[1] Although the journal's circulation had fallen dramatically, donations solicited from the United States, France and Argentina in the early 1990s enabled Vergelis to continue publishing the journal under the name Di Yidishe Gas (Yiddish די יידישע גאַס - "The Jewish Street") from 1993 until his death in July 1999.
In addition, the fact that Sovetish Heymland was authorized by the government indicated to some that Vergelis was merely a mouthpiece for Soviet propaganda.
In the 25th anniversary issue of Sovetish Heymland in August 1986, Vergelis announced that the journal had published 76 novels, 109 novellas, 1,478 short stories, 6,680 poems, and 1,628 articles dealing with literary criticism and the arts.
[6] As the only Yiddish-language journal that was officially allowed by the Soviet authorities from the 1960s through the 1980s, Sovetish Heymland, under the editorship of Vergelis, was connected with almost all of the period's cultural output.
Vergelis became an "unofficial censor of all Yiddish-language literature and the chief Central Committee consultant on matters relating to Soviet Jews.