James place of birth was Lodz, a part of the Russian Empire, and a flash point for decades as tensions mounted between Russia and Poland over this rapidly growing border city. At the time of James' birth, the population of Lodz was doubling every decade. One month after James came to America the Russo-Japanese War (February 8, 1904 - September 4, 1905) added to the already mounting economic woes in Lodz, a major urbanized and industrialized city with a large Jewish population. The June Insurrection of 1905 in Lodz as the Russian police and military stormed striking workers left several hundred dead and wounded. Although one-fourth of the 400,000 striking workers lost their jobs the Poles through continued active and violent protests against the Russians ultimately led to Lodz officially becoming a Polish city. Following the Russian Revolution in 1917 Poland finally regained its independence after 123 years of Russian control on November 11, 1918.
