The story of the Peretz family began in Pietra Neamț, capital of Neamț county in the kingdom of Romania. It was
there in 1886 that Lawrence Schwartz (later Avram Lazar Peretz) was born to Leon (Leib) Schwartz (age 21) and Bluma
Markowitz (age 17). A year later, in the same city, Fannie (Feigi) Ber was born to Alter Ber and Leia (Lena) Israel who were
each aged 15 at the time of her birth.
Family Name Changes
The story behind Fannie’s family name changes is based on history supplied by Irving Peretz and Evey Abramowitz
whose notes tell us that Fannie’s father’s name was originally Alter Ber. Later, Fannie’s brother Israel Ber changed his
name to Isadore Berkowitz and other family members followed suit. Records show that at various times Fannie’s family
name was Ber, then Bercovici and finally Berkowitz.
Lazar’s family, too, experienced a name change. Here again family lore provides hints as to what actually happened.
We know that the family (likely Lazar) paid for the name Avram Lazar Peretz in order to be able to emigrate from
Romania. Only those who had served in the military were allowed to leave the country, and Lazar (Lawrence) had not
served. Family history suggests that he paid a Polish soldier for his name. Thus he became Avram Lazar Peretz.
Historical Account of Life in Romania
We do not know anything about life in Pietra Neamț other than what
history books can tell us. Pietra Neamț was a city in the Moldavian region of
Romania, at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains and on the banks of the
Bistrița River. Jewish settlement in Piatra Neamț dates back as far as the eighteenth century: a wooden synagogue was built in 1766;
a burial society existed by 1771, and the cemetery includes tombstones from that period as well. At the end of the eighteenth
century, Jewish professional guilds were established and continued to function until 1861. The Jewish population in Pietra Neamț in
1803 was 120, but by 1907 just before Fannie and Lazar emigrated, the Jewish population had risen to 8,489. Though Jews
represented over 4% of the population in Moldavia, they lacked the basic civil and political rights that non-Jews were afforded and
were treated as foreigners. Life for Jews in the late 19th and early 20th century became more difficult as persecution increased and the economy declined. After the turn of the 20th century, there was a massive Romanian Jewish exodus of which Fannie and Lazar were a part. Individuals fled, with many traveling on foot, making their way to port cities to sail to the United States, Canada and England. It was not until a new Constitution was written in 1923 that Jews in Romania were granted citizenship.
Early Life
It was in the context of economic decline and persecution of Jews in the early 20th century that
Fannie and Lazar met and were betrothed. They married on January 27, 1906 and welcomed their first
child Isadore (Irving) in 1907. By 1908 the family set their sights on America, with Lazar making his way
to Rotterdam, boarding the ship SS Statendam and traveling across the Atlantic to America where he
arrived on January 2, 1908. Fannie and Isadore followed in November aboard the SS La Savoie arriving
on November 14, 1908.
Census records show the family living in New York (Manhattan), then St. Paul, Minnesota and then
back in New York (Brooklyn). They also settled in Rock Island, Illinois for a brief time though no census
records reflect that stay. The family lived in a number of homes in Bensonhurst before purchasing the
two-family house many of us know as the family home at 2103 74th Street. Though they began their life in America as a family of three, they increased their numbers in a somewhat regular fashion. Etta, Julie and Louie were born in New York while Joey, Mollie, Evey, Mickey and Blanche were born in Minnesota. Mickey always joked that the very cold winters in Minnesota had led to the birth of five Peretz children.
Evey’s autobiography gives us a glimpse into life in the Peretz family:
We were a family of nine children, five girls and four boys. To me, it always was a wonderful feeling
having them all around me. We all had our places at the table and one can imagine the feeling of
pride of our parents, looking at all of us. No, we never had much in the way of luxuries but there was
much more that took the place than all of that. Clothes were handed down from one to the other,
sleeping arrangements were sometimes wherever you found a spot in a bed, that was where you slept.
Yes, there were many times that sisters and brothers shared a bed, but there was nothing wrong with it
and we had fun doing even that. No one complained -- that was the way it was and everyone accepted
the situation.
Debbie Peretz recalls her dad (Julie) saying that Lazar was the eternal optimist, always seeking greener pastures for his family.
Historical records indicate that their initial stay in New York began at 312 East 100th Street in Manhattan. By 1911 they lived at 204 East
99th Street. In 1915, the family moved to Minnesota. The 1920 census shows their address as 224 East Congress Street in
St. Paul, Minnesota. Mickey’s recollections of the house in St. Paul were seasonal: in the spring she loved the large lilac bush in the front yard and in winter they had fun skiing on barrel staves and sledding on garbage can covers. She described the Peretz home as bustling with nine children and assorted friends. As the youngest for seven years, she recalled often dislocating her arms during good-natured rough-housing with her brothers. As a young child she thought that Fannie never slept as she was up before the children and worked into the night as they all slept, in order to care for the large family.
Evey shared her recollection of the family winters in St. Paul:
The snowstorms were really something to remember, with drifts many, many feet high. I also remember one of the
homes that had a long flight of stairs on the outside of the house and when the snow fell and fell and fell and stayed
packed tight, we used that flight of stairs to slide down on and used it as a ski slope. It was a very happy time
of our lives.
In 1928, the family returned to New York City (Brooklyn) when Julie transferred from the University of Minnesota to New York
University. Irving had already moved to New York to complete his education at Columbia University. He and Nadine were married in
Brooklyn that same year. The family moved to Bensonhurst living at 164 Bay 38th Street, 2150 73rd Street, 2147 72nd Street and finally
2103 74th Street, their final home. That was the first home that Fannie and Lazar owned. They shared ownership of the house with Mollie
and Joe Leavy. The inscription on the back of the photo of Fannie and Lazar on the right above says, "Our very own alley!"
Fannie and Lazar’s Work
Lazar was a house painter who worked hard to support his growing family. The St. Paul city directories show his listing as a Painter and also as a vice president of a Decorating Company, likely an attempt to attract a broader clientele. The family made do with few luxuries, and they learned the value of hard work as they saw their parents’ determination to keep them afloat. Fannie made clothes (which were handed down), baked bread, and made soup that fed the eleven family members and assorted friends who were always at the Peretz dinner table. Lazar built the dining room table in the house to accommodate the growing family. Despite living through the Great Depression, the family always had a roof over their heads and food on their table. When the children were old enough to go out to work, they all contributed part of their paychecks to the family without question.
Fannie’s Travel
Because her mother was ill, Fannie traveled home to Romania in 1937 during a time of turmoil in Europe. In
the picture taken in Bucharest, Fannie is seated to the left of her mom (looking at the photo). Family members
are: Bottom row (left to right): Marcel, Marcel’s mom Zelda (Fannie’s sister), Fannie, Leah (Fannie’s mother),
Rebekah (Fannie’s sister), Sally (Fannie’s sister-in-law). Back row (left to right) Mina (Rebekah’s daughter), Isic
(Zelda’s husband), Like and Ester (Rebekah's children), Marko (Rebekah's husband), Johnny and Frida (Sally's
children). Fannie's brother Isadore (Sally's husband) is not pictured.
Mickey recalled that at the end of her visit, Fannie “almost didn’t get out” of Romania due
to Hitler’s advance in Europe. On November 8, 1937, she sailed home on the SS Normandie,
an elegant ocean liner frequented by the rich and famous. Blanche recalls that Fannie
traveled at the "bottom of the ship."
Citizenship
Lacking citizenship in their native country, citizenship in their adopted country became important to Fannie and Lazar. On December 19, 1923, Lazar (age 37), then living in St. Paul, Minnesota, was granted a certificate of naturalization and became an American citizen. Listed on the certificate are his children Isadore (16), Zetta (13), Julius (11), Louis (9), Joseph (7), Mollie (6), Esther (4), and Mildred (2). Fannie was granted citizenship on June 13, 1939 when she was living at 2150 73rd Street in Brooklyn.
World War II and After
During World War II, Louie, Lou (Abramowitz), Joey, Moe (Wolf) and Julie (Goldman) served overseas. Evey, Etta, Mickey and Blanche lived in the house on 74th Street with Fannie and Lazar. In 1943, Mickey gave birth to Alan who spent his first two years of life living with his mom, aunts and grandparents. Tensions were high in the household as letters came containing stories of the family’s soldiers and sailor. Mickey recalled marking their progress on a map on the wall in the house. When the war ended and all of the men returned home, there was much to be thankful for.
In the chronicle of her life, Evey conveyed the strong emotions that pervaded the family following WW II.
When all of our boys came home from the military and naval services, Dad was so happy and the
only way he knew how to express his joy and happiness for having them all come home safe was to
have a big party for the whole family. So Mom and Dad prepared a homecoming party in a restaurant
and we all went to the party with our spouses, proud and happy. It was the greatest and once more
Mom and Dad just sat and looked us all over.
Now that the war was over and things settled in a bit, Dad had more on his mind that he had to
accomplish and he knew soon. Little did we all dream how soon it would be. Dad wanted to discuss
having a family cemetery plot and at that point he gathered all his boys and that was when reality
began to come home to all of us. Whenever the discussion would take place and there were a few
of them, the girls would all walk out of the room. Yes, it was a silly way to behave but we were all
rather young and again I say, the reality of life had not yet come home to us. We were all together
and that was all that seemed to matter.
When the discussions had ended, we had acquired a cemetery plot in Cedar Park, Paramus,
New Jersey, with 64 graves. What was so ironic was that we accomplished this in 1946 and in 1950,
Dad was put to rest there. And exactly 2 years later in 1952, Mom joined him. It was almost like
'Mission accomplished - job well done.' I honestly believe to this day, that had the war not come
along and taken 5 of our boys into the services, the folks would have lived much longer. It just took
too much out of both of them. Dad was a quiet man and it was hard to really read into what he was
thinking about. I knew how happy he was when the mail would come and the letters from the boys
would be there. He would ask me exactly what Lou was writing in the letters as he probably did with
the rest of us. Also the fact that two babies were born in those years took something from them too.
The stress, I believe, proved to be too much for them and it was just a short time after everyone was
back that we lost them.
With all these events going on and the feeling of closeness that everyone wanted, we formed our
family circle and it lasted many years. We held meetings monthly, with everyone taking a turn at having
the meeting in their home. We had a constitution with By-Laws, President, Secretary, and Treasurer. We
had minutes that were read at every meeting, yearly Passover Seders which many of the children
remember, a summer picnic and a yearly Chanukah Party at 2103-74th Street, which was the home of
Mom and Dad together with Sister Mollie and Joe. There was a family song, composed by Lou and
myself that was sung at every meeting. The words to the song, incidentally, were to the tune of
Shipmates Stand Together [Don't Give Up the Ship}. The words that we put to the tune were:
We are all together, the Peretz family
Let us stand united, forever we will be in harmony.
Remember what we stand for, love and charity.
Although we have some stormy sessions, at the end there are concessions.
Long live our family.
On February 20, 1963, years after Fannie and Lazar’s deaths, The Children of Lazar and Fannie Peretz was officially incorporated. The family had grown, children had married and a new generation was born. With Lazar’s death on March 17, 1950 the family experienced its first significant loss. Two years and one day later, Fannie died (March 18, 1952). Then in August of 1956, the family experienced the loss of the first sibling when Etta died unexpectedly following routine surgery.
Over the years, the family continued to grow, experience losses, and move to the far reaches of the country. Today, we are five generations beyond Fannie and Lazar. We live in fifteen states and Washington, DC., and now we have a place to share our recollections, pictures and family stories. Once again, "we are all together."
Many thanks to Christine Abramowitz and Deana Abramowitz-Reif for sharing Evey’s autobiography, to Sara Abramowitz-Hill for doing all of the legwork for her own genealogical research from which we borrowed heavily, to Ken Fellman whose Ancestry page offered additional information, to David Peretz who recalled the Peretz name story, and to Illana Shalev for sharing her knowledge of our Romanian family.
