5. On the Jewish street

Gallery 6: On the Jewish Street, 1918–1939

Enter a multimedia street. This lively environment is inspired by the bustling city life of the Second Polish Republic – most Polish Jews lived in cities and towns – and the expression “af der yidisher gas” (on the Jewish street), which is a metaphor for the Jewish world. Despite economic hardship and antisemitism, this was a period of great political energy and cultural creativity in 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., HebrewHebrewboth the Jewish sacred language of prayer and study (Yiddish: loshn-koydesh) and modern Hebrew (Hebrew: ivrit), which developed in the 19th century and became the official language of the State of Israel., and Polish. Entrances on each side of the street lead to thematic areas devoted to politics and culture.

Street Sounds