The first Yiddish-language publication permitted to be published in the Soviet Union since 1948 made its appearance yesterday in Moscow. It is a 132-page bi-monthly magazine “Sovietish Heimland” (Soviet Homeland) printed in 25, 000 copies. The Soviet census published last year indicated that about 500, 000 of the more than 2, 000, 000 Jews living in Russia said Yiddish was their mother tongue.
Aaron Vergelis, editor of the magazine, was reported stating yesterday in Moscow that negotiations are in progress for distributing the magazine also in Israel. It is believed here that the majority of the 25, 000 copies of the magazine would be distributed outside the Soviet Union, to impress upon the free world the fact that Russia now tolerates Yiddish culture.
The first issue of “Sovietish Heimland” seems to contain a mixture of customary Soviet propaganda including an article on the Soviet space pilot, Major Yuri Gargarin and poems on Cuba and the Congo. It also carries literary articles considered by the Communists as of particular interest to Yiddish readers. Mr. Vergelis had announced he would run in the magazine a serialization of a previously unpublished novel by Sholem Aleichem “found in forgotten archives.” He said about 100 Yiddish writers will participate in the magazine.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
