Alfred Goodwin

NOTE: The interviewer, Paul A. Bissinger, Jr., is a cousin of Alfred Goodwin. He is the son of Paul A. Bissinger Sr. and Marjorie Walter Bissinger. Paul A. Bissinger, Sr. is the son of Newton Bissinger and Mildred [aka Millie] Heilner. Newton Bissinger is a brother of Anna Bissinger (Gutmann) Goodwin, the mother of Alfred Goodwin.

Bissinger: We’re going to discuss some of the background of the Bissinger family. Alfred, it’s good to see you.
GOODWIN: Thank you.

Bissinger: I think one of the really valuable things that you can tell me are about some of the life back in Germany when you were a boy because as I understand it, you didn’t move to this country until you were 21. Is that right?
GOODWIN: Close to 22.

Bissinger: And, what year was that?
GOODWIN: ’36, 1936.

Bissinger: 1936. So you would have fresh in your mind memory of what life was like in Ichenhausen and perhaps other parts of southern Germany. So let’s go back in time. The first thing I want to do some history and just get straight who’s who. And, as I understand it, your father’s name was Max, is that right? No, no excuse me. Newton Bissinger’s father’s name was Max.
GOODWIN: Yes, that’s correct.

Bissinger: And his wife’s name was Rosa.
GOODWIN: That’s correct.

Bissinger: Do you know what her maiden name was?
GOODWIN: No. [NOTE: Her given name is Rosamunde Hanle Bissinger]

Bissinger: Did you know her?
GOODWIN: No. She had already passed away when I came to Ichenshausen for the first time.

Bissinger: I see. But you knew Max, your Uncle Max.
GOODWIN: No, grandfather. He was my grandfather.

Bissinger: That was your grandfather. O.K. Your grandfather, Max, you knew him?
GOODWIN: Yes, I knew him.

[NOTE: Max Bissinger, April 1, 1845 – December 31, 1927, was born and died in Ichenhausen, Bavaria, Germany. He is the son of Heinrich Samuel Bissinger and Jentel Jette Heilbronner Bissinger. Max Bissinger married Rosamunde Hanle. They had thirteen children, Samuel, Jette, Ignaz, Nathan [aka Newton], Sara, Adolph, Josef, Albert, Anna, Sigfried, Benno, Carl (aka Karl) and Fanny]

Bissinger: Yes. Now OK, so then there were four children and the oldest was Sam?
GOODWIN: Yes.

Bissinger: That Sam, was he the Sam that came to this country?
GOODWIN: Yes, the one who lived in Portland.

Bissinger: OK. No, no, no. That was my grandfather’s brother.
GOODWIN: Yes.

Bissinger: I’m talking about, didn’t Max have a brother Sam, too? OK, now we’re getting mixed up.
GOODWIN: No. That I couldn’t answer. I wouldn’t know.

Bissinger: Well my uncle, my grandfather Newton, he had three uncles. Sam, Isador, and Adolph. Does that ring a bell with you?
GOODWIN: Not at the moment.

Bissinger: Well, I know that in this country there were three uncles: Sam, Isador, and Adolph. Adolph, I don’t know who he married. But, he had a son named McKinley Bissinger, whom I knew in San Francisco. And, I know some of those kids. Then Isador apparently never married, and Sam Bissinger, that’s Max Bissinger’s brother, he married somebody named Emma Strauss, and I think I may have sent you some of his letters from the Strauss family. Does the Strauss family ring a bell with you?
GOODWIN: No, not to me.

Bissinger: So you don’t know any of that side of things. So let’s just deal with Max and Rosa, which was your grandfather and your grandmother.
GOODWIN: That’s right.

Bissinger: Did Max marry a second time after Rosa died?
GOODWIN: No. He did not.

Bissinger: What did he do? Do you know?
GOODWIN: He was in the cattle business.

Bissinger: In the cattle business?
GOODWIN: Yes. He bought and sold live cattle.

Bissinger: Did he have a pasture where he kept them?
GOODWIN: He had something outside Ichenhausen.

Bissinger: Or was he more like a broker?
GOODWIN: No. He was in the cattle business. And, he went to the markets in the surrounding villages. He bought and sold.

Bissinger: I see. He didn’t raise them. It wasn’t like a feedlot.
GOODWIN: No. No. He bought and sold only. All I can tell you, that was in my early days when I was very, very young. Later on, he was retired. He gave it up.

Bissinger: Ok. And then Max had four children. Now the oldest was Sam. And, that was my Uncle Sam, who I remember, lived here in Portland.
GOODWIN That’s correct.

[NOTE: Samuel Bissinger, August 31, 1874 – April 28, 1964, was born in Ichenhausen, Bavaria, Germany and died in Portland, Oregon. He is the first son and child of Max Bissinger and Rosamunde Hanle Bissinger.]

Bissinger: He was the first one that came over. He came over before Newton, as I understand.
GOODWIN: I believe that’s right.

[NOTE: Nathan [Newton] Bissinger, December 13, 1877 –June 30, 1966. was born in Ichenhausen, Bavaria, Germany and died in Atherton, California. Newton Bissinger is a son of Max Bissinger and Rosamunde Hanle Bissinger. He married Mildred [aka Millie] Heilner and had two children, Helen Sarah Bissinger and Paul A. Bissinger, Sr. Newton subsequently married Selma Lowengard Galland.]

Bissinger: And then Sam, he never married, of course. He lived in the Benson Hotel.
GOODWIN: For thirty years.

Bissinger: For thirty years. And, when he died, which was when in the 1960s some time.
GOODWIN: 1964.

Bissinger: 1964. Didn’t he still have a whole suite with cooking privileges?
GOODWIN: Yes, he did. He had three rooms—a living room, a bedroom and a dining room, and adjacent to the dining room they fixed up little kitchen for him.

Bissinger: He was a funny fellow.
GOODWIN: He was a bachelor all his life. Didn’t have to ask anybody anything.

Bissinger: What were his interests, do you remember?
GOODWIN: Antiques.

Bissinger: Antiques.
GOODWIN: Yes. What he bought, he collected antiques. In the early days he was fishing and golfing.

Bissinger: Golfing, too?
GOODWIN: He did. Yes. Yes. He was one of the early founders of the Jewish Golf Club here in Portland.

Bissinger: Oh, really? And, he always lived in the Benson Hotel.
GOODWIN: He was living there when I came over here. And, he had smaller quarters at that time in ’36 during the depression, but later on he moved upstairs to the 7th floor in the corner.

Bissinger: Oh really. I guess he was the only person left in the Benson Hotel who had a suite with cooking privileges.
GOODWIN: Yes, there was a relative of the, I think it was either Meier or Frank Department Store, Aunt Rosie. I think maybe she was a Frank or possibly a Meier. I really don’t remember. She lived further up also. And, she had the same privileges.

Bissinger: OK. Now between Sam and Newton who was the youngest, there were the two girls, the two sisters: Anna and Sarah. Is that right?
GOODWIN: Well, Anna was my mother.

Bissinger: Was she older than Sarah?
GOODWIN: I really wouldn’t know. As a matter of fact, I think Newton was older than the girls. I think he came after Sam and I think my mother was the youngest. Possibly Sarah was in between. I never met this Sarah.

Bissinger: You never met Sarah?
GOODWIN: No, as a matter of fact, I didn’t even know her name ’til today, until your papers came.

Bissinger: Did you know there was another sister?
GOODWIN: I know there was something. And, I know she had a daughter.

Bissinger: Apparently, an illegitimate daughter?
GOODWIN: Yes. That was never talked about, but this daughter lived with Max Bissinger in Ichenhausen and she took care of him. Her name was Sophie.

Bissinger: Sophie?! I thought it was Sarah. But the daughter’s name was . . .

[NOTE: Sara [Sophie] Bissinger, June 8, 1879 – June 8, 1902, was born in Ichenhausen, Bavaria, Germany and died in Vienna, Austria. She is a daughter of Max Bissinger and Rosamunde Hanle Bissinger. She was subsequently known as Sophie.]

GOODWIN: The daughter’s name was Sofie [spells it]

[NOTE: Sophie (Sara) Bissinger, May 24, 1902 – July 11, 1942 (on or about), was born in Vienna, Austria and died in the extermination camp at Auschwitz, Poland. Born out of wedlock to Sara Bissinger and Stefan Kunstler, she was legitimized by a declaration at the Amtsgericht Gunzgerg on November 21, 1902. Sarah married Josef Brokam and had two children, Ruth Brokam and Gloria Brokman. The family is presumed to have been lost in the Holocaust.]

Bissinger: Right. But I guess in those days having an illegitimate child was really a bad thing.
GOODWIN: It was, yes.

Bissinger: Not so stylish as today.
GOODWIN: Yes.

Bissinger: Did you ever meet Sofie?
GOODWIN: Oh, yes. She was there. She took care of my grandfather, Newton and Sam’s father.

Bissinger: She took care of Max when he was older.
GOODWIN: Yes.

Bissinger: What can you tell me about Sofie?
GOODWIN: Well, she was at the time, when I knew her, she was single. After Max Bissinger died, she moved to Berlin and she married a Jewish man and there were two children. The family was lost in the Holocaust.

Bissinger: All?
GOODWIN: All of them.

Bissinger: I’m sure you don’t know any of the details of how . . .
Goodwin: No.

Bissinger: But, Sofie must have been about your age?
GOODWIN: She was a little bit older.

Bissinger: Was she pretty?
GOODWIN: Yes, she was attractive.

Bissinger: Yes. And, her responsibility at least when you knew her was to keep the house for Max.
GOODWIN: That’s right.

Bissinger: OK, and then Anna must have married Mr. Goodwin.
GOODWIN: Gutmann [spells it].

Bissinger: Goodman? Because you’re Goodwin.
GOODWIN: Yes.

Bissinger: But, you changed.
GOODWIN: That’s correct.

Bissinger: So your father’s name was Goodman [spells it] . . .
GOODWIN: Gutmann [spells it]

Bissinger: Oh! And what was his first name?
GOODWIN: David.

Bissinger: David?
GOODWIN: Yes.

Bissinger: And did he come from Ichenhausen?
GOODWIN: No. He came from Malsch in the state of Baden.

Bissinger: Aha. What’s the name of the place again?
GOODWIN: Malsch [spells it]

Bissinger: Malsch [spells it]
GOODWIN: Yes.

Bissinger: That’s a new name I’ve never heard that before. So, tell me about your mother and father. First tell me about your mother. There was two of you. There was you and…
GOODWIN: There were two sons.

Bissinger: There was you and your brother, Max. Max, Jr. No, not Max, Jr.
GOODWIN: Just Max.

Bissinger: And, he was older than you?
GOODWIN: Seven years older.

Bissinger: Seven years older!
GOODWIN: Yes.

Bissinger: So tell me about your mother.
GOODWIN: Well, we lived in Karlsruhe in Germany, in the state of Baden all these years, I came over here in summer of ’36, July ’36. My brother came in December ’36. And, my parents didn’t come here until 1938.

[NOTE: Anna Bissinger [Gutmann] Goodwin, July 18, 1884 – March 14, 1941 was born in Ichenhausen, Bavaria, Germany and died in Portland, Oregon. She is the daughter of Max Bissinger and Rosamunde Hanle Bissinger. She married David Gutmann and they had 2 sons. Maximillan Gutmann and Alfred Gutmann. She is the sister of Samuel Bissinger and Newton Bissinger].
[NOTE: David Goodwin [Gutmann], Feb 20, 1875 – Nov 2, 1946, was born in Malsch, in the district of Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and died in Manhattan, New York, New York. He is the son of Solomon Gutmann and Rose David. David and Anna were married in Ischenhausen in 1906.]

Bissinger: Oh, they did come over?
GOODWIN: They did come over.

Bissinger: And where did they live?
GOODWIN: They lived in Portland with me.

Bissinger: No, I don’t think I ever met them.
GOODWIN: Possibly not.

Bissinger: When did they die?
GOODWIN: My mother died in March [14] of 1941 And, my father moved back east because he had some sisters there in New York, and he died in 1947, December [2] ’47.

Bissinger: I see. Well, so going back to Germany, so you grew up in Karlsruhe.
GOODWIN: That’s right.

Bissinger: And, tell me what kind of a house did you live in?
GOODWIN: We lived in an apartment house. On the third floor. .It had so many rooms and that was it.

Bissinger: What did you father do?
GOODWIN: He had a little furniture business.

Bissinger: Retail business?
GOODWIN: Yes.

Bissinger: He sold furniture? Was he successful?
GOODWIN: So, so.

Bissinger: So, so.
GOODWIN: Let me say this, the furniture people in Germany, you have to…. The Nazis came in to power and were the first ones to be directed out of business because the Nazis gave the young couples money to buy furniture when they were married, and of course, this money could not be spent in Jewish establishments. So, the furniture people, the Jewish furniture people went out of business fairly fast after the Nazis got into power.

Bissinger: So it was tough for your father to make a living. Did he do anything else then or he just stuck in the house and did the best he could.
GOODWIN: That’s right.

Bissinger: Yes. You had just one brother, you didn’t have any sisters?
GOODWIN: Nothing, , just the brother.

Bissinger: No, but your father had some brothers and some sisters.
GOODWIN: He had a brother and he had at least two sisters.

Bissinger: And they all lived in Karlsruhe too?
GOODWIN: No. Only one sister lived in Karlsruhe. The others came to this country earlier in their life. They were married here on the east coast.

Bissinger: I see. So tell me more about your mother. What where her interests?
GOODWIN: Well, just the family, basically. Nothing extra.

Bissinger: Was your mother the housekeeper?
GOODWIN: That’s right.

Bissinger: And were you very close to her?
GOODWIN: Oh yes.

Bissinger: She made good apple pies.
GOODWIN: Of course.

Bissinger: [laughter] And, did you get along with your brother? What was your relationship?
GOODWIN: On and off. We had our little problems.

Bissinger: Of course, seven years is a pretty big age difference.
GOODWIN: That’s right.

LOTTIE: Alfred, your mother played cards.
GOODWIN: She did? Ok.

Bissinger: She played cards?
GOODWIN: Yes.

Bissinger: She’s a big gambler? What did she play?
GOODWIN: [inaudible]

Bissinger: I see. And, what did she look like? What did your mother look like?
GOODWIN: Well, I have one picture here to help you.

Pause

Bissinger: OK, so we’re continuing. You got a picture here of your family.
GOODWIN: That was a party in Ichenhausen.

Bissinger: So this is Max Bissinger’s house that they’re standing in front of?
GOODWIN: That’s where they were living. Yes. The house belonged to somebody else.

Bissinger: I see. I see my father up there in the top.
GOODWIN: Right here. And, this is Sofie.

Bissinger: Now, going from the top row from left to right, tell me who these people.
GOODWIN: This is Sofie. This is Millie, Newton’s first wife. And, this is Paul Lamfrom. Yes.
And, the second row…

Bissinger: And the lady right there?
GOODWIN: This would be Anna Landform, Paul Lamfrom’s mother. This is Anna Gutmann, my mother. This is Marie Lamfrom, Paul’s wife. And, front row this is Mr. Lamfrom, the husband of Anna, This is Newton. This is Max Bissinger, the old gentleman. And, this is my father.

Bissinger: That’s your father?
GOODWIN: Yes. These two people I don’t know. The people behind my father, I don’t know them.

Bissinger: They’re all dressed up to beat the band. They’re looking very handsome. So, your mother, she was basically a mother, she took care of the kids and house and she liked to play cards. Did she go dancing or anything, your parents?
GOODWIN: Not lately.

Bissinger: OK. Did you go over to Ichenhausen often to visit?
GOODWIN: In our younger years, we went once a year in summer during vacation, we stopped there and then we went to some place in Bavaria.

Bissinger: I see.
GOODWIN: It was called a spa.

Bissinger: How did you go? By train?
GOODWIN: By train.

Bissinger: You went by train. Now the house in Ischenhausen, was that, did it have an extra room so that when you went, there was room for everybody?
GOODWIN: Yes. I had a room.

Bissinger: I see.
GOODWIN: This house in Ischenhausen I knew is not this one here. Possibly you saw this picture at Helen Bloch’s.

Bissinger: The white house with the wooden shutters.
GOODWIN: Yes. That isn’t the house I knew. The house I knew belonged to a family by the name of Hilbe [spells it], and they were furriers.

Bissinger: I see.
GOODWIN: And, they had a main floor and Max Bissinger, he had the second floor.

Bissinger: I see. Tell me about Max Bissinger’s personality? Was he a jolly fellow, or somber, or?
GOODWIN: Yes, he was. He was. Of course, to me, he was ancient, because I was very little, and he was an old man at that time already. He had his beer with the neighbors and his friends and he went to the synagogue on Friday and on Saturday.
Bissinger: So the family, they were pretty good Jews in terms of following the religion and practicing…
GOODWIN: Yes. It was a small Jewish community there and they had a synagogue and they also had a cemetery.

Bissinger: Now, tell me about your father. What was he like? Was he severe, or what was he like?
GOODWIN: Well, he was a typical German, I would say. He was a little bit severe. He served in the German army during World War I, and I don’t think he ever got over it.

Bissinger: I see. Now tell me what was it like growing up in Germany when you were young. Were you very conscious of anti-Semitism?
GOODWIN: Not in the early days, in other words, before, there was something in the air, but while the Nazis were starting out, but it was just something I guess you learned to live with. We had no problems in the school, in public school, and we had no problems in our jobs even though I worked for a Jewish company, a department store.

Bissinger: Is that what you did when you finished high school?
GOODWIN: Yes. I worked as an apprentice in the department store in yardage.

Bissinger: How do you spell that?
GOODWIN: Yardage? Well, linens, silks.

Bissinger: Oh, yardage, I thought it was a city. This was in….
GOODWIN: In Karlsruhe, yes.

Bissinger: Why does the name Augsburg appear?
GOODWIN: The Lamfroms all come from Augsburg.

Bissinger: I want to get to them in a minute. Back to life as a boy, did you personally or your family have any bad or anti-Semitic experience?
GOODWIN: Well, it got bad in ’35, ’36, it started in getting bad. It was time to leave. I was the first one out, because I really could see the handwriting on the wall. My papers were already in the making when the German army came to Karlsruhe which was part of the Rhineland which was supposed to be not occupied by the German military. Of course they, Hitler broke this rule. He just sent his army in…

Bissinger: And do you have any personal knowledge of exactly what did happen to any of your relatives. Any specifics on which ones were deported?
GOODWIN: Any close relatives we didn’t lose.

Bissinger: Any particular concentration camps, do you have any knowledge of any of that?
GOODWIN: Lottie will answer this later.

Bissinger: OK
GOODWIN: But of my relatives, the only one I know of is this Sofie and her family who got lost. And, there was also a Dan Bissinger who lived in Munich. At one time he lived over here, I think it was in Portland. He was a friend of Sam Bissinger and he went back, made some money here and went back to live in Munich. He did have an account here, left some money here with Sam Bissinger. When the war broke out, Sam didn’t hear any more from this Dan Bissinger. So one day while I was in the service, I was stationed outside Munich, in Freising, I got a letter from Sam asking me to look around to see if I could find out anything about Dan Bissinger. I did check with the survivors of the concentration camp came in, but nobody knew anything about Dan Bissinger. You know, just a shot in the dark, just trying to see if there’s anybody there who knew him. Well, there wasn’t. There was no more information available and Sam and Newton didn’t hear anymore from him and just assumed he got lost in the Holocaust.

Bissinger: Would you have no particulars on specific camps that they were sent to, or the circumstances at all?
GOODWIN: No, no.

Bissinger: Let me ask, did I ask you if you knew the maiden name of your grandmother Rosa? [NOTE: Rosamunde Hanle Bissinger].
GOODWIN: Yes, you asked. I don’t.

Bissinger: Did she have any brothers or sisters, did you know?
GOODWIN: I really couldn’t tell.

Bissinger: Now, Max who is older than you, seven or eight years, he came over here and he lived in Vancouver
GOODWIN: First he lived in Portland for about a year and a half, and then he was transferred up to Vancouver.

[NOTE: Max Goodwin [Maximillan Gutmann], September 15, 1907 – July 5, 1957, was born in Karlsruhe, Baden, Germany and died in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is the son of Anna Bissinger Gutmann and David Gutmann. He married Lena Tarnowpolsky [aka Lillian Tarnow] on December 15, 1940. They have two children, Paul David and Ruth Anne.]

Bissinger: Now he was married to a lady named Lillian.
GOODWIN: Yes.

Bissinger: What was her maiden name? Do you know?
GOODWIN: Her maiden name was Schullcot.

[NOTE: Lillian’s surname is Tarnowpolsky. It was changed to Tarnow when the family came to Canada from Russia. Her birth name was Lena, which she later changed to Lillian. Her Hebrew name is Layla].

Bissinger: Schullcot. And, where did she come from?
GOODWIN: I think originally she was born in Poland or Russia.

Bissinger: And where did they meet?
GOODWIN: She came over as a girl, as a small girl with her parents to Vancouver, or to Canada. To Canada. She had three other sisters and a brother were born in Canada. And, Max met her up there.

Bissinger: Now do they have some children?
GOODWIN: They have two adopted children.

Bissinger: And they are what boys or girls?
GOODWIN: One boy, Paul [David] and one girl, Ruth [Anne].

Bissinger: How old would you make them to be now?
GOODWIN:
Lottie: Paul must be 30. They both have birthdays in August. Paul will be 37.And, Ruth will be 35.

Bissinger: 37 and 35, Paul and Ruth. And, are they married?
GOODWIN: Yes. Both married.

[NOTE: Paul David Goodwin was born August 26, 1949, a son of Max Goodwin and Lillian Tarnow Goodwin. He is married to Wendy Mercer Goodwin and currently resides in Powell River, Canada. They have three children, Kristy, Sandra and Alan.

[NOTE: Ruth Anne Goodwin was born August 23, 1951, a daughter of Max Goodwin and Lillian Tarnow Goodwin. She is married to Harvey Bernard Barth and currently resides in Toronto, Canada. They have two children, Carolyn and Robert.]

Bissinger: And do they have kids?
GOODWIN: Yes.

Bissinger: And they all live in Vancouver?
GOODWIN: No. The son lives outside Vancouver on one of the islands and Ruth lives in Toronto.

Bissinger: Toronto. And who did she marry?
LOTTIE: I think she married an engineer.

Bissinger: An engineer.
GOODWIN: Yes.

Bissinger: OK.
GOODWIN: If you are interested, you can get you the name.

Bissinger: Well, this is a lot of information really. When did Max die?
GOODWIN: He died in 1957.

Bissinger: 1957. That was quite a long time ago.
GOODWIN: Yes. He didn’t quite make it to age 50.

Bissinger: Really.
GOODWIN: Just one month short.

Bissinger: What did he die of?
Lottie: I don’t know the name of the illness or disease he had. Actually, he had a heart attack, but it was caused by a disease of the blood which is the opposite of leukemia. I always forget the name of it.

Bissinger: Does his wife Lillian still live?
GOODWIN: Yes. She’s still in Vancouver.

Bissinger: Did she ever remarry?
GOODWIN: No.

Bissinger: Now, just for the record so we have it down, I know your kids, but why don’t you tell me about them, how old they are, and what they’re doing. Your kids.
GOODWIN: We have one daughter, Helen. She will be 35. [Helen Ann Goodwin was born July 18, 1951 in Salt Lake City, Utah, a daughter of Alfred Goodwin and Lottie Hirsch Goodwin. She lives in Portland, Oregon.]

Bissinger: And where does she live now?
GOODWIN: She lives in Portland.

Bissinger: I know she lived in San Francisco for a while.
GOODWIN: That’s correct. After college she moved down there.

Bissinger: And what is she doing now?
GOODWIN: She works for the Bonneville Power [Administration.]

Bissinger: Aha! She’s a powerful lady.
GOODWIN: We hope so.

Bissinger: Does she live with you?
GOODWIN: No

Bissinger: She has her own apartment?
GOODWIN: Yes, that’s right.

Bissinger: I see. And where did she go to school?
GOODWIN: She went to school starting out in Salt Lake [City, Utah] where we were living at the time, where she was born. Then when we came to Portland. She finished high school here and she went to Oregon State University. And, she’s got degrees from there and she also has a degree from Portland State University.

Bissinger: Aha. Now, this is kind of rambling, but when you first came over from Germany, you came to Portland first.
GOODWIN: I stopped over in San Francisco, but basically . . . Portland.

Bissinger: Did you speak any English at that time?
GOODWIN: Very little.

Bissinger: Very little. So did you go to school for a while?
GOODWIN: Yes. I had a little tutor.

Bissinger: You had a tutor. Here in Portland?
GOODWIN: Yes

Bissinger: Where did you live in Portland when you first came?
GOODWIN: I lived in, what you call it, on St. Clair, the boarding house. I lived in a boarding house.

Bissinger: I see.
GOODWIN: And then when my parents came, I lived with my parents.

Bissinger: Where was that?
GOODWIN: We were living on NW Flanders.

Bissinger: NW Flanders.
GOODWIN: Yes, about 20th and NW Flanders.

Bissinger: Now in the interview with Helen Block she mentioned that Newton Bissinger, and Newton and Millie first lived in San Francisco on Johnson Street, and then they lived on Marshall Street.
GOODWIN: That’s in Portland.

Bissinger: In Portland?
GOODWIN: Yes. NW Johnson. NW Marshall.

Bissinger: Yes. You don’t remember those houses?
GOODWIN: No.

Bissinger: That was before you got here.
GOODWIN: That’s right. When I got here they already were living in San Francisco for many years.

Bissinger: So in case we missed this on the first tape, your dates in Salt Lake [City, Utah] were from when to when?
GOODWIN: December ’49 to June 1966.

Bissinger: Where did you meet Lottie?
GOODWIN: I was very friendly with Lottie’s brother in Germany.

Bissinger: Whose name was?
GOODWIN: Werner.

Bissinger: Werner
GOODWIN: Last name Hirsch.

Bissinger: Werner Hirsch.
GOODWIN: Yes. We sort of belonged to an organization which we could consider here the Boy Scouts.

Bissinger: Yes.
GOODWIN: And we were in each other’s homes. And, I knew Lottie (NOTE: Lottie was born Lieselotte Veronika Hirsch) and her family from way back when.

Bissinger: I see. So you were childhood friends?
GOODWIN: More or less.

Bissinger: And when did you fall in love? When did all this start to happen?
GOODWIN: I was in the service here. I was stationed near Baltimore. I used to go and pass through New York to visit my father. One day my father said, “You know, I saw Lottie Hirsch. She lives a couple blocks down the street.” So I went a couple blocks down the street.

Bissinger: Well, isn’t that interesting. So I thought maybe you got married in Germany and came over together.
GOODWIN: No. We got married in January in 1947. [NOTE: Alfred and Lottie Hirsch Goodwin were married by Rabbi Henry J. Berkowitz in his study at Temple Beth Israel on January 10, 1947. The witnesses to their marriage were Samuel Bissinger and Max Lehmann].

Bissinger: I see. Now I want to go back to Germany a minute. You mentioned in going through the picture, the Lamfroms. How did they relate to the Bissingers? Can you explain that to me?
GOODWIN: Yes. . Max Bissinger, my grandfather and Newton’s father and Newton and Sam. And, my mother’s father had a sister. Her name was Anna.

Bissinger: Anna, OK.
GOODWIN: Anna Bissinger, and she married a Mr. Lamfrom.

Bissinger: OK. What was his first name?
GOODWIN: That’s a good question. I’ll have to come back to you on this. I don’t remember any more.

Bissinger: And then did they have children?
GOODWIN: Yes, they had three sons.

Bissinger: What were their names?
GOODWIN: Max, Paul, and I believe the third one was Fritz. I’m not quite sure. The third one, Fritz, he was a physician and he was killed in World War I. He was a member of the German army and he died in World War I.

Bissinger: I see. Now the name Max Lamfrom rings a bell. He must have come to this country.
GOODWIN: Yes, he came very early and he worked with Bissingers for many, many years. [NOTE: Max Lamfrom came to the United States to avoid the draft. His mother came in 1936 and the rest of the family came in 1937].

Bissinger: Did he get married?
GOODWIN: Yes, he was married. He married fairly late. Marie [NOTE: Max Lamfrom’s wife name was Mary, not Marie].
Bissinger: Marie Bissinger. And did they have children?
GOODWIN: No.

Bissinger: And how about Paul?
GOODWIN: Paul, he married Marie Lamfrom, I mean Marie whatever.

Bissinger: They both married Maries?
LOTTIE: One was Marie and the other one was Mary.

Bissinger: Was that in this country?
GOODWIN: It was Biederman. [NOTE: The correct name is Epstein. There were 3 girls, Marie, Emmy and Flora].
LOTTIE: Einstein.

Bissinger: Einstein. We have an Einstein in the family. We’re getting better. The story’s getting better
GOODWIN: We’re not quite sure. . [NOTE: There is an Einstein relationship. Flora Epstein married Eugene Untermeir and they have one daughter. The father is related to Albert Einstein. A cousin].

Bissinger: But in any event, did Paul come to this country?
GOODWIN: Paul and Marie had three daughters and they came to this country in 1938.

[NOTE: Paul Lamfrom, February 19, 1888 – June 1, 1964 was born in Augsburg, Germany and died in Portland, Oregon. He is a son of Anna Bissinger Lamfrom and Bernard Lamfrom. He married Marie Epstein and they had three children Hildegard, Gertrude, and Eva. In 1938, Paul purchased the Rosenfeld Hat Company and changed its name to Columbia Hat Company, now known as Columbia Sportswear.]

Bissinger: And where did they live?
GOODWIN: They lived in Portland.

Bissinger: And, so are they still around?
GOODWIN: Paul and Marie are both dead.

Bissinger: The daughters must be…
GOODWIN: They have two daughters still alive.

Bissinger: Yes. OK. And are they around Portland?
GOODWIN: Yes.

Bissinger: Did they ever marry?
GOODWIN: Yes.

Bissinger: Do you know anything about who they married?
GOODWIN: Yes, we know. Let me say this. The oldest daughter, who is dead now, she was the scientist, and she never did marry. There are no survivors. She died about a year or two, three years ago.

Bissinger: Do you remember her name?
GOODWIN: Hildegard. Yes. [NOTE: Hildegard Lamfrom, June 19, 1922 –August 28, 1984, was born in Augsburg, Germany, and died in La Jolla, California. She is the daughter of Paul Lamfrom and Marie Epstein Lamfrom. She did not have any children.]

Bissinger: And, the second one is Gertrude and she was married and her husband passed away, and there are three surviving children. [NOTE: Gertrude [aka Gert] Lamfrom, March 6, 1924 – November 3, 2019, was born in Augsburg, Germany. She is the daughter of Paul Lamfrom and Marie Epstein Lamfrom. She married Joseph [aka Neal] Cornellius Boyle. After the death of her husband, Neal, she became President and subsequently Chair of the Columbia Sportswear Board of Directors until her death in 2019.

Bissinger: And they live here in Portland?
GOODWIN: Two live here and one lives in Bend, Oregon.

Bissinger: Oh, do you know Hildegard married
GOODWIN: Hildegard didn’t marry. Gertrude married.

Bissinger: Gertrude married. Do you know what her married name was?
GOODWIN: Boyle [spells it]. Good Irish name.

Bissinger: Good Irish name. They have three children, two of them are here in Portland and one is in Bend. Do you ever see any of them?
GOODWIN: Oh, yes. Not very often.

Bissinger: So there’s really a lot of Bissinger family here in Portland. That’s really very interesting. Going back to my great-grandfather, Max’s sister Anna who married Mr. Lamfrom.
GOODWIN: That’s right.

Bissinger: OK. Gertrude is the number two child and she has two children living here in Portland. What are their names?
LOTTIE: The oldest one, a son, is Tim Boyle. He’s married to Marie.

Bissinger: Another Marie
LOTTIE: Is it Marie – Mary. They have one son about six years old.

Bissinger: Tim was one of Gertrude’s sons and the other?
LOTTIE: That’s the oldest. He must be about 38.

Bissinger: What about the other children of Gertrude’s?
LOTTIE: Kathy .Deggendorfer

Bissinger: Deggendorfer. And, she lives here in Portland?
GOODWIN: She’s the one in Bend.

Bissinger: Oh, in Bend, OK.
GOODWIN: Yes. One child. One little girl.

Bissinger: The next time we go over to Black Butte Ranch, I’m going to look her up. There shouldn’t be too many Deggendorfer’s in Bend. And then there’s one more that lives here in Portland.
LOTTIE: That’s Sally.

Bissinger: And, did she get married?
LOTTIE: Yes. She’s married to Dave. What is her last name? Baney [spells it].

Bissinger: Baney [spells it]. What do some of these people do? Gertrude…
GOODWIN: Gertrude runs the Columbia Sportswear

Bissinger: Columbia Sportswear, I see. And what does Mr. Boyle do? Gertrude’s husband.
GOODWIN: He passed away.

Bissinger: He passed away. Now Tim and Mary, what do they do?
GOODWIN: Tim works for Gertrude He’s the vice-president.

Bissinger: I see. And Mary, does she work?
GOODWIN: No.

Bissinger: And then Kathy Deggendorfer., what do they do over in Bend?
GOODWIN: Her husband is a teacher, Mr. Deggendorfer, a school teacher.

Bissinger: Aha.
GOODWIN: For a while she was a real estate broker.
LOTTIE: But, she’s running an outlet store for Columbia Sportswear now.

Bissinger: And then Sally and Dave Baney, what do they do?
GOODWIN: Sally runs the outlet store here.

Bissinger: So they’re all connected with that.
GOODWIN: Columbia Sportswear.
LOTTIE: David is going to college. Engineering school

Bissinger: I see. Well, that takes us right down to the next generation really. Well, that’s very exciting to learn all of that. I always, that name Lamfrom always rang a bell, but I never really quite put it together. Now I wanted to ask you…
LOTTIE: We have to go to the youngest Lamfrom daughter, too.

Bissinger: Oh, there’s one more.
GOODWIN: Eva. [NOTE: Eva Lamfrom was born June 25, 1929 in Augsburg, Germany. She is the third daughter of Paul Lamfrom and Marie Epstein Lamfrom. She is married to Arnold Labby. They have three daughters, Lise, Andrea and Karin. She lives in Portland, Oregon.]

Bissinger: Eva.
GOODWIN: There were three sisters.

Bissinger: Oh, that’s right.
GOODWIN: Gertrude and then Eva.

Bissinger: OK. OK. And there’s Eva. Where does she live?
GOODWIN: She lives in Portland.

Bissinger: Did she marry?
GOODWIN: Yes.

Bissinger: Who did she marry?
LOTTIE: She is married to Arnie Labby.

Bissinger: Arnie?
LOTTIE: Arnie, Arnold, I suppose. Labby.

Bissinger: Labie [spells it]?
LOTTIE: Labby.

Bissinger: Labby. And what do they do?
LOTTIE: He’s a psychologist.

Bissinger: A shrink. A psychologist. And she works for him. Do they have children?
LOTTIE: They have three daughters.

Bissinger: Wow. That’s the prolific side. They did much better than the Bissinger side.
LOTTIE: They did.

Bissinger: They had three daughters and they all live here in Portland?
LOTTIE: One lives in Seattle, the oldest one.
GOODWIN: The oldest one lives here.

LOTTIE: Oh, the oldest one lives here.
Bissinger: What’s her name? [NOTE: Her name is Lise. Now Lise Raven].

Bissinger: Can’t remember?
LOTTIE: The second one is Andrea.

Bissinger: Andrea?
LOTTIE: Yes, she lives in Seattle.

Bissinger: She lives in Seattle.
LOTTIE: She works for Nordstroms.

Bissinger: Oh, that’s a wonderful store, Nordstroms. And the youngest one is?
Added: [Karin. She lives in Los Angeles.]

[Gap—no speech]

Bissinger: So, any experiences that you can remember that might be interesting, about your life and how you grew up, and your relationship with the other members of the family?
GOODWIN: Well, life was nothing wonderful in Germany. It was just Germany. Not like here. We got along, but my memories actually of Germany were not very pleasant. Particularly towards the end. Leaving there.

Bissinger: Yes.
GOODWIN: And then going back as a GI in World War II, you know.

Bissinger: Now as a boy, you mentioned you were involved in something like the Boy Scouts.
GOODWIN: Yes, we took trips on Sundays, sometimes. Saturday, Sunday. We had a little cabin at the edge of the Black Forest, but that was about it.

Bissinger: Is there anything else? Were you involved in music or sports?
GOODWIN: Sports, yes.

Bissinger: What did you play?
GOODWIN: Soccer.

Bissinger: Soccer. Of course. How about Max, your brother?
GOODWIN: He preceded me in this boy scout business. He wasn’t as sporty as I was, I mean active in sports. We all belonged to a gymnastic club, a Jewish gymnastics club where we went once a week, twice a week for gym practice. That was about it.
LOTTIE: It’s Lise, Andrea, and Karin.

Bissinger: Lise, Andrea, and Karin.
GOODWIN: Lise is the oldest.

Bissinger: Lots of relatives to look up some day. Do you actually remember when the Nazis took over and when they started marching those terrible people around through the streets and breaking the windows of the Jewish merchants’ shops, things like that?
GOODWIN: Yes.

Bissinger: You can remember all that. It must have been very scary.
GOODWIN: Well, we really didn’t realize it. It was scary, but we really didn’t realize how it would all end up. That it would go as far as it did.

Bissinger: Well, now tell me, can you fill in anything about the origins of Bissinger Company? Do you know much about that?
GOODWIN: No, because it was an established fact as far as I was concerned. When I came here they had been in business, all these many years already. I know nothing of their beginnings. [See Samuel Bissinger write up added at the end of the interview.]

Bissinger: I see.
GOODWIN: All I know is that the stories they were telling us, Newton, your grandfather, was working in the hide business and that’s where he met his first wife, in Baker, Oregon.

Bissinger: That’s right. Well Helen [Bissinger Bloch] tells me you know all about that. That you read about how…. She tells me how they met.
GOODWIN: Well, Helen knows more about the Baker family than I do. She was there many times. The only time I ever got to Baker is when I was over there on business.

[NOTE: Helen Sarah Bissinger Bloch, February 16, 1903 – July 2, 1986, was born in Oregon and died in San Francisco, California. She is a daughter of Newton Bissinger and Mildred Heilner Bissinger. She married Frederick Willard Bloch. She had one child, Robert Newton Bloch.]

Bissinger: Yes. Now, when you moved over to Salt Lake [City, Utah], was there already a Bissinger and Company?
GOODWIN: Yes, there was.

Bissinger: I see. Who was running it at that time? You kicked him out, whoever he was.
GOODWIN: No, he was a sick man. Nobody was kicked out. He was very ill.

Bissinger: What was life like in Salt Lake?
GOODWIN: It was interesting due to the role of the Mormon Church.

Bissinger: Was it awkward or easy to be Jewish there?
GOODWIN: I think the Mormons sort of like the Jews even though they consider us the “favorite sons” or whatever, even though the Jewish community was comparatively very small.

Bissinger: Do you practice the Jewish Sabbath and holidays?
GOODWIN: We are not very religious.

Bissinger: Was your family when you grew up Was Anna and your father, Mr. Goodwin?
GOODWIN: Well they were a little bit more religious than we are now, but we were not Orthodox.

Bissinger: Were you bar mitzvahed?
GOODWIN: Yes, I was.

Bissinger: And, your brother Max?
GOODWIN: He was, too.

Bissinger: I see. Well, now I’m talking to Lottie Goodwin, Alfred’s wife. And, tell me, Lottie, your maiden name now was Hirsch [spells it]. Well, there’s a lot of Hirsch’s here in Portland, but I guess none of those are related to you.
LOTTIE: They are not related.

Bissinger: You also came from the same part of Germany.
LOTTIE: From Karlsruhe.

Bissinger: From Karlsruhe. And, did you have a big family?
LOTTIE: I had a brother and a sister.

Bissinger: And, your brother was Alfred’s friend.
LOTTIE: That’s right.

Bissinger: And his name was…
LOTTIE: Werner.

Bissinger: Werner, that’s right. And your sister’s name was?
LOTTIE: Elfrieda.

Bissinger: Elfriede?
LOTTIE: Elfriede Now, Frieda.

Bissinger: Frieda. Who was the oldest, the middle and youngest?
LOTTIE: My sister is the oldest, then my brother and then myself.

Bissinger: So you’re the baby of the family.
LOTTIE: Yes.

Bissinger: I see. You knew the Goodwin’s then from way, way back.
LOTTIE: Not very well, really.

Bissinger: I see. And, did your whole family move over from Germany?
LOTTIE: Well, they came one by one. My sister went to Geneva, and she was married in Geneva, and they went to the United States via Sweden and to Cuba to immigrate to the United States.

Bissinger: Cuba
LOTTIE: That was before Castro.

Bissinger: Sure.
LOTTIE: My brother came here in 1937; he went directly to New York, where he stayed and I came in 1938.

Bissinger: How about your parents?
LOTTIE: My father was taken into a concentration camp on Crystal Night which was 1939, and he fortunately got out because my mother got the papers ready for him, and he had a ticket to go to Cuba.

Bissinger: I’ll be darned. Do you know what concentration camp?
LOTTIE: Dachau.

Bissinger: Dachau. We’ve been there.
LOTTIE: Have you seen it?

Bissinger: Yes.
LOTTIE: And, he stayed in Cuba for a year and a half and then went to New York.

Bissinger: I see. So, really, all of your immediate family was able to get out of Germany.
LOTTIE: My mother, with her parents, who had been moved from Karlsruhe to North Germany, were deported in—wait a minute, Crystal Night was in ’38, November ’38—my mother and her parents, after my father got out, were deported to France and they were in Camp Gurs and both my grandparents died. First my grandmother, and my grandfather eventually got out and he then stayed with some monks because he was almost 80 years old at that time, and never made it over here. My mother was in hiding after she got out for seven years until she finally made it to the United States.

Bissinger: In hiding. Where was she hiding?
LOTTIE: In France.

Bissinger: In France. When you say hiding, do you mean, hiding in a farmhouse or what kind of a…
LOTTIE: She got to Marseille after she left Gurs in what was called a hotel for emigres waiting for her ticket to go to the United States, but she never made it because the Nazis came and took everybody out. But she was very fortunate because she was friendly with the concierge and she was alone in the room, and the concierge said there’s nobody in the room. But, she wasn’t deported but she left and, contacted cousins of my father. And, she lived with this family, it was a young family. , He was a rabbi and was very religious and he looked after some children who were deported from Paris, not deported, who were placed with farm families. The wife had two little children, and my mother helped. She didn’t have a ration card or anything, but they needed each other. She was hiding with them until liberation.]

Bissinger: A pretty dreadful time all around.
LOTTIE: The father was killed. Finally the Nazis caught up with him.

Bissinger: So you have more than Alfred, recollections of friends and family who actually were deported and killed.
LOTTIE: Oh, yes.

Bissinger: Were there any survivors of concentration camps that got in touch with you later, that you’ve been able to contact?
LOTTIE: No, not in my family. There were several families who were wiped out or deported. One family was deported to Warsaw, and never heard of again. Most of them, Lowenstein. The parents and one daughter with her husband. And, some of my mother’s family, but the immediate family all came to the United States.

Bissinger: You were really very fortunate.
LOTTIE: Oh, yes.

Bissinger: More so I guess than some of the Bissinger side must have been—sent off to the camps.
GOODWIN: The only one I know of is this Dan Bissinger and Sofie, I really can’t remember her married name anymore who lived in Berlin with her husband and two children.
LOTTIE: Now, my sister-in-law in New York, my brother’s wife, she was in a concentration camp and she was 14 years old and she made it to Sweden and she stayed in Sweden for quite a long time. She had a sister here and also her younger brother was in concentration camp.

Bissinger: Did any of them survive?
LOTTIE: They both made it. They didn’t know where they were, but they had a sister here. They contacted the sister then, and then made the contact. They all live in New York.

Bissinger: Now tell me about your recollection of life as a child and girl in Germany. What did you do?
LOTTIE: Well, it was very nice. We had a house in Karlsruhe, an apartment, a big apartment, at first. We had a very nice life, as I remember it, until later on.

Bissinger: What were you and your brother, sister, and your parents interested in?
LOTTIE: My father was mostly interested in his business. [NOTE: His name is Heinrich Hirsch. He was known as Henry Higdon in the United States. His wife’s name is Jenny Mendershausen Hirsch, later Jenny Higdon].

Bissinger: I see, and what business was that?
LOTTIE: He had a factory, he made uniforms for the army, the German government.

Bissinger: Aha. At one time those were very gorgeous.
LOTTIE: Yes, and it was a very good living until Germany was demilitarized.

Bissinger: Yes. Now, somewhere along the line you must have had some people who had some artistic interests, because I know you’ve become quite a collector of prints and drawings.
LOTTIE: That’s mostly Alfred. That’s was Alfred’s interest mostly. I was always interested in art more or less at different times. But, Alfred started collecting. . My father was mostly interested in his business, but he had a great many talents.

Bissinger: Such as?
LOTTIE: Languages and math and history. He was very interested.

Bissinger: Did you go to dancing school as a girl?
LOTTIE: I didn’t anymore because it was impossible. My sister did.

Bissinger: I see.
LOTTIE: But we had a very nice time. I went to public school and we went on hikes with the school, and we went on hikes with the German Jewish gym club, with one of the teachers. We had a very nice time and then as the Nazis became more powerful we had less of a nice time because the German girls wouldn’t talk to Jewish girls anymore, so we were a little bit segregated. But, there were enough Jewish children in the Jewish community. We had our own activities within the Jewish community.

Bissinger: Now did you and Alfred’s family attend the same temple?
LOTTIE: I don’t know. Did we Alfred?
GOODWIN: Yes.

Bissinger: Nowadays they have a bar mitzvah for girls called bat mitzvah. Did they have it in your time?
LOTTIE: I was confirmed.

Bissinger: You were confirmed.
LOTTIE: My brother was bar mitzvahed and my sister and I were confirmed.

Bissinger: I see. Alfred, were you confirmed?
LOTTIE: Boys didn’t become confirmed.

Bissinger: Boys only got bar mitzvahed. Times change.
LOTTIE: Then later on, I’m a little more than two years younger than Alfred and I left in ’38, so I had a little more of the discrimination in high school.

Bissinger: I see. That must have been very frightening.
LOTTIE: I don’t know. One thing that was really frightening was when we had to go to the book burning, and we couldn’t get excused.

Bissinger: You had to go to the public book burning.
LOTTIE: The public book burning.

Bissinger: Why was that frightening?
LOTTIE: Because it was an undertaking strictly organized by the Nazis, and we were Jewish girls, and they were mostly Jewish authors whose books were not accepted anymore, and they were burned. There was a big public book burning and we had to march with the rest of the class to the public book burning.

Bissinger: That’s terrible.
LOTTIE: It was very frightening. And we left as soon as possible.

Bissinger: Did you have friends, that were good friends of yours that were German, non-Jewish German friends who turned against you after the Nazis came in?
LOTTIE: They wouldn’t have anything to do with me anymore.

Bissinger: Do you think that was because they believed in the Nazis or they were frightened that bad things might happen to them if they were friendly with Jewish…
LOTTIE: I think it was both.

Bissinger: Yes. Alfred, did you have something you wanted to add?
GOODWIN: Have you got an eraser? [Laughter]
LOTTIE: There was the public demonstrations that was frightening, very frightening, like when you asked Alfred already, when they took a Jewish lawyer and possibly some other Jewish people and put them on a flatbed and had a rope around their necks and paraded them through the city streets. It was scary. He was later killed. And frightening was when Adolf Hitler came to power.

Bissinger: Did you ever hear him speak?
LOTTIE: No, but I had to go see him. I didn’t have to go but I wanted to go see what he looked like.

Bissinger: I see. What did he look like?
LOTTIE: Like his picture.

Bissinger: Just like his picture
LOTTIE: [inaudible]

Bissinger: Okay. Was he surrounded with a tremendous swarm of brown shirts, or what did they call them?
LOTTIE: No, I think he was in his limousine just driving through.

Bissinger: I see.
LOTTIE: A big parade. I don’t remember the brown shirts. I didn’t stay.

Bissinger: Now, have you been back to Germany?
LOTTIE: No.

Bissinger: You’ve never been back. How would you feel about going back?
LOTTIE: We had a very interesting experience two years ago. We went to London and we went to Paris and Alfred said, “Let’s go to Karlsruhe.” He who never wants to have anything to do with the German and go back through Frankfort. And I said, “No, I cannot go back only to visit just for old time’s sake. I can’t do that.” If we go on a trip, I can do it. I don’t mind going at all. But I can’t go only to go back in history. It’s too painful.

Bissinger: Yes, I would think it would be. But Alfred, now you’ve been back. When you were in World War II, you went back. Tell me about that experience.
GOODWIN: Well, I was stationed outside Munich in 1945, July and August and early September. I had a chance to go to Karlsruhe. I did go and I went in the old neighborhood and it took me about 10 minutes to have 20 people standing around me.

Bissinger: They knew you?
GOODWIN: They knew me. Mostly the parents.

Bissinger: These were Jewish people?
GOODWIN: No, not Jewish people. I didn’t see any Jewish people at all on this trip. Those were people who had lived there all these years and who had sons of I went to school with.

Bissinger: That must have been awkward.
GOODWIN: Well, the sons were either dead or in captivity. The war was over. But, they said they were glad to see me, and come back and live with us, etc., etc.

Bissinger: Do you think they meant that? Hide their guilt.
GOODWIN: Possibly. Hide their guilt. They were glad to see an American because the town was taken originally by the French and that was the first German city that was occupied by the French army. And since the war, things were not very nice.

Bissinger: Now to go back again, when you drove to Karlsruhe, you didn’t live in a particularly…..

[end of tape]

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION Provided By: Helen A. Goodwin

Alfred Goodwin is the son of David Gutmann and Anna Bissinger Gutmann. David Gutmann was born on February 20, 1875 in Malsch in Baden. He died in New York City on November 2, 1946. His mother, Anna Bissinger Gutmann was born on July 18, 1883 in Ischenhausen in Bayern. She died on March 16, 1941 in Portland, Oregon. Max Gutmann, Alfred’s brother was born on September 1907 in Karlsruhe, Germany He died in July 5, 1957 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is a naturalized Canadian citizen. Alfred Goodwin was born in Karlsruhe, Germany on August 4, 1914 and died on May 28, 1993. Alfred, along with both of his parents, became naturalized citizens of the United States. Helen Ann Goodwin, Alfred and Lottie Hirsch Goodwin’s only child, was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on July 18, 1951.

On August 1, 1935, Alfred Goodwin received a Deutsches Reich Reise-Pass (Nr. 3281) which was stamped by the American Consulate in Stuttgart, Germany on April 2, 1936. He was given Immigrant Identification Card No. 880302. Alfred, then Guttmann, emigrated from Hamburg(o), Germany to the United States via the Hamburg-Amerika Linie/Hamburg, S.S. Tacoma on May 20th 1936. He sailed on the S.S. Tacoma in a second class cabin. The destination was San Francisco, CA.

Alfred Goodwin served in the Army of the United States during World War II with distinction. He was honorably discharged for the convenience of the government (demobilization) at the separation center, Fort Lewis, Washington on September 26, 1945. The highest rank held by Alfred Goodwin was that of Master Sergeant, Army of the United States, Company F, 409th Infantry.

Although not a citizen of the United States, Alfred Goodwin, submitted himself to a Local Board composed of his neighbors for the purpose of determining his availability for training and service to the armed forces of the United States. He was notified that he had been selected for training and service in the army and was ordered to report to the Local Board at Union Depot, 6th and Irving St., Portland, Oregon at 2:00 P.M. on the 14th day of March 1942. Thereupon Alfred Goodwin, examined and, accepted for training and service, was inducted into active service on March 16th, 1942 at the Presidio of Monterey California.

Private Alfred Goodwin satisfactorily completed the thirteen weeks schedule of training from April 7, 1942 to July 6, 1942 at the Infantry Replacement Training Center, Camp Roberts, California. His special training was for Infantry Soldier of a Heavy Weapons Company. On March 6, 1943, Corporal Alfred Goodwin graduated from the Fourth Course at the Military Intelligence Training Center, Camp Ritchie, Maryland. His military occupational specialty is listed as Intelligence NCO 631. Known as the Richie Boys, Alfred Goodwin was one of approximately 15,200 servicemen who were trained for U.S. Army Intelligence at the secret Camp Richie training facility on secret orders. He was one of approximately 2,200 or 14 percent who were Jewish refugees born in Germany or Austria. The role of the Richie Boys was to work on the front lines, or even behind them, at strategic corps and army levels, at interrogation, analyzing German forces and plans, and also to study and demoralize the enemy. Among other tasks, Alfred Goodwin interrogated prisoners of war to obtain information and the means to persuade them to reveal vital information.

Alfred Goodwin became a naturalized citizen of the United States in the State of Maryland on September 8, 1943 whereupon his name was officially changed from Gutmann to Goodwin.

Alfred Goodwin served outside the continental United States during World War II in the European Theatre from December 14, 1943 to September 10, 1945. Prior to shipping overseas, his commanding officer recommended he remove the religious designation from his dog tags. Should he be captured, he would immediately be killed if the dog tags were marked with the “H” designation. He landed in England, along with many other troops, and awaited the call for the “D” day invasion.

While in Europe, Alfred was able to use his German language and cultural knowledge skills to wage psychological warfare against the Nazis. A key asset was as a battlefield POW interrogator. He served with distinction receiving both the Bronze Star and the Bronze Star (Oak-Leaf Cluster). He was a survivor of both Normandy Beach and the Battle of the Bulge. The citation for his award of Bronze Star (Oak Leaf Custer) reads as follows:

On May 6, 1945, Master Sergeant Alfred Goodwin, Military Intelligence Service, United States Army was awarded the Bronze Star (Oak-Leaf Cluster), for meritorious service in connection with military operations against the enemy from 9 February 1945 to 14 April 1945, in Germany. Master Sergeant Goodwin as an interrogator of Prisoners of War, rendered invaluable service to his unit by repeatedly going to forward echelons to gather valuable information. During this entire period, Master Sergeant Goodwin displayed outstanding qualities of initiative and devotion to duty in keeping with the highest traditions of the armed forces of the United States. By command of Major General Reinhardt.

Staff Sergeant Alfred Goodwin carried with him a book: The Living Thoughts of Thomas Jefferson by John Dewey. It is inscribed on June 6, 1944, by his Lieutenant and life-long friend, Hans L. Trefousse, also a Richie Boy, who says, “This book was carried by Staff Sergeant Alfred Goodwin when he landed at Colleville sur Mer, France, in order to maintain the principles set forth so magnificently by the author 150 years ago.

Alfred Goodwin was employed by Bissinger and Company (hides, wool, furs and leather), one of Portland’s oldest and best known business concerns, for the majority of his working career. The company was founded in the early 1870s by Louis Sloss and Louis Gerstle. In 1880, Adolph Bissinger, a brother of Alfred Goodwin’s sister, Anna, took over the business and moved the headquarters to San Francisco, California. After immigrating to the United States, and before entering military service, Alfred Goodwin worked for Bissinger and Company where his occupation was listed as cattle hide buyer. He resumed working for Bissinger and Company after his discharge from the United States Army becoming manager of the Intermountain West branch located in Salt Lake City, Utah and, later, the Oregon branch, located in Troutdale, Oregon.

Alfred Goodwin’s passion was collecting art. He was well known as a collector of works on paper, often collecting prints from lesser-known artists, as well as artists from his home states of Oregon and Utah. For his service to the Salt Lake City Art Barn as the volunteer Director of Exhibitions and board member, Alfred Goodwin was elected as its first lifetime trustee on May 6, 1963 in recognition of ten years of dedicated service.

A lover of the outdoors, Alfred Goodwin was an avid hiker, skier, camper and river rafter. He was a member of the Mazamas Hiking Club, earning the Guardian Peaks Award on December 7, 1946 for climbing Mt. Hood (June 16, 1946), Mt. Adams (August 18, 1946) and St. Helens (July 14, 1946). In Salt Lake City, he was a member of Wasatch Mountain Club where he walked the Zions Narrows, river rafted, hiked and backpacked with fellow members.
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION ON SAMEUL BISSINGER AND BISSINGER AND COMPANY

SAMUEL BISSINGER
One of Portland’s oldest and best known business concerns is that of Bissinger & Company, which has been in existence for over a half century and has been conducted under the present name for forty-eight years. It is known throughout the northwest, having many connections, and has always commanded a leading place in business and commercial circles. The Portland and subsidiary branches are under the immediate supervision of Samuel Bissinger, who has shown marked executive ability and has been an important factor in the success of the business. This concern was first established in the early ’70s by Louis Sloss and Louis Gerstle, on Front and Oak streets, Portland, a branch also being founded in Walla Walla, Washington, under the name of Louis Sloss & Company. In 1880 Adolph Bissinger, a pioneer of Portland, took the business over, at which time the location had been changed to Front and Salmon streets, and he gave his attention to the trade here until late in the ’80s, when he moved to San Francisco and opened a branch of the Portland concern. Subsequently he made that the head office of Bissinger & Company, his plant being located at Front and Jackson streets, and he remained at the head of the business there until his death. The Portland office has always been maintained and has had control of all of the company’s business in the northwest. In 1912 the office was moved to Thirteenth and Irving streets, where it has remained to the present time. During the ’80s the company built the first wool pullery in Oregon on the macadam road, in Portland, where it remained for some years, when it was moved to Sellwood. In 1924 it was moved to Troutdale, Oregon, where it covers fourteen acres of ground, the main building being constructed of concrete, while the warehouse is a block long. This plant has a capacity of three thousand skins a day. The Portland plant, which occupies a half block of space, is the collecting center for all of the northwestern branches, which are at Spokane and Seattle, Washington; Billings and Missoula, Montana; Boise, Idaho; Salt Lake City, Utah; Reno, Nevada; Vancouver, British Columbia, and Calgary, Alberta. The present officers of Bissinger & Company are as follows: Newton Bissinger, president; Paul Bissinger, secretary, and Samuel Bissinger, manager for the northwest, at Portland. These gentlemen, with Herman Waldeck, of San Francisco, comprising the board of directors.

Samuel Bissinger was born in Bavaria, Germany, in 1874, and is a son of Max and Rose Bissinger, the former having passed away at the age of eighty-four years. Samuel Bissinger was reared in his native land, securing his educational training in the public schools, and in 1890, at the age of sixteen years, he came to the United States. He took a commercial course in Armstrong’s Business College, in Portland, and soon afterwards entered the employ of Bissinger & Company, with which concern he has been identified continuously since. For the past fifteen years he has been manager at Portland, in which capacity he has given a high type of service, devoting himself tirelessly to the interests of the business, which, under his capable management, has enjoyed a splendid measure of prosperity. Mr. Bissinger is a member of the Concordia Club, the Tualatin Country Club and the Portland Chamber of Commerce and ever since coming to this city has shown a commendable interest in its welfare and progress. His political support is given to the republican party. Personally he is a man of energetic manner, progressive ideas and up-to-date methods, is keen and discriminating in his judgment, and holds a high place in the estimation of all who are associated with him.

History of the Columbia River Valley – From The Dalles to the Sea
Volume III; Illustrated; The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago; 1928