Arbeter Teater Farband (ARTEF) (;"Worker's Theater Union") was a left-wing association of Jewish actors and other theatre persons in the United States during 1927–1940, and the theater with the same name. Their first play was in 1928. Theater historian Edna Nahshon described it as "one of the most prominent organizations of the American Yiddish stage". Nachson writes that the theatre was shut down due to the difficulties associated with both the diminished interest in Yiddish theatre and the disillusionment in Communism, especially after the Nazi-Soviet Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.Edna Nahshon, Yiddish Proletarian Theatre: The Art and Politics of the Artef, 1925–1940, 1998; Book review: Jeremy Dauber, Proletarian Theatre: The Art and Politics of the Artef, 1925-1940 (review), American Jewish History, vo. 88, no.2, 2000, 305-307 It was organized by Jewish members of the Young Workers' League.ARTEF Arbeter Teater Farband (Workers Theater Association, 1925-1940), YIVO For some time the theatre survived in mobile groups that staged their performances in workers' neighborhoods.Jeffrey Veidlinger, Off 2nd Avenue, The Forward, May 8, 2008
Members included: Nathaniel Buchwald, Moyshe Olgin, David Pinski, David Abrams, Melech Marmur, Kalman Marmur, Shakhne Epstein, Moyshe Nadir. References