In Their Own Words
These resources include audio and video interviews of Jewish community members, and below you can find home movies, documentaries, and promotional films containing decades of history.
Bearing Witness: The Voices of Our Survivors
A documentary about the Toledo Jewish community chronicling the stories of six survivors of the Holocaust as they are related to teenage members of their community. This documentary was created by Heather Elliott-Famularo in 2012.
Tikvah, chamber oratorio for chorus, saxophone quartet and piano
A chamber oratorio inspired by the life of Holocaust survivor Philip Markowicz and created by Burton Beerman, featuring Andrea Rae Markowicz, Uzee Brown, the Uzee Brown Society of Choraliers, and the Red Clay Saxophone Quartet.
Milstein Family Home Videos
This is a collection of home movies showing members of the Brandman, Milstein, Perlman and Isenstein families, among others. Camille Leibowitz Alloy narrates the video and describes who the viewer is seeing. She identifies the following individuals over the course of the video in this order: Louis Milstein, Philip Leibowitz, Tilly Milstein Kale, Rachel Milstein, Dorothy Katz, Chuck Brandman, Sharon Leibowitz Robbins, Louis (Lakie) Robbins, Charlie Kale, Peter Brandman, Morris Milstein, Norty Kale, Shirley Brandman Steinberg, Joanne Leibowitz Golding, Abe Leibowitz, Sarah Milstein Leibowitz, Isadore Brandman, Bessie Milstein Perlman, Joe Perlman, Ruth Perlman, Jack Brandman, Ellen (Brandman Housekeeper), Mary Brandman (Peter's wife), Lillian (Laika) Isenstein, Sylvia Fine. The Brandman family owned Brandman Iron & Metals, a company based out of Findlay, Ohio.
Promotional film of the Toledo Jewish Community Foundation
From opening screen: "Promotional film of the Toledo Jewish Community Foundation. Gordon Levine, Sherwin Kripke, Sylvia Thal, Eva & George Davidson, Harry Levine." This short film produced by the Toledo Jewish Community Foundation promotes giving to the community.
Collingwood Avenue Temple Boys Scout Troop 37 film clips
From opening screen: "1987. Collingwood Ave. Temple Boy Scout Troop 37. Trip to Flint, Michigan." This Video Connection Production from 1987, records silent film footage from Troop 37 outings. The first half show scouts on a trip to Yellowstone National Park. The second half shows Troop 37, at Pinelake Reservation possibly near Flint, Michigan. Dates of the original footage are not known. Boy Scout Troop 37, of the Collingwood Temple, was under the leadership of Jules Housman, Louis Michael and Leo Levitt.
A Raggedy Ass Cadets: Memoir The Way We Were
Produced in 1997, this video gives a history of the "Raggedies" and provides highlights of some of their reunions. The Raggedy Ass Cadets is a name that represents the early 20th century neighborhood band of the young sons of immigrants, mostly Jewish, who supplemented their meager family incomes by selling newspapers in their neighborhood and downtown streets of Toledo. Their basic geographical area included the Scott and Woodward High School districts and their homes were centered around the Canton Avenue area. Attired in mismatched, raggedy clothes, for fun they would join the tail end of the many military and other parades common to the WWI and WWII eras. Instead of trumpeting musical instruments, they used their own voices at full pitch, garnering the laughter of cheering crowds. In time, these early entrepreneurs matured into those whom one member described as "economically successful and of good character with a concern for humanity in general." Their descendants, now including women, and those remaining original members as well as good friends still meet annually to reminisce, have a good meal, laugh a lot, and present an honored Raggedy with the Mensch Award.