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Norman Weinberg Interview

 Digital Record
Identifier: MSA.27.Weinberg

Dates

  • 2011 November 11

Biographical / Historical

Norm and his twin brother, Bert, were born in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles, California in 1929. His father was a butcher and his mother a housewife. His father emigrated from Russia to avoid Jewish persecution under the Pogroms. Norm describes life growing up in what was then, a very ethnically diverse community. Although the area was mostly Jewish it included, Mexican, Japanese, Serbian, Italian, and Russian inhabitants. Norm recalls the impact on the area during the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943. During that time the area was considered a reflection of the United Nations, and Norm’s friendships reflected the same. However, Norm remembers the not so friendly actions taken against his Japanese-American neighbors during World War II. He expresses how deeply the community sympathized with them when they were sent to interment camps. After serving his country during the Korean War, he returned to Los Angeles where he owned businesses in the meat industry. Throughout the interview Norman provides details of life in post-war Los Angeles, and the many changes that the city has undergone during the twentieth, and early twenty-first century.

Scope and contents

Index of events described in the interview and their time code locations

0:00:00 Start 0:00:47 Growing up in Boyle Heights 0:03:56 Friendships 0:04:15 Zoot Suit Riots 0:06:08 Children’s outside activities 0:06:28 Movies and theaters 0:06:57 Wilshire Blvd. 0:09:31 Russian Anti-Semitism 0:10:11 Socialism in Boyle Heights 0:11:52 Brooklyn Avenue 0:12:29 Downtown Los Angeles 0:13:15 Japanese Internments 0:15:17 UCLA 0:20:12 Korean War 0:27:47 Enemy mistreatment 0:28:29 Military duties 0:37:37 Weinberg’s market and customers 0:42:25 Kosher meat preparation 0:44:09 Supermarkets 0:045:33 Fairfax District 0:47:08 Jewish Painters/Holocaust survivors 0:48:37 L.A. Delicatessens 0:59:31 End

Repository Details

Part of the Library and Archives at the Autry Repository

Contact:
210 South Victory Blvd.
Burbank CA 91502 USA US