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.

From Melons to Mafia: Adventures Working for the Railroad

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Philip (Fishl) Kutner, founder of "Der Bay" a website for Yiddish networking information,

recalls his time working for the railroad, and how his close proximity to both the Mafia and live wires convinced him to get his teaching certificate instead.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Philip (Fishl) Kutner.

This excerpt is in English and Yiddish.

Philip (Fishl) Kutner was born in 1926.

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Other video highlights from this oral history

A "Pork and Beans Soldier" with a Kosher Kitchen: How My Parents Got Married

3 min 12 sec

"I Never Forgot that Experience": Paying for Rutgers University through A Hodgepodge of Part-time Jobs

4 min 58 sec

"It Was a Total Disaster": The Chicken Farm Flood of 1955

3 min 45 sec

"Ergern Nisht (Don't Worry)": Learning Yiddish by Ear

2 min 56 sec

The Founding of the International Association of Yiddish Clubs

3 min 5 sec

"What Do You Know About Jewish Storytelling?": Reconnecting with Yiddish in Jonesboro, Tennessee

3 min 5 sec

"My Dad Wanted to be a Cowboy": Philip Kutner's Normal Jewish Childhood

2 min 15 sec

Restoring the Workmen's Circle History

3 min 25 sec

Spreading Yiddish Through "Der Bay"

1 min 49 sec

"What Kind of Person is a Mentsh?": Preserving the Yiddish Language

2 min 26 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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