Ida (Chaike) Chalowski was born on 29 April, 1888 in Krivizer (Krivoye Ozera), Kamenitz Podolia, Odessa District, as the second child of Yitzchak and Sure. She had a brother Harry (Hershel) and a half-sister, Mollie (Malke).
Ida Chalowski immigrated to New York, NY on 09 June, 1909 on the SS Blucher from Hamburg, Germany, under the name “Chaije Chalowski.” She’s listed on line number 17 on the ship manifest, which states she was 22 years old and single, that her last residence was “Koywoza,” Russia (obviously a misspelling of Krivizer based on how the purser heard it).
She listed her mother, “Sure Chalowskaja” as her closest living relative in Russia. Interestingly, on future documents such as her marriage license, she lists her mother as “Anna Goldenberg,” who was her step-mother. Lorri Greif z”l, her granddaughter, told me that Ida had said she was closer to her step-mother than to her own mother, from whom her father Yitzchak was divorced. Given that her mother Sure is listed as her closest living relative at the time of her emigration, it’s likely that Yitzchak, and possibly Anna, was deceased at that time.
When she was 25, she married Morris Zlotnick, son of Frima and ? (name hard to read) Zlotnick, on 15 June, 1913 in New York, NY. At the time they lived at 443 St. Anne’s Ave., Bronx, NY. They were married by the “Rev.” Sam Wusserman; witnesses included Sam Wachs. Morris worked in a laundry.
From US and New York State Censuses we know that Ida and Morris lived at these addresses:
1915: E 33rd Street, New York, NY (New York State Archives; Albany, New York; State Population Census Schedules, 1915; Election District: 14; Assembly District: 14; City: New York; County: New York; Page: 21).
1925: 306 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY.
1930: 307 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY (Brooklyn, Kings, New York; Roll: 1507; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 1085; Image: 153.0; FHL microfilm: 2341242).
1940: 290 Clinton Street, Brooklyn, NY.
I have not yet found the 1910 and 1920 US Censuses.
Ida petitioned for Naturalization on 17 July, 1940 (US Eastern District Court, Brooklyn, NY) and was naturalized on 27 March, 1941 (#4987159/US District Court, Brooklyn, NY).
She died on 1 April, 1973 in Brooklyn, Kings, New York, USA (“United States Social Security Death Index,” Index, Family Search (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JKLM-26r). She was buried in April 1973 in Montefiore Cemetery, Springfield Gardens, Queens, NY, United Winitzer Y.M.B.A. (Gate 252N/Block 81/Row 006R/Grave 8).
Morris Zlotnick and Chaike (Ida) Chalowski had the following children:
- Izidore (Izzy) Zlotnick was born on 29 April, 1914 in New York. He died on 23 December, 1970 in a car accident, according to Lewis Klotz. He married Jane Stutman on 29 December, 1965 in Brooklyn, NY (License #16360).
- Bella Zlotnick was born on 24 February, 1916 in New York. She died on 10 November 2000.
- Sadie Zlotnick was born on 24 February, 1916 in New York (she was listed on the 1940 US Census as being 19 years old – obviously an anomaly, because she died as a child).
- Celia Zlotnick was born on 24 October, 1918 in New York. She died on 08 January, 2000 in Morganville, Monmouth, New Jersey. She married Benjamin Klotz on 14 December, 1941 in Brooklyn, NY (License #27659).
Lewis Klotz related this story from his mother Celia: when the twins Bella and Sadie were born, Sadie was quite tiny and frail. Ida kept the oven warm and wrapped up baby Sadie in it, as premature babies need to be kept warm. In the end, it didn’t work and the baby died. Ida had a photograph of the twin babies together and spent hours looking at it an weeping. Finally, Morris took the photo away in an effort to get Ida’s mind back on her family.
Lew also related this to me in a phone conversation on January 30, 2019:
Ida had been a homemaker; as far as he knew she didn’t work outside the home. He described her as “the sweetest person I’ve ever known in my lifetime.” She was the “lynchpin” of the family, everyone gravitated to her. She was a great cook, known especially for her cookies and knishes whereas, Lew says, “My mother could burn water.”
Every other Sunday the Klotz family visited Ida, first when she lived on Clinton Street and later in life when she and Belle, who was near the end of her career and had always lived with her, bought into a new co-op at 52-21 65th Place, Maspeth, Queens. They lived there for many years. In her later years Ida went to live in some kind of senior housing, possibly similar to what we now call assisted living. Apparently, Belle felt that she needed a bit more space to “do her own thing” but was concerned that Ida get her needs met; they remained very close. There she was the one to whom others turned for advice and support. She spent summers in Rockaway, enjoying the beach, still living with some other seniors. She died in her sleep, still active and vibrant to the end. Julie Klotz Carmody is named for her – Chaya Leah (Leah for her other grandmother).
