He alone excelled in history in all respects. The history teacher asked him to sing and say -- he couldn't answer my brother Zalman's shir-nit Maharsha -Kishiut about history."

Reisen studied in the Minsk City School and later studied especially the Yiddish language, literature and general linguistics.

His interest for the Yiddish language, his aspiration to elevate Yiddish, to cultivate it and to protect it from thorns, he particularly showed by what he published in 1908 in the "Progress" Publishing House in Warsaw, his "Yudishe gramatik" (100 pages), and in this same publishing house, together with his brother Abraham, "Di muter-shprakh," a method for learning and writing Yiddish, "with grammar rules."

In 1913 in the "Progress" Publishing House, there was published Reisen's (according to M Weinreich -- also his sister Sarah's) translation of Dostoyevsky's "Farbrekhn in shtrof" in two volumes (727 pages).

In 1914 Reisen made the first attempt to fix all the creators of Yiddish literature, and to publish in one volume, the "Lexicon of Yiddish Literature and Press," which he had collected and assembled under the editing of Sh. Niger (Warsaw, 1914, XXIII + 768 columns). The publication evoked the greatest respect in the Jewish cultural world. However, there were also objections and rejections, but the unprecedented importance of this pioneering work was emphasized in all the criticisms. 

In 1915 Reisen returned to Vilna, where he made his home and soon threw himself into Yiddish culture and social matters. He became a close contributor to one of the editors of the newspaper, "Letste nayes (Latest News)" (from 1915 until 1918), where he  had, besides the daily publicity and articles about Yiddish cultural matters, published in his translation the novels "Ben Hador" by Uales [sp], under the name, "Yerushalayim un Rome (Jerusalem and Rome)," "Di yidn in Tsirendorf" by Jacob Wasserman (not completed), "A Yid (A Jew)" by Danish-Jewish writer Meir-Aaron Goldschmidt, and "Milyoneren (Millionaires)" by Arthur Landsberger, and since 1919 he crossed over to the daily newspapers, "Tog," "Unzer tog," "Vilner tog," where he was the official editor from 1 July 1920 until 1939, when the newspaper stopped. In it, the newspaper, Reisen used to very often publish articles about Yiddish theatre, for whose purity he sought. His reviews in the newspaper about Yiddish theatre used to be distinguished by their seriousness and love for the very cultural significance of the theatre. But [he was] never too friendly with the actors or flatter them. On the contrary, he used to take advantage of every opportunity to criticize them for vulgarity both regarding the play, and regarding injustices to the Yiddish language.

In 1920 Reisen published a new work about Yiddish grammar, "Gramatik fun der yidisher shprakh," but only the first part of the work. The other half was published only in periodic editions, as in "Yidishe filologye" and in YIVO writings.

Reisen wrote about various cultural problems, reviews of books, Yiddish language research, etc. In "Bikher-velt," "Literarishe bleter," "Di yidishe velt," "YIVO bleter," and "Yidish far ale." In 1922 he went out to Vilna, "PInkus far der geshikhte fun vilne in di yorn fun milkhome un okupatsye, published for the Jewish Historical Ethnographic Society, in the name of Sh. An-ski, under the general edition of Zalman Reisen, of the editor ... of Dr. Abraham Virshubski, Sh.L. Citron, and Dr. Zemakh Shabad," a work of cultural-historical meaning, which he is concerned with only with the introduction to the book.

In 1923 in the "Culture-League" Publishing House, Warsaw, there was published Reisen's 420-page first part, "Fun Mendelssohn biz Mendele," in which he brought the Amsterdam edition of Aaron Wolfsohn-Halle's "Laykhṭzin und fremmelay," excerpts from Joseph Herts's "Ester, oder, Di belohnte tugend" (1928), the first act of Dr. Shlomo Ettinger's "Serkele," and scenes from Israel Axenfeld's "Der ershter yidisher rekrut," and "Di ginarte velt."

Dr. M. Weinreich writes about this:

" ... (This book) opened at once for thousands of the young the path to Yiddish literature for the time of Haskalah and created the possibility to study the period in our middle schools. A book, "Fun Elihu bokhur biz mendelssohn," which Reisen had finished in partnership with M. Elkin, did not come out for external reasons."

In 1926 Reisen started a new edition of his "Lexicon": "Zalman Reisen. Lexicon of Yiddish Literature, Press and Philology, second completely revised enlarged and complete edition, Vilna publishing house of B. Kletzkin." This work is published in four volumes: First volume (aleph-yud), Vilna, 1926, 1288 columns. Second volume (khof-kuf), Vilna, 1927, 1044 columns. Third volume (fey-kuf), Vilna, 1929, 796 columns. Fourth volume (reysh-sof), Vilna, 1929, 912 columns.The work also evoked a lot of positivity, but also a lot of negative response, especially from those who had personal complaints, or highlighted and emphasized the inevitable errors and flaws in such a complex work. Nevertheless, this absolutely did not reduce or minimize the incredible cultural value of the work that Reisen included in this work, which also, regarding the Yiddish dramatic and play writer, served as the starting point for their biographies in the "Lexicon of Yiddish Theatre."

Writing about Reisen's Lexicon work, Chaim Gininger says:

" ... One should not forget that one person did all the work: I brought clay, I dug out the bricks. I was the architect of the building. One human being! You can count a lot of biographical lexicons in the world. What brings so much news directly, from one's own acquaintances? And at every step, he constantly tried to put in as many facts as possible, because who else knew as well as Zalman Reisen, how many other possibilities are available to us for various detailed researches."

Using his skills and information about Yiddish dramatics and Yiddish actors, Z. in the "YIVO bleter," October 1931, Volume 2, number 3, pages 151-266, published a detailed criticism over the first volume of the "Lexicon of Yiddish Theatre," which also was issued in a separate proof.

In 1927 in Kletzkin's Vilna publishing house, there was published "A.B. Gottlober's Yiddish Work," issued by A. Fridkin and Z. Reisen, where it was included in Gottlober's comedy, "Der dektukh, oder, Tsvay khupes in eyn nakht (Two Weddings in One Night)."

In the "Archive for the History of Yiddish Theatre and Drama" (Vilna-New York, 1930), Reisen published his largest work, "Di manuskriptn un drukn fun itsik eykhel's komedye, "R' Henokh" (pages 85-93), and the entire comedy (pages 94-146), as well as some smaller works, such as "Di broder zinger in Lemberg (The Broder Singer in Lemberg), `866" (455 pages), "Yiddish Theatre in Vienna for 1881" (456 pages), "Dovid zahik der farfaser fun dem teatershtik, Di royz tsvishn derner" (pages 457-58), and "A kapitl fun shomers a roman vegn yidishn teater" (page 459).

Reisen was the founder of the "Jewish Historical-Ethnographic Society" in Vilna, a member of the Organizing Committee of YIVO, and from 1925 was a member in the Executive Board and main director of YIVO in whose interests he visited North America in 1930, and in 1932 Argentina, where there was founded several Yiddish folksshuls in his name.

In 1929 Reisen, together with Sholem Asch and Melech Ravitch, was a delegate of the Yiddish PEN Club to the PEN Congress in Vienna.

On 18 September 1939, when the Bolsheviks took Vilna, they arrested Reisen, and from then on every trace of him disappeared.

Both of Reisen's two sons, Saul and Leybe lived in England. Saul found himself in London and is a contributor to the "Jewish Chronicle."

In the "Yizkor" department in the "YIVO bleter" (1945), there was written about Reisen:

"There is one that the heart does not allow to be included in this note and nevertheless we must not hide his name: This is Zalman Reisen. When we say that Zalman Reisen was a member of the Executive Bureau since it was formed, an editor of the YIVO Bleter, editor of the news of the Yiddish Scientific Institute. This does not describe his central role at YIVO. He was a pillar of the Institute, just like he was a pillar of Yiddish cultural work between the two wars in general. Reisen was arrested by the Soviet powers soon after the Red Army entered Vilna on 18 September 1939. No accusation was formulated, and no one could understand what it could be based on. The "Vilna Tog," which Reisen had edited, was rather pro-Soviet and because of this suffered persecution on the part of the Polish government. Reisen was active in "Ikuf" in a time when this was not not permitted in Poland. But they didn't want to free him. And when the Soviet might at the end of October 1939 left Vilnius and handed over the city to the Lithuanians, Reisen was taken out along with many other prisoners. His son Saul (who was arrested two days later, sat with his father and later saved himself), writes:

"I separated from my father in the spring of 1940. He was taken out of Navikaike [sp] in deep Russia in May, and since then every trace of him has disappeared for me."

The endless efforts of Zalman Reisen's wife, Miriam -- she fell victim to the Gestapo -- had brought no results. YIVO in New York made many attempts to find out about Reisen through American and through Soviet channels, but all was in vain. Does it have to remain that way, so that people can't find out where Zalman Reisen came from?

In room number 8 of the Vilna Gestapo, they found on the wall, inscribed the words (they were written, we know in Yiddish, but to us they were completed in a Russian translation (what we were talking about back then), "I bless my sons, Saul and Leybe, and my beloved husband Zalman. I die peacefully. Miriam Reisen."

(More about her, which arrived on 12 November 1943, see: Sh. Kacerginski -- "Khurbn Vilne (The Destruction of Vilna)" pages 213-14).

According to the writer Avraham Zak, who was in the Soviet shipping locations, another arrestee, a former director of the "Polski Bank," told him that he sat in a cell with Zalman Reisen in the Vileyka [in Belarus] prison, and that "At first Reisen used to constantly claim "a miscarriage of justice", that is, the Soviet justice committed a mistake regarding him. ... Later, however, the prison strongly molested him. ... He has already used another phrase "podli shviat"" (a common world). Once he didn't want to eat any food at all for a few days. ... I demand a court (he argued to the supervisor). ... We were barely able to get him to stop his stupid hunger strike. Weakened, apathetic, he barely baked his poor "good" bread. He used to stop every now and then... and mutter "Podli shviat, podli shviat."

Zak noted that later, in June 1941, during the outbreak of the German-Soviet war, Zalman Reisen, together with lawyer Joseph Chernikov (Daniali), at the evacuation of the Vileyka prison, was shot by the "N.K.V.D. (The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs)," they were driven on foot on a long road. Reisen and Chernikov were stopped in the middle of the walk and the N.K.V.D. "finished" them with some bullets.

Melech Ravitch characterized him as such:

" ... point out that Zalman Reisen had not wanted that one should know in which year and where he was born, because being included in his famous Lexicon of Yiddish Literature and Press, two full battalions of Yiddish writers -- he didn't get involved himself. ... Strangely, the one who marked the coming and going of all Jewish writers himself came from somewhere and left to nowhere! ... Zalman Reisen is the dear brother not only of Avraham Reisen and Sarah Reisen, the son of Kalman Reisen -- an entire dynasty of writers -- he is the dear brother of every Yiddish writer and every male and female writer. ...To a large extent these  (the biographies) are self-characteristics, because Reisen took advantage of the letters that the writers wrote to him. Indeed, everyone has been creating this lexicon for decades ... Zalman Reisen is the most Yiddishists of Yiddishists of all time. A Jew, middle-aged, with a hot face, a long, non-specific Jewish nose, full lips and energetic, large eyes and somehow his face always shines as if after a battle, or in a readiness for battle -- a battle for Yiddish. Zalman Reisen possessed a lot of knowledge, mainly on philologic topics. But when he speaks, he speaks like a tribune; he quickly flies up the lower, silent steps of the escalator, and he is already standing at the top, and he is already speaking with his whole mouth and with his whole heart, and he swears and he threatens and he praises and exaggerates the good and the bad and everything in the fight for Yiddish. ... Zalman Reisen used to work twenty-five hours from time to time, but he always had time, if only to spend with a Yiddish writer, but even more so with a gentile, to tell him everything about Yiddish." 

Dr. Mukdoni portrays him this way (1928):

"People cannot understand Zalman Reisen, if you only appreciate him as a man of the pen. He has a bad temperament, which drives him to use all his tools of social life: the script, the word, the tone. Yiddish is the central point of Reisen's interests -- both in his scientific, as in his societal activity. ... Yiddish is probably the only possibility of our cultural exaltation. Yet more: Yiddish is the symbol of our human exaltation. ... This is the basic idea of Zalman Reisen. ... He is a natural fighter in the best sense of the word, a human being without compromise, with himself and with everyone when it goes against the principle, and therefore he has enemies: the religious zealots, who teach one hundred and twenty percent of national schools in Hebrew and send their children to the Jewish matura-kremlekh, hate him. The corrupters who live off Yiddish and understand the well from which they drink, hate him. It is an honor to have such enemies."

Chaim Gininger writes:

" ... Zalman Reisen focused his efforts mainly on two fields: 1) Yiddish grammar, 2) Yiddish biographies. I know that he had changed the world with work in the Yiddish journals, in the literary research, in the pedantics -- but grammar and biographies had taken up most of his talents. He was sold to them, he put up things that cover pieces of our specialness; in any case they also put up a piece of specialness. ... The one who provided Yiddish literature with biographies of our creators, and in what way did he learn the harsh lesson, for everyone to know the basics of accurate information and that everything is important -- he himself got out of the can. This is like Reisen. ... Reisen's steps from 1908 with the "complete Yiddish grammar" is the first with a foundation in just linguistic concessions with the view to help the language to progress. ... He has in the Jewish environment, and in Yiddish was the first one to speak about our Yiddish tongue. ... He edited journals and newspapers, created various translations, worked in terminology committees, co-formulated school programs, created textbooks -- surely with artistry, with pedagogy, with other cultural intentions, but I dare to say that first of all: with the burning intention to make Yiddish richer."

Jacob Botoshansky writes:

" .. Zalman Reisen himself is indeed the best example of the joy of life and hard work and courage and belief. In the most difficult personal circumstances, Zalman Reisen created the first practical Yiddish grammar, without a hair working to the history of the old Yiddish literature, his great life's work, the "Lexicon of Yiddish Literature and Press," in four volumes, and besides he is one of the co-builders and co-founders of the Scientific Institute, is also active in other societies and is editor of a combative daily newspaper ("Der tog"), in which he writes day-in and day-out, and is also a translator of important  world literature in Yiddish. He proved this during the most difficult personal economic circumstances. And he never hesitates or complains. How many times I had the luck to meet him, he radiated with joy and heartfelt sincerity. And it's just as refreshing to talk to Zalman Reisen. It's refreshing to look at his kind, smiling face, and it's refreshing to hear his soft, fluid and heartfelt words. ... Zalman Reisen speaks with Lithuanian precision and with Volynian softness."

Dr. A. Mukdoni writes:

" ... In the quiet Yiddishist movement, there is single pious person, the only fanatic and the only one with his entire joy is the love of our dear mother tongue. Yiddish was his great love, Yiddish was the purpose of his life. .. He enjoyed hearing people speak Yiddish, he really felt a physical pleasure. And a Yiddish book and booklet were dear to him, as dear as a mother her children. ... He entered the economy of Yiddish and made a little order there with love. He alone had created for a researcher, for a historian of Yiddish literature, and for a philologue, but they (the scholars) didn't want to roll up their sleeves and put some order in the scattered economy of Yiddish, or they didn't have any time. ... He, the man who did not visit any university, he, the autodidact, knew that the smallest branch of knowledge requires the effort and the talent of a person for his whole life. ... He apparently lacked scientific education, but his love for Yiddish was ever stronger. ... He was constantly excited, energetic and vehement ... He was constantly enthusiastic. What he did, he did with enthusiasm, with zeal and with belief."

And Lucy Schildkret writes:

" ... Reisen as a writer and scholar should not be separated from Reisen, the mentsh (human being). The fact that the greater part of his work is not finished, is a result of his being constantly busy with social and communal functions connected with literature. His energy and liveliness, his ability to attract people and groups and gather them around him, not to his work impetus and personality. But more than anything what is dominant is Reisen's love for Yiddish literature, which is evident in everything he wrote and which found an expression in his daily life and personality, which does not add color to all his achievements."

Sh.E. from Mendel Elkin.

• E.J. Goldschmidt -- Di yidishe prese in vilne, "Pinkus," Vilna, 1922, pages 587, 594-7.

• S. Wininger -- "Grosse Jüdische National-Biographie," 1925, Volume 5, pages 179-180.
  

• M. Weinreich -- Zalman Reisen a yosher-koakh, "Literarishe bleter," Warsaw, N' 38, 1928.
  

• Abraham Reisen -- "Epizodn fun mayn lebn," Vilna, 1929, Vol. 1, pages 95, 167; Vol. III pages 164-65, 219.

• "Jüdischer Lexicon," Berlin, 1930, Volume IV/1, S.1322.
  

• Jacob Botoshansky -- "Portretn fun yidishe shrayber," Warsaw, 1933, pages 91-94.
  

• Isaac Landman -- "The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia," New York, 1943, Volume 9, page 122.

• "Yizkor" -- "YIVO-bleter," Volume 26, July-December, 1945, page 3.

• Dr. A. Mukdoni -- Zalman Reisen," Morning Journal, N.Y., 10 March 1946.

• Melech Ravitch -- "Mayn leksikon," Montreal, 1947, pages 81-83.

• Chaim Gininger -- "Zamlbikher," N.Y., 1952, pages 185-193.

• Avraham Zak -- "Knekht zaynen mir geven," Buenos Aires, 1956, pages 244-46.