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.

Surviving the Kovno Ghetto

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Diane Cypkin, professor at Pace University and performer, discusses her family surviving the Kovno Ghetto during World World II with a hidden bunker.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Diane Cypkin.

This excerpt is in English.

Diane Cypkin was born in Münich, Germany in 1948.

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

Other video highlights from this oral history

My Father Wrote Songs While In The Kovno Ghetto

2 min 10 sec

My First Job Performing in Yiddish Theatre

2 min 25 sec

"It Was Good to Be On His Good Side...In Case": Lighting the Shabbes Candles

1 min 11 sec

Performing Alongside Joseph Buloff in "Yoshke Muzikant"

1 min 5 sec

Performing My Molly Picon Show All Over the U.S. - Even in Montana

3 min 23 sec

The Endurance of Yiddish

1 min 46 sec

Getting Married on the Yiddish Stage

58 sec

Crossing Over From The Yiddish to English Theatrical World

1 min 12 sec

The Uniqueness of Yiddish Theatre

1 min 37 sec

Discovering the Family's Fate During the Holocaust

1 min 19 sec

Prewar Jewish Life in Kovno, Lithuania

2 min 8 sec

Surviving a Nazi Massacre: the "Great Aktion" of October 1941 in Kovne

2 min 9 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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