The Yiddish Book Center's

Wexler Oral History Project

A growing collection of in-depth interviews with people of all ages and backgrounds, whose stories about the legacy and changing nature of Yiddish language and culture offer a rich and complex chronicle of Jewish identity.

Medem Bibliotheque

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Jean Baumgarten discusses the opportunities provided him in Yiddish studies by the Medem Bibliotheque. He highlights the importance of his connection to an older generation of Yiddish speakers.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Jean Baumgarten.

This excerpt is in English.

Jean Baumgarten was born in Paris, France in 1950.

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This interview is part of the Yiddish in the Academy: scholars, language instructors, and students series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

Transmission: an Academic's Duty to the Community

3 min 6 sec

Are you a Yiddishist?

1 min 44 sec

Ashkenazic culture and subcultures

1 min 51 sec

Beginning of Yiddish Studies

2 min 19 sec

Continuity Between Medieval and Contemporary Communities

2 min 31 sec

Isolation of Jewish Studies in Academia

1 min 27 sec

Tsene Rene

3 min

What is Ashkenazic Society

2 min 58 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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