After 1943, these hetflekh developed and expanded into larger volumes, featuring contributions from other Yiddish writers and poets. However, Stencl remained the primary contributor, editor, and main distributor. From issue 72, published in January 1946, the magazine officially became known as the literary journal Loshn un lebn (Language & Life). It ran almost continuously every month until 1981. Around 325 issues were produced during this period, although the exact number is uncertain. The early pamphlets were inconsistently numbered, and some were not numbered at all. With the help of numerous institutions and individuals, the project team has tracked down, digitised, and shared here 311 issues, which were scattered across national and international archives and private collections. Combined this digital collection represents the largest freely accessible digitised collection of Stencl’s Yiddish magazines available anywhere.

Because these copies come from many different sources, there are variations in quality and format, for example a few of the very rare early issues of his hetflekh only survive as photocopies. Each journal is presented exactly as scanned, unaltered in condition, colour, or appearance. Some editions, particularly those from private collections, include Stencl’s own handwritten annotations and notes adding to their distinctiveness. This is a unique digital archive of a treasured collection of Yiddish magazines that document all aspects of Yiddish language, life and culture spanning a forty year period. 

To explore the contents of each edition in English, please use the LL Content Pages menu.