2-12. Family History and Childhood: Developing Strength and Thinking
Title
2-12. Family History and Childhood: Developing Strength and Thinking
Subject
Description
In this recording, part of a larger video memoir project, lifetime activist and educator Suzanne Ross reflects on what has been significant for her development of strength and dialectical thinking throughout her life—from her time on the kibbutz in Palestine to her adventures with dialectical thinking as an adult and political activist.
From Suzanne: "Born in 1937 living with an extended family on maternal and paternal sides in Antwerp Belgium. By 1940 the Nazis invade and most of the family tried and even succeeded in leaving. My parents, brother, and I along with different aunts, uncles, and cousins parted ways with some headed for Portugal, some for Palestine, and other remaining in France or Belgium. Traveling for about a year from France to Spain to North Africa, to Portugal and eventually Mozambique, we found a haven in Mozambique for three years, until the colonial power (Portugal) gave us a deadline by which we had to leave. This was now 1944 and we were able to go to Palestine where we remained for a year before we were able to get the visa we needed to go to the US, my parents’ dream. We arrived in the US on December 25, 1945 and soon became part of an orthodox Jewish community in Queens, Far Rockaway. My brother and I attended the Yeshiva, I loved the chaos of this school, with the students able to challenge the adults, and impose a certain student power. In addition to the students ability to disrupt regular routines, the Hebrew education was excellent, especially the training in Talmudic logic and debate which served me in good stead for many subsequent decades of schooling. By the time I went to public high school I was increasingly losing interest in religion and focused more and more on intellectual interests and wanting to go to an elite college."
From Suzanne: "Born in 1937 living with an extended family on maternal and paternal sides in Antwerp Belgium. By 1940 the Nazis invade and most of the family tried and even succeeded in leaving. My parents, brother, and I along with different aunts, uncles, and cousins parted ways with some headed for Portugal, some for Palestine, and other remaining in France or Belgium. Traveling for about a year from France to Spain to North Africa, to Portugal and eventually Mozambique, we found a haven in Mozambique for three years, until the colonial power (Portugal) gave us a deadline by which we had to leave. This was now 1944 and we were able to go to Palestine where we remained for a year before we were able to get the visa we needed to go to the US, my parents’ dream. We arrived in the US on December 25, 1945 and soon became part of an orthodox Jewish community in Queens, Far Rockaway. My brother and I attended the Yeshiva, I loved the chaos of this school, with the students able to challenge the adults, and impose a certain student power. In addition to the students ability to disrupt regular routines, the Hebrew education was excellent, especially the training in Talmudic logic and debate which served me in good stead for many subsequent decades of schooling. By the time I went to public high school I was increasingly losing interest in religion and focused more and more on intellectual interests and wanting to go to an elite college."
Creator
Date
2022
Contributor
Rights
You can, without permission, copy, modify, distribute, display, or perform the Item, for non-commercial uses. For any other permissible uses, please review the terms and conditions with the organization that has made the Item available.
Format
MP4
Language
English
Type
Video memoir
Identifier
AV-ROSS.016
Original Format
MP4
Duration
00:25:55
Media
Collection
Citation
Ross, Suzanne, “2-12. Family History and Childhood: Developing Strength and Thinking,” Bronx History Online, accessed May 17, 2025, https://digital.bronxhistoricalsociety.org/AV-ROSS/AV-ROSS.016.
Position: 139 (2 views)