Ellen Kellman

A Yiddishist cultural organization, the Kultur-lige was founded in Kiev in 1918 on the principle ofumparteyishkeyt(non-partisanship). After successfully working in several cultural fields, even in the midst of revolution and civil war in Ukraine, it was coopted by Soviet loyalists, so its leadership relocated to Warsaw. In a manifesto published there in Spring 1921, the organization announced its intention to operate both within Poland and transnationally, calling for unified efforts across political boundaries. It attempted to establish centers of activity in Berlin and Paris during the early 1920s. In both cities, opponents of the idea of non-partisan cultural work competed to take over the Kultur-lige. precluding its success. The article assesses the extent to which the Warsaw leadership succeeded in giving guidance to the founders of the Berlin and Paris centers, and the limitations imposed by political strife and class conflict on the work of the Kultur-lige.

Coming at a moment when Jewish political parties in Poland were engaged in an intense struggle for hegemony on the Jewish street, the communiqué addressed the many opponents of the Kultur-Lige's assertion that cultural work could be most effectively conducted outside the confines of party politics, outlining fundamental ideological differences that had isolated the umparteyish leadership and thwarted its efforts to re-establish the organization in Warsaw after the Bolshevik takeover of the Ukrainian Kultur-Lige in 1920. The story of the Kultur-Lige after its original group of leaders left Kiev in winter 1920–1 was one of stymied effort and ultimate disappointment. While ostensibly less successful than Bundism or Labour Zionism, kultur-ligizm (culture league-ism) was an important iteration of diaspora nationalism, spearheaded by a group of socialist Yiddishist intellectuals, some of whom had been early architects of diaspora nationalism. They believed that modern Jewish culture could be best nurtured by organizations that were supported by democratic states and allowed to operate autonomously. The present study examines their visionary creed in order to explicate the fateful decision they made to decamp from Kiev in 1921 with the intention of transplanting their thriving cultural organization outside revolutionary Russia. It investigates their attempt to establish a centre in Warsaw during the early 1920s and to guide the development of branches in several locations in Poland and western Europe, and considers the [End Page 459] failure of the Kultur-Lige in the context of the declining fortunes of diaspora nationalism in the period between the two world wars.

ein Blankštein buvo žymi tarpukario Vilniaus žydų visuomenininkė, rašytoja ir publicistė. Ji gyveno tuo metu, kai Rytų Europos žydai ėmė naujai mąstyti apie lyčių vaidmenis kasdieniame gyvenime. Dalyvaudama įvairiuose žydų judėjimuose (tarp jų ir feministiniuose) Blankštein siekė prisidėti prie moterų padėties pokyčių. Šiame straipsnyje tiriama jos veikla tarpukario Vilniuje. Daugiausia remiamasi jidiš kalba leista periodine to meto spauda. Pirmojo pasaulinio karo pabaigoje ir tarpukariu Blankštein aktyviai dalyvavo žydų autonomizmo judėjimuose iš pradžių Kijeve (1917–1922 m.), o paskui Vilniuje (nuo 1922 m.). Pastarajame mieste ji ėmė vadovauti kelioms feministinėms organizacijoms, kurios padėdavo neturtingoms žydėms susirasti darbą, rūpindavosi jų švietimu. Teikiant tokią pagalbą siekta bent kiek sumažinti neturtingų merginų prostitucijos Vilniuje mastą. Dirbdama feministinėse organizacijose Blankštein aktyviai dalyvavo ir Vilniaus politiniame gyvenime, užsiiminėjo žurnalistika, literatūrine kūryba. Vadovaudama feministinių žurnalų leidybai, rašydama publicistinius straipsnius ir noveles Blankštein viešino savo nacionalistines ir feministines idėjas, supažindindavo skaitytojus su žydėms aktualiomis problemomis. 1939 m. liepos 30 d. mirusi Blankštein buvo iškilmingai palaidota Vilniaus žydų kapinių dalyje, skirtoje patiems garbingiausiems žydų bendruomenės nariams. Kelis dešimtmečius trukusioje visuomeninėje veikloje ji siekė suderinti feminizmą ir žydų nacionalizmą. Dėl to jos vaidmuo Vilniaus žydų gyvenime buvo neįprastas, bet labai reikšmingas.