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.
Irena Klepfisz's Oral History
Irena Klepfisz, lesbian poet & writer, was interviewed by Christa Whitney on September 25, 2017 in Brooklyn, New York.
This interview was conducted in English.
Video highlights from this oral history
Suddenly I was a Holocaust Survivor: A Child Survivor's Experience of American Holocaust Memorial Events
5 minutes 54 seconds
My Father, Michał Klepfisz’s Role in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
3 minutes 10 seconds
Irena Klepfisz on Jewishness and the Jewish Labor Bund
4 minutes 36 seconds
Constructing an Identity Apart from My Hero Father: Irena Klepfisz's Memories of the Arbeter Ring Shule
5 minutes 27 seconds
Growing up in the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union Amalgamated Houses
2 minutes 48 seconds
My Jewish, Lesbian Experience of Second Wave Feminism and Yiddish Activism
10 minutes 17 seconds
Irena Klepfisz's Poetic Inspirations, both Yiddish and English
3 minutes 8 seconds
My Path to Writing Bilingual Yiddish-English Poetry
6 minutes 56 seconds
Irena Klepfisz on the Queerness of Contemporary Yiddish Culture
6 minutes 46 seconds
My First Impressions of the Yiddish Book Center
2 minutes 53 seconds
"The History That's Never Taught": On the Complexities of the Search for Yiddish Women Writers
6 minutes 57 secondsArtifacts related to this oral history
Lesbian/Gay Yiddishists at Pride March
Mical Klepfisz's Photo for Polytechnic School, About 18
Dreams of an Insomniac/Jewish Feminist Essays, Speeches and Diatribes cover
Periods of Stress by Irena Klepfisz cover, first book self published
Keeper of Accounts by Irena Klepfisz Cover
The Tribe of Dina Anthology Original Publication as Issue of Sinister Wisdom 1986
-Found Treasures/Stories By Yiddish Women Writers
idiszer Zoo, Artist Eva Gordon, Tri-lingual Children's Book
Photo of Judy, Irena's Mother, Irena
Gabi, Toddler in a Lifesaver
Gabi and Irena, Children
Irena Kinder-Ring Camp Photo, Summer 1949
More information about this oral history
Themes:
- Family histories
- Childhood
- Jewish Identity
- Yiddish language
- Yiddish revival and activism
- Coming back to Yiddish
- Yiddish scene
- Yiddish speaker
- Immigration and migration
- Languages
- Literature
- Books
- Career and Professional Life
- Holocaust
- Poetry
- World War II
- Secular
- Feminism
- United States
- Politics and political movements
- Yiddish Book Center
- Heritage
- Yiddish personalities
- Urban
- Travel
- Relationships
- Brooklyn
- New York City
- New York
- Warsaw
- Warsaw Ghetto
- Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
- Poland
- Michal Klepfisz
- Aaron Lansky
- YIVO
- Workmen's Circle
- Arbeter Ring
- Bund
- Bundist
- Bundism
- Jewish Labor Bund
- 1940s
- 1950s
- 1980s
- 1990s
- 2010s
- LGBTQ
- LGBT rights movement
- LGBT
- LGBT activism
- lesbian
- poet
- poetry
- mother
- father
- daughter
- activism
- Polish
Keywords:
- Brooklyn
- New York City
- New York
- Warsaw
- Warsaw Ghetto
- Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
- Poland
- Michal Klepfisz
- Aaron Lansky
- YIVO
- Workmen's Circle
- Arbeter Ring
- Bund
- Bundist
- Bundism
- Jewish Labor Bund
- 1940s
- 1950s
- 1980s
- 1990s
- 2010s
- LGBTQ
- LGBT rights movement
- LGBT
- LGBT activism
- lesbian
- poet
- poetry
- mother
- father
- daughter
- activism
- Polish
Series:
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About the Wexler Oral History Project
Since 2010, the Yiddish Book Center’s Wexler Oral History Project has recorded more than 500 in-depth video interviews that provide a deeper understanding of the Jewish experience and the legacy and changing nature of Yiddish language and culture.
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