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.

The Jewish Community of Bulawayo (History)

Watch now:

Ghita Wolpowitz, a Litvak (Lithuanian Jew) who grew up in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), discusses the origin and evolution of the Jewish community in her hometown of Bulawayo. She touches on the Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation, the various youth movements to which she and her peers belonged, and the Jewish elderly home which her parents helped to establish and which today constitutes the last remaining Jewish community in Zimbabwe.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Ghita Wolpowitz.

This excerpt is in English.

Other video highlights from this oral history

Early Memories of Bulawayo

4 min 12 sec

For gezunt, zay gezunt, un kum gezunt: A Mother's Yiddish Blessing for Safe Travel

48 sec

Being the Boss' Daughter: Uncomfortable Experiences With Racial Privilege in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)

3 min 48 sec

"The Derailment of the Country": Reflecting on the Political Situation in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) Growing Up

4 min 35 sec

"I Feel the Richness Of This Peoplehood": Importance of My Jewish Identity

2 min 9 sec

"Like Walking On Blood:" A Roots Trip to Lithuania

7 min 23 sec

"Look How They Know Who I Am": Connecting With My Children Through Jewish Identity

1 min 14 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

Themes: