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.

October 1943: Our Ship Changed Direction to Avoid a Battle

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Henry Slucki, child survivor of the Holocaust, describes his voyage from Portugal to the United States - and how the ship was forced to make a detour to avoid a battle between German U-boats and Allied airplanes.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Henry Slucki.

This excerpt is in English.

Henry Slucki was born in Paris, France in 1934.

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Other video highlights from this oral history

The Year We Cancelled Color War at Camp Kinderland

3 min 34 sec

The Meaning of Secular Jewishness to Me

3 min 7 sec

"It Doesn't Feel Traumatic to Me": Reflecting on the Impact of the Holocaust on My Life

3 min 55 sec

It Seems Yiddish and Hebrew Are Switching Places: Reflecting on the Future of Yiddish

3 min 37 sec

Yiddish Kinder Theater in Los Angeles

3 min 24 sec

Escaping Europe As A Child During WWII, Thanks To Eleanor Roosevelt

2 min 44 sec

France, 1942: Hearing the Purim Story for the First Time

2 min 47 sec

1942: A Jewish Child Refugee's First Impressions of the United States

2 min 33 sec

The Family Restaurant was a Gathering Place for Leftists

2 min 6 sec

Many of the Yiddish Words Sounded Familiar: Remembering My Parents' Yiddishized French

1 min 19 sec

Pete Seeger, Politics, and Yiddish Culture at Camp Kinderland

2 min 59 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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