Page 22 - TORCH Magazine #30 - Spring 2026

Louis Armstrong:
“I will love the Jewish
people all my life”
Louis Armstrong is known
as one of the greatest
jazz musicians of all time,
particularly for his expertise
on the trumpet and cornet. Some of
his songs are timeless classics that have
spanned generations, including “What
a Wonderful World” and “Dream a Little
Dream of Me”. What you may not know
is that Louis Armstrong, or Satchmo, as
he was affectionately called, had a great
love for the Jewish people.
The Karnofsky family were Jewish
immigrants who fled the Pale of Settlement,
part of the Russian Empire that is today
Lithuania, and emigrated to the United States.
They arrived penniless in New Orleans and
settled in one of the poorest parts of the city,
largely home to the Black community. In 1907,
they opened a small business collecting and
selling scrap throughout the city. The family
saved up and purchased two horses and two
wagons and eventually hired local children to
work for them.
22 CUFI.ORG.UK