WEIMAR, Germany (AFP) — A push to revitalize 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 perhaps 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 (AfD) party.

But the festivities, which drew visitors and artists from as far as the United States, Ukraine, and Australia, ended with a call from the event’s artistic director, Alan Bern, to protect a “diverse society” spanning many parts of the world.

At a concert performance in Weimar’s Marktplatz square, Bern reminded the audience that “we are standing on a square where fascism was once celebrated.”

“Here we are — and, until now, they’re not here!” Bern said to enthusiastic applause from the crowd.

After an open-air Yiddish singalong, Jana Wagner, a 55-year-old teacher, said the community get-together was “food for the........

© The Times of Israel