Not online: the recording is held by the project and is not on Media Collections Online, YouTube or archive.org. Everything below is a paraphrase of a machine transcript, the weaker of this site's two transcript layers — see how it was made.
Second of two consecutive files of a 2015 interview in Zhitomir with Lazar Burshteyn, an elderly Volhynian Jewish man who sings and has composed songs. The recording is mostly songs sung from memory: his own song about his home shtetl, love songs, songs about refugees, orphans and the Jewish mother, and Polish songs. Kerler asks about the Odessa pogrom song and about Volhynian Yiddish. Burshteyn also looks at photographs and a book about him, and recalls Yiddish books and journals taken from him. The last part tells of flight from the Germans in 1939 and his brother's death in Babruysk.
Burshteyn mentions the two months he spent under the Germans and the nightly shelling of his shtetl, then sings the song he composed about his home shtetl 'Gavrawave (?)', and a song about a summer gone by. Kerler responds and asks for more verses.
Burshteyn recalls that his father sang many songs. He says he attended Polish school in Pilsudski's time and then cheder, and that he was born in a place whose name is unclear before the family moved to another town. He names Ostra-Mazovetsk (?) as a town of his region. Kerler then asks him to repeat the shtetl song.
Burshteyn sings the shtetl song again, a song of childhood years and a lost mother, and a love song. Asked where the love song comes from, he says it is from Poland. Kerler comments that many songs reached the Jews from America.
Burshteyn sings a long song about poor refugees and a street singer who turns to singing for bread, followed by a song with a refrain about Katarina and life as a foolish game.
Burshteyn says in Russian that he has forgotten many songs. He says he understands Russian, and Kerler says he does not follow Russian well. Kerler asks about a Polish song, and Burshteyn recites a Polish children's rhyme about washing and prayer, then says he sang Polish songs at school.
Burshteyn sings a song about love, 'Oy di libe', and a song about a young man who meets a girl in a park and marries her under a chuppah. He ends with a song hoping that all Jews will go to Eretz Yisrael. Kerler remarks that he is going to Israel in two weeks.
Burshteyn says in Russian that many of his songs are lost, and looks for them in a book while Kerler films. He sings a nostalgic song about Friday night, with the father singing zemirot with the children, the grandmother, the grandfather examining the boys on gemara, Sabbath cheder, and a story told in the evening.
Kerler asks Burshteyn for the song about the Odessa pogrom that was sung in his shtetl, but he says he composed the shtetl song himself and sings other songs. These include a song asking where love begins and a long sentimental song in praise of the Jewish mother.
Kerler asks about songs from earlier times, and Burshteyn says in Russian that his old songs went to relatives in Israel. He sings or recites several fragments, one mentioning Odessa and a pogrom, and songs about a young woman and a suitor and a song about money. The transcript is garbled here.
Burshteyn sings a song about Yankl and Rivke (Rebecca), in which Yankl finds her and the two take each other, with a refrain 'tumbalalayka (?)'. Kerler asks him again where love begins.
Burshteyn repeats the love song and says in Russian that he has forgotten many songs. Kerler says his own Russian is weak and that he speaks Yiddish. Burshteyn says he knows Russian and Polish well. He recalls walking and singing Polish songs with a Polish schoolmate on the road.
Burshteyn says in Russian and Polish that his large childhood photograph album was sent to relatives in Israel. He says he is going to Netanya, where he has never been, and Kerler suggests he will be by the sea. Burshteyn then mentions a Jew who was jailed for singing songs, and Kerler asks which songs.
Kerler asks whether Burshteyn, a Volhynian, said 'in der heym' or another form, and how his mother and Gavrawave people said 'little child'. Burshteyn says the word with the long vowel and calls it Volhynian Yiddish.
Burshteyn says he still knows many songs, including peasant songs, and recalls attending a Polish gymnasium with Poles. He sings several songs about orphans and stepmothers and stepfathers, and Kerler joins in with some lines. He comments that the songs make him think of tears.
Burshteyn shows a book about him and photographs, saying in Russian that he sings and leads prayer at a synagogue. He identifies Maria Meysele (?) (Moiseyeva), who wrote the songbook about him, and a photo from the year thirty-nine (?). He tells of a Ukrainian woman, Tamara, a friend in Kiev who hosted him. Kerler asks whether Maria knows Yiddish, and Burshteyn says she does and plays piano.
Burshteyn says he forgets many names, and Kerler asks about people from the town and the former synagogue storyteller who is now in Israel. Burshteyn says he read Yiddish and Polish books, among them Sholem Aleichem, and that his Yiddish books were taken from him by a commission and sent off. He says he is unsure of the books' fate, and recalls being asked for documents at night when going to the synagogue, apparently in Soviet times. Kerler also asks about Joseph Rabin.
Kerler asks about the Yiddish writers killed in 1952, and Burshteyn says he knew of them and of Stalin-era arrests. He says he subscribed to and copied Yiddish journals such as Sovetish Heymland, which were later taken from him. He is also asked about Bergelson and other writers, saying he remembers names but not details.
Burshteyn remembers the war years in Poland: his family fled from the Germans in 1939 and he tells of crossing a bridge, reaching Russian troops and sleeping in a wood. He recalls moving from shtetl to shtetl and leaving everything behind. He mentions that his brothers were then still alive and that a brother named Pesakh (?) died in Babruysk.