The Yiddish Performing Arts Collection comprises of four series, with each series representing a type of performing arts. Series 1: Theater is further arranged into three subseries concerning theatrical performers, theater performances, and the history of theater and theater operations. Series 2: Opera is further arranged into two subseries concerning opera performances and the history of operas and opera house operations. The materials are listed chronologically within each series and subseries.
Series 1: Theater Series 2: Opera Series 3: Comedy Series 4: Klezmer Music
Accession No. TRI.2014.0010: Purchased, 2014 March; Accession No. TRI.2018.0017: Purchased, 2018 March; some acquisitions unknown; Accession No. TRI.2023.0032: Purchased, 2019 July; Accession No. TRI.2023.0033: Purchased, 2019 July; Accession No. TRI.2023.0034: Purchased, 2023 September; Accession No. TRI.2023.0035: Purchased, 2023 October; Accession No. TRI.2023.0036: Purchased, 2023 October; Accession No. TRI.2023.0037: Purchased, 2023 October; Accession No. TRI.2023.0038: Purchased, 2023 September; Accession No. TRI.2023.0039: Purchased, 2019 July; Accession No. TRI.2023.0040: Purchased, 2022 August; Accession No. TRI.2023.0041: Purchased, 2022 June
[identification of item], Yiddish Performing Arts Collection, SPEC.TRI.YTC, Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre research Institute, Ohio State University
Contains audiocassettes
Audio/visual materials may need a use copy produced before access is allowed. The remainder of this collection is available for patron research, but may be used only in the Thompson Library Special Collections reading room.
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyright, and are made available for research and educational purposes. In general, the OSU Libraries do not own the copyright for materials from our collections and cannot grant copyright permissions for these materials. The user is responsible for making a final determination of copyright status. If copyright protection applies, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exceptions to the law. Works in the public domain are not protected by copyright and do not require permission to use.
Processed by: Casey Blackmore and Sabrina Gorse, 2024 January. Finding aid written by: Courtney Bishop, 2021 July; Casey Blackmore and Sabrina Gorse, 2024 January.
Yiddish performing arts includes performances written or performed by and for Jewish people. Performances are typically in Yiddish and are often satirical. Many topics of Yiddish performing arts include immigration, poverty, integration, and Jewish history. The first professional Yiddish theater troupe was founded by Abraham Goldfaden in Romania in 1876. In 1883, Russia placed a ban on Yiddish theater, and after this performances moved to Western Europe and the United States.
During the Holocaust and World War II, the Nazis enacted censorship laws and stipulations on cultural activities, particularly by Jews, and used the performing arts to advance their war efforts and legitimize Nazi control and culture throughout Europe. Jewish and Yiddish theatrical and musical performances persisted for a limited time in the Jewish Kulturbund theatre in Nazi Germany, transit and internment camps, enclosed ghettos, and concentration camps and killing centers. Countries outside Nazi-occupied territories, such as Great Britain and the United States, supported the performing arts as a way to back the war effort, keep up morale, and preserve their cultural heritages.
The Holocaust led to the genocide of approximately six million Jews, diminishing the number of Yiddish speakers and Yiddish culture globally post-World War II. Jews who immigrated to Israel or the United States assimilated while the Soviet Union under Stalin launched a campaign targeting Jewish and Yiddish communities. In the decades since, though, the Yiddish performing arts have continued to be supported and performed. Interest in Yiddish culture renewed and some forms of Yiddish performing arts, such as klezmer music, received new attention internationally.
The Yiddish Performing Arts Collection contains mostly programs for Yiddish theatrical productions. Jewish and European performances (theatrical and on film) and the media created from the performances are found in the collection. Also included are audiocassettes of comedy and music, costume renderings, posters and a mailer for productions, synopses, and a cabinet card. The bulk of the collection is in English. Some items are in Yiddish; one item has a caption in Russian; some items are in Polish; one item is in Hebrew; and one item is in German. Materials are dated from circa 1890s to 2003.
Contains an audiocassette
Series 1: Theater comprises of programs, costume renderings, mailers, posters, audiocassettes, photographs, and albums concerning Yiddish theatre and the work of theatres operating during World War II and the Holocaust. Major topics include theatre performances, theatre performers, and the history of theatre and theatre operations. The contents of the series date from circa 1890s to 1995 June 8-29 and are primarily written or spoken in English or Yiddish, with some individual works written in Polish, Hebrew, and Russian.
Subseries 1.1: Theater Performers consists of photographs and an album depicting Yiddish and Jewish theatrical performers. The contents of the subseries date from circa 1890s to circa 1960s, with the photographs including text written in Yiddish, Russian, and/or Polish and the album containing text in Hebrew.
Contains an audiocassette.
Subseries 1.2: Theater Performances contains programs, costume renderings, mailers, posters, and an audiocassette relating to theatrical performances by Yiddish creators, with some performances concerning topics relevant to the Jewish community. Major topics include Jewish law, discrimination, immigration, assimilation, the Holocaust, Jewish history, and satires. The contents of the subseries date from 1934 May 15 to 1995 June 8-29 and are written or spoken in English or Yiddish, with a some materials written in Polish.
Subseries 1.3: History of Theater and Theater Operations, dating overall from 1940 to 1986, comprises of a memo and posters concerning the activities and history of both Yiddish theater and theaters operating during World War II and the Holocaust. The memo and posters are written in English.
Series 2: Opera comprises of programs and correspondence concerning Yiddish opera and the work of opera houses operating during World War II and the Holocaust. Major topics include opera performances and the history of opera and opera house operations. The contents of the series date 1937-1940 and 1991, and include works written in Yiddish, English, and German.
Subseries 2.1 Opera Performances contains material pertaining to Jewish opera peformances dated 1937 and 1991. Topics represented in the subseries include the Holocaust and Yiddish interpretations of Gilbert and Sullivan's opera The Mikado.
“The Eternal Road” was an opera conceived by Zionist activist Meyer Weisgal to warn the public about Adolf Hitler and the Nazis’ state-sponsored persecution of the Jews in Germany in the 1930s leading up to the Holocaust, as well as to convey the struggles the Jewish people have faced historically, and to promote Zionism.
Subseries 2.2: History of Opera and Opera House Operations contains material pertaining to the activities and history of opera and opera houses. The subseries consists of correspondence from Clemens Krauss, an Austrian conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss and Richard Wagner.
Contains an audiocassette
Series 3: Comedy contains material related to the work of Yiddish comedians, including word play on Yiddish words for comedic effect. Materials date from circa 1980 and 2003.
Contains audiocassette
Series 4: Klezmer Music contains the 1981 album Metropolis from the California band The Klezmorim. Klezmer music is a genre derived from and built upon eastern European music in the Jewish tradition. The Yiddish word klezmer derives from two Hebrew roots: klei (“vessel” or “instrument”) and zemer (“song”).