Helene Khatskels
Helene Khatskels | |
|---|---|
העלענע כאצקעלס | |
 c. 1920s | |
| Born | 25 July 1882 |
| Died | 26 January 1973 (aged 90) Kovno (Kaunas), Soviet Union |
| Known for | Yiddish educator, writer |
| Awards | Order of the Red Banner of Labour  |
Helene Khatskels (Yiddish: העלענע כאצקעלס, 25 July 1882 – 26 January 1973) was a children's educator, translator and writer in the Russian Empire, Lithuania and the Soviet Union.
Biography[edit]
The daughter of a baker, Khatskels was active as a Bundist early in her life and a supporter of the 1905 Revolution, she subsequently turned to children's education.[1] As part of the Kultur-lige, which promoted Jewish autonomy, Khatskels produced an extensive range of works in Yiddish, including a travelogue on Palestine,[2] “The Earth and the Universe,” published in Berlin in 1924,[3] and translations of the work of Swedish geographer Sven Hadin.[4] With the suppression of the Kultur-Lige and other institutions of Jewish autonomy by Lithuanian authorities in the 1920s[5] her work turned to teaching.[6] Forced to flee following the German occupation of Lithuania, she returned to her birthplace after World War Two. She set up a Yiddish school for orphans, but this was closed in 1950 as part of the wider anti-cosmopolitan campaign at the end of Stalin's rule. In 1955 she was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour and finished her career teaching Russian literature at secondary school level, retiring in 1966.[6]
Works[edit]
- The sun has not woken yet, the Dutch are still asleep (English translation)
- די נאטור ארום אונז און מיר אליין : א לערנבוך פאר פאלקשולן (Di naṭur arum unz un mir aleyn a lernbukh far folkshuln), 1922, Yiddish Book Center
References[edit]
- ^ Hoge, Kerstin. "Helene Khatskels". jwa.org. Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
- ^ Hoge, Kerstin (2007). "Don't mention the language war! Helene Khatskels's Palestinian travelogues in the Yiddish children's journal Grininke beymelekh". Slavic Almanac: The South African Journal for Slavic, Central and Eastern European Studies. 13 (2): 146–169. hdl:10520/EJC108596. ISSN 1025-3386.
- ^ "Vilnius Yiddish Reading Circle turns to Lithuanian Yiddish women educators". DELFI. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
- ^ Bar-El, Adina (2013). "Jewish children's periodicals in Poland between the two world wars - in three languages". Rocznik Historii Prasy Polskiej. 1(31) (16): 24. ISSN 1509-1074.
- ^ Gringauz, Samuel (1952). "Jewish National Autonomy in Lithuania (1918-1925)". Jewish Social Studies. 14 (3): 225–246. ISSN 0021-6704. JSTOR 4465080.
- ^ a b Rosenthal (Schneiderman), Esther. "Helene Khatskels 1882-1973". Bibliotheca Augustana. Encyclopaedia Judaica (Jerusalem: Keter, 1971). Retrieved 15 September 2020.
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