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join up with the Tank Corps.
Zussman was named pla-
toon commander of a tank
brigade moving across
France to Germany.
On Sept. 12, 1944, Second
Lt. Zussman lead the tanks
near the town of Noroy le
Bourg. As they passed
through the marshy fields,
the soldiers found their
tanks could only climb slow-
ly and heavily. Then they
wouldn't move at all. The
enemy was within sight.
Undaunted, Zussman
grabbed his rifle, jumped out
of his tank and began at-
tacking the Germans.
Within an hour, he single-
handedly killed 17 German
soldiers and captured an-
other 92.
Zussman, at 5 feet 4 inches
and 140 pounds, was not a
large man. "But he was 100
percent fighting man!" The
June 1945 Congressional
Record states. "The 92 Ger-
mans he captured were big,
arrogant, bloodthirsty men..
But they didn't have the
guts to fight little Ray
Zussman, the Detroit Jew."
Three days after his heroics,
Zussman, 26, was killed in
action. His body was return-
ed to Detroit and buried in
the veterans' section of
Machpelah Cemetery. More
than 1,500 friends and fami-
ly attended the funeral;
airplanes from Selfridge
Field flew overhead, tipping
their wings and dropping
flowers.
In June 1945, Zussman
was posthumously awarded
the Congressional Medal of
Honor. It was presented to
LITTLE BIG MAN
..N1
NtpE VARE AN DN
S I FE \ _01
GE.
.qP,E.D
.011 -CkA.
Raymond Zussman,
Congressional Medal
of Honor winner, and
the Hamtramck park
named in his honor.
The coach laughed when
Ray Zussman came to try
out for the high school foot-
ball team.
"Why, you're just a
shrimp!" he said.
But Zussman was ada-
mant. "I kin take care of
myself."*
Years later the world
would see that Zussman
could indeed care for
himself. For young Ray
Zussman, the small kid who
loved football, would grow
up to win the Congressional
Medal of Honor after he
killed 17 Germans and cap-
tured • another 92 during
World War II.
He was of 292 Americans
to receive the medal, the
highest decoration for
military valor.
Zussman was born in
Hamtramck in his parents'
home at 9144 Joseph Cam-
pau, and later lived at 2918
Sturtevant in Detroit. A bar
mitzvah at Mishkan Israel
Congregation, he sang in the
synagogue choir and was
mad about the craze of the
day, sitting for hours atop
flag poles.
After graduating high
school, Zussman secured a
position as shop steward for
local No. 337. But when the
war came, he was quick to
*From "One Man Army:
The Heroic Story of Lt.
Raymond Zussman, Ameri-
can Fighting Man," in The
Jewish Veteran October,
1946.
7' 7
0,144.
, Afavv4
•
Detroit as it appeared
during the Civil War.
Woodward Avenue,
where Adolph Barlow
lived, is to the left.
.!1
30
Burton Historical Collection
FRIDAY, JULY 13, 1990
his father, Nathan, a former
infantryman with the Rus-
sian Army.
Jewish War Veteran Post
No. 333 is named for
Zussman. The city of Detroit
named a playground on
Davison after him, while
Hamtramck, the soldier's
birthplace, dedicated a park
in his honor. Located in front
of Hamtramck City Hall and
enclosed by Evaline, Win-
field, Yemans and Falcon
(Walesa) streets, the park is
in a quiet neighborhood
where the red-and-white
flags of Poland can be seen
flying from numerous
balconies.
When plans to name the
grounds were announced, a
number of neighborhood
groups objected because
Zussman was Jewish. Today
filled with dandelions and
trees, the park still bears no
marker of his name.
WHEN THE MAGIC DIED
Harry Houdini was so dex-
terous he was able to untie
knots with his toes, so clever
he could undo any lock crafts-
men could design and so
daring that he floated to the
edge of Niagara Falls for a
movie stunt.
Born Eric Weisz in
Budapest in 1874, Harry
Houdini was the son of a
rabbi. He immigrated with
his family to Wisconsin,
where at 9 years old he
found a job as a trapeze ar-
tist. Later, he worked as a
locksmith's apprentice.
Houdini, who changed his