Rosenberg, Shloyme, 1896-1975

Shloyme Rosenberg, son of Henoch and Nehama Rosenberg, was born in Laskarzew, Poland on April 23, 1896. As a boy in Poland, he studied at the gymnasium Staszic in Lublin. At the age of 22, in February of 1918, Rosenberg published his first poem entitled "The Death of the Priest Eli." After this publication, as Rosenberg writes, "so I became a writer!" In 1919, he traveled to Palestine and worked in the orange groves and vineyards. The cousin of famed Yiddish theater actor Maurice Schwartz, Rosenberg also acted on the Hebrew stage in Israel.

In 1922, upon his return to Poland, he became a printer. All the while, he still wrote poems and began translating works into Yiddish from Russian, French, and Polish. As he describes it, "I read by a chance the great work of the renowned Polish writer Stanislaw Wladislaw Reymont, his 4 volume 'CHLOPI'... and I was very impressed by it." The work inspired Rosenberg to translate it into Yiddish. This was no small feat considering the book inspired Rosenberg to translate it into Yiddish. This was no small feat considering the book was approximately 2,000 pages. The endeavor took him two years, 1924 to 1926, to accomplish. Apparently, Reymont knew about the translation and was "delighted" when it was done.

Around this time, Rosenberg began writing for the Haynt, a large Yiddish daily newspaper in Warsaw, Poland. Sholem Asch, who at the time was also a contributor to the Haynt from Nice, France, read Rosenberg's translation of Chlopi and requested that he become Asch's literary secretary. Rosenberg accepted and went to live in Nice. While in Nice, Rosenberg begam to write novels and published them in serial form in the Haynt . His position with Sholem Asch lasted from 1930 to 1938.

On February 28, 1936, Rosenberg married Regina Prashker. In 1937, while still in Nice, their son Marc Israel was born. According to Marc, while there, Rosenberg wrote articles, condemning Hitler. Apparently someone informed Rosenberg that he was on a hit list due to these articles and when war broke out, Rosenberg, along with his wife and son, escaped to Morocco. In 1941, after a year in Morocco, the Rosenbergs found their way to the United States. Within three months, Shloyme became a staff member for the Jewish Day, a Yiddish newspaper. Already fluent in German, French, Polish, Hebrew, Spanish, and Russian, he taught himself English and spent a lot of time at the Columbia University Library. Rosenberg stayed at the Jewish Day until the last years of his life. During this time, Shloyme and Regina had another son, Harold Reuben and then adopted a daughter, Rene Frayman.

While writing for the Jewish Day, Rosenberg published many serial novels along with thousands of articles, essays, and reviews. Many of these were published under various pseudonyms such as S.R. Berg, A. Prashker, I. Prashker, S. Prashker, Reb Shloyme, and Shrage. Some of the pseudonyms are clear. S.R. Berg clearly stands for "Shloyme Rosen Berg;" Prashker is his wife's maiden name. Shrage, however, is somewhat of a mystery. Rosenberg's publications include Tsvishn Feyer un Shwert, 1942; Der Idisher Monakh, 1943; Idishe Heldn, 1943; Rabbi Akiba, 1944; Shlomo Hamelech, 1944; In Kamf far a Neyer Velt, 1945; Der Idisher Prinz, 1947; Bar Kochba, 1948; Rabbi Meir and Beruriah, 1950; Moshiach's Tsayin, 1950; Der Idisher Kenig bei der Volga, 1954; Sholem Asch Fun Der Noent, 1958; Di Kuzrim, 1960; and Shabbetzay Zevi, 1965. He was a member of the Yiddish PEN Club, the Yiddish Writers Union, LZOA-Poale Zion, and Farband Labor Zionist Order. He also wrote for the Yiddish theater in New York City. Shloyme Rosenberg died in New York in 1975 at the age of seventy-nine.

From the guide to the Shloyme Rosenberg Collection, undated, 1940-1977, (American Jewish Historical Society)