"Set in the village of Golinsk near Minsk at the end of the nineteenth century, The Landsmen evokes life under a system of massively cruel anti-semitism. The word "landsmen" in Yiddish means people from the same place, but in this novel it conveys the larger meaning of "brothers" -brothers in suffering, brothers in faith, brothers in humanity. Each section of the novel is narrated by one of the nine characters: Yeersel, the tailor; Maisha, the religion teacher; Laib, the musician;Shim, his brother; Cochise, the dairyman; Berel, the water-carrier; Laib-Shmul, the butcher; etc... Some migrated to America, some died in Golinsk. It was written to establish a sense of Jewish identity as the background for a large fictional examination of Jewish-American life."
Publisher
Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press
Collection
Lawrence History Center Library
Rights
This book is owned by the Lawrence History Center, but copyright may be held by another business or organization. Please contact the Center for more information.
Sub Author
Afterword by Markfield, Wallace