Oral History Interview with Milton Wurtzel, February 12, 2009, inclusive
Scope and Contents
In his interview, Milton Wurtzel (1919- ) gives many details and stories about his experience at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and in the US Navy. He describes the process of welding, the tools he used, his training and supervisors, the sickbay, the cafeteria and lunchtime, driving to work and theft at the yard. In one story, he explains how he made jewelry using the Hammerhead Crane. In another, he discusses the unhygienic conditions on French ships. He also discusses his Jewish background, growing up in Brooklyn and the Bronx, meeting his wife and Navy life aboard the USS Humboldt. Wurtzel's grandson Jason Wurtzel was also present at the time of the interview. Interview conducted by Sady Sullivan.
Biographical / Historical
Milton Wurtzel (1919- ) was born in Manhattan and grew up in the Bronx and in Stuyvesant Heights, Brooklyn on Kosciusko Street. Wurtzel worked at Lieberman Shoe Factory as a foreman and at a slipper factory before he started working at the Brooklyn Navy Yard as a welder. Wurtzel left the Brooklyn Navy Yard when he was inducted into the Navy, in which he worked on the USS Humboldt. At the time of the interview, Wurtzel was living in Long Island.
Conditions Governing Access
This interview can be accessed onsite at Brooklyn Historical Society's Othmer Library and online at the Oral History Portal.
