Mass family papers

Moses Mass (1903-1967) was born on 10 May 1903 in Bialystok, Poland to Samuel Mass (b. 1879) and Dora Padriski (b. 1887). His parents married in Odessa, Russia in 1900 and they moved to Bialystok. Moses had one brother, Hyman (b. circa 1904).

Dina Mass (1906-1970) was born Dina Karp on 15 May 1906 in Lublin, Poland to Joseph Karp (b. 1884) and Rose Altman (b. 1885). Her parents were married in 1903. Dina had one brother, Aaron.

In 1927, Dina’s brother was sent by their parents to live in the Netherlands. Dina joined him in 1929. Dina and Jack met in the Netherlands and married in 1930. They secured visas in 1932 and immigrated to Barbados. They had four children: Doris (b. 1932), Helen (b. 1934), Sam (b. 1936), and Jack (b. 1939). Moses opened the Russia Store, a dry goods store and bar in Bridgetown. In 1943 the Mass family moved to Georgetown, British Guiana (Guyana) where Moses worked with his brother-in-law Aaron Karp at his lumber company. Around 1947 Aaron sold his lumber company and Moses briefly worked in Venezuela. In 1948 the family applied for visas to immigrate to the United States. Moses’s brother Hyman had previously immigrated to the US and sponsored Dina. The Mizrachi Organization of America sponsored Moses and their children, and they arrived in the US on 22 June 1949. They family settled in Borough Park, Brooklyn. Moses and Dina moved to Miami in 1959. Their son Jack worked for Paramount Pictures after high school, and after receiving his bachelors’ degree from the University of Miami in 1965 he moved to New York to work in advertising.