by Dr. Israel Jamitovsky
For more than three decades, Shimen (Szymon) Dzigan and Isroel Szumache not only formed an unforgettable comedy duo before and after World War II, but their careers have largely shaped the history of the Jewish people in the 20th century. They were also promoters of important innovations in the Jewish-European cultural space as well as in the young State of Israel. Beyond the fact that their career transcends the young Jewish and gentile generations, it is worth pointing out, precisely in the difficult situation we are living in Israel, that humor, satire and smiles are and should be part of our lives.
Dzigan was born in Łódź in 1905, while Szumacher was born in 1908 in the same city. As the son of a tailor, Dzigan would presumably have followed in his father's footsteps, as he was very fond of football, but his fate was changed when the famous writer and poet Moishe Broderzon He noticed his gifts of parody and improvisation at a banquet held in 1927. The sequel was his incorporation into the Small Kunster Theater which Broderzon himself had promoted in Lódz. A year later, Yisroel Schumacher joined this space.
That same year the cast of Habima arrived in Poland and performed in different venues The DibbukThe sequel was that Dzigan and Schumacher decided to erect in Lódz the Ararat Theatre, which attracted and brought together young Jewish actors. They were motivated, among other things, by the aim of preserving and promoting the Yiddish language and rich culture. The display of energy on stage was enormous, with special emphasis on the scenery and makeup. The label was not accidental. As the teacher points out Dr.Diego Rotman The choice of Mount Ararat as the destination of Noah's Ark was evidence of the pioneering spirit and desire for renewal of its promoters.
In 1931, the theatre moved to Warsaw, which at that time had 300.000 Jews. For the first six months they were part of the cast. From the Yiddish band but later they decided to reestablish the Ararat Theatre with the same actors from Lódz. Finally both actors decided to act as a duo from 1935 onwards at the Nowosci Theatre in Warsaw. In 1937, they starred in the Yiddish-language film titled Happy Homeless People directed by Zygmunt Turkow.
A different duo also in reality
In their works and in their records of that time, the picture of two people who are initially close in age and in the space to which they belong, but diametrically opposed in everything else, emerges. In Schumacher, the serious, disciplined, cultured and measured man always emerges, while in Dzigan, the anarchist, limited and generally rude, with a peculiar pronunciation of Yiddish, appears. Precisely the humorous part arises from the clash of characters and the anger that Schumacher feels at the fact that Dzigan's behavior does not conform to the parameters of a civilized society. It was a perfect and magnificent amalgam that attracted and captivated the audience.
The interesting and paradoxical thing is that there was a certain similarity between the characters they both played on stage and in everyday reality. In real life, Schumacher turned out to be an exemplary family man, very orderly, more inclined to play dramatic roles than comic ones. Dzigan was at times lazy and totally informal when it came to schedules, commitments, etc.
The events of the surroundings also left their mark on the artistic development of both. Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, their works took on a sharp satirical tone both towards the Polish Government and that of Nazi Germany.
Taking refuge in the Soviet hell
When the German invasion of Poland took place in 1939, both actors took refuge in the Soviet Union and continued to display their talent in cities such as Minsk, Moscow, Leningrad, kyiv, Krakow and other cities where there was a considerable population of Yiddish-speaking Jews. At the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, Dzigan and Shumacher joined the Polish army, which under the command of General Andres served in the Soviet army and in whose ranks there was a large number of Jews.
Apparently, when they tried to flee the Soviet Union, they were arrested and held for four years in the Aktioubinsk camp. Far from being discouraged, both continued to perform not only before the Jewish population of that area but also at banquets sponsored by the USSR Ministry of the Interior. They were released in 1946, arrested again in Lwow and finally returned to Warsaw in 1947.
In Poland the panorama was depressing and in 1948 they participated in the film titled Our Children , directed by Natan Gross, which deals with the destruction of European Jewry. It was the last Jewish film in this space after the Second World War. They also performed with great success before various European Jewish communities.
Ripley's: Israel's ban on Yiddish
In the early 1950s, the duo decided to go to Israel, but an unexpected obstacle awaited them here. In order to ensure the predominance of Hebrew in the young state, the relevant authorities established a ban on the use of Yiddish in local performances, allowing it only for foreign casts.
In this context, the duo achieved numerous successes in Israel, until the Film and Performance Control Commission established that foreign artists could only perform in Israel for six weeks.
The sequel was that in 1953 the duo decided to settle in Buenos Aires and from there they spread with great success in various communities of the new continent. Finally they returned to Israel in 1955 after reaching an agreement with the relevant authorities, which allowed them to continue performing. The agreed condition was that a third of their performances would be in Hebrew, in fact they were generally songs performed by Israeli singers as part of their performance.
All his works were of a sharp comic-satirical nature and were a resounding success. Among them, it is worth highlighting: Merry Homeless People (1952) y A thousand laughs and laughs (1956).Some of the scripts were written by prominent Israeli writers, including Ephraim Kishon.
In 1960, disagreements arose between the two and the legendary duo dissolved. Schumacher joined a theatre cast that presented the play Kidush Hashem, dying a year later at the age of 53. Dzigan, for his part, continued acting alone; I remember seeing and greatly enjoying him in an excellent performance at the Ohel Shem Theater in Tel-Aviv in the 70s as well as on Israeli Television. He died in April 1980, just one day after having performed on stage.
Echoes and recognitions
- It is worth highlighting the volume of the Argentine-Israeli teacher Diego Rotman, The stage as a farm temporary-Dzigan and Shumacher (1927-1980), Magnes Publishing House, Jerusalem, 2017.
- In 1976, Dzigan received the award Itzik Manguer to literary creation in the Yiddish language.
- In 2003, Israel's state television channel presented a documentary dedicated to Israeli humor, consisting of eleven chapters. One of these chapters was dedicated to Dzigan and Shumacher.
- Israeli Yiddish Theatre Yiddishpil He exhibited the work at the time The eternal Dzigan and Schumacher which tells the story of the duo. The play was directed by Shmuel Atzmon and the main roles were played by two excellent actors: Yaakov Bodo and Gadi Yagil. In 2013, the same theater presented the play Dzigan and Schumacher, together again, and the main roles were also awarded to two great actors: Yaakov Bodo himself and Dóvale Glickman.
- Yehoshúa Sobol, an Israeli theater director, created the play at the time Snaider and Shushter, in which he tackles the story of their lives and their joint actions.
Time has passed but Dzigan and Shumacher remain the most conspicuous representatives of Yiddish comedy in the Jewish world.