Famous Jews

Marnie Winston-Macauley always writes amusing articles over at Aish. In this column, she has "tales of Jews who are both fascinating and unsung", including two of my favorite people, Fiorello LaGuardia, and Ed Koch.

"New York City’s most famous mayor (1934-45), called 'Little Flower', feisty Fiorello LaGuardia, was born in 1882 to a Jewish mother (Irene Luzzato Coen). He won the love of Jewish New Yorkers for his fierce protection of immigrant garment workers. Ironically, while a Congressman, flyers 'flew' calling him a Jew-hater during his re-election bid in 1922. 'Fio' challenged his opponent to a debate – in Yiddish! As Mayor, he was such an ardent foe of the Nazi regime, German ambassador protested LaGuardia’s remarks to Secretary of State Hull, who shared them with FDR. The Holocaust was deeply personal for La Guardia. Gemma La Guardia Gluck, his sister, spent eight months in Ravensbruck, as did her daughter and grandson. Her husband died in Mauthausen. Despite her brother’s fame, it took a year, before the Gluck family got to New York in 1947, shortly before Fiorello died of cancer. Until her own death in 1962, she lived in a Queens housing project-- constructed by the LaGuardia Administration."