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.

"She Never Entered Those Discussions": Celia Dropkin's Apoliticism

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Dan Dropkin, grandson of Yiddish poet Celia Dropkin, remembers the charged political discussions his extended family would have at the dinner table. Celia Dropkin never participated in these discussion, leading him to think her interests were elsewhere.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Dan Dropkin.

This excerpt is in English.

This interview is part of the Beyond the Books: Yiddish writers and their descendants series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

"There's a Mystical Attachment": Celia Dropkin as a Grandmother

1 min 50 sec

"I Was Always Aware That She Was Full of Love for Me"

2 min 3 sec

"I Am Astonished and Ashamed": Rita Dove Encounters Celia Dropkin's Poetry

2 min 23 sec

Reading Celia Dropkin's Poems in Yiddish

1 min 24 sec

"I Write Poems": Dan Dropkin Recites a Gentler Poem

1 min 6 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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