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Karl
Zimbalist (Akiva)
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Born on 15 August 1891 in
Bezhezhin [Brzeziny], by Lodz, Poland, wherein his
parents, Chasidic grain merchants, had later moved. He
learned in a cheder, and at the age of fifteen he was in
the Lomza yeshiva, then with the Lodz rabbi Eliyahu
Meisel, and lamdoni-khuts in a folksshul.
Through his being a
messenger for Sam Adler, he received access to the
behind-the-scenes of the Yiddish theatre, and through
this became so in love with the theatre, that he used to
rest behind the locks there [oysbahaltn hinter dhi
shtuln] on the weekdays until the evening
productions, used to steal money from his home for
tickets to the theatre. After copying the actors, G.
brought together several youths, and with them performed
in the neighboring cities Zgierzh Solotorefsky's
"Yeshiva bokher," playing the title role. The actor
Gelade by chance saw him by act and took him into his
troupe, where he played for several weeks, then with Bialkovitsh. Due to military service, his acting was
interrupted, and he once again renewed [his acting]
first in 1915 (for three months) with Ester Rokhl
Kaminska across Poland, then he participated for several
months in a tour with Julius Adler and Herman Serotsky,
and later he began on his own to manage troupes across
Poland, especially since his marriage to Regina Tsuker,
with her as a main role player.
Her brother Zygmunt
Turkow writes:
T. also had, together with
his wife, played for nine months in |
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London with Blumental,
and three months in Paris with Burstein. In 1933
they played for six weeks in the Czech Republic, and
four months in Romania. In 1935 they were in Buenos
Aires for eight months, and two months in Montevideo
(Uruguay), and in 1936 two months in Rio de Janeiro
and Sao Paolo (Brazil), then they returned to
Poland, where he again led his own and members'
groups.
About his tragic end,
Jonas Turkow recalls it in his book, "Extinguished
Stars":
"The phased
liquidation of the Warsaw Jewry had begun. ...We worked in one
'shop.' In that 'shop' on Milna Street we gathered.
During the first Aktzia (Action), the entire Jewish
artistic world, which at that time persisted in
Warsaw. There I founded a metal workshop, where the
theatre society leader David Helfman was 'shop'
manager. Near Max Viskind the barracks stood with
his sleeves rolled up, the operetta regisseur and
actor Karl Zimbalist. ...The conditions in the
ghetto became more difficult sometimes. It was 'opgeshvenkt'
one Jewish street onto another. The queue also was
on our Milne Street. ...On 27 September 1942 the
Germans conducted a large cleansing of Jews in the large ghetto. This was in the
morning hours. It was a preview, which that
afternoon veln the uninvited guest, the Germans,
who came to us on
Milne Street. I brought this to the attention of all
of my friends from Milne Street, and I had succeeded
in having
them go with me into the large ghetto, where
there was on the same day, in the morning, there was
already
an action, and several friends, such as Avraham Kurtz,
Karl Zimbalist, David Levy, Yankele Danziker
declared that we could still assuredly go home, that
there was no reason to wait. ...The impatient
Zimbalist and Louie had left us and went home.
...Around 7 a clockmaker also had decided to
leave our place and finally go home. On the way they
did not see a single living person. At the
intersection of Jelne and Zamenhof we met a
passer-by who was known as an acquaintance. Noticing me,
he shouted from his wagon: 'Panie Turkow escaped and
fled to the nearby ruins (Zamenhof 6), in order to
hide there.' ...Suddenly some shots were heard. We
waited for a minute, and I cautiously looked out the
head and saw the S.S. lead a group of Jews. I was
hardened up. This had led the entire Milne and a
part of Nowolipie Street. ...Among the group there
also was Karl Zimbalist, Yankele Dantsiker, and
David Lewy [sp], who were so numbered home." [awk.]
M.E.
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Jonas Turkow -- "Extinguished
Stars," Buenos Aires, 1953, Vol. I, pp. 89,
90, 117-119.
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