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.
Chava Rosenfarb's Recreation of Her First Poems, Originally Destroyed by Nazis
Watch now:
Goldie Morgentaler, daughter of Yiddish writer Chava Rosenfarb, describes her mother's path to publishing her first book of poems, from writing them in the Lodz Ghetto, seeing them destroyed by Nazis, and rewriting and memorizing them in secret in the concentration camp.
This is an excerpt from an oral history with Goldie Morgentaler.
This excerpt is in English.
Other video highlights from this oral history
Chava Rosenfarb's Recreation of Her First Poems, Originally Destroyed by Nazis
3 minutes 56 seconds
"She Was a Beautiful Woman": Chava Rosenfarb's Physical Appearance
1 minute 51 seconds
Chava Rosenfarb's Social Presence and Dislike of Chitchat
1 minute 34 seconds
Throwing My Mother's Yiddish Writing Down the Incinerator as a Child
1 minute 23 seconds
Interactions with Yiddish Writers in My Childhood
2 minutes 49 seconds
Chava Rosenfarb Was a Loving, Warm-Hearted Mother
2 minutes 7 seconds
Getting to Know a New Side of My Mother, Chava Rosenfarb, Through Translating Her Works
5 minutes 10 seconds
Chava Rosenfarb's Observant Grandparents' Reactions to Their Daughter Becoming An Atheist Bundist
2 minutes 3 seconds
The Tree of Life by Chava Rosenfarb: A Synopsis
3 minutes 38 seconds
Chava Rosenfarb's Writing Style
2 minutes 48 seconds
Getting a Job Teaching Yiddish by Knowing How to Say "Orange"
2 minutes 22 seconds
"They Had No Sense That It Was a Language": American Jews' Dismissive Attitude Towards Yiddish
2 minutes 45 seconds
Chava Rosenfarb's School Years in Lodz
3 minutes 52 seconds
Parents' Experiences in the Lodz Ghetto and Auschwitz Concentration Camp
6 minutes 18 seconds
Chava Rosenfarb's Talent for Painting, Murals, Sculpture, and Tapestry-Making
2 minutes 6 secondsMore information about this oral history excerpt
Themes:
Keywords:
About the Wexler Oral History Project
Since 2010, the Yiddish Book Center’s Wexler Oral History Project has recorded more than 500 in-depth video interviews that provide a deeper understanding of the Jewish experience and the legacy and changing nature of Yiddish language and culture.
Tell Us Your Story
Do you (or someone you know) have stories to share about the importance of Yiddish language and culture in your life?