David Finkelstein was born in 1895 in Chaterisk, Ukraine. He immigrated to the United States in 1913, and settled in south Portland, Oregon where he already had a sister living. He worked with relatives at a junk shop upon his arrival. He lived close to the Neighborhood House, where he learned English and went to …
Read MoreJoseph Findling was born in Cologne, Germany on June 21, 1928 to Etla and Wolf David Findling. He and his four siblings was raised in an observant family, each attending a Jewish school until 1938 when all the Jewish children in his school were expelled. In October 1938, Joseph’s father was deported to Poland and Joseph …
Read MoreLeon Feldstein was born on February 26, 1901 in Bucharest, Romania. He immigrated to America in 1908 with his mother, grandmother, and sister to join his father Adolf in Portland. Adolf had come six months earlier because, as a Jew in Romania, he was unable to support his family. He took a job in Portland where …
Read MoreIn 1916, Bernice met Henry Feldman in New York when she was 19. They subsequently married and moved to Portland. Henry’s parents were born in Germany and settled in Portland when they immigrated to the United States. He had four siblings, all of whom lived in Portland: Joseph, Henry, Gus and Elise (who married Herbert …
Read MoreLeonard Farr was born in Coquille, Oregon on October 16, 1921. His family owned a feed, seed, and farm supply store in Coquille until after the Second World War, at which time they expanded operations to Coos Bay. Leonard went to the University of Oregon business school where he met his wife, Joyce. Leonard was drafted …
Read MoreMichael Falkenstein was born on September 2nd, 1938, in Frankfurt, Germany, as the third child of Gustav and Hedwig Falkenstein. He had two older sisters: Ruth and Ingeborg (deceased). His parents ran a textile business out of their home. After Kristallnacht, Mike’s father smuggled the family out of Germany via the Tran-Siberian Railway, ending up in …
Read MoreMyra Enkelis was born August 5, 1937, the daughter of Jacob and Jennie Enkelis. She was born into a large extended family that stemmed from the marriage of twin sisters Rose and Celia (Simma) Himmelfarb to Joseph Enkelis and Shia Sussman, respectively. The two twins raised their children as closely as siblings and Myra grew up …
Read MoreSylvan Durkheimer was born March 14, 1893 in Burns, Oregon. Both of his grandfathers immigrated to the United States in their early teens to escape the military draft in Germany. His paternal grandfather, Kaufman Durkheimer, came to the US from Bavaria in 1839 and to Portland in 1865 by boat around South America. His maternal grandfather, …
Read MoreNadine Dunker was born in Seattle, Washington on May 22, 1938, the third child of Barney and Frances (Schnitzer) Bricker. Her siblings are Sue Dorn and Monte Bricker. She is the granddaughter of Morris and Bertha Schnitzer and part of a very large, extended Schnitzer family in Portland. The family had connections in many of …
Read MoreElaine Rosenberg Cogan was born September 24, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York to Belle and Lou Rosenberg. Lou and his father had a fur business. The family moved to Portland, Oregon in 1948 where her dad worked at Ungar’s Fur Company. The family originally moved to outer southeast Portland and then eventually closer in to northeast …
Read More