Professor David Peimer
Yevgeny Yevtushenko and His Poem “Babi Yar”
Summary
Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko (1933–2017) published his poem, “Babi Yar,” in 1962, 17 years after the Second World War. Professor David Peimer uncovers the biography and background of Yevtushenko while exploring the poem “Babi Yar.” Video clips of Yevtushenko reading his poem in English and Russian and being interviewed by the BBC complete this lecture.
Professor David Peimer
David Peimer is a professor of theatre and performance studies in the UK. He has taught at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and New York University (Global Division), and was a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University. Born in South Africa, David has won numerous awards for playwriting and directing. He has written eleven plays and directed forty in places like South Africa, New York, Brussels, London, Berlin, Zulu Kingdom, Athens, and more. His writing has been published widely and he is the editor of Armed Response: Plays from South Africa (2009) and the interactive digital book Theatre in the Camps (2012). He is on the board of the Pinter Centre in London.
Well, the Russian authorities knew about it when the Russian army liberated Kyic in late 1943, early ‘44. So in '43, that would’ve been the Russian leadership or the Russian army. Actual public, I can’t put an exact date on it, because word would’ve gotten out in all ways through ordinary soldiers who had been there and seen because they had to excavate it like in that one picture showed. So families would’ve got to know through the soldiers, there would’ve been reporters, others, journalists. And then there would’ve been grey area. Can they publish? Word would’ve gotten out in some way, but not in a major way. Like you know, when Eisenhower went to the camp.
Well the first one was the Ukrainian and Soviet authorities during the communist era. And then afterwards, I’d have to check that, who put the menorah in.
Yeah, the Russian sent a missile. I don’t know if it was totally demolished, but it certainly was attacked.