Uri Orlev (Hebrew: אורי אורלב; 24 February 1931 – 26 July 2022) born Jerzy Henryk Orłowski, was a Polish-born Israeli children's author and translator.
During World War II, his father was taken captive by the Russians and he lived with his mother in the Warsaw Ghetto until she was killed by the Nazis.
He typically spent his weekends travelling to and from Haifa to watch movies there along with a German-born kibbutznik named Shlomo.
After writing a rough draft, Orlev was granted permission by the kibbutz to spend a year with the family of Eliyahu Soloveitchik, a man he'd met in Bergen-Belsen who was living near Haifa.
[4][5] The jury stated:[citation needed] Uri Orlev's experience as a Jewish boy in war-torn Poland is the background of this outstanding writer for children.
Uri Orlev shows how children can survive without bitterness in harsh and terrible times.In 1972, he received the Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works.
[6] In the U.S., four books by Orlev have won the Batchelder Award in English-language translations by Hillel Halkin published by Houghton Mifflin.