MOYSHE PRAGER

MOYSHE PRAGER (January 16, 1909-September 25, 1984)

            The pen name of Moyshe Mark, he was born in Praga, near Warsaw, Poland, the great-grandson of the first rebbe of Ger.  He studied in religious elementary school and the Metivta yeshiva, and with private tutors he acquired secular knowledge.  He was active in Agudat Yisrael from a young age.  From 1926 he was writing for the Yiddish and Hebrew press.  He was cofounder of Dos yudishe tageblat (The Jewish newspaper) in Warsaw.  He also contributed to Haynt (Today) and Moment (Moment) in Warsaw, in which, among other things, he published works on Jewish religious life, Jewish folklore, and economic issues.  He also placed work in: Beys yankev zhurnal (Beys Yankev journal) in Lodz; Bendiner vokhnblat (Będzin weekly newspaper); and the Yiddish and Hebrew press in the Polish provinces.  In 1940 he sent out coded materials about the Nazi atrocities in Poland and published them partially in the press in Israel and in Yidishe yedies (Jewish reports) (Geneva, 1944); they were from there republished in the Jewish press worldwide.  He wrote a great deal about the martyrs and redemption of religious Jews in Poland.  He contributed to: Davar (Word), Hatsofe (The spectator), Maariv (Evening), Haboker (This morning), Hapoel hatsair (The young worker), Shearim (Gates), Moznaim (Balance), Maḥanaim (Armies), Hadoar (The mail), Hamodia (The herald), and Bet Yaakov (House of Jacob) in the state of Israel; Tsukunft (Future), Idisher kemfer (Jewish fighter), Forverts (Forward), Tog-morgn-zhurnal (Day-morning journal), and Dos yidishe vort (The Yiddish word) in New York; Vokhentsaytung (Weekly newspaper) in London; Yidishe shtime (Jewish voice) and Dos vort (The word) in Munich; and in Fun noentn over (From the recent past) (New York) 2 (1956), he placed a monograph, “Dos yudishe togblat” (The Jewish daily newspaper).  In book form in Yiddish: Af di vegn fun erets-yisroel (On the roads of the land of Israel), a travel narrative and reportage work (Warsaw, 1934), 212 pp.; Der emes fun hatsole (The truth about rescue) (New York, 1955), 355 pp.; compiler and editor, Di antologye fun religyeze lider un dertseylungen (The anthology of religious poetry and stories) (New York, 1955), 640 pp.  He authored a number of books and collections in Hebrew.  He translated from Yiddish and edited: the ghetto anthology Min hametsar karati (From the depths I read) (Jerusalem, 1956), 219 pp.; Leor hanetsaḥ (To the light of eternity) (New York, 1962), 527 pp.; Netsotse gevora (Sparks of heroism), a collection concerning Jewish redemption for children (New York, 1966), 205 pp.; and its English translation, Sparks of Glory: Inspiring Episodes of Jewish Spiritual Resistance by Israel’s Leading Chronicler of Holocaust Courage, trans. M. Schreiber (Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1985), 207 pp.; among other works.  A number of his research works concerning the Holocaust were published in: Entsiklopediya haivrit (Hebrew encyclopedia); the yearbooks for Davar for 1943, 1944, 1945, and 1946; the collection Kneset (Assembly); and elsewhere.  He died in Bnei-Brak, Israel.  For his service in Hagana (1943-1948), he was awarded the Hagana decoration from the Israeli government.  He also wrote under such names as Moshe Yeḥezkali and Y. Ben.

Sources: Yankev Leshtshinski, in Forverts (New York) (January 10, 1954); Pinḥas Peli, in Zemanim (Tel Aviv) (December 10, 1954); A. Oyerbakh, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New York) (May 16, 1955); Nisn Gordon, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (May 22, 1955); D. Naymark, in Forverts (February 12, 1957); Arn Tsaytlin, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (February 18, 1959; Y. Varshavski (Bashevis), in Forverts (April 19, 1959); Yankev Pat, in Tsukunft (New York) (May-June 1960); Yankev Glatshteyn, In tokh genumen (In essence), vol. 2 (Buenos Aires, 1960), pp. 154-60; F. Sandler, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (December 6, 1961); Biblyografye fun yidishe bikher vegn khurbn un gvure (Bibliography of Yiddish books concerning the Holocaust and heroism) (New York: Yad Vashem and YIVO, 1962 and 1966), see index.

Khayim Leyb Fuks

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 434.]