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.

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

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Irena Klepfisz, lesbian poet and writer, describes the complexities and methodologies of her search for Yiddish women writers, including the multi-levels of erasure across history, and the influence of the Holocaust on the accessibility to the works. She ends by focusing on the preparation she was working on for an event marking the 120th anniversary for the Bund.

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

This excerpt is in English.