How genealogy clues transformed dates and documents into a best selling book and soon to be film
Until the recent pandemic pause, everything moved fast. It was hard to get to know even our family. But now we have stopped for a moment to use our voices and hear what we stand for and be with our families. We have taken the time to understand why those before us made certain decisions and how we are shaped as a result of these decisions today.
In the early twentieth century, influxes of desperate people fleeing famines, wars, natural disasters and persecution migrated to America. Delving into your family tree can uncover blockbuster movie-type stories.
In the based on true story and soon to be film, Newark Minutemen, Leslie K. Barry found just that heroic story that is garnering attention around the world. She was able to discover a trove of archives that allowed her to build family trees for her based on true characters to authentically bring them to life and place them in a historical context.
A few years ago, at her Mom’s 90th birthday, Barry uncovered a story that possessed her. She listened over shoulders as Her Mom and her cousins exchanged stories about her Mom’s older brother, Harry, who was a Jewish boxer. But the secrets were much deeper than the golden glove trophy signaled. Harry was a Newark Minuteman, a title given to a group of boxers under the leadership of the Jewish mob who partnered with the FBI between World War I and II to battle fascism in America.
With the help of family tree research and connection she puzzled the story together. Each turn led her to real life heroes and villains, each of whom she built family trees. As she connected the people with their histories, in her imagination she could ride the trolley with them past theaters, delis and butchers. She could share music from the Victoria, throw a ball in the Big Yard, smell baking bread in the third ward of Newark and breathe in the winter air. She got to know know her characters as if they were family:
-MobKing Longie Zwillman known as the Gatsby of Gangsters, who controlled and protected his people in Newark. He hired the neighborhood unemployed, secured visas for Europeans and set up soup kitchens for the hungry.
-Fuhrer Fritz Kuhn, the American Hitler that controlled the rising German-American Nazi party. His arrogance had him dancing with mistresses in the forbidden jazz clubs and smuggling in Nazi uniforms.
-Yael, based on real life, John Metcalfe of Chicago and his brother Jim. The brothers went undercover and joined the Bund’s secret police and then wrote a 14 page newspaper serial about the exploits
-Krista, based on Helen Vooros of Brooklyn who as part of an effort to increase the Aryan population in America, was raped in the American Nazi Youth Camp in Long island.
-Other Campers who testified in Congressional hearings who claimed that the German American Nazi aims were focused on conquest of America and linked to espionage.
-cameos of and real dialogue from Frank Sinatra, mafia men, boxers, Mayor Epstein and LaGuardia, news celebrities Dorothy Thompson’s and Walter Winchell.
-And Barry’s own family; Her Uncle Harry, her mother Esther, Her grandparents Isaac and Lena. They moved around town five times in a decade, studies at Weequahic high school and housed family escaping from Nazis.
She was able to build accurate timelines from census, news stories, passports, and vital records. She was able to collect news articles, photos, videos, diaries, family stories, government papers to put flesh on the bones. Through genealogical tools and platforms, She was able to find and connect with archives and FBI documents that validated the ancestral stories and documents.
And then she was able to connect with the families of the characters she “met” during the family searches.
The results are a visceral connection with characters as a reader experiences a very personal battle with identity that really make the tale stand out. This struggle is voiced best by Krista when she describes her family and community.
“I study them in turn – the way Axel’s shoulder twitches when he’s tense, how Fuhrer Kuhn’s forehead wrinkles when he frowns, how my father’s nose flares when he’s angry, how Heidi swipes her tongue across her lips when she’s nervous. These mannerisms are familiar. They remind me of me.” She wonders: “What am I without them? Who am I alone?”
The answer: “No one.”
Or Yael’s attachment to his father when he says,
“After an awkward moment, Pop pulls the bag, along with me into his arms for a hug. “Danks my son. I would have frozen and starved. Then what good would I be to Mr. Zwillman?” He slides the suitcase and pumps my cap over my eyes and back up again. The crows feet that bloom into a dozen crinkles around his eyes when he smiles warm me. When my father smiles, nothing in the world can hurt me.
AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/163195...
In the early twentieth century, influxes of desperate people fleeing famines, wars, natural disasters and persecution migrated to America. Delving into your family tree can uncover blockbuster movie-type stories.
In the based on true story and soon to be film, Newark Minutemen, Leslie K. Barry found just that heroic story that is garnering attention around the world. She was able to discover a trove of archives that allowed her to build family trees for her based on true characters to authentically bring them to life and place them in a historical context.
A few years ago, at her Mom’s 90th birthday, Barry uncovered a story that possessed her. She listened over shoulders as Her Mom and her cousins exchanged stories about her Mom’s older brother, Harry, who was a Jewish boxer. But the secrets were much deeper than the golden glove trophy signaled. Harry was a Newark Minuteman, a title given to a group of boxers under the leadership of the Jewish mob who partnered with the FBI between World War I and II to battle fascism in America.
With the help of family tree research and connection she puzzled the story together. Each turn led her to real life heroes and villains, each of whom she built family trees. As she connected the people with their histories, in her imagination she could ride the trolley with them past theaters, delis and butchers. She could share music from the Victoria, throw a ball in the Big Yard, smell baking bread in the third ward of Newark and breathe in the winter air. She got to know know her characters as if they were family:
-MobKing Longie Zwillman known as the Gatsby of Gangsters, who controlled and protected his people in Newark. He hired the neighborhood unemployed, secured visas for Europeans and set up soup kitchens for the hungry.
-Fuhrer Fritz Kuhn, the American Hitler that controlled the rising German-American Nazi party. His arrogance had him dancing with mistresses in the forbidden jazz clubs and smuggling in Nazi uniforms.
-Yael, based on real life, John Metcalfe of Chicago and his brother Jim. The brothers went undercover and joined the Bund’s secret police and then wrote a 14 page newspaper serial about the exploits
-Krista, based on Helen Vooros of Brooklyn who as part of an effort to increase the Aryan population in America, was raped in the American Nazi Youth Camp in Long island.
-Other Campers who testified in Congressional hearings who claimed that the German American Nazi aims were focused on conquest of America and linked to espionage.
-cameos of and real dialogue from Frank Sinatra, mafia men, boxers, Mayor Epstein and LaGuardia, news celebrities Dorothy Thompson’s and Walter Winchell.
-And Barry’s own family; Her Uncle Harry, her mother Esther, Her grandparents Isaac and Lena. They moved around town five times in a decade, studies at Weequahic high school and housed family escaping from Nazis.
She was able to build accurate timelines from census, news stories, passports, and vital records. She was able to collect news articles, photos, videos, diaries, family stories, government papers to put flesh on the bones. Through genealogical tools and platforms, She was able to find and connect with archives and FBI documents that validated the ancestral stories and documents.
And then she was able to connect with the families of the characters she “met” during the family searches.
The results are a visceral connection with characters as a reader experiences a very personal battle with identity that really make the tale stand out. This struggle is voiced best by Krista when she describes her family and community.
“I study them in turn – the way Axel’s shoulder twitches when he’s tense, how Fuhrer Kuhn’s forehead wrinkles when he frowns, how my father’s nose flares when he’s angry, how Heidi swipes her tongue across her lips when she’s nervous. These mannerisms are familiar. They remind me of me.” She wonders: “What am I without them? Who am I alone?”
The answer: “No one.”
Or Yael’s attachment to his father when he says,
“After an awkward moment, Pop pulls the bag, along with me into his arms for a hug. “Danks my son. I would have frozen and starved. Then what good would I be to Mr. Zwillman?” He slides the suitcase and pumps my cap over my eyes and back up again. The crows feet that bloom into a dozen crinkles around his eyes when he smiles warm me. When my father smiles, nothing in the world can hurt me.
AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/163195...
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