Henry K. Silberman

In America before the War

304 West 99th St. Room 5W1

Notes: I put this here mostly to show how determined Dad was to finish Medical School (and see also his army request); gathering and translating all his university and practicum materials. But it is also one of several documents showing his address.

According to a New York landmark site, 304 West 99th St. was converted from flats to single room occupancy in the 1930s. Interesting to me is that I don't remember Dad saying anything about this when I worked in New York the summer of 1975 and lived just around the corner in a sublet at 98th St. and West End Ave. The building was built 1899-1901 and was knows as the Greystone.

Resettlement of Foreign Physicians

AMERICAN JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE Headquarters for Germany </o UNRRA APO 757

Jacob L Trobe, Director Tel.: Frankfurt 14-135 14-328
Harry D. Biele, Deputy Director

26 February, 1946

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:[1]

Prior to his entering the army, Mr. HENRY SILVERMAN assisted me for approximately one year in my capacity as Executive Secretary of the National Committee for the Resettlement of Foreign Physicians and Emergency Committee in aid of Displaced Foreign Medical Scientists.

The problem of furthering a rehabilitation program on behalf of approximately 7,000 refugees physicians vas not an easy one. Mr. Silverman's first-hand knowledge of European universities was of enormous help in enabling the Committee to evaluate not only the credentials of the doctors but often, in questionable cases, their ability.

We had occasion to consult with Mr, Silverman frequently in developing specific rehabilitation plans, He displayed an almost uncenny capacity, not only to judge the capabilities of individual physicians, but also to assist then in overcoming their resistance to resettling in small, rural communities where their services were needed, and in assisting then to adjust there.

Mr. Silverman was a tireless worker and devoted to the cause of assisting the oppressed. He has an excellent native intelligence and is gifted with a warm outgoing personality; he has also displayed resourcefulness and a relability to assume responsibility. Mr, Silverman is a born social worker. I am happy to recommend him,

HARRY D. BIELE,
Deputy Direct or, AJDC, Gemany

Charlie Jordan[3]

Postmarked September 13, 1944[4]

Dear Henry--never mind about not having written before, after all, you've gone overseas, been in the midst of everything, including those blasted robots. Thank God, that seems to be over, though, but I assure that a lot of us here felt so deeply with you that we must have suffered almost as much as you did. But you want to know about us. I have been on duty--First Aid and Prophylaxsis, at the Y here for about four months. Have been relegated to limited shore duty due to defective vision and hearing. Ellie is here with me and she, too, is in the Navy, doing clerical work at one of the stations. I guess I shall be at it longer than you, since after the fall of Germany, the Army will but the Navy will not let out some of the men.[5] I can will understand your feelings about getting back to Europe,[6] but I also think that for a European to be in the States at this time means relief from all those responsibilities in thought and action which by necessity fall on the shoulders of a European in Europe for Europe. As to the future of the young Germans in England: I don't think that would logically be a job of the Joint Distribution Committee and I suppose that the question remains whether they will or will not have to return to Germany after the war; if they do so, they will have to be covered by whatever programmes can be established there, yet if they remain abroad, an entirely different problem results. Incidentally, the Joint has just recently opened an office in London[7]--why don't you contact them--I am sure our Embassy cann tell you their address. Also, you might want to meet a good friend, Mr. Samuel Cohen, who was [?Joc?] representative & now lives in London--try to find him there if you can. Just had a letter from Hans Themal[8]--you'll remember him, who now lives in Nyasaland, British Central Africa. Write again, dear fellow. With our very best wishes for a happy new year, and best regards, yours, Charlies.

Notes:

Dad presumably asked for this letter of recommendation as he applied to Medical School in 1946, but it concerns his pre-war efforts.
Don't recall Dad specifically talking about doing work for JDC ("Joint Distribution Committee" or just "the Joint") or how he got connected with it so soon after arriving in the U.S. Certainly fits in a thread in his life (and our family, see Mom's father helping in Poland), as he also tried helping some of those he encountered in Berlin after the war. I have written the JDC archivist, but he had no files on Dad, and suggested I contact YELO, which I have done, and they will get back to me after quarantine is over in New York.
As for the program itself, see this article "Exiled Physicians in the United States" by Alfred E. Cohn, The American Scholar, Vol. 12, No. 3 (SUMMER 1943), pp. 352-361.
Charles H. Jordan. According to this In Memoriam in the JDC Archives, among other things, he worked for "the National Committee for the Resettlement of Foreign Physicians, and the National Refugee Service" before joining the JDC in 1941, so that is where Dad must have known him from. I have vague memories of Dad mentioning a "Charlie Jordan," but don't have any memories of his death in 1967 in Czechoslovakia, which got a fair amount of publicity. See Jerusalem Post stories in 1997.
Put this letter here, despite its date, for insight into further connections of Dad's pre-war association with the Joint.
Clearly overoptimistic about how quickly the war in Europe would end.
Again, wish we had the other side of this correspondence! Always have wondered what it felt like for Dad to back in Europe.
See Jewish Telegraph Agency article April 13, 1944.
Hans Joachim Themal (or Joachim Hans Themal), a watercolorist. Wonder why Dad should have known him! Found an article from 1950, which gives his bio as someone "who recently came to this country, went to school in Germany, England , and Belgium ... [had been] imprisoned in a concentration camp by the Nazis. After his escape, he was interned as an enemy alien for ten months in Cyprus." Then, he lived for several years in Nyasaland. [Has a painting in the Seattle Art Museum.]

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