S. J. Goldsmith ( he, שמואל יוסף גולדשמידט; born Shmuel Yosef Goldshmidt; 18 April 1910 – 18 January 1995), also known as Sam Goldsmith, was a journalist, author, and editor of

Lithuanian Jewish Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks () are Jews with roots in the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania (covering present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, the northeastern Suwałki and Białystok regions of Poland, as well as adjacent areas o ...

heritage in the European Jewish press and English press.

Early life and education

Goldsmith was born in

Jonava Jonava ( ; pl, Janów; german: Janau) is the ninth largest city in Lithuania with a population of . It is located in Kaunas County in central Lithuania, north east of Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania. It is served by Kaunas Internat ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

on April 18, 1910{ He graduated from the Hebrew high school ('Schwabes') in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

and from the

Vytautas Magnus University Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) ( lt, Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas (VDU)) is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. The university was founded in 1922 during the interwar period as an alternate national university. Initially it was known ...

in Kaunas. His early career was in the Jewish press of Eastern Europe, writing for the daily '' Yiddishe Shtimme'' (''The Jewish Voice''). From 1934 to 1939 he wrote for ''Hayntike Nayes'' (''Today's News''), the paper's evening edition, becoming its editor in 1933. He relocated to London in 1939.

In England

From 1939, he reported and wrote op-eds for the Hebrew daily newspaper ''

HaBoker ''HaBoker'' ( he, הבוקר, lit. ''The Morning'') was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper in Mandate Palestine and Israel associated with the General Zionists. History The paper was established in 1935 by the right-wing of the General Zionists,

'' in Tel Aviv, and for the British Sunday paper ''

Reynold's News ''Reynold's News'' was a Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom, founded as ''Reynolds's Weekly Newspaper''Joanne Shattock, ''The Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature'', p.2908 by George W. M. Reynolds in 1850, who became its first editor ...

''. As a British war correspondent he was the first journalist to enter the Bergen-Belsen camp after liberation and among the first in Dachau. He covered the Belsen Trial in Lüneburg (1945) and the Nuremberg Trials (1945-6) as a British war-correspondent. Between 1958 and 1975 he served as European editor for the

Jewish Telegraphic Agency The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) is an international news agency and wire service, founded in 1917, serving Jewish community newspapers and media around the world as well as non-Jewish press, with about 70 syndication clients listed on its web ...

. He was a prolific freelance contributor to various newspapers and journals, in several languages. During 1975–82, he wrote features for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', introducing aspects of Jewish ideas, culture, and politics to the British public. Among the causes he promoted were Hebrew language education in the Diaspora with the fostering of bilingualism, the rights of Soviet Jewry (during the eighties). He was a founding member and chairman of the London branch of the World Hebrew Union. He was also well-known as an expert in its classic Yiddish language and literature. He was one of the speakers at the fifth European Conference on Yiddish culture which took place in London in 1966.

Bibliography

Books

Goldsmith published books in both English and Hebrew, including five collections of essays. His works include: *

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

catalogue no 62-21943 * * * * *

As editor

* *

Personal life

He married Sonia Minsky, economist and teacher, in Kaunas in 1939. Their daughter is the British ancient historian Professor Tessa Rajak.

Notes

References

Sources

*Obituary, ''

'', 11 Feb 1995 *Obituary, ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 3 Feb 1995 *Obituary, ''

The Jewish Chronicle ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'', 21 Feb 1995 *Obituary, '' The Hampstead and Highgate Express'', 27 Jan 1995 {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldsmith, S.J. 1915 births 1995 deaths Jewish writers Lithuanian journalists People from Jonava Lithuanian emigrants to the United Kingdom British people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Lithuanian Jews British Jews British Home Guard soldiers 20th-century journalists