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.

Kneidlach, Gefilte Fish, and Cholent: Jewish Traditions in the Childhood Home of Yiddish Writer Moshe Shklar

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Moshe Shklar, Yiddish poet born in Poland, describes how he celebrated some of the Jewish holidays.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Moshe Shklar.

This excerpt is in Polish.

Moshe Shklar was born in Warsaw, Poland in 1920. Moshe died in 2014.

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

Other video highlights from this oral history

"I Could Not Be Accepted Because of The Jewish Nose": Personal Experiences of Anti-semitism in the Polish Army

1 min 44 sec

“I Only Spoke Yiddish Until I Started Going Out With Chicks”: A Yiddish Writer on Language Choices

55 sec

"Litwo, Ojczyzno Moja!": Moshe Shklar on Memorizing "Pan Tadeusz" and Learning Polish

2 min 36 sec

TSYSHO, Po’ale Tsiyon, and Yung Bor: Jewish Educational Systems in Interwar Poland

1 min 43 sec

My Favorite Teacher, Israel Lichtenstein, and the Ringelblum Archives

1 min 31 sec

Peretz, Bialik, and Bergelson: Moshe Szklarek’s Literary Inspirations

1 min 55 sec

Antisemitism on the Streets of Interwar Warsaw

2 min 18 sec

“I Knew No One Was Left Alive”: Moshe Shklar Returning to Poland After World War II

1 min 36 sec

Making Yiddish Connections in the U.S. in the 1970s

1 min 22 sec

Moshe Shklar's Friendships With Famous Yiddish Writers

2 min 20 sec

“It Is Natural That I Speak Polish at Home”: A Yiddish Writer on the Languages of His Daily Life

1 min 47 sec

Reading Culture in Interwar Warsaw

2 min 31 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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