Actress, dancer, singer
Tajbele is a beautiful girl who was forced into marriage with an older man. However, she loves another man and decides to escape from the wedding. She helps
She's a member of a traveling klezmer group, thanks to whom the would-be bride has the opportunity to fulfill her dream of performing as a singer. She travels with the troupe to Warsaw, where she lands a job at a theater and meets her beloved.
This is one of the plot threads of the film. "Jidl mitn Fidl" (Judel Plays the Violin) from 1936, which is considered one of the greatest achievements of Yiddish cinema and retains its charm to this day, offering a glimpse into the life of a pre-war Jewish shtetl. Many of the people we see in the film were, in fact, residents of the then-Yiddish shtetl. Kazimierz Dolny.
Dora Fakiel in the film "Jidl mitn Fidl" in 1936.
His first and most recognizable role was in this musical comedy directed by Józef Green and Jan Nowina Przybylski, played by Dora Fakiel, embodying
in the role of Tajbele. Already at the age of twenty, she established herself in the Yiddish theater and film community in Poland. She was born in Warsaw in 1914,
but unfortunately we have no more information about her family.
After the success of "Jidl mitn Fidl", the highest-grossing commercial sound film
in the Yiddish language of her era, she starred in the drama "On a heym" (1939), directed by
Alexander Marten. This is a production based
on art Jacob Gordin, also known in Poland as "Bezdomni" (Homeless). The actress appeared in it alongside famous Jewish artists –
Ida Kamińska and Wiera GranIt was the last Yiddish feature film made in Poland before the outbreak of World War II and also the last one starring Fakiel.
Before the outbreak of the war, Dora also performed on the avant-garde stage. Jewish Youth Theatre (Jung Teater), founded
in Warsaw and headed by Michał Weichert.
Her burgeoning artistic career was interrupted by the outbreak of war. In 1940, she found
in the Warsaw Ghetto. In the closed district she became involved with Eldorado Theatre, located on Dzielna Street. It was the first theater to open in the Warsaw Ghetto, beginning operations in December 1940. Its stage primarily presented light entertainment in Yiddish: comedies, revues, and folk operettas. The artistic quality of these performances was criticized by some social activists. However, for the ghetto residents, it was an important space for temporary respite and relief, providing entertainment and emotional relief in extremely difficult living conditions.
Dora Fakiel during the performance of Bilcerkowski's "Life Calls", in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1940.
Fakiel performed on the Eldorado stage in several performances, as well as during benefit dances and special events.
A reviewer from "Gazeta Żydowska", discussing the premiere of the drama "Farkojfte Neszumes" (Sold Souls) in September 1941, wrote about the role played by Dora in the performance:
In May 1942, she appeared in the play "Dus Kabaret Majdł" (The Cabaret Girl), performed as part of a benefit for actress Regina Cukier. A reviewer for "Gazeta Żydowska" praised her performance:
The artist also performed at the Melody Palace Theater , located at 12 Rymarska Street , where entertaining performances in Yiddish were also presented.
Henryk Makower wrote in his post-war memoirs:
Makower, a doctor by profession, met Dora through his work and remembered her with fondness: "my nice patient Dora Fakiel, a very talented actress with a warm and beautiful voice."
At the end of June 1942, the premiere of an exceptionally ambitious play took place, as per the standards of the Eldorado Theatre. "Der Dorfs-Jung" (The Young Peasant), in which Dora played the role of Natasha. This was the last performance in which she appeared.
July 22 1942 year the Germans started the so-called Great Deportation Action in the Warsaw GhettoAs a result, he was sent to the extermination camp in Treblinka Around 265,000 Jews were deported from Warsaw, including most artists and cultural figures. Fakiel managed to survive this wave of deportations and found employment in Karl Heinz Müller's workshop on Grzybowski Square. During the period of the so-called residual ghetto, she also worked in Többens' workshop.
After the explosion Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in April 1943 she was captured
and deported along with several thousand other Warsaw Jews to the German labor camp in Poniatowa.
She died November 4 1943 year during "Erntefest" campaign (Harvest Festival), during which
In the Lublin region – in the camps in Poniatowa, Trawniki and Majdanek – the Germans murdered approximately 42 Jews in two days.
Bibliography:
Makower H., Memoirs from the Warsaw Ghetto, Wrocław 1987.
Emanuel Ringelblum. Chronicle of the Warsaw Ghetto, September 1939–January 1943, ed. A. Eisenbach, Warsaw 1983.
Gross N., Jewish Film in Poland, Cracow 2002. Turkow J., C´était ainsi 1939-1943, Paris 1995.
Kuligowska-Korzeniewska A, Leyko M., Jewish Theatre in Poland, Łódź 1998.
Jewish Newspaper No. 19, March 7, 1941.
Jewish Newspaper No. 48, June 17, 1941.
Jewish Newspaper No. 81, September 5, 1941.
Jewish Newspaper No. 102, October 24, 1941.
Jewish Newspaper No. 13, January 30, 1942.
Jewish Newspaper No. 61, May 24, 1942.
Jewish Newspaper No. 73, June 21, 1942.
