Final file of a six-file session with Emanuel "Mundek" Elbinger in Krakow (Kroke), 24 May 2016. Elbinger talks with Kerler about Yiddish speakers today, his own limited memory of Yiddish songs and the Passover questions, his family, and a visit to relatives in America. He then reflects on Hebrew, Yiddishkayt, Antwerp, Masada and Josephus, sings a Polish song, and the session closes with farewells.
00:00–03:23
Elbinger says that people still speak Yiddish around the world, including in South America. Kerler asks for an old Yiddish song, and Elbinger says he remembers only a few words, recalling a line of a song and the four questions of the Passover seder. He says his family was not religious but kept kosher, and that his father fell ill (lung trouble) after the liberation. He mentions a sister's later illness, his own poor health, and his pleasure at visits from Yiddish-speaking Americans. Kerler wishes everyone a meeting next year and thanks him for the photographs.
03:23–05:09
Elbinger asks how Kerler knows Yiddish, and Kerler says he spoke it with people in Vilna. Elbinger talks about Vilna as the Jerusalem of the North, material sent to America, and the Yiddish newspaper he reads, partly in Polish. Kerler asks about the paper's name, and Elbinger says Krakow Yiddish was Galician, with Lemberg as the capital of Galicia.
05:09–06:01
Elbinger sings a Polish song, introduced as a song he remembers only in part, about going over the mountain and the valley, roses, and golden letters on a grave. Kerler responds with a rhyme.
06:01–07:21
Elbinger asks where Kerler lives in America (Bloomington) and says he was invited to America. He says he visited family there and helped them, and talks about the Finkelstein family: Chaim, David and Gideon Finkelstein, three sons who carry on the diamond business, named after their grandfathers. He also mentions having been a collector.
07:21–09:12
Kerler asks whether Hebrew was taught in cheder. Elbinger says Yiddish was spoken in the street and Hebrew used for prayer, then talks about Ben-Gurion and the revival of Hebrew in Israel. Kerler asks what Yiddishkayt is, and Elbinger says old culture, saying that before the war the street spoke Yiddish.
09:12–10:50
Elbinger says that Antwerp is the only city in Europe where Yiddish is still spoken, with kosher restaurants and Jews in the diamond trade, and that he has family there and has visited. He mentions Belgian diamond cutting and Jewish diamond work in Israel, and begins talking about Masada, where he has been.
10:30–12:32
Elbinger describes Masada: the Romans, the Jewish defenders, and the last survivor who surrendered, whose account of the Jewish war survives. Kerler suggests Josephus Flavius, and they discuss the Roman name, with Kerler asking about the Masada defenders and the "chama" (?).
12:32–13:28
Closing remarks: Kerler makes a few comments, and Elbinger speaks in Polish about payment, travel and the time, 20 minutes past six, as they finish.
Informal