Gallery 6: On the Jewish Street, 1918–1939
A rousing rendition of Di shvue (The Oath), recorded in the 1940s, is the earliest known sound recording of the Bund anthem. Sh. An-ski, author of The Dybbuk, wrote the words in 1902. Di shvue was sung at meetings and demonstrations. The Bund, founded in 1897, defended workers’ rights and Yiddish language and culture. In a showcase on the far wall is the original commemorative cigarette case given to Vladimir Medem, a leader of the Bund, in 1917. Engraved on one side is a miniature of the YiddishYiddishthe historic Jewish vernacular of Ashkenazi Jews, a fusion of German dialects, Hebrew and Aramaic, and Judeo-Romance and Slavic languages. The beginnings of Yiddish are in the Rhineland in the Middle Ages. About 13 million people spoke Yiddish before the Second World War. front page of the first issue of Lebnsfragn (Life Questions), the labor weekly that he founded during the First World War.
play audioListen to the Bund anthem, Di shvue (The Oath)