1635-15 Anti-Semitism ~ ' ~= _ = -- - �
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RANK 1 OF 1 , PAGE 1 OF 11 , DB H83
TUE MAY 31 1983 ED: FINAL
SECTION: LIVING TODAY PAGE: 1E LENGTH: 2243 LONG
ILLLB'T: photo: Star Island , Joan and Gerald Robins , Ruth and
Theodore Struhl : map: Star Island
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SOURCE: LAURA MISCH Herald Staff Writer
DATELINE:
MEMO: '
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STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT: STAR ISLAND
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From the start " Star Island attracted its share of weirdos.
While scandalized neighbors shrank behind their hedges in •
distaste, Col . Ned Green openly kept a harem in his home in the
1920s.
Almost 60 years later, a cocky young Saudi Arabian sheik
descended on the oval-shaped island and started building a
small palace -- complete with prayer mosque and bowling alley.
Mohammed Al-Fassi skipped town last year , leaving behind his
unfinished Shangri -La and a pile of unpaid debts. The city of
Miami Beach now has taken steps to demolish the estate.
-
Island residents, though they yearn for privacy and pay ,,or
dearly for it , are forced nevertheless to live a kind of
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RANK 1 OF 1 , PAGE 10 OF 11 , DB H83
in annual oroperty taxes.
Island residents voted to become a special taxing district
in 1981 to pay for 24-hour security. Before then , a guard manned
` the gatehouse only at night. He was paid by residents who
donated to a common fund. Some residents didn ' t pay at all .
Now, a gate bars entry to the island. The guard is supposed
to ask visitors their destination and take down license numbers.
.
But security is inconsistent -- a reporter was casually waved
through on the first visit , stopped the second time, and waved
through the third time after the guard came out of the
gatehouse for ,ia quick look. '
"That ' s not supposed to happen , " said Struhl . Most of the
homes on Star Island , he said , have elaborate security systems.
But incidents do occur . The sheik 's abandoned property has been
vandalized and thieves have made off with construction
equipment. ^
And once, more than 20 years ago, a Star Island home was
"papered. " Thousands df feet of toilet tissue were strung
through the trees 'and draped over the house. ,
"We did it for
revenge, " said Carla*Roth , *33r a former ormer
"island kid. " She grew /up in No. 14 , which is now being
renovated by new owners/. Her father ,*Burnett*Roth ,*a former vice
RANK 1 OF 1 , PAGE 11 OF 11 , DB H83
' mayor of Miami Beach , sold it last year after his wife died.
• _ "We used to hide in the dump , " she said, referring to the
island ' s compot heap where gardeners would take lawn clippings.
'Some people wanted the dump removed, so a bunch of us
'sneaked out and met there one night. And we papered those'
oeoples ' house. " The dump was taken out anyway. `
" I never felt isolated on the .
island, "*Roth*said " It was
just a big family; all the kids knew each other. We played with
all the kids on Hibiscus and Palm Island , too. "
Her father also had fond memories.
"At Christmastime there were always the best parties, " he
said. "Once, Mrs. Hecht rented a bus and took the whole island
off to Flagler Dog Track for the afternoon . "
Star Island has always been the foremost living area in .
South Florida, " he said, "Nothing compares with it. Nothing. "
"You. know. it 's funny, " said Struhl as he cruised around the
island in his new convertible. " If you went around this island
asking for cash, the most you 'd get is a couple hundred dollars.
• But if they wrote you a check , they could write you one for
millions. "
ADDED profile star island mi
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RANK 1 OF 3, PAGE 1 OF 3, DB H85 .
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THU JUN 20 1985 ED: FINAL
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: 2D LENGTH: 07. 15" SHORT .
lLLUST: photo: *Burnett*ROTH*
SOURCE: BRIAN DUFFY Herald Staff Writer
DATELINE: •
MEMO:
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BAR SUSPENDS TWO DADE LAWYERS
A former Miami Beach city councilman and an attorney once
indicted for soliciting business from accident victims have been
--suspended from practicing law, the Florida .Bar announced.
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*Burnett*Roth ,*former vice mayor of Miami Beach, was
suspended last week by the court on his 74th birthdaY. *Roth*took
| $80"874 for his own use from the estate of a Miami couple with
whom he had been friendly for many years, the Supreme Court
found.
"Fifty-two years of, practice and this is the only complaint
ever made, "*Roth*said Wednesday. " It wasn 't that 1 took their
' funds. I commingled them, and I acknowledge that. That was the
RANK 1 OF 3, PAGE 2 OF 3, DB H85
difficulty. " .
The Supreme Court also suspended Miami Beach attorney J .
Leonard Diamond , who was convicted earlier this year of
conspiracy andive counts of mail fraud resulting from the sale .
and „five
leases. More than 10 000 people lost
of worthless oil andgas ,
$56 million in the scheme, prosecutors said. Diamond was
sentenced to two years in prison.
In 1965, Diamond was charged with illegally hustling .
business from accident victims as ��rt of a state attorney s
investigation of "ambulance chasing” by local lawyers. The
charges were dropped when a judge ruled that the state law
prohibiting ambulance chasing was unconstitutional . `
*Roth ,*a prominent civil attorney active in many charities,
has represented many peddle for free. He was suspended for three
years , but plans to ask Lor reinstatement in three months, he
said. He has paid all the money back to the estate but was
ordered to pay another $12,500 for the cost of the Bar
/ investigation.
- Diamond was suspended indefinitely from practicing law, but
is appealing hit conviction for mail fraud and conspiracy. If he
prevails, he too could apply for re-admission to the Bar.
"He feels the appeal will besuccessful , " said Diamond 's
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RANK 2 OF 2, PAGE 1 OF 7 , DB H85
MON FEB 18 1985 ED: FINAL �
SECTION: LIVING TODAY PAGE: 1C LENGTH: 41 . 65" LONG
I ILLUST: photo: Miami Beach , Carl Fisher (n) ; map: shifts in
the jewish population
• SOURCE: SANDI WISENBERG Herald Staff Writer
DATELINE:
MEMO: A HERALD 75 SALUTE TO SOUTH FLORIDA 'S HERITAGE
: : : : : : : ; : : : : . . . . . . . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : . . . . .
MIAMI BEACH GENTILES ONLY THE EARLY YEARS
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The story of anti-Semitism on Miami Beach is an ugly one,
and one the Beach is anxious to forget; but to ignore it would
miss'the-whole flavor of the town , for as sure as God made ... --
little green apples it was anti-Semitism that in the long run
was to change the Beach from a small , socially second-rate WASP
resort to the gayest , richest Jewish city in the world.
Polly Redford , Billion-Dollar Sandbar: A biography of Miami
Beach , 1970. .
Miami Beach? Anti-Semitic? A place where Jews were
excluded? Miami Beach , where Jews make up 70 percent of the -0NN , ^^ -- ......, ...o -..-~~-~+= = ��-1 i np from 1975? The Beach. n ^A
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' ` MON FEB 18 1985 ED: FINAL '
SECTION: LIVING TODAY PAGE: 1C LENGTH: 41 . 65" LONG
ILLUST: photo: Miami Beach , Carl Fisher (n) ; mao: shifts in
the jewish population
SOURCE: SANDl WISENBERG Herald Staff Writer
DATELINE:
MEMO: A HERALD 75 SALUTE TO SOUTH FLORIDA 'S HERITAGE
, . . ~ . . . . . . . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . : . . . . . : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : ; : : ;
MIAMI BEACH GENTILES ONLY THE EARLY YEARS
The story of anti-Semitism on Miami Beach is an ugly one,
and one the Beach is anxious to forget: but to ignore it would .
a~—''-miss-the whole flavor of the town , for as sure as• God made
little green apples it was anti-Semitism that in the long run
was to change the Beach from a small , socially second-rate WASP
resort to the gayest , richest Jewish city in the world.
Polly Redford , Billion-Dollar Sandbar: A biography of Miami
8eachiy. 1970.
Miami Beach? Anti-Semitic? A place where Jews were
excluded? Miami Beach , where Jews make up 70 percent of the l ‘
population, which represents a decline from 1975? The Beach 0 �/�
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RANK 2 OF 2, PAGE 2 OF 7 , DB H85 -P=
home to one-third of all the Jews in Dade County?
Yes.
Sixty-five years ago Carl Fisher , the so-called midwife o+
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Miami Beach , who dredged the mosquito—Filled mangrove and
palmetto 'swamps and provided the cash to finish the first bridge
to the mainland , had decided that Jews would tarnish his piece
of the island. '
"We don 't want Miami Beach to ever become a Jewish outfit
-- it would not only ruin the Hotel but ruin the property
kl . . . " he wrote in 1920.
Early Jewish families lived on South Beach , south of 15th
Street and east of Washington Avenue. That area was developed by
the Lummus brothers, who were Southerners, and who discriminated
•
against blacks. They sold land to anyone who was "white and
law-abiding.^"
Fisher excluded most Jews from buying his real estate and
staying in his luxury hotels north of Lincoln Road: (Other major
landowners, the Quaker John Collins and his son-in-law Thomas
Pancoast , and Newton Roney had the same policies, but their
thoughts on the subject are less well-known. ) Fisher articulated
his prejudices in letters now housed in the Historical Museum of
Southern Florida; a.-Few choice ones are on display at a
IRANK 2 OF 2' PAGE 3 OF 7, DB H85 traveling exhibit th` e on Jewish life in America, which opens
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today.
But to understand the exclusion of Jews that operated on
such a grand scale on Miami Beach , you must go back to 1877. At
that time, author Redford wrote in her book , the majority of
- Jews in America were successful businessmen , a number were
middle-clasg' refugees from Germany 's ill-fated 1848 revolution
and those who
had left home for religiOus freedom. They enjoyed `nearly
complete social acceptance, she writes. ,
Then the Grand Union Hotel at Saratoga Springs, N. Y. ,
turned away prominent Jewish banker Jdseph Seligman and his
'family. The Seligman incident was a landmark. Mark Twain and
Oliver Wendell Holmes protested it.
In 1880, the great wave of immigration began , bringing
Jews from Eastern Europe and other foreigners who aroused the
prejudices and fears of native-born Americans. By 1887, Jews and
other groups were barred from resorts in the Catskills and
Adirondacks. By 1910, restrictive clauses prevented Jews from
certain residential neighborhoods and clubs.
Carl Fisher was only practicing the prejudice of the day.
It was "middle-western narrowness, " says John Rothchild , the
RANK 2 OF 2, PAGE 4 OF 7, DB H85
aut,hor Up For Grabs, a history of Florida land speculators. And ,
like many bigots, he made exceptions.
Fisher sold land to Jews who proved they were the "right
' kind , " writes Harold Mehling in The Most of Everything: The
Story of Miami Beach. They included John Hertz , founder of the .
Yellow Cab empire and Albert Lasker , head: of the U. S. Shipping
• Board during the Harding• administration. However , Fisher turned
down a $40,000 oceanfront sale to "a Hebrew" who was "not the
desirable kind. " •
He allowed Julius Fleischmann of the yeast company to play
polo with him (Fleischmann died of a heart attack after
dismounting from a polo pony) but did not let him inside his
clubhouse. He wrote letters admitting certain Jews, such as
Bernard Gimbel of department store fame, to stay at Fisher 's
Flamingo Hotel . '
In 1927 Harry Klein of Peoria, who had not been allowed to
play golf on Fisher ' s links, wrote Fisher that , "Christ , who was
a friend of the poor and lowly and not the rich, he could not
buy at your end of Miami Beach nor would he be allowed to play
golf because he was a poor Jew. " Fisher responded by saying some
of his own friends were Jewish , and invited Klein to call on him
the next time he journeyed to the Beach. both letters are in the
RANK 2 OF 2, PAGE 5 OF 7, DB H85
Historical Museum 's collection.
However , Fisher did not allow U. S. Circuit Court Judge
- ' . - . . -- ,_ a -a �. -..4 -+=, =+ hi = 1::1 --4minnn Hotel .
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Bernard Gimbel of department store fame, to stay at Fisher ' e .
^ FlaMingo Hotel .
In 1927 Harry Klein of Peoria, who had not been allowed to
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' ' lay golf on Fisher 's links, wrote Fisher that , "Christ , who was '
a friend of the poor and lowly and not the rich, he could not
buy at your end of Miami Beach nor would he be allowed to play
golf because he was a poor Jew. " Fisher responded by saying some
of his own friends were Jewish , and invited Klein to call on him
the next time he journeyed to the Beach. Both letters are in the
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RANK 2 OF 2, PAGE 5 OF 7, DB H85
Historical Museum 's collection. '
However , Fisher did not allow U. S. Circuit Court Judge
Julian Mack , who was Jewish, to register at his Flamingo Hotel . '
' In general , public sentiment agreed with Fisher. During the .
boom era in the 1920s, feeling in South Florida turned against
land speculators known as "binder boys" who placed binders or
deposits on parcels of land and sold them again and again for
profit. Many of the "binder boys" were Jewish , according to
Malvina and Seymour Liebman 's Jewish Frontiersmen: Historical
Highlights of Early South Florida Jewish Communities.
D4ring that era, the Ku Klux Klan marched in full regalia.
Some cars carried plates that said , "It ' s Always Jew 'n in
Miami , " a take-off on the tourism slogan, " It 's always June in
Miami . "
Given this climate of prejudice, why did Jews keep coming
to Miami Beach?
The area was growing too quickly to controt, Redford^ ~~ '
ill
believes This made Miami Beach more attractive to Jews than
other parts of the United States. By the 1930s, some Miami Beach
hotels were offering kosher meals.
At +�.,7 same time, more Jews were moving to the Beach
- some of them, because they had vacationed there, and despite
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RANK 2 OF 2, PAGE 6 OF 7, DB H85
exclusion on portions of the Beach , liked it. As more Jews
arrived, anti-Semitism increased , fueled in the '30s by rising .
Nazism in Europe. German sailors painted swastikas on Jewish-
owned businesses on Flagler Street. Hoteliers and apartment
owners put up signs and printed exclusionary brochures.
According to a random study in the '30s conducted by lawyer
*Burnett*Roth ,i*who helped found a chapter of the Anti-Defamation .
League on the Beach, 65 percent of Beach hotels discriminated
against Jews.
World War II helped break the barriers as U. S. military men
of all backgrounds filled the hotels and apartments. After the
war ,*Roth*and other ex-servicemen. met with the managers of
apartments and hotels that contained the restricted signs and
urged them to remove the signs. By 1947, nearly half the
permanent population on the Beach was Jewish , many of them `
servicemen who had enjoyed their site of duty.
Irwin Sawitz , t ' d-generation owner of Joe 's Stone Crabs,
who arrived on the Bea�h 50 years ago, remembers expecting
fights when the Beach High basketball team played games in the *
late '40s. He remembers seeing the restrictive signs on hotels
and apartments.
• _ In 1949, the Beach city council passed an ordinance
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' sponsored by a-Presbyterian cokincilman to ban signs that `said '
such things as, "Gentiles only. No dogs, " and "Every Room with a ,
View Without a Jew. "
Sawitz ' s father-in-law Jesse Weiss-doesn 't recall the .
signs. " I think people accepted us as we were, " says Weiss, who
arrived on the Beach at age 5 in 1913. " I didn 't go places that
I knew I wasn 't welcome. "
Soon the Beach became a Jewish resort city. Hoteliers aimed .
their promotion at cities with large Jewish communities,
appealing , says Mehling , to a "built-in market. " And yet , some
hotels still discriminated aganst Jews in the 1950s. Jews were
still excluded from buying some property.
In 1959 the Florida Supreme Court ruled that Sunset Island
No. 2 could not prohibit land sale to a Jew. But though much of
the power structure on Miami Beach is Jewish , discrimination
against Jews continues there and in neighboring communities. The
Bal Harbour , Surf , Indian Creek and LaGorce clubs have no Jewish
members.
ADDED TERMS: mh series history
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