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.

Two Films That Touched My Soul: The Beginning of My Interest in Yiddish and Yidishkayt

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Alec Burko - graduate student and staff member at the Yiddish Forverts - describes how watching two films, Hasidim in America and The Godfather, inspired him to start learning Yiddish.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Alec (Leyzer) Burko.

This excerpt is in Yiddish.

Alec (Leyzer) Burko was born in Carbondale, Illinois in 1978.

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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

Veteran Staff Members at the Forverts Yiddish Daily Newspaper

1 min 38 sec

Exploring the Hasidic Community: Going Full-Circle with My Interest in Religion

3 min 5 sec

At Least It Will Outlast Me: Possible Futures for Yiddish

3 min 9 sec

Nahum Stutchkoff, renowned Yiddish linguist, and His Career on the WEVD Yiddish Radio

3 min 14 sec

Meeting Isaac Bashevis Singer - At Six Months Old

1 min 4 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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