P.91:
In 1825, there were only 583 titles produced in the Russian
Empire, 323 (55 percent) of'l )of which were in Russian. By 1860, the
total number of books had risen to 2085, and by 1895, there vere
11,548 titles published in the Empire, 8,728 (76 percent) of which were
in Russian.9
Jeffrey Brooks, When Russia Learned to Read
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 985), pp. 59-62,92.
P.84:
In December 1929, Moshe Kamenshteyn published an article in the Kharkov
newspaper Shtern in favor of Latinizing Yiddish. He argued that Soviet
Jews...
P.86:
Another factor in Latinization was the role played by Semen
Dimanshteyn, an important state-level figure in the general Soviet
Ladnization campaign, a longime Bolshevik, and founder ofthe Yiddish
Party paper Emes. Dimanshteyn, member of the Council of Nationalities,
was a key figure in the Central Asian Latinization campaign. As
liaison between the Soviet Yiddish intelligentsia and the Communist
Party, he also ensured the continued existence of Yiddish language
cultural activities. Since Dimanshteyn had the power to push through
inization for other languages, the fact that he did not use this power
on Yiddish shows that he used his influence to prevent it from taking
place.121 With Litvakov and Shtifs (and most likely Dimanshteyn's)
influence, Latinization was cen ofF the agenda just as quickly as it
was put on. The issue was addressed ice more in February 1932, in an
article by Shtifand Elye Spivak who came against Latinization, and
by Zaretsky who published an article in a Russianguagejournal favoring
Latinization.122
122. See Shtif and Spivak, "Vegn Latinizatsie," and I.Zaretsky,
"K probleme latinizatsii vreiskogo pis'ma," Revoliutsiia i
pis'mennost', Jan.-Feb., 1932 (no.1-2), pp.15-32.
The issue then died.
In 1934, long after the discussion
of Latinizadon of Yiddish and in the Soviet Union more generaly had
passed, the only Yiddish book to be published in Union more generally
had passed, the only Yiddish book to be published in Soviet Union
appeared.123
Greenbaum, Jewish Scholarship, p.111. In my research, I have found no
other Latinized Yiddish book published in the Soviet Union.
That same year, Ben Tsiyon Ben Yehuda (also known as
Itamar Ben Avi), the son of Eliezer Ben Yehuda, considered by some of the
father of modern Hebrew, began publishing a Hebrew newspaper in
Jerusalem in Latin letters.124
Benjamin Harshav, Language in Time of Revolution (Berkeley, Los
Angeles: University of California Press, 1993), P.107.
The Latinized Soviet Yiddish book, The
Folklore of Yiddish Music (Jidisher Muzik-Folklor), was published
by the Institute for Jewish Proletarian Culture in Kiev under the
editorship of Meir Viner, who took over after Shtif died. The author
offered an explanation for the choice. "This book 87 is appearing in
two languages - in Yiddish and Russian. In Yiddish we are printing it
with a Latin transcription, because in the given circumstances, it is
technicaly easier. Aside from that, we had in mind the decision of the
Central Orthographic Commission that said that scholarly publications
must gradually adopt the new Latin alphabet."135 Since music was a
special case when Latinizing aade the most sense, it is easy to
understand why the only Latin Yiddish book was a book of songs. But
the editors also Latinized to make a statement, and their reference to
a COC decision suggests that this might have been a last ditch effort
to prove that Latinization could have worked. By 1934, the Soviet
Union was moving away from Latinizatioon. The moment for a Latin Yiddish
had passed.
