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Avi Hoffman

Avi Hoffman, actor, was interviewed by Christa Whitney on March 12, 2013 in Boca Raton, Florida. He grew up in the Bronx, part of a group of Yiddishist families who raised their children surrounded by Yiddish language and culture. His father survived...

2013-03-12

Arleene Migdal Kane

Arleene Migdal Kane was interviewed by Isaac D. Moore on March 26, 2015 at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts. Arleene's father, Sol Migdal, grew up in a Polish town near Treblinka. He came to America at age fourteen; many of his sibli...

2015-03-26

Anita Garlick

Anita Garlick, Yiddish Book Center zamler (volunteer book collector) in Sullivan County, New York, was interviewed by Isaac D. Moore on December 10th, 2015 at her home in Brookline, Massachusetts. Born in New York City, she was the much-loved first g...

2015-12-10

Yinglish in Menasha Skulnik's "Double Trouble"

George Jochnowitz, professor emeritus of linguistics at the College of Staten Island, sings an excerpt of "Double Trouble," a song by Menasha Skulnik that George fondly remembers from his childhood trips to the Yiddish theaters of Second Avenue.

He Was a Volcano On Stage: Remembering Director Sigmund Turkow

Jack Lewin—Yiddish poet and actor based in Los Angeles—describes the working in Yiddish theater with the director Sigmund Turkow.

Performing "The Dybbuk" in Vienna

Aron Gonshor talks about performing "The Dybbuk" in Vienna with the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theater.

Advice to Jewish Performers

Aron Gonshor, member of the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theater, gives his advice for performers choosing to within the Jewish arts.

The Creation of the New Worlds Theatre Project

Ellen Perecman, founder and producing artistic director of the New Worlds Theatre Project, describes the process of creating the New Worlds Theatre Project, whose mission is to introduce the world to plays written in Yiddish before World War II and v...

The Soup Story: Protecting Precious Food in Siberia During World War II

Michael (Mendl) Szmerling, former actor in the Melbourne amateur Yiddish theater, explains how his mother accepted soup as payment for seamstress work while living in Siberia during World War II.

Not So Undeveloped After All: First Impression of Australia

Michael (Mendl) Szmerling, former actor in the Melbourne amateur Yiddish theater, describes how his first sight of Australia, a port in Fremantle, completely changed his opinion of what Australia would be like.

Ideology of SKIF and the Bund

Michael (Mendl) Szmerling, former actor in the Melbourne amateur Yiddish theater, explains what SKIF is and offers an interpretation of the Bundist ideology, highlighting the Bundist idea of making the best of the community wherever Jews lived.

A "Modern Revolution in Yiddish Theater": The Genesis of The Show "Dos Goldene Land"

Avi Hoffman, actor, discusses his involvement in Moishe Rosenfeld's play "Dos Goldene Land" and argues that its revolutionary character lay in the cast's ability to present old material in a modern way.

Fond Memories of Maisons-Laffitte, A Children's Home in Post-WWII France

Michael (Mendl) Szmerling, former actor in the Melbourne amateur Yiddish theater, describes living in France after leaving a DP camp in Germany. His family had found a room in Paris hrough the Bund, but it was not big enough for them, so he stayed in...

Living in Siberia During World War II

Michael (Mendl) Szmerling, former actor in the Melbourne amateur Yiddish theater, describes what life was like in Siberia during World War II, where he survived with his family. He tells about getting caught stealing coal and how they took apart an o...

Escaping Anti-Semitism in Post-war Kalisz, Poland and Life in the Hoff Displaced Persons Camp

Michael (Mendl) Szmerling, former actor in the Melbourne amateur Yiddish theater, explains why his family left Kalisz a second time. They had been back for only a few months after World War II had ended but the anti-Semitic sentiment made Kalisz a da...