Letters of Jewish writer Isaak Nukhimovich Kipnis from Gulag

Identifier
irn42482
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2005.599
  • RG-31.116
Dates
1 Jan 1952 - 31 Dec 1955
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Russian
  • Yiddish
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

folder

1

410 digital images, PDF

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Isaak Nukhimovich Kipnis (1894-1974) was a prominent Soviet Jewish writer, member of the Union of Ukrainian writers. He was arrested in 1949 and accused of the “Nationalist ( Zionist) and Anti-Soviet activities”. The main evidence incriminated against Kipnis were his literary activities before and after WWII, especially his short article “ On khokhmes, on kheshiboynes” published in 1947 in the Polish Yiddish newspaper “ Naye Lebn” where he suggested that Soviet Jews have to proudly wear Yellow Stars next to the military decorations received on the battle fields. Isaak Kipnis’s works has been widely published before his arrest in the Soviet Union and recently in Israel and USA.

Archival History

Center for the Studies of History and Culture of East European Jewry (Judaica Center) of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Kyiv, Ukraine

Acquisition

Forms part of the Claims Conference International Holocaust Documentation Archive at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This archive consists of documentation whose reproduction and/or acquisition was made possible with funding from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

Source of acquisition is the Center for the Studies of History and Culture of East European Jewry (Judaica Center) of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Kyiv, Ukraine. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received the collection from the Judaica Center via the United States Holocaust Museum International Archives Project in Jan. 2011 and accretion in June 2017.

Scope and Content

Consist of 62 letters written by Isaak Kipnis to his relatives from a gulag in 1952-1953 as well as appeals to the Soviet government and judicial authorities to review his case. The correspondence provides information about his imprisonment, describes circumstances of Kipnis’s arrest and attempts of his relatives to free him from the imprisonment.

Conditions Governing Reproduction

Copyright Holder: Center for the Studies of History and Culture of East European Jewry (Judaica Center) of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Kyiv, Ukraine

People

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.