MOYSHE KNAPHAYS

MOYSHE KNAPHAYS (b. August 18, 1910)

            He was the author of poetry and stories, born in Warsaw.  Orphaned at age eight, he attended religious elementary school and yeshiva.  He studied linguistics.  During WWII he turned up in Central Asia.  He returned to Poland in 1946, left for Paris in 1948, and for Argentina in 1952.  He debuted in print with a poem in Mezritsher vokhnblat (Międzyrzecz weekly newspaper).  He published poems and stories in: Warsaw’s Folkstsaytung (People’s newspaper), Vokhnshrift far literatur (Weekly writing for literature), Foroys (Onward), and Literarishe bleter (Literary leaves); Idishe bilder (Jewish images) in Riga; Literarishe tribune (Literary tribune) in Lodz; both Bialystok’s and Minsk’s Shtern (Star); in Parisian serials (1948-1952); Letste nayes (Latest news), Di goldene keyt (The golden chain), Heymish (Familiar), and Nayvelt (New world), among others, in Tel Aviv; and Di prese (The press), Idishe tsaytung (Jewish newspaper), and Der shpigl (The mirror), among others, in Buenos Aires; as well as other periodicals around the world.  He edited: the monthly Oyfbli (Bloom) in Romanized transcription, with H. Klepfish (1931); Der shtral (The beam [of light]) (1932); Geshosn-getrofn (Shot-missed), a satirical newspaper (1933)—all in Warsaw; Ilustrirte literarishe bleter (Illustrated literary leaves) in Buenos Aires; and Goldener bukh fun yidishn argentine (Golden book of Jewish Argentina), vol. 1 (Buenos Aires, 1973), 345 pp., with Volf Bresler.  He compiled: Antologye, vidershtand un oyfshtand, lider, proze, drame, muzik tsu 2 lider (Anthology, resistance and uprising, poems, prose, drama, music to two poems) (Buenos Aires, 1970), 333 pp.  His work appeared as well in: Opklayb (Selection) in New York; Shmuel Rozhanski, ed., Di froy in der yidisher poezye (Women in Yiddish poetry) (Buenos Aires, 1966); Shmuel Rozhanski, ed., Ven a folk dervakht, medines yisroel, 1948-1968, antologye (When a people awakens, the state of Israel, 1948-1968, anthology) (Buenos Aires, 1968); Shmuel Rozhanski, ed., Khurbn, antologye 109 poetn, dertseylers un memuaristn (Holocaust, anthology of 109 poets, short story writers, and memoirists) (Buenos Aires, 1970); and Shmuel Rozhanski, ed., Pleytim tsvishn fayern, in lider, dertseylungen un eseyen (Survivors among the fires, in poetry, stories, and essays) (Buenos Aires, 1971).  Knaphays’s poetry has been translated into several languages.

            His books would include: Vayse frimorgns (White mornings) (Warsaw, 1931), 69 pp.; Mokem, poeme fun altshtot (The place, a poem for the old city) (Warsaw: B. Kletskin, 1936), 31 pp.; Amol iz geven a mayse (Once upon a time) (Warsaw, 1939), destroyed in a fire caused by German bombing of Warsaw; Lirishe baladn (Lyrical ballads) (Moscow: Emes, 1940), 46 pp.; Azoy iz dos lebn (Such is life) (Minsk, 1941), destroyed in German bombing of Minsk; Blut far blut (Blood for blood) (Moscow: Emes, 1946), lost; Megiles yid, lider, baladn, poemen (The scroll of a Jew, poems and ballads) (Warsaw: Dos naye lebn, 1948), 172 pp.; Levone-krikher, poemen (Moon crawler, poems) (Paris: Yiddish Pen Club, 1951), 206 pp.; 100 sonetn (100 sonnets) (Buenos Aires, 1957), 138 pp.; A yingl fun varshe, roman (A lad from Warsaw, a novel) (Buenos Aires, 1960-1961), 2 vols.; Asore haruge-malkhes in varshever geto (The ten martyrs in the Warsaw Ghetto), a poem (Buenos Aires, 1968), 258 pp.; Balades fun mayn khorever heym (Ballads from my destroyed home) (Buenos Aires, 1968), 222 pp.; Di geshikhte fun a bukh un polet (The story of a book and refugee) (Buenos Aires, 1976), 90 pp.; Guf un neshome in kinstlerishn verk (Body and soul in artistic work) (Buenos Aires: Yidishland, 1978), 253 pp.  He translated into verse Elye Bokher’s novel of chivalry Bovo-bukh, fragmentn fun forsharbetn tsu der kharakṭeristik un zikhroynes (Bovo book, fragments of research work and into its characteristics and memoirs) (Buenos Aires: Yoysef Lifshits funf, 1962), 252 pp., second printing (1969), and he published Elye bokhers bovo-bukh (Elye Bokher’s Bovo-bukh), translation [into modern Yiddish] from Old Yiddish parallel with the original (Buenos Aires: Ilustrirte literarishe bleter, 1970).  As Froym Oyerbakh noted: “Knaphays is a lyrical poet, but he is very careful not to reveal himself….  He is a vehement storyteller…with storytelling in his blood, and he possesses the language for telling a story.”

Sources: D. Sfard, in Yidishe shriftn (Lodz) (1946), p. 58; Yankev Glatshteyn, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New York) (December 31, 1952); Shloyme Bikl, in Tsukunft (New York) 5 (1952); A. Mukdoni, in Tsukunft 10 (1958); Goldener bukh fun yidishn argentine (Golden book of Jewish Argentina), vol. 1 (Buenos Aires, 1973), pp. 95ff; Froym Oyerbakh, Af der vogshol, esey (In the balance, essay), vol. 2 (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1975), pp. 259-64.

Berl Cohen