12018-05-07T23:58:46+00:00Samuel Goldwyn1plain2018-05-07T23:58:46+00:00Schmuel Gelbfisz was born in Warsaw in 1879. He was the eldest child of Hannah and Aaron David Gelbfisz, who were Hasidic Jews. The Gelbfisz family of eight lived in two rooms of an apartment, in a poor neighborhood, with crowded buildings and streets.
When food became scarce, Schmuel would be sent to his wealthy grandparents. Gelbfisz's grandfather would become a male role model as the years passed, shaping Schmuel Gelbfisz into a stern and manipulative individual. When Schmuel was just two years old, a mob attacked Jews for three days in his hometown, plundering around fifteen hundred Jewish stores, businesses, and residences in the streets. As the years went by, antisemitism grew in Warsaw along with the Jewish population, ballooning in 1897 to 349,943.
Just two years prior, at the age of 16, feeling there was nothing left for him in Warsaw, Schmuel packed up, and left for the Port of Hamburg on foot. The journey for Schmuel Gelbfisz was just beginning. By the time the future mogul became successful in the Hollywood Film Industry, Schmuel became known as Samuel Goldwyn.
