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.

"In a shlemazl darf men hobn mazl": How My Cousin Survived the Holocaust

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Helen Kurzban, Brooklyn-born native Yiddish speaker and former administrator in the New York City public schools, describes the circumstances that led to a cousin surviving the Holocaust.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Helen Kurzban.

This excerpt is in English and Yiddish.

Helen Kurzban was born in New York, New York in 1930.

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Other video highlights from this oral history

Father enters U.S. under false identity

3 min 14 sec

Fate of Family Members Who Remained in Europe

1 min 47 sec

"American Children Speak English!": Discouraged from Using Yiddish

1 min 19 sec

What's Lobster in Yiddish?: Teaching Yiddish to Senior Citizens

4 min 38 sec

Teaching about Jewish Humor

2 min 4 sec

Teaching The Bintl Brief

1 min 22 sec

"I'm an American, I speak English... and by the way your Yiddish is terrible!": My Mother at 103

1 min 15 sec

Remembering Yiddish Radio and Newspapers

1 min 26 sec

Facing Antisemitism in Washington D.C.

3 min 15 sec

Healthcare in the International Worker's Order

2 min 40 sec

Consequences of Using Yiddish in a German Class

1 min 10 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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