Talking Yiddish to Chickens, how ridiculous!
Join author Seth Stern as he tells his grandparents story, the story of Holocaust survivors coming to America to start a new life. His grandparents, like many other Holocaust survivors came to New Jersey with the help of the Jewish Agricultural Society and became chicken farmers. His grandparents settled in Vineland, which would become the largest community of Holocaust survivors who had chicken farms.
While this story takes place in South Jersey, it is not unlike Jewish farmers of Hunterdon County. Cattle farmers included the Berkowitz, Wolf, Solomon, Dvoor, Lieberman, and Daniel families who arrived first. The second wave of Jewish farmers, egg farmers, in Hunterdon County included the Einstein, Leiberman, Kaufman, Salsberg, and Grimbaum families.
Who is Seth Stern?
Seth Stern is Team Lead for Bloomberg Industry Group’s coverage of the US Supreme Court, Justice Department, judicial confirmation, and federal judiciary. He has previously been a reporter for the Christian Science Monitor, CQ, and Bloomberg News.
He is co-author of Justice Brennan: Liberal Champion and author of Speaking Yiddish to Chickens: Holocaust Survivors on South Jersey Poultry Farms. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School, the Harvard Kennedy School, and Cornell University.
What do the book reviews say?
The Jewish Book Council of America reviews Speaking Yiddish to Chickens
A Journal of Yiddish Studies goes on to say that speaking Yiddish to Chickens is a compelling portrait of Yiddish speaking refugees homesteading in 1940s and 1950s Vineland, bringing vibrance and historical heft to this scene. https://ingeveb.org/articles/review-of-seth-sterns-speaking-yiddish-to-chickens