Henry Tieger

birth date is according to the circumcision record found in the online viennese jewish records which is attached in sources gives his address as Ausstellungsstrasse No. 19 (II. which means postal code 1020, Vienna) circumcised on April 5th

from taped recollections of Martha Tieger Cooper (MC) interviewed by her son Steve (SC)

MC:​Nah, that was very bad, the Verhältnisse [bad times]. [SC: The what?] We could not have much survived if at that time, we, and that I remember very well already, the letter came immediately from my two aunts, I had a wonderful aunt in Jersey, Tante Blumenfeld, and the three cousins. But the Tante, they had this little delicatessen store. And she was the one who sent Mama a letter, immediately she, they sent us immediately Liebespackete [care packages] after the war from America.

... the letter came from them: “I know that our brother died,” meaning my father, [SC: Hmm.] “in, in the war now, and, um, and we know that you have four sons. Why don’t you let two come here and we’ll get them good jobs, and, and they will start and then they can get their family, your family here.” And that’s how it happened. February ‘21. Well ‘til the, you know, the mail came, and the, ‘til Mama decided and that, ‘til they sent then the tickets, first of all, the boys didn’t have money for tickets to America. [SC: Mm-hmm.] And they came. And they came, went to America in February 1921. The first two boys. And it was, it was, uh, Rudolf and Siegfried. They were the first two, and they stayed with my aunt in Jersey. She gave ihnen [them] a nickel for the subway to go every day to New York, and, uh, that’s how they got into the restaurant business, because it was easy, you know, they had the food there. And they worked. And they made money right away. [SC: Mm-hmm.] So after a year they got Henry, they got Bernard instead of Henry and Henry then later, I think. Henry came as fourth one. And, uh, they, um, and, uh, they got an apartment for all four. They lived together, you know. And then they . . . .

SC:​You don’t have to worry about beschwering me, whatever that is. Well, don’t stop. Tell me something else that happened between the wars. How did Henry get into the taxi business?

MC:​Henry was a plumber, and an Installa, a plumber and an electrician. [SC: Mm-hmm.] Uh, and, uh, in, uh, but he became, in, in, uh, Vienna, uh, uh, he, he learned twice. Also Ernest, uh, had two times Lehrding [training] because there was no jobs to be gotten when they were finished with, uh, Lehrzeit [the time required for a training program]. [SC: Mm-hmm.] So they got to the other thing that they should be able to make electricity, too, not only plumbing.

SC:​How, how did he end up--knowing plumbing and electricity--how did he end up driving a cab?

MC:​Henry? [SC: Mm-hmm.] Probably, uh, like, like you did. All of a sudden, maybe, I don’t know. I don’t remember that. Excuse me I have to go. [SC: Mm-hmm.]