Oral history interview with Max Kirshstein, 1999.

ArchivalResource

Kirshstein, Max, 1919-. Oral history interview with Max Kirshstein, 1999.

Oral history interview with Max Kirshstein, 1999.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/52296859

Max Kirshstein was born in Laskarzew, Poland, in 1919, the son of Nathan Kirshstein, a leather tanner, originally from the Kalushyn section of Poland, and Sara Inbgerman. Soon after his son's birth, Nathan Kirshstein and his brother Abe both got draft notices for the Polish Army; to escape, they bribed officials and made their way out of Poland to join their three sisters, Rivkah (Mrs. I.M. Goldberg), Chasura (Mrs. J.M. Goldberg), and Dora Kaufman, already living in Charleston, S.C. After arriving in the United States, Nathan Kirshstein sent for his family of wife and two sons, Yankel and Max. Nathan and Sara Kirshstein had three more children, Rachel, Esther and Sylvia; Nathan worked as a peddler with a horse and a wagon. He died in 1930, leaving his wife to raise five children. Max Kirshstein gives tribute to Sam Rittenberg, who helped make sure immigrants could get help. A woman, Mrs. Gezer, helped teach his mother English. He attended Bennett School, where he encountered anti-Semitic remarks from other children; he also attended Hebrew School at George Street where the teachers often physically punished the children. He went to Charleston High School briefly, before graduating from Murray Vocational School in 1936. There, as part of his typing class, he typed the whole "History of the German Friendly Society" by George Gongaware. He worked in a pawnshop, and his life changed when he accompanied Itchy Sonenshine to a debating competition sponsored by Aleph Zadik Aleph (AZA) in Cleveland, OH. This led to Kirshstein being offered a job as an administrative aid at AZA headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he stayed for two and one-half years. In Washington, he enlisted in the Navy and after World War II, he returned to Charleston where he met and married Sylvia Lazarus. He and the interviewer give tribute to David Verner of South Carolina National Bank, who gave them loans to start businesses. With that, and credit from Sam Solomon and Marion Hornik, he started Metropolitan Credit, later Metropolitan Furniture Company, and continued to work with AZA, helping coach local boys into national debating championships. Holding up Sol Breibart as a model, Kirshstein influenced many boys as two chapters became active in Charleston, eventually merging back into a single one. Max Kirshstein speaks of his wife who died in 1997 and his three children, Rita, Paula, and Nathan. He also passes on information about the difficulty of Conservative Congregation Emanu-El splitting off from Orthodox Brith Sholom Congregation and the combining of the two Orthodox congregations, Brith Sholom and Beth Israel into one.

Sound recording : 1 sound cassette : analog.Transcript : 25 p. ; 28 cm.

College of Charleston, Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library