Leon Pasternak (1910 – 1969) was a Polish poet and satirist. His Jewish family came to Poland in the 1880s from the town of Tula, Russia, which was outside the Jewish

Pale of Settlement The Pale of Settlement was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 (''de facto'' until 1915) in which permanent settlement by Jews was allowed and beyond which the creation of new Jewish settlem ...

, where Jews usually were not allowed to reside. Pasternak was born on 12 August 1910 at

Lemberg Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. The Tula Pasternaks belonged to a class of "Jewish Landed Gentry" that resided in the manors of the gentile aristocracy, and managed their agricultural estates. In the case of the Pasternaks the estates were in the vicinity of

Yasnaya Polyana Yasnaya Polyana ( rus, Я́сная Поля́на, p=ˈjasnəjə pɐˈlʲanə, ) is a writer's house museum, the former home of the writer Leo Tolstoy.#Bartlett, Bartlett, p. 25 It is southwest of Tula, Russia, Tula, Russia, and from Moscow. ...

, Leo Tolstoy's estate. Tolstoy invited Leonid Pasternak, a member of the Odessa branch of the family, to illustrate his books. Leonid's son,

Boris Pasternak Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (30 May 1960) was a Russian and Soviet poet, novelist, composer, and literary translator. Composed in 1917, Pasternak's first book of poems, ''My Sister, Life'', was published in Berlin in 1922 and soon became an imp ...

who became years later a famous poet, wrote the novel " Letters from Tula", maybe in tribute to his relatives. The Tula Pasternaks were very much assimilated - one of Leon's aunts was called Marie, a Christian name that no "proper" Jew would have given a daughter of his. Leon's faith was not religious but a universal humanitarian one. In the 1920s Leon was a young idealist and committed

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

. As a result of his political activities — writing satirical verses for socialist revolutionary periodicals, and spreading communist propaganda in any possible way — Leon had to leave Lwow for Warsaw. There his works quickly became popular, but soon the "literary cabaret" which he founded in collaboration with Stanislaw Lec (referred to as the Theater of Boys by some and as the Five Kopeck Theater by others), was closed by the authorities, after only eight performances. In 1934, Leon then a young man of 24, was imprisoned in the

Bereza Kartuska prison Bereza Kartuska Prison (, "Place of Isolation at Bereza Kartuska") was operated by Poland's Sanation government from 1934 to 1939 in Biaroza, Bereza Kartuska, Polesie Voivodeship (today, Biaroza, Belarus). Because the inmates were detained with ...

, the first

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

in Poland in which political prisoners were held without trial by the Polish regime. His relatives traveled from Lwow with parcels of warm clothing and food to help him sustain the harsh conditions of jail. Meanwhile across the border in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, Leon's relative Boris Pasternak escaped a similar fate of ideological imprisonment: Boris became disillusioned with communist ideals, and was about to be arrested. Supposedly

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

himself had crossed Boris's name off an arrest list during the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

. After one year in prison, Leon Pasternak was released. In the beginning of World War II, he fled to the USSR. He joined the 1st Tadeusz Kościuszko Infantry Division that fought against the Nazis to liberate Poland. He wrote for the divisional newspaper ''Żołnierz Wolności'' and was the director of the divisional theater. The theater subsequently became the First Polish Army theater and became the first theater in the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

. He was the author of the famous marching song ''Oka''. After the war was over, he resumed the satirical weekly "Szpilki" with

Stanisław Jerzy Lec Stanisław Jerzy Lec (; 6 March 1909 – 7 May 1966), born Baron Stanisław Jerzy de Tusch-Letz, was a Polish aphorist and poet. Often mentioned among the greatest writers of post-war Poland, he was one of the most influential aphorists of the ...

and Jerzy Zaruba, which they edited together at first, and became the vice-chairman of the

Polish Writers' Union The Polish Writers' Union or the Union of Polish Writers (, ZLP) was established at a meeting of Polish writers and activists in Lublin behind the Soviet front line, during the liberation of Poland by the Red Army in 1944. Its initial name (Prof ...

. Pasternak was married to the Polish actress Ryszarda Hanin. "Leon Pasternak was idealistic till the end, faithful till his last breath" said Ryszard Marek Gronski the well known Polish author and poet. He died 14 November 1969 at Warsaw, Poland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pasternak, Leon 1910 births 1969 deaths Writers from Lviv 20th-century Polish Jews Jewish socialists Polish communists Polish satirists Polish satirical poets 20th-century Polish poets Polish prisoners and detainees Inmates of Bereza Kartuska Prison Recipients of the Medal of the 10th Anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland