He worked as a diamond cutter and as an employee of the United Jewish Council of the East Side while volunteering as an advocate for the poor elderly of the neighborhood .
Singer fled Nazi and Communist persecution in 1939 , emigrating to New York 's Lower East Side .
He worked as a diamond cutter and as an employee of the United Jewish Council of the Lower East Side   while volunteering as an advocate for the poor elderly of the neighborhood .
Singer fled Nazi and Communist persecution in 1939 , emigrating to New York 's Lower East Side .