Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2021 20:44:34 -0500
From: David Cooperberg 


These stories fascinate me; I must have grown up in a bubble. Other than those
who arrived after the 1956-os forradalom, I had no idea anyone was an immigrant,
born in a DP camp, the child of survivors.


Interesting last night when Tom R talked about how well accepted were the
Hungarian refugees. Did any of us think twice about it? We all were Jewish (pre
Paul, Lynn, Malcolm and Sandi) and all had eastern European roots. The Toms? only
difference was they arrived later. We also all were white but that was a
non-fact in Montr?al?imagine the contrast to our contemporaries in the segregated
southern US.


My grandfather was self-made. He immigrated from Poland to New York before WWI,
slept on a factory table, moved to Montr?al, and ultimately became the premier
purveyor of bar mitzvah suits in the city. This was the platform for my father
becoming a doctor. Among others, Karen and Lowena?s fathers also were physicians,
and Dan A?s was a successful entrepreneur. And it was someone other than the four
of us who had a Leonardo on the wall.


Why last night was successful and why we were such a cohesive class was, to the
extent we even were aware of them, we elided over our differences, if we were
not rather oblivious to them. And more power to us for that.