The late Sholem Aleichem was praised “not only as a great Jewish classic but a great figure in world literature,” in a new monograph on Sholem Aleichem issued by the State Publishing House in Moscow today. The book, by Hersch Remenik, a Soviet Jewish literary critic, was published in Russian in a de luxe edition, lavishly illustrated, according to a Moscow dispatch received here.
Treating Sholem Aleichem in the traditional Communist appraisal as a “proletarian” writer, Mr. Remenik, in his introduction to the volume, declared that “although much has been written about Sholem Aleichem, there is still room for a new appraisal.” The great Yiddish author was called by Mr. Remenik “both a writer and a social critic.”
In connection with the publication of the monograph, it was noted here that since the Soviet regime came to power in 1918, 502 editions of Sholem Aleichem’s works have been published in the USSR, in 20 languages, including Yiddish. However, it was pointed out that the Yiddish-language editions were the smallest in number of copies issued. Altogether, a total of 225,000 copies of the Sholem Aleichem in all of the 20 languages have been distributed to date.
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.
