Shalom Ash

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Shalom Ash (1940)

Shalom Asch (born January 1, 1880 in Kutno , Warsaw Governorate, Russian Empire ; died July 10, 1957 in London ) was a Yiddish writer and playwright . His main works have been translated into almost all world languages.

characterization

He wrote historical and modern Jewish novels, stories and dramas, also wrote essays and described the Eastern Jewish world in a romantic style and tried with his not undisputed late work - biographical novels about Jesus , the apostle Paul and about Mary - to approach Christian Way of thinking reveals to contribute to the reconciliation of Christianity and Judaism. Violent attacks from the Orthodox Jewish side and rejection of the broadest Jewish circles were the result and embittered his last years.

Several attempts have been made to distinguish three different creative periods in Asch, but none of these approaches are convincing and have not prevailed.

It should be noted that Asch, although closely connected with the Jewish past and origins - especially with the Yiddish tradition of the Stetl - freed Yiddish literature from these thematically narrow fetters and connected it with mainstream European and American culture and thus became the first Yiddish Became a writer who received international attention and made Yiddish literature very popular around the world.

Live and act

Abraham Travel ; Itzhok Lejb Perez ; Shalom Ash; Chaim Zhitlovsky and Hirsch David Nomberg in 1908 during the Chernivtsi Conference (from left)

Shalom Asch grew up as one of ten children of a Jewish innkeeper and cattle dealer. He received a traditional Jewish education and studied the Bible and Talmud until he was 16 . But soon he was attracted by European culture and literature and moved first to the city of Włocławek and from there to Warsaw in 1899 , where he developed his literary activity in Hebrew and Yiddish. He had learned German from Mendelssohn's translation of the Bible .

Asch made his debut as a writer in Warsaw; he wrote his first works in Hebrew (volume of novels, Warsaw 1900). During this time he was also politically active; the Haskala was very important to him. During this work he met the writer Itzhok Lejb Perez , under whose influence Asch began to publish in Yiddish. In Warsaw, Asch married Mathilde, a daughter of the writer MM Shapiro. With her he had two sons, Moses Asch , the later founder of Folkways Records , and the writer Nathan Asch .

In 1908 Asch traveled with his wife to Jerusalem (he recorded his impressions in a series of historical pictures In Erez Israel ) and soon after his return (1909) to the USA , but returned to Russia again in 1910 . Asch spent the First World War with his family in New York . Here he became a dedicated employee of the most important Yiddish magazines, especially at Forward . In 1920, his application was granted and he was granted US citizenship .

Asch was able to achieve great success almost without exception with his plays, and the rest of his work was also positively received by literary critics. A large “Schalom-Asch-Werkausgabe” (see below) appeared in Warsaw as early as 1924, but it was not widely distributed due to the political events.

Asch returned to Poland in 1923, but emigrated to the USA via France in 1938. In 1956 he settled in Bat Yam , a city near Tel Aviv . His house at the time can now be viewed as a museum and memorial and is part of the MoBY museum complex.

Shalom Asch died on July 10, 1957 in London at the age of 77.

He was also honorary chairman of the Yiddish Pen Club (since 1932).

The majority of the estate of his library, including rare Yiddish books, manuscripts and also manuscripts of his own works, is looked after by Yale University .

Works / editions (selection)

Date of origin / publication / issue known

  • Novellas, Warsaw 1900 (Hebrew)
  • In a bad time. Stories , 1903
  • Mitn Schtrom ("With the Current"), 1903 (his first drama)
  • The City (novel), 1903
  • Meschiach's times , 1904 (play)
  • Dos klajne Schtetl , 1905 (collected sketches)
  • The got fun nekome ("The God of Vengeance. Drama in 3 acts"), 1905
  • The youngest , around 1906 or later
  • Pictures from the ghetto , Berlin 1907 (Fischer)
  • In Erez Israel , ca.1909
  • The Großglück family. Comedy in 3 acts , Berlin 1909 (Fischer)
  • America ( short story), 1910 (published in Fraind , published in Russia )
  • Mori , 1911 (novel)
  • The Compatriot , 1911 (three-act comedy)
  • The chorban beth hamikdosch , 1912 (poem)
  • The union of the weak. Drama , Berlin 1913 (Fischer)
  • Earth. Story , Berlin 1913 (Juncker)
  • Reb Schloime Nogid , 1913 (novella)
  • Motke Ganev (or Motke Gannew etc.), 1916
  • The way to yourself , 1917 (play)
  • Sabbatai Zewi . Tragedy in 3 acts , Berlin 1918 (Fischer)
  • Uncle moses. Roman , 1918
  • A martyrdom of faith. Story , Berlin 1929 (Zsolnay)
  • Di muter ("The Mother", novel), 1919 (German: Berlin, Zsolnay, 1930; English 1930)
  • The Psalmist (novel), 1920
  • The Sorceress of Castile. Story , Berlin 1929, Zsolnay (Yiddish original 1921)
  • Little stories from the Bible , Berlin 1923 ( Jewish publishing house )
  • The Toid Judgment , 1924 (novel, identical to "The Electric Chair"?)
  • Joseph. A shepherd legend in 5 pictures , Berlin 1925 ( Zsolnay )
  • Chaim Lederer's return , Berlin 1929, Zsolnay (Orig .: Chaim Lederers Tsurikkumen , 1927)
  • Coals , 1928 (drama)
  • The electric chair. Roman , Berlin 1929 (Zsolnay)
  • Before the Flood (Original: Farn mabul ). Trilogy: 1st Petersburg. Roman , 1929; 2. Warsaw. Roman , 1929; 3. Moscow. Roman 1930 (all Berlin, Zsolnay)
  • The children of Abraham. Novellas from America , Berlin 1931 (Zsolnay)
  • From the fathers , Berlin 1931 (Zsolnay)
  • Review. (autobiographical sketch of his life), 1931, in: Yearbook 1931 of the Zsolnay publishing house in Vienna
  • The prisoner of God. Roman , Berlin 1932 (Zsolnay)
  • Der Tehillim-Jid , 1934 (1934 and 1961 published in German under the title "Der Trost des Volkes"; English title: "Salvation", 1951)
  • Children abroad. Stories , Amsterdam 1935 (Allert-de Lange Verlag)
  • The war goes on. Roman , Amsterdam 1936 (Allert-de Lange Verlag)
  • Bajm Opgrunt ("On the Abyss"), 1937
  • Three novels , 1938
  • Song of the valley. Roman (Original: Dos gesang fun tol ), Amsterdam 1938 (Allert-de Lange Verlag)
  • The man fun Natzeres , 1939
  • What I Believe (essay), Putnam, New York 1941
  • The Apostle , 1943
  • One Destiny , 1945
  • East River. Roman , Konstanz 1955 (Diana-Verlag)
  • The brenendiker dorn , 1946
  • A Fate, a Letter to Christians (essay), 1948
  • Tales of My People , 1948 (short stories)
  • Mary , 1949
  • Moses. Roman , New York 1951 (German 1953)
  • A Passage in the Night , 1953
  • The Prophet (novel), New York 1955 (initially only in English; on the subject of Deutero-Isaiah )

Without year or not determined

  • Amnon we Tamar (play)
  • Jephta's daughter (play)
  • When spring comes (play)

Complete editions and edited volumes

  • Collected works, 8 volumes, undated o. O.
  • Collected works, 12 volumes, 1920
  • Little stories from the Bible , translated from Yiddish and edited by Helene Sokolow (2nd edition 1924)
  • Collected works , 18 volumes, Warsaw 1924
  • German selection edition, Berlin 1926

literature

  • East and West. Born in 1907.
  • New national newspaper. No. 19. Vienna 1907.
  • Meyer Isser Pines: The History of Jewish-German Literature. Leipzig 1913 (French original Paris 1911)
  • Salman Reisen : Leksikon… Warsaw 1914.
  • Minikes Jontewbletlech. (1920?)
  • Salomon Wininger : Great Jewish National Biography . 1925 ff. Vol. I + Vol. VI (additions)
  • Samuel Meisels : Asch, Schalom. In: Jewish Lexicon. Babd I. Berlin 1927.
  • Literary sheets. December 19, 1930.
  • A. Kahan: Schulem Aschs najer away. New York 1941.
  • C. Liberman: Schulem Asch un kristntum. New York 1950.
  • Schulem Asch. In: leksikon fun der naier yidic literature. Volume 1. New York 1956 (with bibliography)
  • John F. Oppenheimer (Red.) And a .: Lexicon of Judaism. 2nd Edition. Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag, Gütersloh u. a. 1971, ISBN 3-570-05964-2 , col. 56.
  • Günter Stemberger : History of Jewish Literature. 1977.
  • Ludger Heid : Asch, Scholem. In: Julius Hans Schoeps (Ed.): New Lexicon of Judaism. Bertelsmann Lexikon Verlag, Gütersloh / Munich 1992, ISBN 3-570-09877-X .

Web links

Commons : Schalom Asch  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hebrew שלום אש; also Scholem, Scholom [so he signed], Schulem, Sholem, Shulem, Shalom, Shulim, Szulim Asch etc.
  2. ↑ According to some sources, he was not born on January 1, 1880, but on November 1, 1880.
  3. ↑ Rumors of alleged affection for Catholicism were never confirmed.
  4. ↑ As a long-time writer for the Forward, he was unable to post any more articles there and was even publicly attacked by The Forward - while the non-Jewish English press received Asch's late writings with enthusiasm in some cases.
  5. ↑ Moszek Asz, 1825-1905; Mother: Frajda Malka, nee Widawska
  6. ↑ Moby - Museums of Bat Yam. In: Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Israel Office. October 2016, accessed October 16, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Sholem Asch Museum. In: Homepage of the MoBY complex. Retrieved October 17, 2017 .
  8. ↑ In the same year it was performed in Polish translation in the Cracow City Theater.
  9. ↑ Performed in Yiddish by the famous actor and theater mogul JP Adler in America and in Russian translation by the then star actor Vera Komissarschewskaja . Attempt to portray the disintegrating contemporary Judaism in the context of a family history.
  10. ↑ Also Berlin, Fischer-Verlag 1907. Treats the needs of a Jewish brothel owner who wants to shield his own daughter from the fornication that surrounds her and donates a Torah scroll for this, but desecrates it when the "God of Vengeance" does not grant his wish . Performed in German translation by Reinhardt in Berlin in 1908 and became widely known as a result. Also played on Yiddish and Russian stages, it triggered a serious scandal on Broadway in 1923 because of its offensive subject matter, during which the entire ensemble was arrested for "obscenity".
  11. ^ Roman, published in Yiddish in Warsaw and New York, in German translation in Berlin.
  12. ↑ Belongs to Asch's best-known works, many other editions, e.g. B. German Mottke the thief. Roman , Munich 1987 (Goldmann). In this work, influenced by Gorky , Asch gives a lovingly, almost idealizingly drawn picture of the Jewish underworld. Motke fails in his attempt to leave the criminal milieu behind because of a beloved girl.
  13. ↑ A novel from the American-Jewish working class; German: Berlin 1929 (Zsolnay); English: 1938
  14. ↑ Story about Jewish life at the time of the Chmielnicki uprising. Original title: Kiddusch haschem , 1919. English translation 1926
  15. ↑ Excerpt, Chapters 9 & 10: The son teaches the father; Longing for a past life , in Werner Tress, Burned Books 1933. With fire against the freedom of the spirit. Federal Agency for Civic Education BpB, Bonn 2009 ISBN 3838900030 pp. 90–99
  16. ↑ A psychologizing murder crime thriller set in America
  17. ↑ Trilogy title of the French edition: Trois villes , engl. (1933): Three Cities . Describes the Jewish life of the cities named in the title at the beginning of the 20th century.
  18. ^ English: Children of Abraham (short stories), 1942
  19. ↑ Addresses the hyperinflation of the 1920s in Germany
  20. ^ Thematizes the life of the Chaluzim and reflects on his visit to Palestine in 1936. English translation 1939
  21. ↑ Large-scale novel about Jesus; Original Yiddish, then published in English translation; German “Der Nazarener”, 1950; again as Jesus. A Nazarene , 1987; again as "Jesus the Nazarenes", Weltbild-Verlag , Augsburg 1991
  22. ^ Large-scale novel about Paul; Original Yiddish, initially published in English translation; German 1946: "The Apostle". Roman, Stockholm, at Bermann-Fischer.
  23. ↑ About the Jews of America. First edition 1946
  24. ↑ Stories about martyrdom about the pupils of a Jewish school in Warsaw who carried out collective suicide in order not to fall into the hands of the German troops
  25. ↑ Large-scale novel about Mary, the mother of Jesus; Original Yiddish, initially published in English translation; German 1950; further German edition: "Maria, Mutter des Erlösers", Augsburg 2004, Weltbild-Verlag.
  26. ^ German 1956: Journey through the night
  27. ↑ Published in America on the occasion of Asch's 40th birthday by a committee chaired by JL Magnes, with an introduction by S. Niger
  28. ↑ In the following volume distribution:
    1. A Stetil, Schlome Nagid
    2. Pictures and humoresques
    3. Heaven and earth
    4. America
    5. Youth
    6. Dus book vin zaar
    7. Erez Israel
    8. Meiri
    9. The way zi itself
    10. Uncle Moses
    11. Motke Ganev
    12. Kischefmachern from Castile, Kidisch haschem
    13. Naie narratives
    14. The mother
    15. Biblical motifs
    16. Social dramas
    17. National Dramas
    18. The Jorschim with current, The sinking one, In winter, Marranen
  29. ↑ Contains: Uncle Moses, a novel from the life of Polish Jews in New York; Motke the Thief; The Sorceress of Castile; A martyrdom of faith; The electric chair; The mother; Reverend Dr. Silver; the trilogy: Petersburg - Warsaw - Moscow
personal data
SURNAME Ash, Shalom
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Asch, Scholem
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Jewish writer and playwright
DATE OF BIRTH January 1, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH Kutno
DATE OF DEATH July 10, 1957
Place of death London