A beginning for me - The Jews of Radom, Poland in North America

In May, 2023 I attended the unveiling for a cousin at  ago at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Flushing, Queens, NY. After the brief service we searched out the graves of other relatives. It was then I found for myself the gateway of the burial grounds of the First Radomer Congregation in New York City. I knew only they'd existed but otherwise, nothing. This gap in my knowledge led me to look for other traces of Radomers and their societies in North America. One of the things I found was a synagogue in Toronto Beth Radom Congregation, possibly the last active building in North America that bears the name Radom. They are the home to the small Beth Radom Museum.  

I recently made contact with the founder and curator of the Museum in Toronto, ON. Alan Fryman was and is determined to keep the history of Jewish life in Radom and the Radomers' migrations from Poland to the many places in the world where they settled, and provide documentation on the many societies and congregations they created after leaving Poland, many to provide aid to the Jews of Radom before and during the Holocaust, as best they could, and to offer aid to the survivors who arrived as refugees in their new homes. Many of these organizations also established cemeteries, such as the one I help manage and maintain with other 2nd generation at New Montefiore Cemetery at Pinelawn, NY and Cedar Park and Beth El Cemeteries in Paramus, NJ.

We had a lengthy phone conversation and we told each other something of our own stories. His grandparents emigrated to Canada, lived in Buffalo for a time before returning to Toronto where they were among the founders of the Radomer Mutual Benefit Society in Toronto, which later created the Beth Radom Congregation, described in the English language section of The Book of Radom as "a magnificent edifice erected in Toronto in 1952."

Of interest to me is sharing our different experiences as Radomers in North America, his as the 3rd generation, born and raised here in a family that was probably already establishing a  Jewish Canadian identity, mine as among those whose parents arrived in the USA and Canada as refugees and survivors. It will be interesting.

Today I also learned of a Radomer cemetery, and possibly two in Baltimore and another near Detroit. There are some photos online of the gateway for the Radomer Verein Cemetery showing an establishment date of 1903, and for a Progressive Radomer Verein established 1925. I am very curious. The one near Detroit is at Hebrew Memorial Park and only has a simple sign with the words, Radomer Cemetery.

I have much to learn.

Most of these photos were taken at the Radomer Mutual Culture Center cemetery at New Montefiore. I believe I've posted one. I am not satisfied with them but they are what I have and what I shared with Alan Fryman. He's adding them to the digital slide show at the museum in Toronto. His words to me after viewing them simply recognized our shared heritage as the names on the monument, memorializing many of those murdered in the Holocaust are the same family names of the Toronto Radomers.

I plan on taking new photos of the monuments, including details and will post them when I do.

I am also sharing a photo I took last year at Mt. Hebron of the gateway to the First Radomer Congregation's cemetery.

In times as trying for world Jewry as these, we most never forget that there are still many people who would find joy in our destruction. We must not only never forget what happened, we must continue to fight for our survival as well.

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