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.

Jaya Elena Torenberg's Oral History

Jaya (Elena) Torenberg - the former director of the Colegio Israelita de Mexico, the first Jewish school in Mexico City - was interviewed by Christa Whitney on October 29, 2015 in Mexico City, Mexico.

This interview was conducted in Yiddish.

Jaya Elena Torenberg was born in Mexico City, Mexico in 1930.

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Video highlights from this oral history

Ashkenazi Jewish Immigrant Life in Mexico City in the 1920s and '30s

1 min 18 sec

Class Structure among Early Ashkenazi Jewish Immigrants in Mexico City's Centro

54 sec

The Foundation of the Ashkenazi Jewish Secular School System in Mexico

4 min 7 sec

Professor Abraham Golomb, an Influential Educator in Mexico City

1 min 55 sec

Jaya Torenberg on the Role of Jewish Food in Her Life

1 min 22 sec

My Husband's Communist Jewish Family

1 min 52 sec

Jaya Torenberg talks about her husband's family's stories.

2 min 16 sec

Artifacts related to this oral history

De una Historiade Abandonos by Jaya Elena Torenberg

La Vuelta a la Vida en 85 Anos by Jaya Elena Torenberg

More information about this oral history

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