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.

How I Was Forced To Change My Jewish First Name

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Diana Cohen, a social worker, tells the story of how she became known as Diana when a school official refused to register her by her birth name, Deena.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Diana Cohen.

This excerpt is in English.

Diana Cohen was born in Bronx, New York in 1927.

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Other video highlights from this oral history

My Shock At Meeting Jewish Anti-Zionists for the First Time

1 min 50 sec

Silence and Disbelief: An Early Awareness of the Holocaust

2 min

A Critical But Committed Zionist

1 min 35 sec

You Can't Transmit Concern For Not Having A Jewish Homeland When There Is One

3 min 14 sec

Cousins Reunite in Jerusalem Thanks to Yiddish Radio Program

6 min 42 sec

The Life and Work of Shmuel Nissan Godiner

2 min 17 sec

My Father's Memoirs: A Family Project

4 min 2 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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