Brazil Fieldwork from the Wexler Oral History Project
Browse photos from the Wexler Oral History Project's fieldwork in Recife and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Published on August 01, 2023.
Christa Whitney, director of the Center’s Wexler Oral History Project, has continued her summer tour with stops in Recife and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She interviewed seven narrators in Recife and two in Rio to add their stories to our growing collection of over 1,200 oral histories. In Rio, she presented at the International Oral History Association’s 2023 conference. She also joined a virtual screening of our award-winning documentary film, Ver Vet Blaybn? (Who Will Remain?), presented by Viver com Yiddish/Lebn far yidish at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Browse the slideshow below to view photographs from Christa's travels in Brazil.
Wexler Oral History Project Fieldwork in Brazil
Christa Whitney with Lya Botler, native Yiddish speaker, whose parents immigrated from Ukraine (and also Bessarabia) to Recife, Brazil.
Christa Whitney with Carlos Masur (left), who assisted with logistics and translation during the trip, and Jacques Ribemboim, historian and superintendent of the IPHAN (cultural organization of the Pernambuco region Recife is a part of), who helped connect us with Yiddish speaking contacts in the community.
The Kahal Zur Israel synagogue, the oldest in the Americas, located in Recife, Brazil.
An exhibit on the rich history of Yiddish theater at the Kahal Zur Israel synagogue in Recife, prepared by historian Tania Kaufman.
Christa Whitney with 97-year-old Esther Katz Azoubel, native Yiddish speaker, in Recife, Brazil.
97-year-old Esther Katz Azoubel, native Yiddish speaker, in Recife, got emotional when she sang a few lines of the Yiddish song “A yidishe mame."
Christa Whitney with actor and Yiddish speaker Germano Haiut in Recife, Brazil.
Christa Whitney with Tania Kaufman, historian and ethnographer, in Recife, Brazil.
Tania Kaufman shows Christa Whitney some of the archival treasures of the Recife Jewish community she has gathered over her long and illustrious career as a historian and ethnographer.
Christa Whitney after an interview with Yiddish speaker Alex Lomachinsky in Recife, Brazil.
Germano Haiut surprised Christa by asking her to say a few words about the Yiddish Book Center’s work in Recife at the community’s Friday night service.
Christa Whitney and local interpreter and tour guide Carlos Masur take an elevator selfie with native Yiddish speakers Simone Zimilis and Joel Posternak after recording oral histories with the couple.
Adelia (Heidi) Lachter treated the Oral History team to a medley of Yiddish songs after the interview.
Native Yiddish speaker Adelia (Heidi) Lachter in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Daisy Wolkoff, interviewed in Rio de Janeiro, has recently returned to Yiddish, thanks to the Yiddish classes at the local PUC-Rio University's Nucleo Viver com Yiddish/Lebn con Yidish (Live with Yiddish). Her parents narrowly escaped the Holocaust, leaving Germany and Poland in the mid-to late-1930s.
All of the morning roundtables at the IOHA (International Oral History Association) Conference were translated from Spanish and Portuguese into English. The live translators worked in shifts as pairs in these black soundproof boxes.
Christa Whitney with other presenters and audience members pose for a photo after the panel on which Christa presented on how multilingualism impacts the oral history interview process.
Virtual screening of the Wexler Oral History Project's award-winning documentary film, Ver Vet Blaybn? (Who Will Remain?), presented by Viver com Yiddish/Lebn far yidish at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.