What would have happened if Tsarist Russia had cooled its anti-Semitic impulses, and allowed the Jews in its western regions to live as human beings, free from exploitation, dispossession and murder?
The world was radically different. Zionism might not have come into the world, and if it had come it would have been marginal and unimportant, because there was no longer a need to provide “night shelter” to the Jews. It is possible that the Russian revolutions of 1905 and 1917 would not have taken place.
From Hollywood to pop – more about the Jewish refugee children who made popular culture in the USA possible:
● They were so Jewish, they were so American
● The voice is America’s voice, but the music is Berlin’s
But here is one more “what if”, a bit unexpected, in the “what if” scenario. In the absence of anti-Semitism and pogroms, two million miserable and hard-working Jews would not have paid their last pennies to board passenger ships and sail to the shores of America. And if that enormous transfer had not taken place, the families of Yisrael Beilin, of Yaakov Gornetsky, of Isidore Hochberg, of Hyman Erlotsk, of Bernie Birnbaum, of Avrom Trasovitsky, of Abe Miropol, of Leo Reisman, of the children of the Newman family, of The children of the Schubert family, of Walter Yatnikov and Maurice Meir Ostrovsky.
Otherwise the American popular culture would not have come into the world. There was no Hollywood, there was no Broadway, there was no record and music world; The most famous songs of the 20th century were not put together, composed and sung; There wasn’t even jazz.
There was no American dream. There was no Wild West, there was no Wizard of Oz. America was not marketed to the outside world with the same degree of success. She would not have become the focus of admiration and imitation. Maybe there was no qualification for a leadership position.
The children of Jewish refugees from Tsarist Russia (and other places in Europe) largely created the American image. Writer and film critic Neil Gabler wrote a book about the Jews who invented Hollywood. He called it ‘their own empire’. “Hollywood was a dream dreamed by Jews in their escape from the nightmare of their lives,” he said.
“Chairman Mo”
The reason for this list is the death of one of the children, Maurice Meir Ostrovsky. He died at the beginning of this month at the age of 95. Like most of the aforementioned children, he changed his name, and called himself Mo Austin. Clowns called him “Chairman Mo.” According to Speedio, he was one of the most gifted and influential musicians in history.
For 30 years he headed the record division of Warner Brothers, and as such he discovered the greatest talents. He and they had the combination of understanding, intuition, patience and humility.
The list of talents he managed speaks for itself. It included Frank Sinatra, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, Paul Simon, Prince, Madonna, U2, Van Morrison… When he was ousted by a new, narrow-minded CEO, in 1994, Warner owned almost a quarter of the market the american
Austin’s path of progress was lined with Jews. His parents moved to Los Angeles when he was 13. He was introduced to the world of music thanks to a neighbor who was the brother of Norman Granz, “the most successful promoter in the history of jazz”, the son of Jewish refugees from western Ukraine.
A network of dating, systematic or accidental, launched hundreds of young Jews into a daring world of creativity. They laid foundations, they shaped perceptions, and they created public taste. I don’t have the space here to name them, or give their biographies. But I suggest to those who are also interested to open one entry in Wikipedia, let’s say Alfred Newman, click on any last name that appears in it, and go on a journey following the Jewish children.
Indians and Cossacks
Neil Gabler, in his book on Hollywood, claims that the childhood experiences of the Jews or their parents were evident in the films they produced. Cowboys and Indians were not only depictions of the Wild West, but actually of the small towns in Ukraine that they had abandoned from the terror of the Cossacks.
The creators of Hollywood were the people who founded the big studios, and were at the head of them for decades. In the course of time, many detractors were found for them, who accused them of vulgarity, or of cultivating prejudices and racial and ethnic stereotypes. The heavy weight of Jews in Hollywood was a classic result of their exclusion from other places. They had no choice but to create their own empire.
But their centrality did not only concern studios and production. They created the music of Hollywood. For example, take a look at the breathtaking biography of the Newman family, whose children, cousins, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were nominated for Oscars 92 times thanks to their compositions for film songs.
Jews gave America songs of patriotism, but also songs of protest against political and social failures. The aforementioned Israel Beilin changed his name to Erving Berlin. He wrote 1,500 songs, including the one considered the unofficial US anthem, “God Bless America.” Not bad for a native of a small town in today’s Belarus.
Another boy, Abe Miropol, who took the name Louis Allen, shocked America 85 years ago with a song about the lynching of a black man. The name of the song was ‘Strange Fruit’, and in 1999 Time magazine awarded it the title “The Most Important Chorus of the 20th Century”.
In all the long and complicated history of immigration to America there has never been such a small group, which exerted such a large influence on the huge land in which it settled. Those Jews received asylum from America and in return gave it its self-image and sounds. What an amazing meeting it was.