Josef Burg (May 30, 1912 – August 10, 2009) was an award-winning Jewish Soviet Yiddish writer, author, publisher and journalist.[1]
Josef Burg | |
|---|---|
| Born | 30 May 1912 |
| Died | August 10, 2009 (aged 97) |
| Nationality | Soviet, Ukrainian |
| Occupation(s) | writer, author, publisher |
Biography
editBurg was born on May 30, 1912, in the town of Vyzhnytsia,[1] in the region of Bukovina, Austria-Hungary. In the years before World War I, the city of Chernivtsi, also called Czernowitz in both German and Yiddish, was the capital of the Bukovina region and a center of Yiddish language and culture.[1] The region became part of Romania following World War I.
Burg published his first professional writing in the Chernovitser Bleter, a Yiddish newspaper, in 1934.[1] The Romanian government closed and banned the Chernovitser Bleter in 1938, on charges of Bolshevik propaganda.[1]
Burg survived the Holocaust during World War II, but lost his entire family.[1] He took refuge in the Soviet Union.[1]
Burg continued to write and publish his works well into his 90s. In 1990, Burg revived the once banned Chernovitser Bleter newspaper as a monthly publication.[1]
Josef Burg died of a stroke on August 10, 2009, in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, at the age of 97.[1]
Awards
edit- Segal Prize (Israel, 1992) for Yiddish writings[1]
- Honoured Worker of Culture of Ukraine (1993)
- Honorary Citizen of Chernivtsi (1997)
- Gold Medal of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (2002)
- Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class (2007)[2]
- Theodor Kramer Prize (Austria, 2009)[1]
Works
edit- 1934: Afn splav
- 1939: Afn tshermush [On the Czeremosz river] (German: Auf dem Czeremosz: Erzählungen. Boldt, 2005, ISBN 3-928788-50-7)
- 1940: Sam [Poison] (German: Gift: zwei Erzählungen. Translated by Armin Eidherr. Boldt, 2005. ISBN 3-928788-51-5)
- 1980: Dos leben geyt vayter. Dertseylungen, noveln, skitsn [Life goes on further: Stories, novellas, sketches]. Sowetski Pissatel
- 1983: Iberuf fun tsaytn. [Roll-call of the times]. Sowetski Pissatel
- 1988: Ein Gesang über allen Gesängen: Erzählungen und Skizzen.
- 1990: A farshpetikter ekho [A late echo] (German: Ein verspätetes Echo. Partly bilingual. 1999. ISBN 3-87410-075-8)
- 1997: Tsvey veltn [Two worlds]
- 1997: Zevikelte stetshkes (Ukrainian original edition)
- 2000: Irrfahrten. Boldt. ISBN 3-928788-35-3
- 2004: Sterne altern nicht. Ausgewählte Erzählungen. Boldt, ISBN 3-928788-45-0
- 2005: Dämmerung. Erzählungen. Boldt, ISBN 3-928788-54-X
- 2006: Mein Czernowitz. Boldt, ISBN 3-928788-55-8
- 2006: Begegnungen – eine Karpatenreise. Boldt, ISBN 3-928788-57-4
- 2007: Über jiddische Dichter. Erinnerungen. Boldt, ISBN 3-928788-60-4
- 2008: Ein Stück trockenes Brot. Ausgewählte Erzählungen. Boldt, ISBN 3-928788-65-5
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Yiddish author Josef Burg dies in Ukraine". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. August 11, 2009. Retrieved August 23, 2009.
- ^ "Reply to a parliamentary question" (PDF) (in German). p. 1828. Retrieved October 23, 2012.