Dear Editor:
I am a lifelong resident of Union City and have always known it to be a “melting pot”; a place where the dreams and hopes of immigrants and refugees have, with hard work, true potential to become reality. This is why every time I pass by 35th street and Bergenline Avenue and see the sign “Teddy Greenbaum Way,” I feel especially moved. Some years ago, Mr. Greenbaum, a respected local businessman, told me his life story. As a teenager he was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp where he endured horrors beyond the average person’s comprehension. The stories he told me moved me to tears. After the war, still a teenager, alone in the world, he became a displaced person, working several minimum wage jobs at the same time in order to start anew and make a life for himself. He also told me he was going to take part in a Holocaust Remembrance project where survivors were interviewed so people would never forget what had happened.
It is a wondrous testament to the human spirit that this man even retained his sanity, much less made such a success of his life. As Mayor Brian Stack said, {this man} “has overcome many obstacles, to say the least.” Teddy Greenbaum is a sterling example of courage and hard work overcoming tragedy, bigotry and horror. He is an excellent role model for the “melting pot” residents of Union City, especially the young, and it is so very fitting that 35th and Bergenline has been designated “Teddy Greenbaum Way.”
Jane Pedler