Y. DEMBES

Y. DEMBES (b. June 18, 1904)

            This was the literary name used by Yankev-Dovid Daytsher.  He was born in Radom, Poland, into a Hassidic household.  He received a traditional Jewish education in primary school and yeshiva, and later through self-study he acquired secular knowledge.  From a young age, he was active in the Jewish labor movement.  In 1925 he moved to Paris and worked in various trades.  He spent the years of WWII and the German occupation in France.  He began writing political journalistic articles in the illegal and semi-legal publications: Der glok (The bell) and Der funk (The spark) in Warsaw (1921-1922); Dos lebn (Life) in Cracow (1922); Tsum kamf (To the fight) in Warsaw (1923); and elsewhere.  In 1928 he published stories and novellas of Jewish working-class life in such serials as Parizer zhurnal (Parisian journal) and Naye prese (New press).  After WWII, he contributed to Unzer shtime (Our voice) in Paris.  A number of his novellas were republished in various newspapers in North America, Argentina, and other countries.  He was living in Paris.