BERMAN, Anna (Hana) Rachel

Other Events and Attributes:

• Height: 4'10"
• Occupation: owned candy stores
• Immigration: 3 Feb 1923, NY, USA
• Residence: 1938, 1624 10th Ave., Brooklyn, NY
• Naturalization: 5 Jul 1938, Brooklyn, Kings, New York, USA

Notes:

Anna Berman Asimov proved to be a talented actress, according to the written recollections of her husband, Judah (Jack) Asimov.

In 1917, Judah wrote, "For the first show, they selected a play by the name of ìFamily Zvi,î by [the well-known Yiddish playright] David Pinsky. ... We played as amateurs in more than 10 plays, and we were so good that people used to come from the surrounding villages and towns to see us play. Mamma [Anna Berman Asimov] even played in Jacob Gordonís play (ìCHASIE DI YETOMEî) while she was in her seventh month with a baby that we later named Isaac. And nobody could have told that she was pregnant
at that time.

[Note: Jacob Gordon ñ also spelled Gordin -- (1853-1909), was regarded as one of the greatest playwrights of the Yiddish American theater, circa 1895 in NY. His most successful play was ìThe Jewish King Lear,î about a pious immigrant father abused by his heartless American-born daughters. He also wrote ì Mirele Efrosî (1898), known as The Jewish Queen Lear, and ìGod, Man and Devilî (1900), based on the story of Faust.]

"Mamma learned her lines easily, and she did not depend on the box man who used to read in a low voice so that the players did not make mistakes. For some, it was no help at all. But Mamma did not need anybodyís help. She learned the lines and did not make any mistakes because she used to live the life of Pesenue, the pious wife of Hershele Dubrovner in ìGot, Mentsh un Teiflî [ìGod, Man and Devilî]. I am reminded now that she was the best. She never imitated anything, and when it came to laughter she was always first. She used to inspire the whole crowd."

[Note: The play ìGot, Mentch un Teiflî ìexplores whether or not a good and pious man will be corrupted by money. Satan makes a wager with God that he can tempt Hershele Dubrovneróa poor, religious Torah scribeóby handing him a lottery ticket which will win a fortune. Satan then disguises himself and becomes Hersheleís business partner, advising Hershele to open a tallis [prayer shawl] factory and hire the community men to work for a pittance. The disguised Satan also tells Hershele to divorce his barren wife of 22 years [Pesenue] and marry the young and beautiful niece that Hershele and his wife had raised. Hershele follows all of the advice he is givenóand in the process destroys his family, his friendships, and any spiritual values he once had. He learns that life holds no remedies for the damage he has caused.î And the story ends tragically.î]

Anna was born just one block away from Judah, on an opposite corner. In his written recollections, Judah also writes that Anna's mother was the second wife of Anna's father, Isaac Berman. Isaac had "some sons and a daughter, from which I knew two David and Uncle Joseph. I have heard about another son, Mordechai."

Judah also writes, Anna had "three brothers all younger than her." He refers to Anna as the "little sister" of Mordechai.

He says that her older brother, Joseph, had left Petrovichi when Ann was a baby.

The manifest of the Baltic (arriving from Liverpool) lists the family as follows: Juda, Hana Rochel, Aisik & Manis Asimy. It says they are from Petrowitschi.
https://tinyurl.com/35tsy2sn (Baltic’s passenger list)
Arrived on Feb. 3, 1923, and, according to Judah’s written memories, it took them four days to get off the ship. They entered NY on Feb. 7, 1923. (I am writing this on Feb. 7, 2023. (!) )

Here's a bit about the ship:
BALTIC 1903
The BALTIC was a 23,876 gross ton ship built in 1903 by Harland & Wolff, Belfast for the White Star Line. Her details were - length 709.2ft x beam 75.6ft, two funnels, four masts, twin screw and a speed of 17 knots. There was accommodation for 425-1st, 450-2nd and 2,000-3rd class passengers. Launched on 21st Nov.1903, she sailed from Liverpool on her maiden voyage to New York on 29th Jun.1904. In 1909 she rescued survivors of the collision between the REPUBLIC and the FLORIDA off the US coast, in which the REPUBLIC sank. On 12th Dec.1918 she commenced her first voyage after the Armistice, from Liverpool to New York and in 1927 her accommodation was altered to carry 393-cabin class, 339-tourist class and 1,150-3rd class passengers. On 17th Sep.1932 she commenced her last voyage from Liverpool to New York and Liverpool and on 17th Feb.1933 sailed for Osaka, Japan where she was scrapped. [North Atlantic Seaway by N.R.P.Bonsor, vol.2,p.763]


1st apt: 425 Van Siclen Ave., Brooklyn betw Sutter & Black
1925: 434 Miller Ave., corner Sutter
1926, 1st candy store: 751 Sutter Ave. between Miller and Bradford
Dec. 1928, Apt: 651 Essex Street, above the second candy store, corner New Lots Ave.
1933: Church Ave candy store for about 1 month
1933: Apt: 1312 Decatur St, with candy store
Dec. 1936: 4th candy store: 174 Windsor Pl, between Fuller Place and 10th Avenue
Apt: 192 Windsor Pl.

Immigration:
The Baltic https://tinyurl.com/35tsy2sn

Buried:
JPG, Genealogy/Reunion/headstones/Asimov Headstone.jpg, Anna Berman and Judah Asimov Headstone, HEADSTONE

Anna married ASIMOV, Judah in Jun 1918 in Petrovichi, Russia. Judah (son of ASIMOV, Aaron Menachem and LEIKIN, Hanna) was born on 21 Dec 1896 in Petrovichi, Russia, 53.58 deg N lat; 32.10 E long.; died on 4 Aug 1969 in Miami Beach, Florida, USA; was buried in Mt. Golda Cemetery, Huntington, Long Island. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

From Judah's recollections, written in 1969:

"I was very young when I started to like to talk to her (Anna), but she used to dress up and go away with or to girl friends, giving me the impression that she doesn't care for me, until a little over 50 years ago we got married.

"That was right after the Communist revolution. But regardless, we had a truly Jewish wedding, where the whole town's people Jew and Gentile came to the front of the shul where our wedding took place under the open sky."

Judah's niece, Serafima Asimova, later wrote an email to her cousins in the United States dispelling a rumor in Petrovichi that Judah and Anna left for the U.S. because the Bermans and Asimovs were not happy about the marriage. (Note: Serafima refers to Anna as Hanna, and to Judah's mother as Hanna, as well) The rumor was "...that Judah and Hanna Berman there have left far away from my grandmother Hanna which did not like the wife of the son. It is a lie."

She writes: "Judah - the first-born Hanna and Aaron Asimov. The grandmother of Hanna (Berman) very much liked Judah. When he began to meet about Hanna Berman, the grandmother asked the son to not hurry up. He was high and beautiful, and Hanna very small. But to a place there has come a typhus and Judah was ill the Typhus. For days and nights stayed about his bed of Hanna Berman and heart of the grandmother at a kind of such love and fidelity has trembled and she has recognized to Hanna and was glad to their marriage."

1. ASIMOV, Isaac was born on 2 Jan 1920 in Petrovichi, Russian SFSR, 10 miles East of Belorussian SSR border (near Smolensk); died in 1992.
2. ASIMOV, Marcia was born on 17 Jun 1922 in Petrovichi, Russia, Soviet Union; died on 2 Apr 2011 in Plainview, Long Island, NY.
3. ASIMOV, Stanley was born on 25 Jul 1929 in 501 New Lots Ave. Brooklyn, NY; died on 16 Aug 1995 in Mt. Sinai Hospital, Manhattan, NY; was cremated in 1995 in NYC.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Education: “A great Talmudic scholar among many great scholars that our hometown had.”
• Occupation: Had a business catering to peasants from surrounding villages
• Religion: Jewish

Notes:

Isaac Berman, loved his children very much, according to the recollections of his son-in-law, Judah (Jack) Asimov, 1896-1969, who named his first child after Isaac Berman.
Isaac Berman was a great Talmudic scholar, and Petrovichi residents spoke of him reverently. In an argument, for example, if someone remembered that Reb Isaac Berman had explained the point this way or that, the argument would come to an end -- and this in a town filled with great scholars.

Judah writes that with his first wife, Isaac Berman had "some sons and a daughter, from which I knew two: David and Uncle Joseph. I have heard about another son, Mordechai."

He refers to Anna Berman as the "little sister" of Mordechai. Anna Berman was the daughter of Isaac and his second wife, Tamara. Judah writes that Anna had "three brothers all younger than her."

Judah writes that Joseph Berman left Petrovichi when his younger half sister, Anna, was a baby. Isaac Berman, who apparently died in his 50s, had 8 children, possibly in this order: Unknown daughter, Mordechai, Joseph, David, Anna, Girsh, Natan, unknown son.

Isaac married UNKNOWN, Tamara about 1890 in Russia. Tamara was born about 1870 in Russia; died in Russia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Took over the “business with the Russian peasants from the surrounding villages.” when her husband died.

Notes:

Up to now, I have not mentioned anything about Mamma’s Mother [Tamara] because I cannot say much about her. She was like any other Jewish woman of that time. She was not educated because Jewish education was for men. But she had one qualification – she was very smart. In town, if they wanted to compare some women in cleverness, they used to have two sayings. “She is another Tamara.” Or, “Would you like her to be another Tamara?” I think this is proof enough that Mamma’s mother was a clever woman. She was, under the circumstances, then quite comfortable.

Husband married UNKNOWN, WifeRussia. Wife was born in Russia; died in Russia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]