Guide to the Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles Oral History Project Collection

Special Collections & Archives

University Library

California State University, Northridge

18111 Nordhoff Street

Northridge, CA 91330-8326

URL: https://library.csun.edu/SCA

Contact: https://library.csun.edu/SCA/Contact

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Contributing Institution: Special Collections & Archives

Title: Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles Oral History Project Collection

Creator: Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles (Calif.)

Identifier/Call Number: URB.JFSOH

Extent: 3.85 linear feet

Date (inclusive): 1979-1981

Abstract: The Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles Oral History Project consists of 50 interviews of Jewish immigrants in the Los Angeles area. The goal of the project was to study and evaluate the life experiences of persons who came to the United States during one of the three waves of Jewish immigration - the period from 1900-1945, the years after the Holocaust, and the period of Russian immigration in the late 1970s. The life stories taken during the project reveal a rich folklore of the Jewish people, their countries of origin, war, social change, customs, traditions, and the individual's feelings about Jewish life.

Language of Material: English

Historical Note:

The Jewish Family Service (JFS) of Los Angeles was originally established in 1854 as the Hebrew Benevolent Society. Founded by a group of Jewish businessmen, the organization provided funeral services and charity to destitute Jews and Gentiles. This was the first relief agency in Los Angeles, and the predecessor of all benevolent societies and charitable institutions in Southern California.

In 1916, the Hebrew Benevolent Society merged with the Ladies' Hebrew Benevolent Society to form the Jewish Aid Society. The new society began referring the growing number of relief cases to public welfare agencies and encouraging indigent families to become self-supporting. A name change in 1929 to Jewish Social Service Bureau reflected a widening range of assistance programs available to families and individuals, including psychiatric counseling and job placement.

Throughout the early 1940s, the organization worked with problems related to family disorganization created by World War II. After the War, the agency concerned itself with the influx of European immigrants especially Holocaust victims, by working with the United Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. This relief program involved the largest expenditure made by any private family agency in Los Angeles, with the exception of the Red Cross. In 1946, the agency changed it's name to Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles.

The 1950's gave rise to a deeper interest in personal counseling, with fees being instituted for the increasing numbers of middle-class clients. A branch office of JFS was established in the San Fernando Valley, and services were extended to West Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Venice. The 1960's brought further expansion, including telephone counseling, crisis intervention, Jewish family-life education programs, outreach service, and the opening of the Freda Mohr Center, a walk-in store-front for the elderly. A new unit was established in 1973 to help newly arrived Russian immigrants.

JFS was the first agency in California to receive certification from the Family Service Association of America. It has been a participating agency in the Community Chest (Los Angeles Area Welfare Federation and United Way of Greater Los Angeles, Inc.), a constituent agency of the Jewish Federation-Council, and a member of the Association of Jewish Family and Children's Agencies and Jewish National Fund Council. JFS also handles casework for the Hamburger Home, the Julia Ann Singer Nursery School and Cedars-Sinai Hospital.

Scope and Contents

The Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles Oral History Project Collection consists of 50 interviews of Jewish immigrants in the Los Angeles area. The goal of the project was to study and evaluate the life experiences of persons who came to the United States during one of the three waves of Jewish immigration - the period from 1900-1945, the years after the Holocaust, and the period of Russian immigration in the late 1970s. The life stories taken during the project reveal a rich folklore of the Jewish people, their countries of origin, war, social change, customs, traditions, and the individual's feelings about Jewish life.

Interviews were conducted by volunteers trained by the Jewish Family Service. These interviews were then donated to the library in 1981 along with other records from the organization. Interviewees were given the option to maintain their anonymity, in which case they were assigned a number or name by volunteers for identification purposes. The collection is divided into two series: Audio Recordings (1979-1981) and Interview Notes (1979-1981).

Series I, Audio Recordings, consists of oral history interviews recorded onto audiocassettes.

Series II, Interview Notes, consists of field notes taken by interviewers, summaries of the tape contents, and indexes of topics discussed in the interviews.

Conditions Governing Access:

The collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use:

Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge. Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles, 1981.

Arrangement of Materials:

Series I: Audio Recordings, 1979-1981

Series II: Interview Notes, 1979-1981

Preferred Citation:

For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual, or see the Citing Archival Materials guide.

Processing Information:

Jessica Geiser, 2014

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Audiovisual materials

Documents

Series I: Audio Recordings, 1979-1981

Box 1, Item 1

Alhadeff, Peter, Part 1, 1979

Box 1, Item 2

Alhadeff, Peter, Part 2, 1979

Box 1, Item 3

Alhadeff, Peter, Part 3, 1979

Box 1, Item 4

Almaleh, Eddie, 1979 June 19

Box 1, Item 5

Anisimov, Mikhail, Part 1, 1979

Box 1, Item 6

Anisimov, Mikhail, Part 2, 1979

Box 1, Item 7

Anonymous (#41), Part 1, 1979

Box 1, Item 8

Anonymous (#41), Part 2, 1979

Box 1, Item 9

Anonymous (#42), 1979 February 28

Box 1, Item 10

Anonymous (#53), 1979

Box 1, Item 11

Anonymous (#92), 1979 June 15

Box 1, Item 12

Anonymous (Boris), Part 1, 1980 October 10

Box 1, Item 13

Anonymous (Boris), Part 2, 1980 October 10

Box 1, Item 14

Anonymous (N.E.), 1981 March 03

Box 1, Item 15

Barbanel, Marianne, Part 1, 1979

Box 1, Item 16

Barbanel, Marianne, Part 2, 1979

Box 1, Item 17

Belinsky, Leonid, Part 1, November 1980

Box 1, Item 18

Belinsky, Leonid, Part 2, November 1980

Box 1, Item 19

Benjamin, Selma, Part 1, 1979 June 29

Box 1, Item 20

Benjamin, Selma, Part 2, 1979 June 29

Box 1, Item 21

Beveniste, Betty, Part 1, 1979

Box 1, Item 22

Benjamin, Selma, Part 2, 1979

Box 1, Item 23

Block, Anna, Part 1, 1979

Box 1, Item 24

Block, Anna, Part 2, 1979

Box 1, Item 25

Block, Anna, Part 3, 1979

Box 1, Item 26

Bouhadana, Albert, 1980 January 29

Box 1, Item 27

Byer, Alexandra, Part 1, June 1979

Box 1, Item 28

Byer, Alexandra, Part 2, June 1979

Box 2, Item 1

Dinkin, Lori, Part 1, 1979

Box 2, Item 2

Dinkin, Lori, Part 2, 1979

Box 2, Item 3

Dinkin, Lori, Part 3, 1979

Box 2, Item 4

Gans, Gustav, Part 1, 1979

Box 2, Item 5

Gans, Gustav, Part 2, 1979

Box 2, Item 6

Gans, Gustav, Part 3, 1979

Box 2, Item 7

Gans, Gustav, Part 4, 1979

Box 2, Item 8

Gans, Gustav, Part 5, 1979

Box 2, Item 9

Gans, Gustav, Part 6, 1979

Box 2, Item 10

Grun, Gershon, Part 1, June 1979

Box 2, Item 11

Grun, Gershon, Part 2, June 1979

Box 2, Item 12

Grun, Gershon, Part 3, June 1979

Box 2, Item 13

Herowitz, Ludmilla, Part 1, 1979

Box 2, Item 14

Herowitz, Ludmilla, Part 2, 1979

Box 2, Item 15

Herowitz, Ludmilla, Part 3, 1979

Box 2, Item 16

Herowitz, Ludmilla, Part 4, 1979

Box 2, Item 17

Herowitz, Ludmilla, Part 5, 1979

Box 2, Item 18

Katz, Lia, 1980 July 18

Box 2, Item 19

Kempler, Mazal, Part 1, 1979

Box 2, Item 20

Kempler, Mazal, Part 2, 1979

Box 2, Item 21

Kempler, Mazal, Part 3, 1979

Box 2, Item 22

Kempler, Mazal, Part 4, 1979

Box 2, Item 23

Kessler, Clara, Part 1, 1979

Box 2, Item 24

Kessler, Clara, Part 2, 1979

Box 2, Item 25

Kiselman, Fira (Esfir), Part 1, 1981

Box 2, Item 26

Kiselman, Fira (Esfir), Part 2, 1981

Box 2, Item 27

Kiselman, Fira (Esfir), Part 3, 1981

Box 2, Item 28

Kiselman, Fira (Esfir), Part 4, 1981

Box 2, Item 29

Kiselman, Fira (Esfir), Part 5, 1981

Box 3, Item 1

Klimkevich, Klara, Part 1, 1981 February 6

Box 3, Item 2

Klimkevich, Klara, Part 2, 1981 February 6

Box 3, Item 3

Klimkevich, Klara, Part 3, 1981 February 6

Box 3, Item 4

Klimkevich, Klara, Part 4, 1981 February 6

Box 3, Item 5

Koltai, Leslie, Part 1, 1979

Box 3, Item 6

Koltai, Leslie, Part 2, 1979

Box 3, Item 7

Koltai, Leslie, Part 3, 1979

Box 3, Item 8

Krohn, Samuel, Part 1, 1979

Box 3, Item 9

Krohn, Samuel, Part 2, 1979

Box 3, Item 10

Krohn, Samuel, Part 3, 1979

Box 3, Item 11

Lampl, Annie, Part 1, 1979

Box 3, Item 12

Lampl, Annie, Part 2, 1979

Box 3, Item 13

Lampl, Annie, Part 3, 1979

Box 3, Item 14

Lampl, Annie, Part 4, 1979

Box 3, Item 15

Lampl, Annie, Part 5, 1979

Box 3, Item 16

Lampl, Annie, Part 6, 1979

Box 3, Item 17

Landries, Vera, Part 1, 1979

Box 3, Item 18

Landries, Vera, Part 2, 1979

Box 3, Item 19

Landries, Vera, Part 3, 1979

Box 3, Item 20

Lebowits, Zoltan, Part 1, May 1979

Box 3, Item 21

Lebowits, Zoltan, Part 2, May 1979

Box 3, Item 22

Lebowits, Zoltan, Part 3, May 1979

Box 3, Item 23

Levy, Maurice, Part 1, February 1979

Box 3, Item 24

Levy, Maurice, Part 2, February 1979

Box 3, Item 25

Levy, Rebecca, Part 1, 1979

Box 3, Item 26

Levy, Rebecca, Part 2, 1979

Box 3, Item 27

Levy, Rebecca, Part 3, 1979

Box 3, Item 28

Levy, Rebecca, Part 4, 1979

Box 3, Item 29

Levy, Rebecca, Part 5, 1979

Box 4, Item 1

Lipshitz, Bella, Part 1, 1979 May 12

Box 4, Item 2

Lipshitz, Bella, Part 2, 1979 May 12

Box 4, Item 3

Mock, Martha, Part 1, 1979

Box 4, Item 4

Mock, Martha, Part 2, 1979

Box 4, Item 5

Neidorf, Sam, Part 1, May 1979

Box 4, Item 6

Neidorf, Sam, Part 2, May 1979

Box 4, Item 7

Neidorf, Sam, Part 3, May 1979

Box 4, Item 8

Pekar, Raisa, Part 1, 1980 October 13

Box 4, Item 9

Pekar, Raisa, Part 2, 1980 October 13

Box 4, Item 10

Pekar, Raisa, Part 3, 1980 October 13

Box 4, Item 11

Rovell, Ison, Part 1, 1979

Box 4, Item 12

Rovell, Ison, Part 2, 1979

Box 4, Item 13

Rovell, Ison, Part 3, 1979

Box 4, Item 14

Rovell, Ison, Part 4, 1979

Box 4, Item 15

Rovell, Ison, Part 5, 1979

Box 4, Item 16

Rubenstein, George, Part 1, 1979

Box 4, Item 17

Rubenstein, George, Part 2, 1979

Box 4, Item 18

Rubenstein, George, Part 3, 1979

Box 4, Item 19

Rubenstein, George, Part 4, 1979

Box 4, Item 20

Rubenstein, George, Part 5, 1979

Box 4, Item 21

Schwartz, Alex, Part 1, 1980

Box 4, Item 22

Schwartz, Alex, Part 2, 1980

Box 4, Item 23

Schwartz, Alex, Part 3, 1980

Box 4, Item 24

Schwartz, Alex, Part 4, 1980

Box 4, Item 25

Schwartz, Alex, Part 5, 1980

Box 4, Item 26

Shapell, Lilly, Part 1, 1979

Box 4, Item 27

Shapell, Lilly, Part 2, 1979

Box 4, Item 28

Shuwarger, Michael, Part 1, 1980

Box 4, Item 29

Shuwarger, Michael, Part 2, 1980

Box 4, Item 30

Shuwarger, Michael, Part 3, 1980

Box 5, Item 1

Sigman, Eleanor, Part 1, February 1979

Box 5, Item 2

Sigman, Eleanor, Part 2, February 1979

Box 5, Item 3

Simon, Albert, Part 1, 1979

Box 5, Item 4

Simon, Albert, Part 2, 1979

Box 5, Item 5

Simon, Albert, Part 3, 1979

Box 5, Item 6

Simon, Albert, Part 4, 1979

Box 5, Item 7

Simon, Albert, Part 5, 1979

Box 5, Item 8

Simon, Albert, Part 6, 1979

Box 5, Item 9

Sklansky, Berta, Part 1, 1981

Box 5, Item 10

Sklansky, Berta, Part 2, 1981

Box 5, Item 11

Sklansky, Berta, Part 3, 1981

Box 5, Item 12

Sklansky, Berta, Part 4, 1981

Box 5, Item 13

Solomon, Abraham, Part 1, 1979

Box 5, Item 14

Solomon, Abraham, Part 2, 1979

Box 5, Item 15

Solomon, Abraham, Part 3, 1979

Box 5, Item 16

Volokh, Ann, Part 1, July 1979

Box 5, Item 17

Volokh, Ann, Part 2, July 1979

Box 5, Item 18

Weiner, Clara, Part 1, 1979

Box 5, Item 19

Weiner, Clara, Part 2, 1979

Box 5, Item 20

Weiner, Clara, Part 3, 1979

Box 5, Item 21

Williams, Paula, Part 1, 1979

Box 5, Item 22

Williams, Paula, Part 2, 1979

Box 5, Item 23

Williams, Paula, Part 3, 1979

Box 5, Item 24

Yallouze, Marguerite, Part 1, June 1979

Box 5, Item 25

Yallouze, Marguerite, Part 2, June 1979

Box 5, Item 26

Yallouze, Marguerite, Part 3, June 1979

Box 5, Item 27

Yallouze, Marguerite, Part 4, June 1979

Box 5, Item 28

Zamir, Yecheskiel, 1981 May 1

Series II: Interview Notes, 1979-1981

Box 6, Folder 1

Alhadeff, Peter, 1979

Box 6, Folder 2

Almaleh, Eddie, 1979

Box 6, Folder 3

Anisimov, Mikhail, 1979

Box 6, Folder 4

Anonymous (#41), 1979

Box 6, Folder 5

Anonymous (#42), 1979

Box 6, Folder 6

Anonymous (#53), 1979

Box 6, Folder 7

Anonymous (#92), 1979

Box 6, Folder 8

Anonymous (Boris), 1980

Box 6, Folder 9

Anonymous (N.E.), 1981

Box 6, Folder 10

Barbanel, Marianne, 1979

Box 6, Folder 11

Belinsky, Leonid, 1980

Box 6, Folder 12

Benjamin, Selma, 1979

Box 6, Folder 13

Benveniste, Betty, 1979

Box 6, Folder 14

Block, Anna, 1979

Box 6, Folder 15

Bouhadana, Albert, 1980

Box 6, Folder 16

Byer, Alexandra, 1979

Box 6, Folder 17

Dinkin, Lori, 1979

Box 6, Folder 18

Gans, Gustave, 1979

Box 6, Folder 19

Grun, Gershon, 1979

Box 6, Folder 20

Gurwitz, Ludmilla, 1979

Box 6, Folder 21

Katz, Lia, 1980

Box 6, Folder 22

Kempler, Mazal, 1979

Box 6, Folder 23

Kessler, Clara, 1979

Box 6, Folder 24

Kiselman, Fira, 1981

Box 6, Folder 25

Klimkevich, Klara, 1981

Box 7, Folder 1

Koltai, Leslie, 1979

Box 7, Folder 2

Krohn, Samuel, 1979

Box 7, Folder 3

Lampl, Annie, 1979

Box 7, Folder 4

Landfer, Vera, 1979

Box 7, Folder 5

Lebowitz, Zoltan, 1979

Box 7, Folder 6

Levy, Rebecca, 1979

Box 7, Folder 7

Levy, Maurice, 1979

Box 7, Folder 8

Lipshitz, Bella, 1979

Box 7, Folder 9

Mock, Martha, 1979

Box 7, Folder 10

Neidorf, Samuel, 1979

Box 7, Folder 11

Pekar, Raisa, 1980

Box 7, Folder 12

Rovell, Ison, 1979

Box 7, Folder 13

Rubenstein, George, 1979

Box 7, Folder 14

Schwartz, Alex, 1980

Box 7, Folder 15

Shapell, Lily, 1979

Box 7, Folder 16

Shuwarger, Michael, 1980

Box 7, Folder 17

Siegman, Eleanor, 1979

Box 7, Folder 18

Simon, Albert, 1979

Box 7, Folder 19

Slanksy, Berta, 1981

Box 7, Folder 20

Solomon, Abraham, 1979

Box 7, Folder 21

Volokh, Ann, 1979

Box 7, Folder 22

Weiner, Clara, 1979

Box 7, Folder 23

Williams, Paula, 1979

Box 7, Folder 24

Yallouze, Margaret, 1979

Box 7, Folder 25

Zamir, Yecheskiel, 1981