FROYM ROYTMAN (EFRAIM ROJTMAN)

FROYM ROYTMAN (EFRAIM ROJTMAN) (November 12, 1910-May 3, 1982)

            He was an author of poetry, stories, and essays.  He graduated from a Tarbut school and high school.  He studied philology at Czernowitz University.  He fought in the Red Army against Nazi Germany and became an invalid.  In 1972 he made his way to Israel.  He published poems, stories, and literary criticism in: Sovetish heymland (Soviet homeland), Folks-shtime (Voice of the people), Shriftn (Writings) in Warsaw, Naye prese (New press) in Paris, Yidishe kultur (Jewish culture) in New York, Zamlungen (Collections) in New York, and in the Israeli journals, Letste nayes (Latest news), Bay zikh (On one’s own), Yerusholaimer almanakh (Jerusalem almanac), and Yisroel shtime (Voice of Israel).  His work also appeared in Horizontn (Horizons) in Moscow.  His works include: Finger in likht (Finger in light), poetry (Czernowitz: Naylid, 1937), 38 pp.; Afn indzl fun zen, lider un poemen (On the island of sight, poetry) (Tel Aviv: Hamenorah, 1975), 160 pp.; Der erd zingt (The earth sings) (Tel Aviv: Nay lid, 1977), 200 pp.  Works of his translated into Hebrew: Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), a novella and dramas, trans. Avraham Shaham (Tel Aviv, 1978), 96 pp; and Mipirke hadamim tipa (From the chapters of blood, a drop), trans. B. Mordekhai (Tel Aviv: Or am, 1979), 48 pp.  As Dovid Sfard noted: “Roytman’s dreamy (lyrical) poems rise with quiet breath and are permeated with transparency….  Only in the realm of heartfelt simplicity and clarity, which comes from an enduring, mature, and restrained feeling—only there Froym Roytman’s poetic sensibility, his proper poetic home may be found.”  “If clarity is a bit hazy in Roytman’s work on the topic of more engrossing philosophical meditations,” commented Elye Lipiner, “his lyrical poems will be agreeable to the reader.”  He died in Petaḥ Tikva.

Sources: Elya Lipiner, in Yisroel shtime (Tel Aviv) (December 11, 1976); Dovid Sfard, in Yidishe kultur (New York) (March 1977); Mortkhe Altshuler, Yahadut berit-hamoatsot baaspaklarya shel itonut yidish bepolin, bibliyografya 1945-1970 (The Jews of the Soviet Union from the perspective of the Yiddish press in Poland, bibliography) (Jerusalem, 1975), p. 168; Yeshurin archive, YIVO (New York).

Berl Cohen