Josef Burg (May 30, 1912 – August 10, 2009) was an award-winning

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Soviet

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 ve ...

writer, author, publisher and journalist.

Biography

Burg was born on May 30, 1912, in the town of

Vyzhnytsia Vyzhnytsia (; ; german: link=no, Wischnitz; pl, Wyżnica; ro, Vijnița; ; ) is a town located in the historical region of Bukovina, on the Cheremosh River in Chernivtsi Oblast of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Vyzhnytsia R ...

, in the region of Bukovina,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. In the years before World War I, the city of Chernivtsi, also called Czernowitz in both German and

, was the capital of the Bukovina region and a center of Yiddish language and culture. The region became part of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

following World War I. Burg published his first professional writing in the '' Chernovitser Bleter'', a Yiddish newspaper, in 1934. The Romanian government closed and banned the ''Chernovitser Bleter'' in 1938, on charges of Bolshevik propaganda. Burg survived the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, but lost his entire family. He took refuge in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. 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. Josef Burg died of a stroke on August 10, 2009, in Chernivtsi,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, at the age of 97.

Awards

* Segal Prize (Israel, 1992) for Yiddish writings * 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 The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian ...

, 1st class (2007) * Theodor Kramer Prize (Austria, 2009)

Works

* 1934: ''Afn splav'' * 1939: ''Afn tshermush'' n the Czeremosz river(German: ''Auf dem Czeremosz: Erzählungen''. Boldt, 2005, ) * 1940: ''Sam'' oison(German: ''Gift: zwei Erzählungen''. Translated by Armin Eidherr. Boldt, 2005. ) * 1980: ''Dos leben geyt vayter. Dertseylungen, noveln, skitsn ife goes on further: Stories, novellas, sketches Sowetski Pissatel * 1983: ''Iberuf fun tsaytn.'' oll-call of the times Sowetski Pissatel * 1988: ''Ein Gesang über allen Gesängen: Erzählungen und Skizzen''. * 1990: ''A farshpetikter ekho'' late echo(German: ''Ein verspätetes Echo''. Partly bilingual. 1999. ) * 1997: ''Tsvey veltn'' wo worlds* 1997: ''Zevikelte stetshkes'' (Ukrainian original edition) * 2000: ''Irrfahrten.'' Boldt. * 2004: ''Sterne altern nicht.'' Ausgewählte Erzählungen. Boldt, * 2005: ''Dämmerung.'' Erzählungen. Boldt, * 2006: ''Mein Czernowitz.'' Boldt, * 2006: ''Begegnungen – eine Karpatenreise.'' Boldt, * 2007: ''Über jiddische Dichter.'' Erinnerungen. Boldt, * 2008: ''Ein Stück trockenes Brot.'' Ausgewählte Erzählungen. Boldt,

References

External links

New York Times: Josef Burg, Who Wrote About Jewish Life, Dies at 97

2004 interview with Josef Burg
at

Google Videos Google Search (also known simply as Google) is a search engine provided by Google. Handling more than 3.5 billion searches per day, it has a 92% share of the global search engine market. It is also the most-visited website in the world. The ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burg, Josef 1912 births 2009 deaths People from Vyzhnytsia People from the Duchy of Bukovina Bukovina Jews Yiddish-language writers Jewish Ukrainian writers Jews who emigrated to escape Nazism Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class Recipients of the Medal for Services to the Republic of Austria 20th-century Ukrainian writers 21st-century Ukrainian writers