http://www.thesweetscience.com/columnists/joe-rein/1696-jack-kid-berg-this-is-the-guy
from http://www.stgite.org.uk/media/cablestreet.html
Jewish Boxers: Ted 'Kid' Lewis aka 'The Aldgate Sphinx' and 'The Yiddisher Wonderman' & Jack(ie) Kid Berg - aka 'Yiddle' and 'The Whitechapel Windmill'
Boxing was one of the few possible routes to fame for deprived urban boys, and a channel for the energies of Jewish lads, drawn by anti-Semitic taunts into street fighting.
Though from an Orthodox Jewish family (his parents were emigrants from Odessa and originally opposed his career as a sell-out to goyische midos, or heathen morals), he was not observant, but boxed with a Star of David on his trunks, and put on tefillin before his fights, partly to court the Jewish punters - especially when he was fighting Italian or Irish-American opponents - and also because he was somewhat superstitious. As one commentator put it, he knew it couldn't hurt to have God on your side.
Elliott Tucker's 2007 film Ghetto Warriors (viewable online) tells the tale of the phenomenon of the Jewish boxers of the East End. Other Jewish boxing clubs in the area were Oxford and St George's and 'The Hutch'.
'The Hutch'
In 1872 a Jewish Working Men's Club & Lads' Institute had been founded by the Jewish Association for the Diffusion of Religious Knowledge, with a reading room and lecture hall at Hutchison House, Hutchison Street, Aldgate; Samuel Montagu was President. Becoming independent two years later, they added a library, games, entertainments and other club features for 400 members of both sexes. In 1883, a purpose-built club for 1,500 was built in Great Alie Street, with a Lads' Institute for boys between 14 and 20. Membership continued to increase; the Lads' Institute returned to Hutchison Street, and in 1892 the Great Alie Street premises were enlarged at a cost of £4,000. By 1905 there were 975 members, and the Hutchison House Clubwas created by the Rothschild family in conjunction with Max Bonn (1877-1938, an American-born merchant banker, later Sir Max Bonn KBE) and Frank Goldsmith MP, based at Camperdown House, in Half Moon Passage. (In 1915 they offered these premises to the government for war work; in the 1920s, social work conferences were held here.)
It thus became one of several local agencies committed to encouraging young people to combine loyalty to faith and citizenship - see below for another example - particularly through sport ('the sunshine of manly sports and pastimes'). It was also the HQ of the Jewish Lads' and Girls' Brigade (in some rivalry with Jewish scout troops). When the club closed, administrative activities transferred to north London; in more recent times, it has funded a London University research fellowship: see Sharman Kadish A Good Jew and a Good Englishman (Vallentine Mitchell 1995). Pictured is present-day Camperdown House, an office block at 6 Braham Street.
'The Hutch'
The People's Arcade was built at the top of Backchurch Lane around 1906 on the site of a former fish market, and was a centre of immigrant life and activity. When licensed in 1910, it had a seating capacity of 748. In 1918 it showed a Yiddish version of a silent film about the Russian Revolution, Di Royz fun Blut (The Rose of Blood); the film is presumed lost, but as one reviewer said, Theda Bara played a spy who wrecks hearts, railroad trains, slays one after another and concludes the fifth reel by blowing up the peace cabinet, which includes her husband.
Early on it was renamed Premierland, and it incorporated a boxing ring, where many East End boxers began their careers, many of them Jewish (among them Jack 'Kid' Berg). It was dilapidated by the 1930s - by when most boxing venues had become grander in style and scale. In the 1960s, a New Premierland boxing venue was based at Poplar Baths. The old building became a warehouse.
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/31503
Wonderland 100 Whitechapel Road
Wonderland was built in 1880 on the site of the New London Theatre, which had burnt down the year before. The architect was a Mr Hudson. Originally a theatre for Yiddish plays. It was used as a cinema for several years until about 1916 when it became a drill and boxing hall. It was destroyed by fire and the 'Rivoli' was built on the site.
Oxford & St George's Club
Basil Henriques founded the Oxford & St George's Club in Cannon Street Road in 1914, a few months before the start of the First World War. Its name came from Henriques's university, Oxford, and from the area in the East End where it was situated, the parish of St George's.
Oxford & St George's began as a boys' club, but Rose Loewe, one of the club helpers, soon became director of a new club for girls. In 1917 Rose married Basil Henriques, and in 1919 they founded the St George's Jewish Settlement. The Settlement, in Betts Street, housed both the boys' and girls' clubs, and Basil and Rose Henriques lived on the premises. They were affectionately known as 'The Gaffer' and 'The Missus'.
The clubs provided social and educational activities such as sport, drama, ballet, and first aid classes, and held annual summer camps, which gave many children their only opportunities to go on holiday.
In 1929, the Oxford and St George's clubs moved to a former school building in Berner Street (now Henriques Street), Whitechapel. The move was funded by Bernhard Baron, a cigarette manufacturer, and on 9 April 1929 the new institution formally opened as the Bernhard Baron Settlement. It catered for Jewish needs from the cradle to the grave, providing amongst other things a clinic for expectant mothers, a kindergarten, youth clubs, religion classes, adult activities, free legal advice and a burial scheme.
In 1973 when the clubs moved to Totteridge in north London and became a youth and community centre, the settlement was sold. This reflected a wider demographic change in London's Jewish community. Most Jewish people had moved away from the East End after the Second World War, into Hackney and then eventually further north into suburbs such as Edgware and Golders Green.
Oxford & St George's began as a boys' club, but Rose Loewe, one of the club helpers, soon became director of a new club for girls. In 1917 Rose married Basil Henriques, and in 1919 they founded the St George's Jewish Settlement. The Settlement, in Betts Street, housed both the boys' and girls' clubs, and Basil and Rose Henriques lived on the premises. They were affectionately known as 'The Gaffer' and 'The Missus'.
The clubs provided social and educational activities such as sport, drama, ballet, and first aid classes, and held annual summer camps, which gave many children their only opportunities to go on holiday.
In 1929, the Oxford and St George's clubs moved to a former school building in Berner Street (now Henriques Street), Whitechapel. The move was funded by Bernhard Baron, a cigarette manufacturer, and on 9 April 1929 the new institution formally opened as the Bernhard Baron Settlement. It catered for Jewish needs from the cradle to the grave, providing amongst other things a clinic for expectant mothers, a kindergarten, youth clubs, religion classes, adult activities, free legal advice and a burial scheme.
In 1973 when the clubs moved to Totteridge in north London and became a youth and community centre, the settlement was sold. This reflected a wider demographic change in London's Jewish community. Most Jewish people had moved away from the East End after the Second World War, into Hackney and then eventually further north into suburbs such as Edgware and Golders Green.
'Ghetto Warriors' The phenomenon of East End Jewish Boxers (Elliot Tucker, 2007)
http://elliotttucker.com/page12.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCF36yKvisI&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn1SUy2Y6_c&feature=related
Back to Saarf.. Thomas A'Beckett history
http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/england/greater-london/hauntings/the-thomas-a-beckett-public-house.html
http://www.southlondonguide.co.uk/bermondsey/thomasabecket.htm
http://www.noliasgallery.com/nolias_about.htm
Currently
http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/pubsandbars/thomas-a-becket-gallery-271301.html