The distinguished Oscar-winning film director and illustrator Arnold Schwartzman OBE has sent us the following fascinating reminiscences.
I may take the claim to be the sole survivor of the Battle of Cable Street!
Aged 9 months, I was fast asleep upstairs in my grandfather Michael Finkleson’s boot repair shop at 292a Cable Street as the battle raged along the street.
For these past 48 years I have lived in Los Angeles and have over the years frequently returned to visits the East End, where I was frequently taken around the neighbourhood by my late friend, Professor, Bill Fishman.
According to my birth certificate I was born at 3 Raine Street, which I discovered was Raines House, the former 18th century Blue Coat Charity School.
I have since discovered via the internet the following:
3 Raine Street in Wapping (Stepney), London, was a euphemistic address used by registrars to record births that occurred at the St. George in the East Workhouse Infirmary. This was done to spare children from the lifelong stigma of having a workhouse listed as their place of birth on official records.
On a recent visit to Raine Street I boarded a bus to Bethnal Green when within a few stops I realized that the bus shelter was exactly where my grandfather’s shop at 292a Cable Street once was, situated right next to the fire station!
I recently sent the following memory of Bloom’s Restaurant to my good friend, actress, Miriam Margolyes: On one occasion a brusque waiter snatched my young daughter Hannah’s bag of Smarties away from the table as he believed them to be traif!
For many years I was a regular illustrator for the Sunday Times newspaper & Magazine. The editor, knowing I was Jewish, sent me to illustrate an article about Blooms.
On my arrival I was met at the door by Mrs. Bloom who immediately sat me down to a large salt beef sandwich and latkes.
I then took some reference photographs for me to draw from back at my studio.
As I left the restaurant Mrs. Bloom presented me with a giant Vursht to take home!
During my days at Rediffusion TV I worked on the documentary Two Faces of Japan with the programme's two distinguished producers, Peter Morley and Cyril Bennett.
Both being Jewish, they had the idea of having a Jewish sound track instead of traditional Japanese music.
I then suggested that we should visit my father's favourite Jewish record store, Levy’s in Whitechapel, to purchase some traditional Jewish melodies.
(My Yiddish only speaking grandfather would pronounce the district as Vitechapler!)
As Levy’s was just down the road from Blooms it was decided that we should stop for lunch prior to checking out the record store.
Following our delicious lunch I guided my colleagues to where I recalled Levy’s, The Home Of Music was located. To my great embarrassment we discovered all that remained was a bomb site!
In 2003 I produced a documentary involving another actress friend, Anna Tzelniker [who was also a very good friend of jEECS], on The King of Lampedusa, which was screened at both The Queen Elizabeth Hall and Toynbee Hall. You can read about that production here:
https://www.jmi.org.uk/old-archive/ashkenazimusic/archive/2003/14dec2003_review.html
You may recall that I had designed the JEECS logo based on the Jewish Daily Post signage at 88 Whitechapel Road, next to Blooms.
Below is a further fascinating reminiscence from Arnold, describing his family’s world during the London Blitz. Read it here: https://www.jeecs.org.uk/news/305-escape-from-the-east-end-blitz