Exodus: Ben Finkelstein

His hometown might have been Stanislwow, but his heart was on bigger things. Although Stanislwow was called home by a large Jewish population, Ben Finkelstein saw no future there. He wanted larger things. He learned the garment industry from his father, Joseph, and his mother, Rifka, for clothing manufacture was the prevailing industry of this community.

In the past Stanislwow had a thriving economy. It had been on one of the main trade routes running from the Ukraine into Austria and Europe. However, changing politics of this region pushed the flow of commerce elsewhere, and in Ben Finkelstein’s time, other than clothing manufacture, and a pitiful agricultural yield the economy of Stanislwow, and the region called Galicia was poor at best.

Galicia, perhaps because of its beauty, drew people. There were more people per acre here than in most places in the world. The region boasted a great Jewish population, and was the home of Hasidism. However, for Ben Finkelstein, the glitz and the glamour lay elsewhere; further east, in the region currently controlling Galicia: Austria.

As a young man Ben felt the call of the city, and he left his family to create his life and to make his fortune in Vienna, the capital of Austria. He left behind the world he grew up in, his family, and the family trade in the garment industry to create something new for himself. He found work driving a taxi. He found life in the theater and the thriving culture of urban Vienna.

My mother tells how he made friends with the Emperor’s son, Franz Ferdinand, who took the taxi whenever he went on a tryst to see his mistress lover in a distant quarter of Vienna from the palace. The friendship was not immediate, but Archduke Franz Ferdinand found my grandfather was a calm spirit who could be trusted. My grandfather became the Archduke’s regular transportation for his secret affair.

Ben loved the culture of Vienna. He found many new friends. He enjoyed the theater, dancing, and concerts. But as in his homeland of Galicia, the politics of Europe were changing. In 1914, crown prince Franz Joseph was assassinated by a Bosnian dissident. This event would throw Europe into a world war. Ben Finkelstein knew this killing would also bring a wave of antisemitism across the region.

Ben could have escaped the turmoil of the Hapsburg Empire by going home … but the Ukrainians were also gearing up for war, and would have quickly inducted a young man in his 20’s into the army. Ben Finkelstein said, “I don’t hate anyone;” and headed for Bremen, Germany. He boarded a ship, the Breslau, and headed for the United States of America.

Ben Finkelstein had an acquaintance who my Grandfather said would receive him when he entered the country. Be followed in this man’s footsteps, entering the United States at the port of Baltimore, and quickly moving to Columbus, Ohio. Once in Ohio, he found work in his family trade, as a presser in the garment industry. He of course found the Yiddish Theater, and a young lady who captured his eye. His Exodus from poverty and antisemitism was complete.