Yidisher arṭisṭn-fareyn in Poyln

The Yidisher Artistn Fareyn, or Yiddish Actors' Union, advocated for actors' economic interests while striving to create a professionally run, artistically ambitious, Yiddish theatrical scene in Warsaw. From 1919-1938, its influence gradually increased until it included the majority of actors working in Poland, and collaborated with the most significant Polish Yiddish cultural figures and institutions, including E. R. Kaminska, YIVO, Literarishe Bleter, and the Landrat, or National Council of Class Trade Unions (Krajowa Rada Klasowych Związków Zawodowych). This collection contains records of annual conventions, Executive Committee meetings, correspondence with actors and theaters from Poland and around the world, and membership files on almost 600 actors.

This collection contains articles by Michal Weichert, parts of his memoir, and testimonies submitted on his behalf during his trials following WWII. The articles and manuscripts of his memoir illustrate aspects of his life before WWII, where he was an active and important director in the Yiddish theater in Poland. The testimonies and court materials shed light on his struggles to clear himself from charges that he collaborated with the Nazi authorities during the Holocaust in the course of his work distributing aid to Jewish refugees.

Ledger book with accounts of income and expenses of the "Baveglikher Yidisher Dramatisher Teater" (p. 10), with lists of names making contributions for membership cards. Includes mention of expenses for a meeting in Warsaw, in November 1921, and for a benefit in honor of Peretz Hirschbein in July 1922 (p. 9). This troupe evidently came under the purview of the Yidisher Artistn Fareyn; see poster, for performances in Danzig, 1921, in Folder 4864 (posters related to Jonas Turkow).

Two items are stored in Oversize Box 92.

Outgoing correspondence, including a copy of a letter to A. Hartglas, deputy of the Legislative Sejm, 1922; invitation letter to a meeting in Warsaw in 1923, concerning fundraising for a building for a Yiddish theater in Warsaw; and invitation letters to the YAF's 10th and 20th conventions, 1928, 1938. Also, an invitation from David Celmajster, concerning the founding of a Yiddish theater at the Elizeum Theater; several items related to the YAF's journal Yidish bine; and blank forms, letterhead, envelopes.