The social and cultural role of small Jewish literary centres – the case of Sighet, Romania

ABSTRACT

When scholars speak of cultural centres, and particularly when they refer to pre-Second World War Jewish literature and the Jewish press, they generally mean those that existed in the large cities of Europe and America. This article suggests that researchers should take note of the fact that cultural centres evolved also in smaller and more remote locations. Whereas the centres in the big cities catered to a Jewish population that was largely well educated and modernized, those located in rural areas had to accommodate a less educated and more traditional public. Consequently, these cultural centres, such as the one discussed in this article, frequently played a far more significant social role than did those in the large cities. Understanding how these small town centres developed and operated will contribute to a more comprehensive mapping of Jewish culture in pre-Second World War Europe. It will likewise document the irrecoverable loss that Jewish culture suffered as a result of the Holocaust.

KEYWORDS:

• Yiddish literary magazine
• cultural centre
• Jewish culture in Eastern Europe
• Yiddish press and literature
• Sighet
• Romania
• orthodox environment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Menachem Keren-Kratz holds a D.M.D. (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1985). He has a Ph.D. in Yiddish literature (Summa cum Laude, Bar-Ilan University, 2009). He also completed an additional Ph.D. in Jewish history (Tel-Aviv University, 2013). His recently published book is Maramaros-Sziget: Extreme Orthodoxy and Secular Jewish Culture at the Foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, Jerusalem: The Dov Sadan Publishing Project of the Hebrew University, 2013. His articles have been accepted for publication in peer reviewed journals such as Dapim: Studies on the Holocaust, Modern Judaism, Israel Studies Review, Cathedra, Zehuyot (Identities) and in other academic publications.

Notes

1. The book won the 2011 Jordan Schnitzer Prize for Jewish Literature & Linguistics, sponsored by the Association of Jewish Studies.

2. The county’s name was pronounced and spelled in various ways (Shekhter 1974).

3. The term “haredi” refers to an individual or a community of Jews who observe the Jewish religious laws (halakha) to the letter. The two major groups among haredi Jews in pre-Second World War Europe were the hasidim and the non-hasidim. The non-hasidim in North Eastern Europe were known by the term mitnagdim (meaning: opponents), but in Central Europe, Hungary included, where Hasidism did not encounter strong opposition, the non-hasidim were called Ashkenazim (meaning: Germans).

4. Their number grew from roughly 5000 in the late nineteenth century to about 10,000 on the eve of the Holocaust.

5. The author’s note on the book’s final page indicates that the Godly evil which motivated him to write it was not the rise of Nazi Germany nor the approaching war, but the civil war in Spain.

6. One outstanding work was Berl Schnabel’s ballade titled “Sigh” which depicted the sorrowful life of the Jewish street prostitutes in Sighet (Maramarosher Bleter, January 1932, 9).

7. Prager lists 386 periodicals, but these include all the publications that contained a literary section, and it covers a longer time span. Prager lists none of Sighet’s four literary journals.

8. The numbers are based on a search for Yiddish literary periodicals printed during the interwar period that bore titles that contained words such as “Literarishe,” “Literatur,” or “Kultur.”

9. Among these were Tshernovitser Bleter (1929–1937); Inzel (Bucharest, 1935–1939); Literarishe Bleter (Warsaw, 1924–1939); Shtegen, (Stanisławów, 1933–1938); Vokhnshrift far Literatur, Kunst un Kultur (Warsaw, 1931–1935).

10. Another indication of Oyfgang’s importance is that the Index of Yiddish Periodicals, which registers articles from some 1000 Yiddish newspapers and journals, lists 451 entries for Oyfgang. This ranks it among the top 50 pre-Second World War Yiddish periodicals and among the top 20 Eastern European periodicals printed in the interwar period. Some of the other periodicals in this category were either daily newspapers, periodicals that were published for a longer period or those that originated in far larger cities.

11. Sh. S. (Shlomo Solomon) Roman was one of Romania’s leading Yiddish essayists, as well as critic, bibliographer and translator, whose works were published in many Jewish magazines (Niger and Shatzky 1956, Vol. 8, 764–765).

12. Reyzen was an author and editor of many books in Yiddish. He was one of the founders and managers of the YIVO Institute for the Study of Yiddish Culture, and authored the Lexicon of Jewish Authors (Reyzen 1914, 1926–1929; Niger and Shatzky 1956, Vol. 8, 478–482).

13. Tsharni was one of the most prolific Yiddish authors and journalists. He was an active member of the Moscow Circle of Yiddish Writers and Artists and later divided his life between Moscow and Berlin (Niger and Shatzky 1956, Vol. 4, 142–146). See, for example, an article in which he mentions Oyfgang in Literarishe Bleter, 16 March 1934, 170.

14. Dorfman (Shmuel Yacov Harendorf) was a Yiddish author of short stories and an accomplished playwright (Niger and Shatzky 1956, Vol. 3, 77–79). His best known play is The King of Lampedusa, which was performed hundreds of times on stages in London and in Palestine and was even restaged in London in the early 2000s (Harendorf 2003).

15. Applebaum was a successful artist at the time (Goldberg 1931).

16. This leading Warsaw literary magazine continued to report on Oyfgang’s forthcoming issues.

17. In the end, the book was not printed in Sighet but was published in 1937 in Vilnius by B. Kletskin (Khasid 1937).

18. The theatre was established by Maurice (1879–?) and Rosa (1888–?) Siegler and gained success especially during the interwar period when it staged popular Yiddish operettas (Berkowitz 1976, 166–169).

19. The concession for the lottery was held by a young haredi woman named Cilli Kratz, nee Weiss, the niece of Israel Weiss who owned the largest library in Sighet. Like her uncle she too was interested in cultural affairs.

20. Ady published more than a dozen poetry books and is considered one of Hungary’s most esteemed poets (Serafin 1999, 215; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endre_Ady).

21. Tal (Sarah-Sorele Birkental) began her stage career at 16, initially in popular melodramas and operettas. In the 1930s, she was introduced to author and playwright Yakov Shternberg. This resulted in more serious and artistic plays (Berkowitz 1976, pictures 132–134; Malmud 1984; http://czernowitz.ehpes.com/stories/vaisman/vaisman.html).

22. Walkowitz was an American painter (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Walkowitz).

23. Dubinovschi was a Romanian and Russian sculptor and created many monumental works that were displayed in museums and in public places (https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laz%C4%83r_Dubinovschi).

24. This was a successful Yiddish play by Israel Joshua Singer (1893–1944).

25. France (François-Anatole Thibault) won the prize in 1921.

26. Zhitlovsky was one of the most prominent Yiddish essayists, as well as a philosopher, journalist and critic (Niger and Shatzky 1956, Vol. 3, 685–708).

27. Trakhtenberg published several stories and poems in Oyfgang. This was his first book (Niger and Shatzky 1956, Vol. 4, 115).

28. The book’s front pages indicate that 3000 copies were printed for its first edition, and that the cover was designed by the above-mentioned artist Lazăr Dubinovschi.

29. The book, titled The Melody of the Black People, contained an anthology of poems by Langston Hughes of the Harlem Renaissance and a selection of spirituals (Bagish 1936).

30. Bagish (Boris[?] Weysman) was an author and a poet who also served as the official commissar of Jewish authors and edited the literary magazine Inzel (Niger and Shatzky 1956, Vol. 1, 203–204).

31. Almi (Sheps) published several books in Yiddish and English (Niger and Shatzky 1956, Vol. 1, 108–109).

32. Paner’s articles were published in many of the leading newspapers and magazines both in America and in Romania (Niger and Shatzky 1956, Vol. 6, 100).

33. Tabak, a poet and an author, was born in Stanisławów and wrote for several literary magazines (Niger and Shatzky 1956, Vol. 1, 108–109).

34. Mark (Avi Abir-Zion) was a poet, an author and an essayist who wrote several books and published in many literary magazines (Niger and Shatzky 1956, Vol. 5, 515–516).

35. At the time Bimko published his books through Ceshinsky (Niger and Shatzky 1956, Vol. 1, 193–195).

36. In terms of the number of Yiddish books per Jewish population, the first six locations were Vilnius, Lvov, Sighet, Warsaw, Krakow and Vienna. In terms of the number of Hebrew and Yiddish newspapers, the first six were Kaunas, Riga, Warsaw, Sighet, Lvov and Krakow. In addition to the Jewish newspapers, over 50 non-Jewish newspapers were published in Sighet prior to the Holocaust, some of which were owned, edited or sponsored by Jews (Keren-Kratz 2014b).

37. Bikel was one of Romania’s leading Yiddish writers, critics and journalists (Niger and Shatzky 1956, Vol. 1, 300–302) and Shternberg was a famous Yiddish theatre director, playwright, avant-garde poet and short-story writer (Niger and Shatzky 1956, Vol. 8, 649–652).