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.
Finding Humor in Grief: Sholem Aleichem's Creative Influence in his Grandchildren's Writing
Watch now:
Bel and Sherwin Kaufman, grandchildren of Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem, discuss their creative inheritance. The pair talk about what creative works they've produced on their own, and where their legacy of Sholem Aleichem shines through.
This is an excerpt from an oral history with Sherwin Kaufman and Bel Kaufman.
This excerpt is in English.
Sherwin Kaufman was born in Odessa, Ukraine in 1920. Sherwin died in 2019.
Bel Kaufman was born in Berlin, Germany in 1911. Bel died in 2014.
This interview is part of the Beyond the Books: Yiddish writers and their descendants series.
