HERSH TSVILEKH

HERSH TSVILEKH

            He was born in a small town near Khelm (Chełm), Poland.  He attended religious elementary school and yeshiva.  He was said to be a preacher and even to give a number of fine sermons in his hometown.  He made his way to Havana, Cuba, and from there he moved to Mexico City around 1934.  Ultimately he settled in Lima, Peru.  He wrote mostly humorous pieces.  On his own in Peru, he was known for translations of his work into Spanish by Robert Feldman (and there were no Yiddish publishing houses in Peru).  Tsvilekh also placed humorous sketches in the Yiddish press in Argentina, Israel, and New York.  One of his humorous works was included in Eduardo Weinfeld’s Spanish-Yiddish anthology in Mexico City, as the representative author of Yiddish literature in Peru.  He published a volume of his humorous sketches in Spanish translation.

Sources: Khayim Lazdeyski, in Keneder odler (Montreal) (December 26, 1960); M. Shenderay, in Di idishe tsaytung (Buenos Aires) (March 29, 1964).

Leyb Vaserman