Oral history interview with David Wasserman conducted by Barbara Tabach on October 21, 2016 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Wasserman discusses inventing, with his father-in-law, the "Sani-Tip" a dental product that revolutionized dentistry infection control at the onset of the AIDS epidemic. He also talks about being involved within the Las Vegas, Nevada Jewish community and the Congregation Ner Tamid.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Stephen Nasser conducted by Barbara Tabach on January 17, 2018 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Nasser discusses being whisked away with his brother from their Hungarian home and sentenced to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland at the age of 13. He also talks about moving to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1993; and being an international speaker, author, and educator on the Holocaust.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Charles Salton conducted by George Green on April 23, 1976 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Salton discusses the early history of Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, prohibition, politics, the El Rancho Hotel, and events he experienced while living in Las Vegas.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Dr. Edward Goldman conducted by Barbara Tabach on March 22, 2016 and April 04, 2016 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Goldman discusses his career as a Clark County School District teacher, negotiator, and regional superintendent over the span of thirty years. He also talks about his activity in the Las Vegas, Nevada Jewish community at Temple Beth Sholom and being a founding member of Midbar Kodesh Temple.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Dayvid Figler conducted by Barbara Tabach on June 22, 2016 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Figler discusses his youth, his bar mitzvah at Temple Beth Sholom, and path to a career as a criminal defense attorney. He also talks about embracing Las Vegas, Nevada as his home, owning a home in the John S. Park neighborhood, and mentions a number of literary depictions of Las Vegas that he admires.
Archival Collection
Oral history interview with Joanna S. Kishner conducted by Barbara Tabach on January 10, 2017 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Kishner discusses being born and raised in both the Jewish and secular worlds of Las Vegas, Nevada. She discusses the importance of the Jewish tradition of Tzedakah, and what it was like to work on a Kibbutz in Israel after her freshman year at Claremont McKenna College. Kishner also discusses desegregation of Las Vegas schools.
Archival Collection
Boxing promoter Bob Arum poses for a portrait at the Top Rank offices for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project.
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Oral history interview with Dr. Frank P. Silver conducted by Barbara Tabach on August 29, 2017 for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Silver describes being a child of a Jewish father and Catholic mother. He also offers anecdotes of being a physician in the 1970s and some of the perks he was treated to. He also mentions being a shareholder in the Crystal Palace Casino in Laughlin, Nevada.
Archival Collection
Las Vegas has been home to Irene Fisher (1940 - ) since the early 1970s. It felt like home as she connected with the Jewish community, including a dear friendship with Roberta ‘Bobbie’ Gang, who sits with her during this interview. During their oral history conversation, the seemingly common concerns of any mother are touched upon. In their case they were young Jewish women looking out for the well-being of their children. They cover a range of topics, from b’nai mitzvahs to Hanukkah to shopping in those years of raising children, being active in the community, and maintaining career paths. Irene begins by describing her ancestral background that includes parents who emigrated from Poland to New York. In New York she met and married a young doctor who she followed to Nellis Air Force Base. Irene was a recent graduate of Brooklyn Law School. In Las Vegas, though Irene did not practice law here, she immersed herself into civic contributions. Chief among those was with the Clark County
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The documentation of the Holocaust of World War II reveals the desperation of Jewish families to protect their loved ones from doom. In this oral history, Sonja (neé Niekerk) Walter recalls the story of being an infant handed off to a family friend for safety and nurturing. Next to Sonja is Wilma, her “sister” and the biological daughter of that friend. Sonja and Wilma are tethered together by history and love for Cor Vandenberg, mother and protector. Sonja was born in 1943 Holland to Simon and Rose Niekerk. At thirteen days of age she was given sanctuary by Cor, who raise her as her own for the next two and half years. She and Wilma reminisce about the circumstances that brought them together, their love of Cor, and the impact of being a child survivor of the Holocaust. Sonja also shares her family’s journey to the United States and to Las Vegas.
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