Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

第二章 With the assistance of Agent in Charge Sorrels of the

This chapter traces Jack Ruby’s early life, beginning with his mother Fannie Rubenstein’s background and continuing through his childhood, psychiatric evaluation, foster care placement, education, activities, temperament, and young manhood on the West Coast.

Fannie Rubenstein

Jack Ruby’s mother, Fannie Rubenstein, was likely born in 1875 near Warsaw, Poland. She immigrated to the United States in 1904 or 1905 with her children Hyman and Ann, joining her husband. An illiterate woman, she attended night school around 1920 to learn to sign her name, but an alien registration form filed after roughly 35 years in the U.S. was signed with an “X.” Although she acquired some English, Yiddish remained her primary language. Despite her own limited education, Fannie strongly believed her children needed schooling to advance and frequently clashed with her husband, who felt grammar school was sufficient.

Childhood and Youth (1911-33)

Jack Ruby was born in 1911, with his family initially living near 14th and Newberry Streets in Chicago, the first in a succession of Jewish neighborhoods. By 1916, the Rubensteins resided at 1232 Morgan Street, where they remained until 1921—the fourth home in his first five years. The neighborhood was described as a “ghetto” with pushcarts on the streets, “below the middle class but not the poorest,” near Italian sections with frequent ethnic fights. The home was marked by constant strife, with parents occasionally striking each other. Joseph Rubenstein was repeatedly arrested between 1915 and 1921 for disorderly conduct and assault, some charges filed by his wife. The parents separated in spring 1921, largely due to Joseph’s drinking and Fannie’s temper—she resented her pregnancies, suspected infidelity, and nagged him about earnings.