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 Appeal of Yiddish

Watch now:

Pavel Lion aka Psoy Korolenko, singer-songwriter, explains why the transnational quality of Yiddish appeals to him as a musician and scholar.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Pavel Lion (Psoy Korolenko).

This excerpt is in English.

Pavel Lion (Psoy Korolenko) was born in Moscow, Russia.

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

Other video highlights from this oral history

"Foreign Languages? They Act Much Like Spells": Cultivating Multilingualism in My Work

5 min 49 sec

"It's the Best Job, and the Best Fun": Why I Make Music

54 sec

"Re-actualization" in Contemporary Klezmer

1 min 41 sec

"Akhtsik Er un Zibetsik Zi (He at 80, She at 70)": An Example of Psoy Korolenko's Multilingual Songs

4 min

"Tell the True Story About You and Yiddish": Advice for Newcomers to Contemporary Jewish Music

3 min 55 sec

The Origins of My Art Name "Psoy Korolenko": Vladimir Korolenko, Anti-Anti-Semitism, and Coptic Saints

5 min 57 sec

"I Love You From a Distance": My Grandmother's Yiddish "Spell"

1 min 22 sec

"My Parents Told Me That The Barry Sisters Were German": Growing Up Unaware of but Curious About My Jewishness in the Soviet Union

5 min 28 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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