Dramatic Story of Isaac Babel, Martyred Literary Genius
Whether or not Isaac Babel was
the greatest Russian short story
writer since Anton Chekhov, as it
is now contended, he certainly was
in the highest ranks of fiction writ-
ers in. the world. The newest collec
tiotgf his short stories, "Isaac
Ba — You Must Know Every-
thine(Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
traiblated from the Russian by
Ma?t Hayward, edited and annotat-
ed by Babel's daughter, Nathalie
Babel, is a revealing work affirm-
ing the genius of a great writer
who was a victim of the Commu-
nist regime.
This volume is more than a mere
presentation of the unpublished. ex-
cellent Babel stories. It is also a
revealing document about Babel's
Youth
News
Teenage
t- Princess
! status among the Russians, and the
preface by the editor of the vol-
ume, his daughter, Nathalie Babel,
adds information regarding the
martyrdom of the great story-
writer.
father and his work and explains
the background of some of the
stories. It makes reference to the
appendices in this extraordinary
volum—included in which are an
interview with Babel (Sept. 28,
1937), the Moscow commemoration
of Babel's 70th birthday, the speech
by Ilya Ehrenburg at the meeting
in Moscow in honor of Babel, Nov.
11, 1964; as well as texts of tributes
to Babel by Levi Nikulin, Konstan-
tin Paustovsky and Georgi Munblit.
Miss Babel states in her pre-
They Made
The Grade
BONNIE ROMANOWSKY, daugh.
ter of Mr. and Mrs. Irving Field of
Basil Ave., received a BS degree
in elementary education from Bos-
ton State Colege. Her husband, Dr.
ABRAHMAM ROMANOWSKY, was
awarded an advanced degree in
prosthetic dentistry at Boston Uni-
versity and has also received a
certificate from Harvard Univer-
sity. PHILIP FIELD. son of the
Irving Fields, received a BS in vet-
erinary medicine at Michigan State
University, and daughter CAROLE
FIELD, a recent cum laude grad-
uate of Henry Ford High School,
will attend Connecticut College to
study with the American Dance
Festival for six weeks.
* • •
JOSEPH BERENHOLZ, son of
Mr. and Mrs. Gustav Berenholz of
Prairie Dr., Southfield, has been
chosen one of three University of
Michigan students to partake in a
cultural and sociological 35-day
tour of Argentina. Berenholz, a
junior, is sponsored by the College
Of Literature, Science and Arts.
The trip is arranged by the Argen-
tine Council of Student Exchange
in cooperation with the government
of Argentina and the International
Youth for Understanding Program.
101/2-Year-Old Raises
$21 fbr Red Magen David
This is the third year Martin
Brown, 101/2-years-old, has had a
carnival and donated the $21 he
made to the American Red Mogen
Dovid for Israel.
Martin is the son of Mr. and Mrs.
Fred Brown, 17091 Maryland,
Southfield.
Vemco ELECTRONIC
GARAGE DOOR
OPENER
Babel's wife had chosen to live
in Paris and Nathalie was born
there. For Babel's sake his wife
and daughter retained Russian
citizenship after he had decided
Man is a make-believe animal —
to return to Russia. The two
he is never so truly himself as
women managed to survive the
when he is acting a part.—William
Nazi terror, and they gave up
their Russian passports after all
face: "I believe that Ilya Ehren- Hazlitt.
hope for his safety had vanished
burg's Impassioned speech—never
in 1947. Settling in New York in
before published anywhere—and
1961, Miss Babel is an instructor
Konstantin Paustovsky's moving
in French at Barnard College and
tribute have acquired, since their 0
is completing her work for her
recent deaths, an all the more
doctorate at Columbia University
significant dimension."
in Russian and French literature.
It should be added that while the
Her husband, whose grandpar-
ents were from Odessa, is a Cali- new Babel collection contains fas- ?;
fornian. They were married in cinating stories by a great writer,
the supplementary material is of
1967.
CAI Evenings Until 9
353-3284
'ACK.
C
g
0
value in understanding the condi-
Babel's story is one of the tra- tions in Russia which had led to
gedies of the Russian literary cir- purges and also point to recognition
cies. He was arrested in 1939 and in literary circles that the Babel
was never heard from again. But name must be cleared of whatever
in 1954 the USSR Supreme Court c h arges may have led to his death.
reviewed his case and it was
The hope is expressed by Miss
"terminated in the absence of ele-
ments of a crime. Yet literary re- B abel at "perhaps one day we
shall
have Babel's complete tt,
habilitation within the Soviet Union
w orks." The reade r
did not begin for him until 1957.
There are 19 stories in the pres- conviction that the current volume
ent volume of his works he had is "a step toward that end."
Babel wrote many Jewish stor-
written from 1915 to 1937. Interest-
ies, yet in the tributes to him
ingly, only a few have thus far
there
are no references to his
been published in Russian.
Jewishness or his Jewish back.
Among the remarkable works
ground. In the USSR he is Babel
published in the new Farra,
the Soviet literary genius.
Straus and Giroux volume are
Paustovsky,
in his tribute, stated
two stories appearing here for
the first time, "The Jewess" and that Gorky is to be thanked "for
"'And Then There Were None." Babel's rapid and sovereign entry
It is evident that Babel knew the
Jewish traditions and historic
WHEN YOU :/1,- A COCITil
backgrounds, and his sympathe-
tic works often emphasized the
nostalgic and many are deeply
U. lig
moving.
The winning smile and magnifi-
cent trophy belong to the lovely
Israeli, Miss Sharona Marash,
seen here boarding an El Al jet
liner for Tel Aviv. Miss Marash
was the winner of the Interna-
tional Miss Teenage Princess
contest held in Chicago.
into our literature. In return, Babel
looked up to Gorky with reverence
and love, as a son might look up to
his father . . ."
The tributes, the biographical
references, the stories—all combine
to make the Isaac Babel book a
significantly evaluative work by
and on the greatest of the Russian
writers in the Communist era.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, July 11, 1969-13
His daughters' preface adds im-
mensely to an understanding of her
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