Gilbert Yarchever was one of nine siblings, born and bred in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He describes the way his mother?s family was granted the last name of ?Kurfeersf" by Emperor Franz Joseph (of Austria-Hungary), explains the Seder (the Jewish observation of the exodus of Hebrews from Egypt), and tells what it was like to survive the Depression. Gilbert describes the jobs he held after high school and the government examination he took that led to his lifetime of adventure and travel. He moved to Washington, D.C., in 1940 and kept himself busy working for the government and taking classes at George Washington University, as well as working part time at Hecht Department Store and as a freelance court reporter. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Gilbert was sent to Africa on a merchant ship, helped smuggle Jewish survivors into Jerusalem, and was assigned the task of negotiating with Arab sheikhs for laborers to build a road. In the years after that, he worked in Europe, Panama, Alaska, Japan, and Hawaii and describes many of the jobs he was responsible for and many of the individuals he met. He also married and had children, kept up with university classes whenever he could, and collected art objects and paintings. Following his retirement in 1977, Gilbert and his family came to Las Vegas and bought a condo in Regency Towers. He did some consulting work for a couple of years, and then he and his wife began traveling around the states and going abroad. He was involved with UNLV?s EXCEL program, the music department, and the Las Vegas Art Museum. (He and his second wife Edythe presented the first major exhibition on Holocaust art at the museum.) These days Gilbert often donates pieces from his art collection to churches, synagogues, and charitable organizations.

Gilbert Yarchever was in the Navy during World War II, helped smuggle Jewish refugees into Jerusalem, worked as a civil servant in many countries, and moved to Las Vegas in 1977. He helped found the EXCEL program at University of Nevada, Las Vegas and was an art collector with his wife, Edythe Katz-Yarchever.

In 1976, Gene Greenberg decided to accept a job transfer with Donrey Media Group and relocated from Laredo, Texas to Las Vegas. Las Vegas was comfortable fit and for the next 30 years, he primarily worked in television ad sales. He rose to become executive vice president and general manager of KVBC-TV. Significant to Gene’s ties to Las Vegas have been his ties to the Jewish community. This oral history includes reminiscences of connecting with the Jewish community and meeting many of the Jewish leaders through Young Leadership, Jewish Federation, and being on the board for Temple Beth Sholom. The most poignant aspect to his Jewish roots is the survival of both his parents during Holocaust. Both Helen and Abe Greenberg were from Lodz, Poland and interred in concentration camps. Gene is a frequent presenter of their story for his commitment to Holocaust education and as a member of the next generation. Gene and his wife Melanie both spent their childhoods in Kansas City, Missouri and are graduates of the University of Missouri-Kansas City. They married in 1970 and have three children: Sari Mann, Elissa Burda, and Jaron Greenberg.