Julius Zell was born in 1895 in Lemberg, a city in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He had three brothers: Harry, Dan, and Milton. They had a half-sister, Rose, who had moved to the United States where she met and married Mike Silverman. Julius was eager to as well, and in 1909, at age 14, his father put …
Read MoreAlan Zell was born in Portland, Oregon. He was the second-generation of the successful Zell Brother’s jewelry business. Alan’s father, Julius, was one of four brothers who emigrated from Austria to the Pacific Northwest around the time of the First World War. In 1922, Julius married Lillian Freudenstein, whose family originated from Leipzig, Germany. Interestingly, Lillian’s …
Read MoreZelda Zeidman was born on July 15, 1921 in Portland, Oregon. Her father, Nathan Director was born in Chartorysk, Russia, the same village that the Schnitzers and the Rosenfelds came from. He met Zelda’s mother Annie Shapiro Director in Lodz, Poland, where he had fled from Chartorysk due to his involvement in the Jewish underground …
Read MoreBorn January 20, 1916, Leonard Zawacki was a Polish Catholic serving as a lieutenant in the Polish army at the time of the German invasion. In September 1939, he was taken as a prisoner of war but escaped. He immediately began working with the underground resistance movement in Warsaw until he was arrested again, this time by …
Read MoreDon Zadoff was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1926. His parents immigrated from what is now Belarus 1913 and Don’s father worked as a furrier in New York City. He grew up in a small apartment in a Jewish neighborhood with his parents, his maternal grandmother, and an uncle. His parents and grandmother spoke Yiddish …
Read MoreHoward Frank Wolfe was born in Portland, Oregon on September 3, 1919, the son of Simon and Carolyn (Solomon) Wolfe. He had an older brother, Alfred. Howard graduated from Lincoln High School and Reed College. He served as an army medic in the Second World War in both European and Pacific campaigns. He survived the …
Read MoreAdrienne Frances “Fran” Wolfe was born in Pocatello, Idaho on February 12, 1924 to Frank and Miriam (Boskowitz) Aiken. Her father worked for the Union Pacific Railroad. When Fran was nearly two, the family (including her two older brothers, Henry and Edward) moved to Ogden, Utah where her father worked with the railroad building a railway …
Read MoreRabbi Joseph Wolf was born March 17, 1951 in Boston, MA, one of four children. Influenced by his maternal grandmother and mother, both active in Hadassah and the Zionist movement, he grew up with a dream to go to Israel. His family attended a Conservative synagogue in Brookline, MA, celebrated all Jewish holidays, and observed Shabbat …
Read MoreBenjamin Witt was born July 9, 1900 in Austria. He came to New York with his three sisters in 1905; his parents had immigrated two years earlier. He joined the National Guard in 1915, and was recruited by the British Army in 1918. He was in the Jewish Legion and spent time in Egypt, Palestine, …
Read MoreElaine Weinstein was born on June 24, 1935 to Tessie (Bamberg) and Joseph Lewis. Both of her parents were immigrants from eastern Europe. The family moved from Brooklyn, New York to Seattle, Washington when Elaine was still a baby. Her brother Marvin was four years older. Joseph’s brothers Harry and Jack had come west and encouraged …
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