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.

A Polish-Canadian

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Michael Wex discusses the way in which Ashkenazi Jews discarded their European nationalities. He recalls working for the Canadian government as a college student and being amazed that he was seen as a "Polish-Canadian."

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Michael Wex.

This excerpt is in English.

Michael Wex was born in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada in 1954.

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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

"Yiddish Literature was funded on the proceeds of the sales of Cowboy hats"

1 min 2 sec

A Short History of Lethbridge Jewish Community

2 min 9 sec

The Roots of "Born to Kvetch"

2 min 51 sec

Reflections on the Widespread Knowledge of Yiddish Words Despite Jewish Assimilation

1 min 20 sec

A Religious Childhood

1 min 36 sec

First Time at KlezKamp

2 min 21 sec

Scholars, Rebbes and Frank Sinatra

1 min 18 sec

The Problem of Assimilated Jews

1 min 15 sec

"I went to school in the eleventh century it's just nobody bothered to tell me"

1 min 23 sec

Deciding on Graduate School

2 min 7 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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