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

Watch now:

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.

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

Other video highlights from this oral history

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

5 min 54 sec

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

3 min 10 sec

Irena Klepfisz on Jewishness and the Jewish Labor Bund

4 min 36 sec

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

5 min 27 sec

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

2 min 48 sec

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

10 min 17 sec

Irena Klepfisz's Poetic Inspirations, both Yiddish and English

3 min 8 sec

My Path to Writing Bilingual Yiddish-English Poetry

6 min 56 sec

Irena Klepfisz on the Queerness of Contemporary Yiddish Culture

6 min 46 sec

My First Impressions of the Yiddish Book Center

2 min 53 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

Themes: