A First-Hand Account of 20th Century Jewish Life and Music
March 02, 2016
One might say that Herman Berlinski led many lives; and if not for the intervention of fate or righteous individuals, he may not have survived most of them. Whether it was a timely decision to adopt Polish citizenship, a surreptitious emissary sent by Eleanor Roosevelt, an ignorant bureaucrat, or the helping hands of fellow musicians, Berlinski’s life could have gone (or ended) myriad different ways. Fortunately, he not only outlived his enemies, he overcame multiple challenges and emerged as one of the shining stars of Jewish music of the 20th century.
The Milken Archive was fortunate to work with Berlinski to record many of his works, preserving them for generations to come. We were also lucky to capture Berlinski’s story—in his own words—in an extended oral history, which is available now as a five-part series tracing the most definitive moments of his extraordinary life. The Milken Archive’s oral history project includes many hundreds of hours of interviews that document the people behind the music that has so profoundly shaped the American Jewish experience. Of all of these stories, perhaps none is so emblematic of that experience as Berlinski’s.
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The five segments offer a combined 85 minutes of history, intrigue and insights. Starting with “Part 1: Family Background and Early Years,” continuing to “Part 2: The French Years,” “Part 3: America,” “Part 4: The Jewish Theological Seminary,” and concluding with “Part 5: Washington, DC,” Berlinski recounts his story with humor, wit, and charm.
Like Berlinski’s music, it’s a story that is international in scope, American in its ambition, and Jewish at its core.
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