Maurice Wolfthal, a local Yiddish translator and writer, writes about discovering a copy of the Algemeyne entsiklopedye (General Encyclopedia) in the stacks of Fondren Library. The encyclopedia was created by a group of European Jewish intellectuals in order to educate European Jews in modern, secular topics in their own language. Now it remains as an important example of a flourishing pre-war Yiddish culture later destroyed by the Nazis.

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