Shmuel Leib Batt 1919-2000

One of the last active Yiddish writers to grow up in the rich Jewish culture of pre-war Eastern Europe, Shmuel (Sam) Batt was committed to Yiddish language and literature. Born to a poor family in Shumsk (now in Ukraine), he wrote voluminously in his youth. After the Nazi invasion, he fled into the Soviet interior and fought with the Red Army against the Nazis. When he returned to Volhynia after the War, he found that his entire family had been murdered by the German Army and their sympathizers. He attended law school in Lvov, and settled with his wife Riva in her hometown of Shepetovka in the USSR (Riva's immediate family had survived the war by fleeing to Stalingrad and Siberia). Shmuel, Riva, and their sons Paul and Edward moved to Wroclaw, Poland. Shmuel worked both as an attorney and as a journalist and regional editor of the Warsaw Yiddish left-wing daily the Folks-Shtime (the People's Voice). His articles were published in Yiddish newspapers around the world.

In 1970, as the status of Jews in Poland continued to deteriorate, Shmuel and Riva moved to the United States. After some time in Rochester, New York, they settled in Los Angeles. Shmuel became active in the revival of Yiddish in the United States, leading the West Hollywood Yiddish Club and contributing frequently to Yiddish journals and the online discussion group Mendele. Most importantly, Shmuel resumed his writing. His literature, though fiction, draws heavily from events and images in his youth, and reflects the constant shadow of the Shoah.

It was by sheer fortune (seeing a note from him in a Yiddish newsletter, to be exact) that in February 1998 I discovered that Shmuel, a very distant cousin to me, was living in Los Angeles. I had a copy of a family tree that stated that he was in Wroclaw in 1964, but had previously known nothing more of his existence. I contacted him, and we instantly began a friendship. Because I make regular visits to my parents in Los Angeles, I was able to have the pleasure of seeing Shmuel, Riva, and their wonderful family on quite a number of occasions within a few years, and maintain additional contact through telephone and email. Shmuel was a great teacher to me during this time. He had extraordinary passions for Yiddish, literature, Jewish history, and politics. And, though a rationalist and opponent of religious orthodoxy, he had enormous knowledge of, and feeling for, the Bible, Jewish thought, and Jewish practice. He also had a great love for Israel (even travelling there twice in the last few years of his life), and believed in the absolute necessity of trading land for peace. He would have been pained deeply by the recent deterioration in the relationship of Israel and the Palestinians.

Sadly, Shmuel passed away in December 2000. He had an extraordinary mind and a wonderful sense of humor until his final days. He is missed deeply.

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To learn more about Shmuel Batt and his thoughts on the future of Yiddish, read this profile in the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles.

Photographs of Shmuel Batt and his family.

You can read an article by Shmuel in Polish about the synagogue in Shumsk.

Published works:

Geshtaltn Funem Amol [English title: Images from the Past]. West Hollywood: Samuel Batt Book Committee, 2000

Kleynikaytn, vizyes un nokh [English title: Trifles, Visions and More]. West Hollywood: Samuel Batt Book Committee, 1999

Farn koved funem folk [English title: For the People's Honor] Screenplay. Los Angeles, CA: West Hollywood Yiddish Culture Club, 1999

Oyf eybik; oysgeveylte shriftn 1970-1996 [English title: For Eternity: Selected Writings 1970-1996] Los Angeles: Shmuel Batt Book Committee, 1996

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