Berlin, 1909 - 1933

One of the big mysteries of Charlie's life starts already at its very beginning. I know that after divorcing his father, the mother returned back to Germany. She spent barely a year in America. But where did she return to? Where exactly did Charlie grow up, from 1909 on?

Above is the only picture of Charlie I have from that time. It also happens to be one of the two pictures I have where he does not wear glasses. It will never be known who is the woman guarding Charlie and Freddie during their outing at the "See", because her head was torn off. On purpose?

I heard painful stories about how Charlie was made into a Jew, and how he had to have bar mitzvah - all of this because his new stepfather, Jan Gecman, was religious. Or rather he was an occasional chazzan at the local synagogue, and did not want anything to tarnish his image in the eyes of the community. But which community, which synagogue?

I had several exchanges with the "meldungsregister" in Berlin, and there seems to be no record of the whole family ever living in Berlin. It must have been in Wilmersdorf and Charlottenburg... but where exactly was Jan Gecman the occasional chazzan, employed for High Holidays only? Fasanenstrasse? The old Charlottenburg synagogue? The Eben-Ezer Chapel, temporary synagogue of the community that built the Pestalozzistrasse synagogue? Or did it all happen in some public spaces being rented out by another community since 1913, always with the hope that the construction of their own, Prinzregentenstrasse synagogue, will start soon?

Interestingly, there is more information about Jan Gecman's life after his divorce with Charlie's mother. He moved from Uhlandstrasse 52 back to Wilmersdorf, and got out of Germany in 1937. During WWII he was occasionally hired by the German Jewish Community of Rio de Janeiro as a chazzan. He also gave concerts, boasting of being a "Famous Russian Baryton". After the war his nephew, Polish Communist journalist Karol Jaworski, got into trouble for having a Jewish relative abroad.



Fasanenstrasse synagogue - in 1957, and then - 1958

The Beginning

I think Paul is right, I should start a blog. People from Charlie's past I would have never reached may react to the postings here. Who knows.

As you can see, the idea was so appealing to me that I actually desecrated shabbat in order to start giving it a try. But this is just the beginning. No real content yet.

This blog will be dedicated to discovering pieces of information about the real life of Charles Harold Jordan, a man who once was the Executive vice-president of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, a man whose body was found floating in the Vltava river of Prague in the summer of 1967.