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.

'It's Got a Certain Softness': Approaching Yiddish for the First Time

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Aleksandra 'Ola' Bilinska, musician, on how she perceives other languages' influences on Yiddish, and the experience of approaching Yiddish through song.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Aleksandra (Ola) Bilinska.

This excerpt is in English.

Aleksandra (Ola) Bilinska was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1986.

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

Other video highlights from this oral history

“Very Delicate, Very Subtle”: On Discovering the Beauty of Yiddish Poetry and Lullabies

2 min 30 sec

'Cultivating the Memory': Preserving Jewish, Lithuanian, and Roma Culture in Sejny, Poland

3 min 56 sec

'When You Try to Revive a Language, It's a Really Important Aspect of Reviving a Whole Culture': The Place of Yiddish Song in Polish Memory

2 min 58 sec

'Objectively Wonderful': Yiddish Poetry & Songs

1 min 7 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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