1

Eight From Abroad

Aron Bud's entire family perished
n his most recent State of the
founded the Taubman Institute).
Alon, 43, lives with his wife and
State address, Michigan Gov.
in the Holocaust except for an older
sister, Tzipora, who went from a
four children in Ann Arbor — and
Rick Snyder emphasized the
need for Michigan to wel-
refugee camp to Israel with only the
considers their home to be here. They
come immigrants to the state,
clothes on her back. It was a secret
belong to Beth Israel Congregation in
Ann Arbor.
including an expansion of visas operation straight out of a movie.
for the city of Detroit.
His son, Adam Kahana, is now
Aron chose Detroit after coming
through Ellis Island. The year was
Just this week, Upwardly
an all-state jazz guitarist. He notes
1949; he worked all his life for Gen-
that there's a thriving community
Global, an organization dedicated
to helping foreign-trained individu-
eral Motors, which brought him great of Israelis in Ann Arbor and several
als find employment in their chosen
pride. When he'd visit his sister in
musicians who play with his son
professions, opened an office in
Israel, he'd bring toys from America
have Israeli names. He's a soon-to-be
Detroit.
Interlochen father
and stories from
Detroit is one of America's great
Detroit.
and a proud
1. Dr. Alon Kahana with son Ethan, wife
Aron's great-
cities, with a rejuvenated Midtown
member of the
Heidi and son Adam. His daughters
nephew, Alon,
Ann Arbor Jewish
and Downtown, yet today it is
Arielle and Kyra are standing below.
community.
struggling amidst bankruptcy and a
heard those stories
2. Daniel Milstein
shrinking population "Immigrants
and remembers
Like his great-
were key to the city's greatness, and
them to this day.
uncle and grand-
3. Hugo Taubmann and his great-uncle
immigration can play a critical role
mother, Alon's
He came to De-
A. Alfred Taubman
troit at 12, shortly
mother-in-law,
in its comeback," Snyder says.
4. Joanna Mazurkiewicz in front of
The Detroit Jewish community's
before his bar
too, is a Holo-
Detroit's Heidelberg Project
mitzvah in Israel,
immigrant roots go back to the
caust survivor,
1700s. Ezekiel Solomon of Berlin,
through the Brit-
to see the city up-
ish Kindertrans-
Germany, came to the area as a fur
close. He went to
Camp Walden for a summer.
trader and supplier to the British
port (as told in the book and movie
troops.
For Alon, undergraduate stud-
Into The Arms of Strangers.) He
In the 1800s, hundreds more ar-
recently visited Israel with his son to
ies at Brandeis — where he'd meet
his wife, Heidi — were followed by
show him his own family's roots.
rived from abroad. Frederick Cohen,
an English Jewish painter, was one
medical school and graduate school
Alon, soon-to-be-promoted, envi-
at the University of Chicago and
sions staying in Michigan for the
noted Detroiter who resided here
during the Canadian Rebellion, a
a residency and fellowship at the
foreseeable future.
battle in Canada motivated by con-
University of Wisconsin. Then, seven
His lab attracts the highest caliber
cerns regarding political reforms. You years ago, came the chance to work
of talent.
can see his self-portrait at the Detroit at the University of Michigan, which
The talents of Dr. Alon Kahana
Institute of Arts.
just happened to be a short commute have traveled from Ramat Gan to
The majority of today's Jewish De- from where his late great-uncle lived. Michigan. As an example of how new
troit residents have immigrant roots
Alon says he was drawn to the col-
residents can immigrate in a way that
from the large European and Russian laborative nature of U-M so that he
builds on their past, he's building an
migration in the early 1900s, but
could practice medicine as well as do
important bridge of his own.
Jewish people from all over the world research.
2. DANIEL MILSTEIN:
continue to come to Michigan. Here
Alon's work encompasses areas
ESCAPE FROM UKRAINE
are a few more recent newcomers.
from complex eyelid reconstructive
surgery to cutting-edge research
Daniel Milstein left Ukraine after
1 . DR. ALON KAHANA:
into tissue regeneration as a Taub-
the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in a
FROM RAMAT GAN TO
man Institute Emerging Scholar (A.
middle-of-the-night escape with 17
ANN ARBOR
Alfred Taubman, of Bloomfield Hills, cents in his pocket and an uncertain

38 July 2014 I

ittD THRUM

future. The Jewish immigration
group HIAS provided an interest-
free loan for the ticket. A member of
the Ann Arbor Jewish community
donated the initial one-bedroom
apartment that turned into a con-
gested residence for five. The local
JCC donated clothes and helped
with transportation and transla-
tions.
Dan says that "the practice of Ju-
daism was punishable by jail" in his
native community, yet today is very
proud of the fact he is Jewish. He's
sought to make his mark on the
community by supporting Jewish
immigrants and pledging financial
help, knowing that it's all too com-
mon for immigrants to break down
with the stresses of a new life.
Dan, now a 38-year-old father
based in Northville, is a bestsell-
ing author who dedicated his last
book, 17 Cents and a Dream, to
his daughter, Julie. He started the
Ann Arbor-based mortgage firm
Gold Star Financial, which closes
hundreds of millions in yearly loans.
Gold Star Financial — which counts
Matt Roslin of Bloomfield Hills as
a key adviser — has been ranked
as one of America's fastest grow-
ing companies; the 400 employees
in 35 national offices include a few
that originally helped Dan and his
family get their feet on the ground
in the state and community they
now all call home.

3.

HUGO TAUBMANN:
FROM FRANCE TO U-M

Hugo Taubmann may be the only
Jew in the state who was born in
Montpellier, France. During child-
hood, he quickly moved from the
south of France to Paris. As part of
an interfaith family, he converted to

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