Samuel Hirszhorn (1876 – May 28, 1942) was a Jewish Polish writer, journalist, and politician.

Life

Hirszhorn was born in 1876 in Slonim, the

Grodno Governorate The Grodno Governorate, (russian: Гро́дненская губе́рнiя, translit=Grodnenskaya guberniya, pl, Gubernia grodzieńska, be, Гродзенская губерня, translit=Hrodzenskaya gubernya, lt, Gardino gubernija, u ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

to a well-to-do family. Hirszhorn moved to

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

when he was thirteen and received a commercial and religious education. He began his journalistic career with the progressive Polish press, contributing articles and poems that were both originals and translations from French and Russian. In 1903, with the rise of the Jewish national movement, he wrote the first brochure about Zionism in Polish called ''Co to jest syonizm?'' (What is Zionism?). He then became a frequent contributor to the Polish Jewish press, including the weekly ''Głos Żydowski'' and the

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

monthly ''Moriah''. He explored Jewish-Polish relations and translated Yiddish poetry. During

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 ...

, he contributed to the ''Varshever tageblat'', a Yiddish daily that was sponsored by the German occupation authorities and espoused a Jewish nationalist–populist orientation. In 1916, he joined the administration of the Warsaw Jewish Writers and Journalists Association and the staff of the Warsaw Yiddish daily ''Der moment''. He regularly committed to the latter paper for over two decades. In 1916, Hirszhorn was a founder of the

Folkspartei The Folkspartei ( yi, ייִדישע פֿאָלקספּאַרטײַ, , Jewish People's Party) was founded after the 1905 pogroms in the Russian Empire by Simon Dubnow and Israel Efrojkin. The party took part in several elections in Poland and ...

in Poland and was elected to the Warsaw municipal council under that party. In the 1919 election, he was elected a delegate of the Legislative Sejm. He contributed to various Jewish periodicals in both Polish and Yiddish. His translations of Jewish poetry included an anthology of Hayim Nahman Bialik's poems in 1917 and a collection of poems by 60 Jewish poems called ''Anthologia Poezji Żydowskiej'' in 1921. Among his best-known literary works was ''The History of Jews in Poland from the Four-year Sejm until the World War, 1788-1914'', which was published in 1923 in Polish and was later translated into Yiddish. Hirszhorn was in the

Warsaw Ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the G ...

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 ...

. He kept a diary in the Ghetto that was lost. He committed suicide with poison during an Aktion on May 28, 1942.

References

1876 births 1942 suicides 1942 deaths People from Slonim Jewish writers from the Russian Empire People from Warsaw Governorate Journalists from Warsaw Writers from Warsaw Councillors in Warsaw 20th-century Polish poets 20th-century Polish male writers 20th-century Polish journalists Polish male poets Yiddish–Russian translators Yiddish-language poets Yiddish-language journalists {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirszhorn, Samuel Folkspartei politicians Members of the Legislative Sejm of the Second Polish Republic People who died in the Warsaw Ghetto Suicides by Jews during the Holocaust Politicians who died in Nazi concentration camps Suicides by poison Polish politicians who died by suicide Suicides in Poland