Litvaks Ziskind Leiba Karnofsky and his wife Estera Tille (Toby) lived in Vilkija in the second half of the 19th century. Their main business was known to be waste collecting and trading. Being simple people themselves, they managed to raise an outstanding personality. After emigration to the USA, they brought up ten children of their own and one black boy, a foundling, who was desperately looking for food in the dumpsite of New Orleans. Having recognized the child's talent for music, the Karnofsky's helped him buy a cornet and encouraged him to start singing. The boy happened to be the future Jazz genius Louis Armstrong, who later described his warm relationship with the Litvak family in his memoirs "Karnofsky's Document". "They saw that something was in my soul", wrote the performer. Louis Armstrong learnt Yiddish and wore a chain  with the Star of David on his neck for the rest of his life, while his Jazz compositions featured motifs of Jewish music. The mission of "The Karnofsky Project" Foundation, active in the USA till the present day, is to help talented children from indigent families purchase musical instruments.

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Louis Armstrong Tribute in Vilkija - Public info

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Inserted: 21-06-2022 09:06:13