Oscar Altshuler: 

“Mr. Zionism”

Born in Russia in August of 1889, Oscar was the son of Reb Meyer and Pearl Altshuler. The family changed names from Zaliavansky to Altshuler to avoid military conscription. The new last name was appropriate as it translated literally to “old scholar” and Reb Meyer was a noted Hebrew scribe and educator. He moved his family when Oscar was still a young boy to Tomashov to establish a private day school that taught both the traditional secular fields in addition to Hebrew and Judaic studies.   

As a staunch Zionist and nationalist, Oscar remembers his father using the school for “illegal” extra-curricular activities. Apparently aware that the government would be coming for him, Oscar’s father and one brother fled to Germany “on business” where they eventual found passage to America. The rest of the family was unaware until uniformed officials came looking for Reb Meyer. A few years later, the rest of the family fled to Germany and then to America where they were reunited with Reb Meyer and son, Ed, in Akron, Ohio. At the age of ten, his family moved to Youngstown to be with his sister who had recently married Louis Ozersky.

Driven to succeed in business, Oscar and his brother Ed eventually started Albro Packing Company, a food packaging venture that grew to serve five states. However, Oscar’s most notable work and legacy are most closely linked to the Zionist movement in Youngstown. With his father as his role model, he was dedicated to the promotion of the Zionist ideals. The Altshuler family made significant contributions to the progress of the movement in Youngstown by establishing several groups. Reb Meyer had organized Degel Tzion (Flag of Zion) in Youngstown while Oscar and his brother Joseph created the Sons and Daughters of Zion. Oscar believed that in order to achieve the goal of a Jewish homeland that Zionism had to be strengthened politically. He was a member of the “Kitchen Cabinet” and helped to bring several prominent speakers to the area to encourage support. At the time of his death in 1989, at the age of 100, he was still considered “Mr. Zionism.”[1]   

Oscar Altshuler at the Tower of David Palestine 1933. Acc. No.  JA89-500P-33, MVHS Collection.

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