The Night of the Murdered Poets a staged documentary

On the night of August 12th, 1952, thirteen Jewish writers, artists, journalists, and scientists were murdered in Moscow’s infamous Lubyanka Prison. Following years of repression of Yiddish and Jewish culture, a renewed campaign began in 1948, ‘announced’ by the state-sponsored murder of Solomon Mikhoels. Mikhoels had led both GOSET, the Yiddish Chamber Theater in Moscow, as well as the Soviet Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee during World War II.

Among the victims of 8/12/52 were five Yiddish writers — David Bergelson, David Hofshteyn, Perets Markish, Itsik Fefer, and Leyb Kvitko — and the actor Benjamin Zuskin.  Since the secret executions were revealed, August 12th has become known as “The Night of the Murdered Poets”: each year, Yiddishist organizations around the world have honored the victims of that awful night, along with other victims of Soviet repression, with a memorial evening.

The five writers mentioned were all born in the region now known as Ukraine, and even as that soil is today aflame with war, Blueprint fellow Yelena Shmulenson (herself a native of Crimea) offers a new piece of writing examining how the Soviet state repressed Yiddish culture.

Appearing in this special program, co-sponsored by the Congress for Jewish Culture, are Shmulenson & her husband Allen Lewis Rickman, both stars of stage and screen in English and Yiddish, along with Suzanne Toren and Shane Baker. Musical accompaniment by Zisl Slepovitch. The performance, in English, Yiddish, and Russian.