The Story of The Schvitz Health Club
This gray, windowless building doesn’t look like much, but it’s one of Detroit’s best-kept secrets. Jewish Russian immigrant Charles Meltzer opened this Russian bathhouse (“banya”), originally called the “Oakland Health Club”, with the help of Eugene “Toots” Johnson [pronounced like Tootsie Roll] in 1930, and it’s been in operation ever since.
There is a Russian saying that the banya washes away all sins (Баня все грехи смоет). If that’s so, it’s a good thing, as this banya was a favorite criminal hangout. Charles’ son Harry (“Chinky”) was a notorious member of the Purple Gang, and legend holds that the banya was frequented by violent mobsters, especially during Prohibition in the early 1930s. One of the main attractions of the bathhouse was the fact that everyone in it was undressed and that, along with the humidity, made it impossible for the police to wiretap anyone and monitor conversations. [Did Harry own the banya? According to one source he did] By the 1950s, Harry had been arrested for selling counterfeit bills, kidnapping, and bombing buildings, though he was seldom found guilty. By the 70s, he spent less time in criminal pursuits and more time tending to the club before selling it around 1977.
Though the Meltzers owned the establishment, Toots made it what it was. Toots lived and worked at the bathhouse until he died in the 1980s. He rose early to heat up the steam rooms, prep lunch and dinner, and make the special oak leaf brooms that were used during a soapy massage called “plaitza”. Men would spend a few hours at the bathhouse. First, they’d alternate between sitting in the hot steam room and jumping in the cold pool. All the while, the oak leaf broom, called “venik,” would soak in hot water, brewing a tea that could be thrown on the oven racks to make the room even hotter and spread an oaky aroma. After soaping down, the men would receive a plaitza from the house masseuse with the help of other men in the steam room. The plaitza massage, believed to have a number of health benefits, is performed with the venik, which was tapped on and pressed against the body. The plaitza massage is also very relaxing; afterward, the men would usually jump in the cold pool again for an invigorating shock. Toots would cap off the visit by cooking a delicious lunch or dinner. Most men would trickle out by the late evening, but some would stay overnight.
The bathhouse was originally strictly for men only, though the owners did not discriminate based on skin color or religion. Now the bathhouse has a new name, Schvitz, Yiddish for sweat. Saturday nights are couples’ nights, drawing a different sort of clientele, but weekdays are still only for men. The plaitza tradition is still strong, and many of the men that come during the week are regulars and have been enjoying the baths for decades. The banya has always been a place where all men of all types can fraternize and relax and the tradition continues to this day.
