Grandfather Paolo’s Razor

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After my grandfather Paolo died, I kept his razor because I liked the box and the weight of it in my hand.

The box still holds old receipts from a time when people brought their razors in to be serviced. The line items list “Blade,” “Hone,” “Strop,” “Clip,” “Spindle and Pinions.”

The earliest receipt is from 1943, the year Paolo met my grandmother, Pearl. She was a technician at Mount Vernon Hospital, where he worked as a doctor. Although the United States was at war, my grandfather was not allowed to serve in the military because he was considered an “enemy alien.”

My family had lived in northern Italy for more than 400 years. They were Jewish. Beginning in 1938, Mussolini passed a series of racial laws modeled after Hitler’s laws. These laws barred Jewish people from holding certain jobs, working in government, moving money out of the country, and many other aspects of public life.

Part of my family, including my grandfather, fled to France. When the war began in 1939, they feared Italy would join the war and that they would be considered enemy aliens there, too. As soon as the war started, Paolo boarded a ship from France to the United States in 1939. His brother’s family followed in 1940. Other relatives went to Argentina, Peru, and Mexico.

By the time he owned this razor, Paolo was beginning a new life in the United States. My father was born in 1945.

Photo caption if needed.

Angelo Sacerdote

Angelo Sacerdote, 55, co-founded Petaluma Pie Company with his wife, Lina Hoshino. He now works at Central Marin Sanitation Agency and enjoys gardening and collaborating on music with longtime friends across the country. He is the creator of “Sevenly Virtue” and “The Angelo.”