Interview with Isadore Tuchman, February 21,1962, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

MARTEN: This is Bill Marten, staff member at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. I am making this tape on Wednesday February, 21, 1962 for the Wisconsin Jewish Archives. I will be interviewing Mr. Isadore Tuchman in his home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

TUCHMAN: The topic of mine will be emergency call for relief for overseas in Milwaukee in 1913 or rather 1914. You see, 1914 the first call was--Louis D. 00:01:00Brandeis and Dr. [inaudible] Levine came to Milwaukee with an emergency call for, at that time, Palestine. The Zionist organization in America was equipped to gather a little money for helping colonizing Palestine. And Louis D. Brandeis at that time was the president of the Zionist organization in America. Dr. Levine was also at the office of the world Zionist organization and they came to 00:02:00Milwaukee as the first call for help for Palestine. They succeeded and they rose about a thousand dollars for that purpose. Since then, most of our newcomers in this city, mostly immigrants--They felt that this year is not enough, that need will exist during the war and maybe after the war. So we organized ourselves to raise money for that purpose, to help people of ours in European countries and 00:03:00Asian countries as well. We called that organization Ezra Betsarah which meant "help to needy people." And under its auspices was the main leader was Rabbi Scheinfeld, at that time the Orthodox rabbi, the only one, in the city of Milwaukee. We succeeded and brought quite a few people--[ inaudible ] to bring together money at that time was to go every Sunday from door to door and to ask for donations. We usually had thirty couples, mostly youngsters, and we went and 00:04:00brought up this organization to a stage that we had been bringing in weekly about $150 to $200 a week. That was the basic money that we used to get in every week on Sunday morning. Every Tuesday we used to have a meeting, mostly from the same people, all volunteers. From the chairman down to every volunteer which was going out Sunday, it was voluntary work. We didn't spend any money for any work between with the exception of a stamp, even the rent was free and was held in 00:05:00the Jewish old home institution. We kept that on for almost five and a half years, til the war ended and the peace treaty was signed. We also used to run a ball occasionally at a certain time and at the high holidays we used to make appeals in every temple and collect a little money, naturally in larger sums, and through these efforts we used to make about around $10,000 a year. And after 00:06:00the war when we found out the need was much greater, it was organized--the whole city including old timers, reformed temple Jews as well.

[Shuffling] [inaudible]

TUCHMAN: And then the American Jewish Committee started with the Joint Distribution Committee. That was an affair which we started doing it 00:07:00differently. We made a campaign every year for the Joint Distribution Committee. [pause] When the Joint Distribution Committee started, that covered all the Jewry in this city, we started raising money in different ways--no door to door for nickels and dimes or quarters. We started with a campaign once a year for the Joint Distribution Committee covering the Jewry all over the world. And we were also told many times the Joint Distribution Committee also helping non-Jews. It was also separate campaign that we were calling Keren hayesod, 00:08:00which was namely for Palestine. That we going on until the early thirties. And this year two campaigns, the Keren hayesod and the Joint Distribution Committee, combined under the name United Jewish Appeal, which is the organization raising money for all in need for European and Asian and Palestine or rather today, Israel. That covers the relief emergency up 'til today. I think that's enough.

[Long pause]

TUCHMAN: The person today of Golda Meir, foreign minister of Israel, I know her. I met her the first time at a meeting of our organization. They arranged a lecture on Jewish writer and dramatist Peretz Hirshbein and she was picked as the chairman of that evening. They were very much pleasantly surprised that she 00:10:00was conducting that meeting as the chairman in fine Jewish language, and we were told that she is also going to university as a teacher. So after that meeting we made an attempt to interest her in our Jewish education, to be one of the teachers in that Jewish school, which was mostly held Sunday mornings and later 00:11:00on Saturday in the afternoon. Well we got acquainted with her when she accepted that offer and we were interested with her in the Zionist organization. In time, she was elected as a delegate to the Zionist Organization of Philadelphia where she was one delegate and myself, the second one. Between times we had a movement 00:12:00in Milwaukee and also all over the United States among our Jewish people to organize ourselves in the American Jewish Congress. The aim was that the American government should help us as citizens of America to improve our situation in the European countries where we had approximately about ten million Jews suffering from all kinds of discriminations, economically and politically. While we were trying to organize this, we were having mass meetings in the 00:13:00streets and halls and we found Golda was one of the speakers. That was the beginning of her being famous as such. She was a fine speaker in Jewish as well as in English. While we were at the convention, Zionist Organization, and that was the same time, a week later, the Congress session was also in Philadelphia. When she appeared among delegates talking about certain subjects, everybody seen that she is more than the average girl at that time. Well actually women in this 00:14:00country didn't play much of any political--

[Shuffling] [inaudible]

TUCHMAN: That was in 1919. In 1921, she left for Palestine. She had been in Palestine in a kibbutz, a cooperative colony, which it was not so easy in those days to live in, and she was two or three years in that kibbutz. Later on she became secretary of the labor movement, which it was in, I suppose, Tel Aviv. 00:15:00Later on, she became assistant foreign secretary of the Yishuv, which had been the organization of Zionists at that time in Palestine. Later on, she was sent to Great Britain, talking to Parliament, gatherings, and many other countries. After the second world war, when Israel became itself an organized country, she was the first ambassador to Moscow, for a year and a half. When she came back to 00:16:00Israel, she became the labor minister in Israel. For several years, in between times, she came several times to America, organizing the United Jewish Appeal, helping the Israel bonds selling, until towards last she is the foreign minister of Israel, for which she is known the world over. Let's say in my opinion, if 00:17:00not the first lady of the world, she's the second one. If you take...

[Inaudible]

TUCHMAN: [Mumbling] She may be the second one--[inaudible].

MARTEN: [Inaudible].

TUCHMAN: Now, just, did you get it on there?

MARTEN: Yes.

[Long pause]

TUCHMAN: I was born in Poland--Poland. At that time was under Russian 00:18:00domination--in a little town, Lomza, [inaudible] [shuffling] in the year 1888. I came to this country the second day of February, 1913.

MARTEN: And straight to Milwaukee?

TUCHMAN: I came to Galveston, Texas. Later on, I was sent to Dubuque, Iowa. I 00:19:00was working in Dubuque, Iowa, a little better than a year. I came to Milwaukee once and I couldn't find something to do for a living. I went back to Dubuque, Iowa, for a few months. I later went to, well it was--[inaudible] Burlington, Iowa, for a few months. I couldn't establish myself there. I came back to Milwaukee and since then I am a citizen of the city of Milwaukee. I came the 00:20:00second time to Milwaukee at the beginning of 1914.

MARTEN: And you found work doing what?

TUCHMAN: I, should I mention it?

MARTEN: [Inaudible].

TUCHMAN: I learned to be a cigarmaker and as such I was working for several years. [long pause] I was a cigar maker for three years, then I was going in business with people. Then we organized a consolidate-consolidated paper company doing some industrial laundry, selling new products of wire from steel companies. I am retired man now.