Interview with Louis Kohn, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Partial Transcript: Louis spent the winter in Milwaukee, but he traveled all summer.

Partial Transcript: Louis gives his name and address.

Partial Transcript: Louis was born in Milwaukee. His father came to the United States in 1861 from a town near Prague. He enlisted in the army in 1862 during the Civil War. His wife's father came to the U.S. in 1878 and the rest of the family followed in 1880. Louis discusses a relative of his wife's family who lived in Philadelphia.

Partial Transcript: Louis' father came to the United States at the age of fourteen. He stayed in the U.S. army until 1970. His father met Louis' mother in Milwaukee and that is where the couple married. His father-in-law left Hungry because he wanted his four children to be able to have an education. Two of his brother-in-laws became dentists in Milwaukee.

Partial Transcript: His father was wounded during the Civil War. He came back to Milwaukee in 1871 and became a baker.

Partial Transcript: Louis was born August 13, 1873. His father belonged to the Jewish temple. Louis always attended Sunday school.

Partial Transcript: Louis talks about where he lived in Milwaukee during his childhood. His father retired from being a baker in 1898. He discusses the various stores owned by Jewish merchants in Milwaukee.

Partial Transcript: The first wave of eastern European Jews came to Milwaukee in 1886 and they stayed in a building on Broadway Street. These immigrants started a temple on Cherry and Vliet Street.

Partial Transcript: Louis does not remember much about the Jewish community of the 1880s and 1890s.

Partial Transcript: Many Jews in Milwaukee owned clothing stores, or worked as lawyers.

Partial Transcript: Louis was president of Greenwood Cemetery for three years. He thinks the cemetery was started by Emanuel Temple around 1870.

Partial Transcript: The temple that Louis belonged to in his youth had an annual meeting that checked to make sure all the members paid dues and discussed other administrative things.

Partial Transcript: Louis belonged to a reform temple during his youth and most of the services were in German. Occasionally, the sermons were held in English. Prayers were recited in Hebrew.

Partial Transcript: At one time, Milwaukee had a Jewish district attorney.

Partial Transcript: Many orthodox Jews came to Milwaukee in the 1890s. He discusses where they lived in Milwaukee and which temples they built.

Partial Transcript: The first wave of Jews in Milwaukee were Hungarian and Bohemian. There were also some French Jews from the area of Alsace-Lorraine. There were a few German Jews who came to the city.

Partial Transcript: Louis is not sure why many Jews came to Milwaukee. He supposes that they settled in Milwaukee, liked the city, and wrote their families in Europe to come to the city. He thinks many of the children of the original Jewish settlers eventually moved to California. The economic prospects for Jews in Hungry and Bohemia were poor and so many came to Milwaukee for better economic opportunities.

Partial Transcript: Louis says that the treatment of Jews in Europe depended on the country and the leader. Many Hungarian Jews were barred from educational opportunities in Hungry and so they came to the United States.

Partial Transcript: Many Jewish immigrants came to the United States without any money and worked as peddlers when they first settled. When they finally saved up enough money, they opened a store. Louis talks about Milwaukee businessmen.

Partial Transcript: Louis knows that there was a sizable Jewish community in Green Bay. The Milwaukee Jewish community did not have much contact with smaller Jewish communities throughout the state.