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.

Learning Yiddish In America: Jewish Secular School Systems in the Early 20th Century

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Barnett Zumoff, Yiddish translator and President Emeritus of the Workmen's Circle/Arbeiter Ring, explains some of the ideological differences between the different secular Yiddish shule systems which arose during the early 20th century.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Barnett Zumoff.

This excerpt is in English.

Barnett Zumoff was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1926. Barnett died in 2021.

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This interview is part of the Yiddish in the Academy: scholars, language instructors, and students series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

A Translator Recalls Encounters with Avrom Sutzkever

3 min 57 sec

The Composing Room of the Forverts (Yiddish Daily Forward) Newspaper

2 min 21 sec

'Really? Show Me!': Rising to the Challenge of Yiddish Translation

3 min 14 sec

“All of a Sudden… I Said Yes!”: Becoming the President of the Workmen's Circle

2 min 8 sec

“Geknipts Un Gebunden” (Attached at the Hip): Working with Yosl Mlotek

2 min 34 sec

"Start With the Greats": A Beginner's Guide to Yiddish Poetry

1 min 24 sec

“There Are Some Younger People Who Are Creating Yiddish Literature”: A List

1 min 21 sec

Kyiv and the Statue of the (In)Famous Khmelnitsky

1 min 44 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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