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.

Thinking in Yiddish

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Leo Summergrad - Yiddish speaker, educator, and WWII veteran - describes the settings in which he speaks Yiddish today and relates how he often thinks in Yiddish.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Leo Summergrad.

This excerpt is in English.

Leo Summergrad was born in Bronx, New York in 1923. Leo died in 2021.

Other video highlights from this oral history

It Was the Most Important Decision of my Life: Signing Myself Up for Yiddish Shule

3 min 37 sec

Yiddish and English at Camp Kinderland

1 min 47 sec

My Parents' Values Left a Mark

54 sec

40 Years of Teaching

1 min 14 sec

Collecting Yiddish Songs

5 min 8 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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