Interview begins with Patla's description of her paternal grandparents, Helen and Abraham Weil, who married in their hometown of Baden-Baden, Germany, and immigrated to the United States, ca. 1840s-1850s. The couple settled in Plymouth, Pennsylvania and had several children, including Patla and Kohn's father, Julius (b. 1871). Patla mentions that after Abraham died in 1872, Helen and the children moved back to Germany for a time, but eventually came back to Pennsylvania. Julius Weil grew up and went into the dry-goods business with his uncle, Simon Strouse. They ran a business in New York and later moved to Anderson, South Carolina, (ca. 1901), to find a suitor for Julius's sister, Pauline. From Anderson, Julius moved to Columbia, SC, where he met his wife, Sarah (Sadie) Cohen. In 1906 Rabbi Solomon of Savannah, Georgia, married the couple at Columbia's Tree of Life Synagogue, an organization Julius was much involved with in later years. The Weils' two daughters, Helen and Pauline, were born in Columbia in 1909 and 1911. Interview continues with discussion of the family's relocation (1913) to Charleston, SC. Julius went into business with Morris Hornik, and for a time, the two ran the successful Hornik, Weil and Company. The business failed after three years and after trying his hand at several other ventures, Julius established Weil's Mattress Company, still in existence today. Patla recalls growing up in Charleston, and remembers a distinct class difference between Charleston's uptown and downtown Jews. Specifically, she mentions the Mazo family, whose members lived both uptown and downtown. Patla describes her courtship with husband Jack Patla (married, 1935) and discusses the Patla family including Jack's father, Mordecai Patla, a Hebrew scholar and devout Orthodox Jew. She notes that although Jack joined Helen's reform synagogue, Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, after their marriage, the Patlas remained supportive of the couple. Pauline Weil Kohn speaks briefly about her adult life and mentions that she left Charleston at age 21. Pauline married and raised three children in Pennsylvania. She discusses her second husband, a Hungarian Jew from Italy, and describes her role in acquiring historical artifacts for the KKBE archives. Interview ends with further information about the Patla family, including specifics about the life of Joe Patla.
