Lou & Minnie Tolchin - 1989 Interview

Thanks to my father, we have a short (16:34) interview with my maternal grandparents (Lou & Minnie Joshowitz Tolchin) from 1989.  In it, they talk about their families and growing up in Western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh and McKeesport, respectively) in the 1920s and 1930s.  I've converted it from VHS format, and here it is.  It even includes my grandfather's rendition of the famous (at least within our family) Schenley High School cheer.

Paul Diamond's Autobiography

This autobiography was written by my grandfather, Paul Diamond, probably around 1980.

I, Paul Diamond, was born in Wolyn, Ukraine, Poland, in the year 1922. We were a family of fine children, two sisters and three brothers.  I went to school and I also attended Yeshiva until 1939.  When I was 17 years old, the Russians entered our area. I went to auto mechanic school for one year; then they assigned me to drive a truck for a hospital.

Paul Diamond

In 1941, when Germany invaded Russia, it started to look very bad for the Jewish people. First, they took away our homes and valuable possessions. Then the Nazis put us in the Ghetto. There was no more school, no more freedom, and we had to do very hard work.

Sonia Bajcz Diamond: Growing up in Horochov (1922-1935, part 2)

This is the second in a series that summarize an interview of my grandmother, Sonia Bajcz/Beitch Diamond (then Sara Bajcz), from about 20 years ago.  This talks about her growing up in Horochov, Volhynia, Ukraine (then Horochow, Wolyn, Poland), her family, friends, and how they celebrated holidays.  Part 1 can be read here.


My mother was one of the finest women--quiet, honest.  Her name was Batsheva Fine Bajcz.  She was born in Shklyn, a nearby village, and when she married my father she came to Horochov.  When my mother was born it was Russia, but by the time I was born it was Poland.  She worked very hard to make sure that we girls dressed like the richest girls in town.  She would buy fabrics and copy from the other girls.  We had a very close relationship.  She looked up to me because I went to school and could read and write.  She taught herself how to read and write, so she was very happy that I had the will to learn. 

Sonia Bajcz Diamond: Growing up in Horochov (1922-1935, part 1)

This is the first in a series that summarize an interview of my grandmother, Sonia Bajcz/Beitch Diamond (then Sara Bajcz), from about 20 years ago.  This talks about her growing up in Horochov, Volhynia, Ukraine (then Horochow, Wolyn, Poland), what the city was like, and her schooling.

I was born in the city Horochow (in Polish) or Gorochov (in Russian) in West Ukraine; in Yiddish it was Horochov.  Wolyn was the name of the state (Lara's note: it is now in Volhynia Oblast).  I lived on Pilsutski Street, I think number 120.  We led a normal life.  We lived between different nationalities-Ukrainian, German, Czechoslovakian.  In the street we spoke Polish; in the house we spoke Yiddish between ourselves.  I also learned to speak a bit of German and Czechoslovakian from friends in my class.  The city was not a big city like Warsaw or Krakow.  But we had a mayor and a governor, doctors, a hospital, some banks.  The city was very nice with wide paved streets and a variety of stores--food clothing, fabrics, pharmacies.  The gentiles would mostly live outside the city.  Near the park were mansions for the high officials (mayor and governor) so they would not live with the Jewish people.

Minnie Joshowitz Tolchin, in her own words

In the mid 1990s, I had an MSDOS-based program called (I think) Biography Maker.  I believe it was by the same company that made Family Tree Maker, and it would give prompts that would help you to write an autobiography.  My grandparents Lou & Minnie Tolchin were in town, and I used it to interview my grandmother.  Unfortunately we never got around to finishing, but it did get a really good feeling of her growing up during the Depression in McKeesport, PA.

Here is Minnie Joshowitz Tolchin's story, in her own words.

My Yiddish name is Mindel, and they called me Mindel or Minnie.  I was named after my father's mother.  I was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania on February 19, 1922.

Minnie Joshowitz as a baby with her parents Josef and Esther (nee Rutner) Joshowitz and brother Izzy, 1922

When I started school, I was only five years old, and the starting age was six.  But my father went to the principal and told him that I had to go to school because there were three younger children at home. I could not even speak English, only Yiddish, because that's what we spoke in the house.  But I learned fast.  It was located in McKeesport [Pennsylvania] on Walnut Street.  It was called Walnut Street School.  It was a big red brick building three floors high.  If I remember correctly, there were two buildings; one was the old one, and then they built the newer one.  The higher grades, of course, went to the newer one.  The school went from first to eighth grade.  It was a public school, and the name of the principal was Mr. Snyder, an elderly gentleman who we all liked.  My younger sisters and brother went to the same school.  Mollie was one year behind me, and the other two, Herbie and Ruthie were five years behind me.  We didn't play with them at recess, but we had to go home for lunch every day which was three blocks away.  Every once and a while we got a penny for candy.  School was easy for me, and I didn't have to struggle.  Another girl and I took first honors when I graduated eighth grade.  We took sewing in school, and we made our own dresses.  We wore them in the May Day dance, and we graduated in them.  My teacher in eighth grade was Miss Newhouse, and she sent me to an elecution teacher to teach me how to give my speech for graduation.