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continued from page 24

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26

July 12 • 2018

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Six of seven Robinson siblings: Max Robinson, Hilda Gold, Izzy Robinson, Coleman Robinson (bar
mitzvah boy and son of Max), Esther Cash, Rose Altman and Sam Robinson.

America as the Robinsons.
Gold said cousins old and young
were fascinated with the stories — a
blend of facts and tall tales — of how
their ancestors departed from the
Ukrainian shtetl of Dinovitz as teens
and made the precarious journey to
America. Some traveled to their clos-
est port of departure by foot. There
was also a family rumor that one stole
a horse as a means of transport. Each
time one of the siblings departed, it
was said they were given three loaves
of baked bread.
“One of the three loaves had
money or gold baked into it for
safekeeping,” said Gold’s relative
Terri Ellen from Salem, Ore., who
grew up in Detroit with brother Don
Rosenberg of Farmington Hills. “The
reasoning was, if they were robbed
along the route, they could beg the
robbers to leave them with one loaf
of bread (hopefully the one with the
money in it). Thankfully, they were
never robbed along the way.”
Gold said, “My mother (Hilda)
recalled how her family members
sewed gold or diamonds into the
lining of their coats, even gold teeth
for the journey to America. Gold is a
universal commodity that can always
be used to buy things, including buy-

ing your way out of a problem. This is
something my family always believed
in, especially if problems come for the
Jewish people, we were always taught
to have a few gold coins on hand.”
Over the years, Gold compiled
a family tree that takes up sev-
eral industrial-sized sheets of paper
through a genealogy company called
Family Chart Masters based in Utah.
Cousin Howard Cash of Ann Arbor
served as the recording secretary of
the family. He collected addresses
and phone numbers that will be
assembled into a family directory,
and scanned documents and family
photos to later be uploaded to the
family Facebook page, which boasts
75 members and counting.
Gold said he marveled at how
interested the newest generation sat
absorbing the stories.
“On the way back home to Chicago,
my daughter said she quizzed my
11-year-old grandchildren as to how
everyone was related to each other,”
Gold said. “It was important to me to
see how this generation loved learn-
ing about their family roots.”
With newfound enthusiasm for
learning about their lineage and con-
nections, the Robinsons hope to have
their next reunion in five years. •