__NOTOC__ Zelig Hirsch Kalmanovich (; ) (1885–1944) was a Litvak

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

philologist, translator, historian, and community archivist of the early 20th century. He was a renowned scholar of

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 ...

. In 1929 he settled in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

where he became an early director of

YIVO YIVO (, , short for ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. Estab ...

. He was incarcerated in the

Vilna Ghetto The Vilna Ghetto was a World War II Jewish ghetto established and operated by Nazi Germany in the city of Vilnius in the modern country of Lithuania, at the time part of the Nazi-administered . During the approximately two years of its existen ...

where he became an observant Jew. During his time in the ghetto, Kalmanovich kept a secret diary which is one of the few primary sources recording day-to-day life. His diary stressed the efforts of the community to retain their humanity in the face of oppression. For example, on October 11, 1942, he wrote the following entry in his diary:

On Simhat Torah eve at the invitation of the rabbi, I went for services in a house that had formerly been a synagogue and was now a music school ... I said a few words: 'Our song and dance are a form of worship. Our rejoicing is due to Him who decrees life and death. Here in the midst of this small congregation, in the poor and ruined synagogue, we are united with the whole house of Israel, not only with those who are here today ... And you in your rejoicing, atone for the sins of a generation that is perishing. I know that the Jewish people will live ... And every day the Holy One, blessed be He, in His mercy gives us a gift which we accept with joy and give thanks to His holy name.As quoted in: Stephen Howard Garrin
But I forsook not thy precepts (Ps. 119:87): Spiritual Resistance to the Holocaust
" in Jonathan C. Friedman (Ed.), ''The Routledge History of the Holocaust'' (pp. 337-347). London: Routledge, 2011. p. 340.

During the Nazi occupation, he was forced to work at the YIVO offices under Nazi supervision, sorting through the pillaged contents of Vilna's libraries and preparing selected volumes for shipment to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

; these labourers, known as the Paper Brigade, managed to save a portion of these documents from destruction. He was sent to the Vaivara concentration camp in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, where he died in 1944.

Works

Translations

Simon Dubnow Simon Dubnow (alternatively spelled Dubnov; ; rus, Семён Ма́ркович Ду́бнов, Semyon Markovich Dubnov, sʲɪˈmʲɵn ˈmarkəvʲɪdʑ ˈdubnəf; 10 September 1860 – 8 December 1941) was a Jewish-Russian Empire, Russian h ...

. ''Algemeyne Idishe geshikhte: fun di eltste tsaytn biz der nayer tsayt''. Vilnius: Historisher farlag, 1920. (Translation from German of ''Weltgeschichte des Jüdischen Volkes'') *

Jaroslav Hašek Jaroslav Hašek (; 1883–1923) was a Czechs, Czech writer, Humorism, humorist, Satire, satirist, journalist, Bohemianism, bohemian, first anarchist and then communist, and commissar of the Red Army against the Czechoslovak Legion. He is best k ...

. ''Der braver soldat Shveyk in der velt-milkhome'', vols. 1–2. Riga: Bikher far alemen, 1921, 1928. (Translation from

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

to Yiddish of '' Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války''.) *

Max Brod Max Brod (; 27 May 1884 – 20 December 1968) was a Bohemian-born Israeli author, composer, and journalist. He is notable for promoting the work of writer Franz Kafka and composer Leoš Janáček. Although he was a prolific writer in his ow ...

. ''Di froy fun undzer beynkshaft: roman''. Riga: Bikher far alemen, 1928. (Translation from German to Yiddish of ''Die Frau, nach der man sich sehnt''.)

Notes

References

* Dawidowicz, Lucy S. ''The War Against the Jews: 1933–1945''. Bantam, 1986. *Kalmanovitch, Zelig. ''Yoman be-Getto Vilna u-Ketavim me-ha-Izavon she-Nimze’u ba-Harisot'' ("A Diary from the Ghetto in Nazi Vilna"). Tel Aviv, 1977. *Kassow, Samuel. ''Who Will Write Our History?: Emanuel Ringelblum, the Warsaw Ghetto, and the Oyneg Shabes Archive''. Indiana Univ. Press, 2007.

External links

Diary excerpts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalmanovich, Zelig 1885 births 1944 deaths People from Kuldīga People from Kuldīga county Latvian Jews Jewish historians Linguists from Latvia Linguists of Yiddish Linguists from Lithuania Translators to Yiddish History of YIVO 20th-century Lithuanian translators Holocaust diarists 20th-century linguists Lithuanian diarists Vilna Ghetto inmates The Holocaust in Estonia People who died in Vaivara concentration camp Lithuanian Jews who died in the Holocaust

Works

Translations

See also

Notes

References

External links