Malka Lee
Encyclopedia
Malka Lee' (July 4, 1904 – March 22, 1976) was an American
poet. She is the author of Durkh Kindershe Oygn (Through the Eyes of Childhood), published in 1955 and dedicated to her family, who were killed by the Nazis
in the shtetl
of Monastrishtsh (now Monastyryska
, Ukraine) in 1941, as well as six volumes of poetry in Yiddish, her mother tongue, much of it about her experience of observing the Holocaust
from the safety of the United States
.
family in Monastrishtsh, Galicia. With her parents Frieda Duhl and Chaim Leopold, she fled to Vienna during World War I
, and after returning to Poland
after the war, she emigrated to New York
in 1921, where she attended Hunter College
and the Jewish Teachers Seminary.
She married writer Aaron Rappaport, with whom she had two children, Joseph and Yvette. After Rappaport's death, she married Moshe Besser in 1966.
and America
, and her devotion to Zionism
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
poet. She is the author of Durkh Kindershe Oygn (Through the Eyes of Childhood), published in 1955 and dedicated to her family, who were killed by the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
in the shtetl
Shtetl
A shtetl was typically a small town with a large Jewish population in Central and Eastern Europe until The Holocaust. Shtetls were mainly found in the areas which constituted the 19th century Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire, the Congress Kingdom of Poland, Galicia and Romania...
of Monastrishtsh (now Monastyryska
Monastyryska
Monastyryska is a city in Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine. It is administrative center of the Monastyryska Raion. Population is 6,344 .The city is situated on the river Koropets, from Buchach, south east from Lviv, on the road between Berezhany and Ivano-Frankivsk...
, Ukraine) in 1941, as well as six volumes of poetry in Yiddish, her mother tongue, much of it about her experience of observing the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
from the safety of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Personal life
Lee was born into a HasidicHasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
family in Monastrishtsh, Galicia. With her parents Frieda Duhl and Chaim Leopold, she fled to Vienna during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and after returning to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
after the war, she emigrated to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1921, where she attended Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
and the Jewish Teachers Seminary.
She married writer Aaron Rappaport, with whom she had two children, Joseph and Yvette. After Rappaport's death, she married Moshe Besser in 1966.
Poetry
Her first published poem appeared in 1922, and she continued to write until 1972. Her poetry between 1945 and 1950 is about the pain of watching from a distance as her childhood home and family were destroyed during the Holocaust. One of her bronthers, Aaron Leopold survived the holoaust as a soldier in the Russian army. She helped Aaron and his wife Dina to emigrate to Canada as the United States had closed their doors to many immigrants after the war. Later poems expressed her love of IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and her devotion to Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
.
Works
- Durkh Kindershe Oygn (1955)
- Durkh Loytere Kvaln (1950)
- Gezangen (1940)
- In Lukht fun Doyres (1961)
- Kines fun Undzer Tsayt (1945)
- Lider (1932)
- Mayselekh far Yoselen (1969)
- Untern Nusnboym (1969)