Elie Sutton: Man of Strength

At the tender age of 19, Elie Sutton was instructed to leave his family, his community, and his dream of becoming a doctor. In a matter of days, he was on his way to a new world, in Shanghai, China. “Whatever sacrifices my father had to make to protect our futures and shield us from danger,” Mr. Sutton whispered in an interview, “he would do at all costs.” Elie said goodbye to his family, and started the harrowing journey to spend the rest of his immediate future alone, a virtual orphan in an unknown land.

Born in Aleppo, Syria in December of 1925, Elie was raised in a deeply religious, insular and remarkably prosperous Jewish community in the Muslim world. A thriving center for trade, commerce and industry, Aleppo offered young Elie a world of exploration as he ran through the covered bazaars, smelling the spices and haggling with peddlers over goods.

However at the time, following the Balfour Declaration of 1917, a wave of sharp anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic movement flooded the community. Law authorities were inefficient and corrupt, suspected criminals were executed in public without a trial, and as a youth Elie witnessed brutal stabbings directly outside his home. His father, Selim Menashe Sutton, a stoic and respected man, announced one day to his family that each of his six sons, upon reaching a suitable age, would be sent off to a different country, away from the dangers of Syria.

The day arrived. With a Syrian passport and a few U.S dollars in his pocket, Elie Sutton travelled alone to Cairo, Egypt. He remained in the dirty and overpopulated city for weeks, desperately trying to obtain a visa to Iraq to continue his path to Shanghai despite his Jewish status. After finally succeeding, he journeyed to Iraq, then Pakistan, and then to a community in India ravaged by poverty. Months later from when he had left his home in Syria, he landed in China in 1947.

After an anxious first few weeks, Mr. Sutton completed his transition into his home at the YMCA of the vibrant and modern International Settlement. Originally introverted and serious in Aleppo, Elie now shed his insecurities and strict religious obligations to become a new man. Over the next four years, Elie’s social life and self-confidence soared as he interacted with people of many different backgrounds, and created a thriving manufacturing business.

“In Shanghai,” Sutton reminisced, “I was in control and responsible for myself. I experienced both the wonders of becoming a successful businessman at such a young age and the pleasures of an active social life with many friends. I grew tremendously over those four years. Shanghai was a special place, a place impossible to duplicate anywhere else.”

However, by 1948, the Chinese Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek collapsed and the country was overrun by a communist regime. The government monopolized entire industries, while strict regulations and penalties were enforced on businesses. It would be impossible for Sutton to continue his perfect life in Shanghai. After much deliberation, he reluctantly closed his successful business and made arrangements to voyage to America, to join his brother Mike who had travelled to a Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York.

On Monday, October 2^nd, 1950, Elie Sutton landed on American soil for the first time at the age of 24. Here, in the southern part of Brooklyn, was an incredibly strong and tight-knit Syrian Jewish community. Sutton was elated. In this new home were not only immediate uncles and cousins, but also an entire population of people who were from the same place, and had the exact same language, heritage and traditions.

“It was the continuation of Aleppo,” Sutton said, “I went to a place where I knew I would be comfortable with people I can connect with. But now we had the great atmosphere, the opportunities, and the freedom to practice our religion.”

By spring of 1951, while Elie was struggling to find a consistent job, he went out with a nice young Syrian girl named Tunie Sultan. Immediately, Elie fell in love with her beauty, intuition and outgoing personality, and the two married on November 4^th, 1951. At times, Sutton admitted to dreaming of his fantasy life in Shanghai, and questioned his devotion to the community. Yet, he quickly suppressed his feelings.

“To remain in America,” Elie remarked, “And to take Tunie as a wife, I had to absorb the community and allow myself to be swathed into it. I could not return to my Shanghai ways.”

With the help of his new father in law Abe Sultan, Elie conscientiously worked to construct an effective retail business, E.S Sutton Inc. Finally, the income started coming in just in time for the couple to welcome the birth of their first daughter, Adele. With a new baby, a loving wife, and a new large extended family, Elie’s life in Brooklyn had taken root.

While in America, Elie finally learned the fate of his family that had remained in Syria all those years. His father, with his business crumbling and his family in constant danger, was diagnosed with a brain tumor and was sent to Beirut for immediate medical care. In Aleppo, new anti-Jewish laws were enforced. Jews would not be allowed to buy or sell property, and repaying debts to Jews was now optional, while Jewish businesses were forced to close. In the end, the Sutton family was forced to flee as a Muslim mob ravaged their neighborhood, and torched their home.

Amazingly, his mother and some children were able to escape to Brooklyn. However, his father Selim Menashe Sutton passed away in an Israeli nursing home, all alone as his son Joe was forced to leave the country out of fear of being drafted to the army. Elie now discovered that years earlier, his brother Saleh had passed away in Syria after a battle with tuberculosis, and his youngest brother Edgar tragically died at the age of 14 due to kidney failure, and due to an erroneous medical diagnosis.

After grieving over the losses in his family, Elie Sutton began to establish himself in his new community. Over the years his wife gave birth to another boy and two girls. Together, the couple traveled the world, visiting places such as Hong Kong, Russia, Italy, Brazil, Greece and Kenya. The two immediately made an impact on the Syrian community, starting a social club for couples and promoting membership for the now wonderfully successful Sephardic Community Center. Adele Sultan, the mother of Elie’s wife Tunie, had been diagnosed with dementia and was placed in a nursing home for 20 years, enduring progressively worsening mental instability. Tunie did research and started a support group for caregivers of loved ones with Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Elie took it upon himself to become a member of many synagogue committees, most notably Bet Torah Congregation. With the help of Mr. Sutton, the synagogue has grown from once struggling to get the ten men required to have a daily prayer service, to now attracting hundreds of congregants on a weekly basis. Mr. Sutton also joined a prestigious group of benefactors for Mt. Sinai Hospital, and sponsored fundraising events for Senator Bill Bradley. He spoke at schools, events, and synagogues, telling his life story, raising money for local charities, and lecturing about running successful business enterprises. When Elie elected to move to Florida for the winters he was one of the few founders of the beautiful Safra Synagogue in Aventura. He was the first designated president and served the role for three consecutive years. He also single handedly established a branch of ECHO, an organization specializing in medical referrals, in the Brooklyn community.

“Elie is an incredibly well respected man in the community,” daughter in law Mary Sutton praised, “He is constantly giving advice to community members and counseling businessmen.”

All went well for Elie Sutton until the fall of 1993, when his beloved wife Tunie was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After an extremely long and painful process of chemotherapy, invasive surgeries and exhausting side effects, Tunie Sutton passed away in 1996 at the age of 64. The loss pushed Elie into a spiral of depression, as he neglected his business and mourned for weeks on end. Eventually, he restarted his life and remarried a lovely woman, ironically, named Tunie.

The interview is now over, and Elie Sutton walks outside to sit on his porch. Calmly enjoying the warm breeze, he listens to the sounds of local residents socializing and a construction crew at work, as a smile slowly spreads across his face. Today he is a proud, serene, and humble man who embodies the grand strength of human determination and resilience. His gentle and calm disposition hide the man who once experienced such enormous hardships and deep conflicts.