THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, October 14, 1983 11
Galveston Movement Reconstructed and Detroit Angle Recalled
The mass migration of
Jews from European coun-
tries in the early years of
this century may have
created serious problems
regarding the creation of
concentrated centers of new
settlers.
In some of the ranks of the
then native American Jews
there was anxiety over the
success of the newcomers in
their search for new homes
and the desire not to re-
create ghettos.
Therefore, there was en-
couragement for many to go
as far south as possible in
order not to establish what
would or could inevitably
become _ghettos in New
York, Philadelphia,
Chicago and elsewhere, as
well as in Detroit.
That's how the "Galves-
ton Movement" arose.
The movement is
nearly forgotten and it is
heartening for all who
desire to see historic facts
perpetuated that "Gal-
veston: Ellis Island of the
West" (State University
of New York Press),
should serve as a remin-
der of a most interesting
chapter in American
Jewish history.
The author, Bernard
Marinbach, is a member of
the faculty of Overseas
Study of Tel Aviv Univer-
sity. He has chosen most
appropriately to subtitle his
book "Ellis Island of the
West," referring to the New
York Harbor receiving sta-
tion for immigrants which
was established in 1892.
The Galveston movement
begin in 1907 for settlement
on the Texas island in the
Gulf of Mexico.
As Marinbach indicates,
about 10,000 Jews went to
Galveston as settlers from
1907 to 1914.
Noteworthy is the fact, as
listed in the Jewish Publi-
cation Society and Ameri-
can Jewish Committee's
American Jewish Year
Book, that the estimated
number of Jews recorded for
1982 is 620.
Marinbach provides a
most impressive account
of the Galveston Move-
ment. As he indicates, the
famous American Jewish
philanthropist Jacob H.
Schiff saw the need for
encouraging Jews to es-
tablish homes in the far
South and he was the
founder who inaugu-
rated the Galveston
Movement.
What Marinbach does not
indicate is that among the
JACOB SCHIFF
FRED BUTZEL
first to encourage the
movement and to urge the
acceptance of Galveston as a
haven by newcomers to this
country was the young De-
troit lawyer Fred M. Butzel
who soon was to gain the
distinction of leadership in
Michigan and recognition
for his philanthropic devo-
tions in much wider ranks.
Marinbach points out
that there was sort of a con-
test between aspiring
Zionists and the sponsors of
the Galveston Movement,
with an aspiration for pre-
ferences for havens from
persecution and search for
places of settlement. The
importance of the move-
ment, however, and it is
noted in the Marinbach
book, was the establish-
ment of homes by immig-
rants who gave devotion to
their aims, with many not-
able successes.
There is a Detroit angle of
immense interest that lends
fascination to the Marin-
bach book. It offers fascina-
tion to the Galveston story.
Marinbach describes the ac-
tivities of the then function-
ing Jewish Immigrant In-
formation Bureau which
guided the activities of the
Galveston settlers. The au-
thor relates in reference to
the developing Detroit
angle:
"In some cases, Jews
coming to Galveston de-
clined to commit them
selves to the future plan-
ned for them by the rep:
resentatives of the JIIB
and decided, for various
reasons, to strike off on
their own. Among these
was Nahum Shlomo
Kaluzny, who later
Americanized his first
name to Nathan.
"Aged 29, Kaluzny came
from the city of David-
gorodok, in the region of
Minsk, where he had
worked as a blacksmith. His
first wife had died after
bearing him a daughter,
and he had then married his
step-sister, Dobruschka,
who bore him two addi-
tional children. In 1910,
Kaluzny decided to emig-
rate to the United States."
Of interest, as related to
the reviewer by Kaluzny's
daughter, the present Betty
(Mrs. Grant) Silverfarb, is
that his first and very young
wife died in a house fire
which the infant daughter
and another infant sur-
vived.
Then, in the Marinbach
book, comes the tracing of
the Kaluzny family story,
with a continuity in Detroit.
The Kaluzny family story as
recorded in "Galveston:
Ellis Island of the West" fol-
lows:
"The Kaluznys spoke
Yiddish. 'Nate' was
proud of the fact that, de-
spite the hard times
through which he passed,
he never worked on the
Sabbath and always re-
mained faithful to Or-
thodox Jewish practices.
Yet, as with other first-
generation American
Jews, he found it hard to
pass on his values intact
to the second generation.
"Of his eight children and
15 grandchildren, some
wandered far from the path
Marinbach that merits spe-
cial attention. Nathan —
Nahum — Kaluzny had
many struggles. The Gal-
veston difficulties drove
him elsewhere, first to New
York, then to Detroit in
1912. He peddled, later
went into the scrap iron bus-
iness.
It was as a peddler with
horse and wagon that he
made many friends in
Grosse Pointe where lovers
of horses admired the man-
ner in which he treated his
own.
He was deeply affected by
the death of his son-in-law,
Jack Rockaway, after his
daughter Betty had given
birth to Robert. From very
childhood, Robert was
under the tutelage of his
grandfather.
As a mere youngster
Robert was enrolled in
Chachmey Lublin
Yeshiva and soon trans-
ferred to Yeshivath Beth
Yehuda. But Grandfath-
er Kaluzny undertook to
train him for his Bar
Mitzva and he guided his
Jewish education, taking
a deep interest in his
academics when Robert
entered the University of
Michigan where he
earned his PhD, later be-
coming professor at the
University of Texas, be-
fore his professorship at
Tel Aviv University
where he heads the over-
seas studies department.
Two years after the death
on Oct, 5, 1965, of his wife
Dora (Dobrushka), Nathan
Kaluzny entered the Petos-
key Jewish Home for the
Aged and lived there until
his death, May 9, 1970. His
daughter, Betty Rockaway,
never missed a visit with
him and provided him with
the added comforts he
needed.
Betty was one of Kaluz-
ny's eight children. She was
born on Elliott Street in De-
troit. Shortly after her
father's death she was mar-
ried to Grant Silverfarb and
they reside in Oak Park.
Her recollections of her
father's activities here for
many years, until shortly
before his death in his early
90s, are vivid.
"He never failed to refer
to the struggling efforts to
aid in the establishment of
an immigrant community
in Galveston," she said upon
reading the family's chroni-
cled experiences in "Galves-
ton: The Ellis Island of the
West."
Mrs. Silverfarb, a recent
Bnai Brith honoree, con-
tinues a 30-year active in-
volvement in Women's
American ORT as well as
Bnai Brith, leadership iii
Cong. Bnai David Sister-
hood, Hadassah and Magen
David Adom, and with her
husband in Israel Bonds
and the major movements
in Zionism and in behalf of
Israel.
Bonds President at SZ Reception
NATHAN KALUZNY
of strict Jewish observance.
When one of his -daughters
was widowed at a young age
and left alone with an infant
son, Kaluzny and his wife
took in their daughter's
baby and raised him to
manhood, instilling in him
a special reverence for the
immigrant generation.
"The grandson, Robert
Rockaway, went on to write
a doctoral dissertation on
the history of the Jews of
Detroit, later published as a
book. Rockaway eventually
moved to Israel, where he
,
Yehuda Halevy, recently
appointed president and
chief executive officer of the
State of Israel Bond Organi-
zation, will speak at a recep-
tion on behalf of Israel
Bonds hosted by David and
Doreen Hermelin on Oct. 31
in their Birmingham home.
Hermelin is the newly-
appointed Israel Bond na-
tional campaign chairman
and is president of Cong.
Shaarey Zedek; Mrs.
Hermelin is the Metro De-
troit Israel Bond Women's
Division chairman.
The reception precedes an
Israel Bond tribute dinner
on Nov. 17, sponsored by
Shaarey Zedek and honor-
ing congregation leader
Ivan S. Bloch, recipient-
elect of Israel's Peace
Medal.
Halevy rose from the
ranks to become a
brigadier general in the
Israel Defense Forces
from which he recently
retired. He has fought in
all of Israel's wars and
was on active service
during "Operation Peace
YEHUDA HALEVY •
for Galilee" in Lebanon
during which he
mobilized civilian re-
serves.
During the Yom Kippur
War in 1973, he served in
the Sinai. Earlier, during
the Six-Day War of 1967, he
was with the Seventh
Brigade, the first unit to
reach the Suez Canal. He
held a series of command
and staff positions in the
Armored Corps, the South-
ern Command and the
Manpower Division.
Born in Shanghai in
1937, Halevy arrived in Is-
rael at the end of 1949 at the
age of 12. At the age of 18,
he entered the Israeli Army.
Halevy, born to Iraqi pa-
rents in China, is a magna
cum laude graduate of Bar-
Ilan University. He is mar-
ried to an Israeli-born
woman of Polish extraction
who was a sergeant and judo
instructor in the Israeli
Army. They have two sons,
one of whom is now serving
in the army.
Halevy helped institute
a special army education
project which helped
"marginal youth" other-
wise exempt from ser-
vice.
His army career has
brought him into contact
with a cross-section of Is-
rael's society. He and his
family have lived in a de-
velopment town populated
by new immigrants, in the
highly-developed commun-
ity represented by the
kibutz and in the cities of
Ashkelon and Tel Aviv.
* * *
ROBERT ROCKAWAY
secured a position at Tel
Aviv University as a profes-
sor specializing in Ameri-
can Jewish history.
"By his own account,
Rockaway's strong identity
with the Jewish people was
definitely instilled in him
by his grandparents. Thus it
transpired that a man who
emigrated from Russia to
America as part of a move-
ment which had abandoned
Zionist aspirations as hope-
less, eventually inspired his
grandson to lecture on
Jewish history in the mod-
ern state of Israel."
*
* *
The Detroit
Addendum to the
Kaluzny Story
There is a Detroit adden-
dum to the "Galveston" ac-
count by Prof. Bernard
Ivan Bloch Will Be SZ Honoree
Ivan S. Bloch will receive
Israel's Peace Award" in
appreciation for his devoted
service to his synagogue, his
community and the state of
Israel," at the annual Cong.
Shaarey Zedek tribute din-
ner on behalf of Israel
Bonds.
The dinner will take place
Nov. 17 at the synagogue.
Dinner chairman is Irving
Laker; general chairman is
William M. Davidson; and a
tribute committee is in for-
mation.
Bloch is a member of the
synagogue's board and the
Israel Bond local and inter-
national boards. He is cur-
rently serving his second
term as president of the
Metro Detroit Israel Bond
Prime Minister's Club and
is a memberof the executive
board of the Holocaust
Memorial Center.
Bloch is • also president
of the Detroit AKIM, an
organization providing
care for retarded chil-
dren in Israel, and is vice
president of Men's ORT.
He is actively involved
with Yeshivath Beth
Yehuda, the Lubavitcher
movement and the national
Bnai Brith.
Reflecting his interest in
the arts, he is .on the advis-
ory board of the National
Congressional Arts Caucus,
which works to pass legisla-
tion and appropriation for
the arts and theater around
the country and he is a
member of the Archives of
American Art and of the
Founder's Society of the De-
troit Institute of Arts.
Bloch served as Michigan
co-chairman for Ted Ken-
IVAN BLOCH
nedy's campaign for U.S.
President and worked on
campaigns for Carl Levin,
Don Riegle, Jim Blanchard
and Bob Carr.
For dinner reservations,
call Israel Bonds, 557-2900.
A professor talks in some-
one else's sleep.