First Moscow Office Granted to a Jew

A Story My Father Told Me

In the begining of the 20th century, when my late father, Adam Engel, was just about twenty years old, he attended a technical school in Germany. I am not certain, but believe it may have been the Technikum in Nuremberg (Nuernberg).

Being an excellent and passionate chess player, he belonged to the local chess club. A fellow student and my father's best friend was also an avid chess player. My father and his friend were, in fact, the top players in the club.

Adam Engel, about 1912

The friend was the son of a wealthy and well-known German industrialist, who enthusiastically supported his son's interest in chess. The industrialist sponsored a chess tournament with a rather unusual prize for the top award. His company had just obtained a patent for a new, multicolored technique for making decalcomanias (decals, in German: Abziehbilder). This is a process by which a picture is printed in reverse onto a medium (such as a special paper) from which it can be easily transferred to another medium not readily amenable to printing (e.g., glass). The winner of the chess tournament would gain the exclusive license to market this new product in the European country of his choice. Naturally, he hoped his son would be the tournament winner. My father, however, won the tournament.

Then the big discussion was which European country my father would choose for his exclusive license. Financially speaking, the most obvious choices were Germany, France, or England and my father was fluent in all three languages. An exclusive license for this product in any of these countries would set the owner up for the rest of his life. Yet, my father elected to take a little time to make up his mind. Being young, quite idealistic, and devoid of materialistic ambitions, he had a totally different idea.

My father had been raised in Russian-occupied Poland. He remembered the many hours of labor used just to paint the Russian double-headed eagle on each side of railroad carriages. He was also very aware of the many rules discriminating against Jews in Russian cities, especially Moscow. He viewed his award as an opportunity for change. He went to Russia to promote the decal concept to the Russian railways. They were immediately sold on the idea. My father's terms were, however, somewhat unusual. His first condition was a special office in Moscow. This was no problem; but he also insisted that it be under his name: Adam Engel. This required that it be granted to him, a Jew, openly and legally. This would be the first Jewish man to have this privilege. The enormity of this demand became clear because to complete such a transaction the Russian railroad was forced to get permission from the Tsar! After many months of negotiations, Russia permitted my father to open an office in Moscow - the first office legally granted to a Jew. After concluding these negotiations my father returned to Germany and declared to every one's surprise, that he had chosen Russia as the country for his exclusive license.

Alas, I do not remember the date the office opened, but it remained open only a few years until the advent of World War I. One of my greatest memories is listening to my father tell this story, and the pride he had in the changes he accomplished for the Jews of Moscow.