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Alex Lauterbach 14Feb2013 Yiddish Book Center

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Alex Lauterbach 14Feb2013 Yiddish Book Center

by
Yiddish Book Center (Chad)

Usage
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 InternationalCreative Commons Licensebync
Topics
Yiddish Book Center, National Yiddish Book Center, Wexler Oral History Project, nybc, ybc, Yiddish, Jewish culture, Alex Lauterbach, Poland, Family history, stories about ancestors, Jewish Identity, shabbat, shabbes, sabbath, Pesakh, Passover, Purim, Channukah, Khanukah, Channuka, Khanike, Hannukah, Yom Kippor, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Jewish holidays, Old Country, Eastern Europe, Politics and political movements, Jewish education, Theater, Visual Arts, Other languages, Literature, Books, America, World War Two, Education, Israel, Zionism, Holocaust, United States,
Language
English
Alex Lauterbach, retired chemist, was interviewed by Agnieszka Ilwicka on February 14, 2013 in Encino, California.

To learn more about the Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project, visit:
http://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/tell-your-story

To cite this interview: Alex Lauterbach Oral History Interview, interviewed by Agnieszka Ilwicka, Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project, Encino, CA, February 14, 2013. Video recording, [https://archive.org/details/AlexLauterbach14feb2013YiddishBookCenter] ( [date accessed] )
Abstract
Alex Lauterbach, retired chemist, was interviewed by Agnieszka Ilwicka on February 14, 2013 in Encino, California. Out of respect for his grandparents, his was a kosher home; however, there was always a ham on the windowsill. They had family gatherings for Shabbos and holidays, but these were not particularly religious events. He grew up in a comfortable, assimilated family, part of the community of non-Orthodox Polonized Jews; growing anti-Semitism led to him becoming more aware that they were seen as Jews rather than Poles. He can still remember profoundly hurtful experiences at his high school and in his brother's medical school. Alex never graduated from high school because the war broke out and he refused to join the Russian Army. He recounts the harrowing circumstances that helped his family to escape from Eastern Europe via the Dominican Republic and Mexico. Most of those remaining behind were murdered by the Nazis. Alex studied chemistry in college, served in the United States Army, and was sent for special training in counter-intelligence. He recalls becoming aware of the total destruction of the Jewish community in Poland -- the world that he was a part of disappeared, and he feels that neither Gentiles nor Orthodox Jews now remember the vibrant world that was. Alex recalls his pride in the creation of Israel which proved that Jews could be fighters, despite anti-Semitic stereotypes. He feels emotionally attached to Poland and Israel but his primary allegiance is to America, which has been good to him. Now 90, Alex likes to read and work on the computer; he has donated most of his Polish books to the Slavic Library at the University of California in Los Angeles. His family looked down on Yiddish as a "bastard language" and it is not a significant part of his identity. He describes his children's relationship to their Jewish background and feels that Jews can survive anti-Semitism but not assimilation.
Addeddate
2014-08-15 16:27:53.150132
Citation
Alex Lauterbach Oral History Interview, interviewed by Agnieszka Ilwicka, Yiddish Book Center's Wexler Oral History Project, Encino, CA, February 14, 2013. Video recording, [URL of interview] ( [date accessed] )
Controlled-themes
Family histories | Jewish Identity | Purim | Yom Kippur | Jewish holidays | Old Country | Eastern Europe | Politics and political movements | Jewish education | Theater | Visual Arts | Languages | Literature | Books | | World War II | Education | Israel | Zionism | Holocaust | United States | Shabbos | Pesach | Hanukkah | Rosh Hashanah
Excerpts
2753, 2754, 2755, 2757, 2759, 2760, 2764, 2765, 2767, 2768, 2769, 2770
Geographic-themes
Poland | Eastern Europe | Israel | United States
Identifier
AlexLauterbach14feb2013YiddishBookCenter
Interview-date
2/14/2013
Interview-location
Encino, California
Narrator-birth-year
1923
Narrator-first-name
Alex
Narrator-last-name
Lauterbach

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