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TheAllianceJewishFarmingColony,Pastand representsabranchofthe
**Persky -Perski-Perskie
Present Fam ily T ree,aswellas
articlesabouttheAlliance
colony ,andsomewonderful
photographs.Justclickon
"Generationspasslikeleavesfallfromourfamilytree.Each thelinkandreadwhobegat
seasonnewlifeblossomsandgrowsbenefitingfromthe whom.Theotherlinksare
self-ex planatory .
strengthandexperienceofthosewhowentbefore."Author:
HeidiSwapp
LazerandMinnieDithyPerskieimmigratedtotheUSin1882,alongwiththeir TheBeginning
sonJacob,andthreedaughters,Yochaved,Fanny,andSadieafterexperiencing TheImmigration
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TheImmigration
anti-Semiticpersecutioninwhatwasthentheirhome,Volozhin,theRussian
JewishPaleofSettlement.HereJewswerenotpermittedtoownandfarmland. TheAllianceJewishFarming
Colony ,PastandPresent
WiththeassistanceoftheAllianceIsraeliteUniversalleandtheBarondeHirsch
Foundationtheywereabletocometothiscountry,alongwithforty-twoother EliezerMordechaibenTzv i
familiesfromsimilarbackgrounds,allsharingthephilosophyoftheAmOlam Persky ,MinnieDithy bat
Movement.ThesepioneersfoundedthefirstJewishagriculturalcolonyinthe Eliy ahuPersky andtheir5
Children
UnitedStatesinAlliance/Norma/Brotmanville,NJ.Lazar'sandMinnie's
youngestson,JosephB.Perskie,wastheironlychildbornintheUnitedStates,in Persky -Rov ineBranch
1885,onthefarminAlliance.
Perskie-AbramowitzBranch
**"Ourwanderers,fromvariouspartsofEasternEurope,wereTalmudists,
merchants,andtradesmenwhoknewnothingaboutfarmlife.Whentheycameto
NewYorkCityandarrivedatCastleGarden,(EllisIslandwasnotfunctioningas
apointofimmigrationatthattime),theytalked,inaverynaivemanner,with
GermanJewswhocametomeettheimmigrantships.TheseGermanJews
advisedustogiveuptheideaofbecomingfarmers.Theymeantwell,but
encouragedustocontinueatourtradesortobecomepeddlersonthelowerEast
Side.ThusmanymembersoftheoriginalAmOlamleftourgroup,but43families
remainedtruetoourideals."
**"OnaMaymorningin1882,43familiesboardedthetrainforBradway,in
SalemCounty,NJ.Fouryearslateritwouldbetothisstation,(renamedNorma
forthestationmaster'sdaughter),thatthenewfarmersofthegravellyloam
fieldswouldbringtheirfirstcrops-strawberriesatonecentaquart,cranberries
apennyortwomore-fortheproducemarketsofNewYorkandPennsylvania."
Mr.Perskiecontinues:"Therewerethirtyhousesbuilt,consistingof
buttworooms,onedownstairsandoneupstairs.Intheseshacks
largefamiliesdweltforyears.Wecanmarveltodayhowthe
pioneersclearedtheroadsanddugthestumps,madevineyardsout
ofwilderness,andbecameself-sustaininginarelativelyshort
period."
Clearingthelandprovidedlumberfor
farmhouses,whichwereapportionedby
lottery.AccordingtoEliezerPersky'sLast
WillandTestament,heowned2lotsofland
onGershelAvenue,Alliance,NJ.Healso
ownedafarm,knownaslot#30.
"AnorganizationcalledtheAllianceLand
Trustheld10-yearmortgagesoneach15
acrefarm.Eachfamilygot$100.forfarm
tools,seedandteamsoffourhorsesand
plows.Untilthecropswereplantedand
harvested,eachfamilyalsoreceivedabout
$10.00amonthasanallowance.Forabrief
period,acigarfactorywasinstalledinthe
barracksandashirtfactoryprovidedpiece-
workformenandwomen.Neither
succeeded."
"Theworkwasveryhardandinthefirstyearsmanythoughtthecolonywould
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fail.Somemortgageswereforeclosedandpropertiesweresoldbythesheriff.
WithoutthehelpoftheirChristianneighbors,andthephilanthropyofmenlike
BaronMauricedeHirsch,JacobSchiffandMauriceFels,moreofthepioneers
wouldhavebeenforcedtoseekworkinthecities."
**"Asynagogue,EbenHa'Ezer,wasestablishedanddedicatedin1888.Before
thisprayermeetingswereheld,asMr.StavitskybroughtwithhimtoAmericaa
SeferTorahandRabbiKrassensteintheTalmud."
"Thechildrenattendedapublicschool
inUnionGrove,NJandanotherin
WillowGrove.Theseschoolswere
about4-5milesapartandthechildren
hadtowalklongdistances,through
woods,inordertoreachschool."
"Afterschool,inthewinter,the
childrenwentslidingonthefrozen
cranberrybogs-theyhadnoskates.In
thesummer,theyswamintheMaurice
River,boysandgirlsinseparate
sections.Thegirlsworetheirpetticoats,
theboysswamnaked.Menbathed
upstreamofthebendintheriver,womendownstream."
Eventuallyalibrarywasestablished,aplaceforspeechesandsinging,andalsofor
atheatricalgroupcalled"TheAmateurPlayers."Theactorsplayedonabare
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stageuntilavisitingtheatrecompany,underthemanagementofBoris
Thomashefsky,fitteditoutwithsceneryandacurtain,whichtheylaterdonated
tothecolony."JacobH.Perskiewasconsideredtobeanexcellentactorwitha
finevoice.
"AstheJewishpopulationinthegeneralareaofAllianceincreased,itgrewto
includethenewnearbycoloniesofBrotmanvilleandNorma,NJ.Theeffortsof
thesefirstpioneerswerethegenesisofJewishlifeinsouthernNJ,particularlyin
SalemandCumberlandcounties.Thisareawasallwoodlandwithscarcelya
housetobeseenwhenthenewimmigrantsarrived."
TheagriculturalcolonystillexiststodayinNorma,NJ,alongwiththeoriginal
synagogue,buildings,amuseumandcemetery,filledwithtombstones"ofthose
whotoiledandsacrificedtheirlivesinexchangeforfreedomwhich
theyfoundinthenewworld."(JacobPerskie).Thedescendantsofthe
originalpioneershavebecomeprominentcitizens-physicians,lawyers,judges,
electedofficials,rabbis,artists,photographers,writers,manufacturers,teachers,
businessmenandwomenwhocontributemuchtooursociety.
Thecolonyhasexistedfor128yearsnow,howeverthedescendantsofthe
originalpioneerscannotaffordtowaittodocumentthisperiod,especiallysince
memoriesfadeandfamiliarfacesdisappear.
***"NooneisleftwhorecallsfirsthandthewayitoncewasinAlliance.Thosewho
feelattachedtothecolonybyancestryareobligatedtokeepitsmemoryalive.
JustaswegathereachyearonPassovertotellthestoryoftheExodusfrom
Egypt,wemustremembertotellandretellthestoryoftheexodusfromRussia
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andotherEasternEuropeancountriesin1882ofonesmall,courageousgroup
thatfoundedthisJewishfarmingcommunity."
"Inthelast27years,theAllianceColonyFoundationhasattemptedtokeepthis
storyalive.Scholarshavesoughtandbeenprovidedwithresourcematerial,
speecheshavebeenmadeandvisitorshavebeenhosted."JayH.Greenblatt,
ChairmanoftheAllianceReunionCommittee,writesthat,"Wemustcontinue
thetellingofthestory,sothatourprideinthatdaring
accomplishmentmaybesustainedandthememoryofthat
marvelouspieceofJewishAmericanhistorymaybehonored."
Wetakegreatprideinourrichheritageandrespectandadmirethehardships
ourancestorsexperiencedtoforgeabetterlifeforusall.
TheFirstSettlersofAlliance,NJ,whoarrivedin1882:Eli&Ethel
Abramowitz,(theAbramowitzesweretheparentsofLena
AbramowitzPerskie,whomarriedJacobPerskie),Eli&Feigeh
Bakerman,Moses&EthelBayuk,Abraham&ChannahLeahBerman,William&
BeckieCohen,Hersh&JennieColtun,Joseph&RachelDiamond,Jacob&
RebeccaEcoff,Chaim&BessieGoldman,Nissan&MolkaGreenspan,Abraham&
DubaGrutsky,Simcha&SarahHelig,Joseph&YentaKleinfield,William&Lizzie
Kolman,Zurach&EstherKonowitz,Hersh&RivkaKutzibow,Isaac&Golda
Krassenstein,Labe&BaylaKuden,Simcha&PearlLuborsky,IsraelHersh&
EstherLevin,Leapa&TobaLevinsky,Berel&LeahLevinson,Labe&TobaRiva
Levinson,Henry&RoseLevy,Sholom&PearlLuberoff,Chaim&SarahMennies,
Labe&RachelMoyd,Israel&FeigehOpachinsky,Lazer&MindelPersky,
Jacob&GoldaRosenberg,Yonah&AnnaRosenfeld,Jacob&AnnaRosinsky,
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Joseph&FeigehRothman,Joseph&DeborahRudnick,Solomon&Frima
Salonsky,Moshe&RuchelSerebrenick,ChaimHersh&SimaLibaSilberstein,
Hersh&RoseSilberman,Lazar&BessieStaver,Eli&RivaGitelStavitsky,Moses
&BaylaStrasnik,Pesi&BruchaTolchinsky,Naphtula&DeborahYosep,Joseph
&RoseZager.
**MarionSeldes
***Jay H.Greenblatt
http://alliancecemetery.com/
Email:JLPerskie@AOL.com