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.

On Feeling Different and Developing A Jewish Identity

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Polina Markovna Shepherd, Yiddish performer, composer, and choir leader, describes feeling different and marginalized and discusses the development of her Jewish identity at the age of 16, including her introduction to the klezmer music scene in Kazan.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Polina Markovna Shepherd.

This excerpt is in English.

Polina Markovna Shepherd was born in Tomsk, USSR.

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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

"I Kind Of Miss That TIme": Growing Up in the Soviet Union

3 min 10 sec

Polina Markovna Shepherd's Six Major Yiddish Influences

5 min 18 sec

Secondary Education in Kazan and Research on Jewish Music in Tatarstan

2 min 7 sec

A Particularly Meaninful Performance: Singing Avinu Malkeinu in Spain

2 min 44 sec

On Teaching and Sharing Yiddish Music and Perceiving Herself as an Activist

2 min 38 sec

The Challenges of Teaching Yiddish Music

2 min 24 sec

The Place of Yiddish Within Jewish Culture

1 min 30 sec

Playing Yiddish Songs for Boris Yeltsin in Tatarstan

2 min 9 sec

"They Hadn't Heard Anything About Yiddish or Klezmer": Bringing my Music to Iceland

1 min 53 sec

Teaching and Performing for Yiddish Speakers in Sao Paolo

1 min 55 sec

Teaching Nigunim in the Fields of Ukraine: Performances at a Ukrainian Music Festival

1 min 50 sec

Childhood Stories from her Father: Escaping Kyiv and Experiences in Siberia

2 min 33 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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