YOYSEF SHTSHAVINSKI (JOSEPH SHAVINSKY)

YOYSEF SHTSHAVINSKI (JOSEPH SHAVINSKY) (June 30, 1904-July 25, 1979)

            The author of stories, he was born in Yezhov (Jeżów), Poland.  He received a traditional education.  He lived in Lodz and Warsaw.  During WWII he hid in villages and forests near Warsaw.  He spent the years 1945-1949 in the refugee camp in Föhrenwald, and later he lived in Hadar-Yosef, Israel.  He debuted in print with a poem in Yitskhok-Meyer Vaysenberg’s Inzer hofinung (Our hope).  He also contributed to: Nayer folksblat (New people’s newspaper) in Lodz (1923), Lodzer tageblat (Lodz daily newspaper), and Horizontn (Horizons) in Lodz; Hayntike nayes (Today’s news), Moment (Moment), Folkstsaytung (People’s newspaper), and Unzer ekspres (Our express)—in Warsaw; in the Holocaust survivors’ press in Germany; and Letste nayes (latest News), Yidishe tsaytung (Jewish newspaper), and Velt-zhurnal (World journal) in Tel Aviv; among others.  He co-edited Yidish eyrope (Jewish Europe) (Warsaw, 1935), Os (Letter) (Lodz, 1937), Bamidber (In the wilderness) in Föhrenwald (in Romanization).  His books include: Di geshikhte fun ger tsedek in poyln (The story of the righteous convert in Poland) (Lodz, 1936); Der onteyl fun yidn in poylishn oyfshtand (The participation of Jews in the Polish uprising) (Warsaw, 1937); Der amed eysh fun khsides (The column of fire of Hassidism) (Warsaw, 1938); Anshe mayse (Man of action) (Tel Aviv: Measef Yisrael, 1960), 200 pp. (Shtshavinski is only on pp. 4-78); Unter eyn dakh, dertseylungen (Under one roof, stories) (Tel Aviv: Measef Yisrael, 1964), 232 pp.; Der letster fun bashaf, dertseylungen (The last of Creation, stories) (Tel Aviv: Measef Yisrael, 1970), 290 pp.; Der bargreyser (The uprooter of mountains) (Tel Aviv: Bronfman, 1973), 356 pp.  He also wrote in Hebrew and published the volume Hashot, sipurim (The whip, stories) (Tel Aviv: Measef Yisrael, 1967), 255 pp.  He died in Tel Aviv.

Sources: Arn Tsaytlin, in Morgn-zhurnal (New York) (November 19, 1947); Yitskhok Yanasovitsh, in Di prese (Buenos Aires) (February 6, 1965); Nosn Fodemberg, Shafer un boyer, eseyen vegn shrayber un bikher (Creators and builders, essays on writers and books) (New York: IKUF, 1964), pp. 184-87; Yankev-Tsvi Shargel, in Yisroel shtime (Tel Aviv) (August 8, 1979); Khayim Leyb Fuks, Lodzh shel mayle, dos yidishe gaystiḳe un derhoybene lodzh, 100 yor yidishe un oykh hebreishe literatur un kultur in lodzh un in di arumiḳe shtet un shtetlekh (Lodz on high, the Jewish spiritual and elevated Lodz, 100 years of Yiddish and also Hebrew literature and culture in Lodz and in the surrounding cities and towns) (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1972), p. 163.

Ruvn Goldberg