YITSKHOK PUGATSH (ISAAC POUGATCH)

YITSKHOK PUGATSH (ISAAC POUGATCH) (1897-May 3, 1988)

            He was born in Kiev, Ukraine.  He moved with his parents in 1905 to Geneva and received both a Jewish and a general education.  He was a community and cultural leader in Switzerland and France, mainly in the realm of Jewish education.  He directed an educational center in the Jewish community of Paris; and he led a community leadership school, as well as teacher training courses and children’s homes for refugees and orphans.  He authored a number of works in French on Jewish education, and he translated into French: Shimon Dubnov’s Yidishe geshikhte far shul and heym (History of the Jews for school and home) as Précis d’histoire juive, des origines à 1934 (Paris, 1936), 320 pp.; and Sholem Aleichem’s Dos farkishefte shnayderl (The bewitched tailor) as Le tailleur ensorcelé, et autres contes, with Joseph Gottfarstein (Paris, 1960), 267 pp.  He contributed articles on general Jewish problems and educational issues to Unzer vort (Our word) and Kiem (Existence), among other serials, in Paris; and he co-edited Almanakh pariz (Almanac of Paris) (Paris, 1960), in which he published a work on the tragedy of Jewish children.  He was last living in Paris.

Sources: Y. Shmulevitsh, in Forverts (New York) (January 6, 1956); L. Domankevitsh, in Unzer vort (Paris) (January 22, 1961); Y. Gar and F. Fridman, Biblyografye fun yidishe bikher vegn khurbn un gvure (Bibliography of Yiddish books concerning the Holocaust and heroism) (New York, 1962), item 1047.

Khayim Leyb Fuks