Origins and Present of CeDoB Pinie Katz

NERINA VISACOVSKY

Amherst, Massachussets

Taller; Special Guests; 2023

Yiddish Book Center

Throughout the 20th century, the Jewish progressive movement flourished in Argentina thanks to the efforts of hard-working Jewish immigrant leftists.Across the world, progressive Jews (in Yiddish, progresive yidn) built cultural/educational organizations and publications that played critical roles in the front against fascism, racism and antisemitism. These institutions promoted a unique yiddishkeit, championing secularist values and working-class solidarity. In keeping with these principles, Jewish leftists committed themselves to joining their work to progressive causes throughout society, traversing cultural barriers.As the inheritors of this legacy, it is incumbent on us to preserve and increase awareness of it; it is no footnote, but a crucial piece of our history, as Jews and as progressives. That history is complex; we recognize it as both fundamentally Jewish and intimately linked to broader struggles for equality, cultural preservation, and education, both in history and modernity.This dialogue and mission led to the creation of the Pinie Katz Documentary Center and Library in 2018, a new institution of the Idisher Cultur Farband (ICUF) (link). The center coordinates public events for learners of all ages, as well as educators and academics. With its main office in Lavalleja N.° 182, Buenos Aires City, and a second office in the Idisher Folks Teater, the CeDoB Pinie Katz advances and advocates for the conservation and stewardship of Progressive Jewish documentary history and coordinates research and translation efforts related to the Progressive Jewish culture and history of Argentina, the surrounding region, and the world at large