Oy vey, this is real chutzpah

YIDDISH: GERMANS AT WORK TO RESURRECT ANCIENT LANGUAGE AND JEWISH TRADITIONS

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GET THERE. A sign advertises the Yiddish Summer Weimar festival on Weimar's market square in eastern Germany. Pictures: AFP

(AFP)

A push to revitalise Yiddish and its cultural traditions has gained momentum in Germany, the very place where the Nazi regime's Holocaust sought to eradicate the Jewish communities who spoke it.

Thousands flocked to the city of Weimar for a recent festival that celebrated the linguistic tradition with workshops, cabaret performances and even heart-stopping circus acrobatics.

Musical offerings ranged from traditional klezmer performances on violin and accordion, evoking the Central Europe of old to more modern shows, including psychedelic Yiddish rock.

Yiddish, the language spoken by Ashkenazi Jews across Europe before the Holocaust, is now best known to many English speakers through words such as "schlep", "klutz" and "chutzpah".

Over the past decade, Weimar has become the heartland of the far-right and anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party.