YONIA FAIN

Born: 1914, Russia

Describes leaving Warsaw after the German invasion of Poland (interview 1999)

TRANSCRIPT

We walked out from the city and outside of Warsaw we met many, many, many

people. Most of the time young people who didn't want to be captured by the

Germans and went to the eastern part of Poland, uh, believing that some sort of

resistance would be organized. Where did we get the food? Where did we get the

water? Where did we get places to sleep? The little towns on our way were

burning and the people left them. They ran out. In the countryside the peasants

came... the peasants came out and they gave us food. They said, "Take it, eat it.

We don't want to wait with all our, uh, cows and pigs and horses for the Germans.

You are our brothers." It was an atmosphere of fear and expectation. Uh, on the

way we were all the time bombarded by the Germans' Luftwaffe [air force] and

many peoples were killed. And finally, we went to the eastern part of Poland...to

the eastern and, uh, southern part of Poland. And at that time we all of a sudden

got the news that Poland will be divided between Stalin's Russia and Hitler's

Germany. And we didn't know what to expect.

After World War I, Yonia's family moved to Vilna. Yonia studied painting and graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Vilna. When Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, Yonia was living with his wife in Warsaw. They fled to Brest-Litovsk in eastern Poland, occupied by Soviet forces in mid-September 1939. Then Yonia and his wife escaped to Vilna. After the Soviets occupied Vilna in June 1940, Yonia and his wife forged Japanese transit visas and left for Japan. In Japan, they were unable to obtain valid visas for another country and were forced to remain. Japanese authorities required them to relocate to Shanghai in Japanese-occupied China in the fall of 1941. They remained in Shanghai for the duration of the war. In 1948, Yonia and his wife immigrated to Mexico. In 1956, Yonia

immigrated to the United States. YONIA FAINRussia, b. 1913

In addition to being a renowned artist and award-winning poet, Yonia Fain is among the few survivors to triumph over the turmoil of the 20th century. Fain’s abundant body of artwork and poetry pays tribute to the hardship many experienced during the Russian Revolution, Nazi invasion of Poland, and World War II. The persecution Fain experienced forced him to immigrate to several countries including China, Mexico, and the United States.  

Yonia Fain was born in Russia in 1914. When he was only 10-years-old, he and his family fled from the Bolshevik Revolution to Poland.  There he pursued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts and hoped to continue his education in Paris.  He was awarded B.A. and M.F.A. degrees from the University of Poland. In 1939, the artist and his wife Helen moved to Warsaw when the town they lived in, Vilna,  became occupied by the Soviet Union. Although they managed to escape the Nazis, Fain was apprehended by Soviet military and incarcerated.  After he and his wife were released into Russia, they procured Japanese transit visas. Before the the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese shipped his family to a ghetto for Polish Jewish refugees in Shanghai, China. Throughout the remaining war years, Fain earned a living by painting individual portraits of Chinese militia and officials.  

The tumultuous years of the war left Yonia Fain with no desire to return to Europe.  In 1946, a friend of Fain sent samples of his art to the established Mexican artist, Diego Rivera. The muralist was so affected by Fain’s pieces that he sponsored a visa for the Fain family to Mexico. While there, Fain collaborated with Diego Rivera, learning the politics and skill of mural painting.  During his years in Mexico, he had several exhibitions. All the while, Rivera encouraged Fain’s artistic merit and development by writing essays for his exhibition catalogs.

His stay in Mexico came to a close when artist Rufino Tamayo urged him to move to New York and recommended him for an art instructor position at the Brooklyn Museum. In addition to painting and exhibiting his work in the New York galleries of the day, he taught at New York University from 1964 until 1970. That same year, Fain was invited by the faculty of Hofstra University to teach the history and philosophy of art where he remained for over a decade.

Throughout his life, Fain has had several solo shows and his body of art has been included in exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Butler Institute of American Art, Albright-Knox Gallery, Chrysler Art Museum, London Jewish Cultural Centre, and at the Carnegie International.  Moreover, Fain is an award–winning Yiddish poet who has won international recognition with his books A Gallow Under the Stars, Beloved Strangers, New York Addresses, and The Fifth Season. Well into his nineties, Yonia Fain continued to create art shaped by his travels and struggles. The artist believed there was a reason for his survival and that through his work he was able to chronicle the calamities he witnessed. Fain’s paintings, drawings, and poems seek to  honor the many who perished and who were unable to inspire or teach future generations.

11/07/2003by Julia GoldmanStaff Writer

When history touched Yonia Fain's life, it hit with gale force. For 30 years he was "dragged by the storm of events over half a world," the Brooklyn-based painter and Yiddish poet once wrote.

Between 1923 - when a 9-year-old Fain and his family fled Bolshevik Russia, and 1953 - when he settled in New York City - Fain outran Nazi troops in Poland, was imprisoned by the Soviets, escaped to Japan, was deported to China and eventually made his way to safety and artistic success in Mexico.

English follows Yiddish. Poems follow biography.

Dem 6stn detsember 2013 hot di yidishe literarishe velt gelitn nokh a shvern klap. In Bruklin,

N”Y iz avek in der eybikeyt der shrayber un moler Yoni Fayn. Fayn iz geven fun di zeltene

yekhidim vos zayn lebns-geshikhte shtelt mit zikh for a kapitl yidishe geshikhte. A geboyrener

in Kamenets-Podolsk, iz er in 1924, tsu 10 yor, fun dortn avek ven der tate, a Menshevik, hot

gefirt di mishpokhe tsu ersht keyn Varshe un dernokh keyn Vilne kedey tsu antloyfn fun

milkhome un politishe umruen. In der heym hot men geredt Rusish ober in der dortiker yidisher

shul vu der tate iz geven a matematik-lerer hot Fayn zikh oysgelernt Yidish. Zint zayne yunge

yorn hot Fayn zikh oysgedrikt say in kunst say in shraybn. Beyde formen kontsentrirn zik af der

payn un umyoysher funem tsvantsikstn yorhundert un vaksn aroys fun zayne tife perzenlekhe

ibertsaygungen. Tsu 16 yor iz er arayn in Bund un shpeter, voynendik in Varshe, hot er

gearbet farn Bund bam boyen a kegnshtel kegn di Daytshn un poylishe fashistn.

Beshas der milkhome hot Fayn gefunen a mokem-miklet in Kobe, Yapan un dernokh in

Shankhay, Khine af zeks yor. Dortn hot er gemoln un geshribn poezye. Zayn ershter band, A

tlie unter di shtern, iz aroys ersht shpeter in 1947, in Meksike, nisht lang nokh dem vi er hot

dortn imigrirt. In Meksike iz Fayn gevorn a lerer fun der yidisher literatur in dem dortikn yidishn

lerer-seminar.

Glaykhtsaytik hot er tsugetsoygn dem ufmerk funem barimtn kinstler Diego Rivera vos hot

aranzhirt an oysshtelung fun Fayns bilder in dem prestizhfuln Palatso de Beyas Artes. Zayn

vantgemel gevidmet di korbones funem khurbn hengt ad-hayem in dem Panteon Izrealita afn

ashkenazishn beys-oylem in der shtot Meksike. In 1953 hot Fayn khasene gehat mit zayn froy

Helen, an amerikaner zhurnalitstn, un zey hobn zikh bazetst in Nyu-york. Er hot gelernt kunst

un kunst-geshikhte un iz gevorn a profesor fun kunst in Hofstra Universitet biz er hot zikh

pensyonirt in 1983. In Nyu-york hot er oykh dergreykht groys khshives vi a yidisher shrayber. In

1983 hot er aroysgegebn a band lider, Gute orkhim, un gor letstns, in 2008, iz aroys a nayer

band lider, Der finfter zman. A zamlung dertseylungen, Nyu-yorker adresn, iz aroys in 1995.

Fayns poezye un proze hobn zikh gedrukt in di vikhtikste yidishe zhurnaln vi Di goldene keyt,

Undzer tsayt un Di Tsukunft., fun velkhn er iz yorn lang geven der redaktor.

In 1991 iz im tsugeteylt gevorn di Manger-premye. In an intervyu vos ikh hob opgehaltn mit im

in 2000 hot er gezogt, “Dos gantse shraybn mayne hot tsu ton mit yekhidim, oder mit zeyere

kinder, vos hobn epes farloyrn un vos viln boyen a naye heym.” Fayn iz a beemes moderner

shrayber vos zayn netie optsuvisn di grenetsn tsvishn poezye un proze, kholem un realitet,

moln un shraybn kumt shtark tsum oysdruk in zayn arbet. Af vifl ikh veys iz zayn dertseylung,

Der hotel, (Nyu-yorker adres) di eyntsike dertseylung zayne vos iz aroys in der englisher

iberzetsung. Es iz opgedrukt gevorn in Pakn Treger, dem zhurnal fun yidishn bikher-tsenter,

harbst 2000 ibergezetst fun mir, Sheve Tsuker. A film Yoni Fayn: Mit pen un pendzl, af yidish

mit englishe unterkeplekh, untern rezhi fun Dzhash Valetski, produtsirt fun der Yidish-lige, vet

aroys in 2014. Ikh breng do dray lider kedey der leyenen zoln a bisl krign dem tam fun zayn

poezye. Ale dray lider zaynen gedrukt gevorn in Fayns bikhl Der finfter zman. Dos ershte lid,

“Bay mayn vigl” un di iberzetsung gefinen zikh ba mayn blog: Liderlikht: Yidishe lider vegn

mames – shevazucker.com/blog tsuzamen mit nokh eyn lid vegn zayne tate-mame.

BAY MAYN VIGL

Bay mayn vigl

“Mayn zun, s’iz tsayt zikh uftsukhapn”,

Hot

mayn tate gezogt

Ober di mame hot oysgemurmlt:

,,Loz im, nokh a rege,

vayter kholemen”.

Di velt vet nit antloyfn”.

Ven ikh hob zikh in mitn

nakht fun bet ufgerisn

Un tsum fentster tsugelofn,

Kh’hob derzen az mayn

shtibl

Vert fun tseshoymte khvalyes getrogn

Un s’vet bald untergeyn.

Un

kh’bin durkhn fentster aroysgeshprungen

Un in a shvimendikn boym zikh

ongekhapt,

Un mayn mames verter zaynen far mir ufgegangen,

,,Loz im, nokh

a rege, kholemen”.

Un kh’bin zikher geven az kh’vel

Tsu a gutn breg

dershvimen.

*Der finfter zman *YIDISH-SHTOKHIM

Vayl mayn

loshn

Vil veynik-ver itst redn –

Red ikh tsu zikh aleyn

Mer vi es past

far aza eynem,

Vos iz nokh alts bam fuln zinen.

Kh’vil gornit

dervayzn,

Ikh red bloyz,

Vayl lib iz mir bizkl oysgeyn

Dos

vandreven

Durkh shtokhim fun Yidish.

Verbes zenen dortn

mames,

Horizontn – zilberne shmeykhlen,

Un ozeres – tife

balades.

On Yidish volt dos broyt

Nit gezetikt mayn hunger

Un di

vunders fun der velt

Voltn nit gehat genug verter

Bavundert tsu

vern.

A flants lozt zikh iberflantsn,

A toyshev – iberzetsn,

Dokh a

lid ibergezetst

Iz a regn-boygn on a himl,

Un a tsapl

aribergetrogn

Varft zikh in a meshugoim-hemdl.

In Yidish shteyen mir

tsukopns

Voglers mit fule zeklekh shtern,

Un bloyz Yidish kon

oystaytshn

Dem zinen fun tsekrigtn lebn.

*Der finfter zman

*

IKH GLEYB

Ikh gleyb az der kval kholemt tsu dergreykhn dem

taykh,

Un der taykh dem yam.

Un ikh gleyb az dos tsetrotene grezele

Hot

nit gegrint umzist,

Azoy zikh stam.

Ikh gleyb az der yo un der

neyn

Viln eyner tsum tsveytn dergeyn,

Un az friling,

Ven s’nemt

regenen

Shmeylkhlt afile a shteyn.

Un ikh gleyb

Az ven der umru fun

zeyger geyt oys –

Iz der zeyger nokh alts ful mit tsayt,

Un az dos tayere

iz shtendik noent

Un dos groyse shtendik vayt.

Un khotsh kh’bin nit

zikher tsi mayn gloybn

Iz nit mer vi an eygene zakh,

Fil ikh im vi dem

bri

Fun an ongeglitn ayzn.

Un ikh gleyb az der solovey zingt

Nit kedey

epes tsu dervayzn.

Un ikh gleyb az der kneytsh in mayn shtern

Shnaydt zikh

in mayn moyekh arayn

Vos pruvt a veg tsum himl gefinen

Un ikh gleyb, un

ikh gleyb,

Az mayn farloyrnkeyt gart mayn libshaft tsu dinen.

Un ikh

gleyb mitn gantsn hartsn,

Khotsh mayn harts iz fun lang shoyn

tseshpoltn

Un fun shteyner tsunoyfgeklept,

Az der mentsh, vos hot tsum

lebn gezogt “A dank”,

Hot nit umzist gelebt.

***

December 6, 2013 the world of Yiddish literature suffered another great loss. Writer and

painter Yonia Fain passed away in Brooklyn, New York. He was one of those unique figures

whose life story encapsulates a piece of Jewish history. Born in 1914 in Kamenetsk-Podolsk,

he left it in 1924 at age 10 when his father, a Menshevik, took the family first to Warsaw and

then to Vilna to escape war and political unrest. It was here, in the secular Yiddish school

where his father taught mathematics, that Yonia learned Yiddish. From his youth Fain has

expressed himself both as an artist and a writer. Both his art and writing which focus on the

anguish and injustice of the 20th century have been shaped by his deep personal and political

commitments. As a young man living in Warsaw, he worked for the Jewish Labor Bund as it

sought to build a resistance against the Germans and the fascist Poles.

During the war Fain sought refuge in Kobe, Japan, and then in Shanghai, China for six years.

There he painted and wrote poetry. His first volume, *A tlie unter di shtern* (A gallows under

the stars), came out shortly after he emigrated to Mexico in 1947. There he taught Yiddish

literature in the local Jewish Teacher’s Seminary and attracted the attention of the artist Diego

Rivera, who arranged an exhibit of his paintings at the prestigious Palacio de Bellas Artes.

Fain’s mural dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust still hangs in the Pantheon Israelita in

the Ashkenazic cemetery in Mexico City.

In 1953 Fain married his wife Helen, an American journalist, and the couple moved to New

York where he became a professor of art at Hofstra University. He also achieved great

prominence as a Yiddish writer, publishing two more volumes of poetry: *Gute orkhim* (Good

guests; 1983) and *Der finfter zman* (The fifth season; 2008), and a collection of short stories,

*Nyu-yorker adresn* (New York Addresses, 1995). He has published widely, both poetry and

prose, in major Yiddish journals such as *Di goldene keyt*, *Undzer tsayt* and *Di tsukunft*

which he edited for many years. In 1991 he won Israel’s coveted Manger Prize for Yiddish

Literature.

In an interview I conducted with him in 2000 Fain said, “All of my writing is about people, or

their children, who have lost something and want to build a new home.” Fain is a truly modern

writer whose desire to erase the borders between poetry and prose, dream and reality, painting

and writing is often powerfully represented in his work.

Thus far, to my knowledge, only one of Fain’s stories, “The Hotel”, has appeared in English

translation. It was translated by myself and published in the *Pakn Treger*, Fall 2000. A film

“Yonia Fain: With Pen and Paintbrush” in Yiddish with English subtitles, directed by Josh

Waletzky, will be released by the League for Yiddish in 2014. I would like to offer three of his

poems along with English translations by myself so that the reader may get a taste of his

poetry. All three poems were published in Fain’s book, *Der finfter zman* (The Fifth season).

The first poem, “At My Cradle” and my translation can be found on my blog: Candles of Song:

Yiddish Poems about Mothers – shevazucker.com/blog along with one other poem about his

parents.

At My Cradle

My son, it’s time to wake up,”

My father said

But my

mother murmured:

“Let him, for another moment, keep dreaming,

The world

will not run away.”

When in the middle of the night I awoke from my bed

with a start

And ran to the window,

I saw my house

Being carried by

frothy waves

Soon to disappear.

And I jumped out of the window,

And

grabbed onto a floating tree,

And my mother’s words rose up before

me,

“Let him, for another moment, keep dreaming.”

And I was certain that I

would

Make it to a safe shore.

Tr. Sheva Zucker

Yiddish

Domains

Because my language

Is now spoken by so few people –

I

speak to myself more than befits

Someone still in charge of all his

faculties.

I don’t want to prove anything,

I just talk,

Because I

love to death

Wandering

Through domains of Yiddish.

Willows there

are mothers,

Horizons – silver smiles,

And lakes – deep

ballads.

Without Yiddish, bread

Would not satisfy my hunger

And the

wonders of the world

Would not have words enough

To express my

wonder.

A person with a home can be relocated,

A plant –

transplanted,

Yet a poem in translation

Is a rainbow without a

sky,

And a fresh quiver transported

Trembles in a

straight-jacket.

In Yiddish there stand at my head of my bed

Wanderers

with sacs full of stars,

And only Yiddish can interpret

The meaning of

quarrelsome life.

Tr. Sheva Zucker

I Believe

I

believe that the spring dreams of reaching the river,

And the river the

ocean.

And I believe that the trodden blade of grass

Has not grown green

in vain,

For no reason whatsoever.

I believe that Yes and No

Want

to reach each other,

And that in spring,

When it starts to rain

Even a

stone smiles.

And I believe

That when the pendulum of a clock stops

swinging –

The clock is still full of time,

And that that which is dear is

always close

And that which is great always far.

And although I’m not

sure if my belief

Is anything more than a personal thing,

I feel it like

the scald

Of a red-hot iron.

And I believe that the nightingale

sings

Not to prove anything.

And I believe that the wrinkle in my

forehead

Penetrates into my mind

That is trying to find a way to the

heavens

And I believe, and I believe,

That my lostness yearns to serve my

love.

And I believe with all my heart,

That although my heart has long

been shattered

And pasted together with stones,

That the person who had

said “Thank you” to life

Has not lived in vain.

Tr. Sheva

Zucker