SHMUEL-KHAYIM LEVIN (SAMUEL LEWIN) (March 5, 1890-June 3,
1959)
He was born in Konskivolye
(Konskowola), Lublin district, Poland.
Until age sixteen he attended religious elementary school, synagogue
study hall, and yeshiva. The poverty in
his home was extreme and the young Shmuel suffered enormously for just a piece
of bread: he sold green apples on the railway line between Pulav (Pulawy) and
Lublin, was a journeyman for a tradesman, went homeless in a variety of cities
in Poland and Russia—as far away as Bukhara—and he suffered tuberculosis from
childhood until his thirties. In 1912 he
left for Argentina, and there he would become a colonist. A week before WWI broke out, he returned to
Poland. In 1920 he was sent off to
Berlin, and in 1934, after Hitler came to power, he had to flee from
there. He wandered with his family
through Europe for two years, until they reached the United States in
1936. He began writing early in Life,
but he only first published in 1917 in Lubliner
togblat (Lublin daily newspaper).
From then on, he contributed work to: Di tsayt (The times) in Kovno; Folks-tsaytung
(People’s newspaper), Bikher-velt
(Book world), and Hatekufa (The
epoch) in Warsaw; Fraye shriftn (Free
writings) in Berlin); Dos naye leben
(The new life), Di tsukunft (The
future), Morgn-tsaytung (Morning
newspaper), Tog (Day), Ikuf (IKUF [= Jewish cultural association]),
and Hamer (Hammer) in New York; Di prese (The press) in Buenos Aires; Hamburger Familienblatt (Hamburg family
newspaper); L’univers (The universe);
and Forum; among others. In book form: A sreyfe, drama in dray aktn (A fire, drama in three acts) (Warsaw:
Tsentral-farlag, 1919), 85 pp.; Far zind,
drama in dray aktn (For sins, drama in three acts) (Warsaw:
Tsentral-farlag, 1919), 73 pp.; Gezang
fun doyres, roman (Song of generation, a novel) (Warsaw: Brzhoza,
1928), 550 pp.; Kegn himl (Against
heaven), stories (Warsaw: Brzhoza, 1935), 130 pp.; In goles, drame in 5 aktn mit an epilog
(In the diaspora, drama in five acts with an epilogue) (Warsaw: Brzhoza,
1935), 132 pp. (confiscated by the Polish government); Khezyoynes (Visions), a poem (New York: Biderman, 1941), 80 pp.; Tsvishn tsvey thomen, trilogye (Between
two abysses, trilogy) (Buenos Aires, 1959), vol. 1, 437 pp.; Shvarts berg un bloye toln (Dark
mountains and blue valleys), vol. 2 (Buenos Aires, 1962), 368 pp.; Volkn-gedrang (Rush of clouds) (Tel
Aviv: Hamenorah, 1970), 394 pp.[1] Tsurik in der heym (Back home) (New York: Shulzinger, 1980), 262
pp. In German translation: Chassidische Legende (Hassidic legends),
trans. Arno Nadel, with woodcuts by
Y. Budko (Berlin: Rathenau
& Horodisch, 1925), 84 pp., three printings; Dämonen des Blutes (Demons of the blood), trans. R. Beatus (Berlin:
Der Syndikalist, 1926), 151 pp.; Zeitwende,
Roman (Turning point, a novel) (Berlin: Soncino Society, 1926), 331 pp.; Gesichte (Visions), poetry in blank
verse (Berlin: Horodisch &
Marx, 1928), 127 pp.; Und er kehrte heim,
Roman (And he returned home, a novel) (Vienna-Jerusalem: R. Löwit, 1936),
350 pp., with a preface by Franz Werfel—in Yiddish the novel was known as Der hoyfzinger (The court singer) (New
York: Morgn-zhurnal, 1936). In English
translation: The Impatient Sages, a
Legend (New York, 1948), 79 pp., translated by his son Jeremiah Lewin and
with woodcuts by Joseph Budko. In
addition, we have Levin’s translation from the Russian: G. A. Gurev, Darvinizm un ateizm (Darwinism and
atheism) (New York, 1931), 226 pp. Being
prepared for publication as well is Dov Sadan’s Hebrew translation of Chassidische Legende. Levin wrote a great deal and quickly acquired
a name in the literary world, both the non-Jewish and Jewish worlds. Some of his writings were published in
translation directly from manuscript and only later in Yiddish. He was translated into Polish, German,
English, French, Dutch, and Hebrew. Many
words of praise have been enunciated by Franz Werfel, Rudolf Rocker, and
others. In Nazi Germany, they openly
burned his German-language books. He
spent his last years in New York, all but completely forgotten. He interacted almost not at all among other
people, but he did not cease writing. He
died in the Bronx, New York. He left in
his bequest in manuscript: novels, plays, and stories; and his widow Miriam Lewin
published them bit by bit. She also
translated his books into German. Among
the surviving, unpublished dramas were: “In goles,” “Gekroynt vert ashmoday”
(Ashmodai is crowned), “Kdoyshim kemfn” (The saintly ones fight on), “Der rebns
gese” (The rebbe’s breed), “Vunder-erd” (Wonder land), and “A yid an akshn” (An
obstinate man). His trilogy is now being
translated into French by Arnold Mandel, with the first volume already in
production. “This is a book,” wrote
Shmuel Niger, “that lives with what should
be, not just with what exists or once existed. It is a dream of the future, which clings to
the deepest roots of the past and flutters among the broadest wings of the
present. It lights up legends and dreams
in ideals. This is what Perets sought so
fervently and thirstily. It is, in fact,
a continuation of Perets’s idealism, of Perets’s ethical romanticism, an echo
of old Reb Shloyme’s song in the ‘golden chain.’” “Levin drained the cup of Jewish fate,” noted
Franz Werfel, “of the Jewish mission to the very bottom, and so was his talent
so great that it dealt with the problem not with a writing voice. Not with laments, not with clenched fists did
he make accusations, no! His tone was
agreeably quiet. And his hand which
leads the reader—strong and sure and gentle.”
Sources:
In Yiddish: Zalmen Zilbertsvayg, Leksikon fun yidishn teater (Handbook of the Yiddish
theater), vol. 2 (New York, 1934); Y. Stupnitski, in Lubliner togblat (February 1920); Rudolf Rocker, in Fraye arbeter-shtime (New York) (January
30, 1925); Shmuel Niger, in Tsukunft
(New York) (April 1928); A. Katsizne, in Bikher-velt
(Warsaw) (June 1928); F. Tsenzur, in Fraye
shriftn (Berlin-Warsaw) (November 1928); Dr. V. Nayman, in Yidishe velt (Philadelphia) (February
1941); Dr. L. Zhitnitski, in Di prese
(Buenos Aires) (January 1942); obituary notices in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New York) and Forverts (New York) (June 5, 1959), and in Morgn-frayhayt (New York) (June 7, 1959); Sh. Rozenberg, in Der amerikaner (New York) (December 18,
1959); H. Fenster, in Literarishe heftn
(Paris) (January 1960); Chaim Grade, in Fraye
arbeter-shtime (August 15, 1960). In
Polish: Dr. M. Binshtok, in Chwila
(Lemberg) (January 1920). In German: A.
Yitzhaki, in Jüdische Rundschau
(Berlin) (May 8, 1921); Franz Werfel, in
Jüdische Rundschau (January
1936); Dr. Weltsch, Selbstwehr
(Prague) (January 17, 1936). In Dutch:
Y. H., in De Joodsche Wachter
(Amsterdam) (January 31, 1936). In
English: obituary in New York Times
(June 5, 1959).
Yankev Birnboym
[Additional
information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon
fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New
York, 1986), col. 348.]
[1] Translator’s note.
There is a full English translation by Joseph Leftwich in three parts: Between Two Abysses, Dark Mountains and Blue Valleys, and Shining through the Clouds (New York:
Cornwall Books, 1988); and Hebrew translation by Shimshon Meltser, Ben shene tehomot (Between two abysses)
(Tel Aviv: Hamenorah, 1970). (JAF)
No comments:
Post a Comment