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.

"He was Such a Great Musician, on the Other Hand He was Basically in Prison": Renowned Violinist David Oistrakh in Soviet Russia

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Yitzhak Rapoport—Acclaimed Rabbi with international service and teaching experience—discusses the difficulty violinist David Oistrakh faced while on tour outside of Soviet Russia.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Yitzhak Rapoport.

This excerpt is in English.

Yitzhak Rapoport was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1977.

Other video highlights from this oral history

"He has this crazy plan": Father's escape from Soviet Russia

6 min 17 sec

"It was Just Pure Anti-Semitism": Accused of Being an Israeli Spy in Poland

2 min 58 sec

“Like a Slap in the Face”: Identity and Outsideness as a Child of Jewish Polish Parents in Sweden

5 min 14 sec

"There was a Tension": Religious and Secular Judaism in post-Communist Poland

4 min 10 sec

Influence of Pope John Paul II on A Rabbi’s Experience of Jewish-Catholic Relations in Wroclaw, Poland

7 min 8 sec

Jewish Misunderstanding of Modern Poland as Only Antisemitic

2 min 47 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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