SIGRIST:

Okay. This is Paul Sigrist for the National Park Service. Today is Tuesday, May 27 th , 1997.

GOLDBERG:

Right.

SIGRIST:

I'm at the Hebrew Home in West Hartford and I'm here with Mr. Goldberg. What's your first name?

GOLDBERG:

Herman.

SIGRIST:

Herman. Herman Goldberg. We just interviewed Mr. Goldberg's wife, Myrna Goldberg, a minute ago. Mr. Gol — Goldberg, what country did you come from?

GOLDBERG:

Russia.

SIGRIST:

You came from Russia. And how old were you when you came?

GOLDBERG:

I came — they wanted a special quota, like I was an orphan. That's why I made a — an exc — exception and they let me in. I came as a 14, 15-year-old —

SIGRIST:

Around 15 years old?

GOLDBERG:

That's it, yeah.

SIGRIST:

And do you remember what your birth date is?

GOLDBERG:

Birth date?

SIGRIST:

Yes.

GOLDBERG:

June 8 th — oh, the birthday —

SIGRIST:

What's your birth date?

GOLDBERG:

1908.

SIGRIST:

1908. June 8 th ?

GOLDBERG:

Well, we used to joke about it, Pearl Harbor Day.

SIGRIST:

Labor Day?

GOLDBERG:

Pearl Harbor Day.

SIGRIST:

Pearl Harbor Day. So that's December.

GOLDBERG:

Yes.

SIGRIST:

December the 7 th , 1908.

GOLDBERG:

Right, right.

SIGRIST:

Do you remember the year that you came? To the United States, remember what year it was?

GOLDBERG:

Well, it was 1908.

SIGRIST:

That was the year you were born.

GOLDBERG:

Y — oh, yeah.

SIGRIST:

And what year did you come to the United States?

GOLDBERG:

I don't remember exactly.

SIGRIST:

Okay. But you were around 15, you think?

GOLDBERG:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Around 15. Great. What do you remember about growing up in Russia?

GOLDBERG:

Not too much.

SIGRIST:

Tell me what you do remember about being a little boy in Russia.

GOLDBERG:

Just — just how to follow the crowd and take things that they tell you to, those days and we took it from there.

SIGRIST:

You said that you were an orphan. Did you live in an orphanage?

GOLDBERG:

No, but a — according to them, used to — t — there was a quota. You couldn't go into this country. But they let me in as an orphan, 15, 16 years old. They made an exception.

SIGRIST:

I see. Do you know what your father's name was?

GOLDBERG:

Itzach [PH].

SIGRIST:

Itzach.

GOLDBERG:

Itzach, yes.

SIGRIST:

And what did he do for a living?

GOLDBERG:

He didn't do much. He just — what comes natural.

SIGRIST:

How did he make money?

GOLDBERG:

He didn't have to make money.

SIGRIST:

He didn't make money. Who made the money in your family?

GOLDBERG:

He didn't make no money. He lived [unclear] and they got by that with the style of living those days.

SIGRIST:

What did you eat when you were a boy?

GOLDBERG:

[coughs] Excuse me. I got a cold.

SIGRIST:

That's okay.

GOLDBERG:

We ate whatever it —

SIGRIST:

Whatever.

GOLDBERG:

— it — you didn't make much issue of it.

SIGRIST:

Do you remember what your mother's name was?

GOLDBERG:

Bruha [PH].

SIGRIST:

Bruha?

GOLDBERG:

Yes.

SIGRIST:

And do you remember what her maiden name was before she —

GOLDBERG:

Kramerman [PH].

SIGRIST:

Kramerman.

GOLDBERG:

Yes.

SIGRIST:

Uh-huh. And do you have any memories of your mother?

GOLDBERG:

Well, she — she was a mother, a Yiddishe [PH] mama.

SIGRIST:

A Yiddish mama. Did you have brothers and sisters?

GOLDBERG:

Yes. I was one of five in the family. I was the youngest.

SIGRIST:

You were the youngest. Do you —

GOLDBERG:

[unclear] —

SIGRIST:

Go ahead.

GOLDBERG:

And I remember that. I was the youngest in the family.

SIGRIST:

Do you remember what you did for fun back then? What did you do for fun when you were a little boy?

GOLDBERG:

Not lot to speak of. You just — it's — it's hard to figure out what I did.

SIGRIST:

It was a long time ago.

GOLDBERG:

It was a long time ago is right.

SIGRIST:

[chuckles]

GOLDBERG:

Yes.

SIGRIST:

Do you remember, d — did your parents die?

GOLDBERG:

Yes.

SIGRIST:

They did? H — do you remember how old you were when that happened?

GOLDBERG:

I was — in the — in the 40s, I think.

SIGRIST:

And — and why did you want to come to the United States?

GOLDBERG:

That's the only solution, those days, which [unclear] you could come the live in a — in a — in a world, in a peaceful world with — that everybody's not afraid. And we made a — the rounds.

SIGRIST:

Do you remember being on the ship to coming — to come to America?

GOLDBERG:

Some of it I do remember, yes.

SIGRIST:

What do you remember about that?

GOLDBERG:

The same as she said.

SIGRIST:

Well, say [unclear] again, please.

GOLDBERG:

She mentioned — yes. I came and I was in the hull of the ship because I came the special. And — and I remember I was watching people eat and I was — envied them because I didn't have anything to eat. And this is the way we — we came by.

SIGRIST:

Do you remember the name of the ship?

GOLDBERG:

Costanza.

SIGRIST:

Costanza?

GOLDBERG:

Yes.

SIGRIST:

Uh-huh. And do you remember how long it took to get to America?

GOLDBERG:

Took too long to suit me.

SIGRIST:

[chuckles] Did you get s —

GOLDBERG:

Three weeks.

SIGRIST:

Three weeks.

GOLDBERG:

Yes.

SIGRIST:

Where did you leave from? Do you remember what — what port you left from?

GOLDBERG:

Costanza.

SIGRIST:

You left from Costanza. That's where you got the ship.

GOLDBERG:

Right.

SIGRIST:

Right. And do you remember being on the deck of the ship?

GOLDBERG:

Yes, I —

SIGRIST:

What did you see when you were on the deck?

GOLDBERG:

[chuckles] Not too much. All you heard is the — the rumbling of the waves. You know, you were way in the hull of the ship —

SIGRIST:

How did — how did that make you feel to be deep in the boat?

GOLDBERG:

It didn't make me feel too good. I was counting the days. Three weeks on a ship like this, it's enough to — but we made it. That's all.

SIGRIST:

Do you remember when the ship came to America? When you got to America?

GOLDBERG:

Not too much.

SIGRIST:

What — where did you go to live once the ship — once you got to America?

GOLDBERG:

I — we — we finally got there and I remember — I remember a man came over, a Jewish man. "[unclear] America? Where you come from?" And I told him. "Okay. Come with me." And he took me and he bought me dinner and a — you know, this — and he — he start living. And he took me down and he explained to me the situation. And there's plenty world went by since then. I remember a lot of things. But we made it. That's the main thing. We made it.

SIGRIST:

Do you remember what town you lived in? When you first got to America, what town or city did you live in? Did you live in New York?

GOLDBERG:

Uh-hmm.

SIGRIST:

Mrs. Goldberg says New York.

GOLDBERG:

Yeah, we came to New York.

SIGRIST:

You lived in New York.

GOLDBERG:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

What — can you tell me how you learned English in New York?

GOLDBERG:

After a while, you learn. And we managed.

SIGRIST:

Did you get a job when you came to America?

GOLDBERG:

I got a job after a while and I can remember — it's one thing that I pride myself, those days, that — about the greenhorn business. The — a guy came over to me and he asked me, "You got to make a living. How you gonna make a living?" So I told him, "If you pay me $3 a — I'm not going to be able to make a living."

SIGRIST:

So what kind of a job did you get?

GOLDBERG:

I got [coughs] —

SIGRIST:

That's okay. Take your —

GOLDBERG:

Ironing.

SIGRIST:

Ironing.

GOLDBERG:

Ironing, shirt ironer. Was a friend of mine, he taught me how to shirt — to iron shirts. And the — to iron shirts for piecework and all that stuff, he went through the — the mill. But we made it. That's all.

SIGRIST:

Do you remember what you liked about America?

GOLDBERG:

Well, those days, I liked everything. I liked everything.

SIGRIST:

Did you become a citizen?

GOLDBERG:

Oh, yeah. Became — became a citizen.

SIGRIST:

Do you remember how old you were when you became a citizen?

GOLDBERG:

[unclear] 1915, I guess.

SIGRIST:

1950? Is that — is that what he said, 1950? 19 — well, did you ever go back to Europe?

GOLDBERG:

No, no.

SIGRIST:

Did you —

MRS. GOLDBERG:

He did.

SIGRIST:

[laughs] That's okay. Mrs. Goldberg says you did go back to Europe.

MRS. GOLDBERG:

[unclear] to go to Russia.

GOLDBERG:

Oh, we went visiting. Yeah.

SIGRIST:

Went visiting. I — yeah.

GOLDBERG:

Yeah.

SIGRIST:

How did it make you feel to be back in Russia?

GOLDBERG:

It didn't make much difference to me, those days.

SIGRIST:

How do — how do you — how do you — do you think of yourself as being American or Russian? How do you think of yourself?

GOLDBERG:

There's so many things that I went through since then, good and bad. I — I went through a lot of things in my life there.

SIGRIST:

Do — I — is there any story you'd like to tell me about something that happened to you during your life? What do you think the most important thing you've ever done was?

GOLDBERG:

To meet her.

SIGRIST:

To meet Mrs. Goldberg?

GOLDBERG:

Huh?

SIGRIST:

Mrs. Goldberg is saying you're a cantor.

GOLDBERG:

Well, this is — this is one of the better things already.

SIGRIST:

Can you — can you talk about that a little bit? How did you become a cantor?

GOLDBERG:

Because I had a good wife and I — and I was singing.

SIGRIST:

Can you —

GOLDBERG:

And people liked — people liked me for that.

SIGRIST:

Can you sing something for me right now, like a —

GOLDBERG:

[chuckles]

SIGRIST:

— like a — a Hebrew prayer? Can you sing for me? Go ahead.

GOLDBERG:

[singing in Hebrew]. I'm nervous.

SIGRIST:

That's great. That's wonderful. Thank you.

GOLDBERG:

[chuckles]

SIGRIST:

What were you singing about?

GOLDBERG:

[unclear] —

SIGRIST:

But what — what are you saying?

GOLDBERG:

That's a Jewish — Jewish motif, you know. Davening, mostly davening.

SIGRIST:

How does it make you feel when you sing?

GOLDBERG:

How does it make — makes me feel very good.

SIGRIST:

Well, Mr. Goldberg, thank you very much for letting me ask you these questions. You did a good job.

GOLDBERG:

You're welcome. Thank you.

SIGRIST:

Happy to —

GOLDBERG:

Thank you —

SIGRIST:

I'm happy to get the singing on tape. This is Paul Sigrist signing off with Herman Goldberg on Tuesday, May 27 th , 1997 at the Hebrew Home in West Hartford with Mrs. Goldberg in attendance. Thank you both very much.

GOLDBERG:

You're welcome. [END OF INTERVIEW]