SARATOGA SPRINGS — A Zoom panel discussion of “A Yiddish World Remembered” will be held at 7 p.m. on April 11.
The 2002 Emmy-award winning documentary by Andrew Goldberg originally aired on Connecticut PBS. It interviews elderly survivors who remember the shtetls from their childhood and includes vintage photos and archival films from various sources.
Saratoga Jewish Community Arts, with a grant from The Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York and co-sponsored by Temple Sinai of Saratoga Springs, will present the discussion.
The documentary takes a realistic and enlightening look at this unique and all-but-vanished way of life, both the wistful memories and the abject poverty and peril. For those in rural communities, there was often no running water or electricity. For many, anti-Semitism was a part of daily life. But for everyone, crowded conditions and poverty seemed to prevail. Despite these trials, through the eyes of individuals interviewed, we learn that Jewish communities were close-knit and often even joyous places to live.
“As the world was changing during a rapid period of modernization and industrialization in the late 19th century,” said Phyllis Wang, Coordinator of Jewish Community Arts, in a statement. “The political and economic climate became gravely impactful and their shtetl world began to break apart. Close to two million Jews left Eastern Europe and went to the U.S. and other places in search of opportunity. However, for many others, who could not or would not abandon the old country, the fragile shtetl life continued, finally disintegrating in the throes of the Holocaust.”
Registration required for Zoom discussion. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
