Jewish passengers on the Titanic rangedfrom Russian
Jewish immigrants to middle-class Americans and
Europeans to the well-to-do and prominent.

DETROI T JEWISH NE WS

ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

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t has been 85 years since the Titanic, hailed as
the safest ship ever built, sank. Still, there is
a tremendous interest in the ill-fated steamship
that went down on its maiden voyage April 15,
1912.
A new musical, called Titanic,
has just opened on Broadway;
there is a new feature film to be re-
leased this summer starring
Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet
and Kathy Bates; the largest ex-
hibit ever of Titanic artifacts re-
cently opened in Memphis; and
the A&E and Discovery chan-
11.141e
nels have been airing docu-
mentaries.
It's not only the 85th anniversary of the
sinking that has sparked interest. There
has always been a curiosity about the Ti-
tanic — with some 150 books written on
the disaster, more than a dozen movies
and a Website. According to Don Lynch,
official historian for the Titanic Historical
Society, it's the human drama and hero-
ism that has attracted so much attention.
"What captivates everyone is the idea
that the biggest ship in the world went down carrying so
many powerful people," says Lynch, who is author of Ti-
tanic: An Illustrated History (Hyperion, 1992). "It's what
fictional writers love to write about. There is a fascinat-
ing story about everyone on the ship."
Passengers had come from all parts of the world and
from all ethnic backgrounds — young, old, poor, rich, fa-
mous and infamous were on board. Among the deceased

and the survivors, there were, of course, many Jews. In

fact, there was even a kosher cook on the Titanic, referred
to as the Hebrew cook.
"The Jewish contingency on the Titanic ranged from
Russian Jewish immigrants to middle-class Americans
and Europeans to the well-to-do and prominent," says
Lynch.
One of the renowned Jewish
passengers was Henry B. Har-
ris, 46, a top theatrical produc-
er in New York at the time. "He
was traveling with his wife, 36,
and they had no children,"

Isador and Ida
Straus, founders of
Macy's department
store, went down
on the sinking ship

Lynch says. "Harris died, but
his wife survived, and she
took over his business and be-
came the first woman the-
atrical producer in New York.
Mrs. Harris died in 1969."
Dr. Henry Frauenthal, traveling with his new bride
and his brother, was the founder of the New York Hos-
pital for Joint Diseases. "In those days people felt all ill-

nesses were blamed on tuberculosis, and [Dr. Frauen-
thal] was a pioneer in discovering that not everything
was related to TB," says Lynch.
"The night of the sinking, passenger Mrs. Henry B.
Harris had fallen down and broken her arm, and when
she heard that Dr. Frauenthal was on board, she sent for
him to fix it, and he did."
Frauenthal, his wife and brother managed to get on
one of the first lifeboats, and they all survived.
Benjamin Guggenheim, one of the seven sons of in-
dustrialist and philanthropist Meyer Guggenheim, was
one of the more prominent Jews on the Titanic, although
he wasn't as wealthy as the rest of his fam-
ily.
Benjamin was involved in mining in Col-
orado and was one of the investors who in-
stalled elevators in the Eiffel Tower. A
famous playboy, he separated from his wife
and had a string of mistresses.
Listed among the first-class passengers,
Guggenheim was traveling with his cur-
rent mistress, Leontine Aubert, his valet
Mr. Victor Giglio and his chauffeur Mr.
Rene Pernot. "Benjamin Guggenheim was
famous for his formal dress when the ship
went down," says Lynch.
"He had been dressed in a thick sweater,
warm clothes and was wearing a lifebelt,
but when he found out there were not
enough lifeboats and he was going to die,
he went to his room with his valet and
changed into formal attire. His valet did
the same. Guggenheim was heard to say: "We've dressed
up in our best and are prepared to go down like gentle-
men."