Burg was born on May 30, 1912, in the town of Vyzhnytsia,^[1] in the region of Bukovina, Austria-Hungary. In the years before World War I, the city of Chernivtsi, also called Czernowitz in both German and Yiddish, was the capital of the Bukovina region and a center of Yiddish language and culture.^[1] The region became part of Romania following World War I.

Burg published his first professional writing in the Chernovitser Bleter, a Yiddish newspaper, in 1934.^[1] The Romanian government closed and banned the Chernovitser Bleter in 1938, on charges of Bolshevik propaganda.^[1]

Burg survived the Holocaust during World War II, but lost his entire family.^[1] He took refuge in the Soviet Union.^[1]

Burg continued to write and publish his works well into his 90s. In 1990, Burg revived the once banned Chernovitser Bleter newspaper as a monthly publication.^[1]

Josef Burg died of a stroke on August 10, 2009, in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, at the age of 97.^[1]

• Segal Prize (Israel, 1992) for Yiddish writings^[1]
• Honoured Worker of Culture of Ukraine (1993)
• Honorary Citizen of Chernivtsi (1997)
• Gold Medal of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (2002)
• Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class (2007)^[2]
• Theodor Kramer Prize (Austria, 2009)^[1]

• 1934: Afn splav
• 1939: Afn tshermush [On the Czeremosz river] (German: Auf dem Czeremosz: Erzählungen. Boldt, 2005, ISBN 3-928788-50-7)
• 1940: Sam [Poison] (German: Gift: zwei Erzählungen. Translated by Armin Eidherr. Boldt, 2005. ISBN 3-928788-51-5)
• 1980: Dos leben geyt vayter. Dertseylungen, noveln, skitsn [Life goes on further: Stories, novellas, sketches]. Sowetski Pissatel
• 1983: Iberuf fun tsaytn. [Roll-call of the times]. Sowetski Pissatel
• 1988: Ein Gesang über allen Gesängen: Erzählungen und Skizzen.
• 1990: A farshpetikter ekho [A late echo] (German: Ein verspätetes Echo. Partly bilingual. 1999. ISBN 3-87410-075-8)
• 1997: Tsvey veltn [Two worlds]
• 1997: Zevikelte stetshkes (Ukrainian original edition)
• 2000: Irrfahrten. Boldt. ISBN 3-928788-35-3
• 2004: Sterne altern nicht. Ausgewählte Erzählungen. Boldt, ISBN 3-928788-45-0
• 2005: Dämmerung. Erzählungen. Boldt, ISBN 3-928788-54-X
• 2006: Mein Czernowitz. Boldt, ISBN 3-928788-55-8
• 2006: Begegnungen – eine Karpatenreise. Boldt, ISBN 3-928788-57-4
• 2007: Über jiddische Dichter. Erinnerungen. Boldt, ISBN 3-928788-60-4
• 2008: Ein Stück trockenes Brot. Ausgewählte Erzählungen. Boldt, ISBN 3-928788-65-5

• New York Times: Josef Burg, Who Wrote About Jewish Life, Dies at 97
• 2004 interview with Josef Burg at Google Videos (in Yiddish)