AVROM SHEVEKH (ABRAHAM SZEWACH)

AVROM SHEVEKH (ABRAHAM SZEWACH) (August 15, 1904-April 20, 1969)

            He was a poet, born in Bialystok.  He attended “Yafes shule” (Yafe’s school) in Bialystok.  In 1930 he emigrated to Argentina, where he took up business.  In early 1969 he made aliya to Israel.  He died en route and was buried in Buenos Aires.  He began writing poetry in Yiddish while quite young, and later used Esperanto.  He published in: Byalistoker shtime (Voice of Bialystok); and Byalistoker vegn (Bialystok ways), Di prese (The press), and Idishe tsaytung (Jewish newspaper), among other serials, in Buenos Aires.  His work appeared as well in: V. Bresler, Antologye fun der yidisher literatur in argentine (Anthology of Jewish literature in Argentina) (Buenos Aires, 1944); Zamlbukh (Collection) of the H. D. Nomberg Writers’ Association in Argentina (Buenos Aires, 1962); 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); and Rozhanski, ed., Khurbn, antologye 109 poetn, dertseylers un memuaristn (Holocaust, anthology of 109 poets, short story writers, and memoirists) (Buenos Aires, 1970).  In book form: Tsayt-lider (Topical poetry) (Buenos Aires, 1944), 32 pp.; Ten lider far gezang un pyano (Ten poems for singing and piano), music by Henekh Kon (Buenos Aires: Association of Fellow Bialystok Natives in Argentina, 1952), 52 pp.

Sources: Sh. Osovitski, in Lebns-fragn (Tel Aviv) (September-October 1969); Osovitski, in Unzer shrift (Haifa) 5-6 (1970-1971), pp.189-90.

Ruvn Goldberg