Roman Vishniac talks about his life as a Jewish child and young man in pre-World War I Russia. Vishniac is well known for his stunning photographs which captured Jewish life in Europe before and during World War II.
Morris Fischer tells his story of rising up from poverty and hard times which came from war, revolution and pogroms. His mother died young, leaving six small children. His father, a laborer, had trouble feeding his young family.
Morris (Moishe) Wax remembers his father as a pious man who was a little "progressive" for his times. Before World War I, he'd had a thriving atelier making the latest Paris fashions for the landowner ladies in their district. World war came, then the Russian Civil War, chaos, starvation, and pogroms. Morris' father died in 1922 as a result of the injuries inflicted on him by pogromchiks. With no father to provide for them, Morris, his mother and sister hoped to join an older brother and sister in the United States. They were able to get to Antwerp, Belgium where they awaited passage to the United States. While in Antwerp, the U.S.passed the Immigration Act of 1924 limiting the number of Jews, along with other groups, who could enter the country. Morris' mother was allowed to go. Her two teenage children stayed in Antwerp for three more years.
At eight years old, Paula Zollman left the town of her birth, Rzeszow, when that town was caught in the middle of the First World War and the family packed up and moved to Berlin. After some early struggles, Paula's parents made a successful business in selling eggs and cheese.
Philip (Pinah or Pinik to his family and friends) Charash was born in the shtetl of Novye Priluki, Ukraine. He lost his father in a pogrom in Priluki in 1919. Pinah met his future wife, Braina Teplitsky, in the nearby city of Uman where they both attended gymnasium (high school). Philip and Braina's story is full of harrowing escape stories that ultimately brought them to the United States where they built a life and family together.
Audio and transcript of an interview with Kurt Hirschen by Professor Stephen Berk and Lucille Brown of Union College during May of 1974. Kurt was born in Germany in 1907.
Audio and transcript of an interview with Ernest Lowen by Professor Stephen Berk on April 30, 1975 at Mr. Lowen's home in Schenectady, N.Y. Ernest was born in Fuerth in Bavaria in Germany.
Max Brooks' father died from cholera during an outbreak in 1919 when Max was 13. Life was turbulent with pogroms occurring frequently and food hard to find. In 1924, Max left Russia and emigrated to a farm in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Audio and transcript of an interview with Nathan Reich by Lucille Brown of Union College. Nathan was born in Terszow in what was Austria Hungary on June 6, 1900.
Audio and transcript of an interview with Olga Prince, nee Kolker, by Lucille Brown of Union College. Olga was born in Odessa in present day Ukraine in 1906.
Audio and transcript of an interview with Gretel Hirschen, nee Wolf, by Lucille Brown of Union College. Gretel was born in Offenbach-am-main in Germany in 1914.
Audio and transcript of an interview with Marie Golden Wexler by Lucille Brown of Union College. She was born on September 29, 1900 in Sernye, Hungary.
Audio and transcript of an interview with Harry Lawrence Woll by Lucille Brown of Union College. Harry was born on September 28, 1898 in Gomel, Russia.
Audio and transcript of an interview with Rivka Woll by Lucille Brown of Union College. Rivka was born around 1900 in a small time called Lyelchitz in Russia.
Audio and transcript of an interview with Dov Kam by Lucille Brown of Union College. Dov's official name was Sam Berko Kam but he changed it because he came to America as a stowaway. He was born in 1895 in Porazava in Russia.
Audio and transcript of an interview with Sonia Kam by Lucille Brown of Union College. This interview picks up when Sonia was working as a teacher in 1921 in Russia.
Audio and transcript of an interview with Nathan Koblenz by Lucille Brown of Union College. Nathan (Naphtali in Yiddish) was born in 1896 in Smorgan, Lithuania.
