Yiddish Culture

Discusses history of, and her own involvement in, Yiddish theatre: beginnings of her parents' theatrical careers, 1919; society's reaction to their profession; debut with her parents at age 5; education; languages spoken at home; memories of father's theater company 'Kaminski Teater'; people her father was influenced by; the drive of a Jewish actor in Poland; contact with, and reactions of, the audience; involvement of non-Jews; Yiddish theater during WWI; Yiddish theaters in Warsaw and other Polish cities, 1920s; writers; studios; activities of 'Poilish Idishn Meluche Teather'; last performance before WWII; her life during WWII; flight eastward; life in Moscow; friends in 'Farhein Fun Poilishe Patriotn'; performances in 1941; meeting Michoels in Russia; her opinion of Michoel's theater; meeting Jewish authors in Moscow; her return to Poland, 1946; establishment of 'Poilish Idisher Meluche Teater', 1949-50; non-Jewish audience members; imprisonment of her husband and daughter by Russians; contact with figures in Polish government; Russian policy towards Yiddish theater and persecution of Jewish cultural figures; reaction of Jewish Polish communists to events in Russia; decision to immigrate to a non-communist country; her first visit to Israel, 1956; performances in Australia; 1959; Yiddish theater in Poland in the 70s; political leanings of Yiddish actors. Continued discussion on Yiddish theater: her family and their connection to art and music; Goldfaden and his ; connection to Yiddish art and opera; the beginning of her career as a Yiddish opera singer; her switch to drama; places in Poland and Russia where Yiddish plays were performed; her brother, Yosef Kaminska, a classical musician who moved to, and performed in Israel; visits with her brother in Paris; her own Aliyah, 1968; difficulties encountered with Yiddish theater in Israel; the reaction people had towards her art; her move to the U.S. in hopes of fulfilling her dream of establishing a theater; disappointment at the lack of financial backing for Yiddish theater, and her lack of success in this area.