A Yiddish World Remembered
Encyclopedia
A Yiddish World Remembered is a 2002 Emmy-award-winning documentary by Andrew Goldberg
that uses archival photographs, never-before-seen archival videos, and survivor testimony to reconstruct the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe
, which were destroyed by the Holocaust. Oscar nominated actor Elliot Gould narrates.
n government confined them to the area, specifically the nations of modern-day Latvia
, Lithuania
, Poland
, Belarus
, Ukraine
, Slovakia
, and parks of Northern Hungary
.
Once they were settled, the Jews still weren't safe. A never-before-seen film shot in the 1920s reveals the aftermath of a pogrom
, where Cossacks tore through Jewish neighborhoods raping, maiming, killing, and looting.
But terror and hostility unified the Jewish community by forcing them to rely on one another. Jews in a shtetl
all chipped in to help care for the poor in their community.
The film explores the uniqueness of the Yiddish language. To prove the sting of a Yiddish insult, one survivor says, “May all your teeth fall out, and may one remain as a tooth ache.”
The survivors also talk about the Jewish dishes they enjoyed in their Eastern European homes. “Cherry pierogi
s are like a dream in my mind,” one survivor says.
They survivors all have nothing but praise for their mothers--balebustes (amazing housewives), who kept the family running. “She didn’t have to go to places to exercise,” one survivor says of his mother, “a machine couldn’t do all that she did.”
Other Documentaries about Schtetl Life:
Andrew Goldberg (director)
Andrew Goldberg is a producer and director, and is the founder and owner of Two Cats Productions in New York City. An Emmy Award winner, Goldberg's credits include producing/directing documentaries and news and long-form programming for PBS, ABC News, MSNBC and many others. His works include...
that uses archival photographs, never-before-seen archival videos, and survivor testimony to reconstruct the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, which were destroyed by the Holocaust. Oscar nominated actor Elliot Gould narrates.
Summary
Long before the Holocaust, antisemitism threatened Eastern European Jews. Many Jews immigrated to the region after having been expelled from Western Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries, and their communities only became more concentrated when the RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n government confined them to the area, specifically the nations of modern-day Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, and parks of Northern Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
.
Once they were settled, the Jews still weren't safe. A never-before-seen film shot in the 1920s reveals the aftermath of a pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
, where Cossacks tore through Jewish neighborhoods raping, maiming, killing, and looting.
But terror and hostility unified the Jewish community by forcing them to rely on one another. Jews in a shtetl
Shtetl
A shtetl was typically a small town with a large Jewish population in Central and Eastern Europe until The Holocaust. Shtetls were mainly found in the areas which constituted the 19th century Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire, the Congress Kingdom of Poland, Galicia and Romania...
all chipped in to help care for the poor in their community.
The film explores the uniqueness of the Yiddish language. To prove the sting of a Yiddish insult, one survivor says, “May all your teeth fall out, and may one remain as a tooth ache.”
The survivors also talk about the Jewish dishes they enjoyed in their Eastern European homes. “Cherry pierogi
Pierogi
Pierogi are dumplings of unleavened dough - first boiled, then they are baked or fried usually in butter with onions - traditionally stuffed with potato filling, sauerkraut, ground meat, cheese, or fruit...
s are like a dream in my mind,” one survivor says.
They survivors all have nothing but praise for their mothers--balebustes (amazing housewives), who kept the family running. “She didn’t have to go to places to exercise,” one survivor says of his mother, “a machine couldn’t do all that she did.”
See also
- shtetlShtetlA shtetl was typically a small town with a large Jewish population in Central and Eastern Europe until The Holocaust. Shtetls were mainly found in the areas which constituted the 19th century Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire, the Congress Kingdom of Poland, Galicia and Romania...
- Yiddish
- Jewish diasporaJewish diasporaThe Jewish diaspora is the English term used to describe the Galut גלות , or 'exile', of the Jews from the region of the Kingdom of Judah and Roman Iudaea and later emigration from wider Eretz Israel....
- Jewish diaspora
- List of Hasidic dynasties
- List of shtetls and shtots.
- History of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet UnionHistory of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet UnionThe vast territories of the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest populations of Jews in the diaspora. Within these territories the Jewish community flourished and developed many of modern Judaism's most distinctive theological and cultural traditions, while also facing periods of...
- History of the Jews in Bessarabia
- History of the Jews in Carpathian RutheniaHistory of the Jews in Carpathian Ruthenia- 20th century census data:The last antebellum census in Hungary, 1910. The four counties of Hungary that coveredthe territory what we now call Carpathian Ruthenia were Ung, Bereg, Ugocsa and Máramaros....
- History of the Jews in PolandHistory of the Jews in PolandThe history of the Jews in Poland dates back over a millennium. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jewish community in the world. Poland was the centre of Jewish culture thanks to a long period of statutory religious tolerance and social autonomy. This ended with the...
Other Documentaries about Schtetl Life:
- LubomlLubomlLuboml may refer to:* Liuboml, a city in Ukraine* Luboml: My Heart Remembers, a documentary...