Editor and lecturer: Dr. Mordechai Yushkovsky, researcher of Yiddish literature, culture, and folklore

In the late 1940s and early 1950s of the 20^th  century, a "culture pogrom" was perpetrated in the Soviet Union - the radical destruction of Jewish culture. Stalin's rule closed all Jewish institutions, initiated an unprecedented anti-Semitic wave of incitement, and executed the most important Jewish creators - writers, artists, actors, and scientists. Hundreds of Jewish artists - perhaps even thousands -were deported to Gulags. 

At the meeting, we will talk about those who survived the abysmal conditions and torture and found the physical and mental strength to return to life and continue to write in Yiddish or even Hebrew. We'll look at the dramatic episodes in the lives of writers Shmuel Gordon, Hershl Polianker, Natan Zabara, Motl Talalayevski, Zvi Preigerzon, and others.