Looking over this trove of Strober photos Arthur Einig contributed from the last century (and one possibly from the century before that) makes me wonder even more about the lives these people lived.
This one, for instance. This is Sam Strober, son of Moshe David Strober, son of Berl Strober. We think Sam was born in the 1880s, in a shtetl somewhere in what is now the western part of Ukraine. It was probably Potok Zloty. He immigrated to the United States, but we’re not quite sure of when, and married Pauline “Pauli” Schneider in 1906.
Portrait of Sam Strober with a handlebar mustache, probably taken in the 1890s or early 1900s. (Collection of Arthur Einig)
Formal portrait of Pauli (Schneider) Strober and Sam Strober circa 1908. (Collection of Arthur Einig)
At some point, Sam lost the ‘stache. He and Pauli had seven kids. Ben, known in the family as “Benny,” was the second oldest.
Wedding photo of Ben “Benny” Strober (#596) and Irene (Levy) Strober (#860), December 16, 1934 (Collection of Arthur Einig)
Rose, known as “Rosie,” was six years younger than Benny, but two years behind him to the altar.
Wedding portrait of Rose “Rosie” Strober (#872) and Abe Kugler (#873) in Brooklyn, NY, Dec. 5, 1936. (Collection of Arthur Einig)
Frieda was two years older than Rosie.
Formal wedding portrait of Frieda Strober and Ben Levine, presumably in late 1930s. (Collection of Arthur Einig)
Looking into the eyes of people at the most hopeful moments of their lives, when they were young and getting married, tells us something about them. They had dreams. Today, those dreams are the memories of their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.