The Donors

S. L. and Eileen Shneiderman

Born in Kazimierz, Poland, S. L. Shneiderman began his life in the shtetlech of Eastern Europe (biography in Yiddish). His literary career began in the 1920's with his early poetry and film criticism. His journalistic output in Yiddish and Polish, his articles in English magazines, and his books continued to be published until shortly before his death in 1996. In addition to his published work, he also wrote and helped produce the film The Last Chapter, a documentary that depicts "The Thousand Year Saga of Polish Jewry" in 1966. In 1988, he was honored by family and friends by the publishing of a lithograph, Elegy for My Shtetl, that includes his 1938 poem of the same name. In her letter to you the reader, Eileen Shneiderman recollected the relationships she and her husband shared with many of the authors in the collection and offers her personal descriptions of several books. Eileen Shneiderman died on December 1, 2005. She published a new Yiddish book in 2001 (I. L. Peretz Publishers, Tel Aviv,), titled What Time is it on the Jewish Clock? It contains a selection of her husband's writing, her introduction "Decades Together", and his "Notes for an Autobiography". In November 2001 on the fifth anniversary of S. L. Shneiderman's death, his extensive archives were made public at the Diaspora Research Institute of Tel Aviv University. A catalog of these materials will enable scholars to find relevant documents through a box list and several thematic lists.

S. L. Shneiderman's key book publications in English include:

		The River Remembers		Between Fear and Hope		The Warsaw Heresy		Warsaw Ghetto: A Diary

		My Story: Gemma LaGuardia Gluck		Fiorello's Sister: Gemma LaGuardia Gluck's Story

The River Remembers, his reportage about the small Jewish villages of Poland (shtetlakh) that were largely destroyed by the Nazis during World War II. He wrote an early book about post-war Poland, Between Fear and Hope, and a review of the Polish uprising of 1956, The Warsaw Heresy. Mr. Shneiderman also edited Mary Berg's Warsaw Ghetto: A Diary, an early important account of the Warsaw Ghetto tragedy as recorded by a young teenager. 

In March, 2007, two of S. L. Shneiderman's books were reprinted in new editions with additional materials. The new edition of "The Warsaw Ghetto: A Diary by Mary Berg" (1945), was prepared by Susan Lee Pentlin entitled "The Diary of Mary Berg: Growing up in the Warsaw Ghetto". It is also available on "amazon.com." The book, "My Story" (1961), was updated and republished (2007) with a new title, "Fiorello's Sister: Gemma La Guardia Gluck's Story."

In Yiddish, his earliest books are the collection of poems, Goldene Feigel (Golden Bird) and Feiren in Shtodt (Fires in the City.) The material of his next books came from his years of reporting. Krieg in Spanien (War in Spain) concerned the Spanish Civil War which Mr. Shneiderman reported on from 1936 to 1938. He also published Yiddish editions of Zwishn Shrek un Hofnung (Between Fear and Hope) and Wen di Weisl hot Geredt Yiddish (When the Vistula Spoke Yiddish, the Yiddish version of The River Remembers.) Mr. Shneiderman published books about the artist Arthur Szyk and the journalist and critical thinker Ilya Ehrenburg and edited a collection of original writings in Yiddish entitled Tsuzamen (Together.)  

		Goldene Feigel		Feiren in Shtodt		Krieg in Spanien		Zwishn Shrek un Hofnung

		Wen di Weisl hot Geredt Yiddish		Ilya Ehrenburg		Arthur Szyk		Tsuzamen

 

	Reminiscences of the literary and personal life of S. L. and Eileen Shneiderman were written by their son, Ben Shneiderman, who is a professor at the University of Maryland. Anna Shneiderman, a granddaughter, wrote her recollections: Memories of my Saba.

 

 

Home

The Donors

The Collection

Book List

Site Map

About the Site

UMD Libraries

This document was produced June 13, 1998. It is maintained by Cynthia Sorrell, Gifts-in-Kind Coordinator for UMD Libraries. Direct all comments and suggestions concerning this page to csorrell@umd.edu