Rose Klapper (Rosa)

Rosa Marcovici was born in Jasi, Romania on January 1, 1900. In Jasi the first baby born in the New Year was given lots of gifts, etc. and written up in the newspapers. However, since Rosa was Jewish, the city didn't want a Jew to be their first New Year (and turn of the century) baby. So they made her birth certificate read that she was born at the end of 1899. But her mother Gisella said that as she was giving birth to Rosa, she heard the bells chiming in the New Year. There was much anti-semitism in Romania.

When the Marcovici lived in Jasi, their names were Rosa, Gisella, and Huna, Rosa's father. When they came to America, they changed their names from Marcovici to Markowitz, from Gisella to Gussie, and from Rosa to Rose.