Peretz Kidron (29 July 1933 – 6 November 2011) was an Israeli writer, journalist and translator.

Biography

He was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, the son of Sara and Herman Kirchenbaum aywho were devoted Zionists and supporters of the Jewish state. His family escaped to Great Britain in 1938 following the

annexation of Austria The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

into

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. After completing his secondary education in Britain he emigrated to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, where he lived on and off in Kibbutz

Zikim Zikim ( he, זִיקִים) is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the northern Negev desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The kibbutz was established in 1949 on la ...

for about 15 years. Both of his children were born in the kibbutz. During this period he was sent by the kibbutz to the UK as a youth leader for the Zionist leftist youth movement Hashomer Hatzair, to prepare and bring Jewish youth to migrate to Israel. In the early 1970s, he graduated from Tel-Aviv University in English and translation. From the late 1960s, he became active in the Israeli peace movement. In 1975, he was a founding member of the Israeli Council for Israeli-Palestinian Peace and served on the steering committee of the human rights group

B'Tselem B'Tselem ( he, בצלם, , " in the image of od) is a Jerusalem-based non-profit organization whose stated goals are to document human rights violations in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, combat any denial of the existence of su ...

. Kidron was a long time Israel correspondent for

Christopher Mayhew Christopher Paget Mayhew, Baron Mayhew (12 June 1915 – 7 January 1997) was a British politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1950 and from 1951 to 1974, when he left the Labour Party to join the Liberals. In 1981 ...

’s ''Middle East International''. From The 1980s, Kidron handled international contacts for the peace group Yesh Gvul. He compiled and edited a collection of writings of those who refuse to serve in the Israeli army, ''Refusenik! Israel's Soldiers of Conscience''. In 1976, he co-authored the memoirs of the Palestinian activist

Raymonda Tawil Raymonda Hawa Tawil ( ar, ريموندا حوا الطويل, born Raymonda Hawa in 1940 in Acre in Mandatory Palestine) is a Palestinian writer and journalist. She is the mother of Suha Arafat. Life Raymonda Tawil is a poet, writer and Palesti ...

, '' My Home, My Prison''. His translations from Hebrew to English include the memoirs of

Yitzak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...

and

Ezer Weizman Ezer Weizman (; he, עֵזֶר וַיצְמָן ''Ezer Vaytsman''; 15 June 1924 – 24 April 2005) was the seventh President of Israel, first elected in 1993 and re-elected in 1998. Before the presidency, Weizman was commander of the Israeli Ai ...

, and a biography of

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the nam ...

. His translation of Rabin's autobiography was censored by Israel's military censor. The passages removed were Rabin's account of the 1948 departure of 50,000 civilians from

Ramla Ramla or Ramle ( he, רַמְלָה, ''Ramlā''; ar, الرملة, ''ar-Ramleh'') is a city in the Central District of Israel. Today, Ramle is one of Israel's mixed cities, with both a significant Jewish and Arab populations. The city was f ...

and

Lydda Lod ( he, לוד, or fully vocalized ; ar, اللد, al-Lidd or ), also known as Lydda ( grc, Λύδδα), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Sheph ...

, particularly Ben-Gurion's gesture, which Rabin understood to mean "Drive them out!" The missing passages were printed in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' on 23 October 1977.

Death

Peretz Kidron died in Jerusalem, Israel, on 6 November 2011, and was buried at Kibbutz

Kiryat Anavim Kiryat Anavim ( he, קִרְיַת עֲנָבִים, ''lit.'' City of Grapes) is a kibbutz in the Judean Hills of Israel. It was the first kibbutz established in the Judean Hills. It is located west of Jerusalem, and falls under the jurisdiction o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kidron, Peretz 1933 births 2011 deaths Israeli translators Israeli journalists Austrian emigrants to Israel 20th-century translators B'Tselem people Writers from Vienna