Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Profile: Charles Steinmetz

http://www.jewornotjew.com/profile.jsp?ID=2063

8 comments:

  1. Wait, how is he not a Barely, being 100% ethnic Jew?
    Besides, he never really practiced Christianity. I say, Borderline, even.

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  2. Absolutely no evidence he is Jewish. It's widely reported, but looks to be a mistake. Just like Boris Rosing, Philippe Reis, etc.

    https://books.google.ca/books?id=70I5ZKOYW_QC&pg=PT16&dq=Charles+Steinmetz+lutheran&hl=en&sa=X&ei=9kNlVfXmMMfbsAThg4PADQ&ved=0CDIQ6AEwBw

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    1. Ronald Kline's biography states that the American Jewish community mistakenly thought he was Jewish because if his surname "Steinmetz".

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  3. Looks like a Jew, thinks like a Jew, jokes like a Jew (with Henry Ford, whom he took for $10,000 to analyze a problem) and was a Socialist to boot.
    But you know better. Fuhr gezunderheit!

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    1. Charles Steinmetz does not look Jewish at all. He looks like a 19th century German intellectural like David Hilbert and Wilhelm Ostwald

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  4. The above link to the book "Credo" in which Steinmetz states that his upbringing in his family as 'nominal Lutherans', does not necessarily prove that he was not ethically Jewish, since many European Jewish families converted for practical reasons (Gustav Mahler comes to mind...). The fact that he was born in Breslau, was a socialist and had to flee Germany after writing a critical article against the German Bismarck gov't, was interested in mathematics and physics, was friendly with Einstein... are all interesting and potentially relevant clues...
    Among other places, Steinmetz is listed in the "American Jewish Desk Reference" (published by THe American Jewish Historical Society, Random House, 1999).
    Here are some other links that state that his father was Jewish, though these are not primary sources.
    http://www.koshergoldfish.com/charles_proteus_steinmetzs_patent.html
    http://www.ancientfaces.com/surname/stiltner-family-history/20331
    http://jbuff.com/c090408.htm
    http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/this-day-in-jewish-history/.premium-1.651073
    http://jewishcurrents.org/october-26-the-wizard-of-schenectady-3002

    Besides, check out this story of Chutzpah, "One legendary Steinmetz tale involves his being called in by Henry Ford to analyze why a giant generator had failed. After observing the generator for two full days and nights, he put a chalk mark on it indicating where the problem was situated, and explained what needed to be done. He then presented Ford with a bill for $10,000. Ford, taken aback by the sum, asked Steinmetz to itemize the bill. Steinmetz did just that, and soon handed him a paper on which he had written: 1. Making chalk mark: $1. 2. Knowing where to make chalk mark: $9,999. Ford paid up."

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  5. Right, that's why we left I 1, just in case. Maybe needs to upgrade to "Barely a Jew", too.

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    Replies
    1. The current Wikipedia entry on Charles Steinmetz states that he came from an "ethnically-Jewish" family. If this is not true, shouldn't this be corrected ?

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