History speaks this winter at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education.

Jimmy Berg (seated at right) with his family in 1922.

Oregon Jews, A to Z, an upcoming exhibition at the museum, sponsored by an Oregon Cultural Trust Cultural Development Grant. Opening in February, the exhibition brings history to life through a combination of artifacts and oral stories.

“The exhibition includes a balance of whimsy and weightiness, with its emphasis on storytelling,” says Judy Margles, the museum’s director of the past 24 years. “The goal is to encourage visitors to learn about the contributions of Jews in Oregon.”

Oral histories include a 1976 interview with Jimmy Berg (born 1914), who recalls how kids would translate films into Yiddish for their parents at the south Portland cinema, owned by Berg’s parents.

Ultimately, Margles says the exhibition demonstrates “the importance of culture through storytelling.”

Story by Max Tapogna

If preserving culture like this matters to you, please take a moment to learn about the Cultural Tax Credit.