with a grin .
That ’ s the way things were , according to Silverberg . There may have been innocent cultural misunderstandings from time to time , but there was never any real friction between Corsicana ’ s Jewish and non-Jewish citizens . In fact , no one I spoke with who remembers Corsicana ’ s Jewish heyday could recall a single instance of anti-Semitism , a rarity for a southern town in that era , especially one in which the Ku Klux Klan operated openly .
“ When people really and truly like each other , the differences don ’ t make a difference ,” says Silverberg . “ And the people in Corsicana really and truly liked each other .”
To be sure , the Wolenses were well liked and respected . The K . Wolens store brought needed jobs to Corsicana , while the family itself contributed millions of dollars and hours upon hours of service to a number of Navarro County causes . And that legacy continues today . The Kalman and Ida Wolens Foundation still awards funds to non-profits like the North Texas Food Bank , and Wolens descendants still rank among prominent Texas citizens , like Kalman ’ s great-grandson Steve Wolens , who served in the Texas House of Representatives .
As the years went on , though , Corsicana ’ s flourishing Jewish population dwindled . In some ways it was a victim of its own success . The older generations of Jewish residents prospered and sent their children away to college . Those kids , in turn , found careers in larger cities , opting not to return home . According to the Goldring / Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life , between 1968 and 1978 there were 38 funerals in the Corsicana Jewish community and only three births . In his later years , Bud Silverberg ’ s brother , Herb , told a Jewish visitor to Corsicana that he had been the youngest person in the Agudas Achim congregation when he was a kid . “ And now I ’ m 85 and I ’ m still the youngest ,” Herb continued , a humorous assessment of the state of the community by that time .
12 Explore Corsicana | Summer 2022