History; Before Gan Yisroel New York….

Klein’s Hillside

By Shmully Blesofsky

(Parksville, New York) 

In the early 20th century, numerous Jewish immigrants who had made New York City their home sought refuge from the sweltering, unairconditioned urban environment and the pervasive antisemitism that barred them from mainstream hotels outside the city. As a result, Jewish-owned inns and hotels began cropping up in Sullivan and Ulster counties, specifically designed to accommodate Jewish travelers with kosher cuisine and a hospitable environment.

One such establishment emerged in Parksville, New York, situated along Route 17. Despite its humble beginnings, this inn played a role in the burgeoning area scene that would later be known as the Borscht Belt. Today, we recognize this property as our beloved “Camp Gan Yisroel,” but we now delve into its history when “Klein’s Hillside” was built.  

Around 1900 a man by the name of Louis Klein purchased property in Sullivan County, near the town of Parksville, New York. Initially called The High Hillside Farm House, Klein’s establishment functioned as an inn for people to stay at his farmhouse. This inn was one of several Jewish establishments which opened up in Parksville. During the year the Klein’s  lived on the Lower East Side. His wife’s name was Rebbeca Moskowitz and he had two sons Nathan and Hyman Klein. They took over the hotel when their father passed away in 1922. 

The Hebrew Standard, June 1907: The inn started off as a farm, and Louis Klein apparently worked at a butcher shop. Most of his patrons were Yiddish speakers who lived in New York City. To book a room back then, you would need to stop by the butcher shop at 79 Christie St on the Lower East Side. (Yiddish: Strictly Kosher)

Forverts, June 1907: “One of the nicest places in Parksville. Strictly kosher. Plenty of milk, butter, eggs, and milk from our own farm. Our place has a good name. For rooms, inquire with Louis Klein.”

Newspaper Circa 1922: Possible explanation for the name. A competing hotel in Parksville named itself ‘Hillside Farm House’ so Louis Klein not to be outdone called himself the “High” Hillside and eventually then just Klein’s Hillside. 

Farm Almanac and Buyers Guide, 1917 The High Hillside Farm House is well known as a summer resort that pleases its guests even more than expected. Large kitchen, airy rooms, open plumbing, gas, hot and cold beds. Shade trees around the house. First class in every respect. Come, get to know us. Write 2 days in advance, we will expect you.

Yiddish Newspaper, 1922: “Magnificent modern hotel now finished, with all modern storm facilities, ice and cold water exclusively in each room, shower beds. Sanitary plumbing. Minutes from the station. All kinds of amusements. Bathing, playroom, 2000-foot elevation, strictly kosher. Cooked haimish and delicious.”

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 1922: In the 1920s, the activities were run out of a small space called The Casino, and the main attraction may have been the dance competition where you could win a silver loving (“becher”) cup.

Klein’s Hillside Inn Circa 1931 Yiddish Newspaper: The first building of the hotel featured a wraparound porch where guests could sit and watch the cars passing by on the old Route 17 main highway. This building is now the side entrance to the dining room. Above the second floor windows is a sign that says ‘Klein’s Hillside’. They later built into the wraparound porch when the Fishman’s expanded the hotel.

High Hillside Farm House Circa Today The original inn now sits behind the main building. They put up walls and extended the dining room into the wraparound porch.

Bird’s-eye view of the camp today. For context, the location of the original inn before all the additions.

The Forward, May 1931: By now they had renamed it Klein’s Hillside Inn. “Outstanding result over twenty-five years. -Satisfied guests- modern building in an excellent location. All sport utilities. Dietary laws observed.” This implies they opened in 1905, although a later ad claims they opened in 1900.

Daily News 1939: Announcing the construction of a health pavilion. Unknown which building this is today. 

Walter Gold Circa late 1940s (Rare Picture) standing in front of the original i nn building. This picture marks the end of the Klein family era just before the Fishman’s purchased the inn and ushered in an era of building expansion and innovation creating the much loved Klein’s Hillside Hotel. 

The Klein family included: Louis Klein:  The founder. Rebbeca Moskowitz- Klein, renowned for her exceptional home cooking, which became a hallmark at Klein’s Hillside. The sons Hyman Klein and Nathan Klein who took over the hotel in 1922 after the death of their father.  Nathan “Nat”  was married to Gertrude (Weiner) Klein and they had a son Larry Klein: who was born and raised at Klein’s Hillside in 1929.

For 45 years Klein’s Hillside stayed a single building small borscht belt Inn, and big changes and expansion happened when the Fishman family purchased the hotel in 1949.

Liberty Register, Thursday, October 26th, 1967

Overview of the building names: The Terrace Cottage is now The Baal Shem Tov, The Susan Cottage is now The Infirmary, The New Yorker became Eric’s House, and the Playhouse is The Shul. The Debra and the Susan were named after Jerry Fishman’s children Debra and Susan, and The Beth was named after the daughter of Jerry’s brother Ronnie Fishman.  (Correction: The Susan Cottage and the Terrace building). 

Bird’s-eye view of Klein’s Hillside Circa 1950s: (Rare Picture)  Before The Debra was built, there was a tennis court. This picture was taken before the main building was remodeled and The Playhouse (The Shul) had several structures. The New Yorker (Eric’s house) was originally a much taller cluster of buildings. You’ll also notice the uniformity in the design of all the buildings painted with gray roofs. Bottom right corner of the picture you can see the horse stable across the street.

Bird’s-eye view of Klein’s Hillside circa early 1960s: (Rare Picture) This picture was taken after they built the Debra but before they built the Beth.  On the far left of the picture on the bottom is the home of the owner Jerry Fishman built by his father Ben Fishman. Across the street and the bottom right of the picture would be a gate for horses.

Bird’s-eye view of Klein’s Hillside, 1965: By then the Debra and Beth were built and the main building and The Playhouse were remodeled.  The yellow house on  the bottom was built by Ben Fishman for his family. Aside from The New Yorker, this is how the camp looks today.

Main building. Built just around 1950 the first hotel extension became known as the main building which is how it’s referred to until today. Guests could drive up, unload, and park their cars. Postcards was a way Ben Fishman was innovative in advertising his hotel. 

Klein’s Hillside Main building Circa 1950s. As soon as he purchased the inn Ben Fishman built a new building ushering in the new hotel era at Klein’s Hillside.  Proud of his first new addition he printed postcards showing off the new building and advertising the hotel’s new look.

The main building today. Built in 1949 the main building was remodeled several years later with a modern open glass view in the front windows. It has remained untouched since.

The main building circa 1954. Facebook Catskill Memories. The Newler family stands in front of the original main building.  Postcard 1960 picture of the main building front lobby after its remodeling with a big modern open look. This is where guests checked into the hotel.

Postcard depicting the Ronday Room. It may have been named  Ron-day for Ronnie Fishman, Jerry’s younger brother. This is in the basement of the main building, directly under the lobby, one floor down. It was used for late-night shows with jokes not suitable for children (although they would sneak in sometimes). Camp used it as a banquet hall for several years.

Fishman Family

Ben Fishman began managing the hotel in 1932 and purchased Klein’s Hillside in the late 1940s. The Klein family then moved on to establish Klein’s Bungalow Colony in Kiamesha. While they retained the name, the Fishmans ushered in a new era of development and innovation at Klein’s Hillside. Without the Fishmans, Klein’s Hillside would have remained an insignificant one-building hotel operation with mooseheads in the dining room. The Fishmans truly built it up, constructing much of what the camp is today, including the main building, the Besht, the infirmary, the basketball court, the Debra, the Shul, and the Beth.

Ben Fishman, born in 1895, emigrated from Russia alone before bringing his family over and entering the restaurant business. He was involved in the restaurant unions and served as a head waiter at a famous restaurant. His expertise allowed him to hire top chefs and bakers for Klein’s Hillside. Ben Fishman was a kindhearted, warm and passionate man and known as a deep thinker, and open-minded individual. Ben Fishman passed away in 1979 at the age of 85. Fred Wolfson recalls, “Before we drove back to Brooklyn Ben Fishman would give us bags of rolls and danishes for the trip.” During the year Ben Fishman lived in the Bronx.  Ben’s brother, Morris Fishman and his wife Sophie, were also known for their kindness. They owned the canteen. 

Eric

Before there was Eric there was Yossel the caretaker. The Fishman’s hired a family friend named Yossel who in the winter wore a long wool overcoat and spoke mostly Yiddish. He managed the Klein’s Hillside property. (He also may have been there from the Klein’s Era as well. Hard to know exactly because most of those people are “Shoin aph oilam hu’emes— nu nu”.)

Jerry Fishman 

Jerald ‘Jerry’ Fishman, the eldest son, was exceptionally bright, very funny, and warm. He attended college at the age of 16. Gifted and intuitive, Jerry made friends with everyone he met and was well-loved by all. Jerry grew up going to Klein’s Hillside, worked as a waiter, and then eventually became camp director. 

Ben had another son, Ron, who had a daughter named Beth. The Beth building was named in her honor. Jerry had two daughters, Debra and Susan, who both had buildings named in their honor. During the year Jerry Fishman lived in Bayside Queens.

Ben Fishman was also a sports fanatic and Klein’s Hillside was the first hotel to host sporting events. “Rumor has it that guests at the Hillside come first for basketball and then for their food and other pleasures,” writes Haskel Cohen in The National Jewish Post. Jerry Gold who was there in the 50s and 60s explains that this was linked to the payola scandal where players were paid to throw games.

Ben Fishman built a professional basketball court on top of the hill with bleachers to watch the much-anticipated games. Other hotels quickly caught on to this trend and many hosted their own sports teams. Klein’s Hillside, however, became a formidable team, “kings of the mountains,” that even some non-Jewish hotel teams refused to play against. These summer games at Klein’s Hillside in the 1950s were spoken about for years.

In those days, professional basketball players were not paid like they are today, so many of them would take summer jobs. The basketball players worked as wait staff and, much like today, they would get paid with tips. Imagine Michael Jordan (#1995) being your waiter. When the salary for professional basketball players went up, they no longer needed summer jobs, and the sports teams dissolved.

Klein’s Hillside Athletic Field

The basketball Court Circa Today built by Ben Fishman and remains the same except for Camp Gan Israel repainted over Klein’s Hillside. 

Klein’s Hillside Athletic Field circa 1960.  Note the bleachers. 

Klein’s Hillside Athletic Field Circa today. 

Klein’s Hillside Athletic Field circa 1950s. Fred Wolfson Wolfson with his father playing ping pong. (Full circle: Fred Wolfson’s grandchildren are now campers in Gan Yisroel).

The Playhouse 

As with most Borscht Belt hotels the small casino style entertainment led the the bigger facility known as a Playhouse which catered to their upwardly mobile jewish clientele. The Playhouse was central to the resort’s social life, hosting shows, dances, and other fun events. In the late 1950s, the building had been remodeled to include modern amenities and a large, polished hardwood dance floor. The Coffee Shop (canteen) was adjacent to the playhouse. Legend has it that the couches in the canteen have never been updated since its inception. 

Postcard depicting the original building of the Playhouse pre remodeling. Today the Playhouse is the same building as the shul.

The Playhouse Circa Today. After remodeling this is how the Playhouse looked, and it is now the camp Shul. Notice the original cement pathways laid down by the hotel’s owners and are still used by the campers to get to learning class, on time. 

Inside the Playhouse Circa 1959. The shul has the same set up today except for the wooden benches. 

Klein’s Hillside Playhouse in the background.. 

Another angle of the Playhouse (pre remodeling) depicted in a postcard issued by Klein’s Hillside. 

The Shul Circa Today. The playhouse was remodeled and expanded in the late 1950s to what it looks like today. The canteen on the right was called the Coffee Shop, where they would sell food to people coming out of the late-night shows across from the Ronday Room. For many years the Tumbler (MC in Yiddish) was Freddy Owens. The coffee shop closed anytime between 11 PM and 2 AM. Coffee was 10 cents, and the food was  “technically” kosher.

The Debra

In the late 1950s, Jerry Fishman invested in his popular hotel by constructing a new luxury building at Klein’s Hillside. This was the first brick structure on the property with air conditioning and featured two floors of carpeted double hotel rooms with high ceilings. Lovingly named after his youngest daughter, Devora, who was born in 1955, The Debra became the crown jewel of Klein’s Hillside, offering the most luxurious and expensive rooms in the hotel. The ‘Deluxe Debra’ held the it’s crown status until the Beth was built. 

Circa the early 1950s, before the construction of the Debra, the family had already built the Terrace and the Susan. There was a tennis court to the right of The Susan (the Infirmary), where they later constructed the Debra.

Postcard depicting the Debra built in the late 1950s it was the newest most luxurious building at Klein’s Hillside. Debra Fishman from The Debra is now Debra Philips who lives in Queens with her husband Mark and was delighted to hear that the building is still called in her name. 

The Debra Circa Today. 

Circa early 1950s. The Wolfson Family in front of The Susan Cottage.

The Beth

The Beth Circa Today

In 1964, anticipating the legalization of gambling, the hotel invested heavily in a state-of-the-art, three-story building with an indoor swimming pool and steam rooms. At a cost of $325,000 and designed to compete with larger resorts like Kutchers and Grossingers, this addition became the crown jewel of Klein’s Hillside. It featured the most expensive rooms at the resort and aimed to usher in the next phase of the Borscht Belt, which would include legalized gambling.

The Liberty Register, December 3rd, 1964

Klein’s Hillside had evolved significantly over the years, transitioning from room houses to a small inn, adding casino entertainment, building a bigger playhouses, horse back riding, and finally establishing nightclubs. Legalized gambling was seen as the next chapter in this progression. 

Brand new indoor swimming pool in the Beth. Looking at this picture I still smell chlorine and suddenly feel fearful of a well known bal tzedakah living in Florida named Reb Tzvi Bogomilsky. 

However, the legalization effort was rejected, leaving Jerry Fishman financially overextended. “We’re going to have the largest mortgage in the mountains,” Fishman told a New York Times reporter, highlighting the financial strain caused by the failed gamble on gambling legalization. 

Hotel Advertisements Circa 1962.  Rooms were allocated based on affordability hierarchy. Beth was the top tier, followed by Debra as the next highest. Susan Cottage and Saint George were higher tier but not as exclusive as Beth or Debra. Rooms in the main building were middle tier, while the New Yorker was considered a lower-level option. The term “Adjoining Buildings” is unclear which building it is referencing.

The Beth, Circa 1970. Renamed after being purchased by Gan Yisroel. Left to right: on the right is Rabbi Aaron Blesofsky, Camp Gan Yisroel’s first general manager, who despite instructions from Issac Mintz to do otherwise, stayed at the Beth all summer long, and to the left is Rabbi Yehuda Hakohen Blesofsky, the camp chef, which according to some historians was a lot scarier than Shoime Futerfas.

Turkey

Bird’s-Eye View of Turkey, Circa Today. At the other end of the hotel is an area known as Turkey. Originally consisting of three buildings, one was later torn down. Once considered the cheaper far off affordable part of the hotel, it eventually became the staff quarters, with one building for men and another for women. There was no hanky-panky.

The Belmont Circa today. The camp never named the buildings in Turkey. Perhaps someone in camp can start a really useless campaign to reinstate this building as it was originally called.

The Saint George Circa Today. In the background is the Belmont. The Saint George was connected to an adjacent building called the Ritz via a walkway. The Ritz was later torn down. 

In 1969 Camp Gan Yisroel was looking for new grounds. The previous year camp location required crossing a road to get to the pool, which the Rebbe disapproved of. When the Klein’s Hillside property became available, a small group of Hasidic upstarts who survived communism during WWII, led by Avremul Shemtov, purchased the property, and Camp Gan Yisroel Parksville, New York, was born.

Due to its budget constraints in its early years, not much was altered. As time went on, Camp was able to build bunks on the way up the hill, and in 1996 built a brand new outdoor pool. If my memory serves me correctly I  recall that year R Yochanan Brook was the camp general manager, but would moonlight as a personal assistant to Mrs. Lipsker. 

THE LIBERTY REGISTER, October 26,  1967 Foreclosure notice for klein’s Hillside.

I welcome any and all corrections to the article and I hope it sparks interest to find out a lot more of the history of the 70 years of Klein’s Hillside…“Before it was Gan Yisroel…” 

Conclusion

Klein’s Hillside stands as a testament to the resilience and ingenuity of Jewish immigrants in America. From its humble beginnings as the High Hillside Farm House to its zenith as a bustling hub in the Borscht Belt, the inn not only provided a sanctuary for Jewish families but also contributed to the cultural and social fabric of upstate New York. 

Today, its legacy and buildings continue to evoke nostalgia and pride among those who experienced its unique charm both for those who now live in Long Island or Florida and went to Klein’s Hillside in their younger years or those who live in ‘Brooklyn and in every country beyond’ changing the world conquering nation-after-nation with their multitudes of jewish outreach centers and who called ‘Gan Yisroel Parksville New York’  home in their formable years.

1957 video of a family dancing near the outdoor pool overlooking Route 17 and the kids playing sketch-batch. 

Copyright (c) Shmully Blesofsky all right reserved. 

Sblesof@gmail.com for permission

Thank you very much Allan Kushner, and Fred Wolfson, Debra Fishman- Philips, and especially Jerry Gold for your contributions to the article.