Israel Wachser (; 1892 – 24 May 1919) was a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

writer of

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

and

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

Biography

Wachser was born to Aryeh Yehuda-Leib ha-Kohen in ,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. He was educated by his father, who served as

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

in the town (later in

Tulchin Tulchyn (, translit. ''Tul’chyn'', old name ''Nesterwar'' (from Hungarian ''Nester'' - Dniester and ''war'' -town), Latin Tulcinum, pl, Tulczyn, yi, טולטשין, ro, Tulcin) is a town in Vinnytsia Oblast (province) of western Ukraine, f ...

and Pestshan,

Podolia Podolia or Podilia ( uk, Поділля, Podillia, ; russian: Подолье, Podolye; ro, Podolia; pl, Podole; german: Podolien; be, Падолле, Padollie; lt, Podolė), is a historic region in Eastern Europe, located in the west-central ...

), was well-versed in

, and

Yiddish literature Yiddish literature encompasses all those belles-lettres written in Yiddish language, Yiddish, the language of Ashkenazim, Ashkenazic Jewry which is related to Middle High German. The history of Yiddish, with its roots in central Europe and locus ...

, and occasionally contributed to the Maskilic Hebrew periodicals ''

Ha-Melitz ''Ha-Melitz'' or ''HaMelitz'' (Hebrew: ) was the first Hebrew newspaper in the Russian Empire. It was founded by Alexander Zederbaum in Odessa in 1860. History ''Ha-Melitz'' first appeared as a weekly, and it began to appear daily in 1886. From 18 ...

'', '' Ha-Tzfira'', and '. By the beginning of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Wachser had begun working as a teacher in

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, and writing Hebrew and Yiddish poetry and prose. In 1916, he took a teaching position in a school for refugees in Baku, but was forced to flee the city amid the beginning of the Armenian–Azerbaijani War. He hastily destroyed most of his writings before leaving, although his older brother was able to save the remaining part of his work. Wachser spent some time in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

before settling in the Podolian town of Krivozer. Along with several other young Jews, he was killed on 24 May 1919 while defending the local Jewish population from

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

pogrom A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...

ists.

Work

Wachser published only one piece while alive, a Hebrew short story in ''Ha-mevaser ha-kavkazi'' (Baku, 1915). He left numerous works in manuscript: the plays ''On kinder'' ('Without Children'), ''Af mesires-nefesh'' ('Out of Devotion'), and ''Bay di ibergeblibene'' ('With the Survivors'), the stories ''Naftoli der soyfer'' ('Naftoli the Scribe'), ''A kindele'' ('A Small Child'), ''Der khoyv'' ('The Debt'), and ''Der nitsokhn'' (''Victory''), the poem "Dos indzele un di yam-tekhter" ('The Island and the Sea-Girl'), and a series of children tales. After his death, four of his children's stories in Yiddish were published in one collection by Eliezer Steinberg. His brother Menashe Wachser, then the Director of a Hebrew high school in Rishkani,

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

, had two of Wachser's fairy tales published in the third volumes of ''Rimon'' and ' in 1923, together with prefaces by

Hayim Nahman Bialik Hayim Nahman Bialik ( he, חיים נחמן ביאַליק; January 9, 1873 – July 4, 1934), was a Jewish poet who wrote primarily in Hebrew but also in Yiddish. Bialik was one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew poetry. He was part of the vangu ...

. Further publications and translations of Wachser's work would follow. Collections of manuscripts, correspondences, clippings, and photographs of Wachser are held at the Jewish Theological Seminary and

YIVO YIVO (Yiddish: , ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. (The word '' ...

Archives in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Partial bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wachser, Israel 1892 births 1919 deaths Russian children's writers Ukrainian children's writers Jewish martyrs People from Lipovetsky Uyezd Yiddish-language playwrights Yiddish-language poets Schoolteachers from the Russian Empire Jewish educators Jewish writers from the Russian Empire Dramatists and playwrights from the Russian Empire Short story writers from the Russian Empire Male poets from the Russian Empire