LEVINE:

This is Janet Levine for the National Park Service. Today is March 1, 1994, and I'm here with Herman Bromberg, who came from Poland in 1919 when he was thirteen years of age.

BROMBERG:

From Pinsk.

LEVINE:

From Pinsk, Poland, right. And, uh, I'm here in Mr. Bromberg's home in North Miami, uh, Florida, North Miami Beach.

BROMBERG:

Beach.

LEVINE:

Florida. Well, I'm very happy to be here, and I'm glad that I'm going to have a chance to record your story in your own words. Start at the beginning by giving your birth date and well you were born in Pinsk, Poland, your birth date.

BROMBERG:

You want my name? My name? I am Herman Bromberg, and I come from Pinsk, Poland, and I arrived in the United States in 1919. And that was an occasion.

LEVINE:

Tell me your birth date.

BROMBERG:

Uh, my birthday is January 14, 1908.

LEVINE:

And you lived in Pinsk up until the time you left for the United States?

BROMBERG:

Yes. We lived in Pinsk until we left. When we left, we left for Warsaw, because that's where all the papers had to be certified.

LEVINE:

Now, um, tell me what Pinsk was like, as you remember it from a boy.

BROMBERG:

Well, Pinsk is a small town. Uh, no plumbing, there was no electricity. And, uh, we had outhouses. Now, you can just imagine, when I think of it today, how we lived then, I can't imagine how we lived then. But we used candlelights and we used wood for cooking in the stoves and the ovens, and it was, uh, a hassle. What can I tell you? ( he laughs ) We have it so good today that people should appreciate what they have today, with electricity and all the modern things we have today. No comparison.

LEVINE:

Tell me . . .

BROMBERG:

I wouldn't go back to that life even if, no matter what.

LEVINE:

Tell me what the stove was like where your mother cooked. Can you describe the stove, and what it looked like?

BROMBERG:

Well, the stove was like a baker's oven where they had to put the wood underneath and then the top got hot, like in the old bakeries. And then, um, it was, it was horrible. ( they laugh )

LEVINE:

Tell me, do you remember any things your mother cooked when you were a boy?

BROMBERG:

Actually I do not, but I know that she took very good care of us. Also my father was a tailor, and we had a tailor shop in the home where we lived. And, uh, my mother and my father worked as tailors.

LEVINE:

Would people come into your home to have work done?

BROMBERG:

Yes. My father was a very successful tailor. He created his own styles. He took orders for dresses and coats and, uh, for the ladies, and he did very well. And the fact is, he saved up money and he bought a building in Pinsk.

LEVINE:

And then did he have a shop in there?

BROMBERG:

He had a shop in that building. He had a ladies wear shop.

LEVINE:

So he actually designed dresses and coats.

BROMBERG:

Designed the clothes, and he took the orders, and he made them, and he was very successful.

LEVINE:

Did you ever help him at all?

BROMBERG:

No. I was too young at that time. I was, uh, maybe six, that I, since I remember. I must have been five or six years old.

LEVINE:

I see. Um, what was your father's name?

BROMBERG:

My father's name was Isador.

LEVINE:

And your mother's name?

BROMBERG:

My mother's name was Celia.

LEVINE:

And your mother's maiden name?

BROMBERG:

My mother's maiden name was Glauberman.

LEVINE:

G-L-A-U-B-E-R . . .

BROMBERG:

E-R-M-A-N.

LEVINE:

Okay. And you had, uh, one sister and one brother?

BROMBERG:

One sister and one brother.

LEVINE:

And their names?

BROMBERG:

My sister's name is Rose, and my brother's name was Morris.

LEVINE:

Now, was Morris older than you?

BROMBERG:

Yeah. Morris was, uh, I think, two years older than I was.

LEVINE:

So it was Morris, then you, and then Rose.

BROMBERG:

Right.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. How about grandparents?

BROMBERG:

Yes. I had grandparents. They lived in Telehan, which is, uh, about fifty miles away, and the only way we can go there is by boat. So we went there a couple of times, and he was also a very successful carpenter. He made locks on the river from wood to stop the water from going down too fast, and, because it was hilly, so that's what, he was an expert on making locks.

LEVINE:

What was his name, your grandfather? Do you know?

BROMBERG:

His name was Bromberg, and I tell you I forgot his name.

LEVINE:

Well, you would have called him Grandpa, or (?), right?

BROMBERG:

His name was Grandpa. ( they laugh )

LEVINE:

Well, now, do you remember seeing him as a child?

BROMBERG:

Oh, of course, yes.

LEVINE:

Tell me what he was like, and how he was to you.

BROMBERG:

Well, I was, uh, six years old, and he was a nice old man. He had a beard, and we used to come there for the Jewish holidays. I remember one day I came there at the Jewish holiday while we slept, I slept with my grandpa in the sukkah [ph]. I remember that.

LEVINE:

You were the only two sleeping in there?

BROMBERG:

Yeah, just he and I. ( he laughs )

LEVINE:

Uh-huh.

BROMBERG:

And that was an event.

LEVINE:

Yeah. Do you remember anything else about the observing of the Jewish holidays when you were in Poland?

BROMBERG:

Well, we were, the Jewish people there were very close together, and we observed all the Jewish holidays. I went to Hebrew school there, and I also remember when the Balfour Declaration was declared, and that little kids got together with sticks, and we started marching like soldiers. ( he laughs ) Practicing to be soldiers for the new Jewish state.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh, wow.

BROMBERG:

Which took place maybe fifty years later or more.

LEVINE:

Now, did you, who decorated the, uh, sukkah, the . . .

BROMBERG:

Uh, my grandparents.

LEVINE:

They did. Uh-huh.

BROMBERG:

They did.

LEVINE:

And, uh, was your, did you know your grandparents on your mother's side?

BROMBERG:

Yes, of course. My grandparents on my mother's side lived in Pinsk with us. My grandfather on my mother's side was a baker, and he had a bakery, and he had, he was very nice, and he and my uncles were the first ones, in 1905 they left for the United States. Because they were revolutionaries, and they had to run away after the 1905 revolution in Russia. And, uh, that's when they left for the United States, and my uncle, my uncle, who took us over here, and his brother, and my grandma and my grandpa and my aunt and my two aunts and my uncle. They all ran away from Pinsk because they were revolutionaries in 1905, and they came to the United States. And that's where they got established, and they made very, they did very well economically, so they were able to send for us.

LEVINE:

I see. So you didn't know your mother's parents when you were in Poland. You got to know them after you came over.

BROMBERG:

No, I knew them from, I knew them in Pinsk.

LEVINE:

But they left in 1905? They must have left a little later then, because you were born 1908, right?

BROMBERG:

Uh, I was born in 1908.

LEVINE:

So you, they had to still be there. They must have left, maybe they left 1915?

BROMBERG:

No, I remember them, I remember them. I remember them in Pinsk.

LEVINE:

Oh. Well, do you remember any experiences with them, with those grandparents, your mother's?

BROMBERG:

Well, we used to all get together and, uh, at holidays I used to go into the bakery and take, uh, and get something, whatever they baked. I remember that. So they left after. I think, I think my uncle left in 1905, but my grandparents must have left later. That's what it is, yeah.

LEVINE:

Right, yeah, okay. So . . .

BROMBERG:

Then, we left in 1919. They must have left in 1910 or something like that.

LEVINE:

Okay. Um, was there a Jewish population as well as a Gentile population in Pinsk?

BROMBERG:

Yes, there was. In those days, the difference between the Jews and the Gentiles was very, very great. The Gentiles were altogether different, and you couldn't, you couldn't miss seeing a Jew and seeing a Gentile.

LEVINE:

How could you tell?

BROMBERG:

They were dressed differently, they were, they spoke differently. The Gentiles didn't speak Yiddish. The Jewish population all spoke Yiddish among themselves. The only time they spoke either Russian or Polish was when they had to converse with the Gentiles. The Jewish knew Russian and Polish, but the Gentiles didn't know Yiddish. The Jewish population spoke among themselves Yiddish. We had a Yiddish paper. There was a Yiddish paper being printed, and the only time that they read Hebrew was when they, uh, they prayed in the synagogues. The prayer was done in Hebrew, and the conversation was in Yiddish.

LEVINE:

And what was the difference in dress between the Jews and the Gentiles?

BROMBERG:

Well, the Gentiles dressed altogether different, like, uh, farmers, like farmers. While the Jewish people dressed like businesspeople. That's the difference. They dressed in a jacket, trousers, while the Gentiles dressed like farmers in overalls, and that's, you know.

LEVINE:

Did you live in close relation to the Gentile community, or . . .

BROMBERG:

Yeah, there were Gentiles around there. But mostly the Jewish people stuck together.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. And what kind of schooling did you have there?

BROMBERG:

Well, uh, before 19, uh, '14, when the war, the First World War broke out, I had schooling just in Jewish, not in Hebrew. Then when the war broke out, all the schools stopped. They had no schools or anything. I had no education.

LEVINE:

What did you, when you were learning Hebrew, what kind of a learning situation was it?

BROMBERG:

Well, that was just reading, mostly reading the Torah. We started out with reading the Torah, and then with the prayer books, and that's it. And as far as regular schooling is concerned, I didn't have any schooling there. Not until I came to the United States.

LEVINE:

Was it a tutor, or did you go to a school?

BROMBERG:

It was like a, a private house where a teacher would be there and the children would come, maybe twelve, fourteen children.

LEVINE:

Girls and boys, or just boys?

BROMBERG:

Just boys. In those years, girls didn't get any education.

LEVINE:

Were there any other differences that you can think of between how boys were treated and how girls were treated in those days there?

BROMBERG:

Well, uh, the families always prefer the boys, the way I understand. They always wanted a boy instead of a girl. But, uh, and the girls didn't get any education at all.

LEVINE:

Do you remember, as a boy, what your aspirations were, what you wanted to do when you, when you became a man, when you grew up?

BROMBERG:

Well, I, I was only there until I was thirteen years old. It was only after I got to the United States that I started doing things. And, uh . . .

LEVINE:

Can you think of ( she clears her throat ) excuse me. What, did you do chores when you were a boy when you were still there?

BROMBERG:

No, no chores, no.

LEVINE:

Did you have certain duties that you had to do?

BROMBERG:

No. The only thing I remember, an incident, during the war, the, uh, Germans were in our town, and, uh, and I, I was suffering from migraines, so the doctor prescribed that I should do exercise. So I got hold of some skates that you, uh, tie onto your shoes, and I went skating all over the city, because in those years it was cold six months a year. The city was frozen, and so was the river. So one day I was skating on the river, and I was maybe seven or eight, and a German soldier came over to me. Wait a minute, no. It wasn't, it wasn't the German, it was after the war already, and there was a Polish soldier that came over to me. And he said, "You give me your skates, or you give me your life." So I gave him the skates.

LEVINE:

Good choice. ( they laugh ) Well, um, so, did you, did you skate for fun?

BROMBERG:

Yeah. I skated . . .

LEVINE:

I mean, was it . . .

BROMBERG:

For health.

LEVINE:

For health.

BROMBERG:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Tell me about the healthcare. Do you remember anything about healthcare?

BROMBERG:

Well, we had doctors there, but they weren't actual doctors. They were like nurses. They weren't, but they, some of them were good. They didn't have no doctor's degree, but they were pretty good. The health system there wasn't too good.

LEVINE:

Um, how about, uh, what did your family do for entertainment or enjoyment or . . .

BROMBERG:

For, I remember that for entertainment we read the papers. We used to sit, and my father and mother used to read the papers to us, news of the day, and they had other things, but that was the main entertainment.

LEVINE:

And when would they do that?

BROMBERG:

After work.

LEVINE:

So in the evening?

BROMBERG:

In the evening.

LEVINE:

Do you remember like dinnertime, and then in evening, what it would be like?

BROMBERG:

Well, uh, my mother cooked the meals and served, and even helped my father in the business. And then after everything was cleaned up, we would sit down and they would read the newspapers to us.

LEVINE:

In Yiddish.

BROMBERG:

In Yiddish.

LEVINE:

Is it . . . ( disturbance to the microphone )

BROMBERG:

Maybe I should say it myself without your questioning.

LEVINE:

Do you want to?

BROMBERG:

It would be faster, because I got to go soon.

LEVINE:

Oh, you do? Okay. Well, why don't you say, well, let me ask you some questions, and you finish whatever doesn't come out, okay? How was it decided you would leave, then, when you did leave Poland?

BROMBERG:

Well, the situation in Pinsk started to become very bad. My father didn't want to leave, because he had an established business, and he also bought a building there, where he established his business. And he was very well-known, but the situation as far as anti-semitism was concerned, was getting worse and worse. Uh, after the war, uh, Poland became Poland. It became, uh, Poland, not Russia. When we were there before the war, it was Russia. Then it became Poland. And the, uh, Balahowitzes [ph] took over the town, and they were very anti-Semitic. They went from house to house with guns, and they robbed everybody. They came into our house with guns, and they lined everybody up, and everybody had to give them money. Everybody gave them whatever they had. And then they turned around to my father, and they said, "You didn't give any money." And they took the gun and they pointed it at him. And then everybody yelled out, "He gave, he gave, he gave." So they let him go. So that was one of the reasons that decided us to leave and to go to the United States. Uh, that decided my father. My mother wanted to go there because her parents were there already from 19, and her sister and her brother . . . ( a telephone rings )

LEVINE:

Just a second. ( break in tape) Okay, we're resuming now. So . . .

BROMBERG:

Okay. Now, after this incident, we wrote to our family in the United States that we would like to leave, and they sent us the proper papers, and even money, and we started our, our, uh, preparation to go to the United States.

LEVINE:

What did your preparation involve?

BROMBERG:

Well, we had to, uh, we had to get everything ready. Of course, the house that we owned, we had to leave. We couldn't, we couldn't sell it. We left the house, we left everything, and we went. And, uh, we had to go to Warsaw. That's where all the preparation was culminated, where the visas were taken and where the proper papers were culminated, were signed. And then from there, after everything was done there, we went to Antwerp to board the ship.

LEVINE:

Do you remember ( she clears her throat ) anything your parents packed and took with them?

BROMBERG:

Well, we packed, uh, I don't remember anything that we packed, no. I don't. Uh, the only thing that I remember is that the, the ship that we got on wasn't too big of a ship, and we sailed for two weeks on the ocean. And every day of the time we were on the ocean, I was seasick. ( he laughs ) And we went in steerage.

LEVINE:

What was the name of the ship?

BROMBERG:

The name of the ship was Antwerp. I think, I'm not sure.

LEVINE:

Well, Antwerp was where you left from. Antwerp was where you left from.

BROMBERG:

Uh, Rotterdam, Rotterdam. I think that was the name of the ship.

LEVINE:

Was there any incidents that happened aboard the ship in those two weeks besides the seasickness?

BROMBERG:

That's all I can remember.

LEVINE:

Can you describe the steerage as you . . .

BROMBERG:

The steerage was just nothing. We slept on the floors there.

LEVINE:

How about food?

BROMBERG:

Food? Who could eat? I was sick for two weeks. You couldn't eat anything.

LEVINE:

Do you remember coming into the New York Harbor?

BROMBERG:

Yes. Well, that was something, when we passed the Statue of Liberty, and then when we went to Ellis Island, that was something. And then, when we got to Ellis Island, they examined us, and my uncle came in and he had to vouch for us, because he took responsibility, and that's why we were able to come to the United States. He took responsibility, took us to his house, and he took care of us until we got our own apartment, and it was wonderful.

LEVINE:

Can you say anything else about Ellis Island, as you remember it?

BROMBERG:

The only thing I remember about Ellis Island, that it was very crowded, and whatever we, every step we had to do we had to wait on line for everything that had to be done. And we couldn't wait until my uncle came and extricated us.

LEVINE:

So it was you, your mother, your father, your sister and your brother.

BROMBERG:

Right.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. So when you were taken, met your uncle, and you left Ellis Island, you went to his place.

BROMBERG:

We went to his house. He was a very wealthy fur merchant, and he made a lot of money. So he built himself a brand new house in Boro Park, Brooklyn. And when we came into that house it was like heaven. They had running water, and they had electricity, and they had electric, gas stoves, and it was just marvelous. ( he laughs ) And then, of course, we were, we were so hungry, uh, coming to the United States, that for two weeks we didn't stop eating.

LEVINE:

Was the food similar?

BROMBERG:

Ah, the food was just delicious. ( they laugh )

LEVINE:

Now, was your uncle married?

BROMBERG:

Yes. My uncle was married to my sister's, to my mother's sister. That's why he was my uncle.

LEVINE:

And so your uncle's name was what?

BROMBERG:

My uncle's name, the one that took us over here, was Gittelman [ph], Sol Gittelman [ph], bless his soul.

LEVINE:

And your aunt's name?

BROMBERG:

My aunt's name was Dinah.

LEVINE:

Dinah. So, um, do you remember, I mean, you were thirteen years old. Do you remember what struck you as being very different in this country?

BROMBERG:

Well, when my uncle took, came for us, he, he came for us in an open car, a convertible, an open car. Not a convertible, it was an open car, and we got into the car, and he drove us. And I couldn't, I couldn't imagine how we were driving, he was driving, and the car was going by itself, all over New York City. I could never forget that. And, and then when I did well for myself, I first got my first car in 1929.

LEVINE:

Well, so once you got to your uncle's, you stayed there for a while?

BROMBERG:

We stayed there for six weeks. And, uh, he fed us, and he took care of us. And then he found us an apartment, and then we moved in there. But for six weeks we stayed there.

LEVINE:

And what did your father do, then, for work?

BROMBERG:

My father, being an expert tailor, he got himself a job in the fur industry as a, uh, fur liner. All fur coats have to have lining, so he was the one that was putting in the lining in the fur coats.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. And was your mother working at that time, or she was taking care of the children?

BROMBERG:

My mother was home. My mother was home at that time taking care of the children.

LEVINE:

And you? Did you start school soon after?

BROMBERG:

Yes. I started school right away. I went to public school. And then I went into the street and started playing ball with the kids, and I don't even remember how I learned to speak English.

LEVINE:

Did it take long?

BROMBERG:

It didn't, it took me no time at all. But one thing I can tell you is that my mother and father tried to learn English, but they couldn't. And then we opened our own business. My uncle once went back to Europe. He was buying furs all over the world. He went to China, and he went to Russia, and he went, on one of his trips, he went, uh, to Europe, and back to Pinsk to visit his family, whom he wanted to bring over here, and they didn't want to go at that time. So while he was there, he was lucky enough to sell the house that we bought in Pinsk, where my father had his business. And when he came back with the money that he got for the house, which was two thousand dollars, so my father right away, as soon as he got that money, he bought, he bought a building on 13th Avenue, at that time. And the two thousand dollars he put down as a down payment, and the rest he took a mortgage. And that's when, uh, after he worked in the fur business for about three or four years, he only wanted to go into business for himself. So we moved into that house, when we bought it, on 13th Avenue between 50th and 51st Street in Boro Park, and he opened his own business. And that's when we stared to be in business for ourselves in the United States. We were in the fur retail business. Uh, repair furs, fix furs, and new furs. That's what we did. And then when I got older, I got into business with him.

LEVINE:

And you had a shop right in the same building that you lived in?

BROMBERG:

We had a shop, we had three rooms in the back, or four rooms in the back, and the front was a business, a store. So the store was the business, and we lived in the back. And that's how we got started. And since then we did very well for ourselves by every year we made money and we saved, and with the money we saved, we bought real estate.

LEVINE:

Now, did your brother go into that business as well?

BROMBERG:

My brother was there with us until he passed away. He got sick, and he passed away. He passed away in, uh, about ten years after we got there. END OF SIDE ONE BEGINNING OF SIDE TWO

LEVINE:

And your sister? What did she do?

BROMBERG:

My sister was with us in the business, and we did very well. I can tell you that when we gave up our business, the fur business, and we, uh, we had customers all over. Long Island, New York, even California. People came to us, and we, uh, made fur coats for them. And when we gave, when we gave up our business after fifty years, everybody in Boro Park who knew us said, "Mr. Bromberg, how will we get along without you? What will we do?"

LEVINE:

Was it strictly a family business, or did you employ others?

BROMBERG:

We employed others, but not too many. But there's one thing I want to bring out. My mother and father, who came to the United States, tried to learn English. My mother became a citizen, my father became a citizen, but they never actually mastered the English language. So this is the same thing that's happening today with the Spanish people. The elderly Spanish people, they find it hard to learn English. But the youngster will pick it up in no time, and there will be no trouble. So the old generation will have to go, and the new generation will be American.

LEVINE:

It sounds like you have some opinions about immigration and about immigrants. Could you say, uh, what your attitudes are?

BROMBERG:

For immigration?

LEVINE:

Yeah. And also any advice you would give to a new immigrant.

BROMBERG:

Immigration, I think, is the best thing for the United States, and the fact that they don't, uh, take in people, they're making a great mistake. Any immigrant who comes to the United States tries hard, and he contributes a great deal to the economy of the country. And, uh, and I think immigration should be encouraged instead of discriminated and eliminated. That's my opinion.

LEVINE:

How do you feel it made a difference to you personally? In other words, the fact that you were born in Pinsk and when you were thirteen you came here and lived the rest of your life here? What do you think being an immigrant, how did that affect you?

BROMBERG:

Well, being an immigrant and suffering a great deal before we came here makes the difference. When you come here and everything is affluent and you, you take part in it, so you appreciate it. And those who have it right away, they don't appreciate it. They don't appreciate what they have. Like you're born with a golden spoon, so you don't have to work for it, so you don't appreciate it. But we had to work for every penny that we earned with our own hands, and we worked hard. We worked, when I was in business with my family, we worked day and night from early in the morning to twelve o'clock at night, Saturdays, Sunday, when we had to.

LEVINE:

Did your family keep some of the customs from, uh, Europe, or did they want to become Americanized and gave it up?

BROMBERG:

Of course you become Americanized. You acclimate yourself. No matter where you go, if you go anywhere, you get acclimated to where you are. It's natural.

LEVINE:

Can you think of ways that you changed, or your family changed, as time went on and you were here?

BROMBERG:

Absolutely we changed. We became Americanized. And our children are even more advanced than we are. Even today my son and my daughter, they're, they're all right.

LEVINE:

Can you, tell me how you met your wife?

BROMBERG:

Hmm, I met my wife through my business, through my fur business. One of the, uh, salespeople introduced me to his daughter, and that, I, we got together.

LEVINE:

What was your wife's name?

BROMBERG:

My wife's name was Evelyn.

LEVINE:

And her maiden name?

BROMBERG:

Her name, her maiden name was, uh, how do you like that? Uh, Sbatgang. That's right.

LEVINE:

Could you spell it?

BROMBERG:

Evelyn Sbatgang. That was her name.

LEVINE:

Could you spell Sbatgang?

BROMBERG:

S-B-A-T-A, T-G-A-N-G.

LEVINE:

And was she born in America?

BROMBERG:

Yes. She was an American-born.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh.

BROMBERG:

Even her mother and father were American-born.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. And you had children?

BROMBERG:

Yes. I have a son and a daughter. My son is in the school system, and my daughter is a psychologist. My son has already more than twenty-five years in the New York School System.

LEVINE:

And his name?

BROMBERG:

His name is Gordon, Gordon Bromberg. And my daughter's name is Gloria Bromberg, and she didn't change her name. She was married, and she kept her own name because she is a psychologist. She lives in Berkley, California. My son lives in Syosset, Long Island.

LEVINE:

And you have grandchildren?

BROMBERG:

And I have three grandchildren, gorgeous. ( they laugh ) My son has three grandchildren. My daughter has no children. My son has a twin, Josh and Cory. And then he has an elder son, uh, Seth. He is the first one. Seth Bromberg, Josh Bromberg, and Cory Bromberg. Josh and Cory are going to be eighteen in April, this coming April. They're graduating high school, and they were both accepted in college, and they're going to college.

LEVINE:

What would you say you're very proud of having done in your life that makes you feel satisfied?

BROMBERG:

Well, I'm very proud because of the way that, uh, I am successful financially, and that I'm in the position to help my children and my grandchildren, and whatever they want I give them. I just bought three cars for, one for Josh and one for Cory, and I gave Seth twenty-five hundred dollars, and I think his father gave him twenty-five hundred dollars, and he bought an Acura. ( they laugh )

LEVINE:

Let's see. Is there anything else that you can think of that you want to say about coming to this country, about this country? Have you visited Ellis Island yourself, how you felt at that time?

BROMBERG:

Yes. Last summer I visited Ellis Island, and I told at the meeting when everybody sits down and they have a meeting, I told them just what I told you on this cassette. And then we went over and my, my daughter-in-law sent in a certificate of the fact that, when I came to the United States, and when I went through Ellis Island. And I, and I went to the place where they have the names in Ellis Island marked.

LEVINE:

The Wall of Honor.

BROMBERG:

The Wall of Honor. And here it is.

LEVINE:

Very nice.

BROMBERG:

There's the wall, and there's my son, and there's me. And the names is right over there. I took a picture of it.

LEVINE:

How did you feel when you saw your name on the Wall of Honor?

BROMBERG:

Well, I felt it's a permanent inscription, something that will stay there for a long time.

LEVINE:

Well, and also your tape now and your story will stay at Ellis Island for a long time.

BROMBERG:

Well, I only hope that somebody can get some benefit out of what I've recorded right now. Thank you very much.

LEVINE:

Well, thank you, Mr. Bromberg. I've been speaking with Herman Bromberg. This is Janet Levine for the National Park Service on March 1, 1994, and I'm signing off.