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.

Escaping Antisemitism in Post-war Kalisz, Poland and Life in the Hoff Displaced Persons Camp

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Michael (Mendl) Szmerling, former actor in the Melbourne amateur Yiddish theater, explains why his family left Kalisz a second time. They had been back for only a few months after World War II had ended but the antisemitic sentiment made Kalisz a dangerous place to be. They ended up in a displaced persons camp outside of Hoff, Germany.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Michael (Mendl) Szmerling.

This excerpt is in English.

Michael (Mendl) Szmerling was born in Kalisz, Poland in 1936.

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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

Living in Siberia During World War II

2 min 18 sec

The Soup Story: Protecting Precious Food in Siberia During World War II

1 min 38 sec

Fond Memories of Maisons-Laffitte, A Children's Home in Post-WWII France

2 min 28 sec

Not So Undeveloped After All: First Impression of Australia

1 min 21 sec

Ideology of SKIF and the Bund

1 min 34 sec

Memories of the Yiddish Theater at Kadimah on Lygon Street in Carlton, Melbourne

1 min 52 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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