Harlan Greene, one of four children of Regina and Sam Greene, talks about growing up in Charleston, South Carolina, with a focus on the effects his parents’ experiences as Holocaust survivors had on him and his siblings. Regina and Sam married in their native Poland in June 1939 and, sometime after the Nazis invaded Poland, were picked up by Russian invaders and taken to Siberian work camps. In 1943 the Greenes joined thousands of Jewish refugees in Uzbekistan to wait out the war. They immigrated in 1948 to Charleston, where Regina had relatives. Harlan recalls that his parents’ wartime accounts were “very contradictory,” and he speculates as to the reasons. At his prompting, his mother began telling him stories in bits and pieces when he was a young teen. Regina was not for memorializing just one holocaust or telling her story publicly, whereas, later in life, Sam became involved in Holocaust organizations and recorded his life story. Harlan describes his parents’ marriage, their home life while he was growing up, and his childhood, which he calls “claustrophobic.” He believes that his parents’ stories are part of his and his siblings’ stories—"their trajectory is my trajectory”—and that certain familial traits have filtered down to his nieces in the next generation. Harlan notes that he has a “run-away work ethic. I can see it in many of my siblings. If we’re enjoying ourselves, we kind of feel guilty.” He comments briefly on Charleston society’s social strictures and how he has embraced living outside its confines, being gay and Jewish. “Growing up in Charleston, you weren’t supposed to be Jewish. You weren’t supposed to be gay. Those were social strikes against you. . . I like whatever makes me different.” This is one of a number of interviews conducted by Ph.D. candidate Lucas Wilson for his dissertation, “The Structures of Postmemory: Portraits of Survivor-Family Homes in Second-Generation Holocaust Literature.” Wilson was awarded two Charleston Research Fellowships (May 2017, February 2019) by the Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture at the College of Charleston.
Senator James Strom Thurmond, born in 1903 in Edgefield, South Carolina, was a circuit judge when he volunteered for the U.S. Army during World War II. He landed in France on D-Day and was injured, but rejoined combat. His unit ended up in Leipzig, Germany, and the Senator describes what he saw when they entered Buchenwald concentration camp. "Men were stacked up like cordwood. They were ten or twelve feet high. You couldn't tell whether they were living or dead. . . . Everything I saw was distressing to me." The Senator briefly discusses the topic of religious freedom.
Mary Lourie Rittenberg was born in 1927 in St. George, South Carolina, the fourth of six children of Anne "Annie" Friedman and Louis Lourie (Luria). Mary describes growing up in St. George, where the family lived over their store. She recalls one other Jewish family in town, the Widelitzes. She felt like an outsider, "particularly on Sundays." The Louries used to take the bus to Savannah, where, as a teen, Mary made a few Jewish friends. Mary discusses the influence her grandmother Baila Friedman had on her sense of Jewish identity. Baila was on hand to help Annie with the house and children. At some point, Annie had to assume responsibility for the store after Louis became too ill to work. He died when Mary was in high school. The interviewee shares memories of her siblings. Sol, the eldest, settled in Columbia with his wife, Toby Baker, and opened a store. Sara, the second eldest, married Sherman Gordon, and it was at their son's bris (circumcision) that Sol met Toby. Mick, who had helped his mother, Annie, in the store after Louis died, joined Sol in running the new Lourie's in Columbia. Annie closed the St. George store and also moved to the capital city. Herbert married Betty Brody and became a neurosurgeon. His life ended tragically when he was murdered at his home in Dewitt, New York, in 1987. Isadore, the youngest, married Susan Reiner, and became a South Carolina state senator and the founding president of the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina. Mary recounts how she met her husband, Alvin Rittenberg, of Charleston, whom she married in 1952. She mentions Alvin's brother, Henry, and their parents, Sadie Livingstain and Sam Rittenberg, who was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1912, and then again in 1924, when he won the first of four consecutive terms. Alvin, an M.D., established his practice in Charleston Heights. Mary talks about their children: Sam, Sadye Beth, Harris, William, and Michael, and their grandchildren. The interviewee touches on her fifteen years working as a guidance counselor at Garrett High School in North Charleston. Transcript contains comments and corrections by Mary's relative David Askienazy. See also Rittenberg's interview from December 8, 2012, Mss. 1035-424. For related materials, see the Lourie family papers, Mss. 1034-042, and interviews with Larraine Lourie Moses, Mss. 1035-487; Libby Friedman Levinson, Mss. 1035-016; Henry Rittenberg, Mss. 1035-104; Henry and Sarah Rittenberg, Mss. 1035-350.
To commemorate her upcoming eighty-fifth birthday, Mary Lourie Rittenberg is interviewed by her sons Harris Rittenberg and Sam Rittenberg. Also present are Harris's wife, Meryl; Sam's wife, Evelyn; and Mary's second husband, Louis Kirshtein. Mary was raised in St. George, South Carolina, the fourth child of six born to Anne "Annie" Friedman and Louis Lourie. Mary describes growing up in the 1930s and '40s in the small town about fifty miles northwest of Charleston, South Carolina. Her stories convey the love and respect she feels for her parents, siblings, and maternal grandmother, Baila Friedman. Her mother kept kosher and closed the family's store on the High Holidays. Mary recalls instances of antisemitism that the Louries experienced living in St. George. Yet her father was well respected and involved in local politics. Mary attended the University of Georgia in Athens, majoring in economics and education. She relates how she met her first husband, Alvin Rittenberg, and what attracted her to him. Harris and Meryl discuss how Mary has influenced her children's sense of Jewish identity. Transcript contains comments and corrections by Mary's relative David Askienazy. See also Rittenberg's oral history recorded on December 4, 2014, Mss. 1035-411. For related materials, see the Lourie family papers, Mss. 1034-042, and interviews with Larraine Lourie Moses, Mss. 1035-487; Libby Friedman Levinson, Mss. 1035-016; Henry Rittenberg, Mss. 1035-104; Henry and Sarah Rittenberg, Mss. 1035-350.
Eleanor Evens Levy was born in 1936 in Pulaski, Virginia, the youngest of three children of Annie Kessler and Sam Evens [Eventov]. Sam, who was from Rogachev, Russia, was educated as an engineer. Eleanor reports he "discovered the glue that was used in plywood" and came to America "to open up American plywood plants all over the country." The first was in Macon, Georgia, where Annie lived. They married in 1918, moved to Pulaski, and opened a dry goods store. Eleanor describes growing up in the small town in southwestern Virginia. "The closest synagogue was sixty miles away." She had no Jewish friends, and did not experience any antisemitism. She attended Greensboro Women's College in North Carolina. "Immediately when I got to Greensboro, I got in with the people that lived in Greensboro, and I went to synagogue every Friday. I felt very much at home there." Eleanor met Joel Levy, a native of Batesburg, South Carolina, when she was a sophomore. They married in 1955, and moved to Columbia, South Carolina. Joel, an optometrist, established a practice in nearby Winnsboro. Eleanor notes that she and Joel decided to live in Columbia because they wanted to have a "Jewish life." She offers some details about her involvement with various programs and plays at Columbia's Jewish Community Center.
Jefferson "Jeff" Tobias Figg was born in 1936, and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, the youngest of three children of Sallie Alexander Tobias and Robert McCormick Figg, Jr. Sallie was descended from Joseph Tobias, founding president of Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, established in Charleston in 1749. Jeff talks about growing up south of Broad Street and shares stories about various family members, including his elder siblings, Robert and Emily; his paternal uncle, Thomas Jefferson Tobias, and Thomas's wife, Rowena Wilson; his cousins David and Judith Tobias; and his maternal grandmother, Hortense Alexander Tobias. Jeff observes, "We have never been a particularly Jewish or Christian family." His mother, Sallie, was not notably observant as a Jew, though her mother was, and, according to Jeff, her brother, Thomas Tobias, "was obsessed with Judaism." Jeff's father, Robert, was raised by Baptists and did not adhere to any organized religion as an adult. The interviewee notes: "I've always considered myself Jewish. I feel it inside of me." For several summers, he attended Sky Valley Camp, near Hendersonville, North Carolina, run by an Episcopalian minister. Jeff describes his father's career as a lawyer, particularly his role in representing the state of South Carolina in Briggs v. Elliott. He briefly covers his father's tenure as the head of the law school at the University of South Carolina and his involvement with the South Carolina Port Authority. Jeff married Catherine "Kitty" Louise Cox in 1961, and they raised three children, Susan, Catherine, and Robert, in Charleston. Figg touches on his career with Xerox and the Adolph Coors Company, where he headed the sales department. He tells stories about prominent South Carolinians Strom Thurmond, James Byrnes, and Burnet Maybank; and he recalls Jewish Charlestonians Milton Pearlstine, Walter Solomon, and Solomon Breibart. Jeff's daughter Susan, who joined him in this interview, contrasts the message of the bestselling book "The Help" with her relationship with the black woman who worked for her grandmother. For a related collection, see the Thomas J. Tobias papers, Mss. 1029.
Lucille Schoenberg Greenly was born in 1919 in Savannah, Georgia, and raised, from the time she was a young girl, in Beaufort, South Carolina. In this interview, she offers information on the emigration of the Schoenbergs (Schoenberger) from Latvia to Atlanta, Georgia, and the Goldbergs (Zakon) from Russia to Boston, Massachusetts. The eldest child of Gertrude Goldberg and Leopold Schoenberg, she relates how her parents met in Atlanta at the wedding of a mutual cousin, a member of the Lichtenstein family. While newlyweds Gertrude and Leopold were living in Savannah, Leopold started a scrap metal business, often traveling to Beaufort to take advantage of post-World War I military equipment sales on Parris Island, home to a marine recruit depot. Among the salvaged items he bought were large ovens, which led to his next business venture, Beaufort Home Bakery, established in 1924 in the Schoenbergs' new hometown of Beaufort. Lucille describes operations at the bakery, where she worked after school, and the variety of products they sold. She discusses her younger siblings, Melvin, Julian, Arthur, and Gwendolyn; Passover Seders at their home; attending Hebrew school; memories of her grandparents; and her mother's cooking. Gertrude kept a kosher home; Lucille recalls that when she was a child, there was a kosher butcher shop on Craven Street, next door to the rabbi's house. The interviewee talks about the African Americans who worked in the Schoenberg home, and considers the nature of the family's relationship with them.
Helen Kronrad Coplan, one of four children of Fannie Levine and Oskar Kronrad, discusses growing up in Columbia, South Carolina, in the 1920s and 1930s. Oskar, an Austrian immigrant, ran an auto parts store in the capital city. Helen recalls her mother’s baking skills and shopping with Fannie for kosher chickens butchered by Rev. David Karesh. She describes her memories of racial segregation practices in Columbia, and of the Big Apple, an African American nightclub, housed in the former House of Peace Synagogue on Park Street, and known as the birthplace of the Big Apple dance that became popular in 1937. In 1940 Helen married Louis Coplan, also a Columbia native, and they raised five children in their hometown. After serving on the aircraft carrier USS Lexington in the South Pacific during World War II, Louis joined his father, Max Coplan, in his grocery business in Columbia. Helen was a saleswoman for World Book encyclopedias.
Mathilde Ezratty Lehem, was born in 1916 to Rachel Ezratty and Saady Ezratty, members of two separate Ezratty families who were part of the large community of Sephardic Jews living in Salonika, Greece. Mathilde talks briefly about life in the northern port city, where she and her younger brother, Alfred, lived comfortably with their parents and attended a Jewish school staffed by teachers who had been trained in France. Saady worked in insurance and Rachel's brothers sold crystal and fine fabrics. Jewish-owned shops closed on Saturdays, a practice that ended forcibly sometime after Hitler came to power in Germany. Saady took this change as a sign it was time for the family to leave Salonika. Around the mid-1930s (Mathilde admits she is not good with dates), Rachel and Saady acquired traveler's visas and, with Mathilde and Alfred, boarded a ship bound for Mandatory Palestine, where Saady's brother lived. Rachel's brothers, believing they would not come to harm, stayed in Greece. Mathilde never saw them again and assumes they, like many of Salonika's Jews, were sent to the gas chambers. Mathilde notes that living conditions in British-controlled Palestine were harsh, a stark contrast to their life in Greece. When she was about twenty, she married a man (Lehem) she had known for a month. The marriage was troubled from the start and never during the interview does Mathilde utter his first name. She moved with him to Aden, then a British colony, where he had a business. A year or two after they wed, daughter Florette was born. As fighting in nearby East Africa intensified, the Lehems decided, in 1940 or '41, to move to Shanghai, based partly on the advice of a ship captain. Another draw: Mr. Lehem's sister lived there. Mathilde recalls that in, possibly, early 1942, they were among the British and American civilians living in Shanghai who were interned in camps by the city's Japanese occupiers. She describes the living conditions where they were held for three and a half years and mentions how they and other Jewish prisoners celebrated their first Passover. The interviewee spends considerable time on health problems she experienced while in Shanghai, most while being held in the camp. She discusses her symptoms and the treatment she received, which included hospitalizations. Once freed, Mathilde sought a way to return to her parents in Palestine. She held a British passport, but passage to Palestine was denied. An American doctor who was a fellow detainee, helped her obtain a United States visa so she and Florette could seek out her paternal aunt in New York. To Mathilde's relief, her husband stayed in Shanghai. Mathilde recounts how she and Florette made their way from Shanghai to San Francisco to family in Queens. She required lengthy hospitalization once in New York. Seeing that Mathilde's illness was going to be protracted and Florette needed a parent, a member of the family tracked down Mr. Lehem and arranged for his entry to the United States, unaware that Mathilde wanted nothing to do with him. The reunited Lehem family settled in Manhattan and, after Florette was grown, Mathilde managed to escape the bad marriage. Florette married Isaac "Ike" Ryba and they later moved to Charleston, South Carolina. Mathilde followed in 1970. See Mss. 1035-056 for Mathilde's second of two interviews. For a related collection, see copies of her family photos in the Inventory of the Holocaust Archives Field Researchers Collection, Mss. 1065-049.
Rose Yospe Mark, the youngest of five, was born in 1927 in Baltimore, Maryland, to Lithuanian immigrants Frieda Miller and Morris Yospe. She grew up in "the Jewish neighborhood, right near the Lloyd Street Synagogue." Rose shares her memories of her parents and describes her mother's family and childhood. Rose was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home, and the family went to shul on the holidays. Rose wasn't taught the significance of the specific practices, such as fasting, but her parents did make clear the importance of their Jewish identity. Rose discusses how she and her husband, Ernest Mark of Beaufort, South Carolina, met and became engaged. They married in 1944 while he was in the army. They settled in Beaufort in December 1945, after he was discharged. Rose notes that she loved the southern landscape "right away." The city girl in her appreciated the wide open spaces, clean air, and green flora. The interviewee relates stories of Ernest's childhood and his parents, Lena Mae and Joseph Mark. Joseph, a Russian immigrant, followed a sister to Beaufort in 1904, and established a store in neighboring Burton. The family ultimately moved to downtown Beaufort and operated grocery and liquor stores. Rose and Ernest opened a furniture store in 1946, also in downtown Beaufort. Rose recalls shifting the business from credit to cash, a move necessitated by competition from discount stores. The couple raised four children: Barbara, Janet, Larry, and Michael. Rose describes Larry's start in the furniture business. Unlike his parents, he discounted his merchandise, and he was so successful, Rose and Ernest sold their store and joined him. She talks about the African Americans who worked for the Marks, three of whom are featured on a mural Columbia artist Ralph Waldrop painted on the side of their building. When Rose came to Beaufort, Beth Israel Congregation was Conservative. While that was an adjustment for her, she was pleased with the sense of intimacy she felt when synagogue members met for celebrations such as community seders and Chanukah parties. Rose considers the changes in the congregation over the decades since she moved to Beaufort. At the time of the interview, their traditions were "Conservative bordering on Reform," but, Rose says, if they have to become Reform to get people in, they will. In 1996, when, Mark was nominated as the first female president of the congregation, Beth Israel had twenty-five member-families. She reports that they have had a hard time finding people who want to join and attend weekly services, though a large number of people come out of the woodwork for the community Passover Seders and High Holiday services. She remarks that Reform Congregation Beth Yam in Hilton Head Island, between Beaufort and Savannah, Georgia, is growing, largely due to retirees moving to the area. "We're not getting that in Beaufort." Rose reflects on why three of her children married out of the faith. She remembers Joe Young of Beaufort, who moved his family to Jacksonville, Florida, because he was concerned that his children "weren't exposed to very many Jewish people." The interviewee talks about her good friend Harvey Tattelbaum, who was interim rabbi at Beth Israel while serving as chaplain at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island, from 1960 to 1962.
