MORTKHE-VELVL BERNSHTEYN

MORTKHE-VELVL BERNSHTEYN (June 14, 1905-April 21, 1966)

            He was born in Biten (Byteń), Grodno district.  He studied with his father in religious primary school, in the yeshivas of Baranovich, Slonim, and Bialystok, as well as in a Hebrew teachers’ seminary in Vilna.  He worked as a bookkeeper and a carpenter.  He was secretary of the trade unions in Slonim and participated in the secretariat of the central committee of the Bund in Poland.  He later served as secretary and bibliographer for YIVO in Buenos Aires.  He debuted in print with articles concerning Yiddish and Hebrew in Zangen (Ears [of corn]), reproduced hectographically in Biten (1925).  In August 1940 he was arrested in Vilna by Soviet authorities and deported to Soviet prisons and camps.  He returned to Poland in 1946 and then left in 1948.  After living in Germany for three years, he emigrated from there to Argentina.  He published work in: Yugnt-veker (Youth alarm), Folks-tsaytung (People’s newspaper), Undzer tsayt (Our time), Vokhnshrift far literatur (Weekly writing for literature), Yidishe shriftn (Yiddish writings), and Głos Bundu (Voice of the Bund—in Polish)—all in Warsaw; Der veg (The way), Der morgn (The morning), Dos vort (The word), and Naye yidishe tsaytung (New Jewish newspaper)—in Munich; Vokhnblat (Weekly newspaper) in Bergen Belsen; Allgemeine Wochenzeitung der Juden in Deutschland (General weekly newspaper for Jews in Germany) in Dusseldorf (in German); Gemeinde Nachrichten (Community news) in Mannheim; Hapoel hatsair (The young worker) and Yeda am (Folklore) in the state of Israel; Undzer gedank (Our thought), Kolonist kooperator (Colonist cooperative), Dos naye vort (The new word), Davke (Necessarily), Naye ilustrirte bleter (New illustrated leaves), Der shpigl (The mirror), Di idishe tsaytung (The Jewish newspaper), and Shul fragn (School issues)—all in Argentina.  He was also co-editor of the anthology Yoyvl-bukh tsum 50stn yoyvl fun “bund” (Celebratory volume for the fiftieth anniversary of the Bund) (Warsaw), Undzer gedank, Yorbikher fun der kehile (Annuals of the Jewish community) (Buenos Aires, 1953/1954 and 1954/1955), and Pinkas biten (Records of Biten).  He was devoted to historical, folkloric, and linguistic research.  Among his books: In labirintn fun tkufes (In the labyrinths of epochs) (Buenos Aires, 1955), 400 pp.; Nisht derbrente sheytn (Unburnt chunks of wood) (Buenos Aires: YIVO, 1956), 348 pp.; Der seyfer, undzer fon, monografyes tsu der geshikhte firhundert fuftsik yor fun yidishn druk vezn (The book, our banner, monographs on the 450-year history of Jewish publishing institutions) (Buenos Aires: Bikher-velt, 1957); Dos iz geven nusekh ashkenaz (That was Ashkenazi style) (Buenos Aires: Yidbukh, 1960), 345 pp.  He also wrote a foreword to a book by Mikhl Grines, Ven dos lebn hot geblit (When life bloomed), memoirs (Buenos Aires, 1954).  In a separate offprint from the 1954/1955 annual: Takones bay yidn kegn luksus un oysbrengeray (Rules among Jews against luxury and squander); also: Yidish-glosar fun khayey odom (The Yiddish glossary from the “Life of Man”) (Buenos Aires: YIVO, 1955), 32 pp.  He also edited Pinkas fun finf fartilikte kehiles (The records of five destroyed communities) (Buenos Aires, 1958), 972, 13 pp.  He died in New York.

Sources: Y. Pat, in Tsukunft (New York) (July-August 1955); Sh. Trunk, in Unzer tsayt (New York) (November 1955).

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 111.]