Z. was born on 27 December, 1906 in Grodno, Polish Lithuania. 

His parents were merchants. 

Z. attended Hebrew school, then spent three years at the Grodno Yeshiva. 

He sang with the cantor, and as a chorus member of  the Yiddish theatre. 

In 1923 Z. joined a troupe and simultaneously sang in a chorus and also worked as a prompter.

He acted, wrote music, rewrote plays and since he had technical inclinations towards stage building, he began to learn drawing. 

In 1924, Z. joined  the Kadish-Khash troupe with whom he acted as a technical director until 1928, when he began his service in the Polish army.