YEKHIEL
FALIKMAN (December 31, 1911-June 10 [or May 9?], 1977)
He was born in Lubar (Lyubar), Zhitomir
district, Ukraine, to a father who worked as a farmer. He completed a seven-year school in Lyubar. He demonstrated a penchant for painting and
wrote poetry as well from an early age.
He went on to study at the Kiev Art School from 1928. He did not graduate but later worked at a
steel foundry in the “Bolshevik” machine-manufacturing factory in Kiev. His literary activity began in 1931 in Kiev,
when he debuted in print in the Kharkov journal Di royte velt (The red world) with a story entitled “Di stepes
shitn zikh” (The steppes are crumbling).
This piece provided early evidence of his later style: a talent for
broad epic description, complex subject matter, realistic imagery, and romantic
pathos. The editor of Di royte velt, Henekh Kazakevitsh,
welcomed this young writer with a congratulatory note. Kazakevitsh was then appointed
editor-in-chief of Birobidzhaner shtern
(Birobidzhan star), and he summoned Falikman to join him there. He spent 1932-1933 in Birobidzhan as a
contributor to the newspaper. As a
result of his time spent in Birobidzhan, he brought out his first book: Tsvishn spokes, dertseylungen (Amid the
hills, stories) (Kiev, 1937), 277 pp., second edition (Minsk, 1938), 280 pp.; a
later book also concerned Birobidzhan, Onheyb
friling, dertseylungen un noveln (Beginning of spring, stories and
novellas) (Kiev-Lvov, 1940), 267 pp. During the years of WWII, he worked as a
military correspondent for various army newspapers at the Russian front. He composed a series of war stories which
were compiled in his book, Libe un fayer,
front-dertseylungen (Love and fire, stories of the front) (Moscow: Emes,
1943), 88 pp. From that point, his basic
work was dedicated to the war, the tragic fate of millions of people, the
Holocaust of the Jewish people, and the heroism of its best sons and
daughters. For his military distinctions
at various fronts against the Germans, he was awarded medals and the rank of
major of the guard. His novels—Di shayn kumt fun mizrekh, roman (The
light comes from the East, a novel) (Moscow: Emes, 1948), 538 pp., second
edition (Buenos Aires: IKUF, 1951), 472 pp.; Der shvartser vint (The black wind); Der urteyl iz oysgefilt (Judgment fulfilled); and Fayer un ash (Fire and ash)—form a tetralogy,
in which Falikman reached an extraordinary level of depiction. Together with these works, he published a
series of other prose writings, originals and translations into Russian and
Ukrainian. The critics noted that it was
characteristic of Falikman to have a profound understanding of the historical
background. He published stories in: Der shtern (The star) in Kiev; Tsum zig (To victory), Heymland (Homeland), and Sovetish heymland (Soviet homeland) in
Moscow; Af naye vegn (Along new roads), Almanakh (Almanac), and Ikuf (IKUF [= Jewish Cultural Association])
in New York (1948); and Folksshtime
(Voice of the people) in Warsaw; among others.
Among his other works: Mentshn fun
mayn land, dertseylungen (Men of my country, stories) (Moscow: Emes, 1945),
166 pp. He also translated by himself
into Russian his work Der geviter in
tishash (The tempest at Tishaish [original: Groza nad Tishaishei]) (Kiev, 1957), 243 pp.—it also appeared in
Ukrainian. He was a member of the
editorial collective of Sovetish heymland. He was one of the most important Soviet
Yiddish prose writers whom the liquidations of 1948-1952 managed to avoid. Together with Note Lurye and Elye Shekhtman,
among others (from the generation of writers on the eve of WWII), Falikman
created the backbone of contemporary Soviet Yiddish prose. He died in Kiev.
Sources:
A. Velednitski, in Sovetishe literatur
(Kiev) (February 1938); Y. Nusinov, in Eynikeyt
(Moscow) (August 5, 1942); A. Kushnirov, in Naye
prese (Paris) (July 27, 1945); A. Kipnis, in Eynikeyt (Moscow) (September 27, 1945); Yisroel Serebriani, in Eynikeyt (November 20, 1945); Noyekh
Lurye, in Eynikeyt (April 20, 1946);
N. Y. Gotlib, in Keneder odler
(Montreal) (March 30, 1953); N. Mayzil, Dos
yidishe shafn un der yidisher shrayber in sovetn-farband (Jewish creation
and the Jewish writer in the Soviet Union) (New York, 1959); Chone Shmeruk,
comp., Pirsumim yehudiim
babrit-hamoatsot, 1917-1961 (Jewish publications in the Soviet Union,
1917-1961) (Jerusalem, 1961), see index; Biblyografye
fun yidishe bikher vegn khurbn un gvure (Bibliography of Yiddish books
concerning the Holocaust and heroism) (New York, 1962); A. Heldes, in Sovetish heymland (Moscow) (March-April
1962).
Benyomen Elis
[Additional
information from: Chaim Beider, Leksikon
fun yidishe shrayber in ratn-farband (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish
writers in the Soviet Union), ed. Boris Sandler and Gennady Estraikh (New York:
Congress for Jewish Culture, Inc., 2011), pp. 288-89.]