MAX AND SARAH BERLIN

This is the only known photo of Max and Sarah (abt. 1941)

Max had a stroke and Sarah was propping him up in his bed

 

 

Max Berlin  ( Moishe Mordecai or Moses Mordche) was born (according to his death certificate) on December 3, 1863 somewhere in “Austria.”  He was the son of Isadore and Miriam Berlin.  As an adult he worked as a tinsmith and plumber in Skalat, (present day Ukraine).  According to his daughter Celia, he was also in the Russian Cavalry. 

Max married “Chana” and this marriage produced one son, Samuel Berlin (b.1885).  For reasons unknown, Max divorced Chana and he married his first cousin Sarah (Sura) Berlin. My father said that Chana came to the USA and remained good friends with Max and Sarah. Max and Sarah had at least one child in Podwoloczska, Ruchel (1889-1890).

 

 

I think I found the reason for the divorce!

Above is the birth record for Ruchel Berlin. She was born on December 19, 1889 to Moses Mordche Berlin, a tinsmith in Podwolocysk, and Sure Berlin (parents are Abraham and Lea Berlin, merchants) also of Podwolocysk.

Highlighted in blue is “nieslubne” which is Polish for illegitimate/out of wedlock!!

So, Max was married to Chane and had Sammy in 1885, then in 1889, he knocks up his first cousin!  The shame!

On the bottom is a row labeled uwaga (attention/warning). I wish I could translate it properly.  Google translate said something about a confession and the father of the child will take care of the marriage.

Max left his homeland and came to NYC by himself on the German Steamer SS Suevia on February 8, 1891 out of Hamburg. He was listed at Moses Berlin and arrived on February 24, 1891. The ship manifest records that he was 31 years old (est birth year 1860) from Austria. His starting place was Drohobych (present day Ukraine). Ellis Island was not open then, so he was processed through Castle Garden and the old barge office in the Port of New York.

 

 

 

His son, later referred to as “Uncle Sammy,” came over through Ellis Island when he about 13 years.

Max worked as a plumber in NYC until he raised enough money to send for Sarah in 1895. Max was naturalized on August 3, 1906.

The 1900 census for Kings County NY (ED 453, sh 57) shows Max's DOB as Jun 1862.

My theory for the discrepancies with the age/birth dates in the census records is that young english speaking children answered the questions incorrectly. Or maybe the kids were correct and other records were wrong. Who knows?

Max died on November 14, 1941 in Brooklyn NY. My father was almost 10 years old then. He remembered that this day was a Friday and Sabbath preparations were ongoing, so the family took his body and locked it up in a room. On Saturday evening when Sabbath was over, the family came back to the room. The body had putrefied enough that they smashed a window with a chair to ventilate the fetor.

 Years ago, I spoke with family members who knew Max. They all described him as a very gentle and loving man. He was so kind, that he did not not have the heart to collect his plumbing bills from his clients who were his neighbors, impoverished from the ongoing Great Depression. Sarah had to do it for him.

 

 

Sarah Berlin (according to census records and her death certificate) was born between 1864 – 1866 in Austria.  She was the daughter of Abraham  and Laya ( Dyschel) Berlin.  Sarah told my father that her family was wealthy and she was afforded private tutors to study books (typically women were not allowed to study in those days).  Sarah became very learned and was often consulted by men for her learned opinion!

After four years of being apart from her husband, Sarah travelled to Rotterdam, The Netherlands, to board the SS Maasdam. Sarah arrived at Ellis Island NY on September 16, 1895 aboard the SS Maasdam. On the manifest, she was listed as a 30 year old seamstress.

 

 

 

Together in the United States, they had six children: Mary (1896 – 1975), Celia (1898 - 1983), Fay (1899 - ?), Mildred, my Grandmother, (1901/2 – 1983), and Deborah (1907 – 1976).  They also had a boy named Chaim (Sep 3, 1906-March 17, 1907).  Chaim was in chronically ill health, suffered from hydrocephalus, and died of pneumonia (per NY death certificate #5946).

Sarah died on July 2, 1953 in Brooklyn NY.

Sarah was considered a “Tzedakis” (Hebrew for righteous).  When she died, her holy books were buried with her.

Max and Sarah are buried at Beth David Cemetery in Elmont NY. (Section A, Block 9, Plot F, Row F, # 26 for Max and # 25 for Sarah).

See their inscriptions on the Ellis Island Wall of Honor.