ASIMOV, Judah (Jack) Younger

Judah married HOVEY, Joe [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Eric married LEE, Jacalyn Devida [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Physical Description: Height: 5'9'' Eye Clr: hazel Hair Clr: bald Blood Type: B+
• Occupation: Newspaperman, Newsday
• Occupation: Vice President, editorial, Newsday
• Residence: 1940, 103 10th Ave. Brooklyn, NY

Stanley married SHEINAUS, Ruth Evelyn on 26 Nov 1955 in NY. Ruth (daughter of SHEINAUS, Louis (Foff) Pinkas and POLLAKOFF, Annette (Nettie) C.) was born on 31 Jul 1922 in 938 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY; died on 18 Feb 2018 in New York (Manhattan), New York City-Greater, New York, United States; was cremated in 2018 in NYC. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Physical Description: Height: 5'9'' Weight: 1 Eye Clr: brown Hair Clr: brown and straight
• Education: PS 118 (grades 1-8 on 109th Ave, Hollis);
• Education: Almost 4 years at Queens College, Flushing, NY
• Education: BA in fine art, ceramics concentration, Hofstra University, (1980?)
• Occupation: Mother
• Residence: 190-20 111th Ave. Hollis, Queens, NY
• Cause of Death: Pneumonia
• Occupation: 1942, Draftsman with the Signal Corp., Eatontown, NJ

Notes:

Talented artist--inherited this gift from her father, Louis (Foff), and her grandfather, Abraham.
enjoyed making pottery on a wheel, painting and sculpting.

At PS 118, where Ruth attended school from grades 1-8 from (about 1928 to about 1936), she and her brother, Harold, and other children planted the trees behind the school on 109th Ave. In 2004, they were still there.

"The earliest movie I went to was King Kong. I remember covering my eyes, I was so scared. I was maybe 6 or 7 years old. I went with my (older) brother (Harold)."

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/84835476/ruth-sheinaus-poem-age-8/

Residence:
Where Ruth Sheinaus lived from 1925 or '26 until about 1941.

Notes:

Marriage
Date: 26 NOV 1955
Place: St. Albans Jewish Center, Queens, NY

Other Events and Attributes:

• Also Known As: Jack
• Education: Started school at age 5, Petrovichi, Russia
• Occupation: Owned, operated candy stores at or near each home address.
• Occupation: Candy store owner, Brooklyn, NY
• Occupation: Dealer in rye, oats, barley, buckwheat in Petrovichi, Russia. The family mill was 2,450 square feet. Made kasha from buckwheat
• Immigration: 13 Feb 1923, NY, USA
• Naturalization: 6 Sep 1928, District Court, Brooklyn, NY

Notes:

The Asimovs were leading citizens in Petrovichi, socially & economically. There, Judah set up a co-operative organization for buying and distributing food, which he ran for 5 years.

He helped organize a library in the town, and he and his wife, Anna Berman Asimov, took up amateur theatre. She was apparently a good actress.

He also brought the first real doctor to Petrovichi in 1915, named Dr. Gugel. There had been no doctor in Petrovichi at the time -- only a registered nurse called a "feldsher."

Judah's Grandfather Mendel loved him very much. Judah was his first-born grandchild. (There had been a girl born earlier, who died in infancy.) Mendel used to hold Judah in shul, and Judah felt that Mendel would have given his life for him.

Judah was one of eight children, though two died in infancy: a girl in 1894, and a boy in who died at 6 months in 1904.

Judah was born about a block away from Anna Rachel Berman. (See notes in their wedding section.)

Judah and Anna left Petrovitchi for Moscow on Dec. 24, 1922, by a hired horse and buggy. They traveled to the Pochinok Station with their 2-year-old son, Isaac, and their nearly 6-month-old daughter, Marcia, who had a bad cough. The family went to Liverpool and boarded the USS Baltic, which landed at Ellis Island in Feb. 1923.

Judah's recollections, written in 1969, say they arrived on Feb 3 1923 and were allowed to leave the ship on Feb 7. The electronic record of the ship's manifest (ellisisland.org) (https://tinyurl.com/35tsy2sn) erroneously says they arrived on Feb. 13, 1923. But the record itself has a Feb. 3 date. Judah said it took them four days to leave the ship, so they set foot in NY for the first time on Feb. 7, 1923.

The Baltic's manifest lists the family from "Petrowitschi" as follows: Juda, Hana Rochel, Aisik & Manis Asimy. https://tinyurl.com/35tsy2sn

As for 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]

In "In Memory Yet Green," Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) writes of Judah: "When I was young, my father, who loved to tell me stories and parables designed to improve my mind and spirit, would occasionally expound on a biblical verse. (He knew the Bible by heart -- for he was a very very great scholar, too, in the shtetl sense--but in Hebrew, of course.) He would recite the verse in Hebrew, then translate it into English--or Yiddish, if he couldn't think of an English word..."


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:
Ship: Baltic

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

Judah married BERMAN, Anna (Hana) Rachel in Jun 1918 in Petrovichi, Russia. Anna (daughter of BERMAN, Isaac and UNKNOWN, Tamara) was born on 5 Sep 1895 in Petrovichi, Russia; died on 6 Aug 1973 in Ila Hotel, Long Beach, NY, USA; was buried in Mt. Golda Cemetery, Huntington, Long Island. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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

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."

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Pharmacist. Owned Gardens Pharmacy, 109-18 Farmers Blvd, corner Liberty Ave., Hollis, Queens, NY
• Occupation: Pharmacist
• Religion: Jewish
• Birth: Jun 1893
• Arrival: 24 Jul 1893
• Arrival: 1906
• Residence: 1920, Brooklyn Assembly District 18, Kings, New York
• Residence: 1930, 190-20 111th Ave. Queens, New York
• Residence: 1940, 190-20 111th Ave. Queens, NY

Notes:

Talented artist and painter--inherited gift from his father, Abraham.

Owned the Garden Pharmacy in Hollis, Queens, NY from 1926 to 1957

From Ruth Sheinaus Asimov: "Of the three girls and one boy that Fanny and Abe had, only Louis, my
father, went to college, although the women married a doctor (Esther), a
dentist (Rosie) and a lawyer (Lizzie). My father took a pharmacy degree at
Columbia (they no longer have a college of pharmacy) and a pharm.d. degree at
some New Jersey college which I don't know. Abe's family knew the Scheiner
family in Europe, and when they came here, they lived near each other. (My mother,
Nettie, was a part of the Scheiner clan, 'tho her last name was Pollakoff."

Louis was known as "Foff" because when his daughter, Ruth, was little, she pronounced the word "father" as "foff.''

Louis married POLLAKOFF, Annette (Nettie) C. on 21 Mar 1917 in 68 St. Marks Pl. Manhattan. Annette (daughter of POLIANKOVSKY, Moishe Hersh and SPRINGBERG, Esther (Big Bubbe)) was born on 26 May 1892 in Oriv, near Odessa in Ukraine; died on 6 Dec 1955 in Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Color/Complexion: “Sallow”
• Hair color: “Reddish”
• Height: 5’4”
• Occupation: Milliner
• Birth: Abt 1889, Oriv, Ukraine
• Immigration: 23 Nov 1906, age 17
• Residence: 1940, 190-20 111th Ave. Queens, NY

Notes:

Nettie, who came to the US at age 14, was good at math and had wonderful, thick hair, said her daughter, Ruth. "She was a good seemstress and knitter." Back in Russia, she knitted two pairs of booties for her German Shepherd, "Tzigane," which meant Gypsy in Yiddish or Russian. The dog went out with the booties, and came back without them. "My mother never forgot that," Ruth said.

Nettie was part of the Scheiner clan "tho her last name was Pollakoff," said Ruth. Her half-sister, Kayla, married a Scheiner. And "Abe's family (Nettie's in-laws) knew the Scheiner family in Europe, and when they came here, they lived near each other."

Nettie lived on Ludlow in Manhattan when she first arrived. She worked as a hat-maker and went to high school at night, Ruth said.

From Nettie's niece, Marcelle Pollakoff London: "How we got to Pollakoff from Polliankofsky is that there was a cousin named Max Pollakoff who took (Nettie's brother) Izzy off the boat when he came to America under the name Pollakoff."

OBITUARY: Dec. 7, 1955 Newsday

Physical Description:
Height: 5'4'' Eyes: bluish gray. Hair: chestnut brown

Immigration:
“Milliner”

Died:
Cerebral hemmorage
Nettie took a lot of aspirin to treat painful arthritis. She fell into a coma during the honeymoon of her daughter, Ruth, who returned immediately with Stanley. Nettie died days later, but never woke up.

Notes:

Married:
Sholem Scheiner's home. Witnesses: Ben Scheiner & Izzy Pollakoff