Interview with Margot Kling and photograph, 2018

Summary of an oral history interview conducted with Margot Kling (1926-2021) in October 2018. The summary is accompanied by a copy of a photograph of Kling. The interview was part of the Louisville Jewish Family and Career Services's project to document the lives of Jewish seniors in Louisville, Kentucky.

Kling was born in Frankfurt, Germany to Adolf and Hilda Preis. In 1938, her family immigrated to the United States where they had Preis, Mann, and Wolff family relatives. After graduating high school in 1944, she went to work at the Jeffersonville Quartermaster Depot.

024x6 Jewish Family and Career Services interviews, The Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Kentucky

The Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Kentucky

Jewish Family and Career Services (Louisville, Ky.)

024x6_klingm

My Name is Margot Kling
And this is My Story
I was born on June 16th, 1926 in Frankfurt, Germany. My parents were Adolf and Hilda Preis.
My father was a salesman and my mother was a housewife. I’m not sure how well off we were
back then because that wasn’t a matter that my parents discussed with me. I can only imagine
how things progressively got worse for us after Hitler took power. I was mainly shielded from
these things; they “rolled off my back”. I do remember getting forced into an all Jewish school
called Philanthropin and that my Christian friends would have nothing to do with me anymore.
By 1938 my father saw how the state of things was progressing and decided to get us out of
Germany. This was still the beginning stages of the Jewish oppression, so we had no trouble
getting out. My parents packed up all our furniture and belongings and we left Germany. My
father had decided it would be a trip for us so we traveled by land through Belgium and France
and two weeks later we set sail from La Have France on the Queen Mary.
We arrived in New York harbor and my Uncle Ed met us. Uncle Ed, my father’s brother, had
lived in the U.S. since World War I and had established himself in New York. I remember when
he took us to Macy’s in New York and there were wooden escalators. I couldn’t believe it, they
made clicking and clanking noises, I’ll never forget it. After about a week we left for Louisville.
My grandfather’s sister, Mrs. Mann, lived there, and my mother’s cousins, the Wolff’s, were
there as well. Louisville was a place where we would have some family security and be able to
start our new lives in the U.S.
First, we lived in an apartment on 1st and Caldwell until my parents later bought a home in Keller
Court which was right across the street from the Rauch Planetarium. The area which my parent’s
house once stood is now a part of the University of Louisville’s campus. A good bit of my
childhood was spent walking up and down U of L’s campus.
I was enrolled in the old Engelhard Elementary school on Kentucky Street for the sixth grade. I
had a difficult time adjusting. My English language skills were wanting, and I was considered an
outsider by most of the kids because I couldn’t communicate with them. I was called the
foreigner. If it wasn’t for my sixth-grade teacher I don’t think I would have made it. I can
remember her face clearly, but her name escapes me. She deserves the credit for bringing me
through those difficult times and working with me. As my language skills improved things
slowly got better. I moved on to Monserat Junior High for the seventh and eighth grades. While I
was there I made two friends, Clara Rowe and Sylvia Ossofsky, whom I still have lunch with
once every month. I also remember being in a play while I was there, but its name has been lost
with time.
For the ninth to the twelfth grade I attended the Louisville Girls High School which is now
Manual. When I first started there I would have to walk from 1st and Caldwell to the school, and
that was a far walk. It was always fun though, as you’d walk more people would join your group
until you arrived at the school with a pack of fellow students. I was on the student council and
they’d pin black shields on our shirts to distinguish us as members. I also volunteered after
school at the old Norton Memorial Hospital on Oak. I graduated in 1944 and went to work at the
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Jeffersonville Quartermaster Depot where I helped primarily in Government Procurement. It
wasn’t until later that I found out that the U.S. Secret Service had interviewed all our neighbors
as a part of my background check. Looking back, it makes sense because I would have had to
have some form of government clearance to work there. The facility was in the middle of
nowhere. I would have to take a bus to downtown Louisville and from there I’d catch a bus to
downtown Jeffersonville. I’d then have to take a bus sent by the depot from downtown
Jeffersonville to the facility. It’s astounding how much the area has grown since then. The depot
now is right in the middle of Jeffersonville and the area has been built up quite significantly.
During this time World War II had already been going for some time. I remember the sugar and
meat rationing affecting us. The gasoline rationing on the other hand didn’t bother us as my
parents didn’t have a vehicle and we had no need for gas. I do recall one of the Wolff cousins
having a dog and he loved that dog so much he’d feed it his meat ration.
I married David Kling in 1947 and we moved to South 2nd Street. I had met David when I was
fifteen at Camp Tall Trees. He was a young councilor at the time and I was an old camper.
Though back then there was nothing serious, I’d hang out with whoever I felt like and sometimes
it’d be David and sometimes it’d be someone else. There were many friends in our group that we
ran around with. David was drafted to the army and first stationed at Camp Hood, Texas. He
would then be moved to a camp in Oregon before eventually being stationed at West Point, New
York where he was later discharged. I remember he’d write me letters asking me to come see
him, and I’d think to myself, “No, if you want me that bad you can come see me.” Which he
eventually started doing.
I went gone to work at International Harvester in Highland Park near what is now the airport
after the depot had shut down following the war. David Dobson, a job councilor, told me not to
apply there because they didn’t hire Jews, but I had the qualifications and the skills, so I figured
I’d give it a shot. Not only was I hired but I was treated like a queen. I was the secretary to the
purchasing agent and worked there right up until a few days before our first child, Allan, was
bom. There were no good places in Louisville to buy maternity clothes at that time, so we’d have
to drive to Cincinnati, so I could have clothes for work. After we had Allan, David and I moved
to Manchester which is off Bardstown Road. Bardstown Road at that time was a single lane road
that didn’t even have a city bus route assigned to it. It was nothing like it is today.
Allan was bom in 1949 and he passed away in 1976 at the age of twenty-seven due to a hang
glider accident. David and I had travelled to Columbus, Ohio for a wedding and we had just
gotten to the hotel when the manager pulled us aside to give us the news of his accident. We left
immediately, several people offered to give us a ride, but David insisted on driving. I have no
idea how we made it home. Our daughter Cookie was bom in 1952, she married a Honigberg and
lives on Manchester. She has two girls, Cari and Shana.
All during this time I took a few classes at U of L. I never received a formal degree because
neither my parents nor myself could afford it but I did take some time to study. David had a
wholesale variety business and after the kids were older I started working the Christmas,
Valentines, and Easter shows. I never did go back to work in a career position, but I did do a lot
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of volunteer work. I’ve been on just about every Jewish Community board that I can think of. I
was on court watch for ten years, and I was on the JFCS board before it was formally known as
the JFCS. David and I founded Temple Shalom; in fact, David did all the carpentry for the bema
in the basement of our home on Manchester.
On September 7th, 2018 I received an award from U of L and I didn’t even know I was slated to
get one. It was from the Institute for Sustainable Health and Optimal Aging. It is the Gold
Standard Award for Optimal Aging Social Justice Award. They described me as “still a force to
be reckoned with.” I thought that was funny. I’m in a good place today, my daughter visits me
almost every day and my mind is good. However, I know I wouldn’t be where I am today
without a large support group of friends. And for that I am very thankful.
Interview by
Irvin Goldstein and lan Stamper
October 2018