I am an avid genealogist. The past is very important to me. I spend a lot of time in cemeteries photographing tombstones to upload on the website FindAGrave.
I enjoy recognizing long dead people by putting memorials to them online. However, every once and a while something grabs me about a specific grave. It could be the name, or the dates or a ceramic photo. In those cases, I feel compelled to dig a little deeper. That's what this series of blogs is about: The tales behind those graves. Some of my subjects will be heroes. Some will be villains. Some will be victims. And some will linger in between, like most of us. However, don't be surprised if the tales are inherently tragic. These are grave tales. They all end in death.
I tried to visit the adjoined Ohr Knesseth Israel Anshe Sfard and Knesseth Israel Anshe Kolk Wolyn cemeteries immediately after they fell victim to appalling, anti-Semitic vandalism. (Read about it here, here and here.) They are among my favorite cemeteries, populated with fascinating people whose lives deserve revisiting. My first couple of attempts were rebuffed by a locked gate. Fortunately, when I finally gained entry, the offensive graffiti had been completely removed. Not a trace of it remained. Additionally, the grounds had been thoroughly cleaned and it appeared that a number of monuments that had previously toppled over had been fixed. I was glad to see that.
While I was walking around, I happened upon the grave of Dr. Maurice Chideckel. I nearly walked by without a second thought. I normally don't consider doctors or clergymen or politicians for this series. They tend to achieve a great deal of honor and respect while still alive. I am more interested in marginal characters who deserve a post-mortem tip of the hat. However, I couldn't resist and looked him up. He was quite a fascinating guy. Here's what I found:
The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 20 June 1958, Friday:
Dr. Chideckel Dies At 75
Dr. Maurice Chideckel, 75, who recently completed his fiftieth year of practice in Baltimore, died today at his home at 2225 Linden avenue.
In addition to wide repute for his general practice, Dr. Chideckel was nationally known as an author of medical books for the laity.
In the early 1930's, he also contributed articles to The Sunday Sun.
Dr. Chideckel was born in Vilna, Russia, where he later was ordained a rabbi. He arrived in Baltimore at the age of 16 and took a job as a bookkeeper while studying medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, which is now part of the University of Maryland.
Also Edited Paper
During his time, he also edited a Yiddish newspaper, the Baltimore Wegweiser.
Among the doctor's books were "Strictly Private," an intimate diary of a medical practitioner which created a stir when it was published in 1928; "Fakers, Old and New," published in 1928, and "Behind the Screen," a diary-form volume of hundreds of incidents in a busy professional career.
In all, Dr. Chideckel wrote fourteen books covering the fields of fiction, medicine and religion.
During his lengthy, distinguished career, the doctor also wrote for the Roche Review, a medical monthly; Post Graduate Medicine, published by the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minn., and the Jewish Forum.
Mild of manner and almost retiring, Dr. Chideckel always minimized his accomplishments. Next to writing, music was his chief avocation, a field in which he said he employed "only a listener's approach."
Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Mary Chideckel; a son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Morton Chideckel; a daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley M. Klein, all of Baltimore, and five grandchildren.
Wow. He was a jack of all trades: A doctor. A writer. A journalist. A musician. An editor. I decided I had to learn more about him and his work. I discovered that Dr. Chideckel lived a very newsworthy life. I found far too much about him to relate in this blog, but I will include some highlights. Some of the stories are quite lengthy and I will only include key segments.
Here's the first story I found about him:
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 12 October 1900, Friday:
WANTS MARRIAGE ANNULLED
-----
Maurice Chideckel Says He Was Forced Into It.
Maurice Chideckel applied in the Circuit Court yesterday, by Ruddell & Smith, attorneys, for the annulment of his marriage with Sarah Chideckel, 257 North High street. The bill of plaint states they were married in 1893 in Russia, but never lived together. It is alleged that force and fraud were used to induce Chideckel to marry, and that immediately after the ceremony he came to this country.
About the 1st of last June, it is also alleged, Mrs. Chideckel appeared in Baltimore and demanded of her husband that he live with her. He refused, and was arrested for not supporting her. It is alleged that Chideckel was compelled by the magistrate at the Eastern Police Station to enter into an agreement to pay his wife $2.50, but he has since been advised that the marriage is illegal because he was under age at the time, being then only 16 years old. Mrs. Chideckel, it is stated, is nine years older than her husband.
In February of 1902, Maurice and Sarah Chideckel would be granted a limited divorce.
Don't judge Dr. Chideckel too harshly about his youthful divorce. He would later love very deeply. His wife Hannah is buried beside him. Strangely, there was no death notice in the Sun when she died on 26 March 1944. However, a few months later, he published this memorial:
The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 26 September 1944, Tuesday:
IN MEMORIAM
CHIDECKEL -- In memory of my dear wife, Hannah, who departed this life March 26, 1944.
My wife, darling, my darling, our destinies were entwined, our problem one.
Now I am desolate and alone, for life without you is meaningless.
If you could only break through shadows and come back to me, my sweetheart.
My fervent hope is that I soon join you in that world that knows no agony, no physical suffering and no mental torture.
HUSBAND MAURICE.
That was true heartache. You have to admire the emotional vulnerability necessary to publish that in a newspaper. It was practically a suicide note! But we're getting a head of ourselves. Now let's step back to 1908 when Mr. Chideckel, before he became a doctor, was given a nearly full page biographical treatment in the newspaper. (This article is heavily condensed.)
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 12 April 1908, Sunday:
A Many-Sided Editor Of A Single-Minded Sheet
-----
Maurice Chideckel Directs The Paper For The
Jewish Colony, In Addition To Other Things.
There is a weekly paper published in East Baltimore called the Baltimore Guide. It is printed in Yiddish, the common tongue of the Jew in Eastern Europe, and is eagerly read by the newly arrive emigrant....
The complete editorial staff of the paper, the entire reportorial department, the literary editor, the exchange editor -- all the workmen and supernumeraries of a newspaper office -- are all comprised in one man here -- "The Editor," as he is called -- and if anyone ever deserved the name Mr. Maurice Chideckel, who lives at 1902 Fairmount avenue, surely does.
He writes the editorial, the biography and the scientific article. He translates the story. He must keep in touch with local affairs of popular interest and Jewish matters the world over. To do this he must read the Baltimore daily papers, the prominent Jewish and Yiddish publications from New York and other cities and a large number of German and Russian exchanges. He also reads all proofs and makes up the paper.
Mr. Chideckel is a young man -- about 28 or 29 years old. His height is a little over average, but somewhat shortened by the stooping shoulder of the confirmed student. Thick, coarse, black hair is pushed back from a high narrow forehead which bulges out from the heavy, strongly marked eyebrows. His eyes are deep-sunken, and they are frequently veiled with the misty look of the dreamer, though they can flash with spirit and are prone to twinkle with suppressed humor. The high cheek bones, the hollow cheeks, the large full nose and the long, prominent jaw are characteristic of his race and reveal also its inherent power of concentrated determination.
He was born on a farm in Russia. His parents were in comfortable circumstances, but when he was about three or four years old the ukase was published forbidding Jews to reside outside of town. As only a few days' notice to vacate their land was given, there was no chance to sell the property, and the Chideckel family, with thousands of others, had to seek a new home, taking with it only what it could carry of portable goods. It settled in a small nearby town of some 7,000 to 8,000 inhabitants, widely scattered.
Here it managed to live for a few years. Then a Governor was appointed who did not desire to have any Jews dwelling in his dominions, and so he proclaimed this town a country. And forthwith this family had to pack up once more and find new quarters.
Thus from a very early age Mr. Chideckel was inured to hardships and deprivation. Possibly as a compensation his literary aspirations blossomed early. He relates with much amusement his first peep into print, a short story in one of the local papers, and the delight of his father in the "wonder child" -- he was only 11 -- the pride with which the paper was shown to all the old cronies at the synagogue.
He was always a student, and so the only calling that is open to the intellectual orthodox Jew in Russia was chosen for him, and he began at a very early age to prepare himself for a rabbi. For a time he studied under the chief Rabbi of Russia. He worked very hard, sometimes putting in 18 or 20 hours a day at his books and often was obligated, he says, to keep his feet in cold water in order to remain awake.
He was graduated at 16 -- an almost unprecedented early age. But already doubts and questions regarding his teachings had begun to trouble him. He had come in contact with new ideas, and his outlook on life was materially altered. He found the servitude of his proscribed duties and beliefs as a rabbi becoming more and more irksome and congenial, and he decided he could no longer conscientiously live this life.
HIS FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
He was only 17, alone in a strange country, with no money, barely sufficient clothing, no knowledge of English and his head stuff with unsalable information and dreams. It might have been interesting to hear the first impressions of which this big, free land made on such an immigrant.
When Mr. Chideckel was questioned he said that the first awful loneliness and the many after-years of increasing drudgery had eliminated almost all the other memories. But just two rather queer impressions seemed to have remained with him. He remembers his astonishment when he discovered that tobacco is chewed as well as smoked and that it is the custom of the men to prop their feet on tables, chairs, mantels -- anywhere at all -- rather than on the floor when they wish to take their ease. So, my American gentlemen, these are your attributes that first strike a foreigner....
[Many paragraphs are spent on his entry into publishing after arriving in Baltimore.]
SLEEPS LESS TO STUDY MORE.
"But do not these varied interests detract from your studies?" he was asked.
"Oh, no. I dare not neglect them. I make up the time by sleeping less."
The several enterprises to which he gives his services are none of them very prosperous, and the energy and interest he brings to them are largely labors of love. His earnings are very meager. His home, three or four very small rooms, is ornamented chiefly by the hope and love of the thrifty little wife, an added responsibility which he assumed about two years ago.
There is also a baby girl, and as Mr. Chideckel has little playtime the one recreation that he says he permits himself is the few stolen minutes of sport with her.
And what are his plans for the future? After graduation he intends to hang out his sign with M.D. on it and to essay success as a doctor. But what are his ambitions, for the man, as you have seen, is an idealist and needs to have something more to work for than a mere livelihood.
He is an ardent Zionist, saturated with its schemes and ideals. He hopes some day to go to Jerusalem and there in the promised land of his fathers, in the future kingdom of his people as he fondly trusts, by means of his profession and his pen, to do what he can to further the cause. He is not a religious fanatic; in fact, his tenets of faith conform to the most radical element of Judaism. The few ceremonies that he still retains, out of the thousand and one prescribed, he practices because of their associations, which are dear to him, or to refrain from offending the more religious persons among whom he lives rather than from any faith in them....
I have only included about a third of the story, but it is a marvelous and lengthy portrait of a man driven to excel and change his circumstances. It is a great immigrant story too. I only wish the reporter had given the name of his wife. Was it the beloved Hannah? If so, they married circa 1906. That makes me wonder about the "limited" divorce Chideckel was given from his wife Sarah in 1902. Why? Because he wasn't given an "absolute" divorce from Sarah until 1919. How does that work? I am confused.
The next story I'd like to share is a letter to the editor he wrote a few years later, after he finally became a doctor. I find it particularly interesting since Dr. Chideckel's medical books sometimes dealt with sex and female sexual perversion. This letter should give you a taste of his attitudes -- which perhaps shouldn't be surprising since he was a rabbinical student:
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 23 April 1912, Tuesday:
To The Editor of The Sun -- Sir: Disreputable houses infest whole streets of our city; degeneracy, debauchery and sensuality flourish in our midst; men are permitted to destroy their bodies as well as their souls, to spread disease, to ruin innocent men and women and cause untimely deaths to generations yet unborn. The red lights glare in the open. The creatures in disgusting attire carry on their repugnant and horrible traffic unmolested in sections where thousands of respectable families dwell, undermining the morals of their sons and their daughters and robbing children of their innocence. The police are their protectors rather than their molestors. To see a guardian of the law carrying on animated conversation with these beings is a common sight.
Every year the human hyenas who conduct these places are summoned to court, when a nominal tax is imposed upon each, thus giving them a legal right to carry on their trade unrestrained.
Never a word about this crying evil in the sermons of our spiritual guides--it is bad form to discuss it in public, much more so in a house of worship. Hence the utter destruction of souls and of bodies, of morals and of chastity, must go on.
M. Chideckel, M.D.
Interestingly, another reader wrote a response that Dr. Chideckel seemed more concerned with the souls and fates of the men rather than the women. He pointed out that the "fallen" women were once as innocent as his own mother and deserved as much concern. Good point!
 |
| I need my publisher to put an ad in the Sun like this! |
There are dozens of stories about Dr. Chideckel, not to mention the articles about Jewish issues he wrote himself for the Sunpapers. I don't have time for all of them, but I do want to include at least one story that mentions his career as an author. So here goes:
The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 14 January 1933, Saturday:
DR. MAURICE CHIDECKEL is just as skillful with his pen as with his scalpel. He can inspect a pair of troublesome tonsils or write a paragraph full of well-carved phrases with equal ease. His office at 2225 Linden avenue is also a literary studio, and when he is not giving medical advice he usually is hard at work writing books. Tonsils and such things go hand in hand with literature as far as Dr. Chideckel is concerned; most of his books, in fact, are based on experiences he has had as a physician.
Dr. Chideckel began his writing before he actually started the practice of medicine. He had just come over from Russia, he was a student at the University of Maryland and he was very poor. So he turned to writing as a means of making money and turned out several translations from German into Yiddish. He also worked as a correspondent and writer on Jewish newspapers.
Several years ago Dr. Chideckel achieved a measure of fame by writing Strictly Private, a medical diary. The book had fifteen printings. Then he wrote Sonya Babushka, a novel of old Russia. Although he still speaks with a slight accent, Dr. Chideckel has mastered English grammar and idioms and he writes with ease.
Sometimes a friend helps Dr. Chideckel edit a book. Dr. John Ruhrah, for instance, is helping him edit a book now in preparation--Behind The Screen, another volume of medico-literary reminiscences. Dr. Chideckel, however, not satisfied writing one book, is preparing another volume called Fakers--Old and New. He is working over the proofs now--between patients' visits.
Despite his versatility, Dr. Chideckel is retiring in manner. Short and slender, wearing glasses, he sits in his office and in his usually mild voice minimizes his accomplishments. He says he has few hobbies, except writing and music. And writing is really as much of a vocation as an avocation. As far as music is concerned, he says he has "only a listener's approach."
Dr. Chideckel, who is 52 years old, is married and has two children, a son and a daughter.I was going to leave Dr. Chideckel there, modestly resting on his accomplishments. However, the sad circumstances that took me to his final resting place compels me to include a fiery letter to the editor he wrote blaming Christianity for the wholesale slaughter of Jews around the world. The letter seems to have been inspired by an sudden outburst of widespread violence against the Jews in Russia. Being a survivor of Russian persecution himself, Chideckel obviously knew what he was talking about.
The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 15 November 1905, Wednesday:
Messrs. Editors: A whole nation is now at the brink of extermination. A people that has given you a religion and affected the progressive civilization of every age is now threatened with utter destruction. Tens of thousands of Jews are being barbarously slain, hunted down like beasts of the forest, burned and flayed alive, while miscalled Christianity holds itself aloof, secretly enjoying the spectacle. All Judah trembles in agony and despair, to the delight of Christianity.
You are bewailing the tragic death of one Jew, while killing other Jews was made a part of your religion. Since the disappearance of the Urim and Thummin and the golden splendor of the Solomonic Temple and since we were forced to live among you, you have made your lives black with unimaginable butcheries practiced on defenseless Jews. Turn to whatever clime you will -- to Russia, to Roumania, to Germany or Austria -- each and all pass in succession, like Banquo's kings, and cry aloud for the blood steeped stage of the eternal tragedy, like many vultures on a fallen carcass, each seizing his share of prey, tearing and mingling with insatiable gluttony.
Somewhere it is said that Ireland is the only country in the world which cannot be charged with persecuting the Jews. Poor Erin! Thy Christian brethren accuse thee of a crime thou art innocent of. Though thyself an eternal badge of sufferance, the blood of my people rests even on thy head. Thy streets of Limerick are stained with the blood of thy fellow-sufferers. Reptiles breathe even in thy fair Emerald Isle.
Your lips overflow with freedom, you raise your voices in protest against vivisection, you are meting out punishments to those who are cruel to their dogs, yet you lay desolate our homes, you slay our fathers, outrage our daughters and butcher our infants. You glory in the Gospel preached by a Jew; you shed tears over the Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, Himself a Jew, while murdering Jews is part of your common occupation.
With our own lifeblood we must write our own records. Such is the will of Christendom. We must sink battling against bloodshed, bigotry, superstition, slander and oppression.
Murder us, slaughter us, grind us down, burn and flay us alive, we have one priceless treasure--our pure and beautiful religion--which you cannot crush out. Even your Crusaders, your auto-de-fe, your Inquisition and your Torquemadas cannot overcome the vivifying power of our faith which has always sustained us. And the day of reckoning may yet come.
Maurice Chideckel
College of Physicians and Surgeons.
If you think Dr. Chideckel is being overwrought and unfair, consider the fact that this was written decades before the Holocaust and one-hundred-and-sixteen-years before his own resting place was desecrated by anti-Semitic vandalism.
We still have a long way to go.
BTW, many of Dr. Chideckel's books are still available. His book, Female Sex Perversion, is actually available on Kindle. But let me warn you: Chideckel's Freudian and patriarchal viewpoints go against the grain of modern thought on the subject....
Check out his books Here.
Remember, there is a story behind every grave. You never know what you're missing when you walk past one...
Grave Tales:
My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble. Chapel Street is the tale of a young man battling a demonic entity that has driven members of his family to suicide for generations. It was inspired by an actual haunting.
Learn more about the book, click
Here.
Listen to me read some chapters here:
Read about the true haunting that inspired the novel here:
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 1, An IntroductionThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 2, The HouseThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 3, This Is UsThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 4, ArrivalThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 5, MethodologyThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 6, Clara's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 7, Clara's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 8, My Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 9, My Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 10, My Tale, Pt. 3The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 11, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 12, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 13, John's Tale, Pt. 1 The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 14, John's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 15, Come Inside!The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 16, Marion's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 17, Marion's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 18, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 19, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 20, Lisa's TaleThe Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 21, Recap, Pt. 1The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 22, Recap, Pt. 2The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 23, Recap, Pt. 3
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