Washington Heights & Inwood Online

The history of the Jewish immigration to Washington Heights and Inwood is a rich and interesting subject. For some it is history, for others it may bring back memories of another era. What is about to be discussed may be offensive to some, but it is felt that there are those who do not fully understand the impact of what really happened. There are those that would want to know and why it changed.

New York City has always been a haven for immigrants. It started thousands of years ago when Native Americans settled the area for fishing and hunting. In the 1600s, the Dutch arrived and farms were started. In 1654, the first Jews came to New York from Brazil. Peter Stuyvesant was under direct orders to accept them.

Most of the land in northern Manhattan was owned by Jan Dyckman and Jan Nagel. Both men realized that in the future there would be a real estate boom. Over the next 200 years, farms and estates were bought and enlarged by landowners such as Billings, Morris, Jumel, Straus and the Lords (of Lord and Taylor), who made their mark on the community.

There was a northward migration of the Jewish population of New York City from the Lower East Side to Harlem. There were several reasons. First, there were better and newer apartments in Harlem. Second, there was the relocation of the City College of New York (CCNY), where they could get an excellent education.

Between 1933 and 1941, at least 20,000 displaced refugees from Germany and Austria came to Washington Heights because of the Nazi rise to power. Antisemitism was on the rise in these two countries and had created negative effects among the populace. Emigration was legal from Germany and Austria until 1941, when war was declared.

In November 1938 was Kristalnacht in Germany. Many Jewish businesses and synagogues were destroyed or burned. Many Jews were mistreated and arrested. That evening had an effect on those who fled Europe, and many who came were already traumatized by the incident. In some cases, many of the Jews were forced to live in ghettos. A small percentage of the immigrants underwent the horrors of the death camps and survived. Many came to America after the war.

There have been many books and a film that have been released in the media regarding the Jewish immigration to Washington Heights. Manfred Kirschheimer came to the Heights with his family to escape the Nazi persecution. In the 1980s he produced a film called “We Were so Beloved,” in which he recorded the memories of his family, friends and other members of the community of their flight from Germany during the 1930s. This movie was eventually made into book form.

“Frankfort on the Hudson: The German-Jewish Community of Washington Heights, 1933-1983, its Structure and Culture” by Steven Lowenstein is a book that goes into historical detail about the migration and settlement in the community. Lowenstein talks about the social structure and other facts about these immigrants and how they became accepted by the rest of the community and became an integral part of Washington Heights. The book is profusely illustrated with photographs, maps and graphs that enhance the story. I understand that there is a copy of this book in the Synagogue’s library.

Justin Martin’s biography, “Greenspan: The Man behind the Money,” tells of the life of Alan Greenspan, whose family came to New York City in the 1920s. Martin went into detail of what it was like to grow up in lower Washington Heights and how it influenced Greenspan as an adult. Greenspan lived with his mother and grandparents at 600 West 163rd Street. As a child, he was good with numbers and calculated up to 3-digit numbers in his head. He played sandlot baseball and was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan in New York Yankees territory. The Audubon Theater had been one of his favorite places to go. He may have even known Henry Kissinger at George Washington High School, who was two years his senior.

The History Channel had a book review for “The Conquerors: Roosevelt and Truman and the Destruction of Hitler’s Germany, 1941-1945” by Michael Beschloss. It was about the implementation of the reconstruction of Germany after the War. Part of the book examines why Roosevelt planned but decided against the bombing of Auschwitz.

Those who were allowed to leave in the beginning were fortunate. Others were not. To some, the word “refugee” was a word that they initially did not want to hear or acknowledge in the community. The integration process took on a more relaxed attitude in the United States than in other countries. This adaptation was especially recognized in Washington Heights. There had been situations where some rough edges had existed but had been smoothed out in time.

After the war, things settled down. A good majority of the Jewish immigrants lived initially in the lower Heights. Many of those started businesses here in New York City. Many synagogues flourished. Services started punctually, members had assigned seats, and there was the traditional practice of male officers on the executive committees until recently, when women were allowed to serve on the boards. Sisterhoods and ladies’ auxiliaries also played an important role in the affairs of the synagogues.

Yeshivas for elementary school students opened in Washington Heights. Yeshiva Soloveitchek (1937) and Yeshiva Samson Raphael Hirsch (1944) catered to regular educational and theological instruction. Yeshiva Soloveitchek closed in the 1980s. Some of the students who attend Yeshiva Samson Raphael Hirsch come in from Monsey, New York, where some of the former residents of Washington Heights live. Hirsch is connected with the Kahal Adath Jeshurun Synagogue. Yeshiva University was also instrumental in higher education and theological studies.

As time passed, many moved northward, especially to live along Fort Washington and Bennett Avenues. The synagogues moved to accommodate the northern migration. Kahal Adath Jeshurun, the most influential synagogue in the community, was under the leadership of Rabbi Joseph Breuer. This influence dominated the community for years.

Over the years, there was a decline in the original Jewish community. Most of this was due to the fact that those who had arrived in the 1930s were getting older, and their children moved out of the community to such places as Monsey, New York. This forced many of the synagogues to close or merge with others, such as is the case with Hebrew Tabernacle and Beth Am. There has been an influx of a younger generation of Jews who have wanted to be a part and have a sense of community.

Two synagogues that over the years have seen a decline in their congregations are the Inwood Hebrew Congregation and Congregation Ohav Sholaum. Congregation Beth Hillel was another synagogue that was forced to merge because of declining membership. Congregation Shaare Hatikvah and the Fort Tryon Jewish Center are still strong and viable synagogues.

The Audubon Ballroom was home to another synagogue that closed. It was Congregation Emez Wozedek and had services from 1939 to 1983, when it was forced to close for lack of membership and the fact that the Audubon was to be torn down for the Lasker Medical Research Center, which is operated by the New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Two other synagogues that had to reorganize were Congregation Nodah Bi Yehuda, located at 392 Fort Washington, and Congregation Kellilath Yaacov, at 390 Fort Washington. Many of the older members had died, and some had moved to Monsey, New York, with their children. These were in two identical three-storied buildings built in the first decade of the 20th Century and were purchased and refurbished into houses of worship. Congregation Nodah Bi Yehuda merged with Congregation Shaare Hatikvah at 711 West 179th Street.

These houses were recently torn down to make way for a residence for students and faculty of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. The building that was 392 Fort Washington was the former home of the McNally family. One of the sons, Richard J., was killed in action during the First World War on September 29, 1918. This information was confirmed in the historical signs section of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation website for the McNally Plaza. The McNally Post for Veterans of Foreign Wars is located at 584 West 183rd Street, just east of Saint Nicholas Avenue.

Some of the more influential people who moved to and lived in Washington Heights and Inwood were former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan, Max Frankel of the New York Times, psychologist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, broadcaster Edwin Newman, and Hansi Pollock, who was a local Democratic Party leader.

There is a small park on Cabrini Boulevard and 177th Street that is owned and operated by the Port Authority. Within this park is a plaque honoring a man by the name of Louis Stern. This gentleman was a member of the Washington Heights Chamber of Commerce and was listed on their letterhead in the 1940s. The plaque reads as follows: “This plaque is in memory of the significant civic achievements made by Louis Stern on behalf of the Washington Heights Community. November 1969, Port of New York Authority, Chamber of Commerce of Washington Heights.”

Washington Heights and Inwood are presently experiencing a revival. New Jewish families are moving here from other parts of New York City. This is due to the fact that the rents and real estate in the area is much more reasonable than in our sister communities downtown. There is a rising cost of rent and prices for co-ops and condominiums, but comparing them to other parts of the city, they are much lower. These new people coming to the area bring a sense of stronger community ties and spirit that had been lacking over the years and is needed to make it the vibrant community that it once was.