Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 6.262
March 12, 1997

1) Introduction (Marvin Engel)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 1997 14:26:01 -0500
From: maengel@erols.com
Subject: Introduction

(umsgefer. dos iz mayn ershter oystaytshung fun english oyf yidish mit
latayner bukhshtabn.):

yidish iz geven mayn ershter shprakh, un ikh hob nor geredt yidish
biz ikh bin arayn in englishe shule. yidishe kursn in bronks, nu york,
internatsionale arbeter ordn (IWO) shuln un herndik gut yidish durkh
mayn gantz yugnt, lozt mir say vi say mit a selbst kamf az ikh zol
nisht farlirn mayn yidish. Ikh bin shoyn finf yor a penshoner fun
tekhnishe arbet, un nutz oys di gelegnhayt oystsutaytshen der
kulturele un idyologishe rayze a grupe radikale lodzer (mayne eltern
un zayer fraynt) hobn gelebt fun arum 1900, durkh sayer gantz lebn -
nokh di ershte velt milkhome, in nu york.

mayn tate, khotsh mit vintsige formale kursn, is geven a gebilditer
mentsh. Er iz geven der kulturele direktor fun der yidishe kultur
klub, ko-op sity, bronks, n.y. far a langer tsayt nokh zayne yorn alts
nodl arbeter. in mayne beyde eltern's mishpokhe iz nisht vikhtig geven
az di tekhter zoln zikh oyslernen laynen un shraybn. mayne eltere
mimes, di vos hobn khasene gehat far di ershte velt mikhome, hobn zikh
kaynmol nisht oysgelernt laynen un shraybn.

Mayn muter, geboyrn in yor 1900, hot zikh davke yo oysgelernt laynen
un shraybn, ober ven un vu iz an interesante frage. ire ershte
shraybungen vos eksistiren nokh, shtamen fun 1916, un bashtayen fun
kurtze noten hinter fotografn. zi toysht dort iber di bukhshtabn gimel
un zayen, afile in ir eygn nomen. es iz mayn meynung az zi hot zikh
koym oysgelernt. ikh veys az arn bergman is geven ir lerer - a fraynt,
a bundist un shpeter in nu york, a lerer oyf yidish in di i.w.o shuln.
ikh gefin venig byografishe material vegn bergman. es volt geholft
visn vu er iz geven in 1915-16.

mayne beyde eltern hobn gearbet bay di daytshn oyf militarishe vegn in
grodno gubernia nokh dem vos lodz iz okupirt gevorn in november, 1914;
dos heyst, zey zenen geven 'ofn shosey.'(shin-alef-samekh-yud-yud: dos
vort gefint sikh in harkavay (1898), zaytl 321, ober nisht in
vaynraykh. es iz oykh a daytsh vort.)

ikh zukh bavayzungen far a shriftigkayt bavegung, formal oder nisht,
tsvishn di arbet batalyonen. di daytshn gebn on az zey hobn gehat
700,000 azelekhe poylishe arbeter in meshakh fun di milkhome. (ikh hob
nisht kayn shatsung vegn vi fil yidn zenen gevesn tsvish di 700,000.)

avade ken men oystaytshn az di mame hot zikh oysgelernt frier, in der
heym, un hot nokh altz oysgemisht di oysies. ober aza oystaytshung
shtimt nisht mit der fakt az mayne eltere mimes hobn zikh nisht
oysgelernt, un shtimt oykh nisht mit mayn mame's kharakter. es harget
oykh oys a gute maynse.

hot emetser ergets gezen a memuar, epes gehert a geshikhte, gedenkt a
mishpokhe maynse, vegn di temes, vi nisht zaytvaytig? es dakht zikh az
logik ruft zikh tsum bund. ober di farshidene berikhtn vegn bund
aktivitetn in poyln in di tsayt hobn gornisht vegn dem. yidn, helft!

ikh hob shoyn geleyent efsher zeks khadoshim mendelen zind letste vokh.
es iz virklekh a gan eydn! ven ikh hob derzen dos shprikhvertl
'shvartz-khenivdike' bin ikh plutsling vider amol gezesn bay di mame's
kni, un hob vider gehert vi zi nitst di ale geshmake yidishe oysdrukn.
tsufelig, hob ikh oykh antdekt etlekhe alte fraynt tsvishn di mendele
khevre.

* * *

Yiddish was my first spoken language, but despite my education in IWO
Yiddish schools in the Bronx and despite having heard spoken Yiddish
into my adulthood, I am now struggling to retain the language. Retired
from a technical career for five years now, I've spent much of my time
trying to trace the eventful cultural and ideological journey taken by
a group of radical Lodzer (my parents and their friends) from the turn
of the century through the rest of their lives. Most of them emigrated
to the United States very shortly after the first World War.

My father, a learned man despite little formal education, was the
cultural director of the Jewish Culture Club of Co-op City (Yiddish
speaking) in the Bronx, New York for many years after he retired from
the needle trade. Literacy ran mainly on the male track in both my
parents' families in Lodz. My older aunts, those who had married
before World War I, stayed home during the war, raised families, and,
for the most part, remained illiterate for the rest of their lives.

My mother, born in 1900, did learn to read and write, but where and
when is an interesting question. Her earliest writings that are still
extant, date from 1916 and consist of brief identifying notes and
greetings on the backs of photographs. She often confused the mirror
image letters gimel and zayen, even in her own name. My conjecture is
that she had probably just learned to write during the war (and away
from home.) She did tell me that Aaron Bergman, a family friend, an
active Bundist at the time, and subsequently a Yiddish scholar active
in the IWO and Yiddish education in New York, taught her to read.
Unfortunately, I've found little biographical material about him thus
far. That would help establish where he was in 1915-16.

Both of my parents worked on construction gangs building military
roads in Grodno gubernia for the Germans after they had occupied Lodz
in November, 1914. They and their friends unvaryingly referred to this
experience as working "ofn shusey" (shin-alef-samekh-yud-yud: a
causeway or macadamized road per Harkavy, 1898, p.321. Weinreich
doen't have it, but it is common in German.) I am looking for evidence
of a Yiddish literacy program, formal or informal, among these labor
batallions, to support my theory regarding my mother's literacy. These
labor gangs are reported by the Germans to have numbered 700,000 in
Poland alone, in the course of the war. (I have no ethnic breakdown.)

Of course, my mother could have learned earlier at home and still
gotten the letters confused. But that kills a good story; it also
doesn't jibe with either her character, or with the fact that my
older, married aunts didn't learn to write.

Any memoir, oral history, remembered family story, no matter how
seemingly tangential, could give me the clue I'm looking for. It seems
that Bund accounts would be a logical place to look. But, although
I've seen several accounts of Bund activity in Poland during the war,
I've drawn a blank so far. Can anyone help me?

I have read about half a year's worth of Mendele since I started last
week. It has been an unalloyed joy! When I got to the exegesis of
'shvartz-kheynivdike' I was immediately transported home again to the
Bronx, listening my mother deliver that succulent, geshmake,
untranslatable phrase. I also discovered several old friends among the
Mendele contributors (Mendelians?) Serendipity galore! (also
untranslatable)

Marvin Engel

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End of Mendele Vol. 6.262