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Bertolini (Shapiro), Ethel (audio interview #1 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the first of three interviews conducted with Ethel Bertolini as part of a project in a women's oral history class at CSULB. The interviewer was able to make connections and establish good rapport with the narrator as a result of her earlier participation in the University High School alternative newspaper, The Red Tide in the late 1960s/early 1970s.
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- 2021-02-01
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- *** File: refebertolini1.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-2:55)... Ethel Bertolini was born in 1909 in the Ukraine. She remembers the constant movement of soldiers through her village during WWI. After the Russian Revolution, they experienced a brief period of stability, which was shattered when the communists were driven out by Polish and German armies and violent pogroms were instituted. Her family sought refuge with a Gentile family on several occasions to avoid persecution. Bertolini's family left the Ukraine in several waves, beginning with her parents. She then left around 1920 with two siblings. After reuniting with her family in Poland, they made arrangements to immigrate to the US., but as a result of paperwork problems, her father was left behind in Germany. (2:55-6:42)... Bertolini's father worked as a leather merchant, purchasing and selling leather to peasants. People referred to him as the "good Jew" because of his business acumen. Like most Jews in their village, they lived in poverty. Although the other homes in the village were primitive, the home her father built was well constructed. They obtained their water from a nearby lake or from a peasant who made rounds delivering water. She spent her childhood playing in the forest and at a lake near her home. When her family immigrated to the US, they left their home to the government for use as a state clinic. (6:42-9:09)... Bertolini and her siblings did not attend public school because of anti-Semitism. She received some instruction at a private Hebrew school. When communists took control of their village during the Russian Revolution, Jewish children were sent to school. She describes her mother as an intelligent and well-read woman whose strength and ingenuity helped her family adjust to life in the US. Her father was neither aggressive nor submissive. He was strictly Orthodox and was looked upon by others as a saint. (9:09-9:57)... Bertolini describes her home in the Ukraine. Their living conditions were "uncultivated and undeveloped and the sanitary conditions were horrible." During warm weather, they bathed and washed their clothes in the river. Otherwise, the entire family shared bath water as well as used it for cooking. (9:57-12:26)... Bertolini was the youngest of five children. Her oldest sister was a beautiful woman, which occasionally benefited the family because it discouraged soldiers from committing violent crimes against them during pogroms. At some point, her oldest sister and brother went away to gymnasium. Her brother was fluent in several languages and taught foreign language courses in America while he was attending medical school. Her father immigrated to the US prior to WWI and was not allowed to return to the Ukraine during the war. In the US, he took up cigar making and opened a business in his home because he refused to work on the Sabbath or Jewish holidays. (12:26-13:32)... Bertolini has vague memories of her grandparents. Her paternal grandfather was a Hebrew scholar and was constantly immersed in his studies. The outstanding memory of her maternal grandmother was traumatic because she died while sharing a bed with Bertolini. (13:32-14:20)... Bertolini and her siblings always shared a bedroom and often the same bed. She recalls an incident when someone attempted to break into their home through her bedroom. (14:20-16:02)... Bertolini was unaware if other Jews in her community shared similar friendships with Gentiles in the village that her family did. Her father was in a "special category" because of his religious values and honest business practices. In many ways, the Christians in the village viewed him in a Christlike image. Her parents frequently accepted food as a means of payment from merchants and customers. (16:02-19:11)... Bertolini's family enjoyed a nutritious diet in the Ukraine. It was not until she came to the US that she developed health problems, which she attributes to American dietary standards. She has both fond and traumatic memories of her life in the Ukraine. She can still recall the sound of soldiers entering their village to commit crimes of rape and theft during pogroms. Occasionally, they were forewarned of their presence by villagers yelling, "the killers are coming!" She learned how to run and hide during pogroms, frequently into the homes of friendly Gentiles. (19:11-20:45)... Bertolini's childhood activities included making dolls and slippers. She could not recall if she played with boys. The boys attended Hebrew schools, which "were run by very bigoted, backward and ignorant men who would try to beat education into the heads of these young kids." (20:45-24:04)... Bertolini's village endured hunger and devastation during the Russian Revolution. When she was ten years old, she attended a May Day parade, but had to leave early because she was suffering from a toothache. In addition to a woman dentist, a medical doctor and several nurses treated the people living in the village and the surrounding community. The doctor was a family friend and respected her family because of her mother's intelligence and her father's reputation in the village. She again mentions the protection her family received from Gentile families during pogroms. When she and two siblings left the Ukraine, a gentile transported them across the Polish border by hiding them in his wagon under a bale of hay. (24:04-26:34)... During the Russian Revolution, one of Bertolini's sisters became a communist and greeted the Red Army as they entered the village by hanging a red flag in front of their home. She also allowed the soldiers to help themselves to her father's leather supply because they needed boots. Her father was not upset by this action because "we knew that as Jews, our only salvation was the Red Army.... The only ones with a humanitarian attitude were the communists and we looked forward to them marching in." (26:34-29:16)... Bertolini's family life was very happy. Although she and her siblings occasionally misbehaved, they rarely gave their parents reason to discipline them. She could recall only one occasion when her father physically reprimanded her after he caught her playing cards. Her siblings were devoted to one another. It was difficult for the entire family when her oldest brother and sister went away to school. (29:16-30:53)... Even though there was a hospital in Bertolini's village, the Jewish women in the community gave birth at home. Sex and reproduction was considered a taboo subject and not discussed in her family. When her older sisters started menstruating, "it became a secret in the family." When she started to wear a bra, she put it on under the covers so that no one would see her. She learned most of the information about these subjects from her girlfriends not her relatives. (30:53-37:28)... Bertolini's family left the Ukraine in waves and ultimately reunited in Poland where they lived for a year and a half. While there, they received assistance from a Jewish organization that aided refugees trying to immigrate to the US. They lived in a flat with several Jewish families in a small, Polish community where "anti-Semitic breakouts were just as bad as the ones in the Ukraine." They then moved to Germany to await the arrival of their father from Poland. Conditions in Germany were far better than in Poland and her family was not harassed. They boarded a ship bound for the US in 1922. Their paperwork and passage was financed by relatives living in Chicago. (37:28-41:28)... The passage to the US took seventeen days. Third-class accommodations were terrible and it was extremely overcrowded. People suffered from sea sickness during most of the trip. Her older sister's boyfriend accompanied the family on the voyage and he doted on her and the rest of the family the entire time. Her sister was not in love with this man, as she had fallen in love with someone she met at school and "that was the kind of love affair that the entire family was involved in." End of tape. *** File: refebertolini2.mp3 (0:00-0:44)... Although her oldest sister pursued a relationship with a man who accompanied them on the passage to America, she pined for her lover from Odessa for the rest of her life. (0:44-5:12)... As the youngest in the family, Bertolini was coddled by her parents and her siblings. Others often commented on her cute features of red hair, rosy cheeks, and freckles. Talking about her siblings, she notes that they were old enough to feel the affects of the pogroms to a greater extent than she did. She believes that her brother did not develop intellectually past the age of fifteen or sixteen as a result of his traumatic experiences in the Ukraine. One of her sisters fell in love with one of their cousins in the Red Army and converted to communism. When they arrived in the US, her sister joined the YCL and remained a communist her entire life. (5:12-9:34)... Bertolini's family stay on Ellis Island was brief because their paperwork was in order and supervised by HIAS, the Jewish relief organization known. Although her name was not changed at Ellis Island, her age was and she does not know her real age. After her family left Ellis Island, they boarded a train in New York to Chicago. Bertolini was homesick when she arrived in the US and felt like a stranger. Having mastered several languages, she was resistant to learning English. She did not arrive in time for the school year and spent the summer missing her homeland and expressing her sadness in a series of poems, which were destroyed when their basement was flooded. (9:34-13:50)... When they arrived in Chicago, Bertolini's family rented a small apartment that was equipped with two gas stoves, one for cooking and the other heating the apartment. They got electricity one or two years after they moved in. Although their living conditions were unsanitary, the women in the family kept their home clean. Her older siblings went to work to help support the family, and they all went to night school to learn English. Her oldest sister eventually became an electrolysis technician; she continued to work after she married because her husband was a school teacher and did not make enough to provide an adequate education for their only son. Bertolini's oldest brother went to medical school and worked as a "real people's doctor" in the ghettos of Chicago. Her second oldest sister married a comrade from the YCL and they traveled around the country as party organizers. (13:50-15:52)... Bertolini and her second oldest sister did not have to hide their association with the YCL from their parents. Although her father was Orthodox and did not always agree with their activities, he was a tolerant man and "felt that whatever they did was for the benefit of humanity." Her other siblings did not join any political or radical groups in America. She mentions her second oldest brother and his "streaks of brilliance" although she believes that his experiences in the Ukraine stunted his intellectual and emotional growth. (15:52-19:39)... Bertolini first became aware of menstruation when she saw her sisters cleaning their soiled rags. Rather than discuss menstruation and sex with the women in her family, she talked to her girlfriends. As her breasts developed, she determined her bra size by secretly trying on one of her sister's bras. Once she started wearing a bra, she put it on under the covers to conceal what she was doing from her sisters. She was a prude until her early twenties and never imagined discussing sex or even kissing a man prior to that time. Talking about her marriage, she notes that both she and her husband matured late in life and are just now feeling comfortable with being physically affectionate towards one another. When she was younger, men were attracted to certain physical qualities she possessed and her passionate demeanor. (19:39-21:02)... Bertolini was very athletic when she was younger. When she started junior high school, her first priority was developing a girls' baseball team of which she was the captain. They played against the boys' baseball team. She was offered several athletic scholarships and thought about pursuing a career as a physical education teacher. In the early 1930s, Bertolini returned to the Soviet Union and competed in a women's international run in which she represented the US. People often made references to her being unladylike because she was athletic. They also called her the "Virgin Mary" and were careful not to discuss inappropriate topics in her presence. (21:02-22:40)... Bertolini received three years of schooling in Chicago, going through nine grades in those three years as a result of skipping a few grades. She and a boy were the only two to graduate with the highest marks in the school. Although she disliked school, she was a perfectionist and had to do everything well, which was both "a curse and a blessing." When she went to work as a seamstress, she surpassed her employer's skills. She also excelled in business college, completing every course offered at the school in nine months. She was the fastest shorthand writer and typist in her class. (22:40-27:07)... The years preceding the Depression were ones of prosperity; the propaganda referred to it as the Golden Age in which there was "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage." When Bertolini finished business college, she tried to work as a court reporter, but her speed did not satisfy the requirements. She held a few office positions for a year before she was hired by the YCL to travel around the country as a paid organizer. Among her family and friends, everyone lived a relatively comfortable life and were totally unprepared for the crash. The communists, however, listened to financial analysts and attempted to politicize and organize workers in preparation for an economic crisis. (27:07-32:01)... Approximately six months after the rest of the family arrived in the US, Bertolini's father was permitted to leave Europe and join the family in Chicago. He opened up a cigar factory on the back porch of their home. Occasionally, Bertolini helped her parents strip tobacco and roll cigars. Most people were unprepared for the Depression and had no savings to fall back on. While the government reported that prosperity was around the corner, people were being thrown out on the streets in droves because of mass unemployment and evictions. Her family survived during the Depression through her father's cigar sells and the money he and her brother made selling newspapers. At the time, she was working for the YCL and frequently went without food because the YCL could not afford to pay its organizers. She took up smoking during this period and it helped ease her hunger pangs. (32:01-35:16)... While Bertolini was in junior high school, she spent every Saturday afternoon at the movie theater. She also went ice skating and roller skating in Humboldt Park. When she joined the YCL, she accompanied them on hikes and nature outings, during which they listened to lectures and sang. During this period, her father and her older siblings worked and there was enough money in the family for clothes and miscellaneous luxuries. Overall, she had a good childhood and adolescence. She rebelled against learning English to avoid integration into American society, stating, "Even to this day, I retained my accent deliberately... [and] kept reading Yiddish and other foreign language books in order to avoid getting into this American way of life." (35:16-38:21)... Note: At Bertolini's request, the tape is turned off towards the end of this segment. Bertolini joined the YCL after accompanying her sister to a few lectures which appealed to her "because they were rebellious speeches [with] devotion and dedication to the new socialist country that came into being--the Soviet Union." She was inclined towards reading political theory and eventually abandoned her other interests in order to focus on communist philosophy. The people in the YCL were the same age as her and she considered them her peers. Years later, she began to view these people as supplemental family members and recalls developing this feeling while staying in a cooperative in Gary, Indiana during an organizing trip. (38:21-41:03)... Bertolini dedicated twenty two years to the communist movement, during which time she was paid for some of her activities. When she was not paid for her work, she either relied on family members for support or supplemented her income with secretarial work. At one point, the CP asked her to work in the garment industry and organize workers, during which time she became a highly skilled seamstress. She worked in that trade for ten years. Just before she retired, she worked as a "trouble shooter," or temporary worker, for various unions in need of clerical assistance. She was a member of Local 30 of the UOPWA, which sent her out on these assignments. She worked in this capacity part-time for a couple of years and spent the rest of her time writing and doing work for the CP. (41:03-43:36)... When Bertolini joined the YCL and became a paid organizer, her activities focused on making contacts and establishing YCL/CP branches in Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, and Indiana. It took her three to four months to organize a YCL branch in Milwaukee after which the branch held classes and helped organize workers in a candy factory. She also discusses her efforts to organize steel workers in Indiana. End of tape.
- SUBJECT BIO - Ethel Shapiro-Bertolini was a longtime organizer for the Community party, from the time she joined the YCL in 1926 until the late 1960s. Although she diminished her activities in the party in 1967, she remained a member until she was expelled in 1974. Born in the Ukraine, Shapiro-Bertolini's family escaped the scourges of the pogroms as a result of their warm relationships with their Gentile neighbors. Although they welcomed the Russian Revolution, believing that it would end the abuses they faced., they immigrated to the US. Shapiro-Bertolini became a YCL/CP organizer in 1926 and continued this political work until she went underground at the party's orders in 1951. She married another party activist after this, and resumed her work in the party. She greatly diminished her activities in the later 1960s in order to write. She published one novel in 1971, and in the later 1970s published a book of letters with prisoners (Through the Wall: Prison Correspondence). The interview was conducted as a project in a women's oral history class by Susie Bright. As a result of her earlier participation on the high school newspaper, The Red Tide, the interviewer was able to establish a relationship with Bertolini. [Editor's note: Bertolini was not consistent in her use of her last name, at times hyphenating it.] TOPICS - family history; childhood; pogroms in the Ukraine; Russian Revolution; living conditions and arrangements; siblings; schooling; father's work; religion; family's status in the community; relationship with gentile community; sex education; emigration via Poland and Germany; living conditions and anti-Semitism in Poland; and passage to US;Ellis Island; resistance to assimilation; housing and living conditions; siblings' work history US; joining YCL; sex education; marital relationship; athletic interests; Depression; schooling; business college; clerical work; work in garment industry; and organizing efforts for YCL/CP;
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