OAKLAND ALLERGY
& ASTHMA CENTER
SPECIALIZING
IN ADULT AND
PEDIATRIC ALLERGY,
ASTHMA AND
IMMUNOLOGY
The Majestic Building on Woodward at Michigan had a popular eatery in the basement.
understood that nothing shall be done
which may prejudice the civil and
religious rights of existing non-Jewish
communities in Palestine, or the
rights and political status enjoyed by
Jews in any other country.”
Word of the Balfour Declaration
swept across the Jewish world. Jews
celebrated and danced in the streets,
including in Detroit. Members of
the imposing Temple Beth El on
Woodward and Eliot didn’t share
the excitement engulfing others
in the city. For years, leaders of the
Reform movement, including Beth El’s
spiritual leader Leo M. Franklin, had
encouraged Jews to Americanize, not
to adopt the Zionist cause and to shed
other levels of observance.
Franklin spoke out against Jewish
soldiers based at Fort Custer, near
Battle Creek, for requesting kosher
food. After all, Franklin stated, they
weren’t in the army as Jews, but as
Americans.
Joseph Papo, the first known
Sephardic Jew in Detroit, arrived in
1911. Five years later, Jacob Chicorel
arrived from Turkey and found a job
working at the Ford Motor Company.
In 1917, the Chicorels held the first
High Holiday services in their home
for Sephardic immigrants.
Ford produced its first truck in 1917,
and more cars were seen in the streets.
To relieve congestion, Mayor Oscar
Marx promoted the idea of a subway,
while the Detroit Free Press suggested
an elevated monorail system.
To help direct traffic, the city
installed an elevated platform sup-
porting a policeman responsible for
regulating traffic flow on Woodward
Avenue. It provided a sense of security
for pedestrians and reduced reckless
driving. For those going to funerals
of Shaarey Zedek members, the ride
was a lot further as the synagogue
purchased 50 acres on 14 Mile Road
near Woodward, and Clover Hill Park
Cemetery was established.
Business at Binyomin the
Blacksmith and at Able Gross’
Harness and Feed Store on Hastings
was declining as more Detroiters were
purchasing automobiles. The House of
Shelter acquired a 15-room house on
the corner of Winder and Brush, today
a fly ball north of Comerica Park. The
new home formerly served as the Old
Folks Home. Individuals or families
needing temporary shelter had ade-
quate sleeping quarters, a synagogue,
reading room and library.
For those seeking more action than
reading, there were many houses of
amusement in the city in 1917. Along
three blocks on Monroe Avenue, run-
ning eastward from Campus Martius,
there were 11 theaters. Six presented
live talent, and five were devoted to
showing silent movies. There were
many opportunities for employment
in the auto industry, as 23 companies
manufactured automobiles in Detroit.
Abe Rosen and his father, Sam,
opened a branch of the Warsaw
Bakery north of Grand Boulevard in
the Westminster-Oakland area. Abe
was responsible for many innovations.
He placed bread on racks behind the
countertops to test its freshness. He
sold rolls as a baker’s dozen, offering
13 instead of 12. He installed a con-
tainer of string in the ceiling dropping
down for quick, handy use.
Abe’s window displays of cakes for
all occasions were well known in the
city. What wasn’t well known, how-
ever, was that the enticing-looking
cakes were made of cardboard. Abe’s
brother, Dave, had another Warsaw
Bakery, a half-mile east of Oakland on
Joseph Campeau in Hamtramck.
Nate S. Shapero, a 26-year-old Navy
pharmacist’s mate stationed in his
hometown, used a borrowed $4,500
to open a drug store on the ground
level of a Detroit rooming house
on Cass and Ledyard. He named
his new enterprise, “Economical
Drug Store No. 1.” The optimistic
Shapero would live to a ripe old age,
but would celebrate more stores
than birthdays under the banner of
Cunningham.
And, 1917 was also memorable for
trivia buffs as it was the year future
president John F. Kennedy was born
and the year William F. Cody (Buffalo
Bill) died. •
Irwin Cohen worked in the Detroit Tigers’ front
office and earned a 1984 World Series ring.
The author of 10 books, including the iconic
Echoes of Detroit’s Jewish Communities, he
is a columnist for the national Jewish press
and a speaker on local and national subjects.
He may be reached in his dugout at irdav@
sbcglobal.net.
Ronda Barak-Norris, M.D.
Board Certified in Allergy
and Immunology
University of Michigan
Medical School
Over 25 years experience
Find relief for:
r Allergies & Hay Fever
r Food Allergies
r Asthma
r Pet Allergies
r Eye Allergies
r Hives
r Eczema
r Drug Allergies
r Sinus Infections
r Immune Deficiencies
TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT
CALL 248-737-4099
www.oaklandallergy.com
Visit Our New Touring Exhibit Opening June 22
E
ight beautiful dresses represent
the incalculable loss caused by the
Holocaust, in this moving exhibit on loan
from the Jewish Museum in Milwaukee
(JMM). In 1939, Paul Strnad sent his
cousin in Milwaukee sketches of his
wife Hedwig’s dress designs to obtain
an affidavit to escape Nazi Germany,
in hopes that her work would provide
evidence of their financial independence.
Unfortunately, both Hedy and Paul died in
the Holocaust. The JMM worked with the
Costume Shop of the Milwaukee Repertory
Theater to create the dresses from Hedy’s
sketches and to put together this exhibit.
Q Open Sunday through Friday; free with admission
or membership.
Q Sign up for docent-led tours on:
Sunday, July 23 at 1:30 p.m.
Sunday, August 13 at 1:30 p.m.
Monday, August 28 at 7 p.m.
Call 248.553.2400, ext. 110
HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTER ZEKELMAN FAMILY CAMPUS
28123 Orchard Lake Rd. t Farmington Hills, MI 48334 www.holocaustcenter.org
jn
June 22 • 2017
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