Jewish playwright and novelist Sholom Asch was born in Poland in 1880. He first came to the United States in 1909, was naturalized in 1920, and lived in Europe and the United States, settling in Israel in 1956. One of the most widely known Yiddish writers, he won his first success with the play THE GOD OF VENGEANCE, produced by Max Reinhardt in Berlin in 1907 and given productions in many languages and places since then. His works include the novels Mottke the Thief (1917), Uncle Moses (1920), Three Cities (1933), The War Goes On (1935), The Nazarene (1939), The Apostle (1943), One Destiny (1945), East River (1946), Mary (1949), Salvation (1951), Moses (1951), A Passage in the Night (1953), and The Prophet (1955). His two collections of short stories and novelettes are Children of Abraham (1942) and Tale of my People (1948). Asch’s writings often depict Jewish life in Europe and the United States. Later works reflect the common spiritual heritage of Jews and Christians. Several of his plays were very successful in the Yiddish theatre in New York City. He died in 1957.