Saul Yanovsky
Saul Yanovsky (
He is best remembered as the editor of the Yiddish anarchist newspaper
Yanovsky was one of the most influential editors in Yiddish journalism. Sociologist Robert E. Park remarked that writing for Yanovsky was the equivalent of a Yiddish literary passport. However, if Yanovsky thought a submission was subpar, the submission risked being subjected to his biting sarcasm and literary wrath in his dedicated section in the Fraye Arbeter Shtime.[3]: 43
Personal life
Career
In 1890, 32 anarchist groups of the Pioneers of Liberty agreed on establishing Fraye Arbeter Shtime. Despite founding the newspaper, Yanovsky moved to London to take over as editor of Arbayter Fraynd, where he came into contact with famous anarchists Malatesta, Nettlau and Kropotkin. In 1893, Yanovsky criticized the Spanish anarchist bombings, a stance which forced him to resign from the newspaper.[3]: 37
When Yanovsky returned to New York in 1895, the Yiddish anarchist movement was in disarray. A small sign of hope was
In 1906, Yanovsky founded Di Abend Tsaytung (The Evening Newspaper) to compete with the popular socialist newspaper Forverts, but Di Abend Tsaytung folded after a mere two months. More successfully, he revived Di Fraye Gezelshaft in 1910–1911 as a monthly literary supplement to the Fraye Arbeter Shtime. Fifty Fraye Gezelshaft literary clubs formed across North America.[3]: 41–42
By 1919, Fraye Arbeter Shtime circulation dropped by half, and he was forced to resign as the paper's editor due to difference of opinions over the Russian revolution and World War I.
Immediately after leaving Fraye Arbeter Shtime, Yanovsky was recruited as an editor for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union's newly established newspaper Gerekhtigkayt (Justice) upon invitation by former wobbly and union-treasurer Morris Sigman. The union was embroiled in factionalism between communists on one side and anarchists and social democrats on the other. In a 1925 truce, Sigman (then union president) allowed back formerly expelled communists. Yanovsky resigned in protest of concessions to "the worst enemies of the union".[3]: 46–47
In 1933, after Joseph J. Cohen stepped down as editor of Fraye Arbeter Shtime, editorial control was replaced temporarily by a committee which included former editors Yanovsky and Michael A. Cohn until Mark Mratchny succeeded them later that year.[3]: 46–47
Yanovsky had a labor column in the competitor newspaper Forverts, but he left over a dispute with Abraham Cahan, the newspaper founder.[3]: 46–47
Political views
In 1893, Yanovsky criticized the violence of the
Yanovsky criticized anarchist support for the 1917 Russian revolution, calling the Bolsheviks "not kosher". He had harsh words for anarchists returning from Russia..."I have raised a generation of idiots".[3]: 45
Like many anarchists, Yanovsky opposed US involvement in World War I, however with the downfall of the Russian czar, he argued that support for the Western power was preferable to rise of the German imperialists, a position shared by Kropotkin but incredibly unpopular with his readers.[3]: 46
References
- ISBN 0-691-00609-1.
- ISBN 978-0-252-09743-0.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-252-08254-2.
- ISBN 978-1-904859-27-7.
- ^ French, Mary (April 10, 2011). "Mount Carmel Cemetery". New York City Cemetery Project. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
Further reading
- Falk, Candace (2003). Emma Goldman: Making Speech Free, 1902–1909. University of California Press. p. 548. ISBN 978-0-520-22569-5.
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