DAVID LAZAR

DAVID LAZAR (October 7, 1902-November 27, 1974)

            He was born in Cracow, western Galicia.  He was the son of the Hebrew writer Shimon-Menaḥem Lazar.  He studied in a Hebrew school, in a Polish high school, and later at Cracow University.  He received his doctoral degree in 1931.  In 1918 he took part in the Vienna and Tarnów conferences of Hashomer Hatsair (The young guard).  He was a member of the head administration of the Zionist organization in Galicia and Silesia.  When the Germans seized Poland (September 1939), he fled to Vilna, and from there he went through Russia and Persia, until in 1941 he reached Israel.  He debuted in print with an article about Hashomer Hatsair in his father’s weekly newspaper Shavuon (Weekly) in Cracow (1918).  From 1921 he was a member of the editorial board and over the years 1934-1939 also editor of the Polish Jewish daily newspaper Nowy dziennik (New daily) in Cracow, while at the same time publishing articles: in Haynt (Today) in Warsaw; Forverts (Forward) and Tog (Day) in New York; and in the Polish Jewish Chwila (Moment) in Lemberg and Opinia (Opinion) in Warsaw (in which he published translations from Hebrew and Yiddish literature).  During his sojourn in Lithuania (1939-1941), he wrote for Di yidishe shtime (The Jewish voice) in Kovno.  After coming to Israel, he worked as an internal contributor to Haarets (The land) in Tel Aviv, while also placing work in Hazman (The times), Yediot aḥaronot (Latest news), and from 1948 editorial board member of Maariv (Evening)—all in Tel Aviv.  In Gazit (Hewn stone) in Tel Aviv, he published his monograph on the Jewish community of Cracow.  He also contributed to: Sefer hashana shel haitonaim (The annual of newspapers) (1949/1950) a treatise on Naḥum Sokolow; Letste nayes (Latest news); and Heymish (Familiar)—all Tel Aviv.  His published books include: Masa leerets evzkadi (A trip to the land of Ezvkadi) (Tel Aviv, 1947), 172 pp.; Rashim beyisrael (Leaders of Israel), vol. 1 (Tel Aviv, 1954), 320 pp., vol. 2 (1956), 326 pp.  He also wrote under such pen names as: David Efrat and D. Diuknoy.  In 1957 he received from Unesco an award for his journalistic accomplishments.  He died in Tel Aviv.  His father, the Hebrew writer Shimon-Menaḥem Lazar (December 12, 1864-August 12, 1932), also wrote in Yiddish in his younger years.

Sources: Dr. G. Shtayn, in Poylishe yidn (Polish Jews), yearbook (New York, 1942); D. Tidhar, in Entsiklopedyah leḥalutse hayishuv uvonav (Encyclopedia of the pioneers and builders of the yishuv), vol. 5 (Tel Aviv, 1952), pp. 2248-49; Sefer hashana shel haitonaim (The annual of newspapers) (Tel Aviv, 1949/1950), p. 244; Dr. Y. Rubin, in Ishim udemuyot beḥokhmat yisrael beeropa hamizraḥit (Personalities and figures in Jewish studies in Eastern Europe) (New York, 1959); Who’s Who in World Jewry (New York, 1955), p. 436; Who’s Who in Israel (Tel Aviv, 1958), p. 184.

Khayim Leyb Fuks