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Solman Friedman was the son of Israel Friedman and Dina Shulman Friedman. He was born in Kopaigorod in the Podolia area of what is now Ukraine. He was born around the 1st of July, 1897. In 1913, he emmigrated with his brother Sam to Galveston, Texas on the S.S. Chemnitz from Bremen, Germany. Details of their journey can be seen on the S.S. Chemnitz page in the History section. Details of their story can be heard in the Sam and Sol audio files linked below. After living and working in Hermosillo, Mexico for about 5 years, Sol returned to Los Angeles and married Libe Lipson on 18 September 1927. He had 2 sons and 3 daughters.
On Sunday morning his daughters would hop on their bed, jump up and down, which sometimes made the bed break down, the slats falling off and the mattress tipping over. They would ask him to tell them stories about life in Russia. They would talk about family and birds. It was a time they saw the warmer and gentler side of their usually stern father. Libe tolerated all of this in good humor, their barging in on them.
He worked in the Friedman Bag Company, where he would fix things. He was known to run around with a wrench in one hand and a hammer in the other, shouting “You motherfucker!” (although he never swore at home). At home he was an avid gardener, growing oranges and other fruit trees in his back yard. He was very disciplined about his food and diet. When Libe would comment that he needed to lose weight, he would stop eating bread and become disciplined about his food. He liked food but was not emotionally attached to it. He stuck to a Kosher diet. Libe would make shredded white horse radish with oil (raytach), spread on rye bread. He liked wilted salads, not fresh because they were too hard to eat- he liked it when it got soft. He had worn his teeth down and had dental issues in later years. He died on 8 December, 1973, in LA, of colon cancer.
Their occupations are listed as “trader”. They are able to read and write, their nationality is Russian and their race is Hebrew. Last permanent residence is Kopaigorod, the name and address of the nearest relative in country of origin is “father Srul Friedman”, ie Israel Friedman, in Kopaigorod, Podolsk. On the second page, go down again to lines 10 and 11 and you will see that they intend to go to San Francisco, Cal.
Their passages were paid by “self”. When asked if they have $50, they say “no”. When asked if they have been in US before, they say “no”.
In the column for name of friend or relative they are going to join they say “L. Abrams” at 520 Hayes St., San Francisco. They say “no” to the questions “Whether a polygamist, and whether an anarchist”. Condition of mental and physical heath is “good”. They are not deformed or crippled. Sam is 5’3″ and Sol is 5′ 4″, both have fair complexions, black hair and brown eyes, neither have marks of identification. Place of birth for Sam says Russia, Kopaigorod and for Sol it says Russia and something I can’t read…Zoporod?.
Also, you will see, on lines 6 and 7 that they are traveling with two friends from Kopaigorod, Boruch and Abram Melech Lechtus (Licht), ages 18 and 17, “clerks”, both from Kopaigarod, Podolsk, from their father Leish Lechtus, they are both going to San Francisco, tickets paid by self, no cash on hand, never been in US. They also are going to see L. Abrams at 520 Hayes St. in San Francisco. They are 5’3″, and 5’4″. Black hair and brown eyes, no scars or deformaties. Both born in Kopaigorod. The name of the ship was “S. S. Chemnitz“, sailing from Bremen on July 17, 1913.
Louis Abrams (1865-1948) was the sponsor for Sol and Sam in their journey from Kopaigorod to Galveston and finally to San Francisco. Louis came from Odessa, Russia and owned Russ House, a boarding house at 520 Hayes St. in San Francisco. He was married to Fannie Abrams and had 5 children.
Enlarge the above image by clicking, then you can use the + sign to magnify. You can see Solman Friedman and family in the 1930 Federal Census. They were living at 348 N. St. Louis St. (see lines 38-40) . Note that in 1930 Libe was a citizen but Sol was not.
The above audio tapes are a recording of Sam and Sol Friedman describing their journey to the United States. A downloadable pdf of the transcription is below.
The voices you hear in the above video are Sol Friedman’s daughters (Annette, Linda and Bea) and two of his granddaughters, Deborah and Karen, who gathered to watch this
