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.

Leo Summergrad's Oral History

Leo Summergrad - Yiddish speaker, educator, and WWII veteran - was interviewed by Jordan Kutzik on October 3, 2011 at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts.

This interview was conducted in English.

Leo Summergrad was born in Bronx, New York in 1923. Leo died in 2021.

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Video highlights from this oral history

It Was the Most Important Decision of my Life: Signing Myself Up for Yiddish Shule

3 min 37 sec

Yiddish and English at Camp Kinderland

1 min 47 sec

My Parents' Values Left a Mark

54 sec

40 Years of Teaching

1 min 14 sec

Collecting Yiddish Songs

5 min 8 sec

Thinking in Yiddish

1 min 1 sec

Artifacts related to this oral history

CD back cover June 1983 "Yidishe Folks Lider"

CD front cover "Memories"

CD back cover "Memories"

CD front cover "Like a bolt of lightning"

CD back cover "Like a bolt of lightning"

CD cover June 1983 Yiddish Songs

cover yiddish folk songs 1959 vol 1

back cover yiddish folk songs 1959 vol 1

cover yiddish folk songs 1959 vol 2

back cover yiddish folk songs 1959 vol 2

More information about this oral history

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Download as an mp3 audio file for free

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View the full Internet Archive record