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.

"A Personal Offense": A Mother Comes to Terms With the Great Depression

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Jules Feiffer, Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist and writer, recalls his mother's shame and social isolation after the onset of the Great Depression, and the strife it caused in his family.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Jules Feiffer.

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

"Funny Was a Way of Survival": Understanding Jewish Comedy

2 min 10 sec

"Now I'm As Good As You Are": Jules Feiffer On Fame

1 min 39 sec

“The Storytelling, the Attitude, the Give and Take”: The Influence of Yiddish Theater on American Culture

2 min 54 sec

"I Was a Victim of the Lesson Plan": Learning Resistance in School

3 min 24 sec

Beyond the New Deal Democrats: Leftist Politics in New York City

1 min 57 sec

"They Invented the America They Wanted to be a Part Of": Jewish Assimilation in the Early 20th Century

2 min 37 sec

Remembering an "Education By Way of the Library"

1 min 20 sec

“The Only Funny Guy Around Was Me”: Jules Feiffer on Finding His Jewish Community

2 min 14 sec

From Fan to Groupie: Getting Hired By Will Eisner

3 min 23 sec

"It Was a Dream Come True": Working and Learning alongside Will Eisner

3 min 49 sec

Transforming Rage Into Art: Lessons From the Army

4 min 11 sec

"My Job Was Uncovering Cover Stories": A Jewish Cartoonist Searches for Truth

3 min 37 sec

Improvisation Across Genres: Jules Feiffer on His Creative Process

2 min 7 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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