BERTA KLING

BERTA KLING (1886-August 17, 1978)[1]

            She was born in Novaredek (Novogrudok, Navahrudak), Byelorussia.  She was raised without a mother or father.  In 1899 she arrived in the United States.  She was a singer of Yiddish folksongs.  She debuted in print with a poem in L. Miler’s Varhayt (Truth).  She also published poems in: the anthology Shriftn (Writings), Zishe Vaynper’s Baym fayer (By the fire) and Der onheyb (The beginning), N. Shteynberg’s Di vegen (The roads), Di feder (The pen), Frayhayt (Freedom), Kultur (Culture) in Chicago, Eygns (One’s own) in Bayonne, Literarishe heftn (Literary notebooks), and Oyfsnay (Afresh), among others.  Her work appeared as well in: Ezra Korman’s anthology Yidishe dikhterins (Female Yiddish poets) (Chicago: L. M. Shteyn, 1928); and Shmuel Rozhanski, Di froy in der yidisher poezye (Women in Yiddish poetry) (Buenos Aires, 1966).  In book form: Lider (Poetry) (New York, 1935), 80 pp.; Fun mayne teg (Of my days) (New York, 1962), 96 pp.  Kling’s poems, wrote A. Mukdoni, are “intimate speech which lay upon the heart and which one must speak out, speech concerning simple, clear, and familiar items.”  She died in New York.

Berta Kling, back row, right

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 3; Yosl Kohn, Baym rand fun onhoyb (At the edge of the beginning) (New York, 1960), pp. 121-23; A. Mukdoni, in Oyfshteyg (New York) 1.1 (1968); Yidishe kultur (New York) 2 (1974).

N. D. M.

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[1] Her birth year, according to her autobiography, although Zalmen Reyzen, Lkesikon, vol. 3, give 1884.