YOYSEF BURG

YOYSEF BURG (May 30, 1912-August 10, 2009)

            He was born in Vishnits, Bukovina.  He studied in a public school.  Over the years 1935-1938, he pursued Germanic studies at Vienna University.  He lived in the Ural Mountains from 1941 to 1958.  He was later in Czernowitz where he worked as a teacher.  He first published in 1934: a story in Tshernovitser bleter (Czernowitz pages].  He wrote stories, novellas, and sketches for Literarishe bleter (Literary leaves) in Warsaw, Shoybn (Glass panes) in Bucharest, Di vokh (The week) and later Sovetish heymland (Soviet homeland) in Moscow, Folks-shtime (Voice of the people) in Warsaw, and Naye prese (New press) in Paris.  Among his works: Afn tshermosh (On the Czeremosz [River]) (Bucharest, 1939), 67 pp.; Sam (Sam) (Czernowitz, 1940), 64 pp.; Dos lebn geyt vayter, dertseylungen, noveln, skitsn (Life goes on further: stories, novellas, sketches) (Moscow: Sovetski pisatel, 1980), 289 pp.; Iberuf fun tsaytn (Roll-call of the times) (Moscow: Sovetski pisatel, 1983), 64 pp.  He was preparing for publication: A farshpetikter echo (A late echo), stories.  He was last living in Czernowitz.  “Yoysef Burg is a wonderful describer,” wrote Lili Berger.  “His prose occupies high artistic heights.  At times it is poetry in prose form.”

Sources: Foroys (Warsaw) (May 26, 1939); Der shpigl (Buenos Aires) (June 29, 1939); Shloyme Bikl, in Romenye (Romania) (Buenos Aires, 1961); A. Roytman, in Yidishe shriftn (Warsaw) 10 (1964); Yulyan Shvarts, in Folks-shtime (Warsaw) (August 1, 1977); H. Remenik, in Sovetish heymland (Moscow) 3 (1978); M. Belenki, in Morgn-frayhayt (New York) (March 7, 1981); Y. Kara, in Naye prese (Paris) (April 25, 1981); Kh. Zeltser, in Letste nayes (Tel Aviv) (July 1981); Elye Shulman, in Forverts (New York) (July 26, 1981); M. Margolin, in Sovetish heymland 11 (1981); Lili Berger, in Unzer vort (Paris) (December 12, 1981); Y. Urman, in Letste nayes (June 25, 1982); A. Kvaterko, in Folks-shtime (Warsaw) (August 28, 1982); Y. Rabin, in Folks-shtime (February 19, 1983); Sh. Shtern, in Morgn-frayhayt (January 15, 1984); B. Miler, Birebidzhaner shtern (March 17, 1985); Berger, in Kheshbn (Los Angeles) 99.

Most drawn from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), cols. 73-74.