2/5/45

Below is the first entry my father made in the journal. We were a family of four; I am Eugene Victor Edelstein ("Eugene", below), my sister is Silvia Edelstein Hines ("Sylvia", below), my mother was Lillian Miriam Edelstein nee Modelson ("Lillian", below), and my father, the writer of this journal, was Isidore Edelstein ("I", below). I intend to scan in images of some of the actual pages, along with my transcription of the pages. And I will follow some entries with some comment, in italics, as this is. The journal, itself, will be in plain text. 

On this historic day, as Eugene Victor enters the citadel of learning the Red Army is preparing to enter the citadel of World Fascism. Eugene's class is K.G. 1 Room 214 P.S. 86 Reservoir Ave. & 195 st. Teacher is Mrs. Lyston. He goes from 1 to 3 PM. What will Eugene turn out to be? Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief. Judging from the sounds that sometimes emanate from the playroom where he romps with sister Sylvia Louise the latter may well be his future vocation. However as he has already had experiences in taking Sylvia's and the dolly's temperatures and considering the mean line of reasoning he is capable of when he is determined to have his way, the first two possibilities are not to be ignored. Sylvia, a sweet little bundle not quite 2 1/2 years old is resting in her crib chattering away. The big news today is that Manila is ours again. Lillian went to see Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer in "Together Again".  When she got home, I went to see "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" with Spencer Tracy as General Doolittle. It shows the solidarity of Chinese and Americans against the common foe. A symbol of the future. I brought home "franks" and pastrami for supper. The mail brough a native straw tablecloth from Ernie Koslan in the ??? Mother called to ask if Eugene cried as I had done one the first school day. Of course not.

As is presumably obvious, this was my first day of school (kindergarten). My teacher, Mrs. Lyston, must have made a significant impression upon me, as I still remember her, but hardly any of my other elementary school teachers. 
Dad's style in this journal is consistent; family news intermixed with world (and local) news. As can be seen from the actual journal page, the end of the first page is not readable, but I believe that it was "South Pacific".