Israel Shumacher (or Schumacher,
1908 – May 21, 1961) was a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing
Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...
who worked together with
Shimon Dzigan
Shimon Dzigan ( yi, שמעון דזשיגאן, pl, Szymon Dzigan; born 1905 in Łódź - April 14, 1980 in Tel Aviv) was a Polish Jewish comedian who worked primarily in Yiddish.
His father was a soldier in the Imperial Russian army. After the o ...
, thus forming "
Dzigan and Shumacher", one of the most famous
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
comic duos in the 20th century.
Biography
Israel Shumacher first met Shimon Dzigan at the Yiddish experimental ''kleynkunst '' (
cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
) stage of the theater ''Ararat'' in
Łódź
Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
.
During Second World War, the duo went through forced labor in the Gulag,
escaped from the Soviet Union and fled from Europe to Israel.
The duo played themselves at Poland's Yiddish language feature made in 1948 called "
Unzere kinder
''Our Children'' ( yi, אונדזערע קינדער, ''Unzere kinder''; pl, Nasze dzieci) is a 1946 semi-documentary Yiddish-language film created in Polish People's Republic. It was directed by and based on the script by Rachel Auerbach and ...
", the first feature film about
the Holocaust in Poland
The Holocaust in Poland was part of the European-wide Holocaust organized by Nazi Germany and took place in German-occupied Poland. During the genocide, three million Polish Jews were murdered, half of all Jews murdered during the Holocaust.
...
ever made where they played themselves. They also had a TV show that ran during the 1970s.
For example, to explain Einstein theory of relativity with their own brand of humor, one would explain to the other « If you have seven hairs in your soup, it's a lot. If you have seven hairs on your head, it's very little. That's relativity ».
The duo's TV and live performance was Yiddish satire that focused on their experience in the Gulag, fleeing Europe, and their experience as new immigrants to Israel.
Shows
*''On the Ship to Eretz Yisrael''
References
Dzigan & Shumacher (Israel - Poland / 2009), with photographat PennyLane Productions, 2009
1908 births
1961 deaths
Yiddish theatre performers
Yiddish comedians
Jewish Polish comedians
Yiddish-language satirists
Polish comedians
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