Saturday 30 June 2018

YANKEV (JACOB) PAT


YANKEV (JACOB) PAT (July 19, 1890-April 25, 1966)
            The father of Emanuel Pat, he was born in Bialystok, Poland, into a working class family.  He studied until age fourteen—first in religious elementary school and later in the Musar yeshivas of Slobodka and Slutsk.  He acquired a reputation as a prodigy.  Under the influence of the revolutionary movement, he forsook “Derekh hayashar” (The path of righteousness), left the yeshiva, and returned to his hometown of Bialystok where he became a laborer.  For a time he worked in spinning.  He read irreligious books, thoroughly learned the books that people were reading in schools, and then successfully passed the examinations for high school as an external student.  In 1905 he joined a group of Labor Zionists and then moved on to the Zionist Socialist Party.  A born speaker to the masses, the stunning political events in Russia brought forth in him the prayed-for, people’s tribune.  He traveled through the cities of Poland and “spoke”: at workers’ assemblies, at picnics in the woods, at the lectern in the synagogue study hall.  He became the alarm, the summoner, and the leader of the Bontshe Shvaygs.[1]  He was arrested and thrown in Tsarist jails on several occasions.  At the time he tied his personal fate to three main directions in Jewish life: the Jewish labor movement, Yiddish literature, and Yiddish-language schools.  From 1915 he was one of the creators of schools and children’s homes run in Yiddish.  During WWI, while under German occupation, he established the first Yiddish children’s home, later a Perets School (of which he was also director) in Bialystok; he described this period of the establishment of Yiddish schools in his book Di lererin ester (Teacher Esther).  He was selected in 1918 by the United (socialist) Party as a council member on the Jewish community council of Bialystok, and until 1919 he served as secretary.  After the Russo-Polish war, he lived for a short while in Vilna.  He was active in the realm of secular Jewish school curriculum, director of the Perets School, secretary of the Vilna Tsisho (Central Jewish School Organization), and its delegate to the first Jewish school conference.  Over the years 1922-1938, he lived in Warsaw.  He was one of the main leaders of Tsisho and secretary of its executive committee.  From the early 1920s until his death, he was a member of the Bund, in which he assumed leading positions on its central committee and its other institutions.  He represented the Bund at the presidium of the Warsaw Jewish community council, at the literary association, and elsewhere.  In 1925 he visited the land of Israel and Western Europe, and in 1935 the Soviet Union—which he described in his book A rayze (A voyage), which the Polish censor confiscated.  He served on Tsisho missions to the United States, administering a campaign through America and Canada.  The last time he came to the United States was in 1938 as a member of a delegation of the Jewish labor movement.  Due to the outbreak of war, he remained in New York.  He and the other members of the same delegation joined the Jewish Labor Committee in New York in 1941.  Until 1963 Pat was the general secretary of this institution.  In his new position, Pat earned great merit in his campaign to rescue Jewish community leaders, personalities, and labor leaders from Nazi-occupied Europe to safe terrain, mainly in the United States.  He helped in the struggle for the state of Israel through the organization of the United Nations.  Through all these years, he worked in and for Yiddish schools: he was a teacher in the middle school of the Workmen’s Circle, and he wrote and edited publications for the Workmen’s Circle; and he was a member of the Workmen’s Circle’s Education Committee.  He published a series of articles about Jewish children in the ghettos and prepared the texts for dramatic productions.  In 1945 he was among the first Jewish community leaders to visit liberated Poland and the camps of the survivors in Germany.  He gave speeches in Western Europe, Israel, South America, and Australia.  A speaker before masses with a deep ethnic sensibility, his appearances encouraged a new Jewish cultural continuity after the recent destruction in Poland.  In 1948, as a founder and principal leader of the international Jewish culture conference which created the Jewish Culture Congress, he served as chairman of its administrative committee until his death.  He was among the main initiators of the Leksikon fun der nayer yidisher literatur (Biographical dictionary of modern Yiddish literature) and of the volumes “Yidn” (Jews) for the Yiddish encyclopedia.  He began writing with stories in Hebrew in 1905 and debuted in print in Hatsfira (The siren) in Warsaw in 1907 and with stories for children in Hashaar (The morning) in Warsaw the same year.  He then switched entirely to Yiddish and became one of the builders and establishers of Yiddish literature.  He published hundreds of stories, children’s tales, articles, dramas, novels, children’s plays, travel narratives, polemics, literary criticism, essays, feature pieces, journalistic essays, and textbooks, among other works, in virtually all of the Yiddish periodical publications throughout the world.  His critical articles in Folkstsaytung (People’s newspaper) and other periodicals always aroused heated debates.  He contributed work to: Romantsaytung (Fiction newspaper), Eyropeishe literatur (European literature), Teater velt (Theater world), Unzer lebn (Our life), the anthology Naye tsayt (New times), and Fraynd (Friend), among others.  For a time he served as the Bialystok correspondent to Haynt (Today) in Warsaw.  He was a member of the editorial board of party publications of the Zionist socialists in Poland; Der veg (The path) and Unzer veg (Our way) (Vilna-Warsaw, 1907-1919); and over the years 1921-1939, an editorial board member and later a member of the management committee of Naye folkstsaytung (New people’s newspaper).  He was also on the editorial boards of: Foroys (Onward), Vokhnshrift far literatur (Weekly writing for literature), Bikher-velt (Book world), Shul-vegn (School ways), and Di naye shul (The new school).  Over the years 1926-1938, he edited Kleyne folkstaytung (Little people’s newspaper) in Warsaw, while also contributing to: Literarishe bleter (Literary leaves), Varshever almanakh (Warsaw almanac), Yugnt-veker (Youth alarm), Kegn shtrom (Against the current), and Unzer tsayt, among other serials, in Warsaw; and Vilner tog (Vilna day), Grininke beymelekh (Little green trees), and Der khaver (The friend) of which he was also co-editor, in Vilna.  For years he wrote correspondence pieces for: Frayhayt (Freedom), Forverts (Forward), and Di prese (The press).  In 1922 he published a novel of war and revolution in Frayhayt in New York, and in 1926 he received for his story “A tsuzamenshtoys” (A crash) first prize in a literary competition run by Tog (Day) in New York.  In 1948 he won first prize in a literary contest run by Tsukunft (Future) for his story “In di berg fun saskatshevan” (In the mountains of Saskatchewan).  From 1938 he was placing work in: Forverts, Der veker (The alarm), Tsukunft (also its co-editor), Unzer tsayt, and Faktn un meynungen (Facts and opinions), among other serials in New York.  He contributed to: Lerer yizker-bukh (Remembrance volume for teachers) (New York, 1954) and Almanakh yidish (Almanac of Yiddish) (New York, 1961); and he edited four volumes of Fun noentn over (From the recent past) (New York, 1955-1958).  For many years he was a contributor to: Di prese in Buenos Aires and Unzer shtime (Our voice) in {Paris.  He published as well in: Di goldene keyt (The golden chain), Heymish (Familiar), Lebns-fragn (Life issues), and Letste nayes (Latest news), among other serials, in Tel Aviv.  Portions of his writings appeared in a variety of Yiddish textbooks and were used in the Yiddish schools throughout the world.
            His published books would include: Ertsehlungen (Stories) (Warsaw: Progres, 1910), 100 pp.; Moyshe (Moses) (Bialystok, 1918; Warsaw, 1920), 93 pp., Yerikhe (Jericho) (Bialystok, 1918), 17 pp., Gideon (Gideon) (Bialystok, 1920), 22 pp., Yiftokh (Yifta) (Bialystok, 1920), 16 pp., Shimshn (Samson) (Bialystok, 1920), 29 pp.—all published together as: Moyshe, shimshn, yiftokh, gideon, yerikhe, dertseylt far kinder (Moses, Samson, Yifta, Gideon, Jericho, recounted for children) (Bialystok: Dos bukh, 1920)—A krants blumen (A wreath of flowers), a history, description and images from life of the new Yiddish schools (Warsaw, 1920), 144 pp.; Far di kleyne kindersvegn (For the ways of little children), twenty-five miniature stories, originals and adaptations on the motifs of Werfel, Tagore, the brothers Grimm, Tolstoy, and others (Warsaw, 1921), 93 pp.  He published a series of children’s stories: Bay der shney malke (The snow queen), Bay der stolyer (The carpenter), Der frumer noged un der erlekher shames (The devout rich man and the virtuous synagogue beadle), Der rov un der leyb (The rabbi and the lion), Er iz avek (He’s gone), An alte mayse (An old tale), In shenstn yonteg (On a beautiful holiday), and In der liber kolonye (In the beloved colony) (Bialystok and Warsaw, 1918-1921), between 16 to 40 pp. each; Shloymeles kholem, kinder-opere in dray bilder (Little Shloyme’s dream, a children’s opera in three scenes) (Vilna, 1921), 29 pp.; Tsum vaytn land, kinder-shpil in tsvey aktn (To a distant land, a children’s play in two acts) (Vilna, 1921), 18 pp.; Leyenen un shraybn far kleyninke kinder (Reading and writings for little children), a short textbook for teaching Yiddish (Warsaw: Kultur-lige, 1923), 8 pp.; Leyenen un shraybn in ershtn lernyor, metodishe onvayzungen (Reading and writing in the first school year, methodical instructions), a short textbook (Warsaw: Kultur-lige, 1923), 19 pp.; Mayn yidish bukh (My Yiddish book), written with Kh. Sh. Kazdan, a reader for the second and third school years, including his adaptation of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (Warsaw: Kultur-lige, 1925), 196 pp.; Keyn amerike, geshikhten vegen di vos vandern (To America, stories of those who roamed there) (Warsaw: A. Gitlin, 1920), 118 pp.; three volumes of Bundistn (Bundists), silhouettes and images of popular Jewish revolutionaries, vol. 1 with a foreword by Noyekh Portnoy (Warsaw, 1926), 127 pp., vol. 2, Af kidesh hashem (Martyrdom) (Warsaw, 1928), 174 pp.;
Af di vegn fun baginen (On the roads of dawn) (Warsaw, 1930), 319 pp.; Mayn yidish bikhl, leyenen un shraybn far der ershter opteylung (My little Yiddish book, reading and writing for the first division) (Warsaw, 1928), 79 pp.; Hirsh lekert, tsum finf un tsvantsiktn yortsayt fun zayn martire toyt, loyt di materyaln fun bundishn arkhiv (Hirsh Lekert, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the martyr’s death, according to materials in the Bund’s archives) (Warsaw, 1927), 48 pp.; Iber nakht groy gevorn, vegn beynish mikhalevitsh (Turning gray overnight, on Beynish Mikhalevitsh) (Vilna, 1929), 8 pp.; A rayze (Warsaw, 1936), 318 pp., earlier published serially in Folkstsaytung (October 1935-April 1936); Beynish mikhalevitsh, a biografye (Beynish Mikhalevitsh, a biography) (New York, 1941), 55 pp.; Ash un fayer, iber di khurves fun poyln (Ash and fire, on the ruins of Poland) (New York, 1946), 391 pp., written during a visit to the former towns of Jewish residence—Warsaw, Lodz, Bialystok, and elsewhere and in the death camps of Auschwitz, Treblinka, and elsewhere, evoking the senses and moods of the remaining, surviving Jews in Poland, also in English—Henekh, a yidish kind vos is aroys fun geto (Henekh, a Jewish child who gets out of the ghetto) (Buenos Aires, 1948), 159 pp.; Shmuesn mit yidishe shrayber (Conversations with Yiddish writers) (New York, 1954), 290 pp., “recording for all time the thoughts and opinions of great Yiddish writers in America concerning existence and continuity and concerning Yiddish culture and literature of our time,” Hebrew translation by Shimshon Meltser as Siot im sofrim yehudiim (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1959), 294 pp.; Di lererin ester (Buenos Aires, 1956), 472 pp., on the emergence of the struggle for Yiddish schools in Poland—“Esther” is the prototype drawn from his own sister; Shmuesn mit shrayber in yisroel (Conversations with writers in Israel) (New York, 1960), 277 pp.; Khaneke, di tokhter fun der lererin sheyne (Little Hannah, the daughter of teacher Sheyne), the final chapter of Di lererin ester (Buenos Aires: Yidbukh, 1964), 120 pp., in which is described the pain and fortitude of Jewish children in the ghettos, their stories between life and death over the years 1939-1943 in Poland.  Of his dramatic work, the following were staged: Laydn un shafn (Suffering and creating), directed by Mark Ornshteyn (Bialystok, 1907); In goldn land (In the golden land), popular play in three acts, directed by Zigmunt Turkov (Warsaw, 1926).  He also published under such pen names as: Y. Vilner, Vili, Yavi, Y. P., Y. V., and A”A.  He died in New York.
            “Pious people,” wrote Ab. Cahan, “cannot speak about what is holy without a certain melody.  Pat does not write ‘on sheet music’; he writes completely naturally, but in the naturalness itself lies a certain something that makes you feel like his pen would speak with some sort of tune or accent which you cannot determine.  Inasmuch as this all comes from deep in his heart, the reader senses it instinctively.”
            “Literature is for Yankev Pat,” noted Shaye Shpigl, “only the frame for that wordless melody that is searching first for its embodiment in life.  He carries in himself, as a writer, not only the fine flame of creativity.  In it ceaselessly glows the fire of tangible deeda, of the fight and the struggle for something pure, exalted, sanctified.
            “There is in Yankev Pat’s simple writing—I have in mind his prose works—a rare feature: the trait of great compassion, of mercy for men.  Something like (in a certain sense) the warm simplicity of Dickens’s humanism.  There is also in Yankev Pat’s descriptions something of our own, familiar Yankev Dinenzon’s Jewish sorrow.  Two Jacobs wrestling hard with angels from heaven, while their heads rest on hard, rough stone.
            “The authenticity of Yankev Pat’s creations, you will find in their full artistic expression and justification in the moral heroism of the ages.  Yankev Pat located the sources of this authenticity in the struggle of generations of Judaism, the Judaism that created the psyche of the secular Jew.”



Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 2, with a bibliography; Zalmen Zilbertsvayg, Leksikon fun yidishn teater (Handbook of the Yiddish theater), vol. 3 (New York, 1959), with a bibliography; Khayim Leyb Fuks, in Lodzher veker (Lodz) (May 15, 1927); Fuks, in Der veker (New York) (October 1, 1960); Dr. A. Mukdoni, in Morgn-zhurnal (New York) (May 22, 1935; March 30, 1947); Ab. Cahan, in Forverts (New York) (February 21, 1947); Dr. Y. Kisman, in Der veker (February 25, 1947); H. Abramovitsh, in Fraye arbeter-shtime (New York) (May 1947); Meylekh Ravitsh, in Keneder odler (Montreal) (June 23, 1947); Ravitsh, in Di goldene keyt (Tel Aviv) 22 (1955); Ravitsh, in Tsukunft (New York) (July 1960); A. M. Fuks, in Di tsayt (London) (July 20, 1947); A. Sh. Hershberg, in Pinkes byalistok (New York) 1 (1949) and 2 (1950), see index; Nakhmen Mayzil, Geven amol a lebn, dos yidishe kultur-lebn in poyln tsvishn beyde velt-milkhomes (There was once a life, Jewish cultural life in Poland between the two world wars) (Buenos Aires, 1951); Y. Freylikh, in Unzer veg (New York) (June 1954); Itsik Manger, in Der veker (March 1, 1955); A. Leyeles, in Tog (New York) (May 14, 1955; May 4, 1966); Leyeles, Velt un vort, literarishe un andere eseyen (World and word, literary and other essays) (New York, 1958); M. Osherovitsh, in Forverts (May 15, 1955); Shmuel Niger, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New York) (July 10, 1955); Dr. E. Pat, in Tsukunft (November 1955); Elye (Elias) Shulman, in Der veker (September 1, 1955); Pinkhes Shvarts, in Fun noentn over (New York) 2 (1956), p. 427; M. Grosman, in Fun noentn over (New York) 2 (1956), p. 42; Grosman, in Heymish (Tel Aviv) (June 1961); A. Zak, in Tsukunft (September 1955); Zak, In onheyb fun a friling, kapitlekh zikhroynes (At the start of spring, chapters of memoirs) (Buenos Aires: Farband fun poylishe yidn, 1962), see index; Zak, in Idishe tsaytung (Buenos Aires) (May 15, 1966); B. Shefner, Novolipye 7, zikhroynes un eseyen (Nowolipie 7, memoirs and essays) (Buenos Aires, 1955), p. 77; Shloyme Bikl, in Tsukunft (July-August 1955); Bikl, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (June 23, 1957; March 13, 1960); M. Bernshteyn, in Der veker (May 1, 1956); Hillel Rogof, in Forverts (August 12, 19556); Nakhmen Blumental, in Di goldene keyt 24 (1957); Sh. D. Zinger, Dikhter un prozaiker (Poet and prose writer) (New York, 1959), pp. 313-17; Mortkhe Yofe, in Der veg (Mexico City) (September 26, 1959); Yankev Glatshteyn, In tokh genumen (In essence), vol. 2 (Buenos Aires, 1960), pp. 209-14; Glatshetyn, Mit mayne fartogbikher (With my journals) (Tel Aviv: Peretz Publ., 1963), pp. 39-43; Yehoshua Gilboa, in Maariv (Tel Aviv) (Tevet 1 [= January 1], 1960); P. Shteynvaks, in Amerikaner (New York) (March 4, 1960); D. Naymark, in Forverts (March 20, 1960); Yankev Botoshanski, in Di prese (Buenos Aires) (May 20, 1960); Sol Liptzin, in Jewish Bookland (New York) (May 1960); Aba Gordin, in Di goldene keyt 39 (1961); Mikhl Vaykhert, Varshe (Warsaw) (Tel Aviv, 1961), see index; Solomon Kahan, Literarishe un zhurnalistishe fartsaykhenungen (Literary and journalistic notes) (Mexico City, 1961), pp. 125-26; Y. Emyot, in Keneder odler (September 13, 1962); Y. Gar and F. Fridman, Biblyografye fun yidishe bikher vegn khurbn un gvure (Bibliography of Yiddish books concerning the Holocaust and heroism) (New York, 1962), see index; B. Pik, in Di prese (January 14, 1965); Y. Mlotek, in Tsukunft (July-August 1965); Y. Shmulevitsh, in Forverts (April 28, 1966); A. V. Yasni, in Letste nayes (Tel Aviv) (May 5, 1966); Mendl Man, in Unzer vort (Paris) (May 14, 1966); F. L. Goldman, in Unzer veg (May 1966); Moyshe Krishtol, in Tsukunft (May-June 1966); Dr. Shmuel Margoshes, in Tog (July 16, 1966); Y. Rotenberg, in Foroys (Mexico City) (June 1966); Yitskhok Kahan, in Fraye arbeter-shtime (Junly 15, 1966); Khayim Bez, in Kultur un dertsiung (New York) (September 1966); Y. Yeshurin, 100 yor moderne yidishe literatur, biblyografisher tsushteyer (100 years of modern Yiddish literature, bibliographical contribution) (New York, 1966), see index; In gerangl, yankev pat un zayn dor (In the struggle: Yankev Pat and his generation) (New York, 1971), xii and 639 pp.
Khayim Leyb Fuks

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 423.]




[1] Translator’s note. This is a reference to the story of the same name (meaning: Bontshe the Silent) by Y. L. Perets about a thoroughly downtrodden worker who is utterly unconscious of just how subjugated he truly is. (JAF)

Friday 29 June 2018

AVROM PAT


AVROM PAT (b. August 18, 1903)
            He was born in Warsaw, Poland.  He attended religious elementary school, yeshiva, and a commercial school.  In 1920 he immigrated to Chicago where he graduated from middle school and the Jewish teachers’ seminary.  He worked as a Yiddish teacher in Chicago, Boston, and Paterson.  He began writing in his youth and debuted in print with an essay in Oyfsnay (Afresh) in New York in 1954.  He went on to publish poetry, stories, and essays on Yiddish and American poetry for Oyfsnay (1954-1960), among them a long piece on H. Leivick.  He also published in: Keneder odler (Canadian eagle) in Montreal; Der veg (The path) in Mexico City; Americaner (American), and Unzer horizont (Our horizon) in New York.  In book form: Likht un shotn (Light and shadow), essays (New York, 1967), 167 pp.

Sources: Der Lebediker, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New York) (June 12, 1955); Berl Boym, in Oyfnay (New York) (1958).
Khayim Leyb Fuks


WILLIAM POKHOTSKI


WILLIAM POKHOTSKI (May 23, 1881-August 1, 1945)
            He was born in Tomsk, Siberia; his father, from Suwalk, was deported there for taking part in the Polish Uprising of 1863.  In 1896 he returned with his family to Suwalk.  In Poland William Pokhotski joined the revolutionary movement and became a member of the Bund.  He wrote revolutionary poems in Russian.  He was arrested in Suwalk and in Warsaw.  In 1905 he made his way to the United States and there contributed to the Jewish trade union and socialist movement.  His journalistic activities in Yiddish began in Tsaytgayst (Spirit of the times) in New York (1908) with articles on labor issues.  He also penned stories and feature pieces for a variety of periodicals, among them: Fraye arbeter-shtime (Free voice of labor), Tsukunft (Future), and Vokhntsaytung (Weekly newspaper) in New York.  He published and edited Lustige bleter (Joyous pages) in New York.  From 1915 he was regular contributor to Morgn zhurnal (Morning journal) in New York (later, the labor editor).  He mainly wrote news and articles on industry problems and labor issues, from time to time also sketches and features, occasionally under the pen name Graf Pototski.  He Americanized his name to William Post.  He died in New York.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 2; Tsukunft (New York) (September 1945); Hadoar (New York) (August 10, 1945); Moyshe Shtarkman, in Hadoar (May 23, 1949); Harry L. Schneiderman, in Jewish Book Annual V (1946-1947), p. 103.
Yankev Kahan


RIFOEL POZNER (RAPHAEL POSNER)


RIFOEL POZNER (RAPHAEL POSNER) (b. February 25, 1897)
            He was born in Lutomiersk, near Lodz.  He was raised in Lodz.  During WWI he went to work in Germany.  Afterward he immigrated to North America.  He lived in Cuba and Mexico, and from 1926 in various cities in the United States; from 1947 he was in Los Angeles.  He debuted in print in 1927 in Frayhayt (Freedom) in New York, later contributing to: Signal (Signal) and Yidishe kultur (Jewish culture) in New York; and Landsmanshaftn (Native-place associations) in Buenos Aires.  In book form: A mentsh in veg (A man on the road), memoirs (New York: IKUF, 1954), 281 pp.; Heym un velt (Home and world), fiction and essays (Warsaw: Yidish bukh, 1966), 360 pp.; Vegn felker un lender (On peoples and countries) (Los Angeles: Bukh-komitet, 1971), 235 pp.  He was last living in Los Angeles.

Source: Y. Mestl, in Yidishe kultur (New York) (May 1954).
Leyb Vaserman

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 423.]


Thursday 28 June 2018

SOLOMON POZNER


SOLOMON POZNER (1876-1945)
            He was born in Minsk, Byelorussia.  He was a well-known historian and biographer.  Until 1903 he lived in St. Petersburg, thereafter in Paris.  He placed work in Novyi voskhod (New sunrise) in St. Petersburg, and later in French historical periodicals.  In Yiddish he published important historical works in: Tsukunft (Future) in New York (starting in 1925); and Yivo-bleter (Pages from YIVO) and Historishe shriftn (Historical writings)—both in Vilna.  He also contributed to the Yiddish-language Algemeyne entsiklopedye (General encyclopedia) in Paris.  His biographical monograph on Adolphe Crémieux elicited numerous responses in Jewish historical research.  During the Nazi occupation of France, he hid out in Nîmes.

Sources: Sh. Dubnov, in Yivo bleter (Vilna) 8.1 (1935); M. Weinreich, in Forverts (New York) (January 13, 1935); Russian Jewry, 1860-1917 (New York, 1966), pp. 265, 274.
Khayim Leyb Fuks


NOKHUM POZNER


NOKHUM POZNER (March 3, 1882-October 25, 1961)
            He was born in Starosel’ye, near Shklov (Szkłów), Byelorussia.  He attended religious elementary school and later yeshiva and studied secular subject matter with a private tutor.  In 1905 he came to the United States, where he studied and graduated as a dentist.  He debuted in print in 1929 in Vokh (Week).  He went on to contribute to: Studyo (Studio), Tsuzamen (Together), Oyfkum (Arise), Yidish (Yiddish), Inzikh (Introspective), Kinder zhurnal (Children’s magazine), Yidish lebn (Jewish life), and Vokh, among others, in New York.  In book form: Lider un poemes (Poetry) (Mexico City, 1949), 186 pp., second edition (Mexico City, 1952).  He died in Brooklyn, New York.

Source: Moyshe Shtarkman, in Hamshekh anthology (New York, 1945).
Benyomen Elis


YEKHIEL-MEYER POZNER (MEYER POSNER)


YEKHIEL-MEYER POZNER (MEYER POSNER) (November 6, 1890-February 8, 1931)
            He was born in Plotsk (Płock), Poland.  At six years of age, he moved with his parents to Lodz, where he studied with the local rabbi.  At fifteen he immigrated with his parents to London, where he studied music with a private teacher.  At eighteen he became conductor at one of the large London synagogues.  In 1910 he composed music to M. Rozenfeld’s “Herbst-bleter” (Autumn leaves) and to the poems of Avrom Reyzen, Bovshover, Edelshtat, and others.  In 1914 he became conductor and director of the Rothschild Synagogue.  In the summer of 1919 he came to the United States where he became conductor of the choir at the Workmen’s Circle.  In March 1920 he arranged the first concert of Yiddish folksongs at Carnegie Hall.  He later became conductor of the Synagogue Choral Alliance and professor of music at the Master Institute of United Arts.  In 1925 he published in Der tog (The day) in New York a series of articles on Jewish music and in particular on the cantorial art.  In book form: Harmonye, teoretiker un pratisher muzik-lehrer (Harmony, theoretical and practical music teacher) (New York: Levant, 1924), 148 pp.; and Elementarer music-lerer, an ophandlung vegn muzik-teorye far onfanger (Elementary music teacher, a treatment of music theory for beginners) (New York: Harmonye, 1928), 157 pp.  He died suddenly of a heart attack in New York.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 2; Zalmen Zilbertsvayg, Leksikon fun yidishn teater (Handbook of the Yiddish theater), vol. 3 (New York, 1959), pp. 1512-13; Kh. Ehrenraykh, in Forverts (New York) (January 28, 1927); S. Meidzher, in Forverts (October 20, 1929); V. Edlin, in Tog (New York) (April 3, 1930); Y. P. Kats, in Der fraynd (New York) (March-April 1931).
Leyb Vaserman


SHMUEL-AVROM POZNANSKI (SAMUEL ABRAHAM POZNAŃSKI)


SHMUEL-AVROM POZNANSKI (SAMUEL ABRAHAM POZNAŃSKI) (October 13, 1864-December 5, 1921)
            He was born in Lubraniec, near Włocławek, Poland.  He studied in Warsaw, Berlin, and Heidelberg where in 1895 he received his doctorate in philosophy for a work of research on Moshe Ibn Gikatila.  From 1897 he was the rabbi and preacher at Warsaw’s Great Synagogue.  He acquired great merit in the realm of Jewish studies in Poland.  He authored a number of scholar works in a variety of languages, primarily from the era of Geonim and on the Karaite movement.  In addition he published 784 articles in various encyclopedias and periodicals, including a small number in Hebrew in Hatsfira (The siren) (from 1889) and in Yiddish in Haynt (Today) and Dos idishe folk (The Jewish people) in Warsaw (1919, 1921).  He died in Warsaw.



Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 2; Z. Tigel, Geshtaltn (Images) (New York, 1928), pp. 6-7, 19-34.
Khayim Leyb Fuks


KHAYIM LEYB POZNANSKI


KHAYIM LEYB POZNANSKI (June 3, 1879-autumn 1939)
            He was born in Kamenets-Podolsk, Ukraine.  He received a Jewish and a general education.  From his youth he was linked to the revolutionary workers’ movement in Russia.  From 1902 he was an active leader in the Bund.  In Kiev, Berdichev, Lodz, and other cities, he engaged in Bundist work.  From 1910 until his arrest, he was living in Lodz, where he was chairman of the union of commercial employees.  He founded the “school and popular education association.”  During WWI he established the first secular Jewish school in Lodz, and he served as both a teacher and director there.  He was a member of the presidium of Tsisho (Central Jewish School Organization) in Poland.  His literary initiation was writing proclamations during the years of the first Russian Revolution.  He later became a contributor to: Folkstsaytung (People’s newspaper) in Vilna (1905-1906); Di tsayt (The times) in St. Petersburg; Lebns-fragn (Life issues) (1915-1919), Tsayt-fragn (Problems of the times), Naye folkstsaytung (New people’s newspaper), and Foroys (Onward) in Warsaw; and other Bundist publications.  He served as editor of Lodzher veker (Lodz alarm) (1921-1934).  In book form, he published: Memuarn fun a bundist (Memoirs of a Bundist) (Warsaw, 1938), 314 pp.  Among his pen names: -ron and Aba Ben Moyshe.  In the first days of September 1939, he was arrested by the Gestapo.  He was killed in an area of a glass factory in Radogoszcz, near Lodz. 

Sources: L. Berman, in Foroys (Warsaw) (June 10, 1938); Moyshe Shtarkman, in Tog (New York) (August 2, 1938); Shmuel Niger, Kidesh hashem (Sanctification of the name) (New York, 1947), pp. 304-6; F. Kurski, Gezamlte shriftn (Collected writings) (New York, 1952); Sh. Milman, in Doyres bundistn (Generations of Bundists), vol. 1 (New York, 1956), p. 431; Khayim Leyb Fuks, in Fun noentn over (New York) 3 (1957), see index; Menaem Poznanski, Demuyot melavot, sipurim (Compulsory figures, stories) (Tel Aviv, 1958); Kh. Sh. Kazdan, Mentshn fun gayst un mut (Men of spirit and courage) (Buenos Aires, 1962), pp. 367-89.
Khayim Leyb Fuls


KHAYKE POZNANSKI


KHAYKE POZNANSKI (b. ca. 1928)
            She came from Vilna.  She was in the Koshedar (Kaišiadorys) concentration camp.  Her poem “A mame” (A mother), which she would have written after the Germans murdered her mother, appears in Shmerke Katsherginski’s Lider fun di getos un lagern (Songs from the ghettos and camps) (New York, 1948).  She was killed by the Nazis.

Source: Shmerke Katsherginski, Lider fun di getos un lagern (Songs from the ghettos and camps) (New York, 1948), p. 255,
Benyomen Elis


ITSHE-MEYER POZNANSKI


ITSHE-MEYER POZNANSKI (1889-February 27, 1937)
            He was born in Lodz, Poland.  He served as director of a commercial school in Lodz.  In 1924 he left Poland and settled in Philadelphia.  There he directed the Jewish Zhitlovsky schools.  He was a journalist and storyteller.  He co-edited: Lodzer nakhrikhten (Lodz notices) in 1906; and Lodzer tageblat (Lodz daily newspaper) over the period 1907-1924.  For a time he served as the Lodz correspondent for Haynt (Today) in Warsaw, Yidishes tageblat (Jewish daily newspaper) in New York, and Di idishe velt (The Jewish world) in Philadelphia.  He published a series of articles on pedagogy and education.  He died in an automobile collision on the way from Montreal to New York.

Sources: Di idishe velt (Philadelphia) (March 3, 1937); Morgn-zhurnal (New York) (March 11, 1937); Khayim Leyb Fuks, in Fun noentn over (New York) 3 (1957).
Khayim Leyb Fuks


(YISROEL-)ARYE POZI (ARNOLD POSY)


(YISROEL-)ARYE POZI (ARNOLD POSY) (March 21, 1893-January 29, 1986)
            He was born Yisroel-Arye Pozikov in the village of Tshigrinovke (Chigrinovka), Mohilev Province, Byelorussia.  He attended yeshiva and a technical school run by YIKO (Jewish Cultural Organization), and he passed the senior high school examinations as an external student.  In 1914 he immigrated to London and in 1920 to the United States.  He was a teacher in the Chicago Sholem-Aleichem schools and later ran a print shop in New York.  He was: co-editor of Idisher ekspres (Jewish express) in London; editor of Oyfbroyz (Spurt), a quarterly journal of literature, art, and cultural matters in Chicago (1928); and editor of the weekly Milvoker idishe shtime (Jewish voice of Milwaukee) (1930-1932).  He published correspondence pieces, articles, stories, dramas, and essays in: Keneder odler (Canadian eagle) in Montreal; Di tribune (The tribune) in Copenhagen; Grininke beymelekh (Little green trees) in Vilna; Unzer bukh (Our book), Di feder (The pen), Oyfkum (Arise), Yidishe shriftn (Yiddish writings), and Kinder zhurnal (Children’s magazine), among others, in New York; and Idisher ekspres in London.  In English he wrote for (and was editor, 1949-1950) of the monthly The Jewish Home and was editor from 1950 of American Jewish Life which appeared six times each year.  He also edited the Yiddish-English weekly Kosher butsher shtime (Voice of the Kosher butcher).  In book form: Di milkhome un yidn frage (The war and the Jewish problem), with a foreword by Y. M. Zalkind (London, 1916), 32 pp.; Der binshtok, a shpil in tsvey stsenes (The beehive, a play in two scenes) (Chicago: L. M. Shteyn, 1927), 36 pp., also translated into Russian; Shalit un tamare, roman (Shalit and Tamara, a novel) (Vilna: Goldbeyl, 1929), 248 pp.; Der oyfshtand fun di kinder, a shpil in finf bilder (The uprising of the children, a play in five scenes) (Vilna: Naye yidish folksshul, 1930), 28 pp.; Yoyesh, a shpil in zibn bilder (Yehoash, a play in seven scenes) (Vilna: B. Kletskin, 1931), 160 pp.; Trukene beyner, a purim-shpil in eyn akt, fun di fir zin fun der hagode (Dry bones, a Purim play in one act, from the four sons of the Haggadah) (New York: Max Janowitz, 1932), 56 pp.; Haknkrayts, a drame in eyn un tsvantsik bilder un a forshpil (Swastika, a drama in twenty-one scenes with a prologue) (New York: Signal, 1935), 255 pp.; Yoysef, a dramatishe poeme in dray aktn mit a prolog (Joseph, a dramatic poem in three acts with a prologue) (Chicago: Tsheshinski, 1939), 199 pp.; Der nes, a folkstimlekhe geshikhte in eyn akt (The miracle, a people’s play in one act) (New York: Yidishe shriftn, 1943), 32 pp.; Baginen (Dawn) (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1981), 335 pp.  He also published a number of pamphlets in English.  Among his pen names: A. Izraeli, Ben Mortkhe, Abu Menakhem, Y. A. Gingold, and Arnold Lazarev.  He died in Los Angeles, where he had been editor of the journal Kheshbn (The score).

Sources: Zalmen Zilbertsvayg, Leksikon fun yidishn teater (Handbook of the Yiddish theater), vol. 3 (New York, 1959), with a bibliography; Shmuel Niger, in Der tog (New York) (April 30, 1928; November 1, 1936); Avrom Reyzen, in Di feder (New York) (May 1928); Y. Botoshanski, in Di prese (Buenos Aires) (March 11, 1931); Zalmen Reyzen, in Morgn zhurnal (New York) (October 5, 1931); P. Vyernik, in Morgn zhurnal (February 7, 1932); Z. Vaynper, in Oyfkum (New York) (November-December 1935); Herman Gold, in Byu-yorker vokhnbkat (New York) (January 3, 1936); A. Mukdoni, in Morgn zhurnal (January 24, 1936); L. Zhitnitski, in Di prese (April 1, 1936); D. Tsharni (Daniel Charney), in Khodesh byuletin fun alveltlekhn yidishn kultur farband (Paris) (March-April 1938); Kh. Liberman, Di shtime fun tol, zamlbukh fun briv un artiklen fun rabonim, shriftshteler, dikhter, kinstler, lerer, klal-tuer un mentshn fun folk vegn der idisher frage un der hayntiker tsayt, geshribn in shaykhes mitn bikhl “In tol fun toyt”, tsuzamengeshtelt mit bamerkungen fun khayim liberman (The voice of the valley, a collection of letters and articles from rabbis, writers, poets, artists, teachers, community leaders, and ordinary folks on the Jewish question and contemporary times, written in conjunction with the pamphlet In tol fun toyt, compiled with observations by Khayim Liberman) (New York, 1940), p. 105; Leye Mishkin, in Pinkes shikago (1951/1952).
Benyomen Elis

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), cols. 423, 548.]


PAULA R.


PAULA R. (September 1876-October 1941)
            The pen name of Perl Prilutski (Prylucki), wife of Noyekh Prylucki, she was born in Warsaw, into a well-to-do family.  She received an assimilated education, graduating from high school while at the same time studying music for two years in special courses offered at the Warsaw Conservatory.  After marrying her first husband, she ran a wide-open home and an artistic salon.  She befriended Ester-Rokhl Kaminska who would later appear in stage in a play written by her.  She began writing in 1904 in Polish, and under the influence of Noyekh Prylucki, whom she married in 1908, she switched to Yiddish and debuted in print with a poem in prose form entitled “Dos kvelekhl” (The little spring) in the literary supplement of Veg (Path) in Warsaw (spring 1906).  She went on to published several dozen poems and prose works there, sometimes in blank verse, and she also wrote poems, stories, dramas, and satires in: the anthology Goldene funken (Golden sparks), Moment (Moment), and other publications.  Her plays Di yerushe (The inheritance), Eyne fun yene (One of those), and Di trayhayt (Devotion) were produced in Warsaw, St. Petersburg, and New York.  Di yerushe was also performed in a Russian translation.  In book format: Trayhayt, a drama in one act (Warsaw), 28 pp.; Der malekh un der sotn, poeme (The angel and the devil, a poem) (Warsaw, 1908), 16 pp.; Dramen (Plays) (Warsaw: Nayer, 1912), 78 pp.; Dramen (Warsaw: Nayer, 1913), 17 pp.; Eyne fun yene, drame in fir aktn (One of them, a drama in four acts) (Warsaw: Nayer, 1914), 104 pp.  She translated In’m groysen tumel (In a great racket) by Aage Madelung (Warsaw: M. Gitlin, 1918), 188 pp.  When the Germans invaded Poland in 1939, she and her husband escaped to Vilna.  She was later confined in the Vilna ghetto and was murdered at Ponar in October 1941.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 2; Zalmen Zilbertsvayg, Leksikon fun yidishn teater (Handbook of the Yiddish theater), vol. 3 (New York, 1959); Lilyen Aba (B. Rivkin), in Tsayt (New York) (December 16, 1921); Y. Entin, in Idishe poetn (Yiddish poets), part 1 (New York, 1927), p. 295; Ezra Korman, Yidishe dikhterins (Yiddish poetesses) (Chicago: L. M. Shteyn, pp. 59-61; E. Almi, in Poylishe yid, annual (New York, 1944); M. Balberishki, in Dos naye lebn (Warsaw) 9 (1945); Avrom Sutzkever, Fun vilner geto (From the Vilna ghetto) (Paris, 1946); “Yizker” (Remembrance), Yidishe shriftn (Lodz) (1946); Shmerke Katsherginski, in Tsukunft (New York) (September 1946); Katsherginski, Khurbn vilne (The destruction of Vilna) (New York, 1947), p. 204; B. Kutsher, Geven amol varshe (As Warsaw once was) (Paris, 1955), see index; Dr. A. Mukdoni, In varshe un in lodzh (In Warsaw and in Lodz) (Buenos Aires, 1955), p. 235; Pinkes varshe (Buenos Aires) 1 (1955), p. 830.
Leyb Vaserman


ELIEZER PAVIR


ELIEZER PAVIR (d. ca. 1812)
            According to some sources, his surname was Paver or Favir.  He was born in Tarnopol, Galicia, and lived in Lemberg and Zholkiev (Żółkiew) where he worked as secretary for the Jewish community council.  He was a pioneer of popular literature in Yiddish in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.  He wrote in a pure, folkish, Hassidic Yiddish.  He wrote no original works himself, but he exerted considerable influence on his readers at the time through his Yiddish translations.  His Sefer sipure hapelaot, oder gerimte geshikhte (Tales of wonder, or illustrious history) (Żółkiew, 1801), 106 pp., which he in his own language “retold” as a version of the Old Yiddish Mayse-bukh (Story book), contains forty stories from the roughly 250 in the Mayse bukh, and it appeared in print in numerous copies in editions from Żółkiew, Józefów, Vilna, and Warsaw.  His reworking of the Jewish Enlightenment drama by the Mohilever Maggid (Khayim Avrom), Milama beshalom (War in peace), under the title Gdules yoysef (The grandeur of Joseph), was completed, according to the Hebrew preface, in on Tevet 18 [= January 9], 1795.  Pavir also authored a number of storybooks that he published anonymously and distributed in Galicia early in the Enlightenment movement.  His reworking of Beinat olam (Examination of the world) into Yiddish, based on Y. A. Auerbach’s translation (Sulzbach, 1744), possessed immense value and Yiddish-language riches—published under the title Safa berura (Clear language) together with the original in Żółkiew (1805).  He also translated into a popular Yiddish style Shivḥe baal-shem-tov (Praises for the Baal-Shem-Tov) (Lemberg- Żółkiew, 1812), and we know from the preface that he completed this work in 1811.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 3 (under the name “Favir”); Zalmen Zilbertsvayg, Leksikon fun yidishn teater (Handbook of the Yiddish theater), vol. 3 (New York, 1959), p. 2200, with a bibliography; Noyekh Prylucki, in Yivo-bleter (Vilna) 1 (1931), pp. 408-14; Dr. Y. Shatski, Arkhiv tsu der geshikhte fun yidishn teater un drame (Archive for the history of Yiddish theater and drama) (Vilna, 1930), pp. 151-58; A. Yeri, in Kiryat sefer (Jerusalem) 8 (1931), pp. 80-81; L. Zamet, in Yidishe shprakh (New York) 15.3 (December 1965).
Khayim Leyb Fuks


P. PAVIN

P. PAVIN

            He was a playwright and journalist, born in Poland.  He was a leather worker who took part in the illegal revolutionary movement.  In 1930 he departed for the Soviet Union.  He wrote journalistic articles and was the author of a one-act play, Farn toyer (For the goal), “dedicated to the thousands of revolutionaries languishing in Polish prisons” (Moscow: Emes, 1932), 16 pp.  Further information remains unknown.

Khayim Leyb Fuks

[Additional information from: Chaim Beider, Leksikon fun yidishe shrayber in ratn-farband (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers in the Soviet Union), ed. Boris Sandler and Gennady Estraikh (New York: Congress for Jewish Culture, Inc., 2011), pp. 276-77.]

SHLOYME PAV


SHLOYME PAV (1911-summer 1943)
            He was born in Balut, the poor section of Lodz, Poland.  He graduated from a secular Jewish school and went on to work as a tailor.  In 1937 he was coopted onto the central committee of the socialist organization “Tsukunft” (Future) of the Youth Bund.  At the time of the Nazi occupation during the years of WWII, he left for Warsaw.  He was active in the underground resistance movement of the Warsaw Ghetto.  He published articles and poems in: Yugnt-veker (Youth alarm) in Warsaw; and Lodzher veker (Lodz alarm).  He was an editorial board member of the underground Yugnt-shtime (Voice of youth) in Warsaw.  He was killed during the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.

Sources: B. Goldshteyn, Finf yor in varshever geto (Five years in the Warsaw Ghetto) (New York: Unzer tsayt, 1947); Unzer tsayt (New York) (November-December 1949); Yoysef Kermish, in Goldene keyt (Tel Aviv) 27 (1957).
Khayim Leyb Fuks


Wednesday 27 June 2018

LEYZER PODRYATSHIK (ELIEZER PODRIACHIK)

LEYZER PODRYATSHIK (ELIEZER PODRIACHIK) (September 23, 1914-April 10, 2000)

            He was a literary scholar, born in the village of Komerov, near Sekuren (Sokyryany), Bessarabia (now, Ukraine). He studied in religious elementary schools and yeshivas. He graduated from the Hebrew teachers’ seminary in Czernowitz. In the early 1930s he worked in a colony for school children together with Leyzer Shteynbarg; he was later a teacher in Jewish schools in Romania. His first works were articles and scholarly research pieces, published in Tshernovitser bleter (Czernowitz sheets)—among them, “Der historiker un folklorist fun di romenishe yidn” (The historian and folklorist among Romanian Jewry) about Moyshe Shvartsman; “Shoyel Ginzburg un di historyografye fun di yidn in rusland” (Saul Ginzburg and the historiography of Jews in Russia); and “Literatur un geshikhte” (Literature and history); as well as poems and critical treatments—and other serials. Over the war years 1941-1944, he lived as a refugee in Soviet Central Asia. Later, for a time he worked as pedagogical director in the Moscow Yiddish Theater Studio, where he gave lectures for students on the Yiddish language and Yiddish literature. He also wrote on literature for the newspaper Eynikeyt (Unity) in Moscow. From 1951 he was living in Riga, Latvia. He was regular contributor to Sovetish heymland (Soviet homeland), from when it commenced publication in 1961, in which he had charge of the sections, “Notitsn afn kalendar” (Notes on the calendar) and “Notitsn fun a yidishn bukonist” (Notes from a Jewish second-hand bookseller) concerned with writers and works. From 1965 he published longer essays on the history of Yiddish literature and language. He also penned a preface and prepared to have published Der Nister’s unpublished manuscript Fun finftn yor (From the year 1905); the preface appeared in Sovetish heymland (January-February 1964); in Sovetish heymland 8 (1965), he published an important work entitled: “Tsu der frage vegn der geshikhte fun der yidisher literatur” (On a question concerning the history of Yiddish literature). In 1971 made aliya to the state of Israel, and from 1972 he was a lecturer on Yiddish literature at Tel Aviv University. He placed a major piece of scholarship on the writings of Yehuda-Leyb Gamzu in Pinkes far der forshung fun der yidisher literatur un prese (Records of research on Yiddish literature and the press) (New York, 1974) and annotations with bio-bibliographic lists to Gamzu’s Yetsirot genuzot (Concealed writings) (Tel Aviv, 1977). His books would include: Itsik manger, der dikhter vos iz dergangen fun gro biz blo (Itsik Manger, the poet who went from gray to blue) (Ramat-Gan: Biblus, 1977), 23 pp.; In profil fun tsaytn (In profile of the times) (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1978), 354 pp.; Shmuesn mit andere un mit zikh, zikhroynes un rayoynes (Chats with others and with myself, memoirs and thoughts) (Tel Aviv: H. Leivick Publ., 1984), 247 pp.; Bilder fun der yidisher literatur (Images from Yiddish literature) (Tel Aviv: H. Leivick Publ., 1987), 121 pp.; Lid un tfile (Poem and prayer) (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1989), 182 pp. He received the Manger Prize for 1984; and he was a member of the jury for the Hofshteyn Prize, and a recipient of it in 1989. Among his pen names: L. Dinesman, L. Yitskhaki, A. Basarabyer, A. Tshernovitser, A. Yisroel, A. Sekurener, A. Poda, Leyzer Nekhes, and Der Bukinist.



Sources: Di goldene keyt (Tel Aviv) 44 (1962), p. 208; Y. Burg, in Folks-shtime (Warsaw) (October 6, 1964); B. Ts. Goldberg, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New York) (October 30, 1964); Elye (Elias) Shulman, in Tsukunft (New York) (January 1965), pp. 34-46; Y. Radinov, in Morgn-frayhayt (New York) (April 5, 1965); F. Lerner, in Di prese (Buenos Aires) (October 15, 1965).
Benyomen Elis

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), cols. 422-23; and Chaim Beider, Leksikon fun yidishe shrayber in ratn-farband (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers in the Soviet Union), ed. Boris Sandler and Gennady Estraikh (New York: Congress for Jewish Culture, Inc., 2011), p. 276.]

SHIYE PODRUZHNIK


SHIYE PODRUZHNIK (August 10, 1894-December 31, 1962)
            He was born in Tshekhanov (Ciechanów), Poland.  He studied Jewish subject matter with his father.  At age thirteen he settled in Antwerp and graduated from middle school there.  His journalistic activities began at sixteen as a correspondent for Fraynd (Friend).  He contributed to Avrom Reyzen’s periodical Nayer zhurnal (New journal) and the Vilna-based Yidishe velt (Jewish world) in 1913.  He co-edited the journal Der yidisher student (The Jewish student).  Together with M. Lipson and Yankev Klepfish, he published the first Yiddish periodical in Belgium, Der mayrev (The West), four issues (1913).  With the outbreak of WWI, he spent one year in London and from there wrote pieces for: Tog (Day), Tsukunft (Future), and Vayhayt (Truth) in New York, in which he published a lengthy work entitled “A tog-bukh fun der milkhome” (A diary from the war).  He also published feature pieces in Groyser kundes (Great prankster).  He joined the Jewish Legion, which helped liberated the land of Israel from the Turkish regime, and after the war he returned to London.  He wrote for a time for Di tsayt (The times) and Renesans (Renaissance), edited by Leo Kenig.  In 1920 he withdrew from professional journalism and founded an office for newspaper clippings.  He wrote from time to time and was a frequent contributor to Dos vort (The word), 1935-1937, in Warsaw.  He translated into Yiddish: Anatole France, Di royte lilye, roman (The red lily, a novel [original: Lys rouge]) (New York: Yidish, 1918), 331 pp.  In pamphlet form, he published: Dov ber borokhov (Dov Ber Borokhov) (London, 1947), 16 pp.  Under the name Y. Podro, he published in English: Nuremberg: The Unholy City (London: Anscombe, 1937), 127 pp.; and The Last Pharisee: The Life and Times of Rabbi Joshua Ben Hananya, a First-Century Idealist (London: Vallentine, Mitchell, 1959), 128 pp.  Together with the English poet Robert Graves, he wrote: The Nazarene Gospel Restored (London: Cassell, 1953), 1021 pp.  He died in London.


On the left with Robert Graves

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 2; Meylekh Ravitsh, in Keneder odler (Montreal) (December 20, 1956); Fun noentn over (New York) 3 (1957), p. 319; Yoysef Leftvitsh, in Loshn un lebn (London) (January 1963); Yidishe shtime (London) (January 1963); Khayim Shoshkes, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New York) (February 24, 1963); Y. Sheyn, Bibliografye fun oysgabes aroysgegebn durkh di arbeter-parteyen in poyln in di yorn 1918-1939 (Bibliography of publications brought out by the workers’ parties in Poland in the years 1919-1939) (Warsaw: Yidish-bukh, 1963).
Elye (Elias) Shulman