Nathaniel Buchwald (1890–1956) was a 20th-century, left-leaning Jewish-American theater critic, writer, and scholar of

Yiddish theater Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revues; melodrama; na ...

who wrote in

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

and English and translated from Yiddish and Russian into English.

Background

Nathaniel Buchwald was born Naftoli Bukhvald on April 14, 1890, in

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

Volhynia Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

(then, party of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

). He studied at a religious primary school and then a public school. In 1910, Buchwald emigrated to America. He studied at the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute The New York University Tandon School of Engineering (commonly referred to as Tandon) is the engineering and applied sciences school of New York University. Tandon is the second oldest private engineering and technology school in the United St ...

, and in 1918 obtained a BS in Chemistry from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Career

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Buchwald worked for ''

Forverts ''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Seth ...

'' by translating its editorials from Yiddish into English as required by wartime security regulations regarding foreign-language publications in the US. In the 1920s, Buchwald began publishing articles appeared in ''Di naye velt'' (''The New World''), after which he wrote for this and other Yiddish labor publications. Following the founding of ''Frayhayt'' (''Freedom''–later the ''

Jewish Daily Forward ''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...

'') in New York City in 1922, Buchwald joined its editorial board and contributed as theater critic. Later, he wrote for '' Morgn Frayhayt'' (''Morning Freedom'') and '' Jewish Life'', also in New York. In 1925, Buchwald helped found the Artef Players Collective, a Yiddish theater group in New York City. (The name "Artef" came from ''Arbeter teater-farband'' or "workers' theatrical alliance." ) Members included: Moyshe Olgin,

David Pinski David Pinski (Yiddish: דוד פּינסקי; April 5, 1872 – August 11, 1959) was a Yiddish language writer, probably best known as a playwright. At a time when Eastern Europe was only beginning to experience the Industrial Revolution, Pinsk ...

, David Abrams, Melech Marmur, Kalman Marmur, Shachno Epstein, Moyshe Nadir. Regarding Artef's aims, Buchwald wrote: " Life pulled in one direction, to world upheavals, to Revolution, to Soviet Russia, to collective consciousness and collective action,

hile Hile () is a hill town located in the Province of Nepal, 13 km north of the regional center of Dhankuta Bazar. At an elevation of 1948 meters, it is the main route to other hilly districts like Bhojpur and Sankhuwasabha. The shops and re ...

the theatre still busied itself with bygone idylls, Hassidic legends, all kinds of tall tales, or with the routine of bourgeois life, family drama and romantic complication." They staged their first performance in 1927 but slowed during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and even took a hiatus from 1937 to 1939. In 1940, the group resumed performances with '' Clinton Street'' by

Louis Miller Louis E. Miller (1866–1927), born Efim Samuilovich Bandes, was a Russian-Jewish political activist who emigrated to the United States of America in 1884. A trade union organizer and newspaper editor, Miller is best remembered as a founding edi ...

. The group disbanded in the 1940s. Up to September 1933, Buchwald served as Moscow correspondent for the publications like the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

's official newspaper ''The

Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in Chicago founded by communists, socialists, union members, and other activists. Publication began in 1924. It generally reflected the prevailing views of members of the Communist Party USA (CPU ...

''; Vern Smith (journalist) replaced him.

Communist allegations

During the 1930s, Buchwald came to the attention of the

Dies Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty an ...

of the US House of Representatives for his contributions to

Agitprop Agitprop (; from , portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', "propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in the Soviet Union where it referred to popular media, such as literatu ...

theater and again in the 1950s for his theater criticism that appeared in ''The Daily Worker''.

Personal life and death

Buchwald married Stella Buchwald, also a writer. Buchwald wrote under several

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

s including: B. Tulin, B. Brand, N. Poloner, and Bert Toulens (in English). Buchwald's friends and letter correspondents include

Abraham Cahan Abraham "Abe" Cahan (Yiddish: אַבֿרהם קאַהאַן; July 7, 1860 – August 31, 1951) was a Lithuanian-born American socialist newspaper editor, novelist, and politician. Cahan was one of the founders of ''The Forward'' (), an American Y ...

. Buchwald died on June 7, 1956, in New York.

Works

Books: * ''Folks-bildung in Sovet-Rusland'' (1925?) * ''From peasant to collective farmer'' (1933) * ''Farvos men hot gemishpet di 21 in moskve'' (''Why the twenty-one were sentenced in Moscow'') (New York: Idbyuro, 1938) * ''Alts--far unzer land Amerike'' (1942) * ''Di dek̜laratsye fun zelbsht̜endigk̜eyt̜'' (1943) * ''Teater'' (''Theater'') (1943) * ''Pogromshtshikes farfleytsn amerike, faktn vegn der aynvanderung fun natsis, fashistn un gorgl-shnayder'' (''Pogromists invade America, facts about the immigration of Nazis, fascists, and cut-throats'') (1952) * ''Omanut ha-teatron'' (1953) Translations to Yiddish: * Alfonz Goldshmidt, ''Dos lebn un shtrebn in sovet-rusland'' (''Life and aspiration in Soviet Russia'') (New York, 1921) *

Anatoly Lunacharsky Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky (, born ''Anatoly Aleksandrovich Antonov''; – 26 December 1933) was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and the first Soviet People's Commissariat for Education, People's Commissar (minister) of Education, as well ...

, ''Kunst un sotzyalizm'' (''Art and socialism'') *

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

, ''Teorye un praktik fun revolutsye'' (''The theory and practice of revolution'') *

Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg ( ; ; ; born Rozalia Luksenburg; 5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Polish and naturalised-German revolutionary and Marxist theorist. She was a key figure of the socialist movements in Poland and Germany in the early 20t ...

, ''Reform oder revolutsye'' (''Reform or revolution'') *

Hallie Flanagan Hallie Flanagan Davis (August 27, 1889 – June 23, 1969) was an American theatrical producer and director, playwright, and author, best known as director of the Federal Theatre Project, a part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). B ...

and Margaret Ellen Clifford, ''Trikenish'' ("''Drought''"), translation of ''

Can You Hear Their Voices? ''Can You Hear Their Voices? A Play of Our Time'' is a 1931 play by Hallie Flanagan and her former student Margaret Ellen Clifford, based on the short story "Can You Make Out Their Voices" by Whittaker Chambers. The play premiered at Vassar Coll ...

'' a play from a short story by

Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer and intelligence agent. After early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), he defected from the Soviet u ...

) (1931) * ''Der Regnboygn'' (1944) Articles: * "Yiddish", ''Cambridge History of American Literature'' (NY: Putnam, 1921) * "A Visit with 'Tarbut Laam'," ''Jewish Life'' (1956)

References

External sources

YIVO Archives: Nathaniel Buchwald
Translation of ''Teatr''
Beit Hatfutsot Databases - Buchwald

Yiddish Song
"In dem vaytn land Sibir" {{DEFAULTSORT:Buchwald, Nathaniel 1890 births 1956 deaths