LEYZER TREYSTER

LEYZER TREYSTER (April 15, 1905-January 22, 1981)

            He was born in Apt (Opatów), Poland.  He studied in religious primary school, yeshiva, and senior high school.  He was active in the community with “Hashomer” (The guard) and later with both the right and left Labor Zionists.  He was secretary of the association of local trade unions.  For three years he was a teacher in the local school run by Tsisho (Central Jewish School Organization) and traveled through the Polish Jewish towns as a speaker on political and literary topics.  In 1927 he moved to Canada where he worked as a teacher in Jewish schools.  He moved to the United States in 1937 where he also worked in the teaching profession.  He debuted in print in 1928 in the Canadian weekly Der kamf (The struggle) with a story entitled “Behemes” (Beasts), and from that point he published (also using such pen names as: Royze Vaysblum, L. Berman, L. Katsevitsh, Khane Stitski, and Arn Lipman) novels, stories, and articles in: Morgn-frayhayt (Morning freedom), Forverts (Forward), Tog (Day), Tog-morgn-zhurnal (Day morning journal), Idisher kemfer (Jewish fighter), Tsukunft (Future), and Kultur un dertsiung (Culture and education)—in New York; Kiem (Existence) in Paris; Davke (Necessarily) in Buenos Aires; Tint un feder (Ink and pen) in Toronto; Literarishe bleter (Literary leaves) in Warsaw; Heymish (Familiar) in Tel Aviv; and other serials as well.  With B. Demblin and Berish Vaynshteyn, he co-edited the anthology Hemshekh (Continuation) 1 (New York, 1939).  He also contributed a long story to Zamlbikher (Collections) 1 (1936), pp. 63-123, edited by H. Leivik.  His books include: In di shtile teg, roman (In the quite days, a novel) (Warsaw: Literarishe bleter, 1933), 199 pp.—the critics warmly welcomed Treyster’s maiden work: “The new writer possesses an abundant, a colorful, and an effervescent language, the rich vocabulary of Polish Yiddish” (Dr. A. Mukdoni); Ariber di bregn (Overflown) (New York: M. Sh. Shklarski, 1942), 332 pp.—a novel of Polish Jewish life; Der pastekh-kenig, biblishe tragedye in 5 aktn (The shepherd king, a biblical tragedy in five acts) (New York: CYCO, 1955), 180 pp., staged by Maurice Schwartz in the revived Art Theater in 1955—in 1949 he won the “IFT” award in Buenos Aires for this play then in manuscript under the title “Der kenig shoyel” (King Saul); Di vizye bay der vaysl, roman (The view by the Vistula, a novel) (New York: CYCO, 1971), 238 pp.; Bay di taykhn fun nyu-york, roman (By the rivers of New York, a novel) (New York: Sholem, 1978), 345 pp.; Der sheliekh fun oves-land, roman (The emissary from the Holy Land, a novel) (Tel Aviv: Amkho, 1981), 509 pp.  In 1953 he received the Al. Shapiro Prize from the World Jewish Culture Congress in New York for Opshtam (Parentage), in manuscript.  He translated Dr. Sh. Belkin’s Di filozofye fun tsvek (The philosophy of purpose) (New York, 1959), 36 pp.  In the Forverts in 1981, they published his novel of life in a kibbutz, entitled Uri der sabre (Uri the sabra).  He died in New York.

Sources: Dr. A. Mukdoni, in Morgn-zhurnal (New York) (March 29, 1933; June 17, 1936; December 23, 1942; April 7, 1946); Mukdoni, in Tsukunft (New York) (April 1956); Y. Bashevis, in Globus (Warsaw) (1933); Bashevis, in Tsukunft (June 1939); Y. Opatoshu, in Literarishe bleter (Warsaw) (February 10, 1933); L. Finkelshteyn, in Literarishe bleter (September 15, 1933); Shmuel Niger, in Tog (New York) (May 5, 1935); Meylekh Ravitsh, in Fraye arbeter-shtime (New York) (September 25, 1936); Y. Entin, in Idisher kemfer (New York) (July 29, 1938; September 4, 1942); Y. Botoshanski, in Di prese (Buenos Aires) (August 9, 1939; February 12, 1956; February 15, 1956); Kalmen Marmor, in Der hamer (New York) (May 1939); Der Lebediker, in Morgn-zhurnal (January 30, 1949); Der Lebediker, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New York) (November 14, 1955); Shloyme Bikl, in Idisher kemfer (Passover issue, 1954); H. Leivick, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (September 30, 1955); A. Leyeles, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (December 17, 1955); B. Ts. Goldberg, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (October 23, 24, 25, 1955); B. Shefner, in Forverts (New York) (November 5, 1955); Z. Kamay, in Idisher kemfer (January 8, 1960).

Zaynvl Diamant

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 288.]