Talk:Abba Kovner

Untitled
Corrected the page to reflect that fact that for most of the time Kovner lived in Vilnius, it was in Poland, not Lithuania. Did Kovner self-identify as a Lithuanian rather than a Polish Jew? Ephialtes (talk) 18:13, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

Why did 68.198.153.87 work on all of that info, just to delete it all? Is there something I am missing? --Stoopideggs2 03:44, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

I read in Wyborcza that his plan was to poison the public water supply and kill six million German civilians in retaliation for the holocaust and that when his capture made that plan impossible, his followers instead applied rat poison to the bottoms of seven thousand loaves of bread, making unknown numbers of people sick and killing between zero and seven hundred people, depending on who's numbers you use. I think that describing a plot to murder six million civilians as "to continue underground activities agasint Nazi POWs" is highly misleading.


 * Just the other day I was in a concert by Daniel Kahn where they sang about the "six million Germans", pretending it was for real. This could be the origin of the story, but I have no idea about the veracity of it all. --Syzygy (talk) 13:43, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

"Battle Leaflets"
An anonymous IP wrote in this article "During his service he authored "battle leaflets," designed to keep up morale. One, dated July 12, 1948 declared: "The rotting corpses of our enemies will make our fields blossom" [bezevel gufot oyvenu od yelavlevu sdoteinu]. Five days later Kovner wrote: "Squeeze the trigger with love! Slaughter, Slaughter, Slaughter". [lekhatz al ha-hedek be ahava - lishkhot, lishkhot, lishkhot]" though there is no citation for this. I would ask for a citation, for starters. Stellarkid (talk) 17:07, 9 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I agree and suggest that the text is removed until, at least, a citation is provided and the matter can be discussed appropriately. Davshul (talk) 13:40, 10 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I would remove it myself but am still on an I-P article ban. Stellarkid (talk) 16:44, 10 January 2010 (UTC)
 * "The Avengers," by Rich Cohen, (October 9, 2001), contains quotes from Abba Kovner from that period in time. Those quotes do not sound unlike things I recall from that book. But I don't have the book on hand to check for that now. Bus stop (talk) 17:30, 10 January 2010 (UTC)
 * So I have removed the quotes for the time being. They do not seem appropriate anyway as they are highly POV, clearly trying to make Kovner out to be a butcher.  We do not quote his poetry, why are we quoting from "battle leaflets"? Please bring any reinsertion to talk. Stellarkid (talk) 02:14, 15 January 2010 (UTC)
 * He did indeed write things like that and it caused quite a stir. It is described in his biography by Dina Porat (Fall of a Sparrow), which I am reading.  When I get to that part of the book I will add something to the article. Zerotalk 15:59, 12 May 2012 (UTC)
 * See Ehud Sprinzak and Idith Zertal ‘Avenging Israel’s Blood (1946) in Jonathan B. Tucker (ed.) Toxic Terror: Assessing the Terrorist Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons, MIT Press 2000 ISBN 978-0-262-70071-9 pp.17-42. Nishidani (talk) 15:29, 25 July 2013 (UTC)
 * There is in fact a recent article entirely devoted to his leaflets. It is on my list...but it is a long list. Zerotalk 09:32, 26 July 2013 (UTC)

Let us add them. Reminds me of Ilya Ehrenburg.

Zezen (talk) 02:41, 12 September 2020 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 00:53, 26 December 2018 (UTC)
 * Ghetto Vilinus.gif

commanded a partisan group called the Avengers
But the linked page describes post-war vengeance, not a guerilla unit. Xx236 (talk) 13:07, 23 August 2019 (UTC)
 * Fixed. Nokmim evolved in Nakam post war.Icewhiz (talk) 13:39, 23 August 2019 (UTC)

Terrorist or not?
Some time ago I was encouraged by to take this matter here. Previously, on multiple occasions, the other editors refused to engage on this topic, reverting my edit and messaging me threatening an edit ban.

I understand that Kovner’s reputation is an important investment for the State of Israel, with a recent exhibition in London (UK) advertising him as a freedom fighter.

So, does Kovner meet the definition of a terrorist, and if he does, why this article does not say he was one? --195.235.52.107 (talk) 02:07, 31 July 2021 (UTC)

I’ll rephrase. I can see how Kovner was a freedom fighter (factually and by way of a long-established supporting narrative), but is it not typical for quite a few of 20th-century freedom-fighters to also be considered terrorists due to their chosen tactics?--195.235.52.107 (talk) 02:31, 31 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Yes, he is a terrorist. RAF did similar avenge tactics on political basis and are widely considered terrorists, don't see why he isn't. What he did was neither act of self defense, nor sanctioned by a court. 89.1.128.63 (talk) 17:32, 4 October 2021 (UTC)