...a powerful record of courage, brutality, and suffering.
In 1936, when civil war broke out in Spain between Republican and Nationalist forces, thousands of Jews streamed into the country to fight for the elected Republican government. One of these arrivals was S. L. Shneiderman—although he did not come to fight. Shneiderman (1906–1996) was a poet, translator, and literary journalist whose coverage of the Spanish Civil War earned him the moniker “the first Yiddish war reporter.” With the collaboration of his wife, Eileen, and photographs by his brother-in-law David Seymour (known professionally as Chim), Shneiderman’s dispatches from Spain made him one of the most influential Yiddish journalists of the century. Almost a century later, his book on the Spanish Civil War, published in 1938 as Krig in shpanyen: hinterland and now translated for the first time into English by Deborah A. Green, remains a vivid ground-level record of the conflict through a uniquely Jewish lens.
What the Critics Say
Journey Through the Spanish Civil War has been selected as one of Kirkus Reviews' Best Indie History & Biography Books of 2024!
“S. L. Shneiderman contrasts the beauty of the Spanish countryside with the horrors of war, crafting evocative descriptions of ordinary people… The result is a powerful record of courage, brutality, and suffering.”—Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
S. L. Shneiderman (1906–1996) was a poet, translator, and literary journalist whose coverage of the 1936–39 Spanish Civil War earned him the moniker “the first Yiddish war reporter.” With the collaboration of his wife, Eileen, Shneiderman became one of the most influential Yiddish journalists of the century and, after immigrating to the United States in 1940, a pillar of the New York Yiddish literary and journalistic community.
About the Translator
Deborah A. Green is a native Yiddish speaker and translator, author, and attorney. Her research focuses on Jewish participation in the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War and with Polish partisan groups during WWII. Her translations of Yiddish letters written by Jewish fighters have been featured in anthologies, magazines, and journals.
Distribution
White Goat Press books are distributed globally by Chicago-based Independent Publishers Group (IPG).