Under the Red Banner: Yiddish Culture in the Communist Countries in the Postwar Era. (Jüdische Kultur, 20) by Elvira Grözinger, Magdalena Ruta

Abstract

MLR, 105.4, 2010 1191 (Leeuwarden: Fryske Akademy, 1996), although with extensive exemplification, covered only the vocabulary of the largest legalmanuscripts. The Handwdrterbuch therefore represents a major step forwards. First of all, it comprises virtually all the extant sources; not only the legal corpus, but also the lesser-known chronicles and administrative texts.Moreover, the use of an intricate set of sigla referring to both separate texts and manuscripts hugely facilitates tracing the attestation of a word; this is an improvement both on the extensive examples in Richthofen and on the complete absence of indications of textual attestation inHolthausen. Another novelty is the inclusion of dialectal information for every headword. The entries in theHandwdrterbuch typically consist of the headword, printed in italics when it represents a normalized or reconstructed form, together with its attested orthographic variants (a useful feature considering the extreme complexity of Old Frisian orthography). The semantic part of the entry often includes specific examples of idiomatic usage, although admittedly the examples are by no means exhaustive. Each entry further presents a list of sigla indicating the attestations of the headword, and a listof strong or irregular forms. These have also been given a separate entry in the dictionary togetherwith a cross-reference to the main headword. Finally, each lemma lists references to other relevant entries, for example in the case of compounds or derivations. As Popkema admits in his preface, the Handwdrterbuch does not claim to be exhaustive. Especially in the case of frequently attested words, not every orthographic and semantic nuance has been given. The editors have also decided not to include personal names and words exclusively attested in non-Old Frisian sources (Latin and Middle Low German). It is perhaps also regrettable that the entries entirely lack etymological information, for example cognates in related languages. Even so, theHandwdrterbuch will undoubtedly prove to be a useful research tool for students and scholars alike inyears to come. Girton College, Cambridge Alderik H. Blom Under theRed Banner: Yiddish Culture in theCommunist Countries in thePostwar Era. Ed. by Elvira Grozinger andMagdalena Ruta. (JiidischeKultur, 20) Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. 2008. 268 pp. 48. ISBN 978-3-447-05808-7. This important volume represents the proceedings of a conference held at the University of Cracow in November 2006. Primarily because of the Holocaust, but also the ideological constraints imposed by the Communist regimes, Yiddish culture in post-war Eastern and Central Europe was a mere shadow of what ithad been before, but none the less deserves greater attention than ithas hitherto received. Thus this symposium fills a pressing need and merits a detailed review. Jaff Schatz provides a useful introductory summary of the situation of Jewish cultural organizations in the aftermath of thewar, outlining the complex demographic dynamics which saw survivors either emerging from hiding or returning from the Soviet Union and not only taking up residence in major 1192 Reviews cities such as Warsaw and Lodz, but also being directed to Lower Silesia and other territories newly ceded by Germany. This increase, however, was more than offset by waves ofmass emigration that began immediately after the war when approximately half the surviving Jews, spurred by news of the Kielce pogrom of 1946, feltunable to construct a new lifeon blood-soaked soil. Emigration peaked again when restrictions were lifted after Wladyslaw Gomulka returned to power in the post-'thaw' era of 1956-59, while nearly all those still remaining left in 1968 afterGomulka instituted an anti-Zionist' campaign during internal party conflict in thewake of the Six-Day War. At each stage the stereotype of the 'Zydo-Komuna' stoked anti-Semitism, which further motivated the exodus from Poland of all but those most closely identified with the illusory Communist dream of a classless society free from ethnic prejudice, thus creating a self-fulfillingprophecy. Bozena Szaynok illuminates the role of Jews in Polish Communist policy during the period 1949-53, stressing how Stalinist anti-Semitism was implemented somewhat lessmurderously than in theUSSR or Czechoslovakia. This impression is confirmed by August Grabski andMartyna Rusiniak, who document themodest degree of official support forYiddish accorded by the Polish regime. Elvira Grozinger examines the theatre criticism of Israil Bercovici, writing in the Romanian IKUF-bleter. This was while...