ARN HARENDORF

ARN HARENDORF (December 18, 1904-March 20, 1979)

            He was born in Chentshin (Chęciny) and raised in Kelts (Kielce), Poland.  He studied in religious elementary school, later becoming a laborer in a tannery.  He lived for a time in Vienna, thereafter settling in Belgium.  He debuted in print with a piece entitled “Peysekh” (Passover) in a Lodz newspaper edited by Shaye Shpigl.  In 1925 he emigrated to Brussels where he was a Zionist activist.  He would later contribute to Di yidishe prese (The Jewish press) in Antwerp.  He was a correspondent from Belgium for: Moment (Moment) in Warsaw; Folksblat (People’s newspaper) in Lodz; Frimorgn (Morning) in Riga; Tshernovitser bleter (Czernowitz pages) in which he published a series of articles entitled “Fertsik yor yidish teater in belgye” (Forty years of Yiddish theater in Belgium); and, after WWII: Morgn-zhurnal (Morning journal) in New York; Idishe tsaytung (Jewish newspaper) in Buenos Aires; Haboker (This morning) in Tel Aviv; and Dos vort (The word) in Paris.  He was co-editor of Unzer vort (Our word) in Paris and editor of Undzer marokineri-zhurnal (Our leather-goods journal) in Belgium.  In 1951 he moved and settled in Israel, and there he became a regular contributor to Nayvelt (New world) in Tel Aviv, in which he wrote under the pen name “A. Dorf.”  He also wrote for Letste nayes (Latest news) in Tel Aviv and Di prese (The press) in Buenos Aires.  He also used the pseudonyms: Helesman, Ben Yoysef, Arele Datshnik, and Gazdres Eynikl.  He died in Brussels.

Source: H. Bibtovski, in Unzer vort (Paris) (March 3, 1979).

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 190.]