Maurice Schwartz and the Yiddish Art Theater (1965)

In this episode, originally broadcast on March 14, 1965, host Sheftl Zak sits down with Wolf Mercur, who helped YIVO acquire the papers of famed Yiddish actor, Maurice Schwartz (1890 - 1960). The collection includes 150 scripts by Sholem Asch, Abraham Goldfaden, Jacob Gordin, Peretz Hirshbein, Y.L. Peretz, I.J. Singer, and other well-known Yiddish writers. There are also plays in other European languages by, for example, Henrik Ibsen, Anton Chekov, and Eugene O'Neill. In addition, the collection includes reviews of shows, and programs and playbills of the Yiddish Art Theater, of which Maurice Schwartz was the founder and director; photographs; and articles both by and about Schwartz.

From 1963-1976, YIVO had its own program on WEVD, the radio station established by the Socialist Party of America in 1927 (its call letters stand for the initials of American socialist leader Eugene V. Debs), which was purchased by the Jewish Daily Forward in 1932 and became a major venue from Yiddish programming.

YIVO used its spot on WEVD for Yiddish-language interviews and discussions with leading New York Yiddish cultural figures, as well as for reporting on its own scholarly and cultural work.

A new podcast of this program in the order in which it was originally broadcast will be posted here every two weeks.

Presentation of series curated by Matt Temkin, YIVO Sound Archives.

Listen to the program [in Yiddish].