Oral History Interviews
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Eugene Dubow, November 1, 2013
Eugene DuBow was born and was raised in The Bronx in New York City. He speaks about the public schools he attended, and about how the schools redistricted as a… -
Samuel Elliott Halpern, March 30,…
Samuel Elliot Halpern was born in Georgetown, Kentucky in 1939 to a Jewish tobacco sharecropping family. Sam’s early life was characterized by experiences of… -
Sara Levy, August 12, 2015
Sara Levy talks about growing up in Williamson, West Virginia. She goes on to discuss the Williamson Bargain Store, a clothing store that was owned and operated… -
Harriet Rose, August 13, 2015
Harriet Rose discusses her family and her ancestry. She grew up living in Lexington, and discusses her Jewish traditions and identity growing up. She went to… -
Marty Solomon, August 17, 2015
Marty Solomon speaks about his early life growing up on the south side of Chicago, and how he and his family came to live in the state of Kentucky. His parents… -
Erle Levy, August 19, 2015
Erle Levy discusses family lineage in Lexington, Kentucky and Europe. He discusses his childhood school life in Lexington, and his childhood life in relation to… -
Jack Miller, August 31, 2015
Jack Miller was born in Lexington, Kentucky. His family originated from Germany. Miller's family opened a general store on the corner of Main street and… -
Larry Kass, October 1, 2015
Larry Kass talks about his childhood in Connecticut. He describes his career as an advertising and marketing executive in New York before moving to Kentucky to… -
Lee Shai Weissbach, October 20,…
Weissbach explains how he was born in pre-state Palestine in 1947. His father was born in Alexandria, Egypt and his mother in Norfolk, Virginia. They met in Tel… -
Leon Cooper, October 16, 2015
Leon Cooper was born in Norfolk, Virginia in 1927 and came to Lexington with his wife, Harriet, and two of his three children during the mid-twentieth century… -
George Schwartzman, October 22,…
George Schwartzman discusses his birth in Buffalo, New York, and talks about his family's arrival in the U.S. He also discusses growing up in a Jewish home and… -
Judy Saxe, December 1, 2015
Judy Saxe discusses her family history. She discusses her and her family's relationship to Judaism. Both her father and her grandfather were rabbis. Judy Saxe… -
Stanley Saxe, December 3, 2015
Dr. Stanley Saxe introduces himself and his family. He discusses his family's migration from Russia to America and his parents' life and work in the tobacco… -
Janis Doctrow, March 7, 2016
Janis (Gay) Weisenberg Doctrow was born at Good Samaritan Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. Her grandfather immigrated from Germany and her grandmother was born… -
Mark Wides, March 18, 2016
Wides describes his family history and relations in Kentucky. He provides a history of the Wides Scrap Metals company, established in 1946 after his father… -
Annette Mayer, March 24, 2016
Annette Mayer describes the circumstances in which she and her family moved to Lexington, Kentucky following the attack on Pearl Harbor. She describes her… -
Sandy Levy, April 11, 2016
Sanford (Sandy) Elliot Levy was born in Lexington, Kentucky. His grandparents, Joe and Jennie Levy were part of a wave of Jewish immigration from a shtetl in… -
David Shraberg, April 18, 2016
David Shraberg describes his family's immigration from Lithuania to Somerset in 1900 and how his grandfather worked as a peddler to bring his bride-to-be over… -
Harold Baker, May 3, 2016
Baker's father and mother immigrated from Poland and Lithuania, respectively, in the early 1900s and settled with family in the Lexington area. His father… -
Martin Kaplan, May 12, 2016
Dr. Martin Kaplan was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1928 and raised in the Bronx, New York City. Both of his parents, Samuel (born in 1899) and Clara Kaplan… -
Benjamin Baker, May 13, 2016
Ben Baker describes his family's history, primarily focusing on his mother's side. His maternal grandfather, who was originally from New York, owned a clothing… -
Mike Ades, June 22, 2016
Mike Ades begins the interview by detailing his family background, including how in 1895 his grandfather, David Ades, immigrated from Lithuania to Baltimore,… -
Kate Shapira Latts, May 24, 2016
Kate Shapira Latts is one of the only women in a high executive position at her family’s business, Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. She was born in Louisville,… -
Max Shapira, May 24, 2016
Max Shapira was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He grew up in Bardstown, Kentucky, where his family's company, Heaven Hill Brands, is located. Shapira lived in… -
John and Jean Rosenberg, July 1,…
Born in Magdeburg, Germany, John Rosenberg begins the interview by discussing the importance of Judaism in his family's life growing up. His father was a Jewish… -
Morris Weiss, August 1, 2016
Morris Weiss begins the interview by discussing his family background dating back to Alten-Schoenbach, Germany and how his uncle, Josef Solomon, emigrated to… -
Anne Edelstein Shapira, July 25,…
Anne Edelstein Shapira was born in Ottawa, Canada in 1914 and her parents were immigrants from Manchester, England. She visited the United States in 1934 and… -
Stanley Kravetz, September 20, 2016
Stanley Kravetz was born in Georgetown, Kentucky on March 4, 1934. Both his mother and father were born in Lithuania and immigrated to the United States as… -
Richard Levy, September 20, 2016
Richard Levy discusses his genealogy and his family's immigration to the United States. He talks about living in Irvine and Lexington, Kentucky and the Right… -
Madeline Abramson, September 14,…
Madeline Abramson was raised as a Catholic in Louisville, Kentucky. In this interview, she explains her family’s involvement in the Catholic church and her… -
Louis Waterman, September 14, 2016
Louis Waterman describes his childhood in Louisville, including his parents and siblings, his education, and his Judaism both in his social life and religious… -
Judy Freundlich Tiell, September…
Judy Tiell discusses her family history and the early influences on her Jewish identity. She talks about her education and career as a social worker. She talks… -
Suzanne Post, September 16, 2016
Suzy Post was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1933 during the Great Depression. Both sets of her grandparents immigrated to the United States from Germany in… -
Mark Switow, September 20, 2016
Mark Switow, born in 1958 in Louisville, Kentucky, grew up in a family of Jewish entrepreneurs and Jewish community leaders. Switow’s grandfather and… -
Tom Block, October 21, 2016
This extended interview with Tom Block takes place during a tour of the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, founded by his great-grandfather, Isaac W.… -
Mark Bronner, November 10, 2016
Mark Bronner discusses in detail his family genealogy, from his ancestors in Russia who immigrated to the U.S. and settled in Louisville, to later members of… -
David Weinberg, November 10, 2016
In this interview, David Weinberg reflects on his involvement in Judaism and the Jewish community throughout his childhood, college years, and adult life. He… -
Fred Joseph, February 3, 2017
Fred Joseph discusses in great detail his family history and genealogy. He talks about their immigration to America from various places in Germany. He describes… -
Jeff Kaplan, March 23, 2017
In this interview, Jeffrey Kaplan recounts his life as a Jewish businessman in Lexington, Kentucky, from his mid-adult life to present day (in 2017). Beginning… -
Michael Grossman, March 24, 2017
Michael Grossman is a Jewish man who was raised in a Jewish community in Los Angeles, California. His family was not very religious growing up, but following… -
Elizabeth Crane, March 24, 2017
Elizabeth Bronner Crane was born on September 14, 1984 in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, and was raised briefly in Charleston, SC though she later moved to… -
Robin Michler, March 29, 2017
Robin Michler, owner of Kentucky Native Café in Lexington, discusses his experiences as a businessman, international traveler, and Jewish man. He recounts how… -
David Wirtschafter, March 30, 2017
Rabbi D. Wirtschafter is a religious family man, who was raised with three other children in 20th century United States. His father, Dr. Jonathan Wirtschafter,… -
Moshe Smolkin, March 31, 2017
Rabbi Moshe Smolkin was born in Atlanta, Georgia in the late 1970s, though he grew up in Clear Lake City, Texas and Albuquerque, New Mexico. As a child, he… -
Sharon L. Cohen, March 31, 2017
Rabbi Sharon L. Cohen was born in 1969 in Miami, Florida. While her parents are both from the United States, her great-grandparents emigrated from Russia.… -
Jerry Abramson, April 6, 2017
This interview with the former Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, Jerry Abramson, discusses his life and the effect Judaism had on it. The interview goes in… -
John Yarmuth, May 10, 2017
Yarmuth describes his family coming to America from Russia in the early 1900s. Immigration officials who greeted his family when they entered instructed them to… -
Zach Sippy, June 12, 2017
At the time of this interview, Zach Sippy was a high school student in Lexington, Kentucky. In this interview, he discusses his family history and Jewish… -
Sara Wagner, June 9, 2017
Sara Wagner is a Louisville, Kentucky native and the current head of the Jewish Federation of Louisville as of 2017. Wagner reflects on her Jewish upbringing,… -
Joel Gordon, June 21, 2017
Joel Gordon was born on January 5, 1929, in Crofton, Kentucky. Both his mother and father were Jewish, and he was raised with a Jewish foundation. When Gordon…
Eugene Dubow, November 1, 2013
Eugene DuBow was born and was raised in The Bronx in New York City. He speaks about the public schools he attended, and about how the schools redistricted as a…
Samuel Elliott Halpern, March 30,…
Samuel Elliot Halpern was born in Georgetown, Kentucky in 1939 to a Jewish tobacco sharecropping family. Sam’s early life was characterized by experiences of…
Sara Levy, August 12, 2015
Sara Levy talks about growing up in Williamson, West Virginia. She goes on to discuss the Williamson Bargain Store, a clothing store that was owned and operated…
Harriet Rose, August 13, 2015
Harriet Rose discusses her family and her ancestry. She grew up living in Lexington, and discusses her Jewish traditions and identity growing up. She went to…
Marty Solomon, August 17, 2015
Marty Solomon speaks about his early life growing up on the south side of Chicago, and how he and his family came to live in the state of Kentucky. His parents…
Erle Levy, August 19, 2015
Erle Levy discusses family lineage in Lexington, Kentucky and Europe. He discusses his childhood school life in Lexington, and his childhood life in relation to…
Jack Miller, August 31, 2015
Jack Miller was born in Lexington, Kentucky. His family originated from Germany. Miller's family opened a general store on the corner of Main street and…
Larry Kass, October 1, 2015
Larry Kass talks about his childhood in Connecticut. He describes his career as an advertising and marketing executive in New York before moving to Kentucky to…
Lee Shai Weissbach, October 20,…
Weissbach explains how he was born in pre-state Palestine in 1947. His father was born in Alexandria, Egypt and his mother in Norfolk, Virginia. They met in Tel…
Leon Cooper, October 16, 2015
Leon Cooper was born in Norfolk, Virginia in 1927 and came to Lexington with his wife, Harriet, and two of his three children during the mid-twentieth century…
George Schwartzman, October 22,…
George Schwartzman discusses his birth in Buffalo, New York, and talks about his family's arrival in the U.S. He also discusses growing up in a Jewish home and…
Judy Saxe, December 1, 2015
Judy Saxe discusses her family history. She discusses her and her family's relationship to Judaism. Both her father and her grandfather were rabbis. Judy Saxe…
Stanley Saxe, December 3, 2015
Dr. Stanley Saxe introduces himself and his family. He discusses his family's migration from Russia to America and his parents' life and work in the tobacco…
Janis Doctrow, March 7, 2016
Janis (Gay) Weisenberg Doctrow was born at Good Samaritan Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. Her grandfather immigrated from Germany and her grandmother was born…
Mark Wides, March 18, 2016
Wides describes his family history and relations in Kentucky. He provides a history of the Wides Scrap Metals company, established in 1946 after his father…
Annette Mayer, March 24, 2016
Annette Mayer describes the circumstances in which she and her family moved to Lexington, Kentucky following the attack on Pearl Harbor. She describes her…
Sandy Levy, April 11, 2016
Sanford (Sandy) Elliot Levy was born in Lexington, Kentucky. His grandparents, Joe and Jennie Levy were part of a wave of Jewish immigration from a shtetl in…
David Shraberg, April 18, 2016
David Shraberg describes his family's immigration from Lithuania to Somerset in 1900 and how his grandfather worked as a peddler to bring his bride-to-be over…
Harold Baker, May 3, 2016
Baker's father and mother immigrated from Poland and Lithuania, respectively, in the early 1900s and settled with family in the Lexington area. His father…
Martin Kaplan, May 12, 2016
Dr. Martin Kaplan was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1928 and raised in the Bronx, New York City. Both of his parents, Samuel (born in 1899) and Clara Kaplan…
Benjamin Baker, May 13, 2016
Ben Baker describes his family's history, primarily focusing on his mother's side. His maternal grandfather, who was originally from New York, owned a clothing…
Mike Ades, June 22, 2016
Mike Ades begins the interview by detailing his family background, including how in 1895 his grandfather, David Ades, immigrated from Lithuania to Baltimore,…
Kate Shapira Latts, May 24, 2016
Kate Shapira Latts is one of the only women in a high executive position at her family’s business, Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. She was born in Louisville,…
Max Shapira, May 24, 2016
Max Shapira was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He grew up in Bardstown, Kentucky, where his family's company, Heaven Hill Brands, is located. Shapira lived in…
John and Jean Rosenberg, July 1,…
Born in Magdeburg, Germany, John Rosenberg begins the interview by discussing the importance of Judaism in his family's life growing up. His father was a Jewish…
Morris Weiss, August 1, 2016
Morris Weiss begins the interview by discussing his family background dating back to Alten-Schoenbach, Germany and how his uncle, Josef Solomon, emigrated to…
Anne Edelstein Shapira, July 25,…
Anne Edelstein Shapira was born in Ottawa, Canada in 1914 and her parents were immigrants from Manchester, England. She visited the United States in 1934 and…
Stanley Kravetz, September 20, 2016
Stanley Kravetz was born in Georgetown, Kentucky on March 4, 1934. Both his mother and father were born in Lithuania and immigrated to the United States as…
Richard Levy, September 20, 2016
Richard Levy discusses his genealogy and his family's immigration to the United States. He talks about living in Irvine and Lexington, Kentucky and the Right…
Madeline Abramson, September 14,…
Madeline Abramson was raised as a Catholic in Louisville, Kentucky. In this interview, she explains her family’s involvement in the Catholic church and her…
Louis Waterman, September 14, 2016
Louis Waterman describes his childhood in Louisville, including his parents and siblings, his education, and his Judaism both in his social life and religious…
Judy Freundlich Tiell, September…
Judy Tiell discusses her family history and the early influences on her Jewish identity. She talks about her education and career as a social worker. She talks…
Suzanne Post, September 16, 2016
Suzy Post was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1933 during the Great Depression. Both sets of her grandparents immigrated to the United States from Germany in…
Mark Switow, September 20, 2016
Mark Switow, born in 1958 in Louisville, Kentucky, grew up in a family of Jewish entrepreneurs and Jewish community leaders. Switow’s grandfather and…
Tom Block, October 21, 2016
This extended interview with Tom Block takes place during a tour of the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, founded by his great-grandfather, Isaac W.…
Mark Bronner, November 10, 2016
Mark Bronner discusses in detail his family genealogy, from his ancestors in Russia who immigrated to the U.S. and settled in Louisville, to later members of…
David Weinberg, November 10, 2016
In this interview, David Weinberg reflects on his involvement in Judaism and the Jewish community throughout his childhood, college years, and adult life. He…
Fred Joseph, February 3, 2017
Fred Joseph discusses in great detail his family history and genealogy. He talks about their immigration to America from various places in Germany. He describes…
Jeff Kaplan, March 23, 2017
In this interview, Jeffrey Kaplan recounts his life as a Jewish businessman in Lexington, Kentucky, from his mid-adult life to present day (in 2017). Beginning…
Michael Grossman, March 24, 2017
Michael Grossman is a Jewish man who was raised in a Jewish community in Los Angeles, California. His family was not very religious growing up, but following…
Elizabeth Crane, March 24, 2017
Elizabeth Bronner Crane was born on September 14, 1984 in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, and was raised briefly in Charleston, SC though she later moved to…
Robin Michler, March 29, 2017
Robin Michler, owner of Kentucky Native Café in Lexington, discusses his experiences as a businessman, international traveler, and Jewish man. He recounts how…
David Wirtschafter, March 30, 2017
Rabbi D. Wirtschafter is a religious family man, who was raised with three other children in 20th century United States. His father, Dr. Jonathan Wirtschafter,…
Moshe Smolkin, March 31, 2017
Rabbi Moshe Smolkin was born in Atlanta, Georgia in the late 1970s, though he grew up in Clear Lake City, Texas and Albuquerque, New Mexico. As a child, he…
Sharon L. Cohen, March 31, 2017
Rabbi Sharon L. Cohen was born in 1969 in Miami, Florida. While her parents are both from the United States, her great-grandparents emigrated from Russia.…
Jerry Abramson, April 6, 2017
This interview with the former Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, Jerry Abramson, discusses his life and the effect Judaism had on it. The interview goes in…
John Yarmuth, May 10, 2017
Yarmuth describes his family coming to America from Russia in the early 1900s. Immigration officials who greeted his family when they entered instructed them to…
Zach Sippy, June 12, 2017
At the time of this interview, Zach Sippy was a high school student in Lexington, Kentucky. In this interview, he discusses his family history and Jewish…
Sara Wagner, June 9, 2017
Sara Wagner is a Louisville, Kentucky native and the current head of the Jewish Federation of Louisville as of 2017. Wagner reflects on her Jewish upbringing,…
Joel Gordon, June 21, 2017
Joel Gordon was born on January 5, 1929, in Crofton, Kentucky. Both his mother and father were Jewish, and he was raised with a Jewish foundation. When Gordon…