Journal from 1946 Dinner

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SOUVENIR JOURNAL OF
THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF
THE SKALAR BENEVOLENT SOCIETY
December 14, 1946

“We give you this thought on our beloved Skala -
We starved when we were there;
we would be dead if we stayed there;
God bless America!”
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Edelstein
SBS 50th-Anniversary Journal

Our grandparents' generation always said, ”All Wiesenthals from Skala are related.” Parts of the large and many-branched Wiesenthal clan from Skala have been traced to the 18th century. However, although Izzy, Joe, and Jacob Wiesenthal were close friends who referred to each other as ”cousins,” they did not know their exact familial relationship, which has yet to be determined.

In a subsequent email, Hope Friedman revealed that she had in her possession two important relics for Skala researchers: a photograph taken at the Skala landsmanshaftn new year's eve party in 1941 and the souvenir journal published on the occasion of the 1946 celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Skala Benevolent Society. The anniversary year actually was 1943, but its celebration apparently was delayed until after the war.

The impact of the war is evident throughout the journal. There are memorial pages to Skala residents who died in the Holocaust and mention of those (some of whom perished) who were in the armed services. Jacob Wiesenthal, chairman of the Society's Relief Committee (a standing committee of many years, which sent money back to Skala), notes that his ”sorrow arises from my sad reflection upon the plight of our fellow Jews in Skala and throughout the world today.” A succinct statement by Mr. And Mrs. Sam Edelstein eloquently summarizes the Skala landsleit's feelings about their ancestral town: ”We give you this thought on our beloved Skala: We starved when we were there; we would be dead if we stayed there; God bless America!”

The journal pages with photographs or with text that is more than just a greeting are reproduced here. The names in the remaining greetings and advertisements are listed after the reproductions. The journal may be viewed in its entirety at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Studies in New York, which has a copy of the journal in its collection of Skala materials.

Click on pages to display

M/M - Mr. and Mrs.
IMO - In memory of