YIRAKHMIEL SHTAYGMAN

YIRAKHMIEL SHTAYGMAN (b. January 18, 1900)

            He was a poet, born in Stutshin (Szczuczyn), Poland.  He was raised in a village until age seven; thereafter, he studied in a religious elementary school in Grayeve (Grajewo).  He later lived in Lomzhe.  During WWII he fell captive to the Germans as a Polish soldier.  He escaped and hid in a Polish town near the Bug River.  He wanted to get over to the Soviet side—and from that point, there has been no further information about him.  Together with colleagues, he published in Lomzhe a collection entitled Tayfun (Typhoon), and therein he debuted in print under the pen name Yishay.  He later contributed lyrical poetry to: Ilustrirte vokh (Illustrated week), Dos naye lebn (The new life) in Bialystok, Shprotsungen (Sprouts), Literarishe bleter (Literary leaves), and Vokhnshrift far literatur un kunst (Weekly writing for literature and art), among other serials.  He also wrote literary critical essays.  His works include: Goldene fedim (Golden threads) (Warsaw: Kh. Bzhoza, 1927), 46 pp.; Far yidishe kinder, mayselekh vegn shloyme hameylekh (For Jewish children, stories about King Solomon) (Vilna: B. Kletskin, 1931), 168 pp.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 4; Literarishe bleter (Warsaw) 14 (1927); Sefer zikaron lekehilat lomza (Remembrance volume for the Jewish community of Lomzhe) (Tel Aviv, 1952), pp. 165, 167; Y. Ivri, in Omer (Tel Aviv) (Nisan 28 [= April 18], 1958); Yeshurin archive, YIVO (New York).

Berl Cohen