Overview

After the khurbn (destruction) perpetrated by Nazi Germany, its allies, and collaborators, the Yiddish communities in Eastern Europe were shattered and largely decimated. For most survivors, the old homeland in the East was a lost place of longing and a place of mere transit to the centers of the reconfiguring ‘West’: in North America, the global South, and the young state of Israel. Research has for the most part ignored the cultural activities, the political engagement, and the diverse visions of those cultural activists who remained in Eastern Europe in their thousands. This volume examines their activities as well as the role of and language policy regarding Yiddish in various socialist states, as well as trans-socialist and cross-bloc dialogues during the ""Yiddish Cold War."" How did the actors position themselves within socialist narratives of the past, present, and future and vis-à-vis the Jewish diasporas? What were their visions for Yiddishlands in the new world of really-existing socialism and how did they attempt to implement them? In this volume, case studies on Poland, the Soviet Union, the German Democratic Republic, and Romania uncover diverse cultural reconstruction initiatives and cross-bloc entanglements with ‘Western’ countries, such as Great Britain, the United States, Argentina, and Israel.

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9783110763867

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Reviews

By challenging Cold War stereotypes, Socialist Yiddishlands charts the complex landscape of the archipelago of Yiddish culture as it reemerged beyond the ""Iron Curtain"" after the devastations of the Holocaust. Rather than portraying the interaction between Yiddish culture and communist regimes as a zero-sum game, the contributors explore how Yiddish activists attempted to integrate their visions of diasporic Jewish modernity into realities shaped by those political systems. - Mikhail Krutikov, Professor of Slavic and Judaic Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor *** Socialist Yiddishlands utilizes cutting-edge theories and methods to offer a post-Cold War reexamination of Yiddish cultural production in Eastern bloc countries that moves beyond binaries and ideological interpretations to engage seriously with what was created, the circumstances of its creation, and the ongoing transnational ties amongst Yiddishists throughout the period. This innovative collection of essays will cause many scholars to rethink their assumptions and return to an overlooked oeuvre. - Eliyana Adler, Binghamton University

Author Information

Miriam Chorley-Schulz, University of Oregon, OR, USA; Alexander Walther, Staatl. Museum für Archäologie, Chemnitz, Germany.

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