Paulina Tajman

When she passed away on April 30, 2008, having just celebrated her centenary, Paulina Tajman Maurer was in fact "The Last Mohican" of Pre WWII Yiddish Theatre. She was born in Buenos Aires to Bessaravian Jews who fled Chisinau right after the infamous Pogrom and settled in a modest apartment right in the center of the Argentinean equivalent to Broadway, Corrientes street. As a close neighbor to the Jewish Theatre Halls she found herself attracted to the lime lights (then true lime lights!) and began acting at age 14, first as a Chorus Girl and shortly after wards in true speaking parts, the first one being in Mina Axelrod's production of "Bar Mitzvah" where she was cast as the "boy". Her singing voice, figure and musicality were perfect for Musicals and Operettas and she performed both as Prima Donna and Soubrette along visiting Theatre Legends like Moyshe Oysher, Itzik Feld, Benzion Vitler, Michael Michaelescu, Menashe Skulnik, Yakobson, the Bursteins and many more. Between seasons the Cooperative of Jewish Players played Operettas starring Max Perlman and Gitta Galina and Paulina was always the co star. During the "serious" theatrical season she played dramas along Herman Yablokov, Morris Schwartz, Jacob Ben-Ami, 'Yossef Bullof' and many more. She met her husband, actor 'Jose Maurer' shortly after his arrival to Argentina in 1927. Together they played the Argentinean stage and toured all over South and Central America with great success. In 1963 they made Aliah (emigrated to Israel) and kept playing with the leading stars of Yiddish Stage. Maurer died in 1968, while performing in a play with Henry Gerro and Rosita Londner. His death brought for the first time in the history of Yiddish Theatre to a standstill of all activities for the length of the week of Shiveh. Paulina kept performing until age 85 and appeared along Ida Kaminska (as the in law of Mirele Efros), Lia Kenig, Yossef Buloff, Zygmunt Turkow, Max Perlman, Shimen Dzigan, Yankale Bodo and many more. She retired after 71 years on stage and missed the stage every day until her final curtain at 100 years and five days.