KHAVER-PAVER (CHAVER-PAVER)

KHAVER-PAVER (CHAVER-PAVER) (November 8, 1900 or January 6, 1901-December 4, 1964)

            The pseudonym of Gershon Aynbinder, he was born in Bershad, Podolia.  He studied in religious primary school and yeshivas.  Because of local pogroms, he fled in 1921 to Romania, and in 1923 made his way to the United States where he was a teacher in the Jewish schools of the leftist movement.  He debuted in print (1921) in Id (Jew) in Kishinev with images of terror retained from the pogroms.  He published stories and short poems for New York’s Kinderland (Children’s land), Kinder-zhurnal (Children’s magazine), Frayhayt (Freedom), and Morgn-frayhayt (Morning freedom) where he was a regular contributor.  Initially he wrote a great deal for children, though later he published novellas and novels.  In book form: Khaver-paver mayselekh (Khaver-Paver’s short stories) (New York: Matones, 1925), 2 vols.; Fun yener zayt taykh, a mayse (From the far side of the river, a tale) (New York: Khaverim, 1930; Moscow, 1930), 169 pp.; Labzik, mayselekh vegn klugn hintele labzik (Labzik, short stories about the brilliant dog, Labzik), 2 vols. (New York, 1935-1937), 79 pp., 94 pp.; Klinton strit, roman (Clinton Street, a novel) (New York: Id Byuro, 1937), 343 pp.; Lebns af der vogshol, bilder fun gerikht (Lives in the balance, images from court) (Los Angeles, 1944), 223 pp.; Vovik, mayselekh fun a bronzviler hintele (Vovik, short stories of a Brownsville dog) (Los Angeles, 1947), 125 pp.; Giboyrim fun a nakht, roman fun idishe partizanen in poyln (Heroes of the night, a novel of Jewish partisans in Poland) (Los Angeles, 1950), 315 pp.; Gershon-meyer dem blindns (Gershon-Meyer, the blind man’s son) (Los Angeles, 1958), 304 pp.; Zog nit keynmol, shpil in 5 stsenes vegn heldishe yidishe kinder in a natsi-lager (Don’t say never, a play in five scenes about heroic children in a Nazi camp) (Los Angeles, 1953), 44 pp.; Zalmen der shuster, kapitlen vegn zayne zekhtsik yorn lebn in amerike (Zalmen the cobbler, chapters of his sixty years living in America) (Los Angeles, 1955), 246 pp.; Gershon un amerike (Gershon in America) (Warsaw: Yidish bukh, 1963), 478 pp.; Bronzvil, roman, un dramatishe shpiln (Brownsville, a novel, and dramatic plays) (Los Angeles, 1976), 238 pp.; Clinton Street and Other Stories, trans. Henry Goodman (New York, 1974), 352 pp.  He died in Los Angeles.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 2; A. Pomerants, in Proletpen (Kiev, 1935), p. 208; B. Gorin, Fun dor tsu dor (From generation to generation) (New York, 1971), pp. 377-81.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 312.