Max Berkowitz 2

 Max, one day, when you are old enough to understand,  you are the keeper f the family name.  It is a name you should always be proud of because you come from a family of exceptional people.  Your namesake was a modest man but a very hard worker. He was the father of my father and your great grandfather whose story is attached.

I will not be able to see you grow into the fine man I know you will be so I wanted you to have some history and background of what it means to be a Berkowitz.

Max Berkowitz came to America in 1905 from Vilna,Lithuania .  In 1906- ‘07 Sarah Golda Smokler Berkowitz (Max’s wife) and their son, Jesse (b 1901?), came to America, shortly thereafter.

Upon arriving in America, Max was sent from New York City to Meridian, Mississippi by The Industrial Removal Office in April 1905.  Abe Berkowitz was born in Meridian ,  Mississippi  on November 26, 1907. Sarah, who was a nurse, died of yellow fever on October 14, 1913 when Abe was six and Jesse, twelve. She is buried in Evergreen Cemetery  in Tuscaloosa ,  Alabama .

Max was married again to Fanny “Frania” …of Chicago , and opened a little shoe store in  Tuscaloosa , Alabama.(Max and Fanny had a daughter – Sylvia..)  Later, Max and his family moved to Birmingham and lived on the Southside just below Vulcan Park. An individualist, Max raised chickens in his backyard on the Southside, sometimes causing the neighbors to complain.  Max spoke guttural English, had no teeth but could crack walnuts with his gums. He loved making borscht and in his later years brought some to his grandson and great- granddaughter, Dick and Debra, when Dick was in law school at The University of Miami. Dick remembers the events with some nostalgia. Max died on March 11, 1958, in Memphis, TN.

Jesse, Max and Sarah’s oldest son, was in the scrap-metal business, Gadsden Iron and Metal, in Gadsden, Alabama and later retired to Fort Lauderdale. Abe Berkowitz, their youngest son, attended undergraduate and law school at the University of Alabama. A brilliant student, he completed all of his studies in three years and graduated before he was twenty-one. He was ready to begin his law practice but was too young to sign legal documents. The Alabama Legislature passed special legislation enabling him to pursue a legal practice until he reached legal age.

Abe began his law practice in Birmingham in 1928 and practiced alone throughout the Depression. He joined David Solomon in a partnership in 1942 and they continued their partnership for several years. Arnold Lefkovits joined Abe as an associate in 1950 and became a full partner soon after, at which time the name of the firm became Berkowitz & Lefkovits.  Vernon Patrick joined shortly thereafter and the firm continued to grow. 

Some four or so years ago the TN firm of former Sen.Howard Baker acquired the Berkowitz Firm and they became part of Baker-Donelson, Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz. 1

Abe was invited in 1945 to participate in a meeting hosted by Rudolf Sonneborn, (see Addenda, Sonneborn), a meeting which was described by David Ben-Gurion as “the most important day in the history of Israel .”2 Sonneborn was a wealthy New York  industrialist and a committed Zionist. .Abe, at the time, was President of The ZOA’s Southeastern Division. The group, which met, as the Sonneborn Institute, in Rudy’s Park Avenue Apartment, has been described as a secret American underground and was responsible for helping Israelis to purchase, goods and material and weapons, explosives, and other military equipment  to defend their fledgling nation once the United Nations approved the partition of Palestine.

In one letter he wrote, expressing his contempt for “Bull” Connor, the Public Safety Commissioner for the City of Birmingham, “It is the Supreme Court which guarantees Mr. Connor’s right to express his ‘pity and contempt’ for it, and mine to express my pity and contempt for him.”6

In another he wrote, “The good fight is always a lonesome one, but there is comfort in the fact that the dissenting opinion of today is often the majority opinion of tomorrow..... There will be, some day, the greater, better Birmingham for which I believe a shy and silent majority pray.”7

Abe became a senior advisor to several younger lawyers who had devised a strategy to unseat “Bull” Conner.8 The young lawyers were eventually successful and were able to change Birmingham’s form of government to a Mayor-Council system, which helped to end many of the most discriminatory policies of Birmingham’s government.

Marshall had a sign in his office that stated, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall catch hell from all sides.”9 Abe, who by holding several meetings of the black civil rights activists with city leaders and merchants, seems by the nature of his personality, to have avoided the truth of that sign. He continued to be held in high esteem by his fellow lawyers, the Jewish and gentile communities and, most importantly, the black community.

Unlike some of the other parties to negotiations with civil rights protestors, Abe continued to live in Birmingham throughout the tumultuous events and for the rest of his life. Years later in addressing the audience at an Israel Bonds dinner, Abe explained, “I asked myself some very candid questions:  Why I did not leave when, as you all know and must agree, this past decade for this city and this state has been, in some or many respects, most difficult for those who live in this beautiful and blessed valley - disheartening, discouraging and disillusioning - certainly, at least, for those who care:...the questions I asked myself were answered in that flood of realization...the reason I never left, the reason I was held here in heart and mind and spirit to this wonderful community of my wonderful friends...was YOU.”10

One of the favorite stories about Abe told in legal circles and around Birmingham is cited by the author of “Kentucky Lawyer,” Judge Mac Swinford.  Illustrating that things are not always as they appear, the story tells of Abe (who did not drive and who frequently rode the bus) picking up an umbrella belonging to a fellow passenger. She pointed out that the umbrella was hers and Abe, with apologies, returned it. That afternoon, Abe picked up two umbrellas that had been left at his office and another two that he had left to be repaired and got on his bus to return home. As he was exiting with all of his umbrellas, the passenger, whose umbrella he had mistakenly taken that morning, commented, “I see that you had a good day.”

Because of his close working relationship with the Kennedy Administration during the Civil Rights Days, Abe was asked by Bobbie Kennedy to campaign for him in New York .  Abe did so and spoke to many Jewish Women’s area organizations on Bobbie’s behalf

The work of the members of the Institute described in the book, The Pledge, by Leonard Slater 3, was performed discreetly behind the scenes and there was never a leak to the public or the press about its activities. The Sonneborn Institute’s existence was known to the Truman Administration and Abe was visited once by an FBI Agent who told him to maintain a low profile.

 Members solicited funds to locate, purchase and ship equipment to what was then called-  Palestine, a feat that required overcoming  U.S. restrictions on shipping and the British arms blockade. Millions were raised and used, not only for the purchase of every possible form of weaponry, but also for ships to transport survivors of the Holocaust, who were languishing in camps throughout Europe. The Exodus, made famous by Leon Uris, in his book by the same name, was just one of those ships. ‘Shep’ Broad, a Miami attorney and Sonneborn Member, was involved in arranging shipping with help from the then President of United Fruit.

Interestingly, the Institute at one point sought the assistance of Sam Zemurray of New Orleans,(see Addendum) in order to gain access to ships that had been purchased in South America but detained from sailing because of red tape. Zemurray, after being apprised of the problem, used his excellent relations in South America and made the necessary arrangements to get the ships sailing within three days. Zemurray was a Lebanese American.

Throughout the debates in the United Nations relating to plans for Palestine, with the possibility of a partition giving Jewish settlers and survivors of the Holocaust a state of their own, Sonneborn members met weekly. In The Pledge, Abe is referred to as “a young attorney from Birmingham.”  This casual reference does not diminish the contributions that he made. Abe participated in activities of the Sonneborn Institute throughout the effort to build up military supplies for the settlers in Palestine until it quietly disbanded in 1955. He worked with local owners of scrap yards, and army/navy stores to obtain materials to support the Haganah, the secret Jewish defense force in Palestine, arms that proved to be crucial in the War of Independence for the State of Israel in 1948.  Abe also was successful  in arranging for a young Alabamian Christian to got to Israel and become a pilot in their fledgling IAF.

The Civil Rights Movement, from 1952 to 1963, thrust Abe into the hotbed of political strife in Birmingham, Alabama. Albert Boutwell, who would become mayor of the city, was Abe’s roommate at the University of Alabama and the two continued their friendship when both started their law practices in Birmingham. In addition, Burke Marshall, chief of the civil rights division in the Justice Department under the Kennedy administration, relied on Abe, along with Chuck Morgan, as a source of information.5 Abe hosted several meetings in his offices, probably at the request of Marshall, during the period of major demonstrations and boycotts of downtown stores on the part of the black community seeking removal of whites only water fountains and segregated dressing rooms.

As a strong proponent of equality, justice and fair application of the law, he became publicly vocal, writing letters to the Birmingham News and speaking out against discriminatory laws. 

In fact he stayed in Bobbie’s apartment at The Carlyle Hotel and slept in his bed.  When he returned, his son, Dick, kidded and said his father did not bathe for a week.

In May 1985, the Birmingham Bar Association named Abe the 1985 “Outstanding Lawyer of the Year” and a brief article about the presentation reads as follows:”.....President J. Mason Davis cited Berkowitz’s work as a founder in 1954 of the Birmingham Bar Aid Trust and his 20 years service as trustee of the trust. Praised for his dedication to civil rights causes, Davis noted that in 1936 Berkowitz filed proceedings to revoke the charter of the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama , 11Described by Ed Myerson, attorney with the Berkowitz firm, “as a lawyer’s lawyer,” he was so highly respected that lawyers would turn to him when they needed legal advice or representation.

Abe was married to Estelle Reiss and they had one son, Richard (Dick), who is Executive Director of Oppenheimer and Company, Inc. in Atlanta and currently lives in Savannah .  Dick is still a stock broker and is employed by Oppenheimer. He has four daughters and one son. Debra (Darvick), Amy (Trager), Lisa (Thaler), Abby (Nelson) and Daniel

.An award winning journalist, Debra writes for the Detroit Jewish News. Her book:: “This Jewish Life, Stories of Discovery, Connection, and Joy,” was published in 2003 by Eakin Press.

Lisa Thaler’s book:  Look Up: The Life and Art of Sacha Kolin,” was published in 2008 by Midmarch Arts Press. Lisa became obsessed with the art of Sacha Kolin after visiting an exhibit of Kolin’s work with her husband, Martin. The two saw what they thought were images of Hebrew letters in one of the paintings. After extensive research on Kolin’s life, Lisa found, to her surprise, the name “David Thaler” in Kolin’s old address book and after more research found the David who was Martin’s cousin was also related to Sacha Kolin. David had died just weeks before Lisa made this discovery. 

Amy lives in Louisville and has served on the board and is active in many of that city’s charitable and social organizations.  She currently is a CASA Volunteer .

Abby is a real estate agent in Orlando .

Daniel and his wife, Tamara, recently opened a Kosher Bakery in Pittsburgh: Sweet-Tammy’s.Com

 Abe died on December 20, 1985, at the age of seventy-six. His obituary is brief, and, like the modest man that it describes, reveals nothing about his adventures with the Sonneborn Institute or his battles on behalf of the Civil Rights movement. It states simply, “He was 1985 ‘Lawyer of the Year’ and senior partner in Berkowitz, Lefkovits, Isom and Kushner.” 12. He and Estelle (died March 13, 2001) are buried in Temple Beth-El/Knesseth   Israel’s Block 40 at  Elmwood  Cemetery  in  Birmingham.

He was posthumously honored by The Alabama State Bar Association as one of Alabama's Outstanding  Attorneys. Chervis Isom, one of his partner's, proposed that he be so honored and his son, Dick, accepted the award at the ceremony held in The Alabama Supreme Court Building in Montgomery, Alabama..

 

Buried at KI/Beth-El Cemetery:

Max Berkowitz

 

 

 

 

 

1Essay, Timothy M. Lupinacci, History of  Birmingham Office, Baker, Donelson,, Bearman,  Caldwell , and Berkowitz.

2 Revie , The Time Has Come: The Role of Rudolf Sonneborn as Catalyst for  Israel , by Charles B. Sonneborn.Trafford Publishing ’s Web Bookstore & On-Demand Publishing Offices.

3 The Pledge, Leonard Slater. Published 1971, Simon and Schuster, page 323

4Carry Me Home” Birmingham ,  Alabama , The Climactic  Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution , Diane McWhorter, 2001, page 313.

5 Ibid. page 380.

6 Letter to Editor, Birmingham News, written by Abe Berkowitz, December 22, 1961. Collection of letters provided by Chervis Isom, partner, Berkowitz, Lefkovitz, Isom and Kushner.

7Ibid., July 14, 1962

8 Essay, Timothy M. Lupinacci,  “History of  Birmingham Office, Baker, Donelson, Bearman,  Caldwell and Berkowitz.”

 9 “Carry Me Home,”  Birmingham ,  Alabama , The Climactic  Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution,

Diane McWhorter, 2001, page

10 Address by Abe Berkowitz made to an Israel Bonds dinner, October 3, 1965, from collection of documents provided by Chervis Isom, partner, Berkowitz, Lefkovitz and Isom.

 11The Birmingham News, Friday, May 3, 1985, City/State, page 9b.

 12 Obituary, The Birmingham News, December 21, 1986.

 More recently Abe Berkowitz was featured, with two others in a book entitled: “ Behind The Magic Curtain”  by