A Poem for Maryam

Iosif Torchinsky was born in Skvyra, Ukraine, in 1918. He studied in a Soviet Yiddish school from 1926 until 1933 and moved to Kyiv, Ukraine, in 1934. In March, 1941, he got married, but three months later he was sent to war. The poem in this clip is dedicated to his wife, Maryam, and tells the story of their relationship. Iosif wrote it in the 1980s. 

Kyiv, 2003

At the end of the clip, the camera zooms in on the handwritten manuscript, showcasing Torchinsky's beautiful handwriting. Torchinsky's education in a Soviet Yiddish school is reflected in his Soviet Yiddish orthography, seen in such words as חודש) כױדעש, month) and מלחמה) מילכאָמע, war).

Maryam In the town of Pereyaslav-Khmel’nyts’kyy, On the shores of the Dnieper, Where its waves rage, My Maryam was born. The first month of spring, A joyous thing befell me, I fell in love with Maryam, And happiness was in my life. To me, a young military man, A young girl got married. In her eyes there was no unrest, But our life did not go smoothly. We lived together for three months, Until with pain we had to part -- My wife went to the hinterland, And I went to war. I was wounded in battle, Maryam found out about it, She did not forget me, I knew that well. On this day, your birthday, I wish you, my dear, Health, luck, and peace, And to be with me for many long years.

מאַרים אין שטאָט פּערעיאַסלאַװ, װוּ דער ברעג פֿון דניעפּער, װוּ בושעװען די כװאַליעס זײַנע, איז געבױרן מאַרים מײַנע. דער ערשטער כױדעש פֿון פֿרילינג, אַ גליק פֿאַר מיר איז געװען, איך האָב זיך פֿאַרליבט אין מאַרים, אַ פֿרײד אין מײַן לעבן געשען. פֿאַר מיר, אַ יונגן מיליטערמאַן, אַ יונג מײדל האָט כאַסענע געהאַט, אין אירע אױגן קײן שום אומרו, נאָר אונדזער לעבן איז ניט געװען גלאַט. דרײַ כאַדאָשים געלעבט אינאײנעם, ביז װײטיק געװען צעשײדן זיך ־־ מײַן װײַב אין הינטערלאַנד, און אױף דער מילכאָמע איך. אין די שלאַכטן פֿאַרװוּנדעט געװאָרן, מאַרים האָט זיך דערװוּסט, מיך האָט זי ניט פֿאַרגעסן, איך האָב עס גוט געװוּסט. אין טאָג פֿון דײַן יובילײ, איך װינטש, טײַערע, דיר, געזונט, מאַזל, און שאָלעם, און לאַנגע יאָרן זײַן מיט מיר.

--Asya Vaisman

Soviet Yiddish Schools

Efim (Chaim) Rubin (born 1922) was interviewed in Uman in 2002, along with his cousin, Matvei (Motl) Rubin (born 1928). Both men grew up in Buki, Ukraine. In this clip, Efim recalls his education: he went to a Soviet Yiddish-language school for four years and completed his education (10 grades in all) at a Ukrainian school. The Yiddish schools were meant to be "national in form and socialist in content", utilizing the Yiddish language to promote sovietization and anti-religious propaganda.

Efim mentions that despite his advanced age, he still remembers how to read and write in Yiddish the way he was taught in the school. Although it is difficult to see in this segment, Efim spells two Yiddish words, "shobes" [Sabbath] and "khover" [friend] using Soviet orthography. Traditionally, words of Hebrew origin are spelled in Yiddish the same way they are in Hebrew, thus ‏שבת and חבֿר. In Soviet orthography, however, which deemphasized the Hebrew element in accordance with anti-religious policies, words of Hebrew origin were "naturalized", or spelled phonetically, as seen here with Efim's שאָבעס and כאָװער.

--Asya Vaisman