1915 Diary of S. An-sky: A Russian Jewish Writer at the Eastern Front

by S. Ansky, Polly Zavadivker (Translation)

S. An-sky was by the time of the First World War a well-known writer, a longtime revolutionary, and an ethnographer who pioneered the collection of Jewish folklore in Russia's Pale of Settlement.

In 1915, An-sky took on the assignment of providing aid and relief to Jewish civilians trapped under Russian military occupation in Galicia. As he made his way through the shtetls there, close to the Austrian frontlines, he kept a diary of his encounters and impressions, written in Russian. His diary entries present a detailed reflection of his daily experiences. He describes conversations with wounded soldiers in hospitals, fellow Russian and Jewish aid workers, Russian military and civilian authorities, and Jewish civilians in Galicia and parts of the Pale.

Although most of An-sky's diaries were lost, two fragments survived and are preserved in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art. Translated and annotated here by Polly Zavadivker, these fragments convey An-sky's vivid firsthand descriptions of civilian and military life in wartime. He recorded the brutality and violence against the civilian population, the complexities of inter-ethnic relations, the practices and limitations of philanthropy and medical care, Russification policies, and antisemitism. In the late 1910s, An-sky used his diaries as raw material for a lengthy memoir in Yiddish published under the title 'The Destruction of Galicia'.

Genres: History, Russia, Jewish, Nonfiction, War, Religion

200 pages, Hardcover

First published March 28, 2016

About the author

Shloyme Zanvl Rappoport (1863 – November 8, 1920), known by his pseudonym S. Ansky (or Semyon An-sky), was a Belarusian Jewish author, playwright, researcher of Jewish folklore, polemicist, and cultural and political activist. He is best known for his play The Dybbuk or Between Two Worlds, written in 1914. [Wikipedia.]

Reviews

[Lada Moskalets · Rating 4 out of 5]

Єврейський письменник Ан-ський їде до Галичини з дипломатичною місією допомогти голодуючим євреям, які виявилися крайніми і серйозно постраждали в результаті війни. Все написане по свіжих слідах, тому автор описує і те що бачив, і чутки, намагаючись, втім, пояснити читачам різницю між першим і другим. При цьому написано максимально лаконічно і здебільшого без рефлексій Значну частину займають зустрічі та обіди з різними видатними діячами і бюрократичні намагання оформити допомогу (ми приймемо, але це має бути анонімно, бла-бла - схоже на ґрантові умови сучасних фундацій). Є деталі про різні галицькі містечка і місцеві спільноти, так що текст має знадобитися історикам.

[Graeme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incomplete (missing certain books of his diary and only covers 1915), but still fascinating for the front line experiences interacting with Russians and Galicians/Ukrainians, Poles and of course, Jews. The latter’s plight and sufferings during the war were numerous and horrifying.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t think there’s any compelling reason to read this diary but it’s interesting to have this record of this famous Jewish writer’s tour the front.

[ROBERT · Rating 3 out of 5]

depressing catalog of woes in western russia during wwi

[Cathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brutally honest report of the horrors of war and the extreme persecution of Jews in Russia during World War I.