Shylome Bastomski was born in Vilna (now Vilnius, Lithuania) in June 1891 to a poor family of locksmiths.
Following the outbreak of World War I and the German occupation of the region in 1915, Bastomski was hired as a teacher at a Yiddish secular public school established by the Khevre Mefitse Haskole ('Society for the Promotion of Enlightenment').
In 1916, Bastomski founded a publishing house Di Naye Yidishe Folksshul ('The New Yiddish Folk-School') along with his wife Malke Khaymson, who served as his co-editor.
[1][2][3] He was a member of the folklore committee and general council of YIVO, a Jewish cultural institute based in Vilna.
[2] Initially politically affiliated with the Socialist-Zionists, he later became a Jewish Territorialist, joining the Frayland-lige shortly before the outbreak of World War II.