Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.081 August 11, 1995 1) Interview with Josef Levinson -- translation (Andrew Cassel) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 8 Aug 1995 21:33:10 -0400 From: cassel@libertynet.org Subject: Interview with Josef Levinson -- translation In Mendele 5.072 I posted excerpts of an interview with Josef Levinson, editor of "Yerushalyim d'Lita" in Vilna. Here is a translation. (Thanks, by the way, to Mark Alsher and Paul Pascal for making this possible, although I reserve credit for all translation and transliteration errors...): AC -- I would like to hear more about the Jewish community here, and what happened during the time of "perestroika"... JL -- So, the collapse of the Soviet system began in the period of perestroika. Before the period of perestroika began, all the republics were directly subservient to Moscow. The other republics began a movement, a national movement, a drive to become independent. This is a thing which is understandable; every people want to be its own master. So, this became so to speak a popular phrase. However, the problem with those who I have recently called ... from that side this was not such a simple thing. Control wasn't easy to let go of, but in the last analysis, it was not a difficult time. The general international situation, the support from a whole line of western governments which supported the drive for independence, for national independence. So in the last analysis a lot can be said about that but at the end there were set up independent states, the Baltics and others. And with the beginning of the national revival, of the process of the national revival here of the Lithuanians the great majority of inhabitants, there also began a national revival of the minorities, among them the Jews ... AC -- And how did you start the newspaper? JL -- The newspaper was more or less founded in '89, just as Jewish social and cultural life was starting its revival. There were already established Jewish institutions, Jewish organizations -- you understand that it couldn't be compared with those which were formerly in Vilna. From Vilna where there had lived 70,000 Jews, there remained now, I think, at that time, in '89 there were probably 7,000, 8,000. And only a smaller number were native Jews, local Jews. The rest had all come from Russia. Understand? There is also a difference. They don't know -- it's not their fault -- but their condition was such that they were not able to know any Yiddish, had no knowlege of Jewish history, of Jewish literature, about Jewish culture, and so on... At that time, at the beginning of the revival of Jewish social and cultural life ... various Jewish organizations were established. A Jewish state museum, a Jewish national school ... a Jewish kindergarten ... yes, yes, they all are functioning now. A department of Judaica at the state library where there are thousands, maybe ten thousand different Jewish books, which are attracting a growing interest. They all were collected in the German time, collected in order to be destroyed, only they were found by a noble man, a Lithuania who took them when the Germans left and saw they survived through the Soviet period, so they shouldn't be destroyed here. Because in the Soviet time they did that also, they did everything to eradicate Jewish things. So, just like with all the institutions then were established different social organizations, Jewish women's organizations, WIZO (Women's International Zionist Org., aka Hadassah) for example - - we have a chapter of WIZO here. There is Maccabee, there is Betar, various organizations which organize singing, dancing -- a whole array. They have quite an interesting program. So, during that time, when everything was being put together, one of our most important causes was to have a newspaper. A newspaper should represent Jewish society, speak out about its interests and aspirations; it should describe, and mirror Jewish life in Lithuania and elsewhere. There were, at one time, four or five Yiddish daily newspapers, two evening newspapers ... there was the "Yiddishe Shtime" (Jewish Voice) "Folksblat", "Moment", "Dos Vort," others... AC-- In Vilna or in Kovno? JL - I'm speaking of Kovno. There was "Ovnt Blat" there was "Daily News" These were afternoon newspapers. In Vilna also, but I was living in Kovno. I can't list all the Vilna newspapers for you, but the situation was similar. But many more Jews lived in Vilna than in Kovno, and here there was such an effervescence, you might say, to Jewish social and cultural life. When I came for the first time to Vilna in 1940, it was like I had fallen into truly an exclusively Jewish city. Especially in the center, the daily streets where most of the Jews lived, it had the outward appearance of an Eastern city, of an Eastern people with such tumult, such noise, it was really a Jewish city, a Jewish city. So, the newspapers were of this kind that I've described to you; they were our representation, I'll say our flag. Like a flag for Jewish society. Like on a ship -- when the ship is sailing, they hang the flag. As long as the flag flies, you can say the ship is sailing, everything's OK. ... So, this newspaper existed until a year ago in April. In April some unfortunate things happened, not only with the newspaper -- there was founded a Lithuanian stock company, ostensibly to make a profit, to try to earn it by putting out the newspaper; they thought that they could keep expenses under the revenues ... for a time they published it, but then the business got worse and a year ago it went bankrupt, so eventually they closed the Jewish newspaper. For a while we looked for a way, but the problems were very large. Attempts were made to put out a Jewish newspaper, there was no newspaper here, only a Russian newspaper, "Ekho Litui" A Russian newspaper. Since there were a lot of Jews who speak Russian ... [Here he described the difficulties involved with starting up the newspaper again..] JL -- Our financial possibilities are very limited. If we don't have any support, the first "if"; if our readership does not increase we will not be able to keep going very long ... financially we are very weak... Here let us say such a newspaper should be sold for 50 cents -- that is already a lot, because a newspaper of about 20 pages costs 80 cents, and here our paper is four pages. So for us to sell one issue for 50 cents is already a lot. You understand? Our circulation cannot grow. The number of newspapers we can distribute among the Jews here is very limited. Because Jews here are few, and we cannot cover the expenses of publishing the newspaper unless the circulation is larger. For the rest we are dependent on help that we can obtain on the side, from sponsors ... we depend entirely on getting readers abroad. We set the price, I don't know how this is for you, at $50 a year for the newspaper. That is perhaps no small price ... What do you think? Is that a lot for 12 issues a year? AC -- That is not cheap, but .. JL -- Not very expensive. AC -- Not very expensive for some people. For some, such as students, it's expensive. However, if you produce a newspaper with a lot of interesting articles, in Yiddish and in English ... JL -- It's also published in English .. So, if you will help us with circulation... in America, let's say, if we could find 500 readers, we'd be "all right." AC -- I don't know if you can find 500 readers. I don't know. JL-- I understand. But I'm telling you what the problem is. If we had 500 readers in America, we'd get by. It would be satisfactory. AC -- I think in America there are 500, 1,000, more -- a lot of small Yiddish reading clubs, Yiddish classes, etc... JL -- They'd all be interested. Our current issue, the third one, is very interesting. In the third issue, what do we have ... there will be ... there was a conference about Yiddish. That was organized by the European parlimentary council. In the current issue there will be a big article by professor Katz, from England, a big article about the history of the development of Yiddish. Also, there will be some material about the deportations that took place in 1941, before the war. Because when the Soviets deported people then to Siberia; among those who were deported were many Jews. That will be written up. Also, there's news about the international musical festival we had here. The next issue after this, which is being prepared, there will be a big page dedicated to Yitzak Leyb Peretz, because it's the 80th anniversary of Peretz' death. AC -- He wasn't a Litvak. JL -- Not from Lithuania, but he is a classic, a classic of Yiddish literature. To mark the date there will be a whole page with his biography. We'll have his picture. It will be very intresting, there will be very interesting description printed ... Now, what other questions do you have? AC -- I would like to know what you think about the future of the community here. I have heard that many people are going to Israel ... J.L -- This is a question which I think no one can answer categorically, no one can say for sure. There is a process going on, a process with certain tendencies. One of the tendencies has to do with how Jews in different circumstances understand themselves. Those who want to be, for once, amid people just like themselves, to be surrounded by Jews, those people are going to Israel. However, there are people here, you understand -- first of all not everyone is in such a situation that they can uproot themselves. It's not such a simple thing as moving from Vilna to Kovno. You have to sit and think about how you will make your future. Not everyone feels strong enough to take up new circumstances. You have to consider, first, if you can master a new language; second, can you obtain work. Let's talk about doctors for example. Not everyone here is a doctor, but for example can one just go there and get work? And there are people here of such an age -- like me for instance -- as they say, a tree must be transplanted young if it's going to grow in a new place. To transplant an old tree, that's questionable. You can't always start over and grow again. Consequently, you understad, the number grows smaller, The number of Jews continually grows smaller. How long there will be Jews here, I can't begin to say, but as long as there are Jews here, as long as any Jews remain here ... those who leave, the community can't be concerned with them. Whether we can exist five years, whether there will be a Jewish community here in five years, ten years, fifteen years, that's hard to say. I think no one can forecast, although the tendency, as I said, is that we're growing fewer and fewer. Mainly they are going to Israel, some others go to America, to Germany also. But we're not concerned with them, you understand. But we have to do everything we can to ensure that the Jews who do live here can live out their lives as Jews. How possible this is in general, how capable we are of doing this -- that is a very relative concept, the idea of living one's life as a Jew. We can have daily Jewish concerts. We can have daily Jewish theater. We can have Jewish lectures here. We can have thousands of Jewish things which a Jew could experience in his own language. Ideally, we can provide something to hopefully support his Jewishness; to help him, so to speak, keep up his Jewish identity. This is what we must strive for. How successful we will be, that is hard to say. But we must, for our part, do everything we can so that the few Jews who do still remain here should not assimilate, but should remain and endure as Jews. I maintain that this is an aim which is worthwhile. Understand? This is a goal worth suffering for. ---------------------------------------- Andrew Cassel Elkins Park, PA ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.081 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. Sign your article (full name please) Send articles to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Send change-of-status messages to: listserv@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu a. For a temporary stop: set mendele nomail b. To resume delivery: set mendele mail c. 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