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Oleksa Dovbush: An Alternative Biography of the Ukrainian Hero Based on

Jewish Sources

Article in Fabula · June 2011

DOI: 10.1515/fabl.2011.008

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Oleksa Dovbush:
An Alternative Mythical Biography of the Ukrainian Hero
Based on Jewish Sources*

Historical and Geographical Background

Oleksa Dovbush (Dobosh, Dobosz, Dowbusz [1700–45]), also known as Dovbosh-

chuk, was a famous leader of the opryshoks (oprishki, opryszki) in 1738–45. The
opryshoks were social brigands, ‘noble robbers’, and can be defined as representa-
tives of an anti-feudal and national liberation movement active in the Carpathian
Mountains, mostly in the Hutsul region, Pokuttia and Bukovyna (Bukowina, Buco-
vina), from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth century. There is no general agree-
ment among specialists on the term opryshoks. It is variously explained as deriving
from the Russian words ryskat’ (scour, hunt after, prowl), oprichnik (private per-
son), oprochnik (separated, asunder), the Romanian opresk (to forbid), or the Latin
‘oppressor’ (in the sense of violator, disturber, destroyer of the rich, primarily the
shliakhta or szlachta, i.e. the Polish nobles). This term appears in historical docu-
ments as early as 1529 (Hrabovets’kyi 1994, 42; Myshanych 2003, 113f.).
The Carpathian M ountains are a borderline area; they marked the southernmost
border of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Rich Pospolyta), and after it was
partitioned in 1772 they became the southern border of the Habsburg province of
Galicia (Halychyna in Ukrainian). The section of the Galician Carpathians between
the Prut and Cheremosh (Czeremosz) rivers, which flow into the Dnister (Dniestr),
is known as Pokuttia (Pokucie). This is a region where the opryshoks became espe-
cially active. Two other regions of western Ukraine, namely Bukovyna and Podillia
(Podole), where opryshoks were seen and supported by the masses of impoverished
Ruthenians (Ukrainians), Poles and Moldavians, were also parts of different coun-
tries (the Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires, Romania, the Ukrai-
nian SSR) in different historical periods. Today eastern Galicia, Bukovyna and

*
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Alexander Malycky (Calgary), who, on
reading a newspaper report about my lecture “Oleksa Dovbush in Jewish Culture”, deliv-
ered in Edmonton in February 2008, sent me his unpublished survey “The Image of Ole-
ksa Dovbush in non-Ukrainian Folklore and Creative Literature”; also to Benyamin
Makimi who, for the purposes of this paper, translated a story and a number of poems
from Yiddish; and to the Research Authority of the University of Haifa, through which I
was able to pay for these translations. All the translations from Russian, Ukrainian, Polish
and Hebrew are mine unless otherwise specified.

Fabula 52 (2011) H eft 1/2 D O I 10.1515/FABL.2011.008

© W alter de Gruyter Berlin · N ew Y ork

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2 Larisa Fialkova

Podillia are the western regions of independent Ukraine. The position of the Carpa-
thians between Poland, Moldova and Hungary enabled the opryshoks to escape to
another country when the highland caves at home were not safe enough (Dabrow-
ski 2005, 380–383; Hrabovets’kyi 1994, 47). This is a tactic also used by the Serbi-
an haiduks (M yshanych 2003, 128).
At the time of Dovbush’s activities western Ukraine was under Polish rule.
Among the opryshoks were many low-ranking Orthodox priests, who instigated at-
tacks against Roman and Greek Catholics (Myshanych 2003, 135). In this light, the
conflict with the Jews cannot be perceived as a united attack on Jewry by the Chris-
tians, although it definitely had a religious component. The conflict was mainly so-
cial and economic: Jews were merchants and arendars (lessees) of mills and inns,
dealt with money transactions, served as tax collectors and managed the nobles’ es-
tates. Most Jews were poor, but they had an intermediate position between the Pol-
ish landlords and the local masses. The Ukrainians were peasants and shepherds;
they were serfs, and saw their only way of liberation through violent uprisings.
Although Jews suffered in all the Ukrainian insurrections in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, their victimization was not uniform throughout: it was dead-
liest in Khmelnytsky’s uprising, and seemingly mildest in that of the opryshoks.
W hile the Cossacks and Khmelnytsky’s rebels attacked Jews as such, the opry-
shoks were known mostly for their predations on rich Jews (Hnatiuk 1910, 111;
Hundert 2008; Kohut 2003; Pelenski 1990; Sysyn 1990, 31). I assume that it was
that relatively moderate attitude towards Jews that singled out the opryshoks in
Jewish folklore and literature.

Oleksa Dovbush: a Biography

Most historical information about Dovbush is known from court cases. Oleksa
Dovbush was born in 1700 in Pechinizhin to a poor family. His father, Vasyl’ Dov-
bush, had no house of his own and had to rent a so-called komora, which was the
mark of extreme poverty. Several sheep were the family’s only property. Oleksa’s
quest for social justice made him adopt the role of Robin Hood, who robbed the
rich and distributed their wealth among the poor. He had a brother, Ivan, with
whom he started his activities as an opryshok in 1738, but in 1739 they quarreled
and separated. Dovbush was married, but his wife’s name is unknown; she is said
to have taken part in the opryshok movement. Dovbush’s band was based at Mount
Stih on the narrow ridge off Mount Chornohora from where they persistently raided
the rich of all ethnicities and denominations – Poles, Armenians, Ruthenians
(Ukrainians), and of course Jews. O ne of Dovbush’s most violent attacks was di-
rected against a Jewish arendar named Loshak (Hrabovets’kyi 1994, 64f., 109). It
is known that the Jews brought a present to Dovbush’s father, seeking his protec-
tion (Hrabovets’kyi 1994, 68). At the same time Oleksa was on good terms with a
certain David, a Jewish innkeeper, who took care of his plunder (Hrabovets’kyi
1994, 113). Polish nobles called on the people to slay Dovbush, promising the

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 Oleksa Dovbush: An Alternative Mythical Biography of the Ukrainian Hero 3

potential killer exemption from feudal duties. The idea appealed to a certain Stepan
Dzvinchuk. M ortally wounded by him on 23 August 1745 in Kosmach, Dovbush
tried to escape to the forest but failed. Two of his friends, Vasyl’ Baiurak and Pavlo
Orfeniuk, were with him in his last hours. On 24 August Dzvinchuk called on the
people to search for Dovbush; he was soon found, still alive, by a group including
two priests and an arendar. The latter stayed with Dovbush until he expired. There
was no weapon or jewelry found on him. Instead he carried a rus’kyi khrest (Ortho-
dox cross), a small bottle with chrism (anointing oil), a gilt crucifix, a box with
communion bread, two medallions, a small piece of silver, nine grains of wheat, the
feathers of various birds, and two silver needles. The corpse was cut up into twelve
pieces and displayed at various places to frighten the peasants (Hrabovets’kyi 1994,
114–119, 266–268).

Oleksa Dovbush in Ukrainian Folklore

There is a rich folklore about Dovbush, the ‘noble robber’, who is perceived either
as a bandit or a hero (M ostova 2005, 24). The folk biography of a real person is
usually different from the actual circumstances of his or her life and death. Accord-
ingly, no Ukrainian source of the various genres (legends, ballads, perekazy and
songs) tells that he was actually born in Pechinizhin, his true native village. Instead
his birth is variously localized in Pokuttia, Mykulychyn, Kosmach, Zaricchia, etc.
Sometimes he is called Ivan, Petro, or Mykola instead of Oleksa. The name Dov-
bush is attributed to his father’s alleged service as a military drummer (dobosh),
which is not based on historical evidence. Before joining the opryshok movement
he endured poverty. Many Ukrainian legends tell of his supernatural strength and
invulnerability, which he acquired either after his victory over the devil or after
bathing in Cheremosh river. Like many other epic heroes (e.g., Achilles) he could
be killed only under special circumstances by those who knew how to accomplish
the deed. In Dovbush’s case the means had to be a silver bullet wrapped in hair torn
from Dovbush’s own head after twelve services in a church. Moreover, the bullet
had to strike exactly the spot on his head where his hair had been torn out. Some-
times it is said that the vulnerable spot was situated under his left shoulder (in this
case it is explained as a hole in the magic armour). As with the biblical Samson, it
was a woman who succeeded in finding out the secret of his vulnerability. Ukraini-
an folklore calls her Dzvinka (Ksenia Dzvinka or simply Ksenia), Dovbush’s lover
and the wife of his killer Dzvinchuk (Hnatiuk 1910, 49–56, 128–130; Skunts’
1972, 179–181; Tyshchenko 1965, 131–138; Vincenz 1936, 179f., 278–281). Hra-
bovets’kyi, who is inclined to believe in the romance between the two, stressed that
Stepan Dzvinchuk was much older than his second wife Maria. Ksenia was the
name of the wife of M atvei Dzvinchuk, a fellow villager of theirs, which led to the
confusion (Hrabovets’kyi 1994, 120). But the notion of jealousy and revenge is not
part of the court documentation and seems more like a typical folklore element than
a historical fact. There are legends which accuse the Jews of asking Dzvinka to kill

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4 Larisa Fialkova

Dovbush (Hnatiuk 1910, 128). In some legends the hero’s axe, which he himself
drove into a stone, still awaits his successor (Myshanych 1992, 101); in others the
opryshoks lie sleeping in caves until their time to return will come (Hrabovets’kyi
1994, 156).
The theme of Dovbush and the Jews is a part of the U krainian folklore which
surrounds him. Perceiving wealthy Jews as the allies of Polish feudal lords, Dov-
bush attacked them along with the rich in general (Hnatiuk 1910, 111–113, 115–
120). But he did not plunder poor Jews; his dislike of Jews was more social than
religious or ethnic, and was relatively moderate. He did no harm to the poor ones,
and might even give a poor Jew some money for the Sabbath (Hnatiuk 1910, 111;
Vincenz 1936, 241). I found two Ukrainian versions of a legend known from Jew-
ish folklore and literature about the meeting between Dovbush and the founder of
Hasidism, Israel Baal Shem Tov (The Master of the Divine Name, known by the
acronym Besht) (Hnatiuk 1910, 56f.; Vincenz 1936, 241f.).

Oleksa Dovbush in Jewish Culture

Dov Noy was the first scholar to note the existence of the Dovbush (usually Do-
bush, or Dobosh) character in Jewish Hasidic legends, where this robber may be
named or anonymous. According to Noy, any meeting of the Baal Shem Tov with
Ukrainian robbers is directly connected with Dovbush. But Noy’s principal interest
was the Baal Shem Tov and his image in Ukrainian folklore; Dovbush was just a
passing figure in his research (Noy 1960). In Alexander Malycky’s unpublished
survey, the material is grouped according to the language of the original. Ac-
cordingly, the Jewish sources are divided into three sections: German, Yiddish, and
Hebrew (Malycky 1984). My goal is to construct an alternative biography of Dov-
bush based on Jewish sources, which requires the presentation of the material ac-
cording to the history of his life (birth, mature years, death, and life after death). As
Jewish legends on Dovbush have not been of special interest to folklorists and
hence not been collected as a body, I decided to address not only folklore texts per
se but also their reflection in fiction and poetry. In this my approach differs from
that of Haya Bar-Itzhak, who chose to analyze only the folk texts of a special event
of the time of Holocaust, leaving fiction out of the scope of her paper (Bar-Itzhak
2009, 70).
The Jewish population of western Ukraine spoke mainly Yiddish as their native
language, and used Hebrew for religious purposes. However, as in different histori-
cal periods these territories had been under the rule of various states, writers of
Jewish origin commonly perceived the languages of these states as native (or
substituted one of them for Yiddish). Others immigrated to Israel and opted for He-
brew in everyday use as well as for a creative approach. Consequently, my task has
been to compile a multi-language material on the basis of the authors’ Jewish ori-
gin. W hether Jews who wrote in German or Ukrainian may be considered Jewish
writers or not is a question that exceeds the scope of this paper. Still, I would like

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 Oleksa Dovbush: An Alternative Mythical Biography of the Ukrainian Hero 5

to point out that none of them was indifferent to Jewish issues. Most of the authors,
as well as the folklorist Dov Noy, were born and socialized in Galicia, the epicenter
of Dovbush’s activities and of folk traditions about him.

The Birth of Dobush

My research on the figure of Dovbush (Dobush) began in 1996, when I found a

legend about his birth in the Israel Folktale Archives (IFA), now named in honour
of Dov Noy. Unfortunately the limits of this paper do not allow me to publish it in
full. Here is a synopsis:

Dovbush’s mother became a widow when she was in the third month of her pregnancy.
She was left without any help and without a morsel of bread in the house. The only
person who would bring her some food was a Jew, the innkeeper. At the end of her
pregnancy she went out to the forest to collect some brushwood. As she bent to pick up
the bits of wood, the labour pains began; the child was born before she could get back
home. Suddenly she heard a noise and realized that hunters had come to the forest.
Fearing their mockery, she put the baby in the sack that she had brought for the
brushwood, tied it to her waist, and ran away as fast as she could. In her flight she did
not notice that the baby fell out of the sack and was left in the forest. Only when she
reached home did she become aware of her misfortune. And only three days later,
when the landowner and his servants had returned from hunt, could she go to seek her
baby’s remains. However, she found him alive, being fed by a she-dog. The mother
pressed the baby to her breast and hurried away. The bitch followed them. On her way
home the mother prayed soundlessly to God, thanking him for sending a guardian for
her baby. The rumour of the miracle spread fast. Neighbours and relatives came to
witness it. Among them was the Jewish innkeeper, who, on seeing the baby, who was
hairy like a bear, nicknamed him Dobush (little bear).
When Dobush grew up and became the man he was, everybody would tell the tale of
his miraculous salvation following his birth. He therefore hated the nobility and was
fond of animals (IFA 5167, collected by Shimon Toder).

As it is told about a real person, this story is a historical legend (Jason 1975, 58).
Its Jewish character is apparent only at the beginning and at the very end, which is
typical for ‘Judaized’ universal stories (Shenhar 1987, 10). It is connected with the
incidental, but important figure of the Jewish innkeeper. It was him who helped the
hero’s widowed mother and who, according to the legend, gave the hero his nick-
name. The Hebrew word for bear is dov (singular; plural dubim). Clearly, the name
Dobush (as it sounds and is written in Jewish texts) is similar to the Hebrew dov-
dubim (bear-bears). This ending makes the legend a midrash, a literary form char-
acterized by the interpretation of a name according to the logic of Hebrew and of
Jewish tradition. The use of the names of animals for humans is common in mid-
rash (e.g. Zvi – deer, Zeev – wolf, Zipora – bird, etc.). The midrash can be found in
Jewish tradition from the Old Testament and to the present. Midrashic naming is
accomplished by various linguistic means: puns, alliterations, etiological legends,

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6 Larisa Fialkova

etc. (Bar-Itzhak 2001). In our case the historical legend seems also to be an
etiological one: a foreign name becomes understandable through its new meaning
acquired in the Hebrew language. Another important aspect of this legend is that a
hirsute appearance is a universal sign of the other, be it the world of uncivilized na-
ture or of supernatural phenomena (Belova 2005, 51f.).

Adulthood

Several Jewish legends about Dovbush (Dobush) are known from Hasidic tradition.
Three of them were published in the book of stories about the Baal Shem Tov com-
piled in Hebrew by Samuel Abba Horodetsky in Shivhei Ha-Besht as early as
1814–16 and translated into English in the mid-twentieth century. I will discuss
them in their original order, together with the existing variants.
The first story is The Besht and the Robbers. A group of Ukrainian robbers see
the Baal Shem Tov approach an abyss which he does not notice, being deeply im-
mersed in his thoughts.

“[...] When from afar they saw him walk to the edge of the mountain engrossed in his
meditations, they said, ‘He will probably fall to the bottom and break his bones, God
forbid.’ When he came near the edge, the other mountain moved towards him and the
ground became level. [...] And so it happened several times during his walking back
and forth. The robbers saw that he was a holy man and that God was with him, and
they made peace with him. [...] From that day on if there was any quarrel or disagree-
ment among them, they came to him and he arranged a compromise” (Ben-Amos/
Mintz 1970, 22f.).

This story has several versions, one of which was published by Martin Buber under
the title The Mountain as a Rescuer, but without the robbers to witness the miracle
(Buber 2005, 59; id. 1997, 59). This omission makes the reason of their further in-
volvement with the Besht unclear. Another version, almost identical to the one
from Shivhei Ha-Besht, can be found in a Yiddish short story by Dov-Ber Horovits,
a Jewish writer, who was born in 1895 in the village of Meidan, Galicia, and who
perished in Poland in the first days of the Nazi invasion (date unknown).
Interestingly, Horovits did not follow the same sequence of events as in Shivhei
Ha-Besht, but started with the second one and proceeded with the first. Here it is:

“And the robbers also saw how the same man, although he walked with an upraised
head and arms, not observing precisely what was ahead of him, still does not falter.
Look now! He is about to reach the limit of the steep precipice, one step and he could
tumble hundreds of feet down into the abyss and be smashed into dust … Suddenly, a
miracle. Quicker than thought, the opposite mountain bowed to the other, and without
changing even one movement the Baal Shem Tov continued his journey” (Horovits
1923, 29).

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 Oleksa Dovbush: An Alternative Mythical Biography of the Ukrainian Hero 7

The second story is entitled The Vengeful Robber. It tells how an anonymous rob-
ber, disgruntled at one of the Besht’s verdicts, tries to kill him and fails.

“[...] When the Besht was sleeping the robber came to him and lifted his axe to cut off
the Besht’s head. Immediately the axe was snatched from him, he could not tell by
whom, and he was cruelly beaten. He received cuts and welts. All the breath was beat-
en out of him, and he almost lost the power of speech. [...] The Besht went on his way,
and the next day when the robber recovered a little bit, he told the Besht all that had
taken place” (Ben-Amos/Mintz 1970, 23).

This story is known in both Ukrainian and Jewish culture. I found two Ukrainian
versions of it (Hnatiuk 1910, 56f.; Vincenz 1936, 241f.).
However, in another Jewish folk version of this story, The Robber who Became
a Believer, it is not the Besht who is attacked by the robber, but one of his disci-
ples, Rabbi Y ehuda Leib Pistner from Kolomya. This time Dobush is mentioned
explicitly. The attack takes place on a Sabbath evening. Dobush strikes the rabbi on
his arm with his sword. Yet Rabbi Leib does not stop reciting Kiddush over the
wine; he expresses the wish that his blood may atone for all the inhabitants of the
town. At that very moment there is an upheaval in the robber’s heart. He asks
Rabbi Leib to give him a piece of Sabbath bread and leaves the town without hurt-
ing anybody (Steinman 1957, 70).
This plot, albeit with significant changes, was taken up by Jewish writers. The Is-
raeli Nobel laureate Shmuel Iosef Agnon, who was born in Buchach, Galicia, in
1888 and died in Israel in 1970, combined the two Jewish versions quoted above in
his story The Sword of Dobish (Agnon’s spelling). On the one hand he chose Rabbi
Arie (Hebrew for Leib) rather than the Besht as his protagonist. On the other, it was
the miracle with the sword that makes Dobish repent. And although the robber
strikes the rabbi on his arm the blood is not shed and the miracle is due to the drops
of the sacred Sabbath wine. According to Agnon, Dobish is a great ataman (leader)
who has got his sword from the Angel of Death. Still, he is at peace with his neigh-
bours who would bring him food as tribute. Once, winter comes and Dobish re-
ceives no tribute. Out of hunger, he and his robbers attack Kolomya. They do so on
the Sabbath, knowing that the Jews would be eating their feasts. The first house at-
tacked is Rabbi Arie’s as it stands on the edge of the town. All the household are
struck with fear and run away, and Rabbi Arie alone stands still and continues to
bless the wine.

“[...] And Dobish raised his hand over the Rabbi and took out his sword and slashed
Rabbi Arie on his hand. And some wine splashed on his sword from the goblet. And
Dobish could not move his sword. [...] With the ending of Sabbath they ate together
and parted. Dobish continued to rob people, but each Sabbath his sword had to rest, be-
cause the sacred wine splashed on it” (Agnon 1927, 1991).

Three poems by M eir Bossak (1912–92), an Israeli poet born in Krakow (Poland),
are devoted to Dovbush’s (Dobosh’s) conflict with the Besht. The first is about the

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8 Larisa Fialkova

robber’s attack, or potential attack, against the Besht. Bossak’s attitude to Dobosh
is clearly negative, although the robber does not use any weapon against the holy
man. Nevertheless, their meeting is presented as a conflict between two persons of
great strength, a Jew and a gentile. A huge tree is magically thrown into the air by
the Besht, and it lands on exactly the same spot where Dobosh has been standing
just a moment before. The threatening voice of the Besht pursues the robber in his
flight (Bossak 1960). This ballad preserves the prosody typical of the Hassidic folk
ballad, but lacks any other resemblance to it (Yaniv 1999, 47). Bassok’s other bal-
lads, or balladic lyrics, about the two men are very distinct from the folk ballad. In
the second one, The Besht in Dobosh’s Cave, the Besht and other rabbis are taken
hostage in order to get ransom. The money is brought and they are released. But
before leaving the cave, the Besht succeeds in changing the robber’s worldview
(Bossak 1985). In the last poem, The Baal Shem Tov and the Robber Dobosh, it is
the Besht who attacks Dobosh rather than vice versa, and the latter is tamed togeth-
er with a bear and even kisses the Besht’s hand (Bossak 1995). The placing of Do-
bosh with a bear reminds us of the Jewish legend about Dobosh’s birth, referred to
at the beginning of this paper.
In Horovits’ story, mentioned above, the attack is not made on the Besht himself
but on his wife who is on her way to her husband. The band of the robbers hears a
woman’s beautiful singing and Dobosh orders her brought in to raise their spirits.
In fact there are two attacks on her with the aim of sexual abuse in this story, one
committed by Dobosh’s fellow warrior Ivan Sadahorski, the other by Dobosh him-
self. Strangely, this time Dobosh holds a dagger (kinjal), not his traditional weap-
on.

“[...] An invisible upwelling of force seized them with such violence that they were
hurled to the ground, and remained lying in pain and deathly fear, groaning in discom-
fort [...]. Dobosh knew no terror. And perhaps he wished to show off to his accom-
plices and demonstrate his power. [...] he drew forth his kinjal knife from his broad
belt. Nevertheless, a miracle occurred at this moment. The kinjal plummeted from his
hand, and she herself shrank back” (Horovits 1923, 26f.).

W hen the robbers repent they are miraculously released and decide to see her safe-
ly off to her husband. It is then that the story near the abyss takes place.
But let us return to Shivhei Ha-Besht. The third story from this book, The Besht’s
Journey to the Holy Land, tells of an unsuccessful attempt by the robbers to lead
the Baal Shem Tov to the Land of Israel through caves.

“Once the robbers came to him and said, ‘sir, we know a short way to the Land of Isra-
el through caves and underground passages. If you wish, come with us and we’ll show
you the way’. He agreed to go with them. [...] The robbers went first. When the Besht
wanted to step on the board he saw there t h e f l a m i n g s w o r d w h i c h t u r n e d
e v e r y w a y , and turned back since there would have been a great danger for him if
he had crossed” (Ben-Amos/Mintz 1970, 23f.; spacing in the original).

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 Oleksa Dovbush: An Alternative Mythical Biography of the Ukrainian Hero 9

The story of the Baal Shem Tov’s failed journey is known in Ukrainian folklore
as well, but lacks any allusion to the robbers (Vincenz 1979, 195). Another Jewish
version of this story was published by B uber, but here it is not clear why the rob-
bers decide to help the Baal Shem Tov to go to the Land of Israel, if they do not
witness the miracle near the abyss (Buber 2005, 59f.; id. 1997, 59).
The last story about the Baal Shem Tov’s unsuccessful journey to the Land of Is-
rael involving Dovbush that is known to me differs greatly from the version quoted
above:

The Baal Shem Tov counsels Dovbush (Dobush) to go abroad in order to escape
persecution. But Dovbush refuses to leave his fatherland. The Baal Shem Tov is
impressed by such patriotic feelings and decides to set out for the Land of Israel
immediately. His daughter follows him. But God does not approve of their plan. They
reach Istanbul, where they become the victims first of a tempest and then of robbers,
led by Dobush. As a result they perceive God’s will and return home (Cohen 1971).

At least one more Jewish story about the Baal Shem Tov’s meeting with anony-
mous Ukrainian robbers can be connected to Dovbush. I know two versions of it.
One of them, The Robbers’ Song, is registered in the Dov Noy Israel Folktales Ar-
chives (IFA 1197, collected by Zvi Sofer):

The Baal Shem Tov once takes a teenage boy, Shaul, to accompany him in one of his
trips. They stop to rest at an inn where they encounter some Ukrainian villagers that are
dancing and singing. Shaul has a wonderful voice which is admired by the villagers
who pledge him their friendship. Many years later Shaul, who has become a wealthy
merchant, is robbed on his way through the forest. He recognizes his assailants, and
reminds them of their meeting at the inn. The robbers ask him to sing and then restore
all his property to him.

The other version of this story was published by Buber (2005, 60f.) under the title
Shaul and Ivan. Here Shaul does not need to prove his identity by singing again.
Even thirty years after their initial meeting, when Ivan danced while Shaul was
singing a Hassidic melody without words, Ivan, now the leader of the gang, recog-
nizes him at once and returns all the stolen property. Incidentally, Dovbush was an
exceptional dancer and singer according to Ukrainian legends and is sometimes
called Ivan in folk sources (Vincenz 1936, 210). It is noteworthy that here the rob-
bers are friendly to a rich Jew which is quite uncommon for the Dovbush tradition.

Death and Life after Death

Unfortunately, I have not found any Jewish folk texts about the death of Dovbush.
However, one Ukrainian legend might be influenced by Jewish sources. It had been
told to me by an Ukrainian scholar, Zhanna Kovba, who herself had heard it from
a Ukrainian student in Drohobych in Western Ukraine:

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10 Larisa Fialkova

A Jewish girl, Surka, falls deeply in love with Dovbush. But he loves Dzvinka, not her.
When Dzvinka poisons him Surka is so upset that she goes to the rabbi and asks him to
rescue Dovbush. The rabbi replies: “He will not come to life again. However, as you
loved him on earth you will be together in Heaven.” And they die at the same moment.

Although this story was first heard from a Ukrainian student and could be a Ukrai-
nian legend, it carries clear marks of a Jewish tradition as well. This is not only
because it tells about a Jewish girl and a rabbi; its ending is also important. To a
non-Jew it may seem romantic, but according to Jewish tradition it looks more like
a punishment for being in love with a gentile.
Jewish fiction reflects a Ukrainian tradition concerning Dovbush’s death as a re-
sult of his love to Dzvinka, although this ending is only optional.

In Horovits’s story, on parting from Dovbush (Dobosh), the Besht suggests a plan to
save him and his company, involving a move to neighbouring Moldova where
Christians are not pressed into service. They eagerly agree and depart after the Besht
blesses each of them. They travel by night, avoiding the valleys as the Besht had
ordered. However, their resolve weakens and they go to the house of Stephan Dzvinka
(this is the spelling), whose wife, Stephanikha, is Dovbush’s (Dobosh’s) lover. He uses
his old code, a special knock. However, she refuses to open the door, saying her
husband is away and she is not interested, although she knows well who is there. She
has long waited for an opportunity to betray him in order to gain the reward, along with
her husband. Dobosh becomes wrathful, bursts in and is shot dead by Stephan (Horo-
vits 1923, 35–40). In fact, Dobosh dies because he has disobeyed the Besht’s instruc-
tions.

A different version is offered by Karl Emil Franzos (1848–1904), a native of Chort-

kiv (Czortkow, Galicia) who was born to a Sephardic Jewish family assimilated to
German culture. In his late childhood Franzos moved to Chernivtsi in Bukovyna
and then to Vienna. He deeply sympathized with the Ukrainians in their struggle
against the Poles, and even wrote a novel about the opryshoks of the nineteenth
century, whom he calls hajdamaks (these terms can be distinguished or equated;
see, for example, Hundert 2008, 376; M yshanych 1992, 113f.; W oldan 2002, 194).
But his reference to Dovbush himself is merely episodic, which is strange consider-
ing a wide range of Ukrainian characters in Franzos’s writings (Malycky 1974;
Reifowitz 2008). According to Franzos, Alexander Dobosch (this is the spelling)
was a well-to-do peasant, “a Ruthen from the Bukowina” who ruled as uncrowned
king and was poisoned by his own followers at a drinking bout (Franzos 1888,
232f.).
The combination of the traditional Ukrainian folk version of Dovbush’s death
with that proposed by Franzos can be found in the G erman novel Der Herr der
Karpathen by Hermann Blumenthal (1880–?), another Jewish author, a native of
Eastern Galicia. I have not read this novel, and the information presented here was
kindly provided to me by Alexander Malycky, partly in his unpublished paper and
partly in a private letter.

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 Oleksa Dovbush: An Alternative Mythical Biography of the Ukrainian Hero 11

For some time Dovbush ruled like an uncrowned king. Then, however, the Hutsuls
opposed him. Marko, who was Dovbush’s sworn brother, told Dzvinchuk’s wife how
to kill Dovbush. It could be done with bullets made of pure silver. The person who
made them had to fast and to pray for three days. Then the bullets had to be placed on
a sanctified plate for three days, and then sanctified by a priest. There is no information
whether Marinia, as Dzvinka is called in the novel, did all these things. Still, she made
the bullets and Dovbush was killed with two shots (Blumenthal [1917], 233, 247;
Malycky 1984, 8; id. 2009).

Two poetic versions of Dovbush’s death do not feature Dzvinka at all. The first,
Dobush and Baal Shem Tov, is a ballad by the Israeli poet Shimshon Meltser
(1909–2000), a native of Tlouste (Tlust, Galicia):

An aged Dobush, who fears God’s punishment in the world to come, goes to the Besht
in order to obtain absolution for his sins. He tries to bribe the Besht and to threaten
him, but he must repent and discard both his axe and his treasures. In the end Dobush
forbids his fighters to follow him and dies peacefully on Mount Hoverla.

The Besht’s teaching has succeeded in bringing light even to a sinner (Yaniv 1999,
46f.). This is a theme typical of the Hassidic folk ballad. My verse translation of
Dobush and Baal Shem Tov into Ukrainian can be found in my previous Ukrainian
article on Dovbush in Jewish culture (Fialkova 2007, 32–35); my Russian transla-
tion awaits publication. Meltser’s ballad enjoyed great popularity. After the publi-
cation of my paper in Hebrew (Fialkova 1998) I was contacted by an Israeli citizen,
Yoram Cohen, who introduced himself to me as Dobush. Being very fond of the
ballad, he had acquired this nickname which replaced his real name in everyday
use in his school years.
The second version is a ballad written in Ukrainian by a contemporary Israeli
poet, Daniel Kluger. He was born in 1951, graduated as a physicist from Simfero-
pol University in Ukraine and immigrated to Israel in 1994. His Ballad of Rabbi
Besht and Opryshok Dovbush was published in a newly created Ukrainian-lan-
guage Israeli journal. This ballad tells that Dovbush perished because he neglected
the Besht’s warning concerning his friend Ivan: the fact that Ivan did not cross
himself on seeing a church was for the Besht a sign of his betrayal (Kluger 2005).
An interesting explanation of Dovbush’s death can be found in a play written by
a Soviet Ukrainian poet of Jewish origin, Leonid Pervomaiskii (i.e., Ilia Gurevich,
1908–73), in 1940–46:

Upon getting his axe and invulnerability from ‘an old opryshok’, who replaces the devil
from Ukrainian folklore, Dovbush is warned not to hurt anybody in vain as the shed of
the innocent blood would cause his death. In his last moments Dovbush is surrounded
by the ghosts of the innocent people whose deaths he has unwillingly caused. Among
them is a Jewish girl, Susanna, the only daughter of Gedali, an innkeeper (korchmar),
who has committed suicide after the death of her beloved opryshok Yura. The latter
had been imprisoned and had taken poison in order to avoid torture. At the beginning
of the play Susanna wants to join the opryshoks together with Yura, but is rejected by

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12 Larisa Fialkova

Dovbush as their activity is not meant for women. Yet Dzvinka is admitted among
them and later betrays the hero, telling her husband how to kill him with magical
bullets. Thus the very success of Dzvinka’s betrayal is presupposed by Dovbush’s sins
(Pervomaiskii 1985–86, 387, 391–393, 405–407, 445f., 498–501, 503, 514–517).

Yet Dovbush’s story does not end with his death. At least two Jewish authors ad-
dress the belief in his afterlife which is popular in Ukrainian folklore.
Pervomaiskii’s short story Lights in the Carpathians: A Legend, written in 1944,
refers to certain events of the Second W orld War (the Great Patriotic W ar, as it was
called in the Soviet Union) that took place in the Carpathians on a winter’s night:

The Soviet soldiers cannot climb the mountains in the dark. They are shocked on
seeing bonfires on Dovbush’s rock. Many fall on their knees. They know that although
Dovbush had been magically killed by the bullet made with the addition of the twelve
grains of wheat in the wax, he did not die. He had entered the rock and is waiting for
the fighters who would come from the East. Of course, the bonfires, which become
numerous, have been lighted by the villagers to help the troops, but the power of the
legend is not to be underestimated. The legend that “it was Dovbush who struck fire
from the rock” is still alive (Pervomaiskii 1960, 364).

Another poet, Naftoly Gross (born 1895 in Kolomya, Galicia and died in 1958 in
New York), wrote many poems in Yiddish devoted to Dovbush (Dobush); eight of
them were translated for me into English. One of them is The Song of Baal Shem
Tov and Dobush (Gross 1958, 227f.). But this and other poems are not balladic in
nature and they lack a well-developed plot. To characterize Gross’s poetry devoted
to the great opryshok, it can be metaphorically called ‘In praise of Dobush’.
Sometimes the robber is equated to an animal: “Dobush arrives enthused as an ani-
mal from nocturnal revelry” (Gross 1958, 227), yet he is perceived as the Besht’s
equal and as an eternal figure. The latter trait is especially conspicuous in Gross’s
Fourth Song about Dobush:

“The lasses and the lads, they are grown old/ Dobush – he alone, he grows not old, not
older;/ He rules yet as once atop mountain and in wild wood,/ He guards the young
women and the wine in the cold”(Gross 1958, 141).

Sometimes Gross alluded to Dovbush in other poems, too, that are not expressly
dedicated to Dobush, as a symbol of poetic inspiration, as in The Life of the Poet:

“Here came Grandfather Mendele with his cart./ There a straggle of cripples and beg-
gars sang./ And wise Chuni, with young and old following him./ And Dobush the
mountain-robber with his gang./ And he in the midst of them, in front, at the side,/ Like
a girdle round the loins wound fast,/ So the life of the poet strides along,/ As though he
were a legend at last” (Gross 1961, 322).

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 Oleksa Dovbush: An Alternative Mythical Biography of the Ukrainian Hero 13

Conclusions

W e can now summarize an alternative mythical biography of Oleksa Dovbush in

Jewish culture:

Dovbush is born under extremely harsh circumstances to a widow, and scarcely

survives in his babyhood. His rescue by a bitch recalls the myth of Romulus and
Remus and the she-wolf. He resembles an animal, for example, by being very densely
covered with hair. In Jewish sources the central episodes of his biography are not
dealing with his attacks on the nobles1, but his encounters with a holy Hassid, in most
cases the Baal Shem Tov himself, although other great Hassidic rabbis can be found in
his place (cf. Shenhar 1987, 1–5). The atmosphere of these meetings ranges from
violence to friendship, but in most cases Dovbush repents in the end. Dzvinka’s
betrayal and magic bullets, which are central in Ukrainian folklore about Dovbush,
appear in some Jewish sources as well, but in a secondary role. In other cases this
treason may be absent altogether, and/or be replaced by the betrayal of his opryshok
comrades. A specific cause of his death in Jewish sources is defined by his violation of
the Besht’s instructions. Innocent victims, among whom are Jews, can be also seen as
one of the reasons for his death. Dovbush can be shot, poisoned, or he may die a
peaceful death. In rare cases he enjoys eternal life.

These elements partially correspond to Lord Raglan’s scheme of a mythical hero’s

biography. The entire model has twenty-two points, but the biography of a histori-
cal person rarely contains more than six of them (Raglan 1990, 138). Let us com-
pare this model with Dovbush’s alternative biography. According to the legend
(IFA 5167), Dovbush’s mother was a poor widow, and of course cannot be treated
as a virgin princess (point 1). Yet the mere fact that the legend deprives him of a
father is important. Real Dovbush was born into a full family. Immediately after his
birth he scarcely survived violent death, although not through a relative’s aggres-
sion (point 6). Nothing is known about his youth (point 9). Instead of defeating a
king or a monster (point 11) he repents before the Jewish holy man, and this act
wins him an outstanding position among all the other robbers. Dovbush is treated
as the king of the robbers (point 13). According to Lord Raglan, Robin Hood,
whose image is typologically close to Dovbush, is known as the king of the forest
(Raglan 1990, 146f.). He dies alone without a successor (point 20).
Jewish legends on the one hand show respect for Dovbush, but on the other they
subdue him. Here we observe a typical situation of cross-cultural migration of plots
and images. During the process of transformation Dovbush’s image is adapted to
other cultural norms. Thus he may be compared to an animal, he may be deprived
of magical power and may show no anti-Semitic views, and he may be connected
with the figure of a holy Jew. His attacks on the rich and Dzvinka’s betrayal are

1
In this respect it is important to note that Hrabovets’kyi, who addressed Pervomaiskii’s
play as belonging to Ukrainian literature and paid no attention at all to the Jewish
characters involved, stressed that the scenes of attacks on the Polish landowners are
absent in the play (Hrabovets’kyi 1994, 188f.).

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14 Larisa Fialkova

generally less important than in U krainian culture. Their place is taken by repen-
tance and/or by death as a result of not following the holy Jew’s instructions. Such
transformation can be compared, for example, with the modification of the image
of the Polish King Ian Sobieski in Jewish culture (Bar-Itzhak 2004).
The hero of the other is deprived of culturally unacceptable features by the
censorship of tradition, and is modified by the rules of the genres (Honko 1981).
The image of Dovbush in Jewish folklore supplements the image of the Besht (and
other holy Jews) in Ukrainian and Polish folklore as two sides of a single phenome-
non in neighbouring cultures (Belova 2005, 128–132; Ca³a 1995, 137–151; Noy
1960). The abundant presence of Oleksa Dovbush in Jewish literature also calls for
a re-examination of the way it represents Ukrainians (cf. Bartal 1990), and for an
anthology of the Jewish representations of this particular Ukrainian hero.

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Abstract

This paper analyzes the alternative biography of Oleksa Dovbush, a Ukrainian Robin Hood,
according to Jewish folklore and its reflection in Jewish literature. During the transforma-
tional process Dovbush’s image undergoes marked changes. He may be likened to an ani-
mal, as is typical for the image of the other, or he may be deprived of magical power and of
anti-Semitic attitudes and may repent before a pious Jew. This is a typical example of the
cross-cultural migration of plots and images.

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 Oleksa Dovbush: An Alternative Mythical Biography of the Ukrainian Hero 17

Résumé

Je me propose ici d’analyser la biographie alternative d’Oleksa Dovbush qui, selon le folk-
lore juif et ses reflets dans la littérature juive, était un Robin des Bois ukrainien. Pendant le
processus de transformation, l’image de Dovbush a connu de forts changements. Il peut être
assimilé à une bête, ce qui est typique de l’image de ‹ l’autre ›, il peut être dépourvu de pou-
voirs magiques et de tendences antisémites et il peut faire acte de pénitence devant un Juif
pieux. Nous sommes donc en présence d’une situation typique de la migration de sujets et
d’images à travers les cultures.

Zusammenfassung

Untersucht wird die alternative Biographie von Oleksa Dovbush, der jüdischer Volksüber-
lieferung und ihrer Widerspiegelung in der jüdischen Literatur zufolge ein ukrainischer
Robin Hood war. Im Transformationsprozeß machte Dovbushs Bild ausgeprägte Verände-
rungen durch. Er kann tierähnliche Züge verliehen bekommen, wie es für das Bild des
‚anderen‘ typisch ist, er kann seiner magischen Kräfte verlustig gehen und keine antisemi-
tischen Tendenzen mehr zeigen, und er kann vor einem frommen Juden Buße tun. Zu beob-
achten ist eine typische Situation der kulturübergreifenden Wanderung von Sujets und Bil-
dern.

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