MARKISH, PERETZ

born Dec. 7 [Nov. 25, Old Style], 1895, Polonnoye, Volhynia, Russian Empire [now Polonnye, Ukraine] died Aug. 12, 1952, U.S.S.R. Peretz also spelled Perets or Perez Soviet Yiddish poet and novelist whose work extols Soviet Russia and mourns the destruction of European Jews in World War II. Markish served with the Russian army during World War I and later joined several other writers in producing modernist Yiddish poetry that championed the Soviet revolution. After a series of pogroms occurred in Ukraine, he lived in Warsaw and in western Europe. While in Warsaw he coedited the Expressionist literary anthology Khalyastre (1922; The Gang). A second volume was published two years later in Paris. He returned to the Soviet Union in 1926. Markish's first poetry collection, Shveln (1919; Thresholds), established his reputation. His poetry cycle Di kupe (1921; The Heap) was written in response to increasing anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union. He nevertheless published a number of optimistic poems glorifying the communist regime; these include Mayn dor (1927; My Generation) and the epic Brider (1929; Brothers). His novel Dor oys, dor ayn (1929; Generation After Generation), about the genesis of revolution in a small Jewish town, was condemned for Jewish chauvinism. Awarded the Order of Lenin in 1939, he wrote several paeans to Joseph Stalin, including the 20,000-line epic poem Milkhome (1948; War). Despite these efforts, Markish was arrested in 1948 and executed in Stalin's anti-Jewish purges of 1952. In homage to Markish and as a gesture toward restoring his reputation, the Soviet Union published his poetry in Russian translation in 1957. Several other works were published posthumously, including Yerushe (1959; Heritage), an incomplete epic poem, and the novel Trit fun doyres (1966; Footsteps of the Generations), chronicling the heroism of Polish Jews during World War II.