Siata

OK. You asked for it.
A couple of years ago I got the note below from an aficionado of the marque.
I found this great photo in Jay's albums when I was down at his place in Brattleboro for Thanksgiving.

Siata Correspondence:

David,
Saw your note online with the photo of your father's Siata-Chrysler and 
thought you might be interested in seeing the attached file of the car's 
history, as I've been able to collect it thus far. If you can add any 
details, anything at all, please do so. I'm particularly curious as to how 
he came to own the car, i.e. from whom, when, etc.
The propaganda below will help explain my interest ... in addition to the 
fact that I own three Siatas from the same time period ... and my father 
several more.
I'll try to locate a couple of more recent photos of your father's car, but 
it will have to wait until I return from a 2 week trip.
Thanks for posting the photo somewhere where I could find it and you. 
Anything more you might remember would be of interest. Any other photos?
Sincerely,  John

Call for Italian car information!
1//2003
Sir,
I am still working in earnest on a new edition of the Italian Car Registry, 
starting with a volume on "A" cars (Abarth, AC (Frua, Zagato, etc.), Alfa 
Romeo, Allemano, Ansaldo, Arnolt MG, Arnolt Bristol, ASA, Aston Martin 
(Allemano, Bertone Touring, Zagato), Atlas/Allied, ATS, Aurea, Autobianchi, 
etc.). This edition will be greatly expanded from the 1994 edition, adding 
photos, text and much more information about the histories of most of the cars.
There is a huge increase in the information I've collected about Abarth, 
Alfa Romeo, and Arnolt cars in particular. I am also sharing more detailed 
information about each car (when that information is known) than that which 
appeared in the 1994 edition.
The "A" volume will be followed by a volume on "B thru E" cars covering 
Balbo, Bandini, Bertone, Benetton, Bianchi, Bizzarrini, BMS, BMW (Italian 
bodies), Boano, Boneschi, Borsani, Branca, Brianza, Bristol (Italian 
bodied), Brixia, Cadillac (Italian bodies), Castagna, Ceirano, Chevrolet 
(Italian bodied), Chiribiri, Chrysler (Italian bodies), Cisitalia, Colli, 
Conrero, Cooper (Italian engines), Crepaldi, Cunningham, Dagrada, De 
Sanctis, De Tomaso, Diatto, Dolphin (Italian engines), Dual Ghia, Ellena, 
Ermini, etc.
Then the "F" car volume (primarily Ferrari & Fiat, but also Fissore, 
Fontana, Francis Lombardi, Frua, and more).
The following volumes will cover the rest, from G thru Z (Galassi thru Zust).
I would be pleased to add information on your Italian and Italian 
coachbuilt car(s).
The most important information to send / l'informazione piu importante da 
mandare:
Marque name / nome della marca _________________________________
Model name or type / nome modello oppure tipo _____________________
Chassis number / numero telaio __________________________________
Engine number / numero motore __________________________ (originale o non 
originale?)
Body style / stilo carrozzeria (berlina / coupe / spider / convertibile / 
torpedo /____________)
Bodybuilder / carrozzeria ___________________________________
Body number (if applicable) / numero della carrozzeria (se fu utilizzata) 
_________________ 
         (coachbuilders who used numbering systems include: Alfa Romeo, 
Allemano, Bertone, Frua, Ghia, Motto (some cars), Pinin Farina (later: 
Pininfarina), Sala, Speciali (Fiat), Stabilimenti Farina, Touring, some 
Vignale, Viotti, Zagato and probably others)
History (date of production, owners' names & years owned, license plates 
used, colors, etc.) 
Storia  (data produzione/Certificato di Origine, nomi dei proprietari, 
targhe, colori, ecc.)
______________________________

Thank you.  Grazie!
John  de Boer
The Italian Car Registry 
28 Oakwood Road 
Orinda, CA  94563-3440  USA
Email:  iicar@earthlink.net
website under construction at www.iicar.com

Alfa Romeo 1959 Colorized

This was Norman Jacobowitz's first Alfa Romeo Veloce. It had an aftermarket fibreglas hard top. Over several years it was modified for racing, eventually taking the 1500cc class at Bonneville Salt Flats in 1960. There is a recording of the record run. Thanks to Bob Immler for the copy of the second track.

Norm took David and Ira on a cross country trip in our Plymouth wagon towing the Alfa.

Firestone tires. What else do I remember?

The car was originally white. Jay added the red after Norm later got a red Veloce. I bought it from a grad student in Chapel Hill in 1970 when I got back from California.

Bunny and Bea in Brooklyn - 2010

I visited Bea and Bunny Jacoby in their new Brooklyn assisted living apartment. Eli came over and set up my computer to record our conversation. I got about an hour of these delightful people. Devoted to each other, working through the vicissitudes of aging. Bunny turned 93 on Wednesday, December 15, 2010.

Bunny is Bernard Jacoby, the grandson of Bernath Jacobowitz, who is the brother of my great-grandfather, Wolf Jacobowitz. We were both amazed that the Jersey City Jacobowitzes didn't socialize with the Brooklyn Jacobys, Jacobis, and Jacobses. Wonder why.

Wolf Jacobowitz

Wolf Jacobowitz

Harold Krongelb sent these pictures for posting on Geni.

Thanks, Wikipedia

I use WIkipedia as my first stop in checking out stuff I'm interested in. From towns in Hungary to bicycle history.

Skype Video Call to Jiri

It is Sunday Noveber 7, 2010, right after daylight savings time was over in Eastern Time in the US.
Sao Paolo, usually two hours ahead of us, is now three hours ahead. Beth Jacoby in Chicago and Ellen Ruby in Sag Harbor, NY, and I had planned to do a Skype conference call with Jiri in Sao Paolo at 11 am Eastern Time.

At 9 am I came up to arrange to record the session with SkypeCap, now IMCapture.

But Jiri was already on line. So I made the connection and we started to talk. It was amazing to see him, an 86-year-old concentration camp survivor looking pretty good; cheery and animated. He said that he had suffered a bout of cancer and recently had chemo- and radio-therapy. This may explain why he had not been so energetic in recent months in returning email and Geni messages. But recently he stepped up his contribution. He sent a report of the times from 1945-1946, which I "translated" and will paste here. Then I'll add some notes from our Skype conversation (in parentheses) to fill in details.

I wish Beth Jacoby and Ellen Ruby had been in on the call. They would have remembered details that I didn't get.

Jiri refers to his grandmother as Fancsi-Mama. Hungarian names are rendered Last First, as in Klein Blanka (Jiri's mother) and Klein Moric (her father).

Jiri said that he visited Sobrance, Hummene, and other family towns with the son of his brother Andy's best friend, Lewis Kovac. The name had been changed from Klein to Kovacs. Lewis is the cousin who traveled with Jiri in 2006 and who now lives in Los Angeles. This was in the context of a story about Jiri's granddaughter Barbara, who underwent a liver transplant at Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. The organization that supported this medical work and other good works was supported by Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand and other well-known people in entertainment.

Jiri's son Josef died at age 48 of cancer. He was a mathematician who was supervising and organizing high school math teachers. Where was this? Jiri's father is also names Josef, so there was a bit of confusion in identifying the two Josefs (grandfather and grandson) in Geni.

====================
David's "English Version" of Jiri's report:
Report on the years 1945-1946 : Sent by Jiri Jacobowitz on November 2, 2010, via email.

RETURN TO UNGVÁR:1- Jiri's brother Andi returned to Ungvár in December, 1945. Since 1943 he had been engaged with the Russian Army in the Hungarian Partisan Group

2- January 1945 - Erzsi, Vera and Ani - In April, 1944, Erzsi, Vera and Ani had been deported to Auschwitz, and a few days after that they were transferred to a little KZ Camp in East of Poland, where the Soviet Army arrived in December, 1944.

Auschwitz and Buchenwald3- June 1945 - Jiri and Robi had been deported in April of 1944 to Auschwitz, and after 5 days (Jiri was) transferred to Buchenwald, which camp was liberated on April 11, 1945. (Jiri was selected by Dr Mengele because he was young and strong and could work. Jiri's left arm is shorter than his left by 10 cm. He showed me on Skype video.) As the war ended only in May, it took about 50 days for them to make it finally to Ungvár.

OUT FROM SOVIET: 1- 2 months later I decided to move to Czechoslovakia, accompanied by my 3 cousins (Erzsi, Vera, Ani? ) and Nuszen (Nussen Horovitz, who in the meantime had married Erzsi.
We were without money and identification cards. In Prague I found some Ungvárian friends and they recommended that we move to Podmokly, where lot of Jews (mostly from Karpats) were already living. So it was easy to get a job. Robi moved in with his uncle Zoltán Weissberger (aunt Viola's brother, with whom he moved some months later to Israel and my brother (Andy) remained in Ungvár.

Czechoslovakia - So we immediately moved to Podmokly and start to work. It was not so easy, but the local government was helping the survivors,

But each month the Soviet Government and Army made all the decisions and it was clear for me what will happen in the coming years.

USA or BRAZIL.So, we decide to try to emigrate USA or Brazil. Since the process to get an American visa was complicated, we decide on Brazil. First we all needed an invitation from a Brazilian, with a lot of guaranties. Uncle Hermann sent for all of us, including Andy and Robi.

Than we needed passports. It was very, very difficult. From my mother's family I have a cousin who was one of the great heroes in the Czechoslovakian Army, and one of General Svoboda's assistants. Since we were really very young, without home and family, he was helpful in obtaining the passports.

Problems with Tickets:And after all, the problem with the tickets.
In the meantime we was already seven, as Ezsi in February, 1946 gave birth to a boy, who is today Dr. JOSÉ HOROVITZ, I went to the JOINT in Prague, (The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) and they asked for a initial payment of US$1,000.00, which uncle Arnold and Hermann fulfilled, I think 50/50.

The Brazilian visas, no problems. Finally we received from JOINT in Prague, information that we are booked to Rio de Janeiro, on "S/S Jamaique",  and had to leave immediately for JOINT in Prague. As everything that we have in the apartment, belonged to the government, we needed some money for the railway tickets to Prague.

Paris
JOINT provided some money for traveling expenses to Paris. When we arrived to Paris, there was very bad news: "JAMAIQUE" was fully occupied and we must wait in Paris during the time that they needed to arrange for another vessel. And once more provide us with some money for local expenses. It was very difficult for us, especially because of 7-month-old José. The time was running out, and our visas were expiring. Finally, after 3 weeks, they told us that they had arranged a Brazilian charger "ALMIRANTE ALEXANDRINO" but this one is booked from Genoa, ITALY (Genoa, I think. DJ). So, we went by train to Genoa, where we waited over one week, up to the beginning of November, 1946.

45 Day Crossing
There we were in Genoa, without any assistance from JOINT or any other congregation.
The Brazilian vessel was horrible, one side with about 499 women, and the other side with 499 men...
During the 35 days, horrible conditions, no bath, no food., etc. But finally we arrived in Rio, where we were expected by Uncle Hermann, Aunt Dora and Irion.

Today I'm convinced that without Uncle Arnold's intervention with JOINT, we would have had to wait weeks or months in Genoa, while our Brazilian visas expired ,,,, Because that meant reselling our reserved tickets with great "OVERPRICES"

So, as you say, Uncle Arnold was not rich, BUT R E S P E C T E D !

And I can imagine how difficult the trip was for Chava, Wolf and Bernath's family, with so many children!
I hope you will understand my message, notwithstanding my "english?". Love Jiri
====================

Sunrose

My cousin Ellen Ruby asked if I could crop her neice's photo from a group for her profile on Geni. How did this turn out?

My friend Muffet (Liz West) evened out the color and got rid of the blinding backlight on the left.

Break Out Social Media

Do you think that the possibility of having your bad behavior spread all over the Internet acts as a social deterrent?

I saw a group of young people inside the Sailing Center compound near the Moran Plant today. I started taking photos and didn't say anything. One of the boys called as he walked off, "Stop taking my picture."

Earth Clock Wedding Photo Shoot

On my ride today I came around the Earth Clock corner with a sunset brewing over the lake. A photographer was setting up a couple for a shoot. Was that regal garb?

Why yes. These folks were getting married in an hour at the Tree House, a handicapped-accessible tree house just on the other side of Oakledge Park in Burlington.

The ritual of the prenuptial photo session is what I was interested in. These folks really caught my eye. Wish them well.

Bernath Jacobowitz

Bernath Jacobowitz from Ellen Ruby's photo collection. Ellen said that her mother (Hilda) referred to him as "Fata."

Fancsi and Hilda

Fancsi Jacobowitz

Hilda Jacoby Ruby

Beth Jacoby noted that Fancsi and Hilda looked alike. So, what do you think?

Stop Signs Could Be Replaced By Yields

There is a large STOP sign for traffic exiting the Entomology Station. The smaller stop signs on the Rec Path could be replaced with Yield signs, since the bikes, runners, and pedestrians are the higher volume of traffic, and the exiting cars have to stop before entering Spear Street turning right or left. Traffic entering the Entomology Station have good views of approaching bikes and runners on the path.

I saw a bike heading south (downhill from the left) when I was taking this photo. He pulled to his left to get a look around the corner and to be seen, slowed, and then rolled through the small stop sign when he saw that the intersection was clear. This behavior seems appropriate and would be recognized as legitimate if we put small yield signs for the path users,

View Entomology Station Path Crossing in a larger map

Jiri's Photos from Brazil

Jiri Jakubovic, our cousin in Brazil, sent these photos. They are very small, so it is hard to identify the people in Geni. But I'll try.

Linda Talks to Eli During Tour de Farms 2010

 

The phone rang. Linda pulled safely to the side and talked to Eli about Thanksgiving plans and our lovely day riding around Addison County sampling the products from local farms in support of Rural Vermont.

Crosley in South Burlington

 
 
 
 
I told Bob Immler that I would take a photo of our local Crosley. Here you go.

Son Shadow

This kid's family was playing music at the Art Hop behind the Steele Building where Local Motion has the Trailside Center. His dad played fiddle and also put out the food. I really liked how his shadow played against the rich color of the late afternoon sun on the wall.

Fresh Ground Coffee House

The Fresh Ground used to offer a Beggar's Banquet -- soup and a slice of fresh baked bread -- for $1. They also had Apple Incredible Cake. Linda still has the recipe. (Citation: Vermont Vanguard. Guess at the date. They went out of print in 1984.

The store is now a pizza shop:

UZHORAD, UKRAINE (FORMERLY UNGVAR, HUNGARY)

dAVID, BETWEEN THE FOTOS YOU CAN FIND UNGVARIAN SYNAGOGUE, COBSTRUCTED CERCS 1921, NOW PHYLHARMONIQUE, jIRI

Tio Jiri in Brazil

Hat Trick

Can you find the teapot?

Carolyn, Linda's sister, knitted some tea cozies and a winter hat for me. We set them all out and you get to guess which one hides the teapot.

Holy Planet Bike Gloves

What happened? These bike gloves are not that old, so how come the right one wore through and the left one didn't? They were starting to show through at the beginning of the Harpoon Point-to-Point Century.

Harpoon Point-to-Point 2010

Bob Schermer volunteers at the Food Bank. Each year the Harpoon Point-to-Point ride serves as their major fundraiser. Bob's sons-in-laws and friends ride. Bobs's wife Gail and his daughter Emily volunteer. In this picture are (from the left) Jason, Andrew, Bob, grandson Mason (in front), Chris, Matt and me. The team rode the long 112 mile route.

I rode to the start in Williston, but accepted a van ride from Bethel to Barnard (big hot hill, cramping), so I wound up riding 175 kilometers = 108 miles.
Home to Williston to Bethel
Bethel to Windsor

The beer and food at the brewery were great.

4 from 3 Rivers = Une Belle Foto

 

I met these four women from Trois Rivieres at Local Motion. They had missed the turn to the SB Rec Path coming from Deerfield Drive, so I offered to show them the way back via some pretty places. Here they are at the Earth Clock at Blanchard Beach.

Intersection Intervention Misfires

Today we tried an intersection intervention like some in Burlington. We targeted Staples Plaza eastbound. There was a kind of group-think going on in the planning of it. Although Todd LeBlanc, South Burlington Police, clearly indicated that he would be targeting cars, nobody thought to question the wisdom of stopping all the cars trying to get out of Burlington at rush hour to give them a flyer about sharing the road with bikes and pedestrians. It just pissed them off. Some just weren't sure why they were being held up.

Rick did get to talk to some bicyclists, and that seemed worthwhile, but the wholesale distribution to every motor vehicle was a bad idea.

At least Jason figured it out after only 15 minutes, and we called off the intervention.
We will re-think the concept and clarify our goals of meeting a balanced group of motorists, bicyclists and walkers. Somewhere else.

Beth Jacoby and Ron Deitch

We finally met Beth Jacoby, my third cousin, and her husband Ron Deitch in Chicago.
They took us to the Eleventh Deli, a delightful New York style Jewish Delicatessen.
Ron also rides a Surly. We have a few things in common.

Frog Blog

My birthday gift this year from Carolyn & Terry is this fantastic solar-powered frog. It has a solar cell and a rechargeable battery. If you put it out in the sun, it will glow all night. I put it in the garden right next to the solar-powered thermometer (Fahrenheit AND Celcius).