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.

Joe (Yosl) Esselin's Oral History

Joe (Yosl) Esselin, z"l, playwright and son of Yiddish writer Alter Esselin, was interviewed by Christa Whitney on November 15, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois.

This interview was conducted in English.

Joe (Yosl) Esselin was born in Los Angeles, California in 1923. Joe (Yosl) died in 2016.

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Video highlights from this oral history

Why My Father Was Wrong About the Future of Yiddish

4 min 17 sec

Alter Esselin, Zalman Shazar, and the Jewish Community of Milwaukee

5 min 20 sec

Fighting Tragedy With Poetry

4 min 19 sec

Yiddish Poet Alter Esselin’s Three Names

3 min 7 sec

My Father, Yiddish Poet Alter Esselin’s Writing Rituals

2 min 40 sec

Alter Esselin’s Religious Observance

1 min 8 sec

Losing My Yiddish to Monolingualism

2 min 15 sec

"The Foreman Is Always Watching": Alter Esselin's Work Ethic

1 min 56 sec

"They Don't Know That There's a Shelley on the Roof": A Carpenter-Poet's Craft

1 min 55 sec

"Words Are the Heart of Humanity": My Father's Legacy

1 min

Artifacts related to this oral history

Lider fun a Midbarnik 2

Unter der Last cover 3

Alter Esselin charcoal portrait

Knoitn book cover 3

Unter der Last book cover 2

Lider fun a Midbarnik

Lider fun a Midbarnik 3

Joe typing

Joe as a child

Joe as a child 2

Joe and family

Joe as a child 3

Professor Joe Esselin

Alter Esselin black and white 4

Joe as a young man

Poems Book Cover

Joe as a child 4

Alter siblings

Joe seated portrait

Grandmother

Joe seated portrait 2

Knoitn book cover

The Enchanted Pond

Knoitn book cover 2

Unter der Last book cover

More information about this oral history

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