The mysterious "aunt" Ethel Asbell

Nobody in the Jordan family ever heard of that person. Nor does she appear to be related to any of the people uncovered during my extensive research of his relations. Yet when Charles Jordan entered Navy service during WWII, his life insurance benefits and all of his property were to be transferred over to her in case his wife and father were no longer alive at the time of his untimely demise. She must have been a relative Jordan felt close to - a true friend perhaps.

All we know about the woman is that Charlie labeled her as "aunt Ethel Asbell", and gave her residence as ""5662 Warrington Ave, Philadelphia, PA".

The more one searches, the more question marks there are.

Did "aunt Ethel Asbell" help the young Jordans after their arrival to the US, when they lived as penniless refugees in Philadelphia? Was she a part of personal history he would rather want to forget in the later years? How exactly was she related? Why did they cease contact after WWII?

According to the publicly accessible data, it seems "aunt Ethel" lived well into the 1970s, surviving Charlie by several years.

The Prague landlords of Charlie

I have been pinning high hopes on the identification of Charlie's and Ellie's landlords from his Prague days. Maybe he came to visit them in 1967? Maybe there were some unsettled accounts? Maybe there was some dark wartime mystery? Maybe Charlie was helping their kids, like so many other kids? Maybe he wanted to get them out of the country?

I do know their exact identities now. It took almost a year to identify them. Leo Pick. Otto Pick. Thea Pickova. Leontina Pickova. Jiri Hermann. Zdenka Hermannova. Simple office clerks, definitely not rich.

While the transport dates listed on their police registration forms do not at all match their Terezin inmate cards, by more then two years in one case, one thing is clear: none of them survived the war.

Leo left the ghetto on Ek, being listed as number 2057 to Auschwitz. Thea went on En, number 412. Leontina, sometimes called Lenka, left on Dm, as number 2581, also to Auschwitz. Otto went with Dm, the same transport, as number 2580, at least traveling together with his grandma. Jiri Herman left to Auschwitz with Er, as number 1022, and his wife Zdenka was brought to death by the Dl-791.

No witnesses of anything will be found in this direction...

The Samaritans of Nablus

One of the ethnic groups that Charlie was involved with were the Samaritans (for more info see Wikipedia) in the city of Nablus, then Jordan.

Charlie, using JDC money, literally saved their ancient community from extinction, providing humanitarian aid, medical supplies, and financial support for schooling and training. How exactly was it possible for him to regularly visit Nablus and Mt. Gerizim under Jordanian rule while the kingdom officially prohibited the entry of any Jews into its territory is a fascinating matter discussed by various witnesses I have met.

Charlie befriended the son of the High Priest, Amram Cohen Ishaq, and was preparing an educational stay of several Samaritan youngsters at a boarding school in England.

In 2003, I was privileged to meet and interview several Samaritan elders who shared with me their memories of Charles Jordan, or, as his name often comes out in Arabic, "Mr. Gordon".

A short (and old) English-language edit based on those interviews could be seen at the bottom of this post, preceded by an interview with the High Priest. I am too lazy to subtitle it, but the Arabic he uses is pretty easy to follow...