Dr. Henry Minden, Lawyer (Generation 1)

I am still trying to pull together the experiences of my childhood with the information I'm learning now. Dr. Henry Minden (Generation 1), a lawyer, was a brother of my grandfather Ernest Minden; I see from his great-grandson David Roth's article (see previous post) that he lived for decades in Golders Green, London. I'm adding here a notice from the February 1972 issue of AJR Information, published by the Association of Jewish Refugees in Great Britain. It acknowledges Dr Minden's death in December 1971.

I met Dr Henry Minden and his wife Anna once when I was a child -- a meal was provided for their visit at the home of yet another Henry (Henri) Minden, this one living in Great Neck on Long Island, New York. I'm guessing it was around 1964. I also visited my grandmother Lena's home in England in 1959 and 1967 (after her divorce from Ernest Minden), and I believe that too was in Golders Green. I don't think I met Henry and Anna during those visits; probably the varied styles of Jewish life did not encourage such a visit at that time. But I met Lotte Gore there, I'm sure -- when I figure out how she connects to all this, I'll annotate this mention. UPDATE: Lena's home was at 56, Clifton Gardens, London NW 11.


Onward!

Henry Minden's Chumash

I was delighted today to discover this thoughtful examination of the chumash and siddur of Henry Minden (Generation 1), by his great-grandson David Roth (Generation 4):

http://onthemainline.blogspot.com/2014/08/guest-post-my-great-grandfathers.html

Warburg Library Article in the New Yorker

I will write at another time with details of the connections of the Mindens and Warburgs before, during, and after the Second World War -- but at this moment want to point out an article in last week's New Yorker magazine on the Warburg Library. The photo here, of Aby Warburg (second from left) with others in Florence, is one that accompanies the article; photo credit goes to the Warburg Institute. Link to the article: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/16/in-the-memory-ward

Max Minden & Company, Ltd.: Egg Importers, Hull, England

This is what I remember about my grandfather, Ernest, mentioning selling eggs: His friend Kurt Delbanco told me (about the year 2000) that Kurt himself had started his working career selling pig bristles and related products -- pig bristles were valued for artists' brushes, and Kurt followed that path to become an artist himself. Ernest, on the other hand, started out selling eggs; Kurt smiled at the conjunction of the two agricultural products.

I didn't realize until recently that the likely reason for Ernest Minden (Generation 1) selling eggs as a young man was that this was the family business. Ernest's father was Max Minden (Generation A), and Max owned an egg importing company in Hull, England, called Max Minden & Company, Ltd.

This week I was excited to find three images that relate to the company. First, shown above, is a photo of a company truck! I am trying to obtain the original photo.

Second and third, below, are mentions of the company: one from 1917 in an Iowa publication called The Egg Reporter and clearly referring to the risks of the war for egg importing; and the other, dated 1905, from a Canadian government department. This pair suggests that Max Minden & Co. was importing eggs from both Canada and the United States.

Finally, I can't access the images for these, but the Hill History Centre has a number of documents that include mention of Max Minden & Company in the survey of damages from the Second World War. If you are visiting Hull, please do go look! One of them has the following information:

Forms for the notification of war damage under section 10 of the War Damage Act, 1941. War Damage Commission Form C.

Reference No:

C TCY/2/1/2/770

Dates:

12 Dec 1940

Description:

Position of Property Damaged: Alfred Gelder Street, Max Mindens
Type of Property Damaged: Warehouse
Date of Damage: 12 Dec 1940
Cause of Damage: Incendiary Bombs

Format:

Archive Item

Extent:

1 item

Access Conditions:

Access will be granted to any accredited reader

Repository:

Hull University Archives

Collection:

Town Clerk's Records relating to World War II