THOMAS LUNDERQUIST ORAL HISTORY

CHRISTA WHITNEY:It's June 25th, 2018. I am here -- this is a part of Malmö, right?

THOMAS LUNDERQUIST:Yes.

CW:Okay. Sweden. And we're going to record an interview as part of the Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project. Could you say your name?

TL:I'm Thomas Lunderquist.

CW:And do I have your permission to record?

TL:Yes, you do.

CW:Great. So, I wanted to start with a little family background. Where is your family from?

TL:Well, both parents are from Sweden, as are all my four grandparents. Actually, my father is not Jewish. My mother is Jewish but she's part of, so to 1:00say, this Swedish Jewry (makes air quotes) since the family's been here since the turn of last century. Her paternal grandfather came, I think, in 1898, together with four brothers and sisters from what was then Russia, which is today Poland, as I've understood it, near Bialystok, a town called Rajgród, because they didn't want to serve in the czar's army for twenty, twenty-five years or whatever it was. So, they came to Sweden and that's the side I know a 2:00little about. The other sides, I know not so much about at all. And, I mean, like his wife -- and so, it's a little more flou [French: blurry], in French. How you say? Not so --

CW:Not so clear?

TL:Not so clear for me. Too many generations back.

CW:Yeah. And do you know the professions in the family historically?

TL:A little bit. They had businesses started. Businesses and quite traditional Jewish occupations, I think. My maternal grandmother, she had eventually two 3:00female clothes shops in Malmö that her husband and her husband's father started, I think. And one of the great grandfather's brothers, he actually started EPA, which was Enhetsprisaktiebolaget, which became a big chain in Sweden. It has since changed names and owners a couple of times but it was like, yeah -- (laughs)

CW:Wow.

TL:-- that was, yeah.

CW:And what about your father's side?

TL:My father's side, he's Swedish, non-Jewish, and, yeah. When he married mum in 4:00the '50s, there's a little anecdote. Are you interested? (laughs)

CW:Yes, please.

TL:He was on a trip in London. He was about to marry my mother and he walked by a synagogue and there was a Shabbat service and he walked in because he was curious to see what it was like. And he sat next to an older man and as people do at Shabbat services, they started talking to each other. And the man asked dad, "Oh, you're going to marry. Is she Jewish?" "Yes, yes, she's Jewish." "Good, because I hate mixed marriages." (laughs) He didn't know that my father wasn't Jewish.

CW:Wow! (laughs) How did your parents meet?

TL:They met through mutual friends at an opera, I think, in Malmö, yeah.

CW:And what about the professions on your father's side?

TL:Oh, there are a lot of priests, actually. And also, how do you say -- foresters? Yeah, my father is a retired judge but his brother is a retired farmer, yeah? You say farmer?

CW:Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow. And where were you born?

TL:I was born in Malmö.

CW:And can you describe, a little bit, the home that you grew up in? Maybe starting just physically, what kind of house was it?

TL:It was a house very close to here, actually, where my parents still live in -- yeah, near suburbs of Malmö, you could say, yeah.

CW:And what is this suburb called?

TL:It's called Limhamn. Or actually, yeah, Djupadal is a part of Limhamn, which is a part of Malmö, so, yeah.

CW:And what kind of house did you live in as a kid?

TL:I lived in a house with only one --

CW:Floor?

TL:One floor? Do you say that? Yeah, with a garden, little garden. And my father is and was a keen gardener. So, it was cultivated with vegetables and so on.

CW:Who was in your house when you were growing up?

TL:It was my parents and my twin brother and my big sister. And me.

CW:And what were the languages you heard growing up?

TL:It was Swedish. We all communicate in Swedish, yeah. But since my mother is a language teacher or was a language teacher, she had a lot of Spanish friends. She was a Spanish teacher, mostly, and also a French teacher and little English. And my father is -- actually, both my parents speak German, as well. And we travel a lot, used to travel a lot as kids. So, we heard a lot of languages traveling among my parents' friends, yeah.

CW:Did you ever hear Yiddish?

TL:Eventually, a word here and there. "Bufke" was a common word me and my twin 8:00brother heard a lot. It means little rascal or so -- but it wasn't a language that was spoken anywhere in the family. I don't think anyone actually knew Yiddish since we had been here for three, four generations. So.

CW:Yeah. In the home that you grew up in, was religion a part of your upbringing?

TL:We've always been part of the Jewish community in Malmö. And I would say we're traditional Jews. We celebrate the big holidays and most of the times, when we remembered, we lit the Shabbat candles, at least. We didn't have a kosher home but we didn't eat pork. Like most, I guess. (laughs)

CW:So, for people who are not from here, could you describe a little bit about the community here in Malmö? Jewish community?

TL:The community is small and diminishing. When I was a kid, say forty years ago, we used to be almost two thousand members or fifteen hundred, at least. Now, I think, we're below five hundred. Four hundred and fifty or so left. So, yeah, many have moved to Stockholm or to Israel or, I don't know, different places. And many just don't bother to become members in the community because it's -- assimilation has its role, too.

CW:And what are your memories of -- what was it like to grow up in this community?

TL:Was good. It was just normal, since I grew into it from the beginning. So, it's not like my family only had Jewish friends. Actually, not so many. A few. It was the Jewish things we did, so to say. It's in the family. We did it with family dinners and so -- but I think going to the synagogue a few times a year. Four, five times a year. I felt like, well, there were -- most others had a 11:00bigger connection to each other. But then again, I think many feel the same (laughs) and think that the others come there much more often. And so, I guess that's a normal thing.

CW:And I'm curious, did you have any connection to Christian religion growing up or --

TL:Yeah, sure, since dad isn't Jewish. He's Christian. He's also, I would say, a traditional Christian. So, he was born in the early '30s. So, saying a little prayer before bedtime or after bedtime before sleeping was something he had been brought up with and he also made us (laughs) make little prayer. Not necessarily 12:00Christian because it didn't mention Jesus. But it was like a little short prayer to God. And we were taught that we have the same God. There's no conflict in that. So, yeah, we had a Christmas tree for Christmas, too. So, we celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas, which made schoolmates envious, of course. And we got presents both for Hanukkah and Christmas.

CW:Yeah. What was your experience growing up in a home where you had both these two religions?

TL:Yeah, well, that too was completely normal for me. That's the only thing I 13:00knew. And today, I feel grateful for it. It's, yeah, I feel a hundred percent connected with a normal Swedish Christian upbringing and a hundred percent -- well, maybe not a hundred percent. But I feel fully Jewish, as well. So, yeah.

CW:When you were growing up, what was the Jewish culture in the home? Were there Jewish books or music, theater? Any of that?

TL:Yeah. I mean, I come from a family where we read books and went to theaters 14:00sometimes and listened to music. Dad is a big music lover. And sure, we read Singer. He got the Nobel Prize when I was -- I don't remember, was it '76 or '80 or some -- I was somewhere like ten years. Maybe I didn't read it then. But Singer, yeah. I don't know.

CW:I'm curious, did you learn -- was Singer on the curriculum in school here?

TL:Not as I remember it. But I remember it being a big thing when he got the prize. It was very curious for everyone that someone writing in Yiddish would get the Nobel Prize. And that was -- big thing and it was a big pride, I guess, 15:00for the Jewish community to have a --

CW:Singer was --

TL:Yeah, so being Swedish and Jewish, of course that was -- I remember it as -- I don't know, I guess I was quite nationalistic somehow as a kid and even for Jewish things. And it was, yeah, great to see that Sweden would acknowledge a Jewish writer.

[BREAK IN RECORDING]

CW:Were you aware of Yiddish as a language growing up?

TL:I was aware of it because of "bufke," the word that I heard a lot, and my brother, and a few other words that we heard that was used by the grandparents, some sayings. "Oy vey" -- "bin ikh geveyn hungerik [I was hungry]." There was a 16:00funny story that I couldn't retell fully in Jewish but I remember the punch line: "Oy vey, bin ikh hungerik geveyn," or how would you say that?

CW:Yeah, yeah.

TL:Oh, how I was hungry was -- would you say it like that?

CW:Yeah, yeah, geveyn hungerik, yeah.

TL:Yeah, yeah. So, yes, I was aware there was such a -- and also because of Singer, I guess, again. (laughs)

CW:Yeah.

TL:That it was really a real language that could even -- novels could be written in the language, so it must have been a real language, right?

CW:Before we talk about Yiddish more, I'm curious just in general, growing up in the Jewish community here, was there a youth movement? Were you involved in 17:00Jewish community activities?

TL:Yeah, little bit. There was Bnei Akiva that was the only Jewish youth organization here. So, that was the one you took part in if you took part in Jewish activities for young people, even though --

CW:Did you --

TL:-- some, I understood later, that -- "Oh, Bnei Akiva, but that's very religious." And I didn't perceive it as extremely religious. A little too much, on the different camps we went to, they were -- a little too much prayers and observing kosher and Shabbos. And so, it was maybe a little too much. But I don't think it destroyed me, (laughs) so to say. (laughs) Sorry, what --

CW:No, no.

TL:-- yeah.

CW:Yeah. Looking back, what do you see that your parents were trying to pass on about Jewish identity to you, what it meant to be Jewish?

TL:I think mainly traditions, yeah. Just keeping the main things, a little bit at least and being bar mitzvah and, yeah, I don't know. Not so much Jewish values. Maybe a little bit of that. But that's general human values, like trying to be good to others and so, yeah. But main traditional things.

CW:And was there any of that, of what you've described, that you were 19:00particularly interested in in Jewish culture or religion growing up? Anything that really caught your interest?

TL:I guess I had a brief period of spiritual curiousness in my early teens like many have around the bar mitzvah and little bit after and going to a few camps. I didn't go to very many, but summer camps, youth camps, like that, sensing a strong feeling of, how do you say --

CW:Connection?

TL:Connection with others. And, yeah, without really knowing if it was something 20:00specifically Jewish about that. Well, maybe at the time I thought, Yeah, this is really me being Jewish and it has a special value and it's deeper than other groups would feel because it's more true or something. A little naïve but I guess many young people go through, yeah, some kind of period like that.

CW:Yeah. Well, I guess I'd like to sort of jump ahead and ask about what you know -- and you don't need to give the official story but what -- just a little bit to explain how Yiddish became this official language here in Sweden?

TL:Yeah. Well, yes, I don't know that very much about it. But somehow, I think it was the Jewish group. I mean, I think it was first the ethnical [sic] group that was selected somehow with -- according to such and such criteria. And then, it was about choosing the language for that -- the minority's language, and -- which wasn't obvious because in the extent to which Jewish people at all in Sweden speak anything, any Jewish language, it would probably more be Hebrew 22:00than Yiddish today. But I think it was partly because Yiddish was actually the more traditional Eastern, Ashkenazi, Eastern European language that was originally -- most of the Jews in Sweden are Ashkenazi and Yiddish would be their original Jewish language, I guess. And then, there was a lot of, I think, lobbying behind it that I don't know anything about. But there is a -- 23:00association for Yiddish. And I think the head of this association was very good at promoting Yiddish towards politicians.

CW:And just to give the bigger context, what are these -- its official minority ethnic cultures that are recognized? Or what is it exactly that Yiddish is one of? Do you know what I mean? The context of this -- can you explain the context? So, what is the program that makes Yiddish an official part of it? There are the other four groups, right? There are five in total?

TL:Yes.

CW:Can you just explain the --

TL:I think it's tied to ethnicity. And a group, I think, has had to -- lived in 24:00Sweden for at least fifty years. Or I don't know if it's fifty or a hundred years or so. And actually, I should know those criterias better. But I --

CW:No, that's fine, but what are the other four?

TL:So, the others are the Sámi, the northern Swedish --

CW:Indigenous.

TL:-- indigenous people. And there's Finnish living in Sweden. There are also, near the Finnish border, there is -- Tornedalsfinnar. Meänkieli's their 25:00language. I couldn't tell the difference. But the northern Finnish people living in Sweden. The Romas, formerly called Gypsies, right? Roma?

CW:Yes.

TL:You say Roma? And the Jews. So, that's five, I think.

CW:Yeah, great. And what is this radio program that you have?

TL:I produce, actually, two different Yiddish programs. One is -- I produce readings of children's stories in Yiddish, one or two a year for the public radio, Swedish radio. I do that since -- four years, I think?

CW:What kind of stories?

TL:Sometimes, it's stories newly written by any of those five minority language groups. It was the first year it was like that. And then, I convinced the Swedish radio that there are so many great original Yiddish children's stories. So, I wanted to do that instead because, first of all, there are very few if any children speaking Yiddish in Sweden. There are a few there, the Chabad, but I don't think they're allowed to listen to secular stories at all, the very Orthodox sent out from Brooklyn from the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. There are families in Malmö, Stockholm, and Gothenburg. So, I reckon that those who are 27:00interested in or know Yiddish are more often adults and they wouldn't want to hear children's stories. That doesn't have anything with their Jewish heritage to do. I mean, they could listen to any story but they would like to have something -- stories written by Sholem Aleichem or Sholem Asch or Kadia Molodowsky. There are a lot of good old Yiddish stories. So, I did that for a couple of years and now I was convinced again to make a Yiddish story, from a 28:00story into Yiddish from a story written by two Roma girls together with their teacher. So, I'm about to have it translated. And the next year, it's the turn of the Yiddish minority to make the story that should be translated into the other minority languages, too. So, I'm a little bit looking for which story that could be and who could write that story. I have a couple of ideas there. So, that's one of the shows I do.

CW:That's one program.

TL:Yeah, and the other one is called "Yidish far ale [Yiddish for everyone, lit. "Yiddish for all"]." I was corrected -- actually, I came up with the name and I asked around. "Is that correct? Can you say Yidish far ale'? Does it make sense?" And then, someone, an expert here said, "Well, if you say it like that, 29:00it should probably be 'Yidish far alemen [Yiddish for everyone],'" right? Do you agree? Yeah?

CW:Yep.

TL:Too late. So, the show is called "Yidish far ale," which means Yiddish for everyone. So, it's partly in Swedish, partly in Yiddish, and it's very short shows. It used to be five minutes, now since this year, it's nine minutes. And it's, on average, once a month. Now it's nine minutes, yeah? And it's on all things Jewish, I mean Yiddish. I talk with people who speak Yiddish. I normally ask the questions in Swedish or English or French if I interview someone in France, which I did quite a lot since I spent some time there last year. And in Paris, it's a big Yiddish community. It's actually two different big Yiddish 30:00organizations. And they answer in Yiddish and I understand most of it. And if there's something I don't understand, I ask them to translate themselves. (laughs) And then, I take that and translate into Swedish for the Swedish listeners, so -- with a little bit in Yiddish, too, for the Yiddish-speaking people. But it should be understandable by the ninety-nine point nine percent of the listeners who don't understand Yiddish because it's broadcast on the big P1, the national talk station. So, yeah.

CW:So, how did you get these? How did you get to the point where you're doing 31:00these Yiddish radio spots?

TL:I was asked to because I guess someone on the radio knew: Well, Thomas, he's Jewish, isn't he? And he's a radio producer. So, maybe he could do that. And since I'm (shrugs) --

CW:So, you had worked in radio for --

TL:Oh, yes, I'd worked in radio for many years already, yeah. I had worked many years at the Swedish radio. And I guess I'm quite established. So, at least the people in the radio know about me. And, yeah. And since I like challenges maybe a little too much -- so, I said, "Sure, yeah, yeah. I'm not fluent in Yiddish but I can give it a try." So, I started and then I started to study Yiddish for Jan Schwarz, also to learn at least the basics.

CW:So, this was at Lund University? You took his course?

TL:Yeah. Well, actually, it's a web-based course. So, we didn't really have any lectures in Lund. But yeah, he's based in Lund.

CW:So, what has the experience been for you, working with Yiddish in this professional way?

TL:It's fascinating. Yeah, it's a big community, I think, the Yiddish -- even if so few speak it. It's very alive and there's so much to do programs about. And there is a rich culture to dig into.

CW:Can you give maybe a couple examples of the type of person that you've interviewed?

TL:Well, yeah, well there are -- the common man, so to say, the persons that you 33:00interview all the time, I guess, people who have stories to tell who know Yiddish or have grown -- grew up with Yiddish, spoke Yiddish with their parents and still speak it. And I can just have them tell something about themselves. Since the programs are so short, (laughs) it doesn't take much material to fill up a few minutes. And it's always nice to hear something from anyone, actually. But, of course, it's often connected to Yiddish and how -- person has the connection to Yiddish for the interviewee. And I try not to get the full story 34:00into five or nine minutes but concentrate on something -- a particular story or, yeah, either that or the academics. There's a big field of Yiddish scholars who deal with interesting topics and who can talk about -- we can discuss Anna Margolin, a Yiddish poet who was recently translated into Swedish. She had her own full, how do you say, collection of poetry translated into Swedish. So, both in Yiddish and Swedish. So, I spoke with -- I interviewed the translator and 35:00talked about the poetry of Anna Margolin.

CW:Yeah. And so, what have you discovered that you didn't know before through this program, if anything? (laughs)

TL:Well, I'm still just -- it feels like I'm still just scratching the surface. But I discovered that there is this rich heritage, cultural heritage of music and literature and theater and this very secular side of Jewish life, mainly before the khurbm -- Holocaust -- but also after. And so, yes. And I feel 36:00somehow it's -- even though I've been here for three, four generations, it feels I'm reconnecting to my ancestors or ancestry and it feels very close to home somehow. And recently, I read new research saying that you can actually remember things that happened before your lifetime. I mean, genetically, somehow, you can inherit, which is -- it's a far-out thought but it's interesting and it feels very true somehow. A funny thing that could -- I got just an association here 37:00with -- I've always been very fond of fishing lakes, going out fishing, sitting in a boat and spending the day fishing like that. And I wondered how come -- I mean, yeah, maybe it's -- on my father's side, I feel very connected to the Swedish nature. But sitting in a small rowing boat in the middle of a Swedish lake, sometimes I got this strange feeling of what's a little Jewish boy doing here, feeling so at home here? (laughs) And then, I realized that Rajgród, where my great grandfather came from, the area there is very much like here, and a lot of lakes. And they used to be fishing a lot in his family. So, I felt, yeah! (laughs) Maybe it's a memory from four generations back that -- yeah, that 38:00makes it feel so at home.

CW:Yeah. And when did you decide you were going to do this Yiddish summer school this year?

TL:When did I decide?

CW:Or how did that come about, yeah?

TL:Well, I thought it's a shame I don't speak Yiddish hardly at all. I understand a lot of it but I should really improve it because, I mean, it's a little embarrassing being the one who makes the Yiddish programs for the public service radio in Sweden and being so poor at Jewish, at Yiddish. Yeah, so I felt it as an obligation almost. At least an investment for coming shows. Hopefully, 39:00I can continue to make the programs -- also next year and the year after, maybe. So, it's an investment. (laughs) And also, I'm curious, of course, to see Vilna and, yeah, can be fun and meet new people.

CW:I'm curious, from your perspective, what do you see as sort of the current status of Yiddish, the state of Yiddish?

TL:Well, I see it as a little bit like the Jewish community in Malmö. (laughs) It's steadily diminishing, I think. But, yeah, and I also see this strong 40:00revitalization from so many. I would be happy to be a part of making the death process a lot longer. (laughs) I think Singer said something about: Well, what's the big deal with Yiddish dying? It's been dying for a hundred years already. (laughs) Let's not, I mean, bother so much about -- I don't know exactly what he said. You probably know it better. But, yeah. As long as there's life, there's hope. (laughs)

CW:Well, is there any other story connected to Yiddish that you wanted to tell?

TL:Not that I thought of, no. But I hope to be able to tell many more stories 41:00about -- and in Yiddish, hopefully, one day, too --

CW:Yeah.

TL:-- from people I meet and interview myself.

CW:And I guess just to close, what would you like people abroad to know about Jews in Malmö?

TL:About Jews in Malmö?

CW:Yeah.

TL:Okay, well, yeah, it's been created a very, very, very alarmistic story about Jews in Malmö. It's not that bad. I mean, it's not worse than many other cities in Europe this size. I mean, we're not afraid of our lives here. It's pretty much business as usual, yeah. We even have two little synagogues here. We have 42:00the big synagogue but we're, yeah, started a smaller one, more liberal -- because the main synagogue is Orthodox and many don't feel that at home in Orthodoxy. So, I mean, it's like a normal Jewish community. It has a lot of internal fights, which is a -- I think it's a good sign for a Jewish community almost, yeah, yeah.

CW:Great. Well, do you have any favorite Yiddish writer or word? I like to ask everyone.

TL:You should have warned me. I have a favorite Yiddish song, "Margeritkelekh 43:00[Little daisies]." I think it's a beautiful song. And, of course, sung by Chava Alberstein. And I don't know, there's so much good Yiddish literature. I like Sholem Aleichem a lot. Makes me think of, what's -- there's a Russian author who wrote "The Nose," a little absurdistic -- I like him. I like Anna Margolin very much, too. The poet. But I don't have any -- I'm not a citing kind of person. I couldn't cite, recite any poems or so, really, no.

CW:That's fine, yeah, great. Well, a groysn dank [thank you very much].

TL:How do you say, (laughter) "You're welcome"?

CW:You would say "Nishto farvos."

TL:Nishto farvos, of course.

CW:Yeah, yeah.

TL:Yeah, you see? I need to practice.

CW:Well, you'll --

TL:Nishto farvos.

CW:-- yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, thank you so much.

TL:Thank you.

[END OF INTERVIEW]