Isidor and Ida Straus—A Love Story on the Titanic

Isidor Straus and his wife Ida were prominent passengers aboard the Titanic. Isidor Straus was born in Germany in 1845 and immigrated to the United States with his family—when he was a child. He eventually became a successful businessman and co-owner of Macy’s department store in New York City, along with his brother Nathan.

Isidor and Ida were well-known figures in New York society and known for their philanthropy and civic engagement. Despite their wealth and status, they were known for their humility and kindness.

During the Titanic’s fateful voyage in April 1912, Isidor and Ida chose to stay together rather than separate during the evacuation. When offered a place on a lifeboat, Isidor reportedly refused to leave without his wife, saying, “I will not go before the other men.” Ida also refused to board a lifeboat without her husband.

As the ship sank, Isidor and Ida were last seen standing together on the deck, holding each other. Their devotion to each other in the face of disaster has become legendary, symbolizing the strength of their love and commitment.

Their tragic deaths aboard the Titanic left a profound impact on American society, and their story has been immortalized in books, films, and memorials dedicated to the Titanic disaster.

Isidor Straus was born to a Jewish family in Otterberg, Bavaria, Germany on February 6, 1845. Immigrating to the United States as a boy, Isidor grew up to briefly serve in Congress and became co-owner (along with his brother, Nathan) of Macy’s department store.

Ida Blun was also born on February 6 in Germany, though four years later than her husband when her Jewish family came to America. There she met and married Isidor in 1871. The couple had seven children and were remembered as especially affectionate throughout their marriage—writing letters to each other every day when Isidor was away on congressional duties or business. This love and affection would be displayed right up until the end.

The Straus‘s boarded in Southampton and checked into first-class cabins C-55-57 which cost them £221 (approximately £32,300 in today’s money). Isidor’s manservant John Farthing and Ida’s newly employed maid, Ellen Bird were travelling with them.

On the night of April 14, 1912, the ship hit an iceberg and quickly began to sink. And while the popular movie might have us believe that the elderly couple died holding tightly to each other in their bed, the truth is much more moving.

Following the collision with the iceberg, Mrs. Straus almost entered Lifeboat 8. Jessica, their great-great-granddaughter explained “They were in their 60s, had been together for many, many years, and had several children together. Ida would not go without her husband. Isidor was offered a place on another lifeboat but he chose not to go without her. He begged her to get on and she turned and said to him, ‘Isidor we have been together for all these years. Where you go, I go.'”

Ida Straus removed her fur coat and handed it to her maid, Ellen Bird. Ellen entered Lifeboat 8 under the persuasion of the Straus’s and was saved.

The couple were last seen sitting together on a pair of deck chairs arm in arm.

The body of Isidor Straus was recovered by the Mackay-Bennett and was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York. Mrs. Straus’s body was never recovered. John Farthing also perished.

Sources

https://www.titanicbelfast.com/history-of-titanic/titanic-stories/titanic-s-maiden-voyage-the-queenstown-connection/

https://www.titanicbelfast.com/history-of-titanic/titanic-stories/a-love-story-for-the-ages

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/06/23/titanic-oceangate-ida-isidor-straus

https://www.ifcj.org/news/stand-for-israel-blog/a-titanic-love-story

Chaim Herzog-Irishman and President of Israel.

On may 26,1992,Israel’s President Chaim Herzog unveiled a rock from Jerusalem, at Auschwitz. The rock serves as a permanent memorial to the 1.65 million Jews who were murdered there.

Visibly anguished and tearful, President Herzog said the following words during the unveiling.

“In this dread place, I stand here brokenhearted. This ground on which we stand was drenched in the blood of the pure and holy. In this place, a fearful fire consumed all that was generously supplied by the Nazi annihilation machine. I stand here representing the state that came into being for us, the Jewish people, three years after the conclusion of the ineffable crime,”

The slab of rock from Jerusalem, inlaid with a memorial plaque, was intended for Auschwitz. But it took the Israeli president six months before his visit to convince the Polish authorities to place it at the site. The Poles agreed only after the personal intervention of President Lech Walesa.

Chaim Herzog was born in Belfast on September 17,1918. The family moved to Dublin when his father became chief rabbi of Ireland. Isaac Herzog was an ardent Zionist and Irish nationalist. Chaim was bar mitzvahed in Adelaide Road synagogue, and received his secular education at Wesley College. Proficient in cricket, rugby and boxing, he was Irish youth bantamweight champion.

Sent by his parents in 1935 to attend a Talmudic academy in Jerusalem, he joined the Haganah, the underground Jewish paramilitary force. He studied law at London University and was called to the bar in November 1942. Enlisting in the British army, after lengthy training he was posted in 1944 to Normandy as an intelligence officer.

Herzog participated in the liberation of several Nazi concentration camps as well as identifying a captured German soldier as Heinrich Himmler. After the German surrender, he was assigned to identify and interrogate top Nazi officials.

He left the British Army in 1947 with the rank of Major.

In Israel he directed Israel’s Labour Party’s public relations office in the 1981 general election, and won election to a Knesset seat. As Labour’s 1983 presidential candidate he attracted cross-party support, and was elected as the sixth president of Israel. After the deadlocked 1984 general election he played a major role in the formation of the “national unity” government.

On a 1985 state visit to Ireland he inaugurated the Irish Jewish Museum on Walworth Road in Dublin, and in 1987 became the first Israeli head of state to visit Germany. He was re-elected unopposed to a second five-year term in 1988.

He died on April,17 1997. His son Isaac Herzog is the current President of Israel.

sources

Herzog Uneveils Memorial Stone in Emotional Visit to Auschwitz

Click to access 1992-05-27_101.pdf

https://www.ushmm.org/information/about-the-museum/mission-and-history/herzog

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/abroad/the-belfast-man-who-became-president-of-israel-1.3433703

https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2021/0602/1225566-isaac-herzog/

https://www.tracesofwar.com/sights/90645/Memorial-Stone-Chaim-Herzog.htm

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The time when the Americans arrived in Northern Ireland.

The republic of Ireland remained neutral during WWII although it did specify the era as the “Emergency”,

Northern Ireland however, as part of the UK, was not neutral. On January 26, 1942, the first American soldiers  to land in the European theatre of operations in World War Two disembarked their troop ships in Belfast docks.

 

Soldiers of the American Army’s 34th Infantry Division having a snack at L.M.S. Station after disembarking in Belfast. Jan 1942.

Marching through the streets of Belfast, a novelty for the local children, are some ot the first American troops to pass through Northern Ireland. Jan 1942.

Marching through the streets of Belfast are seen here some of the American troops who were the first of a stream of 300,000 to pass through Northern Ireland. Jan 1942.

What is funny to see is that all the troops were still wearing the M1917A1 aka Brody or Kelly helmet. These helmets had started to be replaced by the M1 helmet in late 1941 and continued being replaced in 1942.

 

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I am passionate about my site and I know you all like reading my blogs. I have been doing this at no cost and will continue to do so. All I ask is for a voluntary donation of $2, however if you are not in a position to do so I can fully understand, maybe next time then. Thank you. To donate click on the credit/debit card icon of the card you will use. If you want to donate more then $2 just add a higher number in the box left from the PayPal link. Many thanks.

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Belfast Blitz-15 April 1941

Although the Republic of Ireland was neutral and was left largely unscathed during the war, Northern Ireland as part of the UK was not that lucky.

Belfast being the biggest city of Northern Ireland was hit by German bombers 4 times, between the 7th of April and 6th of May 1941.

Northern Ireland was ill prepared for the Luftwaffe’s arrival. Ministers felt it unlikely that the bombers could reach Belfast.

There were only four public air raid shelters in Belfast, and most of the city’s searchlights had been sent back to England. There were plans to evacuate 70,000 children from Belfast, but little over 10% of that number actually left. When an unobserved German plane flew over Belfast to identify targets in November 1940, it saw a city defended by only seven anti-aircraft batteries. By March 1941, Northern Ireland’s minister of public security was close to panic – with some justification.

Around midnight on Monday 7 April 1941, seven German planes began bombing Belfast targets that had been identified the previous year.

The moon, half-full, enabled the Germans to attack by sight as they flew low, just above the barrage balloons. In half-hour intervals, the Luftwaffe bombed the docks and shipyards with alarming accuracy. The fuselage factory at Harland and Wolff was hit by a parachute mine, destroying 50 Sterling bombers. Incendiary bombs and high explosives also destroyed houses in north and east Belfast. By the time the raid ended at around 3.30am, 13 people had been killed.

William Joyce (known as “Lord Haw-Haw”) announced in radio broadcasts from Hamburg that there will be “Easter eggs for Belfast”.

https://dirkdeklein.net/2016/05/28/william-joyce-aka-lord-haw-haw/

On Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941, spectators watching a football match at Windsor Park noticed a lone Luftwaffe Junkers Ju-88 aircraft circling overhead.

That evening up to 200 bombers left their bases in northern France and the Netherlands and headed for Belfast. There were Heinkel He 111s, Junkers Ju 88s and Dorniers. At 10:40 pm the air raid sirens sounded.

Accounts differ as to when flares were dropped to light up the city. The first attack was against the city’s waterworks, which had been attacked in the previous raid. High explosives were dropped. Initially it was thought that the Germans had mistaken this reservoir for the harbour and shipyards, where many ships, including HMS Ark Royal were being repaired.

However that attack was not an error. Three vessels nearing completion at Harland and Wolff’s were hit as was its power station. Wave after wave of bombers dropped their incendiaries, high explosives and land-mines. When incendiaries were dropped, the city burned as water pressure was too low for effective firefighting.

Public buildings destroyed or badly damaged included Belfast City Hall’s Banqueting Hall, the Ulster Hospital for Women and Children and Ballymacarrett library, (the last two being located on Templemore Avenue). Strand Public Elementary school, the LMS railway station, the adjacent Midland Hotel on York Road, and Salisbury Avenue tram depot were all hit. Churches destroyed or wrecked included Macrory Memorial Presbyterian in Duncairn Gardens; Duncairn Methodist, Castleton Presbyterian on York Road; St Silas’s on the Oldpark Road; St James’s on the Antrim Road; Newington Presbyterian on Limestone Road; Crumlin Road Presbyterian; Holy Trinity on Clifton Street and Clifton Street Presbyterian; York Street Presbyterian and York Street Non-Subscribing Presbyterian; Newtownards Road Methodist and Rosemary Street Presbyterian (the last of which was not rebuilt).

Streets heavily bombed in the city centre included High Street, Ann Street, Callender Street, Chichester Street, Castle Street, Tomb Street, Bridge Street (effectively obliterated), Rosemary Street, Waring Street, North Street, Victoria Street, Donegall Street, York Street, Gloucester Street, and East Bridge Street. In the east of the city, Westbourne and Newcastle Streets on the Newtownards Road, Thorndyke Street off the Albertbridge Road and Ravenscroft Avenue were destroyed or damaged. In the west and north of the city, streets heavily bombed included Percy Street, York Park, York Crescent, Eglinton Street, Carlisle Street, Ballyclare, Ballycastle and Ballynure Streets off the Oldpark Road; Southport Street, Walton Street, Antrim Road, Annadale Street, Cliftonville Road, Hillman Street, Atlantic Avenue, Hallidays Road, Hughenden Avenue, Sunningdale Park, Shandarragh Park, and Whitewell Road. Burke Street which ran between Annadale and Dawson streets in the New Lodge area, was completely wiped off the map with all its 20 houses flattened and all of the occupants killed.

 

There was no opposition. In the mistaken belief that they might damage RAF fighters, the seven anti-aircraft batteries ceased firing. But the RAF had not responded. The bombs continued to fall until 5am.

Fifty-five thousand houses were damaged leaving 100,000 temporarily homeless. Outside of London, with some 900 dead, this was the greatest loss of life in a night raid during the Blitz.A stray bomber attacked Derry, killing 15. Another attacked Bangor, killing five. By 4 am the entire city seemed to be in flames. At 4.15am John MacDermott, the Minister of Public Security, managed to contact Basil Brooke (then Agriculture Minister), seeking permission to seek help from the Irish government. Brooke noted in his diary “I gave him authority as it is obviously a question of expediency”. Since 1.45am all telephones had been cut. Fortunately, the railway telegraphy link between Belfast and Dublin was still operational. The telegram was sent at 4.35am, asking the Irish Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera for assistance.

For decades now it has been part of unionist and loyalist lore that the then Fianna Fáil government was partly to blame for the Belfast Blitz due to a decision not to black out neutral Irish towns and cities at night.

Over 900 lives were lost, 1,500 people were injured, 400 of them seriously. Fifty-thousand houses, more than half the houses in the city, were damaged. Eleven churches, two hospitals and two schools were destroyed.