''Sovetish Heymland'' (

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 ...

סאָוועטיש היימלאַנד - "Soviet Homeland") was a

-language literary magazine published by poet and controversial figure (for his participation in the Soviet official "

anti-Zionist Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the Palestine (region) ...

" campaign) Aron Vergelis in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

as a bi-monthly from 1961 to 1965, then as a monthly until 1991. With the dissolution of 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 ...

, the journal no longer received state support. In the early 1960s, ''Sovetish Heymland'' had a circulation of 25,000, the highest ever circulation for a Yiddish-language periodical. The circulation fell to 16,000 in 1966; to 10,000 in 1971; to 7,000 in 1978; and to 5,000 in 1985. Although the journal's circulation had fallen dramatically, donations solicited from the United States, France and Argentina in the early 1990s enabled Vergelis to continue publishing the journal under the name ''Di Yidishe Gas'' (Yiddish די יידישע גאַס - "The Jewish Street") from 1993 until his death in July 1999. ''Sovetish Heymland'' was developed in the period after the death of

Joseph 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 ...

in 1953 as a forum for those Yiddish writers who had survived the repressions of Soviet Yiddish which had occurred in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The title referred back to the Moscow-based Yiddish literary periodicals ''Sovetish'' (1934–1941) and ''Heymland'' (1947–1948), indicating a continuity of Yiddish literary output. In addition to being the official Yiddish periodical of the

Union of Soviet Writers The Union of Soviet Writers, USSR Union of Writers, or Soviet Union of Writers () was a creative union of professional writers in the Soviet Union. It was founded in 1934 on the initiative of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (1932) a ...

, one of the main aims of the journal was to disseminate Soviet propaganda among Yiddish-speaking Jewish

Communists 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, d ...

in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere. In addition, the publication of a highly literary Yiddish-language journal was meant to show that Yiddish and Yiddish cultural institutions were not disappearing, but that there was in fact a Yiddish revival occurring in the

, and that ''Sovetish Heymland'' in particular was taking the lead in maintaining Yiddish culture. As part of this propaganda, Vergelis published numerous anti-

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

and anti-

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

articles. Vergelis' controversial reputation as a tool of

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...

and the

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 ...

government is based largely on these articles, as well as several articles attacking his critics from outside the Soviet Union. In addition, the fact that ''Sovetish Heymland'' was authorized by the government indicated to some that Vergelis was merely a mouthpiece for Soviet propaganda. In addition to literary articles, the journal published materials on Jewish folklore, history, language and literature in Yiddish, the magazine also collected biographical and bibliographical material about Jewish writers. In the 25th anniversary issue of ''Sovetish Heymland'' in August 1986, Vergelis announced that the journal had published 76 novels, 109 novellas, 1,478 short stories, 6,680 poems, and 1,628 articles dealing with literary criticism and the arts. It was also one of the few periodicals to encourage the younger generation of Soviet Yiddish writers. As the only Yiddish-language journal that was officially allowed by the Soviet authorities from the 1960s through the 1980s, ''Sovetish Heymland'', under the editorship of Vergelis, was connected with almost all of the period's cultural output. Vergelis became an "unofficial censor of all Yiddish-language literature and the chief Central Committee consultant on matters relating to Soviet Jews." In May 2024, it was announced every issue of ''Sovetish heymland'' will be fully

digitized Digitization is the process of converting information into a digital (i.e. computer-readable) format.Collins Dictionary. (n.d.). Definition of 'digitize'. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english ...

References

{{reflist

External links

*Brumberg, Joseph, and Brumberg, Abraham. ''Sovyetish Heymland. : An Analysis''. New York: Anti-defamation League of B'nai B'rith, 1966. *Estraikh, Gennady. ''Yiddish in the Cold War''. Oxford: Legenda, 2008. *Estraikh, Gennady.
Sovetish Heymland
" ''YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe''. *Mogilner, Boris. ''Af Der Khṿalye Fun Glasnosṭ''. Mosḳṿe: Farlag "Soṿeṭsḳi Pisaṭel", 1988. Print. ביבליאטעק פון ״סאוועטיש היימלאנד״ ; No 10 (94). *Singerman, Robert. ''Jewish Serials of the World: A Supplement to the Research Bibliography of Secondary Sources, Volume 2''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. Defunct Yiddish-language newspapers published in Russia Jewish anti-Zionism in Russia Jewish anti-Zionism in the Soviet Union Jewish socialism Jews and Judaism in Moscow Magazines established in 1961 Newspapers published in the Soviet Union Secular Jewish culture in Russia Secular Jewish culture in the Soviet Union Defunct monthly newspapers Magazines disestablished in 1991