Alter Kacyzne

Alter Kacyzne (, Alter Kacizne; 31 May 1885 in Vilnius, Russian Empire – 7 July 1941 in Ternopil, General Government for the Occupied Polish Territories) was a Jewish (Yiddish) writer, poet and photographer, known as one of the most significant contributors to Jewish-Polish cultural life in the first half of the 20th century. Among other things, he is particularly known as a photographer whose work immortalised Jewish life in Poland in the 1920s and 1930s.

Biography Early life and education Alter-Sholem Kacyzne was born on 31 May 1885 to a poor working-class family in Vilna in the Russian Empire (now Vilnius, Lithuania), within the Pale of Settlement (the mandatory territory allowed as residence for Jews). His father worked as a bricklayer and his mother worked as a seamstress. Kacyzne spoke Yiddish at home and was educated in a cheder and in a Russian-Jewish school. An avid reader, he taught himself Hebrew, Russian, Polish, German and French.

Photography Arriving in Warsaw in 1910, Kacyzne opened his own photography studio. Originally it was located on Długa street; the address changed several times. Kacyzne worked at portraits, shooting memorable events (weddings, bar mitzvahs), and soon became a well-known photographer. The turning point in his professional career as a photographer began in 1921, when he was commissioned by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), a charitable organisation based in the United States of America, to make a series of images dedicated to the life of Jews in Polish cities and towns, including the eastern lands that were part of the territory of Poland – Galicia and Volhynia. As a result, Kacyzne travelled to more than 120 Polish settlements. These images so impressed Abraham Cahan, Chief Editor of the New York newspaper Forward, that he suggested that Kacyzne document Jewish life in Poland for his publication.

Kacyzne's precious historical collection was almost entirely destroyed during the Nazi occupation; only a selection of 700 photographs survived. After the Holocaust, the imagery acquired not only artistic, but also historical value, documenting the pre-war life of the Polish Jewish community. These photographs, which are an important part of Kacyzne's work, are now kept in the YIVO Archive (Institute for Jewish Research) in Manhattan and in the Bibliothèque Medem of Paris.

Published works Poyln: Jewish Life in the Old Country (Metropolitan Books, 1999)

Awards 1999: National Jewish Book Award in the Yiddish Literature category for Poyln: Jewish Life in the Old Country