Barasch, Bernie 2012-06-25

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This interview features Bernie Barasch as he describes his Jewish faith and heritage. In this interview Bernie discusses how he wound up in Lubbock, the Temple that he attends, and his time serving in World War II.

General Interview Information

Interviewee Name: Bernie Barasch

Additional Parties Recorded:

Date: June 25, 2012

Location: Lubbock, Texas

Interviewer: Robert Weaver

Length: 01:22:07


Abstract

Short Version: Life and serving in World War II; Getting involved with the Shaareth Israel; His wife and her involvement with Hadassah; The Rabbi’s at Shaareth Israel; Conflict in the congregation; Serving on the board of the Temple; The Lubbock community and how it has changed; What they heard about World War II

Long Version: Life, Born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, Family in men’s clothing business, He and his brothers came here to Lubbock, Jewish life, Went to church in Uniontown which was where he was born, Grew up all the way through school, Went to the warden school, Graduated in 1943, After war came back to Union Town, Served in WWII, Gunner on B-29 in Japan, Ran 33 missions, Served from 1943-1945, WWII, Sent to gunnery school in Colorado, Then sent to Clovis, NW, Then left there and went to Kansas to get a plane off the line, Originally based in India, Would attack Japan from western China, Was stationed at Trinian, Life, Moved to Texas in 1954, Brothers worked with him, But they left and he was left alone, Wanted to do other things, One became a foot Dr, one an insurance man and the other a jeweler, He has 4 daughters: Arlene, Barbara, Carol and Debbi, Sold the business 12 years ago, Jewish Community, Went to the Temple on 26th and Q, Sam Moses ran an auto supply store, Different in that it smaller, Only 65-70 families that attended, More Jews in Pennsylvania, Weren’t many professional people because most were merchants, Only 1 lawyer and no Dr’s, Too many distractions for religion, Belongs to Masons, the Shrine, and the Lions, No one wants to go to church, Young community has different attitude towards Jewish life, Had a B’nai B’rith organization, Ladies had their own organization that promoted Israel at the time, Didn’t have a strong men’s organization, B’nai B’rith like a Jewish lodge, Was a charity, Couldn’t eat pork so got more of the food from certain Delis, Would eat Rye bread and corn beef and salami, Friend had a little deli but couldn’t do much with it, Klienes, The Rabbi and the Rabbinit, They had a deep appreciation for art, Glad to have and had very popular courses, Had classes in the home, They taught more about appreciating art, They could talk forever about artist because they knew so much about them, He was a great Rabbi, Everything was taught more in English that way people could understand, Hard to maintain a Kosher home here, Hard to get kosher foods, All rabbis he knew were reformed, Klein got here in 1960, Elanor was very friendly and very warm, Helped involve you in conversation and understood people well, Everyone liked her, Rabbi Weisberg, He did things the way he was use to and what he wanted, Small group of people that wanted to do things their way, People left because they didn’t do it his way, Don’t do things the way they want which conflicts with people’s feelings, Sort of a financial burden when people started leaving, Most of the group took it, 3-4 families left and didn’t come back, He left after about 2 years, Jewish Church, Served on the board a few times, Wasn’t as religious as others on the board, Religion wouldn’t have survived without flexibility, Seats about 250, Cost about $500,000 to build, Built in the 1990’s, Television has changed everything, WWII, Father’s family from Austria and mothers is from Russia, Didn’t really know anything about the camps, Almost all his family as already here, Father was born in Austria, Came to New York, Mother’s family came in through Montreal, Still has family in Montreal, None of his family stayed in Russia, PT II, Gets cheaper medicine, Kids are serving younger and longer


Access Information

Original Recording Format: born digital

Recording Format Notes: patrons may listen to a CD copy in our reading room

Transcript: Transcript available on dspace https://hdl.handle.net/10605/361852



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