Kehilat Middlesbrough Newsletter No 28 January 2013 page 8 ( of 17)
Letters
I am happy to have found your site. I run a site of memories of Middlesbrough www.newportmiddlesbrough.co.uk . It started off with my memories of growing up in the Newport area of the town but has grown to cover all of Middlesbrough. An 'expat' now in Australia sent me a story about Baxter St and in seeking to add material to this I came across Terry Greenberg's Memoirs. Even though I'm a generation younger than Terry (and a gentile), nonetheless there is so much in this to which I can relate.
Plus I was delighted to see mention of the Smollan family. My mother worked as a domestic for Zellick Smollan when they lived in Woodlands Road and later when they moved to Oxford Road. She still remembers this period of her life as a very happy time. She was particularly friendly with their daughter Sadie and the two boys whom she remembers as Louis and David.. David was known as 'Doddy'. Also my uncle worked in The Smollan's tailor shop which I think was in Albert Mews. Louis & Doddy taught my uncle to drive, a rare skill in the late thirties. He was a professional driver all his life, including in the Army all the way through Northern France, Belgium, Holland and into Germany.
I would like to put a page on my site about Middlesbrough's Jewish community who contributed so much to the commercial life of the town. They were pioneers of Middlesbrough just as much as the Irish, the Welsh and other incomers to the infant town. I find it sad amongst all the other sad changes in the town that the Jewish presence is so much reduced. Needless to say I will put a link on the page to your site. Vic Wood www.newportmiddlesbrough.co.uk www.lowerteesdialect.co.uk
My name is Pavel Wohl, I am from Prague. My aunt sent me from Switzerland some old documents, where I found the name Lola Gottlieb, a cousin of my dad. I found her name in your website. I think that she is from our family?
Originally from Poland, the Rubinstein family. Lola in 2010 was living in New York with her husband Hank Greenberg, in W End Avenue. Her mother's name was Cilly Rubinstein. She became Gliniani, then probably moved to Germany. Her family was killed during the war. In 1939, when Lola was 11 years old, she was transported to England. [Ed note: Lola was one of the Middlesbrough kinder]
Do you have any more information about Lola Gottlieb. Thank you for the answer. Paul Wohl Prague
[Ed note: We replied to Pavel confirming that, according to the latest records on the internet, Lola Laura Greenberg still lives in W End Ave, New York. We were able to give him Lola’s telephone number. There are more records available in the USA (including 4 births, 2 deaths, and 1 marriage), and we advised him as to how he could access these records.]
Obituary
I’m sorry to infom you of the passing of my father, Prof Bryan Reuben, who was a devotee of the KM website. His father, Dr Jack Reuben, was brought up in Middlesbrough, near Ayresome Park. Jack married Rachel Cohen, from Sunderland, and they moved to Bradford. My father visited Middlesbrough only last year to see the grave of his grandfather, Barnard Reuben, and was delighted to see a pen portrait of his ancestor, Isaac Reubens, on your website. David Reuben