In the Shadow of the Shtetl: Yiddish Memories of Small-Town Jewish Life in Ukraine

Jeffrey Veidlinger | Delivered in English.

Drawing from some four hundred Yiddish-language interviews conducted by the Archives of Historical and Ethnographic Yiddish Memories project, Jeffrey Veidlinger will explore how elderly Yiddish speakers in Ukraine described their memories of Jewish life in the Soviet shtetl, their stories of survival during the Holocaust, and their experiences living as Jews under Communism.

This exploration will help us understand how despite Stalinist repressions, the Holocaust, and official antisemitism, these interviews infused with memories of family life, religious observance, education, and work testify to the survival of Jewish life, even within the shadow of the shtetl.

Part of the 2025 Yiddish Civilization Lecture Series.

You may also like the following events from YIVO Institute for Jewish Research:

• This Tuesday, 24th June, 06:00 pm, A Turning Point in Remembrance: YIVO in the 1940s in New York, New York
• Next Thursday, 3rd July, 06:00 pm, Kine un kloglid – The Yiddish Art of Lamentation in Early Modern Ashkenaz in New York, New York
• Next month, 10th July, 06:00 pm, Yiddish Warsaw on the Hudson in New York, New York

Also check out other Arts events in St Francis Bay, Fine Arts events in St Francis Bay.