Annie's Ghosts

by Steve Luxenberg

  No writer, at least not this one, can survive without friends who understand the value of forthrightness. Scott Shane refused to let a quarter-century of friendship stand in the way of offering sharp and thoughtful comments; I’m fortunate to count him as a critic as well as a friend. Frances Stead Sellers showed me, not for the first time, why she is a great editor and why I want her to read whatever I write. Mark Reutter, my former Baltimore Sun investigative reporting partner, went over the manuscript as if it were his own, and proved again why he’s a journalist’s journalist. Bill Casey, my former Post colleague, offered the kind of critique that any writer craves—specific, smart, and salted with useful suggestions. Laura Wexler, a Baltimore-based writer with a keen appreciation for narrative storytelling, solved the problem of where to place a crucial scene; for that alone, I would pay for her coffee in perpetuity.

  Many of the people I interviewed reviewed portions of the manuscript and saved me from more errors than I care to count. Their names appear in the narrative or the chapter notes; I’m grateful to them all. Several people, however, deserve special recognition: Toby Hazan, my mother’s psychiatrist, was beyond patient in helping me to piece together those events involving Mom’s hospitalization in 1995 that I did not witness. Anna Oliwek, my cousin, welcomed my questions and allowed me to intrude into some of her most painful memories. Jo Johnson, chairman of the Westland Historical Commission and preserver-in-chief of Eloise’s history, opened her shelves and cabinets to me. I cannot repay her for her many kindnesses. Marc Manson, a collector of Detroit history and artifacts, spent a day passing along some of his knowledge and introducing me to the Sanborn insurance maps of property and streets, a resource for exhuming information about the city’s past that I wouldn’t have discovered otherwise. Ed Missavage, the former Eloise psychiatrist, forgave me for ambushing him in the Detroit Public Library; every hour I spent with him was an hour of learning and insight.

  I had the pleasure, on my many trips to Detroit, of staying with Sally and Jimmy Rubiner, my wife’s relatives. Their spare bedroom became a home away from home, and their knowledge of Detroit was an unexpected bonus. I relied on Jimmy, a lawyer, for help in navigating the Michigan courts, and on Sally for her unflagging interest in the book and her unerring proof-reader’s eye. Their children, Joanna and Julia, both Californians now, gave me bed, breakfast, and dinner during a research trip to Los Angeles; they truly know how to make a traveling reporter feel welcome.

  Credit also belongs to researchers who chased down a variety of elusive facts with persistence and professionalism. Carrie Hagen spent most of a summer reading Detroit newspapers and the Jewish Chronicle of London to assemble information about Jewish emigration from Europe and life in Detroit. Lori Berdak Miller plumbed the military records at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, and found both the morning reports and the daily admissions reports of the three army hospitals in the Philippines where my father was a patient in July 1945. Sam Elrom read the Radziwillow yizkor book, and wrote a richly detailed summary. Alexander Dunai, our Ukrainian translator and guide, took us to Radziwillow to search for its past; after three days together, I came to value both his friendship and his journalistic instincts.

  Zofia Smardz, my Post colleague, helped by translating two documents from Polish; Anna Friedman, a long-time friend of my daughter, used her German skills to decipher several other documents. Cora Sellers’s careful read of portions of the final manuscript helped to improve it. Dan Meyers, my neighbor and a professional photographer, performed his magic on the book’s photos so they could reproduce at the highest possible quality.

  Doing the reporting for Annie’s Ghosts drove home the all-important role that archivists play in preserving history. Governments have an ambivalent attitude about the records they generate, sometimes making them available and sometimes shielding them from scrutiny. Archivists, as a group, have dedicated themselves to the notion that history cannot be told without such records. If I had unlimited space, I would pay tribute to specific archivists and librarians; instead, I’ll express my appreciation to the staffs of the following: in Detroit, the Detroit Public Library’s Burton Historical Collection and Wayne State University’s Walter Reuther Library and its Purdy/Kresge Library; in suburban Detroit, the Rabbi Leo M. Franklin Archives of Temple Beth El; in Lansing, the State Archives and the Library of Michigan; in Baltimore, the Johns Hopkins University’s Sheridan Libraries, the University of Baltimore Law Library, the Loyola-Notre Dame Library, and the University of Maryland’s Health Sciences & Human Services Library; in Washington, D.C., the National Archives, the Library of Congress, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s library; in Los Angeles, the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education.

  Several people spent considerable time and energy helping me, even though my requests fell squarely outside any known job description. Roya Hakakian, fellow writer and author of a wonderful memoir, generously gave me how-to lessons. Wendy Lower, professor at Towson University, helped educate me on the Holocaust in Volhynia and then skillfully improved the chapter that delves into it; she also translated many of Anna Oliwek’s wartime Nazi documents. Marian L. Smith, chief historian for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, guided me in obtaining records that I had no idea existed. Loretto Dennis Szucs of ancestry.com, the online genealogy company, shared names from her Rolodex as well as her extensive knowledge of how to find family records. Valerie Cochran at the American Legion’s Baltimore office opened the first doors to obtaining my father’s World War II disability discharge records. Jamie Soliman helped me navigate the maze of the Wayne County Probate Court; I wish every government office had her clone working there. Alice Pepper at The Detroit Free Press pulled together the newspaper’s clippings on Eloise and cheerfully put up with periodic phone calls looking for confirmation of one fact or another.

  Others who shared their considerable expertise include Robert Bernstein at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law; Walter Reich, professor of psychiatry at George Washington University and former director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Charles Hyde, a Wayne State professor and author of a book on the Dodge brothers; Alexandra Stern, a University of Michigan professor who has done pioneering research on the history of forced sterilization; and Carol Chiamp, a lawyer in Detroit who represented mentally ill patients during the early days of deinstitutionalization.

  I’m indebted to the many people who allowed me to comb their family albums in search of Annie’s photo. Unfortunately, I never found one. If I had, her image might have been the ghostly figure in the cover illustration. Looking at the arresting stock photo that Hyperion chose reminds me that I won’t ever know for sure what Annie looked like.

  The last shall be first, in truth and in my heart. My children, Josh and Jill, weren’t even teenagers when the secret first emerged; twelve years later, they were reading the manuscript and giving me valuable feedback. The transformation still amazes me. My wife, Mary Jo Kirschman, knows Annie’s Ghosts nearly as well as I do. She accompanied me on much of this journey, either as a listener or as a witness, and when I needed a sounding board, she was my first choice. It isn’t her book, but it reflects her good questions and good judgment. I cannot imagine a better traveling companion.

  SEARCHABLE TERMS

  Note: Entries in this index, carried over verbatim from the print edition of this title, are unlikely to correspond to the pagination of any given e-book reader. However, entries in this index, and other terms, may be easily located by using the search feature of your e-book reader.

  Page numbers in italics refer to photo captions.

  Altshuler, Ira, 111, 119, 230, 242

  American Medico-Psychological Association, 117 American Odyssey (Conot), 207–8

  American Psychiatric Association, 113, 123

  Arm, Milton, 83, 84

  Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane, 113 />
  asylums, 113–14, 116, 117–20, 123

  see also mental hospitals

  Auswandererhallen, 201

  automobile industry, 204–7, 320

  Barahal, George, 223–25

  baseball, 29, 65–66

  Bell, Annette, 313–15

  Bennett, Ebenezer O., 116

  Berlien, Ivan, 96–97

  Bernek, Mary, 269

  Black, Ann, 85, 319, 330, 342–45

  Black Stork, The, 183–84

  Bohn, Stephen, 52, 53, 94, 101, 273, 274, 275

  Bolewicki, Peter E., 97–98, 106, 112, 120, 222

  Bollinger, Allen and Anna, 182–83

  Boskin, Rose Luxenberg, 290

  Botsford Memorial Hospital, 267–68

  Beth Luxenberg’s hospitalization at, 5–8, 20, 102, 103, 132, 145, 156, 164, 268–71, 277

  Britton, Shirley, 77

  Brodie, Millie Moss, 178–81, 184–88, 211, 231, 339

  Brown, Ammon, 112

  Buck v. Bell, 181

  Carroll, Kevin, 217–19

  census, 54–55, 120–21

  Chicago Daily Tribune, 183

  Clark, Alvin C., 64, 112, 113, 114, 122–23

  Clark, Benjamin W., 94–98

  Cochran, Mickey, 223

  Cohen, Annie:

  Ann Black’s knowledge of, 343–45

  and Beth’s letters to Jack, 172–73, 307–8, 338

  Beth’s mentions of existence of, 1, 2, 4–5, 267, 269, 340

  Beth’s relationship with, 46–47, 180, 350

  Bill Luxenberg’s knowledge of, 331, 336, 338

  birth of, 16, 44, 181, 216, 243

  burial record of, 13, 14, 61, 83

  constipation suffered by, 51, 100–101

  death of, 13–14, 18, 82–83, 310, 312, 342

  death notice for, 357

  at Eloise, 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 43–53, 62–63, 65, 67, 71, 78–79, 96–98, 100, 106, 109–12, 120–21, 131–35, 144, 146–47, 173, 221–22, 272–76

  eugenics movement and, 181–85

  grave site of, 11, 82–84, 87–89, 356–58

  hospitalization of, 4, 12, 13, 15–20, 23, 24, 43–53, 64, 65, 69–70, 72, 78, 86, 94–98, 100, 101, 106, 109–12, 124, 139, 221–22, 272–76, 341

  intelligence of, 48–49, 95–96, 101, 124, 154, 243, 273–74

  intelligence tests given to, 224–25, 273, 274

  Jack Luxenberg’s knowledge of, 19, 131, 150, 165, 173, 289–92, 308, 323–24, 329, 331, 336, 338–40

  leg deformity of, 18, 19, 24, 44–45, 48, 50, 52, 86, 95, 101, 124, 154, 180, 181, 184, 185, 206, 208, 212, 215–19, 232, 243, 274

  medications taken by, 312

  menstruation story and, 147

  mental illness of, 18, 44, 46, 50–54, 61, 62, 94–101, 106, 124, 147, 150, 154, 222, 272–74

  Millie Brodie’s memories of, 178, 179–81, 184–87

  at Northville, 13–18, 24, 46–47, 53, 312

  in nursing home, 18, 47, 153, 312

  records on, 13, 14, 16, 17, 20–22, 43–54, 61, 63, 79, 93–98, 100–101, 104–6, 115–17, 120–21, 213–15, 220–25, 239–40, 273, 278

  at Sault Ste. Marie hospital, 63, 239–42, 307–10

  schooling of, 48, 50, 95–96, 212–13, 273

  sexual assault of, 51, 101, 154, 244–45

  Steve as personal representative of, 104–5, 213, 214, 220

  Tillie and Anna’s visits to, 131–35, 144, 146–47, 151–52, 173, 245, 270

  Cohen, Deborah, 277–79

  Cohen, Hyman (Chaim Korn), 13, 17, 20, 24, 31, 48, 49, 69, 72, 129, 136–39, 148–51, 179, 187, 193–96, 270, 326, 327

  auto factory jobs of, 205–6, 207

  burial record of, 13

  as cigar laborer, 195–96

  death of, 134, 135, 193, 270

  emigration to U.S., 138, 192, 194–95, 197, 201–3

  grave site of, 11, 87–88

  health problems of, 138, 270

  as junk peddler, 17, 196, 204, 206, 207, 326

  marriage of, 138–39

  Nathan Shlien and, 189, 190, 207

  wife as cousin of, 138–39, 152–54

  Cohen, Tillie Schlein, 13, 17, 24, 31, 42, 50, 51, 69, 72, 74, 129, 130, 136–39, 148–51, 158, 187, 206, 326, 327, 339

  Annie’s hospitalization and, 20, 24, 45–46, 49, 71, 94, 97, 98, 109, 139, 154, 222, 274

  Annie visited by, 131–35, 146–47, 151–52, 173, 245, 270

  burial record of, 13

  emigration to U.S., 138, 194, 197

  grave site of, 11, 87–88

  health problems of, 134–35

  husband as cousin of, 138–39, 152–54

  marriage of, 138–39

  Millie Brodie and, 179–81

  Nathan Shlien and, 189, 190, 207

  “sins of the parents” comment of, 138–39, 153–54, 187, 348

  Community Mental Health Act, 311

  Conot, Robert, 207–8

  Cowen, Philip, 200

  Dance, William H., 315

  Darnall General Hospital, 295, 297, 301, 302, 306, 308, 309, 337

  Depression, Great, 48, 207–8, 235, 236

  Detroit, Mich., 76–77, 130, 196, 329–30

  automobile industry in, 204–7, 320

  Book Cadillac in, 206

  cigar manufacturers in, 195–96

  Depression and, 48, 207–8

  growth of, 196–97, 206

  Hyman Cohen’s move to, 195–96

  riots in, 75–76

  Woodward Avenue in, 77

  World War II and, 169–70

  Detroit Free Press, 35, 172, 177, 345

  Detroit Jewish News, 357

  Detroit Lancet, 116

  Detroit Psychological Clinic, 223–24

  Detroit Tigers, 66, 223

  Dickerson, Freeman B., 80–81

  Dillingham, William, 200

  Dix, Dorothea, 113, 116

  Dnepropetrovsk, 256–58

  Dodge Brothers, 205–6

  Donofsky, Fran Rumpa, 65, 68–70, 295, 296, 321, 324, 344

  Donofsky, Hank, 162

  Donofsky, Hy, 65, 69, 162, 295, 296, 302, 307

  Donofsky, Rose, 307

  Doren, Barry, 325–26

  Doren, David, 177

  Doren, Irene Robinson, 78, 171, 177, 178, 179, 186, 324, 325–28

  Downriver Council for the Arts, 82

  DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual), 222, 231, 303

  Dunai, Alexander, 346–48

  Edelman, Ethel, 319, 330, 340–42, 345

  Edelman, Jack, 342

  Edelman, Natalie, 340–42, 345

  Einsatzgruppen, 250, 253

  Eisenbahn, 256

  Ellis Hospital, 308

  Ellis Island, 194, 197, 203, 288

  Ellison, Sandra Peppercorn, 100–103

  Eloise Hospital, 23–24, 62, 63–64, 80–82, 99–100, 106, 110–11, 119, 120

  Annie Cohen at, 16, 17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 62–63, 65, 67, 71, 78–79, 96–98, 100, 106, 109–12, 120–21, 131–35, 144, 146–47, 173, 221–22, 272–76

  cemetery of, 82, 352, 353–56

  children of employees at, 229

  expansion of, 121–22, 311

  group therapy at, 111, 230

  history of, 80–81, 112–14, 116, 118, 119

  lawsuit against, 313–15

  lobotomies performed at, 234

  Missavage at, 78–79, 110, 275, 310

  name of, 80–81

  name changed to Wayne County General, 79, 81

  overcrowding at, 228, 234, 237, 242, 311–12

  patient records of, 115–16

  patients paroled from, 124

  patients transferred to Sault Ste. Marie, 63, 238–42, 307–10

  photographs of, 108, 142, 352 POGIEs in, 121, 207

  population of, 23, 63–64, 81, 119, 121–23, 234–37, 239

  preservationists and, 64, 81–82

  shock therapy at, 111, 233–34, 274

  size of, 23

  state r
eimbursements to, 236, 238, 312

  sterilization policies and, 275

  televisions installed at, 242

  Tillie’s visits to see Annie at, 131–35, 144, 146–47, 151–52, 173, 245, 270

  transfer of patients out of, 310–12

  Eloise Museum, 64, 81–82, 239

  Emmer, Faye Levin, 54–55, 56, 70, 150, 158, 171, 177, 211–12, 321, 322, 324, 325

  Erickson, Milton, 109, 119

  eugenics movement, 181–85

  sterilization and, 181–82, 275

  Evans, Mona, 43–46, 48–54, 79, 95–96, 97, 112, 132, 138, 147, 181, 185, 187, 195, 207, 216, 223, 231

  family secrets, 47–48, 277–79

  Ford, Henry, 204–5

  Ford Motor Co., 204–5, 206, 207

  foster care, 243

  Frassica, Frank J., 215–17

  Freud, Sigmund, 119, 273

  Friends of Eloise, 64, 82, 240, 353–56

  Frumkin, Marilyn, 85, 319, 343, 344, 345

  Frumkin, Sid, 85, 319, 343

  Garfinkel, Barbara, 85

  Garfinkel, Fred, 84–87

  Göering, Hermann, 252

  Goose, Dave, 177

  Goose, Sandra, 171, 177

  Great and Desperate Cures: The Rise and Decline of Psychosurgery and Other Radical Treatments for Mental Illness (Valenstein), 232

  Greco, Mary, 213–14, 220

  Green, Laurie Brodie, 178

  Greenberg, Hank, 223

  Grob, Gerald, 274

  Grobeson, Medji, 59–63, 242, 335, 344

  group homes, 243, 244

  Gruber, Thomas K., 106, 111, 118–19, 121, 122, 123, 233, 235, 236, 239–42, 311

  Haiselden, Harry J., 182–84, 185

  Hall, Helen, 207

  Hamilton, Samuel W., 123–24

  Harper Hospital, 45, 46, 49, 51–52, 100, 208, 215, 216

  Harvard University, 204

  Harwell, Ernie, 66

  Hazan, Toby, 5, 6, 7, 8, 154–56, 164, 187, 267, 269, 270, 276–77, 340, 342

  Hebrew Memorial Park, 11, 12–14, 82–84, 87–89, 356–58