In 1924, Leonid Pasternak (father of the Nobel laureate Boris Pasternak) was invited to join an expedition organized by the "pioneer of the art press," publisher Alexander Kogan. Kogan was a prominent figure within the Jewish diaspora. Prior to the revolution, he owned the popular newspaper "Kopeyka" and the weekly magazine "Solntse Rossii"; following his emigration, he went on to publish the renowned Berlin-based literary and art journal "Zhar-Ptitsa." He conceived the expedition to produce a monograph that would feature not only a historical and geographical survey but also, reflecting Kogan's own interests, artistic materials designed to capture the spirit of the Holy Land, its landscapes, the exotic nature of daily life, and its historical monuments.
The expedition traveled across Eretz Yisrael for several months and brought back valuable materials that continue to be studied by specialists. Among them are Leonid Pasternak's sketches, in which he reflects on the fate of the Jewish people, recalls his childhood in Odessa, and shares his impressions of Eretz Yisrael.
Guest speaker: Anna Kliatis, philologist, literary scholar, Professor at Briva Universitate, and researcher at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Center.
Anna Kliatis's article "The Pasternak Family and Jewish Identity: On the Centenary of Kogan's Expedition to Palestine" is published in the EAJC 2024 Yearbook.
