YITSKHOK GOLDKORN

YITSKHOK GOLDKORN (October 1, 1911-1988)

            He was born in Shidlovtse (Szydłowiec), Kelč region, Poland.  Until age thirteen he studied in a religious primary school, later in yeshivas, and with private tutors for secular subject matter.  In 1930 he moved to Lodz and was employed as an electrical technician.  During WWII he roamed about various and sundry places.  After liberation, he was secretary for the Jewish writers’ union in Munich.  From 1951 he was living in Canada.  He began publishing poems in A. M. Vaysenberg’s Undzer hofenung (Our hope) (Warsaw, 1930).  He contributed to the literary magazine Os (Letter) in Lodz and Warsaw, in which aside from poetry he also wrote literary criticism.  Among other serials, he contributed to: Nayer folksblat (New people’s newspaper) (1931-1936); Afn shteynernem bruk (On cobblestone pavement) in Lodz (1935); Bafrayung (Liberation), Nay-velt (New world), Der morgn (The morning), Landsberger lager tsaytung (Landsberg camp newspaper), Hemshekh (Continuation), Yidishe bilder (Jewish images), Shriftn (Writings)—all in Munich; Ilustrirte literarishe bleter (Illustrated literary leaves) in Bueno Aires; and Montrealer shriftn (Montreal writings).  Among his books: Nokturn (Nocturne), lyrical poems (Lodz-Warsaw, 1938), 48 pp.; Literarishe siluetn (Literary silhouettes), critical essays on modern Yiddish literature (Munich, 1949), 92 pp.; Lider (Poems), a selection on various motifs (Munich, 1950), 42 pp.; Epigramatish (Epigrammatic) (Montreal, 1954), 72 pp.; Lodzher portretn, umgekumene yidishe shrayber un tipn (Portraits of Lodz, murdered Yiddish writers and types) (Tel Aviv: Hamenorah, 1963), 229 pp.; Fun velt-kval, kleyne eseyen vegn groyse shrayber (From the springs of the world, short essays on great writers) (Tel Aviv: Hamenorah, 1963), 280 pp.; Zingers un zogers, eseyen (Singers and speakers, essays) (Tel Aviv: Hamenorah, 1971), 391 pp.; Heymishe un fremde literarishe etyudn (Familiar and foreign literary studies) (Buenos Aires: Svive, 1973), 260 pp.; Mesholim (Tales) (New York: Eygns, 1975), 89 pp.; Der farkishefter yarid, naye mesholim (The enchanted fair, new tales) (New York, 1976), 123 pp.  He published also under the pen names of Jack Spartani, Y. Spartan, D. Okgrongli, B. Davidovitsh, and others.  Most recently he published and edited, among other things, in Vidershtand (Resistance) (Montreal) 1 (Devember 1957), 4 pp.

Sources: Gut-morgn (Good morning) (Bialystok) (October 16, 1938); Dr. F. Fridman, in Tsukunft (New York) (February 1949); N. Shemen, in Der yidisher zhurnal (The Jeewish magazine) (Toronto) (November 2, 1954); Yankev Glatshteyn, in Idisher kemfer (New York) (December 8, 1954); Dr. A. A. Roback, in Ilutrirte literarishe bleter (January-February 1955); Y. Rapoport, in Di yidishe post (Melbourne) (August 12 and September 6, 1955); Elye Shulman, in Unzer shtime (Paris) (June 25-26, 1955); Noyekh Shteynerg, in Fraye arbeter shtime (New York) (September 9, 1955); M. M. Shafir, in Keneder odler (Montreal) (December 8, 1955); Kh. L. Fuks, in Fun noentn over (New York) 3 (1957).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 140.