The Jewish Telegraphic Agency report of the death in Vienna of Chaim Nachman Bialik caused consternation in Jewish circles. All Jewish meetings were immediately halted in tribute to the memory of the poet. All entertainments were stopped and music silenced.
Special editions of all Jewish newspapers were immediately issued carrying wide black borders and lengthy articles on the career of Bialik.
Under the auspices of the Tarbuth organization, which deals with Hebrew education in Poland, a memorial meeting was organized with the participation of all Zionist organizations and all Jewish national groups. Flags were at half mast on all Jewish institutions and a thirty-day mourning period was proclaimed. Messages of condolence were sent Bialik’s family and to the Vaad Leumi, the Jewish National Council of Palestine.
The Warsaw Yiddish Literary Association, the Yiddish Pen Club, the Syndicate of Journalists, the Hebrew Literary Association and the Hebrew Pen Club held special memorial meetings for Bialik.
Joseph Opatoshu, Jewish novelist who recently returned from a trip to Palestine participated in the meeting called by the Yiddish Pen Club. The meeting instructed A. M. Fuchs, Jewish writer now in Vienna, to participate in the funeral exercises to be held for Bialik there.
The Tarbuth group also decided to name all Hebrew high schools in Poland in honor of the dead poet.
A joint Bialik committee hurriedly organized and, composed of representatives of practically every Jewish group, decided that the day of the funeral shall be observed by all Polish Jews as a day of mourning.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
