I put together this webpage to gather in one place information, documents and some historical context around Grandpa Nat's journey from a small village in Eastern Europe to 1920s New York. I encourage those of you with information, photographs and documents that can add detail to share them, so that I can weave them into the story.
The nearly complete destruction of the Jewish communities of Poland and western Ukraine not only obliterated a thriving, centuries-old culture. It also erased much of its heritage. Forlorn ruins of synagogues are further desecrated as trash dumps in many Ukrainian villages today, and most of the ancient Jewish cemeteries have been vandalized, stripped of their headstones and forgotten.
It is as much a testament to what has been lost as it is a tribute to the life and memory of Nathan Prince to understand where he came from and how he arrived in the United States. As a coda, I have included some information on Jewish life in Ukraine today.
Jamie Prince
New York, NY
2004
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