Nechama Lifshitz at the 1969 World Conference of the Congress for Jewish Culture

Featured Artifact from the Jewish Labor and Political Archives

The ongoing digitization of the close to 900 tapes of audio material belonging to the Jewish Labor and Political Archives is uncovering fascinating moments in history. The recordings capture things like union meetings, in particular of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union; recordings of the Bund World Conference over the years; commemorative events; and literary evenings. Some recordings include live performances of remarkable artists, such as a noted 1969 recital given by the Soviet and Israeli soprano Nechama Lifshitz at the Third World Conference of the Congress for Jewish Culture. This performance followed Lifshitz’s immigration from Kaunas to Israel which enabled her to tour in the United States. Accompanied on piano by Renee Salomon, the “Nightingale of Yiddish Song” performs songs in Yiddish and Hebrew, in a singing style that reflects her classical voice training. The day after her performance, Lifshitz spoke about the difficult circumstances of the Jews in the Soviet Union, taking part in the appeal to pass resolutions calling for the Soviet government to allow Jews to immigrate to Israel and abroad.