Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg
Hunter Graduation
June, 1942
Esther told her second husband an interesting anecdote.
Bella Abzug (nee "Bella Savitsky" at Hunter), was
fundraising for worthy political causes. During World
War II, money was needed to help the victims of the
Fascists, thus there were many worthy political causes
for such donations. Bella asked students to donate
money obtained from selling their text books. Esther,
while agreeing that these were worthy causes, felt
imposed upon as she needed the money obtained from
selling her text books to buy more books the next
semester. Such views made Esther feel defensive,
especially as she was viewed as the daughter of a
"Capitalist".
Recall that Esther's father owned his own printing shop, thus
was classified as a "parasitic", wealthy "Capitalist",
although no one worked for him, and his income was barely
enough to feed his family.
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