Published Books

“Yung Grin May” is the first volume of poetry published by Rachmil Bryks in Lodz in 1939. It met with critical acclaim but as the Germans invaded Poland a few weeks later, it was understandably forgotten. All the books Bryks had printed were in his apartment in Lodz, but one day when he returned to his home after the invasion, he found that the Germans had burned all his books, and not a single copy remained. After Bryks immigrated with his wife and two daughters to the USA, he wrote the poet Zerubavel asking him to return the copy that Bryks had gifted him with a dedication. This copy was returned and is the single copy that exists today. It is in the possession of Bryks descendants.

The original Yiddish book “Oyf Kiddush Hashem” which was first published in 1952 and due to its popularity, had second and third printings in 1953 and 1954. Published by the Rachmil Bryks Committee. This includes a foreword by Dr. A. Mokdoyni. The second half of the colume includes a letter from Mani Leib and the novellas “A Katz in Geto” and “Berele in Geto”. Bryks stamped on the front page of each book a declaration, “This book has not been published with German reparations money”. This has been translated into English and Hebrew and German and printed as books. This 152-page book has been digitized and is included in the Yiddish Book Center Digital Library, since January 2009.

Oyf Kiddush Hashem can be downloaded here.

The Yiddish ballad “Geto Fabrik 76” was written secretly by Rachmil Bryks in the Lodz Ghetto. He read it at the celebratory banquet of three years existence of Factory 76, and the Director placed his name on the list to be deported from the ghetto to Auschwitz. With connections via other Yiddish authors, his name was removed from this list. This bilingual book, with English translation, was published in 1967 by the Bloch Publishing Company New York. With a foreword by Isaac Bashevis-Singer. and a Cantata by William Gunther. This book was digitized in January 2009 and is included in the Yiddish Book Center Spielberg Digital Library.

Geto Fabrik 76 can be downloaded here.

“Der ‘Keiser’ in Geto” by Rachmil Bryk, a novella about daily life in the Lodz Ghetto and describing the Judenrat, the ‘Elder’ of the ghetto, Mordechai Chaim Rumkowsky. Published by the Rachmil Bryks Book Committee with financial support by the “Joseph Vinetzky Fund” and the “Yiddish P.E.N. Club” in New York. The first edition was published in 1961. The second edition was printed in 1963. With a foreword by the Yiddish writer B.Y. Bialastotzky. This 266-page book was digitized in Janury 2009 and added to the Yiddish Book Center Digital Library.

Der Kayser In Ghetto can be downloaded here.

“Di Papirene Kroyn”/”The Paper Crown” is the second half of “Der Keyser in Geto” about the Judenrat leader Mordechai Chaim Rumkowsky which describes daily life in the Lodz ghetto. This 202-page book was published in New York in 1969 by the Rachmil Bryks Book Committee with financial support form the “Yiddish P.E.N. Club”. It includes a foreword from Professor Nahman Blumenthal.The essay “My Credo” where the author describes how he chose his style of writing appears at the end of the book in the original Yiddish. This book has been digitized and is included in the Yiddish Book Center Digital Library since January 2009.

Di Papirene Kroyn can be downloaded here.

Bryks said that this book is the foundation upon which all his other books are based. Here Bryks describes life in his birthplace Skarszysk-Kamienna. Readers learn of the rich uncle Mendl Feldman who kept the townspeople - Jews and non-Jews - employed. Traditions and superstitions and the various characters of the town are lovingly described.

This 130-page book has been digitized and is included, since January 2009, in the Yiddish Book Center Digital Library.

Di Vos Zenen Nisht Geblibn can be downloaded here.

This book was translated into English by the talented Yermiyahu Aaron Taube and was published as the first section in “May God Avenge Their Blood - A Holocaust Memoir Tryptych”.

This volume is two books which Bryks completed writing but passed away before he was able to publish it. His devoted widow, Hinde Bryks, published these books on his first yahrtsayt, one year to his death. The text was edited by Berl Kagan who also included a Bibliography of where Bryks had been printed, which is based on index cards Bryks diligently kept updating from day to day.

The first book “Di Antloyfers”/”Those Who Ran” describes Bryks’s life after September 1939 when the Germans invaded Poland until he was closed in the Lodz Ghetto. In the second book “Fun Gsise Tsum Lebn”/”From Agony to Life” , Bryks describes liberation. This 274-page book was digitized in January 2009 and is included in the Yiddish Book Center Spielberg Digital Library.

Di Antloyfers can be downloaded here.

This book was translated into English by the talented Yermiyahu Aaron Taube and was published in the volume “May God Avenge Their Blood - A Holocaust Memoir Tryptych”.

“A Cat in the Ghetto” translated from Rachmil Bryks’s original Yiddish “A Katz in Geto” to English by Dr. S. Morris Engel. Published in 1959 by the Bloch Publishing Company, New York. With an introduction by Professor Sol Liptzin, and a preface by Professor Irving Howe. With a letter by Eleanor Roosevelt. Includes the novelettes “A Cupboard in the Ghetto”, Sanctification of G-d’s Name”, and “Berele in the Ghetto”. Includes folk-melodies described in “A Cat in the Ghetto”.

“a Cat in the Ghetto” re-issue of the translation from the Yiddish original to English by S. Morris Engel. Published in 2008 as a Karen & Michael Braziller book by Persea Books/New York. With an introduction by Adam Rovner and an Afterword by the author’s daughter Bella Bryks-Klein. Includes the stories “A Cupboard in the Ghetto”, “Kiddush Hashem” and Berele in the Ghetto”. With Rachmil Bryks’s “My Credo” translated by Joseph Leftwich.

Second book published in English of Rachmil Bryks’s novellas. Published as Jewish Legacy book by Behrman House, Inc. New /York in 1977. With an introduction by the translator S. Morris Engel. Part I of the book is “A Cat in the Ghetto”. Part II of the book is “Kiddush Hashem” which was known as “Sanctification of G-d’s Name”.

“Ghetto Factory 76” is a bi-lingual publication including the original Yiddish “Geto-fabrik 76” and the English translation by Theodor Primack and Dr. Eugen Kullman. This book is the ballad Rachmil Bryks wrote secretly in the Lodz Ghetto and when he read it at the banquet celebrating 3 years of their factory, his name was put on a list to be sent to Auschwitz. Published in 1967 by the Bloch Publishing Co, New York. With connections, his name and the names of other Yiddish writers were removed from this list. With a foreword by Isaac Bashevis-Singer. and a Cantata by William Gunther.

This book was digitized in January 2009 and is included in the Yiddish Book Center Spielberg Digital Library. To download the book, click this link: https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/yiddish-books/spb-nybc206420/bryks-rachmil-geto-fabrik-76-khemishe-opfal-fervertung-poeme

Yermiyahu Ahron Taube translated three novellas of Rachmil Bryks from Yiddish into English with financial support form the Yiddish Book Center, and published these in a single volume, “May God Avenge Their Blood - A Holocaust Memoir Tryptych”. This includes three periods in Bryks’s life. The first section is “Those Who Didn’t Survive” (Di Vos Zenen Nit Geblibn) about life in his birthplace in Poland, Skarszysk-Kamienna. The second part is “The Fugitives” (Di Antloyfers) is from September 1939 when the Germans invaded Poland until the Lodz Ghetto. The third part of the book is “From Agony to Life” (Fun Gsise Tsum Lebn) about Bryks’s liberation.