Synagogues

Frank Adler was born Franz Julius Schwarzadler, in 1923 in Frankfurt, Germany. As the only child in an affluent family Frank enjoyed many cultural activities and a rich Jewish and secular education. Following the Nazi rise to power in 1933, Frank witnessed the early persecution of the Jews and remembers being beaten on the school playground for being Jewish. When Jewish children were barred from public schools in 1934, he attended a Jewish school founded by the Rothschilds and joined a Zionist youth group. Frank’s mother recognized the danger to the Jewish community and began working to secure affidavits for the family to emigrate from Germany.

With the help of a family friend they were able to secure paperwork for Frank to immigrate temporarily to England to attend school shortly after Kristallnacht. In 1940 his quota number to immigrate to the United States came up and Frank traveled alone to New York and then to Chicago where he joined his cousin’s family until his parents could join him. The family settled into life in America and Frank later served in the United States Army as a chaplain. Frank married his wife Lois in 1950 and the couple made Kansas City their home in 1953.

Ilsa Dahl grew up in Geilenkirchen, Germany where her family had lived for generations. They were observant Jews and patriotic Germans, and Ilsa’s father had served in the German army during World War I. Of the town’s 4000 inhabitants, most were Roman Catholics, with whom the family enjoyed friendly relations. Ilsa had hoped to be an archeologist, but the Nazis thwarted her hopes for higher education, so she studied dressmaking, first in Aachen and then in Berlin, where she met her future husband. Ilsa, who already had an American visa, left Germany days after Kristallnacht, but her parents and most of her extended family were killed in camps. 

She discusses joining family in Kansas City, working in the garment industry, her family and social life, and other topics.

Interview with Arthur Brand about the history of the Jewish community and his family in the Kansas City area. He describes that he and his extended family came to Kansas City from New York City in June 1928, starting Brand and Puritz garment company, and the development and decline of Kansas City's garment industry from the 1930s through the 1970s. He also discusses at length the evolution of the Jewish community from its beginning in the urban core to its eventual shift south Kansas City and later to Johnson County; issues such as assimilation and intermarriage; and the development of institutions including Menorah Hospital, the Jewish Federation of Kansas City, Jewish Vocational Services, and Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, named for his father; and his involvement with a Judaic Studies program at University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Interview with Eugene Salvay about his life and his family's experience with the Kansas City garment industry, with additional information provided by his nephew, Craig Solvay. He discusses his childhood in the 1920s, and his education in aircraft engineering which lead to job in World War II working on B-25s at the assembly plant in the Fairfax District in spite of antisemitism in the hiring process. He recalls his father's work as designer at Fashionbilt before moving on to mail-order company National Bellas Hess, and operating his own business designing custom coats. He also shares stories about his family roots in Lithuania, his Jewish identity and ancestry, and meeting Harry Truman in the 1930s. Solvay also mentions his participation in developing Israeli aviation and his relationship with Moshe Arens.