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Friedman, Minnie, 1990 June 19"Mrs. Minnie Friedman was born over a dry goods store in the Polish South Side
of Milwaukee to Jewish immigrant parents in 1905. Her father, Louis Karl, arrived in
Milwaukee in 1898 from a shtetl on the Russian-Austrian border. Her mother came from
Lodz in Russian Poland. Much of Mrs. Friedman's testimony centers upon her father. Upon
arriving in Milwaukee he engaged in peddling in Polish neighborhoods. Later he bought a
dry goods shop. When the department stores forced him out of business, he bought a
grocery store. Mrs Friedman's interview sheds much light on growing up as a Jew among
recent Polish immigrants. She also provides much biographical information regarding her
brothers and other Jewish families who lived on the South Side." — Robert G. Mink,
1990
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Goldmann, Allen, 1990 June 28"Mr. Allen Goldmann was born and spent the first year of his life on the Polish
South Side of Milwaukee. He is the grandson of Abraham Goldmann and the son of Leo, who
were co-founders of Goldmann's department store on Mitchell Street. Both Abraham and Leo
emigrated from Lithuania around 1884. Leo was about six years old at the time.
Goldmann's department has been an institution on the South Side of Milwaukee for nearly
a hundred years. It was one of the first of the dry goods stores to convert to a
department store in the neighborhood, and it is the last remaining large department
store on Mitchell Street. It was at Goldmann's where Jews and Poles had the most contact
in Milwaukee. Eighty-five percent of the clientele was Polish, and many of the
clerks— including Mr. Howard Weinshel and Mrs Minnie Friedman, whose transcripts
are in this collection—were Jewish. In addition, it was mandatory that at least
one Polish clerk be employed in each department, so that Poles and Jews were co-workers
as well. Mr. Allen Goldmann sold the business in 1987 and now owns a shoe manufacturing
company." — Robert G. Mink, 1990
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Karl, Max, 1990 June 29"Mr. Max Karl was born within view of the Polish Basilica in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin to Jewish immigrant parents in 1910. Mr. Karl's father, Louis Karl, arrived
from Russian Poland in 1898 and opened a dry goods store on the Polish South Side of
Milwaukee. Mr. Karl's mother came from Lodz in Russian Poland. When Louis Karl was
unable to compete with the department stores, he bought a grocery store. From an early
age, Max Karl was active with his father's Polish clientele. He would accompany his
father on peddling forays to outlying villages and wait on Polish customers in the
grocery store. Mr. Karl remembers the Polish words for grocery items from over seventy
years ago. He spent his youth living and attending school in a overwhelmingly Polish
neighborhood. His first clients as a fledgling lawyer were his Polish neighbors. In 1957
Max Karl founded MGIC Corporation, one of Wisconsin's leading companies. He is a
community leader and well known for his philanthropy." — Robert G. Mink,
1990
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Krom, Claire, 1990 June 25"Mr. Claire Krom was born in north central Wisconsin. His father, Louis Krom,
immigrated to Wisconsin from Lithuania around the turn of the century. Many members of
the Krom family were already living in Wisconsin. Louis Krom choose to settle in Owen,
Wisconsin because every little town in northern Wisconsin had a Krom store in it except
for Owen. In 1925 Louis Krom and his brother-in-law, Myron Mayer, bought a clothing
store on Mitchell Street in the Polish South Side of Milwaukee. Claire Krom entered the
family business in 1934 upon the death of his father. When his uncle retired, he assumed
full ownership of the company which he ran until 1974. Mr. Krom liquidated the business
because the ethnic character of the neighborhood changed and because his son or nephew
declined to assume the business." — Robert G. Mink, 1990
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Levin, Jules, 1990 September 03"Dr. Jules Levin was born in 1910 to Jewish immigrant parents in a farming
community in Milwaukee county. Both of his parents came from a multi-ethnic area of
White Russia and knew both Polish and Russian upon their arrival in the United States.
His father lived for a short while in Chicago and then moved to Milwaukee where he
bought a tavern in the Russian-Jewish neighborhood. Later he bought a farm in Caledonia.
The Levins returned to Milwaukee and bought a grocery store in the solidly Polish
section of Milwaukee. Jules Levin spent his entire school days in the Polish
neighborhood and had extensive contact with its residents. He not only attended school
with Poles but was involved in scouting and waited on Polish customers. Dr. Levin later
attend medical school and became one of the first neurosurgeons in Milwaukee. He is now
semi-retired and serves as a medical consultant." — Robert G. Mink,
1990
Listen to this interview and read the transcript online.
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Stein, Edward, 1990 July 09"Mr. Edward Stein was born on the Polish South Side of Milwaukee to Jewish
immigrant parents in 1905. His father, Max Stein, came from Russia, his mother from
Rumania. Upon arriving in Milwaukee, Max Stein founded a furniture business with the
name of the Polish hero of two continents, Kosciuszko. Edward Stein studied law but
chose to continue the family business, which is one of the largest in the state of
Wisconsin. Much of Mr. Stein's testimony centers upon the relationship between his and
his father's clientele, which originally was "ninety percent Polish." Mr. Stein's
interview is especially valuable for the light it sheds on the complex, symbiotic
relationship between a Jewish merchant and his immigrant customers." — Robert G.
Mink, 1990
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Weinshel, Howard, 1990 July 09"Mr. Howard Weinshel was born in 1904 in a village in Russian Poland. His father
was 'middle class' as he dealt in livestock. Mr. Weinshel's place of birth was a classic
shtetl as 90% of the population was Jewish. Citing Polish anti-Semitism as the reason
for immigrating, he arrived in the United Stated in 1922. Ironically, he found himself
once again among Poles as a buyer for Goldmann's department store, which was one of the
largest and most popular department stores on the Polish South Side of Milwaukee. His
relationship with the clientele at Goldmann's encouraged him to start a store of his own
on Mitchell street. Like many other small businesses, the depression forced him to close
his shop. Mr. Weinshel has 'never denied being a Jew' and indeed, is very involved in
the Jewish community. He teaches Yiddish and was involved in Jewish theater in
Milwaukee." — Robert G. Mink, 1990
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Project Information, 1991
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