Mr. Boch
In 2002 the American Photo- graphic Historical Society published a booklet titled The Greatest Invention of the Leitz Family: The Leica Freedom Train by Frank Dabba Smith. Norman Lipton, a Leitz employee in New York comments on page 9, “ I observed ( the absorption of refugees) in action soon after I was hired by the New York office of Leitz on May18th, 1938. On alternate weeks, I witnessed the arrival and processing of 30 or more Leitz- sponsered refugees who were lined up along the wall of our office waiting to be interviewed by Alfred Boch, Executive Vice President. Boch put them up at the nearby Great Northern Hotel and spent the succeed- ing days on the telephone finding jobs for them throughout New York and the nation.” Alfred Boch’s humanitarian concern and action will be long remembered. In 1970 Boch celebrated 50 years with the Leitz organization. In 1977 he was the honoured guest at a surprise party. These events are detailed here.
SURPRISE PARTY 1977
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls,my friends. Thank you for your kind words. This surprise party makes me very happy. I am deeply touched to see so many of my associates gathered here to express their good wishes for my retirement years.
I have been very lucky, when in January 1920 I applied for a job at the Leitz Works in Wetzlar and was hired by Ernst Leitz 1 as an apprentice. It was shortly after I arrived in the outskirts of Wetzlar at relatives. I came from Russia where
our family was interned in Siberia. My Father was in charge of a brewery where he used a Leitz microscope in his laboratory. Father suggested I contact Leitz as they had an excellent reputation.
I worked at Leitz learning what makes a microscope tick and to appreciate what precision workmanship is like. I wondered what would have happened to me if I had started working for a company dealing with tobacco. How boring it would have been.I also got inside the first Leica camera which was being readied by Oscar Barnack Later I was transferred to sales and customer service departments I did some traveling and in 1932 was sent to the London office. Leitz had the Leica II and a new high speed lens the 7.3cm 1:1.9 Hektor. With this equipment I took pictures in the subways and theatre using high speed film. This was something new at this time and created a great deal of interest. Once I went to a London musical which had many ballet scenes. I succeeded in taking some interesting pictures which were enlarged and displayed in the Leitz London showroom. As a result many actresses and ballerinas called on us and wanted prints. Another time, when an explorer was leaving London and forgot an important part of his Leica equipment I had to chase him to the boat on the English channel to deliver what he forgot.
The second strike of good luck occurred when I was running the newly established Leitz office in Vienna. Later Leitz Wetzlar offered me a top management position at the New York office. I accepted this proposition and in August 1935 arrived in this wonderful country and made it my home. I became accustomed to the American way of life and in due course became a US citizen. Things progressed well until the War started in 1939. Our supplies from Germany were cut off by the British blockade. In order to keep the company alive we started producing some Leica accessories in the repair shop. The U.S. Army Signal Corps, having obtained Leica equipment for use in the European war theatre, found that with Leica equipment, casualties among their photographic personnel are lowest. They contacted us to purchase several hundred additional equipment sets which, unfortunately, we did not have. We contacted registered owners of Leica cameras and bought equipment back from them. After reconditioning these items were resold to the Army. Later we started producing lenses for the Leica, universal viewfinders, flash guns, etc. Electric colorimeters and microscope acces- sories were also produced. The capacity of our production department was substantially expanded. When the United States entered World War II the operation of E.Leitz, Inc. came under the control of the alien property custodian.
The third and most important strike of luck in my life occurred in 1952 when Henry Mann obtained distribution rights for Leitz Wetzlar products and acquired E.Leitz, Inc. after it was sold by the alien proprty custodian. At this time I met William Mann for the first time. Under Henry Mann’s able management many new and efficient methods were introduced. Business expanded and the company became the outstanding concern in the photographic industry. Upon the passing of Henry Mann William Mann took over manage- ment. Inflation continued to rise and the revaluation of the Deutschmark created additional burdens. Cost of products made in Wetzlar increased more than 80%. Credit is due to William Mann for successfully steering the company through these obstacles and for building up a company second to none. I felt lucky to be a member of this organization and want to thank Mr. Mann, my fellow officers, department managers, and every employee for the excellent cooperation you gave me in all these years. Without your support and the assistance of my wife Lucy I would not have been able to perform my job.
There were many cases where we had to meet a certain deadline and as you know I do not belive in the phrase “it cannot be done “ . When there is a will there is a way. You did it and I thank you. Continue the good work and show new employees what a real Leitzanian can accomplish.
RESOLUTION
With great satisfaction, gratitude, and joy, we record as January 26th, 1970, the Fiftieth Anniversary of Alfred Boch’s association with Leitz.
Alfred Boch was born on November 19th,1904,in the city of Wilno in Russia. He attended schools in Wilno and Estonia (Youryeff) until 1914, when his family was forced to leave their house and were interned in Siberia. Alfred was only a boy of fourteen when the Boch’s returned in 1918. The Russo-Polish War broke out the following year, bringing to the people of the area severe hardships and danger.
It was a terrifying time, with barely enough food available for survival and, with street fighting so intense, the roof of he Boch home was blown off. In the Fall of 1919, young Alfred and his two brothers left Wilno by farm-cart and crossed the border into Germany. The boys were seeking refuge with distant relatives in Wetzlar ; they arrived safely just after the turn of the year. That very day – January 26th – in the year 1920, Alfred unknowingly began what was to become a long and illustrious career with the Leitz organization. He was interviewed and hired for the job of apprentice instrument maker by Ernst Leitz the founder himself.
In those days, the Leitz works was a relatively small optical and mechanical institute primarily concerned with the manufacture of microscopes and associated instruments. Yet, spectacular events were soon to take place in Wetzlar as the imaginative Oskar Barnack began working on the concept of a miniature camera which might be as optically precise as a microscope, yet small enough to carry in one’s pocket. When Barnack built his first small camera prototypes for 35mm film, Alfred Boch was a member of his department of skilled assistants and it was in this very same shop that the first Leica was born.
In addition to Alfred’s abilities as an instrument maker, he also demonstrated considerable talent in matters of sales and service. From 1926 to 1931, he was assigned to the Technical Correspondence and Customers’ Service Department. During this period, he acquired an intimate understanding of all operartions of the company and, through first hand experience, he became fully acquainted with the multi- faceted Leitz manufacturing program “from glass block to Leica objective”.
In 1931, Alfred was transferred to the Leitz office in London to improve his English and to study British business practice. When he returned to Wetzlar in 1933, he was aked to investigate the opportunities for a Leitz agency in Vienna; his efforts culminated in an office in Vienna, with branches in Hungary and Yugoslavia. Soon to follow, under his direction, was a program of Leica exhibits in major cities throughout the Continent.
In the early 1930s, the United States market assumed a growing importance as a market for Leitz products. Thus when Albet Traeger, the President and Proprietor of E.Leitz, Inc. New York , withdrew from the company for rreasons of ill health, Alfred Boch accepted a management position in the young company acquired from Traeger by Leitz Wetzlar. On August 1st, 1935 , he became a Director and Vice President of E.Leitz, Inc. That same year, he was accepted as a member of the now famous “Circle of Confusion”, a group of prominent photographers, writers, artists, and businessmen who, to this day, still gather to exchange ideas on 35mm photography.
Shortly before the Second World War, Alfred invited Anton Baumann to visit this country with a lecture tour of major cities. Kodachrome film was introduced at about this time , and Baumann’s presentations became convincing vehicles for popularizing 35mm photography in black- and- white and color. This innovation can well be considered the forerunner of the celebrated “Leica Schools” and contributed heavily to the spectacular growth of 35mm photography. Thus, Alfred Boch played a prominent role in the colorful history of the Leica camera.
When Mr. Henry Mann acquired Leitz New York from the Alien Property Custodian in 1952, Alfred joined the revitalized organization as Vice President and General Manager, a position which he still holds today. He has served us diligently and faithfully during fifty years, not only as an “internatinal Leitz Man” but as one of the cornerstones of E.Leitz, Inc. n the United States.
Throughout his business career,Alfred Boch has complimented his impressive talent for hard work with an enviable throughness and attention to detail. The abundance of fine human qualities that he has so prominently displayed, particularly his character, integrity, loyalty, and warm consideration for his fellowman, have indeed made it a privilege for us all to be associated with him. His total dedication to furthering the best interests of his company and the selflessness and complete disregard for personal gain or glory with which he has pursed his goals, have earned him the everlasting respect and deep affection of his colleagues, not only within the Leitz organization but in the various industries it represents as well.
Therefore, be it resolved that this expression of our high regard and deep appreciation be preserved in the permanent records of E.Leitz, Inc. and that a copy of this resolution be presented to him with our fondest wishes for many future milestones to come.
Adopted by the Board of Directors of E.Leitz, Inc. At a meeting held this Monday , January 26th, 1970.