Emery Klein
Interviewed by Ruth Broder
June 29, 2004
Max M. Fisher Federation Building
Emery Klein
Video 01:06:02
Emery Klein
Audio 01:06:02
Abstract
In this interview, Emery Klein speaks briefly about his childhood in Humenne, Slovakia leading up to his family’s transportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Klein remembers his father always bringing those who had nowhere to go to their home for Shabbat dinner every week. They always had an attitude of charity.
Klein then goes into his experiences as a holocaust survivor, relating some details about the routine at camp, as well as his eventual escape. They made it back to their home, but then moved to Israel, then Rome, Montreal, Canada, and finally Detroit. It was here that he and his brother were able to start an import/export business.
After meeting and marrying his wife, he became involved with Federation and became chairman of the Mercantile Division. From here, he speaks about his work also with CANS, and the Jewish Family Service. He talks about his time serving on the board of Hebrew Free Loan, and becoming co-chairman of the Allied Jewish Campaign.
Next, Klein talks about his goal in trying to get survivors involved with campaign. He speaks about his thoughts on fundraising, as well as the importance for the Jewish community to vote. Then, Klein notes some changes he had witnessed while a part of Federation.
Finally, Klein briefly describes his trips to Israel, and the honors of receiving the Bar Ilan and Yeshivah BethYehudah awards.
History of Narrator
Born in Humenne, Czechoslovakia, in 1928 to a large, close-knit family, Emery Klein survived Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Gleiwitz work camp and a death march along with his father and brother. His mother and sister perished. After the war, they returned to their hometown, where his father met and married a widow with a young son.
Because of continuing anti-Semitism, the family needed to leave Humenne. They briefly lived in Israel before deciding to go to the United States. However, quotas kept them out. They spent nine months in Rome before settling in Montreal in 1950. In 1957, the family immigrated to Detroit. In 1959, Emery and his brother Bernard started an import/export electronics business called Alaron in their father’s basement. Alaron became a major importer and distributor of home entertainment products sold internationally. In 1965, Emery met Diane and they were married two years later.
Klein served on numerous boards including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Yad Ezra, which renamed its warehouse the Diane and Emery Klein Food Distribution Center. He was also on the Hebrew Free Loan board and served as president from 1986-1987. Klein was actively involved in the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, serving on the board of governors and as the annual campaign chairman. In 2006, he and Diane received Federation’s Fred M. Butzel Memorial Award.
Emery Klein died on August 28, 2013 at the age of 85.
Transcript
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Credit as: Leonard N. Simons Jewish Community Archives. Emery Klein Oral History Interview, June 29, 2004.