The Story of Ruby Berman

Bob Berman was born in Odessa, or in a town near Odessa called Czeslawa, on May 16, 1899. His original last name was Baraban, as the name appears on documents from when he and his family members arrived in America. The clerks at Ellis Island spelled it Baraban but it could have sounded like Barabon, Barabam, or even Barabin.

Baraban, in Russian, means drum, drummer or rhythm. In Hebrew, it means son of a Rabbi (Bar Raban). This surname was most often found in records from the towns of Zhitomir, Tarashcha, Balta, and Kiev.

Most of Ruby's family moved to America between 1910 and 1920. Why? Ruby's father Sam (aka Simcha) died in Russia and perhaps the family was looking for a new beginning. Also, and more likely, at the turn of the century, there was growing anti semitism in Russia - specifically the famous pogroms in Odessa in 1905. Most of the Jews were emigrating in search for a persecuted free life. The story goes that the family had to sell Ruby's beautiful blond curly hair to buy the tickets to travel to America.

All three of the passenger records for Ruby and his siblings (Abraham and Eva) list Odessa as home town and his mother Sara and Ruby say they originally came from Odessa/Cherson -- Cherson was the entire district in which Odessa was a single town, but there was also a town called Cherson too.

Many people wrote the district they were from as opposed to the city so it bears more exploring. Eva indicates that she is from "Odessa" and that the relative she left behind is "S. Barabam" at "home" which could be her father, Simcha, or her mother, Sarah. On the manifest Sarah indicates that she left her "brother, Abram Krumberg, living in "Nikololfeff, Kiev" which could be a street address, but most likely refers to the seaport town of Nikolaev, Ukraine.

Sarah writes that she was born in Nikolaev, so odds are that is accurate and will be helpful in trying to track down the family in Russia/Ukraine. Nikolaev (opens in a new tab) is a lovely place today.

Although Ruby reported on his marriage record (opens the file in a new tab) that his mother's maiden name was "Greenberg," it's possible he remembered incorrectly, or the clerk at Ellis Island writing down her information heard wrong and wrote Krumberg instead of Greenberg. Highly possible... She was probably saying it in Yiddish, and the person writing it was probably Dutch. Lost in translation.

If she were, indeed, coming to stay with an "uncle Kipnis" then he would have been (most likely) married to her mother's sister since his name was not Baraban. He also might have been a family friend, as was first written on the manifest, but she might have thought that "uncle" sounded better to tell the clerks at point of embarkment in Europe.

Ellis Island officials were very wary of immigrants becoming public charges and detained almost everyone who was not met by someone reputable who could vouch for them. Single women traveling alone had even more difficulty. They could be detained for several hours or several days and you'll see on the manifest sheets of the detainees the number of meals they were fed and who eventually came to fetch them.

But Sarah, interestingly, also lists her current home as "Odessa, Cherson" (Cherson in smaller print) which is, most likely Kherson (opens in a new tab), Ukraine today: It is possible that both Simcha and Sarah were originally from Nikolaev where they met, married and then moved to Odessa (or an area near Odessa) where their children were born. If Ruby was the youngest child, then Simcha died sometime after 1899 and at some point Sarah either moved to Cherson, or perhaps they always lived in Cherson, but used "Odessa" as the district where they were born.

Avram, Ruby's brother, writes that he was born in Odessa, but his most recent home was in Czeslawe, where his mother lived. These may be variants of the same place or could be the town of Zaslav, currently Izyaslav. [WHY DO WE THINK THIS IS CONNECTED TO ZASLAV, IS IT NOT POSSIBLY THAT CZESLAWE MEANS CHERSON?]

Baraban is not a common name, so some of these families may be related as cousins. For example, during the same years of emigration there's a Friedel Baraban, age 51, with a son, Abram, 14 who is also from Cherson, and has left his wife Rifka behind to travel to the US (Philadelphia), so one might assume that two Baraban families living in Cherson at the same time with sons named Abram, might be related, i.e. Friedel might be a brother to Simcha, and Abram was the name of their father, etc.

There are also outbound records that the Holland America line kept which can be researched that often show where the ticket was purchased, where the person lived, etc. if you are interested. A bit more complicated because they are on microfiche at certain libraries.

It's certainly possible that some of your distant cousins kept the Baraban name and never modified it to Berman.

1. 1912

   1912

   1. Eva (Chava) Barabom - immigrates 1912

   Eva, Ruby's eldest sister, was the first member of the family to emigrate from Russia to the U.S. Her real name was Chana (possibly Czarna, Chaya). Born in Odessa, Eva arrived (line 29) (opens the file in a new tab) at Ellis Island in 1912, on the S.S. Cedric out of Liverpool. She was age 23, traveling alone and registered (opens the file in a new tab) in Ellis Island. She is detained (line 53) (opens the file in a new tab) at Ellis Island.

   

   Eva wrote she was to stay with her uncle, Schare Kipurss c/o Goldberg at 633 Stone Ave in Brooklyn. (Alternate spelling is Scheri Kipni, who might also have been a friend and not a relative.) Eva had a daughter Claire.

   Eva appears in the census of 1920 (opens the file in a new tab) and census of 1930 (opens the file in a new tab). Eva got married in 1926 to Benjamin.

   In the ship manifest that lists Eva (Chava) also listed is the Kipniss Family and they were ALL going to the same address. Everyone in this family was born in Odessa. This means that either Kipness or Goldberg (at the Stone Ave. address in Brooklyn) were most likely related to Baraban family. (On manifest they are #5-13).

   In the manifest and the Detained Alien record (opens the file in a new tab) for Taube Kipniss, we see she is going to her husband, Scharl (sp?) and her children: Ester, Abram, Frumie, Chase, Marcha, Sissel, Chare. Note that Frumie and Chase appear to be twins.

   Taube's passenger record (opens the file in a new tab) and record of detention show two people above her family: Sossel/Sosra (20) and Moses Grunberg (16.) They are leaving behind the same relative, Schare Greenberg in the same place - Sinhany. Of course, there is no such place by that spelling, so I need to do some sleuthing on the name, but clearly these two people are linked. These two are going to their "father" Abram Grunberg at 138 Cedar Street in New Haven, CT. Taube going to her husband in Brooklyn, but yet they both left the same person behind.

   And on the "Detained" list at the bottom is Sossel & Moses. Remember that Chaya/Eva was on this same ship, and going to the same "Uncle" Share Kipnis. All of these people have to be related. A city directory from New Haven for Abraham Greenberg showing him at that address in 1911. Some kind of pedlar.

   The numerical notation next to Sossel's name indicates that she was naturalized in the Southern District Court of New York sometime after 1941 (the entry date of the search to create a record of her US arrival, so most likely circa 1946 or so) but...these numbers don't guide you to the certificate and I don't know what her married name is.

   The person she "left behind" was her mother "Schera Grunberg." Since Greenberg was Sara's maiden name, then if Taube (later, Toby?) was her sister, that would explain how Eva would be traveling to her "uncle." This means that Taube's father, named "Greenberg" was Sara Greenberg Baraban's brother.

   If true, this would open up a whole new branch of the family as many of Taube's children have naturalization records as noted by the numbers handwritten on the manifest, and we can also track down her death record. But checking all of these "theories" is important.

   Eva had a Russian and Yiddish accent. Eva Berman married Herman Schwartz shortly after arriving in the United States and had 3 children: Sidney, Ruth and Helen. (Sidney married Sadie and had 2 children: Ted and Fran. Ruth married Sol Wechter and had 2 children: Ted and Arlene. Helen married Newt Greene and had 2 children: Michael and Michelle.) In late 1921, Eva's husband Herman died while Eva was pregnant with Helen. In 1926 Eva married Benjamin Harmelin and in 1929 Claire was born. (In 1951 Claire married Sam Schneir and moved to Florida. They had 3 children: Sharon, Larry and Brian.) Eva is buried in Florida, Mount Sinai off Opa-locka Blvd.

2. 1913

   1913

   2. Avram Baraban immigrates 1913

   Ruby's older brother Avram (Abram, Avrum) followed about a year later, age 20, arriving (line 13) (opens the file in a new tab) at Ellis Island on June 24, 1913. He writes he is going to stay with "his sister, Ch. Barabam" who is living at 415 Watkins Street in Brooklyn according to the passenger manifest, which was written when he boarded the ship in Rotterdam.

   

   Avrum arrives in NY and is detained (line 65) (opens the file in a new tab) at Ellis Island. His sister Eva picks him up at Ellis Island while she is actually living at 350 Christopher St., in Brooklyn. He says his last residence was Czeslawe, Russia where he left his mother, S. Baraban behind. Avrum, now possibly called Abraham, Abe or even Allan.

   Two years later, when he gets married, he reports he is 26 years old. (Hard to know which age is correct but most likely he lied on the marriage certificate (opens the file in a new tab) since he was marrying an older (28) woman.)

   Abram Berman married (opens the file in a new tab) Rosa Litvak in March 1915 (she was also born in Odessa, Russia, daughter of Hersh and Sheindel Shublin). Abraham is said to be living at 1747 Pitkin Ave. Brooklyn, 26 years old, occupation: fishman, born in Odessa, parents: Simon and Sara Greenberg. The witnesses to the marriage were Abram Kleiman (best guess) and Meyer Cohen. Bob Berman was young when he arrived, so it would make sense that Bob got into the Fish business from his brother Abram. It seems Abram got into the fish business because his wife's family had a fish store in Connecticut. The divorce record says they were living at 478 Rockaway Avenue, Brooklyn, New York.

   Abram disappears 3 months after the marriage. After many years, Rosa applies and receives a divorce (opens the file in a new tab) on 21 March 1923. She claims she only knew her mother-in-law and no one else in the family. Why did Abraham disappear? Why did Abraham lose contact with his sister Eva and brother Robert? Why did he and why did his mother not tell Rosa about Abraham's siblings: Eva and Rueben?

   Abe Berman left his wife a few months after they got married in 1917. It seems he cut off ties with his whole family (the divorce proceedings record his wife as saying she went often to visit his mother but his mother claims she never heard from him again.) Abraham Berman was murdered 8 years later on Sept. 8, 1925 in Los Angeles California. His body was brought to L.A. General Hospital. The death certificate (positive (opens the file in a new tab), negative (opens the file in a new tab)) says he moved to LA 3 years ago (in 1922), his country of birth is Russia, his age is 31, his parents name unknown, all fitting the profile of Abraham Berman who cut off connection with his family. It says the cause of death is "Homicide: Gunshot wound to the neck." There may be a lot of Abe Bermans, but not many who died in this fashion. And this fits into the family legend that he was killed in LA by the mob. It says he worked as a "waiter" and the person giving this information was "Dorothy Berman." It is unclear if she was a wife or just using his name. It's written that he is "single," but her name is written twice, though the other time as "Dorothy Blum," and then crossed out in the wrong place. There is an address: 140 N. Flower St. He is buried at Mt. Zion cemetery.

   It seems from the 1930 census (opens the file in a new tab), that Rosa got remarried and either got divorced or her husband died. She had the following children with, it seems, her second husband: Ida (15), Sam (13), and Rubin (6).

   Research note[But then her first born Ida would have been born in 1915 when she was married to Abram and yet in 1923 when applying for divorce she claims she had no issue from Abram. - something is wrong here]

3. 1914

   1914

   3. Bob Berman (Ruven/Ruby Baraban) & his mother immigrate to America in 1914

   The next year, Ruby - 16 years old - travels with his mother Sure (Sara) who is 50 and widowed on a ship called the Rotterdam (ship manifest lines 8 & 9 (opens the file in a new tab)) seen below and arrive at Ellis Island on May 9, 1914. The boat they were on was called the Rotterdam, sailing from Rotterdam, ?Holland? A total coincidence that his wife to be, Gertrude, took the exact same ship within a year or so of his traveling on it. Kismet!

   

   It was built by Harland & Wolff Limited, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1908. 24,149 gross tons; 667 (bp) feet long; 77 feet wide. Steam quadruple expansion engines, twin screw. Service speed 17 knots. 3,575 passengers (520 first class, 555 second class, 2,500 third class). Two masts and two funnels. Built for Holland - America Line, Dutch flag, in 1908 and named Rotterdam. Rotterdam-New York service. Laid up for most of World War I. Broken up in Holland in 1940.

   Sare reports they have come to join her son, Avrum, now living at 1618 Washington Avenue in the Bronx according to the manifest. When they arrive they are also detained (line 231) (opens the file in a new tab), and on the detention sheet it is written that they were picked up by Sara's son and daughter "Abram & Chawe" now living at 1747 Piskin Ave. in Brooklyn.

   [Very often the address people knew their relatives lived at when they purchased their transatlantic ticket had changed by the time they arrived in the US. Recent Jewish immigrant moved around a lot, sometimes to avoid paying overdue rent.]

   

   Certificates of passenger records for all Baraban (Berman) members are found here (opens the file in a new tab). Sara died of a heart attack at the beach in Brooklyn, NY on July 11, 1920 (tombstone to the left says she is age 60 but that conflicts with travel records from Ellis Island) and is buried in Old Montefiore Cemetery in Queens (Adath Israel of Brownsville and E. Flatbush, Gate 523n, Block 32, Row 5, Sec 1.)

   As mentioned, her husband Simcha (Sam) died in Europe. Sondra (Berman) Schor was named for Sara.

Ruby marries his first wife Sadie Berman (and then she married Trager and then married Irving Povony) and has two daughters Pearl [b. 1026 d. 1930] and Betty [b. Jun 6, 1924 Oct 3, 2005]. Pearl dies at age 2 and then Ruby and Sadie get divorced in [WHAT YEAR?] [WHERE IS THE DOCUMENTATION FOR MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE?] Sadie and Betty both appear in the census of 1930 (opens the file in a new tab). It must have been very hard for them to be a divorced woman, a single parent, during the depression.

Bob Berman was a boxer and boxing promoter. He represented Boom Boom Mancini (no, not that one, his father, also known by same name) as well as Tippy Larkin (who had a fight in 1939 Madison Square Garden with Boomy Davis). Bob had an office on 50th and Broadway next to a famous night club called the Latin Quarter owned by Barbara Walters' father. He had fights arranged in Ozone Park, Brooklyn, etc. He had boxers in gyms all over Brooklyn and NYC. When he…

Bob Berman married Gertrude Becker on March 3, 1931 and had three children: Renee (b. Dec 24, 1931, d. Feb 28, 1982), Sondra (b. May 17, 1933), and Arnold (b. July 23, 1934; d. August 6, 2009). Renee married (June 16, 1951) Eddie Greenberg (b. May 24, 1927 d. Sept. 24, 1966) and they had Joyce (b. April 25, 1957) and Bobby (b. August 7, 1952). After Eddie died, Renee married Milton (aka Chuck) Klein (b. July 16, 1924; d. April 1, 2009). Sondra married (September 7, 1957) Marvin Schor (b. June 23, 1929) and they had Richele (b. March 23, 1960) and Gregg (b. Dec 21, 1964). Arnie Berman married Hannah Reich (b. Nov 5, 1942) and they had Gertrude (b. May 7, 1963), Helen (b. November 3, 1964), Robert (b. June 23, 1966) and Estee (b. December 19, 1968).

After Sadie's divorce from Robert, she and Betty lived in Yonkers. Betty grew up in NY and married Harry Klein. Rachelle [b. 2/26/1945] was the only child they had together. Sadie, alone, heads towards Los Angeles and on the train heading west became friendly with a group of people living in Salt Lake City and got off the train there, liked it, and decided to settle there.

Betty takes her daughter Rachelle and follows Sadie to Salt Lake City. Betty marries Arnold Lesin and he officially adopts Rachelle. Betty and Arnold give birth to Eric [b. 7/16/1950] and Debra. Arnold Lesin was a land developer, businessman, a shochet and had rabbinical ordination from Frankfurt Alamein. Betty and Arnold moved to California. Arnold had escaped from Transcarpathian Slovakia/Hungary prior to WWII, but his wife and children perished there during the Holocaust. Arnold and Betty traveled back there to make sure his daughter hadn't survived.

After Sadie got divorced from Bob Berman she married a man name Ben Trager but they too got divorced [YEAR?]. Rachelle, currently an artist, married Howard Mark [b. 5/13/38, d. 1996] gave birth to Julia [b. 1968], and Jeremy [b. 1973]. Eric along with his wife Navy [from Caracas, Venezuela – convert, already had daughter Gisela and son Gustavo] gave birth to Arnold [b. 1985] and Sarah [b. Aug 1980] and Eric adopted Gisela and Gustavo. Rachelle and Debra live in Los Angeles as of 2009. Eric died 5/5/09. Rachelle remarried only religious Sidney Soffer [b. June 17, 1932] from Queens.

In 1928, Ruby petitions (opens the file in a new tab) (another petition copy (opens the file in a new tab)) for naturalization certificate and received this copy (opens the file in a new tab) of his arrival to the States and receives his naturalization certificate (opens the file in a new tab).

Ruby marries Gertrude Buchner/Becker. [WHAT IS HER LAST NAME?] They get a civil marriage certificate (opens the file in a new tab) in Newark, NJ on March 3, 1931 and then, again, a few weeks later in a religious ceremony on March 29th in Brooklyn.

If Ruby was divorced in New York, it would have (most likely) been on grounds of adultery even if that was not the case. NY law made it impossible for people to simply divorce because they weren't getting along anymore and didn't want to stay married.

Once an absolute divorce was obtained, the blamed party couldn't legally marry in New York state anymore, but if they married out of state the marriage was recognized in New York.

This is why a lot of people went to Reno, or Mexico, to divorce. And these laws didn't change until 1967! There are many articles in the Brooklyn Eagle about local residents getting Reno divorces right and left. Here's an excerpt from an article on this topic explaining more:

Where the final judgment dissolving a marriage is entered prior to 9/1/67, the innocent party may marry again without restriction, but the party guilty of adultery is prohibited from marrying again during the lifetime of the spouse unless permission of the court is obtained 3 years following the date of the final judgment. A marriage entered into in New York in violation of this prohibition without the court's permission is void. (See GN 00305.160D.1.). However, a second marriage entered into in a State outside of New York after entry of the final decree even if with the express purpose of evading the New York restriction would be recognized as valid by New York and by other States, since this restriction has no extraterritorial effect. (See GN 00305.155 for validity of remarriage in States which have adopted the Uniform Marriage Evasion Act.)

Prior to 9/1/67, New York also prohibited the party guilty of adultery from remarrying in that State for a period of 3 years following the divorce, even though the divorce was granted in another State. A marriage in New York within 3 years following the divorce was void even though such marriage was not prohibited by the divorce decree or by the laws of the State in which granted. However, if the marriage was entered into in another State, this provision of New York law had no application.

Based on the naturalization records it appears that Robert was still married as of 1928 and remarried less than three years later. Even if he wanted to petition the court, it would have been too early to do so, hence the move to Newark for the civil marriage followed by the religious marriage in Brooklyn.

Oddly enough, Ruby states in this civil marriage document that this is his first marriage and he is not divorced. [HOW DO WE GET HIS DIVORCE PAPERS RELEASED EVEN THOUGH 100 YEARS HAVE NOT PASSED?]

Gertrude arrives (opens the file in a new tab) on the ship the Rotterdam, Holland America Line, sailing from Rotterdam, Holland - July 22, 1911. The Passengers sailing with her are:

• Ruchel Buchner age 28,
• Malka (Mollie) age 6, and
• Gittel (Gertrude) age 1.

They state they are from Mezibocz -- leaving no relations behind in Russia. She (WHO IS SHE, RUCHEL?) is going to husband, Abram Buchner, 15 Suffolk St, NYC.

Is Gertrude's original maiden name Brecher or Buchner or Becker?

It's odd that Ruby Berman wrote on his naturalization papers in xxxx that he, too, traveled on the ship "Rotterdam" from Rotterdam. Coincidence? He also put his date of arrival in the US (May 16th) as the same date he was born on--which on this petition is May 16, 1899, even though he was probably born after that. Again...people just made up stuff and no one checked, they just took your word for most of it. Gertrude appears in the 1920 census (line 8) (opens the file in a new tab). She always remained an alien (opens the file in a new tab) and never became naturalized because ...?

Ruby's Occupations were Laundryman, Boxer, Boxing Promoter, Smoke Fish Salesman. Ruby married Gertrude in March 3, 1931 and had three children: Renee (b. Dec 24, 1931, d. Feb 28, 1982), Sondra (b. May 17, 1933), and Arnold (b. July 23, 1934; d. Aug 6, 2009). Renee married (1951) Eddie Greenberg (b. d.) and they had Joyce (b. April 25, 1957) and Bobby (b. Aug 7, 1951). After Eddie died, Renee married Chuck Klein (b. d. April 1, 2009). Sondra married (September 7, 1957) Marvin Schor (b. June 23, 1929) and they had Richele (b. March 23, 1960) and Gregg (b. Dec 21, 1964). Arnie married Hannah (Reich) (b. Nov 5, 1942) and they had Gertrude (b. May 7, 1963), Helen (b. November 3, 1964), Robert (b. June 23, 1966) and Estee (b. December 19, 1968).

Ruby dies (opens the file in a new tab) in 1946 (heart attack) & Gertrude dies (opens the file in a new tab) on August 26, 1961.