100TH BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY OF THE FAMOUS LITVAK POET A. SUTZKEVER COMMEMORATED IN TEL AVIV
Updated 2013-06-21
On June 20, 2013 a commemoration of 100th birthday anniversary of the famous Yiddish poet from Vilnius Abraham Sutzkever took place at the Beit Bialik museum in Tel Aviv. During the commemoration evening, A. Sutzkever’s life and creation were remembered and the memories about the poet’s personality were shared.
The numerous audience was welcomed by the Ambassador of Lithuania in Israel D. Degutis. He noted that Lithuanian Jewish cultural heritage is an important part of Lithuanian culture and the poetry of A. Sutzkever is an integral part of Lithuanian poetry. A. Sutzkever survived the horrors of the Holocaust in the Vilnius ghetto but never lost faith in the power of art.
D. Degutis emphasized the importance of existing cultural and historical links between Lithuaniaand Israel for the development of the bilateral relations and mutual understanding between the twonations.
The event was also attended by professor A. Novershtern (the professor of the Yiddish studies atThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem), majority of whose research papers have been dedicated to the analysis of A. Sutzkever’s creation. A. Sutzkever’s family members attended the event. Hisgranddaughter, famous Tel Aviv theater actress Hadas Kalderon delivered a memorable performance. During the event A. Sutzkever’s poetry was read in Yiddish and Hebrew.
A. Sutzkever was born on July 15, 1913 in the territory of then Russian Empire, in Smorgon(now Belarus). In 1921 together with his family he came to Vilnius. When the Second World War started along with his family he was moved to the Vilnius ghetto. In 1943 he escaped the ghetto and joined the underground resistance movement. In 1947 A. Sutzkever arrived in Palestine. In 1985 A. Sutzkever received the Israeli Yiddish literary award. On January 20, 2010, A.Sucker passed away in Tel Aviv at the age of 96.
