p.146, Translated by Ruth Fisher Goodman

Chapter Eight

The "Big Three” in the Haynt Family

Haynt employed outstanding publicists and first class journalistic power and famous writers and published every work (see chapters 9-13). Four in the Haynt family were given special visibility and esteem. They were: Isaac Greenbaum, B. Yushzan (1889-1942), Joshua Thon (1870-1936) and Nahum Sokoloff (1860-1936). We have written about Greenbaum in chapter 7. Now we will write about the other three.

Moshe Yustman*-B. Yushzan

Moshe Yustman was an attraction of an unusual sort. He was in a class by himself. No other journalist could compare himself to his popularity. Israel and Zionism were uppermost in his mind and in his work as a publicist. That doesn’t mean that he was not interested in other phenomenon in the Jewish establishment or political life. Far from it. He reacted to everything with his inimitable pen with which he attacked his opponents as though it were a sword. He had many pen names, the most popular being: “Itchele”, and B. Yushzan. Other articles, small palliatives, he signed with the pen name: “Larnete.”

B. Yushzan worked for Der Moment for many years. It was a newspaper that catered to Jewish citizens without strong connection to the establishment or political persuasions. Its readers lived for the day, for Der Moment and the articles reflected the views of the readership. The newspaper was wont to confront the minutest opposition; not to antagonize anyone, not to make demands, not to raise its voice too high. This was the doctrine of Der Moment. That is, the paper was neutral: “Wait, the future will tell!” Why he ended his articles with an exclamation point, no one knew. It mimicked Tsvee Priludski, the editor of Der Moment whose custom it was to end the Friday edition of his articles. He gave instructions to the co-workers not to take too many

* Spelled Justman in English.

p.147

liberties concerning the government and especially not to criticize too sharply and to exercise caution and to make no transgressions. His strategy worked. The newspaper was rarely confiscated and was able to reach a wide readership, especially during the times that Haynt was confiscated.

It was known in the world of writers that B. Yushzan was stifled in Der Moment and was considering quitting. But this decision was not an easy one to make. When he left Moment and went to Haynt in 1925, it was a momentous event. His son, Heshl Yustman (now working for “Maerov” in Israel) had in the second volume of “The Near River” (pages 278-279) published his memories of how this came about. We present several quotations:

Today, it is difficult to visualize the sensation that my father’s going to Haynt has caused in journalistic circles and the Jewish masses of readers. My father’s leaving Moment was for many, incredible. At that time, Der Moment was the most widely read and richest Jewish news paper in Poland. …For my father, Der Moment had one big fault: the paper did not have a clear political leaning. The direct reason for my father’s leaving Der Moment is the sharp article he wrote about the “folksparty” that the editor refused to print. My father sent the article to Haynt where it was immediately published. As soon as the article was published in Haynt two delegates from the paper (Haynt) came to my father and asked him to leave Der Moment and join their staff in order to cover the incident from speculative talk. My father, however, had already made a firm decision. I remember precisely that it was a Friday night. My father had gone to the telephone and said: “Tell them that from tomorrow morning on I will no longer write for Der Moment. Later, at the dinner table, he told us that he had spoken to old Israel-Chaim Zagaradski (1864-1931) and that Zagaradski cried on the phone and couldn’t say a word.

Actually, Haynt was his home where he had virtually begun his career in 1909 under the general title: “Warsaw Life-educator.” He went to Haynt from the Jewish Weekly which was published in Warsaw by Yatskan in 1907. When Der Moment was founded in

p.148

1910, B. Yushzon joined the staff and became its head writer.

Yushzon was welcomed back with open arms. He could write here without any interference. What he could not abide in Der Moment; the restrictions, the blandness of its character, B. Yushzon had the opportunity to write freely and openly; and he appreciated the warm atmosphere of his colleagues and sharing the same ideals raised his spirits.

Especially popular were his weekly articles in the Friday editions under the heading of: "Political Briefs" (The Friday that article first appeared in Haynt 5000 copies were distributed.) It was written in plain folk language as was his style, and in the form of friendly letters, which he signed with the intimate name: “Itchele”. He would comment on events in international politics. His style was warm, clear, artistic and intimate. The "letters" flowed and were easily understood. It appeared as though “Itchele” got diplomatic secrets directly from the administrative offices of the high officials and entrusted them to each and every reader. "Political Briefs" was the first article people sought to read in the Friday editions. The articles were chock full of tractates and parables; Chasidic (pious) proverbs from the Torah and allusions which had a special meaning for a large segment of the readership.

B. Yushzon created a weekly series "From our old treasure" where he very creatively presented the weekly passage (of the Torah). It was a well from which Rabbis and Storytellers drew their material for sermons and lectures. This new rubric that was initiated in "Haynt is used to this day in the Jewish press.

B. Yushzon did not hold with the Jewish people from the right or the left. In his polemic political articles they were reduced to dust and ashes. He didn't lean toward either faction of the movement with whom he didn't agree. Consequently, his criticisms of Zionistic issues could be quite vitriolic.

In 1936, B. Yushzon led a campaign against the preparatory training for agricultural emigrants to Palestine in the Pioneer Kibbutz program in Poland. This was at the time when the government  

p.149

was very oppressive and restrictive to Jews and the youths strove to emigrate to Israel, but no certificates of permission were forthcoming from the British who were in power in the mandate and the doors to Palestine were virtually closed. There were hundreds of youths in the pioneer program. Their lives were not easy; often, there was not enough food to sustain them. The native conditions were bad, the work hard and only very few individuals could hope to emigrate. (make aliyah)

B. Yushzon blamed the leaders of the pioneer movement for the hardships perpetrated upon its youth. He expressed another complaint against the pioneer preparatory program and that was that a false illusion of the possibility of a quick emigration was being presented to the youths. A large part of the community in Israel, particularly the more conservative respectable elements held the same view. The views held by those in Haynt with regard to the methods used in the pioneer program differed, but the majority of the staff felt that B. Yushzon did not take into account the idealistic character of the program and that his critical assault went too far. Along with his (Yushzon's) article, Haynt published other articles that defended the program and particularly the kibbutz ideology as one of the most important contributions to the building up of Israel.

The poet, Isaac Katzenelson (1886-1944), who often had his work published in Haynt, was a friend of the program and spent much of his time with the pioneers in the preparation for working on the kibbutz program. In an open letter to B. Yushzon, he (Katzenelson) reproached him and presented the positive point of view on the side of the preparatory program. He pointed out the young people united in purpose (that is: emigrating to Israel) joined the program. The kibbutz for them meant to be able to live collectively with comrades, those with whom they would live together in Israel. They join the program freely and willingly and not by force and don't expect to have an easy time of it; that life on the kibbutz is difficult and poor, but they are living for an ideal. They are not whining nor are they complaining to anyone. They believe and are only waiting hopefully to immigrate to Israel. Isaac Katzenelson succeeded in not having B. Yushzon influence the youths in a negative way and break their will, although the (Yushzon) articles did impact the Zionistic world. Katzenelson's 'open letter' was published in Haynt in the Hebrew translation (with a Hebrew title) and it appeared in Israel in 1970 (pp. 259-262).

p.150, Translated by Rose Jimenez

As sharp as B. Yushzon was in his writing, that is how friendly he was in his personal attitude. By nature a quiet and retiring person, he spoke slowly, didn’t raise his voice, was a thoughtful type of a Polish Jew, and, therefore, reached the hearts of his readers. He understood their manner of thinking: he was one of them.

B. Yushzon lived on Tvarda Street, number 16, in the heart of the Jewish economy of Warsaw. His house was open. Whoever had something to say could come in. Therefore, people from the provinces and Warsaw, individuals as well as delegations, came to tell about Jewish life in their towns and villages and asked him to write about their problems.

In Haynt, B. Yushzon found a phenomenon that he thought quite remarkable: this was the manner in which the readers of Haynt reacted to what the paper printed. The material in Haynt had a large impact on the readers. They used to flood the newspaper with their evaluations of the articles and did not hesitate to react if they had a different opinion. If there happened to be an error in a quotation, in a date, or in a lengthy article about our Sages of Blessed Memory, the newspaper could not deal with the flood of letters and postcards in which the readers made them aware of the error. B. Yushzon was so fascinated by the ties the readers had to the newspaper, their close contact, and the way they swiftly and skillfully reacted, that in the Haynt Jubilee Book 1908-1928 he dedicated an article to the readers of the newspaper. B. Yushzon was heart and soul with Israel and made plans to be Aliyah. In March 1937, he started to make serious plans. With the agreement of the managing committee of "Alt-Nay", he took a longer sabbatical and went to see if he could find a permanent place for himself in Israel. The arrangement was, however, that each week he would send several articles for the newspaper. After 6 months he returned with the intention to liquidate his affairs in Warsaw and go to Israel with his family. The Second World War erupted before B. Yushzon could fulfill the dream of his life.

During the war, Moishe Yustman traveled to Vilna. After many hardships, he received the possibility to be Aliyah in Israel. In Israel, Yustman suffered the pangs of longing and anxiety about the fate of his family in Warsaw.

P. 151

His heart did not hold out and he died of a heart attack. His wife and two daughters died in the Warsaw Ghetto.

After the death of B. Yushzon, the well-known columnist Baruch Sheffner (1893-1977) had published an article about the deceased in the New York "Forward" detailing his role in the Yiddish press in pre-war Poland. As the co-editor of the "Folks- zeitung", the official organ of the "Bund" in Poland, he had had many arguments with B. Yushzon. Therefore, it would be of interest to print here that which Baruch Sheffner wrote after the death of his opponent. The article appeared in the "Forward" the 14th of March 1942 under the title of : "B. Yushzon Was the Most Popular Writer in the Yiddish Press in Poland". This is what Baruch Sheffner wrote:

"........For hundreds of thousands of Polish Jews of pre-war Poland, and also those far from Poland's borders, B. Ushzon was the name of their beloved newspaper writer who...fascinated them with his lightening-like humor and with his scholarly ideas...which gave an especially Yiddish charm to his writing. One used to hear Polish Jews speak for hours on end in the trains, in the gardens and even in the synagogues about their "Itchele"....""Itcheles" which were aphorisms about England or about a home grown political antagonist used to do the rounds thought Yiddish tongues from one end of Poland to the nest. B. Yushzon was the sharpest and most temperamental Zionist journalist in Poland. He carried on a war with the adversaries. He reacted daily to the important occurrences in Jewish life in Poland, and woe was to him who fell under Yashzon's sharp pen...."

At the end of the article, Sheffner quotes selections from the last letter that he received from B. Yushzon from Israel: "Excuse me for my long silence. First of all, an air mail letter is a very expensive thing for me, the cost (let this remain between us) of three lunches... Secondly- and this is most important-of late I am so despondent about the worries and sinister news reports about the old homeland, about which I haven't had the faintest notion these many months. In a sincere letter to a friend in Akh Letzra, I said I would have to write a lament as for the destruction of Jerusalem, instead of just a letter; wail and lament about our frightful destruction, which we ourselves, behaving like dense idiots, have already it appears, failed to grasp...In the best case, what have we Jews

to expect after this devilish mass obliteration of the Jewish people?

P. 152

What kind of consolation can there be for us in the belief and hope, the surety and the hundred percent convictions and the salvation right-wingers, if only a small number, the happy ones, who manage to save themselves, will be worthy enough to see the consolation? On the contrary! Of late I am constantly tortured by the thought that the greatest crime I performed in my sinful life is that I made an effort to be one of those lucky individuals, who, without any real purpose, saved my own soul....."

Dr. Yehoashe Thon

A prominent writer in the Haynt family of a completely different type was Dr. Yehoashe Thon. An outstanding orator, he also owned a fine, literary pen. His articles in Haynt were outstanding for their original content and elegant form, sentiment for our spiritual heritage and profound belief in Zionism. By nature he was an optimist and, in his articles, he taught the Jewish public to be proud of their people and look with confidence to the future. It is characteristic of him that for the Haynt Jubilee Book 1908-1928 he elected to write an article "Comments on the National Pride".

Dr. Thon was a rare erudite, a scholar, a clever person. It was a spiritual joy to be in his company. A discussion with him was stimulating. His articles were a well of knowledge and were a good read; even when he dealt with convoluted problems, the reader had much to think about. One of the spiritually richest columnists the Jews had, he introduced fine European writing to the Jewish press. A fine stylist in Hebrew, Polish and German, his Yiddish was pure Mame Loshn.

Dr. Thon had a specific merit for Haynt. The other workers on Haynt were either Lithuanians or Congress Polish Jews. When Poland became independent, and they had to think about distributing the newspaper in the Galician neighborhoods, which were incorporated in the new state where the newspaper was unknown, they, naturally, had to concern themselves with recruiting new writers who were known to the Galician Jew, who understood his needs,

P. 153

wrote his language. (see chapter 15). Deputy Dr. Jehoshua Thon, the Zionist writer and orator, the rabbi and preacher of the temple in Krakow since 1897, in Krakow since 1897, the seasoned politician and Jewish leader in Galicia was an outstanding choice. Hew soon became one of the most influential writers of Haynt, with many followers also in the Polish Congress. Dr. Thon brought "Galician Style" to Haynt in the best sense of the word.

In Chapter 7, we recalled the debate that went on among the Polish Jews about non-legal illustrative material in the Talmud and the role that Dr. Thon played in the discourses with the Polish government. Haynt published his articles side-by-side with the articles of Itzik Greenboim, who fought as hard against the plan as Dr. Thon fought to defend it. The two of them were never close friends. The relationship between them was reserved and the feud about the "non-legal" material in the Talmud did nothing to improve the relationship. Dr. Thon knew how to be sarcastic and caustic when someone disagreed with him. Dr. Thon's daughter, Gela Hollander, writes in her memoirs (which was published in Montevideo P. 53) the once, when he was sick and friends came to visit they said that Greenboim had made a speech which lasted four hours. His reaction was: "I would also be able to talk that long, but who has his feet?"

On another occasion, when someone said in his presence that Greenboim is a person who is farsighted, that he is truly a seer, he answered ironically that he is really not that smart, he is simply that stubborn: In the middle of the day, when the sun is shining, he can have a notion that it is night time and he talks and talks and talks that it is night---until night falls and then he is triumphant when he says, " You see, I was correct. It is night and the moon is shining".

Despite the fact that Haynt did not support his political Zionism ( he was an adherent of the broadened Yiddish agency ) and also did not support his efforts with regard to the "non-legal" illustrative material in the Talmud (see Chapters 5 and 7) Dr. Thon felt very much at home in the newspaper. He felt like a friend, a member of the family.

Dr. Thon was small in stature, thin, had an aesthetic, pale, colorless face rimmed by a short, black beard, which, with the years, became more gray than black. He wore eyeglasses rimmed in gold.

P. 154

His pitch black eyes sparkled beneath his high rabbinical forehead. When he spoke from his temple bimah or from the dais in Saym, his presence appeared to make his figure grow; his voice rang out. He spoke with pathos. His ideas cascaded like pearls and mesmerized the listeners. Dr. Thon was a Zionist from Herzl's time and also a Polish patriot. While demanding civil rights for Jews, he also stressed his love of the Polish land, tradition and culture. In this spirit he also wrote his articles.

Greenboim’s methods of political struggle without compromises were strange to Thon. Itzrok Greenboim was a fanatic. Dr. Thon was a compromiser. Greenboim was a man of strong principles. Dr. Thon was a practical politician. Where Greenboim could not deviate from his demands even slightly, Dr. Thon sought palliatives. Greenboim stormed, protested, shouted in concert with the Polish Jews. Dr. Thon, in his speeches in Saym also demanded rights for Jews, but his delivery was softer, milder. Both were devoted servants of their people, but their methods were different - and both could not improve the fate of the Polish Jews.

Dr. Yehoasha Thon died in Krakow in 1936. More than 30,000 people came to the funeral. His death caused a deep sadness in all the Polish Jews. To acknowledge his work, two streets in Israel, one in Tel Aviv and one in Khulin were named in honor of Dr. Yehoasha Thon and a home was established in his name.

Nokhim Sokolov

In the period between both World Wars, Haynt often published Nokhim Sokolov’s articles. Sometimes these were things he had written in Yiddish and sometimes they were translations from Hebrew or other languages. Sometimes these articles were put together from excerpts of his speeches. The newspaper felt a closeness to Sokolov which emanated from the time that Sh. I. Yatzkan and Avrom Goldberg started their journalistic careers when he was editor in “Hatsfira”. When Sokolov, who had been a writer on current public affairs in Warsaw, became a world scale Yiddish diplomat and politician, Haynt devoted a great deal of space to his political activities. His wise words and anecdotes were retold in the editorial room when the name of Nokhum Sokolov was mentioned.

P. 155

During the First World War, Nokhim Sokolov lived in foreign countries and it wasn’t until about 1923 or 1924 that he had the opportunity to visit free Poland for the first time. When the date of his arrival became known, Yatzkon decided that it would be appropriate for Haynt to arrange a special welcome. He called in a young writer who was the society reporter and secretly entrusted him with the mission to welcome the guest in the name of Haynt. Yatzkon, at that time , was no longer the editor, but he occasionally gave suggestions for various initiatives. His thought was that the young man, Chaim Finkelshteyn, should travel to Loyvicz, a small town one or two hours from Warsaw. There he would meet the train on which Sokolov was supposed to travel. Then he would interview him and have printed a special issue as soon as Sokolov would arrive in Warsaw. For that time in Poland, this was an unusual journalistic accomplishment, and, as it turned out, it was not a simple one.

A fine, strategic plan was worked out: the fellow would have to leave in the evening and wait for the express train from Berlin to arrive in Loyvicz. This train stopped only for a minute and before daybreak. The rest of the plan was very simple: he would enter into the railroad car, greet Sokolov, have a discussion with him, and write the report immediately.

Chaim Finkelshteyn arrive in Loyvicz in good time. He found the railroad station vacant, there wasn’t a creature to be seen. The ticket window was closed. Then they opened the ticket window a few minutes before the express arrived, but the sleeping-car where Sokolov rode was locked. There was no time to think because the train started to move immediately. The reporter jumped onto the step of the first railroad car when the train was already in motion. But the sleeping car was locked from within as well in order that the passengers not be disturbed during the night.

Pleas and explanations fell on deaf ears. Even the press card, which, in Poland, usually had a magic effect to open all doors, was to no avail. The conductor did not want to open the sleeping car before the set time, which was about an hour before the arrival in Warsaw. One can imagine how desperate the young journalist was. However, it appears that the God of the newspaper writers and the good angel of the Haynt reporter took pity on him and the conductor opened the car a bit earlier.

P. 156

It was still very early in the day and Sokolov was still in bed, but he did not refuse to receive the messenger from Haynt, who greeted the guest with the greatest respect and solemnity in the name of Haynt and the Jews of Poland. Sokolov thanked him and a characteristic good-natured smile lightened his face. Secretly, he surely was amused at the comical scene, as the young man earnestly greeted him in the name of “all the Jews in Poland”.

Having finished the ceremonial portion of his mission, Chaim Finkelshteyn left the compartment. When Sokolov came out, he was freshly shaved, his hair was combed and he wore fresh clothes, ready for the interview. Leaning against the window, he noticed the towns as they flew by: Sakhatchev, Bloyna and Prushkov and he remembered the people he knew there before the war. He enquired as to the life of the Jews in Poland at this time, if their situation is improving, if they can make a living. Instead of the reporter doing the interviewing, he was being interviewed

The entire Haynt family waited for Sokolov at the station. Yatzkon invited everyone to breakfast in the journalists’ hangout, Yalzkovsky’s Coffee House on Marsharkovska Street, which Sokolov frequented before the war. The reporter, however, had to go to write his report. When the crowd left the coffee house, the extra edition of Haynt was already being sold on the street, with the news that Sokolov had arrived in Warsaw. (In the second section Yusov Shmuen Goldshteyn write his memoirs about Sokolov’s visit).

By the end of 1925, Nokhum Sokolov agreed to write a weekly article for the Friday edition of Haynt . The first of a series of articles with the title, “From My Literary Notebook” , was published the 1st of January 1926 in the first number of the newspaper. After a hiatus of more than four years, the newspaper appeared once more under the name Haynt (see Chapter 6). On April 4, 1926, Sokolov started a new series of articles with the title, “Letters to the Jewish Woman”; a third series was called “Personalities”: pen portraits of those people whom he met during his long career as a writer and Zionist leader. Other articles he wrote were of timely political and social problems.

P. 157

Sokolov started to write for Haynt with regularity when he was already in his late sixties, but his articles were as provocative and fresh as half a century before when he introduced the modern style of writing on current public affairs. The broad scope of his themes, his learning and his mastery of general literature, history, and philosophy, his contact with statesmen, diplomats and important cultural people of the time, Jews and non-Jews, with whom he had a personal relationship, his understanding of the feelings and hardship of the Polish Jews, of their mentality, the easy conversational style of writing shone from every article. This was really like a gift that Haynt gave to the readers. Sokolov’s essays often were the length of an entire page. Each of his essays is a contribution of our literary treasure.

For the Haynt Jubilee Book 1908-1928, Nokhum Sokolov contributed an essay ”Old Warsaw Countrymen”. This is a paean in honor of the Jews of the Polish capital. The language is charming; the singing quality of the Warsaw Yiddish language rings out from each line. As of on a broad wall tapestry, Sokolov wove a rich gallery of ancient Warsaw Jews, their lives, traditions, the history and legends, the joys and sorrows. Only a resident, who has intimate knowledge of each corner of the city and only a master could have undertaken to write this way about the Jews from Warsaw and their kind of life; and only a skilled person, as he was, could have reworked and politically rewritten the rich material which he gathered for this essay. This is a lot more than a gift for the Haynt Jubilee Book and its readers. Everyone who is interested in the rich, colorful Jewish life and creativity in Poland, not only from the point of view of formal history of facts and dates, but those who wish to know about the inner life of the Warsaw Jews, must become familiar with this essay. A portion of this essay has been reprinted in the collection, “Platzk, Pages of History of Jewish Life in the Old Home”, that appeared in Buenos Aires in 1945.

* spelled Justman in English.