeah. Let me just ask you another question too. I don’t want
to keep you . . . .
Yenkin: . . . .
Interviewer: I want to ask you about Zionism. How you feel. I mean when did
you first, when did you first know that there would be a Jewish state or think
that there should be one? Or . . . .
Yenkin: Well, Abe and I were married at the time and Abe was a Zionist from
the time he was 17 years old.
Interviewer: Oh really?
Yenkin: As a matter of fact, he purchased a few dunam of land in
Israel when he was 17.
Interviewer: Huh.
Yenkin: And he, you know, we still own that. I don’t know whether it was .
. . . three . . . . I used to think it was much more. I don’t know why, but it
was either three or five dunam.
Interviewer: Which is what?
Yenkin: It’s maybe like, maybe it’s two acres.
Interviewer: Uh huh.
Yenkin: And it’s in . . . . early in . . . . I’ve been over to see it
many times and . . . .
Interviewer: What’s on it now? Is it a farm?
Yenkin: It’s just land.
Interviewer: Oh.
Yenkin: Uh huh.
Interviewer: Oh.
Yenkin: . . . . we’re . . . . We paid a lot of taxes on it and I remember,
and in the early years, taxes were, taxes were practically nothing when we first
got married.
Interviewer: I’ll bet.
Yenkin: When we first got married. They were . . . . but then . . . . Abe
just put money in . . . . didn’t, he didn’t want to have any trouble but
when the taxes became very heavy and we still own it . . . . Bernard was in
charge of it and . . . .
Interviewer: So you know . . . .
Yenkin: It’s in the city that I went . . . .
Interviewer: Oh, it’s in the city?
Yenkin: It is in a lovely city and, right near Tel Aviv. It’s a beautiful
city right on the Mediterranean.
Interviewer: Ash Kelon or Ashdod or one of those?
Yenkin: No, it’s not . . . .
Interviewer: It’ll come to you at 3:00 this morning.
Yenkin: Uh huh.
Indistinct
Yenkin: But Abe and I used to attend all of the tremendous meetings in
Atlantic City . . . .
Interviewer: . . . . the Zionist Organization?
Yenkin: . . . . Yeah.
Interviewer: How interesting.
Yenkin: Yes, we were . . . .
Interviewer: When Rabbi Silver and Rabbi Werne . . . .
Yenkin: Yes, we were there.
Interviewer: How interesting. How thrilling.
Yenkin: And we were there for, there was a tremendous discussion as to
whether or not Zionism was going to be in . . . . they wanted to be . . . . or
whether or not.
Interviewer: Right.
Yenkin: Zionism was going to begin and it was acclaimed and it was such a
big, tremendous . . . . and excitement at the . . . .
Interviewer: Is that the one that Rabbi Silver got up and gave a . . . . that
he got up and gave a . . . .
Yenkin: It’s very likely because it’s sort of vague in my mind.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: But we were there for the . . . .
Interviewer: Were you the delegates from Columbus, huh?
Yenkin: Oh yeah. We were . . . .
Interviewer: Wonder . . . .
Yenkin: Trying to think who else might have gone with us. I can’t remember.
I think Ben might have been there. I’m not 100% sure but I know Abe and I were
there.
Interviewer: Ben Yenkin?
Yenkin: . . . .
Interviewer: Uh huh.
Yenkin: Such a shame. We should have had . . . . conversation . . . .
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: It’s a little vague in my mind. I’m going to have to think about
it. Maybe I will be able to find some material on it. I’ve got so much stuff
here.
Interviewer: Who’s got all the records for the Zionist Organization? Do you
know? Somebody have the records here?
Yenkin: They all, I don’t know whether or not . . . .
Interviewer: I don’t remember it being mentioned.
Indistinct
Yenkin: . . . . lot of material to, we should have given it to, I don’t
know if it landed at the Historical Society or not but I gave a great deal of
early material that Abe kept. Abe was a secretary or treasurer.
Interviewer: Yeah.
Yenkin: . . . . I don’t remember whether the . . . . officers that took . .
. .
Interviewer: What?
Yenkin: I’m trying to think of this, of this girl who wanted it. I don’t
know, I . . . . a Jewish National . . . .
Interviewer: Oh, they wanted it?
Yenkin: I don’t know whether they, I don’t know whether the Historical
Society has it.
Interviewer: Oh . . . . the Historical Society . . . .
Yenkin: But Jewish National Fund was . . . .
Interviewer: Oh, that was . . . .
Yenkin: Oh sure.
Interviewer: I hope so. All right, well what, shall we call it a day? It’s
12:00.
End of interview