The show presents an interview with Eddie (Avrum) Hoffman , who survived Auschwitz, slave labor at a Krupp factory in Breslau (Wrocław), a death march, and the last days at Ebensee, the brutal Mathausen subcamp.Eddie Hoffman was born in February, 1929, in Sevluš, Czechoslovakia, one of three brothers. The town was in the Subcarpathian Ruthenia part of Czechoslovakia and was also known in Yiddish as Seylesh (סעליש) and in Hungarian as Nagyszőlős. It is now called Vynohradiv and is in Ukraine. His...
Feb 24, 2022•1 hr 23 min
This show features an interview with Efraim (Froyim) Kessler, who, at age 105, is the oldest person ever interviewed on The Yiddish Voice . In the interview Kessler, who was born in Bilgoray, Poland, in 1916, recalls various aspects of his youth, including encounters with the Nobel Prize-winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer and Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, the Belzer Rebbe. He also recalls surviving the Spanish flu. (We learned after the interview that he also survived Covid-19.) Efraim Kieslowicz was ...
Jan 20, 2022•1 hr 4 min
This show is a special Shloyshim program in memory of Israel (Izzy) Arbeiter ז״ל, Holocaust survivor and founder and former long-time president of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston, who passed away Oct. 29, 2021, at the age of 96. This show is sponsored by The American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors of Greater Boston and Descendants . The first part features remarks in memory of Izzy, while the second contains excerpts of his recordings for The Y...
Dec 09, 2021•1 hr 5 min
David Forman and Jordan Kutzik are interviewed about the recently published children’s book The Clever Little Tailor / דאָס קלוגע שנײַדערל . The book was written by Solomon ( Shloyme ) Simon and originally published in the 1930’s. This new edition of the book features a translation into English side by side with the Yiddish original. David Forman, the author’s grandson, did the English translation. Jordan Kutzik, who is also chairman of the Yugntruf - Youth for Yiddish organization, led the proj...
Nov 18, 2021•1 hr 1 min
The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קול lost a great friend. Izzy Arbeiter passed away this past Friday, Oct 29 2021, at the age of 96. To mark this sad loss, we are replaying our 2005 interview that was led by our late cohost Iosif Lakhman . See also: Boston Globe : Israel Arbeiter, 96, Holocaust survivor who believed ‘there is never enough remembering’ Forward : Remembering Izzy Arbeiter, the Holocaust survivor honored by Germany , by Linda Madchan Legacy.com obituary: ISRAEL “IZZY” ARBEITER Musi...
Nov 04, 2021•1 hr 7 min
Sosye Fox (Sandy Fox) of Vaybertaytsh interviews Meyer Dovid (Mark David), host of The Yiddish Voice / דאָס ייִדישע קון , and vice versa. Thanks to In Geveb for putting this together. See also/related: Yiddish Podcasts in Conversation: Vaybertaytsh and Dos Yidishe Kol – article about this interview in In geveb Episode 59: ?דער ייִדישער פּאָדקאַסט – װוּהין | The Yiddish Podcast Today /October 13, 2021 – version of the same interview for the Vaybertaytsh / װײַבערטײַטש Podcast This feels very meta....
Oct 14, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Sep 25, 2021•1 hr 10 min
Sep 25, 2021•1 hr 18 min
Recorded at Yugntruf’s Yidish-Vokh in Copake, NY, in August 2021: Ruth Kohn , Libby Pollak and Dovid Braun telling jokes in Yiddish Best of Rosh Hashona - Announcements and well-wishes for the new year from sponsors and friends and a High Holidays mix of recent and past audio highlights. Enjoy! Eli Dovek , proprietor of Israel Book Shop (from 2009) Holocaust survivors Tania Lefman and Mary Ehrlich , on behalf of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors (AAJHS) of Greater Boston. No...
Sep 03, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Highlights: Zelda Polofsky , a Holocaust survivor from a shtetl near Vilna, interviewed by Dovid Braun , discussing her early life, both before and during the Holocaust. Announcements and well-wishes for the new year (Rosh Hashona) from sponsors and friends. Music: Goldie Malavsky: Zochreinu L’Chayim Shmuel Malavsky and Family: B’Rosh Hashonah" Intro instrumental music: DEM HELFANDS TANTS , an instrumental track from the CD Jeff Warschauer: The Singing Waltz Air date: August 25, 2021...
Aug 26, 2021•1 hr
Listen to the Yiddish Voice recorded live at the annual Yiddish Week ( Yidish-Vokh ) in Copake, NY, in the foothills of the Berkshire mountains. There, every year, the organization Yugntruf - Youth for Yiddish creates summer colony, where Yiddish-speaking people from all parts of the world gather each year to enjoy a week of summer vacation entirely in Yiddish. We played a game show-type game, listened to jokes told by Ruth Kohn, and heard a musical performance by the famed Schaechter-Tekhter du...
Aug 19, 2021•1 hr 2 min
Interview with Hershl Hartman , discussing his work as a Yiddish journalist, an educator in secular Yiddish-oriented schools, and a translator from Yiddish to English. Hershl Hartman was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1929. He has been a leader at the Sholem Community in Los Angeles for more than fifty years, serving as Education Director/ Vegvayzer since 1967. Between 1967 and 1985, he was also the school’s principal. Hartman holds degrees in Secular Jewish education and in Yiddish journalism. ...
Jul 29, 2021•1 hr 4 min
From our archive: The Yiddish Voice from July 24 2013, with Gitu Cycowitz (Jerusalem) and Rabbi Shmuel Posner (Boston). Air Date: July 21 2021 (originally aired July 24 2013)
Jul 25, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Interview with Irene Zisblatt , who was one of the participants in the film The Last Days , released in 1998, about the Holocaust in Hungary. The Yiddish Voice spoke to Irene recently (late June 2021) via Zoom. Irene was born in Polena, Czechoslovakia, which was in Hungary during WWII and is now in Ukraine. Irene survived the Holocaust, including Auschwitz, as she describes in the film and to some degree in the interview. The film The Last Days , was originally released on DVD in 1998. It was re...
Jul 12, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Most of this week’s show was taken up with the second part of our interview with Rachel Rojanski , discussing her book Yiddish in Israel: A History , published in English by Indiana University Press in 2020. The discussion is in Yiddish. Last week’s show (May 26 2021) presented the first part of the discussion. The second part aired this week on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Rachel Rojanski is Associate Professor of Judaic Studies at Brown University. She is author of Conflicting Identities: Labor Zi...
Jun 04, 2021•1 hr 16 min
Most of this week’s show was taken up with the first part of our interview with Rachel Rojanski , discussing her book Yiddish in Israel: A History , published in English by Indiana University Press in 2020. The discussion is in Yiddish. This week’s show (May 26 2021) presented the first part of the discussion, with the second part set to air the following Wednesday, June 2, 2021 (and later be made available via podcast). Rachel Rojanski is Associate Professor of Judaic Studies at Brown Universit...
May 27, 2021•1 hr 5 min
Online Concert Announcement: May 15, 2021: Arbeter Ring ’s A Besere Velt chorus with special guests - see: https://www.circleboston.org/abetterworld Avremi Zaks , Jerusalem-based radio journalist and host of Israel’s weekly Yiddish radio show Kan Yiddish , speaks about recent news in Israel, including the latest war and the Miron tragedy this past Lag Baomer. Rav Izchak Kin talks about the Shavuos holiday (from our archive, originally recorded and aired in 2017). Music: Louis Danto: Shavuos Iz G...
May 13, 2021•1 hr 10 min
Interview with developers of the Yiddish course on the language-learning app Duolingo: Meena Viswanath, brothers Isac Polasak and Israel Polasak ; Sholem ; and Yosi (@MudnerParshoyn on Twitter). The interview was recorded on April 11, 2021, over Zoom and is entirely in Yiddish. Participating in the interview are historian Prof. Sholem Beinfeld , along with regular host Mark David. For more info, here are several links: Home page of Duolingo Duolingo’s Yiddish course announcement Forverts article...
Apr 29, 2021•1 hr 12 min
Extended version of interview with Miriam Trinh, which was shortened due to time limitations on the original broadcast .
Apr 16, 2021•51 min
Extended version of interview with Avremi Zaks, which was shortened due to time limitations on the original broadcast .
Apr 16, 2021•45 min
We observe יום העצמאותּ Yom Haatsmaut with three guests who all currently reside in Jerusalem, Israel: Mrs. Gisel (Gitu) Cycowicz , Auschwitz survivor originally from Chust, Czechoslovakia, discussing her personal history and reflections on this year’s Yom Hazikaron/Yom Haatsmaut. Avremi Zaks is the host of Kan Yiddish , which is sponsored by the National Authority for Yiddish Culture in Israel ( https://www.yiddish-rashutleumit.co.il/ ), and which is broadcast in Israel on public radio at frequ...
Apr 15, 2021•1 hr 5 min
In this show we observe Yom HaShoah with part 2 of a fantastic new interview with Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter , discussing his experiences as a boy growing up in Lodz, Poland, later relocating to Warsaw, surviving the Warsaw Ghetto as well as deportation to the Majdanek death camp. This week’s show the second part of the discussion, with the first part having aired the previous Wednesday, March 31, 2021. Pinchas Gutter is well known as a Holocaust survivor, and frequently serves as a speak...
Apr 08, 2021•1 hr 33 min
In this show we finish out Pesach and transition to Yom HaShoah with a fantastic new interview with Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter , discussing his experiences as a boy growing up in Lodz, Poland, later relocating to Warsaw, surviving the Warsaw Ghetto as well as deportation to the Majdanek death camp. This week’s show presents the first part of the discussion, with the second part airing the following Wednesday, April 7, 2021. Pinchas Gutter is well known as a Holocaust survivor, and frequen...
Apr 01, 2021•1 hr 7 min
Happy Passover! א כשרן און געזונטן פסח! Happy Passover and thanks to friends, participants, and sponsors of this show: Israel Book Shop https://www.israelbookshop.com/ ( Eli Dovek recorded Mar 28 2007) The Butcherie https://www.butcherie.com/ ( Max Gelerman ז״ל recorded Mar 28 2007) Cheryl Ann’s Bakery http://cherylannsbakery.com/ AAJHS of Greater Boston http://www.generationsafterboston.org/ ( Mary Erlich recorded Mar 17 2021) Leah Shporer-Leavitt , Boston (recorded Mar 17 2021) Gitu Cycowicz ,...
Mar 25, 2021•1 hr 32 min
Happy Passover! א כשרן און געזונטן פסח! Happy Passover and thanks to friends, participants, and sponsors of this show: Israel Book Shop https://www.israelbookshop.com/ ( Eli Dovek recorded Mar 28 2007) The Butcherie https://www.butcherie.com/ ( Max Gelerman ז״ל recorded Mar 28 2007) Cheryl Ann’s Bakery http://cherylannsbakery.com/ AAJHS of Greater Boston http://www.generationsafterboston.org/ ( Mary Erlich recorded Mar 17 2021) Leah Shporer-Leavitt , Boston (recorded Mar 17 2021) Gitu Cycowicz ,...
Mar 18, 2021•59 min
Interview (part 2) with Mike Burstyn , discussing the recently released stream of Megillah Cycle , which premiered February 21. The first part aired the previous Wednesday, February 24, 2021. Burstyn directed Megillah Cycle and performed three of its roles. The show is his adaptation of Itzik Manger’s famed Megile-Lider (Poems of the Megillah) , a book published in Warsaw in 1936 as a playfully anachronistic version of the Book of Esther and the traditional Purim-shpil. Burstyn’s connection to t...
Mar 05, 2021•1 hr 24 min
אַ פֿריילעכן פּורים! Interview (part 1) with Mike Burstyn , discussing the recently released stream of Megillah Cycle , which premiered February 21. The second part will be airing the following Wednesday, March 3, 2021. Burstyn directed Megillah Cycle and performed three of its roles. The show is his adaptation of Itzik Manger’s famed Megile-Lider (Poems of the Megillah) , a book published in Warsaw in 1936 as a playfully anachronistic version of the Book of Esther and the traditional Purim-shpi...
Feb 26, 2021•1 hr
A discussion between Forverts editor Rukhl Schaechter and historian Prof. Sholem Beinfeld on the topic of the powerful role of the woman in the Eastern European shtetl. Schaechter argues women in Jewish traditional life are often stereotyped as passive and invisible particularly in the public sphere, while they were in fact highly respected and relied upon within the family, and, because they were often the primary breadwinners, they wielded financial power as well. She notes the matrilineal cha...
Feb 18, 2021•1 hr 7 min
Tonight’s show is an interview with Sasha Lurje and Zisl Slepovitch, who discuss the Songs From Testimonies project, which collects and records songs and poems discovered in the testimonies of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University . The songs are sung in a variety of languages, including Yiddish, Polish, and French, from both the prewar period as well as from the ghettos and camps during the war. All were found among individual testimonies recorded by survivors...
Feb 04, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Professor Ellie (Elke) Kellman of Brandeis University discusses her research on the radical Yiddish press in the America of the late 19th and early 20th century. Ellie Kellman researches and writes about modern Yiddish literature and literary history, specializing in the history of the Yiddish periodical press and publishing industry. Her book-in-progress is entitled Reading the New Country: Abraham Cahan and the Invention of American Jewish Popular Culture . She is Associate Professor of Yiddis...
Jan 29, 2021•1 hr 5 min
