YEKHIEL-SHAYE TRUNK

YEKHIEL-SHAYE TRUNK (March 15, 1887-July 7, 1961)

            He was born in the village of Osmulsk, near Loyvitsh, Warsaw district, Poland, into a family of rebbes, rabbis, and landowners.  On his father’s side, he was the grandson of the Hassidic rebbe, R. Yitskhok Vorker, and the brilliant sage, R. Shiyele Kutner; on his mother’s side, he was a grandson of Borekh Grzywacz, one of the richest Jews in Poland.  In his early youth, he moved to Lodz where he studied in religious primary school, with private teachers, and secular knowledge and foreign languages through self-study.  He married a granddaughter of Shaye Prywes, the “iron king” of Poland.  He traveled through Europe, Asia, and Africa on many occasions.  He lived in Israel, 1913-1914.  With the help of his father—who, despite being a Hassidic Jew, wrote poetry, knew European languages and literature, and was an admirer of Y. L. Perets—Trunk became a frequent visitor at Perets’s home.  Perets influenced him to abandon writing in Hebrew and make an effort to write in Yiddish.  “Why don’t you write Yiddish?” Perets asked him.  “Are you not destined, a son-in-law of the Pryweses, to write in the language of the children of tailors?”  (Trunk, Poyln [Poland], vol. 4, p. 289)  During the years of WWI, he lived in Switzerland and thereafter, 1919-1925, in Lodz where he contributed to the running of a textile firm.  He then lived in Warsaw where he chaired the Yiddish PEN Club in Poland in the 1930s.  When the Germans occupied Poland in 1939, he fled with the general tide to the East, living until mid-1940 in Vilna where he worked on a YIVO show based on Perets’s Baynakht afn altn mark (A night in the old marketplace), then traveling through Russia and Japan, and eventually reaching the United States.  He began writing in Hebrew with a work entitled [in English translation] The Diary of the Revolution in Lodz (1905), in which he described the Jewish revolutionaries at the barricades in the fight against the Tsarist regime (perhaps having begun at this time his devotion to the Bund, to which he belonged organizationally from 1923 and to which he remained a loyal follower until the end of his life).  He then wrote in Hebrew an autobiographical novel.  In 1907 he published (using the pen name Teyl) an essay—in which allegorically and with love depicted the Jewish revolutionaries—in the Orthodox Hakol (The voice) in Warsaw which was published under the supervision of Trunk’s brother-in-law, Reb Mendele, a brother of the Gerer Rebbe.  Aside from a series of essays entitled “Mitokh pinkasi” (From the records), he published in this journal poetry, short stories, and descriptions of nature.  In 1908 he switched completely to Yiddish.  He wrote landscapes, travel narratives, and nature scenes in: “Tsvishn berg” (Amid the mountains in Perets’s publication, Di yudishe vokhnshrift (The Yiddish weekly writing) (Warsaw, 1908); “Tsigayner” (Gypsies), in the anthology Yudish (Yiddish) (Warsaw, 1910); and “Der yam” (The sea), in Dos bukh un der lezer (The book and the reader) (Warsaw, 1911); among others.  From that point in time, he wrote poetry, stories, historical novellas, popular histories, novels, scholarly critical treatments, and articles in: Der fraynd (The friend), Di fraye shtime (The free voice) in Geneva (1917), Haynt (Today), Folks-tsaytung (People’s newspaper), Literarishe bleter (Literary leaves), Vokhnshrift far literatur (Weekly writing for literature), Foroys (Onward), Globus (The globe), Varshever almanakh (Warsaw almanac), Varshever shriftn (Warsaw writings), and Shriftn (Writings) edited by Sh. Zaromb–in Warsaw; Os (Letter) in Lodz-Warsaw; Lodzher veker (Lodz alarm) in Lodz; Vilner tog (Vilna day) and the anthology Untervegs (Pathways) in Vilna; Folksblat (People’s newspaper) and Ringen (Links) in Kovno; Tsukunft (Future), Zamlbikher (Anthologies) edited by H. Leivick and Y. Opatoshu, Tog (Day), Tog-morgn-zhurnal (Day morning journal), and Unzer tsayt (Our time) in New York; Lebns-fragn (Life issues), Di goldene keyt (The golden chain), Heymish (Familiar), Davar (Word), and Haboker (This morning)—in Tel Aviv; Idishe tsaytung (Jewish newspaper) and Unzer gedank (Our idea) in Buenos Aires; Kiem (Existence) and Unzer shtime (Our voice) in Paris; and more.

            His books include: Fun der natur, tsaykhenungen un peyzazhn (From nature, designs and landscapes), with illustrations by Artur Shik (Warsaw, 1914), 110 pp.; Faygenboymer un andere detseylungen (Fig trees and other stories), which includes his earlier translation of the Babylonian epic Gilgamesh (Warsaw, 1922), 144 pp.; Di velt—a kholem, eseyen (The world—a dream, essays)—including: “Troymer” (Dreamer), “Tsu der psikhologye fun der yidisher geshikhte” (On the psychology of Jewish history), “Vegn sholem-aleykhemen” (On Sholem-Aleykhem), “Dos bukh ‘iev’” (The book of Job), “Der toyt” (Death), “Vegn knut hamsun” (On Knut Hamsun), “Yidish” (Yiddish), which was a justification for Yiddishism, and “Vegn y. l. perets” (On Y. L. Perets)—(Warsaw, 1922), 116 pp.; Mide, dertseylungen (Weary, stories)—including: “Khurves” (Ruins), “In di berg” (In the muntains), and “A mayse fun a libe” (A story of love)—(Warsaw, 1923); Doryan grey, ophandlung vegen kunst un virklikhkeyt (Dorian Gray, a treatise on art and reality), “with a few words from M. Vanvild” (Warsaw, 1923), 64 pp. and 18 pp.; Idealizm un naturalizm in der yidisher literatur, tendentsn un vegn fun undzere moderne shriftshteler (Idealism and naturalism in Jewish literature, tendencies and paths taken by our modern writers) (Warsaw, 1927), 234 pp. with a 28-page portrayal, “Y. y. trunk in profil un anfas” (Y. Y. Trunk in profile and full face) by M. Vanvild; Yozefus flavyus fun yerusholaim un andere historishe noveln (Josephus Flavius of Jerusalem and other historical novellas)—including: “Der briv tsu navatusn” (The letter to Novatus), “Simpozyon” (Symposium), and “Abergloybn” (Superstitions), among others—(Warsaw, 1930), 206 pp.; Tsṿishn viln un onmekhtikeyt (h. d. nomberg) pruvn fun analiz un kharakteristik (Between will and powerlessness, H. D. Nomberg, attempts via analysis and characterization) (Warsaw, 1930), 185 pp.; Yidishe kultur-fragn un der sotsyalizm, pro domo nostra (Jewish cultural issues and socialism, for our house), with a preface in which Trunk introduces his way of believing in socialism (Warsaw, 1935), 55 pp.; Noent un fremd, eseyen (Close and foreign, essays) (Warsaw, 1936), 177 pp.; Sholem-aleykhem, zayn vezn un zayne verk (Sholem-Aleykhem, his essence and his work), with a preface “To the reader” in which Trunk introduces the motifs of his trilogy (Idealizm un naturalizm, Tsvishn viln un unmekhtikeyt, and this volume) (Warsaw, 1937), 434 pp. and 4 pp.; Velt kheshbn, proze un lider vegn der velt (World accounting, prose and poetry about the world) (Warsaw, 1938), 80 pp. and 2 pp.; Sotsyalistishe impresyes (Socialist impressions) (Warsaw, 1939), 45 pp., given as an award to the Bundist literary periodical Foroys in Warsaw; Tevye der milkhiker, shikzal un bitokhn (Tevye the milkman, fate and faith), “a psychological-philosophical insight into Tevye’s world with the background of the Jewish disposition” (Vilna, 1939), 208 pp., appearing later in a revised edition with “a word to the reader” (New York, 1944), 302 pp.; Bleter afn vint, lider (Leaves in the wind, poetry), “songs from of old” (New York, 1944), 126 pp.  An especially large impression was made by his epical work, Poyln, zikhroynes un bilder (Poland, memories and images), seven volumes (New York: Unzer tsayt)—chapters of which appeared in the Yiddish press throughout the world—in which he portrays “the picture of my life in the setting and in relation to the image of Jewish life in Poland” (from the preface to vol. 1).  The order of the seven volumes runs as follows: 1. Genealogye fun oves (Genealogy of the ancestors) (1944), 352 pp.; 2. Kinder yorn (Childhood years) (1946), 318 pp.; 3. Yugnt (Youth) (1946), 287 pp.; 4. Di priveses (The Pryweses) (1949), 304 pp.; 5. Perets (Perets)—here he also dealt with the environment and the awakening of Yiddish literature at that time in Poland—(1949), 308 pp.; 6. Lodzh tsvishn beyde velt-milkhomes (Lodz between the two world wars) (1951), 244 pp.; 7. Varshe tsvishn beyde velt-milkhomes (Warsaw between the two world wars), with “several words” by the author about the fact that this work was written “not only in light of objective truth, but also in light of subjective poetry” (1953), 275 pp.—for which he received Louis Lamed Prize.  “More than anything,” noted Shmuel Niger, “Poyln was a work created by an artist and his artistic meditative disposition, created over the course of the decade of the Holocaust in Europe.  This was a book in which a profoundly sensitive writer provided a possibility to speak about the deep-rootedness of Jewish Poland and thus avoid speaking about being uprooted.”

            A special manifestation of Trunk’s artistic works was the innovative popular novels which he wrote in his last years.  These would include: Simkhe plakhte fun narkove, oder der yidisher don kikhot (Sinkhe Plakhte from Narkove, or the Jewish Don Quixote), “based on the wonderful tales of Yankl Lerer,” recipient of the Tsvi Kessel Prize (Buenos Aires, 1951), 375 pp. (published initially in installments in Tog-morgn-zhurnal in New York, Idishe tsaytung in Buenos Aires, and Unzer shtime in Paris, among other serials); Khelemer khakhomim, oder yidn fun der kligster shtot in der velt, mayses fun dem khelemer pinkes, vos men hot nisht lang tsurik gefunen oyf a boydem fun a mikve (Wise men of Chełm, or Jews from the wisest city in the world, stories from the records of Chełm which were recently discovered in an attic of a ritual bath), with a preface by the author and drawings by Y. Shlos (Buenos Aires, 1951), 348 pp. (Y. Shlos’s drawings also appeared in a special album under the same title: Khelemer khakomim [Buenos Aires, 1951], 20 pp.); Der freylekhster yid in der velt, oder hersheles lern-yorn, folkstimlekher roman fun lebn fun hershele ostropolyer (The happiest Jew in the world, or Hershele’s school year, a popular novel from the life of Hershele Ostropolyer), with “several words” from the author (Buenos Aires, 1953), 378 pp.; Di velt iz ful mit nisim, oder mayse migimel akhim (The world is full of miracles, a story of three brothers), a “popular novel following Yankl Lerer, known as Morgenshtern, from the city of Lodz,” with a prefatory essay, “Yidisher mitos” (Jewish myth), and a poem (Buenos Aires, 1955), 327 pp.; Meshiekh-geviter, historisher roman fun di tsaytn fun shapse tsvi (Messianic thunderstorm, historical novel from the times of Shabetai Zvi), eight parts, with the addition of a “ninth part” (a dialogue between a reader and the author, pp. 134-65), which deals with a variety of philosophical problems of Jewish history and Jewish nationality, and published together with Yidn kukn fun di fentster, elef mayses fun bal-shem (Jewish look out from the window, eleven stories of the Bal Shem [Tov]) (New York: CYCO and Buenos Aires: Yidbukh, 1961), altogether 357 pp.  Also, added to the front of the novel is a preface entitled “Perzenlekhe khezhboynes” (Personal accounting), in which the author offers a philosophical-artistic meditation on his own calling as a writer and his writerly pathway until this novel.  At the end of the eleven tales of the Bal Shem Tov, there is a “Glossary of Kabbalah Terminology” used in the book.  In 1958 he also published Kvaln un beymer, historishe noveln un eseys (Springs and trees, historical novels and essays), a selection of new and freshly adapted historical novellas and essays (New York, 468 pp.).  Trunk also (with Arn Tsaytlin) compiled Antologye fun der yidisher proze in poyln tsvishn beyde velt milkhomes (1914-1939) (Anthology of Yiddish prose in Poland between the two world wars, 1914-1939) (New York, 1946), 637 pp., and himself published: Di yidishe proze in poyln in der tekufe tsvishn beyde ṿelt milkhomes (Yiddish prose in Poland in the era of the two world wars), essays on Jewish writers in Poland from the classical writers to the youngest (New York, 1949), 154 pp.  With Noyekh Prilucki and Yisroel Rabok, he edited the collection of Jewish writer-refugees in Lithuania: Untervegs (Pathways) (Vilna, 1940).  His work on anti-Semitism in English translation appeared in a periodical for psychiatrists, The Psychiatric Quarterly (New York) (March 1958).  Several of his writings were also published in Commentary and other English-language Jewish periodicals in the United States.  He fresh reworking of Mayse mit di zibn betlers (Tale of seven beggars), according to Rabbi Nakhmen Braslaver, was published in Hebrew translation by Aharon Vaisman: 7 kabtsanim (Seven beggars) (Tel Aviv, 1957), 50 pp.  Several letters from Perets to Trunk were published in Yivo-bleter (Pages from YIVO) (Vilna) (1937), pp. 183-90.  In June 1961, he began to publish in Tog-morgn-zhurnal a long novella on the life of the Bal Shem Tov and his tales.  Posthumously: Zikhroynes, folks-mayses, lider (Memoirs, folktales, poetry) (Buenos Aires, 1980), 338 pp.

            On July 7, 1961, Trunk died after a long illness at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.  The older writer and thinker knew that he was dying and took his leave quietly with his friends.  His death made a deep impression on all Yiddish writers and Yiddish readers around the world.  The obituaries and articles about the deceased in the newspapers and magazines were extraordinarily numerous.  “To a considerable extent,” wrote A. Glants-Leyeles, “Y. Y. Trunk was generally under-appreciated in our literature.  One had first of all to ‘unearth’ his writings, then dig deeply into them, as they deserve, and then one will discern in full the great scope that Y. Y. Trunk signified and his place in Yiddish literature….  His entire conscious life, Y. Y. Trunk was consumed with the fate of the Jewish people and the Yiddish language.  The tragic national path of history continually called to him.  The catastrophe that befell Polish Jewry—intertwined with great personal anguish—had the effect on him of an untreatable wound.  It was often difficult for him to find the form to give voice to his inner pain.  He fluctuated between the grotesque and the folkloric, seeking a port in irony.”  “In his seven-volume biographical work Poyln…,” noted B. Shefner, “one sees the Polish Jews in all of their colors and with all their virtues and their weaknesses as well.  When Trunk fantasizes, when he recounts extraordinary tales and exaggerations, you see no less than a Polish Jew, as when Trunk recounts genuine facts….  In an exaggeration, in an extravagance of colors and sounds, you see Trunk the genuine Polish Jew, with his broad scope, with his enormous appetite, with his Hassidic exaltation, with his abundance of ideas and fantasy.”  “The goal to which Trunk strove practically his entire life,” wrote Yitskhok Kharlash, “was, as was the case for the great masters: to have insight into the secrets of nature, into the mystery of life, and to discover the cosmic union of transitory people and eternal nature….  The philosophical idea was for Trunk always moving forward.  And, the path of his philosophical conception was irrational, metaphorical, even mysterious….  Through the irrational world, he sought to uncover the answer to the conundrums of the rational world.  It emerged that Trunk moved in the world of ideas between two planes at the same time: a higher metaphorical plan and lower realistic plane, in the world of matter.”  “Y. Y. Trunk’s pathway to the Bund,” noted Y. Sh Herts, “followed a natural, assured route….  He carried in his memory for his entire life the images of ardent and violent demonstrations of the Bundists through the streets of Lodz, which he observed through the window of his spacious home….  He joined the Bund in his fully mature years, with a distinctive life experience and with an independent philosophy of life.  Bundism coincided with his entire world view, with his outlook on Jewish history, Jewish fate, and [Jewish] life.”  “Trunk’s Bundism,” wrote Yitskhok Varshavski [Isaac Bashevis Singer], “did not match his literary esprit….  Trunk attempted to combine ideas which by no means ought be combined….  Trunk was philosophically a monist.  He often repeated the words that the truth is singular,… and thus one cannot be something like two ideas wherein one denies the other.  With the power of analysis, Trunk vied to make peace between fire and water.”  “Y. Y. Trunk had within himself,” noted Meylekh Ravitsh, “all the qualities, all the attributes of a leading…figure in our Yiddish literature.  And, only one virtue is he missing—the ambition to be a leader….  Trunk was one of the greatest storytellers in our literature….  He was one of the most profound commentators on our classical writers, especially on Sholem-Aleykhem.  He was a student of and in a certain sense a successor to Perets and Sholem-Aleykhem.  They were both in their own distinctive way integrated into his plentiful writings.”

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 1; Shmuel Niger, in Evreiskaya zhizn’ (St. Petersburg) (May 1910); Niger, in Der fraynd (St. Petersburg) (June 5, 1910); Niger, in Tsukunft (New York) (August 1922; July 1938); Niger, in Tog (New York) (June 9, 1933; October 8, 1933; October 17, 1937; June 18, 1944; November 11, 1945; March 20, 1950; June 25, 1950; May 3, 1953; September 27, 1953; October 4, 1953; May 24, 1954); Niger, Bleter geshikhte fun der yidisher literatur (Pages of history from Yiddish literature) (New York, 1959), pp. 230, 353, 354; Bal-Makhshoves, in Der fraynd (May 12, 1914); Sh. Mendelson, in Tsukunft (January 1946); Mendelson, Sloyme mendelson, zayn lebn un shafn (Shloyme Mendelson, his life and work) (New York, 1949), see index; L. Finkelshteyn, in Nasz Przegląd (Warsaw) (May 25, 1923; February 15, 1925; July 2, 1927; April 23, 1935; December 28, 1937); Finkelshteyn, in Foroys (Warsaw) 10 (1938); Dr. Y. Shiper, Nasz Przegląd (January 6, 1924); Shiper, in Opinia (Warsaw) (May 2, 1936); Khayim Leyb Fuks, in Der fraytog (Lodz-Warsaw) 3 (May 5, 1924); Fuks, in Lodzher folksblat (Lodz) (December 9, 1924); Fuks, in Unzer shtime (Paris) (June 23-24, 1955); Fuks, in Fun noentn over (New York) 3 (1957), pp. 192, 323; Y. Likhtenshteyn, in Lodzher veker (Lodz) (February 6, 1924; June 15, 1925); A. Gurshteyn, in Tsaytshrift (Minsk) 1 (1926); Sh. Zaromb, in Literarishe bleter (Warsaw) (April 1, 1931); Y. Rapaport, in Fraye shriftn (Warsaw) (October 1931); N. Veynig, in Literarishe bleter (September 19, 1933); Y. Botoshanski, Portretn fun yidishe shrayber (Portraits of Yiddish writers) (Warsaw, 1933), pp. 106-12; Botoshanski, in Di prese (Buenos Aires) (March 22, 1948; May 2, 1951; September 5, 1953; September 7, 1957; December 31, 1957; July 21, 1961; July 23, 1961); Elye Shulman, in Shikago (Chicago) (November 1935); Shulman, in Getseltn (New York) (April-May 1947; summer 1947); Shulman, in Unzer tsayt (New York) (November 1953); Shulman, in Der veker (New York) (May 1, 1954); Y. Trank, in Literarishe bleter (April 3, 1936); Avrom Reyzen, in Di feder (New York) (1939; 1949); Itsik Manger, in Foroys (Warsaw) (January 21, 1938); Manger, in Der veker (March 1, 1955); Y. Volf, Kritishe minyaturn (Critical miniatures) (Cracow, 1939), pp. 37-48; Arn Tsaytlin, in Tog (New York) (April 9, 1941); Y. Bashevis, in Tsukunft (August 1943); Bashevis, Forverts (New York) (April 7, 1946; December 4, 1949; December 25, 1949; September 17, 1961 [as Y. Varshavski]); Dr. A. Mukdoni, in Morgn-zhurnal (New York) (July 11, 1944; December 18, 1949; December 2, 1951; January 20, 1952); Mukdoni, in Tsukunft (February 1955); Mukdoni, In varshe un in lodzh (In Warsaw and in Lodz) (Buenos Aires, 1955), see index; A. S. Lirik, in Idisher kemfer (New York) (June 23, 1944); V. Shulman, in Der veker (October 15, 1944); V. Shulman, in Di shtime (Mexico City) (February 24, 1945); N. Mayzil, in Yidishe kultur (New York) (May 1944; June 1957; November 1958; August-September 1961); Mayzil, Geven amol a lebn (Once was a life) (Buenos Aires, 1951), pp. 39, 107; Mayzil, Y. l. erets un zayn dor shrayber (Y. L. Perets and his generation of writers) (New York, 1951), see index; Mayzil, Noente un eygene, fun yankev dinezon biz hirsh glik (Near and one’s own, from Yankev Dinezon to Hirsch Glick) (New York, 1957), pp. 18, 19, 236; Meylekh Ravitsh, in Keneder odler (Montreal) (June 12, 1944; January 21, 1952; July 17, 1961); Ravitsh, Mayn leksikon (My lexicon), vol. 1 (Montreal, 1945), pp. 107-9; Ravitsh, in Letste nayes (Tel Aviv) (September 5, 1954; May 24, 1957); Ravitsh, in Unzer tsayt (New York) (April-May 1960); Ravitsh, in Di prese (July 15, 1961); Ravitsh, in Fraye arbeter-shtime (New York) (October 15, 1961); H. Rogof, in Forverts (June 25, 1944); H. Leivick, in Tog (November 18, 1945); Y. Hofer, in Dos naye lebn (Lodz) (October 9, 1946); Y. Hart, interview with the author on his Poyln, in Der veker (November 15, 1946); Dr. Shloyme Bikl, Di yidishe esey (The Yiddish essay) (New York, 1946), pp. 139, 142; Bikl, Shrayber fun mayn dor (Writers of my generation) (New York, 1958), p. 281; Yankev Glatshteyn, In tokh genumen (In essence) (New York, 1947), p. 475; Glatshetyn, in Sholem-aleykhem zamlbukh (Sholem-Aleykhem anthology) (Paris, 1959); B. Ts. Goldberg, in Morgn-frayhayt (New York) (October 31, 1947); A. Z. Aescoly, Kehilah lodzh (The community of Lodz) (Jerusalem, 1948), p. 208; Kh. Sh. Kazdan, in Unzer tsayt (New York) (October 1949); Kazdan, in Foroys (Mexico City) (September 1951); Y. Horn, in Idishe tsaytung (Buenos Aires) (November 15, 1949; September 2, 1951; January 24, 1954); A. Leyeles, in Tog (January 16, 1951; August 21, 1954; May 14, 1955; July 16, 1955; July 27, 1955; August 27, 1955; April 3, 1957; November 1, 1959; Leyeles, in Tsukunft (May-June 1957); Leyeles, Velt un vort (World and word) (New York, 1958), pp. 101-9; E. Novogrudski, in Unzer tsayt (June 1953); Novogrudski, in Foroys (Mexico City) (August 1, 1953); Y. Yonasovitsh, in Di naye tsayt (Buenos Aires) 277 (1953); Yonasovitsh, in Di prese (August 4, 1954); N. B. Minkov, in Unzer tsayt (September 1953); Minkov, in Tsukunft (December 1954); Y. Pat, Shmuesn mit yidishe shrayber (Conversations with Yiddish writers) (New York, 1954), pp. 114-29; Froym Kaganovski, in Morgn-frayhayt (February 7, 1955; May 23, 1955); Kaganovski, Shriftn (Writings) (Paris, 1957), p. 21; B. Y. Byalostotski, Kholem un vor, eseyen (Dream and reality, essays) (New York, 1956), p. 358; Byalostotski, in Kultur un dertsiung (New York) (October 1961); B. Shefner, Novolipye 7, zikhroynes un eseyen (Nowolipie 7, memoirs and essays) (Buenos Aires, 1955), p. 77; Yitskhok Kharlash, in Unzer tsayt (June-July 1957); Y. Sh. Herts, in Unzer tsayt (August 1957); Dr. A. A. Robak, Di imperye yidish (The imperium of Yiddish) (Mexico City, 1958), see index; Z. Vaynper, Shrayber un kinstler (Writers and artists) (New York, 1958), p. 35; E. Fershleyser, Af shrayberishe shlyakhn, kritishe eseyen (On writerly paths, critical essay) (New York, 1958), pp. 60-70; Sh. D. Zinger, Dikhter un prozaiker (Poet and prose writer) (New York, 1959), pp. 159-78; Zinger, in Unzer veg (New York) (August-September 1961); Dr. E. Noks, in Tsukunft (October 1959); Y. Pat, in Tsukunft (May-June 1961); obituary notices in Forverts, Tog, Morgn-zhurnal, and New York Times (all New York) (July 11, 1961); A. Alperin, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (July 11, 1961); funeral descriptions in Forverts and Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New York) (July 11, 1961); A. Glants-Leyeles, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (July 12, 1961); Glants-Leyeles, in Unzer tsayt (July-August 1961); B. Shefner, in Forverts (July 15, 1961); M. R., in Di shtime (Mexico City) (July 15, 1961); G. Pomerants, in Der idisher zhurnal (Toronto) (July 17, 1961); P. Shteynvaks, in Di prese (July 24, 1961); Dr. E. Sherer, Y. Kharlash, and Y. Sh. Herts, in Unzer tsayt (July-August 1961); E. Almi, in Fraye arbeter-shtime (August 1, 1961); Y. L. Sh., in Der veker (August 1, 1961); Rokhl Mints, in Der idisher zhurnal (August 31, 1961); Avrom Shulman, in Der veker (September 1, 1961); A. Byaler, in Unzer tsayt (September 1961); K. S. Pinson, in Jewish Social Studies (New York) (April 1947); Uriel Weinreich, in The Field of Yiddish (New York, 1954), p. 263.

Khayim Leyb Fuks

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 287.]