The Weekend Documentary: Yiddish Glory: Jewish Refugees in Central Asia

BBC World Service,  Saturday 21 January 1200-1300 GMT

Songs written by refugees far from their own land. The struggle to survive in a land that was unfamiliar, with precious little support. This is the story of a collection of songs in Yiddish that was confiscated by the KGB, and the Jews that wrote them, who sought refuge from the Nazi invaders thousands of kilometres from home in Central Asia.

Singer Alice Zawadzki, whose own family found themselves on a similar journey, goes in search of the stories and tales of those that made the journey east. In Tashkent and Almaty, we found out how they survived and recreated memories of home in their songs, and we hear these songs, sung for the first time in 70-80 years, in the place where they were written.

Presented by Alice Zawadzki. Produced by Michael Rossi for the BBC World Service.