MOYSHE ZONSHAYN (M. ZONSZAIN)

MOYSHE ZONSHAYN (M. ZONSZAIN) (July 26, 1906-August 27, 1960)

            He was born in Warsaw, Poland.  He studied in religious elementary schools, in Metivta Yeshiva in Warsaw, and later studied business.  During WWII, he was in Russia.  Early in 1946 he returned to Poland, later moving on to Paris, and then to Israel.  He began publishing stories, features, and reportage pieces in: Dos naye lebn (The new life) in Lodz; later, in Kiem (Existence) and Yidish (Yiddish) in Paris; Di goldene keyt (The golden chain), Dos vort (The word), and Nay-velt (New world) in Tel Aviv; Folk un tsien (People and Zion) in Jerusalem; Morgn-zhurnal (Morning journal) and Idisher kemfer (Jewish fighter) in New York; Idishe tsaytung (Jewish newspaper) and Di prese (The press) in Buenos Aires; Afrikaner idishe tsaytung (African Jewish newspaper) in Johannesburg; and others.  In Hebrew he published in: Haboker (This morning), Emet (Truth), and Ashmoret (Night watch) in Israel.  In book form: Yidish varshe (Jewish Warsaw) (Buenos Aires, 1954), 212 pp.  He wrote as well under the pen names: M. Zohar and M. Zon.  He was a committee member of the Labor Zionists in Warsaw and Lodz; and he was a member of the central committee of the Labor Zionists’ Hitaḥdut (“union” of young Zionists) in France.  He was as well a committee member of the Yiddish literary association in Paris and Israel.  He was living in Jerusalem and working for the radio programs “Voice of Zion to the Diaspora” and “Voice of Israel to the Immigrant.”  He died in Jerusalem.

Sources: Y. Pat, in Tsukunft (New York) (March 1955); V. Gliksman, in Yivo-bleter (New York) (1956), pp. 289-98; M. Ravitsh, Mayn leksikon (My lexicon), vol. 3 (Montreal, 1958), pp. 177-78.