MOYSHE
TAYTSH (MOSHE TEITCH, TEITZ) (July 1882-October 24, 1935)
He was born in the settlement of
Vartatsi, near the suburb Antokol (Antakalnis), in Vilna County,
Lithuania. His family later moved to the
city of Vilna. His father was an
artisan, and he brought from Vilna a teacher who taught his son Tanakh,
Hiebrew, Russian, and even a bit of German.
For a short time when he was fourteen, Taytsh studied in Rameyle’s yeshiva,
and he then moved to a Russian public school within the Jewish teachers’
institute, from which he graduated and then attended the institute itself, but
he was soon expelled (from the second class) from not submitting to the fierce
discipline which dominated there. That
would have to have been around 1900-1901.
Taytsh continued his education on his own, supported himself giving
lessons, and began to cooperate in the illegal movement of the Bund in Vilna
and Smorgon (Smarhon). He was arrested
in 1901 in Smorgon during a strike of tanners, transported to Vilna, and placed
in Number 14 Prison (in Antokol), where he remained for a short time. After being set free, he engaged in Bundist
work with Shakhne Epshteyn, with whom he lived in an apartment. He was arrested again later and placed in the
Alekseyev Fort at the Modliner Fortress for two months in Warsaw—see his book, Di kore fun smorgon (The punishment at
Smorgon), pp. 85f. Around 1902-1903, he
began writing. He had been writing poems
in Hebrew and Russian prior to this, but at this time (apparently, under the
influence of Avrom Reyzen’s first poems and stories) he began to write in
Yiddish; he moved to Warsaw where he met Avrom Reyzen and began himself to
publish in M. Spektor’s weekly newspaper Yudishe
folkstsaytung (Jewish people’s newspaper) and in Reyzen’s anthologies, and
from that point in time he contributed to a series of Yiddish newspapers and
magazines, such as: Fraynd (Friend)
in St. Petersburg; Y. Vortman’s Yudishe
tsukunft (Jewish future) in London and Warsaw; Roman-tsaytung (Fiction newspaper) and Perets’s collection Yudish (Yiddish) in Warsaw; Zhitlovsky’s
Dos naye lebn (The new life) and Di tsukunft (The future) in New York;
and in Hebrew in Olam katan (Small
world), Hatsfira (The siren), and Hazman (The time). Together with Dovid Kasel, he contributed to
a daily war leaflet in Yiddish (Warsaw, 1904), was one of the group that
brought out in Warsaw (1907) the collections Nay-tsayt (New times), and was later the principal contributor to the
first Yiddish daily newspaper in Bialystok, Byalistoker
tageblat (Bialystok daily newspaper), edited by A. R. Hershberg
(1913-1914). He edited M. Shiva’s weekly
Hayntike tsayt (Contemporary times)
(Bialystok, 1914) and compiled a variety of anthologies, such as: Arbayter-lider (Workers’ poetry) of
1906; Libe (Love) of 1907; and Shtile trit (Quiet steps) of 1908. He also compiled, together with M. Birnboym,
a textbook for Yiddish beginners and did translations from Russian and Hebrew,
among them Bialik’s “Arye bal guf” (Corpulent Arye). Over the years 1904-1915, Taytsh made his
living from Yiddish newspaper work in Warsaw, Odessa, Vilna, Bialystok, and
Lodz. He wrote—both under his own name
and initials, as well as pseudonymously and anonymously—editorials and news
reports, feature pieces and stories, poems and allegories, and he also read
proofs for newspapers and presses.
Around 1910-1911, he was already a writer with a reputation in Yiddish
literature. It was mainly his poems that
were popular, especially those celebrating nature and describing the sad
landscape of impoverished Lithuania.
Although in form Taytsh was clumsy, he was nonetheless direct in the subject
matter of his verse, and the mournful, tender base tone of his lyric
gravitated, indeed implored, to be sung.
Not just ordinary readers but also young beginning writers (among them
subsequently well-known poets among Jews) sang along with Taytsh: “I come to
you from wide-open field / With the friendliest of greetings, / The beloved son
of spring / Has sent you warm kisses.” (“Friling” [Spring]); or “Uphill,
downhill, for miles and miles, / Pulling my cart, the axle creaking, / The
skinny grains look sad, / The sparse flax smiles bitterly.” (“Lite”
[Lithuania]); or “Sing, my sister, your songs, / Your songs cast downward / All
my empty worries / For today and for tomorrow.” (Anthology Libe [Love]). His
stories—semi-realistic and semi-symbolic, a kind of cloudy allegory—gravitated,
irrespective of their artistic faults, toward readers of the time, making his
stories just as popular then.
During WWI Taytsh’s material
condition, none too exalted until that point in time, became all the more
precarious. Between 1915 and 1918, he
worked at posts for Yekopo (Yevreyskiy komitet pomoshchi zhertvam voyny—“Jewish Relief Committee for War Victims”)
and ORT (Association for the Promotion
of Skilled Trades) in Kharkov, Moscow, and Kursk; he traveled through
Ukraine (already after the March Revolution, 1917, in Russia) as a speaker on
Yiddish literature; and he worked in the Jewish Ministry in Kiev. He had by that time joined the Jewish
Folkspartey (People’s party), took on an active role in the election campaign
of the party at its founding meeting (1917), and edited its weekly organ, Kharkover tsaytung (Kharkov newspaper)
from August 1918. He wrote children’s
poetry and children’s stories, 1918-1919, which were published by various
Yiddish presses in Moscow and Kharkov, and he compiled a booklet about
cooperation based on need (published by the Kharkov Jewish Workers’
Cooperative). He moved to Moscow around
1920, made a turn to Communism, took to writing “proletarian” poetry and
stories, became a contributor to Emes
(Truth) in Moscow, corresponded from Moscow for Frayhayt (Freedom) in New York and Di prese (The press) in Buenos Aires, became a member of the
Communist Party and entered into the network of internal Party intrigues and
denunciations, and as a result of which he was in 1922 (during the Party purge
in Moscow) expelled from the Party.
Taytsh, though, was not silenced, went to great pains to return to
winning the trust of the Communist Party, was later for the most part
“rehabilitated,” received permission from the government to have his own
two-room apartment in Moscow (something of great value in the later 1920s), was
transferred to a state salary, and in the eleventh volume of the Soviet Literaturnaia entsiklopediya (Literary
encyclopedia) of 1939 there was an entire column devoted to him. In his Communist period, Taytsh was
extraordinarily creative. The
breakthrough works of 1922-1923—Khronik-bukh
(Chronicle book) (Kharkov, 1922), 32 pp.; Oktober-freyd
(October joy) (Moscow, 1922), 32 pp.; Teg
on dir, kleyne poemen (Days without you, short poems) (Moscow, 1922), 40
pp.; Remont (Reconstruction) (Moscow,
1923), 30 pp.; Dlonyes in zun (Palms
[of the hand] in the sun) (Moscow, 1923), 28 pp.—were bloated, unnatural,
howling. These works by Taytsh were not
even deemed successful by a Soviet critic (A. Litvakov scoffed at these works,
as he did at those of Khatskl Dunets among others as well). He later calmed down, became more secure in
his Soviet standing, and continued writing more objectively and more
artistically. His story, A hoyf af tshebotarske (A courtyard on Tshebotaske) (Moscow,
1926), 94 pp., and especially his novel, Der toyt fun khaver vulye (The death of Comrade Vulye) (Minsk,
1928), 208 pp., caused quite a stir in Soviet Yiddish literature. The novel, which was translated into a number
of languages, was published in a second edition in 1931. In the “Foreword” to the second edition, the
publishers washed their hands of Taytsh’s individualism in the novel, but they
could not bring themselves to not praise it.
An excellent work from his second period was also the collection of
various descriptions, mostly autobiographical, entitled Di kore fun smorgon—included in this work were the stories “Fun
‘gutn’ amol” (From the “good” past) and “Zashtatne” (Zashtatne), which also
appeared in separate publications, the first being Shnobl (Beak) (Moscow, 1935), 70 pp. Among the other novels of his last years, the
most successful were his descriptions Arum
der fabrik “di ershte shvalb” (Around the factory, “The first swallow”)
(Minsk, 1929), 256 pp., and Parteyen un
mentshn (Parties and men) (1934). He
also wrote plays for adults and for children, and many of his works were reissued
in various editions. He died in Moscow.
His works in book form include: Bay der arbayt (At work) of 1903, which
later was published under the title Arbayter
lider (Labor poems), “collected by Moyshe Taytsh” (Warsaw: Progres, 1906),
56 pp.; Liebe [Libe] (Love), “compiled by M. Taytsh,” first edition (Vilna: Frayer
mentsh, 1907), 32 pp., second expanded edition (Warsaw: Y. Edelshteyn, 1908),
48 pp.; Tsvey mayselekh (Two little
stories)—“Baym sheydveg” (At the crossroad) and “Di shnee royz” (The snow rose)—(Vilna:
Di velt, 1907), 17 pp.; Folks-shule, a lerbukh far anfanger tsu lezen un shrayben
yudish, far shule un hoyz-lere (Poeple’s school, a textbook for beginners to
read and write Yiddish, lessons for school and home), with M. Birnboym (Warsaw:
Y. Edelshteyn, 1908), 64 pp.; Shtile
trit, zamlbukh (Quiet steps, anthology), part 1 (Odessa, 1909), 16 pp.; Erd un himl (Earth and heaven), poetry
(Odessa, 1909), 16 pp.; Bay a glezl vayn,
a shpyon (With a glass of wine, a spy), stories (Warsaw, 1909); Shriftn (Writings) (Warsaw:
Velt-biblyotek, 1910), 78 pp., three volumes (third volume, poetry);
translation of Bialik’s Arye bal guf
(Corpulent Arye) (Warsaw: B. Shimin, 1910/1911), 76 pp.; Der graf un di idn, a legende (The count and the Jews, a legend),
in verse (Moscow: H. Aktsin, 1917), second edition (Kiev: Folks-farlag, 1920),
14 pp.; Fun idishe kinders vegn (From
the ways of Jewish children), children poetry (Kharkov: Pedagogisher farlag,
1918); Di vunderlikhe nesiye (The
wonderful trip), a story in verse (Khakov: Pedagogisher farlag, 1918), 32 pp.; Poemen (Poems)—“Harei at mekudeshet”
(Behold you are consecrated) and “Der zig fun di bazigte” (The victory of the
defeated)—(Kharkov: Idish, 1918), 52 pp.; Di
gebroykh-kooperatsye un der idisher arbeter (Cooperation based on need and
the Jewish worker) (Kharkov: Jewish workers’ cooperative “Self-Action,” 1919),
32 pp.; Dovid un bas-sheve, historisher
drame in 4 aktn (David and Bathsheba, a historical play in four acts)
(Kharkov: n.p., 1920), 60 pp.; Khronik-bukh
(Chronicle book), three parts (Kharkov: Veltkeyt, 1922), 32 pp.; Oktober-freyd (October joy) (Moscow,
1922), 32 pp.; Teg on dir, kleyne poemen
(Days without you, short poems) (Moscow: n. p., 1922), 40 pp.; Remont, fun alef tsurik (Reconstruction,
from alef back) (Moscow: Idishe
poligrafishe shul, 1923), 30 pp.; Dlonyes
in zun, poeme fun harbst (Palms [of the hand] in the sun, autumn poem)
(Moscow: n.p., 1923), 28 pp.; A hoyf af
tshebotarske (A courtyard
on Tshebotaske) (Moscow: V.A.P.P., 1926), 94 pp.; Far tsvantsik yor (1903-1923), geklibene verk (For twenty years,
1903-1923, selected writings) (Vilna: B. Kletskin, 1927), 296 pp.; Der toyt fun khaver vulye, roman in dray
teyln (The
death of Comrade Vulye, a novel in three parts) (Minsk: State Publishers, 1928),
208 pp., second edition (Moscow-Kharkov-Minsk: Central Publishers, 1931), 308
pp.; translation of Ye. Shabad, Vi azoy
dertsit men kinder fun 3 biz 8 yor? (How does one raise children from age
three to eight?) (Moscow: Central Peoples’ Publishers, 1928), 26 pp.;
translation of Kulisher-Buntselman, Farvos
men tor kinder nit bashtrofn (Why one ought not punish children) (Moscow:
Central Peoples’ Publishers, 1928), 16 pp.; O. Yohanson, Farvos vert a kind abergloybik? (Why is a child superstitious?)
(Moscow: Central Peoples’ Publishers, n.s.), 16 pp.; L. Geshelin, Git dem kind gezunt shpayz (Give the
child healthy food) (Moscow: Central Peoples’ Publishers, 1928), 26 pp.; A hoyf af tsherbotarske, a play in four
acts, staged by the drama circle at the Minsk club “Royter boyer” (Red builder)
(Minsk: State Publishers, 1929), 68 pp.; Arum
der fabrik “di ershte shvalb,” roman (Around the factory, “The
first swallow,” a novel) (Minsk: Byelorussian State Publishers, 1929), 256 pp.;
Di kore fun smorgon (The
punishment at Smorgon), stories (Moscow: Central Publishers, 1930), 157 pp.; Vaysrusland, land un folk amol un itst
(Byelorussia, land and people then and now) (Moscow-Kharkov-Minsk: Central
Publishers, 1930), 56 pp.; Infuzarishe
erd (Infused land), a novel (Moscow: Central Publishers, 1931), 288 pp.; Der veg keyn donbas, dertseylung (The
road to the Donbas, a story) (Moscow: Emes, 1932), 143 pp.; Parteyen un mentshn
(Parties and men) (1934); Shnobl,
dertseylungen (Beak, stories) (Moscow: Emes, 1935), 71 pp.; Zashtatne, etyudn (Zashtatne. Studies)
(Minsk: Byelorussian state publishers, 1936), 223 pp.; Geklibene verk (Selected work) (Moscow: Emes, 1936), 370 pp. His work was also represented in: Lomir zingen (Let’s sing) (Moscow: Emes,
1940); and Der arbeter in der yidisher
literatur, fargesene lider (The worker in Yiddish literature, forgotten
poems) (Moscow, 1939).
Sources:
Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 1; Z.
Zilbertsvayg, Leksikon fun yidishn teater
(Handbook of the Yiddish theater), vol. 2 (New York, 1934); Evreiskaia entsiklopediya (Jewish
encyclopedia), vol. 14; Literaturnaia
entsiklopediya (Literary encyclopedia), vol. 11 (Moscow, 1939); M. Vanvild,
in Dos naye land (New York) 24 (1911),
ed. Avrom Reyzen; M. Olgin, in Tsukunft
(New York) (April 1912); M. Litvakov, In umru (Disquiet), vol. 2
(Moscow, 1926), pp. 109-12; L. Lerer, Di
psikhologye fun literatur (The psychology of literature) (New York, 1926),
p. 162; Shmuel Niger, in Literarishe
bleter (Warsaw) (April 29, 1927); Avrom Reyzen, Epizodn fun mayn lebn (Episodes from my life), part 2 (Vilna,
1929), pp. 138-41, 209, 210, part 3 (Vilna, 1935), pp. 303-5; M. Mizheritski,
in Di royte velt (Kharkov)
(September-October 1931), pp. 197f; Khatskl Dunets, Far magnitboyen in der
literatur (For the great works of literature) (Minsk, 1932), pp. 45-46; A.
Abtshuk, Etyudn un materialn tsu der geshikhte fun der yidisher literatur
bavegung in FSRR (Studies and material for the history of the Yiddish
literature movement in the Soviet Union) (Kharkov, 1934), pp. 25, 27-29, 35-36,
95-96; A. Kushnirov, in Sovetish
(Moscow) 3 (1935), pp. 290-91; Z. R. (Zalmen Reyzen, in Vilner tog (Vilna) (October 29, 1935); M. Kitay, in Literarishe bleter (November 8, 1935);
Elkhonen Tsaytlin, In a literarisher shtub (In a literary home) (Warsaw, 1937), p. 54; D. Tsharni
(Daniel Charney), A yortsendlik aza, 1914-1924, memuarn (Such a
decade, 1914-1924, memoirs) (New York, 19430, pp. 294, 296, 297-98, 311-12; Y.
Dobrushin, in Eynikeyt (Moscow)
(December 25, 1945); A. Sh. Hershberg, in Pinkes
byalistok (New York) 2 (1949), p. 147; E. Almi, in Undzer veg (New York) (February 15, 1950); Y. Baskin, “Epizodn fun
mayn lebn” (Episodes from my life), in Baskin-bukh
(Volume for Baskin) (New York, 1951); Yosl Kohn, Baym rand fun onhoyb (At the edge of the beginning) (New York, 1960),
pp. 224f; Y. Lifshits and M. Altshuler, comps., Briv fun yidishe sovetishe shraybers (Letters of Soviet Jewish
writers) (Jerusalem, 1979/1980), pp. 193-230.
Yitskhok Kharlash
[Additional
information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon
fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New
York, 1986), col. 282.]
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