Sample Sources
The sources below are those contained in our three curated collections—covering themes of Passover, Gender Roles, and Holocaust Resistance. They represent a fraction of the thousands of sources that will be available when the full site launches in 2024.
A Dictionary of Political Terms
Politishes verter-bukh (A Dictionary of Political Terms) is an anonymous work billed as “an interpretation of the strange words that are used in Yiddish newspapers, journals, and political and…
In the Secret Place of Thunder
Mendl said: This city of Kisalon [lit. “Foolsville,” Yid. Glupsk], where I’ll begin my story, is very important, for the entire Jewish Pale of Settlement is named after it. And it is not through…
Dreyfus in Kasrilevke
I doubt if the Dreyfus case made such a stir anywhere as it did in Kasrilevka.
Paris, they say, seethed like a boiling vat. The papers carried streamers, generals shot themselves, and small boys ran…
Sister
As a symbol of the past—all sadness and humility—my mother’s face swims up and rises before my eyes. Her eyes two black abysses, anguish peering from them; her lips moist and rosy, a smile always…
Confession
“Meanwhile months and years disappeared. At twenty-eight I was still without a husband, still an eligible virgin . . . It was spring—free, warm. My heart ached so, I thought I’d go crazy . . . the…
Utter Chaos
These last words—spoken in all seriousness—completely confused Heinz. He thought he hadn’t heard right.
“Sorry—What do you have?”
“Patrol duty—Jacob can take care of the money now; you’ve seen that…
Yitskhok Leybush Peretz
And you’re dead. And you’ve not yet been covered by the ground;
Far through a thousand streets like horses galloping round,
Young and old newsboys spread, rushing about their business,
Hawking papers…