Abstract
Yiddish theater1 had not been a rarity in Bucharest, Romania, since Abraham Goldfaden had arrived there with his troupe in 1877. Yet, it is surprising that in the immediate aftermath of the Shoah, it was the Yiddish stage, in a country that had seen more than its share of horrors due to racial laws and discrimination, to first thematize the Jewish trauma. Two performances by Yiddish language theaters in Bucharest brought the experiences of the Shoah to the stage in 1945 and 1949. Their engagement of the topic, I believe, refutes claims that in Romania’s postwar phase Yiddish theater was only a mouthpiece for the country’s new Communist authorities2 and testifies to the theater’s potential as a tool for educating as well as providing covert critical social commentary.
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Notes
Arhiva Centrul pentru Studierea Istoriei Evreilor din România [Archive of the Center for the Study of the History of the Jews in Romania]:
Dosar 79: Oscar Lemnaru, “Teatrul Baraseum: ‘Ih leb’ piesă în 3 acte de Pincewski,” Facia (October 2, 1945): 2.
i. fl., “Teatrul Baraseum: ‘Trăiesc!’…Trei acte de Pincewsky,” Timpul (October 26, 1945): (page unknown); (Author unknown)’ “Teatrul de artă idiş ‘I.K.U.F.’ a câştigat bătălia. Spectacolul ‘Trăiesc’ o mare biruiţă artistic,” Eră Nouă (November 8, 1945): (page unknown); CF., “Ansamblun de artă idiş ‘IKUF’ ‘Ih leb!’ (Trăiesc), 3 acte de M. Pincewscky,” Victoria (November 28, 1945): (page unknown); St. T., “Ih leb…,” Libertatea (December 6, 1945): (page unknown); G[eri] Spina, “Sensul ne-artistic al teatrului IKUF,” Viaţa evreească (October, 1945): (page unknown); Hanna Kawa, “Tewie der Milchiger. Ên dialog cu Iacob Mansdorf,” (newspaper unknown), (January 5, 1946): (page unknown); Mioara St. Cremene, “Inceputul unei literaturi dramatice noi de limbă idiş: ‘Schimbul de Noapte’ de L. Bru[c]kstein la Teatrul Evreesc de Stat,” Contemporanul No. 164 (date, page unknown); I. G. Voinescu, “Cronică dramatică: Schimbul de noapte” (newspaper, date, page unknown); Sara Feuer, “La Teatrul Evreesc de Stat se repetă piesa ‘Schimbul de noapte’ de L. Bru[c]kstein” (newspaper, date unknown): 2; Ion Marin Sadoveanu, “Teatrul Evreesc de Stat: ‘Schimbul de noapte’ de d. Ludovic Bruckstein,” Universul (October 13, 1949): (page unknown).
Valentin Silvestru, “O piesă şi un spectacol care arată odată mai mult dece luptăm pentru pace: ‘Schimbul de noapte’ de Ludovic Bruckstein pe scena Teatrului Evreesc de Stat,” Flacăra (October 15, 1949): 5.
Arhivele Statului Român (ASR) [Archives of the Romanian State]:
Ministerul Artelor. Directia Generală a Teatrelor şi Operelor Romăne. Dosar 12/1941 (Ministry of Art. General Direction of Romanian Theaters and Opera Houses. File 12/1941).
Comitetul Democrat Evreesc. Dosar 23/1953 (The Democratic Jewish Committee. File 23/1953).
Petrescu, Corina L. July 1 and 2, 2006. Interviews with Anton Celaru at his residence in Bucharest. Recordings in possession of the author.
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© 2011 Valentina Glajar and Jeanine Teodorescu
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Petrescu, C.L. (2011). “The People of Israel Lives!” Performing the Shoah on Post-War Bucharest’s Yiddish Stages. In: Glajar, V., Teodorescu, J. (eds) Local History, Transnational Memory in the Romanian Holocaust. Studies in European Culture and History. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230118416_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230118416_12
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