Disciplines

Jewish Studies

Abstract

Summarizer: Reyna Stovall

Susane Seperson was born in Germany to Polish Holocaust survivors, Annie and David Bleiburg. Due to sponsorship from extended family living in New York, Seperson’s family immigrated to the United States. The family’s first home was on Tiffany Street and Seperson remembers being taken in a carriage to Crotona Park as a young child. Later, the family moved to an apartment above Seperson’s father’s cleaning store on 355 East 187th Street off Fordham Road and the Grand Concourse.

Seperson’s family remained in the 355 East 187th Street apartment through her elementary and junior high school years in PS 85 and Junior High School 115 where she was in the SP program. Seperson also attended Hebrew school at the Jacob Schiff Center. However, Seperson’s fondest memories are of swimming with her friend Francis at the center’s community pool. For high school Seperson’s family moved to Pelham Parkway and she attended the High School of Music and Art, which she recalls with fond memories.

For entertainment Seperson would often visit the Bronx Botanical Gardens and the Museum of Natural History with her family as well as various places around Manhattan such as the Wollman's Memorial Skating Rink. Seperson remembers growing up in a kosher home and visiting kosher restaurants both in the Bronx and the Lower East Side of Manhattan with her family.

Seperson recalls the social movements occurring around the US as she grew up such as the Civil Rights Movement, Women’s Movement, and the Vietnam War. Overall, Seperson looks back on her growing up in the Bronx with fond memories and a feeling of freedom.

Key Words: Crotona Park, Tiffany Street, Fordham Road, Grand Concourse, PS 85, Junior High School 115, Jacob Schiff Center, Pelham Parkway, High School of Music and Art, Bronx Botanical Gardens, Kosher, Yiddish, Vietnam War, Civil Rights Movement, Women’s Movement, Pelham Parkway Jewish Center, Co-Op City, Freedom Land

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