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.

My Father Always Said, "It's Best to Write About One Family"

Watch now:

Bella Bryks-Klein, Yiddish activist and daughter of writer Rachmil Bryks, describe some characteristics of her father's writing, such as focusing on particular people and remaining optimistic.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Bella Bryks-Klein.

This excerpt is in English and Yiddish.

Bella Bryks-Klein was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1948.

This interview is part of the Beyond the Books: Yiddish writers and their descendants series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

He'd Go to Shul and then Buy a Newspaper

1 min 9 sec

How Rachmil Bryks Wrote

2 min 5 sec

She Wanted to Become an American; My Father Refused

1 min 24 sec

Their World Was Lost, Not Just Their Lives

1 min 11 sec

My Life Is Now Completely Immersed in Yiddish

3 min 49 sec

Yiddish in Israel

3 min 33 sec

Learning to Read Yiddish with Poems with my Father, Yiddish Writer Rachmil Bryks

2 min 10 sec

Advice for Future Generations

2 min 27 sec

Bella Sings Her Mother's Transylvanian Yiddish Shabbes Prayer

2 min 35 sec

My Father Wrote "To Tell the World What Happened" (formerly "He Never Really Left the Ghetto")

2 min 53 sec

My Father Yiddish Writer Rachmil Bryks' View on Yiddish

1 min 31 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

Themes: