Barry S Halpern

The Three Lives of My Father: from Feivel Pitum to Philip Halpern Barry S Halpern

A Pitum Family History. This is my father's story, from his birth in Lithuania in 1915, his immigration to the US in 1934, service in WWII, his later writings, until his death in 1966. He died suddenly at the young age of 50, while I was an only child who had recently become a Bar Mitzvah. I knew almost nothing about him or his family until my search in earnest began in 2008. My growing interest in genealogy and several fortuitous genealogical finds led me to discover my father's story and his legacy to me and his grandchildren. In the book, I describe what I've learned about his life in three stages: as a young boy in Lithuania, as a single man acclimating to his new country and serving the United States during World War II, and as a married man working and supporting his family. In his later years, he was a prolific writer of editorials covering a wide range of subjects including Jewish education, race relations and anti-semitism. The fate of his parents and sisters during 1940 and 1941 are described, along with brief histories of the Lithuanian towns of Aukstadvaris and Stakliskes.