YOYSEF KRUK

YOYSEF KRUK (December 15, 1895-July 6, 1972)

            He was born in Częstochowa, descended from a wealthy, assimilated family.  Already in high school he was engaged in organizing socialist circles in Częstochowa, Sosnowiec, Petrikov, and elsewhere.  He helped transport from abroad to Russia, 1903-1904, “Vozrozhdenie” (Renaissance) literature, as well as weaponry for Jewish self-defense.  For many years he was one of the leaders and ideologues of Zionist socialism, later of the Fareynikte (United socialist) party which in 1922 merged with the independent socialist party of Poland.  He studied in Cracow, Munich, Berne, Halle, and Zurich where he received his law degree in 1911.  He lived in London, St. Petersburg, and Moscow.  He gave speeches at international socialist congresses.  In 1926 he returned to Poland where he became one of the founders of the Freeland League and went on to assume leading positions in Jewish and party life.  In 1937 he switched to Labor Zionism, and from 1939 he was living in Israel.  He began writing in German and Russian and only later in Yiddish as well.  He contributed articles on emigration and colonization, and political, sociological, and theoretical party issues to the party organs: Frayland (Freeland) and Morgn (Morning) (1910); Unzer veg (Our way), Der nayer veg (The new way), Der shtern (The star), Der shtral (The beam [of light]), Unzer vort (Our word), and Unzer nayer veg (Our new way)—all in Warsaw in the first half of the 1920s; the collection Umophengike shtime (Independent voice) and Unzer shtime (Our voice), both of which he edited in Częstochowa and Warsaw (1924, 1926); Di naye gezelshaft (The new society) in Warsaw (1927); Letste nayes (Latest news) in Tel Aviv (in which he had a weekly column); Kiem (Existence) in Paris; and Fraye arbeter shtime (Free voice of labor) in New York.  In book form: Vegn dem krizis in der yudisher emigratsye (On the crisis in Jewish emigration) (1909); Skitsn tsu der geshikhte fun der shvaytser yidn (Sketches in the history of Swiss Jews); Umophengikeyt, terror, frayhayt (Independence, terror, freedom) (Tel Aviv, 1950), 422 pp.  In Hebrew he published a volume of memoirs under the title: Tahat diglan shel shalosh mahpekhot, rusim, polanim, yehudim, ishim utenuot bedori, zikhronot (Under the banner of three revolutions: Russians, Poles, Jews, personalities and movements in my generation, memoirs) (Tel Aviv, 1968-1970), 2 vols.  Pen names include: Y. Rayn, Y. Tsherski, and Y. Yashinski.  He died in Jerusalem.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 3; Meylekh Ravitsh, Mayn leksikon (My lexicon), vol. 3 (Montreal, 1958); Pinkex varshe (Reconrds of Warsaw) (Buenos Aires, 1955), pp. 820-21; Yitskhok Gronboym, Fun mayn dor (Of my generation) (Tel Aviv, 1959), pp. 290-92; M. Astur, Geshikhte fun der frayland-lige un funem teritoryalistishn gedank (History of the Freeland League and of the territorialist idea), vol. 1 (Buenos Aires, 1967), see index; A. Tartakover, in Hadoar (New York) (Tamuz [= June-July] 1972); A. Zak, In opshayn fun doyres (In the reflection of generation) (Buenos Aires, 1973), pp. 55-64; Kh. Finkelshteyn, Haynt, a tsaytung bay yidn, 1908-1939 (Haynt [Today], a newspaper for Jews, 1908-1939) (Tel Aviv, 1978), p. 233.

Berl Cohen