RoR: Forum

Hong, how I wish I had asked my mother to let me write down her story; she wouldn't have wanted to talk about it in detail, but had I convinced her of its importance she might have agreed. She was born in a shetl in Russia in 1900. Her strongest memories of childhood were of being hidden with her brothers and sisters, trembling in terror, in a hole under a trap door in their house while the Cossacks, insane with liquor and with blood, came thundering through the village, slaughtering every Jew they could find. From that time on, my mother loathed everything Russian -- except some of the music and books -- with a withering contempt.

Her experiences made her decide that never, for any reason, at any time, in any circumstances, would she passively endure anti-Semitism in a free country. And she never did. I remember that once, when I was about ten, she and I went to a resort in the US that was owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway. The room reservation had been made for us by a friend who was not Jewish. But when she signed the register, the clerk went pale at the sight of our name, which often was taken to be Jewish, and informed us that he had made a mistake, that he did not have a reservation for us and there were no rooms available.My mother was silent for a long moment. Then she demanded to see the manager.

After a whispered consultation between the clerk and the manager, the manager arrogantly informed us that the clerk was correct, we had no reservation and there were no vacant rooms. My mother told him, in neither a whisper nor a shout, but in a voice that could be heard by anyone nearby, that she knew the problem was that we were Jewish, and that she had no intention of allowing him to get away with his anti-Semitism.

"This is what I shall do," she said. "This afternoon, I shall go to the editor of every newspaper in the area, then to every radio station, and then to the regional head of the railroad. I shall tell them what happened here, and why I was refused the room that was promised to me. I shall see to it that this resort, this hotel, and you, Mr." --she glanced at the name card on the lapel of his jacket -- "Mr.Jones, receive a great deal of publicity here and in Canada. Good day, sir."

Suddenly, the manager began to stammer and stutter and once again to examine the registration. Amazingly, it turned out that there was indeed an available room for us -- one of their best, in fact.

We throughly enjoyed our stay.

(Do you wonder why I adored my mother?)

Barbara

Post 21

Friday, April 15, 2005 - 7:20am

Barbara,
Thank you very much for sharing the story of your mother. She was indeed a remarkable woman.

Hong

Post 22

Friday, April 15, 2005 - 7:38am

Barbara,

It sounds like you "inherited" the spunk your mother had. Thanks for relating that story.

Jason

Post 23

Friday, April 15, 2005 - 10:21pm

Great story, Barbara! Thanks. My Father worked for a famous travel agency in New York City in the 1930s. Jews were openly shunted away from certain resorts. They had reference books that indicated if Jews were or not welcome here or there. That is why it is illegal today to advertise in New York "Churches nearby" which is code for no Jews. This wasn't just Jews, though, consider the way that Blacks were treated back then and the overt racism towards the Japanese. Things are a lot better now.

--Brant

Post 24

Saturday, April 16, 2005 - 6:29am