As Ruby's son-in-law, I guess it is time to fill you in on a few details
regarding Ruby.
He was born January 3, 1917, and died October 9, 1987. Incidentally, he
died the day after the Jewish holidays ended, so this Monday we light the
candle. He was the fifth of eight children, him being the youngest son with three
younger sisters. He grew up in Williamsburg, and moved to Brownsville
after he married Sarah. They lived at 95th and Kings Highway for many years,
when in 1968, moved to East 85th St in Canarsie. In 1970, they moved to E 89th
and Flatlands, where they lived until he passed away. He has two sons,
Jerry and Alan, in addition to Dara, my wife.
Thanks,
I am Ruby's nephew , Jerry, and just saw your website which was sent to me
by my second cousin Steve Oshinsky. A few observations-Ruby's father, my
grandfather, Heschel(Harry) did sell knishes outside of Tilden. I was there
from 1957-60 and Meyer Levin before that. Since Heschel was not the warmest
man in the world I realized years later that his way of making sure that I
was okay was to hang outside of Tilden. I remember some family fables-Mom
was Sarah's mom. Ruby would never lose an arm wrestle unless he wanted to do
so. During the Second World War, Ruby was involved in "interrogating" German
prisoners of war. It never occurred to me until years later what
interrogation really meant. Ruby named his first son Jerry. I could never
figure that out. His second son was named after my cousin Allan. Ruby used
to leave family functions early with the excuse that he had to go make
knishes. He and my father were very close and very tough. They only wanted
the best for their children and to spare us from the apparent despair of
their early childhood when they sold chewing gum in the Subway at age 5 etc.
Sadly, I never really "knew" Ruby except as a caricature but that is
probably true of all of our relationships with his generation.
Remember, Ruby was the
strongest person I ever saw. My cousin Allan could do 20 one-armed pushupa
and Ruby could take him in an arm wrestle without any effort. They were a
tough family. I probably was the first college graduate and the first
professional in the modern history of the family. I am going to forward your
page to Mel Oshins in Palm Springs who believes that all Oshinsky's are
somehow related and tries to collect all Oshinsky infomation. He will enjoy
this immensely. PS Ruby has three surviving siblings-my Uncle Bill and my
Aunts Betty and Evelyn. Betty is in Brooklyn and I have lost track of the
others. Best wishes.
Ken Deitz
I received this email from Ruby's nephew Jerry, in September, 2001