Literary and Artistic Programs in the Yiddish Broadcasts in Post-War Poland

My presentation will regard the literary and artistic radio programs in Yiddish language in post-war Poland.

The first program in Yiddish was broadcast by the Polish Radio from the city of Lublin as early as January 6th, 1945. It was the first time in the Polish history when the Yiddish language could be heard on the airwaves. It was also the first attempt to revive Yiddish as the “national language” of Jews, and it was initiated by a state institution before other Jewish organisations and institutions officially came to existence after WW II. In June 1945, Yiddish programs started to be broadcast from Warsaw and they were prepared by The Central Committee of Polish Jews (CKŻP) at the Department of Culture and Propaganda.

Artistic and literary programs enabled the Holocaust survivors to be in touch with the Yiddish culture that was still alive in Poland. Musical programs presented them with folk music and old and new Jewish songs. At the same time the audience could hear the voices of well-known Yiddish writers, poets, literary critics, celebrities and Jewish theater actors. Ida Kaminska, Jakub Rotbaum, Meir Melman, Isaac Turkow-Grudberg, Michał Szwejlich, Rivka Shiller, Chewel Buzgan and others, used their talents to record radio plays based on works of Yiddish writers such as Sholem Aleichem and Yitshok Leybush Peretz.

The lecture is based on archival research. It includes historical recordings from the 50’s.