From the Great Terror to the Terror in 1941: The Case of Yiddish Writers in Soviet Belorussia

East European Jewish Affairs. 2020. Vol. 50. No. 3. P. 292–308.

Эстрайх Г. Я., Будницкий О. В.

The article focuses on the repressions against Minsk Yiddish writers
in 1936-41 and analyzes them in context of, first, the status of
Yiddish in Soviet Belorussia and, second, the general policy of
purges under the Stalinist regime. The majority of the arrests and
executions took place during the final months of 1937. However,
also in 1941, on the eve of the Soviet-German phase of World
War II, several Yiddish authors had been detained by the secret
police. Among the victims were the most significant Yiddish
writers of the republic Izi Kharik, Moyshe Kulbak, and Zelik
Akselrod. Compared with Moscow, Kyiv, and Kharkiv, the Yiddish
literary circles of Minsk sustained the heaviest devastation.

Ключевые слова: Stalinist repressions, Soviet nationalities policy, Yiddish literature

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