Over the years, David Kleiman listened as the older generation told their stories -- and was clever enough to record the interviews. The recordings here are just a part of the full trove and may be added to the website in the future.These recordings are long - sometimes more than an hour. As time allows, I'll break them up into chapters to make them easier to digest.

These interviews are the only ones I have found to date. If anyone has additional audio recordings of relatives, please send them to me and I'll put them on the site. Or better yet, record an new interview with one of your older relatives so life stories are not lost to history.

Some of these recordings start in the middle of an interview. I'm still looking for other tapes and will post if and when I find them. If you don't hear the sound right away, click on the volume to activate.

 

Moe Esther West

Sophie Wisniowecski Hersh & Sonya Wisniowecski Schwartz

The sisters explore family relationships, including Isaac's brothers and sisters. Sonnie was 85 at the time - and why she had two immigration cards - one in the name of Sarah and one for Sonnie. Sonnie talks about HIAS and the immigration process, traveling with a 9-month old baby,  and how losing baggage at the beginning of the trip caused a week delay. 

Sonnie's accent is fairly thick and her speech is full of Yiddishisms., but turn up the volume and try to catch it all.

Interviewer: David Kleiman
Date: 1978-10-12
Location: Bronx, NY

Moe Esther West

Sophie Hersh

This was a second interview with Sophie after the one with her and Walter. Sophie gives her recollections of Boguslav with its beautiful river and their house. She also tells of the matchmaker who brought Dossie and Sam together.

Interviewer: David Kleiman
Date: 1978-12-20
Location: Bronx, NY

Moe Esther West

Sophie & Walter Hersh

In a far-ranging conversation, Sophie talks about her memories of David Kleiman, when the different families immigrated and the journey to get to America. She relates the death of her father Isaac, and how the family survived the attack by Cossacks.

This is probably the most moving and comprehensive telling of the conditions in Boguslav before 1919. Let your children listen to this to get an idea of what a 10-year-old Sophie went through to survive.

Interviewer: David Kleiman
Date: 1978-12-20
Location: Bronx, NY

Moe Esther West

Moe and Esther West

Fringilla dictumst blandit primis, donec hac nostra, iaculis ultricies proin iaculis vulputate vel. Turpis lacus mi inceptos interdum consequat lectus laoreet libero a scelerisque volutpat mollis blandit sapien vivamus risus mollis sapien pharetra. Porta a eros justo, sollicitudin platea litora, metus duis justo. Lorem convallis posuere nisl id aenean porttitor himenaeos fusce sollicitudin gravida. Donec metus ad fringilla libero nulla sollicitudin augue egestas rutrum fames; Nec class morbi facilisis duis, nisi a est condimentum consequat praesent dui consequat nostra a; Hac purus hac sed morbi dui at euismod vel congue hac! Diam etiam class, condimentum eu quam accumsan. Nisl ad curae pellentesque, risus purus pretium curabitur magna et posuere posuere nunc morbi. Justo quis commodo, praesent curae congue, fermentum pulvinar blandit euismod pretium.

Interviewer: David Kleiman
Date: 1984-10-12
Location: Bronx, NY

Moe Esther West

Louis Eckerman

A young David Kleiman asks his grandfather about Reform, German & Russian Jews. Louis had a lot to say on the subject; fortunately, David had the tape recorder running.

NOTE: the sound quality is poor and you may have to up the volume to understand.

Interviewer: David Kleiman