Index
Abchuk, A., 169, 170
Abramovitch, S.Y., 34–5, 66, 112, 141, 166, 183, 205–6
Acculturation, 23
advertising, 105, 106–8, 109, 146, 147, 249
Aftergrowth (Vidervuks), 151–3, 180
breakup of, 158
merger with Stream, 153
Agamaly-Ogdy, Samed, 82
Agitprop (Agitation and Propaganda Division of the Communist Party), 21, 97, 105, 126
agricultural colonies, 10, 23, 112
Agrojoint, 105
Agursky, Shmuel, 95, 110, 160, 180
The October Revolution in Belorussia, 110
The Revolutionary Movement in Belorussia, 57
Ahad Ha’am, 27, 111
Akselrod, Zelik, 158–9, 166, 169, 180–1
Aksenfeld, Yisroel, 34–5
Albatros, 148, 152
Alexander I, 43
Alphabet Reform, 60
Altshuler, M., anti-religion activist, 113
Altshuler, Mordechai, 20
ambivalence about the effects of the Revolution, 180, 182, 184, 185, 196, 213, 215–19
American Jews, 16
anarchism, 37
Anderson, Benedict, 7, 64
anti–Jewish-holiday campaign, 113–14, 205
anti-clerical campaign, 113
anti-cosmopolitan campaign, 218
anti-Semitism, 10, 88, 100, 109, 114, 192
fight against, 11, 57, 102
purges of 1948–1952, 2
racial, 10
Arabic, 82, 84
Armenians, 39
“Art for art’s sake,” 139
Ash, Sholem, 141
Ashkenaz, 30, 90
Jews, 31
culture, 32
assimilation, 5, 8, 13, 16, 18, 19, 24, 26, 39, 43, 55–9, 72, 209
Association of Revolutionary Yiddish Writers of Ukraine, 167–8
Ataturk, 81
atheism, 8, 11
autonomism, 26
autonomy, 19, 22, 45, 101
national and cultural, 8, 9, 17, 20, 23, 40, 41, 48
avant-garde, 22, 74, 110
Azerbaijan,
Baku, capital of, 58
Central Executive Committee, 82
Latinized Azeri newspaper, 82
Ba’al Makhshoves, 123
Babel, Isaac, 12, 231
backshadowing, 3, 4
Baginen. See journals, Beginning
Bagritsky, Eduard, 12
Belorussia, 109, 158
Belorussian Academy of Sciences, 183
cultural institutions in, 59
language, 25, 62
newspapers in, 124
people, 22
publishing in, 124
See also Language Reform
Ben Yehuda, Ben Tsion, 86
Berdichev, Ukraine, 101
Berdichevsky, Micah, 179, 194
Bergelson, David, 74, 76, 123, 138, 149, 159–60, 162–5, 166, 216–18
At the Train Station (Arum vokzal), 91
reconciliation with the Soviet Union, 164, 178
The Severity of the Law (Midas HaDin), 129
“Three Centers” (Dray tsentern), 164
When All is Said and Done (Nokh Alemen), 147
Berlin, Germany, 18, 136, 163, 164
Bernstein, Michael, 3
Bialik, C.N., 49–50, 111, 123, 126, 149, 164, 166, 258
Bible, 30
allusions in Soviet Yiddish literature, 148, 151, 183, 189, 195, 200
in Soviet schools, 41
Torah, 71, 141
in Yiddish, 33
bilingualism, 37, 40, 44, 63, 64
internal Jewish, 31, 38, 39, 71, 236
Birobidzhan, 23, 112, 122, 132, 170, 219
Blium, Arlen, 48
Blue Rider (Blaue Reiter), 190
Bogdanov, Alexander, 143
Bolsheviks, 3, 4, 9, 14, 28
Jewish, 92, 93–95
policy, 21
“Speaking Bolshevik,” 16
See also Communism, Russian Social Democratic Workers’ Party
bookstores, 108
Borochov, Ber, 65–7, 71, 87
“The Tasks of Yiddish Philology,” 65
bourgeois, 6, 17, 42, 52, 71, 85, 95, 130
accusations of being, 147, 175
Bovshover, Joseph, 96
Brenner, Yosef, 111
Briusov Institute for Art and Literature, 158, 180–1
Broderzon, Moshe, 145
Bronshteyn, Yashe, 158, 160, 170, 216
literary critic of Kharik, 181, 185, 189, 196, 205
Bukharan Jews, 12, 52, 54–5
Bukhbinder, Nokhum, 95
Bulgarian, 65
Bund, General Jewish Workers’ Union, 8, 14, 16–17, 19, 24–5, 26–7, 37, 92, 94, 99, 130, 230
bureaucracy, 11, 12, 13, 20, 28, 29, 42, 127
capitalism, 9, 13, 22, 117
cartoons, in newspapers, 94, 116–17
Bris in Locarno, 117
Catherine I, 43
Caucasus, 43, 82
censorship, 48, 125
censors, 4, 28, 48
Glavlit (the Main Administration for Literature), 28, 80, 125–6, 128–9, 156
Leningrad Regional censor, Gublit, 49
self-censorship, 168
visible censorship, 171, 177
census,
of 1897, 91
of 1926, 18, 52, 59
of 1989, 18
Central Asia, 20, 43, 82, 85
Central Asian University, 73
Latinization in, 86
Chagall, Marc, 103, 121, 141, 145–6, 191, 256
Chaikov, Joseph, 141, 145–6, 255
Charny, Daniel, 24, 70, 97, 99, 145–50, 155–6, 163, 241
Charon, Mikhas, translations of, 161
Chemerinsky, Alexander, 27, 53, 74, 99, 102, 130, 159, 170, 217
Cheskis, Avrom, 99
children’s literature, 110–11
Christians, 11, 205
Christian Europe, 148
the cross in Yiddish literature, 190
circulating newspapers, 94, 105
circulation of newspapers, 108–9, 116, 160
civil society, 33
Civilizing Mission, 9
Clark, Katerina, 168
class, 5, 27, 95
collaborators, 4
collectivization, 22, 201, 203, 206, 208
Commissariat
Belorussian Enlightenment, 158, 180
Council for National Minorities (Sovnatsmen), 51, 75
Council of People’s Commissars (Sovnarkom), 82, 104, 126
Enlightenment (Narkompros), 28, 41–4, 62, 69, 132, 137
Jewish Bureau, Subdivision of, 45, 53, 68, 69, 70, 79, 145
finance, 131
Jewish, 20, 41–43, 69, 95, 96, 99, 101, 232
Nationalities, 20–2, 41, 42, 50
Jewish Division of, 48–9, 53
People’s Education, 42–5
Ukrainian Enlightenment, 139
Central Jewish Bureau of, 50, 72, 75, 78, 123, 127–9
Communism, 6, 9, 13, 18, 190, 195
Communist ideology, 17, 135, 183, 212
Communist Academy, 29
Communist Club, Moscow, 155
Communist International, 6, 7
Communist Party, 1, 4, 6, 8–13, 14–15, 19, 21–2, 25, 27–9, 49, 60, 69, 81, 86, 99, 129–30, 135, 147, 216
Belorussian Communist Party, 62, 182, 217
Central Committee of, 125, 126–7, 134, 177
Communist Education, 6
Communists, 6, 8, 13, 14, 20, 42, 95
Organizational Bureau of, 105
Party Congresses, 22, 218
Politburo of, 114, 162
Secretariat, 62, 131
privileges of membership in, 153
Sponsor of Yiddish culture, 159
Ukrainian Communist Party, 21
Uzbek Communist Party, 55
Communist University for National Minorities, 27
Communities
Jewish, 8, 11, 12, 15
linguistic, 59
Construction (Boy) literary group, 167, 173, 177–8
Constructivism, 115–16
typography, 117–20
Courts, 22
Crimea, 45
agricultural settlement in, 23
Crimean Jews, 52
Cultural Congress
first All-Union Jewish, 77
Second All-Union Jewish, 77–81, 83
Cultural Revolution, 132, 133, 168–9, 172, 216
culture
institutions, 5, 16, 17, 22, 23, 59, 77, 113, 147, 216
print, 7, 13, 34, 35, 89, 110, 123, 161
production of, 4, 11
Yiddish-language, 6, 19, 41, 55, 59, 89, 104
Cyrillic alphabet, 70
Czernowitz Language Conference, 5, 38–9, 40, 65, 68, 83
Dagestani Jews, 12, 16, 52–4, 238
and Yiddish, 53
decolonization, 9
Depression, 177
Der Nister, 99–100, 123, 138, 144, 145, 160, 178
In the Wilderness (In midber), 147
Nisterism, charges of, 169, 177–8
Under a Fence (Unter a ployt), 159, 172
dictionaries, 65 See also Yiddish
Dimanshteyn, Semen, 28–9, 30, 41, 42, 86, 95, 104, 130–1, 217
dissident movements, 4
distribution networks, 92, 98, 105, 108–9
export of Yiddish books, 103
Division of Print (Mossovet otdel pechati), 48, 156
Dobrushin, Yehezkiel, 138, 141, 144, 146, 150, 158, 159, 166–7, 179, 181–2, 185, 201
“In shtetls,” 138
“Our Literature,” 147
“Three Poets,” 142
Dubnov, Shimon, 123
Dunets, Khatskel, 206, 212, 216
Eastern Europe, 4, 6, 11, 18, 30–1, 37
Jewish culture in, 24, 27, 30, 32–9
editors, 79, 121
Ehrenburg, Ilya, 231
Ekran. See Journals, Screen
Emes (Truth), 16, 19, 28, 68, 69, 86, 94, 95, 96–8, 99–100, 105–8, 109, 112–14, 124–5, 144, 145, 146, 181
attempts to close down, 130–1
marketing campaign for, 109
emigration, 113
empires, 9
“Affirmative Action,” 9
Hapsburg, 9, 34
multinational, 8, 9, 17, 22
Soviet, 15
See also Russian Empire
Englander, Nathan, 1, 2, 3, 218–19
English, 18
Enlightenment, 8, 15, 32–3, 37, 44–5, 64, 92, 100, 116, 138, 183, 212
See also Haskalah
Epshteyn, Shakhne, 99
as editor of Red World, 169
Equality of Condition, 17, 19
Equality of Opportunity, 17, 19
Erik, Max, 73, 163
Ermolaev, Herman, 125
Esenin, Sergei, 149, 200
nostalgia in the work of, 192
Estonian, publishing in, 104
Estraikh, Gennady, 3, 59, 62
ethnic minorities, 5, 7, 9, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 59, 61, 129
intelligentsias, 9, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21, 24, 27, 132, 216
laws protecting the rights of, 39
print culture of, 89
Russia’s relations with, 39
state policy toward, 9, 10, 20, 23, 41, 131, 230
Etinger, Shloyme, 34
Serkele, 35
Evsektsiia (Jewish Sections of the Communist Party), 13, 14, 20, 21, 25, 53–4, 96–7, 99, 101, 106, 143, 155, 159, 160, 164
as regulator of regional Yiddish press, 121
Central Bureau of, 21–2, 27, 88, 124, 125–6, 145, 176
closing of, 23, 131
conferences, 56, 150
Main Bureau of the Ukrainian, 46, 122, 123, 176
role in suppressing Hebrew, 46, 48
Expressionism, 115, 136, 138, 148, 179–80, 183, 185, 189, 192, 196
and the visual arts, 190
Eygns. See Journals, Our Own
famine, 112, 148
Fefer, Itsik, 149, 151–2, 157, 158, 159, 165, 168, 196, 216–18
editor of Prolit, 170
editor of Red World, 172
Splinters (Shpener), 151–2
Feldman, David, 167, 177–8
fellow travelers, 135, 137, 158, 162, 171, 177, 183
Finenberg, Ezra, 127, 146, 150, 151, 167
Fishman, Joshua, 32, 38, 62
Five-Year Plan, 13, 22, 201
Fogel, David, 204
Folkspartay, 145
French language, 33
Friedberg, Maurice, 115
Frumkina, Esther, 5, 25–6, 27, 28, 57, 93, 103, 110, 159, 165, 215–17, 219
at the Czernowitz conference, 39
Lenin and His Work, 110
October Revolution, 110
Funkenstein, Amos, 2
Futurism, 115, 136, 142, 184
Gang (Khalyastre) literary group, 136, 163
Gellner, Ernest, 66
genre, 184
lyric, 184
“Revolutionary lyricists,” 186
Georgian, 16, 21, 36, 132
Jews, 52, 238
socialist tradition, 89
German
and its relationship to Yiddish, 65
language, 7, 9, 31, 33, 63–4, 82, 84, 85
people, 10, 133, 218
Soviet publishing in, 82, 104, 108, 133
Gershenzon, Mikhail, 51–2
Gezerd (Society for Settling Jews on the Land), 29
Gildin, Chaim, 153–7, 165, 170–1
editor of Red World, 172
Hamer Klang, 154
Gitelman, Zvi, 218
Glatshteyn, Jacob, 60
Glazman, Baruch, 1, 229
Gnessin, Mikhail, 51, 237
Gnessin, Uri, 111
Godiner, Shmuel, 150, 159
Goldman, Yashe, 171
Goldstein, Rebecca, 1–8
Gomel, Russia, 97, 154
Jewish Teacher’s College in, 202
Gordon, Sholem, 146, 149
Gorky, Maxim, 49
Gosizdat. See Publishing Houses
Gottlober, A.B., 33, 34
Granovsky, Alexander, 103, 150
Gray, Camilla, 121
Great Break, 201
Greek,
Alexis, Greek language reformer, 63
Demotika, 63
Katarevusa, 63
Pontic, 63
See also language reform
Greenbaum, Alfred, 126
Grinberg, Uri Tsvi, 163, 185
“Uri Tsvi Before the Cross” (Uri Tsvi farn tselem), 190
Gulfstream (Holfshtrom), Ukrainian futurist journal, 146
Gurshteyn, Aaron, 148, 159
Gypsies, See Roma
Halkin, Shmuel, 149, 153, 176
Ha-shomer ha-tsair (The Young Guard), 46
Hasidism, 28, 33–4, 43
Haskalah, 32–7, 183–4, 189, 195
maskilim, 34–7, 183–4, 186
See also Enlightenment
Hebraism, 38–9, 40, 43–4, 50, 61, 65, 68, 87
Hebrew
and nationalism, 42
as a native language, 46, 53
Bereshit, 49
calendar controversy, 47–9, 126
Dawn (Ha-shachar), 195
education in, 42–7
Feuilletons, 12
grammar, 35
journals, 34
language, 7, 8–13, 26, 28, 30, 35, 37, 39, 185, 232
literature in translation, 111
modern Hebrew culture, 33, 35, 40, 41, 47, 50–1, 163
nation, 10, 40
publishing in, 47
in Soviet schools, 41–2, 54, 59
study groups, 4
suppression of, 6, 11, 12, 39, 47–52, 111, 236
teachers, 112
use by maskilim, 34
See also Loshn koydesh, Nationalism
He-haluts, 130
Helmond, Sh., 157
Hirsch, Francine, 9
Hitler, Adolf, 10
Hofshteyn, David, 12, 24, 51–2, 99–100, 103, 123, 138, 141, 145, 146, 151–2, 159–60, 163, 176, 182–3, 204, 216–18
as a proletarian writer, 168, 172
as an impressionist, 185
“City,” 141
On Bright Ruins (Af likhtike ruinen), 163
“Springtime,” 138
“Ukraine,” 149
Holocaust, 2, 3, 218
identity, 7, 25, 211
factory’s collective, 94
intelligentsia’s collective, 25
Jewish, 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 25, 41, 52, 56, 113, 194, 201, 204
national, 7, 16, 17, 36, 41
proletarian, 20
religious, 11
Ignatovsky, V., 62
illustrations, 116
imaginism, 169, 183
imperialism, 7, 9
cultural, 20, 53
theories of, 9
Impressionism, 91, 136, 138–9, 157, 185
industrialization, 22, 201, 203, 206
ink, quality of, 117
Institute for Belorussian Culture, 62, 73–4, 78
Institute for Jewish Culture, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (Institute for Jewish Proletarian Culture), 28, 74, 80, 86
institutionalization, of Soviet culture, 134
intellectuals, 5, 7
Eastern European Jewish, 7, 18, 35, 64
populist, 5
Soviet Jewish, 4, 8, 16, 58, 213
International Women’s Day, 95, 210–11
Introspectivism (In Zikh) literary group, 70
Jargon, 5, 26, 37, 61, 64, 130
Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, 218
Jewish continuity, 194
Jewish population, 18, 21, 74, 91, 115
“Jewish psychology,” 96
Jewish Social Committee (Evobshchestkom), 105
Jewish workers, 6, 14, 16–17, 26
journals, Yiddish, 115
Battle (Kamf), 143
Cling Clang (Kling Klang), 146
Communist World (Komunistishe Velt), 69, 97
Culture and Enlightenment (Kultur un Bildung), 56, 68–70
Dawn (Baginen), 139–42, 168, 195
Emes journal, 116
Emigrant, 156
Life and Scholarship (Lebn un visnshaft), 65, 83
New Earth (Nayerd), 165, 181
New World (Nayvelt), 155–6
October, 157–8, 165, 181
Our Own (Eygns), 136, 137, 138–42, 168
Pioner, 131, 181
Pomegranate (Milgroym), 136, 164
Prolit, 163, 170, 171–2
Red World (Royte Velt), 123, 159–61, 162, 166, 170, 171–2, 181
Register (Der pinkas), 65, 72–3, 74, 75
Screen (Ekran), 155
Soviet Enlightenment (Ratnbildung), 128
Star (Shtern), Minsk, 157, 160–1, 162, 170, 172, 181–2
Stream (Shtrom), 136, 145–50, 151–3, 155–6, 162, 163, 175, 177, 181
editors, 51–2
manifesto, 146
Sunrise (Oyfgang), 142, 195
Uphill (Barg Aroyf), 153
Waves (Khvalyes), 143–4, 146, 153, 180
Yiddish Language (Di Yidishe Shprakh), 62, 75–7, 80
Yidish, 72, 73, 75
Young Forest (Yungvald), 120, 131, 181
journalism
Bolshevik, 99
Jewish, 112, 251
Russian, 116
Judaism, 6, 10, 15, 26
persecution of, 6, 112
Judeo-Tadzhik, 12, 54–5, 64
Latinization of, 83, 85
in schools, 55
Judeo-Tat, 12, 54, 238
Latinization of, 83
publishing in, 54
textbooks in, 54
Kalinin, Mikhail, 208
Kamenev, Lev, 23–4
Kamenshteyn, Moshe, 84
Kamf. See journals, Battle
Kandinsky, Vladimir, 190
Karaite Jews, 52, 238
Kassof, Brian, 171
Kazakevitch, Henekh, 93, 123, 159–60, 175
Khachevatsky, Moshe, 151, 158, 159–60
Thirst (Dorsht), 152
Khalyastre. See The Gang
Kharik, Izi (Israel), 149–50, 157, 158–9, 166, 179, 213, 215–18, 219
as A.Z. Zembin, 180
as editor-in-chief of Star, Minsk, 166
“Beneath Red Banners (Unter royte fonen), 180
“Bread,” 191–3
“Letter To/From Moscow,” 206–9
member of the Communist Party, 179
member of the Union of Soviet Writers, 179
Minsk Swamps (Minsker Blotes), 158, 181
and the “native foreigner,” 191
On the Land (Af der erd), 181, 185, 198
“Pass On, You Sad Grandfathers” (Fargeyt, Ir umetike zeydes), 193–4
“Shtetl,” 188–91
Trembling (Tsiter), 180
With Body and Soul (Mit layb un lebn), 182, 201–12
Writing in Russian, 12, 113
“In Your Little Houses (In dayne hayzelekh), 196–201
Kharkov, Ukraine, 18, 21, 72, 73–4, 123, 128–9, 242
as a center for Soviet Jewish culture, 159, 160
Khenkina, Mira, 144, 168
Khorol, Dvoyre, 168
Khozraschet (economic self-sufficiency), 104
Khvalyes. See journals, Waves
Kiev, Ukraine, 18, 21, 25, 27–8, 73–5, 139, 143
as a publishing center, 91, 103, 123, 128–9
Kiev Group literary circle, 151, 162–4, 166, 180
Kiper, Moshe, 172
Kipnis, Itsik, 127, 153, 168, 169
Klal yisrael (The Jewish people), 26
Klyatskin, Dvoyre, 146
Kol Mevaser. See newspapers
Komsomol (Communist Youth League), 21, 143, 151, 171, 211
Communist Pioneers, 208
Korenizatsiia. See Nativization
Krasnaia Nov’. See Russian-language journals, Red Virgin Soil
Krutikov, Mikhail, 255
Kulbak, Moshe, 259
Kushnirov, Aaron, 146, 150, 155, 157, 175, 202
Kuznitsa. See The Smithy
Kvitko, Leyb, 24, 123, 138, 141, 160, 162, 166, 167, 173–6, 182, 216, 260
editor of Red World, 173–6
Gerangl (Struggle), 175
Kvitko Affair, 173–6
“In a Red Storm,” 141
Ladino, 30, 63
landlessness, 10
language academies, 60–1
Academie Française, 61
Hebrew Language Committee, 61
language reform, 78
Belorussian, 62–3, 82
German, 82
Greek, 63
politics of, 60–3, 83
reformers as a vanguard, 79
Yiddish, 64, 70, 75, 85
See also Greek, Yiddish
language, 3, 5, 8, 10, 33
of high culture, 7, 184
Jewish vernaculars, 30–1, 159–60
of the Metropole, 9
multilingualism, 12
national, 26, 39
native, 5, 7, 9, 12, 18, 40, 41–3, 53, 60, 89
politics of, 34, 37–8, 40, 41, 60, 76, 85
role in Soviet Jewish cultural politics, 3, 5, 7, 10, 76
vernacular, 7, 30–1, 44, 63, 76, 90
See also German, Hebrew, Russian, Ukrainian, Yiddish
Latin, 64
Comparison to Hebrew, 51
Latinization, 55, 65, 70, 81
Beginning (Unhojb), 83
of Azerbaijani, 81
of Hebrew, 86
of Mongolian languages, 83
of Ossetian, 81
of Russian, 84
of Yakut, 81
of Yiddish, 81–7
Our Script (Unser Shrift), 83
plans in Chinese territory, 83
plans in Karelian territory, 83
plans in Korean territory, 83
Latvian, publishing in, 104
Lebedev-Poliansky, Pavel, 126
LEF, Futurist group, 135, 150
Lefin, Mendel, 33, 183
Lekert, Hirsh, 112
Lenin, Vladimir, 7, 9, 16–17, 19, 28, 92, 93, 205–6, 215
Critical Remarks on the National Question, 16
his concept of national privilege, 16–17
his works in Yiddish, 19, 27, 89
Leningrad, 18, 49, 101
Lenoe, Matthew, 94, 133
Leshtsinsky, Yakov, 99–100
Levin, Chana, 159–60
Levinson, Yitzhak Ber, 34
Levitan, Mikhail, 5, 6–7, 8, 13, 44, 60, 74–5, 127, 128, 159–60, 170
Leyvik, H., 141, 162
liberals, 40
libraries, 50, 108
Central Jewish Library in Moscow, 180
Central Minsk Jewish Workers’ Club Library, 203
Lifshitz, Yehoshua, 36, 64
lingua franca, 183. See also Russian
linguistics, 65, 74
linguists, 61, 67, 77, 79
Linguistics Research Institute in Kharkov, 72
Lissitsky, El, 116, 120, 141
literacy, 10, 93
literary criticism, 2–13, 27, 136, 143
literary history, 137, 149, 203
Jewish, 151
Proletarian, 96, 165–6
literature,
Party’s regulation of, 161, 162, 168
role in constructing Soviet society, 134
Litfront literary group, 172
Lithuania, 14, 27
workers, 17
Yiddish in, 67
Litvak, A., 141–2
“Literature and Life,” 141
Litvakov, Moshe, 27–8, 79, 86, 92, 99, 103, 116, 123, 126–7, 130, 154, 159, 170, 176, 213, 219
attacks against, 173, 217–18
editor of Emes, 16, 28, 116, 248
his Party autobiography, 233
In Umru, 27
literary critic, 138–9, 154
Litvakovism charges of, 217
Lodz, Poland, 136
London, England, 18
Loshn koydesh (the holy tongue), 30–1, 64
literature in, 31
Lunacharsky, A.V., 49, 67, 210
Lurie, Noyekh, 167, 169
Luther, Martin, publishing the Bible in German, 90
Makagon, Aaron, 88
Malevich, Kasimir, 121
Mandelshtam, Osip, 12
Manifestos, Literary, 136
Marc, Franz, 190
Markish, Perets, 24, 138, 141, 144, 145, 159–60, 162–4, 166, 177, 178, 182, 216
“Dawn,” 138
“The Heap” (Di Kupe), 185–6
“Hunger,” 148
One Generation Goes, Another One Comes (Dor oys, dor ayn), 177
Thresholds (Shveln), 185
“Veyland,” 148
Marr, Nikolai, 51
Marshak, B., 75, 128–9
Martin, Terry, 9, 60, 89
martyrs, of Soviet Yiddish culture, 146
Marx, Karl, 11, 172
translations of, 89
Marxism, 16, 19
maskilim, 7, 15, 92
See also Haskalah
Mayakovsky, Vladimir, 142, 183, 184
For the Voice, 120
Mayzl, Nachman, 91, 138
Mendele. See Abramovitch, S.Y.
Mensheviks, 23–4
Merezhin, Avrom, 20, 53, 56, 99, 109, 156, 159
Meyerovitch, Daniel, 149, 158, 176
Midrash, 32
migration, 18, 208, 237
Mikhoels, Shlomo, 150
Mikitenko, I.K., 217
Milgroym. See journals, Pomegranate
Minsk, Belorussia, 21, 25, 26, 36, 72–3, 74, 180–2
Minsk Group of Proletarian Critics and Editors, 176
Minsk Jewish Lenin Club, 202
Miron, Dan, 186, 189
Mitlinsky, Y., 68–9
Mitnagdim (The Opponents), 43
Modernism, 14, 27, 89, 91, 115–16, 121, 136–7, 148, 185, 189, 212, 216, 256
multilingualism in Jewish, 149, 204
Russian, 145, 150
Soviet Hebrew, 49
Ukrainian, 137, 139
Yiddish, 141, 146, 159, 181–2, 183
modernization, 7, 8, 9, 15, 18, 32–3, 41, 184, 191, 201, 203, 230
of language, 61, 64, 72, 85, 87
of the shtetl, 192, 201, 209
Mordovian, Yakstere Teshte, 108
Morgenstern, Christian, 143
Moscow Circle of Yiddish Writers and Artists, 24, 145–50, 158, 163, 181
Moscow, Russia, 18, 21, 22, 25, 28, 49, 59, 70–2, 73–4, 82, 95, 98, 101–2, 144–5
center of modernism, 136
center of Soviet Yiddish culture, 88, 97, 111, 122
during the Civil War, 145
Mystetstvo. See Ukrainian-language journals, Art
Na postu. See Russian-language journals, On Guard
“Naked speech,” 152
Narkompros, See Commissariat
nation, 1–8, 10, 12, 16, 23, 32, 96
liberation movements, 9
nation-building, 13, 16, 19, 149, 229
Russian, 7
Soviet Jewish, 5, 8, 10, 18, 41, 53, 87
“National deviations,” 22–3
rise of, 32–9
nationalism, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 16, 36, 46, 61, 66, 79
anti-colonial, 9
bourgeois, 17, 216
and Communism, 137
fear of, 19–20, 22–3, 63, 132, 168
Jewish, 10, 15, 26–9, 50, 91, 92, 96, 164, 183
linguistic, 64
Romantic, 71
scholarship on, 7
Ukrainian, 137
Nationalities Institute, Central Executive Committee, 29
nationality, 5, 12, 18, 21. See also Soviet policies
nationhood, 5, 16, 66
nativization (korenizatsiia), 22–3, 25–6, 27, 55, 59, 72–3, 114, 238
Nazis, 11
New Economic Policy (NEP), 21–2, 78, 104–6, 110, 123, 131, 161, 185, 208
New Turkic Alphabet Commission, 82
New York, United States, 18, 136
news, 121
newspapers, 5, 7, 38, 40, 77, 79, 80, 92, 93–5, 98, 121, 123
Advocate (Ha-melits), 35
Alarm (Der Veker), 92, 180, 247
Bolshevik Yiddish, 92
Communist Banner (Komunistishe Fon), 93, 94, 152, 153–4
Dawn (Rassvet), 33
Forward (Forverts), 117, 165
Fraynd, 240
Freedom (Frayhayt), 100, 162
Herald (Kol Mevaser), 35–6
The Jewish Peasant (Der yidisher poyer), 111–12
Kavkaz Rosta, 54
Kiev Voice (Kievskaia Mysl’), 27
Kurantin, Kol Mevaser, 90
Latest News (Letste Nayes), 68, 241
Moment, 90, 91
New Times (Naye Tsayt), 27, 68, 92, 151, 241
News (Yedies), 129
Party, 24
Pravda, 57
Revolution and Nationalities (Revoliustiia I natsional’nost’), 29
subscriptions, 105
Today (Haynt), 91
The Truth (Ha-emes), 95
Truth (Varhayt), 95–6, 97
The Week (Di vokh), 97
Workers’ Voice (Arbeter Shtime), 8
See also Emes, Star, October
Nicholas I, Tsar, 34–5
Niepomniashchy, Shlomo, 158, 164, 181, 213, 248
Niger, Shmuel, 24, 65, 70, 97, 100, 184, 241
Nikolaev, Ukraine, 18
Nizhnii Novgorod, Russia, 41
nostalgia in the creation of Soviet Yiddish culture, 179, 186, 196, 198, 200
Nuremberg Laws, 10, 231
Nusinov, Yitzhak, 150–1, 152, 159
October (Oktyabr), Minsk, 78, 94, 122, 123, 131, 160, 181–2
October proletarian writers’ group, 135
Odessa, Ukraine, 49, 98
On the Language Front. See journals, Yiddish Language
Opatoshu, Joseph, 113, 128
oral newspapers, 93–4
Orland, Hershl, 176
Orshansky, Ber, 157, 160–1, 170
orthography, 65, 68–72, 78, 144
Central Orthographic Commission, 81, 84–6, 87
eliminating final letters from Yiddish, 80
implementation of standard, 80–1
Orthographic Dictionary, 81, 85
reform in handwritten Yiddish, 244
simplification of, 78
special status of Hebrew root words in Yiddish, 64, 68, 69, 71, 209
standardization of, 73, 75, 77–81, 208
Osherovitch, Elyohu, 160
Oyfgang. See journals, Sunrise
Oyslender, Nokhum, 73, 144, 146, 150, 151, 153, 157, 167
Pale of Settlement, 18, 39–40, 67, 91, 112
Palestine, 37, 96, 163, 185
paper, 50, 92, 100
Commissariat, 100
consumption, 100
Jewish control over distribution, 101
quality of, 117
rationing of, 88, 100
theft of, 88
parallelism, in publishing, 103
Paris, France, 27, 136
commune, 116
Passover, 6, 190
Haggadot, 113
peasants, 21
Jewish, 111, 116
Pedagogy, 42, 44, 60, 67, 69, 80, 82, 236
Perets, Y.L., 66, 166
“If Not Higher,” 205
Persov, Shmuel, 150, 159
Petrograd, See Leningrad
philosophies, Modern European, 7, 189
photography, 115–16
pilgrimmage to the Soviet Union, 165
Pinkas. See journals, Register
Plekhanov, Georgy, 14
Poalei Tsion, 65
Proletarian Thought (Proletarskaia Mysl’), 130
poets, 8, 14, 38
pogroms, 95, 97, 138, 141, 148
Poland, 14, 21
Polish,
Hammer and Sickle (Mlot i serp), 106
language 7, 33
modern Jewish culture in, 35
people, 10, 17, 39, 217
publishing in, 104, 124
Tribuna, 106
Yiddish in, 67
political correctness, 127
political literature, in Yiddish, 110
popular science, 111
Populism, 4, 20, 36, 37, 44, 63, 92
See also Intellectuals
Portnoy, Efraim, 159–60
power,
imperial, 29
national minorities’, 21
negotiation of, 12, 15, 48, 49, 145
Soviet Yiddish intelligentsia’s, 12, 28, 43, 216
See also publishing
press crisis, 105, 109, 121
prices, book, 105
print culture. See culture
print houses, 49, 54, 101–2
Sixteenth State, 102
Emes, 102, 130
printers, Jewish, 34
printing press, 100
professionalization, 77
of writers, 180
Proletarian culture, 137, 145, 168, 170, 201
antimodernism in, 154, 169
ideology, 144
Lenin’s conception of, 135
Proletarian literature, 155, 161, 182, 184
All Union Association of Proletarian Writers (VAPP), Jewish Section, 172–3
Belorussian Association of Proletarian Writers (BelAPP), 166, 182
dissolution of RAPP, 178
Free Academy of Proletarian Literature (VAPLITE), 169
Jewish section of MAPP, 155, 157, 158, 170–1, 175
Jewish section of VUSP, 165, 171–2, 176
Moscow Association of (MAPP), 135
Proletkult, 143, 153–5
Russian Association of (RAPP), 133
Ukrainian Association of Proletarian Writers (UkAPP), 133
Ukrainian Proletarian Writers Group (VUSP), 163
writers, 158, 179
Yiddish literary organization, 154, 156
Young Worker (Yunger Arbeter), 166
propaganda, 3, 6, 19, 41, 60, 89, 97, 109
propagandists, 3, 4, 53, 93
provisional government, 39, 40, 92
pseudonyms,
maskilic uses of, 34
pre-modern uses of, 32
Soviet uses of, 180
publishing
becoming an industry, 91
book, 18, 86–7, 106, 110, 115, 144
centralization of, 50, 91, 105, 129–31
languages of ethnic minorities, 102, 103–4, 106, 123
publications, 13, 24, 71, 79, 101, 103
publishers, 4, 79, 88
regionalism and, 129–30
regulatory power over, 48, 103, 123–4, 125, 126, 127
Russian-language, 91, 104, 126, 132
Soviet publishing industry, 98, 100
state subsidies for, 105–6
Tsarist-era restrictions on, 90
publishing houses, 2, 8, 38, 80–1, 89, 90, 98, 105, 106, 165, 185, 216
All-Ukrainian Literary Committee, 123
Art Publishing House (Kunst farlag), 91
Book Seller (Knihospilka) Publishing House, 84, 123
Central Publishing House for National Minorities of the West (CWP), 104
Central Publishing House for National Minorities of the Soviet Union (Tsentroizdat), 104, 111, 114, 131, 175
Communist World (Komunistishe Velt), 99–100, 103, 145
Culture League (Kultur Lige), 27, 51–2, 75, 103, 105, 110–11, 123–4, 127–9, 131, 142, 146, 150, 163
Lyric (Lirik), 151
Path of Enlightenment (Put’ prosveshcheniia), 123
People’s Publishing House (Folksfarlag), 123
Progress Publishing House, 91
Red Path (Chervonyi Shliakh), 159
School and Book (Shul un Bukh) publishing house, 13, 28, 103, 109, 111, 124, 131
State Publishing House of Belorussia, (Belgoizdat) 73, 124, 202
State Publishing House of the Russian Republic (Gosizdat), 47, 100–1, 103, 125–6, 129, 145, 159
Ukrainian Central Executive Committee Publishing House, 123
Ukrainian State Publishing House (Gosizdat Ukraine), 123
Ukrainian Worker (Ukrainskii rabochii), 123
Purges, 3, 24, 86, 102, 153
Great Purges, 2, 13, 28, 153, 216, 219
See also anti-Semitism
Pyatigorskaya, Anyuta, 168
rabbis, 10, 15, 26, 28, 114
arrest of, 11, 215
Rabbinic literature, 30, 31, 33, 90
Rabin, Yosef, 157, 175
Rabinowitch, Osip, 33
race, theories of, 10
radio, journalistic use of, 121
Ravitch, Melekh, 163
reading audience, 93, 202
reading rooms, 114
Red Army, 20, 22, 99, 138–9, 144, 154
Refuseniks, 4
regional newspapers, 97
religion, 85
groups, 12
leaders of, 112
organizations, 7
in Soviet schools, 42
repression, 4
resisters, 4
revolutions
Bolshevik/October Revolution, 5, 9, 14, 17, 28, 55, 67, 92, 98, 101, 147, 150, 179
February, 14, 27, 39–40, 47, 92, 145
French, 14
of 1905, 27, 28, 37, 91
Proletarian, 9, 22
Soviet socialist, 13
Reyzen, Avrom, 117
Reyzen, Zalman, 162
Reznik, Lipe, 146, 150–1, 159, 167
Rivess, Avrom, 171
Rodchenko, Alexander, 116
Roma, 10
Romanticism, 64, 191
Rosh Hashanah, 113
Rosin, Shmuel, 146, 150, 175
Rozenhoyz, Leyme, 73
Russian
as an imperial language, 41, 43, 55–6, 61
as a language of modernization, 33, 57
as a native language for Jews, 58
Civil War, 2, 20, 50, 73, 78, 93, 97, 98–9, 106, 121, 136, 162, 179–80
culture, 5, 8, 12, 17, 24
Empire, 7, 9, 14, 34
intelligentsia, 11, 12, 98
Jews, 16, 57
language, 6, 7, 18–19, 20, 25–6, 55
literature, 134
modern Jewish culture in, 35, 48
newspapers in Belorussia, 124
orthographic reform, 67, 71
people, 10, 11
press, 94
Soviet culture in, 41
the Soviet lingua franca, 59, 230, 231
and the Soviet Yiddish Intelligentsia, 56
teaching Jewish children, 40
workers, 17
Russian-language journals,
Dawn (Rassvet), 195
Jewish Tribune (Evreiskaia Tribuna), 56
Journal of the Jewish Division of the Nationalities (Vestnik evreiskogo otdel anarkomnatsa), 56
LEF, 120
Life of Nationalities (Zhizn’ natsional’nostei), 57, 148, 154
On Guard (Na postu), 135, 168
Red Virgin Soil (Krasnaia Nov’), 135, 159, 168
Young Guard (Molodaia Gvardiia), 203
Russian Social Democratic Workers’ Party (RSDWP), 23, 28, 37
Russification, 20, 57
de-Russification, 41
Samara, Russia, 70
satire, 2, 121, 174–5, 204, 205
Savchenko, Yakiv, 149
scholars, 4
schools,
a site for language wars, 41, 47
and nationalism, 44
closing down of, 11
Hebrew-language, 42–7
Jewish, 2, 5, 7, 12, 13, 18–19, 27, 36, 38, 40, 50, 53, 77, 109, 240
Russian-language, 18, 58
Soviet Jewish school system, 41, 44, 57, 67, 110, 219
Schulman, Elias, 239
second generation of Soviet Yiddish writers, 180
tension with the first generation, 233
Second Moscow State University, 72, 74, 152
secular
Jewish culture, 10, 25, 45, 56, 74, 219
Jewish identity, 11, 15, 16, 19, 213
secularism, 3, 8, 26
secularization, 7, 32, 39
uses of language, 31
self-criticism, 177
self-determination, 9
Semenko, Mykhail, 136, 139, 146, 151, 183
semiotic systems, 3
sentimentality, 4
Sephardic Jews, 30
Serapion Brothers literary group, 135
Serbo-Croatian, 65
Shakty Affair, 24
Shavuot, 199
Shevchenko, Taras, 36, 55
Shmeruk, Chone, 136
Sholem Aleichem, 36, 55, 56, 66, 74, 76, 166, 219
his play 200,000, 203
Shor, D., 51–2
Shoykhet, Avrom, 150–1, 152, 154–5, 157, 159, 170
Assault (Ongrif), 152
Shtadlan (intermediary), 15, 231
Shtern. See Star
Shternshis, Anya, 216
shtetls, 23, 28, 110, 112–13, 115, 186, 202, 204, 208
literary images of, 113, 181, 182, 186, 189, 206
Shteyman, Beynush, 144, 146
Shtif, Nokhum, 73, 75–7, 79, 81, 86, 163
Shtrom. See journals, Stream
Shulman, Moshe, 65, 69, 85
Shumiacher, Esther, 152, 163
Shvartsman, Osher, 144, 146
Singer, I.J., 141
Slovene, 65
The Smithy (Kuznitsa) literary group, 135
Smolar, Hersh, 14, 21, 23, 123
Socialism, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 15, 19, 20, 26–9, 37, 147, 183, 189
in one country, 22
Jewish, 15, 16, 24, 40, 91, 92, 101
Socialist Jewish culture, 3, 4, 38
See also Bund, Poalei Tsion
Socialist autonomists, 14
Socialist Realism, 134, 137, 178, 184, 206, 210, 216
Sosis, Israel, 73
Sotek, Jacob, 83
Soviet constitution, 22, 217
Soviet Jewish clubs, 5
Soviet Jews, the remaking of, 109, 110–11, 115, 196
Soviet policies, 8, 9
Imperial, 9
language, 84, 209
nationalities, 9, 10, 21, 53, 55, 87
See also Ethnic minorities, nativization
Soviet politics, 7, 109, 163
Soviet state, 6, 9, 13, 15, 17, 18, 58, 89
Central Executive Committee of, 46–7, 83, 126–7
supporting Yiddish, 6, 72
Workers and Peasants Inspectorate (Rabkrin), 88, 130–1
Soviet Union, 5, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 21, 26
establishment of, 22
Soviet Yiddish Intelligentsia, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14–16, 19–20, 21, 23–9, 39, 42, 44, 47, 52–9, 61, 86, 88–9, 131, 132, 137, 165, 219
Spivak, Elye, 86
St. Petersburg, See Leningrad
Stalin, Joseph, 1, 16–17, 19, 20–2, 24, 137, 215, 217, 219
Marxism and the National Question, 16
Stalinism, 13, 216
Stalinist culture, 178
Star (Shtern), Kharkov, 78, 84, 94, 100, 125, 131, 164
Steklov, Yu., Studies on the History of the International, 126
Strelits, Oscar, 154–5, 170
subjectivity, 4
suprematism, 116
Sverdlov, Yakov, 92
Sweatshop Poets, 144, 153
Symbolism, 136, 138–9, 164
politics of, 157, 169
synagogues, closing down of, 11, 215
Tadzhik, 54
Talush, in Hebrew literature, 204
Tarbut cultural organization, 40, 43
Tartsinsky, H., 95
TASS (Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union). See wire services
Tayf, Moshe, 157, 160, 173
Taytsh, Moshe, 155
teachers, 2, 13, 14, 67–8, 79
representations of, 182, 201
telephone, journalistic use of, 122
territory, 23
Jews’ lack of, 132
a site for ethnic minorities cultural production, 122, 230, 231
theaters, 3, 13
Habimah Hebrew-language theater, 237
Jewish Chamber, 28
Moscow State Yiddish Theater (GOSET), 2, 106, 129, 237
thick journals, 159, 160, 161, 257
Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, 100
tragedy, 2, 4
as a narrative strategy, 2, 4, 219
tragic subjects, 4
translation,
of culture, 15, 17, 19, 29
of texts, 31, 57, 89, 90, 104, 110, 111, 133, 159
Trotsky, Leon, 18, 22, 23–4, 135, 161
Tsars, 9
Tsaytshrift, Minsk, 73
Tsederbaum, Alexander, 35–6
Tsenah U-re’enah, 32
Tubiansky, M., 51–2
Tychyna, Pavlo, 169
typeface, 50, 99, 117–21, 139–42
Hebrew, 90
Latin, 85
typesetters, 99, 102
Ukraine, 6, 18, 20, 24, 74, 109
as an oppressed language, 36
cultural institutions, 59
Partychky, Emelian, First German-Ukrainian dictionary, 64
publishing in, 91
Socialist tradition in, 89
Symbolists, 135
Ukrainian language, 5, 19, 25, 30, 128
Ukrainian Language Movement, 64
Ukrainian people, 5, 11, 17, 21, 39, 57, 132
Ukrainian workers, 17
Ukrainian-language journals
Art (Mystetsvo), futurist journal, 136
Link (Lanko), fellow-traveler journal, 136
Muzahet, symbolist journal, 135
Stars of Tomorrow (Zori griadushchego), proletarian journal, 135
Union of Soviet Writers, 134, 178, 216
Congress, 142, 216
United Ones (Fareynikte), 24–5, 27
utilitarianism in Jewish culture, 6, 7, 27, 184
utilitarian use of language, 32, 33, 183
Uzbekistan, 54
Vayter, A., 97
Veidlinger, Jeffrey, 3, 48, 218–19
Velednitsky, Avrom, 159, 168
Suffering (Layternish), 152
Veviorke, Avrom, 70, 78–9, 150, 155, 157, 159, 175, 181
Veynger, Mordechai, 73, 78–9, 81
Vidervuks. See Aftergrowth
Vilna, Lithuania, 34, 80, 91, 97
Viner, Meir, 86
Visual arts, 142
Vitebsk, Belorussia/Russia, 97, 101, 143, 202
Volkenshteyn, David, 167
Voronezh, Russia, 58
Voronsky, Alexander, 135, 169
Wall newspapers, 94
War Communism, 21, 22, 185
Warsaw, Poland, 136
as a publishing center, 91
Weinreich, Max, 31–32, 34, 73
Wisse, Ruth, 254
White Army, 20
wire services, 93
TASS (Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union), 94
Rosta (Russian State Telegraph Agency), 94, 121
Wolitz, Seth, 136
women, 21, 26, 35, 194, 204
liturgy for, 32
separation of women and men, 204
worker correspondents, 122
workers’ internationalism, 130
Workers’ Movement, 16–17
World War I, 26, 28, 39, 67, 91, 138
restrictions on Jewish publishing during, 91
World War II, 2, 10, 11, 54, 218, 219
Yiddish language, 2–13, 14–15, 20, 22, 25–9, 30, 35, 38, 42, 57, 61, 112, 195, 219
dialects, 31, 38, 67, 73, 78
dictionaries, 36, 64, 73, 77
“Language of the ruling class” in the Soviet Union, 167
and the Haskalah, 33–6
international intelligentsia, 117, 149, 162, 185
Jewish vernacular, 4, 7, 35–6, 90
Jewish workers’ language, 37, 51, 61, 76, 184
language of social mobility, 19
official native language of Soviet Jewry, 42–3, 47, 52
orthography, 38
press, 7, 36
research, 72, 77
in South Africa, 241
speakers, 7
standardization of, 67
in the United States, 235
in Western Europe, 33
See also Soviet Yiddish Intelligentsia, Language
Yiddish literature, 1, 7, 8, 38, 66, 137, 182
aesthetics and, 66
difficulties of publishing, 34, 39
fiction in the Soviet Union, 110
nineteenth-century, 34
pre-modern, 31, 32, 90
production of, 90, 104
Yiddish philology, 35, 65–7, 75, 87
Philological Commission in Moscow, 69, 70
Philological Commission in Minsk, 73
Yiddish phonetics, 65
Yiddishism, 20, 26, 27, 38–9, 40, 43–4, 48, 50, 55, 61, 65–6
Modern Yiddish Language Movement, 64, 87
Yiddish writers, 2, 14, 24, 28, 32, 77, 98, 109, 127, 134, 167
as “Engineers of souls,” 142
YIVO (Institute for Jewish Research), 80, 244
Yom Kippur, 113, 204
Young Yiddish (Yung yidish), 136
youth, 113
Yung yidish. See Young Yiddish
Zaretsky, Itsik, 70–2, 81, 83–6
Zatonskyi, Volodymyr, 18
Zhitlovsky, Chaim, 83, 244
Zhitomir, Ukraine, 34
Zinoviev, Gregory, 23–4
Zionism, 6, 37–40, 46–7, 51, 85, 164
print culture, 38
printing facilities, 101
repression of, 6, 95
Socialist Zionists, 14, 24–9, 42
Zionist Socialist Party, 27
Zionists, 8, 10, 14, 42, 47, 56, 58, 96, 101