It had been 65 years since Henry Ford, the pioneer automaker and one of America’s most outspoken, hateful, and prominent anti-Semites, had yielded to pressure and ended his overt effort to promote the hatred of Jews.
Beautiful story, Mary. Thank you for reading and for sharing. Was this by chance Mort Greenstone, who had an insurance agency? His wife would have been Edith. He was my cousin, though I never met him. His grandfather and my great-grandfather were brothers. I have been in touch with his daughter, Ellen, who lives in LA.
Thanks, Arnie. I’m learning a lot. I spent my grade-school years in Storm Lake, where to the best of my knowledge there was only one Jewish family in town. They lived our neighborhood. I think the only reason I knew they were Jewish is that my friend talked about driving 70 miles to Sioux City to attend synagogue.
I was delighted to see you follow up on this story. One of my goals in writing the book was to inspire further research, and I was pleased with the alacrity with which you pounced on the story.
BTW, my book has been out for about six weeks, & is available at Beaverdale Books, Dogeared Books, & Prairie Lights.
I have been meaning to thank you for sharing. Just like it is valuable to read stories of courage and energy and perseverance of the civil rights era, it was meaningful to read this story. Members of my Ames Jewish Congregation were the Arkovich family, who were butchers in Sioux City. Since moving to Ames, father (who has passed on) and son became members of our law enforcement community.
As a native of Sioux City I will continue to state that Sioux City was a better town when it had a vibrant and active Jewish community. As a kid I knew many Jewish families in our neighborhood. With two synagogues within walking distance of our home we saw our neighbors walk to shul. One terrible icy Saturday, our neighbor Mort was trying to walk up the hill toward the synagogue. Our father had three kids in the car to take us to a Saturday school event. Mort had befriended our father when he was a high school student and worked in a clothing store next to Mort's downtown variety store. Dad yelled at Mort to get in the car. Mort yelled back "No John it is the Sabbath, I can not be in a car." At that point Mort fell down. Our Dad got out of the car and basically lifted Mort into the front seat of the car as climbed to the back seat. Mort complained. Dad said, "Mort, God does not want you to break your leg." Mort was quiet during the two block slippery ride. As he got out of the car, my siblings and I said, "Mort pray for us." He was astonished the three little Catholic kids would say that. He stuck his head into the car and thanked all of us for the ride and for our trust in his prayers. So glad that I lived in that DEI neighborhood and knew Mort.
Beautiful story, Mary. Thank you for reading and for sharing. Was this by chance Mort Greenstone, who had an insurance agency? His wife would have been Edith. He was my cousin, though I never met him. His grandfather and my great-grandfather were brothers. I have been in touch with his daughter, Ellen, who lives in LA.
Wow! What a story! And a timely tale about standing up for what is right.
Thanks, Arnie. I’m learning a lot. I spent my grade-school years in Storm Lake, where to the best of my knowledge there was only one Jewish family in town. They lived our neighborhood. I think the only reason I knew they were Jewish is that my friend talked about driving 70 miles to Sioux City to attend synagogue.
I was delighted to see you follow up on this story. One of my goals in writing the book was to inspire further research, and I was pleased with the alacrity with which you pounced on the story.
BTW, my book has been out for about six weeks, & is available at Beaverdale Books, Dogeared Books, & Prairie Lights.
I agree with Julie. Would that our Iowa political delegation in D.C. had even a tenth of this courage.
Our delegation in D.C. is full of cowards. We need politicians standing up for our rights! We have to confront them at the town hall meetings!
I have been meaning to thank you for sharing. Just like it is valuable to read stories of courage and energy and perseverance of the civil rights era, it was meaningful to read this story. Members of my Ames Jewish Congregation were the Arkovich family, who were butchers in Sioux City. Since moving to Ames, father (who has passed on) and son became members of our law enforcement community.
As a native of Sioux City I will continue to state that Sioux City was a better town when it had a vibrant and active Jewish community. As a kid I knew many Jewish families in our neighborhood. With two synagogues within walking distance of our home we saw our neighbors walk to shul. One terrible icy Saturday, our neighbor Mort was trying to walk up the hill toward the synagogue. Our father had three kids in the car to take us to a Saturday school event. Mort had befriended our father when he was a high school student and worked in a clothing store next to Mort's downtown variety store. Dad yelled at Mort to get in the car. Mort yelled back "No John it is the Sabbath, I can not be in a car." At that point Mort fell down. Our Dad got out of the car and basically lifted Mort into the front seat of the car as climbed to the back seat. Mort complained. Dad said, "Mort, God does not want you to break your leg." Mort was quiet during the two block slippery ride. As he got out of the car, my siblings and I said, "Mort pray for us." He was astonished the three little Catholic kids would say that. He stuck his head into the car and thanked all of us for the ride and for our trust in his prayers. So glad that I lived in that DEI neighborhood and knew Mort.