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.

Boris Aronson's Involvement in Art and the Kultur Lige in Europe

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Marc Aronson, son of Yiddish theater set designers Boris and Lisa Aronson, discusses his father's involvement in the art world in Europe, including his participation in the Kultur Lige in Kyiv, his work on a book about Chagall, and his involvement in the cabaret world in Berlin. He also discusses his father's exploration of his own identity and where his Jewishness fit into broader national identities.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Marc Aronson.

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

Boris Aronson’s Funny Stories about Maurice Schwartz and Distance from Yiddish Theater

2 min 4 sec

Boris Aronson's Cane-Carving Job in the Catskills

2 min 29 sec

Boris Aronson's Physical Appearance

7 min 1 sec

“No One’s Going to Be Interested in Tevye and His Five Daughters”: Boris Aronson Sending Scripts to His Son at Camp

1 min 15 sec

Lisa Aronson's Artistic Background and Escape From Austria in 1939

4 min 54 sec

Father's Interest in Japan

2 min 23 sec

Colored Xerox and 3-Dimensional Paintings: Examples of Boris Aronson's Artwork

2 min 51 sec

The Universality of Fiddler on the Roof and Its Revolutionary Impact on Broadway

6 min 29 sec

Boris Aronson's Set for Maurice Schwartz's Ten Commandments

2 min 1 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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