Chapter 3 - Growing Up in Worcester, Massachusetts

Summary

Worcester in 1939 was a lovely city with a multitude of beautiful parks, excel¬lent schools, an effective and extensive public transportation system, and ethnic neighborhoods with great shopping opportunities. We moved into an apart¬ment at 84 Elm Street. The house was about thirty years old and we lived on the ground floor. The place was not large, but we managed well with the four rooms plus a kitchen, a bathroom, and two porches, one in front and one off the kitchen. The latter we shared with drying racks for the laundry since there was neither a washing machine nor a dryer. Temple Emanuel, where my father was to be the cantor for the next sixteen years until his death, was located at 111 Elm Street only a block and a half away from the house, and our school was always within walking distance. This was true of the elementary and middle schools as well as the high school.

As we arrived in Worcester towards the end of August, my father became immediately absorbed with the preparations for the High Holy Days, and Mari¬anne and I started school a week before Labor Day. Naturally we knew very few people, but the members of the congregation were exceptionally friendly and generous with gifts as well as invitations to come to their homes. My mother's English skills were quite wanting (to say the least). When she “confronted” someone in person, she was able to communicate quite well with a mixture of pidgin English, German, and gesticulation (with an emphasis on the latter). However, when the phone rang, she refused to answer since this would usually eliminate the chance for her to use her hands, feet, or any other portions of her body to make herself understood. So we compromised. She would try to speak as well as she could to anyone she met personally, but Marianne and I would take care of the phone. My father's English was a bit better since he took some classes during the months we lived in New York; his daily reading of the news¬paper from cover to cover also helped him with his English language skills, and, not being afraid to make mistakes, he used the newly acquired tongue without reticence in his conversations.