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Recording Content:
This recording is a continuation of a formal interview with Semyon (Yisrul) Aronovich Vaisblai (b. 1930 in Chemerivtsi). He discusses his family life, work and education in the postwar period and shares his views on Jewish emigration to Germany. (Part 2 of 2. See MDV 480)
Cities and towns mentioned on this tape: Uman', Khmel'nyts'kyy (Proskurov), Horodok, Kam”yanets’-Podil’s’kyy, Chernivtsi, Zakupne, Zin’kov.
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00:00:00
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This tape is a continuation of a formal interview with Semyon (Yisrul) Aronovich Vaisblai (b. 1930 in Chemerivtsi). He discusses his family life, work and education in the postwar period and shares his views on Jewish emigration to Germany. |
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00:02:52
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He sings “Tsen kopeks” (“Ten Kopeks”) and then recites the words again for clarity. He states that he learned this song and others from demobilized Jewish soldiers after the war. |
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00:05:16
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Vaisblai briefly talks about the four grades he completed in a Soviet Yiddish school. He also comments on the state of the contemporary Jewish community and the Yiddish language in Khmel'nyts'kyy. He considers himself a unique interviewee because he remembers so much so clearly and was old enough to understand what was going on during the war. |
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00:06:43
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He sings “Rebe Reb Shneyer” (“Rebbe Reb Shneyer”), recalling that he learned many Yiddish songs from Jewish soldiers and from his older sister. He then talks about his sister’s life, the hardships she faced, and about her children in Israel and the US. |
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00:10:16
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Vaisblai came to Khmel'nyts'kyy in 1977. Before that, he lived in the town of Horodok where, he explains, there were many Jews after the war. Vaisblai then describes postwar Jewish life in this town and the postwar period in the Soviet Union in general, focusing specifically on the housing troubles with which he dealt. |
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00:18:45
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Vaisblai recites fragments from a few songs, including “Sapozhkelekh” (“Little Boots”) and sings several songs, including: “Nokhemke mayn zin” (“Nokhemke My Son”), “Oy iz dus a Rebenyu” (“Oh is that a Rabbi”) and “Vi azoy s’iz nisht git tsi geyn zibn vokhn in eyn hemd” (“How Bad It Is to Go On Wearing the Same Shirt for Seven Weeks in a Row”). He mentions that the last song was often sung by his friend Avrom, a man who did not drink liquor, but rather eau de cologne. |
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00:24:28
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Vaisblai sings “Fraytik af der nakht” (“Friday Evening”) and shares his attitudes towards the decline of Yiddish and about the State of Israel. |
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00:29:11
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Vaisblai sings “Vi azoy s’iz nisht git tsi geyn zibn vokhn in eyn hemd” once more and then sings “Makhteyneste Mayne” (“My In-Law”). |
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00:32:11
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After briefly discussing his contemporary health problems, Vaisblai shares his work history in the postwar period, consisting of many different jobs in several towns. He also explains how he met and married his first wife Fania, and how they had a wedding with klezmer musicians. |
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00:42:24
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Vaisblai describes his home life in the postwar period and talks about his children now living in Israel and Germany. |
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00:51:13
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Vaisblai underscores his faith in G-d, who has saved him from “many deaths and dangers.” |
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00:51:58
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Vaisblai states that the best years of his life are in the present. |
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