He was ostracized as a child, not because he was a Jew -- his parents weren't very religious anyhow -- but because he had been born with two club feet, a condition which, in those days, required institutionalization and a succession of painful operations between the ages of one and 11.
Viņš bērnībā bija atstumtais;  ne tādēļ, ka bija ebrejs — viņa vecāki tāpat  nebija sevišķi reliģiozi — bet tāpēc, ka bija piedzimis  ar divām greizajām pēdām, kas toreiz nozīmēja ārstēšanu  speciālā medicīniskā iestādē un virkni sāpīgu operāciju no viena līdz 11 gadu vecumam.