The first part of this recording is a brief continuation of a formal interview with Moyshe Smelanskii. (Part 5 of 5. See MDV 490, MDV 491, MDV 492, and MDV 493) He discusses food customs at Jewish weddings.

The second part of the tape contains a formal interview with Natan Shapiro. (Part 1 of 3. See MDV 495 and MDV 496) He talks about his family, in particular about his grandchildren in America. Yoysef Ben Yakov was his father's name and Shapiro had nine siblings. Shapiro then talks about how he organized a group of students to teach Yiddish in the 1970s. He then briefly talks about life during the Soviet period. The conversation turns to his early childhood memories. He kept a diary during the years of 1918 and 1919. His parents left Vinnytsya in 1928. His family went to see Maxim Gorki in Odesa. He remembers how his father offered visitors a room because they had a house with five rooms. The tape concludes with Shapiro showing family photographs.