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Note: N4 The following text is excerpted from remarks written in about 1976 by Hannah Brahinsky, daughter of Nathan Brahinsky:
My father's original name was Israel Noah Brahinsky; he changed his given name to Nathan upon coming to the United States. He was born in 1887 [1886?], in Altynovka, Russia (in the Ukraine). He was the third son and fourth child of Chaim and Gertrude Rachel Brahinsky. My dad’s father was one of five brothers, all of whom lived 15 miles away and were meat-market butchers by profession. My dad revered his father, calling him 'the greatest man [he] ever knew.'
As a boy of 13 or 14, my father was apprenticed as a tinner (roofs, primarily, as most roofs then were of tin). My father worked two years and received no salary whatever as he was learning this trade. After his two years of apprenticeship, he refused to work without pay, and for the third year he received $30 a month salary. At one point, my dad worked on a train (roof), but was not allowed to go into Kiev without a permit. (I never did find out if he got the permit, but I doubt it.) My father eventually came to be an accomplished craftsman. When in later years he made stainless-steel carts (used as food carriers), they asked him in amazement how he put in the bottom of the barrel. My father said, 'I wouldn’t tell.' He made at least 8 of the carts, which today [1976?] sell for $3000 each.
My father registered for the Russian army as a 20-year-old, although hewas 18. He served the required three-week period in the army; then, as was the custom, once the three-week period was served (after which he was no longer considered the responsibility of his father), a week was allowed at home before returning to be sworn in as a soldier in the Russian army at Konotop, 25 miles from Altynovka. However, because he was a Jew and did not desire to serve the Russian army because of the way Jews were treated, my father had a plan. (Incidentally, the alternative to service in the army was a fine of $300 cash--an enormous sum and almost impossible to get.) My father decided to run away during the one week he was allowed at home. He contacted, in Minsk, an agent to whom he paid $50, who gave him the necessary directions to get to the border. At the border a few dollars was given to some Russian soldiers who helped the runaways get over the border into Poland. My father said there were 10 other men and women at that time who were fleeing the country.
A fellow traveler needed money, and my dad lent him some. This man went on to England, and the day before my dad's boat left Germany, he received repayment from this man... just in the nick of time. My father sailed from Germany on a boat called Wittekind (white child). In England, my dad had to change boats, or there was a stayover. My father said he hid in the ladies' room, on the floor, for the entire 3 weeks of the boat trip from England, and he was so seasick some of the ladies took pity on him.
My dad arrived in the U.S. with 4 or 5 dollars in his pocket. When he came to Philadelphia, he looked up the man, Dostov, who in Russia had taught him and his brother Motel the trade of roof tinning. My father worked in the shipyards in Philadelphia during the period of time he lived in that city. Also in Philadelphia at this time were my aunt Feiga’s brother and sister. My father was the first of his family to leave Europe, and after he saved adequate money, he brought first his brother Motel, then all his brothers and sisters and their families, as well as his mother, to the U.S. All my father's family came to the U.S. except my grandfather, who died before they emigrated to the U.S. They came into the U.S., all because my dad had sent money and hope to them.
My father and mother and their families knew one another, of course, in this small community. When my father left Russia, my mother was 14 or 15. My father and his brothers all were chums with Mother's brothers and family. When my dad was in Philadelphia, he wrote to my mother’s brother Ben Zion, who sent some money ($35) at a time when my dad really needed it.... After my father had sent money for all his family to leave Russia, he sent money for my mother.
After this, my father and his brother Motel came to St. Joseph. One reason my father settled in St. Joseph is that his (and Motel’s) tinner teacher from Russia, who also lived in Philadelphia at the same time they did, recommended St. Joseph. Also, Mrs. Chernicoff’s brother recommended St. Joseph: he had told my uncle Motel it was a city in which one could do 'well.'
In February, 1916 my parents were married in Kansas City, Missouri.
Later, my dad and his older brother Motel were in business many years together in Concordia, Kansas, and other places. My father and uncles also farmed in Kansas when the entire family lived together.
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