Recordings › Cluj-Napoca

MDV 251 · Kraus, Grunfeld; Miller; Eugen Kraus

Cluj-Napoca, Romania 6 June 2008 Interviewed by Dov-Ber Kerler Part 4 of 4 9 min · 4 passages
2 conversations on this tape
  1. 0:00–5:32 · Binyomin Miller proposed
  2. 5:32–8:49 · Eugen Grunfeld; Eugen Kraus uncertain

The division was proposed from the catalogue's descriptions and the machine transcript, not stated by the catalogue (how).

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Passages

0:00

They chat informally and talk about contemporary Jewish life.

Informal life today Life today · MCO
From the machine transcript

Informal chat among the participants, with practical arrangements about taking Yiddish booklets, addresses and a telephone number. Someone mentions travelling to a town (name unclear, possibly Dornavatra (?)) where the Vizhnitz rebbe used to come. Kerler relates meeting a German-speaking Jewish woman who dismissed his questions about folk customs such as quenching coals, and the others say they knew that custom too.

The transcript shows talk of the Vizhnitz rebbe, a folk custom with coals and a German-speaking woman, not only chat about contemporary Jewish life.

3:46

Miller chants hasidic nigunim.

From the machine transcript

A few words of chanting or nigun-like singing with Hebrew phrases are heard, but the transcript is too thin to say who sings or what is sung.

The words are mostly unclear, so the attribution to Miller is not confirmed.

5:32

Kraus sings a Yiddish song about studying. Grunfeld then sings another variant of the song.

Singing Songs and music · MCO
From the machine transcript

A Yiddish song about a boy named Motele and his studies is recited or sung. The informant then says he heard another variant in Moldova, and Kerler and the others discuss where in Moldova or Bessarabia it was known, mentioning Iași. A second version and its content are then discussed.

The transcript also shows discussion of where the song variant was known.

6:50

They talk about prewar Jewish life and then the team concludes the interview.

before the war Daily life (general) · MCO
From the machine transcript

Kerler asks about a Jewish family name connected with the Hungarian word for green, and the answers confirm it. The recording then winds down with a stretch of repeated, looping words. Kerler talks about his own booklet and copies of it being sent from an institute, mentioning Vinnytsia and Khmelnytskyi.

The transcript shows talk about names and Kerler's own booklet rather than prewar Jewish life.