Sholem Asch

Sholem Asch (1880–1957) - was a pioneer in Yiddish literature for his unflinching portrayal of the Jewish “underworld,” often focusing on characters like thieves and brothel owners who existed on the margins of traditional society. His most significant works dealing with Jews and crime include:

God of Vengeance (Got fun nekome, 1907): Perhaps his most famous and controversial play, it centers on Yankl Chapchovich, a Jewish brothel owner. Yankl attempts to buy respectability and protect his daughter’s “purity” by commissioning a holy Torah scroll, but his plans are upended when his daughter enters a lesbian relationship with one of the prostitutes. The 1923 Broadway production resulted in the cast being arrested and convicted of obscenity.

Motke the Thief (Motke Ganev, 1916): This novel (later adapted into a play) follows the life of a Jewish vagabond and criminal. It depicts Motke’s journey from a childhood of poverty in a Polish shtetl to a life of crime in the Warsaw underworld. The work was praised for its gritty realism and its challenge to “degenerate” stereotypes.

The Dead Man (Der Toyter Mensch, 1922): Part of what is now called his ”Underworld Trilogy,” this drama continues his exploration of characters living on the moral and social margins of society.

Uncle Moses (Onkl Mozes, 1918): While primarily a social novel about immigrant life in New York, it features a ruthless Jewish sweatshop owner who uses exploitative and quasi-criminal tactics to maintain power over his workers, reflecting the “crimes” of industrial exploitation. [Google/AI]

Asch Sholem, (The God of Vengeance: A Drama in Three Acts) [hc, transl. by Isaac Goldberg, Legare Street Press, 2023] 978-1019372487 [pb, Lulu.com, 2019] 978-0359746767

Asch, Sholem, (Mottke the Thief [hc, translated from the Yiddish by Willa and Edwin Muir, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1935]) [reprinted hc, Praeger, 1970] 978-0837129532

Asch, Sholem, “The Dead Man” [a play], in Underworld Trilogy [spiral-bound, White Goat Press, 2023]) 979-8987160992

Asch, Sholem, (Uncle Moses) [hc, transl. by Isaac Goldberg, Palala Press, 2016] 978-1358883774 [pb, Legare Street Pres, 2023] 978-1021174444