New Commissar of Yiddish Literature
BERGMAN, MAIUS
A TALK WITH THE EDITOR OF 'SOVYETISH HEYMLAND' New Commissar of Yiddish Literature By Maius Bergman "THE address is Kirova Street number 17," said Aaron Vergelis, editor-in-chief of the...
...Maius Bergman recently returned from a trip to the Soviet Union...
...Yes," I said, "but what about the Yiddish theater...
...A TALK WITH THE EDITOR OF 'SOVYETISH HEYMLAND' New Commissar of Yiddish Literature By Maius Bergman "THE address is Kirova Street number 17," said Aaron Vergelis, editor-in-chief of the new Yiddish bimonthly magazine Sovyetish Heymland (Soviet Homeland), when I called him up in Moscow not long ago to ask for an appointment...
...All this interest in Jewish life in the Soviet Union, Vergelis went on, is so much hypocricy...
...They like inter-ethnic togetherness...
...Their works have been held up to contempt, their method—"Socialist realism"—has been ridiculed...
...You can't miss it...
...And I am not worried about it...
...Surely you are mistaken in thinking that you're hated in America...
...We are bringing up a new man, a man who will work with his hands, as well as with his brains, a man who will be a worker as well as an artist, a man who will create machines and art with his own hands...
...But Vergelis' reply admitted of no accommodation: "Ah, so—so you deny that the American Jews hate us...
...I came to learn something about the new magazine, about the prospects of Yiddish literature in the USSR, about Jewish life in Russia...
...We're publishing it now as a bimonthly, but sooner or later it is going to come out as a monthly, and perhaps even more frequently...
...Why wasn't it published earlier...
...Let's have some facts...
...Had the editor written Bergelson's biography, he certainly would have mentioned the manner of his death...
...And don't think we shall rest content with only this...
...Then why plan for increases of circulation, I asked, why all the grandiose projects—conversion into a monthly, new books, and so on...
...If there are still some good Yiddish writers left after the massacres of 1948-1952, they would not find it easy to publish anything of real literary value in a journal so aggressively dedicated to praising Communism and Soviet life in terms uncomfortably reminiscent of Stalinist idolatry...
...But I doubt whether its publication is going to 'infuriate' people in the West...
...exploded Vergelis, his eyes aflame...
...Only a few days earlier I had spoken to a completely loyal and successful Soviet Russian novelist who went into peals of laughter at my mention of "Socialist realism...
...First let me say this to you: The Yiddish theater in the United States, as far as we know, is not doing well at all, is it...
...Not bad, by and large...
...There is no other reason...
...Vergelis and his colleagues had the same answer: demand...
...Indeed, it is a sad fact —and one that is not exclusively due to the politics of its editors— that the level of Sovyetish Heymland is not much higher than that of an amateurishly produced high school journal...
...In Vergelis' case, however, it was obvious he was not using the term for reasons of subterfuge...
...In fact," said the lady editor to me, smiling benignly, "my grandchildren, for instance, don't understand Yiddish at all...
...Very interesting," I said, "though I don't see what this has to do with Communism—we have practiced this on our buses and streetcars for the last two decades...
...We are Communists first and foremost...
...Soviet Yiddish writers, he said with some vehemence, have always been derided by their colleagues in the United States...
...They are meddling in Soviet Jewish affairs for purely political reasons, for the sake of propaganda...
...In reply, I could only protest that the shoe was really on the other foot, and bring up the old "subway joke...
...Right...
...The word remont—Russian for "renovation," "redecoration" or simply "repairs"—had a familiar ring...
...But like all the other Americans, he expresses his pity for us...
...But Vergelis did not agree...
...In fact, it has practically disappeared, hasn't it...
...Be that as it may," I said after a few minutes of futile wrangling, "this is not what I came here for...
...If they don't like the magazine—well, perhaps there are good reasons for it...
...You have questions about us, but we have questions about you...
...All right, then, facts," I said...
...And the other editor added: "We are internationalists...
...Samodeyatelnost [roughly, 'self-activity'] is what we are aiming at...
...We are showering you with propaganda...
...Why, it's simple," said Vergelis...
...All right, then," said Vergelis, triumphantly, "what about discrimination in the United States...
...Some form of clericalism...
...But in your country everything is dying out, isn't it...
...As long as they are happy...
...Patiently, I tried to explain that the linguistic assimilation of American Jews did not necessarily imply ethnic or cultural assimilation...
...I see...
...So, you refuse to answer, eh...
...With a sigh, I tried to change the subject back to the original purpose of my visit...
...The future of the Soviet theater lies in samodeyatelnost—in the form of amateur dramatic circles and groups...
...Ah, yes," said Vergelis...
...Vergelis' answer was that such schools were neither wanted by the Soviet Jews (of course, Soviet authorities said the same thing about Yiddish publications for 13 years), nor were they desirable from the Soviet point of view...
...It's simple, they first had to ascertain the extent and receptivity of the audience...
...Then, after a bang on the desk, to his colleagues: "Right, comrades...
...Yes, I see why you have decided to publish the magazine," I said...
...Wearily, I tried to switch tracks again...
...What puzzled me was that in the introduction the editor did not mention anything about how Bergelson met his death...
...To separate Jewish children from their Russian, Byelorussian, Georgian or Ukrainian friends would violate the spirit of druzhba narodov—friendship of the peoples—a cardinal tenet of Soviet ideology...
...Well, my friend," said Vergelis expansively, "you must realize that we are marching forward to Communism...
...In any case, the parents would not dream of it...
...Vergelis' reply was brief and to the point: "We are publishing it because there is a demand...
...Now when and why did you decide to publish a Yiddish magazine 13 years after the closing down of all Jewish cultural institutions...
...All of Russia, it sometimes seemed to me, is either waiting for or in the midst of a remont—houses, streets, statues, historical monuments...
...How come there are no Yiddish periodicals, no Yiddish books?' What will they say now that we are publishing something that will put them to shame...
...Just wait and see how our magazine will grow...
...But what about the Yiddish theater in the Soviet Union...
...So it is really a capitalist invention that you seem to be copying...
...Look at our streetcars: Our citizens pay their fares all by themselves, without the help of a conductor...
...Forms of Communism are sprouting in every area of public life," he continued, paying no attention to my interjection...
...I see," I said, "now I understand why there is no professional Yiddish theater in the Soviet Union...
...What about the Yiddish theater...
...Apparently, Vergelis was plus royaliste que le roi...
...Now this is one thing we Yiddish authors in the USSR do not need...
...As for Socialist realism, I continued, stimulated by Vergelis' challenging (yet persistently friendly) smile and restless eyes, it is true American critics have no use for this method, whatever it is, but has this prevented them from praising individual works of individual Soviet writers...
...Is it not curious, I asked, that Georgian- or Byelorussian-language schools are not regarded in the same light...
...they are already dying out...
...Theater...
...What about the decline of Yiddish in the United States...
...Vergelis introduced them to me...
...We are publishing a magazine now which is circulated in 25,000 copies and which, as you will see, will grow by leaps and bounds...
...The answer was equally intransigent: Afternoon classes would also contradict the principle of druzhba narodov...
...Surely criticism need not be equated with hatred...
...The response to these ventures was very positive...
...He said that many rabbis in the United States don't even believe in God...
...But no details about the trial have ever been released...
...they agreed, beaming broadly...
...Now I want to ask you some questions about the United States...
...So it was decided to publish the magazine...
...But as my conversation with Vergelis proceeded, it soon was clear that the Soviet authorities had no reason whatever to doubt his loyalty and his readiness to serve the State...
...The market, it seemed, was there...
...We are showering you with facts—facts, my friend...
...I asked...
...I asked...
...Imagine that...
...We are not interested in preserving languages for their own sake...
...We do not need anyone's pity—certainly not from people who hate and despise us...
...And if there are serious differences of opinion between American Jews and the representatives of Jewish life in the Soviet Union, does this preclude any serious concern for Soviet Jews on the part of their coreligionists in the U.S...
...At that moment two other editors entered the room: a matronly looking woman in her late '50s and a short, dark-haired man...
...For years they repeated: 'How come you are not publishing anything in Yiddish...
...The decision to publish Sovyetish Heymland, he said, was taken "some time ago...
...Later, I read the first issue of Sovyetish Heymland: Of the four dozen or so poems and stories, few had any literary merit...
...responded Vergelis...
...Above all, however, what does this have to do with the Yiddish theater...
...American Jews would do much better to pay more attention to their own problems, of which there is no dearth...
...The Yiddish Art Theater in Moscow, one of the most notable dramatic institutions in the USSR, was closed abruptly in 1948, and its director and leading star, Solomon Mikhoels, was murdered under mysterious circumstances in Minsk less than a year later...
...We're having a remont, some of the lights aren't functioning, and the smell of freshly painted walls is unmistakable...
...Oh, no...
...So it is clericalism you have there, eh...
...L.," I said after Vergelis shook my hand vigorously and invited me into his sparsely furnished office...
...I had an American rabbi here the other day, and you know what he told me...
...We have published only a few Yiddish books thus far, but wait, within a few years we shall publish so many books that you won't be able to keep up with us...
...After all, I was told, "our children attend Pioneer [Young Communist] clubs, they join choral or dramatic groups with children of other nationalities—why separate them...
...he exclaimed increduously...
...Now what interests me, too, is this " "Wait a moment," interrupted Vergelis, still full of bonhomie...
...And what a peculiar lot these American Jews are, anyhow...
...Are you publishing the magazine merely to meet a demand, I asked, or are you at all interested in stimulating the demand...
...To which the guide answers: "And what about Negroes in the United States...
...By no means," I gave up, tiredly, "go ahead...
...Ah, no, my friend," said Vergelis, with a hearty laugh...
...Here you see a splendid example of samodeyatelnost...
...the authors were, with few exceptions, nonentities...
...L. is a Yiddish novelist and journalist who had interviewed Vergelis a few months earlier, and had published an account of their meeting in a New York periodical...
...The introduction only deals with Bergelson as an artist, as a writer, and not with his life...
...Yes," I said, "that's true...
...Communism is our future, our goal...
...But I still have some questions to put to you," I protested mildly...
...Every time I ask our friend a question," said Vergelis good-naturedly, turning to his colleagues, "he refuses to answer...
...Our friend from America is showering me with propaganda," he said, laughingly...
...Whatever I say, he comes back with a propaganda barrage...
...Hence they published à few Yiddish books over the past few years, by Sholem Aleichem and others...
...Taken aback by the fervor of his reply, I countered with as much delicacy as possible: "Why these accusations...
...We shall yet overtake you in this, too, just as we will in everything else...
...Of course," said Vergelis heatedly, "this is enough to infuriate the enemies in the West...
...You evince so much concern about us, but don't you have problems, too...
...There had been a time when the Soviet Union was covered with a network of Yiddish schools, on a par with those of other nationalities...
...The other day I picked up a volume of David Bergelson's selected works, which was published this year...
...Would you be kind enough to answer a few questions on these subjects...
...Rumor has it that Vergelis, who edits the first Yiddish publication to appear in the USSR since 1948, is on intimate terms with Soviet security agents, and that he played a rather sinister role in the arrests and subsequent executions of virtually all leading Soviet Yiddish literary figures...
...He turns to his Intourist guide: "All this is very attractive indeed, but where are your trains...
...I was met by a rather thin, wiry man in his early or middle '40s, with a ruddy complexion and a broad smile—half friendly, half cautious...
...Whether this rumor has any basis in fact, I am not able to say...
...It will be a pleasure to see you...
...Ah, so...
...What are the prospects for Yiddish schools...
...An American comes to Moscow and is shown the subway, which is very clean, quite imposing, but without trains...
...For years the American Jews and their 'friends' kept saying: 'Give us Vergelis, give us Fefer, give us Bergelson!' " (The juxtaposition of his own name with those of reknowned authors would surely surprise the "American Jews and their friends," most of whom had never heard of Vergelis before...
...I objected, a bit more strenuously this time, pointing out that if the interest takes on political forms, it is no one's fault...
...Some time ago, the Soviet authorities announced that Bergelson and others were unjustly executed by "Beria's agents" on August 12, 1952...
...I bring you greetings from Mr...
...Remont, incidentally, is also a favorite excuse of people who are either unwilling, reluctant or afraid to see you...
...he went on...
...And what is true for the Soviet theater in general is also true for the Soviet Yiddish theater...
...Would you mind answering another question...
...But neither my mild protest nor the jest made any impression on the ebullient editor...
...I read the article...
...Never, my friend...
...But what are they going to say now...
...Can you explain that to me...
...At this, Vergelis wrinkled his brow...
...For isn't Yiddish literature, as all creative endeavor in the Soviet Union, deliberately and invariably politicized...
...I took a taxi, and within half an hour found myself in the dark hallway leading to the editorial offices of Sovyetish Heymland...
...Jews, Vergelis said—and the other editors concurred—no longer live in compact masses (which is only partially true: there are still large Jewish communities in the Ukraine and Lithuania...
...There were broad smiles all around...
...Only this," Vergelis replied, undaunted, "professional theaters are going to disappear...
...I am terribly sorry," they say, "but you see, we're having a remont here and it's impossible for us to get together...
...Even assuming Yiddish-language schools are undesirable, would the Soviet authorities object to having Jewish children attend afternoon classes in Yiddish if their parents so wished...
Vol. 45 • March 1962 • No. 5
