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.

"We Used to Go from One House to the Other through the Roofs": Growing Up In Mexico City

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Thelma Oldak Finkler, Yiddish translator and English teacher who grew up in Mexico, describes her childhood neighborhoods, including street in a suburb of Mexico City that she describes felt like a small town.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Thelma Oldak Finkler.

This excerpt is in English.

Thelma Oldak Finkler was born in Mexico City, Mexico in 1965.

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This interview is part of the Yiddish in the Academy: scholars, language instructors, and students series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

Discovering Great-Grandfather's Tallis from the Old Country

1 min 3 sec

A Fight Between Polish and Russian: My Jewish Family's Culinary Traditions

2 min 10 sec

"We Were Isolated Then": Many Different Jewish Schools in Mexico City

1 min 40 sec

Fighting With Philosophy Professor About Religious Freedom

1 min 48 sec

Differences Between Contemporary Yiddish Dialects

1 min 23 sec

Inventing New Yiddish Words as a Translator

1 min 16 sec

The Role of the Internet in the Future of Yiddish

2 min 3 sec

A Vision for Collaboration Between the World's Yiddish Translators

2 min 12 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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