A Lithuanian Immigrant Became an American Hero

By Adair Olney

Albert Nathan Abelson

August 23, 1923 - June 1, 1990

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It takes great strength and character to dedicate a portion of one’s life to serve in the American military. It takes even greater integrity and grit to serve in three global conflicts: World  War Two, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Though Albert Abelson and his Jewish family faced many challenges while they lived in Lithuania, he became an American hero.

Albert Abelson was originally born as Abramas Nochumas Abelzonas in Kaunas, Lithuania on August 23, 1923.[1] Albert was born to Lithuanian-Jewish parents, and he was originally given the first name of Abramas, a very traditional Ashkenazic name meaning “exalted father” in Hebrew — Albert’s original name was used for the first three Biblical patriarchs.[2] Upon immigration to the United States as a teenager, Abramas changed his name to the more American “Albert.” Growing up between Kaunas and Prienai, a smaller city south of Kaunas, Albert’s childhood and early life was characterized by challenges due to his religious identity. Jewish people faced persecution and pogroms throughout centuries of residence in Europe, and Jews in this Baltic country were no exception.

Ghetto in Kovno, Liithuania. (https://www.geni.com/projects/Kovno-Ghetto/11021)

 During the years of 1920-1939, when Albert lived in Kaunas, the city served as capital of the independent Lithuanian Republic.[3] The first few years of World War Two saw Soviet occupation, and the latter war years were dominated by Nazi occupation.[4] Many Jews in this specific region of Lithuania were successful in the trade and merchandise industries, as Kaunas and Prienai were large Jewish hubs at the time, with 25-33% of the population Jews.[5] However, the region’s Jewish population was threatened with years of persecution, especially during the years in which Albert was growing up. As Hitler rose to power in Germany throughout the 1930s, anti-semitism began to rise throughout Europe, resulting in a series of fascist attacks on Lithuanian Jews, and a pogrom in 1941.[6] The Slobodka ghetto in Kovno, Lithuania, housed an estimated 35,000 Jewish residents from Kaunas, before most were thrown in concentration camps, and subsequently murdered.[7] Jewish suffering in Lithuanian did not stop after World War Two, unfortunately—reports show that the city of Kuanas was still victim to anti-semitism in the year 1968, although most survivors of concentration camps ended up emigrating to Israel.[8]

Albert and his family were one of the few lucky ones who escaped the horrors of World War Two just in time. The Abelson family, formerly Abelzonas, arrived in New York City on March 23, 1939, just shy of six months before Hitler and his troops would march into Poland, triggering the biggest and deadliest war in history.[9] Sixteen year-old Albert and his family boarded the SS Queen Mary and eventually crossed the Atlantic Ocean to begin their new journeys in the United States of America.[10] At some point following their immigration to the United States, the family changed not only their family name, but all of their given names. The Abelson family made the decision to Americanize their former “Abelzonas'' and the rest of the family members followed: Pasius, his father, became Morris; Estera, his mother, became Esther; Taibe, his younger sister, became Joan; Josifas, his younger brother, became Joe; and, as previously mentioned, Abramas, himself, became Albert for the rest of his life.[11] The drastic decision for the entire family to change their names, a huge part of their identities, reflects a deep desire to successfully assimilate into American society. As historian Kirsten Fermaglich states, “name changing in New York City became a popular activity, one that was predominantly Jewish” so that these families could find “economic comfort” in the U.S.[12] Because “an identifiable Jewish name ‘was not helpful to securing good employment’ in an era of rampant and growing antisemitism,, changing one’s name ensured “their position in the American middle class.”[13] Immigrating to the United States, the land of opportunity, mere months before the family’s lives could have been turned upside-down due to the tumultuous events of World War Two, was an impressive feat that eventually saved their own five lives.

The Abelsons began adjusting to their new lives as Americans — Albert, Joan, and Joe began attending schools in New York City, and Morris began working as a merchant.[14] Albert was one of the first in the family to petition for U.S citizenship, declaring his intention for citizenship on April 14, 1942.[15] At the time, he was working as a clerk and a student, and lived with his family in the Hudson Heights neighborhood of New York City.[16] The family ended up relocating to Tomkins, a small town in Western New York.[17]

Two months later, Abelson registered for the U.S World War Two draft on June 30, 1942 as an eighteen-year-old student at the City College of New York.[18] However, it was a full year later when Albert enlisted for the United States Army, the first of three wars he would subsequently fight in.[19] While there are not many records or much information about Albert’s military service, defending the United States in defense of Hitler and other such horrors he once experienced firsthand must have been a truly harrowing and defining experience.

Albert was released from the U.S Army on February 3, 1946; however, his service and dedication to the United States did not stop there.[20] While it would have been easy for Albert to complete his time in the military after an arduous and challenging time in World War Two, he turned around and enlisted for the Korean War on July 27, 1948, just two years after he returned home from fighting in World War Two. He was eventually made a colonel in the U.S Army.[21] There is not much available information regarding Albert’s service in Korea, yet he ultimately became a three-war veteran once he completed his service in the Vietnam War.[22] Being a veteran from one war is already a commendable feat; Albert dedicated a great portion of his life to the United States military, committing himself to years of service around the globe.

Albert spent the rest of his later life with his wife, Hazel “Anne” Burchard Abelson, and their two children David and Judy.[23] He and Anne seemed to split their time between Aurora, Colorado, and Flagstaff, Arizona.[24] Anne passed away on March 16, 2000, at the age of seventy-seven, ten years after Albert passed on June 1, 1990.[25] The pair shared thirty six years of marriage.[26]

His status as an immigrant in the United States did not stop Abelson from living an extraordinary life as a three-time war veteran. Dedicating one’s life to a single war is an incredible feat, but Albert did not stop there. He courageously continued on to fight and defend his new country in the Korea and Vietnam wars. He was a truly remarkable individual whose background of challenges never got in the way of his staunch desire to serve. Abelson’s immigrant status as a veteran is a powerful reminder that each and every veteran has a unique story that lasts beyond their years of service. American heroes can take on many different shapes; Mr. Abelson proved this point through his lifetime of service.

Footnotes ↓

[1] “Declarations of Intention for Citizenship, 1/19/1842 - 10/29/1959,” The National Archives at Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=2280&h=6752149&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=2441, accessed April 9, 2021.

[2] “Surname Abramas” Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=abrams, accessed April 11, 2021.

[3] “Kuanas,” Jewish Virtual Library, https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/kaunas, accessed April 11, 2021.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] “Declarations of Intention for Citizenship, 1/19/1842 - 10/29/1959,” The National Archives at Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=2280&h=6752149&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=2441 (accessed April 9th, 2021).

[10] Ibid.

[11] Immigration Document, Year: 1939; Arrival: New York, New York, USA; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Line: 5; Page Number: 88.

[12] Kirsten Fermaglich, “‘Too Long, Too Foreign, Too Jewish’: Jews, Name Changing, and Family Mobility in New York City, 1917-1942” Journal of American Ethnic History, Vol. 34, No. 3 (Spring 2015), https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jamerethnhist.34.3.0034, accessed May 24, 2021, pp. 34-57.

[13] Ibid.

[14] “Index to Petitions for Naturalization filed in New York City, 1792-1989,” Ancestry Library, https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=7733&h=2606691&tid=&pid=&queryId=4febec23d4d1872d4e4f5cc6717d214a&usePUB=true&_phsrc=cEA121&_phstart=successSource, accessed April 12, 2021.

[15] “Declarations of Intention for Citizenship, 1/19/1842 - 10/29/1959,” The National Archives at Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, NAI Number: 4713410, Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009, Record Group Number: 21, accessed April 11, 2021.

[16] Ibid.

[17] “Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946,” National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, USA, NAID: 1263923, Record Group Title: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, 1789-ca. 2007, Record Group: 64, Box Number: 05782, Reel: 242, accessed April 11, 2021.

[18] “U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947,” Ancestry Library, https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=2238&h=194239325&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=61843, accessed April 11, 2021.

[19] “U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010,” Ancestry Library, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/13547043:2441, accessed April 11, 2021.

[20] Ibid.

[21] Ibid.

[22] Ibid.

[23] “Memorial Page for Albert N Abelson,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com, accessed April 21, 2021.

[24] “Al Abelson Obituary,” June 8, 1990, Arizona Daily Sun.

[25] National Cemetery Administration; U.S. Veterans' Gravesites; Ibid.

[26] Ibid.

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