looking back

Hymie “Henry” Zornitsky, one of 12 children born to Dvoira and Mordicai
Zornitsky in Russia, came with his mother and siblings to the U.S. as a young
adult and settled in Detroit, sensing the abundant opportunities in the emerg-
ing industrial hub. In the 1920s, he opened Zorn’s Confectionary on Gratiot
and East Grand Boulevard in Detroit. Being located next to a movie house was

among the reasons why Zorn’s became known as the place to go for candy
and popcorn with “real butter,” recalled his daughter Helen Charney. He later
moved his store to 12th Street, where he began roasting peanuts by the hour
and showcasing them in the storefront window. Zorn’s Confectionary closed in
1961. Henry died in 1965. •

Courtesy of Susan Feldman. Read more about Zorn’s at michjewishhistory.org.

Historic photos are curated by the
Jewish Historical Society of Michigan.

From the DJN

Davidson Digital Archive

W

orld War II still raged in Europe and the Pacific in
1943, and the Feb. 2 issue of the JN has some interest-
ing news about the level of support that American
Jews provided toward the war effort. It was most impressive.
On page 5, the headline read, with not the best grammar: “U.S.
Jews Give $74, 885, 285 to Aid Million Flee Nazis.” The gist of
the story was that, since 1933, the year Hitler
and his Nazis came to power in Germany, the
United Jewish Appeal for Refugees, Overseas
Needs and Palestine, had raised this amount.
Adjusted for inflation, in 2018, this would be
more than $1 billion! That’s a lot of dough by
any standard. The UJA also estimated that its
efforts had saved about 1 million Jews from
disaster; 305,000 had found homes in Palestine,
Mike Smith
208,000
refugees had immigrated to the United
Detroit Jewish News
Foundation Archivist
States, and 125,000 had found a refuge in South

78

February 8 • 2018

jn

America.
Along these same lines, there was another similar story:
“B’nai Brith’s Bond Goal: Two Submarine Chasers!” It went on to
explain that all lodges, auxiliaries and the AZA in Detroit would
join the drive to sell $1 million worth of bonds in February. Each
ship would bear a shield with the names of the sponsors.
In other war news, there was a small item about a fellow who
was cited in a previous column. Sgt. Meyer Levin, one of the
first Jews to be recognized for his heroism in the war, was still
a bombardier in the South Pacific, and Levin was awarded his
third medal for bravery. Another brief item cited Private Sidney
Hanfling, who was helping to add to the nation’s paper shortage.
Hanfling was continually writing to 23 cousins, all of whom were
serving in the military. That’s a lot of prose! •

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation archives,
available for free at www.djnfoundation.org.

