Perets Markish

Perets Davidovich Markish was born on December 7, 1895, in Polonnoe shtetl, Volynsk province, Ukraine, Russian Empire. His father, named David Markish, was a melamed. His mother, named Khaya, was a daughter of a local tailor Shimshon-Behr. Young Perets Markish studied at cheder from the early age of three. Young Markish worked as a hard laborer, a trader, and a teacher in Berdichev, Odessa, and in Moldavia. Markish always kept the scroll of Torah that was given to him by his father. At the beginning of the First World War he was drafted in the Tsar's Army and served in the front-lines against the German army. He was severely wounded in action and suffered from a contusion. He was decommissioned and settled in Yekaterinoslav.

There Markish made his first publications of poetry in Yiddish, in 1917.

In 1918 Markish moved to Kiev and joined the "Kiev group" of writers in Yiddish. There he published his poetry in the collection titled "Eingst" together with such poets as Osher Shvartsman, David Gofstein, and Lev Kvitko. After the Russian Civil War Markish moved to Warsaw, then moved to Paris. He enjoyed a continuous friendship with artist Marc Chagall, whom he had known from his youth.

In 1926 Markish returned to the USSR.

In 1929 he married Ester Lasebnikova and their first son, named Simon, was born in 1931, their second son, named David, was born in 1938. Markish was elected the head of the Yiddish Writers group within the Union of Soviet Writers. He was a prominent poet and writer in Yiddish.

His plays 'Nit Gedayget' (Don't give up 1931) and 'Semya Ovadis' (The Ovadis family 1938) had a successful run in Soviet theatres. His poetry was translated from Yiddish to Russian by such poets as Anna Akhmatova, Eduard Bagritsky, Boris Pasternak, and David Samoylov among others.

In 1939 Markish was awarded the Order of Lenin for his work in literature.

In August of 1941, Perets Markish joined the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee. It was formed by the group of leading intellectuals in the Soviet Union to campaign against the Nazis during the Second World War. The Committee was headed by actor Solomon Mikhoels. Along with Mikhoels other prominent members were Aleksandr Tairov, Emil Gilels, David Oistrakh, Samuil Marshak, Ilja Ehrenburg, and many other leading intellectuals in the Soviet Union. The main driving force of the Committee was represented by the group of Yiddish writers such as Lev Kvitko, David Gofstein, Itsik Fefer, David Bergelson, and others. The Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee provided over 45 million rubles for the Soviet Army. After the end of the Second World War the Committee was denounced by Joseph Stalin.

Markish was arrested on January 27, 1949, at his apartment in Moscow. He was taken by four officers to a Soviet secret service prison. The Jewish group within the Union of Soviet Writers was destroyed and many of its members were arrested and sentenced to 25 years of exile. Joseph Stalin personally intervened in the fate of Yiddish writers and changed their sentences from exile to execution. Thirteen Yiddish writers were executed by the Soviet secret service.

Perets Markish was executed by the gunshot to his head on August 12, 1952, in Moscow, Soviet Union. Posthumous publication of Markish's works revealed a collection of outstanding poetry and prose.