Helene Shafran

Item Information

Title:
Helene Shafran
Description:
Helene Shafran, born to Yiddish-speaking Polish immigrants, was interviewed by Christa Whitney in Boca Raton, Florida on March 13, 2013. Helene grew up in Willimantic, Connecticut, an area with very few Jews. She met her late husband Reuben z''l at Temple in their hometown and they were married until his death in 2012. Helene spends much of the interview relating her husband's story. Born in a shtetl in Southern Poland, Reuben escaped deportation through the goodwill of a gentile farmer who hid him and his father. He survived the rest of the war in the forests of Poland scavenging for food and dodging the Nazis and the local residents. After the war, Reuben became active in his village's landsmanschaft, a position which frequently brought him to Israel to visit friends and former neighbors. It was on one of these trips to Israel that Helene, accompanying Reuben, found herself unable to communicate with her husband's friends and committed herself to learning Yiddish. She describes how Reuben helped her by speaking to her in Yiddish and correcting her pronunciation. Helene also discusses Reuben's role as a husband and father, recalling their travels around the United States as part of his military service and relating the lasting legacy which his children and grandchildren have inherited. To learn more about the Wexler Oral History Project, visit: http://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/tell-your-story To cite this interview: Helene Shafran Oral History Interview, interviewed by Christa Whitney, Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project, Boca Raton, Florida, March 13, 2013. Video recording, https://archive.org/details/HeleneShafran13march2013YiddishBookCenter ( [date accessed] )
Creator:
Yiddish Book Center (Emily B.)
Date:
March 13, 2013
Format:
Film/Video
Location:
Yiddish Book Center
Collection (local):
Oral Histories
Subjects:
Family history
Stories about ancestors
Jewish Identity
Yiddish language
Yiddish revival and activism
Holocaust
Israel
Zionism
United States
Transmission
Anti-Semitism
Helene Shafran
Yiddish Book Center
National Yiddish Book Center
Wexler Oral History Project
Nybc
Ybc
Yiddish
Jewish culture
Link to Item:
https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/oral-histories/interviews/woh-fi-0000399
Terms of Use:
Rights status not evaluated.
Contact host institution for more information.
Language:
English