My name is Marla Goller and I am senior at Baruch College. I am the granddaughter of four Jewish Holocaust survivors. My maternal grandparents, both came to America from Poland, and my paternal grandparents came from Poland and Austria.

Both sets of grandparents immigrated to New York in the 1940s. Aside from their difficult history,  they were all  alike in that they thought it absolutely necessary that their children learn how to speak what they called the “moma loshin” or their “mother tongue”, Yiddish.

My experience with Yiddish growing up was rather limited. I knew it was the language my grandparents spoke, and the language my parents spoke to one another when they were specifically talking to only one another.

Most of the Yiddish I came into contact with was through Yiddish song. My maternal grandmother, Lola Prawer or Leah, sang Yiddish songs to me and my siblings until her passing in 2013.  I was always curious what responsibility my grandparents felt toward the Yiddish language that they decided their children must speak it.

That got me interested in how traditions are passed down through generations, and since this is a theater class, I decided to focus on Children in the Yiddish Theater Tradition.

There are several pages of this site that relate to my topic in different ways. The “History” is meant to provide a geographic location for my tradition in America, and also acquaint you with some on the foundational Yiddish theater institutions in New York.

The “character study” page talks a bit more in depth about Molly Picon, who after starting as a child actress in small yiddish theaters moved on to start in Hollywood movies. A star with her name can be found on the Yiddish Walk of Fame found of the “history” page.

The “Modicut” page discusses a puppet marionette theater, a technique and style usually associated with child theater,  that once existed in the Jewish rialto. It was, at a time, the only one of its kind.

The “oral history” page contains an interview with Betty Perlov Rosenberg, who grew up in yiddish theater and talks about her personal experiences. She shares some insight about Yiddish theater in the 1900s and her feelings about Yiddish theater today.

The last page to visit should be the “today” page, which discusses what kind of children yiddish theater exists currently.

Enjoy!