# Bertha Wiernik > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bertha_Wiernik > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Bertha_Wiernik.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_Wiernik > Source revision: 1317892204 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Lithuanian-born American writer Bertha Wiernik Born March 21, 1884 Vilnius Died 1951 (aged 66–67) Brooklyn Relatives Peter Wiernik **Bertha Wiernik** (March 21, 1884 – 1951) was a [Lithuanian](/source/Lithuania)-born American writer who wrote for Jewish publications in English and [Yiddish](/source/Yiddish). Bertha Wiernik was born on March 21, 1884 in [Vilnius](/source/Vilnius), the daughter of Hirsch Wolf Wiernik, a *[maggid](/source/Maggid)*, and Sarah Rachel (Milchiger) Wiernik, a merchant.[1] She was the younger sister of journalist and essayist [Peter Wiernik](/source/Peter_Wiernik). She emigrated to the United States in 1887 and grew up in Chicago.[2] While living in Chicago, she attended public school and studied Hebrew and the Bible in private lessons with a rabbi. She worked at a Hebrew weekly *Ha-Tehiyah* as a [typesetter](/source/Typesetter).[1] In 1903, she relocated to New York City.[2] Initially writing under the pseudonym **[Shulamit](/source/Shulamith)**, she began publishing in Jewish publications in 1899. She published poems, stories, and translations of Yiddish literary classics in *[Der Kol](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Der_Kol&action=edit&redlink=1), [Jewish Courier](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jewish_Courier&action=edit&redlink=1), [Jewish Herald](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jewish_Herald&action=edit&redlink=1),* and *[Yidishes Ṭageblaṭṭ](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yidishes_%E1%B9%ACagebla%E1%B9%AD%E1%B9%AD&action=edit&redlink=1)* (*[Jewish Daily News](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jewish_Daily_News&action=edit&redlink=1)*).[1][2] Her [near future](/source/Near_future_in_fiction) [science fiction](/source/Science_fiction) story "The [Menorah](/source/Temple_menorah) Spangled Ship" appeared in the April 23 and 28, 1919 issues of *Yidishes Ṭageblaṭt.* In the story, Jewish refugees in London build a gigantic reconstruction of the *[Lusitania](/source/RMS_Lusitania)* to bring Jews to the Land of the Chosen People.[3] Her translation work included *[Slavery or Serfdom](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Slavery_or_Serfdom&action=edit&redlink=1)*, a Jewish version of *Uncle Tom's Cabin* by [Isaac Mayer Dick](/source/Isaac_Mayer_Dick) and contributing to the *English-Yiddish Encyclopedic Dictionary,* edited by Paul Abelson (1915). Wiernik's [anti-communist](/source/Anti-communism) drama *Destruction* premiered at the Chanin Auditorium on the 50th floor of the [Chanin Building](/source/Chanin_Building) on June 30, 1932. Performed by the [American Classic Players](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Classic_Players&action=edit&redlink=1), *Destruction* tells the story of Eleazur Amon ([Claude Tosnik](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Claude_Tosnik&action=edit&redlink=1)), the son of a minister who is recruited into communism by Dr. Porzowsky, but his father Josiah Amon rescues him from a communist meeting. Poorly reviewed, the play lasted for a single performance. *Billboard* called it "one of those earnest little dramas--so earnest it hurts--which are so incompetent that anybody but a theory-mad fanatic would realize their utter dramatic hopelessness at first glance."[4] The *New York Times* wrote it "was modestly described as 'the play that would unite the world.' Last night it did succeed in uniting its audience in one common desire - to escape to the exits and elevators as quickly as possible."[5] The play was reworked as *Hate Planters,* premiering at the [Heckscher Theatre](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Heckscher_Theatre&action=edit&redlink=1) on May 23, 1933 starring [Jules Dassin](/source/Jules_Dassin) as Eleazur.[6] Wiernik also wrote the Yiddish-language dramas *Lomir makhn a pshore* (Let’s make a compromise), *Di teyve* (The [Noah’s] ark), *Misis peddler* (Mrs. Peddler), and *Nokh nisht* (Not yet).[7] After Wiernik's brother died in 1936, she withdrew from the public scene and became religious.[3] She published the drama *Gaysṭige aṭomen, a religyeze drame* (Spiritual atoms, a religious drama) in book form in 1946.[7] ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:1_1-2) ["Bertha Wiernik"](https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/wiernik-bertha). *Jewish Women's Archive*. Retrieved 2024-07-03. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:0_2-2) Kohn, Roger. ["Bertha Wiernik"](https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/wiernik-bertha). *Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women*. Retrieved 2024-06-23. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:2_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:2_3-1) ["SFE: Wiernik, Bertha"](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/wiernik_bertha). *Encyclopedia of Science Fiction*. 12 August 2018. Retrieved 2024-06-23. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Leonard, William T. (1986). [*Once was enough*](http://archive.org/details/oncewasenough00leon). Internet Archive. Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8108-1909-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8108-1909-2). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** J.B. "Destroying Communism." *New York Times,* 1932 Jul 01, p. 19. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Leiter, Samuel L. (1989). [*The encyclopedia of the New York stage, 1930-1940*](http://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofne0000leit). Internet Archive. New York : Greenwood Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-313-25509-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-313-25509-0).{{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: CS1 maint: publisher location ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_publisher_location)) 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:3_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:3_7-1) ["Vyernik, Basye (Berte, Bertha Wiernik) (March 21, 1884–1951) — the Congress for Jewish Culture"](https://congressforjewishculture.org/lexicon//people/4535/). *congressforjewishculture.org*. Retrieved 2024-06-23. ## External links - *[Gaysṭige aṭomen, a religyeze drame](https://archive.org/details/nybc204515)* Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF FAST WorldCat National United States Israel Other Open Library Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bertha Wiernik](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_Wiernik) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_Wiernik?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.