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.

An Irreplaceable Yiddish Experience

Watch now:

Judith Elbaum Schumer describes how Yiddishist parents like her father encouraged their children to use Yiddish whenever possible - and how this experience is hard to duplicate.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Judith Elbaum Schumer.

This excerpt is in English.

Judith Elbaum Schumer was born in Shanghai, China in 1945.

Jump to map

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

Other video highlights from this oral history

My Father Got a Rare Interview with Anthony Eden on the Train

2 min 23 sec

A Family's Journey to America

10 min 39 sec

Escaping Lithuania With The Help of Chiune Sugihara

4 min 23 sec

Moshe Elbaum's Satirical Play

1 min 50 sec

He Was a Deadline Writer

1 min 15 sec

I Didn't Understand that my Home Was Unique

2 min 48 sec

He Loved Being a Teacher

1 min 59 sec

Do Not Tell Anybody that I Was Born in China

1 min 56 sec

You Speak Your Mother Tongue at Home

2 min 45 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

Themes: