Olya Lilith ( yi, אָלאַ ליליט, born Łaja Cederbaum or ''Lolya Tsederboym''; 1906 - 1980) was an American singer and actress of the

Yiddish Theatre Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revues ...

. Born in Otvotsk (

Otwock Otwock is a city in east-central Poland, some southeast of Warsaw, with 44,635 inhabitants (2019). Otwock is a part of the Warsaw Agglomeration. It is situated on the right bank of Vistula River below the mouth of Swider River. Otwock is hom ...

) to Neck Cederbaum and Chawa Cederbaum. By 1925, her singing (in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

) attracted the attention of ''Kvi Pro Kvo (Qui Pro Quo)'' actor Boronski; it was he who suggested changing her stage name (Federovska) to Ola Lilith. Her husband Władysław Godik convinced her to sing in

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 ...

and to join him in founding the famous Warsaw Yiddish nightclub (kleynkunstbine) ''Azazel'' in 1925. She sang as a soloist and in duets with Hanush (Ganushem) and Makhevski. She then performed with the ''Qui Pro Quo'' troupe – and on her own – throughout Poland and, later, all of Europe, with Vladislav Godik (Willy Godnick) and later with

Boris Thomashefsky Boris Thomashefsky (russian: Борис Пинхасович Томашевский, sometimes written Thomashevsky, Thomaschevsky, etc.; yi, באָריס טאָמאשעבסקי) (1868–1939), born Boruch-Aharon Thomashefsky, was a Ukrainian-b ...

and Ruth Rene in Czechoslovakia, Austria, France, Berlin, Holland and England.Zalmen Zylbercweig, ''Leksikon fun Yidishn teater'' Book 2:1088 She was brought to America by

Joseph Rumshinsky Joseph Rumshinsky (1881–1956) was a Jewish composer born near Vilna, Lithuania (then part of Russian Poland). Along with Sholom Secunda, Alexander Olshanetsky and Abraham Ellstein, he is considered one of the "big four" composers and conductors ...

and Menashe Skulnick;Ṿort un ḳlang eseyen, eseyeṭn, eseyeṭḳes, poetsye (Volume 2, p. 214) - Yardeini, Mordecai she performed in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1931 and played the title role in Rumshinsky's Second Avenue production "A Maiden from Warsaw," with leading man Willy Godick, and subsequently the musical comedy ''Pleasure''. Mordechai Yardeini called her the "Yiddish Edith Piaf." Lilith gave concerts in Yiddish, and then in English, in

Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

RKO. She returned to Europe in the years just prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It has mistakenly been said that she died in a

Nazi concentration camp From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...

. Instead, after her divorce she emigrated to the United States and became a U.S. citizen in 1935.Naturalization papers, 1935 She refused to join the Yiddish Theater union, calling their audition process "The Inquisition". She sang and performed on

WEVD WEVD was an American brokered programming radio station with some news-talk launched in August 1927 by the Socialist Party of America. Making use of the initials of recently deceased party leader Eugene Victor Debs in its call sign, the station ...

radio programs in New York. Her last acting role was in ''Ven di zun geyt oyf (Sunrise, When the Sun Rises)'' with

Ludwig Satz Ludwig Satz (18 February 1891 – 31 August 1944) was an actor in Yiddish theater and film, best known for his comic roles. A 1925 ''New York Times'' article singles him out as the greatest Yiddish comic actor of the time. He was born in L ...

and Edmund Zayenda in 1941. She subsequently joined the American army and remarried, to a non-Jewish contractor named Leland Benton; they settled in

Miami Springs, Florida Miami Springs is a city located in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city was founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss, "The Father of Naval Aviation", and James Bright, during the famous "land boom" of the 1920s and was originally named Country Club Estat ...

, where she died.

References

External links

* music Henekh Kon, text

Moishe Broderzon Moishe Broderzon ( yi, משה בראדערזאן, November 23, 1890 — August 17, 1956) was a Yiddish poet, theatre director, and the founder of the Łódź literary society, literary group ''Yung-yidish''. He was born 1890 in Moscow, but his f ...

* with Willy Godick, music H. Kon, text M. Broderzon {{DEFAULTSORT:Lilith, Ola Jewish cabaret performers Polish cabaret performers 20th-century Polish Jews 1906 births 1980 deaths 20th-century comedians Polish emigrants to the United States Yiddish theatre performers