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.

The First Hints of My Family's Jewish Background

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Gabriela von Seltmann, Polish artist who explores issues of memory and identity, discusses growing up without knowing that she was Jewish and her "accidental" discovery of her Jewish roots. She describes the connection that she felt to Judaism early on, and shares some of the early hints about her family's background, including her neighbors calling her father "the Jew" and her grandmother yelling at her grandfather for mixing milk and meat.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Gabriela von Seltmann.

This excerpt is in English.

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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

Meeting Husband Uwe and Beginning to Uncover Her Past

4 min 25 sec

Growing Up in Communist Poland in the 1970s and 1980s

3 min 10 sec

Communist Education in Poland and Beginning to Ask Questions About Jewish Roots

4 min 33 sec

Elementary Knowledge of Yiddish from Grandmother’s “German” Vocabulary

1 min 22 sec

The Healing Power of Welcoming Jews Into Their Families' Former Homes

3 min 10 sec

Positive Effects of Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow on Jewish-Polish Relations

1 min 56 sec

Visiting Auschwitz and Using It As a Lesson for the Future

3 min 13 sec

The Future of Yiddish in Poland

2 min 41 sec

Advice to Younger Generations and Yiddish as the Language of Love

1 min 38 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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