Interview with Henry Kronberg by Barbara Tabach in two sessions, February 26 and April 13, 2015. In the first session Kronberg talks about his childhood in Germany and Poland and his experience being imprisoned by the Gestapo, and transported to a concentration camp. He survived the Holocaust and met his wife, and they moved to the United States in 1946. He discusses being reunited with his sister in Las Vegas after decades of searching, and moved his family to Las Vegas in 1962. Kronberg talks about becoming involved with Jewish life here, and his wife, Lillian's involvement at Temple Beth Sholom. In the second session, Kronberg discusses purchasing Stoney's, a loan and pawn shop, including some of the clientele and merchandise. He also discusses other social and environmental concerns like anti-Semitism and water resources in Southern Nevada.
Henry Kronberg was born in 1920 and spent his early childhood in a town on the border of Poland and Germany, about 40 miles from Krakow. For years he felt uncomfortable telling his story of surviving the Nazi concentration camps of World War II. Today his name is linked to the Sperling Kronberg Mack Holocaust Resource Center in Las Vegas. And in his soft-spoken manner, Henry recalls his ordeal of loss of family and survival during this most heinous of situations through backbreaking labor and ingenuity. At the end of the war, Henry met the love of his life, Lillian, also a survivor. The two married in 1946 in Frankfurt and immigrated to New Jersey where she had relatives. He describes their difficulties and the various jobs he held until becoming an excellent baker. Then in 1962 an interesting choice took him to a bar mitzvah in Canada. While there the dinner conversation lead him to a great discovery?his sister Lala had survived and was living in Las Vegas. Soon he moved his wife and daughter to Las Vegas. His first foray into business was with his brother-in-law. However, soon it was important to be independent and to control his own destiny. He purchased a going concern, Stoney's Pawn Shop, from Dr. Alexander Coblentz, one of the city's first doctors. He became the fourth owner of Stoney's and operated it until selling it to Steven Mack in 1998. Henry and his wife were active in the Jewish community. They joined Temple Beth Sholom and became fast friends with many of the early leaders of Las Vegas and became a respected member of the secular and Jewish communities.
Bio taken from the "about" section of the Joyce Straus - Foundation for the Arts website:
"Joyce Elise Straus, (nee Lazowick), was born Oct. 1, 1935, in Philadelphia, to her parents Jacob and Frances. Joyce came to Las Vegas in 1961 with her husband of 56 years, the late Dr. Neil B. Straus, to raise their family.
Remains of Mary Gibson's home in St. Thomas, looking toward the Valley of Fire
Transcribed Notes: Transcribed from photo sleeve: "Looking westward toward the Valley of Fire. In the immediate foreground are the remains of the home of Mrs. Mary E. Gibson, widow of Moses Gibson, a farmer. The smaller foundation slightly further on and to the right is the granary. Farther to the left is the foundation of the former home of Robert Bunker, now living in Las Vegas. Robert Bunker's nephew is one of Nevada's current Congressmen. A bit further on in the picture, one can see the remains of the house once occupied by ''Rock'' Whitmore, who now lives in Overton. Whitmore is the son-in-law of Mr. and Mrs. John F. Perkins, pioneer (1903). Residents of St. Thomas, the Perkins family now lives in Overton. Mrs. Perkins' father was Harry Gentry, an Englishman, and one of the earliest settlers in St. Thomas. Harry Gentry [Sr.] built the first modern building, a hotel, in St. Thomas. He died in St. Thomas in 1925 and his body was disinterred in 1934, when the flood waters of Lake Mead began to cover St. Thomas."
The Morton "Mort" Saiger Portraits and News Articles (1960-1987) consists of four newspaper and journal articles about Saiger and the Last Frontier Hotel Casino, two professional photographic portraits of Saiger, and a presentation plaque from the International Golf Club.