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.

Shlemiel vs. Shlimazl: Feeling "Fortunate" to Understand Yiddish

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Seweryn Aszkenazy, a developer and child Holocaust survivor, relates some thoughts on Yiddish words and their untranslatable qualities.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Seweryn Aszkenazy.

This excerpt is in English.

Seweryn Aszkenazy was born in Tarnopol, Poland in 1936.

Other video highlights from this oral history

"Baba Gaya" the Stove Spirit: Description of a Jewish Home in Tarnopol, Poland

2 min 11 sec

"What a Moment of Pretending!": Preferred Languages Among Jews in the Tarnopol Ghetto During World War Two

2 min 12 sec

Bad Experiences and Wonderful Experiences: How We Survived Following the Liquidation of the Tarnopol Ghetto

2 min 36 sec

Reflecting on Jewish Values and Post-WWII

3 min 1 sec

"Every Year, Languages Die...Jews Are Determined Not to Let Yiddish Die!"

2 min 36 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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