German 267 final terms

Abraham Ellstein

One of the “Big Four” Yiddish theatre composers; wrote operettas, radio music, and film scores. A central figure in New York’s Yiddish theater scene, blending traditional Jewish melodies with contemporary American musical styles. His work helped modernize Yiddish theater, making it more accessible to broader audiences while preserving its cultural heritage. Known for Broadway style Yiddish music.

Abraham Reisin

Yiddish poet known for sentimental, immigrant-life–themed poetry printed in the Yiddish press. His work often captured the emotional struggles, nostalgia, and daily experiences of Jewish immigrants adjusting to life in America. He became a widely read figure in Yiddish newspapers and literary circles, helping shape the voice of early 20th-century immigrant literature.

Al Jolson

Star of The Jazz Singer; Jewish immigrant who became America's first great film singer.

Alexander Olshanetsky

A highly influential Jewish-American composer, conductor, and violinist of the early 20th century. He was one of the "Big Four" composers of New York's Second Avenue Yiddish Theater, whose prolific work fused traditional Jewish musical idioms (klezmer and synagogue modes) with popular American styles, defining the sound of the golden age of Yiddish operetta. He was a Romantic, European-style composer.

Aryan

Nazi racial category for so-called "superior" people; used to justify persecution of Jews.

boarders

Immigrants renting beds or space in apartments to save money; common in crowded neighborhoods.

Boris Tomashevsky

The seminal Jewish-American actor, producer, and superstar credited with founding professional Yiddish Theater in the U.S. A dominating force on Second Avenue. Important to shaping culture of Jewish immigrants.

David Edelshtat

Labor activist and Yiddish poet writing about workers’ rights and socialism. Born in Eastern Europe, he experienced poverty and harsh working conditions from a young age, which shaped his commitment to labor causes. He learned Yiddish later in life after immigrating to the United States, using it to write poetry that expressed the struggles and hopes of Jewish immigrant workers.

Der ewige Jude

Nazi propaganda film/exhibit "The Eternal Jew," portraying Jews as dangerous outsiders.

Einsatzgruppen

They were Schutzstaffel paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II in German-occupied Europe.

Ellis Island

U.S. immigration processing center; primary entry point for millions of Jewish immigrants.

"Final Solution"

Nazi plan for the systematic murder of all Jews in Europe.

fusgayer

Yiddish for "walker," someone too poor to afford transportation.

ghettos

Enclosed, overcrowded districts where Nazis forcibly confined Jews before deportation.

Hekhsher Tzedek

Ethical certification for kosher food ensuring fair labor and humane treatment of workers.

Holocaust

Systematic murder of six million Jews and millions of others by Nazi Germany.

HIAS

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society; helped Jewish immigrants find housing, jobs, and legal support.

Hirsh Glik

Vilna ghetto poet who wrote the resistance anthem "Partisan Hymn" (Zog Nit Keynmol). Written in 1943 following the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the poem was set to a Russian folk tune and quickly became the official, defiant anthem of Jewish partisan units across Eastern Europe.

Irving Berlin

One of America’s greatest songwriters; Jewish immigrant who wrote “God Bless America.” Born Israel Beilin, he changed his name to [this name] after immigrating to the U.S., reflecting both assimilation and his entry into the American music world. Rising from the Lower East Side, he went on to shape the American songbook with hits spanning Broadway, film, and patriotic music.

Jacob Gordin

Playwright who brought realism and seriousness to Yiddish theatre; wrote The Jewish King Lear. His works focused on modernizing the Yiddish stage, replacing light operettas with serious social and psychological dramas that explored the conflicts and struggles of Jewish immigrant life. Known as the Jewish “Shakespear”

Jewish Daily Forward

Major Yiddish newspaper known for socialist politics and "A Bintel Brief" advice column.

Joseph Rumshinsky

Leading Yiddish theatre composer known for incorporating a more American Broadway-style musical sound into traditional Yiddish theater. Born in Eastern Europe, he immigrated to the U.S. and became a central figure in New York’s Yiddish theater scene, composing operettas and musicals that blended European motifs with contemporary American musical trends. He was one of the “Big Four” composers of American Yiddish theater, helping modernize the genre while preserving its cultural roots.

klezmer

Traditional Jewish instrumental music (clarinet, violin, accordion) played at celebrations.

Kristallnacht

1938 Nazi pogrom ("Night of Broken Glass") attacking synagogues, shops, and homes.

landsmanshaft

Mutual-aid societies created by immigrants from the same town or region; provided support.

letter songs

Yiddish songs written as letters home from immigrants, expressing struggle and longing.

Mamele

1938 Yiddish film starring Molly Picon about a loving, self-sacrificing daughter. Takes on all the maternal duties for her large and largely unappreciative family after her real mother has died. The family does have a living father, but he is often distracted, leaving Khavtshi to manage the household.

Maurice Schwartz

Founder, actor, and director of the Yiddish Art Theatre (NYC, 1918). He championed literary, high-quality drama (both Yiddish and world classics) to elevate the standards of Yiddish theater above popular melodramas, earning critical acclaim for his elaborate and high-caliber productions.

Molly Picon

Beloved Yiddish actress/singer known for comedy, cross-dressing roles, and films like Mamele.

Mordechai Gebirtig

A beloved, self-taught Polish Jewish folk composer, poet, and songwriter known as the "poet of Kraków." He was a Polish Jewish folk composer; wrote "Es Brent," which became a warning of rising danger.

Morris Rosenfeld

Sweatshop poet who captured the suffering of immigrant laborers in factories. Known as the "Poet of the Sweatshops," he masterfully captured the grueling conditions, despair, and emotional pain of the Jewish working class in America.

Morris Winchevsky

Socialist Yiddish poet; co-founded the Jewish Daily Forward; focused on worker rights. He used poetry, satire, and journalism to advocate for immigrant workers and highlight social injustices, helping shape the voice of Jewish socialism in America.

nativism

Anti-immigrant movement favoring native-born Americans and restricting immigration.

"Partisan Hymn"

Jewish resistance anthem written by Hirsh Glik in the Vilna Ghetto.

Protocols of the Elders of Zion

Fake antisemitic document claiming a Jewish plan for world domination.

Sholom Secunda

Yiddish composer of "Bei Mir Bistu Shein" (1932); famous for selling the rights too cheaply, receiving only $30 before the song became a global swing hit by the Andrews Sisters in 1937. Despite this financial error, they remained one of the "Big Four" composers of Second Avenue.

social Darwinism

Idea that groups or races succeed because they are "stronger"; used to justify racism.

Terezín (Theresienstadt)

Nazi ghetto-camp used as propaganda (hid realities of deportation and murder); known for cultural life under brutal conditions.

The Jazz Singer

1927 first talking film; plot about Jewish identity vs. assimilation; starred Al Jolson.

Tin Pan Alley

NYC music-publishing center where pop songs were mass-produced; home to many Jewish composers.

Treblinka

Nazi extermination camp where ~900,000 Jews were murdered; site of a 1943 revolt.

Triangle Fire

1911 factory fire killing 146 garment workers; led to major labor reforms. Mostly Women died in this fire and lots of them were Jewish. Most of the doors were locked to keep them from stealing which kept them trapped leading to more deaths, there was also only one fire escape which quickly collapsed exasperating the situation.

Warsaw ghetto uprising

1943 Jewish armed resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto against Nazi forces.

WEVD

Yiddish radio station named after Eugene V. Debs; broadcast music, theatre, and news. It was founded by the Jewish Daily Forward newspaper in 1927 and served as a vital cultural and political link for the vast Jewish immigrant community in New York City.

Yidl Mit'n Fidl

1936 Yiddish Film. The most commercially successful Yiddish musical film, starring Molly Picon as a woman disguised as a male musician to travel safely. Composed by Abraham Ellstein and filmed on location in Poland, it provides a vital visual record of Jewish shtetl life just before the Holocaust.

Yossele Rosenblatt

Legendary cantor known for unmatched vocal control; appears in The Jazz Singer. His phenomenal voice, characterized by an exceptional ability to transition between falsetto and chest voice, made him the highest-paid cantor in history and a towering figure in both Jewish liturgical and early recorded music.