SHLOYME (SALOMON) FRANK

SHLOYME (SALOMON) FRANK (January 1, 1902-September 14, 1966)

            The adopted name of Shloyme Frenkel, he was born in Lodz, Poland.  He began his writing activities in Lodzher tageblat (Lodz daily newspaper) in 1928.  Over the years 1929-1933, he lived in South American countries.  He was a cofounder of the Association of Polish Jews in Brazil.  In 1933 he returned to Poland.  He was editor of Hantverker tsaytung (Artisans’ newspaper).  He contributed work to: Unzer ekspres (Our express), Moment (Moment), and Hayntike nayes (Today’s news) in Warsaw; Yidishe bilder (Jewish images) in Riga; Parizer haynt (Paris today); and Lodzher tageblat, among others.  He brought out the journal Klangen (Sounds) for culture and art and Lodzher vegvayzer (Guide to Lodz) for scientific life in Lodz.  During the years of the Nazi occupation of WWII, he was confined until 1944 in the Lodz ghetto, was the co-organizer of a secret radio station, and composed a bulletin for the Jewish population in the ghetto.  He was in the Auschwitz concentration camp and the Althammer forced labor camp, 1944-1945.  After liberation he participated in rebuilding the first Yiddish publishing house in Lodz.  From 1946 he was living in Germany where he published a journal entitled Yidishe bilder (Jewish images).  He edited Gezamlte lider, poezye fun 20stn yorhundert (Collected poems, poetry from the twentieth century) (Munich, 1948), 66 pp.  In book form: Tsienistishe lider (Zionist poems) (Lodz, 1934); Togbukh fun lodzher geto (Diary of the Lodz ghetto), preface by N. Blumental (Buenos Aires: Central Association of Polish Jews in Argentina, 1958), 335 pp., second printing (Tel Aviv: Menorah).  In 1950 he made aliya to the state of Israel, and there he edited and published Velt-zhurnal (World journal) in Tel Aviv.  In 1962 he visited the United States.  In 1963 he gave testimony in the trials in Hanover of Nazi murderers of Lodz Jews.

Sources: A. Vyezhbinski, in Dos vort (Munich) (November 24, 1947); Y. Shmulevitsh, in Forverts (New York) (April 29, 1962); Y. Pat, in Tsukunft (New York) (May-June 1962); Y. Trunk, Lodzher geto, a historishe un sotsyologishe shtudye mit dokumentn, tabeles un mape (The Lodz ghetto, a historical and sociological study with documents, tables, and maps) (New York: YIVO, 1962), see index; Biblyografye fun yidishe bikher vegn khurbn un gvure (Bibliography of Yiddish books concerning the Holocaust and heroism) (New York, 1962), see index.

Benyomen Elis