Hirsh Balbirski

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Lives in the Yiddish Theatre

SHORT BIOGRAPHIES OF THOSE INVOLVED IN THE YIDDISH THEATRE
AS DESCRIBED IN ZALMEN ZYLBERCWEIG'S "LEXICON OF THE YIDDISH THEATRE"

1931-1969

Hirsh Balbirski

Hirsh was born on 15 March 1894 in Lodz, Poland. His parents were small merchants. He learned in a folkshul.

In 1908 he performed with an amateur group until 1910. He decided then to make the theatre his profession. Later he acted for a year in the Lodz Yiddish vaudeville house.

In 1911 he performed in Titelman's troupe at the Olympia Theatre in Lodz and went on tour with this company.

In 1913 he went to Pskov to be with Zhitomirsky's troupe. Three months later he began traveling with a member's troupe. Following that he joined a Lodz actor's collective.

Zalmen Zylbercweig reported that Hirsh was a very simple, folksy person. So Zylbercweig had him play such types for him.

He had a lovely tenor voice, was a good dancer and over the course of a year became a "dyed-in-the-wool" (sworn) comedian.

Later, being the amateur in the troupe was a handicap for him. He was unruly, was one of the guys, and was on very friendly terms with other like-minded actors. He was very popular with theatre-goers in Lodz."

Jonas Turkow commented that B. had performed within the Warsaw Ghetto, where he had played in Yiddish theatre with others for Chaim Sandler, and there in the ghetto he was killed by the Nazis.

Sh. E. from Zalmen Zylbercweig and M. E. from Jonas Turkow.

"Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre," New York, 1931, Vol. 1, p. 121.