AVROM KAZAKEVITSH

AVROM KAZAKEVITSH (1880-1960)

            A journalist who wrote under such pen names as A. Shneyfal and A. Hindes, he was born in Novozybkov, Bryansk (Brańsk) region. He received a traditional Jewish education and studied as well in a senior high school. He lived in Odessa, Vilna, Berdichev, and St. Petersburg. He began writing in Hebrew, but soon switched to Yiddish. In 1905 he emigrated to the United States, lived in New York, and wrote feature pieces and sketches for Forverts (Forward). For other Yiddish publications, he wrote articles on politics, theater, and literature. For two years he was assistant editor of the journal Tsukunft (Future). In 1908 he returned to the Russia empire, settled in Warsaw, and worked for the newspaper Fraynd (Friend) and other publications. Beginning in 1925 he became a contributor to the Kharkov newspaper Der shtern (The star), publishing features, jottings, reviews, memoirs, and mostly under the pseudonym A. Hindes. He was assigned his first literary work to edit, Volf Rabinovitsh’s Mayn bruder sholem-aleykhem (My brother Sholem-Aleichem) (1929), which opens with Kazakevitsh’s introduction (using the name A. Hindes). During WWII, he lived in Dagestan, and later Chuvashia and southern Kazakhstan. From 1945 he was a contributor to Eynikeyt (Unity) in Moscow. After Eynikeyt was liquidated in 1948, he settled in Fastov (Fastiv), near Kiev, from whence he wrote nothing further. His writings include: Tomer iz dos a got? (Suddenly is this a God?), feature pieces (Kharkov: Central Publishers, 1929), 16 pp.; In roysh fun tog, felyetonen (In the roar of the day, features) (Kharkov: Literatur un kunst, 1931), 269 pp.; Ot dos heyst blof, komedye in eyn akt (That’s what’s called a hoax, a comedy in one act) (Kiev: Ukrainian State Publishers for National Minorities, 1937), 13 pp.; Felyetonen un fartseykhenungen (Features and jottings) (Kiev: Ukrainian State Publishers for National Minorities, 1939), 267 pp.; Praskovya gusyatnikova, deputat fun oyberrat fun fssr (Praskovya Gusyatnikova, deputy from the supreme council of the USSR) (Kiev: Ukrainian State Publishers for National Minorities, 1939), 24 pp.

Source: Chone Shmeruk, comp., Pirsumim yehudiim babrit-hamoatsot, 1917-1961 (Jewish publications in the Soviet Union, 1917-1961) (Jerusalem, 1961), see index.

[Additional information from: Chaim Beider, Leksikon fun yidishe shrayber in ratn-farband (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers in the Soviet Union), ed. Boris Sandler and Gennady Estraikh (New York: Congress for Jewish Culture, Inc., 2011), pp. 311.]

DOVID KAZANSKI

DOVID KAZANSKI (1888-October 26, 1945)

            The author of stories, he was born in Piratin (Pyriatyn), Ukraine.  He studied in religious elementary school.  In 1908 he emigrated to the United States and settled in New York.  He tried to be a businessman, a laundryman, and an agent for Tog (Day).  He debuted in print with a story in Chaim Zhitlovsky’s Dos naye lebn (The new life).  He was part of the group “Yunge” (The young ones).  He wrote for: Der inzl (The island), edited by K. Forenberg and N. M. Mayzl); and Di yudishe velt (The Jewish world) in Vilna.  He compiled the anthology Zisha landoy (Zisha Landau) (New York, 1938), 169 pp.  His books would include: Treyfene blut (Impure blood) (New York: Inzl, 1930), 261 pp.; Blinder mazl (Blind luck) (New York: Inzl, 1930), 239 pp.; In yokh (In yoke) (New York: Inzl, 1935), 242 pp.  These comprise three parts of his novel Arum un arum (Around and around).  The latter two parts of this novel—entitled Der mekhutn r’ yosele rapoport (Reb Yosele Rapoport, relative by marriage) and Der demb on yorshim (The oak without heirs)—were not published.  As Ruvn Ayzland (Iceland) noted, “With respect to program, he remained the only ‘young one.’  This was perhaps a tragedy for him, as writers usually grow out of the schools from which they hail.  And, although Kazanski emerged from our school no less than I did, he did not wish to add to it himself.  The result was a struggle between new paths, toward which he turned, and the old fences that impeded the new.”  He died in New York.

Sources: Shmuel Niger, in Tog (New York) (March 8, 1931); A. Mukdoni, in Morgn-zhurnal (New York) (May 8, 1931); Talush, Yidishe shrayber (Yiddish writers) (Miami Beach, 1955), pp. 86-88; Ruvn Ayzland, Fun undzer friling (From our spring) (Miami Beach and New York, 1954), pp. 61-64, 102-3; Der Lebediker (Khayim Gutman), in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New York) (May 16, 1954); Z. Vaynper, in Yidishe kultur (New York) (December 1956); M. Shelyubski, In yorn arum, noveln un dertseylungen (Years later, novellas and stories) (Tel Aviv, 1961); Yeshurin archive, YIVO (new York).

Dovid-Noyekh Miller

SHMUEL KAVETSKI

SHMUEL KAVETSKI (b. 1885)

            He was born in Vinkovitsh (Vin’kivtsi), Podolia, the brother of Yekhiel Kavetski, the rabbi of Yampol (Yampil).  He was a cantor and a choir director.  He published (with Shiye Vayser) a collection entitled Der lider-krants (The garland of songs).

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 3; Di geshikhte fun khazones (The history of the cantorial art) (New York, 1924), p. 180.

Berl Cohen

YISROEL KOVELMAN

YISROEL KOVELMAN (b. 1904)

            He was born in Monastirishtshe (Monastyrys’ka), Ukraine.  He graduated as an engineer and worked at various construction sites.  Since 1970 he has published a series of articles in Hebrew studies and art in Sovetish heymland (Soviet homeland) in Moscow.  He was last living in Moscow.

Source: Sovetish heymland (Moscow) 8 (1983).

Berl Cohen

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 470.

YISROEL KOVNER

YISROEL KOVNER

            He was the author of: Eyn ertseylung fun beylises protses (A story from the Beilis trial) (Vilna, 1923), 22 pp.; and Der shreklekher diner (The frightening servant), a tragedy in three acts (Vilna, 1924), 30 pp.

Berl Cohen

HARRY KOVNER

HARRY KOVNER

            He was the author of a booklet of poetry entitled Unzer leben (Our life) (New York: Skupus, 1944), 94 pp.

Berl Cohen

R. KOVNATOR

R. KOVNATOR

            He was the author of Der held fun sovetnfarband yoysef makovski (The hero of the Soviet Union, Yoysef Makovski) (Moscow: Emes, 1943), 22 pp.; and Held fun sovetnfarband polina gelman (Hero of the Soviet Union, Paulina Gelman) (Moscow: Emes, 1948), 32 pp.

Sources: Chone Shmeruk, comp., Pirsumim yehudiim babrit-hamoatsot, 1917-1961 (Jewish publications in the Soviet Union, 1917-1961) (Jerusalem, 1962), see index.

Berl Cohen

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 470.

N. KOVARSKI

N. KOVARSKI

            He was an engineer who lived in Vilna and later in Warsaw.  He worked as a teacher in the Vilna senior high school.  Later, he emigrated to Paris, where he was a contributor to Professor Joliot’s laboratory and acquired a reputation as an important scientist.  He authored Di yesoydes fun der nayer atom-teorye (The foundations of the new theory of the atom) (Warsaw: M. Y. Freyd, 1925), 59 pp.

Source: Literarishe bleter (Warsaw) 75 (1925).

Berl Cohen

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 470.]

HERTS KOVARSKI

HERTS KOVARSKI (May 7, 1869-June 25, 1941)

            A doctor and a cultural leader, he was born in Sventsyan (Svencionys), Vilna district, Lithuania.  From 1898 he was living in Vilna.  He wrote a great deal in Yiddish and Russian on children’s education and public health.  He was very active in the secular Jewish school movement.  He contributed work to: Sotsyale meditsin (Social medicine), Folksgezunt (Public health), and Vilner tog (Vilna day).  Among his more important works: “Defektive kinder” (Handicapped children), Naye shul (New school) (1920); “Nervezitet un histerye vi a pedagogisher problem” (Nervousness and hysteria as a pedagogical problem), Shriftn far psikhologye un pedagogik (Writings for psychology and pedagogy) 1 (1933); “Anskis der ‘dibek’ in balaykhtung fun der psikhologye” (An-ski’s Dibbuk in light of psychology), Yivo-bleter (Pages from YIVO) 4 (1932); “Fishl shneursons gang in psikhologye” (Fishl Shneurson’s path in psychology), Yivo-bleter 14 (1939).  He died in Vilna.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 3; E. Y. Goldshmidt, in Vilne, a zamelbukh gevidmet der shtot Vilne (Vilna, an anthology dedicated to the city of Vilna) (New York, 1935); Poylishe yidn (Yearbook) (1942); Shmerke Katsherginski, Khurbn vilne (The Holocaust in Vilna) (New York, 1947), p. 207; H. Kruk, Togbukh fun vilner geto (Diary from the Vilna ghetto) (New York: YIVO, 1961); L. Falstein, Jewish Physicians in Poland (New York, 1963), p. 393.

Yekhezkl Lifshits

FILIP KOVALEK

FILIP KOVALEK

            He was a publisher.  He authored a booklet of poems: Hanevel / Di layer (The harp/lyre), in Yiddish with parallel translation into Hebrew, “composed in the years 1879-1880” (Husiatyn: Filip Kovalek, Publ., 1908), 85 pp.  It is poetry of a folksong style, fit for a wedding entertainer.

Source: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 3.

Berl Cohen

YITSKHOK KOVALSKI (ISAAC KOWALSKI)

YITSKHOK KOVALSKI (ISAAC KOWALSKI) (b. September 12, 1920)

            He was born in Vilna.  He worked in his father’s publishing house.  He was active in the FPO (United Partisan Organization) in the Vilna ghetto.  He created a secret print shop, and there he published anti-Nazi materials.  After the war, he cropped up in various survivor camps in Europe and later settled in New York.  He wrote articles for Baderekh (On the road) in Rome (in Yiddish, edited by B. Cohen), Lenitsokhn (To victory) in Rome (in Yiddish), Unzer velt (Our world) in Munich, and Unzer tsil (Our goal) in Austria.  He edited the collection Tsum zig (To victory) (Bergen-Belsen).  In book form: Di geheyme drukeray fun yidishn untergrund in lite un vaysrusland (The secret publisher of the Jewish underground in Lithuania and Byelorussia) (New York, 1953), 71 pp.; and in a considerably expanded form in English: A Secret Press in Nazi-Europe: The Story of a Jewish United Partisan Organization (New York, 1969), 416 pp.

Sources: M. Dvorzhetski, Yerusholaim delite (Jerusalem of Lithuania) (Paris, 1948); Yankev Glatshteyn, in Idisher kemfer (New York) (March 5, 1954); F. Fridman, in Tsukunft (New York) (April 1955).

Berl Cohen

YUDE-LEYB KOVALSKI

YUDE-LEYB KOVALSKI (1862-May 19, 1925)

            He was born in Povonzek (Powązki), a suburb of Warsaw.  He was the father of Khane Kovalski and a rabbi in Grabove (Grajewo), Khorzhel (Chorzele), and from 1899 Vlotslavek (Włocławek).  He was a cofounder of Mizrachi in Poland and for a long period of time its chairman.  He was a senator in the Polish Sejm.  He contributed topical and religious-philosophical articles to Haynt (Today), Moment (Moment), and to Hebrew-language periodicals.  He left in manuscript a volume of speeches in Yiddish on ethnic religious topics and a book of aphorisms in Hebrew and Yiddish.  He died in Włocławek, Poland.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 3; Yitsḥak Gur-Arye, Yehuda-leib kovalski (Yude-Leyb Kovalski) (Jerusalem, 1927); a series of articles about Kovalski, in Vlotslavek shtime (Włocławek) (1935); Vlotslavek un svive, yizker-bukh (Włocławek and environs, memorial volume) (Tel Aviv, 1967).

Yekhezkl Lifshits

KHANE KOVALSKI

KHANE KOVALSKI (1904-1941)

            She was a painter and art critic, born in Vlotslavek (Włocławek).  She was the wife of Borekh Vinagura.  From 1926 she was living in Paris.  She published articles on art and artists in Parizer zhurnal (Paris journal) and Naye prese (New press) which from 1939 she edited for a short time.  She died in a concentration camp near Paris.

Sources: D. Tsharni (Daniel Charney), in Tsukunft (New York) (January 1943); Yizker-bukh tsum ondenk fun 14 umgekumene parizer yidishe shrayber (Remembrance volume to the memory of fourteen murdered Parisian Yiddish writers), ed. T. Spero (Paris: Oyfsnay, 1946); M. Oved, in Loshn un lebn (London) (August 1946).

Dr. Noyekh Gris

BENYOMEN KOVALSKI

BENYOMEN KOVALSKI (b. 1910)

            He was a journalist, born in Marianpol, Lithuania.  He graduated from the Hebrew teachers’ seminary in Kovno.  He worked as a teacher in Marianpol and from 1936 in Mexico City.  He contributed work to Mexico City’s Di shtime (The voice) and Dos vort (The word) of which he was also editor, and also of Der veg (The way), among other serials.  He also wrote a great deal for Yorbukh fun der yidisher shul (Yearbook of the Jewish school).  He published: Rayze minyaturn, fun a bazukh in medines yisroel in friling fun 1958 (Narratives of a voyage to the land of Israel in the spring of 1958) (Mexico City, 1958), 34 pp.

Sources: L. Forem, Boyer fun a yishev (Builder of a community) (Mexico City, 1947), p. 89; Y. Vinyetski, in Der veg (February 22, 1958; March 4, 1958); Solomon Kahan, Literarishe un zhurnalistishe fartsaykhenungen (Literary and journalistic notes) (Mexico City, 1961), pp. 329-34.

Moyshe Rubinshteyn

A. KOVALSKI

A. KOVALSKI

            He or she was the author of Eyshes khayel oder der vahrer glik fun leben (A woman of virtue, or the true joy of life) (Bialystok, 1912).

Berl Cohen

AVROM KOVAL

AVROM KOVAL (b. 1908)

            He was born in Kartuz-Bereze (Kartuz-Bereza), Poland.  In 1929 he began publishing poetry in Naye folkstsaytung (New people’s newspaper) in Warsaw.  From 1930 he was living in Argentina.  He published poetry in the leftist Argentinian periodicals Nayvelt (New world) and In gang (In progress), among others.

Sources: V. Bresler, Antologye fun der yidisher literatur in argentine (Anthology of Jewish literature in Argentina) (Buenos Aires, 1944); P. Kats, Geklibene shriftn (Selected writings), vol. 7 (Buenos Aires, 1947); G. Sapozhnikov, in Unzer vort (Buenos Aires) (July 20, 1964).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 470.

MOYSHE KOVADLO

MOYSHE KOVADLO (b. October 15, 1907)

            He was born in Plotsk (Płock).  He studied in Holland.  In 1937 he came to Paris.  In the years of the war, he was in the French underground.  For several years after 1945, he lived in the land of Israel.  He contributed journalistic articles to: Fraye arbeter shtime (Free voice of labor) in New York, Unzer shtime (Our voice) in Paris, Arbeter vort (Workers’ word), and Yisroel shtime (Voice of Israel) in Tel Aviv, among others.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 469.

SHLOYME-LEYB KAVA

SHLOYME-LEYB KAVA (1889-1940s)

            A critic and essayist whose real name was Moyshe-Yoysef Dikshteyn (Moses Joseph Dickstein), he was living in Warsaw from 1896.  He studied for a short time in religious elementary school.  He extended his education on his own.  Over the years 1909-1912, he was secretary to Y. L. Perets.  He served as vice-chairman of the association of Jewish writers and journalists in Warsaw, and he was the founder of the publishing house “Literatur-fond” (Literature fund) and of the central press bureau of the association to service provincial newspapers.  At age fourteen he compiled (for the Warsaw bookdealer Dovid Sova) two issues for humor and satire entitled Dos yudishe vokhenblat (The Jewish weekly newspaper) and Der ashmeday (Ashmedai or Asmodeus).  He debuted in print in 1905 with his first fictional piece in N. Sokolov’s Telegraf (Telegraph).  In 1907 he edited Nay-tsayt (New times), in which he published many young writers (three issues appeared in print).  He also edited the anthology Melave-malke (Evening meal at the end of the Sabbath), for occasional literary pieces and the first twenty-seven lessons of Wilhelm Ostwald’s Di shul fun khemye, ershter araynfir in khemye (The school for chemistry, initial introduction to chemistry [original: Die schule der chemie]), translated by A. Raynharts and Sh. Mendelson (Warsaw: Kultur-lige, 1924), 220 pp.  He wrote poetry, mood pieces, and criticism—many under the pen name M. Vanvild—in: Nay-tsayt (among others, a critical essay on Sholem-Aleichem’s Der mabl [The flood]), Tsaytlin’s Yudishes vokhenblat (Jewish weekly newspaper), Unzer leben (Our life), A. Mukdoni’s Di yudishe yugend (Jewish youth), Avrom Reyzen’s Eyropeyishe literatur (European literature), Unzer zhurnal (Our journal), Fraynd (Friend) including numerous translated short stories from European literature, Varshaver tageblat (Warsaw daily newspaper) (1916/1917, using the pen name Ts. Broyde), Dos folk (The people) edited by Sh. Y. Stupnitski, and Unzer veg (Our way) (using the pen names Eykish, Eyb, and Gido).  In Moment (Moment) (1913), he published a pamphlet (under the pen name Daniel Tebimo) entitled Geboyrene plagyatoren (Born plagiarists).  In 1919 he tried to publish a Saturday newspaper, Letste nayes (Latest news)—two issues appeared.  In book form: Di idishe prese bay yatskan-hokhberg in di hend (The Yiddish press of Yatskan-Dikshteyn in hand) (Warsaw: Yugend, 1908), 15 pp.; Vegen idish, notitsen un bemerkungen (About Yiddish, notes and observations), using the pen name M. Vanvild (Warsaw: Yugend, 1908), 38 pp.; Aleynlehrer fun daytsh (Teach yourself German), using the pen name Dr. A. Shtiglits (Warsaw, 1915); Aleynlehrer fun der daytsher shprakh (Teach yourself the German language), with Fishl Lakhover—four of eighteen planned notebooks published; Daytsh-idishes verterbukh (German-Yiddish dictionary), with A. Y. Trivaks, one-sixth of the sixty printer’s sheets published (Warsaw: Unyon, n.d.); A klasiker fun der yudisher literatur, a shṭikel obshatsung fun sholem aleykhems literarisher tetigkeyt (A classic writer of Yiddish literature, a brief evaluation of Sholem-Aleichem’s activity) (Lodz: Lazar Kahan, 1918), 36 pp.; Pseydo-kunst un pseydo-kritik (Pseudo-art and pseudo-criticism), on Sh. An-ski’s Dibek (Dibbuk) and his director Dovid Herman (Lodz: Kultura, 1921), 42 pp.; Tsi iz shoyn faran a yidishe literatur? (Is there already a Yiddish literature?) (Warsaw, 1929), 38 pp.  Kava’s more valuable work was his collection of folklore and philology, Bay unz yuden (For us Jews) (Warsaw: P. Graubard, 1923), 217 pp.—one of the more important publications concerning Jewish folklore.  He translated Ludwig Jacobowski’s novel Verther der yud, roman (Werther the Jew, a novel [original: Werther, der Jude]) (Warsaw: B. Shimin, 1913), 320 pp.  In his irregular journalistic-literary work, he also used such pen names as: Shayke Lets, Z. Efras, P. Goldflam, and N. Benediktus.  He died in the Warsaw Ghetto. “He toppled the great ones,” wrote Y. Varshavski [Bashevis], and “he judged everything from his own standpoint, paying no heed to any authorities….  He was a serious critic, although too fierce and with demands too great for the present world.”

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 3; Zalmen Zilbertsvayg, Leksikon fun yidishn teater (Handbook of the Yiddish theater), vol. 5 (Mexico City, 1966); Meylekh Ravitsh, Mayn leksikon (My lexicon), vol. 2 (Montreal, 1947); B. Mark, Umgekumene shrayber fun di getos un lagern (Murdered writers from the ghettos and camps) (Warsaw, 1954), p. 59; Elkhonen Tsaytlin, In a literarisher shtub, bilder, bagegenishn, epizodn (In a literary home, images, meetings, episodes) (Buenos Aires, 1946), pp. 52, 100-1; A. Mukdoni, In varshe un in lodzh (In Warsaw and in Lodz), vol. 1 (Buenos Aires, 1955), pp. 237-40; A. Kaganovski, Yidishe shrayber in der heym (Yiddish writers at home) (Paris: Oyfsnay, 1956), pp. 9-13, 20-24ff; A. Zak, In onheyb fun a friling, kapitlekh zikhroynes (At the start of spring, chapters of memoirs) (Buenos Aires: Farband fun poylishe yidn, 1962), pp. 72-73; Y. Varshavski (Y. Bashevis), in Forverts (New York) (May 15, 1964; December 6, 1979; December 7, 1979; December 13, 1979; December 14, 1979).

Berl Cohen

MARKS KOHEN

MARKS KOHEN (b. 1879)

            He was woodcutter and carver, born in Moliev (Mogilev).  In 1901 he emigrated to London where he became an anarchist.  His works: Di beygel farkoyferin baym dnyepr un andere dertseylungen (The bagel saleslady by the Dnieper River and other stories) (London, 1950), 98 pp.; Di ershte pyonern nokh erets yisroel (The first pioneers to the land of Israel) (London, 1952), 47 pp.  Both booklets were memoirs of his familiar environs, written in fictional form.

Source: Yeshurin archive, YIVO (New York).

Yekhezkl Lifshits

MIKHL KOHN

MIKHL KOHN (b. 1884)

            He was born in Podhaytse (Polish, Podhajce; Ukrainian, Pidhaitsi), Galicia.  He was raised by his grandfather in Stri (Struj), Galicia.  He attended a Polish school.  He worked as a teacher of Hebrew and German.  He later moved to Vienna, where he spent two years in prison for illegal work (initially with the Labor Zionists, later with the Communists).  He began his journalistic work during WWI with the revived journal of Labor Zionism Der yudisher arbayter (The Jewish worker) in Vienna.  Over the years 1919-1921, he edited Avangard (Avant-garde) of the left Labor Zionists, and in 1922 Internatsyonal (International), organ of the “alignment fraction” of the Jewish Communist Party.  He translated Mayselekh fun avtoritet (Stories of authority) from the Dutch by Multatuli and Der stat (The state) by Oppenheim.

Source: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 3.

Berl Cohen

YANKEV (JACOB) KOHN

YANKEV (JACOB) KOHN

            He was the editor of the weekly Idishe nayes (Jewish news) in New York (1871) in English, Yiddish, Hebrew, and German.

Sources: Kalmen Marmor, in Frayhayt (New York) (April 11, 1931); Elye (Elias) Shulman, Geshikhte fun der yidisher literatur in amerike (History of Yiddish literature in America) (New York, 1943), p. 37; Moyshe Shtarkman, Geklibene shriftn (Selected writings) (Tel Aviv, 1979).

Berl Cohen

YANKEV KOHN

YANKEV KOHN

            He was the author of Getsehlte shtunden (A few hours), a melodrama in four acts.  Unpublished?

Source: YIVO archives (New York).

Berl Cohen

YEKHIEL-MIKHL KOHN

YEKHIEL-MIKHL KOHN (Hanukah 1867-1939)

            He was born in Makove (Maków), Lomzhe district.  He received a stringent religious education.  He studied in Vilna yeshivas.  Due to a lack of piousness, he fled to Warsaw and there studied at Professor Dikshteyn’s senior high school.  In 1886 he departed for the United States.  He engaged in a variety of occupations, while also studying at universities.  In 1893 he graduated with a medical degree in Baltimore and practiced medicine in Brooklyn.  Impressed by the Haymarket trial in Chicago, he became an anarchist and would publicly campaign for his newfound ideas.  He debuted in print in 1886 with an article in Nyu-yorker yudishe folkstsaytung (New York Jewish people’s newspaper), edited by M. Mints and Dr. Braslavski.  He contributed as well to: A. Harkavy’s periodical Der izraelit (The Israelite); Der yudisher progress (Jewish progress) in Baltimore; London’s Arbayter fraynd (Workers’ friend); and Frayhayt (Freedom) in New York; among others.  He was connected to Fraye arbeter shtime (Free voice of labor) in New York from its founding in 1890 and published in it numerous articles on political economy, socialism, and cultural history.  He translated Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward in Arbayter fraynd and Peter Kropotkin’s Memuarn fun a revolutsyoner (Memoirs of a revolutionary) in Fraye arbeter shtime.  The latter appeared in book form as Kropotkins lebens-beshraybung (Kropotkin’s biography) (London, 1904), 430 pp.  He wrote a lengthy, critical biographical introduction to Y. Bovshover’s Gezamlte shriftn (Collected writings) (New York, 1911).  Among his pen names: Mikhael, M. Manson, Tiktin, and M. Lorber.  He died in La Jolla, California.

Sources: Zalemn Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 3; Kalmen Marmor, Der onhoyb fun der yidisher literatur in amerike, 1870-1890 (The start of Yiddish literature in America, 1870-1890) (New York: Writers’ Section of IKUF, 1944), pp. 35, 37; Y. Kahan, Di yidishe anarkhistishe bavegung in amerike (The Jewish anarchist movement in the United States) (Philadelphia, 1945), p. 455; Y. Khaykin, Yidishe bleter in amerike (Yiddish newspapers in America) (New York, 1946), p. 236.

Yekhezkl Lifshits

YOYSEF KOHN

YOYSEF KOHN

            He was the author of Khosn-kale af probe (Bride and groom on trial), a comedy in three acts.  It remains unpublished.

Source: YIVO archives (New York.

Berl Cohen

YOSL KOHN (COHEN)

YOSL KOHN (COHEN) (December 21, 1897-March 1977)

            He was poet, born in Krinik (Kryni), Grodno Province, Poland.  He attended religious elementary school and public school.  In 1909 he emigrated to the United States and entered middle school.  He linked up with the leftist labor and trade union movement.  He lived in Soviet Russia (1931-1933).  He belonged to the literary group “Proletpen” (Proletarian pen).  He debuted in print in 1920 in Industryele arbayter shtime (Voice of industrial labor) of the IWW (International Workers of the World).  He contributed poetry and articles to: Fraye arbeter shtime (Free voice of labor), Signal (Signal), Yunyon skver (Union Square), Spartak (Spartacus), Frayhayt (Freedom), Hamer (Hammer), Di feder (The pen), Emes (Truth) in Moscow, Prolit (Proletarian literature) in Kharkov, and Shtern (Star) in Minsk, among others.  His work appeared in: D. Kurland and S. Rokhkind’s anthology, Di haynttsaytike proletarishe yidishe dikhtung in amerike (Contemporary proletarian Yiddish poetry in America) (Minsk, 1932); In shotn fun tlies, almanakh fun der yidisher proletarisher literatur in di kapitalistishe lender (In the shadow of the gallows, an almanac of Yiddish proletarian literature in the capitalist countries) (Kharkov-Kiev, 1932); Nakhmen Mayzil’s Amerike in yidishn vort (America in the Yiddish word) (New York, 1955); and Moyshe Shtarkman’s Hamshekh-antologye (Hamshekh anthology) (New York, 1945).  Over the years 1944-1952, he served as editor of labor news for Morgn-zhurnal (Morning journal).  In 1962 he published Unzer dor (Our generation) in New York (only one issues appeared).  His works include: Shtot (City) (New York, 1926), 203 pp.; Fun yener zayt yam, lider (From the other side of the sea, poetry) (Moscow: Emes, 1932), 62 pp.; Krume vegn (Twisted roads) (New York, 1936), 126 pp.; Der morgn iz eybik (The morrow is eternal) (New York, 1948), 158 pp.; Vi nekhtn geshen (As it happened yesterday), memoirs (New York, 1953), 295 pp.; A funk in tunkl (A spark in the dark) (New York, 1967), 191 pp.  Kohn “emerged on the horizon of our poetry,” wrote L. Faynberg, “as an innovative poet with his own look, which has creases here and there.”  He died in New York.

Sources: A. Leyeles, in Inzikh (New York) 25 (1936), pp. 23-24; B. Rivkin, in Tsukunft (New York) 10 (1936); Yankev Glatshteyn, in Idisher kemfer (New York) (July 2, 1948); Avrom Reyzen, in Di feder (New York) (1949); A. Mukdoni, in Tsukunft 2 (1954); Yeshurin archive, YIVO (New York).

Yekhezkl Lifshits

Y. L. KOHN

Y. L. KOHN (1905-mid-1940)

            He was a metal worker, born in Warsaw.  He published poetry mainly in literary publications of the Bund.  During WWII he roamed into Soviet Russia.  The motifs of his poetry were: poverty and struggle.  He also composed children’s poetry.  In book form: Tog ayn, tog oys (Day in, day out) (Warsaw, 1936), 96 pp.; Hintele shvarts un ketsele vays, maysele (Puppy black and kitten white, a short story) (Warsaw: Kinder-fraynd, 1937), 30 pp.  Several of his poems appear in Binem Heler’s Dos lid iz geblibn, lider fun yidishe dikhter in poyln, umgekumene beys der hitlerisher okupatsye, antologye (The poem remains, poetry of Jewish poets in Poland murdered during the Hitlerian occupation, an anthology) (Warsaw, 1951).  He died in Russia.

Sources: Kh. Sh. Kazdan, in Foroys (Warsaw) 2 (1938); Yizker (Remembrance) (Lodz, 1946); Yeshurin archive, YIVO (New York).

Yekhezkl Lifshits

ADOLF KOHN

ADOLF KOHN

            He was the author of the unpublished comedy in three acts: An oyrekh af shabes (A guest on the Sabbath), in the YIVO archives in New York.

Berl Cohen

KAHN

KAHN

            He or she was the author of Der lamedvovnik (One of the thirty-six good men) (Warsaw, 1912).

MOYSHE KAHANOVITSH (MOSHE KAGANOVICH)

MOYSHE KAHANOVITSH (MOSHE KAGANOVICH) (b. December 5, 1909)

            He was born in Ivye (Iwie, Iwye), Vilna district.  He studied in religious elementary school and in the Lide (Lida) Tarbut high school.  He debuted in print in 1928 in the Vilna daily newspaper Tsayt (Times) with a series of articles on the Tatars in Poland.  He also wrote for Vilner tog (Vilna day), Warsaw’s Moment (Moment), and Unzer vort (Our word), among other serials.  In 1929 he moved to Lemberg and wrote for Morgn (Morning) (from the beginning of 1930 it was known as Lemberger togblat [Lemberg daily newspaper]).  In 1943 he escaped from the Iwie ghetto and became a fighter in partisan detachments.  From 1945 to 1949, he lived in Rome where he edited the monthly journal Farn folk (For the people) and co-edited Baderekh (On the road) and In gang (In progress).  From 1949 he was living in Israel.  His works include: Der yidisher onteyl in der partizaner-bavegung fun sovet-rusland (The Jewish participation in the partisan movement in Soviet Russia) (Rome, 1948), 402 pp.; Der kamf fun di yidishe partizaner in mizrekh-eyrope (The struggle of the Jewish partisans in Eastern Europe) (Buenos Aires, 1956), 2 volumes, translated from his Milḥemet hapartizanim hayehudim bemizraḥ-eropa (Tel Aviv, 1954), 435 pp.  He also co-edited Leksikon hagevura (Biographical dictionary of Jewish resistance) (Jerusalem, 1965), 214 pp.

Sources: Meylekh Ravitsh, Mayn leksikon (My lexicon), vol. 3 (Montreal, 1958); Y. Leshtshinski, in Forverts (New York) (December 19, 1948); N. Mayzil, in Yidishe kultur (New York) (March 1950); Y. Grinboym, in Al hamishmar (Tel Aviv) (June 22, 1954); M. Dvorzhetski, in Hapoal-hatsayir (Tel Aviv) July 13, 1954); Yankev Glatshteyn, In tokh genumen (In essence), vol. 1 (Buenos Aires, 1960); A. Lis, Heym un doyer, vegn shrayber un verk (Home and duration, on writers and work) (Tel Aviv: Y. L. Perets Library, 1960); Yeshurin archive, YIVO (New York)

Ruvn Goldberg

MORTKHE KAHANOVITSH

MORTKHE KAHANOVITSH (1904/1905-1941)

            He was born in Vilna.  He graduated in 1926 from the Vilna Jewish Teachers’ Seminary.  He worked as a teacher in Visoke (Wysocie Litewskie) and at the Medem Sanatorium in Warsaw.  He was secretary of the terminology commission at YIVO.  He wrote articles for: Di naye shul (The new school) in Vilna and Vilner tog (Vilna day).  He was the author of Arbets-heftn tsuhilf der yidisher shul (Workbooks to help in the Jewish school) (Vilna, 1928), 16 pp., and, together with Falk Haylperin, the reader Feste trit (Firm step) (Vilna, 1930), 255 pp.  He died in Ponar.

Sources: Shmerke Katsherginski, Khurbn vilne (The Holocaust in Vilna) (New York, 1947); Lerer yizker-bukh (Remembarnce volume for teachers) (New York, 1954), pp. 356, 376; Leyzer Ran, 25 yor yung vilne (Twenty-five years of Young Vilna) (New York, 1955).

Leyzen Ran

SORE KAHAN

SORE KAHAN (1885-1942)

            She was a poet and author of stories, born in the village of Maksimovichi, Byelorussia, into the family of an office employee. After graduating from the local Jewish school, she moved to Babruysk and worked there as a manager of the municipal library. From that point in time, she became an active correspondent for the Minsk newspaper Oktyabr (October), in which in 1929 she published her first poems. Later, she also placed poetry and stories in Shtern (Star), also in Minsk. In 1935 she settled in Minsk, where she worked in library acquisitions and also took evening classes in the philology department of the Minsk Pedagogical Institute. In 1941 she was introduced onto the editorial board of Shtern. When the Germans occupied Minsk, she was confined in the ghetto, and she died soon thereafter. She contributed to the literary collection Birebidzhan (Birobidzhan) (Moscow, 1936), Komyug (Communist youth), Sovetishe literatur (Soviet literature), and Farmest (Competition), among others. In April 1941 she read aloud her play Khone khodosh (Khone Khodosh) in Minsk. Her other work includes: In veg (On the road), poetry (Minsk: Byelorussian State Publishers, 1934), 41 pp.; Mayn heymland (My homeland), poetry (Minsk: Byelorussian State Publishers, 1938), 35 pp.; Di ershte premye, a monolog fun an elterer froy (The first prize, a monologue of an older woman) (Minsk: Byelorussian State Publishers, 1938), 15 pp.; Undzere mentshn (Our people), poems (Minsk: Byelorussian State Publishers, 1940), 34 pp.; Der fidler (The fiddler), stories (Minsk: Byelorussian State Publishers, 1941), 174 pp.

Sources: Chone Shmeruk, comp., Pirsumim yehudiim babrit-hamoatsot, 1917-1961 (Jewish publications in the Soviet Union, 1917-1961) (Jerusalem, 1962), see index; Oyfboy (Riga) (May 1941); Eynikeyt (Moscow) (November 1, 1945); Yeshurin archive, YIVO (New York).

Leyzer Ran

[Additional information from: Chaim Beider, Leksikon fun yidishe shrayber in ratn-farband (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers in the Soviet Union), ed. Boris Sandler and Gennady Estraikh (New York: Congress for Jewish Culture, Inc., 2011), pp. 310-11.]

SHIMSHN KAHAN

SHIMSHN KAHAN (December 1905-July 1941)

            He was born in Vilna.  He graduated from the Vilna Jewish senior high school in 1925.  He was a teacher in Jewish schools and a prompter for traveling Yiddish theatrical troupes.  He became accustomed to the Gypsy lifestyle, folklore, and song.  He was a cofounder of the writers’ group “Yung vilne” (Young Vilna).  From 1929 he was a regular contributor to Vilner tog (Vilna day), for which he wrote poetry, features, reportage pieces, and theatrical criticism under such pen names as: Sh. K., Sh. Kh., Kof, and Reb Samson.  He contributed: “Araynmarsh fun yung-vilne in der yidisher literatur” (The festive entry into Yiddish literature of Young Vilna), Vilner tog (October 11, 1929); to the five collections of Yung-vilne (1934-1940); to the Almanakh (Almanac) of the Vilna Yiddish Literature and Journalists’ Association (1938); to Vilne emes (Vilna truth) and Kovne emes (Kovno truth); and to the Communist weekly Kurts (Brief), also published with the title Nayes (News) (1934/1935).  With D. Kaminski, M. Pups, and L. Strilovski, he compiled Birebidzhanish (Of Birobidzhan) (Vilna: B. Kletskin, 1935), 32 pp.  He composed revue numbers for the ensemble “Sambatyon,” “Azazel,” and “Ararat.”  He translated V. Kirshon’s comedy Der vunderlekher geshmelts (The wonderful alloy [original: Chudesnyi splav]), and he prepared for publication a booklet of translated Gypsy songs under the title Gildene podkoves (Golden horseshoes), a small dictionary entitled Ganeyvim-shprakh in yidish (Thieves language in Yiddish), and a book of his own poems.  A selection of his poems and reportage pieces, assembled by Leyzer Ran, remains in manuscript.  He was murdered in Ponar.

Sources: Sh. Beylis, in Vilner almanakh (Vilna almanac) (Vilna, 1939); Shmuel Niger, in Tog (New York) (October 29, 1939); Elye (Elias) Shulman, Yung vilne, 1929-1939 (Young Vilna, 1929-1939) (New York, 1946); Shmerke Katsherginski, Khurbn vilne (The Holocaust in Vilna) (New York, 1947); Leyzer Ran, 25 yor yung vilne (Twenty-five years of Young Vilna) (New York, 1955).

Leyzer Ran

SHOSHANE KAHAN (ROSE SHOSHANA)

SHOSHANE KAHAN (ROSE SHOSHANA) (June 25, 1895-November 2, 1968)

            An artist and novelist, she was born in Lodz, Poland.  Her actual name was Ester-Ruda Kahan, and she was the wife of Lazar Kahan.  She was orphaned at age eight.  While still young, she began to perform in Yiddish theater.  Over the years 1926-1939, she lived in Warsaw.  During WWII she roamed as far as Shanghai, and from 1947 she was living in New York.  Her entire life, she was connected to the Yiddish stage.  She wrote plays, dramatized novels, and translated dramas, and she herself performed in a variety of countries.  In 1912 she debuted in print with a translation for Lodzer tageblat (Lodz daily newspaper).  Over the years 1924-1930, she published novels and ran a women’s section of Hayntige nayes (Today’s news) edited by Ester Brovarska, Warsaw’s Radyo (Radio) edited by Manya Friling, and Unzer ekspres (Our express) which she edited under the name of Ruzha Yakubovitsh.  From 1947 she was a regular contributor to Forverts (Forward) in New York, in which she published (from February 15, 1947 until October 8, 1968) twelve novels (under the pen name Rose Shoshane), among them: Ven a harts is yung (When a heart is young), Dos geyeg nokh glik (The hunt for happiness), Far zeyer zind (For their sin), and Yung blut (Young blood).  She also ran a daily column entitled “Di froy un di heym” (The woman and the home), using the pen name Rose Mary.  Her novels were published or republished in newspapers in Lithuania, Argentina, and elsewhere.  She translated the plays: Der friling (The spring) by H. Tsimerman; Yener (That one) by Gabriela Zapolska; Zind un shtrof (Sin and punishment) by Émile Zola; Di froy vos hot derharget (The woman who committed murder) by Herricks; Di reter fun moral (The saviors of morality) by Propan (with her husband, Lazar Kahan).  She dramatized Farberovich’s Urke nakhalnik (Urke Nakhalnik) and her own novel Bashke (Bashka).  In book form: In fayer un in flamen (In fire and in flames) (Buenos Aires: Dos Poylishe Yidntum, 1949), 399 pp.; and Karl Schoenherr’s drama Tayvels vayb (The devil’s wife [original: Weibsteufel]) (Lodz (1921), 56 pp. (with her husband).  She often appeared on stage as Rose Shoshana.  She died in New York.

Sources: Zalmen Zilbertsvayg, Leksikon fun yidishn teater (Handbook of the Yiddish theater), vol. 3 (New York, 1959); Y. Botoshanski, in Di prese (Buenos Aires) (April 25, 1950); H. Rogof, in Forverts (New York) (May 15, 1950).

Berl Cohen

SALOMON KAHAN

SALOMON KAHAN (June 2, 1896-March 4, 1965)

            He was born in Bialystok.  He emigrated to Mexico City in 1921 and graduated from university there.  He worked as a journalist and music critic.  For a short time he was a music correspondent for the New York Times.  He was a guest professor of Yiddish and Hebrew literature and music at a university in Mexico City.  In Mexico, he contributed to: Di shtime (The voice) and Der veg (The way) which he edited for several years.  He also published in: Tsukunft (Future), Gedank un lebn (Idea and life), and Der kontinent (The continent), among others.  He wrote about music and general topics as well.  In 1935 he edited the journal Kamf (Struggle)—three issues appeared.  His books include: Yidish-meksikanish (Jewish-Mexican) (Mexico City, 1945), 302 pp.; Meksikaner viderklangen, publitsistishe un literarish-kritishe fartseykhenungen (Mexican echoes, journalistic and literary-critical notes) (Mexico City, 1951), 289 pp.; Meksikanishe refleksn (Mexican reflections) (Mexico City, 1954), 306 pp.; Muzikalishe eseyen (Musical essays) (Mexico City, 1956), 299 pp.; Literarishe un zhurnalistishe fartseykhenungen (Literary and journalistic notes) (Mexico City, 1961), 389 pp.  His pamphlets would include: Tsu di yidishe student, tsu di yidishe eltern (To Jewish students, to Jewish parents) (Mexico City, 1937); Ben-tsien goldberg, kinstler fun yidisher publitsistik (Ben-Tsien Goldberg, artist of Yiddish journalism) (Mexico City, 1950), 28 pp., second edition (1956); Dzhan dyui, fonen-treger fun progresiver dertsiung (John Dewey, flagbearer of progressive education) (Mexico City, 1952), 47 pp.; Briv vegn der meksikaner yidisher studentshaft (Letter on the Mexican Jewish student body) (Mexico City, 1953), 32 pp.; Khayim grinbergs gaystike farvandshaftn (Khayim Grinberg’s spiritual wanderings) (Mexico City, 1953), 31 pp.; Byalistok (Bialystok) (Mexico City, 1959), 22 pp.  In Spanish he published books about music, and he wrote a great deal for the Spanish-language press.  He translated into Spanish Heinrich Graetz’s history of the Jews in ten volumes: Historia del Pueblo de Israel (Mexico City: La Verdad, 1938-1942).  “Salomon Kahan,” noted Yankev Glatshteyn, “was one of the most prominent journalists in the Mexican Jewish community.”  He died in Mexico City.

Sources: Zalmen Zilbertsvayg, Leksikon fun yidishn teater (Handbook of the Yiddish theater), vol. 6 (Mexico City, 1969); N. B. Minkov, in Tsukunft (New York) 3 (1955); Foroys (Mexico City) (November 1961); Yankev Glatshteyn, Mit mayne fartog-bikher (With my daybreak books) (Tel Aviv, 1963), pp. 413-18; Y. Glants, in Der veg (Mexico City) (April 13, 1965); Y. Rapoport, Fragmentn fun a lebn (Fragments of a life) (Melbourne, 1967), pp. 79-86; Yeshurin archive, YIVO (New York).

Moyshe Rubunshteyn

MULYE KAHAN

MULYE KAHAN (February 15, 1909-April 6, 1986)

            He was born Shmuel-Iser Kahane in Sventsyan (Svencionys), Vilna district, Lithuania.  From 1941 he was known by the pen name Tsalel Blits (Tzalel Blitz).  In 1927 he graduated from a Tsisho (Central Jewish School Organization) high school.  In 1931 he received the title of agricultural engineer from the University of Toulouse.  He emigrated to Brazil in 1935 and a year later to Argentina.  He worked there until 1945 in his field of agronomy with the YIKO (Jewish Cultural Organization) colony.  Over the years 1952-1969, he served as director of the Y. L. Perets and middle school in the Buenos Aires suburb of Villa Lynch.  In Poland he published poetry and reportage pieces in:  Literarishe bleter (Literary leaves), Vokhnshrift far literatur (Weekly writing for literature), Literarishe tribune (Literary tribune), and Der fraynd (The friend).  After moving to Argentina, he contributed poetry, articles, literary criticism, and reportage work to all the leftist publications on the American continent, as well as to Sovetish heymland (Soviet homeland) in Moscow and Naye prese (New press) in Paris.  From 1940 he was a regular contributor to and co-editor of the journals Ikuf (IKUF = Jewish Cultural Association) and In gang (In progress), and the daily newspapers Folksshtime (Voice of the people), Der veg (The way), and Haynt (Today).  Most recently he was editor of the biweekly Undzer lebn (Our life).  Among his books: Troymen ongeton in shtol, kvershnitn (Dreams dressed in steel, cross-sections) (Buenos Aires: IKUF, 1948), 450 pp.; Di tshenovitser konstitutsye, tsum fertsikstn yorṭog fun der tshernovitser konferents (The Czernowitz constitution, on the fortieth anniversary of the Czernowitz [Language] Conference) (Buenos Aires: IKUF, 1948), 32 pp.; Trit af san martinisher erd (Steps on the terrain of San Martín) (Buenos Aires: IKUF, 1961), 190 pp.; A rayze tsu undzer veytik un tsu undzer freyd (A voyage to our pain and our joy) (Buenos Aires: IKUF, 1961), 344 pp.  His translations include: Ralph Parker, Di farshverung kegn sholem, notitsn fun an englishn zhurnalst (The Conspiracy against Peace: Notes of an English Journalist]) (Buenos Aires: Heymland, 1949), 166 pp.; Boris Polevoi, Di geshikhte fun an ekhtn mentshn (The history of an authentic person [original: Povestʹ o nastoiashchem cheloveke) (Buenos Aires: IKUF, 1953), 358 pp.  Kahan’s longer essays may also be found in: Pinkes varshe (Records of Warsaw), Argentiner yivo-shriftn (YIVO writings from Argentina), and the anthology Halber yorhundert (Half a century), among others.  He died in Buenos Aires.

Sources: P. Kats, Geklibene shriftn (Selected writings), vol. 7 (Buenos Aires, 1947), p. 152; A. G. [Goldberg], in Yidishe kultur (New York) (March 1970); Sovetish heymland (Moscow) 6 (1977).

Yoysef Horn

M. KAHAN

M. KAHAN

            He was the author (with M. I. Zaytshik) of Lernbukh af gezelshaftkentenish (Textbook of knowledge of society) (Kiev-Kharkov: Central Publ., 1931), 112 pp.  He also contributed to the literary almanac Ukraine (Ukraine) (Kiev, 1926).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 469.

LAZAR KAHAN

LAZAR KAHAN (January 6, 1885-May 26, 1946)

            He was born in Goldingen (Kuldīga), Courland, the husband of Shoshane Kahan.  His father Shimen was the rabbi in Mitave (Mitava), Latvia, and author of religious texts.  He attended yeshiva in Zager (Žagarė), Lithuania.  He was active in Tseire-Tsiyon (Zionist youth), for a short time with the Sejmists, and finally with the Folks-partey (People’s party).  He was active in literary and drama societies, and as a delegate from the Lodz group “Dramatishe kunst” (Dramatic Art) in 1908 he participated in the Czernowitz Language Conference.  During WWII he roamed through Lithuania, Soviet Russia, Japan, and Shanghai.  He began publishing in 1906 in Warsaw’s Der veg (The way).  He published popular science and journalistic articles in Unzer leben (Our life), Roman-tsaytung (Fiction newspaper), Tsaytlin and Yatskan’s Idish vokhenblat (Jewish weekly newspaper), Moment (Moment), Haynt (Today), Fraynd (Friend), and Hoyzdoktor (House doctor) in which he placed a long series entitled “Berihmte idishe doktoyrim” (Famous Jewish doctors).  He wrote an especially great deal for the newspapers and journals that he edited: Lodzer nakhrikhten (Lodz reports), Lodzer tageblat (Lodz daily newspaper), Lodzer folksblat (Lodz people’s newspaper), Varshover tageblat (Warsaw daily newspaper) with H. D. Nomberg as literary editor, the weekly newspaper Dos folk (The people), the anthology Fayerlekh (Little fires), Faklen (Torches), Gants lodz (All of Lodz) (1913), Oyfboy (Reconstruction) in Lodz-Warsaw, Tshenstokhover tageblat (Częstochowa daily newspaper) (1918), and Varshe (Warsaw) which was an illustrated journal (1930).  From August 1926 until the last days of September 1939, he co-edited Warsaw’s Unzer ekspres (Our express).  For it he wrote feature pieces and reviews of theater and books.  He edited Lodz’s calendar over the course of four years, and with Zalmen Zilbertsvayg he edited (1922-1923) the weekly Teater un kunst (Theater and art) in Lodz.  The press he founded in 1918 brought out the collection Oyfgang (Arise) which published poetry by M. Broderzon, Hershele, and others.  He also published his own and translated newspaper novels, such as Far di toyern fun glik (Before the gates of happiness) in London’s Tsayt (Times) under the title Di sheyne saltshe (The beautiful Saltshe), Afn mizbeyekh fun libe (On the altar of love), Johann von Wildenradt’s Der yudisher firsht (The Jewish duke) in Lodzer tageblat (1914), as well as Georg Gothein’s Di natsyonaliteten-frage in poyln (The nationality question in Poland), Sil-Vara’s Englishe melukhe-mener, askvit un dzhordzh (English statesmen, Asquith and George [original: Englische Staatsmänner]), Karl Schoenherr’s drama Tayvels vayb (The devil’s wife [original: Weibsteufel]) with his wife Shoshane Kahan, and Helena Mniszek’s Metsoyres (Leper [original: Prokazhonnaia]) in Lodz (1920s), 350 pp.  In Shanghai he brought out a lithographed weekly Unzer velt (Our world).  In pamphlet and book form: Di folksbildung bay layten un bay unz (Public education among non-Jews and among us) (Lodz, 1918), 15 pp.; Di lage un di oyfgaben fun yidishn hantverker, yuden als pyoneren fun tekstil-industrye (The condition and tasks of Jewish artisans, Jews as pioneers in the textile industry) (1924), earlier serialized in Moment; Lazar kahans ilustrirter yohrbukh far industrye, handel un finansen (Lazar Kahan’s illustrated annual for industry, commerce, and finances) (Lodz-Warsaw, 1925), 130 pp.; Dis bukh fun libe, an opshatsung fun libe, flirt, laydenshaft un eyferzukht (The book of love, an appraisal of love, flirtation, passion, and jealousy) (Warsaw: L. Tsimerman); Flirt un kushn (Flirtation and kissing) (Warsaw: Bilige bikher, 1927).  Kahan was among the most dynamic men in the Yiddish press in Poland.  Meylekh Ravitsh characterized him as follows: “Kahan loved literature and theater, and he was a good friend of poets in Lodz—what they wanted they could write in his newspaper….  Kahan believed that a writer could write on any theme…because his ease in writing was always entangled with arguments.”  He died in Shanghai.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 3; Zalmen Zilbertsvayg, Leksikon fun yidishn teater (Handbook of the Yiddish theater), vol. 3 (New York, 1959); Meylekh Ravitsh, Mayn leksikon (My lexicon), vol. 2 (Montreal, 1947); Noyekh Pryłucki, in Literarishe bleter (Warsaw) 2 (1931); Zusman Segalovitsh, Tlomatske 13, fun farbrente nekhtn (13 Tłomackie St., of zealous nights) (Buenos Aires: Central Association of Polish Jews in Argentina, 1946), p. 106; B. Y. Rozen, Portretn (Portraits) (Buenos Aires, 1956), pp. 171-80; Khayim Leyb Fuks, Lodzh shel mayle, dos yidishe gaystiḳe un derhoybene lodzh, 100 yor yidishe un oykh hebreishe literatur un kultur in lodzh un in di arumiḳe shtet un shtetlekh (Lodz on high, the Jewish spiritual and elevated Lodz, 100 years of Yiddish and also Hebrew literature and culture in Lodz and in the surrounding cities and towns) (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1972), see index; Itonut yehudit shehayta (Jewish press that was) (Tel Aviv, 1973), see index; Y. Yeshurin archive, YINO (New York); American Jewish Yearbook (New York, 1947).

Berl Cohen