Return to ATM Online Collections  > AHEYM: The Archive of Historical and Ethnographic Yiddish Memories  > Berdychiv

Berdychiv
 (09-010.04-F) -  Shelf Number: MDV 340
 IUCAT



No streaming derivative is available.

Date: July 10, 2002

Participants: Vaisman, Bella Mindel; Vaisman, Isaak Iosipovich; Breuer, Shlomo. Interviewed by Dov-Ber Kerler, Dovid Katz, Jeffrey Veidlinger.

Location recorded: Berdychiv, Zhytomyrs'ka Oblast', Ukraine

Language: Yiddish

Culture Group: Jews, Yiddish-speakers, Ukrainians

 Recording Content:   

This recording is a continuation of a formal interview with Beyle Mindel Vaisman and Isaak Iosipovich Vaisman. (Part 3 of 4. See MDV 338, MDV 339, and MDV 342) The bulk of the tape is devoted to dialectological and linguistic questions about the Yiddish language. The conversation then moves to information about Yiddish-speakers from the region. They also discuss Jewish life in Berdychiv and Kharkiv before the war, as well as contemporary Jewish life in Berdychiv. Beyle Vaisman recalls Yiddish theater songs. The tape concludes with a discussion about Jewish religious life during the Soviet period before the war and other aspects of Jewish life from that period.

00:00:00 Bella and Isaak chat informally, before they speak about locals in prewar Berdychiv and their fate during World War II.
00:01:55 Bella and Isaak answer questions about cultural terminology and discuss Yiddish dialects.
00:10:05 Isaak recites the kaddish and discusses prewar praying customs. They then talk about contemporary Jewish life.
00:12:39 Isaak and Bella answer dialectological questions from the AHEYM Yiddish linguistic questionnaire, as well as questions about cultural terminology.
00:21:08 Bella and Isaak address prewar cultural life. Bella remembers a theater performance by Solomon Mikhoels in Kharkiv. They then speak about concerts by Appelbaum in Berdychiv.
00:21:35 Jewish cultural life in Cracow before the war
00:26:06 Bella and Isaak answer dialectological questions from the AHEYM Yiddish linguistic questionnaire. Bella also addresses prewar Passover celebrations at home (27:50).
00:30:26 Bella and Isaak speak about their lives today. Bella mentions her husband's Red Army service.
00:32:56 Bella and Isaak talk about their lives in the prewar Soviet period. They particularly address the generational gap between the older observant and the younger generations. Isaak addresses the difficulties to teach about Jewish history and religious under Soviet rule.
00:37:19 Isaak and Bella talk about postwar Jewish life, as well as their lives and families today.
00:40:37 Bella speaks about prewar occupations, particularly coachmen.
00:41:43 End of recording.