Do chickens understand Yiddish? Hewlett's Seth Stern says they don't mind hearing it

Before Seth Stern became the editor for the Bloomberg News, he was a Hewlett native and a 1993 Hewlett High School graduate. He read the Nassau Herald growing up and a high school journalism class ignited his interest in the industry.

At law school in 1998, he was inspired to interview his grandmother, Holocaust survivor Bronia Grin, who grew up in Poland and came to the United States.

“Part of the story that really fascinated me the most was how she, my grandfather and about 1,000 other survivors wounded up as poultry farmers in South Jersey,” he said.

Off and on for about 25 years, he branched out and spoke to dozens of other survivors and kids who grew up in the farms in Vineland, New Jersey.

Now living in Maryland, he began writing during the pandemic using the information he gathered.

His book, “Speaking Yiddish to Chickens: Holocaust Survivors on South Jersey Poultry Farms,” was published in March.

New York was home to many Holocaust survivors in the first decade of World War II. Roughly 140,000 survivors came. A few thousand would choose to leave and live on American farms, like Bronia and her husband, Nuchin.

The book’s name, however, is part of a joke but has a meaning to it, he said.

“Part of the appeal of becoming chicken farmers was because chickens didn’t mind if you spoke Yiddish to them,” Stern said. “But there was a serious element to it because they heard about this opportunity to have a farm and it didn’t matter that you didn’t know English. The appeal was sort of an idea like being your own boss, having your own farm and most them had never farmed.”

Outside of his grandparents, the book revolves around interviews with dozens of farmers and children who grew up on the farm.

During the 25 years of research in search of survivors who lived on the farms, he would visit Vineland to speak with people who may have known his grandparents. He also made a trip to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, which contained video interviews and transcripts with survivors who settled on the farms.

Stern said he interviewed between nearly 90 people, including experts on farming. With the hope of making the story as personal as it can be to explain Jewish farming in the United States.

The story is told chronologically, showing the community’s growth from the late 1940s and early ’50s, including the construction of small synagogues.

“I show how they build a community, how they interacted with the Jewish community that existed at the time,” he said. “It was a very unique place.

Childhood memories became more vivid when Stern had a Meet the Author event at Chabad of Hewlett on July 10, a short walk from his former high school.

“It was really special to be able to share with an audience,” he said. “Many of the people were friends, including Dorothy (Liverant), who grew up on the farm. Some of them never knew that Jews farmed and to share it with people for whom it was completely new was great to.”

“Speaking Yiddish to Chickens: Holocaust Survivors on South Jersey Poultry Farms” is available on Amazon.