Husband and wife Max and Jennie Kaufman Garfinkel respond to the questions of interviewers, describing their life and families. Jennie Kaufman's parents Benjamin and Dora came from the Kalushine area of Poland, ca. 1912. They brought with them their children, Annie, Bertha and Albert; Jennie and Fannie were born in Charleston, South Carolina. Benjamin was a helper in the synagogue and amateur cantor; he was working as a cantor in Georgetown, S.C., the day his daughter was born. Although Dora never really learned to read and write (she was tutored in Charleston by a woman helping Jewish immigrants), she was the financial manager of the family, running a series of businesses. Jennie Kaufman never finished high school, having to work to help support the family. Her parents died young; she married Max Garfinkel in 1938. Garfinkel's parents were Hyman and Mollie Blacher who had emigrated from Europe to Baltimore where he was born. He graduated high school there and came to Charleston to work for a brother of his father in the junk yard business. After his marriage, he briefly went into the grocery business with his wife's brother, but returned to the scrap business in 1949, until retiring in 1992. In response to questions, both Max and Jennie say they never encountered any anti-Semitism growing up. Interviewer Leah Barkowitz brings up the subject of the Charleston inn, the Villa Marguerita, not allowing Jews in until about 1950 and speaks of the "five o'clock shadow," i.e., associating with Gentile school mates, workers, etc., until a certain time of the day and then being with Jews only in the evening. Next, in response to questions regarding childhood, Max Garfinkel states that he grew up with people in his block, noting that neighborhoods were the primary social units; Jennie Garfinkel discusses the simple amusements passed on the street in front of her house and going with her family to catch cool breezes in Battery Park. The interview concludes with a listing of their children and grandchildren and their accomplishments. Being Jewish has changed a lot in the last fifty to sixty years, Max Garfinkel muses; it has gotten easier. When he was growing up, there was no choice; his children and grandchildren have had the freedom to choose how religious they want to be.
