Interview with David Berman, April 10, 1975, Madison, Wisconsin

Partial Transcript: David was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1920. He was the fourth son of immigrant parents. His father came to America from Russia in 1904 to avoid being drafted into the czar's army. He spent two years working in London to save up money for the passage to America. His father became a small manufacturer, but he lost his business after Work War I. David and his siblings all attended college in New York City during the Great Depression thanks to the tuition free system.

Partial Transcript: David says the family mainly spoke English at home. David and his siblings attended Hebrew school. His parents put an emphasis on learning and getting ahead.

Partial Transcript: David's parents had high expectations for David and his siblings. David is the only scientist in his family. His parents did not measure achievement financially. David's father was the only one in his family to come to the United States. All of his mother's brothers and sisters came to America.

Partial Transcript: David's family lost their home during the Great Depression. David and his siblings had to share clothes and many other things during this time.

Partial Transcript: David and his siblings had to work their way through school. He started working in a factory when he was fourteen years old. In high school, David had a job with the New York Times covering sports at his own high school. He also did construction and farm work to get through school.

Partial Transcript: David knew by the seventh grade that he wanted to be a scientist.

Partial Transcript: David's passion for science was further cultivated by great high school teachers. He talks about his biology teacher who was able to get him interested in experimental science. David talks about how medical school was unaffordable for his family while he was obtaining his undergraduate degree.

Partial Transcript: David was torn between graduate school and medical school. He knew that he was not interested in directly practicing medicine. While attending Brooklyn College, David discovered he was more interested in experimental science than observational science.

Partial Transcript: David talks about how he grew up in a neighborhood that was a mix of Jews, Irish Catholics, and Italians. He discusses moving into a small single family home after their family lost the house during the Depression.

Partial Transcript: David never belonged to any Zionist organizations growing up. He attended Hebrew school and services at his local reform temple. His father was one of the founding members of the temple.

Partial Transcript: The middle class neighborhood where David grew up had a mix of Jews, Italians, and Irish Catholics. David talks about how he felt some antisemitic sentiment in his neighborhood during the Spanish Civil War from his Catholic neighbors.

Partial Transcript: One of David's brothers married a non-Jew and his parents loved his sister-in-law and did not have a problem with the fact that she was not Jewish. His parents were initially shocked when his brother told them that he would be marrying a non-Jew, but they soon came to accept and love her.

Partial Transcript: After graduating from Brooklyn College, David started veterinary school at Cornell University in 1941. David was one of four Jews in a class of forty-one. He experienced overt antisemitism while attending Cornell.

Partial Transcript: David describes incidents of antisemitism that he experienced while attending Cornell.

Partial Transcript: The attack on Pearl Harbor occurred during David's first year of veterinary school. The army decided that they needed veterinarians and so they drafted David and his fellow students into the army, but kept them in school.

Partial Transcript: David says that Jews were graded differently from non-Jews when he was in veterinary school.

Partial Transcript: David finished veterinary school in 1944 and decided to go to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to research cattle diseases and do graduate work.

Partial Transcript: David did graduate work at UW-Madison and worked in a laboratory.

Partial Transcript: David met his wife while attending Brooklyn College and they eventually married when he was doing graduate work at UW-Madison.

Partial Transcript: When David started his graduate work at UW-Madison, there were no other Jews on the faculty of the College of Agriculture. David tells a story about his faculty advisor showing him an antisemitic letter of recommendation from a professor at Cornell.

Partial Transcript: David talks about how there were very few Jewish faculty members when he came to UW-Madison. He thinks this was a result of a small pool of Jewish applicants and discriminatory hiring.

Partial Transcript: David discusses the School of Agriculture. He was chair of the department for four years.

Partial Transcript: David cannot name any overt instances of antisemitism during his time at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Partial Transcript: David discusses the future of his teaching career and talks about the differences between teaching graduate students and undergraduates. He was active in the Madison Jewish community.

Partial Transcript: David discusses how the Holocaust made him value and seek out his Jewishness. He talks about how he feels he took his Jewishness for granted during his youth.