SHLOYME PERL (ALMAZOV)

SHLOYME PERL (ALMAZOV) (March 24, 1889-April 20, 1979)

            He was born in Rovno, Volhynia.  He contributed to the Russian newspaper Yugo-zapadnaia volin (Southwestern Volhynia).  In 1913 he made his way to Canada.  In 1921 he graduated from university in Manitoba, Canada.  He was a teacher of English and for a long time also worked in Jewish radical schools in Canada.  For some time he edited the monthly Hilf (Aid), and he was a correspondent for Forverts (Forward).  He later placed work in Frayhayt (Freedom) and Morgn-frayhayt (Morning freedom) in New York.  He served as secretary of YIKO (Jewish Cultural Organization) and editor of the YIKO journal Naylebn (new life) over the years 1931-1939.  In additional to journalistic work, he also published stories, sketches, impressions, and poetry.  He wrote under a variety of pen names.  Using the name Sh. Almazov, he published in book form: Iber amerike, kontrastn, bagegenishn, mein strit, natur vunder (Across America, contrasts, encounters, main street, natural wonders) (New York: Morgn-frayhayt, 1930), 320 pp.; Vi der sovetn-farband leyzt di problem fun zayne natsyonale minderheytn (How the Soviet Union is solving the problem of its national minorities) (New York, 1932), 15 pp.; Sotsyale farzikherung in amerike, in di andere kapitalistishe lender un in sovetn-farband (Social security in America, in the other capitalist countries, and in the Soviet Union) (New York: International Labor Order, 1932), 96 pp.; Tsen yor birobidzshan, 1928-1938, dokumentn, opshatsung, faktn, tsifern un a landkarte fun der idisher oytonomer gegnt (Ten years of Birobidzhan, 1928-1938, documents, evaluation, facts, figures, and a map of the Jewish Autonomous Region) (New York, 1938), 32 pp.; Der Sovetish-daytsher opmakh, vos meynt er? (The Soviet-German pact: What does it mean?) (New York, 1939), 16 pp.; Der sovetn-farband un der veltkrizis (The Soviet Union and the world crisis) (New York: Ikor, 1939), 15 pp.; Di untererdishe milkhome in eyrope (The underground war in Europe) (New York, 1943), 320 pp.; Mit dem vort zum folk, derfarungen fun a lector (With a word for the people, the experiences of a lecturer) (New York, 1947), 336 pp.  He translated: William Z. Foster, Der bankrot fun der amerikaner arbeter bavegung (The bankruptcy of the American labor movement [original: The Bankruptcy of the American Labor Movement]) (New York, 1924), 108 pp.; and Hewlett Johnson, Sovetnland, a zekstl fun der erd (Soviet terrain, a sixth of the Earth [original: The Socialist Sixth of the World]), preface by N. Buchwald (New York, 1941), 394 pp.  He died in Petaluma, California.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 2; R. Kahir, in Morgn-frayhayt (New York) (May 2, 1932); R. Yuklson, in Morgn-frayhayt (July 4, 1932); P. Novik, in Morgn-frayhayt (December 16, 1934).

Benyomen Elis

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 433.]

MAKS PERLOV

MAKS PERLOV (b. June 6, 1902)

            He was born in Dombrovits (Dubrovitsa), Volhynia.  He came to the United States in 1922.  He worked in the furniture business.  He went on to become a union leader.  He contributed to Frayhayt (Freedom), writing journalistic pieces for it and stories for a variety of Yiddish journals.  In 1926 he was chairman of the writers’ association “Yunger arbeter” (Young worker) and contributed to Yung-kuznye (Young smithy) in New York, the publication of “Yunger arbeter.”  He often published thereafter in Nay-land (New land) in New York.  In book form: with Shloyme Davidman, Geknipte ritlakh, dertseylungen (Pinched twigs, stories) (New York, 1928), 258 pp.; A vort tsu di yidishe arbeter (A word to Jewish workers), a pamphlet (New York: Yidishe folks-komitet, 1941); Sidni garb end sons (Sidney Garb and sons), stories, illustrated by Zuni Moud (New York: Morgn-frayhayt Assn., 1945), 244 pp.

Yankev Kahan

YITSKHOK PERLOV (ITZJOK PERLOW)

YITSKHOK PERLOV (ITZJOK PERLOW) (February 1, 1911-November 16, 1980)

            He was born in Biała Podlaska, Poland.  He was orphaned at age seven.  He studied in yeshiva and high school.  From his childhood years he was always wandering.  During WWI he was living in Minsk, later until the Nazi occupation in Warsaw.  He spent the years 1940-1946 in the Soviet Union.  He was thereafter in Lodz and in the camps for Holocaust survivors in Germany.  In 1947 he traveled illegally to the land of Israel aboard the Exodus, and the ship with the immigrants (including Perlov) was sent back to Germany by the British mandate authorities.  The second time Perlov made aliya in a legal manner in 1949 and lived in Israel until 1961.  From 1961 he was a resident of New York.  He debuted in print in 1928 with a series of poems in Literarishe bleter (Literary leaves) in Warsaw.  From that point he regularly contributed work to: Haynt (Today), Moment (Moment), Radyo (Radio), Ershter shnit (First cut), Zalbe akht (Group of eight), Shtivl afn bruk (Boot on the pavement), and Varshever bletlekh (Warsaw sheets), in Warsaw, and he edited the last three of these; Bafrayung (Liberation), Unzer veg (Our way), Yidishe tsaytung (Jewish newspaper), and Vokhnblat (Weekly newspaper) in Germany; Dos vort (The word) and Unzer shtime (Our voice) in Paris; Haynt, Letste nayes (Latest news), Lebns-fragn (Life issues), Tsanin’s Ilustrirte vokhnblat (Illustrated weekly newspaper), and Haboker (This morning), among others, in Israel; Der shpigl (The mirror), Di prese (The press), and Yidishe tsaytung (Jewish newspaper) in Argentina; and Tsukunft (Future), Forverts (Forward), and Fraye arbeter-shtime (Free voice of labor), among others, in New York.  Published books include: Frunza verde (Green leaf), poetry (Warsaw, 1932), 166 pp.; Untergang, lider un poemen (Downfall, poetry) (Warsaw, 1932), 160 pp.; Estrade lider (Poems of Estrada) (1934), 96 pp.; Blondzhende kayafn, roman fun aktyorishn lebn (Wandering comedian, a novel of an actor’s life), two volumes (Warsaw, 1936), 196 pp.; Unzer like-khame, lider 1939-1946 (Our solar eclipse, poetry 1939-1946) (Munich, 1946), 157 pp.; Unzer regnboygn, baladn un lider (Our rainbow, ballads and poems) (Munich, 1948), 64 pp.; Eksodus-1947, poeme un andere lider (Exodus 1947 and other poems) (Munich, 1948), 90 pp.; Di mentshn fun eksodus 1947 (The people of Exodus 1947), a novel (Buenos Aires, 1949), 430 pp.; Der tsurikgekumener, roman (The one who returned, a novel) (Buenos Aires, 1952), 550 pp.; In eygenem land (In one’s own land), Israel stories (Buenos Aires, 1952), 349 pp.; Matilde lebt (Matilda lives), stories (Buenos Aires, 1954), 242 pp., for which he received the Tsvi Kessel Prize in Mexico City, 1955; Ahava venedudim, sipurim (Love and wandering, stories), stories in Hebrew translated from the Yiddish (Tel Aviv, 1954), 304 pp.; Dzhebelye (Jebelye [concentration camp]), a novel (Buenos Aires, 1955), 392 pp.; Flora ingber, a hoyz in tel-aviv (Flora Ingber, a house in Tel Aviv), a novel (Tel Aviv, 1959), 353 pp.; Mayne zibn gute yor, roman fun a freylekhn polet in rotnfarband (My seven good years, a novel of a happy refugee in the Soviet Union) (Tel Aviv, 1959), 396 pp.; in addition, two novels of his appeared serially in Forverts, Di kenigin fun di zumpn (The queen of the marches) and Der elnder dor (The lonely generation).  He also wrote a considerable amount for the stage—plays, sketches, monologues, and songs.  The longer works that were performed in prewar Poland include: “Goldene zangen” (Golden songs), a play in three acts (1938); “Abi men zet zikh” (As long as we meet again), a play in three acts (1939); and “Blinde pasazhirn” (Blind passengers), a play in three acts (1939), among others.  Perlov also translated Boris Pasternak’s novel Doctor Zhivago into Yiddish, 2 volumes (Tel Aviv, 1959).  He edited a number of publications (poetry and memory volumes).  His books were translated into Hebrew, English, and other languages.  Among his pen names: A. Bril, Y. B. Avromarin, Itshe Matlyes, and S. Itskhakov.  He died in New York.

Sources: Y. Varshavski (Bashevis), in Forverts (New York) (November 28, 1954; April 8, 1956; May 14, 1961; June 4, 1965); Y. Botoshanski, in Di prese (Buenos Aires) (October 26-27, 1955); A. Sh. Yuris, in Der shpigl (Buenos Aires) (March 1956); Sh. Slutski, Avrom reyzen-biblyografye (Avrom Reyzen’s bibliography) (New York, 1956), no. 4822; Meylekh Ravitsh, Mayn leksikon (My lexicon), vol. 3 (Montreal, 1958), pp. 327-28; A. Lis, Heym un doyer, vegn shrayber un verk (Home and duration, on writers and work) (Tel Aviv: Y. L. Perets Library, 1960), pp. 127-32; A. Glants-Leyeles, in Folks un velt (New York) (June 1962); Biblyografye fun yidishe bikher vegn khurbn un gvure (Bibliography of Yiddish books concerning the Holocaust and heroism) (New York, 1962), see index; Y. Emyot, in Keneder odler (Montreal) (February 21, 1965).

Khayim Leyb Fuks

SHAPSE PERL (S. PEREL)

SHAPSE PERL (S. PEREL) (September 18, 1906-April 22, 1976)

            He was born in Yarmelinets (Yarmolyntsi), Podolia, Ukraine.  He studied with his father and grandfather, both Rizhiner (Ruzhiner) Hassidism.  He also attended public school.  Because of pogroms and civil war, he was unable to continue his studies in a regular manner.  In 1927 he made his way with his parents to Canada.  He settled in Montreal and became a tailor’s cutter.  He began publishing in 1929 for the journal Royerd (Virgin soil), edited by Y. Y. Sigal in Montreal.  He also contributed poems to: Montrealer heftn (Montreal notebooks), Heftn (Notebooks), Kanader zhurnal (Canada journal), and Keneder odler (Canadian eagle) in Montreal; Dos yidishe vort (The Jewish word) in Winnipeg; Kamf (Struggle) in Toronto; and Signal (Signal) in New York.  In book form: Fun khaver tsu khaver (From friend to friend) (Montreal, 1934), 62 pp.  He died in Montreal.

Sources: G. Pomerants, in Der shigl (Buenos Aires) (October 5, 1934); Sh. Shtern, in Literarishe bleter (Warsaw) (November 16, 1934); Y. Rabinovitsh, in Keneder odler (Montreal) (November 5, 1959).

Khayim Leyb Fuks

SALOMEA PERL

SALOMEA PERL (1869-1916?)

            She was born in Lomzhe, Poland, daughter of Kalmen-Avigdor Perla, author of Otsar lashon ḥakhamim (Treasury of the language of sages), among other work.  She was raised in Lublin.  She later moved to Warsaw and worked in a translation office for foreign languages.  She graduated from Geneva University and studied in Paris and London.  In the early 1890s, she debuted in print with stories in Polish, which attracted the attention of literary circles.  Under the influence of Perets, she began to write in Yiddish, and she published several impressionistic works in Yontef bleter (Holiday sheets): “Broyt zukhendik” (Searching for bread), “Ohn kinder” (Childless), and “In teater” (In the theater).  Due to poor health she wrote little.  She also published: “Patke mit di bremen” (Patke with the eyebrows), Yud (Jew) 19; “Mikhele der latnik” (Mikhele the patcher),[1] Yudishe folkstsaytung (Jewish people’s newspaper); “Tsipke” (Tsipke), Fraynd (Friend) (1903); and “Di kanve” (The canvas), Shtrahl (Beam [of light]) (1910).

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 2; Avrom Reyzen, in Tsukunft (New York) (1920), pp. 649-51; Dr. Y. Shatski, Geshikhte fun yidn in varshe (History of Jews in Warsaw), vol. 3 (New York: YIVO, 1953), p. 275.

Yankev Kahan

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[1] Translator’s note.  This may be an error for “Khaykl der latnik” (Khaykhl the patcher). (JAF)

MENAKHEM PERL

MENAKHEM PERL

            He was the author of a booklet of poems in Yiddish and Hebrew: Di nakht fun khurbn yerusholaim (The night of the destruction of Jerusalem) (Warsaw, 1892), 32 pp.

Benyomen Elis

YOYSEF (YOSEF, JOSEPH) PERL

YOYSEF (YOSEF, JOSEPH) PERL (November 8, 1773-October 2, 1839)

            He was born in Tarnopol, eastern Galicia, into a wealthy family.  He studied in religious elementary schools and secular subject matter with private tutors.  In his youth he was a Hassid, later becoming a follower of the Jewish Enlightenment in Galicia.  He was the founder and director of the four-level Jewish school in Tarnopol.  He maintained the school alone.  The school had in its programming the Yiddish language, and even German was written there in the Jewish alphabet (see the essay by M. Balaban, in Yivo-bleter [Pages from YIVO] in Vilna 3 [1932]).  In 1912 he founded a publishing house which, aside from Mendl Lefin’s first Yiddish translation of Proverbs, also brought out three annual calendars (1813, 1814, 1815), and there he began to publish himself.  In Peter Beer’s Geschichte der Sekten in Judenthum (History of the sects of Judaism) (Vienna, 1816), he published an essay entitled “Über das Wesen der sekte Chassidim” (On the essence of the Hassidic sect).  His Hebrew work Megale temirin (Revealer of secrets) (Vienna, 1819), 110 pp., was the first satirical work in modern Hebrew literature, written in the language and style of a Hassidic storybook, the form—taken from 151 letters of twenty-six Hassidim to one another, concerning actual Hassidic and general affairs, excelled in its manner of imparting and introducing the genuine tendencies of the author in battling against Hassidism.  The influence of Megale temirin was apparent in both Hebrew literature (Yitsḥak Erter, Hatsofe levet yisrael [Spectator of the House of Israel]) and in Yiddish literature (Y. Y. Linetski, Dos poylishe yingl [The Polish lad]).  His struggle against Hassidism was also expressed in his second work, Boḥen tsadik (Test of a righteous man) (Prague, 1819), 120 pp.  He was in addition the author of Dray briv (Three letters), a supplement to Y. B. Levinzon’s “Shiḥa” (Conversation), which Perl published as Divre tsadikim (Words of the righteous) (Vienna, 1834).  He also penned articles for Kerem ḥemed (Vineyard of delight) (Vienna-Prague, 1836-1838), as well as several pieces concerned with school matters in German.  In Tarnopol people boasted of Perl, and when Yisroel Vaynlez (Weinlös) canvassed Perl’s archive, he found Perl’s Yiddish compositions.  They were included in a volume: Yoysef perls yidishe ksovim (Yoysef Perl’s Yiddish writings) (Vilna: YIVO, 1937), 244 pp.  In addition to the Yiddish text, the book included Megale temirin, the Hassidic story written in the style of the Sipure-maasiyot (Tales) of Rabbi Nakhmen of Bratslav, and “Gdules r. volf” (The grandeur of Reb Volf).  There is also the monograph by Weinlös entitled “Y. perl, zayn lebn un shafn” (Y. Perl, his life and works), 63 pp.; and Z. Kalmanovitsh’s “Literarisher un shriftlekher analiz” (Literary and artistic analysis), 37 pp.  An important contribution is also Simkhe Kats’s work.  He selected Perl’s other writings (some of them published in Yivo-bleter in Vilna, November-December 1938).  Some of Perl’s Yiddish letters, dramatic writings in Yiddish and Hebrew, as well as his Yiddish historical novel Antignos, were later published in Israeli periodicals.  The discovered Yiddish writings establish the importance that Perl ascribed to the Yiddish language in the work of the Jewish Enlightenment.  He died in Tarnopol.

Sources: On Megale temirin and its author, there is an entire literature.  We shall only note a number of the most important sources: Maks Erik, Etyudn tsu der geshikhte fun der haskole (Studies in the history of the [Jewish] Enlightenment) (Minsk, 1934), pp. 163-74; Dr. Yisroel Tsinberg, Di geshikhte fun literatur bay yidn (The history of Jewish literature), vol. 7 (Vilna, 1936), pp. 283-88; Tsinberg, Di bli-tekufe fun der haskole (The flourishing period of the Enlightenment) (New York, 1966), see index; Y. Vaynlez and Z. Kalmanovitsh, Yoysef perls yidishe ksovim (Yoysef Perl’s Yiddish writings) (Vilna: YIVO, 1937), p. 107; Arn Mark, in Folkstsaytung (People’s newspaper) (Warsaw) (September 3, 1937); Shmuel Niger, in Tsukunft (New York) (October 1937); Simkhe Kats, in Yivo-bleter (Vilna) (November-December 1938); Niger, Bleter geshikhte fun der yidisher literatur (Pages of history from Yiddish literature) (New York: Shmuel Niger Book Committee, World Jewish Culture Congress, 1959), pp. 270-73; M. Viner, Tsu der geshikhte fun der yidisher literatur in 19^th yorhundert (On the history of Yiddish literature in the nineteenth century) (Kiev, 1940), pp. 44-49; Dr. F. Fridman, in Shriftn far psikhologye un pedagogye (Vilna) 2 (1940); Khayim Liberman, in Yivo-bleter (New York) 2 (1947), pp. 201-19; Dr. R. Mahler, Der kamf tsvishn haskole un khsides in galitsye in der ershter helft fun 19tn yorhundert (The struggle between Jewish Enlightenment and Hassidism in the first half of the nineteenth century) (New York: YIVO, 1942), see index; M. Osherovitsh, Yidn in ukraine (Jews in Ukraine) (New York, 1961), pp. 279-336; Avrom Rubinshteyn, in Kiryat sefer (Jerusalem) 38 (pp. 415-24), 39 (pp. 117-36).

Khayim Leyb Fuks