The Kaddish

Born in the eastern Bosnian town of Goražde, Isak Samokovlija is considered one of the first modern writers of Jewish literature in the Serbo-Croatian language. By profession a physician, Samokovlija was known for his expressionistic style, his detailed portrayals of the life of Jews and other minorities in Yugoslavia, and his overall mastery of the short-story form. He was considered a prominent member of the Yugoslav literary establishment in the immediate postwar period, serving for a brief time as the editor of the journal Brazda and at the state publishing house Svjetlost. Many of his stories and plays were later adapted for television and film, including Hanka (1955), the Yugoslav entry for the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.