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.

Prewar Jewish Life in Kovno, Lithuania

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Diane Cypkin, professor at Pace University and performer, describes prewar Jewish life in Kovno, Lithuania, including Yiddish theatre as well as native antisemitism.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Diane Cypkin.

This excerpt is in English.

Diane Cypkin was born in Münich, Germany in 1948.

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This interview is part of the Yiddish and the Arts: musicians, actors, and artists series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

Surviving the Kovno Ghetto

5 min 38 sec

Surviving a Nazi Massacre: the "Great Aktion" of October 1941 in Kovne

2 min 9 sec

My Father Wrote Songs While In The Kovno Ghetto

2 min 10 sec

My First Job Performing in Yiddish Theatre

2 min 25 sec

"It Was Good to Be On His Good Side...In Case": Lighting the Shabbes Candles

1 min 11 sec

Performing Alongside Joseph Buloff in "Yoshke Muzikant"

1 min 5 sec

Performing My Molly Picon Show All Over the U.S. - Even in Montana

3 min 23 sec

The Endurance of Yiddish

1 min 46 sec

Getting Married on the Yiddish Stage

58 sec

Crossing Over From The Yiddish to English Theatrical World

1 min 12 sec

The Uniqueness of Yiddish Theatre

1 min 37 sec

Discovering the Family's Fate During the Holocaust

1 min 19 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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