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

Lithuanian Jewish {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Litvaks , image = , caption = , poptime = , region1 = {{flag, Lithuania , pop1 = 2,800 , region2 = {{flag, South Africa , pop2 = 6 ...

heritage in the European Jewish press and English press.

Early life and education

Goldsmith was born in

Jonava Jonava () 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 International Airport. ''Achema'', t ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

on April 18, 1910There is no citation here. He graduated from the Hebrew high school ('Schwabes') in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

and from the

Vytautas Magnus University Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) (, 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 as the University of Lithuania, but ...

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'' () 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,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 edit ...

''. 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 that primarily covers Judaism- and Jewish-related topics and news. Described as the "Associated Press of the Jewish media", JTA serves Jewish and non-Jewish news ...

. 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 Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 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 a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

catalogue no 62-21943 * * * * *

As editor

* . *

Personal life

He married Sonia Minsky, economist and teacher, in Kaunas in 1939, and they have one daughter, 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 British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', 3 Feb 1995 *Obituary, ''

The Jewish Chronicle ''The Jewish Chronicle'' (''The JC'') is a London-based Jewish weekly newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world. Its editor () is Daniel Schwammenthal. The newspaper is published every Fri ...

'', 21 Feb 1995 *Obituary, '' The Hampstead and Highgate Express'', 27 Jan 1995 {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldsmith, S.J. 1915 births 1995 deaths Jewish writers 20th-century 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