YOYSEF (JOSÉ) HORN

YOYSEF (JOSÉ) HORN (b. June 20, 1906)

            He was born in Mezritsh (Międzyrzecz), Podlasie, Shedlets (Siedlce), Poland.  He studied in religious primary school and in Talmud-Torah.  He was active in the Bundist movement from his youth and in school and cultural organizations.  He chaired the Tsisho (Central Jewish School Organization) section in Mezritsh.  In 1936 he emigrated to Argentina where he joined the society for secular Jewish schools and served as secretary-general of Perets House in Buenos Aires.  He was a delegate to both conferences of the World Jewish Culture Congress in New York in 1948 and 1959.  He was a member of the executive of the Argentinian division of the Culture Congress.  He began writing for local publications: Mezritsher vokhnblat (Mezritsh weekly newspaper), Mezritsher tribune (Mezritsh tribune), Mezritsher arbeter shtime (Voice of Mezritsh labor), and Podlyaser tsaytung (Podlasie newspaper).  He later published correspondence pieces, articles, stories, and reportage essays in: Folkstsaytung (People’s newspaper), Yugnt-veker (Youth alarm), and Foroys (Onward)—all in Warsaw.  He contributed in Argentina to: Di prese (The press), a daily newspaper; Argentiner lebn (Argentinian life), a biweekly Bundist periodical; Der shpigl (The mirror), a monthly; Kolonist kooperator (Colonist cooperative), Morgntsaytung (Morning newspaper); Tsiko-bleter (Pages from Tsiko [Tsentrale yidishe kultur-organizatsye (Central Yiddish Cultural Organization)]); and Judaica (Judaica [in Spanish])—all in Buenos Aires.  In 1938 he edited the memory volume, Yankev shimen lyakhovitsky (100 pp.) and the monthly journal Dos naye vort (The new word) in Buenos Aires; in 1944 he was a co-editor of the monthly Nay lebn (New life); in 1945 he was a co-editor of the Bundist biweekly Undzer gedank (Our idea) and editor of the collection Plotsk (Płock), 260 pp.; from 1949 to 1952 he was a member of the editorial collective of the anthology Ineynem (Altogether); in 1952 he edited the collection Mezritsh (640 pp.).  He also wrote for: Di idishe velt (The Jewish world) in Philadelphia; Forverts (Forward), Der veker (The alarm), Unzer tsayt (Our time), Kultur un dertsiung (Culture and education), and Fraye arbeter shtime (Free voice of labor)—all in New York; Foroys (Onward) in Mexico City; and elsewhere.  From 1949 he served on the editorial board of Di idishe tsaytung (The Jewish newspaper) in Buenos Aires, in which he ran a column entitled “Momentn” (Moments).  Among his books: Henrik erlikh un viktor alter, farvos hot di sovetishe regirung zey umgebrakhṭ? (Henryk Erlich and Victor Alter, why did the Soviet regime murder them?) (Buenos Aires, 1943), 32 pp.; Mayn khoreve heym, a idishe shtetl in poyln tsvishn beyde velt-milhomes (My destroyed home, a Jewish town in Poland between the two world wars) (Buenos Aires, 1946), 155 pp.; In undzer dor, erev un nokh treblinka in yidishn lid (In our generation, on the eve and after Treblinka in Yiddish song) (Buenos Aires, 1949), 163 pp.; Arum yidisher literatur un yidishe shrayber (On Yiddish literature and Yiddish writers) (Buenos Aires, 1973), 220 pp.  He also wrote articles for Algemeyne zhurnal (General magazine) in New York.  He was a contributor to volume eight of the Leksikon (Biographical dictionary) [herein being translated] and to the Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) [ditto].

Sources: Sh. Rozhanski, Dos yidishe gedrukte vort un teater in argentine (The published Yiddish word and theater in Argentina) (Buenos Aires, 1941); N. Khanin, A rayze iber tsentral- un dorem-amerike (A trip through Central and South America) (New York, 1942), p. 239; Dr. Y. Shatski, “Prese bay yidn” (Jewish press), in Algemeyne entsiklopedye (General encyclopedia); and Shatski, in Yivo-bleter (New York) 27 (1946), pp. 167-74; A. Glants-Leyeles, in Tog (New York) (November 10, 1946; April 9, 1949); Y. Botoshanski, in Poylishe yidn in dorem-amerike (Polish Jews in South America), anthology (Buenos Aires, 1947); Botoshanski, in Di prese (Buenos Aires) (April 1, 1953);  Kh. Sh. Kazdan, in Foroys (Mexico City) (September 1, 1949); Yidishe nayes (Melbourne) (September 1, 1950); G. Aronson, “Shtet un shtetlekh” (Towns and small towns), in Tsukunft (New York) (March 1951); Y. Leshtshinski, in Forverts (New York) (August 16, 1953); A. Oyerbakh, in Tog-morgn zhurnal (New York) (March 16, 1959); Y. Shmuelovitsh, in Forverts (March 31, 1959).

Zaynvl Diamant

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 215.]