Eli Shechtman papers

Identifier
irn554000
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2016.549.1
Dates
1 Jan 1948 - 31 Dec 1995
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Yiddish
  • Hebrew
  • Russian
  • Ukrainian
  • French
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

boxes

oversize box

8

1

1,163 digital images, PDF and JPEG

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Eli Shechtman (1908-1996), a Yiddish writer, born in Vaskovichi, Ukraine. Eli Shechtman began writing in Yiddish at the age of 12, before entering a yeshiva in Zhitomir in 1921. His first publication of two poems appeared in 1928 in the Kharkov literary monthly "Di royte velt." Shechtman studied at the literary department of the Yiddish Teachers Institute in Odessa from 1929 to 1933. He spent the following three years in Kharkov, later moving to Kiev. Shechtman published his first story in 1927, and his first novel, Oyfn sheydṿeg, in 1930. In 1932 he published Faraḳerṭe mezshes, and Polesier ṿelder in 1940. He was accepted to the Union of Soviet Writers in 1934. After serving as a Red Army officer from 1942 to 1947, Shechtman returned to Kiev. His literary activities were interrupted in 1948 when Soviet authorities began liquidating all the remaining Yiddish institutions and arrested many Yiddish literati. Shechtman, too, was imprisoned, but Stalin’s death in March 1953 saved his life. The epic novel EREV, the first Soviet Yiddish novel written and published after Stalin’s death, became the central work of his literary career. A number of critics praised it as one of the best, or even the best, achievement of post-Holocaust Yiddish prose. The first four parts of the novel EREV were serialized in the Moscow journal “Sovetish heymland” and the two first parts of the novel were published in book form in 1965 by the Moscow publishing house Sovetskii Pisatel’. Its English translation, by Joseph Singer, appeared in New York in 1967. In 1972, Shechtman immigrated to Israel, and in 1973 he received an award from the Israeli government for his accomplishments as a Yiddish writer. Beṭerem (EREV – 1-4 Books) were translated to Hebrew by Tsevi Arad in 1975. In Israel, Eli Shechtman wrote the fifth, sixth and seventh books of the novel EREV, the full edition of which - all seven books - was published in 1983 in Yiddish and was translated to Russian by Alma Shin in 2005. Shechtman’s autobiographical novel Ringen oyf der Neshome (Rings in the Soul) showed many dark sides of Soviet Jewish life and was published in 1981; Hebrew translation (Y. Gur-Arie) of two first parts of the novel was published in 1992. Complete translation to Russian of this novel (all four parts) was made by Alma Shin (Kol’za na dushe) in 2001 and (Vspachat’ Bezdnu) in 2012. Baym shkie-aker (Last Sunset; 1994), Shechtman’s last novel, portrays the tragic story of a Ukrainian Jewish family destined to experience the atrocities of Stalinism and the Holocaust. This novel was translated to Russian (Posledniĭ zakat) by Alma Shin in 2008 and to French (La charrue de feu) by Rachel Ertel in 2015. In December 1996, the anniversary of writer’s death, the collection of his short stories Tristia was published in Yiddish. Some of the stories were translated to Russian by Alma Shin in 2000. Suggesting readings: Itshe Goldberg, “Eli Shekhtman, 1908–1996,” Yidishe kultur 52.5 (1990): 38–44, 52.6 (1990): 19–25. [Source: The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe]

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Berny Larisa

The Eli Shechtman collection was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum by Berny Larisa, in 2016.

Scope and Content

Papers of Eli Shechtman, a prominent Yiddish writer. The collection consists of Shechtman's personal and official correspondence, manuscripts, articles, notes, sketches, photographs, journals and newspapers clippings. The materials relate to Shechtman's personal and professional life as a writer. Journals and newspaper publications include: "Omer"," Leatztah Neis", "Morning Freiheirt", "Nasha Strana", "Yedioth Ahronot", "Al Hamishmar", "Maariv", "Folks Shtimah", "Yisroel Shtimah", "Iton 1977", "Humanite Dimanche", "Nasz Geos", "Liternaturnaya Gazzeta", "Maoznim", "Darom Africa", "Folksblatt", "Folk & Medinah", "Yiddishe Kultur", and "Neis Preis." Consists also a document issued in 1953 to remove Shechtman from the Ukrainian Writer’s Union as a consequence of Shechtman’s ethnicity, during Stalin’s repression of Jewish intellectuals. and a drawing signed and dated by Abraham Sutzkever (found between the letters). Also contains digital images of MANUSCRIPTS, Drafts & Notes, copies of a part of Eli Shechtman archives prepared by the donor of the collection.

System of Arrangement

Arranged in five series: 1. Correspondence, postcards, invitations, and addressed envelopes with post stamps (1948-1995) [Box 1-5]; 2. Manuscripts, drafts and notes [Box 6-7]; 3. Photographs, biographical and miscellaneous items [Box 8]; 4. Newspapers, journals, and clippings [Box 8, Folder 6 and Box 9]; 5. Digital materials: Books; Manuscripts and Notes; Photographs with inventory; and the journal "Yiddishe kultur. ײדישע קולטור."

Conditions Governing Reproduction

Copyright Holder: Ms. Berny Larisa

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.