Malka Lee facts for kids

Malka Lee (Yiddish: מלכה לי) (born July 4, 1904 – died March 22, 1976) was an American poet and writer. She wrote many books, mostly poems, in Yiddish, her first language. A lot of her writing was about watching the Holocaust happen from far away in the United States. Her book Durkh Kindershe Oygn (Through the Eyes of Childhood), published in 1955, was a special tribute to her family. They were killed by the Nazis in 1941 in her hometown, Monastrishtsh (now Monastyryska, Ukraine).

Malka Lee's Early Life and Journey

Malka Lee grew up in a Hasidic family in Monastrishtsh, a town in Galicia. Her parents, Frieda Duhl and Chaim Leopold, gave her a religious upbringing. When World War I started, Malka and her family had to leave their home and moved to Vienna. There, she went to a school called Gymnasium, where she learned German and Hebrew. After the war, her family returned to Poland.

Malka's father did not approve of her dream to become a writer. So, in 1921, when she was just sixteen, Malka decided to move to New York City all by herself.

Becoming a Writer and Activist

In New York, Malka Lee first worked as a seamstress in a factory. This job helped her see the importance of workers' rights. She realized she could use her voice to make a difference in society. Malka wanted to be an activist. From 1921 to 1922, she studied at the Jewish Teachers Seminary. She continued her education until 1923, taking classes at Hunter College and City College in New York.

She married a writer named Aaron Rappaport. They had two children, Joseph (born 1924) and Yvette (born 1937). Malka and Aaron owned a bungalow colony in High Falls, New York. This place became a gathering spot for many Yiddish writers and thinkers. After Aaron Rappaport passed away in 1966, Malka Lee married Moshe Besser.

Malka Lee died in New York on March 22, 1976.

Malka Lee's Poetry and Books

When Malka Lee was a young girl, she wrote in German. But after she moved to the United States in 1921, she started writing in Yiddish. Her very first poem was published in 1922, and she kept writing until 1972.

Many of her poems written between 1945 and 1950 express the deep sadness she felt. She watched from far away as her childhood home and family were destroyed during the Holocaust. One of her brothers, Aaron Leopold, survived the Holocaust because he was a soldier in the Soviet army. Malka helped Aaron and his wife Dina move to Canada, as the United States had made it difficult for many immigrants to enter after the war.

Other poems by Malka Lee shared her personal feelings, her happiness in life and nature, and her love for the Yiddish language. She also wrote about her strong connection to Israel and America, and her dedication to Zionism.

In July 1927, a short story about her life was published in a Yiddish newspaper called Frayhayt. She later made this story into a full book of memories called Durkh Kindershe Oygn (Through the Eyes of Childhood), published in 1955. This book was dedicated to her family who were killed in Monastrishtsh in 1941. Parts of this book were later translated into English in a collection called Found Treasures: Stories by Yiddish Women Writers (1994). Malka Lee also wrote a book of short stories and fables for children, titled Mayselekh far Yoselen (Little stories for Yosel) (1969).

Published Works

• Durkh Kindershe Oygn (1955)
• Durkh Loytere Kvaln (1950)
• Gezangen (1940)
• In Likht fun Doyres (1961)
• Kines fun Undzer Tsayt (1945)
• Lider (1932)
• Mayselekh far Yoselen (1969)
• Untern Nusnboym (1969)