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.

My Jewish, Lesbian Experience of Second Wave Feminism and Yiddish Activism

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Irena Klepfisz, lesbian poet and writer, reflects on how the intersections of her identity, as a Jewish, Yiddish-speaking, Lesbian, and feminist, has influenced her role in Yiddish culture and Jewish feminist poetry.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Irena Klepfisz.

This excerpt is in English.

This interview is part of the Yiddish in the Academy: scholars, language instructors, and students series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

Irena Klepfisz on the Queerness of Contemporary Yiddish Culture

My First Impressions of the Yiddish Book Center

"The History That's Never Taught": On the Complexities of the Search for Yiddish Women Writers

Suddenly I was a Holocaust Survivor: A Child Survivor's Experience of American Holocaust Memorial Events

My Father, Michał Klepfisz’s Role in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Irena Klepfisz on Jewishness and the Jewish Labor Bund

Constructing an Identity Apart from My Hero Father: Irena Klepfisz's Memories of the Arbeter Ring Shule

Growing up in the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union Amalgamated Houses

Irena Klepfisz's Poetic Inspirations, both Yiddish and English

My Path to Writing Bilingual Yiddish-English Poetry

More information about this oral history excerpt

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