Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The Saga Of Birnbaum The Butcher, Part 5: From Zaluz To Dunkirk



I searched for the Birnbaum family in the census and strangely I found them in 1920 living in Dunkirk, NY which is near Buffalo. The address was 432 Leopard Street. They were renting from an Italian family, the Bellini's (my Italian relatives?) It seemed like a very strange destination for a recent immigration. I asked Elinor if she knew why
I don't remember that reason...I guess that's where there were jobs and I THINK that one of TESSIES sister's lived there and that's why they went there:
Apparently..... TESSIE's father immigrated first from Zaluz in 1898 (his name: Shmielche = Samuel) and every time he went back, another child was conceived! HE worked in a sweatshop that his cousin owned...as a presser..for cloaks and suits. Since it was seasonal, he made repeated trips back to Europe-they had 10 children, 3 who died. Anyhow...........I have something that says that TESSIE Birnbaum lived on E. 87th St and 3rd Ave in 1915 which was before my dad was born. So sometime between then and the mid 1920's they went to Dunkirk and I think they lived there til my dad was about 3 so that would put them back on the lower east side in the early 1920's.
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