Trouble in Paradise

Recalling Italian lessons with talk about restaurants, walks in the park, a trip to the museum, a film etc., I kept missing more conversational Yiddish until I realized that unless I go to Brooklyn, there really couldn’t be much in the way of tourist patter. We are all tourists visiting the language, but there isn’t a place to go.

I have been made aware, more than once, of recent controversy about The Jewish Partisans of Vilne. I am told that there is a nationalist movement in the Baltic States that would like to minimize the Holocaust. This would keep any Lithuanian collaborators safe, and forestall indefinitely reparations. The minimization is being done by “elevating” Soviet murder and persecution of Baltic Christian nationals as another (equal to the Holocaust) genocide of the 20th century. There is at least one bill before some EU commission. It is very hard for me to ascertain the full truth of the debate. As a result of it, however, there is some noise being made to label the few Jewish partisans of WWII as Soviet terrorists of some kind. There have been threats, a call for a trial, and even revocation of permission to live in Lithuania. These few people are well into their 80’s! It has been said that our program and the whole Jewish Institute are window dressing behind which lurks a government that likes the hard currency of students and tourists far better than it likes Jewish Lithuania. Or we are being manipulated in the reverse to create political dissent within the student ranks. There have been a few super secret meetings. The intrigue is intense.

Off to the land of Saraleh and Bereleh, the protagonists of our primer. They could be called Dickeleh and Janeleh but that sounds a bit X rated. Actually, Bereleh IS a Dickeleh. Our book, published in NYC in 1947, is so full of boy/girl stereotypes. I’d like to start a Facebook page to trash Bereleh, who always thinks he is SO smart and struts about the house demanding food and drink while his mother and sister are in the kitchen. Run Bereleh Run! I’m gonna smack you.