Schneck

Source for these disjointed informational snippets is the result of conversations with Sophy, and her daughter, Ruby, from 1967 thru 1977 -Plus, contributions from Tom Jr. and other family relatives.
​In the year, 1878, the place, Poland -not an independent country -was divided between, Austria, Prussia, and Czarist Russia. - in a city in the south of Poland, once Austria, called Tarnow* (pronounced Tarnoff).
In the year, 1878, as in most other places in the world, the story starts with a boy.  In the end, we conclude with a girl, Sophy.
And so it was: A little boy was born. His parents named him Solomon. When Solomon turned eight days old, he was circumcised in the Jewish tradition. This occurred in a small synagogue surrounded by cobble stones, little shops, and many houses.
One year was especially hard on him and his family.
The czarist was always giving the small community trouble -usually breaking shop windows, yelling vulgar names and beating up and challenging old men and children. However, this particularly very cold winter was an especially bad year, 1891.
A decree came out from the government that all Jews must leave Poland or be put to death. Initially, some did not believe it.  However, as the Army soldiers came night after night on their horses and snatched anyone on the roads, the decree seemed real enough. The Month of February was extremely cold.  Consequently, shops stayed closed, and people stayed indoors, and business ceased. The soldiers were angry at this, because they were used to daily coming to steal anything they wanted.
Some of the older boys decided they needed to protect their family’s goods so, they started a kind of personal, quasi, militia.  They named themselves, ####, which in English translates to “Green beneath or underground”.  They chose this name for the beautiful landscape of their world. The people of the town were so afraid that most stayed hidden like moles.  The selection of this name also made it look like it was just boys having fun, rather than exposing their real intentions. 
Solomon was very small and frail for his age with bright red hair.  He was 14 years old, and very much wanted to be a member of this new group, but the others, even though he was old enough, laughed at him.  They called him a baby and threw pebbles at him to make him leave.  Which he did.
His feelings were hurt. His pride was hurt. He was so angry with the fact that he looked like he was 11 instead of 14. 
Later, he started to get into fights at work.
Inasmuch as he was too old to go to school, he became an apprentice to the village’s cobbler.  He hated it but at the same time, was grateful for it.  Every day, after his apprenticeship, he would go out of his way to see what was going on at the “Green” underground camp. He laid low, creeping behind bushes trying to get very close in order to hear but not so close he’d get caught and be ridiculed.
Once was quite enough.
Solomon stepped on a twig, and it broke making a very loud sound or, so it seemed to him.
“Hey who’s out there”, yelled a large boy about 15 years old. Solomon knew him. He was a neighbor and a pretty good friend, so Solomon came out from his hiding and said,
“it’s only me, Rubin”.  Rubin said roughly, “How much did you hear and exactly what do you know”.  Solomon replied, “I heard about an hour of what you were saying and I know that your family is leaving for Italy soon to stay with your mom’s cousin”.   “Wow”, said Rubin, kind of apologetic.  “Yeah, well it looks like we can’t stay here”. “What else did you hear?”  Solomon looked down and was shuffling his feet, kicking up dirt as he did so.  “Well!!”? Said Rubin.  Solomon:
 “I heard what sounded like Isaac saying he knew how you and the others could get real weapons.  not just base cricket bats but the real thing.”  Rubin said, “follow me. “
“No”, said Solomon, “I’m not going in there.”  “Those guys will kill me.”  Rubin Grabbed Solomon by the shirt and then rubbed his whole arm and said, “You will do what I say.  You aren’t going to be killed, and you are going to pay for listening when you are not supposed to.” 
Solomon then pleaded with Rubin not to hurt him. 
As they entered the cardboard and old wood shed (found from who knows where) -a so called club house. Solomon said. “Man, I could help you build a much nicer club house than this for sure.” The others looked at him with disgust and one of the guys spit on the floor and another through dirt in his face and it started to look ugly until Rubin who was the biggest guy there said “No, stop”. “We have much more important things to discuss,” Inasmuch as Solomon here, has heard a little too much.” 
“So, any suggestions as to what we should do?”

At 3 am Solomon woke. He ate quickly then helped his father load their wagon, hitched the oxen and off they went.
They arrived in Germany and rested for 3 days.  They bought supplies and met a lot of people on the very dusty roads.  Solomon learned his mom’s talent for making very sturdy bags.  Consequently, they made money selling them everywhere they went.  One day a very old man purchased 3 different sized bags and complimented him on the excellent workmanship.  “Thank you.”  Mr. Spersire stated, “I’m from Hungry and on my way to the new world, USA.  how about you lad? “  
Solomon stated, “Actually, I have no idea where we are going. We just keep putting one foot in front of the other.  I think I know how the Israelites felt walking in the desert.”  “Yes”, said Mr Spersire, “I, as well.”
 “But you, young man, have a talent here. I can teach you to make clothes, as I am a tailor, and a mighty good one too.” 
“Ok”, said Solomon, with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.
Contrary to what most people think, that is what immigrants tend to do, “put… one foot in front of the other”, just moving away from being a homicide victim.
Destination is not specifically relevant.
1898 ?   
Nevertheless, we know, somehow, Solomon got on a ship to New York, and from there he probably took the recently built, Transcontinental Railroad to San Francisco.
“He operated a tailor shop in the city.
He fell in love with and married Emma.
(Of English descent, a Woodward. (a family that had been in California for several generations and were considered English nobility).
They gave birth to Tom -1900.
​Unfortunately, around 1905, Emma was badly burned and died.
This was a major tragedy for Solomon, but he could not accept any culpability, so he put the blame for the accident on his toddler son, Tom.
By 1906, Solomon subsequently married Sarah.
Solomon and Sarah gave birth to two children, Maurice (1907), and 5 years later, in 1912, a little girl, named Sophy.
(Tom was 9yrs old? Morris was 5).
This was followed by the tragic death of Sarah, during the black death or Spanish flu.
Sarah died on Sophy’s 6th birthday. - July 16th, 1918.
Subsequently, all three children were put in the Homewood Terrace orphanage on the corner of Sloat Blvd in SF.
This was Tom’s 2nd time, and he was extremely angry.
Maurice and Sophy were only sad, as they really didn’t know what to expect.
Sophy got the chance to live with her cousins, the Levitan’s, who constantly bragged that they were from the tribe of Levites. Sophy didn’t like it there at all. While the others sat at the big table, she and her brother, Maurice, and even her big brother, Tom, sat in a different room as they were considered 1/2 orphans.  
Tom looked over at his little sister and asked,
 “Do you think I look big and strong? I mean bigger than my age.
“Not little like dad is, but bigger.”
Sophy looked at him with her big smile and said,
“You are my biggest brother, and you are my strongest brother”,
 and climbed into his lap and fell asleep.
They all were there for the evening dinner. Only Sophy temporarily lived with the Levitans.
 Tom thought to himself:
“Well, I think with this war still going on, I just might have a chance to get out of here”.


 “I hate being a Jew. The laws, the rituals and prayers are driving me crazy.”
He continued his thoughts.
“How stupid is it that a father can’t raise his own children if a mom dies.”
“Stupid, stupid” I say.
“I will raise my kids no matter what, and to hell with religion.”
"Koosh mir in tuchus".
He found the little bed roll on the floor where Sophy was to sleep, gave her a kiss and said good night.  
Tom and Morris were given a ride back to the orphanage by the Leviton’s in their horse and carriage, and their dad walked home.
Meanwhile, Sophy was back at aunt and uncle Levitan’s house.
The day started early at 5:30 am, with Sophy wearing her tiny maid outfit in time to wash and clean the morning breakfast from what the Levitan family had eaten earlier. She sang while she worked and made the best of it.
Meanwhile her mean cousin came into the kitchen,
“What are you singing about? If I could possibly call that singing. Hahaha Haha” and left down the hall.
It was now time to change and put on her school clothes.  Her aunt put her long red hair in two braids and off she went.
One day upon coming home from school, she noticed several horse-drawn buggies out in front. One was her uncles that she recognized. But the other two were unfamiliar.  Her cousin wouldn’t be home for a couple of hours, as she was in the upper grades -going to school earlier and coming home later than Sophy.
As Sophy came into the house, she attempted to go down the hallway to her closet, which was actually her room, and was stopped abruptly.  
Then she noticed her daddy sitting in one of the chairs.
“Wow, he took off work to care for me”,
 she thought. She immediately sat on his lap and started stroking his long grayish beard.  He put her hand down and began:
“Not so fast, we need to talk to you. You’re not in any trouble it’s just we can’t afford to keep you here any longer.”
“Sweetheart you will have to go back to the orphanage. I’m sorry. “We will speak while we’re on our way, I promise.”
Sophy didn’t have the foggiest idea what this could be about. But she did what she was told and packed her things.
During the trip with him, her dad, Solomon said:
“What do you think about me marrying again and giving us a real home?” 
She was still only 6 and gave it much thought on this short road home.  Then she remembered the story her mom had read to her just about a year ago, called Cinderella (from the French book called the “Little Glass Slipper”) and, oh no, she was not going to have a stepmother.
“No way”. So, she told her dad, “No, daddy I don’t want a new mom.”
And that was when later she found out the 3rd man at the kitchen table was the orphanage administrator who was there to sign papers.
All three children were put in an orphanage, “Homewood Terrace”, on the corner of Sloat Blvd in SF. This was the 2nd time for Tom.
Tom:
The very next day, after school, Tom found his way to escape.
Tom ran away and learned to live independently. To earn a living, he sold newspapers for the S.F. Call-Bulletin on the streets of San Francisco.  Pressmen at the newspaper printing plant allowed him to sleep on newspaper sacks near the warm, news printing presses. 
Later, he joined the U.S. Navy.   When he joined the Navy, he was asked what he wanted to do.  He replied that he was a “street fighter”. The Navy replied that they used fighters as entertainers, namely boxers, who would be transferred from ship to ship.   So, Tom became a boxer.   Aboard ship the boxers were supposed to practice boxing. However, they spent most of their time playing cards.  They posted a lookout and when a non-comm supervisor was spotted, the “boxers” would work up a sweat, and in a minute would appear to be practicing.   When the supervisor left, it was back to the card games. 
Then someone told Solomon that Tom was in the Navy.  Solomon went to the Navy and reported that Tom was underage.   Tom was given an honorable discharge just before his eighteenth birthday.  
Tom then went on to serve on ships as a waiter.  He worked for Matson Lines out of S.F., sailing the Pacific, mostly on cargo ships carrying only a few passengers.   The slogan at that time was that “every banana is a guest, and every guest is a pest”.   In 1930, Tom met Ruth Inda, who was working in a cigarette factory.  Tom and Ruth married.  
Maurice:  Graduated from High School, and exited the orphanage, 1925.  He made it to Wisconsin.  He was the only one of the 3 children to not reject his Jewish heritage.
Sophy:  Well, days turned into months and months turned into years, the only thing she had to look forward to was the coming Sunday. Her dad was picking her up and taking her some place special. She waited, impatiently pacing her little space in the dorm wondering, “Why was he picking me up today?”
Her father came in time to sign the necessary papers for her temporary release and she and her dad had left for an adventure. He explained that now that she was 10, he would be picking her up every Sunday to visit a special girl. They got out of the trolley car which was extremely exciting in itself, and Solomon started to explain who she was to meet. “When she was younger, “She had been hit by a milk truck and was badly injured and when her mom died, and she came out of the hospital she was completely deaf."
“An attempt was made to take her to Homewood Terrace, but they wouldn’t take a deaf child, so I had to take her to this special place.”
“What is this place, daddy?” Sophy asked.
“You’ll see, this is our stop.”
He pulled a cord she hadn’t noticed before and the trolley came to a complete stop she happily jumped off.
Right in front of them was a very ugly building with few windows, and that’s where they were going. She met someone she thought was her relative, although she seemed quite old to be a sister. She met the girl/woman for the first time. She had to be at least 35. She was short, had short dark hair and very small frame. In-fact she looked like she hadn’t eaten in months.
“I kind of ignored her and let dad have his visit with her, being I hadn’t a clue what they were saying, moving their hands this way and that and their fingers going crazy, yet not a word was spoken.” Then dad started to cry and looked at me saying "it’s time to go". "I was so relieved at those words".
Sunday came as she expected her dad was here to take her to see the deaf woman. 
Solomon said: “Well, a tragic thing happened a couple of days ago, so we won’t be going there anymore. "What happened?” "She committed suicide.” “Yes, she hung herself. She just couldn’t take being in the institution for the insane. She didn’t feel she belonged there".
Junior high school was a big change. Sophy's brother, Tom, had written stating he was getting married to a beautiful gal named Ruth. Sophy was excited. "Maybe now he’ll take me to live with him".
She thought about the promise he made to her and became quite excited.
At the orphanage changes were happening. She wasn’t being hit so often or even yelled at as much. Her duties were a lot more different. She was shorter than even some of the 3rd graders which made it more difficult for her to do many chores. However, that didn’t hinder her as she now had a really good coach, a physical Ed teacher who would teach her how to play tennis. She even joined a hiking class where the kids would explore the many hills and mountains in San Francisco and learn about Botany and bugs. She loved these classes and made lots of friends.
Sophy to Solomon:
“I have a tennis match tomorrow after school can you attend?”
“Yes, I can do that at Golden Gate Park correct?"  "Yes court 2" "it’s a big one. If I can win this match, I could go to a place called Fresno to compete".
Solomon:
"And how will you get to Fresno my dear?"
"Oh. They have a bus that will take all of us.”
Solomon: “Did you hear your brother Maurice has been accepted to try out for the SF opera? He goes for his 1st audition on Tuesday. I’m going to close the shop in order to hear him.”
Sophy: “I had to see the Dr last Thursday because I no longer can hear out of my left ear. The Rabi explained I had been hit too hard and too often. I threatened to sue them if they didn’t stop."
“I guess Tom is happily married to a Spanish girl, named Ruth. and they are all Catholic.
“Can you imagine being a Catholic?”
“Oh well, you know he promised to take me to live with them, but she must have said no because he has reneged on his promise.”
Solomon: “Well, you are doing fine here and soon you’ll be out.” 
“Listen I need to go and catch up on a few things at the shop in order to take Tuesday off for Maurice. You be good now, hear?”
 Sophy: "He said this in German, which I never liked. I only liked speaking in English."
“Yiddish or German were not to my liking. Although dad could speak 6 languages and speak with his hands; he always chose German or Hebrew with me. I didn’t mind most of the time. It was switching back and forth that drove me crazy.”
Commerce High School
The 4'11", red-headed, Sophy became a great tennis player -very hard to beat.
Sophy: “Senior year was a blast with the senior picnic, senior ball, senior bench and a special yard to eat lunch.  Oh, and even our lunch was super special too. Then came the evening of the graduation itself. All the pomp and circumstance were amazing! We graduated at the Opera House. I hadn’t reached my 18th birthday yet, so I stayed at Homewood Terrace for another 6 weeks. (My birthday was changed from July 16th to August 1st).  I didn’t even remember when my birthday was originally due to my mother death occurring on that very day. Who wants to celebrate a birthday on such a horrid day".
"In the end, I was so glad I stuck with the orphanage (as if I had a say in the matter) and that I had not gone to my big brother’s house to live."
“But now what? What do I do? Where do I go? How will I support myself? I said goodbye to all my tennis friends, hiking buddies, and my classmates, even my co-existent orphans, along with staff".
“I took my things that still fit me, left the rest that weren’t too badly worn for kids coming in, and met my dad outside.” 1930.
Epilogue:
*Tarnow was a city in the south of Poland, once Austria, and was divided between Austria, Prussia, and Czarist Russia in 18781. Tarnow was granted city rights by King Władysław Łokietek in 13302. The medieval layout of the city retains to this day with its latticed streets and central market square (Rynek), reached by stairways from a lower, surrounding loop (formerly the city walls and defensive towers)2. Tarnów’s greatest period of growth came under the illustrious, avant-garde nobleman Jan Tarnowski during the 16th century when the Old Town was largely reconstructed in the manner that today earns it the accolade of being Poland’s ‘Pearl of the Renaissance’2. The first Jews settled in Tarnów in the mid-15th century and by 1939 their numbers had reached 25,000 – nearly half the city’s total population. On June 14th 1940, 728 Tarnów residents (mostly Poles, in fact) became the first victims of Auschwitz; of 40,000 Jews crammed into Tarnów’s ghetto, over 10,000 were executed and the rest deported to the Bełżec death camp2. Today Tarnów’s Jewish heritage remains through several historical monuments and sites in and around the former ghetto, though no active Jewish community has survived2.
Later in his life, Solomon, took up residence at the home of Sophie and her husband. They cared for him until he died. (1945)   -just before the birth of Ruby.
The associates of Solomon's synagogue came to Sophie's residence to claim Solomon's money.
Sophie:  "Koosh mir in tuchus".
Information beyond the Year 1930 will be continued in a subsequent heading, [Schneck Post1930].
*For more details regarding Tarnow, Review below URL:
https://www.inyourpocket.com/tarnow/history