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.

"I Knew It Was Something Special": Meeting My Family from Russia

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Sarah Ellen Zarrow, scholar of Jewish history, describes it was like meeting her family from Russia and what it was like living with them in her childhood home in Stow, Massachusetts.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Sarah Zarrow.

This excerpt is in English.

Sarah Zarrow was born in Stow, MA in 1982.

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

Other video highlights from this oral history

What is the Future of Yiddish? Going Beyond Dichotomies of Understanding

3 min 19 sec

The Joys and Challenges of Teaching: Does Having a Jewish Background Facilitate Learning Jewish History?

4 min 11 sec

Living In a Secret Republican Frat House By Night and Stacking Books and Learning Yiddish By Day

5 min 25 sec

"I Packed Up My Things and Left": Studying Song and Dance in Eastern Europe

2 min 45 sec

"Gender is Always Relevant": Gender Studies in the Fields of Jewish History

1 min 54 sec

"Yiddish Opens Up a World of Social Connections": Social Connections In the Field of Yiddish Studies

2 min 19 sec

What is In geveb? A Born-Digital Journal of Yiddish Studies

6 min 37 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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