Odważne życie Eve Adams w niebezpiecznych czasach

by Jonathan Ned Katz, Agnieszka Szling (Translator)

Pierwsza biografia Eve Adams, urodzonej jako Chawa Złoczewer w żydowskiej rodzinie w Polsce. Adams wyemigrowała do Stanów Zjednoczonych w 1912 roku, gdzie przyjęła nowe nazwisko, przyjaźniła się z anarchistami, sprzedawała radykalne czasopisma i prowadziła przyjazne lesbijkom oraz gejom bary. Następnie, w 1925 roku, zaryzykowała wszystko, aby napisać i opublikować książkę zatytułowaną Lesbijska miłość. Odważny aktywizm Adams doprowadził do jej inwigilacji i aresztowania. Kobieta została skazana za publikację nieprzyzwoitej książki i próbę uprawiania seksu z policjantką, która zastawiła na nią pułapkę. Eve trafiła do więzienia, została deportowana do Europy, a na koniec zginęła z rąk nazistów w Auschwitz.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, Queer, LGBT, Lesbian, Jewish

352 pages, Hardcover

First published May 18, 2021

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

due to factors beyond the author's control, i.e., the scarcity of materials about Eve Adams/Chava Zloczower, this felt like it went by far too quickly—almost in every chapter I found myself going "hey, hold up, is that really all we get about [what it was like to be a traveling leftist magazine saleswoman] [how Eve's gay teahouse looked, who was there, what they talked about, the milieu of gay Macdougal Street in the 1920s] [why she maintained such a steady platonic love for anarchist doctor Ben Reitman through his sexism & homophobia, her feelings toward Emma Goldman, etc]?" and in every case, yes, that's all we get! and I was frustrated by this

because after all, picking up a biography of a genderbending lesbian anarchist 1920s immigrant New York Jew, you sort of hope to use her as a window to peer through time—oh, this is how it felt to be there, this is how we thought and behaved, these are the people who were like me and these are the people who were like my friends, this is where I would have fit in

and so, though I wish there was much more material on Eve, the narrowness ends up feeling extremely necessary: she was arrested in New York in 1927, deported to Europe, and murdered at Auschwitz in 1943, and what the book avoids in its resistance to flights of fancy and description is that Cabaret-like "ach! a lament for a world that has passed, as symbolized by these colorful guys" view of the '20s and '30s, the "beautiful people are being gay in nightclubs... but guess what... foreshadowing. and guess what else... dramatic irony. yes, that's right: The Holocaust Is Going To Happen To Them." thing. Eve is not a symbol for an era, she is not a window or a camera, she was a 52-year-old individual—extremely individual, more individual than most—and it is so stupid and pointless that she is dead.

it would have been nonsensical for her or for anyone else to see her death coming, because it was nonsensical to kill her. she was murdered for such shitty, small reasons—because her landlords wanted to raise property values. because a cop felt that it would boost her career. because a misogynist who lived downstairs from her got worried that lesbians were better at oral sex than men. because a guy heard Jews had weird sex lives and wrote that down in a government report. because she didn't have sixty dollars to pay for a boat out of southern France. the immersion that Katz ends up creating isn't an immersion in '20s NYC, but an immersion in that powerless fury at seeing the murder of whole, real individual after whole, real individual at the start of World War II, that impotent childish rage—why is this happening? how was this allowed to happen?

a very good book at applying all of the dozens of lenses that need to be applied to Eve's life—same-sex eroticism, gender identity ambiguity, Jewishness, anarchism—without making the mistake of treating these as separate things, and relatedly a very good book at apportioning blame; I found the prologue and epilogue powerfully annoying (I understand the impulse to relate every story to how we lived under Donald Trump and sure sometimes it is useful; Katz didn't convince me on this one) and, you know, I do wish I had gotten a clearer picture of the anarchist social scene, which he flinches a bit at covering, apologizing several times for telling us information about Ben Reitman, or sharing Emma Goldman's female lover's love letters to her. sir my desire for this information to be relevant is way lower on the list of my priorities than my desire for it to be interesting. also makes a couple of remarks of, like, surprise that a Jew would prosecute another Jew or a lesbian would fail to help another lesbian, which felt incongruously naive—he seems v v clear on how deeply class status and desire for respectability separated Eve from "fellow" Jews or "fellow" lesbians

also I didn't want to focus on this in the main bit of this blogpost, because Katz does such a great job of not treating Eve's lesbianism as separate from Jewishness/politics/class that I don't want to do that myself, but absolutely fascinating stuff on the social position of lesbianism and homosexuality in the pre-Depression era—in re: homophobic anxieties, ofc, but also just fascinating stuff on "intermediate sex" talk, "the seducer woman is a Lesbian but the seduced woman is not" talk, aforementioned class/respectability divides

[Lobo]

Doskonała pozycja na Pride - przypomina, czemu powstał i dlaczego jest potrzebny miesiąc Dumy, dlaczego warto celebrować odmienność i różnorodność i do czego prowadzi całkowity konformizm społeczny. To opowieść o przemocowym aparacie państwa, uprzedzeniach, bigoterii i nienawiści. A jeszcze bardziej to opowieść o wolności, miłości, solidarności, empatii, autoekspresji i walce o lepszy świat dla siebie i innych. Eve Adams miała niezwykle interesujące życie, ale nie aż tak nietypowe, jak można by sądzić. Może nietypowa była absolutna odwaga, autoakceptacja i radykalne odrzucenie heteronormy. Prawda jest taka, że nie mamy o niej aż tyle informacji, więc karty książki uzupełniają opowieści o innych ważnych osobach w jej życiu, w tym o Emmie Goldman, czołowej anarchistce XX wieku, z którą Eve się przyjaźniła. Generalnie wiem teraz o wiele więcej o życiu uczuciowo-seksualnym amerykańskim anarchistów niż kiedykolwiek i jest to konfundujące. Dodatkiem jest sama książka Eve - "Lesbijska miłość" - w oryginalne krótka, zaledwie 70-stronicowa broszurka, pisana stylem, który wyprzedza i zapowiada beatników, chociaż jest też bardzo sentymentalny. Książka wydrukowana w 150 egzemplarzach, z czego może trzy ocalały do naszych czasów, a dzięki Katzowi już nigdy nie zostanie zapomniana. Autor wykonał dobrą robotę historyka, chociaż jego narracja jest mocno chaotyczna, a on sam ma ograniczenia poznawcze cisfaceta - chociażby kiedy wyraża swoje opinie na temat "przeceniania" przez ówczesna źródła roli lesbijek i kobiet w tworzeniu bohemy Greenwich Village.

[Carol Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book about an amazing woman. Jonathan Katz is a gay man who has devoted his life to gay and lesbian history, and he cares just as much about historical lesbians as he does about gay men. This book is a thoroughly researched, sensitive tribute to a Jewish lesbian immigrant radical who was deported from the United States in the 1920s. She wrote a little known novel, Lesbian Love, which was a reason cited for her deportation.

Chara Zloczewer was born in Poland but took the name Eve Adams in the United States. First she took the name Eve, and later added Adams, perhaps to emphasize her butch identity. She wore pants, apparently all the time. She was friends with Emma Goldman. Together with another woman, Eve ran a tea room that was a haunt for lesbians and gays. Even in Greenwich Village, that brought much criticism. She also roamed the nation with little money, calling herself a hobo.

Because Eve was deported and later unable to escape Europe, she was killed in Auschwitz. I didn't realize that when I read the book, so her murder hit me like the death of someone I knew.

This book includes her short novel, a series of vignettes about lesbians that I found sweet. To think that these sweet, sensitive stories began the chain of events that led to Auschwitz!

In writing this book, Katz has done a great service to lesbian history.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

more like a 3.5, purely because of the writing. I get that the author is a legend and over 80 years old but it could've been better nonetheless. amazing woman, horrifying story

[Zosia · Rating 3 out of 5]

chaotyczna

a polskie tłumaczenie okropne

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for anyone interested in queer, Jewish, and/or labor history in the US.

[Stronisko · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Odważne życie Eve Adams w niebezpiecznych czasach” Jonathana Neda Katza to biografia nietuzinkowej postaci, literatki i aktywistki. Obecnie uznawana jest ona za jedną z ikon LGBTQA+ oraz symbol walki o prawa kobiet i mniejszości.🌈 Choć nie jest szeroko znaną postacią, jej historia z pewnością jest jedną z tych, obok których nie da się przejść obojętnie.🔥

Chawa Złoczower urodziła się w 1891 roku w rodzinie żydowskiej w Mławie, skąd wyemigrowała do Stanów Zjednoczonych w wieku 22 lat. Tam pracowała jako dystrybutorka anarchistycznych i socjalistycznych gazet, udzielała lekcji (mówiła biegle w siedmiu językach), a także prowadziła popularną wśród bohemy herbaciarnię, która stanowiła bezpieczne miejsce spotkań dla ukrywających się w tamtych czasach lesbijek. W USA przybrała pseudonim Eve Adams. Była osobą, która łamała ówczesne tabu, mówiąc głośno o swojej orientacji w kraju, w którym w tamtych czasach nie tylko mówić o tym nie wypadało, lecz także oskarżenie o przynależenie do “odmiennej” orientacji oznaczało przestępstwo. Eve w USA napisała i wydała do użytku prywatnego kultową książkę “Lesbijska miłość”, w której w egzaltowany, pruderyjny sposób opowiada historie kilkunastu lesbijek. Między innymi ta książka doprowadziła do jej deportacji i zakazu powrotu do USA, a to z kolei - do jej późniejszej wywózki do Auschwitz. Stamtąd już nie wróciła.

Trzeba przyznać, że autor zadał sobie mnóstwo trudu w zdobyciu informacji, dokumentów i archiwalnych zdjęć, które pomogły mu w napisaniu tej biografii. Widać rzetelną pracę researchową i oddanie sprawie badania życiorysu aktywistki. Niemniej książka napisana jest dość chaotycznie, jakby autor chciał zawrzeć w niej zbyt dużo informacji, skacząc od osoby do osoby i przechodząc między wydarzeniami, nie wyjaśniając do końca, co do nich doprowadziło. Przez to książkę czyta się momentami dość trudno, zwłaszcza osobie, która w swoim życiu już mnóstwo biografii ma za sobą.

[Sam W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mild spoilers, but no more than in the book description..

This was a quick but very interesting read. It follows the life of Polish-Jewish lesbian radical Chawa Zloczewer, who emigrated to the US in 1912 and became known as Eve Adams. Katz pieces together details of her life through stories from friends and activists, legal records involving the FBI interest in her and her eventual deportation, and letters written from Europe before she was killed in the Holocaust. He does an excellent job at providing cultural context from the time period to better understand the details of her life. In the appendix, the author includes the book she wrote, "Lesbian Love," and it's amazing that she wrote this in 1925 at a time when lesbian life, and especially that of a Jewish anarchist, was not to be mentioned. It was this book that attracted the FBI's attention and part of the reason they deported her to a Europe where being Jewish was more dangerous than ever. As a queer leftist of Polish descent, I was interested in many aspects of her life, and the book shed light on a daring, unapologetic person in queer history that I had never heard of before.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

“She was murdered because she was Jewish. But she fell into the path of the destroyers because she was a lesbian who dared to speak publicly in the United States for a love that was supposed to shut up. She fell into the killers' path because she associated with famous, anarchist, radical leftist activists, and became the target of small-minded, cruel men—moralistic, powerful state employees. She was killed because she was a Jewish, lesbian, gender-bending, alien immigrant leftist radical of a class too poor to escape the Nazi juggernaut.”

I was hoping to learn more about Eve’s Hangout, but I understand the author probably had very limited information about it to work with. It was a lesbian bar during prohibition, I’m sure record of it is incredibly scant. Overall a biography of someone who there’s sadly relatively little solid information about making this a pretty short and quick read, but I think the author did a great job with the information they were able to find and I appreciate the amount of research that must have gone in to finding even that much.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly fascinating account of the tragic life of a radical lesbian Jewish emigre to the United States in the dawning days of the 20th century. Eve Adams was a firebrand, who risked her own personal safety to write and publish a book called "Lesbian Love" in 1925. It was a repressive era, and she brought down the wrath of J. Edgar Hoover and the machinery of the state, eventually leading to her forced deportation ... and murder by the Nazis at Auschwitz. The historian Jonathan Katz, himself a trailblazer in the area of gay American history, did an amazing job of researching Eve Adams's life. As a bonus, the book includes a reprint of the long-lost text of her trailblazing book of lesbian love.

[Soren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting and meaningful story to tell; my chief problem is with the organization. There seems to be a vague attempt at a linear story, but a lot of it is muddled by the fact that dozens of facts and pages of quotes are all stuffed together. The text itself is cluttered and overwhelming. It's still a good read about an important forgotten figure, but it feels more like a corkboard with strings stretching between post it notes rather than a succinct novel.

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not sure how to feel about it, I liked the topic and the poetry, but I found the writing style difficult to read at times.

[Carol Tilley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - compelling subject though the book world benefit from a heavier editorial hand.

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5

This book offers a look into an interesting historical figure and history, however, I feel like the author's writing wasn't good enough. It was partially because he had to construct a narrative out of very few historical documents, but I think the main issue the text's style was kind of hard to follow.

[hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

one thing that i really love about lesbian culture is the signifigance of names. pronouns aren't so much as used as names as there's no confusion as to who we're speaking of as a lot of us share pronouns with those as like minded in our friend groups (and I am speaking of more than one or two, so don't misinterpreted my words) but also because of the importance of ones name. jeanette winterson once said that "naming is a difficult and time-consuming process; it concerns essence, and it means power. but on the wild nights who can call you home? only the ones who know your name." to love someone is to know their name and speak of it fondly.

why is it that voices like eve adams have been forgotten? eve's story is so signifigant in what we know today is the dawning of the lesbian liberation movement and it wasn't until jonathan katz, a gay man and incredible researcher, began to look into eve's story that we even have record of Lesbian Love. it breaks my heart that america not only sent eve adams to her death, but also failed eve a second time in memory by not taking responsibility for what had happened and sharing her story. the final words of this was "don't mourn, organize" but i'll be doing both for quite some time. how we remember people is the beginning of all knowledge and to carry on their legacy is power.

[Armand R.R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, poetic remembrance of innocence betrayed by the State

REVIEWED: Jonathan Ned Katz — The Daring Life and Dangerous Times of Eve Adams (18 May 2021, Chicago Review Press, ISBN 978-1-64160-519-9, KINDLE version).

A NYT review led me to this newly published book of Jonathan Ned Katz about the State‘s betrayal of a beautiful person, a Polish-born Jew who, as non-Christian, was not at home in her own land (Poland); was a foreigner in any other country; and in 1912 (born 16 March 1891) boarded the boat from the Old World to New York Harbor.

Chawa Zloczower Americanized her name to Eve Adams — a play both on the opening chapters of the Torah on the first man and woman in the Garden, and on her own feeling of intersexuality, as she thought of it, with her own attraction to women.

Eve Adams founded from the teens to the mid-twenties a couple of safe places, first in Chicago and then in New York, which provided safe places primarily for lesbians, but also for gay men, where there might be cake, coffee, intellectual gathering, and safety from public bigotry.

Ms. Adams became noted among good leaders, among whom was the great Emma Goldman.

Circa February of 1925, Ms. Adams took on a pen-name, Evelyn Addams, and wrote a lyrical set of beautiful, dreamy short stories of young women who innocently and with tenderness of a butterfly or newly blossoming flower find attraction in each other.

Ms. Adams‘ book itself is quite short, shows poetic insight and inspiration, and is quite valuable historically for its revelations of lesbian thought in the mid-twenties.

It is miraculous that any exemplar of „Lesbian Love“ exists, because Ms. Adams had funded a private printing of only 150 copies of this poetic prose; the police powers of the State managed to seize and destroy all copies - save one (!), which has been preserved and is reprinted in full text in Mr. Katz‘ invaluable work.

„Lesbian Love“ was seized as obscene, but the only obscenity is the act of the State itself. „Lesbian Love“ is itself quite innocent and beautiful and testifies to the sensitivity and love of the author‘s own soul.

As a result of the State‘s brutal police action, Ms. Adams was convicted in Federal Court on obscenity charges, imprisoned, and then deported to Poland in 1927.

Ms. Adams wandered primarily to France. During the onset of WWII, Ms. Adams fled with a beloved woman friend, a pretty actress, to Nice, which was then occupied by the less harsh Italians.

Ironically, the liberation of Italy occasioned the Nazi occupation of Nice.

Eve and her beloved were soon shipped by train to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where they both were martyred brutally in December 1943.

The author, Mr. Katz, challenges us to action to counter bigotry to at least learn something human and worthwhile from the tragic fate and unjust police treatment of Eve Adams.

I found the work to be compelling and intimately moving.

[Wojciech Szot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Szykujecie już majówkowe stosy lektur? Nie może w nich zabraknąć tej książki!

***

W tej świetnie udokumentowanej opowieści, Katz - jeden z najważniejszych historyków zajmujących się queerową historią - przedstawia nie tylko samą Eve Adams, ale też odmalowuje obszerny i niezwykle ciekawy obraz wspólnoty "odmieńców", w której przenikają się różne ideologie. Są tu homofobiczni lewicowi rewolucjoniści i odważne lesbijki. Są kobiety, które chcą tylko świętego spokoju i te, które idą na barykady. Mężczyźni, którzy ukrywają się w głębokich szafach i tacy, którzy w Greenwich Village - tak się nazywała queerowa dzielnica w Nowym Jorku - idą środkiem chodnika w ekstrawaganckim stroju.

Jest tu też opowieść o tym, że to wcale nie bycie lesbijką, a bycie imigrantką, zadecydowało o losie Chawy Złoczewer vel Eve Adams. Bo gdyby to, skąd jesteśmy, nie było najważniejsze, Eve nie zginęłaby w obozie koncentracyjnym.

Czytelnik "Odważnego życia Eve Adams" bez trudu zauważy, że amerykański badacz niemal zupełnie nie sięgnął po polskie źródła. To zdecydowanie minus tej pracy, ale też doskonały punkt wyjścia dla rodzimych badaczy i badaczek. Warto też zauważyć, że Katz nie uzurpuje sobie prawa do opowiadania każdego aspektu życia Adams. Gdy czegoś nie wie, nie wymyśla, nie dopisuje. Dzięki temu powstała biografia z bardzo zmiennym tempem, odmienna od tych, w których próbuje się opowiedzieć czyjeś życie w równych rozdziałach. Bo przecież w naszym życiu są krótkie momenty, gdy decyduje się wszystko i długie okresy, gdy żyjemy życiem już ułożonym na naszą miarę. Bardzo to - w efekcie - prawdziwa biografia.

***

Więcej - https://www.empik.com/pasje/ksiazka-t...

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subject of this nonfiction book is fascinating: a Polish, Jewish woman who immigrates to the United States at the turn of the 20th century whose individualism is a "threat" to the men in her neighborhood. Her life is full and adventurous and tragically cut short. I only gave it three stars because I thought that the narrator for the audiobook not only over-performed but also seemed at times to be mocking the people in the book. It's a descriptive snapshot of a time when women, let alone Lesbian women!, were far from tolerated. Even with the sorrows she faced, Eve loved her life on her terms and without apology.

[Mad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a truly fascinating read. I find so often that queer culture and history centres gay men, so I was so glad to find this account of historical lesbianism. The author does make a few too many assumptions for my taste, and there is a claim made about Nathalie Barney that I wish was better sourced, but overall it was a well-researched read.

Including her texts at the end was also a motivator in my buying this book.

[Andy Denson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! So much of what is happening in America today can be heard as warnings to what happened to Eve back in the 20’s. Our government is and has been snakes to those that are not straight, cis, white, wealthy men. The fear that must have been inside this courageous woman. Eve was a pioneer. Eve was a force of nature. I am glad she is part of my lesbian history. I wish humans would learn from their past. Hate never wins. Love!! Compassion! Empathy. We need more acceptance in the world.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This is an important, interesting and moving book. Don't make the mistake that I made of reading the last chapter on the subway.....I could hardly keep it together until I got home.
"Don't mourn. Organize!" are the last words. But I going to spend a few minutes mourning, first, thanks.

[Marlena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bardzo ciekawa postać opisana, jak na mój gust, w mało ciekawy sposób. Jakoś nie mogłam się skupić i przyswoić stylu pisania autora, albo raczej tłumaczenia. Bardzo przeszkadzało mi to w rozumieniu historii, dlatego też książka jako twór dostaje 2 :((

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such an interesting, heartbreaking, and uplifting story about an anarchist Jewish lesbian from the twentieth century and even though it took me a while to finish it, I'm really, really glad I read it.





(Also Benjamin Reitman was an asshole. But you didn't hear that from me.)

[Jenn Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating look at the life of someone I can honestly say I had never heard of before. A good pick for anyone looking to read more queer history.

[Catherine Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exquisitely researched, written and produced. I’m so impressed by this author and this incredible story. Eve Adams was a very brave badass woman. So cherish the courage she brought into the world.

[Vivi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Am amazing story and how incredibly brave Eve was! Thankful her story and the original text of Lesbian love was perseved. 🙏

[ася · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5✨

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful story of a radical queer foremother— “a landmark of queer history”

[Misza Ćwieluch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Książka ma prawie 70 stron przypisów i bibliografii co podziwiam i plus za to

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4 stars