BANAT-L Archives

Archiver > BANAT > 2000-12 > 0976001549


From: Robert Zink <>
Subject: Re: [BANAT-L] ND families and education. Add my 2 cents
Date: Tue, 05 Dec 2000 07:32:29 +0000
In-Reply-To: <005d01c05d7c$520a2ba0$712efea9@7vo0f0f>


on 12/3/2000 10:56 PM, Joe White mentioned:


> I'll take the liberty of adding my 2 cents here regarding Dave's
> "........janitorial services......."........
> (And thanks Dave for putting out all those great messages).
>
> My uncle's sister-in-law, Godl or Godie (pronounced Goadie) Whitman Koenig,
> was the building superintendent at a six story apartment house in the 180th
> Street area of The Bronx, N.Y.....during the 1920's - 1930's. Her husband,
> Joseph Koenig, owned a baber shop a few blocks away. The Koenigs did very
> well during the depression.


My folks came over after WWII. Most of their friends were from the same or
neighboring villages in the Banat and had come over in the same era. They
settled in the Bronx (University Hts. for us, Joe). They were all Supers.
All the men got factory jobs, usually shift work. They all sucked up as much
overtime as they could. When they weren't at the factory job, they carried
out their duties as superintendents -- pulling garbage on the dumbwaiters
from all the apartments, getting it out on the street, mopping the hallways,
keeping the sidewalks tidy, making repairs in the house, maintaining the
boiler, etc. The Hausfrau also helped in all these chores while raising the
kids and keeping good food on the table. They dusted the decorations on the
walls in the hallways, polished the brass on the mailboxes and doors, washed
the windows, and much more. For these labors, they did not get much pay, but
the got a free apartment. They were very frugal and had savings. Within 10
years, most of them were landlords of apartment buildings themselves. Now
they were able to move out of the basement. But they still had a free
apartment! And they still made repairs in the building. And they still
worked hard at their factory jobs.

And whether they came in 1900, 1920, or 1957, they made a place for us to
have it easier than they did. We owe them a lot.
--
Happy Holidays,
Robert Zink
Rock City Falls NY

This thread: