Interview with Martin Glazer, 2011

Summary of an oral history interview conducted with Martin Glazer (1924-2017) on November 16, 2011. The summary is accompanied by an obituary for Martin Glazer. The interview was part of the Louisville Jewish Family and Career Services's project to document the lives of Jewish seniors in Louisville, Kentucky.

Martin Glazer was born and raised in Louisville to Russian-American parents, who both desired to live in the United States and thus immigrated first to New York then to Louisville. Growing up in a Yiddish and English speaking home, he lived through the Great Flood of 1937 relatively unharmed, as his family lived on elevated ground. As a Jewish youth he notes that all holidays were observed and the family maintained a strict kosher diet even following the death of his mother. He was Bar Mitzvah’d at Anshei Sfard. His high school education took place at Male High School after which he spent four years in the United States Army. He returned to Louisville for an undergraduate degree and law school at the University of Louisville in four years, so all education would be covered by the G.I. Bill (formally titled the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944). After meeting his wife, Phyllis Levy, he began attending Adath Jeshurun with her. He experienced anti-Semitism as a lawyer. After serving in the Army Air Corps, he served in Italy and nearly volunteered for the Israeli Army during the Six Day War. His hobbies included listening to magic tricks by radio, building model aircraft with a friend, and keeping the Hebrew faith flourishing in his family.

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.)

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