(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Born in the Christian faith, which his father embraced to marry the daughter of a Polish landowner, Harry Hirschfield, 77, of Philadeiphia, after having spent a lifetime in the, United States living as a Jew, came here to officially embrace the Jewish faith.
After establishing the record of the family, the Rabbinate of Warsaw, agreed to accept Hirschfield into Judaism.
It appears from the application made by the aged Philadelphian, that he came to the United States at the age of 17, sixty years ago. He was the son of a Polish Jew who embraced Christianity to marry the daughter of a Polish landowner. The father lived in Warsaw, where he conducted a large business, and reared a family of six children in the Christian faith. Harry, coming to Philadelphia as a lad of 17, enjoyed the hospitality of his uncle, a Jew. Forgetting entirely his denominational affiliation, Harry lived as a Jew, marrying a Jewish girl and rearing his children in the Jewish faith.
Advanced in years, his wife dead, his children married, Harry Hirschfield recalled his official status and was persecuted by the idea that when he dies he may be refused burial according to the Jewish rites. For this reason he made the trip, Mr. Hirschfield told the Warsaw rabbis.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
