View photos of the Greenberg family

In the southeastern corner of Russia at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, lies a lush fertile valley. In this valley on the banks of the Dnestr River was a small town called Uttic Moulov with a population of about 13,000 people. (I say "was' because it no longer exists). In the 1800's this small but prosperous town had a small, close Jewish community, of which one of the leading citizens was Solomon Greenberg.

Solomon was a prosperous wheat broker for a rich landowner. Since Jews were not allowed to own land in Russia at this time, this was probably one of the highest positions a Jewish man could have in Russian society. Solomon was both breadwinner and patriarch of the entire Greenberg clan., In his house lived his wife, four children from a previous marriage and four children from his current marriage; all the spouses of his grown children, and their children. A son or daughter wouldn't move out of Solomon's house until after the birth of the second or third child. Solomon himself was a son of wealthy Jewish parents who were in the tobacco business.

His wife Esther was from Poland. She had come to Uttic Moulav in disgrace. Her parents were strict Orthodox Jews. Jacob, her father, was a Hassidic scholar (who by the way never worked for money a day in him life), who was supported by his wife Frieda. Frieda’s family was fairly well to do, her father being an official for the post office.

Jacob and Frieda, as was tradition in those days, had arranged their daughter Esther's marriage. Esther had never seen her husband to be. The first time she laid eyes on him was at the alter in the synagogue on the day of her marriage, There seems to be a streak of independence that runs in the women of the family, Esther took one look at her husband to be, decided he wasn't for her, and took off. This, of course, was unheard of. She had brought disgrace on the whole family. Jacob had to send Esther away to relatives in Russia. It’s there that she met Solomon, a much older man than she, and married him.

Of their four children, three were females, only Morris was male. In the Orthodox Jewish religion, males are the only children that count. Orthodox Jewish men pray twice a day and begin their prayer by thanking God they were not born women. Since Morris was the only male child of Solomon and Rather, he was given all the things the family could afford; the best education possible, music lessons, all the material things he desired. Not only was he given everything, he was also waited on hand and foot by all the women in the household.

The women in contrast almost never went to school, they usually were taught a trade at home, things like millinery. An exception to this was Morris's sister Clara. Somehow she managed to go to high school in Russia, an unusual accomplishment, she later went on to become a successful pharmacist. Needless to say, Morris was spoiled rotten; for all his life he would be both proud and arrogant.

Morris grew up in affluence, the good life. In 1913 he married Pauline. Pauline's mother, Ruchal, was an owner of a dry goods store in Uttic Moulov. To us today this is no big deal, but in the early 1900's in Russia, in Jewish society, this was unheard of that a woman should he in business and to be good at it was amazing.

After Morris and Pauline are married, they moved into Solomon's house and the following year have their first child Jake. The year is now 1914, Russia enters into World War I. All Russian young men are supposed to join the Army. The draft in Russia then was very simple. An Army truck would drive through the town, any men walking the streets were picked up and were then in the Army. There were two ways to dodge the draft, you could out off the tip of one of your fingers or also leave the country, Morris left; my family's first draft dodger. He tried to come to the United States but the quota for that year was filled, so he left his wife and young son behind and went to Argentina. He stayed in Argentina and worked building a railroad for about 18 months until he was allowed to emigrate to the United States.

Some time before, his half brothers and sisters had come to the United States. So when he came to the United States he moved in with his half sister Esther, in South Philadelphia, at 4th and Ritner Street. Esther's husband was a paperhanger and Morris started to work for him. After a while Morris changed professions and became a house painter.

Meanwhile, back in Russia, the war continues. In 1917, Russia withdraws from the war and the Rumanians take over some of Russia's territory. The boundary line becomes the Dnestr River and Uttic Moulov is split right in two. Things for Solomon’s family start to go down hill; but the situation really gets bad when the Russian Revolution spreads to Solomon's little corner of Russia. Russian radicals invade Uttic Moulov and start to implement their programs. Solomon loses his livelihood as land is reapportioned, and his boss's large landholdings are broken up. At the same time fighting breaks out between the Russians and Rumanians; Uttic Moulov becomes a battle- ground. The Bolsheviks want to regain Russian territory, the Rumanians are determined to keep what they have taken.

For over a year Solomon's family live in constant fear and almost total poverty. Finally in 1919, Morris with the financial help of a half-brother, sends for not only his wife and child but the whole family. They all come; Solomon, Esther, all the children and their children, through Ellis Island, and finally to a small house in Philadelphia on Ritner Street. It was to be remembered as one of the happiest days of their lives. Finally, they could walk about without fear of being shot, finally they had enough food to eat, finally they felt safe and secure and were once again a whole family. It didn't matter that no one could speak English or the little house was overflowing with people, all those problems could be worked out. They were free, safe, united and now had a future.

Morris and Pauline with their young son moved out to a small apartment close by. Even though they had moved they were still very much part of the family. The Section of town where they lived was a lower class Jewish ghetto with its own little culture; Jewish men would play cards in the park, a Jewish theatre group had a little theatre at 4th and Race. Slowly, very slowly, all the family went to night school to learn English and finally became "Americans." But the Jewish community retained its identity; they even had their own credit unions to borrow money - (they were called "corporations' and still exist to this day). The family was close and the community was close.

Morris continued to paint houses. Eventually he and Pauline moved into their own house and started to have more children. The 20's were pretty stable for the Greenberg’s. Jake quit school in 6th grade and started helping Morris paint houses to help with finances, Up to the late 20's the family was far from rich, but they survived comfortably. The 30's came and with the depression it was downhill again. Morris moved his family from house to house. He would get a job painting houses for a real estate agent who would let him live in one of his unsold houses for cheap rent. As soon as the house was sold or the job was over he would have to move the family to another house. These were lean years, but the children didn’t feel especially deprived; after all, their neighbors, friends and family were in similiar situations. It is strange what sticks in the minds of those who lived through the depression. The hard times are not remembered so much as having to stoke coal for the furnace or putting quarters in the “quarter-meter" so the family would have hot water or be able to cook for a day. (It seems that they had "quarter meters then instead of being billed by mail - if you wanted gas you put a quarter in a meter and the gas would come on for a certain time).

In 1937, Morris finally became stable enough to buy a house and keep it. They moved to 1701 Peach Street in Wynnefield, an affluent Jewish community in West Philadelphia. Ironically enough, this is when the family starts to feel poor. Before all their neighbors were as poor as they were, but suddenly their neighbors were a lot richer than the Greenberg’s. Sara, the second oldest child, (my mother) remembers feeling very out of place. She would have to go to school with cardboard in he; shoes while all the other kids seemed to have all they wanted.

But even with these negative memories good times are remembered too. Morris's house became a real hangout. Everybody would come over to socialize, family, friends, the place was always filled with people. Morris had a fondness for Pinnocle; Pauline was big on Poker. Two or three times a week Pauline would get out of the house, probably to escape the kids, and go to the movies by herself. Without TV, human contact was still the main source of entertainment. They were poor but they had each other. No matter how bad things became, the family could count on two things. One was Morris always had a car, most of the time they were $25 Junkers, but he refused to take public transportation - it was beneath him. Second, there was always enough to eat. Mealtimes were chaotic, it seemed that there were always either people eating over or they were eating at someone's house. Actually, it was quite simple; whoever had enough money to buy food made dinner, if you didn't have you want to someone's house who did; that way everybody was fed all the time and nobody had to go on welfare, "the Dole." No matter how bad things would get, going on welfare would be unheard of. Morris was a very proud man, he would never let the State take care of him. One of the worst disgraced he felt that could happen to a man was that he went on welfare. This included old age homes; Morris would often say he would rather die than have his children put him in an “old age” home. He never did, he became old and sick, but never left 1701 Peach Street. He died there, alone, but never once accepted charity. The family somehow paid all his expenses.

The children started to grow up and World War II breaks out. Jake goes to war leaving three sisters; Sara, Beatrice and Shirley, and a younger brother at home. Sara, by this time, has met her future husband, Larry. They get married, but Larry too goes to war leaving Sara home with Morris, Pauline and her sisters; who also saw their men leave home. There they waited, hoping their men would come home again. With the coming of war, prosperity increased. No more would Morris have to wire up the electricity in his house to the house next door because he couldn't pay the bill and it was turned off. All the daughters went out and started working. Morris insisted that turn over their entire pay check to him and then he would give them an allowance. Beatrice caused a minor crisis in the house when she balked at this. After all, she thought, she was old enough (18) and responsible enough to be a riveter in a defense plant, she should be able to keep her money and pay room and board. Morris firmly declared that he would have no boarders in his house so Beatrice had to move out to live with an aunt. Morris eventually relented and Bea moved back. (There's that streak of independence again). Sara got a job skinning hot dogs for 65 cents an hour. She dutifully gave Morris all her salary right up to the day she got married. During the war years, Sara had quite a few jobs, her last and longest was at the Quartermaster Corps Head Quarters in South Philadelphia. She worked there as a key punch operator until the war ended. On the day the war ended, she quit her job and started to wait for Larry to come home so she could be a full time wife. Larry comes home from the war in November of 1945 and goes into the dry cleaning business with his father and brothers. Meanwhile, Morris really doesn't want to see Sara leave his house, so he converts the third floor of 1701 to an apartment for Sara and Larry. Both of them feel good about living there close to Sara's family; it provides them with a sense of security. In 1946, just a little over a year after Larry's return from war, their first child Steven is born.