Shtetl Routes

Travels Through the Forgotten Continent

1


2
In memory of
Robert Kuwałek
3
 BY

PL

UA


4
Contents

emil majuk  Introduction [7]

Tomasz Pietrasiewicz  The small towns of Eastern Europe – Europe’s great
heritage [10]
YOHANAN PETROVSKY-SHTERN  In search of the Jewish Atlantis  [12]

Shtetl Routes
Through Poland Through Ukraine Through Belarus

Sejny [19] Zhovkva [204] Pinsk [385]

Krynki [26] Belz [215] Davyd-Haradok [397]
Knyszyn [33] Busk [224] Stolin [403]
Tykocin [41] Rohatyn [233] Motal [411]
Orla [49] Halych [243] Kobryn [418]
Siemiatycze [59] Drohobych [250] Pruzhany [426]
Międzyrzec Bolekhiv [258] Slonim [432]
Podlaski [68] Khust [266] Ruzhany [441]
Włodawa [80] Delatyn [273] Haradzishcha [449]
Kock [90] Kosiv [279] Mir [454]
Kazimierz Dolny  [99] Chortkiv [287] Valozhyn [462]
Wojsławice [110] Buchach [294] Ashmyany [469]
Izbica [120] Pidhaitsi [302] Ivye [477]
Szczebrzeszyn [128] Brody [310] Navahrudak [484]
Józefów Biłgorajski  [138] Kremenets [320] Dzyatlava [494]
Biłgoraj   [146] Dubno [330] Radun [500]
Wielkie Oczy  [158] Ostroh [339] Zhaludok [506]
Łańcut [168] Korets [350] Astryna [512]
Dukla [179] Berezne [358] Lunna [518]
Rymanów [187] Kovel [364] Indura [523]
Lesko [195] Volodymyr-Volyn-
skyi [370]
Luboml [377]

Glossary [529]
5
 Brama Grodzka
(Grodzka Gate) in Lub-
lin, the western facade,
2014. Photo by Joanna
Zętar, digital collection
of the ”Grodzka Gate –
NN Theatre” (www.
teatrnn.pl)

Brama Grodzka
(Grodzka Gate) in Lub-
lin, the eastern facade,
before 1939, digital col-
lection of the ”Grodzka
Gate – NN Theatre”
(www.teatrnn.pl)

The “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre is a Lublin-based municipal

cultural institution promoting the education and protection of cultural heritage.
In its projects, the Centre draws on the symbolic and historical significance of the
building where it is located – the Grodzka Gate. This brick and stone archway was
once the physical passageway between the Christian and Jewish quarters, as well as
the symbolic meeting point of cultures, traditions, and religions within the city of
Lublin. ¶ The origin of the “Grodzka Gate – Theatre NN” Centre was born from the
activity of the NN Theatre, which was established in May 1990. The Centre itself has
been in operation since 1992, when it was given the dwellings above and around the
Grodzka Gate to use as its premises. ¶ World War II brought about the annihilation
of Lublin’s Jews, and after the Germans destroyed the Jewish quarter, a huge void was
left in the municipal organism. This marked the end of several centuries of Lublin’s
development as a bi-cultural, Polish-and-Jewish city. More than three quarters of a
century have passed and the new Lublin (rebuilt after the war) has mostly forgotten
about this Polish-and-Jewish city, that within the large empty areas around Lublin
Castle there was once a bustling town of many streets, houses, and synagogues. ¶
The theatre became similar to an “Ark of memory” in which old photographs, docu-
ments and memories are constantly gathered. In the gate, in the artistic and educa-
tional activities carried out here, a symbolical meeting space is created – a ground


6 for disscussing the past and making the future.

Emil Majuk
Project Coordinator

Introduction

The idea of the “Shtetl Routes” project is that once lived there. There were almost
based on the experience and knowledge a thousand towns to chose from, making
gained from the documentary, artistic the task of narrowing the selection down
and educational work completed with to 62 a difficult one. In order to do this,
regards to the Jewish cultural heritage of we applied the following criteria towards
Lublin (Poland), which has been ongo- our decision making process concerning
ing since the inception of the “Grodzka which locations specifically to include in
Gate – NN Theatre” Centre in 1992. the itinerary: tangible heritage (a Jewish
Despite the lasting traces of the many cultural heritage object existing in the
centuries of Jewish presence in the areas location, such as a cemetery, synagogue,
where we live, for example, the Polish, mikveh, library, school, sports club or
Ukrainian and Belarusian borderland, house of a specific person); intangible
so far the local memorial sites related heritage (an interesting story told on
to Jewish history and culture have not the spot in a museum, cultural centre,
been sufficiently appreciated as valu- NGO, etc.); local actors involvement and
able items of European heritage. During existing tourist infrastructure. In several
the implementation of the project we cases we gave preference to a location
devoted particular attention to the which may have been less spectacular
cultural phenomenon that was peculiar physically, but was more interesting
to Central and Eastern Europe and that because of its intangible heritage, or the
strongly influenced the local cultural participation of local activists. ¶ When
landscape – the shtetl (Yid. small town). we started work on the project we asked
A unique kind of town inhabited by Jews ourselves a number of questions: How,
and Christians of various ethnicities. ¶ in general, do we describe the Jewish
In the guidebook, Shtetl Routes: Travels cultural heritage of the borderland of
Through the Forgotten Continent, we tell Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine? More spe-
the stories of 62 towns located in the cifically, how should we, the present-day
region encompassing the borderland of and mostly non-Jewish inhabitants of
Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine, focusing this region, describe this heritage? How
on the stories of the Jewish communities can we present this heritage as cultural 7
 Luboml, houses
at the market square
and synagogue, 1925.
Photo by Henryk
Poddębski,collection of
the Institute of Art of
the Polish Academy of
Sciences (PAN)

Kock, 1920s, a 3D
model prepared by
Polygon Studio as part
of the Shtetl Routes
project, 2015, digital col-
lection of the “Grodzka
Gate – NN Theatre”
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)

tourism? How is it best to avoid the and Photographers Route; the Famous
pitfalls of commercialization, simplifica- Rabbis Route; the Jewish Resistance
tions, and stereotypes? How can we show Route). We also organized a series of
Jewish heritage as the common heritage training courses for tour guides. And, in
of both the descendants of Eastern Euro- order to facilitate a kind of interactive
pean Jews and the present-day inhabit- time travel, we prepared an application
ants of the borderland? ¶ When seeking containing 15 three-dimensional digital
answers to these questions, we launched models representing towns of the Shtetl
the www.shtetlroutes.eu web portal. We Routes in various historical periods. ¶
also prepared a map of Jewish heritage In addition, this exceptional guidebook
sites in the borderland of Poland, Bela- came into being. It is not only an invita-
Od redakcji

rus, and Ukraine and drew up proposals tion for real, on-site journeys, but also an
for thematic trips (such as Following encouragement for readers to use their
Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Footsteps; Fol- imagination. Our intention is to evoke
8 lowing S. An-ski’s Footsteps; the Painters the narratives of Jewish culture, once so
 Participants in a training
workshop for Shtetl
Routes tourist guides at
the former synagogue
in Zheludok (Belarus),
2015. Photo by Monika
Tarajko, digital collection
of the “Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” Centre
(www.teatrnn.pl)

important to the towns and boroughs of one of the key members of the team –
the borderland, by referring to the sur- and the author of this guidebook – was
viving objects of cultural heritage, such to be Robert Kuwałek. Robert was an
as synagogues, prayer houses, cemeter- excellent historian, irreplaceable tour
ies, schools, cinemas, printing houses, guide, an explorer of the borderland
factories, and sometimes ordinary memory and the first director of the
houses. This is why the book is abundant Museum-Memorial Site at the former
in quotations and references to memo- German Nazi death camp in Bełżec.
ries, stories from literature, and Memo- However, his sudden and untimely death
rial Books. ¶ The journey we wish to in 2014 forced us to change the format
encourage you to make can be a difficult of this book. What we have produced is a
one, as it leads through cemeteries and kind of anthology of texts, united by the
into a world destroyed by the Holocaust, subject matter and the main narrative
without avoiding stories about the tragic structure, written by a large group of
events which took place during this authors from various countries. ¶ We
time. But the book is intended, above invite you to explore its pages, pack your
all, to be a guide to the cultural wealth bags along with your imagination, and
and diversity of the world of the old voyage through a Forgotten Continent…
shtetls. We also try to show how these To travel the shtetl routes of the border-
towns attempt to draw on their Jewish land of Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus.
heritage today, both where Jews still live
and where there are no Jews anymore. ¶
The history of the borderland has always
been multi-layered, and so in turn this
guidebook attempts to be also. When we
were beginning to work on the project, 9
 Tomasz Pietrasiewicz
Director of the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre

The small towns of Eastern Europe –

Europe’s great heritage

The cultural heritage of Europe is not only found in its major cities and their
magnificent historic monuments. Unique treasures can also be found in the
borderlands straddling the eastern frontier of the European Union. These are
the small towns located mainly in Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and Poland
that once contained substantial Jewish populations, places which were often
referred to as shtetls (shtetlach, shtetlekh). The Jewish community played
a defining role in these places, and for hundreds of years they formed a
dynamic element in the cultural, social, and economic landscape of Europe.

After the annihilation of the Jew- to demonstrate that they constitute

ish population during World War II, a wonderful part of Europe’s cultural
small towns that had dominant Jewish heritage. And indeed, over the past 150
communities were no longer in exist- years in particular, poor Jewish emi-
ence. This pre-Holocaust landscape grants from Eastern Europe and their
The small towns of Eastern Europe – Europe’s great heritage

has remained alive only in memories, descendants have enriched modern

in old illustrations, in photographs, in culture, art, and science the world over.
literature, in Memorial Books, and in ¶ Years after the Holocaust, the role of
the surviving architectural relics such Jewish culture in Europe, a place where
as synagogues that were often left in this rich culture was formally an integral
ruin, and cemeteries that lay desecrated part, is being uncovered once again. The
and abandoned. But it is precisely in void that opened up after the Holocaust
these areas of Europe where a large part created a need for the revitalization and
of today’s Jewish population, namely commemoration of places related to
those now residing in North and South the Jewish community, including the
America, in Australia, in South Africa, Eastern European shtetls. ¶ The “Shtetl
and also in Israel, have their roots. By Routes” project and the “Forgotten Con-
now, the lost pre-War world of East tinent” program are an attempt to make
European Jewry is a closed chapter. Still, these diverse stories comprehensible
it is important to tell the story of this and important to Europe. To be respon-
10 world, these places, and these people, sible for inspiring reflections on the
 Kremenets, before
1939, collection of the
Institute of Art of the
Polish Academy of
Sciences (PAN)

Pinsk, market at
the Pina river, before
1939, collection of the
National Library, Poland
(www.polona.pl)

emergence and long-term existence of also wonderful story that will be both
multicultural communities on the small interesting and important to the visitor,
town level. ¶ The “Forgotten Continent” no matter if they are from Europe or
needs this kind of transcendent nar- more distant parts of the globe.
rative. A multi-layered and tragic, but

11
 Yohanan Petrovsky-Stern
The Crown Family Professor of
Jewish Studies
Northwestern University

In search of the Jewish Atlantis

As an East European cultural myth, market town with a predominant Jewish

the shtetl looms large in modern Jew- population, the shtetl was a key point
ish imagination. Israeli students take for economic development and trade
regular classes in literature and his- throughout the centuries within the
tory of the shtetl at six major national territories of what is today six, and pos-
universities. Americans avidly absorb sibly more, countries, including Belarus,
stories about their ancestral Polish or Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Moldova,
Russian or Lithuanian homeland. Poles, and Ukraine. Although towns which
Germans, and the French arrive in their were former shtetls, such as Bolekhiv,
tens of thousands to the annual Kra- Chortkiv, Kazimierz Dolny Mir, Ostroh,
kow klezmer festival, which celebrates Szczebrzeszyn, Tykocin and Valozhyn
the shtetl folklore. Films containing in fact still remain, the localities that
snap-shots of the shtetl, from “Shtetl” bear these names today only too well
and “Everything Illuminated” to remind us that they are shtetls no more,
“Defiance”, attract thousands of movie- and that the shtetl as an East European
goers worldwide. ¶ Today the shtetl phenomenon has disappeared. ¶ Taken
symbolizes the Jewish life in the ‘Old in its geographical diversity, the shtetl is
World’, and is associated with the Yid- the ‘Forgotten Continent – East Euro-
dish language and folklore, Ashkenazi pean Atlantis’, with its unique civiliza-
piety, traditional family and education, tion. Like Atlantis, the shtetl shaped and
ghettoized Jewish way of life, poverty, continues to shape the imagination of
In search of the Jewish Atlantis

evictions, persecutions, and pogroms. thousands of people, Jews and non-Jews

The shtetl stands for the entirety of East alike. Like Atlantis, the shtetl was not
European Jewish history and culture only a locality but also a culture, with
that was destroyed during World War II its peculiar language, religion, educa-
and wiped out by the Holocaust. ¶ The tion system, family structure, economy,
shtetl also remains significant on the and way of life. Like Atlantis, the shtetl
East European historical map, although gave birth to dozens of myths – politi-
at present none of them now physically cal, ethnic, religious, social, artistic,
12 remain. A vibrant and bourgeoning and literary. Like Atlantis, the shtetl
 Novogrudok, market
square, before 1939,
collection of the Institute
of Art of the Polish
Academy of Sciences
(PAN)

became a metaphor and a utopia. And but which left behind palpable traces
like Atlantis, the shtetl created a great of its presence. It is as limited as any
civilization – and then vanished. ¶ This reconstruction, but also seeks to serve
book, put together by a group of enthusi- as a guide. A short yet well-informed
asts from Poland, Belarus and Ukraine, encyclopedic source one can use to delve
reconstructs the shtetl by presenting its deep into the history and culture of
historical development and geographical the shtetl. ¶ In addition to books about
diversity. This book focuses on how the the shtetl, such as the nostalgic Life is
shtetl lived and transformed through the with People, and hundreds of the books
centuries, and discusses how the shtetl edited by the diasporic shtetl groups
died, moribund and exhausted, modified throughout the world, recent projects
by Soviet social engineering or wiped have been launched worldwide focus-
out by the Holocaust. Quite remarkably, ing on the shtetl as a Yiddishland, as a
this book also indicates what survived ‘Memoryland’, and as a ‘Journeyland’.
at the sites of the shtetls – that which All these projects are pilgrimages to
still reminds us about the Jewish pres- the Holy of Holies of what the Jewish
ence. These remnants consist of old and civilization before the Holocaust was
new monuments, ruins, cemeteries, all about. ¶ In a quest for new identi-
reconstructed or rebuilt synagogues, all ties, Russian-Jewish intellectuals from
elements of Jewish communal infra- St. Petersburg Jewish University and
structure now transformed into an ordi- European University (Valeri Dymshits)
nary urban infrastructure with almost organized regular ethnographic expedi-
no traces of their previous function or tions to the sites of the former shtetls
belonging. This book is a reconstruction to interview Ukrainian, Moldavian,
of the reality which is no longer present, Jewish and Russian surviving dwellers 13
 Synagogue in Dubno,
before 1939, collection
of the Institute of Art of
the Polish Academy of
Sciences (PAN)

who remember the pre-World War II of archival information, statistical and

shtetls. Conducting annual month-long historical data, as well as many photo-
expeditions to Podolia and Volhynia graphs. The site and the museum have a
starting from the late 1980s, these policy of free access to information, and
scholars amassed a formidable archive invite submissions of documents from
of information on the synagogues, on anybody who wishes to participate. This
the Yiddish language of the surviving participatory policy contributes heavily
Jews, on the tombstones dating back to to the growth of their photographic
The small towns of Eastern Europe – Europe’s great heritage

the sixteenth and seventeenth century, and documentary archive, which can
on Jewish shtetl art and architecture, be found at http://www.sztetl.org.pl.
and on the modern Jewish life of what ¶ Following the collapse of the Soviet
once was the shtetl. Preliminary results Union in the early 1990s, dozens of FSU
of their expeditions appeared in three archives declassified most of their collec-
Russian-language source books on the tions and made them available to the
shtetls, including 100 Shtetls, which public. Immediately thereafter, a group
exists only in Russian. ¶ In an attempt of scholars from the Central Archives of
to revive the shtetl as an inseparable the History of Jewish People in Jerusa-
part of Jewish and Polish culture, Polish lem (Binyamin Lukin et al.) launched an
scholars contributed to the establish- ambitious project aimed at microfilming
ment of the grandiose POLIN: Museum thousands of documents related to shtetl
of Polish Jews, which has a virtual life in big and small archives through-
component in the form of a sophisti- out East Europe, in Ukraine, Moldova,
cated yet user-friendly web-site on the Romania, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania,
14 Polish shtetls, containing a multitude Russian Federation, Estonia and Belarus.
The amassed information in hundreds Pietrasiewicz in 1992, has been uncover- Hechalutz Members
at Training Farm
of thousands of microfilms has been ing the Jewish heritage of Lublin and “Kibbutz Tel Hai”,
meticulously catalogued, tagged, and its surrounding towns (former shtetls) Siemiatycze, Poland,
1934, the Beit Hatfutsot
indexed. This collection continues to through documentation, education and Photo Archive, Tel Aviv,
grow, as newly discovered collections of artistic activities. ¶ The Grodzka Gate courtesy of Tamar
Even Or
Jewish documents from smaller archives – NN Theatre Centre focuses mainly
are steadily being added to the project. on a collection of photographs and oral Actors on location
during the shooting
¶ American-based historians of East histories, putting a strong emphasis on of the film In poylishe
Europe (Jeffrey Veidlinger and Dov- education. This is carried out through velder [yid. In Polish
Ber Kerler) launched a project aimed workshops for students and teachers Woods], directed by
Jonas Turkow, 1929,
at reviving and visualizing the surviv- which the Centre organizes on a regular collection of the YIVO
ing Yiddish-speaking shtetl dwellers. basis. Every year the Following Isaac Institute for Jewish
Research
Accompanied by a professional camera- Bashevis Singer Traces Festival visits
man, they spend several months each former shtetls, as well as educating
year in Eastern Europe, moving from others about the Nobel Prize win-
one former shtetl to another and record- ner for which the festival is named. A
ing their Yiddish-language dialogues significant part of the growing digital
with the shtetl-dwellers. Their project is program at the Centre is their website, a
important not only as an ethnographic compendium of knowledge concerning
and socio-linguistic experiment, but also the heritage of Lublin Jews in particular.
as an unparalleled attempt to preserve Another significant component of the
the memories of those who still remem- activities on offer at the Grodzka Gate
ber the pre-Holocaust shtetl, or remem- – NN Theatre Centre is the Forgotten
ber the memories of those who lived in a Continent Program and the Shtetl
pre-Holocaust shtetl. Routes Project, both of which offer a
rich and detailed insight into the lives
The Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre and aspects of those Jewish peoples
Centre, which was founded by Tomasz who lived in these unique historical 15
 The Slonimer Wort
journal, 1st September
1939, collection of the
National Library, Poland
(www.polona.pl)

communities. ¶ A group of dedicated infrastructure, that is, how Jews helped

and energetic Polish activists from the create modern East European towns.
Lublin-based Brama Grodzka contrib- ¶ This book incorporates the results of
uted significantly to the exploration of those projects in different ways, drawing
the ‘East European Atlantis’, by organiz- heavily from the documentary evidence
ing field research seminars, summer already amassed and field work of many
schools and conferences about the of these groups, first and foremost being
shtetls, as well as conducting profession- Brama Grodzka of Lublin. At the same
ally guided tours to the various sites of time, this book occupies a unique place
former shtetls in Ukraine, Belarus and in the context of the revival of interest
Poland. ¶ During these tours in particu- toward the shtetl, as it focuses on what
lar, young professionals from Poland, the shtetl really was over the centuries.
Ukraine, Belarus, Israel, Canada, Ger- Of course, it also incorporates testi-
The small towns of Eastern Europe – Europe’s great heritage

many, Russia, Lithuania and the United monies that depict how the shtetl was
States of America had a unique oppor- remembered or imagined. ¶ This book
tunity to learn about the shtetl within shows the shtetl as a shared cultural
the shtetl. To study inscriptions on legacy of the many peoples inhabit-
tombstones at the oldest Jewish cemeter- ing East Europe, including Jews, Poles,
ies and to study the architecture of the Belarussians, Ukrainians, Germans, and
early modern synagogues at the actual Tatars. A unique contribution to the
sites of these synagogues. They also study of versatile forms of civilization,
explored various ways through which this book takes the reader on a journey
the shtetl created what is known today through what can be called the ‘East
as Polish, Ukrainian or Belarusian urban European Jewish Atlantis’.

16
 Unidentified family,
before 1939. Photo by
Abraham Zylberberg, col-
lection of the “Grodzka
Gate – NN Theatre”
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)

Map of Kobrin, from

Kobryn; an interblik ibern
yidishn Kobryn [yid.
Kobryn; an overview
of Jewish Kobryn], ed.
Melech Glotzer, Kobryn
Book Committee, Buenos
Aires 1951

17
18
ThesmalltownsofEasternEurope–Europe’sgreatheritage

Shtetl Routes
Through Poland
Sejny
Lith. Seinai, Rus. Сейны, Yid. ‫סייני‬ It was blue here.
Up there there were polychrome paintings.
This is the balcony where my mother
and younger brothers were standing.
Max Furmański

In 2000, a bespectacled man with singing Hasidic melodies. Furmański,

a small moustache stopped in front of who had been a rabbi in Argentina for
the White Synagogue in Sejny. Max many years and then a cantor in the
Furmański had been born in Sejny in United States, had arrived in Sejny,
1934. After surviving the Holocaust and had entered the synagogue, just
as a concentration camp prisoner and as a theatre performance based on S.
partisan, and loosing his whole fam- An-sky’s play The Dybbuk was being
ily he left Poland in 1945, swearing he rehearsed there. ¶ Max started to talk
would never come back. But in 2000, he with the young people in the synagogue.
did come back here to show his home- Afterward, walking around the town,
town to his wife and son. Furmański he found the place where his family
remembered the synagogue very well: as home had been and met his childhood
a young boy he used to come here with neighbour. Two years later, he came back
his grandfather. Now, after a moment’s again to attend the unveiling of a memo-
hesitation, he went inside again. ¶ rial stone at the Jewish cemetery in

„
A group of young people dressed in the Sejny. He performed at concerts together
traditional clothes of Hasidic Jews were with the Sejny Klezmer Band.

Over there, at the riverside, there were booths where girls changed their clothes,
and we spied at them through the knot holes. ¶ Max Furmański

Dominicans and the White in 1768. In the mid-19th century, Jews

Synagogue ¶ As the town belonged constituted more than 70 percent of the
to the Vilna (Vilnius) monks, the the town population. ¶ The synagogue
permission to build the first synagogue was erected in 1788, a year after the
in Sejny was granted by the Domini- Jews settling in Sejny had been granted
can Order. As a means of promoting the right to do so. That original wooden
economic development, the Dominicans “shingle-roofed synagogue with a colon-
had been encouraging Jewish merchants nade” was replaced in 1885 by a new
and craftsmen to settle in Sejny stating one – the White Synagogue, built on the 19
The White Synagogue in initiative of Rabbi Moshe Betzalel Luria. rarely found in the curricula of Jewish
Sejny, 1902; collection of
the “Borderland of Arts,
According to unconfirmed reports, schools at the time. The most prominent
Cultures, and Nations” Wawrzyniec Bortkiewicz, Prior of the Lithuanian rabbis, followed by students
Centre (www.pogranicze.
sejny.pl)
Dominican Order in Sejny, joined the from all over the Russian Empire, came
rabbi in carrying the image of the Ten to study at the yeshivah, while many
Commandments into the newly erected enlightened scholars visited the school
building. or studied there. At the end of the 19th
century, the gymnasium was closed,
Two schools ¶ In the second half of and the building was turned into a post
the 19th century, the famous theolo- office. The yeshivah, too, was closed by
gian and philosopher Moshe Yitzhak the Tsarist authorities, and Reb Avigdor
Avigdor became the town rabbi. He was banished. Afterwards, the building
soon founded a yeshivah (Talmudic housed a beth midrash and a cheder,
academy), next to which the community and it may also have served as the seat
established a Hebrew high school run of the rabbinate. ¶ One of those who
by Tuvye Shapiro – this school became studied at the Tuvye Shapiro’s school was
one of the most important centres of Morris Rosenfeld (1862–1923), a poet
the Haskalah (the Jewish Enlighten- born into the family of a Jewish fisher-
ment movement) in Lithuania, bring- man in the nearby village of Boksze.
ing renown to the town. Apart from
religion, the school offered classes in
Sejny

geography, mathematics, Russian, and

20 other comprehensive subjects that were
 The Furmański family in front of their
house in Krzywa Street, Sejny, 1930s; collec-
tion of the “Borderland of Arts, Cultures, and
Nations” Centre (www.pogranicze.sejny.pl)

Sejny. A view of the town from the

tower of the Basilica of the Visitation of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, 1920; collection of the
“Borderland of Arts, Cultures, and Nations”
Centre (www.pogranicze.sejny.pl)

In 1882, Morris Rosenfeld emigrated to the United States, where he became

one of the so-called “sweatshop poets.” He published poems about the difficult
fate of the workers. Written in Yiddish, they were translated into English, Pol-
ish, Russian, Spanish, German, and French. His poem My Little Boy became
a popular folk song. Rosenfeld was called a “millionaire of tears.” He died in
poverty, but his funeral in New York was attended by more than 20,000 people.

Hard times ¶ At the turn of the 20th Bakers’ strike ¶ In March 1930, bak-
century, most inhabitants left Sejny eries in Sejny stopped working. Boruch
because of difficult economic and social Dusznicki, the owner of the largest local
conditions. They emigrated mainly to bakery, as well as his competitors, Wal-
the United States. As a result, the town’s ter Epsztejn and Michel Borowski, went
population fell from more than 4,500 in on strike to protest against the govern-
1895 to 3,412 in 1931, and the percent- ment’s decision to lower bread prices.
age of Jews decreased from 75 to 24 After a few days, they were forced to
percent (817 people). resume work – it is not known whether
or not they succeeded in negotiating 21
 Morris Rosenfeld,
before 1923; collection of
the “Borderland of Arts,
Cultures, and Nations”
Centre (www.pogranicze.
sejny.pl)

On the other
side of the street, the
Museum of the Sejny
Land (28 Piłsudskiego
St.) features a collection
of Judaica from Sejny.
Photo by Krzysztof
Bielawski, 2006; digital
collection of the Virtual
Shtetl (www.sztetl.
org.pl)

for higher prices. ¶ The Jewish organi- spread to nearby towns on both sides
sations functioning in Sejny at that of the border, and shared the fate of
time included trade unions: the Jewish other Jewish inhabitants. Most of them
Merchants’ Union and the Jewish Crafts- were murdered after the outbreak of the
men’s Union. A Sejny branch of the German-Soviet war (June 22, 1941).
Jewish Sports Association “Maccabee,”
with Joel Mącznik as chairman, was well Jewish cemeteries ¶ There is no
known in the entire region. Its sports trace left of the old Jewish cemetery,
field was located where the municipal which was founded in the 18th century
hospital now stands. on what is today Zawadzkiego St. But off
the road to Augustów, just outside Sejny
World War II and the Holocaust in the neighbouring village of Mar-
¶ On September 24, 1939, Soviet troops ynowo, there is another Jewish cemetery,
entered Sejny. They retreated after less founded in 1830. All its gravestones
than three weeks, only to be replaced by were destroyed during or after the war.
German occupying forces on October In 2002, a plaque was erected there, with
13, 1939. As early as November 1939, an inscription reading: “In memory of
the Jews of Sejny were deported to “the the Jews of Sejny – from the residents of

„
strip of no man’s land” between Poland Sejny.”
and Lithuania, and from there they

It is a miracle that I am alive. It is a miracle that I came back to Sejny. It is

a miracle that I am standing at this stone and saying the Kaddish. I am so grate-
ful that I am here with you and that together we are honouring the memory of those who
Sejny

can’t come back. ¶ Max Furmański

22
 combining reflection on identity and Max Furmański at
the commemorative
memory issues with hands-on cultural matzevah at the Jewish
activism in the local community of the cemetery in Sejny,
2002; collection of the
borderland. ¶ Founded by Krzysztof “Borderland of Arts,
Czyżewski and his associates, the Centre Cultures, and Nations”
Centre (www.pogranicze.
has become one of the most important sejny.pl)
Present day ¶ Today, the county places in Poland that encourages reflec-
The performance
town of Sejny has a population of 6,000, tion on Polish and Polish-Jewish history. of Sejny Chronicles,
mainly of ethnic Poles and Lithuanians; Together with local children, members 1999; collection of the
there is no Jewish community. There of the Center created a performance “Borderland of Arts,
Cultures, and Nations”
are several small hotels and restaurants piece entitled The Sejny Chronicles, an Centre (www.pogranicze.
in town, and thanks to the picturesque evocative theatrical portrayal of life in sejny.pl)

location among the lakes of the Suwałki old multicultural Sejny, based on the
Lake District, agritourism accommoda- memories of local residents. They also
tion is easily available in almost every formed the Sejny Klezmer Band, whose
nearby village. musicians include young residents of the
town. The publishing wing of the Bor-
Borderland ¶ In 1990, a group of derland Centre was the first in Poland
young artists looking for a place to hold to publish Jan Tomasz Gross’s book
meetings and events stopped in front of Neighbours, which describes the murder
Sejny’s abandoned Shoe Manufactur- of Jews in the town of Jedwabne by their
ing Plant – the building that had once Polish neighbours. These and other
served as a yeshivah – and the empty, activities by the Centre have inspired
newly-renovated White Synagogue continuing public debate on Polish-
nearby (used in the past as a fertilizer Jewish relations.
warehouse and a depot for municipal
vehicles). It was here that they set up
the “Borderland of Arts, Cultures,
and Nations” Centre. This has evolved
into an experimental cultural centre 23
 In 2011, the
“Borderland” Foundation
opened the International
Centre for Dialogue in
the nearby village of
Krasnogruda. Located
in the former manor
house that belonged to
the family of Czesław
Miłosz, a Nobel Prize
laureate in Literature, it
brings together people
from around the world.
Collection of the
“Borderland of Arts,
Cultures, and Nations”
Centre (www.pogranicze.
sejny.pl)

Sejny, buildings of
former Hebrew school,
jeshivah and synagogue,
2014. Photo by Krzysztof
Bielawski, digital collec-
tion of the Virtual Shtetl
(www.sztetl.org.pl)

Surrounding Krasnogruda (8 km): a manor house (17th c.), the venue of cultural events organised in the
area summer by the Borderland of Arts, Cultures, and Nations Centre. ¶ Krasnopol (13 km):
a former synagogue, currently a shop (1850); a Jewish cemetery located on a hill, about
8 km southeast of the village. ¶ Puńsk (23 km): a former wooden synagogue, currently
a dwelling (19th/20th c.); the rabbi’s house in Mickiewicza St.; the former Lithuanian
Culture Centre (20th c.); a Jewish cemetery (19th c.); the Basilica of the Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary (1877–1881); a parish granary (2nd half of the 19th c.); a cemetery
chapel (1820). ¶ Suwałki (30 km): a former prayer house, a cheder, a Hebrew school
and a rabbi’s house (next to residential buildings); a former Jewish hospital and a nurs-
ing home (the building of the former Municipal Community Centre); a Jewish cemetery
surrounded with a memorial wall of matzevot (1825); the wooden All Saints’ Orthodox
Church (1891–1892); the Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity (1838–1841); St. Alexander’s
Co-Cathedral (1825). Suwałki is the birthplace of Abraham Stern – a national hero of Israel.
Sejny

¶ Wigry (38 km): a Camaldolese monastery (1667); Wigry National Park (42 lakes, forests
24 with a network of water, hiking, and biking trails). ¶ Jeleniewo (42 km): a Jewish cemetery
(18th c.); the wooden Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1878); a wooden bell tower (2nd
half of the 19th c.). ¶ Augustów (44 km): the former beth midrash (next to the Tax Office);
a Jewish cemetery (1800); the Old Post Office (1829); a house at 28 Rynek Zygmunta
Augusta (1800); barracks (1890s); the Augustów Canal (1824–1839). ¶ Bakałarzewo
(49 km): a Jewish cemetery (1850s) south of the town, near Lake Szumowo; St. James the
Apostle Church (1936). ¶ Szczebra (49 km): a plaque commemorating the Jews executed in
the Suwałki region; mass graves of victims. ¶ Filipów (54 km): a Jewish cemetery (2nd half
of the 19th c.); a Mariavite cemetery (1906); the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin Mary (1841–1842). ¶ Przerośl (57 km): a Jewish cemetery (early 20th c.); a wooden
bell tower (1790). ¶ Bridges in Stańczyki (67 km): one of the highest railway bridges
in Poland (1912–1918). ¶ Augustów Forest: one of the most extensive virgin forests in
Poland, straddling the borders of Poland, Lithuania, and Belarus. It boasts approx. 100
species of vascular plants, 2,000 species of animals, and trees that are more than 200 years
old. The most precious part of the forest is protected by the Wigry National Park. Another
attraction is the 102-km-long Augustów Canal connecting the basins of the Vistula and the
Neman Rivers.

SEJNY Former White Synagogue Worth

(1860–1870), now exhibi- seeing
tion hall, 41 Piłsudskiego
St., tel. +48 87 516 27 65,
sekretariat@pogran-
icze.sejny.pl ¶ Former
yeshivah (Talmudic
academy) (1860s), 39
Piłsudskiego St. ¶ Former
Hebrew gymnasium
(high school), now the
seat of the Borderland
of Arts, Cultures, and
Nations Centre (1850s),
37 Piłsudskiego St. ¶
Jewish cemetery, 1 Maja
St. ¶ Basilica of the
Visitation of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, former
Dominican church
(1610–1619), 1 Św. Agaty
Sq. ¶ Church of Our
Lady of Częstochowa,
former Evangelical church (1844), 4 Zawadzkiego St. ¶ Bishops’ Palace, now housing the
Museum of the Sejny Land (1850s), 28 Piłsudskiego St.,+48 87 516 22 12 ¶ Town Hall
(1846), 25 Piłsudskiego St. ¶ Lithuanian Cultural Center, 9 July 22nd St., +48 87 51 62 908 25
 Krynki
Bel. Крынкі, Yid. ‫קריניק‬ From Krynki, I brought wine and mead brewed by
widow Yocheved to my inn, a beverage famous for
miles around.
Yekhezkel Kotik, Meyne zikhroynes
(Yid.: My Memories), vol. 1–2, 1913–1914

In the Grodno Forest, among freshwater a cemetery and build a synagogue and
springs near the former Jagiellonian a mikveh (ritual bath). ¶ One of the
trade route that extended from Vilnius town’s characteristic features is its mar-
through Grodno and Lublin to Cracow, ket square: hexagonal, with twelve streets
lies the town of Krynki. radiating from it. This unique shape,
which replaced a rectangular market that
Travellers’ stopover ¶ At the turn was destroyed by fire, was designed by
of the 15th and 16th centuries, a manor the Italian architect Giuseppe de Sacco
house belonging to the Grand Duke of during the rebuilding of the town in
Lithuania was built in Krynki – one of 1775. The work was commissioned by
the stops on the route from Vilnius to the Court Treasurer of Lithuania, Antoni
Cracow. The advantageous geographical Tyzenhaus, the then lessee of the Grodno
location of the town attracted settlers economy (royal table lands). It is the only
as well as travellers who needed places market square of this kind in Poland and
to stay. As a result, in the second half of one of only a few in Europe.
the 16th century, the small town boasted
43 inns! The first Jews who appeared in Places of prayer ¶ The first wooden
Krynki came from Grodno and Brest, synagogue in Krynki burned down
and they took up the occupations of in 1756 and was replaced by another
inn-keeping and running breweries. ¶ wooden synagogue, also destroyed
According to the 1639 privilege issued in a fire. In 1787, the construction of
by King Władysław IV, the Jewish com- a stone synagogue began. This synagogue
munity of Krynki was given the right partially survived to this day. The Great
to buy plots of land; build houses, inns, Synagogue was a huge building made
and taverns; and work in trade, craft, of granite with a beautiful wood-carved
alcohol production, cattle slaughtering, aron ha-kodesh. The Nazis turned it into
and agriculture, as well as sell meat. The a repair shop for tanks during World
king’s privilege also granted the Jews War II. In 1944, it was partially destroyed
Krynki

of Krynki the right to have a “public by withdrawing German troops and,

26 display” of Judaism – that is, to establish eventually, blown up in the 1970s by local
 was in danger of collapse. Today, all that The aron ha-kodesh
(holy ark) in the main
remains of the building are the ruins of synagogue in Krynki,
communist authorities who claimed it the foundation (5 Garbarska St.). before 1939; collection
of the YIVO Institute for
Jewish Research
The Belarusian Trialogue Festival, which has been held since the 1990s,
The synagogue
is organised by the “Villa Sokrates” Foundation established by Sokrat Jano- of Slonimer Hasidim
wicz (1936–2013), a Belarusian writer who grew up and lived in Krynki for in Krynki, currently
a warehouse, 2015.
many years. The crux of the festival is Belarusian culture – in Poland, in Bela- Photo by Monika
rus, and in the diaspora – but local Jewish culture and heritage is also in the Tarajko, digital collection
focus. The event attracts distinguished Belarusian and Polish artists and intel- of the ”Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” (www.
lectuals. In 2014, Trialogue featured an artistic happening under the guidance teatrnn.pl)
of Mirosław Bałka – a noted Polish sculptor – during which the area sur-
rounding the foundation of the Great Synagogue was cleared of vegetation.
Despite this, the ruins were quickly overgrown again by weeds and bushes.

In the second half of the 19th century, one-storey brick synagogue with
Jenta Rafałowska-Wolfson, a Grodno a hipped roof was built in 1850 (5
merchant, founded a two-storey brick Piłsudskiego St.). This house of prayer,
synagogue for the Slonimer Hasidim (10 known as the Caucasian beth midrash,
Czysta St.). It was called theYentes Beth owes its name (as does the neighbour-
Midrash, after its founder. The building hood as a whole) either to Jews who came
also housed a religious school. The fol- to Krynki from the Caucasus (the so-
lowers of the tsadik of Stolin had a house called Mountain Jews) or to merchants
of prayer in Krynki, and Hasidim from importing hides from the Caucasus for
Kock and Kobryń also lived in the town. local tanneries. Destroyed during World
¶ In the neighbourhood called “Kaukaz” War II, the building was renovated and
(Causasus), which was inhabited mainly converted into a cinema and cultural
by poor Jewish workers, a square-based centre that is still functioning. 27
 The “Caucasian” The cemetery ¶ Generations of Jews
synagogue in Krynki, at
present the Municipal
from Krynki were buried in the cem-
Cultural Centre, 2015. etery (Zaułek Zagumienny St.). Today, it
Photo by Monika
Tarajko, digital collection
is one of the biggest and best-preserved
of the ”Grodzka Gate Jewish graveyards in Podlasie (around
– NN Theatre” (www.
teatrnn.pl)
3,000 matzevot in an area of more than owned the only spinning mill in the
2 ha). It consists of two parts: new and county, and it processed 800 puds (12,800
Jewish cemetery kg) of yarn in 1872. ¶ In the eastern part
in Krynki, 2015. Photo
old, separated by an alley several metres
by Monika Tarajko, wide. The oldest identified tombstones of the town, along Graniczna St., an
digital collection of the date back to the 18th century. The industrial quarter with factories was cre-
”Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” (www.teatrnn. cemetery is enclosed by a stone wall. ated. In 1913, Krynki had 9,000 residents
pl) The original wooden entrance gate has and nearly 100 tannery workshops. Most
not been preserved. In the western of them were destroyed during World
part of the new cemetery, there are two War II; only the ruins of one building
unmarked graves from World War II. have survived until today.

Tanneries ¶ In the first half of the 19th “Crooked pipe” ¶ Several dozen
century, Krynki experienced an indus- metres from the fork of Pohulanka and
trialization boom that started with the Graniczna streets, there is a tube well
expansion of textile, and later (thanks that the residents of Krynki call “the
to the nearby springs and watercourses) crooked pipe.” Out of about a dozen
the tanning industries. Already in 1827, pre-war deep-water intakes, this is the
Josif Giel, a Jewish entrepreneur, opened only one that still functions. Wells were
a manufactory processing sheep wool drilled for the needs of tanneries by
and producing flannel. He was followed a company that belonged to Gendler
by other entrepreneurs, mainly Jews and Ponta. High pressure water flowing from
Germans. Towards the end of the 1870s “the crooked pipe” has a low mineral
there were, in Krynki: eleven textile content and is very tasty. Legend has it
factories, six tanneries, four dye houses, that it has medicinal properties: indeed,
Krynki

two distilleries, three mills (including one water from Krynki is rumoured to
28 bark mill), and a brewery. Berek Kryński have healed Queen Jadwiga’s stomach
 Three tanners at work.
The elderly man in the
foreground is wearing
traditional Jewish clothes.
Photo by Alter Kacyzne,
published in Forverts daily
(Yid. Forward, January
1, 1927), collection of the
YIVO Institute for Jewish
Research

complaints in the 14th century. It was chase away a guard and poured barrels of
brought to her in Cracow by the future vodka down the drains. A strike commit-
king, Władysław Jagiełło, who stopped tee was formed which established what
at the court in Krynki on his way from came to be known as the first Soviet. The
Vilnius to Cracow, then the royal capital, tsarist police could not curb the workers’
and drew miraculous water from the resistance and had to summon the regu-
local springs to take with him. lar troops. After a few hours of fighting,
the protesters were forced to surrender.
“The Republic of Krynki” ¶ The Many participants in the strike were sent
tough living and working conditions to prison or to Siberia.
in industrial Krynki sparked the early
development of the socialist labour “Mother Anarchy” ¶ Some of the
movement. The first strikes occured in town’s young Jewish residents shared not
the mid-1890s, when Jewish and Chris- only socialist but also anarchist views.
tian tanners from Krynki demanded pay These activists organised protests, march-
rises and a reduction of the working day ing through the town dressed in black
to 10 hours. Towards the end of January clothes and carrying black flags, but they
1905, protesting workers took control were met with the disapproval of a major-
of the town, an episode remembered as ity of residents. Violent incidents took
“the Republic of Krynki.” The clashes place. During the festival of Pesach, 1906,
lasted for four days. Outraged by the a group of anarchist teenagers shot Shmul
bloody suppression of demonstrations Weiner, a factory owner, on his way back
in Saint Petersburg by the Tsarist police, from the synagogue in Krynki. The same
the residents of Krynki, led by Jewish year, on a separate occasion,15-year-old
tanners, seized control of a police station, Niomke Fridman threw a bomb from
a post office, and the seat of local authori- the women’s gallery on the main room
ties. They encountered some resistance of the beth midrash, where a meeting of
when trying to take over the depot where local entrepreneurs was in progress. He
vodka was stored, but they managed to was arrested but managed to escape and 29
 shortly thereafter assassinated the chief United States in 1920, she taught at a Jew-
of the prison in Grodno. Cornered by the ish school and organised aid for children
police, he shot and killed himself. ¶ Yosl who had been orphaned and deprived
Kohn (1897–1977) became an anarchist of their homes as a result of World War
activist and a newspaper columnist. In I. She started a women’s self-defence
Krynki, he attended a cheder and a Rus- group against pogroms and worked in
sian school. In 1909, he emigrated to the left-wing organisations. She continued
United States, where he published with her educational and social activity as
Fraye Arbeter Shtime (Yid.: Free Work- an émigré in the United States, teach-
ers’ Voice). As a poet, he published his ing at the Yiddish socialist Arbeter Ring
works in the almanac In-zikh (the name schools (Yid.: Workers’ Circle). She also
inspired one of the most distinguished established a periodical called Kalifornier
modernist poetry groups, “Inzikhistn” Shriftn (Yid.: Californian Notes). Her
– the Introspectivists, whose members poems were published in the communist
were, among others, Aaron Leyeles and gazette Morgen Fraykheit (Yid.: Morning
Jacob (Yankev) Glatstein). ¶ Another Freedom) and in Yiddishe Kultur (Yid.:
figure brought up in the revolutionary Jewish Culture). She published nine
atmosphere of Krynki at the beginning of volumes of poetry, including Af di fligl fun
the 20th century was the educator, social hoylem (Yid.: On the Wings of Dreams),
activist, and writer Sarah Fell-Yellin printed in Poland by the Jidysz-Buch
(1895–1962), the daughter of a local publishing house.
blacksmith. Before she emigrated to the

A shy sky-blue violet / peeks from a snowy garden – / should it come out now from the
shadow / or wait a little longer? // A much-loved sunray is already wandering, / over the
sky bright and warm, / it’s wandering, pensive, over the roof, / over the garden, where the
sky-blue violet is waiting. // A caress – snow is already melting, / and a kiss – the flower is
already happy: / This is how the sky-blue violet became one / with the sky’s limpid breath. //
Sarah Fell-Yellin, From the volume Likhtike vayzer

A shrinking town ¶ World War I and communists and anarchists also made
its aftermath brought the economic its mark on the town. Such activists,
development of Krynki to a halt. The however, dissociated themselves from
town suffered serious damage, and the Jewish religious community.
redrawn borders cut tanneries off from
their traditional markets. According World War II and the Holocaust
to the census of 1921, Krynki had only ¶ In September 1939, Krynki was seized
5,206 residents. ¶ Social and cultural by the Soviet army. German troops
life flourished in the town, however, and marched into the town in June 1941 and
seats in the board of the Jewish religious that autumn set up a ghetto. The ghetto
community were held by Orthodox Jews, consisted of two parts that extended
Krynki

Zionists, and socialists from the Bund. between the Krynka River, the market
30 The presence of Jews who were illegal square, and Kościelna, Cerkiewna, and
1 Maja Streets. About 6,000 people were
pushed into the ghetto, including those
transported from other locations (such
as Brzostowica Wielka). The liquidation
of the ghetto began on October 2, 1942;
5,000 Jews were deported to the camp
in Kolbassino. During the liquidation,
some people attempted armed resist-
ance. In his book The Struggle and
Annihilation of the Warsaw Ghetto, Ber-
nard Mark reports: “Jews from Krynki Present day ¶ Air raids and the Remains of the Great
Synagogue at Garbarska
(according to one Polish policeman), military campaign of 1944 destroyed street in Krynki, 2015.
contrary to the usual docile behaviour two-thirds of Krynki’s urban area. Once Photo by Monika
Tarajko, digital collection
of the masses, responded to the German a dynamic industrial centre, Krynki, of the ”Grodzka Gate
action with salvoes of rifles and revolv- depopulated, was downgraded to the sta- – NN Theatre” (www.
teatrnn.pl)
ers fired by the Jewish self-defence.” tus of an ordinary communal village after
Only 260 Jews were left in Krynki after 1955 and did not regain city rights until
deportation; more than three months 2009. Today, it is a town of 2,500 people
later, on January 24, 1943, they were very close to the Polish-Belarusian bor-
transported to the extermination camp der. There is a restaurant in the centre of
in Treblinka. Krynki and agritourism farms function
in the vicinity.

Remains of the Great Synagogue (19th c.), 5 Garbarska St. ¶ Former prayer house of Worth
Slonimer Hasidim (2nd half of the 19th c.), 10 Czysta St. ¶ Former “Caucasus” Beth seeing
Midrash (1850), currently housing the Municipal Cultural Centre, 5 Piłsudskiego St. ¶
Spatial layout of the town (18th c.). ¶ Church of St. Anne (1913), a bell tower (19th c.),
a wooden presbytery, 1 Nowa St. ¶ Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin
Mary (19th c.), 5 Cerkiewna St. ¶ St. Anthony’s Chapel (wooden, 1872) in the Orthodox
cemetery, Grodzieńska St. ¶ Remains of the manor complex and the park of the de Virion
family (18th–19th c.), Kościelna St.

Kruszyniany (11 km): a wooden mosque (18th c.); a Muslim graveyard – mizar (2nd half of Surrounding
the 17th c.); the Orthodox Church of St. Anne (1984–1985); an Orthodox church (17th– area
18th c.); the Polish Tatar Centre of Education and Muslim Culture. ¶ Sokółka (26 km):
a Jewish graveyard with around 1,000 matzevot and 27 sarcophagi (mid-18th c.); a former
mikveh in Sienna Street; the Museum of Sokółka Land; St. Anthony’s Church (1848); St.
Alexander Nevsky Orthodox Church (1853); St. Paul’s Graveyard Chapel (1901); an Ortho-
dox graveyard (19th c.), a wooden presbytery at the corner of Józefa Piłsudskiego St. and Ks.
Piotra Ściegiennego St. (1880). ¶ Palestyna (34 km): established in 1850; one of three Jew-
ish colonies near Sokółka inhabited by settlers preparing themselves to live and cultivate
land in the Land of Israel (1918–1937). ¶ Jałówka (35 km): a Jewish graveyard (19th c.);
an Orthodox church (1956–1960); ruins of the Church of St. Anthony (1910–1915); the 31
 Church of Transfiguration (1859); a parish graveyard (19th c.). ¶ Sidra (44 km): a Jewish
cemetery (19th c.); Holy Trinity Church (1705); a church bell tower (1780); ruins of a forti-
fied castle (1566); ruins of a Calvinist church (2nd half of the 16th c.); ruins of a watermill
(1890); the Eynarowicz family manor house (early 20th c.). ¶ Królowy Most (45 km):
a holiday village located on the Świętojańskie Hills Trail and the Napoleonic Trail; the
Orthodox Church of St. Anne (1913–1939); the Roman Catholic Chapel of St. Anne (1857).
¶ Michałowo (41 km): Film, Sound, and Old Photography studio; a Jewish graveyard in the
forest, two km from the town (mid-19th c.); the wooden Orthodox Church of St Nicholas
(1908); the Church of Divine Providence (1909). ¶ Janów (50 km): a Jewish cemetery
(19th c.). ¶ Dąbrowa Białostocka (56 km): a Jewish cemetery (17th c.); a stone tower mill
(1924). ¶ The Sokólskie Hills: a protected area of postglacial landscape with unique diverse
landform and a picturesque moraine wall stretching from the village of Jałówka to Podka-
mionki. Amid this picturesque landscape are a trail of wooden Orthodox churches as well
as the Tatar Trail, which features sites related to centuries-old local Muslim communities.
¶ Grodno, Belarus (64 km): the Choral Synagogue (1905); a Jewish cemetery with approx.
2,000 gravestones; a Tarbut school, the seat of the former Jewish community, a hospital
and a former yeshiva; the Grodno Museum of the History of Religion; the Museum of the
History of Jews from the Grodno Region (or Museum in Troitskaye, due to be opened in
the synagogue); the Orthodox Church of Saints Boris and Gleb (12th c.); the Church of the
Discovery of the Holy Cross (17th c.); the Church of the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin
Mary and the Bridgettine monastery (mid-17th c.).

KRYNKI
Krynki

32
Knyszyn
Bel. Кнышин, Yid. ‫קנישין‬ I am not the king of your consciences.
Sigismund II Augustus

The king’s heart ¶ In 1572, King numbered several dozen. In 1568, King
Sigismund II Augustus, the last ruler Sigismund II Augustus granted munici-
of Poland and Lithuania of the Jagiel- pal rights to Knyszyn. It was then that
lonian dynasty, died in his residence the town hall, baths, and the weights-
in Knyszyn. He was interred at the and-measures office were erected and
Wawel Castle, in Cracow, but his heart the streets were paved. Thursdays, when
remained in the Knyszyn Forest and Jews from the surrounding villages were
is reported to have been buried in the coming to town to hear brief reading of
crypt of Knyszyn’s church. After his the Torah, were designated as market
death, the king’s hunting manor where days. In 1672, 100 years after the death
he spent a total of 500 days became of Sigismund II Augustus, Knyszyn’s
deserted, and the fish ponds located citizens obtained a privilege de non
near the manor were no longer main- tolerandis Judaeis. As a result, the Jew-
tained. More than two hundred years ish residents of Knyszyn were moved
later, the Jews of Knyszyn obtained outside the town walls and had to create
permission to establish a cemetery on their own quarter on the nearby royal
the former royal dykes. It is now one of land called Ogrodniki (between today’s
Poland’s most picturesque graveyards. Szkolna St. and Tykocka St.). Only a few
¶ The king’s first documented visit to families lived there at first, but the com-
his Knyszyn estate took place in 1532. munity grew in number, so that towards
Jewish settlers appeared here in the 16th the end of the 18th century more than
century because the local royal residence 200 Jews lived in Knyszyn, constitut-
required infrastructure which Jews were ing more than 20 percent of the town
able to create. Jews were allowed to lease population.
breweries, taverns, and inns, which

Privilegium de non tolerandis Judaeis (Lat.: privilege for not tolerating the Jews)
was a privilege granted by the monarch to a town, land, or larger area, that
prohibited Jews from settling within its bounds. In the 16th century, such a privi-
lege was granted to several dozen out of 1,000 Polish towns and cities. As late 33
Jan Matejko, Death of as the 19th century, one in five towns in the Kingdom of Poland had a privilege
Sigismund Augustus in
Knyszyn (oil on canvas,
de non tolerandis Judaeis. This often led to the emergence of Jewish quarters
1886); collection of the nearby, such as Kazimierz near Cracow, which had an external municipal
National Museum in
Warsaw
jurisdiction (e.g. in Lublin or Cracow). It sometimes happened that such Jew-
ish districts received an analogous privilege de non tolerandis Christianis, but
in these cases the aim was often to ensure the safety of the inhabitants and to
prevent conflicts between Jews and Christians. The final legal abolition of munici-
pal privileges limiting Jewish settlement took place in the second half of the 19th
century and coincided with the adoption of the emancipatory regulations.

In Knyszyn, the privilege ceased to be in in that particular place. Today, the only
force at the beginning of the 18th cen- trace of the Renaissance royal residence
tury, and from that time it became legal is in fact the former royal ponds where
for Jews to live in the city. In the Ogrod- the Jewish cemetery is located. More
niki quarter, a synagogue, a mikveh and than 700 matzevot have survived. The
a ritual slaughterhouse were built, and oldest documented tombstone dates
Knyszyn’s Jews began to bury their dead back to 1794. The unique combination
on the dykes that remained where the of the ponds and the cemetery have
Knyszyn

royal fish ponds had been situated. In resulted in a site with exceptional scenic
1786, they were given legal permission – appeal. The cemetery is worth visiting
34 or, in fact, an order – to bury their dead particularly in spring, when there is
 Sunday at the
market in Knyszyn,
1930s; collection of King
Sigismund Augustus
Regional Society of
Knyszyn

Jewish cemetery in
Knyszyn, 2015. Photo
by Monika Tarajko,
digital collection of the
”Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” (www.teatrnn.
pl)

Israel Beker’s paint-

ing My Grandparents,
reproduced from the
album Stage of Life by
courtesy of Ms Lucy
Lisowska, President
of the Centre for Civic
Education Poland–Israel
in Białystok (www.
bialystok.jewish.org.pl)

still standing water in the former royal were established. With time, German
ponds. factories were taken over by the Jews.
One of the most active among them was
Industrial development ¶ From Lejba Ajzenberg, who owned a tannery,
1795 to 1807, the town was under Prus- a soap factory, and a rag recycling plant.
sian rule. This period can be regarded Another Jew, Tanchiel, owned a steam
as the beginning of the development textile factory, a spinning mill, and
of industry in Knyszyn, as it was then a cloth finishing line. Gersh Rozenblum
that many German families came to live also owned a cloth factory and a tan-
there. Textile factories, cloth finish- nery, and Leib Grobman owned a cloth
ing lines, tanneries, and distilleries factory and a brewery.

In 2013, Laura Silver, the author of the book Knish: In Search of the Jewish
Soul Food, found traces of her ancestors in Knyszyn. According to one of the
legends surrounding origin of the knish (Pol. knysza), it was in Knyszyn that
this type of meat-stuffed dumpling, or pierogi, originated and took its name.
Jewish emigrants brought the knish to the United States, where it became
a popular food item and even found its way into mass culture: An itinerant 35
 knish vendor appears, for example, in Sergio Leone’s film Once Upon a Time
in America with music of Ennio Morricone and Robert De Niro starring.

Israel Beker’s escapes to in a DP camp in Germany. In 1948, he

Knyszyn ¶ Knyszyn has been immor- left for Israel, where he became an actor
talised in the paintings by Israel Beker and director at the National Theatre of
(1917–2003), an actor, stage manager, Israel, the Habima Theatre. In 1979, he
and artist from Białystok. His grand- published the album Di bine fun mayn
parents lived in Knyszyn, in Białostocka lebn (Yid. The Stage of My Life), in

„
St. Beker survived World War II in the which he described his life in words and
Soviet Union and later found himself paintings.

I spent many years of my childhood with my grandfather – who lived in a small

village near our town. It was called Knyszyn. My grandfather was a farmer. He
used to come to our town with his two fine horses harnessed to his cart. On his way home
he used to take us, his grandchildren, to his village – to his fields, orchard, stables, the
enchanted forest, the flowing river nearby – in short, to mother nature. That is where I took
refuge from the illness which distorted my legs, from the “HEDER” and the terrible striking
hands of the “Rabbi,” and from a house full of children. I used to run away from home, to
my grandfather in Knyszyn, on foot; a small child walking alone 20 miles. I knew the way
very well – every little corner, hill and valley – and I would reach my destination as even-
ing fell, tired and exhausted: I am here. I would stand and look my grandparents straight
in the eyes – and then would be handed a glass of warm milk straight from the cow – and
grandmother would say, “Look at that little imp – he is here again.” ¶ I never spoke about
it – but in my paintings I started revealing myself. It is a story in colours and canvases. This
is my life.

Knyszyn’s synagogues ¶ The first aron ha-kodesh (holy ark) to the east.
wooden synagogue in Knyszyn was built It was a two-storeyed red brick build-
in Tykocka St. (at the corner of Tykocka ing, with larger windows on the ground
St. and Szkolna St.) in the 18th century. floor, smaller ones on the first floor,
Its earliest mention dates back to 1705. and a mansard roof. The total capacity
The building burned down in the fire of the building was about 2,500 cubic
that destroyed the town in 1915. After meters. Beth Yeshurun Synagogue was
this the Beth Yeshurun (Heb.:House destroyed by the Germans during World
of Israel) Synagogue – remembered War II. ¶ In the 1920s, the community
as the main prayer venue of Knyszyn’s built another synagogue, the Orah Haim
Jews – was built in what is now Szkolna (Heb.: Way of Life). Synagogue was built
Street. Greta Urbanowicz recalls that the in Grodzieńska St., at the back of the
synagogue stood on a small elevation, market square. It represented the nine-
Knyszyn

set back from the street but parallel to bay type of synagogue, with four pillars
it. It was traditionally oriented, with surrounding the bimah and supporting
36 a large entrance door to the west and an the vault. The building’s thick walls were
made of yellow brick and decorated with town’s Polish inhabitants attempted to Knyszyn, 1930s, a view
from the direction
lesenes and cornices. Large windows carry out a pogrom against their Jewish of Beth Yeshurun
illuminating the single-storey main hall neighbours. However, as memories synagogue, a 3D model
prepared as part of the
gave the building its character. In the written down after the war by Knyszyn’s Shtetl Routes project
two-storey western part of the build- Jews reveal, tragedy was prevented by Poligon Studio,
thanks to the determination of the 2015, digital collection
ing there were women’s galleries with of the ”Grodzka Gate
a separate entrance from the south. The local parish priest Franciszek Bryks – NN Theatre” (www.
main entrance was from Grodzieńska (who proclaimed in his homilies not teatrnn.pl)

St. The synagogue was covered by a hip to persecute Jews and help them) and
roof covered by ceramic tiles. In 1943, representatives of the local intelligentsia.
German Nazis took over the synagogue When the local bandits painted Stars
and, having bricked up its windows, of David on Jewish houses those Poles
converted it into a warehouse, which it inspired by the local priest stopped
remained after the war. Plans to estab- them. ¶ On November 2, 1942, German
lish a cultural centre in the synagogue authorities ordered all Jewish residents
were never implemented, and the build- of Knyszyn to present themselves at the
ing was completely demolished in the town square. From there, 1,300 Jews
late 1980s. were transported to Białystok and then
to the Treblinka extermination camp.
World War II and the Holocaust Seventy-four people who tried to escape
¶ After two years of Soviet occupa- were murdered on the spot and buried
tion, the Germans entered Knyszyn at the Jewish cemetery. In 2012, at the
in June 1941. It was then that, as in initiative of the Regional Society of
nearby towns and villages, some of the Knyszyn, their burial place was marked 37
 Orach Haim Syna-
gogue, a view from the
1970s; collection of King
Sigismund Augustus
Regional Society of
Knyszyn

Polish and Israeli

young people tidying
up the Jewish cemetery
in Knyszyn together,
2014. Photo by Ewelina
Sadowska-Dubicka

with a memorial stone. ¶ Several dozen but they maintained correspondence

people managed to escape the deporta- with the Dworzańczyk family. In 2007,
tion. One of them was Samuel Suraski, several years after her grandfather’s
a shoemaker from Knyszyn, in his twen- death, Samuel Suraski’s granddaughter
ties at the time. Together with his four Hadas found the descendants of the
siblings, he was hidden by his Christian Dworzańczyks and saw to it that they
workmate Czesław Dworzańczyk. In the were awarded a Righteous Among the
1950s, the Suraskis emigrated to Israel, Nations medal.
Knyszyn

The Righteous Among the Nations title has been awarded by the Israeli Yad
Vashem Institute since 1963. The honoured person is officially recognized by the
38 Institute and the authorities of Israel as one who risked his or her life to save Jews
during World War II. ¶ The Righteous
receive a medal with an inscription read-
ing: “Whoever saves one life saves the
world entire.” By 2015, 25,685 such dis-
tinctions were granted. Among the peo-
ple with the “Righteous” title there are
6,532 citizens of Poland, 2,515 citizens
of Ukraine, and 608 citizens of Belarus.

Memory ¶ Over 80 percent of

Knyszyn’s buildings were destroyed
during the war. Today, the town has
2,500 residents. Every year, it plays host by contacting the Tourist Information Regional History
Chamber in Knyszyn
to Israeli young people from kibbutz Centre, located in the town hall at 39 is located in an old
Tirat Zvi, where Samuel Suraski lived. Rynek St., tel. +48 85 727 99 88, e-mail: wooden house from
18th c., 2014, Photo by
Together with their Polish peers, they [email protected] ¶ Information about Emil Majuk, digital col-
clean up the Jewish cemetery at the royal Knyszyn’s history and heritage can be lection of the ”Grodzka
Gate – NN Theatre”
ponds. ¶ There are several agritour- provided from Monday to Sunday by (www.teatrnn.pl)
ism farms in Knyszyn as well as an members of King Sigismund Augustus
unguarded campsite. Further informa- Regional Society of Knyszyn, tel. +48 39
tion about accommodation can be found 903 31 42.

Jasionówka (15 km): a Jewish cemetery, about 380 matzevot (19th c.). ¶ Korycin (23 km): Surrounding
a Jewish cemetery; the Church of the Invention and Exaltation of the Holy Cross (1899– area
1905); a park complex (18th c.); a post mill-type wind mill (1945). Each June (since 2008),
Korycin has hosted the National Strawberry Days festival. ¶ Wasilków (27 km): Renais-
sance urban layout; a Jewish cemetery (19th c.); a Catholic cemetery (circa 19th c.); the
Orthodox Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (1853); the Church of the Trans-
figuration of Our Lord (1880–1883); the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows in Święta Woda
(since the 18th c.). ¶ Białystok Countryside Museum (Skansen) (27 km): an open-air
ethnographic museum, about 40 buildings and other architectural facilities from the area
of Podlaskie Voivodeship. ¶ Goniądz (28 km): a Jewish cemetery (18th c.); a wooden water
mill (19th c.); the Chapel of St. Florian (1864); the Church of St. Agnes (1922–1924); the
Cemetery Chapel of the Holy Spirit. ¶ Suchowola (36 km): a Jewish cemetery (19th c.);
the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul (1884–1885); a wooden tower mill (20th c.); Fr. Jerzy
Popiełuszko Memorial Room. The town is recognized as the Geographical Center of Europe.
¶ Supraśl (39 km): the Orthodox Monastery of the Annunciation to the Most Holy Mother
of God and the Holy Apostle John the Theologian (16–17th c.); the fortified Orthodox
Church of the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary (1503–1511); St. John the Theolo-
gian Orthodox Church (1888); the Palace of the Archimandrites – currently the Museum
of Icons (1635–1655); the Buchholtz Palace – currently the Secondary School of Visual
Arts (1892–1903); Zachert’s manor (mid-19th c.); weavers’ wooden houses – the Gardener’s
House (19th c.); Jansen’s factory complex (19th c.); the “Wierszalin” Theatre. ¶ Grajewo 39
 (51 km): the former synagogue, currently housing the local Community Centre; Holy
Trinity Church (1879–1882); a bell tower next to the church (1837); the parish cemetery
(1810); the Wilczewski family tomb chapel (1839); the railway station (1873); a water tower
(1896). ¶ Radziłów (51 km): the mass grave of the 800 Jewish victims of the pogrom which
took place on July 7, 1941 (Piękna St.). ¶ Wąsosz (54 km): the Church of the Transfigura-
tion (1508–1532); the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1625); a memo-
rial to the victims of a pogrom of the Jewish population, in which about 1,200 Jews were
killed on July 5, 1941. ¶ Szczuczyn (59 km): the urban layout (circa 17th c.); a monastery
complex (1697–1711); the former Piarist college (1706); the Church of the Blessed Virgin
Mary (1701–1711); the Museum of Firefighting; the house of “Ozerowicz the Jew” (grain
merchant) (1853); Polish Post Office buildings (1863); Szczuka family house (1690); a Jew-
ish cemetery with a memorial to the victims of the 1941 pogrom. ¶ The Knyszyn Forest:
a landscape park preserving pine and fir forests and boreal landscape, similar to the nature
of the south-western taiga.

Worth Jewish cemetery (18th c.), Białostocka St. ¶ The town urban layout (16th c.). ¶ Roman
seeing Catholic Church of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist (1520), 3 Kościelna St. ¶ Wooden
granary (1818–1820), 3 Kościelna St. ¶ Hospital building (1910), 96 Grodzieńska St. ¶
Wooden house of the Klatt family (2nd half of the 18th c.), 6 Kościelna St. ¶ Remains of the
manor park (16th c.), Białostocka St. ¶ Monument to King Sigismund II Augustus in the
town square.

KNYSZYN
Knyszyn

40
Tykocin
Bel. Тыкоцин, Yid. ‫טיקטין‬ Sometimes we had to paddle across the prayer room in boats
to take the Torah scrolls out of the aron ha-kodesh.
This is what happened during the previous flood in 1938.
Account by the Rabbis Arie Rawicz,
Shulman Simcha, and Menachem Tamir (Turek),
in: Sefer Tiktin (Hebr.: The Book of Tykocin), Tel Aviv 1959

The Holy Community of Tiktin ¶ – Christian, and eastern – Jewish, which

In 1522, the Voivode of Troki, Stanisław were connected by a street running
Gasztołd, invited nine Jews from Grodno along the Narew River. The central point
to come and live in Tykocin. In the of the Jewish quarter, called Kaczorowo,
privilege issued on that occasion, the was the synagogue complex. In 1642,
Jews were given a place to live in an the main synagogue was established.
area located “in the Kaczorowo quarter, The building conforms to the traditional
beyond the bridge” and received permis- Polish style characteristic of that period:
sion to build a synagogue. Space was it is a nine-bay synagogue with a bridal
marked out for a cemetery “beyond the canopy-like bimah whose four corner
gardens, on the first hill across the river.” pillars support the vaulted ceiling.
The Jews were also allowed to build The massive brick structure, erected
trading stalls near the town hall where on a square ground plan, was initially
they could engage in all kinds of trade. topped by a concave roof with an attic.
From that time on, Jews could settle However, after a fire in 1736 the roof was
in Tykocin and, thanks to a variety of replaced with a mansard-type one. On
beneficial privileges, the number of Jew- two sides the synagogue is adjoined by
ish inhabitants increased quickly. ¶ In women’s galleries, and on the southwest-
1571, some 59 Jewish, 236 Polish, and 62 ern side, by a tower that once housed
Ruthenian families lived in Tykocin, as a prison for disobedient members of the
well as one Lithuanian family. The town Jewish community and also served as
was divided into two parts: western the rabbi’s dwelling.

The beautiful synagogue was pillaged and destroyed during World War II.
It was rebuilt in the 1970s, and since November 1, 1976, it has been home
to a branch of the Podlasie Museum, focusing on Jewish history and tradi-
tions. The museum’s head office is situated in the former yeshivah, or Tal-
mudic academy, built in the 18th century and also rebuilt after being destroyed
in World War II. Visitors to the synagogue can admire its painted interior
décor and ornaments, while the women’s gallery has an area designated 41
 Zygmunt Zych
Bujnowski, Old
Synagogue in Tykocin,
(oil painting, 1926),
collection of of the
Museum Podlaskie,
branch in Tykocin

The synagogue’s
interior (museum
exhibition), Tykocin,
2015. Photo by Monika
Tarajko, digital collection
of the ”Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” (www.
teatrnn.pl)

for temporary exhibitions. The museum is open six days a week, from Tues-
day to Sunday, and attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year (tel.
+48 85 718 16 13, +48 509 336 597, [email protected]).

„
There were other Jewish prayer houses in Tykocin, but they have not survived.

The “Hevrah Humash”Beth Midrash was located in a small building next to

the synagogue (now it is an empty square between the Villa Regent Hotel and
the foundations of the stalls in Piłsudskiego St.). The Jews who came here to pray were
those unable to study the Talmud, so they limited themselves to studying the “parashat
ha-shavua” (a weekly portion of the Torah). Most of them were hard-working labourers. It
was only on the Sabbath that they could devote their time to these study sessions, and the
only text they could comprehend was the Humash (Pentateuch). On Saturday, before dawn
Tykocin

and long before the morning prayers, they would gather in their bet midrash and study the
reading for that week. After studying all that there was to study, even before the morning
42 prayer began, they would go to the house of their friend, baker Menachem Kobyliński,
 Monument to Stefan
Czarniecki, Tykocin,
2015. Photo by Monika
Tarajko, digital collection
of the ”Grodzka Gate –
NN Theatre”
(www.teatrnn.pl)

Stained glass win-

dow with an image of
the Star of David in the
former house of Haim
Żółty in Kaczorowska St.
in Tykocin, 2014. Photo
by Józef Markiewicz,
digital collection of the
”Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre”
(www.teatrnn.pl)

The most interesting

wooden buildings in
Tykocin form a so-called
“Wooden Architecture
Route,” marked out
and described by the
Centre for Studies on
the History and Culture
of Small Towns. The
Foundation’s head office
is located in one of the
beautiful 18th century
bourgeois houses, at 10
Czarnieckiego Square,
2014. Photo by Emil
Majuk, digital collection
of the ”Grodzka Gate –
NN Theatre”
(www.teatrnn.pl)

where they had some cake and a cup of hot tea. The building was completely destroyed
during the Holocaust. ¶ Translated from: Małgorzata Choińska, A Walk Around Jewish
Tykocin – www.shtetlroutes.eu

Rabbi Maharam and Rebecca As one of the 13 zemstvos (regions),

Tiktiner ¶ The kahal (Jewish commu- it sent its delegates to the meetings of
nity) in Tykocin had jurisdiction over the Council of Four Lands (Hebr.: Va’ad
smaller communities within the range of Arba’ Aratzot) – the self-governing
several dozen kilometres: these included umbrella organization that decided on
nine communities in the Land of Bielsk the internal affairs of Jewish commu-
Podlaski (Tykocin, Białystok, Boćki, nities in the entire Polish-Lithuanian
Orla, Jasionówka, Augustów, Goniądz, Commonwealth and represented the
Knyszyn, Rajgród), four communities entire Polish Jewry before the Polish
in the Mielnik Land (Konstantynów, king and royal treasurer. The lost proto-
Łosice, Niemirów, and Rossosz), and cols of the Council of Four Lands were
Siemiatycze in the Drohiczyn Land. neatly reconstructed by the 20th-century 43
An amateur theatre
group from Tykocin
staging William
Shakespeare’s King Lear,
1920. Collection of Beit
Hatfutsot, The Museum
of the Jewish People,
Photo Archive, Tel
Aviv; courtesy of Edna
Meshulam

scholars on the basis of the copies estate of Tykocin to Grand Crown Het-
preserved in the communal records man Stefan Czarniecki in recognition
of Tykocin (Pinkas kehillat Tiktin). ¶ of his contribution during the Polish-
Menachem David ben Yitzhak, also Swedish War. Czarniecki’s grandson, Jan
known as the Maharam from Tykocin, Klemens Branicki, redeveloped the town
was a local rabbi in the 16th century. by giving it a more urban shape, which
He authored many commentaries and can still be seen today. In the middle of
rabbinic responsa, among them the Sefer the town stands a statue of the Hetman.
Mordechai (Hebr.: The Book of Morde- As mentioned in the Memorial Book of
chai), published in Cracow in 1597. ¶ Tiktin (Tykocin), the local Jews nick-
Another historical figure from Tykocin named the monument Zeide mit bulave,
is Rebecca, daughter of Meir from meaning “Grandfather with a mace.”
Tykocin (b. before 1550 – d. 1605). She ¶ The treasures of Tykocin include its
spent most of her life in Prague. Rebecca numerous surviving wooden houses.
became famous as the author of a book One of them still has a colourful stained-
written in Yiddish, entitled Meynekes glass window with an image of the Star
Rivke (Yid.: Rebecca’s Nursemaid), pub- of David, which was installed by the pre-
lished in Prague in 1609. Addressed to war owner of the house – Haim Żółty.
Jewish women, the book inspired piety Also, the Zamenhof family comes from
and dealt with the role of women in the Tykocin. This fact is commemorated by
family and society as well as with the a plaque on the family home of Markus
upbringing of Jewish children and the Zamenhof, the father of Ludwik – the
need to provide them with education, creator of Esperanto.
both religious and secular.
Tykocin

Firefighters and actors ¶ At the

Grandfather with a mace ¶ In end of the 19th century, the economic
44 1658, King John Casimir granted the situation had become so bad that more
than half of the inhabitants of Tykocin up of 30 musicians, with Abraham Turek
were forced to leave the town. Many as a conductor (1872–1954). New librar-
emigrated to the United States, where ies were formed, theatre performances
they settled in big cities. As a result, were staged, and new political parties
the Vaad Yotzei Tiktin (Council of the were set up, including the Zionist Hib-
Tykocin émigrés) association was estab- bat Zion (Heb.: Love of Zion) and also
lished in Chicago. Meanwhile, social and a local branch of the socialist Bund. In
cultural life revived in the town itself. 1925, the Jewish community of Tykocin,
At the end of the 19th century, Jewish together with a group of Poles invited for
and Christian inhabitants of Tykocin the occasion, celebrated the opening of
together established a fire brigade. This the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
was soon joined by an orchestra made

In the mid-1980s, the Tykocin Amateur Theatre was established, with a view
to revive the town’s interwar theatrical traditions. The performances revolve
around the history and tradition of Tykocin, its former religious customs and
traditions (observed at Christmas and during Passion Week) as well as Jew-
ish culture and tradition. The performances staged so far include Leon
Schiller’s Pastorałka (Pastorale) as well as Gorzkie żale (Bitter Lamenta-
tions), Purymowe łakocie (Purim Delicacies), and Sholem Aleichem’s Inside
Kasrilovka, Three Stories. For many years, the curator and director of the
theatre has been Janusz Kozłowski; the author of the performance pieces
is Ewa Wroczyńska, the long-time director of the Tykocin Museum.

The Siemiatycki brothers ¶ between July 1941 and August 1944. The
Tykocin was the hometown of the victims were mainly Jews (70,000) but
Siemiatycki brothers: Haim and Zeidel, also Poles (between 2,000 and 20,000),
both of whom received a traditional Russian POWs (8,000) and people of
rabbinic education at the local yeshivah. various other nationalities. ¶ Zeidel
¶ Haim (b. 1908) became a poet and Siemiatycki returned to his hometown
writer. In his poems, he praised the after completing his rabbinic stud-
beauty of nature. In 1929, he moved to ies in Tykocin, Łomża, and Mir and
Vilnius, where he published volumes became a local teacher. Later, he moved
of poetry: Oysgeshtrekte hent (Hands to Warsaw, where he served as a rabbi
Reaching Out, Warsaw 1935) and and an activist of the Agudas Yisroel
Tropns toy (Dewdrops, Warsaw 1938). party, which represented Orthodox Jews.
In 1939, Haim received the I. L. Peretz In 1938, Zeidel became a rabbi at the
Literary Award. In September 1943, famous Volozhin (Wołożyn) yeshivah,
Haim was shot dead in a mass execu- and during World War II he moved
tion in Ponary near Vilnius. At this back to Mir. In late 1940, together with
place German SD, SS and Lithuanian several hundred students from the Mir
Nazi collaborators murdered approxi- Yeshivah, he travelled by Trans-Siberian
mately 100,000 people in the period train to Vladivostok and then by ship to 45
The memorial at the site
of the mass execution
of Tykocin’s Jews, the
Łopuchowo Forest,
2015. Photo by Monika
Tarajko, digital collection
of the ”Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” (www.
teatrnn.pl)

Japan. In 1943, he found himself in Lon- Jews of Tykocin were marched to the
don, where, known as Zeidel Tiktiner, Łopuchowo Forest, located 6 km from
he continued his activity as a rabbi and the town, where they were killed by an
lecturer. SS Sonderkommando from Białystok.
Their mass graves are now marked with
World War II and the Holo- symbolic matzevot. Every year, the place
caust ¶ At the end of 1939, Tykocin is visited by thousands of people, mainly
was occupied by Soviet troops, which by Jewish youth from Israel.
were stationed there until June 1941.
Part of the Polish and Jewish popula- The cemetery ¶ One of the oldest and
tion of Tykocin was deported to Siberia. largest Jewish cemeteries in Poland is
When the German-Soviet war broke located in Strażacka St. in Tykocin. It is
out, the town found itself in the Ger- believed to date back to the 16th century,

„
man occupation zone. As a result, on but only a few matzevot survive, with
August 25–26, 1941, almost all the 2,500 the oldest legible stone from 1754.

The old Jewish cemetery was covered with heavy old matzevot from hundreds of
years back; there were graves of rabbis, geonim, and all the other eminent figures
of their time. They were graves that one would approach after taking off one’s shoes, with
fear and great respect. They were graves that gave rise to various legends, with matzevot
half-ruined with age, and with cracks where those in need put their kvitlech with their
trembling fingers and instantly felt great relief in their aching hearts. ¶ Menachem Turek,
“The Life and the Holocaust of the Tykocin Jews during the German Occupation,” in Sefer
Tiktin (Hebr.: The Book of Tykocin), Tel Aviv 1959
Tykocin

Present day ¶ Today, Tykocin has this small town, its well-preserved urban
a population of about 2,000 people. layout, its beautiful natural surround-
46 Thanks to the charming atmosphere of ings, and the museum located in the
former synagogue, Tykocin stands as guesthouses scattered around the area.
an important centre of cultural tour- One of the local hotels, Villa Regent (3
ism. It serves its visitors with several Sokołowska St.) even offers its guests
restaurants, small hotels, and many a mikveh.

Synagogue complex (17th c.), now a museum, 2 Kozia St.,tel. +48 85 718 16 13, +48 509 Worth
336 597, [email protected] ¶ Jewish cemetery (16th c.), Strażacka St. ¶ The seeing
urban layout with low, richly ornamented buildings (18th c.). ¶ Baroque parish Church
of the Holy Trinity (1742–1749), 2 11 Listopada St. ¶ Former military boarding school
(17th c.), 1 Poświętna St. ¶ Catholic cemetery (1792) with the Gloger family chapel (1885),
2 11 Listopada St. ¶ Former Bernardine monastery complex (1771–1790), now the Social
Welfare Home, 1 Klasztorna St. ¶ Castle (15th c., partly reconstructed in 21st c.), 3 Puchal-
skiego St.

Tykocin lies between the Biebrzański National Park to the north and the Narew National Surrounding
Park to the south. The Podlasie Stork Route runs through the area. ¶ Kiermusy (5 km): area
European bison breeding farm; the so-called Manorial Labourers’ Living Quarters; the
reconstruction of the 1832 Polish-Russian border; the reconstruction of the 15th-c. Amber
Castle. ¶ Choroszcz (21 km): a Jewish cemetery (early 19th c.); the Branicki Castle, now
the Museum of Palace Interiors (1745–1764); the water tower (19th c.); the Dominican
monastery (18th c.); the Orthodox Church of the Protection of the Mother of God (19th c.).
¶ Białystok (30 km): Jewish cemeteries (18th c., 19th c., 20th c.) among which only one, so-
called Bagnówka (19th c.), is preserved with about 2,400 tombstones; Piaskover Beth Mid-
rash Synagogue, now the head office of the Zamenhof Foundation (19th c.); Beth Samuel

TYKOCIN

47
 Synagogue, now the training centre of the Provincial Police Headquarters; the Cytron Syna-
gogue, now the Sleńdziński Gallery; the Białystok Manufacturers’ Trail (19th/20th c.); the
Branicki palace and park complex (18th c.); St. Mary Magdalene Orthodox Church (18th c.);
the Metropolitan Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (17th c.). ¶ Łapy
(33 km); the grave of a Jewish girl who was thrown out of a train bound for the Treblinka
extermination camp, along the railway line between Łapy and Osse; “Osse” railway housing
estate; “Wygwizdowo” railway housing estate. ¶ Suraż (40 km): the urban layout: the Polish
(lacki) marketplace, the Ruthenian (ruski) marketplace (15th/16th c.); a Jewish cemetery
(1865); Władysław Litwińczuk’s private Archaeological Museum; the Legacy of Generations
Museum; the Museum of Chapels. ¶ Jedwabne (42 km): a Jewish cemetery (19th c.) next
to the scene of the 10 July 1941 pogrom, when hundreds of Jews were herded into the local
synagogue and burned alive by their Polish neighbors. ¶ Wysokie Mazowieckie (44 km):
a Jewish cemetery with about 60 tombstones (1st half of the 19th c.); Church of St. John
the Baptist (1875); a former Uniate Orthodox Church, now the Church of the Nativity of
the Blessed Virgin Mary (1798). ¶ Zambrów (48 km): a Jewish cemetery with about 100
tombstones (19th c.); a memorial to the approx. 2,000 Jews from Zambrów executed by the
Nazis in the forests near the villages of Kołaki Kościelne and Szumowo; a Catholic cemetery
(1795); Holy Trinity Church (1879); the Regional Historical Chamber. ¶ Łomża (54 km):
the Jewish hospital, now the 3rd General Secondary School (1857); the former “Centus”
Orphanage for Boys and Girls, 7 Senatorska St.; two Jewish cemeteries (19th c.); the town
hall (1822–1823); St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral (1504); the cathedral cemetery:
Roman Catholic, Augsburg Evangelical, and Orthodox (18th c.); the Capuchin Church and
Monastery (1770–1798). ¶ Giełczyn (62 km): a memorial place to the approx. 12,000 Jew-
ish victims of the mass murders carried out by the Nazis in 1941–1944; the Giełczyn Forest.
¶ Czyżew (62 km): the synagogue in Piwna St., currently a warehouse (19th c.); the Jewish
cemetery (1820); the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (1874); a wooden villa, 12
Mazowiecka St. (early 20th c.); the manor park (2nd half of 19th c.). ¶ Szumowo (63 km):
a wooden synagogue moved from Śniadowo, now the parish house (circa 1933). ¶ Now-
ogród (68 km): Adam Chętnik Heritage Park (30 buildings moved from the Kurpie Forest);
a Jewish cemetery; the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (19th c.). ¶ The
Biebrza National Park: The largest national park in Poland, it encompasses one of the most
pristine peatbogs in Central Europe. ¶ The Narew National Park: The park protects the
marshy Narew River Valley with its abundant fauna and flora, a region sometimes called
the Polish Amazonia. ¶ The Podlasie Stork Trail: The trail is inspired by the white stork
presence and combines trails available on a bicycle or horseback, in a kayak or traditional
push-boat, or even by car.
Tykocin

48
Orla
Bel. Вуорля, Ukr. Орля, Yid. ‫אָרלע‬ Once a week, peasants from nearby villages would
come to the fair in order to sell and buy goods in
little stalls at the market in Orla.
Sylvia K. Kaspin,
Memories of Things from the Past, 1986

Under the eyes of magnates ¶ Bug, 60 km away, and used the river
Jews lived in Orla from the 1650s. It was network as a reliable freight trade route.
probably the Tęczyńskis – the owners In 1780, Izabela Branicka, the wife of
of Orla at the time – who brought Jews the hetman, King Stanisław August
here. The Radziwiłłs, the subsequent Poniatowski’s sister, then owner of Orla,
owners of the town, also supported promulgated a special statute regulat-
Jewish settlement. In the 1614 privilege, ing disputes between Jews. The statute
Krzysztof Radziwiłł permitted “people specified the competence of the rabbi
of all estates, Christians of all denomi- and kahal authorities, including the
nations as well as Jews,” to settle in the manner of their election. It is one of the
domain of Orla. The 1616 inventory few surviving legal acts on the function-
notes the existence of 17 Jewish houses ing of a Jewish community in the Old
and a wooden synagogue. Favourable Polish period.
conditions resulted in the growth of the
town Jewish population, especially as the Orla 350-year-old synagogue
nearby royal towns – Bielsk, Kleszczele, ¶ The old synagogue building, surviv-
and Brańsk – prohibited Jews from ing to the present day, bears witness to
settling within their walls. ¶ The Jews of the high status held by the local Jewish
Orla experienced prosperous times in community. Until the mid-20th century,
the 18th century. It was then that – like the synagogue was one of only a few
Tykocin – Orla became one of the most stone buildings in Orla. One legend
important trade centres in the Podlasie has it that it was converted from the
region. Merchants from Orla maintained building of a Calvinist church that once
direct relations with numerous towns existed in the town. Princess Radziwiłł
in Poland-Lithuania and with towns is rumoured to have enabled the Jews
outside its borders, such as Breslau (now to purchase the building provided they
Wrocław), Königsberg (Pol.: Królewiec, collected 10,000 three-groszy coins
now Kaliningrad, Russia), and Frankfurt overnight. The Jews were so determined
on the Oder. The Orla Jews had their that they collected that amount within
own merchant vessel in Mielnik on the an hour. This tale, however, bears no 49
 The Great
Synagogue and wooden
prayer houses, 1930s.
Over the entrance to the
synagogue, an inscrip-
tion from the Book
of Genesis is visible:
“How full of awe is
this place! This is none
other than the house
of God, and this is the
gate of heaven.” Photo
by D. Duksin, collection
of the YIVO Institute for
Jewish Research

Participants in
a training workshop
for Shtetl Routes
tourist guides inside
the synagogue in Orla,
2015. Photo by Monika
Tarajko, digital collection
of the “Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” Centre relation to the historical reality. ¶ styles. In the 19th century, the building
(www.teatrnn.pl) The stone synagogue was built in the was given a classical facade with a frieze
second quarter of the 17th century, but resting on two columns. Unfortunately,
archaeological research has revealed that the furnishings of the synagogue, includ-
a small wooden synagogue had stood in ing the large aron ha-kodesh, have not
the same place earlier. About 100 years survived. Still, preserved to this day
after the foundation of the synagogue, are remnants of colourful polychrome
women’s galleries were added on each wall paintings with vegetal and animal
side of the building: wooden at first, motifs, as well as four columns sur-
Orla

and then made of brick. The synagogue rounding the place where the bimah
50 combines Renaissance and Baroque stood. Before the war, the square in front
of the synagogue was called the school services: Henach Werbołownik served as
square, and the synagogue complex also the local doctor, Moshe Rabinowicz was
included two wooden houses of prayer, the local pharmacist, and Dawid Lacki
the rabbi’s house, and a mikveh. All the was the local dentist. There were several
buildings burned down in a great fire Jewish organisations, including a branch
that swept Orla in 1938. Although this of the youth organisation He-Halutz,
priceless example of Jewish heritage as well as a Jewish financial institution,
has survived the turmoil of wars, it still the Jewish Popular Bank. What unfolds
awaits full scale repair after incomplete in the accounts of Orla’s eldest residents
renovation work in the 1980s. The owner is a picture of peaceful coexistence
of the synagogue since 2010 has been the between Christians (a minority in the
Foundation for the Preservation of Jew- town) and Jews (the majority), without
ish Heritage in Poland (FODŻ). serious trouble. Contacts between the
two communities, however, were usually
In the interwar period ¶ In the early commercial, though a common school
1920s, Orla was still a predominantly helped them become closer. The town was
Jewish town, with Jews constituting very poor, and poverty was an experience

„
about 70 percent of its population. They shared by its inhabitants of all faiths and
owned nearly all of the local trade and nationalities.

One day, on a Saturday, mother was washing clothes. Suddenly, blood gushed
forth from her. Daddy was not at home because he had gone to play cards.
I thought Mummy was dying. I ran to my neighbour Herszek’s place, knowing that his wife
was a nurse, of sorts. I said mother was having a hemorrhage. She took her bag right away,
put some ice in it, and ran to see my mother. I went to fetch Daddy, and he ran to fetch the
doctor, who was a Jew. He put ice over the wound, and then he gave me 10 zlotys, which
was a lot of money at that time, and said, “Go to the chemist’s and get injections.” The
chemist was also a Jew and opened the shop even though it was already night. The doctor
later said that we could pay when we had the money. ¶ Memories of Maria Odzijewicz –
an account from the Oral History Archive of the History Meeting House and the Karta
Centre (AHM-1901). Fragments are available for listening at www.audiohistoria.pl

In the interwar period, the main employ- was nationalised. Almost all of them
ers in Orla were the four Wajnsztejn managed to survive the deportation and
brothers, who owned a tilery. The landed left for Palestine after the war. Interest-
estate they had bought towards the end ingly, the head of what was then a Soviet
of the 19th century was the largest non- tilery was another Jew, who came from
parcelled-out part of the legacy left by the distant regions of the Soviet Union.
the Radziwiłłs. The tilery employed more Tiles continued to be produced in Orla
than 100 people, both Jews and Chris- until the early 1990s, but the factory no
tians. After the Soviet invasion of Poland longer played the same important role in
in September 1939, the Wajnsztejns were the town’s life.
deported to Siberia, and their company 51
 Men studying the
Torah at the house of
learning (beth midrash),
Orla, 1930s. Photo by
D. Duksin, collection of
the YIVO Institute for
Jewish Research

A pre-war prescrip-
tion by pharmacist
M. Rabinowicz from
Orla. Collection of
Wojciech Konończuk

Members of the
Orla branch of Hashomer
Hatzair. Digital collection
of Wojciech Konończuk,
archive of the Agricul-
tural Club in Orla
Orla

52
„ Getting a job in Wajnsztejn brothers’ tilery meant considerable promotion. There
was no better employment in Orla. All the workers called themselves “fabricants,”
as they were a head above peasants in the hierarchy. They had better work conditions and
earned more. Wajnsztejn was very much respected because he was good to the workers.
In 1937, he went to a bicycle factory and bought each of his employees a bicycle. Some of
them commuted to work from villages near Orla. ¶ Memories of Eugenia Chmielewska –
an account from the Oral History Archive of the History Meeting House and the Karta
Centre (AHM-1873). Fragments are available for listening at www.audiohistoria.pl

The great fire of Orla in 1938 ¶ On May 18, 1938, in a wooden

house near the market square, a local Jewish woman was boiling linseed oil
to make oil varnish. She interrupted that for a moment, as someone came
into her shop to buy horseradish. The wind, strong that day, knocked over the
boiling oil. This set the house on fire, and the flames quickly spread to neigh-
bouring houses. Almost the entire densely built-up centre of Orla burned
down within a few hours. Fire consumed 550 buildings, including 220 Jew-
ish houses, 25 houses belonging to Orthodox Christians, and 3 belonging to
Catholics. For months afterwards, many Jews with no roof over their heads
lived with their Christian neighbours. The current urban layout of Orla differs
from what it was before the fire. The former high-density housing, typical of
a Jewish shtetl, was replaced by newly marked-out streets. The market square
remained, but there is now a park where the Jewish trading stalls once stood.

Christians in defence of Jews ¶ of endecja (a right-wing political move-

An incident that attested to the friendly ment), armed with clubs and probably
coexistence of Jews and Christians from the region of Łomża, arrived in
(mainly Orthodox ones, as only a dozen Orla. Their intention was to destroy
or so families were Catholic) in pre-war Jewish stores. Local Orthodox Christians
Orla took place in about 1937 and recurs stood in defence of “their” Jews and
in the recollections of several of the effectively stopped the assailants, who

„
town’s eldest citizens. It was then that never returned to the town.
a group of between 10 and 20 members

I used to know Jewish girls: Haya and Bluma. We were friends. On the Sabbath,
I would often go with them for a walk to the Black Forest near Orla. When the
Soviets came, a few of our boys married Jewish girls. My family was the only Christian
family living in the Jewish quarter. We lived on close terms with our neighbour Liba, who
ran a shop. When we were in need, she would never refuse to help us. When the ghetto
was established, we were resettled to a different part of Orla. ¶ Memories of Aleksandra
Dęboróg – a fragment of an account from the Oral History Archive of the History Meet-
ing House and the Karta Centre (AHM-3036). Fragments are available for listening at
www.audiohistoria.pl
53
 “Jewish oil tycoon” ¶ Haim Kahan (Kamieniecki) was born in Orla in
1850. His father was a local melamed (teacher in an elementary Jewish school)
and at the same time a fishmonger. As a teenager, Haim left his native town
and moved to nearby Brest-Litovsk, and later to Königsberg. Kahan began to
work in the oil trade, taking advantage of the period of prosperity for this raw
material. He quickly became one of the major figures in this line of business in
Russia. His main competitors were the famous Nobel brothers. Kahan traded
in oil extracted from under the Caspian Sea; he had his own oilfields, too.
His company, “Petrol,” had branches in Baku, Kharkov, Warsaw, Brest, and
a number of cities in Western Europe. When Kahan died in 1916 he was one of
the richest entrepreneurs in the Russian Empire, with a reputation, too, as a phi-
lanthropist who generously supported Jewish organisations. After his death, in
an article entitled “Jewish oil tycoon,” the Warsaw daily Nasz Przegląd wrote:
“He was a truly remarkable man and an exceptional type of person. A restless
spirit with inexhaustible energy. A head always full of projects and ideas.”

The tsaddik of our times ¶ Aryeh including the President and the Prime
Levin was born in Orla in 1885, into Minister of Israel.
a large traditional Jewish family. From
his earliest years, he was very eager to “Little Orla” over the Ocean ¶
learn and was initially taught by Orla’s In the second half of the 19th century
rabbi. As in the case of Haim Kahan, Orla’s Jews began to emigrate in large
the hometown quickly became too numbers, mainly to the United States. In
small for Levin. At the age of 12, he 1891, they set up a compatriots’ associa-
left for the famous yeshivah in Slonim tion in New York – the Independent
and then went on to study at yeshi- Orler Benevolent Society, with a mem-
vas in Volozhyn and Brest. At 20, he bership of several hundred people. Emi-
emigrated to Eretz Israel. He continued grants helped their compatriots in the
his education in Jerusalem and became old homeland, for example, after the fire
a rabbi there. Levin quickly became that swept Orla in 1938. The organisa-
famous as a charismatic teacher and tion existed until 1984.
a protector of Jewish political prisoners
held by the British. In the independent The Jewish cemetery ¶ There were
State of Israel, he came to be regarded two Jewish cemeteries in Orla. The older
as one of the greatest spiritual authori- one was located directly behind the
ties and was nicknamed “the tsaddik synagogue. By the mid-19th century,
of our times.” Even though he was an it became too small, and the Jewish
Orthodox rabbi, he also enjoyed respect community obtained permission from
among non-religious Jews, as attested the Russian authorities to establish
by the title of “an honorary citizen a new, larger one. It was located about
of Jerusalem,” which he was granted. 700 metres north of the old cemetery,
Orla

He died in 1969, and his funeral was on a small hill off the road to Szczyty-
54 attended by thousands of people, Nowodwory. During World War II, the
 Young people in front
of the school in Orla, 1920s.
Digital collection of Wojciech
Konończuk, archive of the
Agricultural Club in Orla

Members of the
“Jedność” Eggs and Poultry
Cooperative packing eggs,
Orla, 1930s. Photo: D. Duksin,
collection of the YIVO Insti-
tute for Jewish Research

Aryeh Levin – a 1982

Israeli postage stamp, collec-
tion of Wojciech Konończuk

old cemetery and a part of the new one World War II and the Holocaust
were destroyed by the Nazi Germans, ¶ On the eve of World War II, more
and matzevot were used to build roads, than 1,500 Jews lived in Orla. After
with Jews as a slave workforce. Even after September 17, 1939 (Soviet invasion of
1945, local inhabitants used some of the Poland), many Jewish refugees arrived
surviving tombstones for construction. from central Poland. During the Soviet
Just a few matzevot – overgrown with occupation, several of the richest Jew-
vegetation and partly covered by soil – ish families were deported to Siberia,
have survived to this day. The area of the and in 1940 some young people were
former cemetery is not fenced or walled conscripted into the Red Army. The
in, or marked in any way. beginning of the end of Jewish Orla was
the outbreak of the German-Soviet war 55
 on June 22, 1941. Apart from the recol- would happen – the liquidation of the
lections of many Christian inhabitants, town in November 1942. On Monday,
what helps reconstruct the history of November 2, the Jewish quarter was
that period is a miraculously preserved surrounded. We were told we would be
account by Orla’s last rabbi, Eli Helpern. deported to the Black Sea coast or to the
Only a few pages long, it was written in Caucasus to work: it was no use grieving
1943 in the Białystok Ghetto, just a few over the houses and goods left behind,
days before Helpern was murdered. The for we would find the same there, left by
rabbi described the reign of terror set up the evacuated inhabitants of those areas.
by the Nazi Germans after they entered As a result, some of the women hiding in
Orla on June 22, 1941: The Jews had to the Christian part of the town reported
shave off their beards and the women voluntarily. We were transported to the
had to have their braids cut off. We all ghetto in Bielsk – 1,450 people, in peas-
had to wear round yellow signs on our ants’ wagons. It was there that the truth
breasts and backs. Jewish houses were about the evacuation became clear to us:
marked with yellow signs […]. Every until then, we had still believed the tale
day, 400 Jews would go to work for about the Black Sea. On Friday, 1,450
which they received no remuneration, Jews of Orla were marched to the railway
having to do humiliating activities and station and severely beaten on the way.
tasks. A tribute of 500 grams of gold, 3 They were forced into freight cars, 150
kilograms of silver, and 40,000 roubles people per car. A little more than 100
was also imposed on the community. In Jews were transported to the Białystok
March 1942, the entire Jewish popula- Ghetto; the others were sent to the
tion was segregated in a ghetto, a small Treblinka extermination camp, where
area in the centre of Orla surrounded by they were murdered. The rabbi was right
a wooden fence. Cramped conditions, in writing about the “liquidation of the
hunger, and disease caused high mortal- town” – more than 70 percent of Orla’s
ity. The rabbi concludes his memories residents vanished in just a few hours.
as follows: We did not expect that which

The last Jew of Orla ¶ Józef (Josel) Izbucki was a member of a fam-
ily who had lived in Orla for generations. His father ran a bakery in the market
square. In 1940, he was drafted into the Red Army, a fact that saved him from
the Holocaust. He returned to these parts after the war, settled in the nearby
town of Bielsk Podlaski, and worked as a coal trader. He never emigrated, even
though his children left Poland after the governmentally-orchestrated antisemitic
campaign of 1968. On one occasion, when visiting a shoemaker in Bielsk, he
saw a Torah scroll from the synagogue destroyed by Germans which was used
for the shoe manufacturing. He bought it and gave it to a Bielsk Jew now living
in Israel who visited the town of his birth in the 1980s. The Torah was restored by
the descendants of Bielsk’s Jews, who presented it to a new synagogue in Efrata,
Orla

in Gush Etzion region to the south from Jerusalem. ¶ Józef Izbucki is one of the
56 people featured in Jewels and Ashes (1991), a book of memory and reportage
by Arnold Zable, a noted Australian writer who is himself a descendant of Orla’s
Jews. In 1945, [Izbucki] had returned to a shtetl that was Judenrein. It was as if
all those he had known had vanished overnight. [He] moved to Bielsk, married
a Polish woman, and became wedded also to the streets of the town. Decade
upon decade he had followed a familiar route, in horse and cart, delivering
coal […]. Meanwhile, one by one, the few remaining Jews had left to begin life
anew, in lands far removed. ¶ Arnold Zable, Jewels and Ashes, New York 1991.

Present day ¶ In present-day Orla local eldest citizens about life in Orla
it is difficult to find many traces of its before the war. Short videos made by the
one-time numerous and influential Jew- students, based on the memories they
ish inhabitants. Only the old synagogue, collected, have won prizes at several
the key to which is kept at the com- national competitions. The Oral History
munity office, majestically towers over Archive of the History Meeting House
the former market square. Inside the and the Karta Centre has a collection of
building, visitors can see a small photo- several dozen in-depth accounts by Orla
graphic exhibition prepared in 2007 by inhabitants covering predominantly pre-
the Association of Friends of the Orla war times. On the basis of these recollec-
Land. Cultural events are occasionally tions, a memorial book is in preparation
held in the synagogue, and several local that seeks to portray life in the town in
history enthusiasts explore the history the interwar period and during World
of Orla’s Jews. Students – members of War II. ¶ Accommodation can be found
the Regional Club functioning at the at several agritourism farms in Orla and
Orla Land School Complex – recorded in nearby villages.
the memories of several dozen of the

Former synagogue (17th c.), 2 Spółdzielcza St., (Information about the keys in local cultural Worth
center, tel. +48 857392059, [email protected]). ¶ Jewish cemetery (19th c.), Polna St. ¶ seeing
Wooden Orthodox Church of St. Michael the Archangel (1797) with a bell tower (1874),
Kleszczelowska St. ¶ Wooden Orthodox Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius at the
cemetery (1870), A. Mickiewicza St.

Szczyty-Dzięciołowo (5 km): the larch-wood Orthodox Church of the Beheading of St. John Surrounding
the Baptist (18th c.); “Szczyty” Centre for Education and the Promotion of Belarusian Culture area
¶ Bielsk Podlaski (13 km): a medieval hill fort; a Jewish cemetery with about 100 tomb-
stones; the town hall (18th c.), the Basilica of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1784);
the former Carmelite church and monastery (1779–1794); the wooden Orthodox Church
(17th/18th c.). ¶ Hajnówka (21 km): Rabbi Yehuda Leib’s wooden house; wooden buildings
in Kosidłów, Warszawska, and Ks. Ignacego Wierobieja Streets; a railway crossing guard’s
house (circa 19th c.); remnants of the Ordan reservoir (reportedly built by Jews under the
name of “Jordan”); Holy Trinity Orthodox Church (the venue of concerts during the annual
International Orthodox Church Music Festival); modern Catholic and Orthodox churches.
¶ Kleszczele (22 km): a Jewish cemetery; the wooden Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas 57
 (1709); a railway station building (1900); the Orthodox Church of the Dormition (circa
1870); the Church of St. Sigismund (1907–1910). ¶ Boćki (25 km): an old mikveh on the
Nurzec River (mid-19th c.); remains of a Jewish cemetery (fragments of matzevot embedded
in the fence of the Catholic cemetery); the Church of St. Joseph and St. Anthony (1726); the
Orthodox Church of the Dormition (1819–1824). ¶ Narew (32 km): the wooden Church of
St. Stanislaus (1775); a wooden bell tower (1772); the Orthodox Church of the Exaltation
of the Holy Cross (1882); a cemetery chapel (mid-19th c.); a Catholic cemetery (19th c.); an
Orthodox cemetery (18th c.); a Jewish cemetery (in the forest, about 2 km from the village).
¶ Teremiski (38 km): the Jan Józef Lipski Open University and the Jacek Kuroń Educational
Foundation. ¶ Narewka (39 km): a Jewish cemetery on a hill beyond the town, with more
than 100 tombstones (19th c.); the Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (after
1860); a wooden Baptist church; a Catholic church (the 1970s); the Tamara Sołoniewicz
Gallery. ¶ Białowieża (43 km): an obelisk on the palace embankment, commemorating King
Augustus III’s hunting lodge (1752); the palace park (19th c.); the Museum of Nature and
Forest of the Białowieża National Park; a railway station (1903); a wooden manor house (2nd
half of the 19th c.); a porcelain iconostasis in the Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas (1895);
the Church of Saint Therese
ORLA (1927); remains of the
foundations of a wooden
synagogue (1910). ¶
Zabłudów (46 km): a Jew-
ish cemetery; the Church
of the Holy Apostles Peter
and Paul (1805–1840); the
Orthodox Church of the
Dormition (1847–1855);
a Catholic cemetery and St
Roch’s Chapel (1850); St.
Mary Magdalene Chapel
(2nd half of the 18th c.). ¶
The Białowieża National
Park: Europe’s last pri-
meval forest and Poland’s
oldest national park,
included in the UNESCO
List of Biosphere Reserves
and in the UNESCO World
Heritage List.
Orla

58
Siemiatycze
Ukr. Сім’ятичі, Bel. Семятычы, Yid. ‫סעמיאַטיטש‬ The Sabbath filled houses in Siematycze
with angels and guests…
Michel Radzyński, Di megile fun mayn lebn
(Yid. The Scroll of My Life), Lima 1989

Thursday Fair ¶ Since 1542, Thursday Ban of Excommunication ¶ Infor-

has been a market day in Siematycze. Situ- mation about the first group of Jews to
ated on the bank of Mahomet River, the settle in Siemiatycze, who were brought
town was granted the privilege of holding there from Lithuania by the then owner
these Thursday fairs in the town charter of the town, Katarzyna née Tęczyńska,
issued by King Sigismund II Augustus. dates back to 1582. In the second half of
On a summer Thursday in 1934, one of the 17th century, the local Jewish com-
these market days was captured in a photo munity came under the kahal in Tykocin.
by Jankiel Tykocki (1881–1941), a local However, as the town developed, this
photographer, cultural activist and town kind of relationship became more and
councillor. He opened his photographic more burdensome, and the community
studio in the early 1900s, and for many strove for independence. As a result, in
years took photos capturing the life of the 1691, during a session of the Council
town and its inhabitants. Tykocki and his of Four Lands in Jarosław, the elders of
whole family were killed on June 23, 1941 the Siemiatycze kahal were publicly put

„
by the Nazis in the village of Wierceń, under the ban of excommunication for
near Siemiatycze. insubordination:

Listen, you entire holy community! The leaders and chiefs of the Four Lands
announce and make it public to all those present at this grand session held on
market day [that] they throw off the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven; they do not listen to
the voices of their parents or teachers of the Grand Court of the Holy Kahal of Tykocin; they
throw off the yoke of the royal power, and they fail to perform their tax duties. They do
not share in the tribulations of the whole Israel during these hard times; they do not listen
to any exhortations or warnings, which they consider ridiculous. Therefore, let them be
excommunicated, isolated and separated from the entire community of Israel. […] And,
unless they come to the Grand Court of the Tykocin kahal to pay the poll tax they owe to
the Grand Court, and unless they accept all the decisions concerning previous times, let
them forever remain under a dreadful excommunication like this one. And let this state-
ment and ban be announced in all the communities of the Four Lands, so that they are 59
 Thursday market day
in Siemiatycze, 1934.
Photo by Jankiel Tykocki,
private collection of
Antoni Nowicki, made
available courtesy of the
Nowicki family (www.
siemiatycze.com)

punished in front of everyone and so that they do not dare to act like this again. ¶ Abra-
ham Gawurin, Dzieje Żydów w Tykocinie 1522–1795 (The History of the Jews in Tykocin,
1522–1795), Warsaw, before 1939

In 1726, another ban of excommunica- years later, in 1730, with the decline of
tion (herem) was issued against them the power of the Council of Four Lands,
(the reason, again, was tax matters). This the Siemiatycze kahal gained independ-
was lifted after the rabbis of Siemiatycze ence from the Jewish community of
expressed their apologies. Only four Tykocin.

In 1697, brothers Gedalia and Moshe from Siemiatycze, followers of the

crypto-Sabbatean sect, set out on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They were members
of the so-called “Brotherhood of the Pious,” a group of several dozen support-
ers of a preacher and ascetic Yehudah the Hasid, who believed that Shabetai
Tsvi a Jewish pseudo-messiah who had converted in 1666 to Islam and died ten
years later, was still fulfilling his messianic role in a clandestine manner and was
about to resurrect to lead the Jews to the land of Israel in the wake of redemp-
tion. The group, convinced that Shabbetai Tsvi, the messiah they belived in,
was soon to come, set off from Siedlce to Jerusalem. While wandering through
Moravia, Germany, Tirol, and Venice, they were joined by several hundred of
crypto-sabbatean supporters, and, on October 14, 1700, they reached Jerusa-
lem. Later, Moshe became a teacher in a yeshivah in Jerusalem, while Gedalia
returned to Europe as an emissary of the Ashkenazi Jewish community of Jeru-
Siemiatycze

salem. In 1716, in Berlin, he published a book in Hebrew titled Sha’alu Shalom

Yerushalayim (Heb.: Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem), in which he described
the history of Yehudah the Hasid’s pilgrimage as well as the living conditions of
60 the oppressed and imporverished Jewish community in Jerusalem at that time.
 The synagogue
in Siemiatycze, 1930s.
Photo by Jankiel Tykocki,
private collection of the
late Antoni Nowicki,
made available courtesy
of the Nowicki family
(www.siemiatycze.com)

The synagogue and

the Talmudic house in
Siemiatycze, 2015. Photo
by Monika Tarajko

Inside the syna-

gogue in Siemiatycze,
early 20th century,
collection of the YIVO
Institute for Jewish
Research

The new order ¶ When, in the re-order the town’s spatial structure.
second half of the 18th century, Anna One of her undertakings was to establish
Jabłonowska née Sapieha became the a new Classicist-style palace and to build
owner of the Siemiatycze estate, she an alleyway connecting her new residence
undertook intense efforts to rebuild and with the town hall and market square.

The palace has not survived: it was burnt down during the January Upris-
ing of 1863. The only remnant of the grand residence are two sphinxes stand-
ing on the sarcophagus-shaped plinths of what used to be the palace gate.

The alley (now Pałacowa Street) connect- a site for a new cemetery beyond the
ing the palace with the market square ran town, on the left bank of the Kamionka
through the Jewish cemetery, which was River.
still in use at that time but was abol-
ished to make way for the alley despite The Great Synagogue ¶ Situated
dramatic protests by the Jews. Instead, in the southwestern part of the town,
Duchess Anna Jabłonowska marked out about 150 m away from the main market 61
 Oil painting by Józef
Charyton of the mar-
ketplace in Siemiatycze
in the interwar period,
1974. Photo by Marcin
Korniluk, collection of
the Bioregion Association
(www.nawschodzie.pl)

square (today Jan Paweł II Square), the of the synagogue was decorated with
synagogue was established to replace polychrome paintings, whose remnants
the wooden synagogue destroyed dur- were still visible as late as 1958. Dur-
ing the 1797 devastating fire. Decades ing World War II and afterwards, the
later, it was one of the few buildings that building was used as a warehouse. In
did not burn down during the battle 1961–1964, it was renovated and turned
of Siemiatycze at the time of the 1863 into a local community centre and gal-
January Uprising. ¶ The synagogue is lery. The original fittings and furnishings
a two-storey, Classicist building with of the synagogue have not survived,
a rectangular plan (25×19.5 m) and a hip except for the Torah scroll, which can
roof. It had a square, two-storey men’s be seen in the Diocesan Museum in
hall on the east side and a vestibule for Drohiczyn (20 km from Siemiatycze).
men on the west side (with the entrance On both the inside and outside of the
from the south). The upper part of the synagogue, plaques commemorating the
men’s hall was surrounded on three sides Jewish community have been placed. At
(all but the eastern side) by open galleries present, the building is the property of
resting on columns and posts. These the Municipality of Siemiatycze.
served as women’s galleries. The interior

In one of the rooms of the former women’s gallery there are paintings by Józef
Charyton (1909–1975), a self-taught painter from Siemiatycze who, after the
war, created a series of about 500 paintings and drawings that depict scenes of the
Siemiatycze

Holocaust as well as document the everyday life of the Jewish community before
World War II. Charyton was born in the village of Krupice near Siemiatycze,
but the family moved to Wysokie Litewskie (Vysokaye) – a village situated
62 a dozen or so kilometres away. His father had a mill there, and Józef worked as
 The gate of the Jewish
cemetery in Siemiatycze,
2014. Photo by Marcin
Korniluk, collection of
the Bioregion Association
(www.nawschodzie.pl)

a photographer, a local official, a portraitist, and a church painter. In 1938, he

prepared the vault where the exhumed corpse of the last Polish king, Stanisław
August Poniatowski, was deposited. More information about Józef Charyton can

„
be found in Marian Brandys’s short story Strażnik Królewskiego Grobu (The Guard
of the Royal Tomb. A Story of Józef Charyton from Siemiatycze),Warsaw 1984.

He grew up in a small borderland town, whose population was mainly Jew-

ish. He went to school with Jews, a Jewish saleswoman sold him food. A Jewish
tailor patched his clothes, he bought paint brushes and paints in a small Jewish shop.
Dark-complexioned Jewish boys and Jewish girls with sweet black eyes posed for his first
biblical paintings. He got used to and became attached to that noisy and industrious crowd
of people. He had friends among them; they were part of his life. And then he became
a silent witness to their tragic end. He saw how the Nazis exterminated them. He saw how
inhumane humiliation and suffering were inflicted on them and how they died a sudden
death or perished after constant torment and torture. ¶ He did not resume painting right
after the war as he was busy doing other things and devoted himself to teaching. But one
night the murdered Jews from his hometown came to visit him in a dream. And then they
would come every night. They did not say a word but just stared at him, as if demanding
something from him. So he bought some brushes and paints and started painting them. At
first, he would paint only the ones he knew: Goldberg the tailor, Ruchla the dairywoman,
Szmulowicz the shop owner, the beautiful Chana from the confectionery shop, who had
once posed for his painting “Judith and Holofernes.” Later came the time when he began
to paint those he did not know by name but whose appearance he still remembered… ¶
Following the events of 1968, when the Jews began to hastily leave Poland, painting Jewish
portraits became a moral imperative for Charyton. ¶ A few weeks before his death, he
wrote: ¶ “I have paid my dues with my Jews,” he wrote, “and they have stopped visiting
me at night because I have already painted them all.” 63
 Donation certificate
for the construction of
the Hebrew Kadimah
primary school in
Siemiatycze, 1935,
private collection of the
late Antoni Nowicki,
made available courtesy
of the Nowicki family
(www.siemiatycze.com)

The Kaczy Dołek

district in Siemiatycze,
view from the church
tower, 1930s. Photo by
Jankiel Tykocki, private
collection of the late
Antoni Nowicki, made
available courtesy of the
Nowicki family (www.
siemiatycze.com)

Around the synagogue ¶ Next a vocational training school. ¶ Other

to the synagogue stands the former former Jewish prayer houses operated
Talmud-Torah, which used to house in Wesoła, Fabryczna, Drohiczyńska,
a school, a kahal meeting room, and and Małopolska Streets. There was also
the central office of the kahal court. a prayer room in Belkies’s tile works.
The building was erected in 1893 in the In Ciechanowska St., by the Mukhavets
neo-Baroque style with elements of Sec- River, there was a mikveh.
cession decoration. At present, it houses

The tile capital and the “clay Eldorado” ¶ That is what Siemiatycze
used to be called before the war, because of the Jewish-owned tileries. The Jews
of Siemiatycze contributed greatly to the development of the industry producing
tile and functional pottery. The owners of these plants included people named
Siemiatycze

Belkies, Radzyński, Gorfajn, Dajcz, Maliniak, Szyszko, and Małach. The first tile
works opened in 1890, and eventually about 30 tileries operated, both in the town
itself and in the vicinity: currently there are only three. Dajcz’s tile works, which
64 opened in 1906, was the biggest of its kind in Siemiatycze and, at one time, the
biggest tilery in Poland (five storeys tall, covering several hectares, and with an
underground conveyor belt). Today, only its ruins remain, near the cemetery.

The “Jutrzenka” kibbutz ¶ In the The Jewish cemetery ¶ The cem-

1920s, Zionist organisations founded the etery was established in the 18th century
Shaharia (Yid.: Morning Star) kibbutz- in the eastern part of the town, in what
hakhsharah. It was a centre meant to is now Polna St. (The road leading to it is
prepare young halutsim (pioneers – agri- marked with a signpost in Wysoka St.).
cultural settlers), through hard physical The cemetery is surrounded by a wall
work, to emigrate and settle in the British- which still has its original gate made of
mandate Palestine. About 130 people (30 so-called tsarist red brick. On it there are
women and 100 men) underwent training four brick Stars of David and memorial
there. Young Jews from Siemiatycze and plaques commemorating the victims of
the vicinity worked in the fields of Polish the Holocaust. The dozen or so tomb-
farmers and in the Wertheim brothers’ stones that have survived were used to
sawmill. They grew crops and raised build a lapidarium wall commemorat-
animals on an independent farm created ing the Jews of Siemiatycze. The rest of
by the halutsim. Some of the hakhsharah the cemetery is overgrown with trees.
(training camp) members earned a living Searching in and around town for Jewish
by transporting goods and materials gravestones, the Siemiatycze Bioregion
on horse-drawn carts or by working in Association has found dozens of frag-
tileries. Their earnings were collected ments, which have also been built into
into a common fund. The residents of the the lapidarium. Members of the Kotler
kibbutz lived on a frugal diet; for example, and Kramer families who survived the
they ate meat only once a week. However, Holocaust have funded a commemora-
despite the tough living conditions, the tive plaque. Today, the cemetery is the
Memorial Book of Siemiatycze recalls that property of the Foundation for the Pres-
the hakhsharah was filled with a joyous ervation of Jewish Heritage in Poland.
atmosphere.

Siemiatycze had several Jewish schools, both religious and secular. The most
important one was the Kadimah, a Hebrew school belonging to the Tar-
but Association. Its head was Yehudah Kohut, who managed to raise suf-
ficient funds to have a modern school building established. The official
opening ceremony took place in 1938. A few years later, Yehudah Kohut
was murdered, together with his pupils, in the Treblinka death camp.

World War II and the Holocaust In August 1942, the German occupa-
¶ Before the outbreak of World War II, tion authorities created a ghetto in
some 4,303 Jews lived in Siemiatycze. Siemiatycze (within the square formed
In the autumn of 1939, this number by Górna, Wysoka, Koszarowa, and
increased to more than 7,000, after the Słowiczyńska Streets) for the Jewish
influx of refugees from western Poland. inhabitants of the town and neighbouring 65
 areas. The ghetto functioned for a little Present day ¶ Present-day
more than three months. On Novem- Siemiatycze is a county town in the Pod-
ber 2–9, 1942, all the inmates of the laskie Voivodeship, where about 15,000
Siemiatycze ghetto were deported to the people live. Each Thursday, market day,
Treblinka II death camp (approx. 90 km the area next to the Jewish cemetery is
away from Siemiatycze) and killed there. filled with people. If you are a Polish-
¶ In July 1944, when the German occu- speaker, the place is worth visiting not
pation was over, the few Jews who had simply to buy something but, above all,
survived – about 100 people – began to to hear people speaking the beautiful
return to the town. The time was far from Podlasie dialect. Another interesting
peaceful, however, and there were cases fact is that, just beyond the wall of the
of robberies and murders. After April 6, cemetery, there is a small, dilapidated
1945, when 28 Jews were attacked in Yuda house built entirely from stove tiles. It is
Blumberg’s house in Berka Joselewicza one of several buildings of this type in
St. by an armed group (probably associ- the town. ¶ Anyone wishing to explore
ated with nationalistic anti-communist this area may turn for help to the various
resistance movement NSZ), claiming that tour guides at the Tourist Information
they are attacking Jews because the Jews Centre (3A Jana Pawła II Square, tel. +48
allegedly cooperated with new commu- 780 158 959), which is open from May to
nist government, all the remaining Jewish September. The centre offers information
inhabitants of Siemiatycze left town. about accommodation and catering in
The history of the Jewish community the town and its vicinity, as well as about
of Siemiatycze, which had made up 60 tourist routes and local cultural offerings.
percent of the town pre-war population,
thus came to an end.

Surrounding Sarnaki (13 km): a Jewish cemetery (1742); a parish church (19th c.); Church of St. Stani-
area slaus (wooden, 1816); the Podczaski manor house (2nd half of the 19th c.); Józef Szummer’s
brick brewery (1903–1905); historic crosses and chapels (about 250 examples). ¶ Góra
Grabarka (Mount Grabarka) (14 km): St. Martha and Mary Convent (1947), 3 monastery
Orthodox churches, more than 7,000 votive crosses. ¶ Drohiczyn (16 km): The Diocesan
Museum with the Torah scroll from Siemiatycze; a Jewish cemetery with about 70 tomb-
stones (16th c.); the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1682–1715)
and the Franciscan monastery (1737–1751); All Saints’ Church and the Benedictine
Convent (1734–1738); St. Nicolaus Orthodox Church (1792); The Holy Trinity Cathedral
(1696–1709); the Jesuit Monastery and the Jesuit College (mid-17thc.). ¶ Mielnik (20 km):
a synagogue, currently an art gallery (1st half of the 19thc.); a Jewish cemetery (19thc.);
the castle hill with the remains of the castle’s Holy Trinity Church (15thc.); the Church
of the Transfiguration (1912–1920); the Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Most
Siemiatycze

Holy Mother of God (1825); an Orthodox cemetery; the Chapel of the Protection of Our
Lady (wooden, 1776). ¶ Milejczyce (23 km): a synagogue, now disused (1927); a Jewish
cemetery (1865); St. Stanislaus Church (wooden, 1740); the cemetery; Orthodox Church of
66 St. Nicolaus (wooden, 19th c.); Orthodox Church of St. Barbara (1900). ¶ Łosice (33 km):
a Jewish cemetery (17th/18th c.), renovated at the beginning of the 21st c.; a lapidarium
made from a few dozen matzevot retrieved from the town’s squares and streets; Church of
St. Sigismund (1906–1909). ¶ Ciechanowiec (38 km): a synagogue, now the head office
of the Culture and Sports Centre in Ciechanów (2nd half of the 19th c.); the old Jewish
cemetery with about 30 tombstones; the new Jewish cemetery (19th c.)with a memorial to
Holocaust victims; the Orthodox Church of the Ascension of the Lord (1864); Holy Trin-
ity Church (1731–1737); the monastery and hospital complex (18th c.); The Fr. Krzysztof
Kluk Museum of Agriculture; the Mazovia and Podlasie Open-Air Museum. ¶ Treblinka
(77 km): The memorial and Museum of Combat and Martyrdom in the former death camp.
¶ The Podlasie Bug Gorge Landscape Park encompasses part of the Bug Valley stretching
from the Toczna River to the estuary of the Krzna River in the village of Neple – a perfect
area for cycling and canoeing. ¶ The Bug River valley and the slightly undulating Drohic-
zyn Plateau are criss-crossed by tourist routes, such as the Moszczona Valley Trail, the
Molotov Line Bunkers Trail, the Bug River Trail, and the January Uprising Trail.

SIEMIATYCZE Former synagogue Worth

(1797), now the gal- seeing
lery at the Siemiatycze
Culture Centre, 1
Zaszkolna St. ¶ Former
Talmud-Torah School
(1900), 10 Pałacowa St. ¶
Jewish cemetery, Polna
St. (18th c.). ¶ Roman
Catholic Church of
the Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary
with the former Mission-
aries’ Monastery (1719–
1727), 2a 3 Maja Street.
¶ Orthodox Church
of the Holy Apostles
Peter and Paul (1866),
3 Gen. Władysława
Sikorskiego St. ¶ Statues
of sphinxes at the
former entrance gate
to the palace of Duch-
ess Anna Jabłonowska and at the General Secondary School building. ¶ Orangery (1860),
burnt down during the January Uprising of 1863, rebuilt in the 1980s. ¶ Classicist houses,
Pałacowa St. (nos. 14, 19, 25, 28). ¶ Ruins of the tilery complex (19th c.). ¶ Multi-denom-
inational cemetery (1805): Augsburg Evangelical Chapel (mid-19th c.), St. Anne’s Chapel
(1826–1827), Romana Rogińskiego St. ¶ World War I cemetery. 67
 Międzyrzec Podlaski
Bel. МендзырэчПадляскі, On the wall of our youth club it was written:
Ukr. Межиріччя, Yid. ‫מעזעריטש‬ ‘Ignore your father’s preaching, remember your
mother’s teaching’.
Maszka Grynberg – a line from
A Klayne Amerike film, 2002

Little America ¶ Where in today’s Rivers, Mezeritch, as it was called in

Poland can you find a town of fewer than Yiddish, was one of the region most
18,000 people that boasts 6 libraries, rapidly developing towns. Its prosperity
3 cinemas, several choirs, an orches- rested on pig bristle, from which brooms
tra, a theatre, 42 schools, more than and brushes were manufactured and
200 industrial plants, and 12 different sold all over Europe and Russia. Just
periodicals? Yet that was Międzyrzec before World War II, the exports from

„
Podlaski before the war. Located at the Międzyrzec were estimated at six to nine
confluence of the Krzna and the Piszczka million US dollars.

Sorting bristle was not easy. It was a seasonal job that got more intensive in
winter, during the pre-Christmas slaughter of animals. Jewish bristle workers
laboured in small low-ceilinged houses. On the tables along the walls there were iron combs
used for combing raw pig bristle. People worked standing by the light of oil lamps that hung
above their heads. First, they sorted the bristle and then they cleaned it with iron combs.
Clouds of dust were floating in the air […]. The stench of pig hair mixed with the smell
of kerosene. ¶ Translated from: Mateusz Borysiuk, Społeczność żydowska Międzyrzeca
Podlaskiego w okresie międzywojennym (The Jewish Community of Międzyrzec Podlaski
in the Interwar Period), in: Jewish Studies. Almanac year II (2012) No. 2.

The Land of Abraham ¶ The had a marketplace with a town hall, an

town origins date back to the 1390s, Orthodox church, a Catholic church,
when Władysław Jagiełło granted several butcher-stores, the town admin-
the Międzyrzec estate to Abraham istrator’s house, and a parish school, as
Międzyrzec Podlaski

Chamiec, a knight from Małopolska well as a mill and a brewery. Jews may
(Lesser Poland). Afterwards, Międzyrzec have arrived in Międzyrzec already in
belonged to the wealthiest aristocratic the 15th century, though the earliest
families, including the Tęczyńskis, the surviving reference to them was made in
Sieniawskis, the Czartoryskis, and the 1533 in the Lithuanian Metrica, which
68 Potockis. In the mid-15th century, it mentioned one Awram Ajzykowicz,
accused of taking in pledge some items
stolen from a royal courtier. The Jews
lived in a district called Szmulowizna,
located southeast of the market, where tanning, leasing, and collecting various The wooden houses
at Graniczna street in
today’s Mydlarska, Jatkowa and Nas- tolls and fees for the town owners, such Międzyrzec Podlaski,
suta Streets cross. They worked in trade as dyke taxes, bridge tolls, and tolls on 2015. Photo by Tal
Schwartz
and crafts and also ran taverns that cattle slaughter or tar trade. ¶ The wars
served beer and spirits. Międzyrzec of the late 17th century hindered the A soyfer (scribe),
development of the Podlasie region, and 1925. Photo by Alter
was conveniently situated on the Brest Kacyzne, collection of
– Łuków trade route to Małopolska and the population of the towns of Podlasie the YIVO Institute for
had its own customs house. The 1583 decreased by half. In 1674, the Jew- Jewish Research

carriage book recorded the names of ish community in Międzyrzec stood at

three Jews who traded in salted fish 207 people, or about 21 percent of its
(Moszko Abramowicz, Cadek Jehudycz, overall population. In the 18th century,
and Chechło Szachnowicz). From 1598, a new kahal was set up, independent
a salt shop operated in town. It was the of the one in Tykocin, and the new
only establishment of that kind located town owner, Helena Sieniawska née
in the borderland of Lithuania and the Lubomirska, confirmed the existing
Crown. Międzyrzec was also known for privileges that allowed the Jews to run
its beer, served on the tables of Lublin marketplace stores and taverns. In 1718,
and Brest. In the mid-16th century, the she also granted them permission to
local Jewish community boasted its own build a stone synagogue, a hospital,
synagogue, beth midrash, bath-house a weights-and-measures house, a school,
and hospital, but the community still and the rabbi’s house, and to establish
reported to the Tykocin kahal. In 1624, their own communal cemetery. The old
Jan Tęczyński (the then town owner) wooden buildings in the Jewish quarter
granted the Jews the exclusive privilege were partly destroyed during a fire in the
to sell alcohol. They also engaged in town. In 1761, the municipality received 69
 consent from Wołłowicz, the Bishop of Great Synagogue accommodating 3,000
Łuck, to erect a brick synagogue after people was built. It was completely
the wooden one burnt. As a result, the destroyed during World War II.

Międzyrzec was the hometown of Shalom ben Yaakov ha-Kohen (1771–

1845) – an enlightened Hebraist, editor, and poet. His first book, Mishleh Agur
(Eng.: Parables of Agur), was a collection of moralistic fables and tales aimed
at teaching Hebrew to Jewish children. At the age of 17, he left the town to
study in Berlin and then went to London, where he attempted to establish a Jew-
ish school, with no success. In London, he published Shorshei Emunah (Eng.:
Foundations of Faith), a Hebrew catechism. Afterwards, he lived and worked
in Vienna and Hamburg. At that time, Shalom ha-Kohen was one of the most
famous poets writing in Hebrew; he was the author of the allegorical drama
Amal ve-Tirzah, several collections of poems, hymns, and odes, as well as com-
mentaries on religion and the history of Jews in the time of the Maccabees.

In 1778, there were 717 Jews living road and a railway connecting War-
in Międzyrzec, which constituted 40 saw and Brest. From 1829, a watermill
percent of the town’s population. It had owned by David and Aron Wajnberg was
a brick synagogue, a beth midrash, in operation. Many families earned their
a bathhouse, a hospital, several cheders, living from making different kinds of
and the rabbi’s house. In 1782, the town’s brushes. Jewish factories that produced
new owner, Adam Kazimierz Czarto- matches, pen-holders and agricultural
ryski, confirmed trade privileges for the equipment also were opened. And there
Jews and promised to construct 12 new were tanneries, wire and light bulb
brick stalls for Jewish merchants. The plants, two new copper foundries owned
town was known for the fur trade and by Salomon Cirles, a smithshop owned
bristle production. Numerous tanneries, by Lejbk Mintz, breweries, several
brush workshops, and bristle sorting vinegar and tile stove factories, three
plants operated there. After the Third soap stores, and two wadding shops and
Partition of Poland (1795), Międzyrzec carding mills. In 1827, Jews constituted
fell under Austrian rule. The new 65 percent of local population, and in
administration took over the revenues the 1864 census, 80 percent. ¶ The town
from inspecting kosher meat produc- had a synagogue, 10 prayer houses, 45
tion, instituted the so-called “candle cheders, a hospital and various Jewish
tax,” abolished the rabbinical court, and voluntary philanthropic and professional
prohibited Jewish doctors from practic- associations (guilds). Jews were involved
Międzyrzec Podlaski

ing. The Jews were given German names in public life and supplied weapons to
and submitted to conscription duties. insurgents during the January Uprising
¶ After the 1815 Congress of Vienna, (e.g. Szymon Goldberg and Jelko Wind-
the Międzyrzec area became part of the erbaum). The first proto-Zionist organi-
Kingdom of Poland. The town growth sation was established in Międzyrzec
70 was spurred by the building of a rough already in 1882, while the late 19th
century saw the rise of the Jewish labour brothers’ mill. The town was an impor- Voluntary Fire Brigade
in Międzyrzec Podlaski,
movement. In 1904, the Jewish Fire tant economic hub in Congress Poland, before 1939, reproduction
Society, later renamed the Volunteer with profits from the export of brushes from Sefer Mezeritch
(The Book of Międzyrzec
Fire Brigade, was organised. In 1915, and bristles earning it the nickname Podlaski), Israel 1978
a power plant was opened at Finkelstein “Little America.”

Who protects whose houses? ¶ A Jewish volunteer fire brigade had

operated in the town before the war. However, its mission to rescue people’s
property gave rise to quarrels instead of earning the brigade any respect. When
the houses of Catholics caught fire, firefighters were accused of arriving too late,
even if they managed to save the owner’s house. On the other hand, every success
in putting out a fire ravaging Jewish property was taken as evidence that the bri-
gade only protected its own people. The last straw was a fire in the Potocki Palace.
Unfortunately, it broke out on the Sabbath, when it was harder for the firefighters
to band together. Although they arrived in time, they were not spared unfavour-
able comments and criticism. Some anti-Jewish members of the Międzyrzec
community decided to set up a Polish fire brigade, which was to protect Christians
not so much against fires as against the Jewish firemen, who could not be counted
on. ¶ Based on Josef Czepeliński’s memories, from Sefer Mezeritch, Israel 1978.

The beginning of the 20th century (Merchants’ Bank and People’s Bank),
brought an upsurge of cultural and social libraries, choirs, an amateur Jewish thea-
activity. Charitable organisations (e.g. tre, and Mendel Szpilman’s “Klezmer”
Beth Lehem – the House of Bread), banks brass band – at the volunteer fire brigade 71
 A poster announcing – were all established at that time. Local
a charity ball organised
by the Voluntary Fire
people eagerly attended theatre per-
Brigade of Międzyrzec formances and meetings with writers.
Podlaski, 1923, collection
of the National Library
Międzyrzec hosted Sholem Asch and Y.L.
(www.polona.pl) Peretz, among others. In 1913, Jankiel
Rajsze Zilberberg opened the first local
cinema, called “Iluzjon.” Educational and
cultural associations committed to adult
education, such as the Freiheit or the
Zionist Tarbut, and the Kultur-Liga oper-
ating under the auspices of the Jewish
Labour Bund, were very active. In about
1915, a Hasidic court was founded by the
Hasidic master (tsaddik) Meir Shlomo
Yehuda Rabinowicz (1868–1942), son
of the tsaddik of Biała Podlaska, Yitzhak
Yaakov. Alongside numerous cheders
and the Talmud Torah elementary school
run by the community, there was also
a religious school for girls, Bet Yaakov, activity was its vibrant publishing world.
and several private secular Jewish pri- In the 20th century, 16 different Jew-
mary schools. The private coeducational ish periodicals and other titles were
primary school was opened in 1916, fol- published in Yiddish. Some of them,
lowed by the Secondary School Society e.g. Blihung (Bloom), were only one-
for the Youth of the Jewish Faith, estab- time publications. Brought out in 1913
lished a year later. In 1923, the Society and intended as a literary periodical,
received permission to run a coeduca- it comprised 46 pages and contained
tional high school. Międzyrzec was also a collection of poems and short stories
home to youth organisations working written by young Międzyrzec residents.
under the auspices of political parties, Interestingly, two future newspaper
such as Hashomer Hatzair and Gordonia. editors made their début there. Bli-
A branch of the JutrzniaWorkers’ Asso- hung was edited by Abraham Gelman,
ciation for Physical Education, founded a local teacher and translator. One of the
in 1926, had about 100 members, active longest-running periodicals were four
in sports and boasting its own brass weeklies and two fortnightlies; they were
band. Before World War II, there were 12 published for just over a year. Addition-
full-time communal employees: a rabbi, ally, some publications came out on an
Międzyrzec Podlaski

two lower rabbis, two kosher butchers, off-and-on basis. According to Adam
two cantors, a secretary, a bookkeeper, Kopciowski, the individual editions
a cashier, and two janitors. and publications printed in Międzyrzec
(1,043 in all) constituted 9 percent of
Newspapers ¶ An important all publications in the Lublin region.
72 manifestation of the town’s cultural Mezeritcher Vokhnblat (Międzyrzec
Weekly), published in 1926–1929 (290 surrounded by houses with wrought-
issues), was devoted to the interests of iron balconies. To the left of St. Joseph’s
Jewish associations, as well as to the Church, which is located in the market-
local political, cultural, and economic place, there is also the former municipal
life. Afterwards, it was transformed building dating back to the second half of
into Unser MezeritcherVokhnblat, the 19th century, while the former Sobel-
which continued until the end of 1930. man hotel is opposite the church. The
Both papers were edited by Menashe narrow streets and passages spanned by
Himlszejn and printed by the Rogożyk arches characteristic of the former Jewish
printing house. Another title, Podlasyer quarter have been preserved around the
Tsaytung (Podlasie Newspaper) started southeastern part of the market square.
as a daily edited by a different per- Particularly beautiful are the wooden
son every week. But after three years, houses located in Graniczna St. From
Moszko Feldman became its permanent Jana Pawła II (John Paul II) Square, it is
editor. Podlasyer Tsaytung was printed worth taking a left turn into Warszaw-
by the “Radio” printing house between ska St., where at numbers 2–4 there is
1932 and 1937. A more politically a former Jewish hospital, still in use. Built
involved newspaper, associated with the in 1846–1850, and modern for that time,
Zionist movement, was the Mezeritcher it was equipped with 60 beds available
Trybune (Międzyrzec Tribune), which for any of the town’s residents, regardless
came out between 1928 and 1932 (194 of their religion. In Warszawska St. it is
issues, printed by the “Radio” printing also worth seeing the buildings of the
house). Another periodical, Mezeritcher former inn and mounted postal service
Lebn (Międzyrzec Life) (1933–1937) was station (1823), where Tsar Alexander
influenced by the Folkists. The prices II and Romuald Traugutt (commander
of these periodicals ranged between 10 of the January Uprising), among oth-
and 20 Polish grosze. Apart from these, ers, stopped for the night. At the corner
there were also specialised publications; of Kościelna and Łukowska Streets, the
for example, the Mezeritcher Klaynhend- former fire station has survived, erected
ler (Small Shopkeeper of Międzyrzec), in 1925 as the headquarters of the Jewish
which contained articles and reports on Volunteer Fire Brigade. The brigade’s
trade only, or the Mezeritcher Arbeter equipment was stored on the ground
Informator (Międzyrzec Workers’ floor, while the first floor featured a 300-
Factbook). Information about the life of seat auditorium used by the Olimpia cin-
the town could also be found in regional ema-theatre. Not only film showings were
papers; for example, in the Podlasher held here but also theatre performances,
Panorame or Lubliner Togblat. dances, and public readings. A one-storey
building at Staromiejska St., which now
A walk around Międzyrzec ¶ The houses a police station, was home to
town has kept its 15th-century urban lay- another cinema, “The Casino”, founded
out to this day. In the mid-19th century, by Symcha Mandelbaum. The silent films
the wooden buildings were replaced by shown there were accompanied by music
brick ones. Today, the main square is performed by local musicians. 73
 The synagogue in Synagogue ¶ The main synagogue, the remaining rubble was used to build
Międzyrzec Podlaski,
western and southern
built in 1761–1779 to replace the former a forest road to the villages of Żerocin
elevations, 1919, col- wooden one, is situated in what today is and Sitno. In the 1960s, blocks of flats
lection of the Institute
of Art of the Polish
Nassuta St. Its construction was finan- were built on its site. ¶ At the beginning
Academy of Science cially supported by the Czartoryski fam- of the 20thcentury, Międzyrzec was one
ily, who owned the town at that time. of the largest and fastest-growing towns
The building was the focal point of the in Podlasie. The Jewish community had
Jewish quarter. It featured three storeys its synagogue, beth midrash, nursing
and two women’s sections – northern home, children’s home, ritual poul-
and southern. The men’s section had try slaughterhouse, ritual bathhouse,
a lower part added to it later, covered by library, kahal board office, rabbi’s and
a hip roof. Opposite the synagogue, to cantor’s houses, as well as ten prayer
the west, there was the communal beth houses that belonged to various Jewish
midrash, founded as early as the 1560s. professional guilds. Tailors, for example,
The original wooden building burnt met at 18 Szkolna St., carters – at 67
down in 1718 and had to be rebuilt in Warszawska St., and shoemakers – at 70
1761. In the mid-19th century, it was Brzeska St. The town had about a dozen
destroyed by fire again, and then rebuilt Hasidic prayer rooms, including those
with the help of the Czartoryski family. serving the followers of the tsaddikim
In 1942, the synagogue was devastated, from Góra Kalwaria, Radzyń, Sokołów,
Międzyrzec Podlaski

and in June 1943, it was blown up by Łomża, Biała Podlaska, and Łomazy.
the Germans. According to witnesses,

The burning issue ¶ In the 19th century, traditional Jews of Międzyrzec came
under the influence of Hasidic movement. In 1840, Moszko Tajtelberg, a mit-
74 naged (Yid.: misnagid), or opponent, of Hasidism living there, came up with an
interesting idea on how to curb this new movement. He sent a written request to
the government commission, asking it to ban the Hasidim from smoking in batei
midrash (study houses), a practice that was common among them. The Hasidim
also responded with a letter, in which one Rafał Goldman, on behalf of 400
people, defended smoking, using numerous religious quotations that indicated
the need for legalising it in batei midrash. The commission, however, was not
to be misled and agreed with Tajtelberg. Today, the correspondence concern-
ing this matter allows historians to give a more accurate estimate of the size of
various Jewish religious groups in Międzyrzec. ¶ Based on: Marcin Wodziński
Oświecenie żydowskie w Królestwie Polskim wobec chasydyzmu (Jewish
Enlightenment in the Kingdom of Poland and the Hasidism), Warsaw 2003

The cemetery ¶ Minz (1807), Preter as a funeral home. The entrance to the
(1835), Rosen (1843), and Rapaport cemetery is through a gate located in the
(1846) are just a few of the names found yard of this house.
on the 19th-century gravestones at
the new cemetery in Międzyrzec. The World War II and the Holocaust
cemetery was established in 1810 at 90 ¶ In 1939, about 12,000 Jews lived in
Brzeska St., opposite the Catholic one, the town, constituting 75 percent of
replacing the earlier 16th-century cem- the population. At the beginning of the
etery, which was no longer used at that war, the town was bombed by the Ger-
time. During the war, both cemeteries man air force. The Soviet army entered
were devastated by the Nazis, who also Międzyrzec at the end of September
carried out executions of Jews at the new 1939, only to give way to the German
cemetery. A monument funded in 1946 army a few days later. About 2,000 Jews,
by Abram and Sarah Finkelstein from the mostly young men, fled with the retreat-
U.S. commemorates the victims of those ing Red Army. The Germans began to
executions. Among the sandstone and persecute the Jews soon after seizing
granite gravestones, there are also two the town, forcing them to work and
unique iron steles made by the local iron- confiscating their property. Meanwhile,
works of the Szejmel brothers, probably Jews from Radzyń County and other
the only ones of this kind in the Lublin Polish cities and towns, as well as from
region. About 300 matzevot from the old Vienna and Slovakia, were resettled in
cemetery, the earliest one dating back Międzyrzec. This boosted the town’s
to 1706, have been preserved here, and Jewish population to 17,000 and sub-
approximately 200 surviving gravestone sequently to 24,000. On May 25, 1942,
fragments have been embedded in the about 800 Jews were transfered from
new cemetery’s wall, making up a kind of Międzyrzec to the Treblinka death camp.
commemorative “wailing wall.” Post- On August 1942, hundreds of sick and
war gravestones can also be found – the infirm Jews were executed in the market-
most recent one, from 1973, belonging to place, and nearly 11,000 were transfered
Moshe Kaufman. Next to the cemetery, to Treblinka. Those who remained in
there is a building that used to serve the town were confined to a ghetto 75
 A cast iron matzeva established on August 28, 1942 between
at the Jewish cemetery
in Międzyrzec Podlaski,
Brzeska, Warszawska, Szkolna and
2015. Photo by Tal Żelazna Streets. The majority of ghetto
Schwartz
inmates worked in forced labour camps
The main in the area, others were made to work on
synagogue: the aron
ha-kodesh, before 1939,
the irrigation system of the Krzna and
reproduction from Sefer the Rogoźnica Rivers, as well as to build
Mezritsh le-zecher roads and an airport in Krzewica. The
kedoshei irenu hi’d, ed.
I. Ronkin and B. Heler, Germans also took over the brush facto-
Israel 1978 ries, which employed about 1,000 people. confined. Further transports, which took
In September and October 1942, the Jews place on April 30 and May 2–3 and 26
from Wohyń, Parczew, and Radzyń were were sent to Majdanek. Some 200 Jews
resettled in Międzyrzec. The majority who tried to avoid transfer to the camp
of them were later transfered to Tre- were shot at the Jewish cemetery. The last
blinka (on October 6–9, October 27, and execution was carried out on July 18–19,
November 7–8). In November 1942, the 1943, when the remaining 179 Jews were
Nazis established the so-called residual killed in retaliation for the death of two
ghetto, in which the surviving Jews from Germans in the Piaski suburb. The ghetto
the Radzyń County and a group of bristle was liquidated and the entire Jewish
workers from the Warsaw Ghetto were quarter destroyed.

The attic ¶ For 13 months, a group of 10 Jews – men and women of various
ages – remained in hiding in the attic of a house in the marketplace that served
as the Gestapo headquarters during the occupation. The attic was just 70 cm high
at its highest point. Although they suffered from hunger and disease, they still cel-
Międzyrzec Podlaski

ebrated Pesach and Purim, and even fought ideological disputes, as an Orthodox
Jew and communists were confined in the same room. This story was heard and
documented by Ephraim Sidor, an Israeli writer, playwright, and satirist, whose
parents came from Międzyrzec. It served as the basis for a play titled Mezeritsh
(Międzyrzec), written by Sidor and Itzik Weingarten and staged by the Cawta
76 Theatre in Tel Aviv in 2004. At the request of the Former Residents of Międzyrzec
 The “Prayer” Memo-
rial, 2015. Photo by Tal
Schwartz

Międzyrzec Podlaski,
passage at Jatkowa
street, 2015. Photo by
Tal Schwartz

Podlaski Association, Sidor filmed a documentary called A Kleyne Amerike (A Lit-

tle America), telling the story of this thriving town in Podlasie and its destruction.

The post-war period ¶ At the (a former guerrilla fighter) and Genia

beginning of 1945, 129 Jews lived in Adlerstein from Biała Podlaska (a for-
Międzyrzec, 71 of whom had been born mer Auschwitz-Birkenau prisoner) were
there. Later that year, many survivors murdered not far from the Sokule train
returned from the Soviet Union, but station (near Międzyrzec, on the way
few decided to stay in Międzyrzec. to Biała Podlaska). Faced with a grow-
On May 19, 1946, Yisroel Zylbersztejn ing threat of violence, most Jews left. 77
 In August 1946, the Jewish population Israeli Association of Former Residents
amounted to only 47 people; most of of Międzyrzec Podlaski, in coopera-
them, too, left Międzyrzec in the fol- tion with young local people from the
lowing years. The last Jewish Holocaust Volunteer Fire Brigade, the memorial
survivor in Międzyrzec died in 1997. represents a female figure wrapped in
a prayer shawl (tallit). It was made by
The “Prayer” Memorial ¶ On the world-renowned Israeli sculptor Yael
May 17, 2009, almost 200 Jews from Artzi, who was inspired by the image
around the world attended the ceremony of her own mother praying. A poign-
unveiling a memorial to the Jewish ant moment during the ceremony was
community of the former Mezeritsh. a song performed by Sława Przybyl-
The ceremony was held in the local main ska, a famous Polish singer born in
square. Erected on the initiative of the Międzyrzec Podlaski.

Worth Jewish cemetery, 90 Brzeska St. ¶ Old Town Marketplace (15th c.) with the “Prayer”
seeing sculpture commemorating the Jews of Międzyrzec. ¶ Potocki Palace (17th c.), 63 Lubelska
St. ¶ Church of St. Nicholas (1477) with a presbytery (1818), 6 Łukowska St. ¶ Church of
the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (1772–1774), 61 Lubelska St. ¶ Church of St. Joseph
(1564), 11 Staromiejska St. ¶ Hospital (1846–1850), 2–4 Warszawska St. ¶ Catholic cem-
etery, Brzeska St.

Surrounding Biała Podlaska (29 km): the palace and park complex (17th c.); Church of St. Anne (1572);
area the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (mid-18th c.); the Bialska Acad-
emy building (1628); the Museum of Southern Podlasie; a former synagogue at Łazienna

MIĘDZYRZEC PODLASKI
Międzyrzec Podlaski

78
St.; a former Jewish hospital, now the Registry Office; a Jewish cemetery (18th c.). ¶
Komarówka Podlaska (24 km): a Jewish cemetery at Krótka St. ¶ Wohyń (26 km): a Jewish
cemetery (19th c.); former Uniate Chapel of St. Dmitri, now Our Lady of Sorrows Chapel
(wooden, 1st half of the 18th c.); Church of St. Anne (1840). ¶ Łuków (32 km): the Regional
Museum; the Piarist monastery (18th, 19th c.), the Transfiguration of Jesus Collegiate
Church (1733–1762); the Bernardine monastery (2nd half of 18th c.), Exaltation of the Holy
Cross Church (1665–1770); a wooden cemetery; Church of St. Roch (1829); an old beth
midrash, now the seat of the Municipal Social Welfare Centre (MOPS); the new Jewish cem-
etery on Warszawska St. (19th c.); a monument at the execution site in the Malcanów Forest.
¶ Łomazy (39 km): a Jewish cemetery on Brzeska St. with a monument and two graves
holding the ashes of Jews killed in the nearby “Hały” Forest during the ghetto liquidation;
the wooden house of a rabbi in Małobrzeska St.; the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter
and Paul (1907); the wooden Eastern Catholic (Uniate) Chapel of St. John at the cemetery
(first half of the 19thc.); Studzianka, Małaszewicze, Ortel, and Lebiedziew – Muslim culture
centres; Tatar cemeteries in Studzianka and Lebiedziew. ¶ Rossosz (42 km): Church of
St.Stanislaus (wooden, 1908); a Uniate cemetery (1840–1913); an Orthodox cemetery
(19thc.); a Jewish cemetery; a memorial to the local Jews. ¶ Siedlce (42 km): the Ogiński
Palace (1st half of the 18th c.); Church of St. Stanislaus (1740–1749); a Jewish cemetery on
Szkolna St. (19th c.); the Talmud Torah school building at 4 Browarna St.; a former private
prayer house at the corner of Bpa I. Świrskiego St. (formerly Długa St.) and Pusta St.; the
Regional Museum. ¶ Konstantynów (44 km): a Jewish cemetery (19th c.); the palace and
park complex (18th c.); the Church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary (1905–1909); a Uniate cem-
etery (19th c.); a manor house and farm (19th c.); the former Orthodox Church of Our Lady
of Protection, converted into a school (1833). ¶ Janów Podlaski (44 km): Janów Podlaski
stud farm; Holy Trinity Church (1714–1735); Church of St. John the Baptist (1790–1801);
Lutsk Bishops’ Palace (1770); the Wygoda park site (1st half of the 19th c.). ¶ Terespol
(61 km): the road and rail border crossing to Belarus; Holy Trinity Church (1863); Ortho-
dox Church of St. Apostle John the Theologian (18th c.); the cemetery; Orthodox Chapel
of the Resurrection (1892); a memorial to the victims of rail transports to concentration
camps during World War II; remnants of a Jewish cemetery. ¶ Brest (Belarus, 72 km): a city
at the border between Poland and Belarus; the ruins of the Great Synagogue (1851–1861,
rebuilt in 1959); the “Ekdish” synagogue on the site of the former “Groyse shul” synagogue
onSovetskih Pogranichnikov St., run by the Jewish community of Brest; the “Fajwel” prayer
house at 14 Dzerzhinskogo St.; a synagogue, a Sunday school and a kosher canteen at 72
Kuibysheva St.; Isaac Hendler’s printing house building; the building of the “Takhkemoni”
school, attended by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, among others; the Brest For-
tress (1833–1842); the ruins of the White Palace (18th c.); the Museum of Railway Technol-
ogy; St. Simeon’s Orthodox Church (2nd half of the 19th c.); the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Church (1856); the Tryszyński Cemetery (before 1900). ¶ The Bug River: one of the last
major unregulated rivers in Europe, the border river between the European Union and non-
EU countries over a stretch of 363 km. In its middle section it has picturesque bends, steep
banks, gorges, and small sandy coves perfect for canoeing.
79
 Włodawa
Bel. Уладава, Ukr. Влодава, Yid. ‫וולאָדאַווע‬ Eyes keep looking, they want to capture everything,
to resurrect everything; everything as it used to be?
Haim Kliger (Kiryat Giora), At the graves of the
fathers, in: Sefer zikaron Wlodawa, Tel Aviv 1974

Located at the meeting point of the Pol- occupations of local Jews were forestry
ish, Ukrainian, and Belarussian lands, production (wood, tar, wood tar, char-
Włodawa attracts visitors with its nos- coal, lumber), grain trade, and freight
talgic atmosphere of a borderland shtetl, trade down the Bug River. The develop-
the rich natural scenery of Polesie, and ment of crafts began towards the end of
the town’s multi-ethnic history, which the 16th century. In the mid-17th century,
appeals to the imagination especially the town was destroyed during the
during the annual Festival of Three Cossack and Swedish wars. The Jewish
Cultures. At the beginning of the 20th community suffered significantly, par-
century, Włodawa was still a bustling and ticularly during the 1648 Cossack Revo-
crowded town. A vast array of traders’ lution. During the reconstruction of the
wagons rolled through its marketplace, town, its owner Rafał Leszczyński (the
languages from around the world could father of Polish King Stanisław) granted
be heard at the stores and trading stalls, the Jews numerous privileges as a means
and – after dark – young people would of stimulating the redevelopment of
gather to engage in (among other things) trade and services. In 1684, he allowed
heated debates on revolution. The town the Jewish community to build a cheder,
was an important trade centre and a river a wooden synagogue, and a butchery
port on the Bug. In 1819, it was the (Pol.: jatka) “on the court’s lands.” Four
fourth largest city in the Lublin region. years later, he passed statutes regulat-
Today, it has around 13,000 residents. ing inhabitants’ privileges vis-à-vis the
court. Like other residents of Włodawa,
The town development ¶ The first Jews were required to keep night watch
mention of Jews in Włodawa dates back and provide financial support to the
to the early 16th century. The town loca- army quartered in town. The 1693 inven-
tion at the intersection of land and water tory indicates that about half of the 197
routes facilitated trade with Volhynia, houses belonged to Jews. The community
Włodawa

Podolia, and the port of Gdańsk. At first, was big enough to separate from Brest
local Jewish community reported to the and establish its own independent kahal.
80 Jewish community in Brest; the main Soon, however, the town was destroyed
again, during the Northern War (1700– Russian Empire. ¶ Towards the end of A street stage in
Włodawa, the photo
1721), and, in 1716, it encompassed only the 19th century, a railway line between published on 8 Novem-
75 plots of land, of which 41 belonged Chełm and Brest was laid through ber 1931 in Forverts
(Forward) daily, collec-
to Jews. ¶ After the Congress of Vienna Włodawa. Brick buildings began to tion of the YIVO Institute
(1815), Włodawa, included in the King- dominate the town architecture; streets for Jewish Research
dom of Poland dependent on Russia, was and the market square were cobbled;
located on the border with the Russian and the first kerosene and then electrical
Empire. Generally, Russian regulations street lighting was installed. Tube wells
limited the development of border cities, were also built, and the town saw the
but this was not so much the case with beginnings of a small industrial base.
Włodawa. Włodawa became a central The outbreak of World War I halted this
county town and by 1819, it became development. In 1922, the Jewish Syna-
the fourth largest town in the Lubelskie gogue District of Włodawa consisted
Voivodeship (Palatinate) – after Lublin, of only approx. 6,000 people, of whom
Hrubieszów, and Tarnogród, and ahead 1,200 had active voting rights. The kahal
of Chełm and Zamość. In subsequent managed a synagogue, a beth midrash,
years, its population increased from two prayer houses, a mikveh, a Talmud
approx. 3,300 in 1809 to approx. 15,200 Torah school, a cemetery, a poorhouse,
in 1913. This increase was a direct result and the plot of land where there had been
of the growing number of Jews, from a hospital. There were also a dozen or so
1,079 to 12,557 (83 percent of the total private – often Hasidic – prayer houses.
population). Jews were attracted to the ¶ After World War I, a committee to
town by Włodawa’s famous market fairs, support war refugees was established, as
the border crossing, and its customs well as an orphanage, which functioned
house, all of which provided consider- until 1939. Educational, sports, and
able opportunities in trade with the cultural organisations began to develop. 81
 The first drama club was established at plant located near Zabagonie St. (now
the end of World War I. For some time, Kraszewskiego St.). Most workshops
there were also a choir and two klezmer and shops were located around the
bands. The majority of the local Jews market square and the building contain-
were fairly traditional and reluctant to ing marketplace stores known as the
endorse any innovative trends; none- “Czworobok” (“Quadrangle”), dating
theless, with the secularization process from the 18th century and referred to by
Włodawa gradually came under the Jews as “Habrum” (probably meaning
influence of Zionism. In 1922, the first “unification” or “fraternity”). Erected
Zionist scouting organisation, Hashomer on a square plan with a courtyard in the
Hatzair, was established; it was replaced middle, this building can still be found
by a more militant Beitar in 1928. In in the centre of Włodawa. ¶ Almost 85
1925, young people created a hakhsharah percent of locally sold goods comprised
(training) kibbutz in the nearby village of food, textile products, metal products,
Tomaszówka to prepare volunteers to go and essential machines. A typical feature
to Palestine. Young people met in a place of Włodawa was the the way sales around
belonging to a Zionist organisation in the “Czworobok” were separated: to the
Wyrykowska St. (now Tysiąclecia St.), west, there were stores retailing clothing
where lectures, heated debates, literary and sewing supplies; to the north, stores
meetings, and Hanukah percormances with heavy-duty tools; to the east, whole-
and Purim balls were held. There was sale cloth and fabrics; and to the south,
also a library with a collection of 1,000 stores with pre-cooked ready-to-go foods
items. Towards the end of the 1920s, and Israel Shmuel Griszpan’s restaurant,
a Włodawa-Chełm weekly,Unzer Shtime popular in the 19th century. Craftsmen
(Our Voice), began to be published. were united into guilds, and from the
end of the 19th century, into corporations
Trade ¶ The main occupations of and trade unions. The kahal did not have
Włodawa’s Jews were trade, lease-hold- extensive financial resources. Pre-war
ing, and crafts. Since the 16th century, Jewish houses were mostly made of
people traded in horses, sheep, and vari- wood, placed next to one another. In each
ous other types of cattle imported from of them there were several apartments
the Ukraine during annual trading fairs of one/two rooms. Only a few wealthier
organised specifically for this purpose. In residents owned brick tenement houses
1673, the town had four butchers, three and stalls around the market square.
tailors, and two of each: goldsmiths, Trade revenues were the main source of
furriers, and barber-surgeons. In the income for the kahal, which is why its
following years, Jews ran 18 distilleries, authorities favoured local merchants and
breweries, and malt houses. At the turn introduced special regulations concern-
of the 18th and 19th centuries, timber ing, for example, the salt or fish trade.
processing and trade developed, with Purchasing larger amounts of these prod-
Włodawa

the first steam-powered sawmill built at ucts was punishable by the kahal law, and
the end of the 19thcentury. There were violaters could even be denied burial at
82 also flour mills, groat mills, and a power the graveyard or excommunicated.
Transport and port on the Bug ¶ A courtyard in a Jewish
quarter in Włodawa,
Today, the Bug River is used mainly for 1918–1939, collection
recreational purposes; however, until the of the National Digital
Archives, Poland
18th century, the river served an impor-
tant trade route for freighting grain,
honey, and lumber from Podolia and Vol-
hynia to other parts of the country. Car-
rying, among others, a famous ecotype
of pine called sosna matczańska (mast
pine), Jewish rafts with timber floated
downstream to Gdańsk. On the way back,
they transported textiles, craft goods,
and colonial commodities. Rafts could
float on the river from Busk, and the river
was navigable from the mouth of the
Rata. Until 1939, passenger ships – the
“Bug Flotilla” – plied between Dorohusk,
Włodawa, and Brest. Trade flourished
along the river; granaries, warehouses, by the town owner Jerzy Flemming as
river ports, and harbours were built. The well as two 20th-century beth midrash
remains of a port can still be seen in the buildings – an old one and a new one,
nearby village of Kuzawka (23 km). ¶ both of which currently house the
The Jews of Włodawa were also involved Łęczna–Włodawa Lakeland Museum.
in land transport. In 1937, 14 private The synagogue was built in the second
droshkies owned by Jews were stationed half of the 18th century, in a Baroque
along the way to the railway station. To style, with two corner annexes and
transport goods, the Jews used 4 carts for a unique mansard roof. The older beth
long distances and 23 for short distances. midrash was erected in 1915–1916
The railway, the nearby border crossing, incorporating some walls of a former
and the customs house facilitated trade building. The interiors of both build-
with Russia. A railway line between ings were partly damaged, but both have
Chełm and Brest (on the Polish side) retained some of their initial design
operates to this day. On the other, eastern and survived World War II as ware-
side of the Bug, there is a pre-war railway houses. The newer beth midrash was
station called “Włodawa,” which is part added in 1928, and at present it is used
of the still functioning Belarusian railway as an office and a venue for temporary
line to Brest. exhibitions organised by the Museum.
¶ The synagogue in Włodawa features
The synagogue complex ¶ Jewish a polychromatic, neo-Baroque, stucco
cultural heritage in Włodawa is rep- aron ha-kodesh – the holy ark – one
resented by the important synagogue of the best-preserved artefacts of this
complex west of the marketplace. This type in Poland. The rich three-storey
consists of a brick prayer house founded framework of the Torah ark is covered 83
Former synagogue in at the bottom with images of musical can be seen; on the left, there is a basket
Włodawa, currently
the residence of the
instruments and quotes from Psalm 150: of fruit symbolising Shavuot. The frieze
museum, 2014. Photo Praise Him with the blast of the horn; is topped with the date of construction
by Monika Tarajko,
digital collection of the
praise Him with the psaltery and harp, of the aron ha-kodesh (1934) and two
”Grodzka Gate – NN Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; griffins flanking the tablets of the Ten
Theatre” (www.teatrnn.
pl)
praise Him with stringed instruments Commandments, which were originally
and the pipe. Its central part features designed as windows through which “the
a bas-relief of a menorah and a quote light of the Torah” could shine. Seventeen
from Psalm 5: I will bow down toward concrete steps lead up to the niche for
Thy holy temple in the fear of Thee. On the Torah scroll, where today a Hanukah
the right, the hands of a kohen (Temple- eight-branch candelabrum lit during the
serving priest) in the blessing gesture holiday of Hanukah also stands.

The Festival of Three Cultures ¶ Each year in September, the centre

of Włodawa – between the Church of St. Louis, the synagogue complex, and
the Orthodox Church of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary – fills with peo-
ple who come here to attend the Festival of Three Cultures. Organised by the
Łęczna–Włodawa Lakeland Museum and held since 1995, the three-day festival
offers a rich roster of cultural events: concerts, scholarly meetings, arts-and-
crafts workshops for children, food and wine tastings, exhibitions, and theatrical
performances. The festival symbol is a tree with three colourful branches growing
from one trunk, symbolising the town’s Catholic, Jewish, and Orthodox traditions.

Cemeteries ¶ Over the centuries, Jew- synagogue. According to the town Yizkor
ish burials took place in three locations in Book, the Jews killed at the hands of Cos-
Włodawa

Włodawa. The oldest cemetery – believed sacks during the Khmelnytsky Uprising
to have been established as early as the in 1648–1649 were buried here. This
84 16th century – was located west of the is how Alexander Cohen, enormously
 The interior of the
synagogue in Włodawa,
before 1939, collection
of the National Library
(www.polona.pl)

The neo-Baroque
aron ha-kodesh in the
synagogue in Włodawa,
2014. Photo by Monika
Tarajko

exaggerating the magnitude of the events established in the 19th century was
but perhaps accurately conveying Jewish shaped like an irregular quadrangle and
feelings about it, commented on these encompassed three hectares. Matzevot
events in a chapter of his book The Leg- from this cemetery were destroyed dur-
ends of Włodawa: Blood streamed down ing the war, and some were used by the
the streets of Włodawa in 1648–1649. occupation authorities to pave squares
Tens of thousands of Jews left this world, and roads and to regulate the Włodawka
which was filled with hatred and sheer River. Located between present-day
venom. In this graveyard, there are bones Mielczarskiego, Jana Pawła II, and Rey-
of saints killed by murderers and blood monta Streets, it now functions as a town
spilt in broad daylight before everybody’s park, and a monument commemorating
eyes. Another cemetery, mentioned in the Jewish community of Włodawa was
the 18th century, was located between recently erected there. At the edge of the
Wiejska, Krzywa, and Podzamcze Streets. park, there is also one gravestone: that
It was completely devastated during the of a Jewish partisan, Hersh Griner, who
Nazi occupation during World War II, died in the 1960s and asked in his will
and then it was used as a storage area by to be buried in the Jewish cemetery in
a local cooperative. The third cemetery, Włodawa.

The Maccabee Orchestra ¶ In 1922, a wind orchestra was formed at the

newly established Maccabee sports club. Initially, it consisted of only 12 musicians,
led by bandmaster Shmuelke Feldman. The number of musicians soon increased to
42, and the band was led by Josef Minc. Wearing navy blue and white uniforms,
the orchestra performers appeared at events such as the town parades during
the holiday of Lag Ba-Omer (in Jewish tradition, the 33rd day after Passover, 85
Members of the when mourning regulations are lifted, three-year old children can have their first
Maccabi Orchestra,
1927, reproduction from
hair-cut and young pairs can get married), the consecration of a new synagogue
Sefer zikaron Vlodava in Parczew, and a visit to Chełm byYitzhak Grünbaum, a Jewish Member of the
ve-ha-seviva Sobibor,
ed. Shimon Kanc, Tel
pre-war Sejm (parliament). In 1927, during the meeting of the Beitar (Zionist youth
Aviv 1974 movement of Revisionist trend) in Warsaw, the Włodawa section won a national
competition of musical orchestras. The orchestra existed until the end of the 1930s.

World War II and the Holocaust Further round-ups and transports

¶ At the beginning of the war, the Jewish were organised by the Germans in July,
community consisted of 5,600 people October, and November 1942. The last
(60 percent of the population). In the transport – which put an end to the
first days of September 1939, the town Jewish community in Włodawa – took
was bombed twice, and it came under place on May 1–3,1943. The town holds
German occupation from October 1939 anniversary ceremonies each year at
to July 1944. The new authorities created the beginning of May to commemorate
a forced labour camp in 1940 and, a year these events and their victims.
later, a ghetto, where Jews from the
Netherlands, Austria, and other cities of Sobibór ¶ The Museum of the Former
the General Government also were con- Nazi Death Camp in Sobibór is located
fined. Over the two years of the ghetto’s 16 km south of Włodawa. Sobibór was
operation, its population varied from one of three death camps built exclu-
a few hundred to 9,000 people. They sively for extermination of Jews in
were forced to work on land drainage Operation Reinhard (Nazi plan to exter-
Włodawa

and forest management. Deportation to minate Jews in the territory regulated

the Sobibór death camp began in May by the General Government), among
86 1942, during the holiday of Shavuot. Bełżec, near Zamość, and Treblinka,
north of Warsaw. At least 170,000 people Most were captured or killed by search
were murdered here in 1942–1943, squards. Thomas Blatt – one of the few
including most of Włodawa’s Jews. The survivors – kept a diary and later wrote
camp also received transports from his memoirs. He worked with the author
the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Richard Raschke to locate and interview
Bohemia, and Slovakia. On October 14, other survivors and participants in the
1943, a group of 260 people – led by revolt. Rashke’s 1983 book Escape from
Leib Feldhendler and Aleksander Sobibor was used as the basis of a 1987
Peczerski – staged an uprising and TV movie by the same name, which

„
managed to kill some of the SS person- Blatt also worked on as a writer and
nel, seize arms, and escape to the forest. which won two Golden Globe Awards.

I spent half a year in Sobibór. Finally, on 14 October, in one hour, we killed all the
Germans with knives and axes, we took away their weapons and started an open
uprising. ¶ Polish Jews knew they would be killed, but those who came from abroad did not
realise this and, when they got off the train, they were told that they had been brought to
a beautiful place, a forest, where they would receive flats, but first they had to undress and
take a bath for sanitary reasons. Not suspecting anything, people entered the gas chambers
voluntarily and, once they did so, it was too late to get out. ¶ As soon as the Germans came,
I started to write. I knew the situation was getting worse. Initially, I wrote everything, but
then I realised it didn’t make sense. I lost my notebook once, then I burnt another and then
I started to write again. Later, when I was taken to Sobibór, I began to write again. Once
a German threw it into a well full of water, all the pages were destroyed. When I left the camp
– I started to write again. I asked my Christian friends to keep it for me and, after the war,
I managed to collect some 40 percent. Then I wrote a book. ¶ Thomas Blatt — fragments of
Oral History from the collection of the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre, 2004

Mendele Morgernstern ¶ He was the last rabbi of the town of Włodawa.

He was elected at the age of only 23, in 1939, after the death of his father
Moshe Baruch, who died of wounds received during the German bombard-
ments. Together with other Jews, Morgenstern was confined to the ghetto in
Włodawa, where – despite the difficult conditions – he continued to per-
form his religious duties. He was one of the people who initiated the collec-
tion of the bodies of Jews who died in the transports to Sobibór from railway
embankments, and he personally supervised burials at the Jewish cemetery.
In July 1942, by order of the Germans, he brought his children to the assem-
bly point for people transported to Sobibór. He declined the offer to leave
them and return to the ghetto. He was killed in August 1942, in Sobibór.

Arnold Bogumil Ehrlich ¶ The distinguished biblical scholar and

researcher Arnold Bogumil Ehrlich was born in Włodawa in 1848. Well-versed
in the Bible and the Talmud, he worked in the Berlin Royal Library and, at the
age of 30, emigrated to the USA. Reportedly, he could speak 39 languages. 87
Memorial Mound located
in the Museum of the
Former Nazi Death Camp
in Sobibór, 2015. Photo
by Monika Tarajko,
digital collection of the
”Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” (www.teatrnn.
pl)

In 1899–1901, he published a three-volume work, Mikra Ki-fshuta (The Bible

Literal Meaning), a critical analysis of the Bible. Together with a German pro-
fessor, Franz Delitzsch, he translated the New Testament into Hebrew. He also
translated the Book of Psalms into German. He died in New York in 1919.

Surrounding Adampol (6 km): the hunting lodge of the Zamojski family, currently a clinic (1913–1928);
area a monument commemorating the labour camp and several executions of Jews in 1941–1943.
¶ Różanka (7 km): the remains of a palace and manor complex (18th–19th c.); the Church of
St. Augustine (1908–1913); a former centre of folk weaving. ¶ Luta (13 km): a memorial to
Jews murdered in a forced labour camp. ¶ Sobibór (18 km): The Museum of the Former Nazi
Death Camp in Sobibór, a branch of the State Museum at Majdanek. ¶ Sławatycze (25 km):
The Care of Our Lady Orthodox Church (1910–1912); an Orthodox graveyard (19th c.); the
Church of Our Lady of the Rosary (1913–1919); a Jewish cemetery, Polna St.; a mass grave of
people killed during the deportation of the Jewish community in 1942. ¶ Hola (29 km): the
wooden Orthodox Church of St. Paraskeva and St. Anthony of the Caves (1702); the bell tower
of an Orthodox church (1898); the Skansen of Material Culture of Chełm Land and Podolia.
The Hola fair is held in July. ¶ Romanów (29 km): a manor house, currently the Museum of
Józef Ignacy Kraszewski (early 19th c.); St. Anne’s Chapel (early 19th c.). ¶ Jabłeczna (31 km):
a monastery complex: An Orthodox monastery (1838–1840) with a miraculous icon of St.
Onuphrius (15th c.), a gate bell tower (1840), a monastery building (around 1840), the former
house of the monastery governer (19th/20th c.); wooden chapels of the Dormition of the
Theotokos and the Holy Spirit (1900–1908); a wooden Unite church, currently the Church of
the Transfiguration of the Lord (1752); two post mills (Pol.: koźlak) (1889, 1926); a granary
(1889). ¶ Sawin (31 km): a Jewish cemetery (18th c.); the Church of the Transfiguration of the
Lord (1731–1740); a hospital with a poorhouse (1757). ¶ Sosnowica (35 km): the Sosnow-
ski family manor (18thc.);Holy Trinity Church (1797); the Orthodox Church of the Holy
Apostles Peter and Paul (1891–1893); cemeteries: Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Jewish
Włodawa

(19th c.). ¶ Wereszczyn (37 km): a monument commemorating the execution of approx. 150

Jews; a wooden manor house (early 20th c.); the wooden Church of St. Stanislaus the Bishop
88 and Martyr and the Holy Trinity (1783); the tomb of the Rulikowski family (2nd half of the
19th c.). ¶ Uhrusk (39 km): The Church of John the Baptist (1672–1676); the Church of the
Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1849); a RomanCatholic cemetery (18th c.); an Ortho-
dox cemetery (2nd half of the 19th c.); the former palace of the Niemirycz family, currently
a branch of the University of Life Sciences in Lublin (19th c.). ¶ Kodeń (44 km): The Shrine of
Our Lady of Kodeń, Queen of Podlasie and Mother of Unity, located on the site of the former
residence of the Sapieha family: the Calvary of Kodeń, an Orthodox church – currently the
Church of the Holy Spirit (16th c.), the Basilica of St. Anne (1629–1635); a monastery com-
plex of Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, with rose gardens; Placencja Palace (18th c.).
¶ Kostomłoty (50 km): the wooden neo-Uniate Church of St. Nikita (1631); the wooden
Orthodox Church of St.Seraphim of Sarov (mid-20th c.). ¶ The Polesie National Park ¶ The
Bug River Cycling Path

Former synagogue complex (18th c.), currently the Museum, 7 Czerwonego Krzyża St., +48 Worth
82 5722 178, [email protected] ¶ Pauline monastery: The Church of St. Louis seeing
(1739–1780), the monastery building (1711–1717), 7 Klasztorna St. ¶ Orthodox Church
of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1840–1842); an Orthodox graveyard (19th c.); an
Orthodox presbytery (19th c.), 11a Kościelna St. ¶ Cemeteries: Uniate and Roman Catho-
lic (18th c.), Wyzwolenia Ave. ¶ The building housing a complex of stalls known as the
“Czworobok” (2nd half of the 18th c.), in the middle of the market square. ¶ The panorama of
the town as seen from the bank of the Bug River.

WŁODAWA

89
 Kock
Ukr. Коцьк, Yid. ‫קאָצק‬ One travels to Kock dancing.
A 19th-century Hasidic folk song

People have souls, not clockworks, meanings. In 1839, he experienced

Menachem Mendel Morgenstern a revelation, after which he decided
(1787–1859), a Hasidic tsaddik from to burn all his manuscripts and spend
Kock (pronounced “Kotsk”), used to the rest of his life in seclusion, isolated
say. For many years, the town was one in a bricked-up chamber next to the
of the major centres of Hasidism in prayer room in his house in Kock. Many
Poland and home to a Hasidic dynasty of his followers left him at that time,
famous for its ardent and enthusiastic although some of them stayed in town,
piety. Its founder, Menachem Mendel acknowledging the leadership of the
Morgenstern, was most likely born in tsaddik’s descendants after his death. His
Biłgoraj. He was tutored, among others, son David (1812–1873), and grandson
by the famous Hasidic master Simcha Izrael (1840–1905) succeeded him as
Bunem of Przysucha and Jacob Isaac the rabbis of Kock and the rebbes of the
Horowitz, called the Seer of Lublin. In local Hasidic court. ¶ The teachings of
1829, he settled in Kock. During his Menachem Mendel were popularised
teaching sessions, he strove for a syn- by theVienna-born Jewish philosopher
thesis of the rigorous rabbinic regula- Martin Buber, in his Tales of the Hasidim
tions and most poetic mystical visions, (published in 1903–1904). The Kock
of the Talmud and Kabbalah, and also tsaddik’s definition of idolatry, as writ-
pursued secular learning and medieval ten down by Buber, was cited in Pope
natural philosophy. He taught that there Francis’ first papal encyclical, published
is but one Divine revelation and but one in 2013 by the Vatican: Idolatry is ‘when

„
God’s will, and that a Hasid’s duty is a face addresses a face which is not a face’
to do everything to learn their hidden (Lumen Fidei, 13).

God’s dwelling ¶ “Where does God live?” – asked the Kotzker rebbe to the
surprise of the several learned men staying as guests in his house. They laughed
at these words: “What are you saying, rabbi? The world is full of His wonders!” ¶ But he
Kock

answered his own question: “God lives wherever you let Him in.”
90
„ Different customs ¶ A Hasid of the rebbe of Kotzk (Kock) and a Hasid of
the rebbe of Chernobil were discussing their ways of doing things. The disci-
ple of the Chernoboler rebbe said: ¶ “We stay awake every night between Thursday and
A view of Kock from
the road, watercolour
by Zygmunt Vogel,
1796, collection of the
National Museum in
Friday; on Friday, we give alms in proportion to what we have; and on the Sabbath, we Warsaw.
recite the entire Book of Psalms.” “And we,” said the Hasid from Kotzk, “stay awake every
night as long as we can; we give alms whenever we run across a poor man and happen to
have money in our pockets, and we do not say the psalms it took David seventy years of
hard work to write, all in a row, but [we recite them] according to the need of the hour.” ¶
Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, in: M. Buber, Tales of the Hasidim, trans. Olga Marx, New
York 1991, edited.

The tsaddik’s house ¶ At the inter- Abraham Josek Morgenstern, Menachem

section of Wojska Polskiego, Warszaw- Mendel’s great-grandsons. ¶ The court of
ska, and Polna Streets there is a wooden the first tsaddik of Kock was presumably
house with a distinctive polygonal turret located in Białobrzeska (today Josele-
that allows a view in all directions. How- wicza) St., near the residence of Duch-
ever, this so-called “tsaddik’s house” was ess Anna Jabłonowska and Aleksandra
not where Menachem Mendel lived – it d’Anstett, who presented Menachem
was built at the turn of the 20th century, Mendel with two building plots in 1837.
presumably as a post office. From the To this day, there are wooden build-
beginning of the 1930s, however, it was ings there that might be old enough to
home to the court of the last of Kotzker remember Kock’s first tsaddik and the
(Kock) tsaddikim – Izrael Lejba and Hasidim making pilgrimages to see him.

Duchess Anna Jabłonowska is one of those amazing women of the 18th cen-
tury whose personalities left a lasting mark on the landscape of the towns
they owned. The duchess rebuilt Kock and gave it a new urban profile. A new
marketplace was founded, with a network of streets radiating from it. A new 91
The tsaddik’s house
in Kock, known as
rabinówka, 2010. Photo
by Mirosław Koczkodaj,
collection of Duchess
Anna Jabłonowska née
Sapieha Community
Centre in Kock

town hall and other buildings were constructed in the marketplace, and
the church in the southern frontage was rebuilt in a new style. For herself,
Jabłonowska had a palace erected in place of the former castle, surrounded
by a large park with exotic flora. The designer and supervisor of the construc-
tion works was Szymon Bogumił Zug, a distinguished architect of the clas-
sicist period. The court of the duchess became a meeting place for eminent
representatives of Poland-Lithuania’s cultural world of the day: scholars,
writers, poets, painters – and even King Stanisław August Poniatowski.

The Jewish community ¶ The first a Jewish district. It was there that the
Jews arrived in Kock in the late 16th and most important buildings of the kahal
early 17th century. Many residents of were located – the synagogue and the
the town were killed during the 1648 mikveh. In a special “Proclamation” pub-
Cossack Revolution. After the wars of lished in 1773, the duchess also regulated
the mid-17th century, the town slowly matters for the Jews regarding judiciary
regenerated, and Jews began to return matters and kahal elections, and also the
as well. Towards the end of the 17th rules for resettling elsewhere and trading
century, Maria Wielopolska, the owner in certain types of commodities. The
of the town and niece to Queen Maria earliest known statistics for the Jewish
Kazimiera (King John III Sobieski’s population of the kahal and town of Kock
wife) issued a document in which she date from around that time, the second
obliged local Jews to perform duties to half of the 18th century. They prove that
the town the same way Christians did: to the kahal consisted of the town of Kock,
provided organized help in case of fires, plus three other small towns (Serokomla,
to keep night watch, and to repair roads, Wojciechów, and Adamów), and 40
bridges, and dams. ¶ A hundred years nearby villages; the number of its mem-
Kock

later, Duchess Jabłonowska designated bers was estimated at about 800, and they
92 the northern quarter of the town to be all reported to the Kock kahal.
The synagogue ¶ Before World War The seal of Kock’s Rabbi
B. W. Rappaport, 19th
II, the synagogue stood in the north- century, collection of
eastern part of the town, on the road the National Archives
in Lublin
leading north from the marketplace
(now Piłsudskiego St.), at the place
where the road leading to the Jewish
cemetery branches off near the statue
of Kościuszko. The synagogue was
a large brick building that combined the
functions of a prayer venue and Jew- strike blew up the warehouses of a local
ish communal authorities gathering. distillery. All Jewish political parties
Referred to in 1933 as the Great Syna- of note, from Zionists to communists,
gogue, the building was erected in the had established their branches in Kock.
second half of the 19th century. It burnt The Bund and Hashomer Hatzair were
down in 1899 but was soon rebuilt. The quite popular among the Jews of Kock.
kahal budget for 1926–1927 included Among the trade unions, two most
expenses for whitewashing and painting influential were the tailors’ union and
the synagogue, repairing its floors, and the pursemakers’ union. The pursemak-
putting in glass windows. In 1930, a sum ers’ activities included looking after the
of money was allocated “to A. Cukier for public library, where local people could
the examination of the synagogue Torah read the works of contemporary Yiddish
scrolls and the synagogue itself,” and in authors and Yiddish translations of
1931–1933, a sum of 140 złoty was allo- European literature. The library hosted
cated “for electrical wiring.” ¶ The com- multiple soirées at which young people
munal budgets from the interwar period of all political persuasions met. Daily,
mention two prayer houses in addition to weekly, and monthly papers as well as
the synagogue, one of which was located magazines were distributed – according
in the same building as the synagogue. ¶ to the Memorial Book of Kock, almost
The mikveh stood opposite the syna- every young person bought a paper. In
gogue, on the west side of Szkolna St. It the town council, consisting of more
was a brick building from the second half than 20 members, almost half of the
of the 19th century. It burnt down with seats were filled by Jews.
the synagogue in 1899 but was rebuilt
before World War I. The Jewish cemetery ¶ It is not
known where the Jewish cemetery was
Social organisations ¶ Numerous located before the new urban layout of
organisations, societies, and political Kock was implemented in the second
parties – both Polish and Jewish – half of the 18th century. A new cemetery
emerged at the beginning of the 20th was established outside town, one kilom-
century and during the interwar period. eter northeast of the centre, amid fields
It is well preserved in the memories of gently sloping towards the south-west.
the local population how, during the The oldest preserved matsevah dates
1905 revolution, Jewish workers on back to 1819. It is in this cemetery that 93
 A panorama of
Kock’s main square on
a market day; the syna-
gogue is visible in the
top right corner, 1920s,
Maria Kowalewska’s
collection in the
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)

Ohel of Menachem
Mendel Morgenstern
at the Jewish cemetery
in Kock, 2014. Photo
by Monika Tarajko,
digital collection of the
”Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” (www.teatrnn.
pl)

successive tsaddikim of the Morgen- to the palace and to build a jail in the
stern dynasty were buried, starting with palace courtyard. The Nazis carried out
Menachem Mendel in 1859. An ohel executions in the cemetery, too. After the
was erected over their graves, built of war, local people uprooted the remain-
brick, with a hip roof. Before the war, ing sandstone matzevot and pulled
the cemetery was surrounded by wire down both the ohel and the custodian’s
spread between wooden poles, and there house. In 1958, the land was ploughed
was a custodian’s house near the gate. and planted with trees. In 1987–1990,
The dead from Adamów, Serokomla, and the ohel was gradually rebuilt and the
Wojcieszków were also buried here. The cemetery was fenced again. Today, about
cemetery was expanded before the war, 30 matzevot can be found there. The keys
to occupy an area of 2.2 hectares. Dur- are kept by Roman Stasiak, living in the
ing the war, it was partially devastated. first house beyond the cemetery.
The German troops forced the Jews to
Kock

remove the matzevot from the cemetery The legend of Berek Joselewicz
94 and used them to pave the roads leading ¶ At the opposite side of the town from
 Memorial to Berek
Joselewicz, 2010. Photo
by Tomasz Młynarczyk,
collection of Duchess
Anna Jabłonowska née
Sapieha Community
Centre in Kock

the cemetery, on the road to Białobrzegi, religious laws and wear their traditional
there is another important grave – that of Jewish beards; they were granted access
Berek Joselewicz (1764–1809), a colonel to kosher food and the right not to work
of the Polish Army and the commander – or fight – on the Sabbath (whenever
of an uhlan squadron. Berek was killed possible). ¶ After the failure of the upris-
in Kock in 1809, during the battle fought ing, Joselewicz was taken captive, found
by Polish forces led by Prince Józef himself on the Polish territory in the
Poniatowski against the Austrian army. Austrian Partition, served in the Polish
Born in Kretinga in Lithuania, the son Legions in Italy and in the army of the
of a horse trader, Berek was described Principality of Hanover, and immediately
by the Governor of Eastern Galicia, returned to Poland after the Duchy of
Gausruck as a man of cheerful disposi- Warsaw was established. ¶ A mound was
tion and enterprising spirit. He travelled erected over Berek Joselewicz’s grave.
throughout Europe as the agent for In 1909, Count Edward Żółkowski, the
Bishop Ignacy Jakub Massalski, a local owner of the local estate – still under
landowner, and on his travels witnessed Russian rule at the time – erected
key historical events, including the a monument set on top of the mound to
French Revolution. During the 1794 commemorate Berek as an outstanding
Kościuszko Uprising, Berek proposed Polish patriot. In the interwar period,
forming a Jewish Light Cavalry Regiment Berek Joselewicz became a symbol of the
to help the insurgent leaders against active presence of Jews in Polish history
Russian invasion which led eventually to and, at the same time, a hero for the
the Third Partition of Poland. Berek was Jewish scouting movement, such as the
supposed to recruit about 500 men into assimilation-oriented Berek Joselewicz
it to defend the Warsaw district of Praga. Scout Troops and the Zionist scouting
At Joselewicz’s request, these Jewish organisation Hashomer Hatzair.
soldiers were allowed to observe their

Berek Joselewicz and Menachem Mendel appear together as charac-

ters in a novel by Joseph Opatoshu, titled In Polish Woods (In Poylishe 95
Commemorations marking the anniversary of the
death of Col. Berek Joselewicz, May 1933, collection
of the National Digital Archives, Poland

Velder/W polskich lasach, Yiddish edition 1921, Polish edition 1923),

set in Kock before the January Uprising. Jonas Turkow directed a fea-
ture film based on this book in 1929, but the movie has not survived.

In 1927, a Citizens Committee was World War II and the Holocaust

appointed to build a vocational train- ¶ On September 9, 1939, during the first
ing and an elementary school in Kock bombing of the town, the last tsaddik of
to be named after Joselewicz as a form Kock, Israel Leib Morgenstern, was killed
of memorial. The project was launched together with all his family in the orchard
under the honorary patronage of Poland’s near their house. ¶ The last battle of
leader, Marshal Józef Piłsudski, and the the September Campaign was fought
committee was comprised of the leading near Kock during October 2 to 5, 1939,
representatives of the local Jewish and between the Independent Operational
Christian communities: Mayor Marian Group “Polesie” commanded by Gen.
Otton Górczyński, Municipal Councillor Franciszek Kleeberg and the victori-
Moszek Goldband, Rabbi Josef Morgen- ous German 13th Motorised Infantry
stern, Prelate Marceli Glinka, Kock’s par- Division. ¶ After entering the town, the
ish priest; Mojżesz Dawid Wajnberg, the Germans very quickly began implement-
head of the Jewish community in Kock; ing repressive measures aimed predomi-
Marcin Stępień, the principal of the nantly against the Jewish population. In
elementary school; and Town Councillor November 1939, they rounded the Jews
Jojna Zygielman. ¶ After several years of up in the synagogue and ordered them
fund-raising, the school was finally built to pull it down. The prayer house and
– the main part of the building was com- the mikveh were destroyed in the same
pleted by the summer of 1939. Further way. Resettlements of Jews to Kock began
work was interrupted by the German from both nearby and more distant
occupation. The school opened after the towns (Lubartów, Suwałki). Toward the
Kock

war, and to this day the building is part of end of 1940, a ghetto was established in
96 the school complex in Kock. the northern part of the town, where all
Jews were confined. The liquidation of In the autumn, the Jews were marched to
the ghetto began near the end of 1942. It Łuków, from where they were trans-
was preceded by two mass executions in ported to the Treblinka extermination

„
the summer that year – more than 200 camp and murdered there.
people were shot dead in each of them.

In November 1942, the Jews from Kock were sent to Treblinka. Lieutenant Brand
ordered that they were to travel to the train station on peasant wagons.

And so the wagons rolled all day long… / Hersz Buczko was there, riding, the one who
ran a groat mill. / There rode Szlomo Rot, who made the best ice cream. / There rode
Jakow Marchewka, who sold lemonade. / There rode Cyrla Opelman, who imported the
most elegant fabrics, and her competitor, Abram Grzebień. / Cyrla Wiernik, the one from
the market square, from the haberdashery store, was there on the wagons, and Szlomo
Rosenblat, her neighbour, dealing in women’s haberdashery, was there too. / There was Hen-
noch Madanes, an ironmonger… / … and there was Lejb Zakalik, the mill owner, with his
brother, children, and grandchildren… / Hanna Krall, Tam już nie ma żadnej rzeki (There
Is No River There Anymore), Warsaw 1998.

The story of Apolonia Machczyńska, a Christian woman from Kock mur-

dered by the Germans for helping the Jews, was recounted by Hanna Krall
and is referred to in (A)pollonia, a play directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski.
The première of the play took place in 2009 at the Nowy Teatr in Warsaw
and was one of the major theatrical events in Poland in recent years.

Present day ¶ Present-day Kock Sapieha Community Centre in Kock

is a charming little town in Lubartów (tel. +48 81 859 11 10, +48 501 699 518;
County, inhabited by about 3,500 [email protected]) is a partner of
people. It has several pubs and two the Shtetl Routes project. They are guid-
small hotels which also function as ing also in the new multimedial Kock
wedding reception venues. Agritourism Historical Museum, which is presenting
farms in the vicinity also offer accom- multicultural history of the town.
modation. The Anna Jabłonowska née

Berek Joselewicz grave (1809), at the road towards Białobrzegi. ¶ Jewish cemetery (18th c.), Worth
with tsaddik’s ohel, Św. Jana Chrzciciela St. ¶ Tzaddik’s house (19th/20th c.), Wojska Pol- seeing
skiego St. ¶ Kock Historical Museum (in the building of the library), 6 Marcina Stępnia St.
¶ Church of the Assumption of Mary (1779–1782), 15 Księżnej Anny Jabłonowskiej Sq. ¶
The Palace of Duchess Anna Jabłonowska née Sapieha (1770), 1 Tadeusza Kościuszki St. ¶
The complex of the town wooden and brick buildings (19th/20th c.), including the tsaddik’s
residence. ¶ A war cemetery with a memorial to the soldiers who perished in the Battle of
Kock, the last battle of the September Campaign of 1939, Kleeberga St.
97
 Surrounding Firlej (10 km): a Jewish cemetery (19th c.); the wooden Church of the Transfiguration
area (1880). ¶ Radzyń Podlaski (21 km): the old Jewish cemetery (17th/18th c.); the new Jewish
cemetery (early 20th c.); Holy Trinity Church (1641); the Potocki palace and park complex
(17th/18th c.); the Szlubowski Palace (18th c.). ¶ Michów (18 km): The Church of the Assump-
tion of Mary (16th c.); a memorial (2013) at the site of the destroyed Jewish cemetery. ¶
Lubartów (24 km): a Jewish cemetery (1819); the Sanguszko Palace with a garden (18th c.);
St. Anne’s Basilica (1733–1738); Capuchin monastery complex: Church of St. Lawrence,
a monastery, and a garden (1737–1741). ¶ Czemierniki (20 km): urban layout (16th/18thc.);
a Jewish cemetery (1703); a palace and park complex (1615–1622); the Church of St.
Stanislaus (1603–1617). ¶ Adamów (21 km): a Jewish cemetery (20th c.); the Church of the
Holy Cross (1796–1858). ¶ Parczew (41 km): a synagogue, currently a shop (2nd half of the
19th c.); a wooden bell tower (1675); the Shrine of Our Lady Queen of Families (1905–1913).
¶ Kamionka (22 km): a Jewish cemetery (1st half of the 19th c.); the Church of the Holy Apos-
tles Peter and Paul (15th/16th c.); the Weyssenhoff family tomb chapel (1848); the Zamoyski
family tomb chapel (1890–1893). ¶ Kozłówka (24 km): The Zamoyski Museum – a palace
and park complex comprising 14 buildings dating back to the late 18th and the early 19th c.
as well as a 19-hectare park with a French-style garden. ¶ Bobrowniki (42 km): a Jewish
cemetery (19th c.); the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1488, rebuilt in
the 16th and 17th c.). ¶ Dęblin (43 km): a synagogue, currently a shop (2nd half of the 19th c.);
a fortress (19th c.); the wooden Church of the Merciful Christ (1781); the Air Force Museum;
the Vistula River Railroad Station complex. ¶ The Polesie National Park ¶ The Kozłówka
Forest Landscape Park

KOCK
Kock

98
Kazimierz Dolny
Ukr. Казімеж-Дольний, Yid. ‫קוזמיר‬ Even in terms of its landscape, Kazimierz belonged to the
world of Polish Jews. It resembled a page from a women’s
prayer book with shining silver corners, or an old etching
that anonymous Jewish masters from a bygone era engraved
with great piety on the Polish soil, seeking to present vividly
what Poyln means […].
Yehiel Yeshaia Trunk, My Life within
Jewish Life in Poland, Toronto 2007 (edited)

The royal port ¶ Picturesquely and then further on to European ports.

located at a crossing of the Vistula River, Local residents engaged in boat building
Kazimierz Dolny became a royal city and traded in grain, timber, wine, and
already in the 14th century. The strate- salt. Granaries located near the river and
gic position at the intersection of land richly ornamented Renaissance houses
and water trade routes stimulated its bear witness to the economic prosperity
development. Grain brought here was of the city in that period.
transported down the Vistula to Gdańsk

Esterka’s love ¶ Even though some legends have it that Jewish merchants
were present in this area already in the 11th century, most likely the first Jews
settled in Kazimierz Dolny in the second half of the 15th century. According
to a popular legend, however, they were already living there in the 14th cen-
tury. The legend has it that King Casimir (Kazimierz) the Great – the last king
of the Piast dynasty, who ruled from 1333 to 1370, fell in love with Esterka, the
daughter of a Jewish merchant said to live here, and his love was reciprocated.
The legend is mentioned by Jan Długosz in his famous 15th-century chroni-
cle, and even though historians have not found evidence of her authenticity,
Esterka became a symbol of Polish-Jewish coexistence. Visitors to Kazimierz
before World War II, for example, could admire historical liturgical objects
kept by the synagogue’s custodians. These included a parochet and a Torah
crown. According to local oral tradition, the parochet was embroidered by
Esterka herself, and the crown was given to the synagogue by King Casimir.
In reality, the parochet was most likely made in China in the 17th century.

The market square ¶ Painter considerable size and a long chain; the
Wojciech Gerson (d. 1901) recalled: The place is always swarming with schmooz-
market square is typical because it has ing Jews, who are joined on Saturdays
traditional, wooden and stone arcades by Jewish women that like to dress up
and a well in the centre, with a wheel of for the Sabbath and promenade around 99
 Town houses near
the market square in
Kazimierz, 2015, photo
by Monika Tarajko,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)

Kazimierz Dolny.
Urban developments,
with the southern
frontage of the market
square on the left and
the shaded western
frontage on the right,
1794, drawing by
Zygmunt Vogel, collec-
tion of the Print Room
of the Warsaw University
Library

the place. ¶ The spatial layout of the city square – around the so-called Lesser
results from the fact that the town was Market. Nearby, there were a synagogue,
chartered according to the Magdeburg a prayer house, a rabbi’s house, and
law. The elements of the town centre – other communal buildings. Jews also
market square, churches, and a network lived in Lubelska Street – at the end of it,
of streets – were all located in a rela- past the town’s gate, there was a Jewish
tively small area. The castle, the tower, cemetery. With time, however, Jews set-
and the Franciscan monastery were tled throughout the town.
Kazimierz Dolny

erected on the hills surrounding the cen-

tre. When Jews arrived here in the sec- The synagogue ¶ The first shul in
ond half of the 15th century, there was Kazimierz was wooden. A stone syna-
not much space left to establish a Jewish gogue established in the second half of
100 quarter. Jews settled east of the market the 16th century was destroyed and
 Synagogue in Kazimierz
Dolny, 1916, photo by
Juliusz Kłos, collection
of the Institute of Art of
the Polish Academy of
Sciences

rebuilt following the wars and other limestone and – as before the war – they
upheavals of the second half of the were not plastered on the outside. The
17th century and once again destroyed reconstruction included the Polish type
towards the end of the first quarter of the of tiered hip roof covered with shingles
18th century. Much of the present-day and a wooden vault, but without the
building dates back to the second half of polychromes. In 2003, the synagogue
the 18th century, except for the interior came under the ownership of the Warsaw
walls, which were replaced with new Jewish Community, which converted it
ones towards the end of the 19th century. into an exhibition space, souvenir shop,
The synagogue was further renovated and guest house called Beitenu (“our
in the interwar period, when narthexes house”). A memorial plaque commemo-
with women’s galleries above them were rating the Jewish community of Kazimi-
added to the square prayer room on erz is set in the wall of the building.
the southeast and southwest sides. The
prayer room for men was covered with Fall and revival ¶ The period of
a dome-shaped vault built into the lower prosperity of the Jewish community was
part of a timber roof truss and covered cut short by the turmoil wrought by the
with polychrome paintings. In the 19th series of wars in the mid-17th century
century, next to the shul, stood small caused by the Ukrainian Cossacks, the
stores belonging to the kahal and rented Swedes, Rákóczi’s forces, and Polish
to the Jews in exchange for payments troops; fires and bubonic plague also
made to the kahal’s accounts. The syna- took their heavy toll. In 1661, there were
gogue was destroyed towards the end of only seven Jewish houses in the city.
World War II and rebuilt to a design by The Jewish community could only start
Karol Siciński in 1953 that restructured to rebuild after Kazimierz was granted
it inside for use as a cinema. The walls a new charter, issued by King Jan III
of the prayer room for men were built of Sobieski in 1676. 101
 Kazimierz Dolny,
cleaning before Pesach,
1918-1939, collection
of ge National Photo
Archives

„ We decided that the Jews […] shall be granted freedom and allowed to […]
relish the freedom enjoyed by other burghers and residents of the city. They shall
have the privilege to trade in whatever products they find fit, such as salt, herrings, both
wholesale and retail, to bake both rye and white wheat bread, to brew beer and mead,
to build their own breweries or rent them from burghers; Jews shall be allowed to enjoy
all privileges granted [to the dwellers] in the city and those granted to [dwellers in] other
nearby crown cities. Moreover, we hereby allow them to buy plots of land and buildings as
well as to renovate old ones and to establish buildings on plots of land that remain empty. ¶
The charter granted to Kazimierz on November 18, 1676 by King Jan III Sobieski

Tensions still existed, however. Dur- document, issued in 1717, granted the
ing the 1699 Corpus Christi festivities, Jews of Kazimierz considerable liberty in
clashes broke out on the marketplace trade. The income they received implied
when the Catholic Corpus Christi that they had to pay a tax as high as 600
procession intersected with a group of guilders in 1732–1733. In 1778, taxes
Jews who were welcoming Rabbi Judah, were paid by 303 Jews living in the city
a prominent sectarian and a leader of and by 141 living in 27 surrounding
the crypto-Sabbatean movement in villages, the town of Wąwolnica, and at
Poland, who had arrived in the city one inn. In 1827, Kazimierz Dolny had
on that day. The city brought a lawsuit 2,096 residents – including 1,197 Jews
before the Crown Tribunal in Lublin (57 percent of the population). Around
against the elders of the Jewish commu- 1882, the 3,297 residents of Kazimierz
Kazimierz Dolny

nity of Kazimierz for creating a distur- (including 1,784 Jews – 51 percent) lived
bance to the Christian procession and in 250 houses, 89 of which were built of
injuring some of its participants. ¶ In brick. This was exceptional among the
the wake of the destruction caused by predominantly wooden towns of the
102 the Great Northern War, another official Lublin region.
Singing Hasidim of Kazimierz ¶ with the tsaddik’s saying: I cannot feel
In the 1820s, the Hasidic tsaddik Ezekiel the joy of the Sabbath if I do not hear
Ben Tzvi-Hirsch Taub (1772–1856), a new melody. The tradition of singing
a disciple of the Seer of Lublin and songs composed by the Hasidim of Kazi-
a highly gifted composer and musician, mierz has survived to-date. In 1925, one
settled in Kazimierz Dolny. Ezekiel of Taub’s descendants – Shmuel Eliyahu
Taub’s followers – known as the Kuzmir Taub of Dęblin (1905–1984) – moved to
Hasidim – became famous for empha- Palestine with a group of his followers

„
sising the messianic role of music and and set up an agricultural settlement.
singing in Judaic liturgy, in accordance

Every third person in Kazimierz is a painter. ¶ Yakov Glatstein, Wen Yash iz

geforn (When Yash Set Out), New York 1935

Artists’ colony ¶ The picturesque there were many Jews. The town on
townscape and scenic landscape of river the Vistula left its mark in the works
and hills attracted painters to Kazimierz of artists such as Maurycy Trębacz
Dolny already in the 18th century, but (1861–1941), Natan Korzeń (1895–
it became a particularly favourite spot 1941), Roman Rozental (1897–1942),
for artists from the early 20th century. Izrael Tykociński (1895–1942), Józef
The breakthrough came in 1909, when Gabowicz (1862–1939), Eliasz Kanarek
Władysław Ślewiński, a friend of Paul (1902–1969), and brothers Ephraim and
Gauguin and a professor at the Warsaw Menashe Seidenbeutel (1903–1945).
School of Fine Arts, started bringing his Visiting painters became an integral
students here for plein air painting ses- part of the local environment, and their
sions. Kazimierz soon took on the aura presence helped awaken many artistic
of a city of painters and became home talents among the native residents.
to an artists’ colony. Another professor ¶ One of these figures was Shmuel
at the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts, Wodnicki (1901–1971), a shoemaker
Tadeusz Pruszkowski, should also be born in Kazimierz, who at the same
given credit for this. Starting in 1913, time worked as a painter. Dispirited by
he organised annual plein air painting the difficult life in Poland, he emigrated
sessions for young artists, Christians and to Palestine with his family in 1934 but
Jews alike. Artists admired the town’s continued painting the landscapes of
“unique landscape,” “warm, familiar Kazimierz until the end of his life. ¶
atmosphere,” “Polish beauty,” and “wist- Haim Goldberg (1917–2004) was born
ful poetry tugging at the heartstrings.” into another shoemaker’s family from
¶ Writers and ordinary holidaymakers Kazimierz. Already as a young boy, he
looking for a beautiful place to relax observed artists and took his first steps
followed the painters. As a result, the as a painter. Thanks to contacts with
landscape of Kazimierz was rendered artists established in Kazimierz Dolny,
numerous times in both literary and Haim enrolled in the Warsaw Academy
visual works. Among the visiting artists of Fine Arts in the 1930s. He developed 103
 „
as a mature artist after World War II and one of the key subjects in his works.
the motifs from his native shtetl became

In the summer of 1929, Jakub Rotbaum and I appeared at a literary evening

devoted to the contribution of Jews to contemporary poetry, which was held on
the veranda of the guesthouse belonging to the Szenderowicz family. The evening had to be
organised twice, since only half of the people who wanted to attend could enter the room.
After my introduction, Jakub Rotbaum recited my Yiddish translations of poems by Julian
Tuwim, Józef Wittlin, Bruno Jasieński, Anatol Stern, and Adam Ważyk and followed each
poem with the reading of its Polish original. It was probably the only literary evening held
in two languages – Yiddish and Polish – which, by the way, was attended by both Anatol
Stern and Adam Ważyk. ¶ During all those years when Jakub Rotbaum spent his summer
months in Kazimierz, he immortalised many people who lived there in his charcoal and
ochre drawings. ¶ Szmuel Sznajderman, Artistic Family in Kazimierz, in: Pinkes Kusmir
(The Chronicle of Kazimierz), Tel Aviv 1970

Kazimierz in films ¶ The character of the town and its surroundings

also attracted filmmakers looking for settings that would suit films directed in
Yiddish. This is where the blockbuster Yidl Mitn Fidl (Yiddle with His Fiddle,
1936) starring Molly Picon and directed by Józef Green and Jan Nowina-
Przybylski, was shot. Some other films that were shot here include: Lamed Vov
(One out of 36,1925, dir. by Henryk Szaro), In die poylishe velder (In Pol-
ish Woods, 1929, dir. by Jonas Turkow) based on Joseph Opatoshu’s novel,
and The Dybbuk (1936, dir. by Michał Waszyński). ¶ Many years after the
war, the atmosphere of the pre-war shtetl – that was also an artists’ colony
– was recreated in a Polish film titled Two Moons (Dwa księżyce,1993, dir. by
Andrzej Barański) based on short stories by Maria Kuncewiczowa. The his-
tory of Kazimierz Dolny was also immortalised in the documentary Snap-
shots from Kazimierz (Album Kazimierski, 2001, dir. by Tadeusz Pałka).

Portraits of the town ¶ The Celejowska House – a branch of the

everyday life of Jewish Kazimierz was Nadwiślańskie Museum. The Museum’s
documented in photographs by Bene- collections also include numerous
dykt Jerzy Dorys (born Rotenberg, photos and documents connected with
1901–1990), a portrait photographer of the history of the local Jewish commu-
the crème de la crème of Warsaw who nity. An interesting exhibition of Jewish
spent his holidays here in the 1930s. liturgical objects can be seen in the
His photographs of the pre-war Kazi- Goldsmith Museum. ¶ Among numer-
Kazimierz Dolny

mierz are believed to be the first Polish ous literary renditions of Kazimierz,
photographic reportage. A permanent two novels stand out: The Shtetl (1901)
exhibition of these photos can be seen in by Sholem Asch and Lato (Summer) by
the former synagogue. ¶ Many paint- Adolf Rudnicki (1938). Jacob Glatstein
104 ings of Kazimierz are displayed in the included an interesting description of
 Kazimierz Dolny,
Rozmowa (A Conversa-
tion), 1931–1932. Photo
by Benedykt Jerzy Dorys,
the collection of the
National Library—www.
polona.pl

the town from the early 1930s in his titled Kazimierz vel Kuzmir. Miasteczko
volume of reportage titled Wen Yash iz różnych snów (Kazimierz vel Kuzmir.
geforn (When Yash Set Out, 1935). And A Town of Various Dreams, 2006, ed. by

„
a selection of texts about Kazimierz Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska).
Dolny can be found in an anthology

The current ferryman, Haim, is fifty years old. He is tall and slender. His face is
elongated, with a long white beard and a furrowed forehead. Haim is a child of
water, he grew up by the water, and who knows – perhaps water will become his grave. […]
In summer, water is Haim’s only source of income. All week he is with his boat on the water,
and the sail stands between clouds and their reflection on the water’s surface… Sabbath.
Water respects Jewish customs, it observes the Sabbath as well as other holidays; it remains
calm, and waves a kiss to one another. Haim is sitting with his wife at the door; he is pray-
ing and she is reading “Tsene urene,” a book of Biblical stories for women. They are telling

„
the waves about God’s miracles and each wave catches a word, says “Amen,” and disappears
in the distance. ¶ Sholem Asch, A Shtetl, Warsaw1904 (translation edited)

The shtetl had something particularly noteworthy: a market, an extraordinary

market; people who were there looked as if they were on stage, there was always
somebody on duty: carriers by day, dreamers by night. Somebody stopped – it seemed that
the role required it; he turned into a side street to go about his business, which was known to
everybody, since everybody knew everything about their neighbours – again, it seemed that
he was acting according to an unwritten but obligatory script. From this market, which was
seemingly the main source of life, one would go behind the scenes, in order to go back again 105
 A 70-year old Haim the
Ferryman stood at the
helm of his boat and
transported passengers
across the Vistula
River for 62 years; the
photo was published
on November 28, 1926
in the Forverts daily.
Photo by Menakhem
Kipnis, collection of the
YIVO Institute for Jewish
Research

after doing one’s bit and bow down before the invisible forces. ¶ There was a river flow-
ing below, there were ruins on the hills; nearby there were also ravines, numerous tobacco
plantations, arable farming land, woods, and meadows; each fragment of the landscape was
different, but invariably beautiful. In the ravines, gusts of gentle, warm wind would give one
a feeling as if one had entered into a magical circle and as if the best long-forgotten charac-
ters were about to appear. People doubt whether miraculous places exist, but there were so
many of them here. ¶ Adolf Rudnicki, Lato (Summer), Warsaw, 1938

World War II and the Holocaust as well as in the town (near the Gestapo
¶ In 1939, some 4,641 people lived in headquarters in the monastery of the
Kazimierz, including approx. 2,500 Jews. Reformati) were built by prisoners out of
Relatively soon after the outbreak of matzevot that had been uprooted from
World War II, as early as 1940, the Nazi the Jewish cemeteries. In March 1942,
Germans established a ghetto in Kazi- the ghetto dwellers were transported to
mierz, where the local Jews and the sur- the ghetto in Opole Lubelskie and then
rounding areas were ordered to move. It to one of the death camps – probably
occupied a small area in the Jewish quar- to Bełżec. During the liquidation of the
ter around the Lesser Market. The Ger- labour camp, the Jews who worked there
mans also created a forced labor camp were deported, and a dozen or so were
Kazimierz Dolny

in the brewery on Puławska St., which shot dead in the autumn of 1943 at the
functioned from spring 1940 to fall 1942. new Jewish cemetery.
Its inmates (more than 100 people)
worked in a quarry and in the town. The old Jewish cemetery ¶ The
106 The pavements and stairs at the camp cemetery is claimed to have been
established towards the end of the 15th rectangular and covered an area of
century, near the road leading to Lublin 0.64 ha. It was the site of executions of
(beyond the Lublin Gate, on Sitarz Hill). a dozen or so people, Jews and Poles.
It was surrounded by a limestone wall, In 1984, a “Wailing Wall” memorial
and those buried there included the was erected here. Designed by Tadeusz
tsaddikim of Kazimierz from the Taub Augustynek, it is a long, high wall in the
dynasty – Ezekiel and Efraim. During centre of the cemetery above the road,
World War II, the Germans forced the with a jagged vertical crack breaking
Jews to destroy this burial place, where it, symbolising the destruction caused
– after the matzevot were taken away – by the Holocaust. Hundreds of broken
various buildings were established. In matzevot that were recovered from all
1954, a nearby school was extended in over the town were set into its face.
such a way that it partly overlapped the In front of the wall, a group of several
former graveyard area. The southern dozen complete matzevot stand on the
part of the cemetery – near Lubelska St. grassy slope, and behind the wall, about
– was levelled and a school sports field 25 matzevot stand in a hornbeam grove.
was created there. The upper part of the
graveyard with burial places and a ruined Present day ¶ Today, Kazimierz
wall have survived. One matzevah in Dolny is one of the most important tour-
its lowest part still carries a fragment of ist attractions in Eastern Poland, with
a late 17th-century inscription. many hotels, guesthouses, and restau-
rants. The traditions of a summer resort
The new Jewish cemetery ¶ The and artists’ colony remain alive. Apart
new Jewish cemetery was established from cultural events such as the festival
in the second part of the 19th century of Folk Bands and Singers, the Two
near the road to Opole, in the area called Riversides Film and Art Festival, and the
“Czerniawy.” The plot of land allocated Alternative Music Festival “Kazimierni-
for it was located on a slope on the east- kejszyn,” the town’s cultural offerings
ern side of the road and was purchased include events evoking its Jewish history,
for the community in 1851 by Herszek e.g. the Klezmer Music and Tradition
Mandelsberg. The area was surrounded Festival (2006–2012) or the Pardes

„
by a wall, and a pre-burial house was Festival, Encounters with Jewish Culture
established inside. The cemetery was (since 2013).

I know people who have breakfast in Warsaw, lunch in London, and dinner in
Paris. But they always come back to Kazimierz for the night. Because this is the
city of their dreams… ¶ Anatol Stern

Bochotnica (5 km): castle ruins (14th c.); tomb of Jan Oleśnicki, Esterka’s legendary burial Surrounding
place (1532); the Krystyna and Władysław Pożaryski Wall, a former chamber rock quarry; area
a mill on the Bystra River (1870); a blacksmith’s shop (1890); the remains of a mill that
belonged to Josek Fryd; memorials to the victims of the “Bloody Wednesday,” who were
murdered on 18 and 24 November 1942. ¶ Janowiec on the Vistula (6/28 km): the remains 107
 Jewish graveyard in
Czerniawy, 2014. Photo
by Wioletta Wejman,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)

of the Firlej Castle (16th c.); Church of St. Stanislaus (1350, reconstructed in the 16th c.); pres-
bytery (17th c.); the manor complex: a manor house from Moniaki (1760–1770), a granary
from Podlodów (18th/19th c.), a barn from Wylągi (around 19th c.); a manorial granary from
Kurów (circa 19th c.); a branch of the Nadwiślańskie Museum. ¶ Puławy (15 km): the Palace
and Park Complex of the Czartoryski Family (1671–1677); a landscape park (17th/18th c.):
the Temple of the Sibyl (1798–1801), the Gothic House (1809), the Chinese House (2nd half
of the 18th c.), the Greek House (1788–1791); the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin Mary (1800–1803); Marynka’s Palace (1791–1794); a granite boulder with a plaque
in memory of 3,600 Jews of Puławy, placed at the site of former synagogues; the Czartoryski
Museum; a military graveyard at Piaskowa St. with graves of 15 soldiers of Jewish origin.
¶ Wąwolnica (17 km): The Shrine of Our Lady of Kębło: the Church of St Adalbert (1907–
1914); a Jewish cemetery, 3 Maja St. (19th c.). ¶ Nałęczów (23 km): The Church of John the
Baptist (18th c.); Spa Park: the Małachowski Palace (1760–1777), the Old Bathhouse (Stare
Łazienki), a mineral water drinking room; the Stefan Żeromski Museum; the wooden Chapel
of St. Borromeo, Armatnia Góra St. (1917–1919); wooden and brick villas (19th/20th c.),
including villa “Osłoda” – a former Jewish hotel that belonged to the Tanenbaum family. ¶
Markuszów (29 km): the new Jewish cemetery (early 19th c.); the Church of the Holy Spirit
(1608); the Church of St. Joseph the Betrothed (1676–1690). ¶ Czarnolas (36 km): the manor
house of the Jabłonowski family, currently the Jan Kochanowski Museum (19th c.). ¶ Jastków
(40 km): a manor house, so-called palace (1894) with a park; a wooden church (1st half of the
20th c.); a military graveyard (1915) with graves of Jewish legionnaires. ¶ Kraśnik (59 km):
Kazimierz Dolny

The Great Synagogue in Kraśnik (17th c.) and a beth midrash (mid-19th c.), Bużnicza St.; the
mikveh building at 3 Bagno St.; the new Jewish cemetery (mid-19th c.) in Szewska St. with
a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust; Marian Shrine: the Church of the Assumption
of the Blessed Virgin Mary (around 15th c.), the Monastery of Canons Regular (15th/16th c.);
108 the Church of the Holy Spirit (16th c.) with a wooden poorhouse building; The Museum of
Firefighting. ¶ The Lesser Poland Gorge of the Vistula, “Krowia Wyspa” (Cow Isle) and
“Skarpa Dobrska” (Dobre Escarpment) nature reserves.

Synagogue (18th c.), 4 Lubelska St., with “Jewish Kazimierz” exhibition inside. Opening Worth
hours: 10:00–17:00, except Mondays and Tuesdays, group reservations: tel. +48 81 881 08 94. seeing
Website: www.beitenu.pl ¶ The Nadwiślańskie Museum, branch in the Celejowska House
(1635), with a rich collection of paintings of pre-war Kazimierz and its Jewish residents;
the room on the ground floor features mementoes of Jews from Kazimierz, e.g. a menorah,
a Torah, and a Hanukkah lamp, 11/13 Senatorska St., 24-120 Kazimierz Dolny, tel. +48 81
881 01 04. ¶ The Goldsmith Museum, 2 Zamkowa St., has an exhibit of Jewish liturgical
objects; tel. +4881 881 00 80. ¶ Jewish cemetery (19th c.) and “Wailing Wall” memorial,
Czerniawy St. ¶ Medieval layout of the town, which was listed as a historical monument in
1994. ¶ Ruins of the royal castle with a tower (14th c.) in the northeastern part of the city, on
the hill, Zamkowa St. ¶ Stone fortified tower (13th c.), Zamkowa St. ¶ Parish Church of St.
John the Baptist and St. Bartholomew the Apostle (1586–1589), Rynek St. ¶ Town houses
(17th and 18th c.), 2, 10, 15, 18 Rynek St. ¶ Reformed Franciscan Monastery and Church of
the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin and St. Peter of Alcantara (1680–1690), Klasztorna
St. ¶ Hospital Church of
St. Anne and the former Kazimierz Dolny
hospital (1649–1670),
Lubelska St. ¶ Granaries
(17th c.), Krakowska
St. and Puławska St. ¶
Summer houses and
villas (19th and 20th c.),
Puławska Krzywe Koło,
Lubelska, Szkolna, Kra-
kowska, Małachowskiego,
Czerniawy, and Góry
Streets.

109
 Wojsławice
Ukr. Войславичі, Yid. ‫װאָיסלאַװיץ‬ Wednesday was a market day in town.
The Jews usually prepared for that day all week.
David Eines, Yizker-bukh tsum fareybikn dem
ondenk fun der horev-gevorener Yidisher kehile
Voyslavits (The Memorial Book of Wojsławice),
Tel Aviv 1970

Origins ¶ In the early 1440s, Khmelnytsky’s Cossacks in 1648 and the

Wojsławice was granted municipal Cossack and Muscovite forces in 1658.
rights. Shortly afterward, in 1445, Not only Ukrainians and Swedes, Polish
Judka, a Jew from Wojsławice, acted as troops also committed abuses, sparking
one of the litigants in a case registered riots. These abuses were documented,
at the court in Lwów. An independent for example, in a lawsuit filed on Febru-
Jewish community, however, was not ary 24, 1670, at the Crown Tribunal in
established in Wojsławice until several Lublin. In this court case, Wojsławice
decades later. In 1564, the list of poll-tax Mayor Mikołaj Hupała and local
payers in Wojsławice comprised 125 townspeople, including Jews such as the
Jewish residents. The first Ashkenazi Jew inn-keeper Majer, as well as individu-
who is known to have obtained permis- als named Mendel, Mendeluk, Zusman,
sion to settle in Zamość – in 1584 – was Abraham, and Lejba, sued Royal Cavalry
one Abraham of Wojsławice. In 1616, Captain Mikołaj Andrzej Firlej as well
the Jewish community of Wojsławice as other commanders unit headed by
applied for permission to build a new Feliks Potocki, the Voivode of Sieradz,
wooden synagogue in place of the old for the damage that troops had caused to
one, which had been destroyed in a fire. the town traders during the trade fair on
June 23, 1668. According to the attached
Scandals, thefts, and fires ¶ The record, several homes were set on fire
central figure in the first sex scandal and, in addition, the soldiers violently
reported in 16th-century rabbinic attacked local Jews, demolishing and
responsas was one Moshe Haim from robbing the stores. ¶ Over the centuries,
Lithuania, who left his pregnant wife at fires devastated Wojsławice regularly,
home and married another woman in once every few years. These are docu-
Wojsławice. Another case discussed in mented by numerous surviving records
Wojsławice

the early modern responsa focused on regarding the sites that were burnt.
a Jew who joined the army as a dra- Despite these disasters, Wojsławice
goon and died in battle. Wojsławice has one of the region’s largest number
110 suffered as a result of the invasions of of surviving architectural monuments
 Market day in
Wojsławice, 1931. Photo
by Kazimierz Czernicki,
digital collection of the
Panorama of Cultures
Association

in proportion to the size of the town. Catholic church, a 17th-century Ortho-

Sacred buildings of three faiths can dox church, and a synagogue built in the
be seen here – a 16th-century Roman 19th century.

A false messiah ¶ Jacob Leibovitz Frank (1726–1791), the last great leader
of the Jewish messianic movement inaugurated in the 1665s by pseudo-messiah
Shabbetai Zvi in the Ottoman Empire, arrived in Poland in December 1755, to
begin his prophetic Sabbatean mission. In 1756, he was expelled from Poland and,
together with other followers of Sabbateanism, placed under the ban of excom-
munication by the rabbinical courts across Europe. Frank’s crypto-sabbatean
sect, after the death of Shabbetai Zvi, rejected the Talmud, preached redemption
through sexual orgiastic behavior and sinning in general, and encouraged its
members to undergo baptism to redeem the fallen divine sparks in the shards of
Christianity. In 1760, following a denunciation and accusation of insincere conver-
sion, Frank was arrested, tried, and sentenced by the consistory court to 13 years
of imprisonment at the Jasna Góra Monastery. Frank left Poland in 1773, and in
1786 moved to Offenbach am Main. His story as a sectarian and heretic served as
the basis for Olga Tokarczuk’s 2015 novel Księgi Jakubowe (Jacob’s Books) and
Adrian Panek’s 2011 film Daas (Knowledge). ¶ While, as a heritical Jewish sect,
Frankism was not of great significance in the history of Judaism, some descend-
ants of its followers, already assimilated and integrated into Polish society, played
an important role in the history of Polish culture. This is because some members
of the Catholic Church hierarchy saw in Frankism an opportunity to convert the
“infidel” Jews. Some magnates also used Frankism as a proselytising tool –
including a branch of the Potocki family that was connected with Wojsławice.
111
 Marianna Potocka (née Daniłowicz) leaders, and the entire Jewish com-
was the owner of the Wojsławice landed munity of the ritual murder of Mikołaj,
estate and a Catholic supporter of Frank- the two-and-a-half-year-old son of
ism. In 1760, she invited family and a couple named Marcin and Katarzyna
followers of Jacob Frank to settle on her from the village of Czarnołozy. ¶ Adam
property. Potocka allotted the land stew- Rojecki, the hereditary ruler (burgrave)
ard’s house situated on the road to Uch- of a Wojsławice that belonged to the
anie to Hannah Frank, the wife of Jacob, Potocki family, lodged a complaint
who at that time was held prisoner by against the rabbis and elders of the com-
Jesuits at the Jasna Góra Monastery. In munity. They were arrested, imprisoned
addition to Hannah, several hundred in Krasnystaw, and sentenced to death
Frankists came to live in Wojsławice. after a trial with testimony extracted
However, they were not welcomed in the under torture. The punishment was for
town, where a traditional Jewish com- them to be drawn and quartered, but
munity fiercely opposed their presence. – at the intercession of the Jesuits from
Indeed, the presence of the Frankists did Krasnystaw – the Jews who declared
provoke tragic events. In order to com- willingness to be baptised had their
promise the Jewish community and take sentence changed to beheading and were
control of the town, the Frankists were subsequently buried with honours at
reported to have sent a Jewish woman the municipal cemetery. Rabbi Herszko
one night to the Roman Catholic parish Józefowicz managed to hang himself in
priest of Wojsławice. She falsely pre- jail. His body was tied to a horse’s tail,
sented herself as the local rabbi’s wife. dragged across the town, and burned at

„
She accused her supposed husband, the stake; his ashes were scattered in the
and other rabbis, and the communal wind.

[…] Then the bodies of all of them were handsomely laid in coffins, carried to the
Church at the public cemetery in the suburb, where they reposed till the second
day. As to the vile rabbi who strangled himself with a cord found in prison, his corpse, as
ordered by the decree, was tied by the executioner to a horse’s tail, dragged across the town,
and burnt at the stake, and the ashes were scattered in the wind. ¶ The following morning,
on the orders of the Most Honourable Pastor, who arrived from his estate specifically for
that day, the bodies were carried to the cathedral in a crowded and candle-lit procession of
schools, townsfolk, guilds, and fraternities; and after a wake of singing and many a Holy
Mass, at the special request of one of the newly-baptised, upon the will of the Most Honour-
able Rt. Rev. Bishop and the Most Honourable Castellan and Chatelaine of Słońsk, they
were transferred to the Church of Jesuit Frs; and after the usual rites performed by the same
Most Honourable Rt. Rev. Bishop, were duly entombed there. ¶ Processus judiciarius in
causa patrati cruenti infanticidii per infideles judaeos seniores synagogae woyslavicensis
Wojsławice

Ac Alios In Officio Castrensi Capitaneali Crasnostaviensi Definitus Anno Domini 1761.

The Jews of Wojsławice were then faced or to be banished from the town. As
112 with a choice: either to undergo baptism a result, Orthodox Jews fled, and about
300 Frankists accepted Christianiza- unjustly accused rabbi had cursed them
tion in the church in Wojsławice. The before his death. Decimated by the dis-
memory of these events was preserved ease, the Frankists soon left Wojsławice,
in the local community and the phrase and Marianna Potocka had five roadside
“the dissenters of Wojsławice” (Yid.: chapels dedicated to five saints built at
voislavitzer meshumedim) became entry points to the town and the palace.
a Yiddish idiom. After these events, an To this day, Wojsławice is thus pro-
epidemic broke out, which Jacob Frank tected by them: Chapels to St. John of
himself described in The Collection of Nepomuk, standing near the pond and
the Words of the Lord, writing: […] In protecting it from flood; to St. Florian,
Woyslawic smallpox prevailed among the protecting it from fires; to St. Thecla,
children of our people. Anyone who fell offering protection from fire and poor
ill with it was doomed to die, and before harvest; as well as to St. Barbara and St.
someone caught it, a black bird flew to his Michael the Archangel – patron saints of
house and stood [there]. That was a sure good death. The bodies of the baptised
sign that someone in that house would Frankists who died in Wojsławice were

„
fall sick. The town’s citizens were seized buried at the local churchyard.
with terror: they were convinced that the

Our house stood between the Catholic and Orthodox churches; I used to see the
old Orthodox parish priest every day, and the young Catholic priest would even
visit us and joke with my dad, who was a Hasid. He tried on my dad’s coat one day and
said that he would come to pray in the vestibule of the synagogue. One day, that priest took
me to the church crypt, where I saw glass coffins, and inside them I saw figures of rabbis
that looked as if they were made of wax and had grey beards. They were lying there, wear-
ing shtreimels, dressed in satin coats, wrapped up in silk straps. ¶ Yakov Tenenbojm, In
the Town of My Parents and Grandparents, in: Yizker-bukh tsum fareybikn dem ondenk
fun der horev-gevorener Yidisher kehile Voyslavits (The Memorial Book in Memory of the
Jewish Community of Wojsławice), Tel Aviv 1970

“For the Lord will rebuild German occupation, the synagogue

Jerusalem” ¶ The inscription – “For was converted into a stable and a grain
the Lord will rebuild Jerusalem” – is storehouse, and therefore, survived the
visible at the top of the synagogue’s war. At the turn of the 1980s and 1990s,
eastern wall. The numerical values of the local authorities of Wojsławice reno-
the Hebrew letters used in this inscrip- vated the building and converted it into
tion add up to 5663 – the Jewish year a library and registry office. Today, the
that corresponds to 1902/1903 of the building houses a memorial room with
Gregorian calendar, when the new syna- exhibits evoking the town’s multiethnic
gogue building was finally completed: past. It is worth going inside to see the
its construction had begun in 1890, after wooden vault over the main hall.
the fire that had destroyed its wooden
predecessor. In the 1940s, during the 113
 Former synagogue in
Wojsławice, 2015. Photo
by Paulina Kowalczyk,
digital collection of the
Panorama of Cultures
Association

„ The synagogue was beautiful, colourful inside, and full of handmade ornaments.
¶ Irving Raab – a fragment of an oral history account from the collection of the
USC Shoah Foundation, 1997.

Next to the synagogue stands an incon- Kurdwanowska, nearly two decades after
spicuous wooden house, which in fact the sharp economic decline caused by
used to be one floor higher. In this house the expulsion of the Jews and the depar-
the rabbi of Wojsławice, Rabbi David ture of the Frankists. It read: […] seeking
London lived. He served as the rabbi for to turn this decline so great […] into
more than half of the 19th century. His a restoration of the town of Wojsławice,
sons, Berko and Arie Leib, took up rab- I see fit not only to permit the merchants,
binical posts too – in Wojsławice and in proprietors, traders, and artisans of all
Luboml. Historical records also record crafts who are of Jewish faith and wish to
that his grandson, David Weitsfrucht- become my subjects, live in my domain,
London, became the mayor of Luboml and adopt my rule in […] Wojsławice
in 1915, during the Austrian occupa- not only to purchase plots of land and
tion. Other local rabbis were Pinkas houses […] and to build them up, but
Bodenstein, Meir Weinsztein, and Shyia also to give them assistance to do so
Kleinmintz. The last rabbi of Wojsławice, most easily and commonly. […] I hereby
Yakov Tsitrinboim, died in October 1942 grant and proclaim, in the above areas,
in the Sobibór extermination camp, a priviledge to establish a synagogue and
together with most of the town’s Jewish clergy with authority and power of other
population. ¶ A bet midrash (house of towns; to elect one from them to serve
study and prayer house), once stood as a rabbi with the same privileges as in
in what is now an empty square on the other neighbouring towns; […] to build
west side of the synagogue. It was built a school in the designated location. [In
Wojsławice

in 1780, under an unprecedented favora- addition] cemeteries in the old location

ble privilege allowing Jews to reenter are instantly permitted; [… and] the
the town that was granted by Mari- maintainance of fairs and markets is
114 anna Potocka’s daughter, Humbelina allowed, in accordance with the old law,
 Jewish cemetery in
Wojsławice, 1931. Photo
by Kazimierz Czernicki,
digital collection of the
Panorama of Cultures
Association

for all wares to be sold freely and without Arcaded houses ¶ To this day, a row
restriction. Unlimited licence is granted of arcaded houses is lined up around the
to make all kinds of alcoholic beverages western side of the market square – the
and liquors in any quantities and to serve only surviving complex of buildings of
those, as well as to provide feed for horses this kind in the Lubelskie Voivodeship.
and hay at inns. The old Jewish cemetery The buildings in their present form were
established in the 16th century that is established in the early 1920s, but we
mentioned in the privilege (okopisko) know from documents that arcaded
has not survived. At present, only the houses had stood here, on the same
devastated site of the new cemetery, building plots, since the early times of
established in the 19th century and the town in the mid-15th century. The
located on a hill about 200 metres from arcades provided protection against
Grabowiecka St., can be visited. Only sunlight and rain; they also served as
a few remnants of gravestones can be a showcase, the place for craftsmen and
found there. merchants living in these houses to
display their wares and meet clients.

The last in the row of arcaded houses is the so-called “Fawko the shoemak-
er’s house,” where the family of Fajwel Szyld – a shoemaker, bootmaker,
and hide trader – lived until 1942. Currently, this wooden house is main-
tained by the Panorama of Cultures Association, which since 2005 has initi-
ated events that evoke the centuries of the town’s multiethnic past and hopes
to establish a “Panorama of Cultures Meeting House” in the building.

„
According to the map included in the one of the arcaded houses housed
Yizkor Book in Memory of Wojsławice, a cheder.

In melamed Dawidek’s heder stood two long benches on which children would
sit while the rebbe would teach them to read in Hebrew and to pray. He had two 115
 assistants who helped him bring the children there every day. On rainy days, when the
town was covered with deep mud, the assistants would carry the children on their backs.
At the heder, they also helped teach the first-graders, indicating letters on the alphabet
board with a pointer, and teaching them capital letters. It sometimes happened that,
when an assistant proceeded to explain to us what segol alef [sound “e”] and segol mem
[sound “me”] were, we would suddenly hear the piercing sound of a goat bleating outside:
meeeeeeh! We felt sympathy for the assistant, who had to struggle with all his might to
out-cry the goat. And so, we learned vowel signs in no time at all. The goat helping them
became engraved in our memory. ¶ In those days, there was not a single child in the town
who did not learn at melamed Dawidek’s heder. ¶ Mendel Schaffer, My Sixty Years of
Life in Wojsławice, in: Yizker-bukh tsum fareybikn dem ondenk fun der horev-gevorener
Yidisher kehile Voyslavits (Yid.: Yizkor Book in Memory of the Jewish Community of
Wojsławice), Tel Aviv 1970.

Around the town square ¶ The earth tactics while retreating from the
building that currently dominates the Kingdom of Poland. Until World War II,
central square of Wojsławice is the new the town square was a marketplace that
town hall, opened in 2014. Its form and would fill up every Wednesday with peo-
location resemble that of the old Renais- ple wearing different types of clothing

„
sance town hall destroyed in 1915 by and speaking different languages: Polish,
the Russian army, which used scorched Yiddish, and Ukrainian.

Wednesday was a market day in town. The Jews usually prepared for that day
all week. Peasants from the entire vicinity would arrive, each of them bringing
something for sale, and with the money they earned from this they bought the goods they
needed from the Jews. This kind of fair had been a custom for many years. The peasants
would usually come with a horse and cart and bring sacks of grain. Young and old men
and women carried woven baskets, bags, tin egg holders, and bundles of onions. On their
carts they had sacks of potatoes, hens, and all kinds of fruit. By hand or by cart, everyone
carried something for sale. ¶ The marketplace where the fair was held was a large square
in the heart of the town. It was there that horse, cattle, and pig trading took place. Racket
and tumult would rise up to the sky. Horses neighed, cattle mooed, sheep lay bound on
carts with hay, bleating and growling. Trade continued all day long, everyone bought or
sold something. ¶ David Eines, Fairs, Thieves, and Jewish Rich Men, in: Yizker-bukh tsum
fareybikn dem ondenk fun der horev-gevorener Yidisher kehile Voyslavits (Yid.: Yizkor
Book in Memory of the Jewish Community of Wojsławice), Tel Aviv 1970

According to the 1921 census, the town as generally peaceful. ¶ The houses
population of Wojsławice included around the town square were mostly
Wojsławice

1,187 Catholics, 444 members of the inhabited by Jewish craftsmen and

Orthodox Church, three Evangelicals, merchants. On the northern side of the
and 835 Jews. Both Christian and Jewish square there was a bakery, run by Han-
116 residents recall their coexistence in the nah Erlich. During World War I her son,
Haim Jankiel, joined the Third Brigade Cross of Independence and the Cross of A panorama of
Wojsławice, 2012. Photo
of the Polish Legioneers at the age of Valour and served in the Polish Army

„
by Dariusz Kostecki,
17 and went through the entire combat until 1932. digital collection of the
Panorama of Cultures
campaign with it. He was awarded the Association

In our town, in Wojsławice, when it was May 3rd before the war, people would
gather near the community office. With the firemen’s band, we would march
together to the [Catholic] church for a mass, and from that church we would go to the
Orthodox church – for there were all kinds of people there; from the Orthodox church we
would go to the synagogue and there again we attended a celebration. Then, from the
synagogue, we would go to listen to the speech at the statue of Kościuszko, and then back
to the community office. ¶ The account by Stanisław Burda – Oral History Archive of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre, Wojsławice 2004

World War II and the Holocaust extermination camp. The deportees

¶ In October 1939, Soviet troops entered were led by the last rabbi of Wojsławice,
Wojsławice, and German troops took the Yakov Tsitrinboim. Several dozen people
town over two weeks later. The syna- avoided deportation, but they were soon
gogue and prayer houses were desa- discovered and shot in the meadow
crated, and the Jewish residents were behind the bakery. In 2015, thanks to
routinely humiliated. In the autumn cooperation between the Society of
of 1942, the Jews living in Wojsławice Enthusiasts of Wojsławice and the Jew-
were forced to walk to Chełm, where ish Cemeteries Rabbinical Commission,
they were to be deported to the Sobibór the exact place of their burial was found. 117
 Present day ¶ Currently, about 1,500 evoked at the Meetings of Three Cultures
people live in Wojsławice. After the festival, organised since 2007 by the
nationalization in the post-war period, Society of Enthusiasts of Wojsławice.
the Orthodox church building has been Several agritourism farms function in
returned to the Orthodox parish in the vicinity, such as Dom Gościnny in
Chełm and occasionally serves various Stary Majdan, which was awarded the
religious purposes. At the synagogue, title of “The Tourist Gem of the Lublin
the local authorities have established Region” in 2013. As in the past, an open
a memorial room. The local heritage is market takes place every Wednesday.

Worth Former synagogue, currently a museum (1890–1903), 20A Rynek St., tel. +48 82 5669153,
seeing [email protected] ¶ Jewish cemetery (19th c.), Grabowiecka St. ¶ The town’s urban layout
(15th c.). ¶ Parish church complex: the Church of St. Michael the Archangel (1595–1608),
a belfry (1763), and a presbytery (1840); 100 Rynek St. ¶ Prophet Elijah Orthodox Church
(1771); the bell tower next to the Orthodox church (1914); Rynek St. ¶ Votive chapels dedi-
cated to St. Barbara, St. Michael, St. Thecla, St. John of Nepomuk, and St. Florian (1762). ¶
Arcaded houses on the town square, the one of few last surviving complex of arcaded houses
in Poland (1920s), Rynek St. ¶ Parish cemetery (1793–1803), Chełmska St.

Surrounding Uchanie (8 km): the castle hill; the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
area (1625); the Jewish cemetery in Podgórze St. (16th c.). ¶ Bończa (10 km): a Calvinist church,
currently the Church of St. Stanislaus (1577); the Orthodox Church of Our Lady of Good
Protection (1877–1881); an early medieval fortified settlement; a palace and park com-
plex, currently a residential care home (18th/19th c.). ¶ Grabowiec (13 km): the remains of
a medieval castle; a wooden house, formerly the Municipal Culture Centre (1898); the Church
of St. Nicholas (1855); the parish cemetery (1792–1798); a mass grave of 30 Jews murdered
in 1942, located in a gorge outside the town; the local Regional Museum; grave of Władysław
Czachórski in the churchyard. ¶ Sielec (15 km): the remains of the Uhrowiecki Castle (14th c.);
the manor house of the Rzewuski family, currently a primary school (2nd half of the 19th c.);
a column with a figure of the Mother of God (2nd half of the 17th c.). ¶ Kraśniczyn (15 km):
a Jewish cemetery (mid-19th c.); remains of manorial buildings at the curve of the Wojsławka
River; an inn, currently a private house, Kościuszki St. (1895). ¶ Surhów (22 km): the Ciesz-
kowski Palace with wall paintings by Nicola Monti, currently a residential care centre (1st half
of the 19th c.); the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Luke (1820–
1824). ¶ Chełm (29 km): Chełm Hill (Górka Chełmska): a hill fort (14th c.); foundations of
the Orthodox Church of Sts. Cyril and Methodius (1884); the cathedral complex on the Castle
Hill (Góra Zamkowa): the Basilica of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1735–1756),
the Basilian monastery, the Uniate Bishops’ Palace, Uściługska Gate (1616); the beth midrash,
8 Kopernika St. (1914); a Jewish cemetery (15th–16th c.); tenement houses in Lubelska St.,
Wojsławice

incl. Majer Bronfeld’s print shop; the former Piarist Church of the Dispersion of the Apostles
(1753–1763); the Orthodox Church of St. John the Theologian (1846–1849); the Kretzschmar
Palace, currently the Registry Office (circa 19th c.); Chełm Museum; Chełm Chalk Tunnels.
118 ¶ Strzelce (24 km): the Du Chateau family manor (1908–1911); the hunting palace of the
Zamoyskis in Strzelce-Maziarnia (1903). ¶ Hrubieszów (32 km): the 13-dome Orthodox
Church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1873); “Du Chateau” manorial complex,
currently housing the Staszic Museum (circa 18th c.); the Gołachowski family manor (19th c.);
the Kiesewetter family manor (19th c.); the cloth hall, known as sutki (mid-19th c.); the Church
of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (1905); Dominican monastery complex (18th–19th c.); a Jew-
ish cemetery (16th c.); the Jewish hospital building, 31 Partyzantów St. (1844). ¶ Horodło
(35 km): Dominican monastery complex (17th c.); the wooden Polish Catholic Church of
the Resurrection of Our Lord (20th c.); the former Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas and the
Exaltation of the Holy Cross (20th c.); the Union of Horodło Mound (1861); Jagiellonian Bul-
warks, a fortified settlement on the Bug; remnants of the new Jewish cemetery (1st half of the
19th c.). ¶ Dubienka (37 km): the town hall (1905); a Byzantine (Ruthenian) Catholic church
(19th/20th c.); the Church of the Most Holy Trinity (1865); a Jewish cemetery with the tomb
of tsaddik Uri Feivel (16th/17th c.). ¶ Dorohusk (42 km): the Suchodolski Palace (18th c.);
the Church of the Mother of God and St. John of Nepomuk (1821). ¶ Strzyżów (42 km): the
Lubomirski Palace (1762–1786); the former wooden Uniate Church of the Nativity of the
Blessed Virgin Mary (1817); a complex of sugar mill buildings (1899). ¶ Komarów-Osada
(43 km): a Jewish cemetery near the road to Tyszowce (1st half of the 18th c.); a memorial to
248 Jews murdered in the local ghetto; Holy Trinity Church (1904–1911); the Chapel of Our
Lady of Sorrows and St. John the Evangelist (circa 18th c.). ¶ Świerże (46 km): the Church of
St. Peter and St. Paul (early 20th c.); remnants of the Jewish cemetery (2nd half of the 18thc.)
¶ Kryłów (52 km): remnants of the Ostroróg Castle (16th/17th c.); the Church of the Nativity
of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1859–1960); a Jewish cemetery (17th c.). ¶ Tyszowce (54 km):
Church of St. Leonard (1865–1869); craft-related buildings (2nd half of the 19th c.), Zamłynie
St. and Jurydyki St.; a memorial to the Confederation of Tyszowce; the new Jewish cemetery
(19th/20th c.). ¶ Volhynian Polesie: a belt of land east of Chełm as far as Ukraine, with three
landscape parks and 12 nature reserves.

WOJSŁAWICE

119
 Izbica
Ukr. Іжбиця, Yid. ‫איזשביצע‬ My first home was in Izbica; this is where I was born. This was my
inheritance – yerushe, as you say in Yiddish – my great-grandfather
had built the house and passed it on to the following generations.
Thomas Blatt – a fragment of Oral History from the collection of
the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre, Lublin 2004

The Jewish capital ¶ The earliest and it grew up on the route from Lublin
mentions of Izbica date back to 1419. It to Lviv. Due to its small size, it did not
was a village in the parish of Krasnystaw develop a distinct network of streets
and was spelt Istbicza in documents. In until the 19th century. On the eve of the
1539, the village became the property Polish partitions (1772–1795), Izbica
of Hetman Jan Tarnowski. In 1548, the numbered 29 dwelling houses located
Tanowskis established Tarnogóra, a new around the market square, inhabited by
urban centre across the Wieprz River. 150 people; it had three breweries, and
Izbica remained a village until the 18th starting in 1754, several modest market
century. In 1662, its population num- fairs were permitted to be organised.
bered 23 farmers, all of them Catholics. ¶ Also in 1754, a Jewish cemetery
¶ A new town charter was granted to was established. In 1765, the kahal of
Izbica in the mid-18th century, when Tarnogóra, to which Izbica’s Jews still
Antoni Granowski, the head of the Tar- belonged, had 204 members. The kahal
nogóra town council, received a privi- was moved to Izbica 10 years later.
lege from King Augustus III to establish The town did not have a separate civic
a town in Izbica and to settle Jews in it. municipal administration. Although
This decision was probably dictated by 19th-century town plans do show a town
a local conflict between Christians and hall construction site, the building was
Jews that in 1744 led to the expulsion never actually erected. The kahal’s elders
of Jews from Tarnogóra, where the de probably settled municipal matters
non tolerandis Judaeis privilege came together with the owner of the estate.
into force. From the beginning of its
existence, thus, the town of Izbica was A town by the road ¶ In the 1830s,
inhabited exclusively by Jews; Christian a new road was built leading from
peasants lived in a separate village, Warsaw through Lublin and Zamość to
also called Izbica. The entirely Jewish Lwów. It ran through Izbica, and thanks
character of the town was a unique case to this road the town gained importance
Izbica

in Poland. ¶ This Jewish town was one of as a centre of local craft and commerce.
120 the smallest towns in Poland-Lithuania, Though Izbica never developed into
 Houses in Lubelska
Street in Izbica, 1940.
Photo by Max Kirn-
berger, collection of the
Deutsches Historisches
Museum, Berlin

a larger urban centre, the population their construction, limestone was used).
grew constantly; moreover, until World These buildings were laid out around
War I, it was inhabited almost exclu- the market square and along the road
sively by Jews. In 1810, only 173 people leading to Tarnogóra, with inns situated
lived in Izbica, but by 1827, the town at their rear. There was a mill, a sawmill,
already had 407 residents, and 30 years a bentwood furniture factory, tanneries,
later their number reached 1,600. In and a comb factory. Twenty years later,

„
1860, the town had 117 houses, of which Izbica’s population reached 2,077.
80 were considered stone houses (for

Hasidim ¶ Though we don’t practice the traditions of the Hasidic Jews, on the
Sabbath we often host visiting Hasidic rabbis because my father is considered
one of the leaders of the community. Our family’s dinner guest this evening is a rabbi from
the town of Radzyń. I can easily identify his affiliation with a quick glance at the unusu-
ally colored tzitzis that he wears: whereas nearly all Jewish men wear white tzitzis, he dons
the hallmark blue tzitzis of the Hasidic Jews from Radzyń and Izbica. ¶ Philip Bialowitz,
A Promise at Sobibór, Madison 2010

In the 1840s–1850s, tsaddik Mor- Eiger of Lublin was Leiner’s disciple, and
dekhai Yosef Leiner (1801–1854), Mordekhai Yosef ’s son, Gershon Hanokh
a disciple of tsaddik Menakhem Mendel Leiner, founded a Hasidic court in
Morgenstern of Kock (Kotzk), ran his Radzyń Podlaski. In the interwar period,
own Hasidic court in Izbica, and it is a local court functioned in Izbica, run by
Mordekhai Yosef Leiner from whom the Hasidic rabbi Tzvi Rabinowicz from the
still-existing Hasidic dynasty of Izbica dynasty of Simcha Bunim of Peshischa
and Radzyń descends. Tsadik Judah Leib (Przysucha). 121
Members of Izbica’s
Judenrat, with the syna-
gogue building in the
background, 1940. Photo
by Max Kirnberger, col-
lection of the Deutsches
Historisches Museum,
Berlin

„ On one occasion, so-called more enlightened Jews arrived from the nearby town of
Zamość. More enlightened meant a little more assimilated, a bit like the intel-
ligentsia or students. They came on bicycles on Saturday, which was a sin! And they weren’t
wearing hats, either! This was not acceptable in Izbica. I only remember that some of the
Orthodox Jews – “Yeshivabuchers” [Talmudic academy students –eds.] – chased these
cyclists until they disappeared across the town’s boundary. ¶ Thomas Blatt – a fragment of
Oral History from the collection of the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre, Lublin 2004.

The synagogue ¶ The earliest synagogue was established at the same

mentions of a bet midrash, reportedly location. It burned down in 1879, but
located behind the houses in the north was rebuilt soon afterwards. The build-
side of Izbica’s market square, date back ing was pulled down completely in
to 1781. It was probably there, in its 1943–1944, already after the town’s Jews
place, that the first wooden synagogue had been murdered.
was built in 1819. In 1855, a stone

The tent of meeting ¶ In 1925, Rabbi Pinkhas Elijah Herbst of

Izbica began to publish a periodical devoted to rabbinical and Tal-
mudic issues. Published in Hebrew, this monthly was entitled Ohel Moed

„
(Tent of Meeting). The publisher’s main objective was to spread knowl-
edge based on Talmudic learning among young rabbinical scholars.

(…) each significant Jewish town in Poland typically has at least a few fami-
lies who have been the trusted bakers of the Passover matzo for generations.
Izbica

In Izbica one of these families is the Klyds, from which my mother and her four siblings
122 were descended (…). The large scale of the [matzo-baking] operation also means that for
the four weeks before the annual holiday, our home is overrun by about twenty of Izbica’s
prettiest young girls, handpicked by my mother to assist in the meticulous baking process. ¶
Philip Bialowitz, A Promise at Sobibór, Madison 2010.

Religious, social, and political were Orthodox, and the pace of Jewish
life ¶ During the revolution of 1905, life was regulated by tradition: the rab-
a strong centre of the Polish Social- binic law overrided the Polish law. Many
ist Party (PPS) was established in the Jewish families used no language but
nearby Tarnogóra, and its influence Yiddish, and although there was a Polish
spilled over into Izbica. Polish PPS activ- primary school in Izbica, not all Jewish
ists were able to mobilize the Jewish resi- children attended it. Some of the boys
dents of Izbica to take part in a strike and from Hasidic families finished their edu-
a demonstration, but the high level of cation at the elementary school (cheder)
danger posed by the Russian garrison in level. On the way from the town centre
Krasnystaw prevented any major revolu- towards the cemetery, one can still see
tionary outbreaks. ¶ On the eve of World a house that preserves a traditional suk-
War I, the population of Izbica amounted kah (Heb. booth), a kind of balcony with
to 4,451 inhabitants, almost all of them an opened roof, used during the feast of
Jews. After the war, Poles also settled in Sukkot. At the entrance to the path lead-
the town. According to the 1921 census, ing to the cemetery, the one-time funeral

„
there were 2,865 Jews, 219 Poles, and one home serves now a residential building.
Ukrainian in Izbica. Most of local Jews

On a Saturday evening, when the Sabbath was over, I remember there was
a tradition of everyone going out to the main street for a stroll, from one end to
the other. Whole families. People would dress up in their best clothes and celebrate the end
of the Sabbath. I would never go, but my mother always would, with my younger brother –
she took him by the hand and they strolled back and forth. That was traditional. ¶ Thomas
Blatt – a fragment of Oral History from the collection of the “Grodzka Gate – NN Thea-
tre” Centre, Lublin 2004

Poor, but at home ¶ Izbica was an important role. In the 1930s, Izbica’s
a poor town, without a sewage system only industrial plant of considerable size
until the outbreak of World War II. was established – a state-owned clinker
Water was supplied by a few artesian brick factory, where Jews were not
pumps and three wells. Not all of the employed. By 1939, the population of
houses had electric lighting. Izbica was the town reached about 4,500 inhabit-

„
a town of craft and trade in which small ants, of whom 92 percent were still Jews.
tanneries, oil mills, and sawmills played

What did they do for a living? There were some three oil mills and two tanner-
ies, there were various kinds of shoe repair shops and tailor’s shops, there were
locksmiths and mechanics, there were two sawmills, there were beerhouses, there were six 123
 libraries, there was a cinema, and there was
an amateur theatre. Cultural life was highly
vibrant. There was a fire brigade in Izbica,
with a Pole as its commander. Later, a Jew
was the commander. When there was a fire,
they would arrive with an extinguisher and
pump the water manually to put it out. ¶
Thomas Blatt – a fragment of Oral History
from the collection of the “Grodzka Gate –
NN Theatre” Centre, Lublin 2004.

was established in Izbica, with Kurt

Engels as the head and Volksdeutscher
Ludwig Klemm as his deputy. It was
they who first organised the arrest of
representatives of the Polish and Jewish
intelligentsia from Izbica and Tarnogóra
and subsequently launched the mass
persecution of Jews. On Engels’s order,
the Jewish cemetery was razed and the
matzevot were used to build a jail and
pave the streets.

The transit ghetto ¶ In March 1942,

after the beginning of Operation Rein-
hard, the Germans turned Izbica into
A leaflet advertising the World War II and the Holocaust the largest transit ghetto in the Lublin
Cwekin beerhouse in
Izbica, 1932, collection of
¶ At the outbreak of World War II, Izbica District. By the end of May, more than
the National Library of was initially seized by German troops. 10,000 Jews from Bohemia, Slovakia,
Poland (www.polona.pl)
Towards the end of September 1939, the Austria, and Germany were deported
Red Army entered the town, but only for here. The local Jews were deported
a brief period. Fearing German repres- mainly to the Bełżec extermination
sion, a group of Jews from the town left camp, while Izbica became the place
Izbica with the withdrawing Red Army. where Jews from the County of Kras-
From 1940, Jews began to be resettled nystaw and from Zamość were concen-
to Izbica from the western regions of trated. By November 1942, about 24,000
Poland, which had been incorporated Polish and other Jews passed through
into the Reich: from Koło, Łódź, Kalisz, Izbica to be deported to the extermina-
and Konin. In 1941, about 1,000 Jews tion camps in Bełżec and Sobibór and to
from Lublin were resettled here. The the Majdanek concentration camp. Dur-
living conditions rapidly deteriorated. ing the brutal deportations, hundreds of
Izbica

A local station of the German Security people were murdered in the streets and
124 Police for the County of Krasnystaw on the railway platform. Many – mainly
 The ohel of tsaddik
Mordekhai Yosef Leiner
(1801–1854) and his
family in the Jewish
cemetery in Izbica, 2015.
Photo by Monika Tarajko,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)

foreign Jews, who did not know the local and shot dead. A month later a ghetto
language and had no personal contacts was established again, this time for
in the vicinity – died in Izbica of hunger about 300 Jews caught in hiding places
and epidemic diseases. ¶ On November and in nearby forests. On April 28, 1943,
2, 1942, the transit ghetto was liqui- they were transported to the Sobibór

„
dated. About 2,000 Jews remaining in extermination camp.This put an end to
Izbica were taken to the Jewish cemetery Jewish Izbica.

“Ordnung, Ordnung!” he (the SS man) bellowed like a madman. “Order, order!”

The two policemen echoed him hoarsely, firing straight into the faces of the Jews
running to the trains. Impelled and controlled by this ring of fire, they filled the two cars
quickly. […] The military rule stipulates that a freight car may carry eight horses or forty
soldiers. Without any baggage at all, a maximum of a hundred passengers standing close
together and pressing against each other could be crowded into a car. The Germans had
simply issued orders to the effect that 120 to 130 Jews had to enter each car. These orders
were now being carried out. Alternately swinging and firing with their rifles, the policemen
were forcing still more people into the two cars that were already overfull.” ¶ Jan Karski,
Story of a Secret State, Boston 1944

Memorials ¶ The site of the mass are individual memorials: a plaque

execution of November 1942 was com- commemorating Gertrude Mitterbach
memorated in the 1960s and 1970s with (a Jewish woman converted to Christi-
the symbolic outlines of three mass anity) and a monument in honour of the
graves (which do not coincide with families of all murdered Jews, erected in
their actual area). Next to them, there 1967 by Fr. Grzegorz Pawłowski (Jakub
is an obelisk with a representation of Hersz Griner) and his brother Haim
the Ten Commandments. Nearby, there Griner. Haim survived the war in the 125
 for by young people from the local mid-
dle school and the Kassel-based German
organisation Bildungswerk Stanisław
Hantz. In 2006, the Foundation for the
Preservation of Jewish Heritage (FODŻ)
and the German television station ARD
had the former jail pulled down. Frag-
ments of the matzevot that the Germans
had used to build it were transported
to the cemetery. Some of them, with
the original colours preserved, were set
into the walls of tsaddik Leiner’s ohel.
A house with a pre- Soviet Union, and Jakub managed to The oldest matzevah fragment is dated
served sukkah, Izbica,
2015. Photo by Monika
escape from Izbica in November 1942 to 1785. In 2006, the Foundation and
Tarajko, digital collection before the final execution, in which the German Embassy funded a monu-
of the “Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” Centre
his parents and sisters were killed. He ment at the cemetery to commemorate
(www.teatrnn.pl) survived thanks to his command of the the extermination of Jews in Izbica. The
Polish language. Later on, he converted monument has the form of a stele with
to Catholicism and became a Catholic inscriptions in Polish, German, and Eng-
priest in 1958. He serves the Catholic lish. ¶ On a little green square across the
community of Israel from 1970. ¶ In road from the cemetery stands a small
1995, at the initiative of the Leiner fam- obelisk erected in 2007 by a German and
ily, the ohel of tsaddik Mordekhai Yosef Jewish organisation from Würzburg that
Leiner and his family members was commemorates the Jews from Würzburg
rebuilt at the cemetery. Since 2004, the and from all of Franconia deported to
Jewish cemetery in Izbica has been cared Izbica in the spring of 1942.

Worth Jewish cemetery (18th c.), Fabryczna St. ¶ Town houses (19th/20th c.) in the market square
seeing and in Lubelska St. ¶ Clinker works (1929), Fabryczna St.

Surrounding Orłów Murowany (7 km): Count Kicki’s palace (19th c.) surrounded by a park; ruins of
area fortifications (16th c.); and Church of St. Cajetan (1920s). ¶ Krasnystaw (13 km): a syna-
gogue (Czysta St.); foundations of a mikveh; the former Perelmuter’s mill; the Zygelszyper,
Baumfeld, Binder, and Fleszer family town houses; a Jewish cemetery (1st half of the
19th c.), Rejowiecka St.; the former Jesuit monastery complex: the Church of St.Francis
Xavier (17th/18th c.), the Jesuit college (1720) currently the Regional Museum, the episcopal
palace (17th c.); the former new Augustinian complex; the Church of the Most Holy Trinity
(1837–1839). ¶ Gorzków (18 km): the former synagogue, currently a school (1930s); the area
of the former Jewish cemetery (mid-19th c.), on the left side of the road to Chołupnik; church
of St. Stanislaus (1623); a gate bell tower (1801); the parish cemetery. ¶ Krupe (19 km): ruins
of a castle (16th/17th c.); a manor house built by Jan Michał Rej (18th c.); the Church of Our
Izbica

Lady of Częstochowa, erected as an Othodox church (circa 1905); “Arianka” – a pyramid-

126 shaped brick tomb, mausoleum of Paweł Orzechowski (1st half of the 17th c.). ¶ Skierbieszów
(20 km): “Zamczysko” (“Castle”) Hill (14th c.); the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin Mary (1610); St. Kilian’s Fair (held annually in July since the 16th c.). ¶ Żółkiewka
(25 km) – Church of St. Lawrence (1776) with a belfry gate; the wooden Greek Catholic
Church of St. Michael the Archangel, (currently the Polish Catholic Church of St. James).
In the nearby villages of Dębie, Olchowiec, Zaburze, Średnia Wieś, Wola Żółkiewska, and
Chłaniów, remnants of old manor houses of the nobility have survived. ¶ Rejowiec (26 km):
the Ossoliński palace and park complex (19th c.); the so-called Mikołaj Rej house (1720);
a Jewish cemetery (18th/19th c.); Church of St. Josaphat (1906–1907); the Uniate Church of
St. Michael the Archangel, currently a Roman Catholic church (circa 18th c.); pumps in the
market square (19th c.). ¶ Fajsławice (32 km): the Church of St. John of Nepomuk (18th c.);
a churchyard; the manor and park complex of the Florkowski family (2nd half of the 18th c.);
the old parish cemetery on the Arian Mount (Ariańska Góra) with the Florkowski family
chapel and Hakenszmit chapel; three World War I cemeteries (in Dziecinin, Boniewo, and
Suchodoły). ¶ Stołpie (39 km): ruins of a tower (circa 12th c.), the oldest Polish monument
east of the Vistula. ¶ Siedliszcze (44 km): the wooden manor house of the Węgliński family
(1760); an Orthodox church, currently the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Jasna Góra
(1904); an electric mill (1928); an open-air museum at the Community Cultural Centre. ¶
Bychawa (55 km): a synagogue (1810); an old Jewish cemetery (16th/17th c.), 7 Kościuszki
St.; ruins of a palace in Podzamcze (1st half of the 16th c.), Pileckiego St.; the Church of St.
John the Baptist and St. Francis of Assisi; town houses along the main streets. ¶ Skierbieszów
Landscape Park protects a subregion of the Grabowiec Watersheds (Działy Grabowieckie)
and features a diverse landscape perfect for horse riding and biking excursions. The upland
areas are criss-crossed by river valleys, surrounded by deep gorges, cliffs, and slopes. Forests
constitute 21 percent of the Park’s area. There are 14 natural monuments and several nature
reserves in the Park.

IZBICA

127
 Szczebrzeszyn
Ukr. Щебрешин, Yid. ‫שעברעשין‬ “What is the name of this place?” he thundered.
[…] The old man started to mumble. The commander screamed:
“Speak up! Speak up!” And when the old man still didn’t stop
mumbling he was struck in the face, knocking out a tooth.
The old Jew bent down to pick up his tooth and said sadly, in
Hebrew, “Sheber-shin.” Broken tooth: Sheber-Shin.
Philip Bibel, Why My Town Had Two Names, in: Tales of the
Shtetl, Elie Metchnikoff Memorial Library, 2004

Sheber shin ¶ In the Middle Ages, from paying rent for the shul and the
Szczebrzeszyn was one of the most cemetery. ¶ In the 16th century, Szcze-
important fortified settlements in the brzeszyn became famous as the home
Principality of Galicia–Volhynia. When of learned men, writers, and rabbis.
Red Ruthenia was annexed to the Polish Women were not neglected: Gumpekh
Crown in the mid-14th century, Szcze- of Szczebrzeszyn won renown thanks
brzeszyn was described as a “Ruthenian to his book for women covering vari-
town.” At the end of the 14th century, ous legal aspects of Purim and Pesach,
Dymitr of Goraj, the new owner, granted published in 1555 in Italy. He also wrote
the town Magdeburg rights. In the 15th poetic short stories that were included
century, Jews began to settle in Szcze- in prayer books for women. At the end
brzeszyn, giving rise to one of the oldest of the 16th century, Isaiah Menakhem –
Jewish communities in the present- son of Isaiah of Szczebrzeszyn – became
day Lubelskie Voivodeship. In 1507, the Rabbi of Cracow, the largest Jewish
the Szczebrzeszyn kahal already paid community in the Polish-Lithuanian
coronation tax. In 1560, the then owner Commonwealth. The Szczebrzeszyn
of the town, Andrzej Górka, confirmed kahal gradually declined in importance,
the rights and duties of the Jews: this giving way to the dynamically devel-
included the amount of tax they had oping Jewish community in nearby
to pay, as well as issues concerning Zamość.
the jurisdiction of the courts. Further
documents, which mandated the same The oppression of the times ¶ In
treatment of Jews and Christians, were the middle of the 17th century, the town
issued by Stefan Báthory (1583), then by sustained heavy damage from enemy
Stanisław Górka, and finally by Jan Czar- armies. Notably, the devastating attack
Szczebrzeszyn

nowski (1593), who exempted the rabbi of the Khmelnytsky’s Cossack rebels
from the house tax and payments for the was bemoaned by Meir, son of Samuel
mikveh. These rights were confirmed of Szczebrzeszyn, in a poem entitled
in 1597 by the new owner of the town, Tsok ha’itim (The Oppression of the
128 Jan Zamoyski, who also exempted Jews Times), printed a year later in Cracow.
 A view of Szczebrzeszyn,
before 1939, collection
of the Szczebrzeszyn of
Cultures Foundation

It is a chronicle in verse based on the villages) paid a per capita tax (two zlo-
reports of fugitives and the author’s own tys). At the time, the Szczebrzeszyn kahal
experiences. Meir of Szczebrzeszyn had was medium-sized when compared to
authored an earlier poem entitled Shir other kahals in the Land of Chełm: it
Mizmor le-Yom ha-Shabbat (A Psalm was smaller than the kahals of Zamość
for the Sabbath,1639). ¶ Szczebrzeszyn’s (1905 taxpayers), Chełm (1418), Luboml
economic development was encour- (1226), Hrubieszów (1023), or Turobin
aged by a charter issued in 1673 by King (985). Similar-sized communities existed
Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki that in Kryłów (470) and Rejowiec (437), and
allowed the Jews of Szczebrzeszyn to there were 11 kahals smaller than that of
produce and sell liquor. In 1676, the 216 Szczebrzeszyn.
taxed residents of the town included 61
Jews. In the first half of the 18th century, The synagogue ¶ A wooden shul
three sessions of the Va’ad Arba’ Aratzot may have been erected in Szczebrzeszyn
(The Council of Four Lands) were held in already in the 15th century, but the earli-
Szczebrzeszyn. In 1749, the town council est mention of the building dates back to
made an agreement with local Jews and 1588. The stone Renaissance-style syna-
issued a decree allowing them to produce gogue with an attic and a butterfly roof
candles in exchange for payments to the that was built at the beginning of the 17th
municipal budget. In the spirit of the century was destroyed before 1770. In the
rising enlightenment era, the document 1770s, it was rebuilt in its present form
barred Jews from preparing written – with a Polish tiered roof. The building,
agreements in Hebrew – all provisions located southeast of the marketplace
were to be written down in Polish. It also in today’s Sądowa St., is an example of
reaffirmed the obligation to pay taxes a synagogue with the main prayer room
into the treasury of Polish-Lithuanian at its centre. The main men’s room is
Commonwealth. In 1765, records show adjoined by two-storey women’s galleries
that some 444 people in the entire Jew- on the northern and southern sides, by
ish community (the town and nearby a two-storey annexe on the western side 129
 The synagogue
in Szczebrzeszyn,
present day seat of
the Municipal Cultural
Centre, 2013. Photo
by Wioletta Wejman,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)

The synagogue
in Szczebrzeszyn, first
half of the 20th century,
collection of the Szc-
zebrzeszyn of Cultures
Foundation

that once housed a men’s narthex and 1963, it was reconstructed to serve as the
a meeting room, and by a third women’s municipal cultural centre. It continues to
gallery on the first floor, added later, and function in this fashion. A stone aron ha-
once reached by wooden stairs. In 1940, kodesh and the Renaissance ornaments
the synagogue was burned down by the of the main room have survived inside

„
Germans. After the war, it was partially the building.
demolished, and then, between 1957 and
Szczebrzeszyn

We sat together. I held on to a new tallis [prayer shawl] given to me that morn-
ing. Grandpa adjusted the prayer shawl so it would be clearly visible. He told
me to stand up straight, and when it was my turn to read the Torah, the hazzan (cantor)
130 sang out: “Ya’amod, Pinkhas ben Boruch Ha-Kohen.” (Philip, the son of Boruch, the Kohen,
is called up to the Torah). I stepped up and
proudly pronounced the blessing. ¶ Philip
Bibel, What Does it Mean to Be a Kohen?, in:
Tales of the Shtetl, Elie Metchnikoff Memorial
Library, 2004

The Jewish cemetery ¶ The Jewish

cemetery located on Cmentarna St. is
one of the oldest and most interesting
Jewish burial sites in Poland. Established
in the first half of the 16th century, it has
preserved its unique character. There are
more than 3,000 matzevot dating from
1545 to 1939. In 2007, the cemetery
came under the ownership of the Foun-
dation for the Preservation of Jewish
Heritage. ¶ Just behind the entrance to biblical motifs and quotations appearing A matzeva at the Jewish
graveyard in Szcze-
the cemetery, one can see two grave- in the kabbalistic Sefer ha-Zohar (The brzeszyn, 2013. Photo
stones engulfed by a spreading elmtree. Book of Radiance), published for the first by Wioletta Wejman,
digital collection of the
The inscriptions on them are completely time in 1589. Artistic in both form and “Grodzka Gate – NN
effaced. According to popular legends content, the inscription on his grave- Theatre” Centre (www.
stone mentions his life’s work; it does teatrnn.pl)
– and even to a plaque placed here in
the 1990s – these are the gravestones not, however, contain the date of the
of two famous figures connected with scholar’s death – according to his biogra-
Szczebrzeszyn but who lived in differ- phers, he died between 1590 and 1608. ¶
ent periods, Issakhar Ber and Simkha Simkha ha-Kohen Rapoport died in Szc-
ha-Kohen Rapoport. Prof. Andrzej zebrzeszyn in August 1718, at the age of
Trzciński, who conducts research on the 68, when he was on a journey from Lub-
Jewish cemetery, discovered, however, lin to Lwów (now Lviv) where he was to
that the matzevot of these two men become the head of the rabbinical court.
actually stand in a different section of the The inscription on his matzevah reads:
graveyard. ¶ Issakhar Ber ben Naftali ha- This is the grave of a famous teacher,
Kohen was known to his contemporaries the light of Diaspora, master of the sons
as Berman Aszkenazi of Szczebrzeszyn of Diaspora, our teacher and mentor
and was the author of religious works Simkha ha-Kohen Rappoport; may the
that were re-printed many times. These memory of this just and holy man be for
included Matanot kehunah (The Gifts of a blessing; the head of the rabbinical court
Priesthood), a collection of commentar- of the communities of Dubno, Grodno,
ies on the Midrash Rabbah (collection Lublin, he was later appointed head of
of rabbinical pedagogical narratives) the rabbinical court of the community of
published for the first time in Cracow Lwów in place of the Hakham Zvi [a lead-
in 1587, and Mareh Kohen (The Priest ing rabbinic authority in Brody and Lviv,
Watches), an alphabetical index of the stalwart opponent of Sabbateanism and 131
 Yakov Reifman, portrait the father of the illustrious rabbi Yaakov
reproduction from
Sefer zikaron li-kehilat
Emden – eds.]. Here he departed from
Shebreshin, ed. Dov this world when they were on a journey,
Shuval, Haifa 1984
and it occurred on the 7th day of Av in
478 [1718]. He had sons and sons-in-law
– rabbis, pillars of science, and the great
ones of the generation. He promised that
all the descendants of his loins to the tenth
generation who come to his grave would
be made happy. ¶ The oldest gravestones
in the cemetery can be found in the
eastern section, near the northern wall.
The oldest preserved matzevah marks
the grave of Yekhiel, son of Moses. Its
inscription reads: This is the grave of
a righteous man, our teacher Yekhiel, son daughter of Abraham (d. 1552); Roza,
of Moses, of the blessed memory. May his daughter of Menakhem (d. 1572); Han-
soul be bound in the bond of life. His soul nah, daughter of Elijah (d. 1578); Isaiah,
departed from this world on Tuesday, 26 son of Meshulam Flavius (d. 1579 or
Nisan, year 305 (April 9, 1545). Other 1580); Israel, son of Isaiah (d. 1588);

„
16th-century matzevot include, among […] daughter of Joseph, wife of Israel (d.
others, the gravestones of Hannah, 1591); Sinai, son of Isaac (d. 1595).

The cemetery was overgrown with tall grasses and fruit trees. The winds and
birds had deposited seeds from nearby orchards. No one ever ate the fruit, as
the roots reached deeply into the earth; it was said that they were nourished by the people
buried there. When somebody was taken seriously ill, women visited the graves of their
ancestors and prayed to their souls asking to interceed on her behalf with the Almighty,
which Jews at the time regarded as the last resort. Their sobbing was so loud and plaintive
that they could awake the dead – which they probably meant to do. ¶ Philip Bibel, Beth
Olam, in: Tales of the Shtetl, Elie Metchnikoff Memorial Library, 2004, (edited)

Men of the Haskalah ¶ Thanks to which helped him broaden his horizons
its location near Zamość, Szczebrzeszyn and transformed a yeshivah student into
became home to several significant one of the leading representatives of the
representatives of the Jewish Enlighten- Jewish Enlightenment. His works were
ment, or Haskalah. These included Yakov published in Warsaw, Vilnius, Berlin,
Reifman (1818–1895) – a teacher, poly- Vienna, and Saint Petersburg. They
Szczebrzeszyn

glot, and author of numerous scholarly included a volume of critical Talmudic

publications. He settled in Szczebrzeszyn studies, Takkanot ha-bait (Household
in 1834 when he was 19, after marrying Regulations), and a book entitled Toldot
a woman who lived there. In his father- rabenu Zekharia ha-Levi (Life of our
132 in-law’s house, he found a rich library, Rabbi Zekhariah ha-Levi). Even though
Yakov Reifman lived in Szczebrzeszyn Montefiore presented him with a golden
until the end of his life and appeared to chalice with an engraved dedication,
lead the life of a provincial Jew, his work and the Hebrew poet Judah Leib Gordon
was recognised around the world. The wrote a poem dedicated to him:
noted Jewish philanthropist Sir Moses

Wherever I turn, I see his ghost / which is looking for light and fire in the nooks of the Torah
/ I have not forgotten you, brother – who could forget you / how many Yakov Reifmans are
there in this Jewish world? / Very few

But even though Reifman was recog- Society for Caring for the Sick and the
nised around the world, he died in pov- Savings and Loan Association, which
erty. Isaac Bashevis Singer contributed helped petty merchants and craftsmen
a beautiful text about him to The Book – Jewish and Christian – by providing
of Memory of the Jewish Community of them with free loans. Politically active
Shebreshin. ¶ Another follower of the groups included Zionists and socialists,
Haskalah, Lejb Szper, was one of the among others. Members of the Jew-
town’s wealthiest residents. In 1853, he ish socialist party, the Bund, actively
established an agricultural colony called participated in the revolution of 1905,
Szperówka on the land he leased near in cooperation with the Polish Socialist
Szczebrzeszyn, where he employed farm Party. During one illegal strike, Russian
workers. soldiers shot three demonstrators. ¶ In
the 1931 elections to the town council,
The social life of the shtetl ¶ At the representatives of Jewish parties –
beginning of the 20th century, a number mainly Zionists and the Bund – won 11
of social organisations began to develop seats. Cultural life also developed in the

„
in Szczebrzeszyn and other towns. These town; a Jewish library, a drama circle,
included, for example, the “Bikur Holim” and a choir were all founded in 1917.

A new wind began to blow in the shtetl. In 1914, with the beginning of World
War I, a new society was beginning to take shape. Parties were founded, workers
organisations and trade unions arose. Calls for equality, brotherhood and national revival
were heard. ¶ An uprising occurred among the youth. Seeing a new way of life in the shtetl,
young people abandoned the bet hamidrash and the shtibl, threw off the long kapote and
the “Yiddish hitl”, and put on a suit and hat. […] ¶ I remember that every Saturday, when
we went out for a walk, the Bundists walked in one group singing the “Shvueh”(Yid. “The
Oath”, which lyrics were written by S. An-sky), and the Zionists in another group, singing
Zionist songs. When the two groups encountered each other, they quickly separated, as if
they were enemy armies. […] ¶ That is how Jewish youth lived and acted. Parents could
not accept the new spirit of the times and rejected all new trends. ¶ Yehuda Kelner, How We
Have Thrown Away the Long Kapotas, in: The Book of Memory to the Jewish Community
of Shebreshin (trans. by Moses Milstein from: Sefer zikkaron le-kehilat Shebreshin), Haifa
1984, retrieved from www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor 133
 Market in Szczebrzeszyn,
before 1939, collection
of the Szczebrzeszyn of
Cultures Foundation

World War II and the Holo- at that time, too. In March 1942, trains
caust ¶ The Germans were the first crammed with Jews being transported
to enter Szczebrzeszyn on September to the extermination camp in Bełżec
13, 1939. Then, after 27 September, started passing near Szczebrzeszyn. Sev-
the Soviets took over the town, but just eral hundred Jews from Szczebrzeszyn
for about two weeks. After re-entering were sent there in transports in August
Szczebrzeszyn on October 6, the Nazi and October 1942. The last transport to
Germans began to persecute Jews. From Bełżec took place on 21 October 1942.
1940, they forced Jews to work on the After that day, many Jews hiding in and
construction of a military airport in near Szczebrzeszyn were caught and
nearby Klemensów. In November 1940, shot at the Jewish cemetery. ¶ Zygmunt
the Germans set fire to the synagogue Klukowski, director of the hospital in
and the surrounding houses. In May Szczebrzeszyn, kept a diary in which he
1942, mass executions at the Jewish documented everyday life at the time of
cemetery began. As the result, more mass murder; it formed a day-by-day

„
than 1,000 people were killed during account of unspeakable horrors.
these mass killings. Deportations began

October 21, 1942 ¶ I intended to go back to Zamość. I got up early to get

ready for the journey. Suddenly, I heard and saw through the window some
strange commotion in the town, even though the streets were virtually empty. It turned
Szczebrzeszyn

out that the “relocation” of Jews – or, more precisely, their liquidation in Szczebrzeszyn –
began at six o’clock. […] Armed military policemen, the SS, and the Navy-Blue Police were
chasing, tracking, and discovering Jews around the town. Jews were herded into the market
and grouped in front of the town hall. They were found in the most diverse of hideaways;
134 gates and doors were broken, shutters were destroyed, hand grenades were dropped into
 A drama circle, under
the auspices of the
Jewish library in Szc-
zebrzeszyn, presenting
a performance entitled
Two Worlds: A Drama
in Four Acts by Max
Nordau, 1928, reproduc-
tion from Sefer zikaron
li-kehilat Shebreshin, ed.
Dov Shuwal, Haifa 1984

some basements and flats. Revolvers, rifles, and machine guns located in various places
were fired. People were beaten, kicked, and abused in an inhuman manner. ¶ Zygmunt
Klukowski, Zamojszczyzna 1918–1943, Warsaw 2007

On the initiative of the Szczebrzeszyn the Nazi invasion. He was sent to Siberia,
Jews Landsmannschaft in Israel and which he left with Anders’ Army (Polish
the Diaspora, a memorial to the Jews of Armed Forces in the East created in the
Szczebrzeszyn and the vicinity mur- Soviet Union and then passed under
dered by the Nazis during World War II British command). ¶ With this army he
was erected at the Jewish cemetery in fought against Germans in the Battle
1991. After 2011, the Foundation for the of Monte Cassino (17 January–18 May
Preservation of Jewish Heritage erected 1944). After the war, he came back to
another monument there and built Szczebrzeszyn and – despite the destruc-
a stone wall along Cmentarna St. tion of the Jewish community in the
Holocaust – he decided to stay. Grojser
The last Jew of Szczebrzeszyn found a job in an agricultural coopera-
¶ After the war, many Jews of Szcze- tive, distributing beverages to local cli-
brzeszyn who survived the Holocaust ents. He also took it upon himself to care
emigrated to the Israeli city of Haifa, for the Jewish cemetery. After his death
where, to this day, one can meet former in 1970, due to the lack of rabbi, he was
residents of the shtetl and their descend- buried in the Catholic parish graveyard
ants. Only one Jew chose to remain in but his grave bears the Star of David. ¶
Szczebrzeszyn: Jankiel Grojser, born Today, Szczebrzeszyn has a population
in 1904, a soldier of the Polish Armed of 5,000. Its attractive location near the
Forces and a participant in the Septem- Roztocze Landscape Park has made it
ber Campaign, defending Poland from a local tourist centre. The memory of the 135
 Jews from Szczebrzeszyn is preserved synagogue, and by local teachers and
by the cultural centre located in the local non-governmental organisations.

Numerous short stories by Nobel prize-winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer are
set in the Lublin region. One of his best-known charactersis Yasha Mazur – the
Magician of Lublin and protagonist of the book by that name. His characters live
in the region’s small towns. It is thanks to them that Biłgoraj, Goraj, Frampol,
Tyszowce, Szczebrzeszyn, Józefów, and Piaski have become familiar names
to readers worldwide. And what do present-day residents of these towns know
about their history and lore? Do they remember the Jewish neighbours who lived
among them for hundreds of years? These are some of the questions that have
inspired the artistic and educational project called “Following I.B. Singer’s Traces”
carried out by the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre. The “Magician’s
Friends” – artists from various countries and various artistic disciplines – travel
on a special bus (like a modern circus wagon) to meet people in a number of
different places in the region. They entertain, teach, and evoke a world that no
longer exists. The project is supported by local authorities, schools, and cultural
institutions. ¶ For more information, please visit www.sladamisingera.teatrnn.pl

Worth Jewish cemetery (16th c.), Cmentarna St. ¶ Former synagogue (17th c.), currently a cultural
seeing centre, 3 Sądowa St., tel. +48 84 6821060, [email protected] ¶ Church of St. Nicholas the
Bishop (1610–1620), 1 Wyzwolenia St. ¶ Filial Orthodox Church of St. George Parish (late
12th c.), 4 Sądowa St. ¶ Franciscan monastery (17th c.), currently a hospital, 1 Klukowskiego
St. ¶ Christian graveyard (18th c.) with the Chapel of St. Leonard (1812), Cmentarna St.

Surrounding Klemensów (3 km): the Zamoyski Palace (1744–1747) – this is where parts of the Oscar-
area winning film Ida were shot (2012). ¶ Zwierzyniec (11 km): a Jewish cemetery (circa 1928),

SZCZEBRZESZYN
Szczebrzeszyn

136
 “Following I. B. Singer’s
Traces” Festival in
Szczebrzeszyn, 2011.
Photo by Joanna Zętar,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)

158 Monopolowa St.; the Church of St. John of Nepomuk “on the isle” (1741–1747); buildings
that belong to the managing body of the Zamoyski Family Fee Tail (Trust), 1. Browarna St.;
the plenipotentiary’s villa (1880–1891), 1 Plażowa St.; brewery (1806), 7 Browarna St.; the
only monument in the world commemorating success in combatting a plague of locusts; the
“Borek” estate of wooden houses (1920s and 1930s); The Educational and Museum Centre
of the Roztocze National Park; Echo Ponds; the Polish Konik breeding centre in Florianka.
¶ Nielisz (15 km): an artificial lake on the Wieprz River (1990s); the wooden Church of St.
Adalbert (1859). ¶ Radecznica (16 km): the Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua with a Benedic-
tine monastery (1685); the “on the water” chapel near the spring of St. Anthony (1824). ¶
Guciów (16 km): the private “Zagroda Guciów” Ethnographic and Nature Museum. ¶ Zamość
(21 km): much of the former Jewish quarter with buildings from the 16th and 17th c.; the
former synagogue, 9 Zamenhoffa St. / 14 Pereca St. (17th c.), recently restored and currently
the Synagogue Centre managed by the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage;
buildings of the former mikveh and the kahal house with a cheder, 5 and 11 Zamenhoff St.;
the former shul in Reja St., currently a kindergarten; the new Jewish graveyard (early 20th c.)
at Prosta St. with an obelisk built of preserved gravestones (1950); the Zamość Museum; the
town hall (1591); the Grand Market; the Water (Wodny) Market; the Salt (Solny) Market (the
original Jewish quarter); Armenian town houses (mid-17th c.); a complex of city walls with
gates and bastions (16th c.); The Zamojski Academy (1639–1648), currently the Jan Zamoyski
General Secondary School No. 1 (1579–1586); the Cathedral of the Lord’s Resurrection and St.
Thomas the Apostle (1587–1598); the Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(1637); the Stefan Miller Zoological Garden. ¶ Turobin (26 km): St. Dominic’s Church (circa
1530); a bell tower–crypt (18th c.); an old presbytery (1921); graveyard chapels of St. Elisabeth
and St. Mark. ¶ Łabunie (35 km): the Church of Our Lady of the Scapular and St. Dominic
(1605); the Zamojski Palace (1735): castellan’s residence (kasztelanka), a pavilion, a park with
a monastery graveyard, currently the seat of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary; the palace
and park complex in Łabuńki Pierwsze (19th c.): a palace, two outbuildings and park; “Ecomu-
seum – Christmas oil mill” of the Kostrubiec family, Ruszów ¶ The Roztocze National Park: 9
nature paths, hiking and cycling routes, canoeing on the Wieprz River. 137
 Józefów Biłgorajski
Ukr. Юзефув, Yid. ‫יוזעפֿעוו‬ Books printed in Józefów met with resistance from the state
and from the rabbinical censorship. In a letter to Zamoyski,
one censor called them “highly” sensitive.
Hanna Krall, The Blue, in: There is No River
There Anymore, Cracow 2001

Paper and printing ¶ In the village Bessarabia (today Moldova), Wallachia,

of Hamernia, near Józefów, visitors can and even to Istanbul. Destroyed over
still see the ruins of an old paper mill the years by floods and fires, the paper
that the nearby forest has absorbed. The mill and printing house were rebuilt
mill was built in the mid-18th century on several times and operated until the end
the Sopot River, next to the blacksmith of the 19th century. In 1865, the Zecer
shop and the copper foundry. Every year, brothers, Barukh and Shlomo, opened
it produced 4,000 reams of quality paper another printing house and later took
made mostly from linen rags and plant over the one established by Szaja Waks,
fibres in order to spare the local forest. while Moshe and Mendel Sznajdmesser
The paper was watermarked with the (Sznajdermesser) from Józefów set up
Zamoyski family’s coat of arms because two printing houses in Lublin.
Józefów, founded in 1725, belonged to
the Zamoyski Estate. ¶ Jews had lived Life in Józefów ¶ The Jewish quarter
in Józefów since the beginning of its of Józefów extended south of the market
existence and constituted a majority of square, and the first wooden synagogue
the town’s population. An inventory in – and a Jewish cemetery – probably date
1789 listed 70 Jewish homes. ¶ Around back to some time between 1734 and
1820, Szaja Waks, one of the leasehold- 1744. Decades later, the buildings that
ers of the local paper mill, brought belonged to the Jewish community were
in typographers from the Slavuta listed in The Measurement Report of
(Volhynia) printing press and set up the Town of Józefów (1785). These were:
a printing house of his own in Józefów. a wooden synagogue, a steam bath,
The establishment, which, as did Slavuta a Jewish school, and a rabbi’s house. ¶
Józefów Biłgorajski

press, relied on its own paper, soon The wooden synagogue, located in the
became one of the most important southwestern part of the settlement,
printing companies in the Kingdom burnt down in 1850. A stone synagogue
of Poland. Hebrew books and official was built on its site in the 1870s and still
forms printed there were exported to stands there, at the corner of Górnicza
138 other Polish regions, as well as to Russia, St. and Krótka St. This Baroque prayer
house was built with limestone from the destroying the original ceiling. Today, The market square
in Józefów, 1906.
local quarry. It contained a two-storey after the extensive refurbishment carried Reproduction from The
prayer hall for men on its eastern side. out between 1985 and 1991, and then Arcaded Buildings of the
Lublin Region Towns by
On its western side, there was a wooden again in 2014, the former synagogue J. Górak, Zamość 1996
corridor with the women’s section above houses the Municipal Public Library
it: this was dismantled in 1945. ¶ In and guest rooms. The former prayer hall
1941, the synagogue was devastated by features a partially preserved stone niche
the Nazis, and after the war it served as for aron ha-kodesh and a row of arcaded
a storehouse for the local agricultural niches in the walls used in the past for
cooperative. In 1964, its roof collapsed, bookcases.

Shlomo Kluger (1783–1869), later known as the Maggid of Brody, was

one of the Józefów rabbis who served from 1815 to 1821. He wrote 375 books
– a number that corresponds to the numerical value of his name according
to the gematria. Shlomo Kluger was followed by Haim Eliezer Waks (1822–
1829) – the author of Nefesh haya (The Living Soul), Tzvi Hirsch Minc, Zeev
Yitzhok, and Shalom Joseph Hertzshtark. The last rabbi of Józefów was Szy-
mon Parzęczewski, Shalom Joseph Hertzshtark’s son-in-law. He took office in
1924 and was murdered together with other Józefów Jews in the Holocaust.

Gravestone for the Torah ¶ ones (dating back to 1762) are located to
A Jewish cemetery established in the the right of the entrance. The cemetery
mid-18th century is located to the south has separate sections for the graves
from the synagogue. It was originally of men and of women, and it features
surrounded by a stone wall with the gate a unique gravestone for aburied Torah
facing the town. Today, the cemetery has scroll, which lost its ritual qualities,
about 400 stone matzevot. The oldest dating from 1842. The largest number 139
 The synagogue of matzevot date from 1907 to 1940; Not far from the cemetery there is one
in Józefów, now the
Municipal Public Library,
remnants of polychrome decoration are of Józefów’s greatest attractions – the
2015. Photo by Monika still visible on the most recent ones. Tra- quarries, which have been in use since
Tarajko; digital collection
of the “Grodzka Gate
ditionally facing the east, here they are the 18th century, that is, at least since
– NN Theatre” Centre oriented west. The place was devastated the town’s incorporation. Originally, this
(www.teatrnn.pl)
during World War II. Today, it is owned was a sizable outcrop, but by now most
Rabbi Shalom by the Foundation for the Preserva- of the stone has been excavated, creating

„
Joseph Hertzshtark. a picturesque rocky area.
Reproduction from Sefer
tion of Jewish Heritage, which enclosed
Zikaron li-Kehilat Jozefof the cemetery with a fence in 2015. ¶
in-li-kedosheiha, ed. by
Azriel Omer-Lemer and
David Shtokfish, Tel Aviv He remembered Józefów, a small town near the border of Galicia, where he had
1974/1975 spent 50 years of his life and enjoyed high esteem among the Hasidim. […] He
started asking about how he could get there, but people only shrugged their shoulders, and
everybody said something different. Some claimed that Józefów had burned to the ground
and no longer existed. On the other hand, some wandering beggar who had once been there
maintained that the residents of Józefów had never been better off, and that they ate white
hallah even on working days. ¶ Isaac Bashevis Singer, The Old Man, New York 1953

The Seer of Józefów ¶ Józefów was tsaddikim. He studied under famous

the birthplace of famous Hasidic Rabbi rabbis: Shmelke Horowitz in Sieniawa,
Yaakov Yitzhak Horowitz (1745–1815), Dov Ber in Międzyrzecz (Mezeritch),
later known as the Seer of Lublin (the Yitzhak Meir in Berdyczów (Berdychiv),
Hozeh). His father Eliezer held the and, finally, under Elimelekh in Leżajsk.
Józefów Biłgorajski

position of the rabbi of Józefów. As ¶ But Yaakov Yitzhak came into conflict
a young boy, Yitzhak was betrothed with Elimelech and decided to establish
to a daughter of the tavern-keeper in his own Hasidic court. At first, he taught
Krasnobród and forced to marry her. in Łańcut, where his prayer chamber
But soon after the wedding ceremony has been preserved in the vestibule of
140 he set off to visit the courts of Hasidic the main synagogue. In the 1790s, he
moved to Lublin, and it was there that punishment for the sin of pride, and that Matzevot at the Jewish
cemetery in Józefów.
his fame flourished. First, he lived in the Seer of Lublin was knocked to the 2015. Photo by Monika
the nearby settlement of Wieniawa, and pavement from a second-floor window Tarajko, digital collection
of the “Grodzka Gate
then he moved to Szeroka St. – the main as he was levitating in fervent prayer. – NN Theatre” Centre
street of Lublin’s Jewish quarter. He was His ohel is located at the old Jewish (www.teatrnn.pl)
in constant conflict with the Chief Rabbi cemetery in Lublin.
of Lublin, Azriel Horowitz, a fierce oppo-
nent of Hasidism who was mockingly Tradition and education ¶ Accord-
dubbed the Iron Head. ¶ There are many ing to the 1921 census, 1,056 out of
legends about the life and work of the Józefów’s 1,344 inhabitants declared
Seer of Lublin. One of them concerns the themselves as Jews. Most of them were
circumstances of his mysterious death, observant and very pious. In the inter-
which happened during the Napoleonic war years, the Jewish community was
Wars. Several Hasidic tsaddikim (rare administered by the representatives of
supporters but mainly the opponents of the Orthodox Jews, associated with the
Napoleonic reforms) believed that the Agudas Israel party – the first political
wars would usher in a war of Gog and organization of Orthodox Jewry uniting
Magog, predicted in the Bible, and thus Hasidim and Litvaks, their opponents.
hasten the Messiah’s coming. Three rab- The municipality maintained a Talmud
bis began to pray for that war: Yitzhak Torah school and a yeshivah with about
Yaakov Horowitz, Menachem Mendel of 50 students, some of them from other
Rymanów (who supported Napoleon), towns. In 1926, the Mizrachi (religious
and the Maggid of Kozienice (who Zionists party) set up a branch of the
opposed Napoleon). Shortly thereafter, Yavneh network of schools, while in
however, following Napoleon’s defeat at 1928 Agudas Israel opened a modern
Waterloo in 1815, all three of them died. Orthodox-type Bet Yaakov school for
A Hasidic legend has it that this was the girls. The influences of many of the 141
 A group of Tarbut school
pupils. Reproduction
from Sefer Zikaron
li-Kehilat Yozefov
veli-kedosheha, ed. by
Azriel Omer-Lemer and
David Shtokfish, Tel Aviv
1974/1975

Hasidic dynasties of Poland and Galicia – in town. Secular organisations such

„
competed in Józefów, and there were as He-Halutz or the Bund were formally
many Hasidic prayer houses – shtiblekh active until the late 1920s.

Demons in the ruins of the printing house ¶ It happened in 1926.

The municipal authorities issued a new directive aimed at improving the town’s
appearance. Today, we would call it urban renewal or town revitalisation. The old printing
house owned by the Zecer and Rener families had become an utter ruin over the years.
People believed that the place was haunted and that demons revelled there at night. And
even though, thanks to education, superstitious beliefs in evil spirits had radically faded
away, the authorities decided to tear down the ruins of the printing house, probably just
to be on the safe side to prevent an evil spell. Or perhaps there were elections ahead? No
one knows. In any case, the owner of the place did not rush to comply with the demoli-
tion order. After she ignored the official notification for the third time, the authorities
decided to hire a building contractor to demolish the building, and to charge the owner
for the work. Thanks to the local “female intelligence service” that had launched an active
whispering campaign, it became known just how large this sum would be. And I would
kindly ask you not to laugh, because the information was very detailed and true-to-fact.
Some miraculous chance – not at all accidental, I believe – brought the chosen contractor
to the door of a Jewish house next to the ruins that happened to be a tavern. The contrac-
tor apparently assumed that a hearty swig of ‘siwucha’ [home-made brandy – eds.] would
Józefów Biłgorajski

help him see what he had to do more clearly. His vision along these lines, no doubt, was
becoming sharper with every glass he drank. As he was diving deeper and deeper into the
depths of the decanter, he started to boast to the tavern keeper about the money he would
receive as soon as he finished his job. The sum of 500 zł was at stake! This news travelled at
head-spinning speed and reached a neighbour of the printing house owner. Smart enough
142 to recognize that the situation had become really serious, she hired a man named Ephraim,
 An arcaded house in
Józefów, 1935. Photo
by J. Świeży; reproduc-
tion from: J. Górak,
Podcieniowa zabudowa
miasteczek Lubelszczyzny
(The Arcaded Buildings
of the Lublin Region
Towns) by J. Górak,
Zamość 1996

who promised to pull the building down for 200 zł, clearly a much smaller sum. So, on the
night before the workers hired by the town were to come, Ephraim set to work. It was very
dark in the ruined building, but he did not want to light a lantern for fear of drawing atten-
tion. By breaking a hole through the roof tiles, he made a “window” in the roof and carried
on by the light of the full moon. ¶ But all the romance of working by moonlight suddenly
evaporated when a loud shriek cut through the nocturnal silence. This was another resident
of Józefów, Kremer, who happened to be passing by the ruined building in a cart. Seeing
tiles flying out from nowhere and falling on his head, he started to scream at the top of
his voice: “Heeeelp! Heeeelp! Demons, demons!” Then, dumbfounded, Kremer witnessed
what seemed to be a genuine miracle: instead of evil spirits emerging from ruins that were
notorious as a devil’s nest, he saw his fellow townsman, Ephraim. It was not easy to calm
the hysterical cart driver and persuade him that it really was Ephraim, a kosher Jew from
Józefów – and not the demons – who was hurling the roof tiles. ¶ This is how the story
about evil spirits in the old printing house and the legend about demons ended. It should
be added that other workers arrived before sunrise. They were Jews who had agreed to give
Ephraim a hand. They joined forces and managed to tear the building down, and when the
contractors hired by the municipality came in the morning to do the work, everything had
been done and dusted. Needless to say, the Jews did it better and faster than the Gentiles.
So, the municipality authorities couldn’t do any more damage. They could not even count
on evil spirits. ¶ Ed. by Yaron Becker based on Ephraim Wermstein’s text in Sefer zikaron
Jozefow (Memorial Book to the Community of Józefów), Tel Aviv 1974

World War II and the Holocaust confined there as well. Famine and dis-
¶ In September 1939, the town was ease became rampant in the ghetto. In
occupied for some days by the Red May 1942, more than 100 Jews were shot
Army. When it retreated, several hun- by a group of the Gestapo officers. The
dred Jews managed to flee eastward. In largest mass execution took place on July
March 1941, the Nazis set up a ghetto in 13, 1942, when more than 1,500 people
Józefów for the Jews from the town and – mostly women, children, and the
neighbouring villages. Around 600 dis- elderly – were shot on Winiarczykowa
placed people from western Poland were Góra (Winiarczykowa Hill); hundreds 143
 A quarry in Józefów, of young men were deported to labour occupation by the Red Army. The story
2009. Photo by Piotr
Sztajdel; digital collec-
camps in Lublin. The execution site is of the Holocaust in Józefów was detailed
tion of the “Grodzka now fenced and marked with a memo- by Christopher R. Browning in his 1992
Gate – NN Theatre”
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)
rial stone. Those few Jews in Józefów much-acclaimed book Ordinary People.
who survived the massacre were joined Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the
by residents of neighbouring towns and “Final Solution” in Poland.
villages. But mass executions continued
– 70 Jews were shot on October 21, 1942 Today ¶ Józefów is a small town that
– and in early November 1942, ghetto offers ample opportunities for the devel-
survivors were deported to the Bełżec opment of tourism and active recrea-
death camp. Only a few lived through tion. Attractively located at the meeting
the war. ¶ On 1 June 1943, the Nazis of the Roztocze National Park and two
attempted to “pacify” Józefów. They landscape parks – the Krasnobród Park
bombed the town, but were stopped by and the Solska Forest, Józefów is called
Home Army troops. On July 24, 1944, the cycling capital of Roztocze.
the town was liberated from German

Worth Jewish cemetery (18th c.), Pogodna St. ¶ Former synagogue (1870), 10 Krótka St.; now
seeing a library (tel. +48 84 6878289, [email protected]). ¶ Town hall (1775), Rynek St. ¶
Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1886), 11 Wojska Polsk-
iego St. ¶ Quarries, south of the town centre.

Surrounding Górecko Kościelne (6 km): five tourist routes; Church of St. Stanislaus, built of larch wood
Józefów Biłgorajski

area (1768); the “Upon the Water” chapel (17th c.); 500-year-old oak trees. ¶ Hamernia (7 km):
“Czartowe Pole” nature reserve; ruins of the 18th c. paper mill that belonged to the Zamoyski
family estate. ¶ Bondyrz (13 km): two wooden water mills (19th c.); village bathhouse (1928);
the wooden Church of Divine Providence (1948–1949); the Museum of the World Association
of Home Army Soldiers; a manor complex and a wooden water mill (1936) in Adamów. ¶
144 Osuchy (13 km): the largest partisan cemetery in Europe, set up after the battle fought by the
Home Army (AK) and Peasants’ Battalions (BCh) against the Germans on 25–26 June 1944. ¶
Krasnobród (16 km): the Dominican monastery complex (17th/18th c.); Krasnobród Calvary;
the Museum of Sacred Art, formerly a granary (1795); an aviary; the “Upon the Water”
wooden chapel; Chapel of St. Roch (1943); Jewish cemeteries (mid-16th and early 19th c.);
the Leszczyński Palace (18th/19th c.), currently the Janusz Korczak Rehabilitation Sanatorium
for Children. ¶ Susiec (22 km): the Church of St. John of Nepomuk; a wooden watermill
(1925); four hiking tourist routes. ¶ Tomaszów Lubelski (33 km): the Baroque Church of
the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, built of larch wood (1627); “Czajnia” wooden
teahouse (1895); Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas (1890); the Regional Museum; the Memo-
rial Exhibition Room devoted to the Communist Terror; a Jewish cemetery with an ohel of 3
tsaddikim from Tomaszów, a memorial to the fallen, and a “wailing wall”. ¶ Narol (35 km):
a palace with an Italian-style garden (18th c.); the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1790);
a Greek Catholic church (1899) and a graveyard with stone crosses from Brusno; a Jewish
cemetery (19th c.). ¶ Bełżec (40 km): Museum and Memorial (the former Nazi death camp
for Jews, operating in 1941–1943, in which approx. 600,000 people were killed), opening
hours: 9am–6pm (summer), 9am–4pm (winter), http://www.belzec.eu/en; the Greek Catholic
Church of St. Basil (1756); the Church of Mary Queen of Poland. ¶ Łaszczów (55 km): ruins
of a synagogue (1770); a prayer house (late 18th c., now a cinema); remains of a Jewish
cemetery (mid-18th c.); a monument to the murdered Jews (1990); a former Jewish house at
the market square; the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (mid-18th c.) with a bell
tower, a presbytery, a crypt, and an organist’s house (19th/20th c.); remains of the Szeptycki
palace complex (1736–1758) connected to a manor house in Nadolce with a system of ponds.
¶ Hrebenne (35 km): the Greek Catholic Church of St. Nicholas (1600); a wooden bell tower
(17th c.); a manor complex (mid-19th c.), currently a school. ¶ The Krasnobród Landscape
Park: nature reserves: “Saint Roch” and “Skrzypny Ostrów”; peat bog in “Nowiny” reserve.

JÓZEFÓW BIŁGORA JSKI

145
 Biłgoraj
Ukr. Білгорай, Yid. ‫בילגאָרײ‬ We stopped at an inn to sip hot tea and to munch on
the hot onion and poppyseed rolls for which the Lublin
province was famous.
Israel Joshua Singer, Of a World That Is No More, 1946

To people of all estates ¶ King Ste- (turned Uniate by the 17th century).
fan Báthory granted permission to Adam In 1616, Jews were granted a separate
Gorajski, a Calvinist, to found a private privilege by Adam Gorajski’s son Zyg-
town, which subsequently came to be munt, reinforced in 1634. This privilege
known as Biłgoraj, and placed the town allowed Jews to settle in town and to
under Magdeburg law. The 1587 charter establish their own synagogue, commu-
allowed people of all estates, i.e. Poles, nity buildings, and a cemetery, as well
Ruthenians, and Jews, to settle there. as to deal in real estate. Until 1694, Jews
Gorajski founded a Calvinist church and, who lived in Biłgoraj reported adminis-
most likely, also an Orthodox parish tratively to the kahal of Szczebrzeszyn.

Biłgoraj residents worked in the profitable trade of sieve-making from at least

the 18th century to the early 20th century, selling their products in the country and
abroad. Jews also took up sieve-making and door-to-door selling. The oppor-
tunity to make good money significantly contributed to the town growth and
the prosperity. Today, Sieve-maker’s Farmstead, a branch of the Biłgoraj Land
Museum, is one of the local tourist attractions. It is housed in a preserved wooden
sieve-maker’s house dating back to the early 19th century, at 32 Nadstawna St.

During the 1648–1649 Khmelnytsky’s half of the 17th century an independ-

Cossack Revolution, the Cossacks ent Jewish community was established
ravaged Biłgoraj and neighbouring locally. According to the tax records,
towns such as Tarnogród and Frampol, the Biłgoraj kahal (encompassing the
slaughtering local population, includ- town of Biłgoraj and neighbouring
ing many Jews. In addition, Biłgoraj was villages) included 661 tax-paying Jews
not spared the onslaught of the Swed- in 1765, and 508 in 1790 (351 in the
ish forces and Polish and Lithuanian town and 157 in the villages). Judging
Biłgoraj

armies that swept through the region by the number of “heads” paying taxes,
around the same time. Nevertheless, this was a medium-sized community
146 Biłgoraj slowly revived and in the second compared to others in the Lublin region.
 A wooden sieve-
maker’s house dating
back to 1810, 2012.
Photo by Piotr Lasota,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)

An arcaded house
in Biłgoraj. Photograph
of a 1905 drawing
by Maksymilian
Bystydzieński, 1917.
Photo by S. Rakowski,
the National Library col-
lection (www.polona.pl)

In 1819, Biłgoraj was home to 1,671 Lewkowicz, Zelik Michalewicz, and Icek
Christians (Catholics and Uniates) and Joszkowicz in 1732. In the early 19th
616 Jews, who constituted 27 percent of century, the following people served
the population. ¶ The kahal was headed as shkolniks (synagogue beadles):
by its elders: Rubin Mendlowicz in 1721; Hersh Boruch and Anshel (Ankiel)
Leib Herszkowicz, Rubin Zelkowicz, Amt (1810–1825); Majlech Tober and
and David Gerszonowicz in 1728; Berek Mojżesz Tauberman (both noted in 147
 1825); and Bendyk Wenberg (Beniamin site of an earlier wooden synagogue),
Wamberger) and Icek Rytner – the sig- three brick religious schools dating from
natures of the latter two are found under around the early 1900s, a bathhouse
the 1818 communal budget. Avigdor with a mikveh, three cemeteries, a Tal-
Meizels served as the rabbi of Biłgoraj mud Torah school, and a poorhouse. In
from around 1773 until 1819, succeeded addition, there were at least four private
by his son-in-law from Szczebrzeszyn houses of prayer. The synagogue, the
– Nathan Perlmutter (1819–1864), religious schools, the bathhouse, the
also known as Nathan Note, son of rabbi’s house, a slaughterhouse built in
Tzvi Hirsch from Berlin. Even before 1927, and the poorhouse formed a com-
Nathan died, he was succeeded by munal complex that stood southwest of
Nachum Palast (1860–1877), who the market square, between Lubelska
later was removed as a result of fraud and Nadstawna Streets. All these build-
accusations and replaced by Shmuel ings were destroyed at the beginning of
Engel. Engel, in turn, was deported to World War II and in the 1960s; residen-
Austrian Galicia in 1884, as he was not tial houses now stand in their place.
a citizen of the Kingdom of Poland.
Shmuel Engel was succeeded by Jakob The Singer family ¶ In 1889, Rabbi
Mordechai Zylberman (from 1884 to Jacob Mordechai Zylberman’s daughter,
1913), who had earlier served as a rabbi Basheve, married a young Hasidic rabbi
of Poryck (now Pavlivka, Ukraine) and from Tomaszów Lubelski – Pinkhos
Maciejów (now Lukiv, Ukraine). ¶ In Singer. Three of their children took up
the early 20th century, Biłgoraj’s Jewish writing and made Biłgoraj famous all

„
communal instititions included a large over the world.
brick synagogue (built in 1875 on the

There was our grandmother always on the go, always busy making fruit-jam and
fruit juice, and gooseberry tarts and preserves. There was that old-fashioned oven
in the kitchen, in which a tremendous fire was kept going from morning to night; it was
never allowed to die down for a single instant. ¶ Of course, it was a house full of plenty, but
it was more than that – it was a house full of untouchables. All the cherries, the blueber-
ries, the black currants; all the plums, raspberries, and blackberries were put away for the
winter time and were not to be touched. One might have thought that summertime was
a season of slavery, and that all the delicious things that grow ripe in the sunshine were
only intended to be put away and enjoyed in the winter. It was so silly! ¶ In other respects,
her grandmother was not really a bad sort. Anyway, she fed her family on the fat of the
land-fish and meat and soup aplenty. ¶ Esther Kreitman, The Dance of the Demons, New
York 1954, translated from Yiddish by Maurice Carr

Esther Kreitman (1891–1954), the not particularly happy. At the age of

Biłgoraj

oldest of the Singers’ children and thirteen, she was married off to a jewel-
Rabbi Zylberman’s granddaughter, was ler, and together they moved to Antwerp
148 born in Biłgoraj. Her childhood was and then to London. Although she was
the first one in the family to take up 1944) and Jiches (London, 1949). She
writing, it was not until 1936 that her was a noted Yiddish writer in England
novel written in Yiddish, The Dance of and also translated classical works of

„
Demons, was published. Her other pub- English literature into Yiddish.
lished works were Briliantn (London,

When we came to Rejowiec, the coachmen from Biłgoraj quickly swarmed over
us. A flock of them with whips in hand clutched at our bundles as they tried to
draw us to their wagons. – “Well, Missus, do we go?” – “We’ll just water the horses and off
we go”! […] The sandy Polish roads were scraggly and plain, but to me they seemed rife
with beauty. Cows grazed along the roadsides, foals pranced over the meadows. Peasants
laboured in fields and, as we passed, we exchanged the timeworn greetings: “God bless
you!” – “Thanks be to God!” ¶ Israel Joshua Singer, Of a World That Is No More (Yid.: Fun
a welt wos iz nishto mer), New York 1946, translated from Yiddish by Joseph Singer

Israel Joshua Singer (1893–1944), the 1922 and 1925, he published several
second Singers’ child, was also born plays and collections of short stories,
in Biłgoraj. A prose writer, playwright, and was a correspondent for the daily
and journalist who wrote in Yiddish, he Forverts (New York) and Haynt (War-
received a traditional religious education saw), then the most idely read and popu-
but also mastered secular subjects on lar Yiddish newspapers in the world. For
his own. After the Singer family moved some time, he was a co-publisher of Di
to Warsaw in 1908, he befriended Alter Yiddishe Welt (Yid.: Jewish World) and
Kacyzne, a photographer and Yid- then a member of the editorial board of
dish writer, and the sculptor Abraham Literarishe Bleter (Yid.: Literary Pages).
Ostrzega, among others. He made his His position in the Jewish literary world
literary début in 1915 with stories pub- was established with the novel Yoshe
lished in Dos Yiddishe Vort (Yid.: Jewish Kalb (1932), a dramatic portrayal of
Word). During the Russian revolution, human passions against the backdrop
he stayed in Kiev and Moscow. After of a Galician Hasidic court. The attacks
returning to Warsaw in 1921, he began he faced after publishing another novel,
working for the newspaper Folks- the controversial Brothers Ashkenazi,
Tzaytung. In 1924 and 1926, he travelled made him emigrate to the United States
across Poland, writing for national and in 1933. He settled in New York, where
international newspapers. In 1926, he he published with the New York daily
toured the Soviet Union; the result of his Forverts, which issued his childhood

„
journey was a volume entitled Nay-Rus- memoirs, Fun a welt wos iz nishto mer
land (Yid.: The New Russia). Between (Yid.: Of a World that Is No More).

I heard my mother sing the praises to Biłgoraj, but the town was even prettier
than she had described. It was surrounded by dense pine forests that looked like
a blue ribbon. Fields and gardens stretched between houses here and there. In front of them
grew thick trees with tangled branches and leaves such as I had not seen in Warsaw, even in 149
 Concert at Singer’s
bench, organised
during the “Following
I. B. Singer’s Traces”
Festival, 2011. Photo by
Joanna Zętar, digital col-
lection of the “Grodzka
Gate – NN Theatre”
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)

the Saxon Garden, which I sometimes took a peek at through the fence. The town smelled of
fresh milk, of bread straight out of the oven, and of an unusual calm. It was hard to believe
that there was some war going on and an epidemic sweeping the country. My grandpa’s
house was not far from the synagogue, the house of learning, the mikveh, and the cem-
etery. It was an old wooden loghouse, whitewashed, and with a bench standing before its
low-placed windows. ¶ Isaac Bashevis Singer, Mayn tatns beis din shtub (In My Father’s
Court), 1979

Isaac Bashevis Singer (1904–1991) was interest in literature and creative writ-
the most famous of the Singers’ children ing. Between 1923 and 1933, I.B. Singer
– a writer, essayist, and literary critic worked in the Warsaw editorial office
who wrote in Yiddish. The author of of Literarishe Bleter, where in 1925 he
many novels, collections of short stories, made his début with a story in Yiddish
four volumes of memoirs, and more Oyf der elter (In Old Age). Under the
than a dozen books for children, he was pen name of Yitzhok Tzvi, he published
awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature a series of interviews with well-known
in 1978, the only writer in Yiddish to writers and artists and also translated
have been honoured with that award. works of world literature into Yiddish.
Singer was born in Leoncin, where his In 1935, he published his first novel, Der
father was a rabbi. From 1917 to 1923, Sotn in Goraj (Satan in Goraj). Then, he
he lived with his mother and siblings emigrated to the USA and from 1949,
in Biłgoraj, which served as a model he regularly contributed to the New
Biłgoraj

for many sites portrayed in his works. York daily Forverts. I.B. Singer wrote in
It was his older brother, Israel Joshua, the Neo-Romantic mode, but his works
150 also a writer, who inspired him with an were often coloured with grotesque
fantasy, sometimes of expressionist but 1950) and Der kuncn-macher fun Lublin
more often with mythological subtexts. (The Magician of Lublin, 1960), as
He drew heavily on Jewish folklore and well as collections of short stories and
mysticism, including Kabbalah, Mid- autobiographical works. Some of these
rash, and agadete (Talmudic narratives have been adapted for the stage (e.g. The
and parables). His works, set in Poland Magician of Lublin in Poland) and film

„
and in America, included novels such (e.g. The Magician of Lublin, 1977; Yentl,
as Familie Muscat (The Family Moskat, 1984; Enemies, 1990).

I met a watchmaker, Todros (Lang), who had a chat with me about God, nature,
the primal cause (the driving mechanism behind the creation), and also about
some other secular subjects. He loaned me an old German textbook on physics. In the
courtyard of my grandpa’s house, there was a place sheltered on three sides. An apple tree
grew there. I was sitting under this tree on a bench or stump and studying an old physics
textbook. I felt like one who sees without being seen. I saw a synagogue, a bet midrash, and
acres of land with fields stretching all the way to the pine forest. The owls were hovering over
the synagogue roof, performing their dances, and above it all, the blue sky stretched like the
parokhet [a cover for the holy ark – eds.] during the Days of Awe. The golden sun cast bright
and warm shadows. It seemed to me that I was an ancient philosopher who had locked
himself away from the world and become immersed in all the wisdom and divinity. ¶ Isaac
Bashevis Singer, Profiles, in: Khurbn Biłgoraj (Yid.: Destruction of Biłgoraj), Tel Aviv 1956

The youngest of the Singer children, library) also appeared in Biłgoraj, as

Moshe (1906–1946), became a Hasid and well as the scouting units. New cheders
chose the career of a town rabbi. When were set up to accommodate the growing
his father died in 1929, he succeeded him religious families, and soon their number
as a rabbi in Stary Dzików in Subcar- grew to a dozen. These were attended by
pathia (40 km south of Biłgoraj). After the boys, while Jewish girls went to a Pol-
outbreak of World War II, he fled with his ish state school. The 1905 revolution in
mother to the USSR, where both of them Russia and later World War I, both of
died in Dzhambul (Kazakhstan). which resulted in large scale population
movements, had a major impact on the
New century ¶ As elsewhere, at the development of political parties and
beginning of the 20th century, new politi- Jewish organisations in Biłgoraj and also
cal parties emerged such as the Bund and played a role in developing the Jewish
the Zionist party, but also social organi- printing and publishing industry there.
sations and cultural institutions (theatre,

Printing houses owned by the Mordko Werner family late in the 19th century and
by the Kaminer family in the early 20th century played a crucial role in spreading
political and cultural news and mobilizing Bilgoraj Jews around political slogans.
The biggest Jewish printing press was owned by Nathan Kronenberg, who moved
it from Piotrków to Biłgoraj in 1906. It specialised in publishing popular religious 151
 „
works. In 1923, the Kronenberg’s printing press issued Isaac Bashevis Singer’s
Salamandra magazine, which he edited and which included his two début works.

In 1923, on Thursday, which was a market day, Rabbi Israel Meir ha-Kohen,
may his memory of a righteous be for a blessing, arrived in Biłgoraj to print his
book “Mishnah Berura.” (The rabbi, the founder of the famous yeshiva in Raduń, was bet-
ter known as Hafetz Haim, and the book, used and studied since then by every observant
Ashkenazi Jew, was his major commentary on Yosef Karo’s “Shulkhan Arukh”). On Friday
morning, he drove to the printing house and asked Nathan Kronenberg, of blessed memory,
to find him a minyan for the Sabbath so that he could pray, as was his custom – but on the
condition that nobody would know that he was in town. Being a modest man, he did not
want any honours. But the news of his arrival in Biłgoraj spread like wildfire. On Friday
evening and Saturday morning, people from the whole town came for a prayer, and later
for the Sabbath meal. ¶ Abraham Kronenberg, Żydowska drukarnia (Jewish Printing
House), in: Khurbn Biłgoraj (Destruction of Biłgoraj. Memorial Book), Tel Aviv 1956.

During World War I, many local people in 1927, by Mordechai Rokeach from the
left the town: its population dropped Belz Hasidic dynasty. Some details on
from more than 11,000 (including 5,595 how the community functioned in those
Jews) in 1913, to about 5,600 (3,700 years can be found in the surviving com-
Jews) in 1921. After the war, Biłgoraj was munity financial records. These show
hit by a cholera epidemic. It was then that the communal funds (from slaugh-
when Rabbi Jacob Mordechai Zylberman terhouse revenues and contributions of
moved to Lublin, where he died in 1916. the wealthiest members) were used to
He was replaced briefly by Rabbi Haim support the chief rabbi, as well as to pay
Hokhman, who came to Biłgoraj from the salaries of other community officials
Krzeszów, which had been destroyed by – the assistant rabbi Haim Hokhman,
the war. secretary Aron Bergman, kosher
butcher Lejzor Morensztajn, assistant
How did the Jewish community butcher Wolf Wajnberg, slaughterhouse
function? ¶ After Poland regained supervisor Hemia Szuldiner (who also
independence, the synagogue-controlled supervised the baking of the matzah),
districts were reclassified as Jewish janitor Abram Szuldiner, caretaker
religious communities. In Biłgoraj, it was Zyndel Altbaum, and teachers: Kloc and
not until 1921 that a fully organised Jew- Rycer. In the late 1920s, the community
ish community was revived. Its member- maintained three schools (“Talmud
ship consisted of 4,835 Jews, including Torah”, “Yavneh” and “Zichron Yakov”),
about 3,700 living in the town itself. Josef a poorhouse, and the Gmilut Hesed free
Zylberman, the oldest son of the former loan society. Communal money was
Rabbi Jacob Mordechai, was chosen as also used to renovate the bathhouse, the
Biłgoraj

the new rabbi, with Haim Hokhman as synagogue, and the prayer houses, as well
his assistant rabbi. Josef died in 1926 and as to build a poultry slaughterhouse, to
152 was succeeded briefly by Hokhman, and purchase land to expand the cemetery,
 Poster announcing
a football game for the
Class “B” championship
of the Lublin district
between KSZS Biłgoraj
and WKS Zamość, 1939,
National Library collec-
tion (www.polona.pl)

and to build a house for the rabbi (as establishment and social and cultural
Rabbi Jacob Zylberman’s widow lived in organisations emerged alongside those
the old one). ¶ In Biłgoraj, the Jews lived that had existed in Biłgoraj before. These
mainly in houses located on the market were the Agudas Israel and the Mizrachi
square or on nearby streets – Lubelska as well as different factions of the Zionist
St., Nadstawna St., and Morowa St. They party and the leftist parties. A branch of
owned most of the stores, shops, and the Association of Jewish Craftsmen was

„
artisan workshops, including those that opened, and a Jewish bank and free loan
made sieves. In the 1920s, new political society were set up.

The end of World War I brought the revival of timber trade. Wealthy Jews, mer-
chants trading in timber, purchased large tracts of forest from both the state and
Count Zamoyski. They used the wood to manufacture building-blocks and railway sleepers.
Peasants from the surrounding villages were employed as carpenters or carters transporting
the logs. After the wood had been processed, it was sold to large corporations or to the state,
which bought railway sleepers. Large quantities of wood were also exported abroad. ¶ Sz.I.
Szper, A. Kronenberg, Timber trade, in: Khurbn Biłgoraj (Destruction of Biłgoraj), Tel
Aviv 1956

Tensions ¶ Although Jews consti- occupation and from the segregationist

tuted a majority of the town popula- policy of the post-1919 Polish govern-
tion, they representated a minority ment that by and large barred the Jews
in the municipal administration and from governmental and administrative
in local governmental institutions. positions. Jews were elected to the town
Before World War I, not a single non- council for the first time in the interwar
Christian was allowed to become part period, but they never formed a major-
of in the municipal administration. This ity there. Sometimes administrative
policy partly resulted from the Russian procedures were used to discriminate 153
 against Jewish candidates; for example, some Polish institutions. This was the
in 1924, Jews were not allowed to run case with the Jewish library and reading
for the town council on the pretext of room, founded in 1936 to counter the
having insufficient command of Polish. anti-Jewish attitudes that were prevalent
In addition, specifically Jewish organisa- in the public library run by the Polish

„
tions were sometimes formed in direct Educational Society.
response to the anti-Semitism found in

The first Jewish cemetery in Biłgoraj was located just at the western wall of the
synagogue. You could still find two matzevot there, illegible as they were; the
cemetery was overgrown with grass and goats grazed in it; off to the side there was one
tree, as if it had been left there to guard the place. Children used to say that once, when one
of its branches was broken off, a voice could be heard: “Do not tear off my beard” – a sign
that the place once held the grave of some holy man. ¶ A. Kronenberg, Plac synagogalny
(Synagogue Square), in: Khurbn Biłgoraj (Destruction of Biłgoraj), Tel Aviv 1956.

Jewish cemeteries ¶ The oldest during the war it was the site of execu-
Jewish cemetery was probably estab- tions. It was also devastated: its fence
lished in the early 17th century. Located was pulled down, and gravestones were
west of the synagogue, on what is now removed. After the war, the bodies of
Lubelska St., it was ravaged during Jewish people exhumed from elsewhere
World War II and then built over in the in the town and the surrounding areas
1960s. ¶ Around the mid-18th century, were buried there. Over time, the cem-
another Jewish cemetery was estab- etery area was divided into parcels. The
lished south of the market square, at the Construction Materials Production Fac-
intersection of Morowa St. (now 3 Maja tory was built on the largest parcel in
St.) and Polna St. During World War the 1970s. ¶ Then, in the 1980s, a small
II, it too was devastated and its fence portion of the cemetery was marked off
demolished in 1941; the old oak trees and fenced, and a number of preserved
were cut down, and the gravestones gravestones were placed there. This was
removed: they may have been used to an initiative carried out by the family
pave roads. The cemetery site was built of Art Lumerman, a Biłgoraj Jew living
over with barracks, and in the 1980s, abroad. In addition, a monument in the
the UN Secondary School buildings and form of a wall with embedded fragments
a sports field were constructed there. of gravestones was erected to commem-
¶ The remains of one Jewish cemetery orate the Holocaust victims.
still survive. The most recent Jewish
cemetery in Biłgoraj, known as “on the World War II and the Holocaust
Sands”, located on today’s Konopnickiej ¶ Before the outbreak of World War II,
St. It was established in the early 1800s, Biłgoraj’s population grew to more than
Biłgoraj

quite far to the south from the town 8,000, including about 5,000 Jews (60
centre. Before World War II, it measured percent). In the first weeks of September
154 2.5 hectares (around six acres), and 1939, the town was bombed twice and
 A fragment of
a matzeva at the Jewish
cemetery in Biłgoraj,
2010. Photo by Marta
Krawczyk

set on fire in several places. After an to Majdanek, then, starting from August,
abrupt Red Army occupation, the Nazi all further transports were directed to
Germans arrived in early October. They the extermination camp in Bełżec, where
immediately began taking repressive most of Biłgoraj Jews died. The ghetto was
measures against civilians, particularly liquidated in January 1943. Only a few
against Jews: beatings, humiliations, Jews from Biłgoraj survived the war; one
forced payments, restrictions, and forced of them was Rabbi Mordechai Rokeakh,
labour. Late in 1939, a Judenrat, headed who managed to reach Israel, helped by
by Szymon Bin, was founded. A few Hungarian Jews. He died there in 1949.
months later, the occupying forces shot
its members dead for failing to carry Present day ¶ Today, Biłgoraj is
out their commands. Biłgoraj received a county seat with a population of more
transports of Jews from Austria (mainly than 27,000 and with a thriving timber
from Vienna) who were helped by a Relief industry. Every year it hosts cultural
Committee organised in the town. In events that commemorate the Nobel
June 1940, a ghetto was set up and all Prize laureate I.B. Singer. These include
Jews were confined there. As time went the I.B. Singer Recitation Contest and
on, violence against the Jews escalated the “Following I.B. Singer’s Traces”
– many were sent away to Tarnogród Festival. The sieve-making tradition is
and Goraj and executed. The spring of evoked in open-air performances, “The
1942 marked the beginning of deporta- Sorrowful” and “The Joyful,” which re-
tions to concentration camps. The first enact the farewell and welcome given to
transport of Jews from Biłgoraj was sent the sieve-producers in the past.

Biłgoraj was the birthplace of Shmuel Atzmon-Wircer, an Israeli actor

and theatre director who has been named an honorary citizen of Biłgoraj
and Tel Aviv. Born in 1929, he spent his childhood in Biłgoraj and is always
happy to return to his hometown. To open the Singer Festival in 2014, he
directed a performance entitled The Last Love based on a story by I.B.
Singer, in which he also starred, along with Stefan Szmidt and Alicja 155
 “The Town on the Trail Jachiewicz-Szmidt of the “Borderlands 2000” foundation in Biłgoraj. The

„
of Borderland Cultures,”
a replica of the wooden
documentary A Common Meal Is Good, as It Brings Together the Estranged
synagogue of Volpa, (dir. by Piotr Szalasza, 2007) examines Shmuel Atzmon-Wircer’s life story.
2015. Photo by Monika
Tarajko, digital collection
of the “Grodzka Gate When I think about my childhood in Biłgoraj, I think about learning letters,
– NN Theatre” Centre
(www.teatrnn.pl)
literature, and languages. As an eight-and-a-half-year-old boy, I already could
speak three languages. I could write in two, as Yiddish was not written, it was only spoken.
But I could write in Hebrew, and in Polish, of course. ¶ Shmuel Atzmon-Wircer – record-
ing from the Oral History collection of the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre, Biłgoraj
2006

A Town on the Trail of Border- and other villages. The wooden houses
land Cultures ¶ In 2015, a life-size around the synagogue include a replica
replica of the elaborate, destroyed of the family home of I.B. Singer’s grand-
wooden synagogue of Volpa (now in parents, which serves as a museum and
Belarus) was constructed in Biłgoraj. exhibition venue. This unique cultural,
Intended as a museum and education commercial, and residential develop-
centre, it will constitute part of a cul- ment was built at the initiative of Tadeusz
ture park called “A Town on the Trail of Kuźmiński, a Biłgoraj businessman and
Borderland Cultures” that revives the president of the Biłgoraj XXI Foundation,
architecture and culture of old shtetls whose head office is at 9 I.B. Singera St.

Surrounding Frampol (17 km): barn buildings at Polna, Orzechowa, Kościelna, and Ogrodowa Sts. (1st
area half of the 19th c.); a Jewish cemetery at the intersection of Cmentarna and Ogrodowa
Sts. (18th c.); the Church of Our Lady of the Scapular and St. John of Nepomuk (19th c.). ¶
Tarnogród (21 km): Church of St. Roch, built of larch wood (1600); a synagogue (17th c.);
Biłgoraj

a Jewish cemetery on Nadstawna St. (20th c.); the Church of the Transfiguration (1750–
1777); the Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity (1870–1875); Kościuszko Mound (1917). ¶
156 Goraj (23 km): a Jewish cemetery at Cmentarna St. (19th c.); the Church of St. Bartholomew
the Apostle (2nd half of the 14th c.). ¶ Janów Lubelski (3 km): former Jewish two-storey
houses (Rynek St.); a Jewish cemetery (Wojska Polskiego St.); the Shrine of Our Gracious
Lady of the Rosary; a former Dominican monastery complex (1694–1769); several houses
that belonged to the Zamoyski Family estate in Zamojska St; the former prison and court
buildings (mid-19th c.); the Regional Museum; the Museum of Photography and the Nar-
row-Gauge Railway Open-Air Museum; the “Zoom Nature” recreational and educational
complex at the Janów Lake. ¶ Krzeszów (41 km): the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed
Virgin Mary (1895); a wooden bell tower (1898); a Jewish cemetery in the southwestern
part of the town (17th c.); a memorial to 1,500 Jews murdered in the Chojnik forest north
of the town; the “Blacksmith’s Farmstead” open-air museum in Krzeszów Górny. ¶ Ulanów
(41 km): the Polish Rafting Museum; a Jewish cemetery at T. Bula St. (18th c.); the former
mikveh building (currently a fire-station); the Municipal History Museum; the wooden
Church of St. John the Baptist and St. Barbara (1643); Holy Trinity Church (wooden, 1660);
wooden houses (19th c.). ¶ Modliborzyce (45 km): the Church of St. Stanislaus Bishop and
Martyr (1644–1664); a synagogue (1760); a Jewish cemetery (18th c.). ¶ Janów Forests ¶
The Solska Forest

Replica of the wooden BIŁGORA J Worth

synagogue of Volpa seeing
(2015), 9 I.B. Singera
St., tel. +48 691 032 140,
fundacja@bilgoraj21.
pl ¶ I.B.Singer’s bench
(2009), T. Kościuszki St. ¶
Jewish cemetery (19th c.),
M. Konopnickiej St. ¶
Church of the Assump-
tion of the Blessed
Virgin Mary (18th c.),
3 Maja St. ¶ Church of
St. George (1790–1793),
formerly a Greek Catholic
and Orthodox church, 3
Ogrodowa St. ¶ Sieve-
maker’s Homestead
(mid-19thc.), a branch of
the Regional Museum, 32
Nadstawna St. ¶ Biłgoraj
Land Museum, 87
T. Kościuszki St., tel. +48
84 686 27 33, muzeum.
[email protected].
157
 Wielkie Oczy
Ukr. ВеликіОчи, Yid. ‫וויעלקאַטשי‬ Every Friday, the shammes of the synagogue announced
a wake-up call at five o’clock, in complete darkness, to wake
the Jews up for morning prayer, shouting: “Get up, come and
pray to the Creator.”
Tzvi Orenstein, To Remember, Not to Forget, Tel Aviv 2005

The settlement of Wielkie Oczy, located of Wielkie Oczy and the first to be
near two large ponds from which its known by name. As a young man, he
name derives, was founded in the 1520s. distinguished himself by his sharp
It soon became the property of Peter mind, piety, and deep love for study-
Mohyla, the future Orthodox Metropoli- ing the rabbinic sources. He arrived in
tan of Kyiv and the founder of the Kyiv- Wielkie Oczy around 1735, invited by
Mohyla Academy, and of his brother the local kahal to take the position of
Moses, a candidate for the throne of the town rabbi. Known as a dedicated
Moldavia. The next owner of the town, follower of the Judaic legal stringencies,
Andrzej Modrzejowski, obtained the he refined many religious regulations
Magdeburg rights for Wielkie Oczy in and introduced new ones into everyday
1671, and probably around that time life of the local Jewish community. His
then that the Jews started to settle works include Dover shalom (Herald of
there. ¶ Jews lived in most of the houses Peace) and commentaries on the Book
listed in the 1752 inventory. Prominent of Psalms and the Books of Prophets.
among them was Gdal Szymonowicz, These writings have not survived, and
who resided in the town hall building Rabbi Mordekhai’s renown rests on his
and was the leaseholder of two mills, theological treatise Sha’ar ha-melech
a winery, and an inn located in the town (The Royal Gate), a collection of 13
hall. Other residents of Wielkie Oczy theological and moral essays connected
included such Jews as baker Moszko with the dates and holidays of the Jewish
Szawłowic, tailor Szymon Gierszunow- calendar. The first edition of this treatise
icz, shopkeeper Mendel Berkowicz, salt- was published in Żółkiew (Zhovkva) in
trader Judka Erszkowicz, and stallholder 1762, and the latest – in Canada in 1997.
Majer Rzeźnik.
Synagogue ¶ A house of prayer
Wielkie Oczy

Rabbi Mordekchai ben Shmuel must have already existed early in the
of Kutno ¶ Mordekhai, son of Shmuel, 18th century, as recorded in documents
of Kutno (born circa 1715 – died after from 1735 and 1763 that note that
158 1772) was the most prominent rabbi even the oldest inhabitants no longer
 Postcard showing
a fragment of the town
square on a market day
in 1911, published by
Jakub Just, collection of
Krzysztof Dawid Majus
(www.wielkieoczy.itgo.
com)

The market square

in Wielkie Oczy,
1918–1939, property of
A. Schimdt, collection of
Krzysztof Dawid Majus
(www.wielkieoczy.itgo.
com)

remembered when it had been built. In was pulled down during World War II,
the mid-19th century, there were two while the surviving synagogue building
stone prayer houses in Wielkie Oczy: served after the war as a warehouse for
an old bet midrash and a synagogue the communal cooperative. Abandoned
built in 1910, both of which burnt down in the 1990s, it was listed on the 2009
during World War I. The prayer houses register of historical monuments. From
in Wielkie Oczy were seriously damaged 2011 to 2013, the Wielkie Oczy Com-
during a fire and then rebuilt in 1927. munal Office renovated the building,
It was designed by architect Jan Sas and now the former synagogue houses
Zubrzycki, famous for his churches and the Community Public Library and the
public buildings and thanks to money Memorial Exhibition Room.
received from an American immigrant,
Eliyahu Gottfried. The bet midrash 159
 The synagogue in
Wielkie Oczy, currently
the Community Public
Library, 2015. Photo
„ Just behind the market square, on the southern side, there was a synagogue and
an old prayer house, which was called bet midrash. It was an old stone one-storey
building, with the bimah in the centre and the aron ha-kodesh on its eastern wall. All
by Wioletta Wejman,
digital collection of the
around, there were wooden tables and benches. On the shelves, there were holy books for
“Grodzka Gate – NN the study of the Talmud and for prayer. On the tables stood candlesticks used to illuminate
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)
the interior. Most of the space was taken up by a large brick heating stove. Behind it, a man
called Lippe had his bed. His job was to light the stove in winter and keep the synagogue
The 1917 design of
a synagogue in Wielkie
clean. Prayers were held in this prayer house every day, also on all holidays and Sabbaths.
Oczy. Drawing by Jan It was possible to come in to read and study the Talmud at any time of the day. Women
Sas Zubrzycki, collection would go to the women’s section by climbing up the wooden stairs, and they took part in the
of Krzysztof Dawid
Majus (www.wielkieoczy. Sabbath and holiday prayers sitting in the balconies that overlooked the main hall. Across
itgo.com) the road there was a Great synagogue. It was a large white one-storey building, the pride of
the local Jewish community. Prayers were held there only on Sabbath. In winter, it was cold
inside because the building was not heated. Weddings took place on the steps of the main
entrance, where a huppah was put up. Also, funeral processions stopped there on their way
to the cemetery to say a prayer. There were windows of coloured glass in the synagogue;
a festive cold prevailed there. The bimah made of wrought iron had a large seven-branched
candelabrum. On this platform, facing eastwards, stood the hazan, or whoever led the
prayer. Next to him, there was the rabbi’s place. I remember a curtain, a parokhet of purple
velvet embroidered with golden Hebrew letters that covered the aron ha-kodesh – the holy
ark where the Torah scrolls were kept. ¶ A story told by Ryszard Majus (1924–1995), a Jew
from Wielkie Oczy (ed. by Krzysztof Dawid Majus), translated from Polish text available
at: http://wielkieoczy.itgo.com/Memories/RM.htm (edited for clarity – eds.).

Isaac’s transformation ¶ In 1806, Soon, he befriended Joseph Tarler, who

Wielkie Oczy

the young Hasid Isaac Erter (1792– also came to live in Wielkie Oczy. This
1851) married Haya Sarah, a daughter well-educated, erudite man, who could
of a respected family from Wielkie Oczy, speak several languages, introduced
160 and went to live with his parents-in-law. Isaac to medieval Jewish rationalist
 The trademark of
B. Henner’s photographic
studio placed on the
back of a photo, 1897,
the National Library col-
lection (www.polona.pl)

A portrait of Michał
Szczepański. Photo
taken by Baruch Henner,
a photographer born in
Wielkie Oczy, 1987, the
National Library collec-
tion (www.polona.pl)

philosophy and the literature of the Jew- reissued many times. My eyes did not
ish Enlightenment. As a result, young light up in this darkness, Erter later wrote
Isaac left the town to see the world. He about his Hasidic upbringing, but in
became a doctor and a writer, as well fact it is in the small traditional town of
as one of the leading representatives Wielkie Oczy that he underwent intel-
of the Haskalah movement in Galicia. lectual and spiritual transformation.
He penned Hebrew satires. The most
famous one, Gilgul ha-nefesh (Trans- Photographer ¶ Baruch Henner was
migration of the Soul), describes the born in Wielkie Oczy in 1842. In 1864,
incarnations of a soul from a Hasid to he opened a photographic studio in the
a frog, to a cantor-drunkard, to a fish, to market square in Przemyśl. As a young
a tax collector, to an owl, to a Kabbalist, boy, Baruch went to a religious school,
to a mole, to a corruptible gravedigger, but this did not prevent him from also
to a dog, to a jealous rabbi, to a fox, to attending a secular school and from
a Hasidic tsaddik, to a donkey, to a doc- taking up photography and graphic
tor, to a turkey, and, finally, to, a well- arts; indeed, he became an outstand-
connected and foolish rich man telling ing professional and artist. He studied
the writer of his previous incarnations. with the famous French photographer
Erter’s collected works were published Louis Lumière, among others, and also
posthumously under the title of Ha- became well-known in other countries:
tsofeh le-vet Yisra’el (The Watchman of He held the prestigious title of the Court
the House of Israel, Vienna 1858) and Photographer at the Imperial Court 161
 A small grocery shop in in Vienna, among others. He received which became one of the largest U.S.
Wielkie Oczy, 1916, col-
lection of Beit Hatfutsot,
awards at exhibitions in Vienna (1873), baking companies, the Gottfried Baking
The Museum of the London (1874), and Lwów (1877). Company. Eventually, he also became
Jewish People, Photo
Archive, Tel Aviv
Baruch Henner died in Przemyśl on a vice-president of the American Pales-
February 2, 1926. tine Line Inc., a ship company providing
passenger service between New York
Industrialist and philanthropist and Haifa. Eliyahu Gottfried was actively
¶ In the mid-19th century, the trade involved in the Zionist movement,
increased in Wielkie Oczy, with most spending considerable sums of money
stores run by Jews. The town also had on this activity and frequently travelling
two tanneries, two brickyards, a steam to Palestine. Moreover, he was a well-
mill, a slaughterhouse, four distiller- known philanthropist, who financed, for
ies, and almost fifty craftsmen. Yet the example, the rebuilding of the Wielkie
proverbial Galician poverty of the late Oczy synagogue, destroyed during the
19th century forced many to emigrate. war in 1915. Gottfried visited Wielkie
One of them was Eliyahu Gottfried, Oczy on several occasions and helped
born in Wielkie Oczy in 1859 into the poor Jewish families there. He died of
poor family of Baruch and Szajndel heart disease in 1932 and was buried at
Wielkie Oczy

Gottfried. In 1890, he emigrated to the New York’s Mount Carmel cemetery. He

U.S. in search of work and a better life was survived by seven children.
and settled in New York, along with his
162 wife Rachel. He set up a small bakery,
In 1903, Jewish immigrants from Wielkie Oczy founded the Erste Wielkie Oczer
Kranken Untershtitzn Ferayn (Yid. The First Wielkie Oczy Society for the Sick
and Needy) in New York. The Wielkie Oczy Foundation continues to operate
today. This non-governmental organisation was founded by Krzysztof Dawid
Majus (son of Ryszard Majus from Wielkie Oczy and initiator of many activi-

„
ties connected with the town cultural heritage; he is the author of the Wielkie
Oczy monograph and of the unique memorial website wielkieoczy.itgo.com).

Everyday life ¶ The house where I was born on February 4, 1924, stood in
the market square. It was a one-storey building made of red brick and covered
with tiles. This house was built by my grandfather. All the houses in the marketplace were
one-storey, made of brick or wood. In almost every one of them there was some store, or
a workshop, a bakery, or a shoemaker’s. And all of them belonged to Jews. The house of
Mrs. Linowa, which was next to ours, was the only exception. In that house there lived
a Polish family, who manufactured and sold sausages and meat products. The only two-
storied building in the square housed the offices of the local council. Grass grew on the
square and a dirt road went across it. In the middle of the square there was a well with
a wheel. From there, water was carried in pails to the houses. Acacia trees grew around the
square. ¶ Streets without names radiated from the square. The street that led to the neigh-
bouring town was called “The Street to Krakowiec,” and so on. One of the streets ran to the
Jewish cemetery and another one to the Catholic cemetery. In these streets, there were small
houses with roofs of tar paper, tiles, or thatch, where farmers lived. These were Poles and
Ruthenians, who owned the surrounding fields. Farm buildings were located close to their
houses. Jewish people who worked as tailors, tinkers, or cattle traders, also lived in some of
these houses. The town population consisted of Catholic Poles, Greek Catholic Ruthenians,
and Jews. The Poles spoke Polish, the Ruthenians spoke Ukrainian, and the Jews spoke Yid-
dish. Most of them, of course, also knew Polish and Ukrainian. ¶ There was no electricity
in Wielkie Oczy. We lit oil lamps at night. There were no lights in the streets. The only place
with electricity was the mill. There was no water supply system either. Water was stored in
buckets. Toilets were outside the houses and you had to go there to relieve yourself. This was
a small problem in summer, but a much bigger one in winter. There were no paved roads
or sidewalks. When it rained, people walked in the mud. Also, horse-drawn carts rolled
through the mud, as no road was paved. Just sand. Only in a few places, the sides of the
roads were covered with planks for pedestrians; we called these “trottoirs.” We used wood
to heat stoves. We did not know coal. The only means of transport was the horse-drawn
cart. The nearest railway station, situated in the county town of Jaworów, was about 20 km
away. ¶ A story told by Ryszard Majus (1924–1995), a Jew from Wielkie Oczy (ed. by
Krzysztof Dawid Majus), translated from Polish text available at: http://wielkieoczy.itgo.
com/Memories/RM.htm

According to the 1921 census, the beginning of the 20th century; this was
population of Wielkie Oczy was only the result of the devastation brought
80 percent of what it had been at the about by World War I. The census 163
 Judaica exhibition in the listed 274 houses and 1,668 residents, fence that surrounded the property of
Wielkie Oczy synagogue,
2014. Photo by Monika
including 806 Poles (48 percent), 547 a Jewish baker in Wielkie Oczy, one night
Tarajko, digital collection Jews (33 percent), and 314 Ukrain- in 1938, someone wrote a slogan in large
of the “Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” Centre
ians (19 percent). The town recovered metre-high black letters, reading“Jews go
(www.teatrnn.pl) slowly and lost its position as a regional to Palestine.” We saw it in the morning as
commercial centre in favour of nearby we were going to school. A group of Jews
Krakowiec. The Jewish residents of were standing in front of it, and they
Wielkie Oczy joined Krakowiec-based were deeply shocked.
organisations, such as a credit coop-
erative of the Central Union of Credit The Jewish cemetery ¶ The cem-
Cooperatives. In 1935, Wielkie Oczy lost etery was established about 300 metres
its status as a town. In the late 1930s, away from the synagogue, on the street
anti-Semitic sentiments and ethnic ten- that went southward from the town
sions came to characterise political and square towards Krakowiec. It dates back
social life all over Poland. One of these to the second half of the 18th century.
anti-Semitic incidents is described in Today, around 100 gravestones are
Mieczysław Dobrzański’s book, Gehenna preserved at the cemetery, but its size
of Poles in the Rzeszów Land 1938–1948 suggests that perhaps as many as 3,000
(Gehenna Polaków na Rzeszowszczyźnie people may have been buried there.
1938–1948, Wrocław 2002): On a high

In September 1914, after the Russian forces had seized Wielkie Oczy, the only
Wielkie Oczy

Russian soldier killed during the operation was buried at the Jewish cemetery. He
was a religious Jew, and a tsarist army officer asked Rabbi Naftali Hertz Teomim
to bury him at the local cemetery in accordance with the Judaic religious rites.
164
During World War II, the Jews who World War II and the Holocaust
went into hiding seeking to escape the ¶ German troops entered Wielkie Oczy
April 1942 deportation were executed at on September 12, 1939. After two weeks,
the cemetery and then buried in mass they gave up most of the land east of
graves. The Nazi Germans devastated the San River to the Soviet Union. The
the cemetery, and after the war local Red Army entered the town on Sep-
residents took away the matzevot to use tember 28, 1939, and in November
them for different purposes. In 1978, 1939 the area was incorporated into the
an obelisk was erected on the edge of Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, its
the cemetery near Krakowska St. at the inhabitants becoming USSR citizens.
site of the mass grave of 41 Jews from The administration and economy were
Wielkie Oczy who were shot here during organised in accordance with the Soviet
World War II. In 2000–2001, works were model, which meant the dominant
started to clear the cemetery from wild role of the communist party, the pres-
vegetation, a fence was put up around it, ence of the NKVD, and deportations
all the matzevot found throughout Wiel- of the politically suspicious inhabit-
kie Oczy were gathered, and a monu- ants. ¶ The German-Soviet war began
ment commemorating the local Jewish in the morning of June 22, 1941, with
community was erected. an attack by the German forces along
the entire German-Soviet border. The
The last rabbi ¶ Jonah Teomim was Germans entered Wielkie Oczy the next
born in Wielkie Oczy in 1885, as one of day, destroying and looting the place,
the seven sons of the town’s long-time compelling Jews to forced labour, and
rabbi Naftali Hertz Teomim. After his killing them in individual and mass
father’s death in 1916, he took over his executions. In August 1941, a Judenrat
position and served as the town rabbi was established. In June 1942, the Jews
in the interwar period. He was a Hasid of Wielkie Oczy were transported to
and a follower of the tsaddik of Belz. He ghettoes in Yavoriv (274) and Krakowiec
held the honorary title of the Gabbay (168). In December 1942, those from
of Eretz Yisrael, i.e. the one responsible the Krakowiec ghetto were relocated to
for raising funds for the Jews in the land Yavoriv, where they were all murdered
of Israel (British Mandate Palestine). In by the Nazis on 16 April 1943.
1943, he was murdered by the Germans,
along with the town’s other Jews.

Marek Wizenblit from the town of Bychawa in the Lublin region stayed
in Wielkie Oczy during the war. At first, he worked on a local farm, and
then he remained in hiding in the area. After the war, he adopted the
name “Urban,” which he received from a man at whose place he had
found shelter. He became a professor at the Agricultural University of
Wrocław and described his experiences in the collection of memories titled
Poland, Poland, published by the Jewish Historical Institute in 1992.
165
 A matzeva at the Jewish Present day ¶ Today, Wielkie Oczy area, and the Green Velo bicycle trail
cemetery in Wielkie
Oczy, 2014. Photo
is a village with a population of about runs through the village. The synagogue
by Monika Tarajko, 800, located a few kilometres from the has been recently restored and serves as
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Krakowiec border crossing to Ukraine. the town’s library with a memorial room.
Theatre” Centre (www. There are some agritourism farms in the
teatrnn.pl)

Surrounding Lubaczów (16 km): urban layout; wooden and brick houses (19th and 20th c.); a town hall,
area court building, a mill, a granary, and a former pharmacy (19th c.); remnants of buildings on
a castle hill (16th/17th c.); Church of St. Stanislaus (late 19th c.); St. Nicholas Greek Catholic
Church (1883); a cemetery (Kościuszki St.); mass graves of about 2,000 Jews executed by
the Germans in 1943, located at the so-called parish field between Dachnów and Mokrzyca.
¶ Oleszyce (21 km): a Jewish cemetery (18th c.) at 3 Maja St., with about 300 matzevot;
a mass grave of 115 Jews shot by Germans, with a memorial plaque; a town hall with a yard
(1727); the former Uniate Church of St. Onuphrius (1809), the Church of the Nativity of the
Blessed Virgin Mary (16th c., reconstructed in the 19th c.); the remains of the Sieniawski
palace complex (18th c.). ¶ Chotyniec (25 km): the Greek Catholic Church of the Nativ-
ity of the Most Holy Mother of God (wooden, 1615). ¶ Cieszanów (27 km): Church of
St.Adalbert (1800); a synagogue (1889), now housing a cultural centre; St. George Greek
Catholic Church (1910); a Jewish cemetery with the ohel of tsaddik Simcha Ezekiel ber
Halberstam. ¶ Stary Dzików (38 km): St. Dmitri Greek Catholic Church(1904), where some
Wielkie Oczy

of the scenes for Andrzej Wajda’s Katyń were shot; Holy Trinity Church (1781); ruins of
a masonry synagogue (late 19th-c.). ¶ Radruż (40 km): St. Paraskeva Orthodox Church (late
16th c.); included in the UNESCO Heritage List; two cemeteries with stone crosses from
166 Brusno and with the Andruszewski family crypt; St. Nicholas Orthodox Church (wooden,
1931), now a Catholic church. ¶ Medyka (47 km): a border crossing to Ukraine; a masonry
synagogue (early 20th c., no longer used), the Pawlikowski Family palace and park complex
(18th c.); a wooden church (1607–1608). ¶ Przemyśl (56 km): the eclectic-Moorish-style
New Synagogue (1905), currently a library; the synagogue in the Zasanie district (1890–
1892), private property; a Jewish old people’s home in Rakoczego St.; several memorials to
Holocaust victims; the “new” Jewish cemetery at Słowackiego St. with about 700 matzevot;
the Casimir Castle (16th–17th c.), the Lubomirski Palace (1885–1887), Greek Catholic
Bishops’ Palace (1898–1900), housing the Museum of Przemyśl Land; the Museum of Bells
and Pipes; church and monastery complexes of the Franciscans, Carmelites, Reformati, and
Bernardine sisters; the Byzantine-Ukrainian Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (1626–1632);
Byzantine-Ukrainian and Orthodox churches, a Jesuit college and forts of the Przemyśl
Fortress (1853–1856). ¶ Southern Roztocze Landscape Park: part of the eastern Roztocze
featuring an irregular belt of limestone and sand hills that form large hummocks and
plateaus, riven with dry ravines and the valleys of small rivers. Its noteworthy feature is the
juniper forest, which is protected in the Sołokija reserve.

WIELKIE OCZY Former synagogue Worth

(1910), now library, 14 seeing
Rynek St., tel. +48 793
020 808, gbp.woczy@
interia.pl ¶ Jewish
cemetery (18th c.), Kra-
kowiecka St. ¶ Shrine
of Our Lady Comforter
of the Afflicted, church
and monastery complex
(18th c.), Krzywa St. ¶
St. Nicholas the Won-
derworker Orthodox
Church (1925), Rynek
St. ¶ Fortified manor
house (17th c.), now
housing the Community
Office, 2 Leśna St.

167
 Łańcut
Ukr. Ланьцут, Yid. .‫לאַנצוט‬ It smells of Paradise here…
Naftali Tzvi Horowitz

Stopover ¶ One day in May, in 1827, Jagiełło. ¶ The centre of the town is the
tsaddik Naftali Tzvi Horowitz was travel- trapezium-shaped market square, with
ling with his Hasidim from the town of several streets radiating from it. To the
Ropczyce to the city of Lublin. They were north from the market place a parish
going through the town of Łańcut when, church was built, not far from where the
just as they were passing near the Jewish Pileckis’ castle once stood. Damage to
cemetery, Naftali Tzvi had his carriage the town sustained in the first quarter of
stop. He looked around, absolutely the 17th century due to the private wars
delighted, and said, It smells of Paradise of local nobility, made its then owners,
here… He died soon afterwards, and the the Stadnicki family, move their resi-
Hasidim built him an ohel in the Łańcut dence east of the old town centre. The
cemetery. When visiting Łańcut, one can next owner, Crown Marshal Stanisław
learn many other similar stories. Lubomirski, extended the castle consid-
erably, so as to make Łańcut his main
On the route from Lesser Poland residence.
to Ruthenia ¶ The town of Łańcut
sits on the old route leading from Lesser The Jews of Łańcut ¶ The first men-
Poland to Ruthenia, in the gentle rolling tion of Jewish inhabitants in Łańcut can
area between the Carpathian Foothills be found in documents from around the
and the Sandomierz Valley. The town’s mid-16th century. However, as early as
original name, Landshut, was connected 1583, the new town owners, the Pilecki
with the influx of German colonists, family, forbade Jews to settle there. This
who settled in that area (There is a town was an exceptional situation, as such
in Germany called Landshut). Łańcut bans were mostly imposed in royal cit-
was granted its town rights either by ies. In 1600, there were five Jews among
Casimir the Great around the mid-14th the town’s 180 taxpayers – a little more
century or, a little later, by Otto Pilecki than 3 percent. The conditions for Jews
of Pilcza. In 1385, the owner of the town to settle in Łańcut did not become more
Łańcut

was Pilecki’s daughter, Elżbieta Granow- favourable until the Lubomirski fam-
168 ska, who later married King Władysław ily took ownership of the town in the
 Inside the Łańcut
synagogue, 1797,
drawing by Zygmunt
Vogel, collection of the
Cabinet of Prints in of
the University of Warsaw
Library

Synagogue in
Łańcut, 2015. Photo by
Emil Majuk, digital col-
lection of the “Grodzka
Gate – NN Theatre”
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)

The interior of the

synagogue in Łańcut,
2015. Photo by Emil
Majuk, digital collection
of the “Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” Centre
(www.teatrnn.pl)

second quarter of the 17th century. The mid-17th century destroyed Łańcut and
new owners were aware of the beneficial put a stop to settlement for many years,
impact the presence of the Jews had but, in the fourth quarter of the 17th cen-
on the town development. Documents tury, the local Jewish community began
dating back to that period mention Jews to revive. In 1677, Stanisław Herakliusz
as buyers of plots of land and houses in Lubomirski issued a document in which,
the town. The Lubomirskis received help among other things, he ordered all the
from the Jews in financial matters such Jews to become well-equipped in case it
as loans, payment collection, the lease was necessary to defend the town and
of marketplace fees and bridge tolls, the recommended the collection of munici-
lease of propination rights (the right pal taxes also from Jewish tenants. In
to distill and sell alcoholic beverages), 1684, as many as 33 Jewish families were
breweries, taverns, and mills. ¶ The noted in Łańcut. The life of this Jewish
Swedish and Transylvanian (Rakoczy’s community revolved around the already
troops) invasions of Poland in the existing wooden synagogue, mentioned 169
 for the first time in the second half of the here in 1707. However, the conflicts
17th century. The synagogue burnt down over financial matters between the
and was rebuilt many times. Łańcut also town owners and the community led to
had a mikveh and a cemetery located a decree in 1710 by Franciszek Lubomir-
beyond the fortifications, northeast of ski which forbade lending money on
the town. The municipal record books interest (usury) and which resulted in
from 1685 contained information about Jewish expulsion in 1719. Three years
the following kahal elders: Bonas (Boaz) later, however, Teodor Lubomirski
Ickowicz, Michel Sapsowicz, and Szloma cancelled the ban by issueing a new
Lazarowicz Załoski. Froim Boruchowicz privilege granting Jews the right to build
was the town rabbi at the beginning of houses and to trade freely within the
the 18th century, or perhaps at the end town limits. In the mid-18th century, the
of the 17th century. ¶ The town revival bishop of Przemyśl forbade the Jews of
and its important status in the Jewish Łańcut to organise weddings on Sundays

„
world stemmed from a session of the and ordered them to close their stores
Council of Four Lands that took place on main Christian holidays.

The synagogue ¶ And so, it is the night of Kol Nidre. Yom Kippur. Huge
candles have been put into chests filled with sand. Their red flames keep flicker-
ing up and down. An air of solemnity reigns over the place. The synagogue is bursting with
a crowd of praying people. The Jews, dressed in their white coats and yellowish taleysim are
standing and swaying back and forth monotonously. All of them are deep in prayer, mak-
ing their pleas to God. The prayers of the cantor, and the laments of many elderly men are
reverberating inside the synagogue. It is the Judgement Day. And then, again, there comes
the festival of Rejoicing in the Torah. How different the atmosphere is now: from all corners
and recesses of the synagogue comes the singing of the children, adults, and elderly people.
Here comes a procession with Torah scrolls: “Oh, our Eternal God, have mercy and redeem
us.” Everyone is walking around with scrolls of the Torah in their hands; their hearts filled
with joy. Children are following the Torah scrolls and waving flags. The faces of the adults
are radiant with joy. The whole of the synagogue looks as if it itself would like to participate
in this joyful celebration. ¶ Michael Walcer (Hadar Ramataim), The Great Synagogue in
Łańcut, in: Lancut; kiyem un khurbn fun a yidisher kehile (Lancut; the Life and Destruc-
tion of the Jewish Community), Tel Aviv 1963

Most likely the earliest Jewish quarter synagogue financially supported by

situated northeast of the town centre. Stanisław Lubomirski in 1761, which
Łańcut’s infrastructure was developed was erected west of the nearby castle
after Stanisław and Izabella Lubomirski complex. ¶ In 1765, the dynamically
took over the ownership of the town developing Łańcut kahal had 829
in 1745. It was then that the centre taxpayers, which was fewer than in
of the Jewish quarter moved to the the neighbouring kahals of Rzeszów,
Łańcut

area between the marketplace and the Sieniawa, Przeworsk, and Leżajsk. The
170 castle, its main building being the brick most significant rabbis were Zvi Hirsch
„
Meizlich [Meisel] (1758–1767), Moshe, Yehuda Leib – the rabbi of Cracow, fol-
the son of Yitzhak, and the grandson of lowed by his son, Tzvi Hirsch Lipschitz.

Be as bold as a leopard, as light as an eagle, as swift as a deer, and as strong as

a lion in doing the will of your Father in Heaven. ¶ Babylonian Talmud, Tractate
Pirke Avot 5: 23.

This was one of the inscriptions on the from Pirke Avot ethical tractate), as well
walls of the synagogue in Łańcut, the as polychromes depicting six biblical
famous line which gave rise to many ani- scenes: the temptation of Adam, Cain’s
malistic images on the walls and ceilings murder of Abel, Noah’s Ark, Abraham’s
of Polish synagogues. ¶ The synagogue sacrifice, a synagogue menorah, and
building was renovated in 1896, and a table for the shewbread (the twelve
again in 1910. Most probably, it was then loaves placed every Sabbath on a spe-
that it received its classicistic, modest cial golden table in front of the Holy of
form. The interior consists of a two-sto- Holies in Jerusalem Temple). The wall
rey main prayer room, adjoined on the decorations include the texts of prayers
western side by a porch and the kahal and inscriptions commemorating the
room (also known as “the Lublin syna- sponsors, images of Jerusalem, musical
gogue” because of the “Seer of Lublin” instruments, the signs of the Zodiac,
who used to pray there). The women’s and animal and floral motifs. There is
gallery was on the first floor. There also a modest polychrome ornamenta-
was also a wooden women’s gallery, no tion in the kahal room. ¶ During World
longer existing, at the northern side War II, the Potocki family prevented
of the men’s hall. ¶ The decorations of the destruction of the synagogue by the
the interior of the synagogue single out Nazis, although the synagogue building
this building making it one of the most served as grain warehouse. After the
important in Poland. The walls of the war, a group of local heritage enthusiasts
men’s prayer room and the bimah are saved it from demolition. It was restored
covered with colourful stuccowork and in the 1980s/90s. At present, the custo-
polychrome, created in several stages dian of the synagogue is the Foundation
– from the 1760s, through the 19th cen- for the Preservation of Jewish Herit-
tury, and in 1909–1910 and 1934–1935. age. The building is an important point
The stuccowork was probably completed on the Hasidic Trail – a tourist route
already in the 1760s. It has elements of following the footsteps of the Jews in
the Rococo style. On the canopy of the southeastern Poland. For information
bimah there are stucco images of four about the trail or visiting the synagogue,
symbolic crowns (that of the Torah, that please telephone +48 22 4366000 or

„
of priesthood, that of royalty, and that e-mail: [email protected]
of a good name, also following the line

The house of learning was always open. The door locks, which had never been
used, were covered with rust. The house of study had become a sanctuary for 171
 merchants from the narrow streets of Łańcut, who found this place quite pleasant to stay
in as it gave protection against the cold in winter and against the heat in summer. In the
morning, prayers were said in minyans and individually. Jews would also come here to
study a little, or to look through the Humash [Pentateuch – eds.]. And so, the voices of
those who were praying mingled together with the voices of those who were studying the
Torah, but they did not disturb one another because they were all preoccupied with their
own business. There was also a third sort of Jew visiting the house of learning. They were
those who would come here for a chat, or for a talk about politics, trade, or kahal matters.
¶ Pinchas Goldman, The Great Bet Midrash, in: Lancut; kiyem un khurbn fun a yidisher
kehile (Lancut; the Life and Destruction of a Jewish Community), Tel Aviv 1963

Josephine reforms ¶ Legal acts concerning Jews, known under the German
name Toleranzpatent, were issued in 1781 by Joseph II (1741–1790), the Emperor
of Austria (1780–1790). The emperor issued his Edict of Tolerance for the Jews of
Vienna and Lower Austria, and subsequently other edicts followed for other parts
of the monarchy (for Galicia in 1785 and 1789). The reforms followed the ideol-
ogy of enlightened absolutism. They sought to better integrate the Jews into the
state by decreasing the segregation of the Jews, removing the Jews from activi-
ties considered harmful and non-productive, facilitating their access to secular
education, and making them more useful to the state. To this end, in 1784–1785,
the Jews were forbidden to lease land, inns, breweries, produce and sell alco-
hol and were instead encouraged to establish agricultural farms. A whole series
of legal acts referring to particular spheres of life culminated in the patent of
May 17, 1789, called Die josephinische Judenordnung. Under this act, the Jew-
ish self-government that had existed until then was abolished. Religious com-
munities were created instead on the basis of kahals (141 in Galicia and two in
Bukovina), and a separate judiciary was established. New arrangements were
introduced that promoted trade, craft, industry, the purchase of real estate, and
higher education. In 1787, the Jews were ordered to adopt German family names,
and compulsory schooling was introduced. A year later, Jews were included
into the military conscription pool and had to serve in the army. ¶ Based on: J.
Tomaszewski, A. Żbikowski, Żydzi w Polsce. Dzieje i kultura. Leksykon ¶ (Jews in
Poland. The History and Culture. The Lexicon), Warsaw 2001, www.sztetl.org.pl

Hasidim ¶ First Hasidism settled in book. ¶ At the end of the 18th century,
Łańcut in 1770. For two years, a famous another famous tsaddik, YaakovYitzhak
tsaddik lived and taught in Łańcut – Horowitz (d. 1815), arrived in Łańcut,
Elimelech, son of Eleazar Lipman, who where he got married. He was a disciple
later moved to Leżajsk and came to be and, later, a rival of Elimelech of Leżajsk.
known as Elimelech of Leżajsk. He was Shortly after his marriage Yaakov moved
the author of a series of books, the most to the village of Czechówka near the
Łańcut

important was Noam Elimelech, some- town of Wieniawa (both today districts
172 times considered to be the first Hasidic of Lublin), where he gained his honorary
nickname “the Seer of Lublin.” The town, too. Eight Christians and six Jews Amateur orchestra
“Hazamir” and its con-
small chamber in the Łańcut synagogue had licences to sell alcohol in Łańcut. ductor Moshe Feilschuss.
where “the Seer” met with local Jews, Towards the end of the 18th century, all Founded in May 1914,
in its heyday in the
is called “the Lublin synagogue.” At the Łańcut taverns were run by Jews; their 1920s and 1930s it had
beginning of the 19th century, Łańcut owners were Sander Glana, Eliasz Sona, 70 members. Łańcut,
Lazar Wolkenfeld, Gieca Worcel, and 1925, collection of Beit
was still under the strong influence of Hatfutsot, The Museum
Hasidism, represented by Tzvi Elimelech Berek Baumberg, the richest of them all. of the Jewish People,
Shapiro, kabbalistic commentator and ¶ The development of the town Jew- Photo Archive, Tel Aviv

the founder of the Hasidic dynasty in ish community was halted in the early
Dynów. His son, Eleazar, was the next 19th century by the Napoleonic Wars,
rabbi of Łańcut (1816–1865), succeeded epidemics (1827, 1831), and a large fire
by Eleazar’s son Simkhah (until 1912). in 1820. The conditions for the town
development, including that of its Jewish
The Jewish community in the community, became more favourable
18th and 19th centuries ¶ The Jews after a railway reached Łańcut in 1859,
of Łańcut earned their living mostly as well as after Galicia gained autonomy
by crafts and trade, including trade in in 1867 as the result of the political
grain, timber, potash, and cloth. At the reforms adopted with the rise the dualist
end of the 18th century, there were seven Austro-Hungarian Empire. A new Jewish
Jews among Łańcut’s nine bakers, and cemetery was established in 1860. ¶
there were as many Jewish tailors. One Towards the end of the 19th century, the
of the eight local butchers was Jew- influence of the Haskalah began to be felt
ish, and one Jewish weaver lived in the in Łańcut, and the first political parties 173
 Cottages in Ogrodowa and secular social organisations emerged Musical traditions ¶ The Jew-
Street in Łańcut, 1917,
collection of the Institute
too. In 1880, Łańcut had 3,483 inhabit- ish community of Łańcut could boast
of Art of the Polish ants, including 1,587 Jews (46 percent). eminent cantors, who were also invited
Academy of Sciences
(PAN)
By the outbreak of World War I, its to other towns. In 1914, a Jewish musical
population grew to about 5,500, includ- association called “Ha-zamir” (Heb.:
ing 2,000 Jews (35 percent). The Jewish Nightingale) was founded and an orches-
community had representatives on the tra too. Originally composed of seven
town council. In 1910, a new Jewish bath members, the orchestra, founded by Tzvi
was opened; nowadays, the bathhouse Ramer, gradually expanded to a band of
building stands at the corner of Tadeusza more than thirty wind instruments per-
Kościuszki St. and Ottonaz Pilczy St. formers. As Sefer Lancut recalls, Rabbi
(it is the seat of St. Brother Albert’s Aid Eliezer Shapiro was initially against the
Association). ¶ World War I affected orchestra because boys and girls played
Łańcut’s townspeople, in particular the together in it. However, within time,
Jewish owners of most big and small the rabbi’s reservations were overcome,
shops, workshops, public houses, and and the “Ha-Zamir” orchestra would
inns, who suffered pillage at the hands of sometimes give concerts during Zionist
the passing troops. Many inhabitants left celebrations in the synagogue in Łańcut
the town to avoid warfare. as well as in other towns of Galicia.

In 1988, Haim Tekhelet made a documentary about the orchestra, Hazamir Does
Łańcut

Not Sing There Anymore: The Story of the Jewish Community of Lancut. Every
174 year, in May, Łańcut is the venue for a Music Festival – one of the most important
 Bnot Trumpeldor
gymnastic team, repro-
duction from Lancut;
chayeyha ve-churbana
shel kehila yehudit,
ed. Michael Wolcer
and Nathan Kodish, Tel
Aviv 1963

in Poland presenting a broad spectrum of classical music. For many years now,
master string classes for school children and students have been organised here.

Knowledge, Power, and Sefer Rymanów mentions two clubs:

Worker ¶ After the establishment of “Kraft” (Yid.: Power) and “Ha-poel”
independent Poland following World (Heb.: Worker). The former was Zion-
War I, the number of Łańcut’s inhabit- ist, and its members were young Jewish
ants had fallen by nearly 1,000 people people from relatively wealthy families,
– in 1921, there were 4,518 inhabit- whereas the latter attracted poor Jews
ants on record, including 1,925 Jews with socialist views and oriented its
(31 percent). By the outbreak of World activity towards the poor strata of the
War II, the number of Jews had risen community. In subsequent years, “Kraft”
to about 2,750. Most of the approxi- changed its name to “Trumpeldor” (in
mately 170 stores, shops, stalls, public memory of Josef Trumpeldor, a hero of
houses, and workshops were located the Russo-Japanese war and a pioneer
at the marketplace and its environs. ¶ of the Jewish self-defence in Palestine).
In the interwar years, the influence of After the outbreak of World War II, the
Hasidism remained strong, especially sports clubs ceased activity – with the
that of the Rokeach Hasidic dynasty exception of “Trumpeldor,” whose mem-
from Belz. However, it was also a time bers also included Jewish policemen. The
of social activism, including among the members of this club, wearing white and
Jewish community. Branches of new blue club colours, had football competi-
political parties, social and cultural tions until as late as the spring of 1940.
organisations, trade unions, sports clubs,
and banks were established. In 1930, Cemeteries ¶ There are two Jewish
a Jewish Community Centre was erected cemeteries in Łańcut. The old one (in
and became the seat of institutions such Stanisława Moniuszki St.) was founded
as “Da’at” (Heb.: Knowledge) library. in the second quarter of the 17th century,
Jewish sports clubs also were founded. northeast of the town, outside the 175
 town walls. It was gradually expanded the German occupation authorities
over the years. During World War II, it ordered the relocation of the Jews to the
was destroyed, and all matzevot were Soviet occupation zone; some of the Jews
removed. Nowadays, the area of the took advantage of that opportunity. In
cemetery is fenced and wooded, and time, German actions against the Jews
there are two ohels in it: one of tsaddik escalated: Jewish shops and workshops
Naftali Tzvi Horowitz of Ropczyce (d. were closed and forced labour was
1827), and the other of a local rabbi, introduced. Jews from Kalisz, Łódź,
Eleazar Shapiro (d. 1865). The new Jew- Chorzów, Katowice, and surrounding
ish cemetery (in Romualda Traugutta villages were resettled to Łańcut, and the
St.) was founded in 1860, south of the number of Jews in the town rose to about
town, near a Christian cemetery (existing 6,000. A ghetto was established in Janu-
since circa 1800). This cemetery was also ary1942, and it was liquidated in stages,
destroyed during the war. Fragments of from June to August 1942. The Jews were
several dozen matzevot from the Łańcut transported to Sieniawa, Pełkinia, and,
cemetery are preserved and displayed in eventually, to the death camp in Bełżec.
the synagogue porch. During the war, the Groups of Jews who did not leave or who
cemetery was the scene of countless mass remained in hiding were executed at the
executions of Jewish people. After the new Jewish cemetery. Few Jews in Łańcut
war, the area of the cemetery was fenced, survived the war.
and a memorial to the Jewish victims of
Nazi German terror was erected. Present day ¶ Today, Łańcut is
a county town – and important tourist
World War II and the Holo- center – in the Podkarpackie Voivode-
caust ¶ The outbreak of World War II ship, with a population of about 15,000.
triggered the persecution of the local Tourist Information Office is located in
Jewish community. The synagogue the Menege building at 3 Maja St., tel.
was set on fire, but it was extinguished +48 172254850; +48606455724, pat@
thanks to the local count Alfred Antoni mdk-lancut.pl
Potocki’s intervention. Soon after that,

Worth Synagogue (1761), 16 Jan III Sobieski Sq., +48 601 176 351, +48 22 436 60 00, fodz@fodz.
seeing pl ¶ Mikveh/bath house (1908–1910), now St. Brother Albert’s Aid Association, at the
corner of Tadeusza Kościuszki St. and Ottona z Pilczy St. ¶ Old Jewish cemetery (2nd half of
the 17th c.), Stanisława Moniuszki St. ¶ New Jewish cemetery (1860), Romualda Traugutta
St. ¶ Urban layout dating back to two historical foundations: that of a medieval chartered
town (circa mid-14th c.) with a market square, a network of streets, and a church, as well as
that of the park and palace complex (2nd quarter of 17th c.) ¶ Park and palace complex of
the Lubomirski and Potocki families, now a museum (17th c.), 1 Zamkowa St.1 Zamkowa
St., tel. +48 17 2252008, [email protected] ¶ Church of St. Stanislaus, Farna St. ¶
Old Dominican monastery complex (14th c., rebuilt in the 17th and 19th c.), now a hotel
Łańcut

run by the Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society (PTTK), 1 Dominikańska St. ¶ Town
176 houses (17th, 19th/20th c.). ¶ Christian cemetery (circa 1800), Ignacego Mościckiego St.
Markowa (11km): “Farm housemuseum”; The Ulma Family Museum of Poles Saving Jews Surrounding
in World War II; monument and tomb of the Ulma family murdered in 1944 for harbour- area
ing Jews. ¶ Żołynia (16 km): Church of St.John Cantius (late 19th c.); the old granary of
the Potocki family in Brzóza Stadnicka; a wooden mill on the bank of the Płytnica River;
a Jewish cemetery near Mickiewicza St.; an old mikveh, currently a kindergarten. ¶ Rzeszów
(18 km): Old Town Synagogue in Bóżnicza St. (16th c.); New Town synagogue in Sobiesk-
iego St. (early 18th c.), now Artistic Exhibitions Gallery (BWA); former Jewish houses in
Matejki St.; former Bet Am community centre, now Voivodeship Cultural Centre; former
Jewish hospital, now an oncology centre; former rabbi’s house, now State Archive; a Jewish
cemetery; a memorial to Holocaust victims; 3 reconstructed ohels: of the Lewin rabbinical
family, tsaddik Tzvi Elimelech Szapiro, and Abraham Horowitz; a castle (early 20th c.); city
hall (16th c.); burgher houses in the market square (16th–19th c.); the Lubomirski Summer
Palace (18th c.); the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1624–1629);
the fara church (1430); the Church of the Holy Cross (1645); District Museum; Bedtime
Stories Museum; the History Museum of the City of Rzeszów. ¶ Kańczuga (18 km): Church
of St. Michael the Archangel (1605), the old Greek Catholic Church of the Protection of the
Blessed Virgin Mary (17th c.); a narrow-gauge railway station; the old synagogue building,
now a health clinic; a network of underground tunnels used already during Tatar raids; the
Jewish cemetery in nearby village of Siedleczka (tombstones and mass grave of victims from
1942). ¶ Sokołów Małopolski (24 km): Church of St. John the Baptist (1908–1916); the
new Jewish cemetery (1880); the old Jewish cemetery in Kochanowskiego St., with ohels of
Rabbi Meilech Weichselbaum and tsaddik Aba Hippler; the old synagogue building (19th c.),
currently the Cultural Centre and the Regional Museum; the town hall (1907). ¶ Tyczyn
(25 km): the only decoratively polychromed sukkah in Poland (early 20th c.) in the house at
23 Rynek; the old Jewish cemetery (16thc.); the new Jewish cemetery (19th c.); the Wodzicki
palace and park complex (19th c.); the Church of St. Catherine and the Holy Trinity (1631–
1638); former presbytery (18th c.). ¶ Błażowa (29 km): Church of St. Martin (late19th c.);
a cemetery chapel (1904), a synagogue converted to a regional hospital; a Jewish cemetery
(18th c.). ¶ Pruchnik (30 km): about 40 wooden arcaded houses and cottages in the market
square (19th c.); Church of St. Nicholas (17th c.); the parish museum; a wooden observa-
tion tower; a memorial to 67 Jews killed in 1942–1943, situated by the road to Kańczuga. ¶
Leżajsk (30 km): a Jewish cemetery (18th c.); tsaddik Elimelech’s tomb; the reconstructed
ohel of Dov Ber’s disciple; a centre providing services for Jewish pilgrims visiting Leżajsk; the
Leżajsk Land Museum in the Starościński Mansion; a basilica and a Bernardine monastery
with Baroque organs (17th c.); the town hall (2nd half of 19th c.); the fara church complex:
the Church of the Holy Trinity and of All Saints, a presbytery, curate’s house, and walls
(early 17th c.); the former Greek Catholic Church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, now the Church of Merciful Lord Jesus (1828–1832); Mier’s Palace (1819); a sawmill
(mid-19th c.); the National House of Ruthenians’ Association “Proświta”; the Leżajsk Land
Museum. ¶ Jarosław (34 km): the Orsetti House Museum (circa 1500); Rydzikowska House
(16th or 17th c.); Queen Consort Marysieńka’s House (late 16th c.); the town hall (19th c.); the
Prof. Feliks Zalewski underground city route; a convent of Benedictine nuns: the Church of
St. Nicholas and St. Stanislaus the Bishop (1614–1624); Corpus Christi Collegiate Church 177
 (16th c.); Transfiguration of the Lord Orthodox Church; the building of the Gymnastic
Society “Sokół” (Falcon), currently the Municipal Cultural Centre; relics of Krakowska Gate
and defensive walls (16th c.); the great synagogue in Opolska St. (early 19th c.); the little
synagogue in Ordynacka St. (20th c.); the synagogue at 17 Mały Rynek St. (late 19th c.), now
BiaMed Medical Centre; the building of the Jewish Handicraftsmen Association Yad Charu-
zim in Tarnowskiego Square; the Jewish cemetery in Kruhel Pawłosiowski St. (1699). ¶
Dynów (34 km): The Centre of the History of Polish Jews, founded by Rabbi Pinchas Pamp,
with its own synagogue, mikveh, kosher cuisine menu, archive, museum, and guest rooms;
the old Jewish cemetery (17th or 18th c.) with the ohel of Yehoshua, son of Arie Leib, and
the ohel of Tzvi Elimelech Shapiro; the new cemetery (mid-19th c.); the folk school building
(19th c.); the mansion of the Trzecieski family (1750); two bunkers of the “Molotov Line”;
narrow-gauge railway. ¶ Sieniawa (37 km): the park and palace complex of the Sieniawski
family (17th c.), currently a hotel; the town hall (17th c.); the former Orthodox Church of the
Ascension (1753); the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1719–1749) with the Czartoryski
family crypt; a Jewish cemetery (2nd half of 17th c.). ¶ Czudec (38 km): the park and palace
complex of the Uznański family (17th c.); Church of St. Martin (1602); Holy Trinity Church
(17th c.); underground
ŁAŃCUT remains of the castle
(16th c.); the wooden
arcaded buildings in
the market square; the
old synagogue (1795) in
Słoneczna St., currently
a library, old mikveh
at 8 Św. Marcina St. ¶
Kolbuszowa (47 km):
the synagogue at 19
Piekarska St. (19th c.);
the future Museum of the
Two Nations; a Jewish
cemetery (1830); All
Saints’ Church (1750–
1755); the remains of
a manor farm – a gra-
nary, labourers’ living
quarters, and a distillery
(1910); the seat of the
Gymnastic Association
(1907); Ethnographic
Park.
Łańcut

178
Dukla
Ukr. Дукля, Yid. ‫דוקלע‬ All supply of wines for inns and taverns shall take no routes
other than those bound for Jaśliska, Dukla, and Rymanów.
The 1589 tax proclamation

On the Hungarian Route ¶ Estab- 23 Jewish families already lived here.

lished in the 14th century, the town of Dukla’s Jewish community was organi-
Dukla gained importance in mid-16th sationally subordinated to the kahal
century, when a customs house on the of the nearby town of Nowy Żmigród.
route to Hungary was set up here. In Information about an independent Jew-
1588, King Sigismund III Vasa granted ish religious community dates to 1742.
the town the right of wine storage, ¶ A reference to Haim, a rabbinic official
and from 1595 it was in Dukla that the from Dukla, can be found in the mem-
duty on all the goods carried across the oirs of the wine merchant and Jewish
border were to be collected. The mer- community leader Dov Ber of Bolechów
chandise brought from the lands on the (now Bolekhiv). In the mid-18th century,
Danube was mainly wine, but also beer, Haim was arrested in the Hungarian city
horses, dried fruit, cheeses, and iron. of Miskolc after he had bought a large
The goods carried in the opposite direc- amount of wine paying fake coins.
tion included cloth, yarn, hide, herrings, After a one-year investigation, it turned
and honey. The Hungarian wine trade out that the coins had come from the
was the main occupation of the first treasury of the Bernardine monastery in
Jews who settled in Dukla at the turn Dukla, where they had been contributed
of the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1676, as alms from the nobility.

In the first half of the 17th century, Dukla became the residence of the noble fam-
ily of Mniszech. The Mniszech palace in Dukla, dating back to the 16th century,
was rebuilt in 1764–1765 in late Baroque style by Jerzy August Mniszech and
his wife Maria. The aristocratic residence was decorated with a collection of
works by famous painters, including Rubens and Bacciarelli. The palace was
rebuilt after its destruction in World War II, and today it houses the Histori-
cal Museum, one of the town’s main tourist attractions. The Historical Museum
– Dukla Palace – is located at 5 Trakt Węgierski St., tel. +48 13 433 00 85.

179
Jews going out of the Traces of Jewish presence ¶ In Dukla, destroyed not only the old bet
synagogue in Dukla,
1916–1917. Photo taken
1758, the old wooden synagogue burnt midrash but also 104 houses of Jewish
by a German soldier down in a fire. An impressive new one burghers and six houses of Christian
during World War I, col-
lection of Beit Hatfutsot,
of brick and stone was built in its place. burghers. A prayer house functioned
The Museum of the The rectangular main hall measured in this building until 1940, when it was
Jewish People, Photo burnt down, and after the war it was
Archive, Tel Aviv
12 by 16 metres; on the western and
northern sides it was adjoined by exten- converted and served as a storehouse for
sions housing a porch, a library, and artificial fertilisers. At present, it houses
a prayer room for women. The syna- a store. Across the street, in the former
gogue was devastated by the Germans mikveh (12 Cergowska St.), there is an
during World War II. What survives emergency ambulance service, a fire
today are the walls of the prayer room brigade, and the voluntary mountain
with a stone portal and the alcove for the rescue service (GOPR) station. Another
aron ha-kodesh. In some places, it is still interesting memento of Dukla’s Jewish
possible to discern traces of inscriptions community is the municipal nursery
with texts of Hebrew prayers. ¶ Near the school building (11 Kościuszki St.),
synagogue, the bet midrash building has founded by the financier and philanthro-
also survived (8 Cergowska St.); it was pist Baron Maurice de Hirsch in 1895 as
built in 1884, after another fire in the a four-grade Jewish primary school for
Dukla

town, on Rabbi Tzvi Leitner’s initiative. boys. In Dukla’s market square it is also
180 That fire, one of many that devastated worth visiting the former rabbi’s house,
which is currently a tourist hostel run
by PTTK (Polish Tourist and Sightseeing
Society, 25 Rynek St.). It is possible to
have dinner there or to find affordable
accommodation.

Under Habsburg rule ¶ In 1772,

as part of the Kingdom of Galicia and
Lodomeria, Dukla was incorporated
into the Habsburg Empire. Ten years
later, the town became the administra-
tive centre of the district (cyrkuł) that
was established as a result of Josephine
reforms. This stimulated local develop-
ment, but as early as 1790, the district
centre was moved to Jasło and Dukla
lost its importance. Wine trade contin-
ued, however, and the size and signifi-
cance of the town Jewish community
kept growing. In 1795, 574 Jews lived in
Dukla. A century later – in 1900 – some
2,539 Jews lived here, constituting about
80 percent of the town’s entire popula-
tion, while the whole kahal of Dukla three religious schools, among other Former rabbi’s house
in Dukla, 2014. Photo
had 3,046 members and possessed institutions. by Monika Tarajko,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Dukla was the birthplace of Józef Samuel Bloch (1850–1921), a famous rabbi, Theatre” Centre (www.
a member of the Austro-Hungarian parliament, and a journalist who fought teatrnn.pl)
against anti-Semitism and false accusations of ritual murder. Dukla was also the
home town of Naftali and Gitel Rubinstein, the parents of Helena Rubinstein –
the founder of Helena Rubinstein Inc., a global leader in the cosmetic industry.

Turning mud into gold ¶ In 1854, business. Eventually, the deposits were
in the village of Bóbrka, located 11 km depleted and the oil industry began to
from Dukla, the Polish pharmacist move elsewhere, but the first oil mine in
Ignacy Łukasiewicz,who invented the Bóbrka continues to operate to this day.
kerosene lamp, together with his associ- The Ignacy Łukasiewicz Museum of the
ates established the first oil well in the Oil and Gas Industry functions at the
world. Further oil mines and refineries mine. It also lies on a tourist route called
began to emerge. Jewish entrepreneurs the Oil Trail, which links sites associated
from Dukla, such as Isaac Reich or with the emergence of oil industry in
M.H. Ehrenreich, also became active southeast Poland and southwest Ukraine
in the oil extraction and processing (see Drohobych, Ukraine). 181
 century. During World War I, the
Austrian-Russian troops passed through
Dukla several times. Soldiers of both
armies killed during the fighting for the
pass are buried in the military cemetery
in Dukla. Further bloody fighting took
place here in 1944, leaving the town with
another cemetery.

The guild ¶ In 1920–1939, a Com-

munal Craft Guild functioned in
Dukla; it associated 58 handicraft
workshops, including 15 shoemakers
and 15 bootmakers, 8 butchers and 8
ham and sausage makers, 7 bakers, 6
tailors, 3 carpenters, 3 hairdressers, and
3 clockmakers, as well as blacksmiths
and locksmiths, metalsmiths, coopers,
a glazier, a varnisher, a turner, a painter,
and a photographer. More than half of
the artisans in the guild, 38 people, were
Jews. The occupations of Jewish artisans
and shopkeepers included shoemaking,
Town hall in Dukla, The Battles of the Dukla Pass baking, butchery, hairdressing, clock
1918–1936; collection
of the National Digital
¶ The Dukla Pass was a relatively easy and watch repair, and sheet-metal work.
Archives, Poland passage for merchants travelling across The only photographer in Dukla, Natan
the Carpathians, but it was also a trail Laner, was a Jew as well. His studio was
through which the troops fought their located at 4 Rynek St.
way during the great wars of the 20th

Pinkhas Hirschprung (1912–1998) was born into the family of Rabbi

Haim Hirschprung of Dukla. From his early years he exhibited outstand-
ing abilities as a scholar and thinker; as a result, he was sent to study at the
famous Yeshivah of the Sages of Lublin (Yeshivat Hakhmei Lublin). He was
in Lublin when the Germans attacked Poland in September 1939. Together
with a group of Yeshivah students he escaped to the USSR, where he was
arrested. On his release, he left for Lithuania, then to Kobe, Japan, and
then on to Shanghai. Finally, shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor and
the U.S. entry into the war, he travelled by ship to Canada. He remained in
Canada until the end of his life and served as Chief Rabbi of Montreal.
Dukla

World War II and the Holocaust occupation in September 1939, Dukla

182 ¶ From the beginning of the German inhabitants, especially the Jews, faced
severe persecution. On Yom Kippur the yard in front of the palace; they were
(September 22, 1939), German sol- surrounded by barbed wire, and the liq-
diers dragged praying Jews out of the uidation of the ghetto began. A group of
synagogue and beat them. A week later, about 100 members of the Jewish intelli-
during Sukkoth, the Jews of Dukla were gentsia were taken away in the direction
rounded up in the yard in front of the of Tylawa and shot there, on the slope
palace and forced to pay a ransom; then of the Błudna Hill. About 200 strong,
they were ordered to leave the town healthy men were sent to the forced
and move across the San, to the Soviet labour camp set up near Dukla syna-
occupation zone. Some of the Jewish gogue. The remaining group of about
inhabitants of Dukla did move to the 2,000 Jews, mainly women, children,
USSR at the time, but a majority did not and elderly people, were transported to
want to leave their homes and stayed in the Belzecd death camp. Labour camp
the town. In 1940, the local synagogue inmates were shot during work, and
was set on fire. In June 1942, there were those who survived were transported in
about 1,600 Jews in Dukla, of whom 300 December 1942 to the ghetto in Rzeszów,
had been displaced from Polish territo- where most of them were killed. About
ries incorporated into the Third Reich. In 150 of Dukla Jews survived the war.
July 1942, the Germans ordered the Jews ¶ In 1944, the Dukla Pass became the
living in the nearby villages to move to scene of fierce fighting again, this time
Dukla; as a result, a further 600 people between the armies of the USSR and
appeared in the town. In August 1942, Nazi Germany. The war damaged 85
Dukla Jews were again rounded up in percent of the town’s buildings.

In the village of Zyndramowa, 16 km from Dukla, the Lemko Culture Museum
has since 1994 included the house of the Oliners – a Jewish family from that
village – in its exibition. This was made possible when, after many years,
Holocaust survivor Samuel Oliner, currently a professor at Berkeley, came
in contact with Fedor Gocz, a Lemko, the founder of the museum. As a lit-
tle boy, Samuel Oliner was a pupil at the cheder in Dukla, and in the spring of
1941 he witnessed the mass execution of Jews from the local ghetto. After the
war, he left for the USA and made his name as a sociologist studying altruis-
tic behaviours. What inspired Oliner’s choice of this particular subject matter
for research was his experiences of World War II, and above all the selfless
help he received from Balbina Piecuch from the village of Bystra. She saved
Oliner, taking him in and finding him a job as a stable-boy on a remote farm.

Cemeteries ¶ Dukla Jewish cemeteries matzevot from the 19th and 20th century
are located in the southern part of town, have survived. Near the entrance, there
on Trakt Węgierski St. on the way to Bar- is a memorial to the victims of the mass
winek. In the new cemetery, established execution that took place at the cemetery
in about 1870 and situated closer to the in 1942. Slightly higher there is the old
road and surrounded by a wall, about 200 cemetery, probably founded in the 18th 183
 „
The new Jewish century, with a few dozen matzevot is the Foundation for the Preservation of
cemetery in Dukla,
2014. Photo by Monika
surviving. The owner of both cemeteries Jewish Heritage in Poland.
Tarajko, digital collection
of the “Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” Centre
A postcard with Hebrew writing led me to the Jewish community, which consti-
(www.teatrnn.pl) tuted over 70 percent of Dukla pre-war population. ¶ Jacek Koszczan, http://
straznicypamieci.com/?dukla

Memory ¶ Present-day Dukla is [email protected]), founded by a retired

a charming small town inhabited by Border Guard officer Jacek Koszczan,
about 2,000 people, situated on a busy looks after the town Jewish cemeteries,
road to Slovakia. It is an excellent base and each summer since 2012 it has organ-
from which to explore the Low Beskids. ised the “To Save the Memory” Days of
Tourist Information Office is located on Jewish Culture in Dukla. Among other
the 1st floor of the bus station at 26a Trakt activities, this non-governmental organi-
Węgierski St., tel. +48 13 43 35 616, tit@ sation has also initiated the production of
dukla.pl ¶ The “Shtetl of Dukla” Society two amateur feature films about Dukla’s
for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage Jews – Why? (Pol.: Dlaczego?, 2012) and
in the Dukla Region (+48 691 050 902, Conscience (Pol.: Sumienie, 2013).

Surrounding Trzciana (1.5 km): the hermitage of St. John of Dukla (18th c.). ¶ Tylawa (11 km): former
area Greek Catholic and subsequently Orthodox Lemko church of the western type (1784),
currently the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God; obelisk at the mass grave
Dukla

of people murdered by the Nazis in the forest at the foot of Błudna Hill behind the manor
184 house. ¶ Bóbrka (11 km): the Ignacy Łukasiewicz Museum of the Oil and Gas Industry;
 Judaica from Jacek
Koszczan’s collection in
Dukla, 2015. Photo by
Emil Majuk, digital col-
lection of the “Grodzka
Gate – NN Theatre”
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)

two functioning boreholes, “Franek” and “Janina,” a few caved-in oil wells and 8 wooden
buildings (19th c.), a machine shop, a forge, boiler houses, pump treadmills, storehouses,
administration and residential spaces. ¶ Nowy Żmigród (14 km): the Jewish cemetery
on Jasielska St. (17th c.); a World War I cemetery. ¶ Barwinek (15 km): about 2 km north
of the village there is an obelisk commemorating about 500 murdered Jews from Dukla,
Jaśliska, and Rymanów. ¶ Zyndranowa (16 km): the Lemko Culture Museum. ¶ Jaśliska
(18 km): Umgebinde wooden houses (mid-19th c.) in the market square; Church of St.
Catherine (1724–1756). ¶ Żarnowiec (18 km): the Maria Konopnicka Museum; a folk
school with a restored former classroom (1886). ¶ Trzcinica (36 km): open-air archaeo-
logical museum “Karpacka Troja” (Carpathian Troy); the wooden Church of St. Dorothy
(late 15th c.); a manor complex with an orangery (20th c.). ¶ Jasło (39 km): the neo-Gothic
Sroczyński Palace (1858); the Collegiate Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary (15th, 18th, 19th c.); the Church of St. Stanislaus the Bishop (19th c.); the municipal
park with a summer house with a figure of Aeolus; the Jewish cemetery in Floriańska St.
(19th c.) with a section for World War I soldiers, a memorial to the victims of the Holo-
caust, and unmarked mass graves of about 200 victims killed in 1942. ¶ Niebylec (49 km):
a synagogue, currently a library (19th c.), with unique polychromes; a Jewish cemetery
(17th/19th c.); the Machowski manor complex (16th c.); the Church of the Invention of
the Holy Cross and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (early 20th c.). ¶ Brzostek
(56 km): a Jewish cemetery (mid-19th c.); the former synagogue (late 19th c.), currently
used by the School Complex; a memorial plaque to the town’s Jewish inhabitants on the
town hall building; burghers’ houses at the market square (18th–19th c.). ¶ Wooden Archi-
tecture Trail: Route IV (Sanok – Dukla), comprising 13 buildings. 185
Ruins of the synagogue
in Dukla, 2015. Photo by
Emil Majuk, digital col-
lection of the “Grodzka
Gate – NN Theatre”
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)

Worth DUKLA The ruins of the

seeing synagogue (18th c.), Cer-
gowska St. Jewish cem-
eteries, Trakt Węgierski
St. ¶ The Mniszech Pal-
ace (16th–18th c.) with
a park, currently the His-
torical Museum, 5 Trakt
Węgierski St., tel. +48 13
433 00 85. ¶ Bernardine
monastery and church
(1761–1764), 5 Pocztowa
St. ¶ Church of St. Mary
Magdalene (1765), 18
Trakt Węgierski St. ¶
Town hall (17th c.),
Rynek St. Town houses
(18th/19th c.). ¶ Military
cemetery and memo-
rial to the fallen in the
Battle of the Dukla Pass
(1915).
Dukla

186
Rymanów
Ukr. Риманів, Yid. ‫רימענעוו‬ Had we stayed in Europe, most probably
I would have become a tailor.
Isidor Isaac Rabi

At the crossroads of trails ¶ honey. This location created favourable

Rymanów is located in the Land of conditions for the settlement, despite
Sanok on the border of two geographi- the numerous disasters it suffered: fires,
cal regions: the Jasło–Sanok Hollows epidemics, Tatar, Hungarian, Swedish,
and the Low Beskid. The area where the and Russian incursions, as well as raids
town was set up in the early Middle Ages by Carpathian highland robbers.
was part of the Principality of Gali-
cia–Volhynia. In the 14th century, after The Jewish community ¶ The first
the Rurikid dynasty died out, the Land Jewish settlers appeared in Rymanów
of Sanok became a bone of contention in the mid-14th century at the latest.
between the Kingdoms of Poland and Initially, they came under the authority
Hungary. In 1376, Duke Władysław of of the Lesko kahal. Tax records dated
Opole, the Governor of Galicia–Volhynia 1567 mention seven Jewish families in
appointed by King Lajos (Louis) I of Rymanów and, ten years later, this num-
Hungary and Poland, established here ber had increased to eight. The commu-
a town chartered under Magdeburg law, nity in Rymanów became independent
giving it a name derived from his own towards the end of the 16th century – it
first name, Ladisslauia (which can be is known that there was an independ-
translated into Polish as Władysławowo). ent kahal there from as early as 1589. At
Mikołaj Reymann, a German, was that time, the community had a wooden
appointed a borough leader (wójt), and synagogue and a cemetery. The evidence
his surname apparently suggested the for the existence of a synagogue in this
town’s current name, Rymanów, used in period includes a mention in the crimi-
documents since 1415. ¶ The town was nal records of the town of Sanok which
established at the crossroads of a trade contains testimony given by Paweł of
route connecting Biecz, Krosno, Sanok Sobolew, who – together with Stanisław,
with the trade route to Hungary run- a miner from Bochnia – broke into
ning through Jaśliska and Carpathian the Jewish shul in Rymanów […], stole
mountain passes that was used for trans- moveable objects, that is: a silver cup,
porting goods such as wines, hides, and a silver tablet, three towels. 187
 Hasidic dynasties ¶ Hasidim settled tsaddik Tzvi Hirsch’s tenure, the tsaddik’s
in Rymanów at the end of the 18th cen- court with a private prayer room and
tury. The town became an important cen- a room for Talmudic studies was built
tre thanks to tsadik Menakhem Mendel close to the synagogue. The building was
Rymanover (d. 1815), who settled here; partially destroyed during World War II
he was the disciple of Elimelech of Liz- and finally dismantled after the war. ¶
hensk (Leżajsk) and Shmelke of Nikols- Rabbi Menakhem Mendel together with
burg (Mikulov), the author of numerous two other famous tsaddikim – the Seer of
homiletic works and a principal charac- Lublin and the Maggid from Kozienice,
ter in many parables written by his disci- all were convinced that the Napoleonic
ple Naftali Tzvi of Ropshitz (Ropczyce). wars were a sign of the coming of Mes-
His other disciple, Tzvi Hirsch Rymano- siah. Together they prayed for his mili-
ver (d. 1847), who, as the tradition has it, tary victories, and the legend has it that
performed miracles and was nicknamed during the battles in which Napoleon
Hirsch the Helpful, became the next tsad- was successful, he always saw the vision
dik in 1827. He was succeeded by his son, of a red-haired Jew praying for him and
Józef ha-Kohen Rymanover (d. 1913), allegedly it was Menakhem Mendel. In
the author of rabbinic response and legal his last battle of Waterloo, he did not see
commentaries. In 1913, another tsaddik this vision, hence was defeated. After

„
moved here: Isaac Friedman, a descend- Napoleon’s fall, the three rabbis died the
ant of Dov Ber of Mezeritch. During same year (1815).

At court, when the rabbis of Apt [Opatow – eds.] and Rymanov were staying
with the Seer of Lublin in the city of Lantzut where he lived before going to Lub-
lin, his enemies denounced his guests to the authorities, who had them jailed. They decided
that since Rabbi Mendel could speak the best German, and German was the language used
in the court, he was to do the talking for all when they were examined. The judge asked:
“What is your businsess?” The rabbi of Rymanov replied: “Serving the king.” “What king?”
“The king over all kings.” “And why did you two strangers come to Lantzut?” “To learn
greater zeal in serving, from this man here.” “And why do you wear white robes?” “It is the
colour of our office.” The judge said: “I have no quarrel with this sort of people.” And he
dismissed them. ¶ M. Buber, Tales of the Hasidim, trans. Olga Marx, New York 1991.

The synagogue ¶ A stone syna- I and was rebuilt in the first half of the
gogue with a prayer room on a square 20th century. It was then that the inside
plan was built near the market square, walls were covered with polychrome
most probably in the second half of the frescoes – only partially preserved today
17th century. In its northwest corner, – by Baruch Fass. ¶ The synagogue was
there is a tower – a former kahal prison partly destroyed by Germans during
for disobedient Jews. The building was World War II. Its women’s gallery and
Rymanów

partly reconstructed during a general narthex were dismantled. Dilapidated,

renovation towards the end of the 19th the building was left to itself for many
188 century; it burnt down during World War years. In 2005, it became the property of
the Foundation for the Preservation of fill the gap, trading at Krosno’s markets Synagogue in
Rymanów, 2015. Photo
Jewish Heritage, which started its recon- and fairs. Christian merchants from by Wioletta Wejman,
struction in cooperation with Menachem Krosno did not like this and tried to get digital collection of the
„Grodzka Gate – NN
Mendel’s eighth-generation descend- rid of the competition in various ways. Theatre” Centre (www.
ant, Rabbi Menachem Abraham Reich, When the conflict reached fever pitch, teatrnn.pl)
and the Association of Rymanów Jews the town council of Krosno passed a reso- The aron ha-kodesh
in New York. The building was covered lution allowing merchants from Krosno niche and partially pre-
with a roof, plastered on the outside, to appropriate Jewish goods and even served polychromy in the
synagogue in Rymanów,
and floored; windows and doors were to kill Jews from Rymanów who traded 2015. Photo by Emil
installed. Thanks to these works, the there without facing any legal repercus- Majuk, digital collection
of the “Grodzka Gate
synagogue is again used (occasionally) sions afterwards. ¶ In the second half – NN Theatre” Centre
for prayer purposes. of the 18th century, bishops of Przemyśl (www.teatrnn.pl)

introduced numerous regulations

Merchant wars ¶ First and foremost, pertaining to relations between Chris-
the Jews of Rymanów traded in com- tian and Jewish communities. These, for
modities imported from Hungary – instance, prohibited Jews from trading
mainly wine and spices – and practiced or even banned them from the streets on
low-scale money-lending. They con- some days. Working as servants in Jewish
stituted a major economic force in the houses was also forbidden for Christians.
town and its vicinity and also engaged in ¶ Tax records from 1765 reveal that the
Rymanów’s socio-political life. In 1698, whole kahal of Rymanów was the third
Jan Samuel Czartoryski, the owner of largest one in the Sanok lands in terms
the estate of which Rymanów formed of the number of taxpayers (1,015 Jews
part, obliged them to pay corvée – forced in the city and the nearby towns and
or unpaid labour – for two days during villages) – after Lesko and Dynów, and
harvest time, suggesting thus that Jews before Sanok, Baligród, and Dubiecko.
should be downgraded to the level of Under Austrian rule, the Josephine
serfs who also had to pay corvée. From reforms changed the organisation of
1569, Jews were prohibited from settling kahals, forced Jews to adopt German
in the nearby town of Krosno; Jewish surnames, introduced “German-Jewish”
merchants from Rymanów stepped in to schools, and introduced new taxes. In 189
 1786, tax was paid in Rymanów by 708 in 1839; it caused extensive damage. In
Catholics and 330 Jews (47 percent). 1872, the family of Potocki, Stanisław
and his wife, Anna née Działyńska,
Physics ¶ Since 2005, a memorial bought the lands from the Skórskis. The
plaque on the building of the General Potocki family contributed significantly
Secondary School in Rymanów has to the development of the town: they
informed visitors that this is the town established a school of arts and crafts
where Isidor Isaac Rabi (1898–1988) – (1873), but first and foremost they estab-
a Nobel Prize Winner in physics – was lished the Rymanów Zdrój medical spa
born. His father, David Rabi, was a tailor (1881), where they constructed a pump
from Rymanów, who emigrated to the room, baths, and buildings for patients
USA a year after the birth of his son. It and also set up the Spa Park. In 1884,
was in the USA that Isidor began his a railway line was built near the town.
brilliant educational path, which was
crowned in 1944 with the Nobel Prize for Interwar period ¶ In the interwar
his research into the magnetic properties period, Rymanów prospered in many
of the nuclei of atoms. After he saw an respects, including in its socio-political
atomic explosion with his own eyes and life. All major parties such as the Agudas
realised the consequences of using this Yisroel, Poalei Zion, and the Bund,
kind of weapon, he became an advocate craftsmen’s and merchants’ unions,
of stopping the arms race and using and cultural, educational, and sports
atomic energy in peaceful ways. He was associations operated within the Jewish
among those who initiated the establish- community. A local curiosity was that
ment of CERN (Fr.: Conseil Européen the town Roman Catholic inhabitants
pour la Recherche Nucléaire) – the most engaged in activities more typical of Jew-
important centre for research on elemen- ish craftsmen in other places: Christians
tary particles today, located in Geneva. here worked as tanners, furriers, butch-
In 1971, he came to visit the town where ers, shoemakers, coppersmiths, coopers,
he was born and, as he said, found it as and blacksmiths. Jews were also tailors,
beautiful as his parents had described it. bakers, carpenters, metalsmiths, and gla-
ziers, but, first and foremost, they dealt
The Rymanów Medical Spa in trade, wholesale and interurban. They
¶ During the partition period of had stores and trading stalls and also
1772–1795, Rymanów became part of owned most inns and taverns. What may
the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria. seem surprising is that Jews produced
After the First Partition, the Rymanów Christian devotional objects, which they
estate was acquired by Józef Ossoliński, sold in villages and towns. The local
who chose Rymanów as his residence. brickyard also belonged to Jews. In the
At the end of the 18th century, the estate interwar period, Hirsch Horowitz served
was taken over by the Skórski family, as the Rabbi of Rymanów (until 1934),
Rymanów

who lived in Rymanów in a manor house and just before the war this post was held
they built, around which they established by Moshe Eliezer Horowitz, who was
190 a park. A great fire broke out in the town killed during the occupation.
 Jewish football team
from Rymanów, 1933,
collection of Beit
Hatfutsot, The Museum
of the Jewish People,
Photo Archive, Tel Aviv,
courtesy of Dr. Zvi Rosen

World War II and the Holocaust the mid-1940s, the Operation Vistula
¶ The Germans seized Rymanów on took place, as a result of which the
September 9, 1939. Shortly after they Ukrainian inhabitants of southeast
entered the town, repressions against Poland were displaced to the USSR and
civilians began, especially against the to the so-called Recovered Territories
Jews. The Nazis started confiscating (territory of the former Free City of Dan-
goods, banning trade, forcing monetary zig and the parts of pre-war Germany
ransom, expropriating the Jewish prop- that became part of Poland after World
erty. Jews were forced to move to the War II). The Potocki family estate was
Soviet occupation zone but many after taken over by the communist authorities
a short time returned to the town. Some and parcelled out at the beginning of
of those who remained in the USSR were 1945 under the Agrarian Reform decree.
soon deported to Siberia. In the spring
of 1942, the Jews from Rymanów and The Jewish cemetery ¶ The Jewish
vicinity were concentrated in a ghetto cemetery lies about 1 km from the town
established in the northern part of centre, on the eastern arm of the Kalwaria
the town, around the synagogue. The Hill – beyond the line of ramparts. It was
Germans began to liquidate the ghetto established late in the 16th century and
in August 1942. Some Jews were trans- expanded in the 18th and 19th centuries.
ported to the labour camp in Płaszów, In the 19th century, two ohalim were
others were shot in the woods near erected over the graves of the two tsad-
Barwinek and at the Jewish cemetery; dikim: the southern one over the grave
those remaining were transported to of Menakhem Mendel and his wife and
the Bełżec death camp. ¶ The Red Army the northern one over the graves of Tzvi
entered the town on September 20, Hirsch Kalischer and Jozef Friedman.
1944. During German-Soviet clashes During World War I, a military section
over Rymanów, part of the town burnt was set up in the southern part of the
down. After the end of the war, to the graveyard. In its space of 2.5 hectars,
south of Rymanów, there were clashes several hundred matzevot and their frag-
with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. In ments have been preserved: one of them 191
 probably dates back to the 16th century year, former and present residents of
and eight others to the 17th century. ¶ Rymanów as well as their guests – Poles
After it was destroyed during World War and Jews – march together along the
II, the ohel of Menakhem Mendel was same route which Jews from Rymanów
rebuilt. In the 1980s, the cemetery was had to walk in August 1942: from the
fenced, and the second ohel, Tzvi Hirsch Jewish cemetery of Rymanów to Wróblik
Kalischer’s and Jozef Friedman’s, was also Szlachecki. Lectures, concerts, perfor-
reconstructed. Today, the cemetery is mances, and exhibitions concerning the
administered by the Foundation for the Jewish history of the town are also held.
Preservation of Jewish Heritage. Hasidim During the Remembrance Days in 2014,
from all over the world come as pilgrims a mezuzah was ceremonially affixed
to the graves of the tsaddikim. The keys to to the house at 2 Sanocka St., which
the graveyard are available in the house at had been bought a few years earlier by
11 Kalwaria St. (tel. +48 608 832 983). Malka Shakham Doron, a teacher from
Mitzpe Ramon in Israel. The building
“Meeting Rymanów” Asso- had belonged to her grandfather before
ciation ¶ Operating since 2008, the war. She renovated it and often
the “Spotkanie Rymanów” (Meeting comes to Rymanów. One of the rooms
Rymanów) Association organises here on the ground floor was converted into
“The Remembrance Days of the Jew- a memorial chamber with photographs
ish Community of Rymanów.” Every of old Rymanów (tel. +48 663 517 815).

Paul’s Diary ¶ Malka’s mother, Fryda Stary-Vogel, was the grand-

daughter of a baker from Rymanów, Abram Stary, and his wife Haya née
Szapiro. One of the things Malka received from her mother was the diary of
a boy named Paul, who wrote it in the attic of the house on Sanocka Street
during World War II. Paul was a cousin of the Szapiro family, and during the
German occupation he came to Rymanów from Berlin together with his par-
ents. Like the majority of Jews from Rymanów, Paul was killed at the Bełżec
death camp. After the war, the diary was passed on to Fryda Stary-Vogel,
who read it many times; but she had to bury it for safe-keeping when leaving
Poland in the late 1940s. She later described its contents to Malka, who man-
aged to convince her mother to write down what she remembered in Hebrew
and publish it as a book of memories of the Holocaust. In 2014, the Austeria
publishing house in Krakow published its Polish translation titled, Zeszyt Paula
(Paul’s Diary) which was launched during the Remembrance Days in Rymanów.

Present day ¶ Present-day Rymanów of streets leading away from it. The
– and especially the nearby Rymanów tourist information point is located in
Zdrój – are important centres of tour- Rymanów Zdrój at 45 Zdrojowa St. (tel.
Rymanów

ism. The town has around 2,000 resi- +48 13 435 71 90).
dents. It has retained its medieval layout
192 with a market square and a network
 The interior of the ohel of tsaddik Menahem Mendel and his family at the Jewish graveyard in
Rymanów, 2015. Photo by Emil Majuk, digital collection of the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre
(www.teatrnn.pl)

Days of Remembrance of the Jewish Community in Rymanów, 2015. Photo by Bogdan Lisze

Iwonicz-Zdrój (6 km): a health resort with wooden architecture in the Polish-Swiss style, Surrounding
a former house of prayer located in “Leśna” villa, administered by rabbis from Rymanów area
and Dukla before the war. ¶ Trześniów (11 km): a manor complex: a larch wooden house
(1st half of the 19th c.), a land steward’s mansion, a sheepfold, an outbuilding, and a park
(2nd half of the 19th c.); the church of St. Stanislaus the Bishop (1893–1898). ¶ Haczów
(12 km): the wooden Church of the Assumption of Mary (14thc.); a manor with an orangery
and a chapel (17thc.). ¶ Krosno (16 km): a market square with Renaissance arcaded houses;
the bishop’s palace (2nd half of the 16th c.); the parish Church of the Holy Trinity (17th c.);
the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary (15th c.); the Capuchin monastery and the Church of
the Elevation of the Holy Cross (2nd half of the 18th c.); the wooden Church of St. Adalbert

RYMANÓW

193
 (15th c.); the Jesuit monastery (1660–1667); a Jewish cemetery at Ks. Sarny St. (2nd half
of the 19th c.) with a statue of Bernard Műnz and the mass grave of people killed in 1942;
Krosno Glassworks; the Subcarpathian Museum with a collection of kerosene lamps. ¶
Nowotaniec (19 km): manor house in Wola Sękowa (19th c.), fragments of earth ramparts
and walls of a defensive manor (16th/17th c.); Church of St. Nicholas (mid-18th c.); a Jew-
ish cemetery (19th c.). ¶ Bukowsko (22 km): a Jewish cemetery (2nd half of the 19th c.); the
Church of the Elevation of the Holy Cross, a presbytery, and wooden blacksmith’s shop (circa
19th c.). ¶ Brzozów (24 km): The Church of the Transfiguration (1676–1686); the building
of the former Gymnastic Society (1910), currently the Cultural Centre; a former mission-
ary seminary (18th c.); tenement houses; a town hall (1896), currently the Adam Fastnacht
Regional Museum; a Jewish cemetery (19th c.) on Cegłowskiego St.; Mausoleum Memorial to
Brzozów Jews murdered in 1942 in Podlesie-Zdrój; an obelisk in the forest of Brzozów-Zdrój
(1990). ¶ Odrzykoń (24 km): ruins of the Kamieniec castle (14th–16th c.); the Church of
St. Catherine (1887). ¶ Jasienica Rosielna (26 km): The Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(1770); a Jewish cemetery (circa 19th c.) with a stone slab commemorating the Jews shot in
Jasienica Rosielna, Domaradz, and Golcowa. ¶ Korczyna (26 km): a Jewish cemetery (circa
19th c.); the grave of 9 soldiers killed in World War I, and graves of those murdered during
the Holocaust. ¶ Zasław (28 km): a memorial grave to the murdered victims at the site of
the concentration and extermination camp. ¶ Frysztak (40 km): The Church of the Nativity
of Mary (1924–1927); a former pharmacy, post office, and library (late 19th c.); the old Jew-
ish cemetery on Parkowa St. (17th c.) with the grave of Esther Ethel, daughter of Elimelech
of Lizhensk; the new Jewish cemetery (18th c.). ¶ Nozdrzec (40 km): the Skrzyński Palace
(1843); “the grave of serfdom” – an obelisk commemorating the abolition of serfdom
(1848); a turbine mill (1918); a ferry crossing the San River. ¶ Strzyżów (49 km): a syna-
gogue on Przecławczyka St. (2nd half of the 18th c.) – currently a library and the Society of
the Enthusiasts of the Strzyżów Land, with partially preserved polychromy (19th c.) and
original doors; a Jewish cemetery on Żarnowiecka Hill (1850) with the reconstructed ohel
of Rabbi Horowitz; a railway tunnel from the time of World War II; the Collegiate Church of
the Blessed Virgin Mary (15th, 17th c.); the palace complex of the Wołkowicki family (circa
19th c.), currently the Janusz Korczak Children’s Home; the manor house of the Dydyński
family (18th c.). ¶ Jaśliska Landscape Park: 5 nature reserves, with routes: the history and
landscape path “On the Hungarian Route” and the nature path “In the Jasiołka River Gorge.”

Worth Synagogue (17th c.) at the corner of Bieleckiego St. and Rynek St. ¶ The Malka’s Jewish
seeing House, 2 Sanocka St., tel. +48 663517815. ¶ Jewish cemetery (2nd half of the 16th c.) with
approx. 800 preserved matzevot, Kalwaria St. tel. +48 608 832 983. ¶ Old urban layout
preserved in the town centre: the market square and a partially regular network of streets
radiating from it. ¶ The parish Church of St Lawrence (16th/17th c.) with a two-storey
Renaissance tombstone of Jan Sieneński and his wife Zofia, dated to circa 1580, by Lvovian
sculptor Herman Hutten-Czapka, 5 Wola St. ¶ Brick mansion (19th c.) founded by the
Rymanów

Skórski family, currently the seat of the Forest Inspectorate in Rymanów, 38 Dworska St.
¶ Manor park (19th c.). ¶ Brick tenement houses (late 19th c. and early 20th c.), with ele-
194 ments of earlier buildings (17th and 18th c.). ¶ Wooden and brick villas (19th and 20th c.)
Lesko
Ukr. Лисько, Yid. ‫לינסק‬ How full of awe is this place! This is none other but the
house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
Inscription over the entrance
into the synagogue in Lesko, Genesis 28:17

The gate of the Bieszczady ¶ Lesko at the tip of a hill, south of the village of
is situated in the Bieszczady Foothills, on Lesko, which lies on the San River plain.
a gentle slope on the left bank of the San Its centre is a market square – square-
River. Towards the end of the 14th cen- shaped in this case – and several streets
tury, Władysław Jagiełło granted estates leading away from it, as well as a church
to the kmita family that were located in situated northeast of the market square.
the Land of Sanok, incorporated into the West of the town, the kmitas erected
Crown. The village of Lesko is mentioned a wooden manor house, in whose place
as part of the Kmita family estate in 1436. the Stadnickis later built a stone cas-
About 1470, Jan Kmita established a town tle. ¶ The town remained in the hands
with a market square in the centre, a net- of the kmita family until the death of
work of streets around it, a church, and Piotr kmita, Grand Crown Marshal,
a manor house near the village of Lesko in 1553. During his lifetime, the town
and within its lands. Thanks to its loca- was developed, and a new large market
tion at the intersection of roads the town square was established south of the old
experienced a developmental boom, centre, with a town hall and streets.
particularly due to the route running Nearby, in the northeast, a Jewish quar-
south to Hungary and the local route run- ter was established, with a synagogue
ning from west to east from Lesser Poland and a cemetery located outside the town’s
to Ruthenia up to, as far as Sambor and walls, while in the southwest, in Zatylna
Lwów. Initially, Lesko was inhabited by St., a new Orthodox church was erected.
Poles and Ruthenians, who were joined The old one, probably dating back to the
by Jews by the mid-16th century. Accord- times before the town was chartered,
ing to local tradition, Lesko’s first Jewish had been located in the village of Lesko,
inhabitants were Sephardic Jews speaking which subsequently became a suburb
Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish), but this is not known as Posada Leska. As was typi-
confirmed in documents. cally the case, the Orthodox church was
surrounded by a graveyard, extended in
Medieval and Renaissance town Austrian times into a common Christian
¶ The medieval town was established cemetery that functions to this day. In 195
 Moses’ tablets set
in the elevation of the
western outer wall of
the synagogue in Lesko,
2014. Photo by Emil
Majuk, digital collection
of the “Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” Centre
(www.teatrnn.pl)

The castle in Lesko,

after 1923, collection
of the National Library,
Poland (www.polona.pl)

1916, a military cemetery for soldiers of Przemyśl. At the end of the 16th
killed during World War I was estab- century, Jewish taxpayers amounted to
lished in front of it. about 25 heads of families, or approxi-
mately 10 percent of the town’s popula-
Municipal citizens ¶ In 1542, the tion. Unlike in many other towns of
register of Lesko’s inhabitants mentions Poland-Lithuania, the Jewish citizens
for the first time a burgher of the Jewish of Lesko were subject to the same laws
faith. In subsequent years, there was as all other citizens and were allowed to
a dynamic influx of Jews, probably due do business without special restrictions,
to the favourable legal regulations intro- on a par with the Christian townsfolk.
duced by Piotr kmita. By 1572, there By the mid-16th century, they already
were as many as 23 tax-paying heads of had their own cemetery and probably
Jewish families in Lesko. ¶ A kahal was a synagogue, whose presence is men-
established here in the third quarter tioned in early 17th-century sources, and
of the 16th century, earlier than in the soon they also had a bath and a hospital
nearby older town of Sanok, which for (poorhouse). Towards the end of the 16th
centuries reported to the Jewish elders century, one of the community’s elders
of Lesko. The Jews of both towns at the and the principal of the local yeshivah
time belonged to the district (ziemstwo) was Aron, son of Isaac (d. 1591).

Taxpayers’ registers from the 17th and 18th centuries list kahal leaders: from
1611–1615, doctor Icyk (rabbi) and Jakub (a synagogue shames); from 1656–1660,
Lesko

the school’s elders – Abusek and Aron Zachariaszowicz, fraternity elders

196 – Abram Izaakowicz and Marek Moszkowicz, graveyard supervising elder
 Former synagogue,
currently art gallery in
Lesko, 2015. Photo by
Zenon Martinger, collec-
tion of the Bieszczady
Cultural Centre

– Haim Samuelowicz, Jozef Łazurkowicz (an elder of the Land of Sanok), and
Zelik – a shkolnik (a synagogue beadle). The 1769 register lists houses and
the Jews living in them: shkolniks – Lewko Markowicz, Zabel, living next to
the bath; as well as Helik, living together with the rabbi, Icek – a wiernik (Pol-
ish for the Hebrew ne’eman, a “trustworthy” – Jewish communal trustee), and
Michel – a cantor. These registers reveal that Lesko’s Jews traded in a variety
of goods, including Hungarian wine and cattle, and also engaged in leasing
(mainly propinacja – production and sale of alcohol), low-key usury, and vari-
ous crafts and services. They also owned houses. The Jews had two synagogues
at the time, as well as a beth midrash, a bath, a hospital, and a cemetery.

The wars and invasions of the population amounted to about 1,440,

mid-17th century spared the town. In which means that before the partitions,
the taxpayers’ register for 1655–1660, Jews constituted more than 40 percent
there were 182 Christians and 36 Jews of Lesko’s inhabitants. At that time, the
(17 percent), and in 1676, the town’s 220 kahal of Lesko was the largest of the
taxpayers already included as many as 83 Jewish communities in the nearby towns
Jews (38 percent). But the Swedes set fire and boroughs, and the visible sign of
to the town in 1704, causing many peo- its importance was its stone synagogue,
ple to lose their homes and move away. established at a time when most build-
Many of those who remained died during ings of this kind were made of wood.
an epidemic the following year (includ-
ing 303 Jews). In subsequent decades, Synagogue ¶ The first synagogue in
the number of inhabitants increased Lesko was wooden; it was probably built
again – in 1765, tax was reported to in the second half of the 16th century
have been collected from 1,656 Jews in and is mentioned in documents in 1580
the entire kahal, including 587 in Lesko. as a Jewish school. The stone synagogue
According to data for 1769, the town’s was built here most likely in the second 197
 Former synagogue half of the 17th century. It appeared in the war, the derelict building gradually
in Lesko, 2015. Photo by
Zenon Martinger, collec-
the documents in the first half of the became dilapidated until it was rebuilt
tion of the Bieszczady 18th century and has survived to this in the 1960s and 1970s. Since 1978, on
Cultural Centre
day. Built on a rectangular plan, with the initiative of the then director of the
Synagogue in a turret in the corner of the front eleva- Bieszczady Cultural Centre, Andrzej
Lesko, eastern view,
1918-1939. Photo by Jan
tion, it was rebuilt several times – for Potocki, it has housed an art gallery. The
Krzywowiązka, collection example, after the 1847 fire. ¶ Near the building is owned by the town of Lesko.
of the National Digital synagogue there were Hasidic prayer In its vestibule, there is an exhibition of
Archives, Poland
houses where the followers of tsaddikim photographs about Jewish life. There are
Lesko, photomon- from Nowy Sącz and Sadhora would also memorial plaques here with names
tage of the fire of the
town, July 1930, col- pray, but these have not survived. ¶ Dur- of Lesko’s Jews. The art gallery is open
lection of the National ing World War II, the Germans devas- from May till October, tel. +48 13 469 66

„
Digital Archives, Poland
tated the interior of the synagogue and 49, [email protected]
used the building as a warehouse. After

When reciting the psalms, a Jew from a small-town community is face to face
with the Eternal God, may He be blessed, without complaining or pretending.
Three such cantors, with particularly strong and clear voices, are engraved in my memory.
These are: the water carrier reb Getzl Hagler, who was rumoured in town to be one of the
lamedvovniks, the butcher Tzaddok Szwartz, and the coachman Ajzyk Bertentejl, son of
Lesko

Mordekhai [tsaddikim nistarim, lamed-vav tsaddikim or Lamedvovniks are 36 concealed

198 righteous people at any time whose role in life is to justify the purpose of humankind in the
 A Hashomer Hatzair
troop, 1927, reproduction
from Sefer izkor; muke-
dash li-Yehudei ha-aiarot
she-misepu be-shoa
be-shanim 1939-1944:
Linsk, Istrik, Baligrod,
Litovisk ve-ha-seviva,
ed. by Natan Mark and
Shimon Friedlander, Tel
Aviv 1964/1965

eyes of God – eds.]. ¶ Shimon Friedlander, The Town’s Jewish Soul, in: Sefer izkor Linsk,
(The Memorial Book of Lesko), Tel Aviv 1964.

War and peace ¶ During World youth organisations continued to func-

War I, the Jewish community, whose tion and new ones emerged; a loan fund
members owned most stores and craft was established. Three representatives of
workshops, suffered severely as passing the Jewish community, Mendel Hager,
soldiers looted the town. As elsewhere, Josef March, and Baruch Weiss, became
Jews from Lesko served among the members of the town council, and law-
soldiers of the Austrian army. ¶ After yer Alter Müller became deputy mayor.
Poland regained independence in 1918, The health service at that time included
Lesko remained a county town in the Jewish doctors – Zelig Liebman and Lea
Lwów Voivodeship. The number of Grossonger – as well as a dentist called
inhabitants decreased by about 1,000 as Dampf. David Gottlieb owned the best
a result of warfare, a cholera epidemic hotel and restaurant in Lesko; Moshe
and other diseases, and the departure Ber Gutwirth ran a company called
of many inhabitants. In 1921, the town “Importwin,” which also had a branch
had a population of 3,870, including he opened in Lwów; and Rywka Schaff
1,080 Catholics (28 percent), 451 Greek opened a print shop. ¶ The town had
Catholics (12 percent), and 2,338 Jews two functioning synagogues, a bet mid-
(60 percent). On the initiative of the rash, two baths, and an old cemetery.
Krasicki family, who owned the Lesko Hasidim – followers of the Ruzhiner
estate, the town name of Lisko, which dynasty of Rabbi Yisrael Friedman of
had been in use since the 19th century, Sadhora (Sadigura, Sadagora, near Czer-
was replaced with the earlier name of nowitz/Chernivtsi) and the Halberstam
Lesko. ¶ In the interwar period, old dynasty of Nowy Sącz – had their prayer
parties, associations, and cultural and houses here, too. The rabbi of Lesko was 199
 Dated 1548, the Mendel Horowitz. Before the outbreak of of the town new centre. About 2,000
matzeva on the grave of
Eliezer son of Meshulam
World War II, the town Jewish commu- gravestones survive in it, of which 29
is the oldest tombstone nity numbered about 2,500 people. date back to the 16th century, more than
at the Jewish cemetery
in Lesko, 2014. Photo by
60 to the 17th century, and 88 to the 18th
Emil Majuk, digital col- The Jewish cemetery in Lesko century. The oldest identified matzevah
lection of the “Grodzka
is one of the oldest and the richest in is that of Eliezer, son of Meshulam, who

„
Gate – NN Theatre”
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl) Europe. It was established before the died in 1548. Its Hebrew inscription
The ohel of tsaddik
middle of the 16th century on a hill east reads:
Menahem Mendel at
the Jewish cemetery Here lies a God-fearing man, Eliezer son of Meshulam (blessed be the memory of
in Lesko, 2015. Photo
by Monika Tarajko, the righteous one). On Tuesday, the 9th day of Tishrei, year 309 (1548).
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www. The oldest matzevot can be found in the among other tombs, there is the ohel of

„
teatrnn.pl) northern part of the cemetery, near the tsaddik Menachem Mendel, who died
entrance gate. Further into the cemetery, here in 1803.

Here lies the Holy Rabbi Menakhem Mendel (may his merits be our protection),
father of the Holy Rabbi Naftali Tzvi of Ropshitz (may his merits be our protec-
tion), summoned to the heavenly yeshivah on the day of Simchat Torah, 23 Tishrei 5564.
May his soul be bound in the bond of eternal life. Near his grave, his father R. Yaakow and
his son R. Shmuel Shmelka lie buried, as well as his grandsons, R. Menakhem Mendel son
of R. Shmuel Shmelka and R. Menachem Mendel son of R. Abraham Haim.

The owner of the site is the Foundation gate is available from the family living
for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage opposite the entrance (tel. +48 13 469 81
Lesko

in Poland. The entrance fee to the cem- 08 or +48 695 652 364).
200 etery is 7 PLN per person. The key to the
World War II and the Holocaust camp was the scene of mass executions
¶ After the outbreak of World War II in which a large part of Lesko’s Jews
in September 1939, the town was first were killed. The others were transported
seized by German troops; the Germans to the Bełżec death camp, where they
withdrew across the San after a few days were gassed. Few of the Jews whom the
and the Soviets entered Lesko. The San Soviets deported to Siberia survived the
River became the border between the war; between ten and twenty survived in
occupation zones. This situation con- Lesko, harboured by Poles and Ukrain-
tinued until the German attack on the ians. ¶ After World War II, as a result of
USSR in June 1941. After the town was the extermination of the Jews and the
seized by the Nazis, repression began – displacement of Ukrainians, Lesko had
mainly against the Jewish population. In only about 1,000 inhabitants left.
June 1942, the Jews from the town and
its vicinity were confined in a ghetto. Present day ¶ Today, Lesko is
It was liquidated three months later, in a county town with a population of
August 1942. About a hundred of the more than 6,000 people. It is regarded
least physically fit people were shot at as a gateway to the tourist areas of the
the Jewish cemetery, and the remain- Bieszczady Mountains. The Bieszczady
ing ghetto dwellers were marched off to Tourist Information Centre is in the
the labour camp in the nearby village town square (tel.+48 13 471 11 30,
of Zasław. Jews were also transported e-mail: [email protected]).
there from Sanok and its vicinity. That

Former synagogue, now art gallery (16th c.), 16 Berka Joselewicza St., tel. +48 13 469 66 Worth
49, [email protected] ¶ Jewish cemetery (16th c.), Słowackiego St. ¶ Urban layout, seeing
consisting of a medieval charter town (circa 1470) with the Renaissance town adjoining it
to the south (circa 1550). ¶ Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (16th c.),
10 Kosciuszki St. ¶ Castle with a Romantic park (19th c.), 7 Piłsudskiego St. ¶ Town hall
(1894–1896), 21 Rynek St. ¶ Town houses and suburban wooden houses (19th/20th c.).
¶ Christian cemetery (15th c.), Kochanowskiego St.. ¶ Bunkers of the so-called Molotov
Line, erected on the San during the Soviet occupation in 1940.

Sanok (15 km): former synagogue of Sadigura Hasidim (1924), currently State Archives; Surrounding
Yad Charuzim Synagogue in Franciszkańska St. (1897), currently the seat of the Architects area
Society; a town house in which there used to be a shtiebel (late 19th c.), the mikveh building
and townhouses of the Weiner and Ramer families; the new Jewish cemetery in the Kiczury
district (19th c.); the Folk Architecture Museum; the Royal Castle (16th c.) housing the
Historical Museum and Beksiński Gallery; a Franciscan church and monastery (17th c.);
town hall at 1 Rynek St. (1875–1880); Mansionaries’ house (18th c.) in Św. Michała Square;
Holy Trinity Orthodox Church (1784–1789). ¶ Baligród (21 km): a Jewish cemetery (1st
half of the 18th c.); the Greek Catholic Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God
(1835). ¶ Ustrzyki Dolne (24 km): the shrine of Our Lady of Bieszczady (1st half of the
18th c.); the Church of Our Lady Queen of Poland (1909–1911); the Greek Catholic Church 201
 of the Dormition of the Mother of God (1847); the former synagogue building (circa
1870), currently a library; the old Jewish cemetery (18th c.); the Museum of Milling and
the Countryside; the Nature Museum of the Bieszczady National Park ¶ Tyrawa Wołoska
(26 km): a Jewish cemetery, about 400 m southeast of the church, behind the Catholic cem-
etery; Church of St. Nicholas (1st half of the 19th c.). ¶ Mrzygłód (31 km): original wooden
buildings around the market square (19th/20th c.); a Latin church (1415–1424), currently
the Sending of the Apostles Church; former wooden synagogue on the eastern side of the
market square (1893), now a dwelling house; by the road there is a mass grave of Jews shot
in 1942. ¶ Bircza (42 km): the Humnicki Palace (19th c.) with earth bastion fortifications of
the old castle; Chruch of St. Stanislaus Kostka (1921–1930); the wooden house of the rabbi,
a brick mikveh; Jewish cemetery in Cmentarna St. (19th c.); on Kamienna Górka there is an
obelisk commemorating the extermination of Bircza’s Jews. ¶ Rybotycze (52 km): a Jewish
cemetery situated at the curve of the road to Makowa; the fortified Greek Catholic Church
of St. Onuphrius in Posada Rybotycka (15th c.), currently a branch of the Museum in
Przemyśl. ¶ Krasiczyn (61 km): a castle (late 16th c.); Church of St. Martin (17th c.); a Jew-
ish cemetery on a hillside near the forest. ¶ Lutowiska (65 km): “Three Cultures” Ecomu-
seum route including Polish, Ukrainian, and Jewish heritage sites; a Jewish cemetery (2nd
half of the 18th c.); the wooden building of the former Jewish school, ruins of the synagogue
(2nd half of the 19th c.); the Church of St. Stanislaus the Bishop (early 20th c.); a memorial to
the Jews murdered in 1943. ¶ Ustrzyki Górne (67 km): the seat of the Bieszczady National
Park; Mountain Tourism Culture Centre of the Polish Tourist and Sightseeing Society
(PTTK). ¶ The Bieszczady National Park in the Carpathian Mountains.

LESKO
Lesko

202
Shtetl Routes
Through Ukraine

203
 Zhovkva
Pol. Żółkiew, Ukr. Жовква, Yid. ‫זשָאלקווע‬ I was proud of my Zolkiev.
No other city has such monuments as ours,
I thought to myself.
Shimon Samet, A Tour of Zolkiev, in: Sefer
Zolkiew (Hebr.: Memorial Book of Zolkiew),
Jerusalem 1969

A perfect city ¶ Established towards of another “perfect” Renaissance town

the end of the 16th century as a Renais- of Zamość, located 100 km north west of
sance “perfect city,” Zhovkva (then Zhovkva and established several years
Żółkiew) was named in honour of before. Since in the Renaissance art was
Stanisław Żółkiewski, its founder. The somatic and anthropocentric, the general
earliest historical reference to the village town plan and the plans of its environs,
of Vynnyky (Winniki), around which including the plots of neighboring lands
Zhovkva was subsequently established, and houses, reflected in its minute
dates back to 1368. In 1597, the Crown details the system of proportionally
Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski began the interrelated measurements of human
construction of Zhovkva near Vynnyky, anatomy. The famous Italian architects
and in 1603, due to a privilege issued by Paolo de Ducato Clemenci (also known
King Sigismund III Vasa, the emerging as Paweł Szczęśliwy, Ukr. Pavlo Scha-
urban center was granted municipal slyvyi) and Paolo Dominici (known as
rights as a private Polish town. The Paweł Rzymianin, Ukr. Pavlo Rymlianyn
crown privilege gave a powerful boost contributed to the creation of the town.
to the economic life of the town and its ¶ In 1620, Zhovkva became the prop-
vicinity and promoted rapid develop- erty of the Daniłowicz noble family, and
ment of diversified crafts and trade. In later became the possession of John III
the first half of the 17th century, Zhovkva Sobieski (1629–1696), King of the Polish-
was transformed into a fortified town Lithuanian Commonwealth, who inher-
circumscribed by pompous stone ited it from his mother, Zofia Teofila. It
ramparts. The market square located in was during John III Sobieski’s reign that
front of the castle was lined by trading Zhovkva (Żółkiew) saw its heyday. The
houses on the northern and eastern sides king transformed the town into a major
that formed a gallery of stores, known as centre of political and economic life of the
arcades. The entire town was designed by 17th-century Polish-Lithuanian Com-
Zhovkva

the famous Italian architect and theorist monwealth. At his Żółkiew residence,
Pietro di Giacomo Cataneo. The town he received diplomatic envoys of King
204 plan followed the successful experiment Louis XIV of France and King Charles
II of Spain. After the victorious battle centrally-located buildings for admin- Panorama of Zhovkva.
A general bird’s eye
near Vienna on September 12, 1683, in istrative purposes. The entire sections view of the town,
which the troops of Habsburg Monarchy, of the defensive walls, including the 1918–1933, collection
of the National Digital
the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Lwowska (L’viv) and Żydowska (Jewish) Archives, Poland
and the Holy Roman Empire under the Gates were demolished; the castle palace
command of King John III Sobieski was converted into a prison; plans were
destroyed the army of the Ottomans and underway to rebuild the town hall too.
their vassal and tributary states, the papal Only in the 19th century did the authori-
nuncio arrived in Zhovkva and granted ties began the renovation. For example,
the king with a sword blessed by the the Zwierzyniecka Gate was restored,
pope. In the early 17th century, Zhovkva and so were some of the castle walls. Yet
was home for young Bohdan Khmelny- in the 19th century, the castle as well as
tsky (1595–1657), the future leader of the entire town went into decline. ¶ In
the Cossack revolution, whose father September, 1914, as World War I broke
served at Hetman Żółkiewski’s court. out, Zhovkva was captured by the Rus-
The Cossack leader hetman Ivan Mazepa sian army. In June, 1915, the Austrians
(1639–1709) visited Zovkva too. During recaptured it. From November, 31, 1918,
the Great Northern War (1700–1721), until May 16, 1919, the Lemberg (L’viv)
from December, 1706, to April, 1707, the county was under the administration of
Zhovkva Castle served as the tempo- the Western Ukrainian People’s Republic
rary headquarters of the Russian Tsar (ZUNR), and then it was under tempo-
Peter I (the Great). ¶ Towards the end rary Polish administration until 1923,
of the 18th century, with the partition of when the international community at the
Poland between Austria, Prussia, and Conference of Ambassadors recognised
Russia, Zovkva, together with the entire Poland’s sovereignty over Eastern Galicia.
new province of Galicia, became part
of the Austrian domain. The Habsburg In Żydowska Street ¶ The first Jews
authorities began demolishing the town settled in Zhovkva as early as the 1590s,
fortifications and reconstructing various immediately after the foundation of the 205
 A view of the mar- town. In 1600, Stanisław Żółkiewski, timber. ¶ In 1624, a wooden synagogue
ket square with arcaded
houses; the Basilian
the Voivode of Ruthenia, allowed Jews was opened next to Aron Moshkovich’s
monastery is vis- to establish their first prayer house. At house, and in 1626, the kahal appointed
ible in the background,
1918–1939. Photo by
that time, the local Jewish community first communal rabbi Ezekiel Issachar (d.
Marek Munz, collection was subordinated to Lviv kahal, but 1637). In addition to the synagogue, the
of the National Digital Jewish quarter enjoyed the operation of
Archives, Poland
in 1620, it became independent and
established its own communal author- all other communal institutions, includ-
Synagogue in ing a mikveh (ritual bath), a slaughter-
Zhovkva, 1918–1939,
ity. The Jews were granted a privilege
collection of the National of building their residences in a street house, the rabbi’s house, a beth midrash
Digital Archives, Poland subsequently called Żydowska (Jewish) (study house for adult Jews), and
Street, which led to the Jewish Gate, a hekdesh (shelter for the poor and for
one of the town four main gates. The the vagabond alms-seekers). In 1640, the
king granted Zhovkva the autonomy town owners allowed the Jews to open
according to the Magdeburg law and a yeshivah. The town’s Jewish community
also exempted it from custom duties gradually grew and acquired importance.
and other special taxes. These privileges In 1628, 21 houses in Zhovkva were
enabled merchants and craftsmen from Jewish, and in 1680, 88 houses. When in
other towns to trade freely in Zhovkva. 1648, the Cossack troops under Bohdan
The town also received a privilege of Khmelnytsky approached Zhovkva,
hosting a major trade fair (Jahrmark) thousands of Jewish refugees found safe
four times a year and to have two market haven in town and took part in defend-
days each week. 17th-century Zhovkva ing the town against the Cossacks along
was home to more than a hundred Jewish the Polish garrison. In 1765, the Jewish
craftsmen, including furriers, silver- and community of Zhovkva boasted more
goldsmiths, jewellers, tanners, phar- than 1,500 members and possessed more
macists, and tailors. Several dozen Jews than 270 buildings. Jews owned nearly all
received special privileges including the the buildings around the market square,
lease of the customs house, of tax collect- which formed a lined-up gallery where
ing, and of propinacja (producing and most of trade took place. The street lead-
Zhovkva

selling alcoholic beverages). They were ing from the market square to the syna-
also running inns, managing fish ponds, gogue also had a commercial importance
206 running lumber mills, and freighting and was known as the Jewish Market.
„ Built by Italians. […] The old synagogue with its towering façade, buttresses,
stone shells, cornices, attic acroteria [architectural ornaments], with its walls
which turned golden as the time passed, with its vaults, ceiling coffers, and lunettes. ¶
Translated from: Z. Haupt, Lutnia, albo przewodnik po Żółkwi i jej pamiątkach (Lute,
or a Guide to Zhovkva and its Memorials), in the same author’s Szpica: opowiadania,
warianty, szkice (The Picket: Short Stories, Variants, Sketches), Paris 1989

Sobieski’s synagogue ¶ As early as end of the century. Also known as the

1635, the Jews of Zhovkva were granted Sobieski Shul, it became one of Europe’s
the privilege to build a stone synagogue, most notable Jewish monuments.
but it was not built until towards the

There were many distinguished Jews among King John III Sobieski’s close associ-
ates. One of them was the royal court purveyor (factor) Jacob ben Nathan
(?–1696), the Steward of the Royal Chamber of Sambor, who was in the 1670s
the leaseholder of all the custom houses of Red Ruthenia and Podolia. In 1685,
he moved to Zhovkva, where he lived in the Sobieski’s palace. In 1689, he
was elected the head of the Zhovkva kahal. A few years later, at the Sejm of
Grodno (regular decision-making meeting of the Polish nobility), the nobil-
ity accused him of corruption and blasphemy against the Christian religion.
The accusation led to his removal from the steward’s office. He was imprisoned
for a short time and died shortly after his release. Another Jew closely associ-
ated with John III Sobieski was Emanuel de Jona from Lviv (?–1702), an
outstanding court physician of Sephardic origin and a Marshal of the Coun-
cil of Four Lands (Jewish parliament in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth).

The synagogue was called royal not only hall was adjoined by a vestibule and
because of its pompous size and beauti- women’s galleries. The synagogue roof
ful decorations and ornaments, but also was hidden behind an attic with special
because of 6,000 zlotys that the king lent decorative visors, which made many
the Jewish community toward its con- believe that the building also allegedly
struction. Built of stone, the synagogue served as part of the town fortifications.
was erected in lieu of the old wooden The Renaissance-style building (with
one, next to the northern ramparts of the some manierist elements) looked so
town, close to the Jewish Gate. By 1700, elegant that the Catholic clergy forbade
the construction was completed under painting it in white so that it would not
the guidance of the crown architect Piotr eclipse Zhovkva churches with its radiat-
Beber. The main nine-bay prayer hall ing beauty. ¶ In the first days of German
measured 21 to 20 meters, and its height occupation in 1941, the Nazis tried to
reached 14.5 meters at the highest point demolish the synagogue. Attempts to
of the dome. The interior was lavishly blow it up totally destroyed the southern
decorated with stuccoes and frescoes. On women’s gallery; the western part of the
the western and southern sides, the main building lost its roof and a gallery vault, 207
 and in the main prayer hall the dynamite Zhovkva. Uri Faivush had exported
explosion destroyed three sections of the books to Poland-Lithuania for many
vault, the central columns, and parts of years and was one of the three main
the roof. ¶ In 1963, the synagogue was Amsterdam book printers. He had
partially renovated and catalogued in the also been known as the publisher of
National Register of Architectural Monu- one of the first newspapers in Yiddish,
ments of the Soviet Ukraine. Despite Dienstagishe un Freitogishe Kurant
its state-protected status, the building (A Thursday and Friday Carillon). In
was used as a warehouse. From the early 1692, Uri Faivush brought his unique
1990s, various plans were underway for Amsterdam type to Zhovkva and
conservation and restoration purposes, published his first Zhovkva printing-
but the lack of adequate financial press book. In 1705, he returned to
resources and the complete absence Amsterdam while the printing press was
of the local Jewish community made continued to be run by by his grandsons,
any comprehensive renovation impos- two outstanding printers Aharon and
sible. ¶ In the mid-1990s, the “fortress” Gershon. Due to its excellent layouts
synagogue of Zhovkva was listed by the and the clarity of its print and despite
New York-based World Monuments the restrictive decisions of the Council
Fund as one of the “100 most endangered of Four Lands, Zhovkva printing press
heritage sites in the world.” Thanks to suppressed the two other printing
this alert, renovation was begun in 2000. presses operating in Poland at that time
However, it was subsequently suspended – Lublin and Krakow – and for almost
as the supervising authorities discovered 80 years remained a monopolist, the
cases of embezzlement and inappropri- only Jewish printing centre in the entire
ate use of funds allocated for restora- Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This
tion of the monument. In 2007, the exclusive position of Zhovkva in the
roof of the synagogue was covered with printing market changed only after the
protective copper tiles yet the building 1764 dissolution of the Council of Four
has remained in perilous condition. ¶ Lands. Zhovkva printing press published
In 2012, the National Bank of Ukraine classical works of religious literature
introduced memorial coins worth 5 and also rabbinic treatises submitted for
and 10 hryvnias with the images of the print by rabbinic scholars from vari-
Zhovkva synagogue as part of the Archi- ous countries. The descendants of Uri
tectural Monuments of Ukraine series. Faivush (under various family names
such as Madfes, Mann, Letteris, and
The printing press ¶ In 1690, King Meirhoffer) owned the Zhovkva printing
John III Sobieski granted Uri Faivush house until the end of the 18th century.
ben Aaron ha-Levi (1625–1715) from The house of Uri Faivush, in which the
Amsterdam with a crown privilege printing house functioned, is located in
to establish a Jewish printing press in the market square at 7 Vicheva Sq.
Zhovkva

The Haskalah ¶ In the late 18th century, Zhovkva became an important centre
208 of the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) movement, particularly when Nachman
Krochmal (1785–1840), one of the
leading maskilim (enlightened think-
ers) in Eastern Europe lived in town.
Krochmal was a religious thinker,
historian, theologian, and writer. Born
in the town of Brody, he spent a con-
siderable part of his life in Zhovkva,
making it one of the centres of the
Haskalah. Other maskilim, members
of the Haskalah movement such as
Salomon Judah Leib Rappaport,
Isaac Erter, Halevi Bloch, and others
were closely connected to the circle
of Krochmal in Zhovkva. After the
death of his wife in 1836, Krochmal returned to Brody and two years later settled The interior of the
synagogue in Zhovkva,
in Ternopil. Through consistent independent study, Krochmal mastered various 2014. Photo by Agnieszka
fields, especially history and philosophy. He was one of the first thinkers to turn Karczewska, digital col-
lection of the “Grodzka
to the study of Jewish history “for a better knowledge of our essence and our Gate – NN Theatre”
nature.” He penned a renowned philosophical treatise entitled More nevukhey Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)
ha-zman (Heb.: A Guide for the Perplexed of Our Times, 1839, published in Lviv in
1851). The title alluded to Maimonidean More nevukhim (Heb.: The Guide for the
Perplexed), while the work used categories of rationalist philosophy and elements
of German romantic thought with which Krochmal sought to construct paradigms
of Jewish historical destiny. He wrote in a renovated Hebrew, enriching it with
scientific and scholarly terminology of his own making thus considerably con-
tributing to the development of contemporary Hebrew literature. He died in 1840
in Ternopil. His son Abraham Krochmal (b. 1820 in Zhovkva, d. 1888 in Frankfurt
am Main) took after his father as a writer, thinker, and journalist in his own right.
His hallmark was a rationalist approach to Judaism, which he treated mainly as
an ethical system. As all maskilim of his generation with their aversion to piesistic
trends in Judaism, including Kabbalistic thought, he vehemently rejected Hasidism.

A Galician town ¶ In the mid-19th period, the population of Zhovkva grew,

century, Zhovkva turned into a hub of but by 1939, the percentage of Jews had
the fur industry providing employment decreased to about 40 percent (4,270
to hundreds of Jewish workers. Towards people) of the 11,100 town inhabitants.
the end of the 1890s, 3,783 of the 7,143 The town population also included Poles
residents of Zhovkva, or about 53 per- (approx. 35 percent) and Ukrainians
cent, were members of the Jewish com- (approx. 25 percent). ¶ The Great Syna-
munity. After World War I, according to gogue was the centre of town religious
the 1921 census, the Jewish community life; the community of Zhovkva also
numbered 3,718 people (47 percent of maintained a Talmud Torah elemen-
the town population). In the interwar tary religious school for poor children, 209
Castle in Zhovkva, 2014;
at present, some of
the castle’s chambers
house a museum. Photo
by Viktor Zagreba,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)

a Tarbut Hebrew-language school with societies and a football team “Hasmo-

its robust Zionist agenda, an orphan- nea,” established according to the vision
age, and other educational and charity of the “Jew of muscle,” a new type of

„
institutions, including modern Polish-, a modernized secular Jew.
German- and Hebrew-oriented cultural

A tour of Zhovkva with Shimon Samet ¶ The market square was the
centre of the town: The square was broad and large, and in the middle of it there
was a well with spring water, which the water carriers, and sometimes even the house-
wives, drew and carried around. It was the well around which the entire world revolved.
On the one side of the square there was an old fortress building in the backyard, housing
the John III Sobieski municipal gymnasium [secondary school] and the court; on the other
side, there was a parking area for carts and wagons belonging to the peasants who arrived
from the countryside with goods for sale. It was right here that the world of the Zhovkva
trade flourished manifesting itself in a medley of Polish and Ukrainian languages. ¶ In
the arcades of the buildings around the square there were stores and residential houses.
The square was the heart of the town, with streets leading from it in all directions. There
was also a church in the square, and inside it (they said) there were precious paintings
and ancient works of art covered with gold and diamonds. The road led through a gate to
Glińska Street, and then proceeded across the bridge over the Świna River and towards the
park or returned to Piekarska Street, where there was Belzer Hoyz, the house of Hasi-
dim from Belz. At the end of the street there was a bakery: the aromas of various baked
products tickled the nostrils of local residents. In Piekarska (Baker) Street, we celebrated
Simchat Torah (The holiday on which the annual cycle of Torah reading was completed
– and restarted), Hasidic songs shook the walls. ¶ At the end of Piekarska Street there
Zhovkva

stood the enormous building of the Great Synagogue, a very special architectural artwork
attracting observant Jews from the entire region. Anyone who wanted to cleave to God in
210 deep silence amid a solemn and profoundly personal atmosphere, surrounded by beautiful
architectural ornaments, should step in under
the abode of the Great Synagogue: he or she
would immediately leave the realm of the
mundane and enter the realm of the sublime. ¶
Opposite the Great Synagogue there stood the
bet midrash. Next to it, there was a small store
selling soda water, sweets, and cigarettes. This
was an important meeting place of the Zionist-
minded young people, particularly of the
members of the the local branch of Hashomer
Hatzair (Heb.: The Young Guard, a boy scout
Jewish youth organization). Next to the store
there was also the house of the Zimmerman
family, an important meeting place of the edu-
cated and young people who sought cultural
and scientific knowledge. A little further up
the same street there lived the Szpigel brothers,
profoundly assimilated Jews. We used to spend
hours playing in their large backyard. Still
further, in Sobieski Street, there was our house
which hosted a watchmaker’s shop belonging to
my father. We moved from there to Szpitalna
(Hospital) Street. ¶ A hostel with guest rooms, called “Ajnfarhojz,” was located in Szpitalna The place outside the
town that was the scene
Street, in which mainly visiting Hasidim stayed as they needed kosher cuisine. Even the of mass executions of
tzadik of Belz stayed as a guest there. ¶ Sobieski Street takes us from the market square Zhovkva’s Jews, 2014.
Photo by Viktor Zagreba,
with its wagons, carriages, and a well-pump, toward the butcher store on one side and the digital collection of the
river on the other, and from there – as far as Turyniecka Street. Down that street, which “Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
started from Hochner’s timber storehouse, one could go as far as the villages of Turynka teatrnn.pl)
and Mosty Wielkie, and further up toward a beautiful quarter of small houses. A large
church stood there. ¶ If one turned right and walked a short distance, one would find
oneself in the busy, centrally located Lwowska Street. It had two side streets: one of them
led from the Great Synagogue and the town hall to the prayer house called Kadeten-Shul.
It was called that way because the so-called Progressive Jews [most likely associated with
the patriotic-minded cadet corps] prayed in it. This shul served as the centre of the Zionist
movement; politics was discussed there, as well as municipal council and Jewish communal
election campaigns, and even the Zionist Congresses elections. The Jews who prayed here,
including my father, were the opponents of the Belzer Hasidim. At the end of the street there
was a mikveh and a bath. ¶ A location in the market square worth mentioning – a station-
ery shop run by the Ecker brothers. Jewish students would sometimes gather here. The main
meeting place of those young people was the Wilder sisters’ café. ¶ In the town hall building
there was a cultural centre, the Kulturvereign. Its leading figures enlisted the key members
of local intelligentsia: Dr. Szloser, Dr. Sobel, Dr. Zimerman, and Dr. Sztern, and its admin-
istrator was Samson Lifszyc. This cultural center hosted lectures and talks, here one could 211
 play chess and cards, and participate in Purim carnival. ¶ On the road from Zhovkva to
Lviv, there was a garden known as The Old Wall, with a small store on the right hand-sight.
Our mothers would stroll here on Saturdays and engage in gossip about everything and
everyone: one could find out who had gone to see the tzadik of Belz to obtain blessing for
one’s commercial endeavors, who had sent his son to Lviv to look for a job, who was plan-
ning to leave for Palestine, who was getting married, and the like. After leaving the garden,
you could go out to the opposite side, where the inn was located, in which Poles, Ukrainians,
and Jews drank surrounded by clouds of cigarette smoke and a medley of conversations
peppered with curses. ¶ Translated from: Shimon Samet, Spacer po Żółkwi (Pol.: A Tour of
Zolkiev), ed. by Yaron Karol Becker, based on Sefer zikaron Zolkiew (Heb.: Memorial Book
of Zolkiew), Jerusalem 1969

World War II and the Holocaust concentration camp near L’viv and to the
¶ In September 1939, the town was labor camp in Rava-Ruska, where they
captured by the Red Army. Monuments were subsequently murdered. ¶ After the
to King John III Sobieski and Stanisław war, a memorial was erected at the site of
Żółkiewski were demolished. On June 29, the mass grave in the Bór forest. Another
1941, German troops entered Zhovkva. memorial was established at the munici-
Before they arrived, the retreating Soviet pal cemetery, at the gravesite where the
security police murdered at least 29 exhumed remains of the victims of the
Ukrainian and Polish political prisoners Zhovkva ghetto were re-buried.
in the local NKVD (Soviet secret police)
prison located in the castle. The victims The Jewish cemetery ¶ The Nazis
were the participants of various national destroyed the old Jewish cemetery, estab-
resistance movements, some of them lished at the beginning of the 17th cen-
were just cultural figures with national- tury. The oldest matzeva (tomb-stone),
democratic proclivities. The persecu- which was known to have been there
tion of the Jews started immediately before the war bore the name of certain
after the Nazi invasion. The synagogues Yitzhak, son of Abraham (d. 1610). The
were leveled. On July, 22, the Germans last burials took place in 1943. During
established Jewish auxiliary police and the German occupation, tombstones
a Judenrat, a Jewish communal council were used to build roads. The Jewish
reporting to the Nazi authorities. Then, cemetery was eventually destroyed in
in November 1942, the Nazis established 1970, when the communist authorities
a ghetto, stretching from the square demolished dozens of Jewish cemeter-
in front of the Domincan convent and ies across the USSR, particularly in
through Turyniecka Street. Approxi- Ukraine. The tombstones were removed
mately 6,000 people were confined there. and a large marketplace was established
The liquidation of the ghetto took place on the former site of the cemetery. The
a year later, on November, 25, 1943. original Baroque cemetery wall survived
Zhovkva

More than 4,000 Jews were shot dur- partially, and in the south-eastern part,
ing mass executions in the Bór forest; next to the entrance to the marketplace,
212 others were transported to the Janowski there is an ohel over the grave of the local
righteous man called Yitzhak (d. 1737) and regional significance. ¶ A good place
and fragments of matzevot embedded in to start sightseeing in Zhovkva is the
the wall. Tourist Information Centre located in the
town hall at 1 Vicheva Sq. (tel. +38 032
After the war ¶ After the war, 522 24 98).
Zhovkva found itself on the territory of
the independent Ukraine. The town’s Traces of Jewish presence ¶ Apart
ethnic composition changed radically. from the synagogue, the surviving traces
During the war, the almost all Jews were of the Jewish community of Zhovkva
murdered. In 1944, there were only 74 include the former Hasidic prayer house
Holocaust survivors in town. In the late (2 Vinnikivska St.), the former seat of
1940s, Polish residents were transferred the kahal’s authorities (7 Zaporizka St.),
to the west and replaced by Ukrainians, and the building that housed one of the
transferred here from eastern Poland. heders (10 B. Khmelnytskoho St.). The
In 1951, Zhovkva was temporarily buildings that housed the Tarbut school
renamed Nesterov to honor the Russian (8–10 Lvivska St.) and the vocational
pilot Piotr Nesterov, who perished here school for women (76 Lvivska St.) also
in 1914 destroying an enemy plane in survived, and also the former 19th-cen-
flight for the first time in the history of tury ritual slaughterhouse (1 Ludkevycha
aviation. In 1992, the town regained its St.). And if one looks closely at the stone
previous name, and in 1994, Zhovkva portals of the houses around the market
was granted the status of the National square, one finds traces of mezuzot on
Reserve of History and Architecture, the door posts.
with 55 monuments of global, national,

Zhovkva

213
 Surrounding Krekhiv (12 km): fortified St. Nicholas Monastery (1612), the Church of St. Paraskeva
area (17th c.). ¶ L’viv (25 km): the largest metropolis of Galicia. Numerous architectural monu-
ments, including many surviving monuments of Jewish heritage, such as Jacob Glanzer’s
Hasidic synagogue at 3 Vuhilna St.; houses with traces of mezuzot and the place where the
“Golden Rose” synagogue was situated in Staroyevreyska (Old Jewish) St. – now a memo-
rial and educational site called the Space of Synagogues; the still-active synagogue in Brativ
Michnovskich St.; the building at 12 Sholema Aylehema St. that housed the first Jewish
museum in L’viv; Maurice Lazarus’s hospital in Rappaport St.; memorials to Holocaust
victims, a memorial plaque in Shevchenka Street, where the Janowski concentration camp
was located; a memorial to Holocaust victims in Chornovola St. ¶ Velyki Mosty (25 km):
ruins of a synagogue (early 20th c.). ¶ Mageriv (25 km): a former synagogue (19th c.).
¶ Rava-Ruska (35 km): a Jewish cemetery (17th c.), approx. 100 matzevot. ¶ Stradch
(38 km): a cave monastery (11th c.). ¶ Sokal (50 km): a ruined former synagogue (18th c.).
¶ Nemyriv (50 km): a Jewish cemetery, with several hundred 19th- and 20th-c. matzevot. ¶
The Yavoriv National Park

Worth Synagogue (1692–1700), 14 Zaporizka St. ¶ Zhovkva Castle (1594–1606) founded by

seeing Stanisław Żółkiewski, built by Paweł Szczęśliwy, housing the Zhovkva Castle Museum
with an exhibition devoted to the history of Zhovkva from its foundation to the present
day (2 Vicheva Sq., tel. +38 067 996 96 68). ¶ The Roman Catholic Church of St. Lazarus
(1606–1618), the Żółkiewski family mausoleum, 21 Lvivska St. ¶ The Basilian monastery
complex (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church) (1612), the Basilian printing house as part
of the monastery complex, still functioning today, at 4 Bazylyanska St. ¶ Greek Catholic
Church of the Holy Trinity (1720), included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since
2003, 1 Sviatoi Triitsi St. ¶ Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos (1705),
Ivana Franka St. ¶ The former Dominican monastery complex (17th c.), currently a Greek
Catholic church, 7 Lvivska St. ¶ Town hall (1932), 1 Vicheva Sq. ¶ City gates and fortifica-
tions (17th c.). ¶ Arcaded houses (17th c.).
Zhovkva

214
Belz
Pol. Bełz, Ukr. Белз, Yid. ‫בעלז‬ Belz, my little town of Belz
The little house where
I spent my childhood!
The song My Little Town of Belz
(version sung by Adam Aston,
written by Jacob Jacobs)

Princely town ¶ Belz is located the focus of dispute between the rulers
near the border with Poland between of Poland, Hungary, and Lithuania. In
two tributaries of the Bug River – the 1377–1387, the town came under Hun-
Solokiya and Richitsa. According to the garian rule. In 1377, Duke Władysław of
most widespread hypothesis, the town’s Opole – the governor of the Palatinate
name comes from the Old Slavic bełz or of Ruthenia appointed by King Lajos I of
bewz, meaning a muddy, damp area. In Hungary and Poland – granted the town
the Boyko dialect, the same word means with the Magdeburg law. In 1387, Queen
a muddy place difficult to get through. Jadwiga (Hedwig) of Poland removed
Another theory links the town’s name Hungarian palatine from Ruthenia and
with an Old Ruthenian word бълизь incorporated that territory into the
(a “white place,” a lawn, or clearing, in Kingdom of Poland. A year later, her
the midst of a dark forest). ¶ Belz is one husband Władysław II Jagiełło handed
of the oldest towns not only in Ukraine, that land over to Siemowit IV, Duke of
but also in Eastern Europe. Its first Masovia. In 1462, the town became the
mention dates to the Old Rus chronicle capital of Belz Palatinate, created after
Tale of the Bygone Years (also known as the incorporation of the Land of Belz
the primary Chronicle), which men- into the Polish Crown.
tions that, in 1031, the Prince of Kiev
(now Kyiv) Yaroslav the Wise defended The Jews of Belz ¶ Most prob-
the town against the Poles. At the time, ably a Jewish community existed here
Belz was a typical fortified town on already in the times of the Principal-
the western frontiers of Kievan Rus. In ity of Halych (called Galicia after this
1170, the town became the capital of the town), which emerged as the Duchy of
independent Principality of Belz, which Volhynia-Galicia following the collapse
pleaded allegiance to the Kingdom of of Kievan Rus’ in the 13th century. The
Galicia-Volhynia. In the mid-14th cen- oldest reference to the Jews of Belz is
tury, after the Rurikid dynasty had come dated to 1469 when a court case regard-
to an end, Belz – together with the whole ing debt recovery involving Jews took
Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia – became place. Initially, the Jewish community 215
A view of Belz, circa lived in the Przedmieście Lubelskie (Mezhbizh), Belz, Szydłów, Brest, and
1931, collection of the
National Library, Poland
(Lublin Suburb) district, but due to Cracow. ¶ In 1648, during the Cossack
(www.polona.pl) the growth of Belz, in 1509, the Jewish Revolution, Belz was besieged by the
quarter was included within the town Cossacks, who demanded a significant
walls and formed the northwestern ransom from the town dwellers. The
part of the town centre. In 1570, about wars of the mid-17th century destroyed
20–25 Jewish families lived in Belz. In Belz almost completely, a fact attested
1587, the Dominicans sold a plot of to by the 1667 document recording an
land to the Jews for the construction of inspection of the town. To accelerate
a synagogue, which means that the town rebuilding, the municipal council of
magistrate acknowledged the presence Belz granted Jews the same rights that
of the Jews and legalized Judaism as other burghers had enjoyed. In 1704,
a tolerated religion. The first shul (prayer during the Great Northern War, Belz
house) was built of wood, like most of was destroyed by Swedish troops. With
buildings in the town. Later, another the First Partition of Poland in 1772, the
synagogue was erected next to it. At the town was incorporated into the Habs-
beginning of the 17th century, Joel Sirkes burg Monarchy and became part of the
(1561–1640) served as the rabbi of Belz. Province of Galicia. The town lost its
Rabbi Sirkes was a renowned Talmudic political and administrative significance
scholar and rabbinic authority known as and became a small craft and trade
the BaH, an acronym of the title of his centre. On May 7, 1789, Emperor Joseph
work, Bayit Hadash (Heb.: New House), II issued the Edict of Tolerance, under
a four-volume legal commentary that which most of the legal and residential
adapted many rulings by key Sephardic differences between Christians and Jews
scholars to the Ashkenazic realities. were abolished and the existing restric-
Originaly from Lublin, Joel Sirkes tions on building synagogues and estab-
Belz

also served as a rabbi in Pruzhany, lishing Jewish cemeteries were lifted.

216 Lublin, Łuków, Luboml, Medzhybizh The Jews of Belz settled throughout the
entire town centre, including the market
square. After the great fire of 1806, when
most of the wooden buildings, including
the prayer houses, burnt down, a new
synagogue sponsored by the influential
Adler family was established.

The Hasidism of Belz ¶ In 1816,

Belz became one of the centres of
Hasidic movement in Galicia and
home to the famous Hasidic dynasty of
Rokeakh. The dynasty was founded by
the tsaddik Sholom Rokeakh (1779–
1855) from Brody, who was a disciple of
Jacob Isaac Horowitz, known as the Seer
of Lublin. After the death of his teacher
in 1815, Rabbi Rokeakh was recognised
as a tsaddik, the head of the Hasidic
court, whom people called Sar Shalom
(Heb.: Prince of Peace). He served as
the rabbi of Belz from 1817 to 1855. On
Sholom Rokeakh’s initiative, in 1843,
the Great Synagogue and a beth midrash Sholom Rokeakh was succeeded by his Jews in Belz, 1916–1917,
a photograph taken by
(prayer house) were established. In fifth and youngest son, Rabbi Yehoshua a German soldier during
1874, the Rokeakh family sponsored the Rokeakh (1825–1894), who – unlike World War I, collection
his father – was active not only com- of Beit Ha-tfutsot, The
construction of a Talmud Torah school Museum of the Jewish
and a new building for the rabbinic fam- munally, but also politically. In 1878, People, Photo Archive,
ilies which were built to the southeast the famous tsaddikim (Hasidic lead- Tel Aviv; courtesy of
the Polish Academy of
of the Great Synagogue. ¶ Due to the ers) of Eastern Galicia led by Yehoshua Sciences
charisma of Sholom Rokeakh, Hasidic Rokeakh established the first political
ideas spread wide through northern organization of the Orthodox Jews called
Galicia, Volhynia, and Hungary. As the “Mahazikei ha-dat” (Heb.: “Upholders of
legend has it, Rabbi Rokeakh was able the Faith”), which sought to combat the
to heal people, and his fame as a healer spread of the Haskalah in Galicia and
who helped Jews and Christians in to defend the Hasidic Orthodoxy. The
difficult times reached far beyond the members of Mahazikei ha-dat published
borders of Galicia, Volhynia, and Buko- one of the first journals of the rising
vina. Hundreds of Jews came to Belz for Orthodox movement and participated in
a personal blessing of a tsaddik. Sholom the elections to the Austrian Parliament.
Rokeakh died in 1855 and was buried ¶ When the rabbi was taken ill with
in the Jewish cemetery in Belz. Today a mysterious disease, his followers, the
his grave site has turned into a site of Hasidim decided to take him to Vienna,
pilgrimage for people in dire straits. ¶ where he was examined by specialists in 217
Synagogue in Belz, 1924,
collection of the Institute
of Art of the Polish
Academy of Sciences
(PAN)

one of the best hospitals in Europe. Doc- Issachar continued to teach Hasidic
tors concluded that he needed an imme- traditions, promoted education, and
diate surgery, but nobody could predict enjoyed a widespread authority among
the result. The operation was performed Jewish leaders in Galicia and Hungary.
without any complications but, on his He was also believed to be a miracle-
way back from Vienna to Belz, the rabbi worker. Thousands of pilgrims from
died. ¶ In 1894, Issachar Dov Rokeakh various countries visited Belz to receive
(1854–1926), son of Yehoshua became his blessing. ¶ Like his predecessors
the third Admor (acronym of Heb.: ado- Shalom and Yehoshua, he too was buried

„
neinu, moreinu, rabeinu – our teacher at the Belz Jewish cemetery, where pil-
and master) of Belzer Hasidim. Rabbi grims come to pray at their graves.

Dr. Arthur Ruppin, an outstanding German Jewish sociologist and economist

and one of the leaders of Zionist movement – A Visit to Belz in the Year 1903.
¶ I came by train to Belz on the eve of the holiday of Shavuot. The train was completely
packed with Jews who were traveling to the Rebbe. All of them had long earlocks and wore
black velvet round shtreimels on their heads and some were wearing sandals. We arrived in
Belz in the afternoon. The long line of Jews who were walking towards the town reminded
me of a nation being in constant motion. Normally, Belz had 6,000 residents, of whom half
were Jewish. On that day, it was like Belz was populated by Jews only, since thousands of
Jews came to visit the Rebbe from out of town, even from Hungary and Russia. ¶ I went to
synagogue for the evening prayer. There was no place to sit. There were thousands of Jews
standing, crowding and swaying during prayer, like sheaves of grain in the wind. The Rebbe
appeared and the congregation immediately started to pray. Everyone is pushing, attempt-
Belz

ing to get close to the Rebbe. The Rebbe walks to the podium and prays with a crying voice.
218 It seems as though the voice awakens ardent admiration among the congregants. They are
closing their eyes and swaying their bodies from side to side in devotion. Their loud prayer
reminds an uproar of a storm. Whoever sees these Jews in their prayer would have to admit
that these people are still the most devout of all. ¶ Based on: Sefer zikaron Belz (Belz Memo-
rial Book), Tel Aviv 1974, trans. Gila Schecter, retrieved from www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor

The synagogue ¶ In 1839–1849, and Rabbi Rokeakh promised to build

a new stone synagogue and a beth the synagogue exactly according to the
midrash were built. The construction was instructions of the prophet. For 15 years,
most probably initiated by Rabbi Sholom the rabbi was personally involved in the
Rokeakh. The following legend explains building of the synagogue. It was a tall
how the new synagogue emerged. Rabbi stone structure with one-meter-thick
Sholom together with his two friends walls, resembling the fortified synagogue
promised not to sleep for one thousand in the nearby Zhovkva. Established on
nights and devote his entire time to the a rectangular foundation, it comprised
Torah study. After a few hundred nights, a square-shaped prayer room, a narthex,
the friends gave up while Rabbi Rokeakh and a women’s gallery. The building
persevered. On the last night, Prophet was topped with an attic decorated with
Elijah appeared before Rabbi Rokeakh gilded copper spheres. The synagogue
– they studied the Torah together until had excellent acoustics and a capacity of
the dawn. The prophet revealed to Rabbi 5,000 people.
Rokeakh all the details of a  synagogue

After the Holocaust, the surviving Belzer Hasidim with their leader relocated
to Jerusalem and elsewhere. In the 1980s, the fifth Belz Hasidic leader Rabbi
Issachar Dov (ІІ), grandson of Issachar Dov (І) and nephew of Aaron, pro-
posed a plan for the establishment of the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem which
would be an enlarged copy of the Belz Great Synagogue demolished by the
Nazis. This new synagogue, one of the biggest in the world, was opened in
2000. It has a spacious prayer room with a capacity of 10,000 people, study
rooms, a banquet hall, and various facilities. Located in Northern Jerusalem, it
took 15 years to build – as long as it took to build the old synagogue in Belz.

The early 20th century ¶ In 1880, charitable society built a shul to the
Belz had 2,135 Jewish residents (52 south from the market. ¶ In 1914, Belz
percent of the general population). At the boasted 3,600 Jewish, 1,600 Ukrainian,
beginning of the 20th century, another and 900 Polish residents. World War
synagogue – founded by certain Feivel I had a significant impact on the town:
Taub – was erected near the Lwowskie it disrupted the normal life of the Jewish
Przedmieście (Lviv Suburb) quarter. In community. In 1914–1915, Belz was
1909, Feivel’s son – also Feivel – estab- occupied by Russian troops and became
lished a philanthropic society Yishrey part of the Governorate-General of Gali-
Lev (People of Straight Will) that helped cia and Bukovina. During the first days
the sick and the poor. In 1910, this of the occupation, Russian troops burnt 219
The synagogue of the
Yishrey Lev Philanthropic
Society in Belz, 2014.
Photo by Viktor Zagreba,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre Centre” (www.
teatrnn.pl)

down nearly all the Jewish houses in the in his young age. From his early years, he
market and nearby streets. The burnt- led an ascetic lifestyle, which affected his
down walls were the only reminder of health, and became known as a reserved
the Yishrey Lev prayer house, of the beth and mysterious person. Many of his
midrash and of the Talmud Torah school. disciples told stories of his mysterious
In 1916–1918, the Great Synagogue behaviour and his miracle-working and
housed an Austrian military hospital. compared him to the Baal Shem Tov,
After the collapse of Austria-Hungary in the legendary founder of Hasidism. ¶
1918, Belz was for a short time a central At the beginning of the 1930s, Isaac
county town in the West Ukrainian Mautner, Shmul Spindel, and Isaac
People’s Republic, and then, in 1919, it Teller established a Zionist organisation
was incorporated into the re-established called Torah va-Avoda (Heb.: Learning
Poland. ¶ During World War I, Rabbi and Working), first in Sokal and then in
Yissachar Dov Rokeakh had to leave Belz Belz. Later, a youth Zionist organization
and move to Mukachevo. He did not Bnei Akiva (Heb.: Son’s of Rabbi Akiva)
return home until after the end of the appeared in town. It consisted of two
war. He died in 1926, and after his death, groups with a total of 20 members. Its
Aaron Rokeakh (1880–1957) became the leading activists were Moshe Hadari and
leader of Belz Hasidim. While by the late Mirel Ziefert. The members of this youth
1930s, the Rokeakh family sponsored Zionist group organised secular cultural
the reconstruction of all the destroyed events with nationalist flavor, taught
Jewish buildings in town. Rabbi Aaron Hebrew language, and cooperated with
spent his childhood in his family house. the Hit’akhdut (Heb:. Unity) and other
He was known as a Torah genius already Jewish political parties.
Belz

Meyn Shtetele Belz ¶ The town of Belz inspired a popular song entitled
220 Meyn Shtetele Belz (Yid.: My Townlet Belz), although which Belz actually was
a prototype of the town in the song
remains unclear. Aleksander Olsza-
niecki composed the music for the song,
and Jacob Jacobs, a towering figure in
American Yiddish Theatre life, penned
the lyrics. The song appeared in 1932,
commissioned for a New York stage
production entitled The Song from the
Ghetto. The song became a hit as a nos-
talgic reminiscence of the vanished world,
it was translated into other languages,
and with the destruction of Belz acquired
elements of prophecy. ¶ There has long been an ongoing discussion which town Jewish cemetery in Belz,
2017. Photo by Christian
that song immortalized: the old Polish Belz or the town of Bălți in Moldova. The Herrmann, www.
former version is more widely held true in Poland, and one of the first transla- vanishedworld.blog
tions of the song was made for the famous Warsaw cabaret singer Adam Aston.
Still, it must be remembered that the singer Isa Kremer – for whom the song was
written – came from the Moldovan town of Bălți (Yid.: Belts, Ukr.: Byeltsi, Pol.:
Bielce). Be that as it may, both towns were doomed and the lyrics also depict
the fate of hundreds of other towns, not only of these two with similar names.

World War II and the Holocaust of Belz, Aaron Rokeakh, moved in the
¶ In September 1939, Belz was occupied fall of 1939 to Peremyshliany. In July
by the Red Army; then, after October 1941, the Nazis surrounded the Jew-
10, it was taken over by German forces ish quarter, herded all the Jews into the
and incorporated into the General synagogue and set it on fire. They were
Governement (1939–1944). Together rescued by a Greek Catholic clergyman
with the retreating Soviet troops, many Оmelyan Kovch (the famous “parish
Jews fled east, into the USSR mainland. priest of Majdanek,” who Pope John Paul
The German occupation authorities, II proclaimed a blessed martyr in 2001).
meanwhile, herded Jews from the nearby He persuaded SS officers to let him into
towns to Belz and created in town the burning shul. Taking advantage of
a forced labour camp. In May 1942, there the confusion, Kovch opened the doors
were approx. 1,500 Jews in town. On of the synagogue and let the people out.
June 2, 1942, about 1,000 of them were He noticed a body near the entrance,
forced to walk some 60 km to Hru- which he picked up and carried from the
bieszów, from where they were trans- fire. The person he rescued was Rabbi
ported to the death camp in Sobibór. In Aaron Rokeakh, who ended up surviving
September, 1942, about 500 Jews who the Holocaust. Unfortunately, not eve-
had remained in Belz shared their fate. rybody was able to flee the synagogue.
Among the dead was Rokeakh’s only
The last rabbi ¶ In an attempt to save son, Moshe. ¶ In 1943, with the help of
himself from the Nazis, the last rabbi a Hungarian counterintelligence officer, 221
 Rabbi Rokeakh and his stepbrother “ethnic cleansing” on both sides)
Rabbi Mordechai of Biłgoraj managed to between the communist Poland and the
excape to Hungary. The brothers shaved Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, as
off their beards and side-locks: they were well as during the Operation “Vistula”
supposed to pretend to be two Soviet (forced resettlement of Ukrainian ethnic
generals captured by the Hungarians and minority in 1947 by the Polish govern-
escorted to Budapest for interrogation. ment), all Ukrainians were moved from
Later, the runaways recalled that mira- Belz and its surrounding areas further
cles accompanied them at each and every east. But then, under the 1951 Border
step. During their 200-kilometre journey Adjustment Treaty, Belz was incorpo-
through Galicia and Slovakia to the rated into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist
Hungarian border, thick fog surrounded Republic, while the neighbouring region
their car so that it was virtually invisible. of Ustrzyki became part of Poland. In
When they finally reached the Hungar- a yet another forced population transfer,
ian border, they were pulled over at the the Poles living in Belz were transported
border crossing. In a decisive moment, out of the town, which was in turn re-
three high-ranking officials from Buda- settled by Ukrainians transferred here
pest appeared and ordered that the car from the Ustrzyki region and by people
be allowed to pass. The Hasidim of Belz displaced from other regions of Ukraine
sincerely believe that these were three and USSR. Since 1991, Belz remained
Belzer tsadikim sent from the Heavens within the borders of independent
to secure Rabbi Aaron’s escape. ¶ After Ukraine. ¶ In 1945, 220 Jewish survivers
the war, Rabbi Aaron Rokeakh recreated returned to Belz. Using their pre-war Pol-
the Belzer Hasidic centre in Israel, where ish status, some of them moved to Israel
he lived until his death in 1957. Though and other countries, but a small Jewish
he himself had survived the war under population remained in town. It was only
dramatic circumstances, the death of his towards the end of the 1990s that almost
son Moshe, in Belz, brought the direct all Jews emigrated from Belz in the
dynastic line of the Rokeakh rabbis to wake of the post-communist economic
an end (the current Admor of the Belzer turmoil. ¶ The most precious landmarks
dynasty is the son of Rabbi Aaron’s of Jewish cultural heritage – including
cousin). In Israel, the court of the tsaddik the Great Synagogue, a beth midrash,
of Belz was joined by other Hasidim and the Talmud Torah school – the Nazis
whose tsaddikim (leaders of the Hasidic demolished in 1942. In 1951, the Soviets
courts) were killed in Europe. Thus, the levelled and cleaned the ruins which still
Belzer Hasidim became one of the largest remained after World War II. The former
present-day Hasidic communities. mikveh building is the only element of
the synagogue complex that has sur-
Post-war Belz ¶ In 1944, the town vived. The building of the Yishrey Lev
again was incorporated into Poland and Philanthropic Society and the remnants
remained Polish for just a few years. of the Jewish graveyard with partly pre-
Belz

During a forced “population exchange” served matzevot, particularly those of the

222 (which historians nowadays consider Rokeakh family, have also survived.
A pilgrimage destination ¶ Belz and a pilgrims’ hostel have been built
remains an important pilgrimage des- on the opposite side of the cemetery
tination for Hasidim from all over the in the northern part of the town. The
world who want to visit the graves of the cemetery was circumscribed by a wall in
famous tsaddikim. To satisfy the needs 2007. Keys to its gate can be obtained at:
of visitors, a new synagogue, a mikveh, +380325752417.

Jewish cemetery (16th c.), 106 Mitskevycha St. ¶ Former prayer house of the Yishrey Lev Worth
Society (1910), Torhowa St. ¶ State Historical and Cultural Reserve in Belz, 1 Savenka St., seeing
tel. +380325754157. ¶ Arian Tower (1606), the town’s oldest surviving monument, Gogola
St. ¶ Ruins of the Dominican monastery (mid-16th c.), Savenka St. ¶ Town hall (18th c.),
Savenka St. ¶ Former church and convent of the Dominican Sisters (second half of the
17th c., currently the Church of St. Nicholas – Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church), Savenka
St. ¶ Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1906–1911) and St. Valentine’s Chapel, Savenka
St. ¶ Wooden Greek Catholic Church of St. Paraskeva (15th–17th c.), Mitskevycha St.

Chervonohrad (18 km): the Potocki Palace (1762), currently a branch of the L’viv Museum Surrounding
of Religious History; the Basilian Monastery of St. George (1673); the former Bernardine area
church (1692–1704), currently Orthodox Church of St. Vladimir. ¶ Velyki Mosty (20 km):
ruins of the synagogue (early 20th c.), inside: matzevot from the local Jewish cemetery;
a church (1837); an Orthodox church (1893). ¶ Uhniv (21 km): the former synagogue
building (early 20th c.); a church (1695); an Orthodox and Greek Catholic church (19th c.).
¶ Sokal (28 km): The Orthodox Church of St Nicholas (16th c.); the former Bernardine
monastery (17th c.), now a correction colony; ruins of the synagogue (1762); a devastated
Jewish cemetery with the remains of matzevot. ¶ Radekhiv (52 km): a former synagogue
(19th c.); the wooden Greek Catholic Church of St. Nicholas (early 20th c.).

Belz

223
 Busk
Ukr. Буськ, Yid. ‫ביסק‬ Their hands pointed at a gently sloping
rock: It is here!
Georges Clemenceau, Busk, in: Au pied
du Sinai (Fr.: At the Foot of Mount Sinai),
Paris 1898

The Venice of Galicia ¶ Busk is of urban infrastructure. This was also

located at the place where the Poltva, strategically important due to the town
Solotvyn, and Rokitna rivers flow into location at the so-called Black Trail, an
the Bug, dividing the town into several ancient trade route used by merchants
parts. In the past, the town was sur- travelling from Crimea to Lviv as well
rounded by ponds and bogs, and the as by the Tatars during their raids.
numerous rivers and brooks contributed From 1540, the position of the head of
to the creation of a unique landscape. the palatinate belonged to one of the
That is why, in the 18th and 19th centu- Górkas, Polish Calvinist family. Thanks
ries, Busk was often called the “Venice of to the Górkas, Busk became one of the
Galicia”. Today, the town looks com- first centres of Calvinism in Ruthenia
pletely different. The brooks have dried (Galicia). The town expanded signifi-
up and the division of the town into cantly in the 16th century: in addition to
separate parts has disappeared. Only the the Old Market square, two more were
bridges and wooden footbridges con- established, the Central Market and the
necting the banks of former riverbeds New Market. These new market places
stand as a reminder of this characteristic divided the town into three parts: old,
feature. ¶ The medieval Primary Chroni- new, and central. Paper mills were built
cle mentions Busk (Buzhesk) as a forti- in 1539–1541, they produced paper for
fied town reporting to the counts of the printing presses in eastern Poland until
Duchy of Kiev (Kievan Rus) as early as 1788; the first printer of Slavic books,
1097. From 1100, Busk was the capital the famous Ivan Fedorov (Fedorowicz)
of an independent palatinate included printed his Ostrog Bible on Busk paper in
in the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia; 1581. This was the first complete edition
the palatinate and the principality were of the Bible in Church Slavonic language.
incorporated into the Polish Crown in ¶ Towards the end of the 18th century,
the late 15th century. In 1411, Busk was Józef Mier of Scottish origin became the
granted the Magdeburg rights, which town owner, and due to his mercantile
Busk

significantly boosted the development of interests and protectionist trade policies,

224 town trades and crafts and the creation the town began to develop dynamically
 Market square in Busk,
1917, collection of the
National Library, Poland
(www.polona.pl)

as the industrial centre. Mier ordered the this day. Busk remained in the hands
establishment of sawmills and glass- of the Mier family until 1879, but the
works and invited Czech and German town experienced a devastating fire in
craftsmen to settle permanently in town. 1849 and subsequently lost its economic
In 1810, his son Count Wojciech Mier significance. After the Mier family, Busk
built a palace which has survived till was ruled by the Badenis noblemen.

Count Kasimir Felix Badeni (1846–1909) became the Governor of Galicia

in 1888, and in 1895–1897, he served as the Austro-Hungarian prime minister.
After he retired, he settled in Busk, where he lived permanently until his sudden
death on a train a few kilometres from Busk while returning from Karlsbad, the
famous mineral waters spa west of Prague. He was buried in his family crypt in
Busk, which was destroyed during the Soviet times. Ludwik Józef Badeni suc-
ceeded his father as the owner of the estate. The Badeni family was favourably
disposed towards the Jews. Stories are told about Kasimir Badeni speaking to
local Jews in Yiddish and supporting poor Jews by exempting them from taxes.

The Jews of Busk ¶ In 1454, Jews before the Polish Crown were concerned.
were first mentioned as living in Busk. In 1518, the king exempted Jews from tax
In 1510, Jews were obliged to pay 20 gold for one year due to a Tatar raid that dev-
florins to the Royal Treasury through astated the town. Later, Jews had to pay
the kahal of Lviv, which means that they their taxes in state-approved coins (30
were submitting to the authority of the groszy for one florin), not in gold. In 1564,
Lviv Jewish community, as far as their King Sigismund Augustus confirmed the
financial relations with and obligations 1550 privilege granted to the Jews of Busk 225
 Lviv; still, it maintained its own inde-
pendent communal institutions such
as a cemetery and a synagogue. The
rabbis serving in Busk included Rabbi
Aaron (1540–1560) and Rabbi Isaac
ben Abraham Hayes; the latter worked
here in 1564–1568 and was then invited
to become the Rabbi of Prague. At the
beginning of the 18th century, the posi-
tion of the rabbi of Busk was held by Tzvi
Hirsch ben Moshe from Zhovkva (then
Żółkiew). About 100 Jews died during
A view of Busk, and further expanded their privileges. the Cossack wars in 1648–1649, but by
2014. Photo by Viktor
Zagreba, digital collec-
He allowed Jews to purchase plots of land the late 1650s, the community revived
tion of the “Grodzka and construct houses anywhere in town, afterwards and rebuilt itself.
Gate – NN Theatre”
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)
build new buildings, deal in real estate,
and carry out business anywhere in The Old Cemetery ¶ The old Jewish
Jewish cemetery
in Busk, 2013. Photo
Ruthenia (Galicia) and Podolia, including cemetery in Busk is believed to be the
by Wioletta Wejman, a privileged trade in meat. In short, Jews oldest Ashkenazi cemetery in Ukraine
digital collection of the enjoyed all municipal and state privileges
“Grodzka Gate – NN
and one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries
Theatre” Centre (www. and exemptions on an equal footing with in Central and East Europe. Located on
teatrnn.pl) other Gentile residents. Nonetheless, in several hills, it boasts the oldest surviv-
1582, King Stefan Báthory declared Busk ing matzeva in the Shtetl Routes area,
a free royal town which implied also that dated to 1520, with an epitaph read-
the town was granted De non tolerandis ing: A garland instead of ashes (Isaiah
Judaeis privilege. The full consequences 61:3). Here lies an honest man, r. Yehuda
of this innovation are not exactly clear, son of r. Jacob, called Judah. He died on
since Jews continued to live within the Tuesday, on the 5th day of Kislev in the
town walls, in the New Town, as if the year 5281 from the creation of the world
privilege stipulating the banishment of (23.11.1520). May his soul be bound in
Jews was not enforced. ¶ From the legal the bond of life [together with the souls]
Busk

standpoint, the Jewish community of of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all God-
226 Busk continued to be part of the kahal of fearing people.
The Frankists and the Hasidim Rabbi Nachman, who took the name
¶ In the 18th century, Busk turned into of Piotr Jakubowski. Due to the strong
a centre of the Frankist movement that support Frank received from the Jews of
galvanized Podolia and Ruthenia and Busk, King Augustus III recognised Busk
was led by the ambitious schismatic as one of the Polish main towns inhabited
Jacob Frank. The leader of the movement by Frankists and designated it as a place
considered himself a reincarnation of the where the adherents of the sect should
17th-century pseudo-Messiah Sabbetai settle. The Jews of Busk sometimes were
Tsvi (who ended up converting into referred to as bisker szabsecwijnikes, from
Islam) and preached salvation achieved the twisted name of Sabbetai Zevi, Jacob
through sexual orgies involving Jews Frank’s pseudo-Messianic predeces-
and non-Jews and licentious behaviour sor. ¶ Rabbi David Pinkhas of Brotchin
that broke all the barriers of the Judaic (Bohorodchany) actively opposed Frank,
commandments. This was the new avatar whom he considered a traitor of Judaism,
of the concept “redemption through sin” a schismatic, a charlatan, who exploited
previously advanced by Sabbetai Tsvi. the gullibility of his Jewish followers
Frank based it on his perversive read- not able to make sense of the sophis-
ing of the kabbalistic Zohar which he ticated kabbalistic texts. Rabbi David
claimed allegedly supported the idea of Pinkhas represented traditional Judaism,
Trinity. Several hundred Jews, even the defended rabbinic Jewish authorities,
then Rabbi Nachman Samuel ha-Levi of and emphasized the key role of Talmudic
Busk joined the sectarians Jacob Frank. education. He participated in the defense
To ensure the sect has an upper hand of Judaism at the second disputation
in the larger Jewish community, Frank with the Frankists in Lviv in 1759, while
orchestrated a disputation between the Frank facing a growing opposition to his
traditional rabbinic Jews and himself, messianic craze preferred to stay in Busk.
a new Jewish Messiah. The disputation ¶ The conversion of the Frankists and
took place in Kamianets-Podilskyi in a subsequent imprisonment of the leader
1757 under the supervision of Bishop of the movement made the converted
Dembrowski and was attended by 19 Frankists move into central Poland. The
Frankists, four of whom – led by rabbi remaining void was soon filled by the
Nachman – came from Busk. Having new movement of religious enthusiasm,
rejected the reasons and traditions of Hasidism, and its adherents, Hasidim.
rabbinic Judaism in public, Jacob Frank The Hasidic movement enjoyed mass fol-
brought his Jewish followers to Catholi- lowing in Busk which coexisted with the
cism. Among those baptised after the traditional (Lithuanian) Jews associated
second disputation that took place in with mitnagdim (anti-Hasidic minded
Lviv two years later, there were 103 Jews).
people from Busk, including the former

The Alesk Hasidic dynasty (named after the town of Olesko, located
23 km from Busk) represents a branch of Busk Hasidism. The founder of the
dynasty, Rabbi Hanoch Henikh Dov Majer (1800–1884) was also known under 227
 the title of his work Lev sameach (Heb.:
A Happy Heart). He was a son-in-law
of the tsaddik Rabbi Sholom Rokeakh,
the founder of the Hasidic dynasty in
Belz. As a child, Majer visited the Seer
of Lublin and became a disciple of
famous Hasidic rabbis such as Uri of
Strelisk, Naftali Tzvi of Ropshitz, and
of his father-in-law Sholom Rokeakh.
The leaders of the Hasidic dynas-
ties such as Sassov, Kaliv, Stanislov,
Trisk, Malin, and Radomishl were all
Synagogue in Busk, related to the Alesk dynasty, which after 1945 relocated to Brooklyn, NY (USA).
2014. Photo by Viktor
Zagreba, digital collec-
tion of the “Grodzka From the mid-19th century, the position window-openings and one circular
Gate – NN Theatre”
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)
of the town rabbi in Busk was held by opening. The western podium was
members of the noted family of Babad: divided into two levels. In the part, in
Rabbi Yaakov – son-in-law of Eliezer a small nave, the holy ark was placed,
Ettinger of Zhovkva, his son Avrom (d. decorated with a two-level classicist
1905), and his grandson Issachar Ber. portal topped with an archivolt. On
These rabbinic authorities defended non- both sides of the holy ark, there were
Hasidic traditions yet were much more two rows of columns with Corinthian
tolerant toward the Hasidic-minded pop- capitals, imitating the entrance into the
ulation, which enjoyed both charismatic Holy of Holies of Jerusalem Temple.
Hasidic masters and the legal advice of ¶ During World War II, parts of the
the traditional rabbinic scholars. interior of the synagogue’s main room
were used for building purposes. In
The synagogue ¶ The stone syna- Soviet times, the synagogue housed
gogue, which has survived to this day, a gym, later a warehouse, and then one
was built in 1842–1843 next to the part of the synagogue was transformed
market square, as most merchants into living quarters, and the other, into
were traditional Jews. Its construc- a garbage dump. The synagogue building
tion was co-financed by Jacob Glazer, was slowly but steadily falling into ruin.
an influential merchant from Lviv. At the beginning of the 21st century, in
The synagogue rested on a rectangular order to preserve this precious monu-
foundation with a square-shaped prayer ment, a decision was made to transfer
room. Built of hewn stone, the walls its uninhabited part to the community
were plastered both inside and outside. of Evangelical Christians, who partially
The building was topped by a high attic renovated the building.
decorated with brass spheres. The walls
of the prayer room were decorated Emigration ¶ In 1884, some 5,297
Busk

with a cornice, and the room received people lived in Busk, including 2,001
228 light through its two semi-circular Latin-rite Catholics (37.8 percent), 1,640
 The Busk Branch of
the Hatikva Society,
1931–1932, reproduction
from Sefer Busk, ed.
by Avraham Shairi,
Haifa 1965

Greek Catholics (31 percent), 1,566 Jews unemployed left for the USA. Most of
(29.6 percent), and 86 Protestants (1.6 them took to the road, making good use
percent). In the early 1900s, the town of the railway junction located in the
experienced a big wave of emigration. nearby town of Krasne.
Many Jewish craftsmen, traders, and

One of the famous people of Busk origin was the Austrian journalist and
political activist Morris Scheps (1834–1902), the son of the physician Dr.
Leo Scheps, the owner and publisher of the Viennese newspapers Morgen-
post and Wiener Tagblatt. He was born in Busk in 1834, and attended a sec-
ondary school and the university in Lviv (then Lemberg). In 1854, he began
his medical studies in Vienna but was captivated by journalism. Scheps was
criticized by Vienna conservatives and xenophobes (who called themselves
anti-Semites) for his pro-French liberal views. Scheps befriended many French
writers and cultural figures including Georges Clemenceau, subsequently
the French senator and prime minister, who even once accompanied Mor-
ris Scheps when he travelled back to Busk to visit his father’s gravesite.

During World War I, from August 1914 their hometown) that helped new Jewish
until July 1915, Busk was occupied by immigrants from and those Jews who
Russian forces. Most Busk Jews fled to remained in Busk; about 1,460 Jews lived
Vienna, Bohemia, or Hungary seeking to in Busk in 1921. ¶ In November 1918,
escape the Russian invasion, and most of Busk was incorporated into the West
them never returned to their hometown. Ukrainian People’s Republic, which cre-
In Boston, Massachusetts (USA), the ated an air force base there. In May 1919,
Jews of Busk established a philanthropic Busk was captured by the Polish Army,
diaspora lansdsmanschaft organisation and in August 1920, during Polish-Rus-
(bringing together the émigrés from sian War, it was briefly occupied by the 229
Busk, a memorial to a cultural and educational centre reach-
the Jews murdered in
1941–1944, 2014. Photo
ing out to the poorest members of the
by Viktor Zagreba, Jewish community. The club was named
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
after Arnold Toynbee (1889–1975),
Theatre” Centre (www. English economist and philanthropist,
teatrnn.pl) an ardent proponent of social reforms.
The Zionist Hatikvah society, also estab-
lished in Busk, ran cultural programs for
the Jews of Busk, sponsoring a library,
reading rooms, and a lecture room.
A Jewish sports club “Bar-Kochba”
enjoyed popularity among young people.
Busk had a Jewish orphanage for 40
children, which was financially sup-
ported by the Boston-based landsman-
Cavalry Army under the command of schaft which also sponsored free meals
Semion Budenny. Until 1939, Busk was for those in need during winter time. In
part of the Republic of Poland. 1921, there appeared in Busk a Hebrew
school of the educational network “Safa
Education, culture, Zionism Berura” (Heb.: Clear Language), indicat-
¶ In the early 1900s, Busk had two ing politization, secularization, and
elementary schools (Heb.: hadarim) nationalist proclivities among local Jews.
for boys and girls, but there was no ¶ The Jews of Busk actively participated
school for teenaged children. Wealthier in various Zionist organisations. At the
parents sent their children to schools in beginning of the 20th century, a volun-
Kamianka Strumilova, Brody, Zolochiv, tary association Ahavat Zion (Heb.: Love
or Lviv. Those who could not afford of Zion) was established. There emerged
bed-and-board for their children taught branches of Zionist youth organisations
them at home. Busk had no yeshiva, but such as Hashomer Hatzair, Gordonia,
any teenager eager to continue religious Betar, and some others. Political parties
studies after finishing cheder could study and groupings ranging from the Popular
in hevruta (peer-learning) at the local Zionists to Hitachdut to Poale Zionto
beth midrash. In 1908, a Hebrew school Yad Harutsim were fighting for votes
of the Zionist Tarbut school type for and followers with one another. Several
adult learners was established. Its first chalutzim (agricultural pioneers-settlers
teacher was Israel Baruch, who later, in Palestine) from Busk joined the Third
when living in Haifa, wrote a memoir Aliyah to Palestine. One of them was
about the first Hebrew school in Busk. Majer Dror (Schor), the founder of the
Many young people continued to learn Busk branch of Hashomer Hatsair, boy-
Hebrew in Lviv (Lemberg) at the teacher scout Zionist youth organization.
training institutions and at other Jewish
Busk

schools. ¶ In 1911, the Toynbee-Halle World War II and the Holocaust

230 club appeared in Busk. It functioned as ¶ In 1939, some 8,000 people lived in
Busk, including 4,000 Poles, 2,500 Jews, concentration camp in Lviv. That sum-
and 1,500 Ukrainians. In September mer, the Nazis discovered six large
1939, the town was captured by the underground bunkers in town with 140
Soviet army, which established a POW Jews hiding in them. The armed escapees
concentration camp in the stables of tried to resist but without success.
the Badeni Estate. About 1,000 Polish
prisoners of war worked in Busk on the Memorial sites ¶ During the German
construction of the Lviv–Kyiv road. After occupation, Busk was devastated. The
Germany attacked the Soviet Union in occupying forces destroyed a mill and
June 1941 , the local NKVD unit killed 35 factories, the telegraph and the tel-
prisoners. ¶ In late June 1941, German ephone office; they disrupted the opera-
troops entered the town. At that time, tion of almost all industrial enterprises
1,900 Jews resided in Busk. On August and demolished dozens of residential
21, 1942, local Jews together with Jews buildings. After the war, newly resettled
from Kamianka Strumilova were trans- people and the surviving Busk dwellers
ported to the Bełżec death camp. Then, began gradually to rebuild the town.
on September 21, 1942, the Nazis killed Busk became the district administrative
2,500 Jews from Busk and Kamianka in centre. Today about 8,000 people live
a single extermination action in a for- in town but there is no Jewish com-
est near Kamianka Strumilova. In late munity. ¶ Near the old Jewish cemetery
1942, the Nazis established a ghetto and (between the cemetery and the flood-
a forced labor camp for surviving Jews plain of the Solotvyn River), there is
from Busk and nearby towns. In Spring, a place where, according to residents’
1943, some 3,000 people – including testimonies, mass executions of the
people transported from liquidated ghet- Jewish population took place. The site
tos – were confined there. In the first half and the cemetery are used today as
of 1943, ghetto inmate Jacob Eisenberg a pasture. In 2004, representatives of
organised the ghetto underground resist- the Jewish Agency for Israel (Sokhnut)
ance movement. Its activists were able to erected a memorial to the victims of the
amass firearms, but they were betrayed, Holocaust, and in the summer of 2006,
caught and executed by the Nazis. Most excavation works were conducted near
of Jews remaining in Busk were killed the cemetery, at the site of executions,
on May 21, 1943. Only a small group where the remains of 1,750 victims with
of survivors were sent to the Janowska traces of violent murder were uncovered.

Father Patrick Desbois, the president of the “Yahad-in Unum” organiza-

tion, initiated the search for the places of mass executions of the Jews who
had been murdered during the Holocaust in East Europe. Father Desbois
dedicated his life to fighting anti-Semitism and establishing religious recon-
ciliation between Jews and Catholics. By today, his organization identified
about 600 mass graves and recorded more than 1,900 testimonies of the
witnesses of mass murders. Father Desbois crossed the breadth and width of
Ukraine looking for the places of mass murders of the Holocaust victims. Before 231
 filling back the pits, – he explained in his book The Guardian of Memories:
the Blood Traces of the Holocaust – I leased a helicopter so that we would
be able to make photos demonstating the magnitute of the murder.

Worth Jewish cemetery (16th c.), Shevchenka St. ¶ Former synagogue (19th c.), Shkilna St. ¶
seeing Wooden Church of St. Paraskeva (1708), 56а M. Shashkevycha St. ¶ Wooden Orthodox
Church of St. Onuphrius (1758) and a chapel carved in the trunk of a millennial oak tree
(1864), Khmelnytskoho St. ¶ Palace of Count Badeni (19th c.), 12 J. Petrushevycha St. (not
open to public). ¶ Church of St. Stanislaus (1780), Parkova St.

BUSK

Surrounding Olesko (22 km): Olesko Castle (16th c.), currently a branch of the Lviv National Art Gallery;
area ruins of the synagogue (18th c.); the former Church of the Holy Trinity (16th c.); the former
Capuchin monastery (18th c.); a Jewish cemetery (with an ohel and several matzevot).
¶ Zolochiv (33 km): a former synagogue (1724); a Jewish cemetery; a defense castle
(17th c.), currently a museum. ¶ Pidhirtsi (36 km): Pidhirtsi Castle (1635–1640); a Basilian
monastery.
Busk

232
Rohatyn
Ukr. Рогатин, Yid. ‫ראָהאַטין‬ Finally, having received a request from the faithful Jews
of Rohatyn to resume the trading fair that had long
been held in Rohatyn on Tuesdays, for which they are
ready to produce valid documentation, [we are ready] to
designate Tuesday as the trading fair day.
Privilege granted by King John ІІ Casimir Vasa to the
Jews of Rohatyn, Lviv, May 21, 1663

Roksolana and the antlers ¶ too: the Polish for antlers is rogi, the
In the Middle Ages, the Opole region, Ukrainian is роги, pronounced rohy, and
where Rohatyn is located, was part of the Russian is рогa, pronounced roga.
Kievan Rus (Duchy of Kiev). The village The town name Rohatyn first appears
of Filipowice, on the site of which the in documents dating back to the 1390s,
town was established, is mentioned in but it was not until 1415 that the town
primary sources as early as 1184. At that was granted the Magdeburg right. It
time, the ruler of this area was Yaroslav was then that the founder of the town,
Osmomysl, Prince of Halych. As the Wołczko Przesłużyc, took on the family
legend has it, Yaroslav’s wife once got name Rohatyński. In the 16th century,
lost while hunting, noticed a red stag Rohatyn was surrounded by a moat,
with huge antlers, and followed it until ramparts, and a wooden palisade, later
she found the Prince and his party. The replaced with a stone wall. One could
place where the woman encountered the enter the town through the gates and
extraordinary animal became a princely drawbridges: the Halych Gate, the Lviv
hunting ground, and subsequently Gate, and the Cracow Gate. In 1523,
a town emerged around it. In honour Otto Chodecki, the chief of Rohatyn
of this animal the town boasts deer’s palatinate and the Voivode of Sandomi-
antlers in its coat-of-arms – and the erz, granted the town the privilege of
name Rohatyn seems to come from this, a weekly trading fair.

In the 15th–17th centuries, Tatars from the Crimean Khanate who sought to
take captives often raided Rohatyn lands. During one of these raids, they
kidnapped the daughter of a local Orthodox priest, Nastia (Anastasia)
Lisowska (as the 19th-century scholars agreed to call her, since her true name
has never been established). The girl was sold into the sultan’s harem in Istan-
bul. Thanks to her exceptional beauty and intelligence, she soon became the
wife of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Tradition has it that, at her request,
the sultan promised never to invade her native lands. Her Persian name
was Hürrem, but she entered the legend under the name Roksolana. In 233
 The market square 1566, Selim II, one of her sons, succeeded Suleiman on the Ottoman throne.
in Rohatyn, destroyed
by warfare, ca. 1915, col-
Roksolana died in 1558 and was buried in Istanbul. In 1999, a monument to
lection of the National this famous daughter of Rohatyn was unveiled in the town’s central square.
Library, Poland (www.
polona.pl)
The Jews of Rohatyn ¶ The earli- inhabitants of Rohatyn, suffered greatly
Greetings from
Rohatyn, a postcard,
est reference to Rohatyn Jews dates to from the warfare and mass violence
before 1918, collection a 1463 document, written by nobleman during the Tatar, Turkish, and Cos-
of the National Library, sack raids in the 17th century, and the
Poland (www.polona.pl)
Jan Skarbek. The document mentions
the Rohatyn richest Jewish merchant, economic situation of the town – and of
the cattle trader Shimshon of Zhy- the Jews – significantly deteriorated. In
dachiv (Shimshon mi-Zhidachov). The 1648, during the Cossack revolution and
document implies there was a small and the peasant war against Polish urbanized
stratified Jewish community in town as and fortified areas, Rohatyn was cap-
early as the late 15th century. Nearly two tured by the Cossacks of Bohdan Khmel-
centuries later, in 1633, King Władysław nytsky. It took the Jewish refugees a long
IV Vasa granted the Jews of Rohatyn time to come back and rebuild their
with a wide-range privilege to settle in community. On December 23, 1675,
the town, trade in the market square, the sejmik (regional diet) of Halych
own inns, produce and sell liquor, trade discussed the necessity temporarily to
in beer and mead, build a synagogue, exempt the Jews of Red Ruthenia from
and establish their own cemetery. Jewish poll tax, which they were not able to pay
privileges matched those of the town because of the post-war devastation and
Christian inhabitants. The privileges economic downfall. In his decree of July
were confirmed and reinforced by the 27, 1694, King John III Sobieski stated
subsequent kings, John ІІ Casimir Vasa that the Jews in Red Ruthenia had suf-
and Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki. ¶ fered more than other Jews did.
The town Jewish population, along other
Rohatyn

Moshe ben Daniel was one of the Rohatyn rabbinic scholars in the second
half of the 17th century. In 1693, he published Sugiyot ha-Talmud (Heb.: Talmudic
234 debates), a solid discussion of polemical issues in the Talmud. His work was
 The centre of Rohatyn –
Roksolany Square, 2014.
Photo by Viktor Zagreba,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)

considered so important that the Dutch Calvinist and philosopher Bashuysen

reissued it in Germany in 1707 in the original Hebrew with Latin translation.

False messiahs ¶ Early modern in Rohatyn was Elisha Shor, a descend-

Rohatyn Jews, like other early modern ant of the prominent rabbinic scholar
Jews in the Diaspora, experienced sig- Zalman Naftali Shor. ¶ With the conver-
nificant impact of the Jewish millenarian sion of Sabbetai Tsvi to Islam and the
(messianic) movements, the adherents excommunication of the leaders of the
and leaders of which prophesized the movement, Sabbateanism went under-
immediacy of redemption, the end of ground, where the antinomian religious
the golus (Yid.: exile), the return to the ideas generated the rise of Frankism,
Holy Land, antinomian approach to a new pseudo-messianic movement of
rituals and commandments of Judaism, religious enthusiasm, which antinomian
and a revolutionary change of authority, kabbalistic-based ideas galvanized Jews
switched from the rabbinic leaders to in Ruthenia, Volhynia, and Podolia. In
the messianic figures such as Sabbetai the 1750s, adherents of Frankism were
Zevi (1626–1676). Sabbateanism, the quite influential in Rohatyn. Jacob Frank,
movement initiated by Sabbetai and his the founder of the movement who pre-
prophet, Natan of Gaza (Haazti), was sented himself as a new Jewish messiah
particularly popular in Ruthenia and visited Rohatyn in 1755 during his trip to
Podolia. When the Sabbatean prophets Galicia. He was received there by Elisha
and believers were excommunicated Shor’s family. Frank’s visits were report-
elsewhere in Central Europe, for exam- edly accompanied by a number of scan-
ple, in Amsterdam, the Jewish commu- dals involving ritual sex orgies, which,
nities in Zovkva and Rohatyn greeted according to Frank, should have released
them. The adherents of the movement the sparks of divine light captured by
were representatives of distinguished the shards of human sexuality. The open
families, not necessarily the gullible conflict with traditional Jews caused
folk. For example, the first Sabbatean the number of Frankists in Rohatyn to 235
 Frankists in Rohatyn was Rabbi David
Moshe Abraham, the author of Mirk-
evet ha-Mishneh (Chariot of Mishnah),
a book in which, among other things, he
described a devastating activity of Frank-
ist schismatics in his town. ¶ Initially,
the Jews of Rohatyn did not have their
own representative in the Council of Four
Lands, Vaad Arba Aratsot – a supra-
communal organization which some call
the Polish Jewish sejm (parliament), –
because their community (kehillah) was
too small; Rohatyn was represented by
Rohatyn, former Jewish undertake radical steps. In 1759, several certain Zelig from Lviv, most likely, an
shops in Halytska St,
2014. Photo by Viktor
dozen Rohatyn followers of Jacob Frank influential purveyor and international
Zagreba, digital collection converted to Catholicism, among them merchant. However, in the first half of the
of the “Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” Centre
Shlomo Shor, Elisha Shor’s son, who was 17th century, sub-kahals such as Rohatyn
(www.teatrnn.pl) given the baptismal name of Franciszek began to gain independence from the
Łukasz Wołowski, and his three brothers: central kahal in Lviv. Late in the 17th
Natan who became Michał, Yehuda who century, Rohatyn regularly sent its two
became Jan, and Yitshak who became representatives to the Vaad, and at the
Henryk Wołowski. Eventually, Łukasz beginning of the 1700s, the Jewish com-
Wołowski pursued a career at the Polish munity of Rohatyn became completely
king’s court as a secretary to Stanisław independent from the Lviv kahal, legally
August Poniatowski (1732–1798). Many and financially. In 1765, 797 Jews lived in
descendants of the Wołowski family the town. The entire kehillah of Rohatyn
became significant cultural figures; numbered 1,347 people at that time and
suffice it to mention the pianist and com- had its own sub-kahals – in Pidkamin

„
poser Maria Szymanowska (1789–1831). and Stratyn with minor Jewish commu-
One of the staunch opponents of the nities reporting to Rohatyn.

Here it is: Rohatyn. It starts with mud huts, clay houses with thatched roofs that
seem to weigh the buildings down to the ground; however, as we move closer
to the market square, houses become more and more slender, the thatched roofs become
increasingly delicate, and eventually it gives way to wooden shingles on houses of unburnt
clay brick. There is also an old parish church, a Dominican monastery, Saint Barbara’s
Church in the market square, as well as two synagogues and five Orthodox and Uniate
churches further on. Around the market square there are small houses, like mushrooms,
with some sort of business in each one. A tailor, a rope-maker, a furrier – all of them Jewish,
and next to them a baker by the name of Bochenek, meaning Loaf, which invariably pleases
Rohatyn

the dean as attesting to some hidden order that could be more visible and consistent, in
which case people would live more virtuous lives. Next, there is the workshop of a sword-
236 maker called Luba; though the storefront does not stand out as particularly prosperous, its
walls are freshly painted blue, and a large
rusty sword hangs over the entrance – appar-
ently, Luba is a good craftsman and his cus-
tomers have deep pockets. Further on there is
a saddler, who has placed a wooden trestle in
front of his door with an exquisite saddle on
it – the stirrups are probably silvered, judg-
ing by the way they shine. There is a faint
smell of malt in the air, permeating every
commodity on sale. It fills you up like bread.
In Babintsy, the outskirts of Rohatyn, there
are several small breweries, and it is from there that the aroma spreads over the whole vicin- A klezmer band from
Rohatyn; most of the
ity. Numerous stalls sell beer here, and the better shops also offer vodka and mead. The shop musicians were from the
of the Jewish merchant Wakszul offers genuine Hungarian and Rhenish wine as well as the Faust family, 1912, collec-
tion of the YIVO Institute
slightly tart kind that is brought all the way from Wallachia. ¶ Olga Tokarczuk, The Books for Jewish Research
of Jacob, or a Great Journey across seven borders, five languages, and three major religions,
not counting the minor ones: told by the dead and complemented by the author through
conjecture, taken from a wide variety of books and enhanced by imagination, which is the
greatest natural human faculty (Translated from: Księgi Jakubowe, Cracow 2014).

Synagogues and traces of workshop after that. The Rohatyn memo-

memory ¶ In the 17th century, there rial book mentions that there were also
was a functional Jewish cemetery in several Hasidic synagogues in town. ¶
Rohatyn, and at least from the begin- One of Rohatyn’s synagogues was located
ning of the 18th century there was in what is now the school in Kotsiu-
a synagogue. Primary documents of bynsky Street; the school complex also
1792 confirm the existence of a wooden includes the former buildings of a mikveh
synagogue, and it is also known that in (currently a laundry), the headquarters
1826 the town had a stone synagogue. of the Jewish communal authorities, and
The 1846 plan of the town indicates at the former World War II Judenrat. Dur-
least six buildings used by the Jewish ing renovation of the school in 2011, the
community for religious purposes. ¶ constructors uncovered many scraps of
Most of them were situating the north- various kinds of documents related to the
eastern part of the town, in what now is Rohatyn Jewish community. They were
Valova Street. It was there that the main in various languages (Hebrew, Yiddish,
synagogue was located, together with the Polish, Russian, and German). Subse-
adjoining prayer houses for tailors and quently, they were transferred to a Jewish
shoemakers, the main beth midrash, and museum operated by the Hesed-Arieh
most of the kahal buildings. Only one of Jewish Centre in Lviv.
these buildings has partly survived to
the present day: the former beth mid- Hasidism, Haskalah, Zionism
rash, which after 1945 was converted ¶ In 1788, seeking to implement the
into a bakery and then a mechanical recommendation of Joseph II’s Edict 237
 the Jewish Enlightenment movement,
had few adherents in Rohatyn, but the
movement became more popular in the
second half of the 19th century. In 1868,
when the town council was reelected,
seven out of 32 new magistrates were
Jewish, most of them – maskilim,
representatives of the Haskalah move-
ment, proponents of the educational and
religious reform of the Jewish people.
¶ When the Zionist movement estab-
lished itself firmly in Galicia, the town
In the 1930s, the “Mac- of Tolerance, the Austrian authori- first avowed Zionist, Shalom Melzer
cabee” sports club was
established in Rohatyn.
ties established in Rohatyn a secular (1871–1909), established in Rohatyn
Its seat was located German-language school for Jewish the B’nai Zion (Heb.: Sons of Zion)
in the still surviving organization, which by 1898 boasted
library building in Ivana
children (functioning until 1806). Its
Franka St., 2014. Photo director was the enlightened-minded 100 members. In 1907, Rohatyn Jewish
by Viktor Zagreba, women established a local women’s
digital collection of the
Shlomo Kornfeld. The Austrian authori-
“Grodzka Gate – NN ties sought to reform Rohatyn Jews mak- Zionist organisation “Ruth.” A newly
Theatre” Centre (www. ing them useful subjects of the Austrian established Zionist club headed by Rabbi
teatrnn.pl)
emperor: they restricted the kahal Nathan Levin became a forum for politi-
privileges allowing it to function exclu- cal and social debates on issues such as
sively as a religious umbrella organiza- the role of secular Jewish education and
tion; required to keep all documentation the need of a Jewish higher educational
in German; and attempted to convert establishment in town. ¶ Rohatyn sent
the Jews from tradesmen into farmers, its representatives to a number of Pal-
encouraging and sponsoring the reset- estinophile (proto-Zionist) congresses
tlement of 12 families in the agricultural and conferences, for example, to the
colony of Novy Babilon near Bolekhiv. Congress of Hevrat Yishuv Eretz Yisrael
¶ Adherents of the Hasidic movement (Association of Relocating Jews to Pal-
appeared in Rohatyn at the beginning of estine) and of Ahavat Zion (Heb.: Love
the 19th century, when Rabbi Yitzchak of Zion) in Tarnów in 1894. Shalom
Meir of Peremyshliany, Rabbi Yehuda Melzer and Avrum Zlatkis represented
Hirsch Brandwein of Stratyn (Yid.: Rohatyn at the 1898 Zionist congress
Stretin), and Rabbi Yitzhak Yehuda of in Stanisławów (now Ivano-Frankivsk),
Baranivka settled here. The Stratyner while Melzer also took part in the 1904
dynasty became the most influential conference of Ha-Mizrachi in Austria,
Hasidic dynasty in Rohatyn. When in held in Pressburg (now Bratislava) in
1844, Rabbi Yehuda Hirsch Brandwein 1904, the first meeting of the followers
passed away, he was succeeded by his the new religious movement bridging
Rohatyn

elder son Abraham Brandwein, and Zionism and traditional Judaism, later
then, in 1865, by his grandson Nachum associated with Rabbis Shmuel Mohile-
238 Brandwein. ¶ Initially, the Haskalah, or ver and Avraam Kook and known today
as the Israeli national-religious camp. of Rohatyn included 590 merchants, 42
¶ Due to the efforts of Rabbi Nathan craftsmen, 19 farmers, and 44 repre-
Levin, at the turn of the 19th century, sentatives of liberal professions (lawyers,
a modern Talmud Torah school was accountants, etc.). Economic growth
established. In 1904, the Zionist-minded also fostered the establishment of the
Raphael Soferman established a new Jewish charities and credit societies. In
secular Jewish school in which he served 1906, the Credit Society was set up to
as a teacher and headmaster. In 1912, provide free-loan or low-interest loans
Soferman left for Palestine, where he for the start-up businessmen; by 1908, it
continued as an educator. Rohatyn Jew- had 385 members and granted 346 loans
ish children also attended Ukrainian and amounting to 71,425 crowns.
Polish gymnasia (secondary schools)
that were established at the beginning of Between the wars ¶ After the out-
the 20th century. break of World War I, many Jews from
Rohatyn fled to Austria, Bohemia, and
Time for trains ¶ Due to the indus- Moravia, where they stayed in refugee
trial growth in Galicia, the economic sit- camps. The occupation of Galicia by
uation of Rohatyn Jews began to improve Russian troops in September 1914,
in the second half of the 19th century. triggered the outbreak of anti-Jewish
This happened predominantly due to violence, Rohatyn was no exception.
the construction of the Halych–Ternopil The Russian soldiers set the Jewish
railway line in 1852. The line connected quarter on fire, and the Russian authori-
Rohatyn to the national railway sys- ties arrested 570 Jews, accused them
tem. Train-related services became an of espionage (since they were speaking
important source of employment for Yiddish which the Russians took for
local Jews. In addition, the railroad gave German) and deported them to the inte-
boost to Rohatyn wineries, breweries, rior Russia, as far from the battlefront as
small factories, several mills, a brickyard, it was possible. The deportees included
and two print shops, most of them run the Fausts, a Jewish family famous for its
by Jews. Rohatyn Jews also earned their family orchestra that performed at vari-

„
living through the traditional trade and ous ceremonies in Rohatyn.
crafts. In 1913, the Jewish community

There was not a single person in our city who did not know the musicians of our
orchestra. And none of the surrounding towns had such a unique group as the
father and his four sons – the well-known members of the Faust family. The father died
leaving his four sons. David Faust, the eldest, was the fiddler; he also used to call the tune
at weddings. The second son, Itsik-Hersh, a small and delicate man, played the flute, and
his lips seemed to have been molded to fit his instrument. The third, Yaakov Faust, stout
and powerful, was the trumpeter, his cheeks were always puffed up from trumpeting; he
was a [quiet] man with an endearing smile. The fourth, Mordechai-Shmuel, a young,
bearded, bespectacled man with a cultivated demeanor, could read music and conducted
and led the orchestra on his instrument – the clarinet. ¶ Kehilat Rohatin ve-ha-sevivah; ir 239
 be-hayeyha u-ve-kilaiona (Hebr.: The Com-
munity of Rohatyn and Environs; The Life
and Death of the Town, trans. Binyamin
Weiner), Tel Aviv 1962, retrieved from
www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor

appointed the Jewish National Commit-

tee, a secular and autonomous version of
the kahal, to protect its interests before
the authorities. In the interwar period,
the relations between the three ethnic
groups in town – Poles, Ukrainians, and
Jews – became particularly tense and
hostile. In addition, economically Jews
Jewish cemetery in After the defeat of the Russian troops, the also suffered from the growing competi-
Rohatyn, 2013. Photo
by Christian Herrmann,
Austrian authorities re-established them- tion of the newly urbanized Christian
www.vanishedworld.blog selves in Rohatyn in 1915, and many population, whose cooperative institu-
Jewish refugees returned to their homes. tions provided aid to Poles or Ukrainians
During the Polish-Ukrainian War (1918– of the Christian population only.
1919), Rohatyn’s Jewish community

Norbert (Nathan) Glanzberg (1910–2001) was a French composer and pianist

born in Rohatyn to a Jewish family. Soon after his birth, his parents moved to Wür-
zburg, Germany. From his early age, he showed an amazing musical talent, which
he later developed by taking piano and composition lessons at the music university
in Würzburg. Glanzberg composed music for German films. When Hitler came to
power, Glanzberg was forced to emigrate to France. In 1940, he found himself in
Marseille, where he met the singer Édith Piaf, then a rising star aged 25. Glanz-
berg, for a time Piaf’s lover, wrote some of Piaf’s most famous songs (including
the acclaimed Padam, padam…). Piaf helped Glanzberg escape persecution by
the Nazis by arranging for him to stay hidden for a time at the chateau of Coun-
tess Lily Pastré. After World War II, Glanzberg composed film music as well as
songs, and his scores were used in two dozen films starring actors such as Brigitte
Bardot (Please, Not Now!) and Marina Vlady (The Blonde Witch), among others.

World War II and the Holocaust Siberia dozens of Poles and Ukrainians
¶ In September 1939, the Soviet army who did not fit in the class-based vision
occupied Rohatyn. The Soviet authorities of the socialist society imposed by the
banned all political parties and religious new regime. The Jews, mostly impov-
organisations except the communist and erished, were co-opted by the Soviets
Rohatyn

began screening of all the “suspicious” as the representatives of the oppressed

individuals. The Soviets arrested and classes. Then in less than two years, on
240 deported to the Ural, Kazakhstan and July 2, 1941, the German troops entered
Rohatyn. In late July, the Nazis ordered paving. Today, there are two monuments
the establishment of a  Judenrat, and in at the old Jewish cemetery in Rohatyn.
late August, they established a ghetto, One of them, of black granite, bears an
in which they kept Jews from Rohatyn, inscription in Hebrew; the other, which
Burshtyn, Bukachivtsi, and nearby has the form of a square-shaped tablet,
villages until the summer of 1943. The has inscriptions in English, Ukrainian,
Rohatyn ghetto took up about one-fourth and Hebrew that state that this was the
of the town area (from the town centre site of the Jewish cemetery destroyed by
to its western outskirts). It was circum- the Nazis during World War II. In recent
scribed by barbed wire and guarded by years, a memorial plaque has been placed
policemen. Every day, 40 to 50 people there and an ohel has been erected. ¶ The
died in the ghetto of malnutrition, new cemetery was established in the 20th
typhus, and dysentery. ¶ It is estimated century. The last known burial took place
that that number of Rohatyn Holocaust in 1940. Currently, works are in pro-
victims amounted to some 12–15,000 gress to gather the fragments of Jewish
Jews: 9,800 were killed in town, 2,100 tombstones found in town and to place
were transported to the Bełżec death them back at the old Jewish cemetery.
camp. March 20, 1942, remained in the Special survey (with scanning) has also
Jewish memory as the “black Friday”: on been underway to determine the site of
that day about 1,800 Jews from Rohatyn, the Holocaust-era mass graves.
mainly young people and children, were
shot dead at the local railway station. Memorials ¶ Nowadays, in the
northern part of the town, opposite the
The cemetery ¶ The old Jewish municipal park, there are two memorials.
cemetery in Rohatyn is located in the One of them, established by the com-
south-eastern part of the town, at the munist authorities, bears an inscription
intersection of Stepana Bandery St. and “To the victims of fascism.” The other,
Bohdana Lepkoho St., opposite Saint established in the post-communist
Nicholas’ Church. The exact date of its Ukraine and unveiled in 1998, bears
establishment is unknown, but the privi- an epitaph in Ukrainian, English, and
lege granted in 1633 by King Władysław Hebrew. Its English inscription reads:
IV Vasa to the Jews of Rohatyn alludes “Here lie thousands of Jews, citizens of
to the existence of an operating cem- Rohatyn and its surrounding areas, who
etery in first half of the 17th century. ¶ were brutally killed by the German Nazis
The boundaries of the cemetery remain during the years of 1942–1944. God rest
unchanged since 1939, but fewer than their souls.”
20 matzevot (tombstones) have survived
to the present day, none of them in their Heritage ¶ For many years, Mykhailo
original place. The oldest ones date back Vorobets’, a local retired teacher, worked
to the 19th century. The cemetery was tirelessly to preserve the memory
destroyed during World War II, when 75 about Rohatyn Jews. In 2011, Marla
percent of the matzevot were uprooted, Raucher Osborn, whose ancestors came
removed, and used for construction and from Rohatyn, with the help of the 241
 Association of Rohatyn Jews and their were disovered in town and returned
descendants, launched the “Rohatyn to the cemetery. Plans are underway to
Jewish Heritage” project (www.rohatyn- establish a new memorial. The organi-
jewishheritage.org). The project on sation of the descendants of Rohatyn
preservation of Rohatyn Jewish heritage Jews has been in cooperation with the
has been carried out in close coopera- town’s authorities on several educational
tion with local authorities and activists. projects to preserve the town Jewish
Thanks to the project, more matzevot heritage.

Worth Jewish cemeteries (17th c.), Bandery St., (19th c)Turianskoho St. ¶ Holy Spirit Orthodox
seeing Church (16th c., wooden), included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, 10 Roksolany
St. ¶ Church of St. Nicholas (16th c.), Shevchenka St. ¶ Greek Catholic Church of the
Holy Mother of God Nativity (17th c.), 18 Halytska St. ¶ Rohatyn Museum of Art and
Local History in the renovated building of Mykola Uhryn-Bezhrishnyi’s manor house, 11
Uhryna-Bezhrishnoho St. ¶ “Opilla” Museum in the building of the Volodymyr the Great
Middle School, 1 Shevchenka St.

Surrounding Chortova Hora (Devil’s Mount) (3 km): a natural reserve park. ¶ Burshtyn (18 km):
area a Jewish cemetery (several thousand 19th- and 20th-c. matzevot); Holy Trinity Church
(18th c.); an Orthodox church (1802); a former manorial estate park. ¶ Berezhany (32 km):
the Sieniawski Castle (16th c.); the Greek Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity (17th c.); the
Armenian church (18th c.); the Catholic church (17th c.); former Bernardine Monastery
(17th c.); the town hall (1803); ruins of the synagogue (1718); a Jewish cemetery (approx.
200 matzevot). ¶ Bibrka (40 km): ruins of the synagogue (1821); a Jewish cemetery with
approx. 20 matzevot.

ROHATYN
Rohatyn

242
Halych
Pol. Halicz, Ukr. Галич, Yid. ‫העליטש‬ When the Karaite pitched a tent there,
That guest from a distant homeland
Aleksander Mardkowicz,
Halic [Kar.: Halych], Lutsk 1937

The Capital on the Dniester ¶ Hal- 10th century there was a fortified town
ych is the town that gave its name to the in Halych, situated on a hill. At the foot
entire region – Galicia (Ukr. Halychyna). of the hill there was a settlement settled
In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of by craftsmen and traders. Within the
the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia. It fortified town, archaeologists found the
is here that works depicting the earliest remnants of the Church of the Dormi-
12th-century times of the Principality tion of the Virgin built under Prince
such as the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle Yaroslav Osmomysl (1130–1187). Under
and the Galician Gospel were composed its ornamented mosaic floor, they dis-
in late 13th–early 14th centuries. Written covered a sarcophagus with remains of
references to Halych appear in Hungar- the prince. In Halych and the nearby vil-
ian sources as early as 898, and in Old lages, the archaeologists discovered the
Rus chronicles they date to 1138. In ruins of ten other medieval churches.
1141, Prince Volodymyr united Galician ¶ In 1241, the Mongols from the Asian
lands into one principality submitted steppes destroyed the Duchy of Kiev
to his Kievan rule. The town reached and burnt Halych down. The capital of
its heyday in the second half of the 12th the principality was moved to Chełm
century, during the reigns of Yaroslav (Kholm). In 1367, the restored Halych
Osmomysl, Roman Mstislavich, and was granted the Magdeburg rights, but it
Daniel of Galicia. ¶ Archaeological exca- never recovered its former glory.
vations confirmed that as early as the

Halych had two Hungarian rulers: Princes András and Kálmán of the Arpad
family. Kálmán’s reign had a major impact on the future of Galicia as a whole.
Th prince bore the title of Gallitiae Lodomeriaque Rex (Lat.: King of Halych
and Volodymyr [Volynskyi]). Because Hungary had been incorporated into the
Habsburg Monarchy as its instinsic part, Empress Maria Theresia, as the Queen
of Hungary, made claims to the lands annexed into the Austrian Empire after the
First Partition of Poland (1772), considering Galicia and Lodomeria, former
Halych and Volodymyr Palatinates, as the historical patrimony of the Empire. 243
 in Halych in the 1400s. Documents from
this period mention certain Izaczko
Sokołowicz, a merchant of Halych. The
1488 municipal records also mention the
judges Yehoshua and Moshko and a tax
collector Josek. The Halicz brothers,
who set up in Cracow the first Hebrew
printing house in the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth, probably came from
Halych too. ¶ Halych remained a border-
line town and had been often attacked,
particularly by the Tatars from the
south. In 1506, King Alexander I Jagiel-
lon exempted the Jews of Halych from
taxes due to the losses they had suffered
as a result of recent Tatar raids. The 1565
tax census lists 44 Jewish household-
ers in Halych; the surnames of most of
Karaite kenasa in Jews and Karaites in Halych ¶ them suggest that they were of Karaite
Halych, circa 1905, col-
lection of the National
Primary sources confirm that Jews lived descent.
Library, Poland (www.
polona.pl)
As an anti-rabbinic Jewish sect, Karaites originated in the 8th-century Babylonia,
when Anan ben David rebelled against the power of the Jewish exilarch, pro-
claimed himself a messiah, rejected the authority of the Talmud and rabbinic schol-
arship based on the Talmud, accused Jews of falsifying the Bible, and headed the
sectarians who called themselves true Sons of the Bible, Bnei Mikra (from here
– Karaites). He and his followers, who became quite influential in the Middle East
in the 9th–11th centuries, maintained that the liturgy should be replaced by Psalms
recitation, calendar defined according to the observed natural phenomena, new
rituals based on the literal interpretation of the Torah, and the entire corpus of
rabbinic scholarship rejected as baseless and heretical. Karaites eventually made
their way to the Crimean Peninsula, from where they most likely moved to Gali-
cia, Volhynia and the region of Troki (Trakai) in Lithuania. ¶ There are several
explanations stipulating why Karaites settled in Halych. According to one of those,
Karaites migrated from the Ottoman Empire or relocated from Lviv. According to
another, they were resettled by Duke Vytautas of Lithuania around the 14th century.
A third theory says that 80 Karaite families settled in the town in 1246, following
an agreement between Prince Daniel of Galicia and Batu Khan of the Crimea.

The first document confirming the pres- were referred to in the document as
Halych

ence of Karaites in Halych was a 1678 Judaeis carimis, civitatis nostrae incoli.
privilege granted by King Stefan Báthory This was the first time that Karaites
244 to the local Karaite community, who were distinguished from the traditional
 Halych, a general view,
circa 1910, collection of
the National Library,
Poland (www.polona.pl)

(rabbinic) Jews in the official docu- town, who delivered some of their catch
ments. Most likely, the Karaite com- to the castle in lieu of tax. Karaites also
munity had already lived in Halych for dealt in cattle: in 1621, two Karaites
quite some time before the privilege was from Halych – Mordechai and Moshko
issued. ¶ The 1627 census reported 24 – were attacked by the brigands from
Karaite householders in Halych and only Kosiv, who robbed them, according to
two traditional Jewish householders. a contemporary document, of “87 oxen,
One of the main occupations of local 30 sheep, 1,000 salmons, as well as
Karaites was fishery. In the 16th century, sabres and other goods.”
there were eight Karaite fishermen in

The Polish-Cossack wars of the mid-17th century devastated the community of

Halych. In remembrance of the 1648 Cossack assaults, local Jewish Yom Kippur
(Day of Atonement) prayers included a reference to the “merciless Tatars and
Khmel’s [Khmelnytsky’s] cursed troops.” The 1661 census listed only eight Karaite
families living in Halych. In the late 17th century, the religious leader of the Karaite
community (hazzan) was Aaron ben Samuel, who maintained correspondence
with Karaite leaders from Constantinople. He also had friends among the tra-
ditional Jews of Lviv. His successor as the hazzan of Halych in 1685–1700 was
Josef ben Samuel, also known under the nickname of ha-Mashbir (Heb.:
food provider). Ha-Mashbir was a poet, translator, and author of important
religious treatises. He considerably influenced the quality of cultural, religious,
and intellectual life of his community. The services he rendered and his excep-
tional qualities entered a Karaite saying: “There was only one Mashbir.” His
descendants held the posotion of hazzan in Halych for more than 100 years.

According to the 1765 census, 258 Jews was incorporated into the Habsburg
and 99 Karaites lived in town. After the Empire. Joseph II’s radical enlight-
1772 First Partition of Poland, Halych ened reforms were less painful for the 245
 Karaites than they were for the tradi- Polonised versions of traditional Jewish
tional (rabbinic) Jews: As “Jews who names as their family names. The most
earn their living as agricultural farmers,” popular family names included such
they were granted a number of exemp- as Nowachowicz, Jeszwowicz, Leono-
tions and privileges, different from wicz, Zarachowicz, Icchowicz, Mord-
those issued for rabbinic Jews. From kowicz, Sulimowicz, Szulimowicz, or
1787, the Halych Karaites adopted the Abrahamowicz.

Zecharia Yitzchak Abrahamowicz (1878–1903), one of the major Karaite

poets, for most of his life maintained connections with Halych. Zecharia was born
into a large family in the village of Łany, where his father Samuel leased cultivated
fields from a Polish landowner. His parents sent him to the midrash (a Karaite reli-
gious school) in Halych, where he learned from Rabbi Simcha Leonowycz. When
Zecharia mastered Hebrew prayers, he was transferred to a secular municipal
school. The talented boy continued his education at a gymnasium (secondary
school) in Stanisławów, but was expelled for belonging to what his supervisors
considered an “illegal association.” He started working as a shoemaker, but
soon resumed his secondary education in Stanisławów, at the same time actively
participating in the meetings of Karaite young people. As a teenager, he began
writing poetry in the Karaite language. The authors of the book on Ukrainians and
Jews described the Karaite language in the following manner: “a fusion language
based on standard Ottoman Turkish grammar but with a significant influence of the
Nogay Turkish steppe dialect.” Furthermore, in Galicia and Volhynia, the Karaites
“used a Golden Horde or Kipchak Tatar dialect until the mid-nineteenth century,
although subsequently, as a result of the influx of Karaites from Lithuania (Troki/
Trakai), they absorbed the Ottoman Turkish spoken language of the Crimean and
Lithuanian Karaites.” Of course, as many other Jewish fusion languages, includ-
ing Yiddish and Ladino, the Karaite language was transcribed in Hebrew letters.
Zecharia Yitzchak Abrahamowicz was soon drafted into the Austrian army,
where he continued to write poetry in Karaite, Polish, and Ukrainian. Zecharia
returned from the army suffering from tuberculosis and died on May 5, 1903.

According to the 1896 census, there town. Still, all the Karaites who had been
were 192 Karaites and 1,568 Jews among called up returned in 1919, although
Halych’s 4,850 inhabitants. Jewish at that time only 150 Karaites lived in
synagogues and Karaite kenasas (from Halych, Lviv, Bibrka, and the villages
Hebrew root k.n.s. – to enter or to of Zalukva and Zhyravka. According to
gather) functioned separately, and both the 1921 census, there were 582 Jews in
communities had their own cemeter- Halych (which constituted approx. 16
ies. ¶ The Jews and Karaites of Halych percent of the town’s population). ¶ In
Halych

suffered a similar lot during World the interwar years, the Karaite commu-
War I; many houses were robbed and nity in Halych managed to rebuild itself.
246 a cholera epidemic swept through the The main occupation of local Karaites
 Karaite cemetery in
Halych, 2017. Photo by
Christian Herrmann,
www.vanishedworld.blog

was agriculture, yet they also worked as camp in Stanisławów (now Ivano-
civil servants, lawyers, or railwaymen, Frankivsk) and to the death camp in
enjoying many more privileges than the Bełżec. ¶ Once Western Ukraine became
traditional (in the 20th century – Ortho- part of the Soviet Union following World
dox) Polish Jews. In 1925, the religious War II and the Yalta agreements, the
school resumed its educational activi- Karaite community dwindled sharply. In
ties. The head of the Karaite community the 1940s and 1950s, 24 Karaites left for
in Halych, Zachariah Nowachowicz, Poland and 11 others moved to Lithu-
a lawyer, participated in the drafting of ania, leaving only some 40–50 Karaites
the 1936 law on the Karaite Religious in town. The atheistic-minded Soviet
Union, which legally regulated the life of authorities banned them from using
Polish Karaite community. kenasa for religious services. Subse-
quently, the kenasa was demolished,
World War II and the Holocaust the Karaites had to gather privately for
¶ In 1939, when the town was seized services. In 1996, the tiny remaining
by Soviet troops, about 1,000 Jews and half-a-dozen members of the profoundly
112 Karaites lived in Halych. The Nazi secularized Karaites celebrated the 750th
Germans arrived two years later, on July anniversary of the Karaite settlement in
2, 1941. The Nazis did not consider the Halych.
Karaites on a par with ethnic Jews. Due
to this misunderstanding the Karaites The Kenasa ¶ Unlike the east-west
fared much better in World War II and oriented synagogue, a kenasa, a Karaite
escaped the fate of Jews who died in the prayer house, is south-north oriented.
Holocaust. In mid-April 1942, about 100 The first wooden kenasa in Halych was
Jews were shot dead in Halych, while established in the 16th century, but after
others were transported to the labour it burnt down in the first half of the 247
 19th century, it was replaced with a new The Karaite Museum ¶ Towards
stone building. The kenasa in Halych the end of the 1990s, with the Karaite
functioned as a communal prayer house population (only 8 people at that time)
until the mid-1950s, then it was shut ageing quickly, the idea of establishing
down and in 1985, it was demolished a museum preserving the cultural herit-
to accommodate the construction of age of the Karaites of Halych emerged.
a residential building next to it. The The museum acquired a house that had
community managed to save the carved belonged to a Karaite family, located on
wooden altar, which was later trans- Maidan Rizda St. in the town centre.
ferred to a Karaite kenasa in Yevpatoria, The museum collection, which currently
Crimea. At present, some objects from comprises about 3,000 exhibits, tells
the Halych kenasa can be seen in the a story about a religious, cultural, and
local municipal museum in Halych. social life of the Karaite community in
Galicia. This is the only Karaite museum
in Ukraine.

The Museum of Karaite History and Culture is part of the “Old Hal-
ych” National Reserve (www.davniyhalych.com.ua). The reserve adminis-
ters the remains of the castle and operates the Old Halych History Museum
and the Ethnographic Museum, which are both located in the nearby vil-
lage of Krylos, the site of the medieval capital of the principality. The herit-
age sites there include the Halychyna Grave Mound and the foundations of
several Orthodox churches dating back to the times of the principality.

Synagogues ¶ Two 19th-century conducted field studies there; they cop-

stone buildings that hosted traditional ied the epitaphs, translated them, and
synagogues have survived, they cur- published a catalogue of the cemetery
rently host two stores and are located in tombstones (The Karaite Cemetery near
Konovaltsia Street. Halych. Catalog of Tombstones, Ivan
Yurchenko, Abraham Kefeli, Natalia
Cemeteries ¶ The only surviving Yurchenko, Alexander Beregovsky, in
Karaite cemetery (zeret) in Western Ukrainian, the epitaph in Hebrew, 252
Ukraine, with approx. 200 tombstones, pages). ¶ The Jewish cemetery is situated
is located west of the town center, on to the south from the town. It occupies
a high bank overlooking the Dniester quite a large area, but few matzevot have
River. In 1997–2000, ethnographers survived.

Surrounding Krylos (6 km): the old princely town of Halych – a museum; an archaeological and eth-
area nographic park; Halychyna Grave Mound (reconstruction). ¶ Bilshivtsi (18 km): a former
synagogue (18th c.); a Jewish cemetery with the remnants of matzevot. ¶ Burshtyn (20 km):
Halych

ruins of a synagogue (19th c.); a Jewish cemetery (18th c.). ¶ Ivano-Frankivsk (formerly

Stanisławów) (26 km): Reform synagogue (tempel) in Moorish style (late 19th c.); the partly
248 preserved new Jewish cemetery on the south-western outskirts of the town; the Collegiate
Halych Church of the Blessed
Virgin Mary (1672–
1703); the Jesuit College
(1744); the Armenian
church (1762); the
Cathedral of the Holy
Resurrection (1753–
1763); brewery (1767).
¶ Monastyryska
(43 km): a synagogue
(early 20th c.); Church
of the Dormition of the
Mother of God (1751);
the wooden Church of
the Consecration of the
Holy Mother of God
(1873); the Church of
the Exaltation of the
Holy Cross (1892).

Karaite Museum, 33 Worth

Maidan Rizdva St. seeing
¶ Karaite cemetery
(16th c.) ¶ Castle (mid-
14th c.), Konovaltsia
St. ¶ “Old Halych”
National Reserve,
1 Franko St, tel. +380343121663. ¶ Church of the Dormition of the Virgin (16th c.) ¶
Church of St. Panteleimon – the oldest surviving church of the Principality of Galicia-
Volhynia; the village of Shevchenkove (late 12th c.).

249
 Drohobych
Pol. Drohobycz, Ukr. Дрогобич, Yid. ‫דראָהאַביטש‬ One and a half towns – half-Polish,
half-Jewish, half-Ukrainian.
Marian Hemar

One and a half towns ¶ As the leg- guilds, their craftsmen representing 36
end has it, around 900 years ago, Khan occupations. After the First Partition of
Boniak of the nomadic tribe of Polovt- Poland (1772), Drohobych came under
sian burnt down Bych, a settlement of the Habsburg Monarchy, and in 1788
a prince. From the ashes of the burnt the town was proclaimed a “free royal
town, a new town rised which was given town,” which signified it was not in any
the name of Drohobych, derived from magnate possession and its magistrate
the words “Drugi Bych” (Pol.: Second members reported directly to the Aus-
Bych). ¶ The first mention of Drohobych trian provincial administration.
is found in the municipal records of Lviv
and dates to 1387. As early as 1392, the The Jews of Drohobych ¶ Jews
town was referred to as the centre of salt lived within Drohobych town walls as
production. Salt from Drohobych was early as 1404. The only Jews allowed
exported to various countries. In the permanent residence in town were the
Middle Ages, the so-called Great Salt leaseholders of salt mines who could
Trail connecting major trade centers in live close to the mines. The authorities,
Eastern Europe ran through Drohobych however, were not ready to tolerate the
fostering the prosperity of the town. In public display of Judaism as a religion
the 16th century, there were 45 salt mines (called “perfidious” in the early Polish
here, which produced approx. 26,000 documents) and did not allow the Jews
barrels of salt a year. In 1422, Drohobych to establish a Jewish cemetery. ¶ In 1404,
obtained Magdeburg rights. The town a Jew named Wołoczko became a royal
coat of arms has nine salt cones (Pol.: treasurer for King Władysław II Jagiełło,
topka), early modern measurement who leased to him the supervision of salt
for salt. From 1498–1634, Drohobych mines. In 1425, certain Dećko obtained
experiences economic downfall because the king’s privilege allowing him to
Drohobych

of the multiple Tatar raids. The first deliver salt to the royal court as well as
mention of the Drohobych guilds of trad- to trade with Turkey and Kyiv. In 1500,
ers and craftsmen dates to 1530. Later a newly introduced tax system in Droho-
250 in the 16th century, the town had nine bych regulated Jewish entrepreneurship
by heavily taxing salt excavation and condition that it would be neither bigger Drohobych, a general
view, circa 1910, col-
alcohol production. ¶ In 1578, King Ste- nor taller than the previous one. The first lection of the National
fan Báthory issued a decree De non tol- stone synagogue was erected in 1743. In Library, Poland (www.
polona.pl)
erandi Judeos that prohibited Jews from 1865, a pompous Choral Synagogue, the
settling in Drohobych and its vicinity and largest synagogue in Eastern Galicia, was
banned them from trading during fairs. established. At that time, there were two
Four decades later, in 1618, after the synagogues in Drohobych, 24 prayer and
town suffered from Tatar raids, two Jews study houses, and a Jewish hospital.
from Lviv – Isaac Nachmanowicz and
Isaac ben Mordechai, who leased royal The oil extraction region ¶ In
estates near Drohobych – tried to restore 1810–1817, the Czech geologist Józef
the Jewish privileges allowing Jews to Hecker managed to extract and distil
live and trade in the town, but with little oil in the Drohobych area, but it was not
success. ¶ In 1635, Jan Daniłowicz, the until the middle of the 19th century that
chief of the Palatinate of Ruthenia, allot- the process of extracting and distilling
ted an area on the royal estates called Łan acquired industrial proportions, par-
(today within Drohobych boundaries), ticularly with the invention of naphtha,
where Jews could legally reside. He also distilled oil that burned safely and
allowed Jews to establish a separate Jew- without emitting bad odour. At that time,
ish cemetery near the salt mines. Only oil was used mainly for lighting – and
after that time the Jewish community hundreds of Drohobych dwellers real-
started to re-emerge. Around the 1670s, ized they can draw crude oil just in their
the Jews of Drohobych hired a communal backyards. By 1835, there were about 20
rabbi, Yekutiel Zalman Siegel, the son oil pits in the nearby town of Boryslav,
of the rabbi of Przemyśl. His successor, and by the 1860s, Drohobych dwellers
Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch, resettled from Kolo- followed the lead and drilled oil wells. In
myia ten years later. 1866, the first oil refinery in Europe was
opened in Drohobych. A decade later,
The Great Synagogue ¶ The 1680 there were thousands of mines and shafts
document mentions a wooden syna- and more than ten oil refineries in town.
gogue in Drohobych. In 1711, the bishop Late in the 19th century, Drohobych
of Przemyśl allowed local Jews to reno- area produced four percent of the entire
vate it, but a fire demolished it two years crude oil extracted in the world. At the
later. In 1726, the bishop granted permis- turn of the century, European companies
sion to build a new synagogue on the entered the market. They were pouring 251
 Oil refinery in
Drohobych, circa 1930,
collection of the
National Library, Poland
(www.polona.pl)

new resources modernizing extraction of the great Jewish artists of the 19th
and production of oil and purchasing century. Born in Drohobych, he studied
smaller oil-producing industries not at Vienna and Cracow Art Academies.
able to compete internationally. With the In Cracow he joined the studio of Jan
expansion of the international capital, Matejko. A number of Maurycy Gottlieb’s
small- and medium-size Jewish entre- works are historical paintings that deal
preneurs disappeared from the market. with Jewish themes, including biblical.
Still, most of mines and some refineries ¶ His three brothers, Marcin, Filip, and
remained in Jewish hands. Leopold, were also professional artists.
Leopold Gottlieb (1879–1934) achieved
Painters ¶ Maurycy Gottlieb considerable fame as a modernist painter
(1856–1879), whose father, Isaac, owned and graphic artist. During World War
refineries in Drohobych, died at a very I, he served in Piłsudski’s legions and
young age yet he left more than 300 portrayed scenes of military life acquir-
paintings and is considered today one ing fame “the painter of the First Brigade.”

Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur, which Maurycy Got-

tlieb painted at the age of 22, is one of the most famous Tel Aviv Museum of Art
exibits. The painting depicts a group of Jews praying in the Choral Synagogue
in Drohobych (sometimes misrepresented as the Amsterdam synagogue). Got-
tlieb included three self-portraits in his composition: in the centre, he is shown as
a young man wearing a colourful tallit (prayer shawl) with a medallion bearing
the Star of David and the initials, M.G.; to the left, he is shown as a child; and
to the right, he is portrayed as a young man next to his father, who is looking
into a book. The painter’s fiancée, Laura, is also portrayed twice in the paint-
ing: to the left, she is standing in the women’s gallery with a book pressed to
her chest, and to the right, bending down, she is whispering something to her
mother. In the centre of the painting there is a Torah scroll that bears an inscrip-
Drohobych

tion in Hebrew: “for the soul of Maurycy Gottlieb, may his memory be a bless-
ing.” Maurycy knew he was deadly ill with tuberculosis. His father is reported
to have asked for the inscription to be removed from the painting, but the artist
252 restored it after a few months. A year later, Maurycy Gottlieb passed away.
 also produced a famous photographic Maurycy Gottlieb,
Jews Praying in the
portrait of the founding-father of politi- Synagogue on Yom Kip-
cal Zionism, Theodor Herzl. In 1906, on pur, oil on canvas, 1878,
collection of the Tel Aviv
one of his visits to Palestine (then under Museum of Art. Source:
the Ottoman Empire), Lilien helped commons.wikimedia.org
establish the famous Bezalel art school in
Jerusalem, which became the first Jewish
art educational institution.

Prosperity ¶ In 1892, some 92,500

people lived in Drohobych, half of
them Jews, who spoke two, sometimes
three languages – Polish, Yiddish, and
German. In 1883, Aaron Hirsch Żupnik
began publishing the Drohobyczer
Zeitung, a newspaper that came out
Drohobych was also the hometown of both in German and Yiddish. At the
another exceptionally influential Jewish beginning of the 20th century, the town
artist who studied under Jan Matejko, became a prosperous economic hub
namely – Ephraim Moses (Maurycy) with several refineries and two banks,
Lilien (1874–1925). His father, an ordi- primary and secondary schools, cultural
nary woodturner, could not finance his societies, and the Jewish People’s House,
son’s education, so, as a novice painter, a secular cultural center established
Lilien had to work for one Shapiro, with the encouragement of the Austrian
a sign-painter in Lviv. However, despite authorities. ¶ The Russian Army seized
apparently unsurmountable financial Drohobych at the beginning of World
problems, Lilien managed to study War I, and in 1918, the town came
painting in Cracow, Vienna, and Munich. under the rule of the West Ukrainian
He became known as an Art Nouveau People’s Republic. Shortly afterwards,
graphic artist and illustrator, who it was taken over by Polish forces and
enthusiastically supported the Galician remained part of the independent
Zionist movement. He created illustra- Poland until World War II. According to
tions for magazines and books, including the 1931 census, there were 20,484 Jews

„
the Bible and poetry by Morris Rosen- in Drohobych and its vicinity.
feld, designed popular postcards, and

Market Square was empty and white-hot, swept by hot winds like a biblical
desert. The thorny acacias, growing in this emptiness, looked with their bright
leaves like the trees on old tapestries. Although there was no breath of wind, they rustled
their foliage in a theatrical gesture, as if wanting to display the elegance of the silver lin-
ing of their leaves, that resembled the fox-fur lining of a nobleman’s coat. The old houses,
worn smooth by the winds of innumerable days, played tricks with the reflections of the
atmosphere, with echoes and memories of colours scattered in the depth of the cloudless 253
 sky. It seemed as if whole generations of summer days, like patient stonemasons cleaning
the mildewed plaster from old facades, had removed the deceptive varnish, revealing more
and more clearly the true face of the houses, the features that fate had given them and life
had shaped for them from the inside. Now the windows, blinded by the glare of the empty
square, had fallen asleep; the balconies declared their emptiness to heaven; the open door-
ways smelt of coolness and wine. ¶ Bruno Schulz, August, in: Cinnamon Shops, London
1963, Trans. Celina Wieniewska

The writer from the Street of On November 19, 1942, Schulz went
Crocodiles ¶ The artist and writer out to buy milk and bread and was shot
Bruno Schulz was born in 1892, in dead in the street by a Nazi officer, who
Drohobych to the family of the silk disliked the fact that his colleague had
merchant Jacob Schulz and his wife, taken a Jew under his aegis. Most likely,
Henrietta Kuhmärker. Schulz attended the following day, Schulz was buried in
the local Emperor Franz-Joseph a mass grave at the Jewish graveyard.
Gymnasium and later studied at Lviv Commemorative plaques have been
Polytechnic Institute and the University placed on the pavement where Schulz
of Vienna. After his studies, he returned was shot and on the building where he
to Drohobych where, in 1924–1941, he lived. ¶ In 2001, a group of enthusiasts
taught painting at the King Władysław from Germany and Poland discovered
Jagiełło Gymnasium. Actively partici- Schulz’s murals under layers of stucco at
pated in various artistic events in Lviv, what had been Villa Landau. Then, the
Cracow, and Vilnius. In 1933, Schulz representatives of Yad Vashem Israeli
made his debut as a writer publishing Museum removed five fragments of the
in the weekly Wiadomości Literackie, frescos and transferred them to Jerusa-
a short story entitled Birds and a book lem. This controversial way of rescuing
entitled Cinnamon Shops. In 1936, he the heritage of Bruno Schulz triggered
published a collection of short sto- an international scandal. In 2007,
ries Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Ukrainian and Israeli representatives
Hourglass which received the Golden signed an agreement according to which
Academic Laurel of the Polish Academy Ukraine officially allowed Yad Vashem
of Literature. His wonderfully vivid to keep those five fragments and Israel
language and imagination captivated acknowledged that they were Ukrain-
the readers. ¶ During the German ian heritage. Since 2009, they have been
occupation, the school at which Schultz displayed at Yad Vashem as part of its
worked was shut down. Schulz became permanent exhibition. Fragments of the
the resident of the Drohobych ghetto. He fresco murals remaining in Drohobych
found personal protection by the ambi- were put on display at the local museum
tious Gestapo officer Felix Landau, who “Drohobychchyna” at the Palace of Arts
Drohobych

commissioned Schulz to decorate the in Villa Bianca (38 Shevchenka St.). ¶

children’s room in his villa (called Villa Many of Schulz’s literary works have
Landau) with fresco murals illustrat- been lost, but those that survived have
254 ing the fairy tales of Brothers Grimm. been translated into 45 languages. In
2003, an exhibition room representing
a preliminary version of the would-be
Bruno Schulz Museum was opened at
the Drohobych Pedagogical University. ¶
Since 2004, the Ihor Meniok Centre for
Polish Studies, with headquarters at the
local Pedagogical University, has been
organizing the Bruno Schulz Festival
that provided framework for confer-
ences, exhibitions, and literary events
connected with Schulz’s legacy.
Traces of Jewish presence ¶ Dur- Synagogue in
Drohobych, 2017. Photo
World War II and the Holocaust ing World War II, the Choral Synagogue by Christian Herrmann,
¶ In 1939, some 17,000 Jews resided served for the Nazis as a warehouse and www.vanishedworld.blog
in Drohobych. The Soviets seized the later, for the Soviets, as a furniture store.
town in September of that year and then In the early 1990s, the building was
the Germans occupied the city on July handed over to the local Jewish com-
1, 1941. During the German occupa- munity, but only in 2013 the community
tion, the Nazis confined the Jews to found an oligarch who invested into
a ghetto. Because of the horrible sanitary its renovation. In 2016, the renovation
conditions and the spread of contagious works were in full sway. ¶ In Drohobych,
diseases, many Jews died in the ghetto in several Jewish communal buildings
the winter of 1941–1942. In late March survived the Holocaust and post-World
1942, the Nazis transported around War II destruction of Jewish institu-
2,000 Jews to the death camp in Bełżec. tions. Next to the Choral Synagogue,
In early August, 1942, the Nazis trans- there was a Jewish hospital, currently
ported another group of about 3,000 used as a municipal kindergarten. At the
people. In cooperation with local col- corner of Sholem Aleichem St. and Ivana
laborators, the Nazis caught and killed Mazepy St., there stood the progres-
about 600 Jews trying to hide. From sive synagogue “Or Chaim,” established
October to November, 1942, further in 1909. After the war, it was used as
transports sent thousands more Jews to a gym. In 32 Rynok St. and 3 Pidvale
Belżec. From May 21 to June 10, 1943, St., several Jewish 19th-century prayer
the ghetto was finally liquidated. Its houses remained intact, although refur-
remaining dwellers were shot dead out- bished. The Faculty of the Humanities
side the city. Only several craftsmen and of the Ivan Franko University occupies
blue-collar workers found useful for the the former Jewish orphanage (46 Lesia
occupying forces managed to survive, Ukrainka St.), and the municipal library
but in April 1944, they too were killed moved into the former Jewish nurs-
when the German troops retreated. In ing home (27 Taras Shevchenko St.).
August 1944, 250–300 Jewish survivors Drohobych has numerous old, beautiful
left their hiding places and returned to houses, that had Jewish owners. For
Drohobych. example, the photo studio of Bertold 255
 Poster of the Three
Nations Coalition issued
during the local election
in Drohobych, 1931, col-
lection of the National
Library, Poland (www.
polona.pl)

Schenkelbach, whose son Erwin – born Cemeteries ¶ The earliest Jewish

in Drohobych in 1929 – became a well- cemetery was established in the late 17th
known Israeli photographer and writer, century across the main synagogue. The
and Villa Bianca, formerly the house of Soviets levelled it in the 1950s and it was
Dr. Leon Himmel, famous radiologist, replaced by residential buildings. There
which currently serves as the Palace is a memorial plaque at the site. The
of Arts and the main building of the new cemetery was established in 1926.
Drohobych local history museum (38 No more than 200 graves have survived
Shevchenko St.). there.

The Israeli economist David Horowitz (1899–1979) was born in Droho-

bych and in 1920 emigrated to the land of Israel. In 1948–1952, he served
as the Israeli first minister of finance and in 1954, became the head of the
Central Bank of Israel. In his memoirs, titled Ha-etmol sheli (Heb.: My
Yesterday, Jerusalem 1970), he described his youth in Drohobych.

Present day ¶ Contemporary Franko National Pedagogical University.

Drohobych has a small Jewish com- ¶ Leonid Golberg, a Drohobych resident,
munity, officially registered in 1990. Its one of the editors of the Internet news
members have included Alfred Shreyer site Maidan (maydan.drohobych.net)
(1922–2015), a violinist, singer, and and the spokesperson at the Bruno
music teacher, who was among the last Schulz Festival, is a skilled guide with
Drohobych

students of Bruno Schulz, and Mark expertise in the historical, artistic, and
Golberg (1922–2007), a distinguished culinary heritage of Drohobych. Another
Ukrainian literary scholar, literature Internet news site about past and
256 theorist, and professor at the Ivan present of Drohobych is Drohobyczer
Zeitung (drohobyczer-zeitung.com), first newspaper published in the town
which draws inspiration from the between 1883 and 1914.

Choral Synagogue (18th c.), Pylyp Orlyk St. ¶ Bruno Schulz Museum: established in 2003 Worth
at the building of the Pedagogical University, in Schulz’s former staffroom. Exhibits include seeing
the first edition of The Cinnamon Shops, 24 Ivan Franko St., tel. +380324451122; e-mail:
[email protected] ¶ “Drohobychchyna” Local History Museum, 32 Ivan Franko St. ¶
Villa Bianca (Palace of Arts), 38 Taras Shevchenko St. ¶ Church of St. George: wooden
(16th–17th c.), 23 Solonyi Stavok St. ¶ Church of the Elevation of the Holy Cross (17th c.),
7 Zvarytska St. ¶ Church of St. Bartholomew (17th–20th c.); the bell tower dates back to
the late 13th c. is believed to be the oldest building in the town; Zamkova Hill. ¶ Monas-
tery of Sts. Peter and Paul (19th c.), 1 Stryiska St. ¶ Church of the Holy Trinity (17th c.) 2
Truskavetska St. ¶ Town hall (early 20th c.), 1 Rynok Sq. ¶ Saltworks complex in Droho-
bych (13th–20th c.), Solonyi Stavok St. ¶ Municipal granary, 17 Hrushevskoho St.

Boryslav (16 km): the town Drohobych Surrounding

is located over industrial area
deposits of oil and gas as
well as ozokerite, with
numerous springs of min-
eral and curative waters;
private prayer and study
houses; a Jewish cemetery. ¶
Stryi (30 km): a ruined syn-
agogue (early 19th c.); the
Church of the Nativity of the
Blessed Virgin Mary (1425,
with later reconstructions).
¶ Sambir (33 km): town
hall (17th–19th c.); town
houses at the market square
(17th–20th c.); Bernardine
monastery (17th c.); Church
of St. Stanislaus. ¶ Staryi
Sambir (50 km): a Jewish
cemetery (mid-16th c., one
of the oldest in Ukraine);
a synagogue (late 19th c.).
¶ Turka (70 km): a former
synagogue (19th c.); a Jewish
cemetery (19th c.); wooden 18th-c. Orthodox and Catholic churches).

257
 Bolekhiv
Pol. Bolechów, Ukr. Болехів, Yid. ‫באָלעכעוו‬ Szewska Street ran south from the market square
to the so-called Hebrew quarter, which resembled
a maze of wooden huts, workshops, and homes.
Anatol Regnier, Damals in Bolechów:
Eine jüdische Odyssee, Munich 1997

Salt from Solomon Hill ¶ Bolekhiv Bolekhiv became part of what was
is a small town located south of Lviv in known as the “salt route” running from
the Skole Beskids on the Sukil River at Dolina, through Bolekhiv and Stryj (now
the foot of the picturesque Ukrainian Stryi), Przemyśl, Toruń, and Gdańsk. In
Carpathians. On the Solomon Hill near 1603, King Sigismund III Vasa granted
Bolekhiv, archaeologists discovered the the town Magdeburg rights. In the 17th
remains of an Old Rus fortified set- century, the Giedziński family built in
tlement of the 11th–12th century, yet Bolekhiv a wooden fortress that with-
whether the later town of Bolechiv was stood numerous Tatar raids. In the 18th
somehow geographically or administra- century, the fortress became a heavily
tively related to this medieval fortress, fortified castle on the Sukil River. Today,
remains unclear. Bolekhiv was first men- only remnants of its foundations can be
tioned in the 1371 act of Queen Eliza- found at the local military base. In 1710,
beth of Hungary, who granted the lands the Giedziński family sold Bolekhiv to
of and around the village of Bolekhiv the Lubomirskis, after 1750, the town
to Daniel Dażbohowicz for his services changed hands again – first to the
to the crown. Later, the emerging town Poniatowskis, later to the Potockis. In
absorbed two neighbouring villages, 1772, together with the rest of Galicia,
Ruthenian Bolekhiv (Bolechów Ruski) Bolekhiv became part of the Habsburg
and Wallachian Bolekhiv (Bolechów monarchy. ¶ Bolekhiv often fell victim
Wołoski). Bolekhiv was established as to attacks by Carpathian raiders; one of
a Polish private town near a salt refinery these attacking groups was led by Ivan
in the mid-16th century by Mikołaj Dovbush, brother of the famous Oleksa
Giedziński, a Polish nobleman. This Dovbush, the leader of the rebellious
salt refinery had been established in rural opryshky (outcasts), the Ukrain-
1546 by Amalia Grosowska, a Polish ian Robin Hood. The town suffered
landlady, although salt had been mined the most in 1759, at the hands of Ivan
Bolekhiv

there much earlier. Salt became one of Boichuk’s gang, which set the town on
the major raw materials exported from fire, an event so devastating that Count
258 Bolekhiv: in the late 16th–17th centuries, Potocki exempted Bolekhiv from all
taxes for three years to enable its dwell- trading commodity. In the late 19th The Sukil River in
Bolekhiv, before 1930,
ers to rebuilt the economy. ¶ In the 19th century, Bolekhiv also became a medi- collection of the
century, the salt refinery in Bolekhiv was cal spa due to its therapeutic water, National Library, Poland
(www.polona.pl)
one of the most profitable businesses rich in minerals and iodine. ¶ Between
in Galicia, employing 49 workers and November 1918 and May 1919, Bolekhiv
10 clerks and producing from 50,000 to administration reported to the short-
70,000 cwt of salt per year. Three leather lived government of the West Ukrainian
factories and a textile factory were People’s Republic, while in the interwar

„
established in town in the 19th century, period, to the sejm of the Independent
yet salt remained the most important Poland.

On Friday afternoon, a siren wailed. People finished their work, went to the
steam bath, put on clean underwear, and refreshed themselves. During the Sab-
bath, the street was dominated by Jews rushing to the synagogue with prayer shawls on
their shoulders. Whoever met the rabbi stepped aside and let him pass, and when a rabbi’s
son was getting married, the whole town joined in the celebration. During Yom Kippur, the
faithful fasted, all trade came to a standstill, and even non-Jewish residents respected the
importance of this holiday. ¶ Anatol Regnier, Damals in Bolechów: Eine jüdische Odyssee,
Munich 1997

The Jews of Bolekhiv ¶ In the last obtained privileges to establish trade

quarter of the 16th century, Mikołaj and open stores. To boost the Jewish
Giedziński, who supported the develop- economic impact on town, the town’s
ment of the salt trade and industry in owner exempted all Jewish communal
town, invited Jews settled in Bolekhiv. buildings from czynsz (real estate) taxes.
Jewish merchants were encouraged to In 1612, Mikołaj Giedziński granted the
settle around the market square. They Jewish community a special privilege to 259
 The market square
in Bolekhiv, before
1906, collection of the
National Library, Poland
(www.polona.pl)

establish a cemetery, a yeshiva (Tal- in Bolekhiv boasted about 1,000 people,

mudic academy), and a synagogue. He outnumbering Polish Catholics and
also exempted Jews from the jurisdiction Ukrainian Eastern Orthodox and Greek
of the municipal court, allowing them Catholics. Due to its significance and
to file complaints directly to him, the the presence of several outstanding
owner of the town, who acted as a local communal leaders, Bolekhiv kahal
supreme judge – exactly as it happend sent its representatives in the Council
in dozens of other Polish private towns. of the Four Lands, the central body of
¶ The Jewish district was located in the Jewish self-government to the Polish-
southeastern part of Bolekhiv, where Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the 18th
the first wooden synagogue was built. century, most Jews in Bolekhiv worked
After the synagogue and the nearby in the salt and wine trade. They were
houses were burnt down as a result of also active in money exchange services
the 1670 fire, Bishop Jerzy of Lwów (now and lending. These details appear in the
Lviv) lent funds to the Jewish commu- contemporary memoir of Dov Ber Bir-
nal leaders Lejba Ickowicz and Lipman kenthal (1723–1805), a wine merchant,
Łazarewicz for the reconstruction of the Jewish communal leader and a trust-
Jewish quarter. ¶ At the beginning of worthy chronicler of the Jewish life in
the 18th century, the Jewish community Bolekhiv and Galicia.

Dov Ber Birkenthal Bolechover (1723–1805) – a Jewish wine merchant

who was also a writer, chronicler, and community leader. His father was born
in Międzyrzec but moved to Bolekhiv during the Cossack wars in the mid-17th
century. Dov Ber, a reliable connoisseur of high-quality wines, purchased wine
wholesale in Hungary and sold it to distinguished noblemen and clergy in Galicia.
He also ran a shop in the centre of Bolekhiv and had a comparatively significant
private library at home. In 1772, when Galicia was incorporated into Austria,
Bolekhiv

he assumed the family name Birkenthal. He received a traditional Jewish educa-

tion, but his father, who also traded in wine and had many acquaintances among
260 Polish and Hungarian noblemen, hired a non-Jewish teacher to teach his son
 Orthodox Church and the
town hall in Bolekhiv,
1910. Photo by “Zofia”
photographic studio, col-
lection of the National
Library, Poland (www.
polona.pl)

Polish, German, French, and Latin. In 1759, the multi-lingual Dov Ber served as an
interpreter during the Lviv disputation between the rabbinic Jewish authorities such
as Rabbi Haim Rapaport and Jewish anti-Talmudic sectarians led by Jacob Frank.
Dov Ber authored a religious treatise Divre Binah (Heb.: Words of Reason), in the
preface to which he portrayed religious aspects of Jewish life in the second half of
the 18th century, including the rising Hasidic movement. In his memoirs written as
a mixture of a spiritual will, a merchant’s leger and autobiography, he described
social, cultural, religious, and political life of the 18th-century Galician Jewish
communities with an amazing sense of economic details. Dov Ber had a passion
for history: he translated several historical works from German and Polish into
Hebrew. His grave at the Jewish cemetery in Bolekhiv is adorned by a matzevah
which has the image of a bear (alluding to the meaning of Dov’s name, “bear”
in Hebrew) and a bunch of grapes, alluding to his role as a wine merchant.

In the 1760s, approx. 1,300 Jews lived in across from the town hall building,
Bolekhiv. One of the most famous local and next to a Greek Catholic Church.
18th-century rabbis was Rabbi Ya’akov The synagogue was completely rebuilt
ha-Levi Horowitz (1679–1754), who in 1808. In Soviet times, it served as
later moved to Brody and was replaced a cultural centre and a club of local Jew-
in Bolekhiv by his son, Rabbi Mordke ish tanners. Another former synagogue
Horowitz. (at 9 Sichovykh Striltsiv St.) was used
in the Soviet times as a school; today it
Synagogues ¶ The stone building of houses a museum dedicated to Natalya
the synagogue was established in 1789 Kobrynska, a prominent Ukrainian
on the site of the old wooden one and writer, social activist, and one of the
has survived to this day. It is located first Ukrainian feminists. A progressive 261
 (Reform) synagogue and a Hasidic kloyz World War II have not survived.
that also existed in Bolekhiv before

New Babylon ¶ In 1772, New Babylon, a Jewish agricultural colony was

established near Bolekhiv on the initiative of the enlightened Austrian empress
Maria Theresia. Ten Jewish families settled there, each receiving five hectares
of land. The Austrian government provided farmers with building materials,
but the farmers had to pay for the land and agricultural tools. Living condi-
tions in the colony were hard, and the soil was not fertile. At first, the initiative
was supported by the local Jewish community seeking to meet half-way the
enlightened reforms of the government, but the whole undertaking turned out
to be a failure and the new undertaking proved to be unsustainable. As it hap-
pened, half-a-century later in the tsarist Russia, many Jews could not cope with
the difficulties and returned to their traditional occupations, trade and crafts.

Hasidim, Maskilim, and Zionists Shmuel Leib published a book about

¶ In the second half of the 18th century, Haskalah and maskilim. From 1833 to
the first groups of Hasidim, pietists 1843, the journal Kerem Hemed (Heb.:
and religious enthusiasts, appeared in Vineyard of Delight), a platform for the
Bolekhiv. Among the most important debates about the Haskalah movement,
Hasidic masters of the later period were was issued locally, while Zelig Tzvi Man-
Yehoshua Heschel Padua and his son- dschein published the magazine Ha-
in-law Shlomo Chaim Perlow. Another Shahar (Heb.: The Dawn), in which he
Hasidic group active here was repre- attacked Hasidic Jews and advanced the
sented by Yaakov Joel Horowitz (1824– reform of Jewish education. ¶ In 1845,
1832), his son Menachem Mendel a Jewish hospital, managed by the kahal,
(1832–1864), and Menachem Mendel’s was established in Bolekhiv, and in 1856,
son, Levi (1879–1902). The presence of a secular Jewish school was opened. In
several generations of Hasidic masters it, children received education in three
transformed Bolekhiv in one of the languages, Hebrew, Polish, and Ger-
Galician centres of Hasidism. ¶ With the man. In 1902, a Zionist-oriented school
spread of the Haskalah movement in the for girls was opened, with Hebrew
late 18th century and the new reform- as the main language of instruction,
ist policies of the enlightened Austrian and a similar school for boys opened
government, Bolekhiv became one its doors six years later. ¶ Once the
of the first in East Galicia to establish Tikvat Israel (Heb.: The Hope of Israel)
a secular Jewish school for boys (1781). organisation was established in 1894
The enlightened Rabbi Hirsch Golden- and the weekly Zionist magazine Die
berg was among the first maskilim in Welt (Ger.: The World) was launched, the
Bolekhiv, his sons, Shmuel Leib, Yaakov, Zionist movement gained popularity in
Bolekhiv

and Zelig Tzvi Mandschein also contin- Bolekhiv. From 1911 to 1913, a Zionist-
ued their father’s tradition and became oriented women’s organisation Banot
262 enlightened rabbinic leaders. In 1830, Zion (Heb.: Daughters of Zion) launched
a Hebrew language program. Zion-
ist youth organisations were active in
Bolekhiv, too, for example, Tseirei Zion
(Youth of Zion) and He-Halutz ([Agri-
cultural] Pioneers). In the 1920s, Jewish
agricultural settlers from Bolekhiv
established in Palestine two kibbutzim,
Heftsi-Bah and Bet Alfa . ¶ In the early
20th century, the Jewish community in
Bolekhiv experienced a rapid population
growth, with Jews making up 78 percent
of the 4,000 residents, one of the highest
Jewish/Gentile ratios in Galicia. At the
beginning of World War I, many build-
ings in Bolekhiv were destroyed and
the town’s Jewish population dwindled.
According to the 1921 census, Bolekhiv
had only 2,433 residents, Jews and non-
Jews. In the early 1920s, the American-
Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
helped establish the first Jewish bank in
Bolekhiv.

World War II and the Holocaust

¶ In September 1939, the Red Army then transported them to the execution Former Jewish
houses in Bolekhiv, 2014.
took control over the town. The Soviet site near the village of Taniawa (which Photo by Viktor Zagreba,
authorities began suppressing and became a memorial site after the war); digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
persecuting the members of various 750 people were shot there, and those Theatre” Centre (www.
socio-political organisations and par- who remained in the town were con- teatrnn.pl)
ties, including the socialist ones and fined in the ghetto. During the second The façade of the
the Jewish ones. Less then two years Aktion in April 1942, another 450 Jews synagogue in Bolekhiv,
later, in July–August 1941, Bolekhiv was were shot at the Jewish cemetery in the 2014. Photo by Viktor
Zagreba, digital collec-
occupied by the Hungarian and German nearby village of Dovzhky. ¶ In June tion of the “Grodzka
troops. On July 4, 1941, many Bolekhiv 1942, some 4,281 Jews were still staying Gate – NN Theatre”
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)
Jews died during a pogrom. In August in Bolekhiv and surrounding villages;
1941, the Nazi Germans introduced 1,588 were engaged in forced labour. In
their racial laws in Bolekhiv. A forced August 1942, Jews from the surrounding
labour camp for Jews and a Judenrat villages were resettled to Bolekhiv. The
were established. The first large-scale third Aktion took place on September
operation to create a Judenrein (free of 3–5, 1942. After that, only about 2,500
Jews) zone took place on October 28 and Jews remained in the town. In October
29, 1941. The Nazis first gathered the and November 1942, some Jews were
Jews in the old Red Army barracks and transported to the ghetto in Stryj, while 263
 Jewish cemetery in
Bolekhiv, 2017. Photo
by Christian Herrmann,
www.vanishedworld.blog

1,748 Jews able to do work remained in During the Nazi rule in Bolekhiv, 3,800
Bolekhiv. In December 1942, the Jews Jews were killed in the pits around the
working in Bolekhiv were transferred town and 450 were transported to Bełżec
to the barracks, later shot and buried extermination camp. Only 48 Jewish
at the Jewish cemetery in Bolekhiv. All people who managed to hide in the sur-
the Bolekhiv Jews transported to Stryj rounding forests survived the Holocaust.
were also shot. On August 23, 1943, the After the war, in 1945 and 1946, most of
ghetto in Bolekhiv was liquidated. ¶ them left for Poland.

In September 2006, Professor of Classics Daniel Mendelsohn published

his much-acclaimed book The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million, por-
traying his personal quest for his Jewish relatives on his mother’s side:

„
Samuel Jager, his wife Esther, and their four daughters, who all lived in
Bolekhiv before World War II and died at the hands of the Nazis.

To me in particular he [my grandfather] loved to tell his stories about the town
in which he was born, and where his family had lived “since,” he would say,
clearing his throat wetly in the way that he did, his eyes huge and staring, like a baby’s,
behind the lenses of his old-fashioned, black-plastic glasses, “there was a Bolechow.” BUH-
leh-khuhv, he would pronounce it, keeping the “l” low in his throat, in the same place where
he caressed the “kh,” the way that people will do who are from that place, BUHlehkhuhv,
the pronunciation that, as I found out much later, is the old, the Yiddish pronunciation. ¶
Daniel Mendelsohn, The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million, New York 2006
Bolekhiv

The cemetery ¶ The Jewish cemetery town; with the entrance from Mandryka
264 in Bolekhiv is located on a hill near the St., through a private yard. The cemetery
has about 2,000–3,000 matzevot, the Dov Ber Birkenthal. His matzevah
oldest one dating back to 1648. Many contains an epitaph, which reads: “Here
have beautiful, sophisticated, and elabo- lies a famous, generous elder, Dov Ber,
rate carved ornaments. About 50 metres son of Yehuda Birkenthal. May his soul
from the entrance is the grave of one of be bound in the bond of life.” Next to it,
the most famous dwellers of Bolekhiv, there is the grave of his wife Leah.

Former synagogue (18th c.), Ivana Franka Sq. ¶ Jewish cemetery (17th c.), Mandryka St. Worth
¶ Museum of Bolekhiv History, 9 Sichovykh Striltsiv St. ¶ Natalya Kobrynska Museum, seeing
7 Sichovykh Striltsiv St. ¶ Town hall (1863), Ivana Franka Sq. ¶ Church of the Dormition
of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1838). ¶ Orthodox Church of the Holy Women Carrying
Fragrant Oils (wooden, 17th c.). ¶ Orthodox Church of St. Paraskeva (1939). ¶ Greek
Catholic Church of St. Anne (1870). ¶ “Brükenstein” Hotel (1900–1905), now the depart-
ment of obstetrics of the Central Municipal Hospital, Yevhena Konovaltsa St.

Bolekhiv

Morshyn (10 km): a health resort famous all over Eastern Europe. ¶ Bubnyshche (13 km): Surrounding
the scenic Dovbush Rocks Reserve. ¶ Dolyna (15 km): an old salt refinery; a former syna- area
gogue (1897); a Jewish cemetery (18th c., with no surviving matzevot); numerous Catholic
and Orthodox churches; “Boykivshchyna” Ethnographic Museum. ¶ Kalush (49 km): a Jew-
ish cemetery (18th c.); the neo-Gothic Catholic Church of St. Valentine (1844); Orthodox
Church of St. Michael (1910–1913); the Folk House (1907).

265
 Khust
Pol. Chust, Ukr. Хуст, Hung. Huszt, Yid. ‫חוסט‬ Here live Ruthenian [Ukrainian – ed.] shepherds
and woodcutters, Jewish craftsmen and mer-
chants. Poor Jews and rich Jews. Poor Rutheni-
ans and even poorer Ruthenians.
Ivan Olbracht, Nikola Šuhaj
loupežník (Czech: Nikola Šuhaj, Robber), 1933

Salt trail fortress ¶ Located on the the Turkish siege in 1660–1661. But in
picturesque Tisza River Valley at the foot 1687, the Austrian army managed to
of the Carpathians, Khust is the third seize the castle. In the 18th century, the
largest city in Transcarpathia. Probably rebels and outcasts of peasant origin
its name comes from the Hustets, the – among them the band led by Hryhor
river flowing through the town centre. Pynts and Fedir Boyko – pillaged the
¶ The historical origins of Khust date area around Khust, and their attempts to
back to the 11th century, when a fortress batter the castle with a wooden cannon
was established in order to protect the became a theme of popular folksongs and
salt trail leading from the Solotvyno part of local musical folklore. In 1703,
salt mines. The fortress was completed the troops of Prince Francis II Rákóczi
around 1190 by Béla ІІІ, King of Hun- captured the Khust Castle, and it was
gary. In 1329, the Hungarian king Károly there that the independence of the Prin-
Róbert (Charles I) gave the castle as a gift cipality of Transylvania was declared.
to his faithful knight Drago, and Khust In 1709, Prince Rákóczi summoned the
became a royal town. After the 1526 so-called Transylvanian Diet, and in
defeat of the Hungarian army in the Bat- 1711, Khust was incorporated into the
tle of Mohács, the Kingdom of Hungary Austrian Empire as part of its Hungar-
fell apart and Khust Castle found itself ian lands. ¶ Over the 19th century, Khust
in the Principality of Transylvania. In developed as a town of crafts and trades.
the second half of the 16th and first half In 1885, andesite started to be mined
of the 17th centuries, Khust Castle was here industrially, and an andesite quarry
one of the centres of struggle between has remained in the town to this day.
the Princes of Transylvania and the Because of the surrounding forests and
Austrian Habsburgs. In 1577, the fortress hills rich in clay, the town dwellers devel-
was reinforced and a royal garrison was oped furniture production, established
stationed there. Tatars besieged the castle a brickyard and other manufactories and
many times, and in 1594 set the sur- depots of construction materials. ¶ In
Khust

rounding area on fire but they failed to the fall of 1918, in the aftermath of World
266 conquer the town. Khust also withstood War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire
collapsed, and on January 21, 1919, the
Ukrainians from Transcarpathia called
a Nationwide Transcarpathian Congress
in Khust, where 420 delegates from all
over the Transcarpathian region decided
to join the united Ukraine. Despite the
will of the local population and due to the
political ambitions of the surrounding
countries, this part of Transcarpathia
found itself in the interwar Republic
of Czechoslovakia as Subcarpathian
Ruthenia.

The Jews of Khust ¶ Attracted by its

favourable location, Jewish merchants respected among the 19th-century rab- The synagogue in Khust,
2014. Photo by Viktor
started to settle in Khust in the early binic scholars was Rabbi Moshe Schick Zagreba, digital collec-
modern times. However, since Khust (1807–1879), who in 1861 established tion of the “Grodzka
Gate – NN Theatre”
had been a royal town of Hungary and a yeshiva in Khust – the largest one in Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)
followed the De non tolerandi Judeos Eastern Europe at that time. This yeshiva
policy, Jews could trade locally but could attracted rabbinic scholars of the highest
not permanently settle in the town. An calibre who at different times served the
intense influx of Jews began in 1772, local community, among them Moshe
coinciding with the First Partition of Grinwald (1853–1910), Israel Yakov
Poland and the incorporation of these Leifer, Shmuel Shmelke Leifer ІІ of
lands into the Habsburg Empire. In 1792, Khust, Meshulam Grinsberg of Khust,
the Jewish community consisted of 14 and Josef Tzvi Dushinsky. In 1921, Rabbi
families. In 1839, 132 Jews lived here, Josef Tzvi Dushinsky became the head of
along with 1,953 Greek Catholics, 640 the Khust Jewish community. He moved
Roman Catholics, 370 Reformed Evan- to Jerusalem in 1930, and became the
gelicals, and 8 Lutherans. The first rabbi leader of the rising ultra-Orthodox Juda-
in Khust was Abram Yakov of Zhydachiv, ism that embraced the so-called haredi
appointed in 1812, which implies that community – various groups of Hasidim,
the community was sufficiently well-to- yeshivah-centered Lithuanian Jews, and
do to afford a rabbinic leader. The most the Orthodoxy-oriented Sefardic Jews.

Moshe Schick (Maharam Schick, 1807–1879), born in Birkenhain (now, Brezová

in Slovakia), was one of the most prominent 19th-century European rabbis and one
of the leaders of the rising Orthodox Judaism. Moshe studied under the famous
rabbinic scholar Hatam Sofer (Rabbi Moshe Schreiber, 1762–1839) in Pressburg
(Bratislava, Pozsony), perhaps the most authoritative rabbinic leader in East
Central Europe of that time and the head of the biggest European Talmudic acad-
emies enrolling up to 400 students. Hatam Sofer called his outstanding student
a “treasure chest full of holy books.” Schick was appointed to serve as a rabbi in 267
 the town of Svätý Jur (Slovakia) in 1838,
where he opened a yeshiva, which
he thought would create a stronghold
of traditional Judaism against the
encroaching Reform movement. In
1861, he became rabbi of Khust, and
helped to establish a yeshiva there that
over the years was attended by more
than 800 students. ¶ In his rabbinic
commentaries, Schick was commonly
referred to as Maharam Schick, an
acronym for “More(y)nu ha-Rav Rabbi
Moshe” (Heb.: Our Teacher, Our
Interior of the syna- Master, Rabbi Moshe). He is the author of a number of legal (halakhic)
gogue in Khust, 2014.
Photo by Viktor Zagreba,
responsa, works as well as the treatises Hidushey ha-Maharam Schick con-
digital collection of the taining legal novelties and Derashot Maharam Schick with his commentar-
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
ies on the Torah weekly portion. He died in Khust on January 25, 1879.
teatrnn.pl)
In the mid-19th century, the Jewish of civic, cultural, and economic activi-
community of Khust became one of the ties. They established cinemas, managed
largest and most influential in Transcar- taverns in wine cellars, ran factories and
pathia. In 1880, it numbered 1,062 Jews, craft workshops, three banks, four mills,
and by 1910, it grew to 2,371 (15 percent the “Korona” and “Centralny” Hotels,
of the town’s population). In the interwar and other businesses. Many of them
period, Khust became a district center worked in liberal professions as doctors,
in Czechoslovakia. By 1921, its Jew- pharmacists, lawyers, and clerks. In
ish population had increased to 3,391 1923, there were five Jews serving in the
people. Jews were involved in all aspects town council.

Josef Tzvi Dushinsky (1867–1948), of Hungarian-Jewish origin, was a disciple

of one of the grandsons of Rabbi Hatam Sofer of Pressburg. Initially, Dushinsky
served as a chief rabbi of Galanta in Slovakia, and in 1921 became the chief
rabbi of Khust, where he spent most of his time teaching yeshiva students. In 1930,
together with his family, he moved to Palestine and settled in Jerusalem. In 1932,
shortly after the death of Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld (1848–1932), the leader
of the Haredi community (ultra-Orthodox Jews) in Jerusalem and the founder of
the “Ha-Edah ha-Haredit” community (Heb.: The Community of The God-Fear-
ing), Josef Tzvi Dushinsky was appointed as his successor – a sign of enormous
prestige and respect toward this Transilvania rabbi. He also founded the Society of
Hungarian Jews in Jerusalem. Rabbi Dushinsky was known for his strong opposi-
tion to secular Zionism; he protested to the UNO against the creation of the State
Khust

of Israel, claiming – as some leaders of the haredi community would do in Israel

268 – that the real messianic process is religious, not political in essence and that the
messianic pretentions of the Zionists are
baseless. He died on the eve of the Suk-
kot holiday, on October 17, 1948, shortly
after the State of Israel was established.

By 1930, the Jewish population of Khust

grew to 4,821. Around the same time,
however, a large majority of Jews in
Transcarpathia, then part of Czechoslo-
vakia (as many as 65 percent, according
to the 1930 records), was not urbanized
and continued to live in the mountain-
ous rural areas: the highest percentage
of Jews engaged in farming in Europe. group promoting full emancipation and Former synagogue in
Khust, currently library,
This reflected on local realms – friendly national autonomy), which represented 2014. Photo by Viktor
relations between Jews and Christians in the Jewish community in the municipal Zagreba, digital collec-
tion of the “Grodzka
the Transcarpathia rural areas – and also council. ¶ Khust boasted its own Hasidic Gate – NN Theatre”
the reformist intentions of the Austrian dynasty, an offshoot of the Nadvorna Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)
government that in 1867 allowed Jews dynasty, established by a first-generation
to own land. ¶ Various Jewish political Hasidim Rabbi Meir of Premishlan
parties were active in Khust, includ- (1703–1773), a disciple of the Baal Shem
ing the “Agudat Israel” (also known as Tov. The dynasty was founded in the 19th
the Agudah) which represented newly century, and its first admor (tsaddik)
formed political-religious Orthodoxy, was Rabbi Yakov Israel Leifer (d. 1929).
as well as several Zionist organisations, Today, descendants of the Khust dynasty
Orthodox youth groups, and the Jewish reside mainly in the USA.
National Party (ation partei, a Zionist

Capital ¶ In October 1938, following the Munich Agreement, the Ukrainian

autonomous Subcarpathian Ruthenia was established as part of Czechoslova-
kia. A month later, it was renamed into Carpatho-Ukraine, with the capital in
Khust and Avgustyn Voloshyn, a famous political leader and mathematician, as
president. Carpatho-Ukraine proclaimed independence at the Diet in Khust on
15 March 1939, but as an independent polity it existed just one day: the follow-
ing day Khust was seized by Hungarian troops, Voloshyn had to flee to Prague.

World War II and the Holocaust like all Hungarian Jews, were perse-
¶ Following the outbreak of World War cuted in 1939–1944, although Hungar-
II, anti-Semitism in Hungary grew ian authorities with all their staunch
stronger, and became a palpable phe- anti-Semitism did not support the Final
nomenon in Transcarpathia, which pre- Solution. Starting from 1940, all healthy
viously had not registered anti-Semitic Jews were directed to forced labour sites.
incidents. The Transcarpathian Jews, Several hundreds of Khust Jews were 269
 transported in freight cars to Kőrösmező Duhnovycha St., and Khmyelnytskoho
(the village of Yasinia) near the pre-war Square, which served as Umschlagplatz.
Polish border, and then across the bor- Starting from May 14, 1944, trains to
der, where they were handed over to the Auschwitz set off directly from eight
Germans, who in turn sent them to con- railway stations in the region – Mukach-
centration camps. Khust Jewish families eve, Berehove, Uzhhorod, Volove,
without Hungarian citizenship were Solotvyno, Sevlush (Vynohradiv), Khust,
expelled to the Nazi-occupied territory and Tiachiv. Each train transported
of Ukraine. Many of them were executed between 2,000 and 4,000 Jews. Some
in Kamianets-Podilskyi in 1941. ¶ In Jews from Khust were forced to march
April 1944, immediately after a fascist west on foot – to the concentration
coup in Hungary, three ghettos were set camps of Buchenwald and Ravensbrück
up in the area: one in Khust and two in (Germany) and Mauthausen (Austria),
the villages of Iza and Sokyrnytsia. More 1,300 km and 800 km, respectively.
than 10,000 Jews had been confined Hundreds of prisoners were held in the
there before they were deported to Kryvka concentration camp, near Khust.
the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. From there, forty transports with the
Several dozen Jews managed to escape Jewish inmates were taken to the bank of
from Khust and join the Ukrainian the Tisza River close to the Welatynsky
partisan units. ¶ Before deportation, the Bridge, where the prisoners were shot
Jews were rounded up at what is now and their bodies thrown into the river.
a brickyard, as well as in other assembly By late spring 1944, the Nazis declared
points in today’s Dobryanskoho St., Khust Judenrein, “free of Jews”.

Ernő Szép (1884–1953) was born in Khust as one of the nine children of a local
Jewish teacher. As a young boy, he moved to Budapest, where he made his name
as a poet, playwright, and journalist. He débuted with a collection of poems and
short stories Első csokor (Hung.: The First Bouquet, 1902). Alongside Sándor Bródy
and Ferenc Molnár, he ranks as one of the most outstanding writers of Jewish
origin who wrote in Hungarian. His plays such as Pátika (Hung.: Pharmacy, 1918),
Lila ákác (Hung.: Lily Acacia, 1921), A Vőlegény (Hung.: The Bride, 1922), are
still staged in Hungarian theatres. In 1944, together with other Jews from Buda-
pest, Ernő Szép was made to do forced labour for many weeks, an ordeal that
he described in his memoir Emberszag (Hung.: The Smell of Humans, 1945). His
profound child-esque naiveté in the midst of the Holocaust horrors and his physical
ability to dig trenches in extenuating and life-threatening conditions saved his life.

On October 24, 1944, Soviet troops people. Most of the returning Jewish
entered the town making it part of families, however, could not come back
Soviet Ukraine (USSR). In February to their old houses, which were taken by
1945, the first Jewish survivors returned the Gentiles whose take-over was legiti-
Khust

to the city. By mid-1946, the Jewish mized by the new Soviet authorities.
270 population of Khust had grown to 400
 Jewish cemetery in
Khust, 2014. Photo
by Viktor Zagreba,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)

In defence of the synagogue ¶ served a comparatively sizeable religious

According to some sources, there were community of the Holocaust survivors:
eight synagogues and prayer houses in when they came to pray there was
Khust at the end of the 19th century. The hardly enough room for everybody.
18th-century Old Synagogue survived This community secured the survival of
the war, but it was converted under the the synagogue as an actively operating
Soviets into a movie theater. ¶ Only Jewish house of worship in the difficult
one synagogue, built at the end of the times of the communist regime. To this
19th century, has retained its original day, about 165 Jews live in Khust – and
appearance and function to this day. they still pray in that synagogue.
The internal original wall paintings have
survived, and the building has never The cemetery ¶ An old Jewish cem-
been destroyed. It is the only synagogue etery, established in the 18th century, is
in Transcarpathia which has operated situated on a hill on Ostrovskoho St. It
continuously as a Jewish prayer house has more than 1,500 matzevot. Those
since its construction. ¶ During World buried there include Rabbi Moshe
War II, the Nazis stored Jewish confis- Schick and Rabbi Moshe Grinwald,
cated property in the synagogue. After prominent rabbinic scholars and
the war, the Soviet authorities repeat- communal leaders. The cemetery was
edly tried to confiscate or demolish the closed for burials in 1960. A new Jewish
building, but the Khust Jewish women cemetery was established on the slope
came to the synagogue and took shifts of Castle Hill, near the Christian cem-
at its walls, preventing the realisation eteries, and it is still used by the Jewish
of these plans. Besides, the synagogue community.

271
 Worth Synagogue(1872 – 1875), 11 Nezalezhnosti Square, tel. +380667785786. ¶ Jewish cem-
seeing etery, Ostrovskoho St. ¶ Ruins of the castle (11th c.), Zamkova St. ¶ St. Elizabeth Calvinist
Church (13th–18th c.), a Gothic fortified church, 45 Konstitutsyi St. ¶ St. Anne Roman
Catholic Church (late 17th–19th c.), 40 Karpatskoi Sichy St. ¶ Orthodox Church of the
Annunciation of the Mother of God (1928–1929), Duhnovycha St. ¶ Khust Regional His-
tory Museum, 1 Pyrohova St., tel. +380686167370.

Surrounding Kireshi (5 km): Carpathian Biosphere Reserve “The Valley of Narcissi”: Narcissi flow-
area ers bloom in May, at an altitude of 200 m above sea level on an area of 170 hectares (420
acres); the entire reserve covers an area of 257 hectares (635 acres). ¶ Vynohradiv (24 km):
a synagogue (19th c.); a Jewish cemetery; a Franciscan monastery (16th c.); the Orthodox
Church of the Ascension (15th c.). ¶ Irshava (36 km): a former synagogue (19th c.); a Jewish
cemetery. ¶ Solotvyno (50 km): salt mines; a former synagogue (19thc.; rebuilt); Jewish
cemeteries (19th c.). ¶ Kolochava (60 km): “a village of a hundred museums,” includ-
ing an exceptionally rich ethnographic skansen (open-air museum) with Hutsul, Czech,
Rusyn, Soviet, Hungarian buildings and a Jewish tavern exhibition; Ivan Olbracht Museum;
a wooden Orthodox church (17th c.); a Jewish cemetery on the hill at the entrance to the
village with the Holocaust memorial matzevot commemorating the Kolochava Jews; the
Synevyr National Park and the legendary Synevir lake. ¶ Berehove (60 km): a functioning
synagogue (1920); a Jewish cemetery (19th c.). ¶ Mukacheve (83 km): unique Palanok Cas-
tle (11th–17th c.); Gothic Chapel of St. Joseph (11th–15th c.); the Schönborn Palace (18th c.);
St. Martin’s Cathedral (20th c.); a new synagogue (21st c.); a restored Jewish cemetery
(20th c.). ¶ Uzhhorod (100 km): a former synagogue now used as a concert hall (1903);
a Jewish cemetery (19th c.).

Khust
Khust

272
Delatyn
Ukr. Делятин, Yid. ‫דעלאַטין‬ If we agree with the statement that the Carpathians
are a fortress, then the Ivano-Frankivsk–Rakhiv
route is the main gate to this fortress, its ceremonial
entrance. And the most important word that opens
up another perspective is Delatyn.
Taras Prokhasko, Delyatynski paroli
(Ukr.: Delatyn Entries), 2004

Ten cones of salt ¶ Delatyn is situ- established in the refinery and two
ated deep in the mountains, in the valley pumps were installed in the mines,
of the Prut River crossing the mountain extracting 155 quintals of salt a day. The
region; the highest mountain in the area salt deposits allowed for the establish-
is Vavtorov (1,059 m). The first written ment of spa facilities. Mineral springs
mention of the town dates back to 1370, were used to treat rheumatism (with salt
and the crown privilege of 1578 placed baths) and respiratory diseases (with
Delatyn under the Magdeburg law. Salt, salt inhalations): the well-known health
first mined near the town in the 16th resort in Yaremche was just about 10 km
century, became the basis of the town’s away. About 8,000 people live in Delatyn
development. Hence, there are a sym- today, and the town has become one of
bolic 10 cones of salt on Delatyn’s cur- the traditional Hutsul folk craft centres
rent coat of arms. Delatyn salt refineries in Ukraine, which the autochthonous
began operating on an industrial scale dwellers of the Carpathians, the ethnic
in the 19th century, with salt produc- Hutsuls, mountain cattle-breeders sup-

„
tion gradually becoming a mechanised ply with their wooden, glass, clay, and
process. In 1870, a steam engine was textile crafts.

Near the train station, there is a hill with a large park on top of it. There are
Drimmer’s and Dicker’s Hotels. There are Rummel’s and Stefaniuk’s restaurants.
In the eastern part of the town, there is a very powerful salt spring with mineral baths; the
guests are almost exclusively Jews. The cliff above the baths allows a beautiful vista of the
town. A trip to the Mount of Malava (844 m, 1.5 hrs), which offers a wide view of the Prut
River valley, the Hutsul Beskid Mountains, and the Gorgany Mountains. A beautiful Ortho-
dox church built by the Hutsuls can be seen in Luh (5 km). Delatyn is a gateway to the ter-
ritory inhabited by the Hutsuls. ¶ Translated from: M. Orłowicz, Ilustrowany przewodnik
po Galicji (An Illustrated Guide to Galicia), Lwów 1919

The Jews of Delatyn ¶ The first to 1767. There were 87 Jews living
mention of Jews in Delatyn dates back in the town at that time, employed 273
A view of Delatyn, the as traders and craftsmen. In the 18th sawmills in town that belonged to Jew-
1930s, collection of the
National Library, Poland
century, many local Jews inspired by the ish families: the Blochs, the Fogels, the
(www.polona.pl) rumours of the upcoming redemption, Jagers, the Friedfertigs, and the Kleins.
joined the sect of the false messiach Jews such as Shlomo Bernstein owned
Sabbetai Zevi (1626–1676); there the Delatyn power plant and many
is even a legend that the Shabbetai other manufacturing facilities, while
personally visited the nearby town such as K. Belstein worked as doctors at
of Kolomyia, which of course never the local spa. ¶ There were two wooden
happened. In the 18th century, Delatyn synagogues in town, both destroyed
became the property of Count Potocki, by the Nazis. ¶ The rabbis serving
who fostered the economic development the community of Delatyn in the 19th
of the Jewish community by extending century included several outstanding
to them various lease-holding privileges, scholars such as Naftali Hersh Teomim,
including those for wood-cutting and Naftali Ehrlich, and Azriel Landau, and
lumber freight, alcohol production, and at the beginning of the 20th century
purveying of the troops and the count’s Yakov Hurwitz. In 1895–1910, there
court. ¶ In the 19th century, Delatyn was a Jewish school in Delatyn, headed
was a typical Galician shtetl. A sawmill by Chaim Bardach. ¶ During World
and a mill on the Peremyska River were War I, many soldiers from Delatyn
leased by Jewish entrepreneurs for more fought for the Austro-Hungarians. The
than a century. Delatyn aslo boasted Russian troops first captured Delatyn
Jewish farm-owners such as Dr. Janina in October 1914, yet the town changed
Bloch and Kopel Seinfeld, who were hands several times during the military
Delatyn

engaged in producing and selling grain. campaign. After the Russian offensive in
Lumber industry particularly flourished 1916 (known as the Brusilov Offensive),
274 in Delatyn. In 1929, there were four the front line ran along the Prut River.
Delatyn suffered a great deal: during the wooden) buildings were destroyed. Salt refinery in
Delatyn, 1917, collection
war, 80 percent of the town’s (mostly of the National Library,
Poland (www.polona.pl)
Chaim Bloch (1881–1973) was a rabbi, military chaplain, journalist, and Market square in
a writer who came from a well-known family of Jewish rabbis and scholars of Delatyn, about 1915, col-
lection of the National
Delatyn and Nadvirna and was a descendant of the founder of Hasidism, the Library, Poland (www.
Baal Shem Tov. He studied at a local yeshivah for a rabbinic degree, but when polona.pl)
the town was seized by the Russians, he moved to Vienna together with his wife
and children. From 1915, he served in the Austro-Hungarian army as a chaplain
serving the Jewish prisoners of war. During the war, he wrote Erinnerungen aus
einem Kriegsgefangenenlager (Ger.: Memories from a POW Camp), a unique
document shedding light on the plight of the Jewish soldiers during the war. In
1939, he emigrated to New York City. His book Der Prager Golem: Von seiner
“Geburt” bis zu seinem “Tod” (Ger.: The Golem of Prague: From “Birth” to
“Death,” 1920) was heavily based on Jewish folklore and retold the legend
of the Golem, an artificial being allegedly created by the 16th-century Rabbi
Loew (Maharal of Prague) in order to defend the medieval Jewish ghetto.

Notable residents ¶ In the interwar Among the local Hasidim, most followed
period, Delatyn maintained its status the tsaddikim (Hasidic masters) from
as a medical spa and water resort. Its Zhydachiv, Sadhora, and Vyzhnytsia.
Jewish inhabitants served as prominent Many Jews of the younger generation
lawyers, notaries, state officials, teachers, supported various forms of Zionism and
merchants, and also bank, restaurant joined a number of Jewish organisa-
café, and hardware store owners. Most tions and political parties, such as Poale
local Jews engaged in various crafts: they Zion and the Hashomer Hatzair youth
were tailors, carpenters, furriers, and movement. ¶ In present-day Delatyn,
butchers, but people of liberal profes- it is worthwhile to visit a brick house
sions. ¶ At the turn of the 19th century, established by the Jewish financier and
the majority of Jews in Delatyn were philanthropist, Baron Maurice de Hirsch
traditional, who eventually formed the and designed by architect Leon Borge-
core of the rising Orthodox movement. nischt. In 1932, it was renovated thanks 275
The centre of Delatyn, to the efforts of the Jewish cultural and the town and began to inspect the docu-
about 1930, collection
of the Local History
educational organisation Tarbut. The ments. The German authorities, under
Museum of Delatyn house hosted a library, a reading room, the pretence that Jews would be given
a club, and an apartment where the land, announced that Jews would have
director of the institution lived. to be registered. When all the Jews had
assembled to do this, they were brought
World War II and the Holocaust to a timber processing factory for selec-
¶ In September 1939, Polish govern- tion. From there, the elderly were taken
ment officials fleeing from the Germans to the Olkhovets wilderness and shot
to Romania fled through Delatyn. At dead, while young people were kept
the end of September, the Red Army for forced labor. Altogether 1,900 Jews
captured the town. The Soviets began were executed during this first Aktion.
deportations of Poles, Jews and Ukrain- Some Jews were rounded up and shot
ians engaged in national-democratic in Stanisławów (now Ivano-Frankivsk)
movements or belonging to a wrong class during the second Aktion. During the
(bourgeoisie) to Siberia and Kazakhstan. third Aktion, 200 Jews from the nearby
The arrival of the Hungarian and German Tatariv were murdered at the cemetery
troops in June and July 1941, marked the in Delatyn. The fourth Aktion took place
most tragic period in the history of the in March 1942, when 456 Jewish people
town’s Jewish community. In 1941–1943, were shot: first, almost 200 local Jews
more than 3,000 Jews were murdered in were arrested and then those from the
Delatyn

the Delatyn area. In July 1941, a Judenrat neighbouring villages and towns were
was set up. During an Aktion on October brought in. They were all taken to the
276 16, 1941, the Gestapo troops surrounded Jewish cemetery and executed. At the
end of 1942, 200 Jews from Delatyn and
the surrounding area were deported
to the Bełżec death camp. ¶ The fifth
and final mass execution operation was
carried out in November and December
1943. The Gestapo and soldiers of the
Vlasov army surrounded Delatyn at night
and started shelling. People who ran into
the street in panic were murdered. The
Nazis rounded up all the Jews in the town
centre, shot them randomly, loaded liv-
ing and dead into trucks and transported
them to the Olkhovets forest. Altogether,
712 Jews and 95 Ukrainians were mur-
dered in this fifth Aktion. At the end of
1943, the town was proclaimed Juden-
rein, “free of Jews.” The Nazis confiscated
and ravaged Jewish property. ¶ In March
1944, the Soviet army took control of
Delatyn, but in April the Nazis reclaimed
the town. Eventually, the Soviet rule was
reinstated on July 26, 1944. ¶ The mass
grave of local people shot in 1941–1943,
most of them of Jewish origin, is situated
in the Olkhovets forest, north of the
town. A monument commemorating
the victims, with an inscription in three
languages, marks the site. descendants, one in New York and the Olkhivtsi Colony –
the site of executions of
other in Israel. At the beginning of the Jews in 1941-1943, 2015.
The cemetery ¶ The only place where 1990s, the Dutch film director Willi Photo by Viktor Zagreba,
digital collection of the
traces of the Delatyn Jewish community Lindwer visited the town together with “Grodzka Gate – NN
have been preserved is the Jewish cem- his father, Berl Nuchim, whose family Theatre” Centre (www.
etery with several hundred matzevot. perished in Delatyn during the Holo- teatrnn.pl)

During Soviet times, it was not fenced caust. Lindwer’s documentary Return to Matzevot at the
and some gravestones were pillaged and My Shtetl Delatyn tells the story of a Jew- Jewish cemetery in
Delatyn, 2014. Photo
used to build roads. Today, the cemetery ish family and its community. One of the by Viktor Zagreba,
is fenced, some matzevot have been set protagonists is Anna Yosypchuk, a Jew- digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
up in their original places, and a com- ish woman who had married a Ukrain- Theatre” Centre (www.
memorative plaque has been placed on ian and became a Christian before the teatrnn.pl)

the gate. war, which saved her life during the Nazi
occupation. After the war, she became
Memory ¶ Today, there are two the Mayor of Delatyn.
associations of Delatyn Jews and their 277
 Worth Jewish cemetery (17th c.), Nezalezhnosti St. ¶ Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the
seeing Holy Mother of God (1620), 29 Kovpaka St. ¶ St. Francis Church (1865), 16 Lypnia St. ¶
Town hall. ¶ The Marko Cheremshyna Literary Memorial Museum, located in a villa built
in the so-called “Zakopane style,” where the writer lived in 1908–1912. ¶ The Local History
Museum of Delatyn, 247 16 Lypnia St, tel. +380672500365.

Surrounding Yaremche (8 km): the “Probiy,” ”Zhonka” (“Wifey”), and “Girls’ Tears” waterfalls; souve-
area nir markets; the Museum of Metropolitan Archbishop Andrey Sheptytsky; the Museum
of Ethnography and Ecology of the Carpathian Region; mineral water springs and health
resort. ¶ Nadvirna (12 km): Pniv Castle (16th c.); St. Vladimir Orthodox Church; ruins of
the citadel in the municipal park (19th c.). ¶ Solotvyn (35 km): a Jewish cemetery (18th c.).
¶ Kolomyia (37 km): a functioning synagogue (1848); the town hall (19th c.); the wooden
Orthodox Church of the Annunciation of the Mother of God (16th c.); the National Museum
of Hutsulshchyna and Pokuttya Folk Art.

DELATYN
Delatyn

278
Kosiv
Pol. Kosów, Ukr. Косів, Yid. ‫קאָסעוו‬ Between Kosiv and Kuty
There is a bridge
Where Baal Shem
Used to stroll…
A Hasidic song

Among the Hutsuls ¶ Kosiv is the fortalice, fortified noblemen’s residence

centre of the Galician Hutsulshchyna smaller and less imposing than the real
region, named after the Hutsuls, an fortress. The Kosiv fortalice dominated
autochthonous people of the Carpathian the town and served defensive purposes
mountains, cattle breeders and crafts- during the invasions of the Tatars and
men, whose folklore has been nurturing Turks as well as during the attacks of
and is still nurturing Hungarian music, other noblemen who sought to conquer
Romanian folklore, Polish art, and Kosiv and include its lands under their
Ukrainian literature. Kosiv is a moun- rule. ¶ When Kosiv and its surround-
tain town, situated on the edge of the ing lands became part of the Polish-
Ukrainian Carpathians in the valley Lithuanian Commonwealth, the town
of the Rybnytsia River, a tributary of acquired a status of the “crown lands”
the Prut. To the north, rising above it, (królewszczyzna) possessions. In the
is the Town Hill (432 m). ¶ The first 1579 tax register, the name “Koshov,
mention of Kosiv dates back to 1318, oppidum” (Koshov, a town) was used
when it was part of the Principality for the first time, along with the name
of Galicia-Volhynia. A century later, “Koshov, villa” (Koshov, a village). That
Lithuanian Duke Švitrigaila Algirdaitis document lists Kosiv as a private town
(son of Algirdas) granted the ownership owned by one Michał, whose last name
of the villages of Kosiv, Berezovo, and and rank in the feudal hierarchy remain
Żabie (Zhabie, now Verkhovyna) to his unknown. This private town near Stary
“faithful servant,” a Moldavian boyar (that is, Old) Kosiv together with four
named Vlad Dragosynovych. This event nearby villages formed a distinct Kosiv
is reflected in a document of August district. ¶ Kosiv prospered thanks to
31, 1424, composed in the Ruthenian the salt trade, which made it a tempt-
(one of the official languages of the ing target for raiders. In 1740, it was
Grand Duchy of Lithuania), a form of attacked by a gang of Oleksa Dovbush,
High Medieval Ukrainian. ¶ In the 17th a rebellious outcast who lived from
century, a wooden fortification was built 1700–1745 and who entered Ukrainian
at the top of Town Mountain. It was a  folklore as a champion of poor people’s 279
Kosiv, a panorama of
the town. Photo by
J. Jaroszyński, collection
of the Institute of Art of
the Polish Academy of
Sciences (PAN)

„
rights. In 1759, the nobleman Tadeusz town, called up a private army to defend
Dzieduszycki, the then owner of the Kosiv against such raids.

Once, the Baal Shem Tov – the Besht – asked Dovbush a question: ¶ – How
much longer do you plan to be a robber? Look, you have so much goodness and
love for all creation in you; can’t you settle down somewhere, work the land, build a house,
take a wife, have children, raise them and just live, as God commanded? Why do you
sin so? […] ¶ And Dovbush began to excuse himself: ¶ – What else can I do, holy man?
I grew too big and too healthy, and I was the only pride and joy of my mother, a widow.
In our mountains, no one knew how much evil there was out there. In our mountains, as
you know, there are no masters, we do not know what an overseer’s knout or whip is, our
backs are proudly erect, and we are free like eagles. The forest is ours, we cheerfully hunt
bears and deer; the meadows are ours, our sheep graze on them; you can hear the pipes,
flutes, and bagpipes that the shepherds play to while away the time on long sunny days.
¶ Then recruiters and commissioners came to conscript us, cut off our long curly hair, put
us in tight uniforms, and took us far from home, to Vienna, beyond the deep Danube,
where even ravens would not find our bones. They brought us to Kolomyia, where we were
guarded by soldiers. We talked long into the night, girded our loins, and then we attacked
the guards, tied them up, and ran away back to our mountains with their weapons. From
then on, we have been fighting them and their laws. Fighting to the death. The fight is
hard, and our life is bitter. ¶ Translated from: Dov Ber Horowitz, Dobosz (Dovbush) in:
Wunderleche mayses, Warsaw 1923

According to a late 18th-century census, families, and seven Roman Catholic

Kosiv

Kosiv comprised nearly 250 Greek families. ¶ With the First Partition of
280 Catholic families, more than 110 Jewish Poland (1772), Kosiv was incorporated
into the Habsburg Empire. Under form an independent community. Only
Austrian rule, in addition to the salt in the 18th century, a Jewish cemetery
industry, other crafts developed: carpet was established, indicating the grow-
weaving, wood-crafts, and ceramics. ing independence and prosperity of the
From 1850, Kosiv became a weaving local community able to negotiate its
centre, with its own Weaving Society own privileges with the town owner –
and a School of Weaving established and pay for them. Hoping to increase
in 1882. ¶ After the outbreak of World their revenues, the Jazłowiecki and
War I, Kosiv found itself under Russian Dzieduszycki families, the town owners,
occupation (1914–1915 and 1916–1917) issued trade and residential privileges
and was subject to pogroms and pil- encouraging Jewish merchants and
laging. In November 1918, it fell under craftsmen to settle in Kosiv. Gradually,
the rule of the West Ukrainian People’s the town centre became home to Jewish
Republic, and after May 26, 1919, came merchants and Jewish leaseholders of
under Romanian occupation. In August, salt refineries, mills, landed estates, and
1919, along with the surrounding towns, inns. ¶ In the second half of the 18th
Kosiv was incorporated into the Repub- century, the Hasidim, Jewish pietists and
lic of Poland. ¶ In the interwar period, mystically-oriented religious enthusi-
a number of Ukrainian associations and asts, settled in Kosiv. They joined the
political groupings were established old-generation pietists, called today the
in Kosiv – both legal (e.g. the Society “small-case hassidim” – ascetic Kab-
of Stone Cutters, the boy-scout “Plast,” balists who had here their own koyz,
and the Ukrainian Women’s Alliance) an exclusive prayer and study house for
and illegal (the OUN, Organisation of members of the pietistic elite. Among
Ukrainian Nationalists; and the CPWU, the town’s residents there were old and
the Communist Party of Western new religious enthusiasts, such as Rabbi
Ukraine). Other organisations were also Nachman (d. 1746), Rabbi Baruch ben
active, including the Polish Society of Abraham (d. 1782), and Rabbi Mena-
Friends of Hutsulshchyna, the Jewish chem Mendel (d. 1825). Between 1790
“Merkaz Ruchani” (Spiritual Center) and and 1942, the town rabbis were mostly
the Maccabee Sports Club. Kosiv had of Hasidic descent and relatives of Rabbi
guest houses that could accommodate Yaakov Kopl Hosid (Yaakov Kopl ben
as many as 3,000 people a year, and Nechemia Feivel, known as “Hasid from
eventually it became a mountain health Kolomyia,” d. 1787), a disciple of the
resort. It was precisely this transforma- founder of Hasidism, the Baal Shem Tov,
tion that, in 1938, led to the failure of (known as the Besht), who had a beauti-
the salt refinery, which had earlier been ful voice and also served as a hazzan
the driving force behind the economic (synagogue cantor). ¶ As the legend has
development of Kosiv. it, in the 1720s, the founder of Hasidism,
Baal Shem Tov, lived in solitude in a cave
The Jews of Kosiv ¶ Most likely, by the lake near Kosiv. For seven years,
Jews settled in Kosiv as early as the 16th he prayed and meditated there, but also
or early 17th century, but they did not carried out hard physical work – he cut 281
 wood, prepared charcoal which his wife a living. This episode is reflected in an
was selling in nearby villages to make old Hasidic Yiddish song:

Fun Kosew biz Kitew Between Kosiv and Kuty

Iz a brikele faranen There is a bridge
Awu der Bal-Szem, awu der Bal-Szem Where Baal Shem
Szpacirn iz geganen… Used to stroll…

Fun Kosew biz Kitew Between Kosiv and Kuty

Iz a tajchele faranen There is a river
Awu der Bal-Szem, awu der Bal-Szem In which Baal Shem
Zich tojwlen iz geganen… Would perform ritual ablutions…

Fun Kosew biz Kitew Between Kosiv and Kuty

Iz a weldele faranen There is a forest
Awu der Bal-Szem, awu der Bal-Szem Where Baal Shem
Af hisbojdedes iz geganen… Went to be alone and pray

Fun Kosew biz Kitew Between Kosiv and Kuty

Zajnen fejgelech faranen There are birds
Awu der Bal-Szem, awu der Bal-Szem That Baal Shem
Lernen szire iz geganen… Visited to learn songs…

One of the Hasidic legends in Sefer baal Shem Tov) hassidim established
Shivchei haBesht (Hebr.: Book in their own prayer houses (kloyzn), where
Praise of Baal Shem Tov, 1814) tells of they used a kabbalistic prayer book of
a meeting in the mountains near Kosiv the safed Kabbalist Isaak Luria (known
between the Besht and the infamous as Arizal). There were three such kloyzn
bandit Oleksa Dovbush: one day, the in Kosiv. Later in the 18th century, the
great tzadik helped Dovbush escape Beshtian Hasidim settled in Kosiv and
from Hajduk soldiers by showing him established a dynasty of tsaddikim
a path through a mountain gorge. The which also gave rise to an important
grateful outlaw presented him with Vyzhnytsia Hasidic dynasty (which
a pipe, which the Baal Shem Tov is said emerged in the nearby Vyzhnytsia).
to have used until the end of his days, After the Holocaust, the leaders of these
walking among people “always with two dynasties moved to Israel (Safed)
a pipe in his mouth.” and to the USA (New York), where they
established sizeable ultra-Orthodox
Synagogues and kloyzn ¶ The communites. ¶ In fact, all the prayer
first Kabbalistic groups of pietists houses in Kosiv belonged to the Hasidic
emerged in Kosiv and in the neigh- community. A wooden kloyz was built
Kosiv

bouring town of Kuty in the early 18th there at the end of the 18th century,
282 century. These pre-Beshtian (before the around the same time that the Jewish
 The market square in
Kosiv, 1904–1906, col-
lection of the National
Library, Poland (www.
polona.pl)

cemetery was established. Today, it is that in the late 19th century served as
difficult to determine exactly where the a residence of the Hager Dynasty. Today,
first synagogue was located. It is certain, it is the building at 55 Nezalezhnosti St.,
however, that a kloyz of the tsaddik the and it houses the ethnographic Museum
Hager family was built near the road of Hutsul Folk Art.
to Kolomyia. The construction of this
edifice, which could seat 200 people, was At the turn of the century ¶ In
financed by Nathan Bender, a merchant 1880, the Jewish community in Kosiv
and commercial agent from Zabolotiv. numbered more than 2,000 people
¶ The central Hasidic kloyz in Kosiv was and made up 78 percent of the town’s
situated somewhere near the today’s population. In 1898, a local branch of
126 Nezalezhnosti St. It was a one-floor the Agudat Zion was established, and
building with thick brick walls. The the same year also saw the opening of
prayer hall was decorated with floral a vocational training school – it taught
wood-carved gilded ornamentation. various crafts and was funded by the Jew-
¶ On the evening of October 17, 1941, ish financier and philanthropist Baron
the kloyz was set on fire by the Nazis Maurice de Hirsch. In 1909, the Agudat
as part of the first large anti-Jewish Zion set up the “Safa Brura” school, with
Aktion; seven days earlier they had shot Hebrew as the main language of instruc-
dead seven Jews seeking refuge in the tion. In 1938, a Jewish secondary school
building. The building burnt down but was opened. ¶ Zionists became active in
the walls remained. Another synagogue, Kosiv after World War I, setting up their
which also served as a cheder (elemen- own organisations and encouraging the
tary school), has survived to this day local Jewish population to emigrate to
and is now the seat of a municipal office. Palestine. ¶ In 1921, the Jewish com-
Near the synagogue, there is a building munity of Kosiv numbered more than 283
 actively promoting a healthy way of life
and even had its own football team.
Between 1934 and 1936, the Kosover
Shtyme newspaper (Yid.: The Voice of
Kosiv) was published.

World War II and the Holocaust

¶ On September 22, 1939, the Red Army
occupied Kosiv. The Soviet authori-
ties opened the Industrial School of
Hutsul Art, based on the former School
of Weaving. But at the same time,
harsh measures were taken against the
local population. Jewish social institu-
tions and political organisations were
disbanded, but at the same time, the
number of Jews in Kosiv increased due to
an influx of refugees from Nazi-occupied
Poland: in 1941, there were about 4,000
Jews in the town. At the beginning of the
Soviet-German war in the summer of
1941, Hungarian forces allied with the
Third Reich were the first to enter Kosiv;
Pre-war Jewish 2,166 people out of a total of 4,234. Dr. on July 1, 1941, they took over the town.
houses in Kosiv,
Nezalezhnosti St., 2014.
Jacob Gertner (1892–1941), of Jewish The Hungarians had a relatively tolerant
Photo by Viktor Zagreba, descent, served as the Mayor of Kosiv in attitude towards the Jewish population,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
1929–1934, and Jews constituted half of they submitted to the German racial laws
Theatre” Centre (www. the members of the municipal council. ¶ but did not support mass executions
teatrnn.pl) of the Jews. However, in August 1941,
In the interwar period, Kosiv flourished
Former rabbi’s economically. In 1928, some 40 weavers Kosiv fell under the rule of the Germans,
house in Kosiv, currently who instituted a regime of mass terror.
housing an ethnographic
established a carpet-weaving coopera-
museum, 2014. Photo tive. A year later, a Jewish Cooperative On August 16–17, 1941, the first Aktion
by Viktor Zagreba, Bank was opened. Jews also owned the took place, in which half of the Jewish
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN “Hutsul workshop” (belonging Gilman) population of Kosiv was executed point-
Theatre” Centre (www. and knitwear establishments (belonging blank as part of what today is known as
teatrnn.pl)
to Schneiberg and Gund). ¶ The Zion- the Holocaust by bullets. In April 1942,
ists became increasingly influential in 600 Jews were transported to Kolomyia,
the 1920s and ‘30s, with various Zionist while others were murdered in the
parties and branches of youth move- Sheparovski Forest. In the fall 1941,
ments such as Hashomer Hatzair (Heb.: more than 10,000 Jews from Kosiv and
The Young Guard) and Hanoar Hatzioni neighbouring towns and villages were
Kosiv

(Heb.: The Zionist Youth) established killed. In May 1942, a ghetto was estab-
284 in town. The Maccabee Sports Club was lished in Kosiv, and in September 1942,
all the prisoners, except skilled crafts-
men and men able to do construction
work, were either killed or transferred
to the Bełżec death camp. In November
1942, Kosiv was proclaimed Judenrein,
“free of Jews.” Today, on Town Hill, there
is a memorial to the victims of the Nazi
regime. The mass graves of those killed
in the Nazi Aktions of 1941–1942 can be
found some 150–200 metres from the
Jewish cemetery, on the site of the for-
mer castle. In 1992, a memorial plaque
was established there, marking the place
as a burial ground for Kosiv’s Jews. ¶
During the war, the Ukrainian Insurgent
Army (UPA) was active in the mountains
around Kosiv. Soviet forces returned to
Kosiv on March 31, 1944. For several
months, the town was on the front line
and suffered heavy destruction.

Post-war period ¶ The end of World

War II saw Ukraine incorporated into
the USSR and marked the beginning of
a new Soviet era in Kosiv’s history, the
so-called “second Soviets,” which lasted The cemetery ¶ The first Jewish Jewish cemetery
in Kosiv, 2014. Photo
until 1991 when Kosiv became part of cemetery in Kosiv was set up in the 18th by Viktor Zagreba,
the independent Ukraine. Under the century on the side of Town Hill (behind digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Soviets, the town’s spa facilities fell into the building at 42 Nezalezhnosti St.). Theatre” Centre (www.
decline; instead, much folk crafts expe- Covering an area of approx. one hectare teatrnn.pl)
rienced a revival. New Shevchenko and (2.5 acres), it contains several hundred Graves of Hasidic
Franko kylym (Ukr.: for tapestry and matzevot and the tombs of the impor- rabbis at the Jewish
carpet) workshops were established and tant Hasidic rabbis of the Hager dynasty. cemetery in Kosiv, 2014.
Photo by Viktor Zagreba,
the “Hutsulshchyna” sculpture studio Among the oldest legible gravestones are digital collection of the
was opened. In 2001, Kosiv was listed as those of Baruch, son of Abram (d. 1779); “Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
one of the Historical Towns of Ukraine. Sarah, daughter of Abram (d. 1783); and teatrnn.pl)
Today, it has a population of more than Menachem Mendel, son of Yaakov Kopl
8,000, but there is no Jewish community. (d. 1825).

285
 Worth Jewish cemetery (18th c.), O. Kobylanskoi St. ¶ Museum of Hutsul Folk Art and Life
seeing (located in the former rabbi’s house), 51 Nezalezhnosti St. ¶ Town Mountain, ruins of
a reinforced fortalice from the 16th–17th c. ¶ Burial mound from the Roman period (3rd–
4th c. AD) in the suburban village of Vezhbovets. ¶ Orthodox Church of the Nativity St.
John the Baptist (1912), built of wood in the Hutsul style. ¶ Chapel (1866) located at the
Polish cemetery; it had served as the main Catholic church before a new one was built.

Surrounding Horod: a rock fortress from the times of the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia. ¶ Huk:
area a waterfall on the Rybnytsa River near Kosiv (2.5 metres high). ¶ Kuty (12 km): a Jewish
cemetery (18th c.) with over 2,000 matzevot. ¶ Vyzhnytsia (12 km): 3 buildings of former
synagogues (19th–20th c.); the 19th-c. house of the Vizhnitser tsaddik; a Jewish cemetery
with over 1,000 matzevot; the legendary natural mikve of the Baal Shem Tov on the River
Vizhenka. ¶ Yabluniv (17 km): a Jewish cemetery (17th c.). ¶ Sniatyn (43 km): a former
synagogue (19th c.); a Jewish cemetery (18th c.); a church (1721); a town hall (1861). ¶
Chernivtsi (78 km): the capital of Bukovina; the Museum of the History and Culture of
Bukovinian Jews; the Tempel (Progressive Synagogue, 19th c.); numerous monuments,
Catholic and Orthodox churches, and museums; the palace of the tsaddik of Ruzhin in
Sadhora (now district of Chernivtsi); the Jewish cemetery (19th–20th c.) with the gravesites
of the tsaddik of Ruzhin (Israel Friedman) and key literary and political Jewish fgures of the
first half of the 20th c., including the fable-writing poet Eliezer Shteynabrg (1880–1932).

Kosiv
Kosiv

286
Chortkiv
Pol. Czortków, Ukr. Чортків, Yid. ‫טשאָרטקעוו‬ The writer – Karl Emil
From Chortkiv, at the Bristol directly from Berlin
Dropped by just like that – to no one in particular
On the Seret – milk-and-honey-coloured
yellow clay of white bread
Vasyl Makhno, For Chortkiv

On the banks of the Seret ¶ Bohdan Khmelnytsky’s Cossacks during

The first written mention of Chortkiv the bloody and devastating Cossack
(Czortków) dates back to 1427, when revolution. As a result of the Ottoman
the nobility of Ruthenia gathered for Porta invasion, in 1672–1683, the town
a sejmik (diminutive of Sejm, regional was part of Podolia Eyalet (palatinate)
diet) that was attended by the nobleman reporting to Istanbul. It was not until
Jan Prandota. King Władysław Jagiełło 1683 that royal forces drove the Turks
awarded him with lands at the Seret away from Chortkiv. ¶ The castle as
River as a reward for his heroism in the a fortification lost its military signifi-
Battle of Grunwald (1410), in which cance in the 18th century and from then
Polish and Lithuanian troops defeated on served only as a residential palace.
the Teutonic Knights. Prandota came In 1809, the mercantilist-oriented town
from the village of Czartki in Sieradz owners transformed the castle into
Voivodeship (Palatinate), and he named a tobacco drying facility; soon after, the
the centre of his new estate Czartków in Austrian government, which leased the
memory of his far-off home village. With castle, used it as a warehouse and from
time, Jan’s descendants changed their 1815, as a prison. The last owner of the
family name to Czartkowski. ¶ In 1522, castle was Hieronim Sadowski, who left
King Sigismund I granted the large it to charity when he died in 1895. It was
village of Czortków municipal rights, eventually purchased by the founder of
and in the same year, Jerzy Czartkowski the Chortkover Hasidic dynasty, Rabbi
built a wooden castle here. In 1610, Moshe Dovid Friedman, the son of the
Stanisław Golski, Voivode of Ruthenia tsaddik of Ruzhin, who had established
and Castellan of Halych began to build his headquarters in Sadhora near Czer-
a stone castle here. After the death of nowitz (today Chernivtsi).
Stanisław Golski and his brother Jan,
the castle and the town became the The Jews of Chortkiv ¶ The first
property of Count Stefan Potocki. Three Jews settled in Chortkiv soon after the
times – in 1648, 1649, and 1655 – town was established. Rabbi Beniamin
Chortkiv and its castle were captured by Selnik (1555–1620) of Podhorce (now 287
 The municipal
marketplace in Chortkiv,
1908, collection of the
National Library, Poland
(www.polona.pl)

Pidhirtsi) mentioned in his book Masa’at Mikulov in the Czech Republic) – one of
Beniamin – the Travel of Binyamin – the most eminent Hasidic leaders, the
that the Jews of Chortkiv had come here disciple of Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mez-
as wine traders and that the wine trade herich, and the Chief Rabbi of Moravia.
was one of their main occupations. The Tzvi Hirsch’s other son, Rabbi Pinkas,
memorial book of Chortkiv mentions became Chief Rabbi of Frankfurt am
a matzevah dating back to 1616. ¶ By Main. ¶ In 1722, Count Stefan Potocki
the mid-17th century, about 50 Jewish officially granted the Jews a privilege
families lived in Chortkiv. A collection of allowing them to settle in town without
short stories and ethnographic materi- restrictions, to build houses, and to work
als gathered by A. Litwin (real name: in trade and crafts. At the same time,
Shmuel Horowitz, 1862–1943), titled the Jews were also obliged to renovate
Yiddishe neshomes (Yid.: Jewish Souls, the castle and repair the roads as well as
vol. 5, 1917), reports that in 1645, Jews to defend them if necessary. That year
were accused of collaboration with the the Chortkiv Jewish families owned 110
Cossacks and expelled from the town to houses, while Christians had 142. ¶ In
a suburb known since then as Vygnanka 1789, the Austrian authorities enforced
(from the Ukrainian “exile,” one of the the implementation of the 1782 Joseph
Jewish quarters was established there II’s Edicts of Tolerance and eliminated
later). ¶ In the late 17th century, the Jew- the autonomous Jewish communal
ish community in Chortkiv experienced self-government (kahal) in Galicia. The
a  revival and it came to be associated imperial authorities conducted a census
with the names of two eminent experts and ordered that the Jews should adopt
on Jewish law: Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Halevi German surnames. In 1797, Chortkiv’s
Horowitz (known as Rabbi Hirsheli) and Jews owned 121 houses, compared to
Chortkiv

Rabbi Segal of Lviv. Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch’s 232 owned by Christians. In 1848, in
son Shmuel Horowitz became famous the wake of the Spring of Nations, the
288 as Shmelke of Nikolsburg (currently authorities allowed Jews to work as
clerks at the local government offices
and courts of law, and also to study
and practise law and medicine. Thus,
the Jews of Chorkiv could enter liberal
professions.

Cemeteries ¶ There were three Jewish

cemeteries in Chortkiv, and all of them
have partially survived to the present
day. The best preserved is located on the
Vygnanka Hill, off Kopychynetskoi Pro-
vulok St., near the bridge over the Seret
River and the bus station. That cemetery
was probably founded in the early 1920s.
There still remain a few dozen matzevot
from the 1930s; a small memorial
lapidarium has been built near its edge.
At the rear of the Christian cemetery on
Bandery St. there is a Jewish cemetery,
which functioned in 1914–1926, and
where many Jewish victims of influenza
and other epidemics were buried. A part
of the wall and fragments of matzevot
have survived there too. A municipal
hospital now stands on the site of the Goldkremer, who designed the building, The municipal
marketplace in Chortkiv,
old Jewish cemetery (near Nezalezhnosti modelled it on the Sadhora residence 1918, collection of the
St.), established in the early 17th century. of Rabbi Israel Friedman, the tsaddik National Library, Poland
(www.polona.pl)
Only one gravesite marker can be found of Ruzhin, adding to the kloyz annexes
there – a modern one, erected several with oriental-style turrets. In Soviet The market square
times, and until 2013, the building in Chortkiv, after
years ago, commemorating the Tsaddik 1918, collection of the
Moshe Dovid Friedman. housed a Young Mechanics’ Club. National Library, Poland
(www.polona.pl)

Synagogues and kloyzn ¶ The Chortkover Rebbe ¶ In 1870, Rabbi

oldest surviving synagogue in Chortkiv Dovid Moshe Friedman (1827–1904),
was built in 1680. It still stands in the the son of Israel Friedman of Ruzhyn,
central part of the town, on the premises the tsadik of Sadhora (Sadagura or
of the Medical College (Petrushevycha Sadigura), near Chernivtsi, settled in
St.), but it is used as a warehouse. The Chortkiv. The town eventually became
New Synagogue, erected in 1905–1909, the residence of the Chortkiv branch of
incorporated the Hasidic kloyz that had the Ruzhin–Sadigura Hasidic dynasty.
been built in 1870 and was later con- ¶ The tsaddik Dovid Moshe Friedman
verted into a tsaddik’s palace with a large was by all accounts a humble and kind-
prayer hall. The Viennese architect Hans hearted man and soon gathered around 289
 The soap works belong-
ing to the family of Berl
Dov Sharfstein. Standing
second from the left is
his son, Zvi Sharfstein,
who left for Israel in
the 1930s. Chortkiv, circa
1928, collection of Beit
Hatfutsot, The Museum
of the Jewish People,
Photo Archive, Tel Aviv,
Zvi Sharfstein’s legacy

himself one of the largest Hasidic groups leadership, simultaneously fighting the
in Galicia. The Czortkover Rebbe, as he staunch opponents of Hasidism such
came to be known, lived an ascetic life, as Rabbi Meir Shapira (1887–1933),
devoting himself entirely to prayer and the founder of the Chachmei Lublin
learning, day and night. The Hasidim Yeshivah (Heb.: The Wise Men of Lublin
told wonder-stories about him, portray- Yeshiva). The representatives of the
ing him as a person able to live without Czortkover dynasty moved to Israel and
sleeping, eating, and drinking for several re-established themselves there. The
days showing no signs of weakness. He third tsaddik of Chortkiv – Nachum
avoided worldly matters and distanced Mordechai – died in Israel in 1946.
himself from the problems of the
community, yet he had considerable From France to Chortkiv and
standing among its members. His elder from Chortkiv to France ¶ In the
brother Avraam Yaakov (1820–1883) 18th century, an international merchant
described him thus: “I have never seen Lefert arrived in Galicia from France.
such a pious Jew before.” During prayer, An adherent of the rising Haskalah, he
Rabbi Dovid Moshe would experi- came from a family of Sephardic Jews
ence ecstatic moments; he would say: but considered himself a German. The
“[…] inside a tsaddik there is a burn- Austrian authorities, however, gave him
ing fire, which sometimes escapes the surname of Franzos, because of his
outside. Just like water flows out of country of origin. His son Heinrich
an overfilled vessel, the righteous one worked in Chortkiv as a physician and
expresses himself through that excess took part in the revolutionary events of
of holiness, so that people can see that 1848. Heinrich’s son Karl Emil Franzos
Chortkiv

holiness and believe in him.” His son (1848–1904) was born in Chortkiv;
Israel (1854–1934) continued Dovid eventually, he become an eminent writer
290 Moshe Friedman’s tradition of Hasidic and translator of German literature. Karl
Emil attended the Dominican school in
Chortkiv, but he took private Hebrew
lessons and also mastered Polish and
Ukrainian. After his father’s death in
1858, he moved with his mother to
Chernivtsi (then Czernowitz) and then
studied law at the University of Vienna
and the University of Graz. He wrote
substantially about the life of Ukrainian
peasants and Ukrainian-Jewish rela-
tions, and he won renown after publish-
ing travel notes from Russia, Central
Europe, and Turkey. Franzos coined the
term “Halb-Asien” (Ger.: Semi-Asia),
which he used to portray Galicia, which
he saw immersed in poverty, backward-
ness, and “squalid provincialism.” In his
collection of short stories Die Juden von
Barnow (Ger.: The Jews of Baranov), one
of the first attempts to create a model
Jewish shtetl, the fictional provincial
town of Baranov resembles the Jew-
ish Chortkiv – the town of the author’s
childhood. ¶ Sasha Blonder (1909–
1949), an acclaimed artist, was born into
a merchant’s family of modest means in
Chortkiv, and left for France as a young
man. It was in Chortkiv that he began of artistic groups named “Żywi” (Pol.: Former New Syna-
gogue in Chortkiv, 2014.
painting and became the leader of a local Alive) and “Grupa Krakowska” (Pol.: the Photo by Viktor Zagreba,
group of artists. His works frequently Cracovian Group). He probably visited digital collection of the
his father and brother in Chortkiv for “Grodzka Gate – NN
include references to his home town: he Theatre” Centre (www.
oftentimes depicted local synagogues or the last time in 1935, two years before he teatrnn.pl)
the quiet yards and streets of old Chort- moved definitively to Paris. During the The tomb of Tzadik
kiv. In 1930, Blonder’s parents managed Nazi occupation in France, Blonder was David Moshe Friedman
to send the talented young man to Paris active in the resistance movement and at the Jewish cemetery
in Chortkiv, 2014. Photo
to study architecture. There, his artistic in 1942 began to sign his paintings with by Viktor Zagreba,
taste was strongly influenced by the the pseudonym “André Blondel.” digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
works of Chagall, Soutine, Modigliani, Theatre” Centre (www.
Bonnard, and other masters of avant- World War II and the Holocaust teatrnn.pl)

garde and Paris School painting. Blonder ¶ In 1939, there were about 5,000 Jews
gave up architecture to study painting at among the 12,000 residents of Chort-
the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow. In kiv (then Czortków). In September
Cracow, he became one of the founders 1939, Jewish and Polish refugees began 291
 Wonder-working Rabbi
Israel Friedman of
Chortkiv (with a long
grey beard, in the train
car window) returning
from Karlsbad, May
1931, collection of the
National Digital Archives,
Poland

arriving in thousands from western and Buchach. Jewish policemen were

Poland. The town was soon captured also deported from Chortkiv at that
by the Red Army; then, on July 6, 1941, time. This transport was sent to Bełżec,
the Nazis occupied the town and, as in but it stopped first in Lviv, where the
many other places, established their Germans carried out a selection: about
New Order by orchestrating a pogrom. 1,000 people (out of the 6,000 Jews in
The Nazis established a Judenrat, but the entire transport) were taken off and
a month later, they shot the Judenrat moved to the labour camp in Janowska
members in the Black Forest, near the Street; they were replaced on the train
town, along with several hundred other with the same number of Jews classi-
representatives of the Jewish intel- fied by SS as unfit to work. In December
ligentsia. From July to October 1941, 1942, the Germans set up a labour camp
more than 650 Jews were murdered in for over 500 local artisans in Chortkiv’s
Chortkiv. In April 1942, the Germans Talmud Torah building. The workers
established a ghetto that encompassed faced hunger and other privations there
Rzeźnicka, Składowa, Łazienna, Szkolna, but were safe from the round-ups. When
and Podolska Streets. On August 26–27, the ghetto was liquidated on June 17,
1942, the first deportation operation 1943, about 2,000 people were executed.
took place: 2,120 people were sent At the same time, there was an attempt
to the Bełżec death camp, including at resistance. A group of Jews hidden in
Jews from Chortkiv, Yagilnitsa (Jagiel- bomb shelters used weapons against the
nica) and Tovste (Tłuste); 350 people Germans. Their attempt failed, however,
were killed on the spot. On 5 October, and all of them were killed. On June 23,
another deportation was carried out 1943, the labour camp in the Talmud
Chortkiv

– 500 Jews from Chortkiv were added Torah building was also liquidated. The
to a transport of people from Terno- Nazis carried out selection, sending one
292 pil, Tovste, Yagilnitsa, Monastyryska, group, classified as unfit to work, to be
shot dead in the Black Forest. The others Christians and therefore survived the
were sent to the nearby labour camps. war. ¶ In 2005, a memorial was estab-
A few dozen survived there until the lished at the mass grave site in the Black
arrival of the Red Army in June 1944. Forest (near the road to Kopychyntsi).
Other Jews in the area were hidden by

Former old synagogue (17th c.), Petrushevycha St. ¶ Former new synagogue (19th c.), Worth
Shevchenka St. ¶ Jewish cemeteries (17th–20th c.), Nezalezhnosti St., Kopychynetskoi Pro- seeing
vulok St., Bandery St. ¶ Chortkiv Castle (1522–1610), Zamkova St. ¶ Dominican Church
of St. Stanislaus (early 20th c.), 2 Shevchenka St. ¶ Greek Catholic Church of the Ascen-
sion (wooden, 1717), Zaliznychna St. ¶ Orthodox Church of the Dormition of the Blessed
Virgin Mary (1635), Tserkovna St. ¶ “Old Town Hall” (2nd half of the 19th c.), fachwerk-
style cloth hall (sukiennice) in the market square. ¶ “New Town Hall” (1926–1930). ¶ Local
History Museum, 3 Zelena St.

Kopychyntsi (17 km): a former synagogue (19th c.), a wooden Greek Catholic church Surrounding
(1630), a church (1802), Folk House (1910). ¶ Probizhna (18 km): a former synagogue area
(19th c.). ¶ Husiatyn (38 km): former fortified synagogue (17th c.), tombs of tsaddikim
of the Friedman family
(renovated in 2007), the Chortkiv
Greek Catholic Church of
St. Onuphrius (16th c.),
Church of St. Anthony
(1610). ¶ Skala-Podilska
(38 km): a Jewish cem-
etery (16th c.), ruins of
the castle (14th c.), the
Church of the Dormition
of the Blessed Virgin
Mary (1719), the Greek
Catholic Church of St.
Nicholas (19th c.) ¶ Zal-
ishchyky (48 km): a for-
mer synagogue (19th c.),
Church of St. Stanislaus
(18th c.), the Poniatowski
Palace (18th c.). ¶ Horo-
denka (56 km): a former
synagogue (18th c.),
a Jewish cemetery
(18th c.), Theatine church
and monastery (18th c.).
293
 Buchach
Pol. Buczacz, Ukr. Бучач, When they left the House of Study, the whole town was already
Yid. ‫בעטשאַטש‬ deep in slumber. […]
Buczacz lies on a mountain, and it seemed as though the stars
were bound to her rooftops. Suddenly the moon came out and
lit up all the town. The river Stripa, which had previously been
covered by darkness, suddenly gleamed silver…
Shmuel Yosef Agnon, In the Heart of the Seas
(Hebr.: Bi-levav yamim), 1948, trans. by I.M. Lask

The relentless ¶ Buchach is situated in The fortress had four corner towers and
the valley of the Strypa River, surrounded three gates: the Halych Gate, Lviv Gate,
by three hills: Zamkova, Targovitsa, and and Yazlovets Gate. The reinforced, con-
Fedor. The town’s name probably derives tantly renovated fortifications, however,
from the Old Ruthenian word bucha, could not protect the town from total
which meant a swiftly flowing river or destruction. In 1676, during the Turkish
depth, or from a different Old Ruthenian siege commanded by Ibrahim Pasha,
word, buch, meaning “haughty” or “tena- a skilled Ottoman military leader, the
cious.” ¶ In 1393, Buchach was granted town was almost completely desroyed. In
Magdeburg rights by King Władysław 1672, the Polish-Lithuanian Common-
Jagiełło. Initially, the town was the wealth was forced to sign a treaty with
property of the Buczacki family, but in the Ottoman Empire that later came to be
the 17th century, the Potocki magnates known as the Treaty of Buchach: under
became the new owners. The town was this treaty the city was divided between
intensively developed during the rule the two countries, Poland and the Otto-
of Count Stefan Potocki, the Voivode man Porta, along the Strypa River. In
of Bratslav (1624–1648). Situated on 1684, the owner of Buchach, Jan Potocki,
a borderland constantly threatened by once again restored the fortress and
the gangs of nomads, then by Tatars and thoroughly rebuilt the town. Later, his
later by the Ottomans, Buchach needed successor Mikołaj Bazyli Potocki (1712–
substantial fortifications to defend itself. 1782) invited the architect Bernard
The early modern border between the Meretyn and sculptor Jan Jerzy Pinzel to
Ottoman Empire and the Polish-Lithu- Buchach, where they created a number
anian Crown ran between Buchach and of unique late Baroque buildings: the
Lwów (Lviv), putting Buchach exactly on town hall (1751), the Basilian monastery
the frontline of several Ottoman military (1751–1753), the parish church (1761),
campains against Poland and Austria. In adorned with exquisite Pinzel sculptures.
Buchach

the 17th century, Buchach became a pow- With the First Partition of Poland (1772),
erful city-fortress with walls, fortified Buchach became part of the Habsburg
294 ramparts, ditches, and a castle on a hill. Empire. In 1874, the first municipal
election was held: among the 30 council- brewery and winery, and a factory manu-
lors elected to serve at the magistrate, facturing wooden toys. ¶ During World
there were 12 Jews, 9 Ukrainians, and War I, the Tsar’s troops stayed in Buchach
9 Poles. ¶ The construction of a railway from August 15, 1914, to July 1917, and
line running through Buchach in 1884 during this period, set fire to the town.
(Stanisławów–Jarmolińce, now Ivano- From November 2, 1918, until July 1919,
Frankivsk–Yarmolyntsi) helped make Buchach was part of the West Ukrainian
the town one of the largest commercial People’s Republic (ZUNR). From August
centres in Galicia. In the second half of 15 to September 18, 1920, the town
the 19th century, Buchach boosted four was occupied by the Bolsheviks, and in

„
mills, a textile factory, a factory manu- 1920–1939, it was part of the Second
facturing candles and soap, an alcohol Polish Republic.

One of the company said, I never in all my life knew that this town was so pleas-
ant. It seems to me that there is nowhere in the world a town as pleasant as ours.
That, responded his companion, is just what occurred to me this very moment. Every city,
remarked Rabbi Alter the slaughterer, in which decent and pleasant people live is decent
and pleasant. ¶ Shmuel Yosef Agnon, In the Heart of the Seas (Hebr.: Bi-levav Yamim),
1948, trans. by I.M. Lask

The Jews of Buchach ¶ The first Jews’ residential privilege as well as their
written mention of Jews in Buchach other rights and duties, issued by the
dates back to 1572, when 14 Jewish previous Polish town owners. The Jewish
families lived in the town. Until 1664, community was also allowed to establish
the Jewish community formed a sub- its own rabbinical court. ¶ By 1870, some
kahal of the Lwów kahal, as it was not 6,077 Jewish residents made up 78 per-
numerous and powerful enough to afford cent of the total population. They worked
an autonomous Jewish self-governing in various trades (as tailors, shoemakers,
institution. Only after the establishment furriers, etc.) and in commerce – in 1864,
of Turkish rule in 1672 did the Jews of there were 158 Jewish stores.
Buchach manage to establish an inde-
pendent kahal. ¶ The new Polish owners Synagogues ¶ In 1728, a stone
of Buchach – the Potockis family of synagogue was erected in the centre
magnates – supported the development of the town. It had massive fortifica-
of trade and protected Jewish merchants, tion-type walls. In the 19th century,
but not without selfish commercial 12 Jewish religious institutions were
interest. In the 17th century, the town had active in Buchach: a synagogue, two
a synagogue, a beth midrash, and a Jewish batei midrash, two Hasidic kloyzn, and
hospital, and by the end of the century, several shtiblakh (small prayer houses).
was home to 150 Jewish families. ¶ After The synagogue, like other buildings in
Buchach returned to the Polish-Lithua- Buchach, sustained heavy damage dur-
nian Commonwealth, on May 20, 1699, ing World War II yet was destroyed by
Stefan Aleksander Potocki confirmed the the Soviet authorities along with other 295
Buchach, general view
of the town, before 1918.
Photo by Nussenbaum,
collection of the
National Library, Poland
(www.polona.pl)

damaged buildings in the late 1940s. supporting Polish political interests and
The beth midrash building that had been Jewish assimilation into Polish culture
located next to the synagogue’s entrance and society. In 1919, he was elected to
was dismantled in 2001. the Sejm (parliament) of the Second
Polish Republic as a candidate of the
Religion and politics ¶ In 1813, the Constitutional Labour Club, but his par-
position of the town rabbi of Buchach liamentary career was cut short by his
was offered to the famous Galician death. ¶ Several other Jewish members
Talmudist and Kabbalist Avrom David of the Austrian parliament had Buchach
Warman (1770–1840), the author of roots or came from the Kolomyia–
religious works such as Birkat David, Buchach–Sniatyn electoral district; they
Da’at Kodeshim, and Divrei Abot that included the Cracovian Rabbi Shimon
included Talmudic novella, Torah exege- Schreiber (son of Rabbi Hatam Sofer, the
sis, and responsa. Rabbi Warman started leader of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Central
a dynasty, which was continued by his Europe); the rabbi, politician, and
son – Rabbi Eliezer, and his nephew journalist Josef Samuel Bloch, and the
– Rabbi Avrom Dovid. ¶ With Jews lawyer Heinrich Gabel from Lviv (then
making up around two-thirds of the Lemberg), who was born in Buchach. ¶
population, local Jews took active part Buchach had both Jewish secular schools
in various aspects of the town’s life. For and traditional hadarim (elementary
example, Bernard Stern (1848–1920), schools). From 1892, there was a voca-
a son of the head of the kahal, served tional school, opened by the foundation
as the Buchach mayor for more than of financier and philanthropist Baron
40 years (1879–1920). Stern owned Maurice de Hirsch (1831–1896), which
Buchach

a brewery, and from 1911, he was also had 262 students in 1893, and 180 in
a member of the Austrian parliament, 1907. A modern Jewish hospital was
296 where he belonged to the Polish Circle, established in Buchach in 1891. In 1890,
 Buchach, general view
of the town, 2014.
Photo by Viktor Zagreba,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)

encouraged by the Austrian administra- entitled Ha-Jarden (Heb.: The Jordan),

tion, the Jewish community established and in 1907, the “Toynbee” educational
the Jewish National House, a secular club began to function. It was here that
cultural club, and eventually, a Jewish the Nobel Prize Laureate Shmuel Yosef
public library. In 1905, the first Jewish Agnon, born in Buchach, read his poems
newspaper in the town was launched, for the first time.

S.Y. Agnon (real name: Shmuel Yosef Czaczkes; 1888–1970) was one of the
central figures of modern Hebrew fiction and shared the Nobel Prize for Lit-
erature in 1966 with the German Jewish poet Nelly Sachs. He was granted the
prize “for his profoundly characteristic narrative art with motifs from the life of
the Jewish people.” Agnon was born in Buchach, into the family of a Hasidic
rabbi from Chortkiv (Czortków), well-versed in classical Judaic sources. Agnon
received excellent Jewish education, became fluent in literary Hebrew, but,
growing up in the multicultural environment of the town, he also mastered sev-
eral other languages: Polish, Ukrainian, and German. Agnon began to write
as a boy under a profound influence of German Romanticism. At the begin-
ning of the 20th century, he worked for a newspaper in Lviv but then, under the
influence of secular Zionist movement, moved to the Ottoman Palestine. There
he published his first novel, Agunot (Heb.: Abandoned Wives), taking the pen
name “Agnon,” meaning an “abandoned husband.” He later adopted this pen
name as his surname. Agnon first wrote in Yiddish, the spoken language of most
Galician Jews, but later moved to Hebrew. He left Palestine in 1913 and moved
back to Europe, to Germany, where he lived for the next 10 years. He spent his
time studying European literature and also the religion, history, and culture of
the Jews; he also collected old Jewish books. In his German period, he pub-
lished three collections of short stories about the Jews of East Europe, combining 297
Mickiewicz Street in
Buchach, 1909-1914. Photo
by Ignacy Niemand
collection of the National
Library, Poland (www.
polona.pl)

modernistic literary devices and the traditional folk style of the Hasidic stories.
He returned to Palestine in 1924, where he continued his literary activity. In 1931,
he published Hakhnasad kala (Heb.: The Bridal Canopy), a novel presenting the
adventures of a poor Hasid in Galicia. After a visit to Buchach in 1930, similar
themes appeared in his works: in Sipur pashut (Heb.: A Simple Story,1935) and
Oreach nata lalun (Heb.: A Guest for the Night,1939), Agnon described his
impressions from his visit to his home town complicating them with expressionistic
and symbolistic elements. He also drew on Jewish folklore, legends, and fairy
tales, as well as the Jewish experience in Ottoman and Mandate Palestine in the
first part of the 20th century. His novel Tmol shilshom (Heb.: Only Yesterday) tells
the story of life in Palestine in the times of the Holocaust. Several of his works
appeared posthumously. Agnon’s unique literary style combines nearly all forms
of the tradition of Jewish literature produced in Hebrew over many centuries.

The first Zionist organisation in 696 students in the Buchach secondary

Buchach, “Zion,” was founded in 1894, school were Jewish. ¶ During World War
and in 1906, a branch of the Zionist I, the Jews of Buchach suffered perse-
Marxist party Poale Zion was estab- cutions and pogroms. Under the West
lished. In 1906, Jews arriving from Ukrainian People’s Republic (1918–
Russia founded a yeshiva, with Rabbi 1919), the Jewish National Committee
Kitaigorodskiy as its head. A year later, was formed in Buchach, consisting
a secular Zionist-oriented school with mainly of Zionist activists. From mid-

„
Hebrew as the main language of instruc- July 1919 until September 1939, Buchach
tion was opened. In 1908, 216 out of the was part of independent Poland.
Buchach

Buczacz had a vibrant cultural life. The young people never missed an oppor-
298 tunity to see the theatre, comedians, musicians and the cinema. Troupes would
come from Vilna and beyond, and while most people were poor, they always seemed to The town hall in
Buchach, 2014. Photo by
have money for the performances. Theatre was performed at the Sokol, next to our school Yurii Ostapa
on Gymnasialna Street. […] There was also the excitement of going to see the latest movies
at the one kino in town. ¶ Mina Rosner, I am a Witness, Winnipeg 1990, retrieved from:
http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Suchostav/Buchach/Witness.html

World War II and the Holocaust Jews were transported to the Bełżec
¶ After Soviet troops entered Buchach in death camp, and on November 27,
September 1939, all Zionist parties were 1942, another group of 2,500 people
abolished, and their members arrested was deported there. Around the same
as subversive elements and deported to time, about 8,000 Jews from Monasty-
Siberia. In Jewish schools, instruction ryska, Zolotyi Potik, and Yazlovets were
was allowed only in Yiddish: the Hebrew resettled to Buchach. ¶ On February 2,
language was forbidden as nationalist, 1943, 2,000 Jews from Buchach were
religious, and bourgeois class enemy. executed; 500 others were murdered on
¶ The Germans occupied Buchach on June 11, and a further 1,000, on June
July 5, 1941. After just a few weeks, the 26. After the withdrawal of the German
Nazis murdered more than 300 Jews; in army in March 1944, 800 Jews left their
February 1942, about 2,000 Jews were town hideouts and forests hiding places,
shot and buried in mass graves. ¶ On but soon afterwards the German army
October 17, 1942, the Nazis established returned and murdered most of those
a Jewish ghetto and carried out the first who remained. On July 21, 1944, Soviet
main ghetto liquidation: about 1,600 troops entered Buchach. ¶ A memorial 299
 stone now stands on the slope of Fedor
Hill, where more than 5,000 Jews were
murdered during the Holocaust. There is
also a Catholic cemetery on Fedor Hill,
where a group of Jews managed to hide
for several months in late 1943 and early
1944 with the help of the local gravedig-
ger. The group included Shmuel Rosen,
who reported the story.

Buchach was the birthplace of Ema-

nuel Ringelblum (1900–1944),
a renowned Polish Jewish historian,
teacher, and social activist who organ-
ised the Oneg Shabbat underground
group in the Warsaw Ghetto and
was driving force behind the crea-
tion of the Warsaw Ghetto archive.
The archive, comprised of thousands
of items that documented everyday
life in the ghetto, partially survived
the destruction, hidden in milk cans.
Ringelblum attended a Buchach cheder
and a state secondary school. Dur-
ing World War I, he and his family
The Art-Dvir in the moved to Nowy Sącz. Ringelblum studied at the Faculty of the Humanities of
former house of Shmuel
Agnon, 2015. Photo by
the University of Warsaw. In his university years, he joined the left wing of the
Viktor Grebenyovskyi Marxist-Zionist Poale Zion party. During the Holocaust, he and his family were
Former former
confined in the Warsaw Ghetto, where he led the secret Oneg Shabbat group.
house of Shmuel Agnon, Shortly before the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, he and his family managed to
2014. Photo by Viktor
Zagreba, digital collec-
escape the ghetto and were hidden, with about two dozen other Jews, by Poles
tion of the “Grodzka on the “Aryan side.” But in March 1944, the neighbours denounced them to the
Gate – NN Theatre” Gestapo, and the entire Ringelblum family and the other Jews hiding with them
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)
– as well as the Poles who hid them – were murdered. Much of the hidden Oneg
Shabbat archive was discovered after the war. It is kept presently in the Jew-
ish Historical Institute in Warsaw, which in 2009 was named after Ringelblum.

The cemetery ¶ The Jewish cemetery cemetery took place before 1940. About
in Buchach was founded in the 16th 500 matzevot remain. In addition, many
century and was located on the town matzevot that were used for construc-
Buchach

outskirts near the Strypa River. The tion and found under the town roads
oldest surviving tombstone is dated to and buildings have been brought back
300 1587, and the last known burial in the to the cemetery. This cemetery was the
burial place of the relatives of the writer New York Film Festival. ¶ The houses
S.Y. Agnon and the psychiatrist Sig- where several notable Buchach natives
mund Freud, whose parents came from were born still exist: the birthplace of
Buchach. Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal (1908–
2005) is at Halytska Street. Since 2012,
Traces of Jewish presence ¶ the house in which Shmuel Agnon was
A few Jews remained in Buchach in the born (5 Agnona St.) has been home to
Soviet times. In 1990, the Holocaust the cultural organisation Art-Dvir (Ukr.:
survivor Mina Rosner visited Buchach The Art Yard). In 2014, the S.Y. Agnon
for the first time since the war, and her Literature Centre began to function here
visit was chronicled in a documentary (tel. +380664687958, e-mail: agnon-
entitled Return to Buchach (1990). It [email protected]).
received an international award at the

Jewish cemetery, Tarhova St. ¶ S.Y. Agnon’s family house, currently Art-Dvir, 5 Agnona Worth
St. ¶ Buchach Castle (1379) established in place of the former 12th-century fortified town, seeing
Prosvity St. ¶ Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas (1610), fortified. ¶ Town hall (1751),
designed by Bernard Meretyn. ¶ Church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
designed by Bernard Meretyn. ¶ Basilian Greek Catholic church and monastery (1753) ¶
Local History Museum in Buchach, 52 Halytska St, tel. +380352221360.

Yazlovets (17 km): a Jewish cemetery (18th c.); a castle (15th c.); the Koniecpolski Palace Surrounding
(18th c.); the Greek Catholic Church of St. Nicholas (16th c.); ruins of the Dominican church area
(16th c.). ¶ Monastyryska (17 km): a former synagogue (early 20th c.); an Orthodox church,
formerly a Roman Catholic church (18th c.). ¶ Budaniv (44 km): castle (17th c.); a Jew-
ish cemetery (18th c.). ¶ Terebovlia (49 km): a former synagogue (19th c.); the town hall
(19th c.); Holy Trinity Orthodox Church (1635), formerly the fara church.

Buchach

301
 Pidhaitsi
Pol. Podhajce, Ukr. Підгайці, Yid. ‫פּידײ ַי ִץ‬ Pidhaitsi grows like big cities do,
following the direction of progress
and the way of the Haskalah.
David Polisiuk, Ha-Maggid, 1876

By the grove ¶ Most likely, the town’s mighty towers. A triangular marketplace
name comes from the expression pod was unusual for the towns under Magde-
gajem in Polish, pid hayem (під гаєм) burg laws but quite common for the
in Ukrainian (meaning “by the grove”). Ruthenian towns. ¶ The first coat of arms
The village of Stare Misto, a suburb of of Pidhaitsi has been known since 1554.
Pidhaitsi, has grown around the place Approximately at that time several trade
of the earliest local settlement. The first and craft guilds were established, among
written mention of the town is dated them the furriers’ guild, the first statute
to 1397, and its first known owner was of which dates back to 1590. Blacksmiths,
the Kniehinicki magnate family; they coopers, carpenters, and others had their
were followed by the Buczacki family, guilds as well. In 1590, the town received
who in the 15th century built a castle a privilege allowing weekly Saturday
and founded the first Catholic parish fairs. In the 17th century, the town had
here. In 1539, Pidhaitsi (then Podhajce) the only musicians’ guild in Galicia. ¶ In
was granted Magdeburg rights. The 1641, Pidhaitsi became the property of
castle was also rebuilt at that time. In the Potocki family. Their rule marked the
1544, the town was mentioned as an town heyday. The new owners rebuilt the
oppidum-castrum (Lat.: town-castle). In castle and established the town hall and
the mid-16th century, a Catholic church, other administrative buildings. Apart
a synagogue, and Orthodox churches from the church and the synagogue,
were erected. The first mention of a rabbi there were six (and in the 18th century
who was the leader of the Jewish com- – seven) Ruthenian/Ukrainian Ortho-
munity in Pidhaitsi dates back to 1552. dox churches. There was also a 1664
¶ In the 17th century, the town grew in reference to an Armenian (Armenian-
the direction of the nearby hill, at the Gregorian) church, most likely wooden.
top of which the new market square was In 1650–1653, the Ruthenian com-
set up; new houses appeared around the munity built the Dormition of the Holy
Pidhaitsi

marketplace, and a complex network of Mother of God Orthodox Church, which

underground tunnels and passages was has survived to this day. ¶ In 1667, in the
302 created. The castle was fortified with wake of the bloody Cossack revolution
 Town hall in Pidhaitsi,
1905–1906, collection
of the National Library,
Poland (www.polona.pl)

and peasant war, King John III Sobieski were destroyed and about 10 percent of
defeated the Tatar and Cossack forces the town’s residents were killed. Pidhaitsi
under Petro Doroshenko, the Hetman became a frontline town, where the sick
of Right-Bank Ukraine. A peace treaty and wounded were taken care for at
was signed in the church in Pidhaitsi, the local hospitals. In November 1918,
under which Right-Bank Ruthenia (that the revolutionary masses and troops
is, Ukraine to the west from the Dnieper proclaimed at the local marketplace the
river) was to remain under the control of authority of the West Ukrainian People’s
the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. ¶ Republic. Subsequently, the Ukrainian
On 9–11 September 1675, Cossack forces administration was established here.
completely destroyed Pidhaitsi. In order During the Polish-Ukrainian War of
to rebuild the town, Feliks Kazimierz 1918–1919, the town changed hands
Potocki ordered that all residents be tax- several times. In August 1920, Pidhaitsi
exempt for the next 12 years. ¶ As a result was occupied by the Bolsheviks, and on
of the First Partition of Poland (1772), 21 September 1920, it was finally cap-
the town became part of the Habsburg tured by Polish troops and became part
monarchy. At the turn of the 18th century, of the independent Poland. ¶ In 1924, the
the Austrian authorities had the castle in County Association of Cooperatives was
Pidhaitsi and the municipal fortifications founded here, and in 1925, the organisa-
pulled down; some parishes were closed, tion called “Płast” was established. In the
and hospitals and Orthodox graveyards 1930s, several football clubs appeared,
were liquidated. A large part of the Jew- among them the Jewish “Maccabee”
ish population left the town. In order to and the Polish “Klub Sportowy.” Four
stimulate local economy, permission was youth organisations functioned in the
granted in 1820 to have 11 annual fairs. ¶ town: “Sicz,” “Sokół,” “Betar,” and “Str-
During World War I, about 200 buildings zelcy” (“Shooters”). In 1928–1934, the 303
 The synagogue ¶ The first mention
of a synagogue in Pidhaitsi is dated to
1552. The currently existing building
was erected in the 17th century and is
believed to be the oldest local building.
The synagogue was located next to the
town gates; it served as an additional
defence edifice. ¶ The synagogue
construction follows a rectangular plan
of the Renaissance buildings (fashion-
able in Poland long after they became
outmoded elsewhere in Europe), with
narrow windows cut through the thick
fortress-type walls; the eastern façade
has been reinforced with buttresses.
The upper section of the Renaissance-
style main portal has partly survived.
The base of the building is adjoined by
single-storey women’s galleries. Inside, it
was adorned with still preserved stone-
carved floral ornaments and elaborate
stucco work. Remnants of the stone carv-
Pidhaitsi, town hall Ukrainian community established the ings of the aron ha-kodesh (holy ark) also
and houses in the mar-
ket square, 2015. Photo
Ukrainian Folk Community Centre. survived. Over the main entrance, there
by Monika Tarajko, is still a visible Hebrew inscription “This
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
The Jews of Pidhaitsi ¶ The earliest is the Gate of the Lord, the righteous will
Theatre” Centre (www. mention of the Pidhaitsi Jews dates back enter it.” ¶ About 100 metres from the
teatrnn.pl) synagogue stands the building of the old
to 1552 and refers to a 20-zloty poll tax
Pidhaitsi, 1920s, imposed on the members of the Jewish mikvah (ritual bath). Opposite the Great
a 3D model prepared Synagogue there was also an old bet
by Polygon Studio
community. At that time, the Jews lived
as part of the Shtetl in the area south of the marketplace. midrash and two neighbouring buildings
Routes project, 2015, Local Jews worked mainly in trade; some that functioned as prayer houses for the
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN of them were leaseholders or crafts- Chortkov and Belz Hasidim.
Theatre” Centre (www. men. In 1648, the Jews suffered severely
teatrnn.pl)
during the Khmelnytsky Revolution and The rabbis ¶ Rabbi Moshe and his son
massive raids of the Cossack cavalry Yehuda Leib served as the first rabbis of
against Polish towns across Ukraine and the town. They were referred to with the
in Galicia. In 1677, the Turks, who came honourable title of gaon, granted to the
to occupied Podolia at that time, consid- most illustrious rabbis of the time. At the
ered Jews as a tolerated yet marginalized turn of the 16th century, Beniamin Aaron
Pidhaitsi

minority obligated to keep low profile ben Abraham and his son Jacob served
and pay double taxes. as the rabbis. They were succeeded by
304 Rabbi David, who authored the famous
homiletic tractate Tiferet Israel. At the
beginning of the 18th century, the rabbi
of Pidhaitsi was Rabbi Katzenelenbogen,
who subsequently moved to Ansbach,
Bavaria. In the mid-18th century, Rabbi
Meshulam Zalman, son of Rabbi Jacob
Emden, the famous leader of the anti-
sabbatean and anti-Kabbalistic trend in
rabbinic Judaism, lived and worked in
Pidhaitsi. The last rabbi before 1772 was
Simcha Rapaport, son of Rabbi Chaim
ha-Kohen Rapaport of Lwów (Lviv). Pid-
haitsi was the birthplace of the 18th-cen-
tury Rabbi David ha-Kohen Lilienfeld,
who in the last decades of his life served
as a rabbi and preacher in Frankfurt an
der Oder. It was there that he published
his books: treatises on the Sabbath, ser-
mons for Saturdays and holidays, novellas
on the principles of philosophy and Kab-
balah, and commentaries on the Talmud.

One of the best-known rabbis of Pid-

haitsi was Binyamin Aaron known as “Solnik” (1530–1620), one of the Synagogue in
Pidhaitsi, circa 1920,
greatest authorities on Jewish law in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. His collection of the Institute
father, Rabbi Abraham, came from Thessaloniki (hence the nickname “Solnik”); of Art of the Polish
Academy of Sciences
he descended from Don Isaac Abarbanel (1437–1508), Minister of Finance (PAN)
to the Spanish King Ferdinand, and one of the most famous Sephardic (post-
Inscription over the
expulsion) commentators of the major Jewish books including the Passover entrance in the syna-
Haggadah. Binyamin Solnik was a disciple of Moshe Isserles (known as Rem’a, gogue in Pidhaitsi, 2014.
Photo by Emil Majuk,
1520–1572) of Cracow and Solomon Luria (1510–1573) of Lublin, the two highest digital collection of the
Polish rabbinic leaders of that time. He briefly worked as a rabbi in Silesia and “Grodzka Gate – NN
later held the post of a town rabbi (rosh yeshiva) and the head of the rabbinic Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)
court (av bet din) in Pidhaitsi. Binyamin Aaron Solnik was an active participant
at the meetings of Vaad Arba Aratzot (Council of Four Lands). His son Jacob
inherited the rabbinic position in Pidhaitsi; he also represented local communi-
ties in the Vaad Arba Aratzot. He wrote a book titled Nakhalat Yaakov (Heb.:
Jacob’s Heritage). His other son, Abraham, became a rabbi in Ternopil (Tar-
nopol) and later the principal of the yeshiva in Brest. Solnik’s son-in-law, Mena-
chem Mann, became a town rabbi and the head of the Talmudic academy in
Vienna. ¶ Binyamin Aaron Solnik wrote an array of books, including the Yiddish
halakhic digest Mitzvot Nashim, which became very popular in Europe and
305
 was translated into Italian, English, and Hebrew. His most famous work was the
collection of responsa Masat Beniamin (Heb.: Beniamin’s Gift; Cracow 1633).

Sabbateanism ¶ In the 1680s, Haim this group. In 1876, a Jewish club was
Malakh, one of the leaders of Sabbatean- founded, which ran a library and a read-
ism in the Polish-Lithuanian Common- ing room.
wealth, came to live in Pidhaitsi. Thanks
to his influence, the town became an Ups and downs ¶ In the early 1800s,
important centre of the pseudo-messi- the Jews constituted a majority of the
anic and schismatic movement that had town population. In 1788, they owned
a major disruptive impact on many Jew- 21 of the 33 houses in the market square.
ish communities in the diaspora. Fol- Towards the end of the 18th century
lowers of Sabbetai Zvi were also active and in the 19th century, a considerable
in Pidhaitsi, among them Shmuel Yakow proportion of the Jewish population left
Falk (known as “Sokół” – Pol. “falcon” Pidhaitsi and moved to new bigger trade
– or “der Falk,” 1708–1782) and Moshe centres. In the second half of the 19th
David (born in Pidhaitsi in 1696). Those century, the life of the town and the Jew-
two adherents of Sabbateanism were ish community experienced a revival. By
eminent Kabbalists. After the bans of 1910, about 6,000 Jews lived in the town.
excommunication against Sabbateans In the first elections of the municipal
were announced elsewhere in Europe, council, held in 1874, Jewish representa-
both of them were forced to leave Pid- tives won 18 out of 30 seats. In 1889,
haitsi. Subsequently, several of the local Izydor Lilienfeld became a deputy
rabbinic leaders, particularly Meshulem mayor. Also in 1889, Baron de Hirsch
Zalman Emden, son of the noted Rabbi visited the town and donated 50,000
Jacob Emden, were at the center of francs for the needs of its poor inhabit-
resistance to the activities of the local ants. Modern institutions emerged in
crypto-sabbateans and Frankists. Pidhaitsi such as a Jewish reading room,
schools, and a nursery school. ¶ In
Hasidism and the Haskalah ¶ 1898, the local Palestinophile move-
From the late 18th century, the majority ment which had launched a new secular
of Jews in Pidhaitsi in this or that man- emigration to the land of Israel and the
ner supported the revivalist religious revival of modernized Hebrew gave rise
movement known as Hasidism. They fol- to the town’s first Zionist organisation,
lowed the rabbis (tsaddikim) of Stratyn, Syjon (Zion), with about 150 mem-
Belz, Ruzhin, Husiatyn, and Chortkiv. bers; one of its leaders was the wealthy
Some descendants of the Hasidim of Benjamin Kutner, the head of the Jewish
Pidhaitsi still live in New York and community. A branch of the Marxist-
Jerusalem. As elsewhere, there was also Zionist Po’alei Zion was established in
a group of mitnagdim in Pidhaitsi, who 1906, and in 1918, a branch of the youth
Pidhaitsi

vehemently opposed Hasidim, and who Zionist Hashomer Hatzair began opera-
were centered in the bet midrash; many tion. ¶ In 1905, Rabbi Shalom Lilienfeld
306 adherents of the Haskalah came from (1857–1909), who served as a rabbi in
Pidhaitsi in 1887–1909, founded a Tal-
mud Torah school, where all the town’s
melamdim – elementary school teachers
– taught whose salaries came from the
Jewish community council funds.

A well-known local activist promoting

Jewish culture was Michał Weichert
(1890–1967). Born in Pidhaitsi, he was
the director of a Yiddish Jewish thea-
tre, a theatre critic and historian, and
the founder of one of the first Jewish
permorming arts schools. Toward the
end of the 1920s, he organised and became the manager of the Jewish Experi- Pidhaitsi, Jewish socio-
cultural society “Ahva,”
mental Studio “Jung Teater” in Warsaw, which was the first to use the experi- 1933, collection of
ence of a “simultaneous” performance, a type of stage design that consists in Stepan Kołodnitski
placing all the scenery elements necessary for the performance simultaneously
on the stage. He published a Yiddish-language modernist expressionist periodi-
cal in Warsaw, titled Ringen, which gave rise to the noted Jewish modernist
poetic group of the same name, later renamed “Chaliastre” (Yid.: “Rabble,”
1921–1925). Its members included such prominent figures as poets Uri Zvi Grin-
berg (1896–1981), Peretz Markish (1895–1952), and Melekh Ravitch (1893–1976).
The group was also joined by prose writer Israel Joshua Singer (1893–1944), the
elder brother of the future Nobel Prize winner Isaac Bashevis Singer, as well as
by the poet, playwright, director, and painter Moshe Broderzon (1890–1956).

Before World War II, the Jewish com- under Soviet rule. The day of 11 May
munity made up about 53 percent of 1941 was the so-called “bloody Sun-
the town population. The last rabbi day”, when the NKVD units performed
was Yitzhak Menachem Eichenstein a mass execution of young people of
(1879–1943) of the Zidichov Hasidic the conscription age. ¶ Pidhaitsi was
dynasty, who established a Hasidic court the birthplace and hometown of Baruch
in Pidhaitsi in 1909. He died in the Milkh, the author of the memoirs writ-
Pidhaitsi ghetto during the Holocaust in ten in 1943 in a hiding place in Tovste
the spring of 1943. (Tłuste), Galicia. Among other things,
he described Pidhaitsi under Soviet

„
World War II and the Holocaust occupation.
¶ In September 1939, the town came

The fate of nearly all of my family became critical immediately: their social
standing was leveled. Their stores were closed, but taxes were still collected
anyway. They loitered aimlessly, seeking work in vain, with a stain in their passports: social
origins – merchant. ¶ Translated from: Baruch Milkh, Testament, Warsaw 2001 307
 cemetery, located 200 m west of the syn-
agogue, is one of the oldest and best-pre-
served in Ukraine. Some 150 m long, it
has more than 1,350 preserved matzevot.
The last burial took place in 1952. On its
northern side, fragments of the former
entrance gate have survived. ¶ One of
the Pihaitsi last Jewish inhabitants was
Moshe Khaber (1897–1989), whose
entire family, including his wife and their
Jewish cemetery in On 4 July 1941, the German Wehrmacht five children, were killed during the Hol-
Pidhaitsi, 2015. Photo
by Monika Tarajko,
occupied Pidhaitsi. The Nazi Germans ocaust. It was thanks to his efforts that
digital collection of the established a Judenrat and a ghetto the Jewish cemetery was not destroyed in
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
in which more than 5,000 Jews were Soviet times, when there were thoughts
teatrnn.pl) segregated. The first anti-Jewish Aktion to build a supermarket, a nursery school,
took place on September 21, 1942, on and a road on its site. ¶ The oldest
Yom Kippur, when about 1,000 Jews preserved matzevah dates back to 1599.
were transported to the Bełżec death It was discovered and described in 2011
camp and murdered there. On October during a research expedition led by Dr.
31, 1942, about 1,200 people were also Boris Khaimovich from Jerusalem. Most
transported there. Around the time of the of the inscriptions on it had been effaced,
deportations, a group of 100 people led by but judging by the image of hands raised
Israel Zilber managed to escape from the in a gesture of blessing, carved on the
Pidhaitsi ghetto. In December 1942, after stone, the matzevah most likely marked
deportations and Aktions, only about the grave of a person from a priestly
2,000 Jews remained in the ghetto. Alto- (Katz, Kahn or Cohen) family. Interest-
gether three mass executions of Jews – in ingly, this matzevah – the only one from
the summer of 1942, on 1 October 1942, the 16th century in the cemetery – is
and on 6 June 1943 – were conducted. located in the lower, northeastern part of
During the last operation, the German the cemetery, among much more recent,
occupation authorities sent some of 18th- and 19th-century gravestones. ¶
the ghetto Jews to Bełżec and others to A larger group of older matzevot can be
the forced labour camp in Ternopil. In found closer to the entrance, in the west-
June 1943, the ghetto was liquidated. In ern part of the cemetery; these include
1942–1943, about 300 Jews were killed at a matzevah from 1629 and more than
the Jewish cemetery in Pidhaitsi. During 50 dating back to the second half of the
World War II, some 70 percent of the 17th century. Most of the section of the
houses were demolished. After the libera- cemetery where 18th-century tomb-
tion of Pidhaitsi in July 1944, more than stones stood has not survived. The upper,
50 Jews returned to the town, but most of northeastern section includes about
Pidhaitsi

them left soon afterwards. 1,000 matzevot from the 19th and 20th
century. Also in this part of the cemetery
308 The cemetery ¶ The Pidhaitsi Jewish stands an obelisk, erected in 1919 to
commemorate the Jewish soldiers of the independence. He lived near the Jewish
Austro-Hungarian army killed during cemetery and for many years worked
World War I. There are mass graves, too, relentlessly for the preservation of the
in which the Jews killed here during the town historical legacy. On his initiative,
Holocaust were buried. in 2012, a monograph was published
presenting the history of Pidhaitsi and its
Memory ¶ Stefan Kołodnytsky, a local surrounding area. It was also his efforts
history enthusiast, was elected the that made it possible to save the syna-
town’s first mayor after Ukraine gained gogue and the church from collapsing.

Former synagogue (17th c.), Lesyi Ukrainki St. ¶ Jewish cemetery (16th c.), Lesyi Ukrainki Worth
St. ¶ Museum of Local History and Culture, 13 Berezhanska St. ¶ Former inn (17th c.), seeing
7 Zamkova St. ¶ Market square, triangular in shape. ¶ Town hall (1931). ¶ Holy Trin-
ity Church (1634), Mitskevicha St. ¶ Orthodox Church of the Dormition of the Blessed
Virgin Many (1650–1653), Berezhanska St. ¶ Orthodox Church of Sts. Boris and Gleb
(1711–1772). ¶ Greek Catholic Church of the Transfiguration (1772).

Strusiv (40 km): a former synagogue (18th c.), a Jewish cemetery (18th c.), ruins of a castle Surrounding
(16th c.), the Lanckoroński Palace (18th c.). ¶ Ternopil (64 km): the main city of the region, area
with a functioning modern synagogue, a former Jewish hospital (1894–1895), a Jewish cem-
etery (19th c.), a castle (1540), a cathedral (18th c.), and numerous monuments. ¶ Hrymailiv
(68 km): ruins of a fortified synagogue (18th c.); the Orthodox Church of the Transfigura-
tion (1806). ¶ Sataniv (94 km): fortified and recently restored synagogue (16th c.); a Jew-
ish cemetery (16th c.); ruins of a castle (15th c.), town gates (15th c.), a fortified monastery
(16th–18th c.)

Pidhaitsi

309
 Brody
Ukr. Броди, Yid. ‫בראָד‬ A town that brings together wisdom and wealth,
the Torah and understanding, trade and faith.
Nachman Krochmal

Near the border ¶ Brody is found in oriental-style carpets and tents, which
the borderland of Galicia and Volhynia, was the staple of the local economy until
where the frontier between Austria- the late 18th century. ¶ In 1630, the
Hungary and Russia ran in the 19th construction of a large fortress began.
century. This borderland location was The work supervised and guided by the
an asset to the town and promoted Venetian architect Andrea dell’Acqua
its development. ¶ The first mention and French engineer Guillaume le Ves-
of Brody is dated to 1084. In 1441, seur de Beauplan took five years. During
Władysław III of Varna, King of Poland, the outbreak of the mid-17th-century
gave the nobleman Sienieński the castle Cossack Revolution, Brody was totally
in Olesko together with the surround- burnt down. The fortress, however,
ing area as a reward for his services in survived thanks to its powerful fortifica-
defence of Ruthenian territories. Brody tions and its location in a marshy area.
became part of Sienieński’s estate. In Aleksander Koniecpolski transferred
1580, his descendants sold their estate to the town to King John III Sobieski,
Stanisław Żółkiewski, and this marked and Sobieski, in turn, transferred it to
the beginning of the town’s rapid socio- his son James, who sold Brody to the
economic development. On August 22, Potocki family in 1704. ¶ In 1772, the
1584, Brody was granted Magdeburg town found itself under Austrian rule
rights and royal privileges. Thanks to and became a border town: first, at
this, every Tuesday and Friday the town the border with the Polish-Lithuanian
enjoyed the market days. In addition, Commonwealth and after 1795, at the
three annual fairs were established. border with the Russian Empire. In
In 1629, the town passed into the the second half of the 19th century, the
ownership of Hetman Koniecpolski, Rzeszów–Lviv–Brody railway line was
who invited to Brody various artisans, built making Brody into an important
including Jewish, Armenian, Greek, international trade and migration cen-
Turkish, and Flemish weavers in order tre. Emperor Joseph II of Austria granted
Brody

to stimulate the economy. These new- it the title of a “free town” which enjoyed
310 comers developed the production of all sorts of duty-free privileges.
 Market square in Brody,
1912, collection of the
National Library, Poland
(www.polona.pl)

The Jews of Brody ¶ The first Jews competitors and Brody became one of
settled in Brody in the 16th century, the main Jewish centres in Galicia.
when Hetman Koniecpolski owned
the town. By 1648, around 400 Jewish Synagogues ¶ The wooden syna-
families lived here. In 1664, the local gogue known from the 16th century
sub-kahal split from the kahal of Lwów burnt down in a fire in the first half of
(Lviv), secured its independence, and the 18th century, and in 1742, because
from that time, Brody Jewish leadership of the frequent fires, the Jewish commu-
played a significant role in the Council of nity decided to build a formidable stone
Four Lands. In 1696, the Jewish quarter synagogue. Under the pressure of the
burnt down but was quickly rebuilt. bishop of Lutsk, local authorities refused
In 1699, the owner of the town, Jakub to grant permission for its construc-
Ludwik Sobieski (son of King John III tion. They also demanded a payment of
Sobieski) allowed Jews to settle in all 350 zlotys a year for the maintenance
quarters of the town and to work in all of every Jewish student of the Lutsk
crafts as well as in trade, despite the yeshiva (Talmudic academy). Therefore,
presence of the Christian guilds active the construction of what would become
in the same trade. ¶ Early in the 18th the Great Synagogue did not start until
century, Brody was pillaged by the Rus- the kahal agreed to pay this fee, which
sian army, and a great fire destroyed the was attested to by an inscription on the
central part of the town in 1749. Brody eastern attic of the building. ¶ One of
was soon rebuilt, however, thanks to the the largest synagogues in Galicia, the
support of the Jewish international mer- fortress-like building was designed
chants who brought merchandise from according to Renaissance-style square-
Paris, Leipzig, and Neustadt. When the plan blueprint. Its main prayer room
Armenians, who also had been active was adjoined on the southern, northern,
in trade, left the town after the fire, the and western sides by lower annexes used
Jews remained without their long-lasting as women’s sections. ¶ In May 1859, 311
 condition of the synagogue is disastrous.
¶ The 10 Honcharska Street building
stands on the site where there used to
be a so-called Little Synagogue. After
a great fire at the beginning of the 19th
century, this synagogue was restored
(circa 1804) and thus earned the name
of the “New” synagogue. It was pulled
down after World War II. ¶ Accord-
ing to a register of synagogues in the
Zolochiv district made in 1826, there
Synagogue in were six other synagogues in Brody, two
Brody, 1930s, collection
of Beit Hatfutsot, The
of them wooden. ¶ In 1756, in the wake
Museum of the Jewish of the Frankist pseudo-messianic schism
People, Photo Archive,
Tel Aviv, legacy of
against the traditional Judaism and Jew-
Joseph Parvari ish communities, local Jewish authorities
Interior of the
condemned the leaders of the schism at
synagogue in Brody, the Brody synagogue in Brody. Likewise,
a general view in the in 1772, the kahal elders condemned the
direction of aron kodesh.
Photo by Szymon rising Hasidim, a movement of religious
Zajczyk, collection of enthusiasm, whose representatives were
the Institute of Art of
the Polish Academy of put under the ban of excommunication.
Sciences (PAN) Despite this, Hasidim remained in the
town, gained respect of the communal
members for their piety and spiritual
drive, and Brody eventually became an
important Hasidic centre at the turn of
the synagogue burnt down in a fire that the 19th and 20th centuries. ¶ In the 18th
destroyed most of the town. Renovation century, Brody became one of the key
was carried out at the beginning of the Jewish centres of the studies of Kab-
20th century. ¶ The synagogue suffered balah and Judaic mysticism due to the
severe damage during World War II functioning of the “Broder kloyz.” This
– the northern and southern annexes was an elitist study and prayer house
were completely destroyed. In the maintained by the family of Rabbi Jacob
mid-1960s, the building was renovated Babad. The pietists who studied here
and its interior was adapted to serve as practiced various pietistic and ascetic
a warehouse. Yet the roof was constantly rituals fllowed by the study of classical
leaking, and the building soon ceased to esoteric texts such as the Zohar (The
be used and quickly fell into ruin. In the Book of Splendor). Initially they opposed
summer of 1988, a massive collapse of new-style Hasidim, who rejected ascetic
the western wall and annexe occurred, regulations and preached the divine ser-
Brody

and in February 2006, the western part vice through corporeality, but later some
312 of the vaults collapsed. At present, the of them became adherents of this new
movement. It suffices to mention that Belz, whose founder Shalom Rokeach Ruins of the
synagogue in Brody,
the founder of the movement Israel ben was born in Brody in 1781. ¶ For some 2017. Photo by Christian
Eliezer (who revealed himself in 1740 as 50 years, Rabbi Shlomo Kluger (1785– Herrmann, www.
vanishedworld.blog
the Baal Shem Tov, or the Besht) married 1869) served as the head of the rabbinic
the daughter of the Brody merchant and court of Brody and was also known as A part of the
original decoration of
pietist Moshe Kutover who was also the the Maggid of Brody. Rabbi Kluger was the frieze in the Great
sister of a prominent Brody kabbalist an arduous opponent of the Haskalah Synagogue, 2013. Photo
Gershon Kutover. Before World War I, movement of Jewish Enlightenment and by Wioletta Wejman,
digital collection of the
the local Hasidim followed the rites and educational reform. He died in Brody “Grodzka Gate – NN
regulations of the Hasidic dynasty of and was buried there. Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)

Shlomo Kluger (1785–1869) was a noted rabbi, Talmudist, preacher, commen-

tator, and teacher, one of the most distinguished Torah scholars in 19th-century
East Europe. A person of distinguished pedigree, he was born into a rabbinic
family in the town of Komarów, in the Lublin Province, then part of the Russian
Empire. From his early years, he exhibited extraordinary talents; he wrote his
first commentary on the Torah at the age of six. He studied in Zamość under the
guidance of the illustrious preacher and commentator Yaakov Kranz, known
as the Maggid of Dubno. In 1809, he took the position of the town rabbi in
Kulików (now Kulikiv); in 1817, he became the rabbi of Józefów (Lublin Prov-
ince); and in 1820, he assumed the position of the Brody town rabbi. In 1845, he
was offered the position of the Berezhany rabbi. Despite the pleas of the local
community, he accepted the offer. Soon after his arrival in, however, he fell ill
with typhus, and doctors did not give any chance of recovery. He promised to
return to Brody if he did recover. He kept his promise and returned to Brody,
where there was already a different rabbi. Kluger continued to live in Brody
until his death nearly a quarter of a century later. ¶ Shlomo Kluger occupied
a special place in the rabbinic literature of East Europe and Russia of the first
half of the 19th century. An eminent Talmudic authority and moralist, he became
one of the most respected rabbis in the Russian Empire. Both Hasidim and
their opponents Misnagdim valued his opinion on legal and moral matters. 313
 come and teach there. However, Heller
soon had to leave Brody because he was
accused of teaching “forbidden books”
– this is how the local Jews called the
Haskalah publications. The institute was
soon closed as well. In 1851, the main-
tenance of the reopened “real school”
(Realschule) was taken over by the state
and transformed into a state secondary
school. Initially there were no classes on
Saturdays, yet 3.5-hour Saturday classes
were introduced later. In 1847, a Jewish
Students of the Jewish Towards the end of the 18th century and school for adults was opened, headed
gymnasium (secondary
school) in Brody, 24 July
at the beginning of the 19th century, the for many years by the noted educator
1921, collection of Beit Jews of Brody, who maintained close Leopold Herzel. In 1907–1908, he also
Hatfutsot, The Museum taught religion at the state secondary
of the Jewish People,
commercial relations with the Germanic
Photo Archive, Tel Aviv, market towns, promoted the spread of school. At that time, the secondary
legacy of Joseph Parvari school enlisted 688 students, includ-
Enlightenment (Haskalah) in Galicia
and then to the nearby territories of the ing 273 Jewish children. ¶ In the 19th
Russian Empire. Because adherents of century, Jews made up 88 percent of the
the Haskalah were often associated with town population. Brody became the big-
German culture, Brody was considered gest county town in Europe with a high
to be the most Germanised town in percentage of Jewish residents. In the
Galicia. ¶ With the support of Herz first half of the 19th century, Brody was
Homberg, a leading Haskalah scholar regarded as the second most important
in Galicia, the local Jewish authorities city of Galicia after Lviv (then Lemberg),
endorsed the establishment of a modern often referred to as “the Jerusalem of
Jewish secondary school (Hauptschule), Austria-Hungary” or the “mainland
two elementary schools (Grundschule), Trieste.” In the second half of the 19th
and a school for girls. All these institu- century, due to its unique position as
tions, however, were closed in 1806 by the major cross-border railway station,
the suspicious Austrian government. the town became the largest trade centre
Still, in 1815, the kahal opened a three- in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The
year modernized school. The headmas- importance of Brody as a trade centre
ter of that school was not a Jew, and began to decrease after 1879, when it
the teaching of religion was replaced lost the status of a duty-free trade town.
with the teaching of ethics accord- Its location right at the border remained
ing to Homberg’s moral and religious important, though.
storybook for children, entitled Bnei
Zion (Heb.: Sons of Zion). The school The singers of Brody ¶ The “singers
had many opponents among traditional of Brody” (Yid.: broder-zinger) was an
Brody

Jews, who opened a yeshivah and invited expression used in the mid-1850s to
314 the noted Talmudist Grisha Heller to refer to itinerant troupes of folk singers,
performing at inns and taverns, initially
in Galicia, Bukovina, and Transcarpathia
and later elsewhere in East Europe. The
first of such groups was organised by
D.B. Margulies of Pidkamin near Brody,
and another one, equally well known,
was organized by B.Z. Ehrenkranz of
Zbarazh, a noted poet and bard who
began his singing career by writing
songs. With time, these singers founded
the Jewish-German Theatre of Art and
Singing, appointing Chaim Bendl as its
manager. They performed in Lviv, at
the popular Bombach’s inn. They sang
folk and Hasidic songs, danced, staged Jews. In 1866–1868, the Brody singers Złota Street in the
former Jewish quarter
Yiddish one-act plays, whose authors performed in Warsaw, in the summer in Brody, 2014. Photo
preferred to remain anonymous (though theatre on Nalewki Street. Artists from by Viktor Zagreba,
digital collection of the
some plays are attributed to Israel Grod- Vienna and Zhytomyr were guest stars “Grodzka Gate – NN
ner). Many new songs were written by in the plays. These were the first Jewish Theatre” Centre (www.
secular theatrical performances, apart teatrnn.pl)
Alik Tsunajer, others by Velvl Zbarazher
(pen-name of Ehrenkranz) and by the from the occasionally staged Purim-
famous Ukrainian Yiddish theatre direc- spiels – Purim plays, performed on the
tor Avrum Goldfaden, often regarded as February/March religious holiday built
the father of the Yiddish theatre. Lead- around the events of the Book of Esther,
ing actors included Khune Sztrudler in which the singing actors were also
and Jona Rejzman. These performances engaged. ¶ Based on: www.jhi.pl/psj/
were exceptionally popular among the brodzcy_spiewacy

Brody was the birthplace of the famous Austrian writer and journalist Joseph
Roth (1894–1939). He finished high school in Brody at the age of 19 and moved
to Lviv (Lemberg), where he studied philosophy at the University of Lviv. He soon
found himself in the epicentre of the Polish-Ukrainian rivalry. As neither Polish
nor Ukrainian nationalism attracted him, and he remained unimpressed by the
Zionist movement, he decided to integrate the imperial Austrian culture and write
in German. After a year of studies, Roth transferred to the University of Vienna.
Jewish themes are present, to a  greater or lesser degree in most of his works,
among which The Radetzky March is by far the most popular novel which portrays
representatives of various ethnic minorities in their relation to the Dual Austro-
Hungarian Empire and its symbols at the time of the collapse of the empire. The
famous short novel Juden auf Wanderschaft (Ger.: The Wandering Jews) is a kind
of elegy for the “Ostjude,” East European Jews who found themselves caught in
between the fighting powers during World War I. One of Roth’s best works, Job,
contains a description of a shtetl in Soviet Ukraine, which the writer visited as 315
Mourners and a correspondent for a German news-
professional weepers
(klogerins) at the Jewish
paper in the early 1920s. The novel has
cemetery in Brody, been adapted for the screen. Marlene
1920–1930, collection
of the YIVO Institute for
Dietrich, who knew Roth personally,
Jewish Research regarded him as her favourite writer
and Job as her favourite book.

(Heb.: Pioneer), issued between 1852

and 1889 in Hebrew and edited by
Joshua Heschel Schorr, and Ivri Anokhi
(Heb.: I am a Hebrew), a weekly issued
from 1865 until 1890 by Baruch and
Jacob Weber. Both newspapers adapted
Hebrew for modern journalism and pro-
moted secular study of Hebrew among
east European Jews. ¶ After Galicia
The Spring of Nations ¶ In 1848, gained autonomy in 1867, economic
the series of revolutions and politi- life in Brody began to decline due to the
cal upheavals known as the “Spring of weakening of trade relations with other
Nations” began. These events ushered trade centers of the Empire and new
in a new era of the European national- railway routes that deflected trade from
ism and nationalist revivals across the Brody. Local Jewish secular intelligent-
continent and triggered new courses of sia and economic elite tried to defend
action for the Jewish community. Jews Austrian centralism, and their position
were gradually recognized as an ethnic led to economic isolation and weakened
and national (not only religious) minor- Brody’s position in the region. ¶ Various
ity and granted political rights on a par Jewish religious associations functioned
with other minorities in the Habsburg in Brody such as Burial Society, the
empire – but not in the Russian Empire. Society for providing Passover matzo to
¶ In the second half of the 19th century, the poor, and the Society of helping the
two politically-oriented newspapers needy with the clothes.
were published in Brody: Hekhalutz

Nathan Michael Gelber (1891–1966) was a Jewish historian, social activist,

and researcher of Galician Jews. He graduated from the high school in Brody and
continued his studies at the Universities of Berlin and Vienna. During World War I,
he served as an officer in the Austro-Hungarian army. At the beginning of 1919, he
was one of the advisers of the Jewish National Council of Galicia in Stanisławów
(now Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine), the organ of Jewish national autonomy under
the West Ukrainian People’s Republic. In 1933, Gelber moved from Vienna to
Palestine. A Zionist activist, Gelber authored the following works: Die Juden und
Brody

der polnische Aufstand 1863 (Ger.: Jews and the 1863 Polish Uprising), A His-
316 tory of the Jews of Stanisławów, Brody 1584–1943, Geschichte des Zionismus in
Galizien 1875–1918 (Ger.: A History of
the Zionist Movement in Galicia), a col-
lection of articles devoted to the history
of the Jewish community of Lviv, histori-
cal articles in various encyclopedias and
co-authored publications devoted to the
history of Jews in Galician towns – Stryi,
Busk, Ternopil, Zovkva and others.

Dov Sadan (1902, Brody – 1989,

Afula, Israel) – an Israeli aca-
demic and politician, ethnog-
rapher, and literary scholar. In
1952–1970, he was head of the Department of Yiddish Literature at the Jewish cemetery in
Brody, 2014. Photo
Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In 1965–1968, he was a member of the Knes- by Viktor Zagreba,
set. Sadan was awarded the Israel Prize in Jewish Studies for 1968. digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
After World War I, Brody became a part from which they were forcibly trans- teatrnn.pl)
of Poland (1919), and in the interwar ported to the Bełżec death camp. During
period, it was a county town in the Tar- that operation, many people, who knew
nopol Palatinate. about the Bełżec camp, took their own
lives. Many Jews were murdered in their
World War II and the Holocaust own homes or in the streets. The second
¶ In 1939, Brody had a population of transport operation was carried out on
6,000, of whom more than 3,000 were November 2, 1942, when a group of
Jews. In September 1939, after the parti- 2,500–3,000 Jews, including members of
tion of Poland between the Nazi Ger- the Judenrat and the Jewish police, were
many and the USSR, the town became transported to Bełżec. ¶ From December
part of the USSR. In July 1941, the Ger- 1, 1942, the ghetto was enclosed with
man occupation began, and on 12 July barbed wire. In two streets, there still
1941, the Nazis and their Ukrainian col- lived 4,000 Jews from Brody and 3,000
laborators in Brody shot 250 Jews. In the Jews from the nearby towns and villages.
middle of July, the occupation authori- The local residents were strictly prohib-
ties established a Judenrat. The Germans ited from maintaining any contacts with
set up a ghetto in the autumn of 1941, the Jews in the ghetto. The daily ration of
encompassing Browarna and Słomiana bread was 80 g. A typhus epidemic soon
Streets. The inmates included 12,000 broke out; and in winter 1942/1943,
Jews from Brody and the nearby villages hunger and disease took lives of about
of Sokolivka, Lopatin, and Olesko. ¶ The 1,500 people. ¶ A resistance group
first transport operation took place on led by Samuel Weiler was formed at
September 19, 1942. According to dif- the beginning of 1943, but attempts
ferent sources, between 2,000 and 4,500 to organise an uprising in the ghetto
people were brought to the market place, failed. ¶ The operation aimed at the final 317
Jewish cemetery in
Brody, 2017. Photo by
Christian Herrmann,
www.vanishedworld.blog

liquidation of the ghetto began on May the fence, in the western part of the
21, 1943. It was then that the members cemetery, there is the mass grave of
of the underground resistance opened about 6,000 people shot here during the
fire on the camp guards. In response, the Holocaust. ¶ As an economic and trade
guards started shelling the entire ghetto. center, Brody suffered severely during
Many Jews were burnt alive, others were both world wars. The Roman Catholic
shot in the street or in the forest near church was shut down for 50 years, and
the town. In the ensuing chaos, some the faithful attended services in the
Jews managed to escape; they joined the parishes of Zolochiv and Kremenets.
group of Jewish partisans led by Weiler Two Baroque-style Orthodox churches
and survived the war. During the liqui- have survived near the town walls. What
dation of the ghetto, the remaining 3,000 remains of the once famous synagogue
Jews were transported to the Sobibór is a massive ruin. Before the outbreak
extermination camp. Of the entire popu- of World War II, there were 86 Jewish
lation of 10,000 Jews in Brody, only 88 houses of worship in the town, of which
people survived the Holocaust. the only surviving ones are the partly
destroyed Great Synagogue and the
The cemetery ¶ The new Jewish former 19th-century synagogue build-
cemetery in Brody is the largest Jewish ing at 9 Shchurata St. The latter lost
cemetery in Galicia, and despite damage all distinguishing features when it was
caused to it it is one of the best-pre- converted into a shop in the summer of
served Jewish cemeteries in present-day 2006. A recent project attempts to iden-
Ukraine. About 5,500 tombstones have tify historic houses, buildings, and other
survived there, many of them elabo- sites in the town, providing detailed
Brody

rately carved. The oldest one is that of information via QR codes (more: www.
318 Judah, son of Meir (d. 1833). Just behind brodyhistory.org.ua).
Brody Jewish cemetery Worth
(19th c.), Chuprynki St. seeing
¶ Former synagogue
(18th c.), Goncharska St.
¶ Castle ruins (17th c.),
with the Potocki Palace
(18th c.), Zamkova St.
¶ Fortified Orthodox
Church of the Nativ-
ity of the Mother of
God (1600), 12 Ivana
Franka St. ¶ Holy
Trinity Orthodox
Church (1726), 23
Velyki Filvarky St. ¶
Orthodox Church of St.
George (16th–17th c.),
Yuriyivska St. ¶ Catho-
lic church (1596), 9 W.
Stusa St. ¶ Chamber of
Industry and Com-
merce (19th c.), 8 Kot-
siubynskoho St. ¶ The
building of the former
Imperial-Royal County
Elder (18th c.), the seat
of the Brody Museum
of History and Ethnography, 5 Maidan Svobody, tel. +380326642113. ¶ “Zastavki” forest
wilderness, the site of an old Ruthenian town mentioned in a chronicle.

Olesko (28 km): the ruins of a synagogue (18th c.); a castle (16th c.), currently a museum; Surrounding
Holy Trinity Church (1545). ¶ Berestechko (35 km): a former synagogue (18th c.); the stone area
post on Prince Aleksander Proński’s grave site (16th c.); Holy Trinity Church (17th c.); the
Museum of the Battle of Berestechko (1651).

319
 Kremenets
Pol. Krzemieniec, Once Rabbi Abraham visited his father-in-law in Kremnitz. The most distin-
Ukr. Крем’янець, guished members of the congregation assembled to welcome the holy man. But
Yid. ‫קרעמעניץ‬ he turned his back on them and looked out of the window at the mountain at
whose foot the city lay. Among those waiting for him was a man very aware of
his own learning and intent on his own importance. He said impatiently: “Why
do you keep staring at the mountain? Have you never seen anything like it
before?” The rabbi answered: “I look and am amazed to see how such a lump of
earth made much of itself until it grew into a tall mountain.”
Martin Buber, Tales of the Hasidim, trans. O. Marx, New York 1991

At the foot of the Hill ¶ Situated provided an excellent defensive posi-

amid picturesque hills, Kremenets has tion, and it is hardly surprising that,
long been a secure place for people to according to some sources, fortifications

„
settle. The Castle Hill (also called Bona were built on it already in pre-Christian
Hill, in honour of Queen Bona Sforza) times.

On one of those hikes, we went all the way to Dubno, 30 kilometers from us, where
a soccer game was being held between a local Maccabee team and one from the
Polish army stationed there. For most of us, it was the first time in our lives that we had seen
this game. What is more, the ball itself was a completely new thing for us. True, as children,
we had played a few games with balls, but in those games, we used balls we made from rags.
¶ It was a great feeling for us to see these festive goings-on: on a wide green field, play-
ers from the two teams ran quickly, an assembly of onlookers shouted, and an army band
played throughout the game. The result: we watched and got hooked. We decided on the spot
to organize a soccer team. We envisioned something similar happening in our town, and
what seemed at the time to be a nice dream very quickly became a reality, as you will see
here. ¶ Without any help or encouragement from anyone, we got to work. There were many
obstacles in our way: we had no financial means; in Kremenets, a town built on the slopes
of hills, there was no flat area to be found for a soccer field; none of us had short pants for
sports, and they were not available in our stores; and worst of all, there was no soccer ball
to be found in the whole town. ¶ We overcame most of the obstacles soon enough. About an
hour’s walk from the center of town, up on Mount Vidomka, we found a fallow field hidden
among thick shrubbery on Kalinovski’s farm. We improvised short pants, folding our heavy
wool pants up to our knees. Avrasha Rozenfeld, who had lived in central Russia during the
war, found an instruction booklet for soccer among his things. The most important obstacle
yet to overcome was that we were missing the ball. ¶ And here help came to us from high
Kremenets

above; from there came our ball – a ball from Israel. From such a source, how could it be
otherwise? ¶ This is how the story goes: one day Avraham Krivin – son of Shalom Krivin,
the leather merchant – came from Israel, where he had lived for many years, to visit his par-
320 ents. We heard that he had brought a big ball as a gift for his sister’s little children. Without
delay, a delegation was dispatched to him to present our problem. Our happiness was end- A panorama of
Kremenets, 2014. Photo
less when he responded favorably to our request, and we left his house with the ball in our by Boris Bertash,
hands. Now we could get to work. ¶ from: Manus Goldberg – Jewish Sports in Kremenets, digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/kremenets1/kre1_0701.html Theatre” (www.teatrnn.
pl)
Kremenets is one of Ukraine’s oldest in 1495, when Grand Duke Alexander A view of Kremenets
towns. According to the archaeological Jagiellon decided to expel all Jews from and Castle Hill, circa
Lithuania (and thus also from Kremen- 1920, collection of the
data, it has been uninterruptedly inhab- Archive of the National
ited since the end of the 10th century, ets). The same duke allowed the Jews Reserve of History and
but the earliest written reference associ- to return in 1503. According to docu- Architecture in Kremen-
ets and Pochaiv
ates the town with the 1227 battle fought ments, their former property, including
by Prince Daniel Romanovich of Vol- the cemeteries and synagogues, was
hynia against the army of King Ándrás II returned to them. ¶ The town’s Jew-
of Hungary. In 1240, Kremenets Castle ish community became so influential
withstood an attack by Batu Khan’s Tatar that at the turn of the 16th and 17th
forces. In 1366, the town was captured centuries, the Jews of Kremenets, along
by the forces of Casimir the Great. with the Jews of Ostroh, represented
After a brief period of Hungarian rule, all the Jews of Volhynia at the Council
Kremenets fell under the dominion of of Four Lands, this Jewish communal
the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. In 1438, umbrella institution was analogous
Grand Duke Švitrigaila of Lithuania to the Polish Sejm. In the second half
granted the town Magdeburg rights. The of the 16th century, there were more
charter stated that the rights extended than 50 Jewish houses in the town;
to: “Ruthenians, as well as to Poles, there was the Żydowska (Jewish) Street
Germans, Vlachs, Armenians, Jews, (currently Shevchenka St.), a function-
and Tatars.” Švitrigaila knew Kremenets ing synagogue, a kahal house, and
well, though what he knew was not its a hekdesh (a poorhouse and a hospital
best side: the future ruler had spent nine for the needy). The eminent Rabbi
years in prison at the local castle. Mordechai Jaffe, future town rabbi in
Lublin, Prague, and Poznań, represented
The Jews of Kremenets ¶ A Jew- Kremenets at the Council of Four Lands
ish presence in Kremenets dates to the around that time. ¶ In the first half of
15th century, aside from a brief interval the 17th century, Kremenets remained 321
 second only to Ostroh (1,655 houses)
and double the size of Lutsk, the main
city of the province (546 houses). ¶ The
subsequent centuries were not easy for
the local Jews, however. The entire town
suffered during the mid-17th-century
Cossack Revolution – even Kremenets
Castle was captured and destroyed;
influential anti-Judaic pamphlets were
published by a printing-press in the
nearby town of Pochaiv (Poczajów);
and in Kremenets, several blood libel
Two joined houses from one of the largest towns in Volhynia. In trials were held against Jews accused of
the 17th and 18th c., so-
called Kremenets Twins,
1629, it had 1,224 houses, which means, allegedly using the blood of Christian
2014. Photo by Boris in terms of population size, it was children to bake Passover matzah.
Bertash, digital collection
of the “Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” (www. Notable personalities born in Kremenets include a key representative of the Jew-
teatrnn.pl)
ish Enlightenment, Isaac Ber Levinson; the eminent Polish Romantic poet Juliusz
Słowacki, the Orthodox Saint Alexander Hotovitzky, the Ukrainian composer
Mykhailo Verykivsky, and the famous Jewish American violinist Isaac Stern. Wil-
libald Besser, a botanist of Austrian descent, worked in this town for a long time.

Near the border ¶ In 1793, in the of the Volhynian Guberniya. Kremenets

wake of the second partition of Poland, Jews lived in the centre of the city as well
Kremenets found itself under Russian as in two suburban districts: the Dubno
rule. Initially, Russia preserved the suburb and the Vyshnivets suburb. The
status quo of the Jews in the territories town’s main street was called Żydowska
it annexed from Poland. However, the (Jewish) St. until the 19th century, when
appearance of the border disrupted tradi- its name was changed to Szeroka St.
tional trade routes, prompting many Jews At that time, the town lived off trade
to engage in smuggling and establishing with neighbouring Austria. Jewish
contraband routes circumventing the merchants traded in grain and tobacco.
customs. In 1812, the Russian authori- ¶ The year 1805 marked the begin-
ties began issuing regular orders aimed ning of a period when Kremenets was
at limiting or reducing to a minimum called the “Athens of Volhynia.” It was
the number of Jews in the frontier zone, then that Tadeusz Czacki, an influential
which was usually understood as the enlightened thinker and a magnate in
50-verst wide belt along the border. his own right opened the Volhynian
These orders were never fully executed, modern school here, transformed into
however. Towards the end of the 19th the Volhynian Lyceum (secondary and
Kremenets

century, Jews made up 37 percent of the high school) in 1819. For a quarter of
Kremenets population, which was the a century, this school remained the
322 lowest percentage among all the towns major centre of learning and education
 border. Smuggled ideas, related both to Old buildings in
Kremenets, 1918–1939.
Judaic mysticism and European rational- Photo by Feliks Nowicki,
ism also made their way here, particu- collection of the
National Digital Archives,
larly from the nearby town of Brody, Poland
which was then part of Austria. Brody
was a strong centre of the Haskalah and S. An-ski and Zus-
in the Right-Bank Ukraine (that is, the man Kiselhof during an
pre-partition Polish territories on the Hasidism. At the beginning of the 19th ethnographic expedition
century, Kremenets had its own Hasidic in Kremenets, 1914,
right bank of the Dnieper River), leading collection of the YIVO
to a revival of social and cultural life community leader – tsaddik Mordekhai, Institute for Jewish
and perceptibly changing the face of the son of the legendary Maggid (preacher) Research

town. After the 1830 November Uprising Yekhiel Mikhel of Zolochiv. Late in the
of Poles against the Russian dominion, 18th century, Kremenets also became
the Lyceum was closed and its book col- one of the main centres of the Haskalah
lections were taken away to Kyiv, where (Jewish Enlightenment) in Volhynia. ¶
they became the basis of a newly-estab- Kremenets was the hometown of Isaac
lished library and the University of Kyiv. Ber Levinson (1788–1860), an influential
Some of the teachers moved there as well. maskilic (enlightened) writer, thinker,
Meanwhile, in 1817, a Jewish publisher linguist, and satirist, also called “the spir-
from Warsaw, Nathan Gluksberg, opened itual leader of the maskilim.” Although
a bookshop in Kremenets, and two years his father-in-law, Nakhum Tversky, was
later, he established a printing house that a tsadik of the Chernobyl dynasty and
published some 61 titles in less than two one of the most respected Hasidic leaders
decades: secondary school curricula, in Volhynia, Levinson left his Hasidic
textbooks for schools of the Vilnius family and eventually radically departed
school district, popular science books, from the pietistic Judaism, although
and literary works. ¶ In the late 18th and he remained an observant Jew for the
early 19th centuries, smuggled goods rest of his life. He tried to introduce the
were not the only things that arrived ideas of the Haskalah among Jews in
in Kremenets from across the Austrian Volhynia. He argued that Yiddish should 323
 Yet his financial situation and his poor
health (he could hardly walk) made him
return to Kremenets in the early 1820s,
where he lived in a small cottage on
the outskirts of town writing his most
remarkable works. He was visited there
by his contemporaries that included such
prominent figures as Count Dmitry Tol-
stoy, Russian statesman. Levinson sought
to convince the Jews to introduce secular
subject matters into the educational cur-
riculum. At the same time, as a genuine
enlightened thinker, he argued for Jewish
move to farming. He spent much time
using his leverage with the Russian
government trying to dispel popular
anti-Jewish stereotypes and bias among
the Russian statesmen. He published his
works with the help of Russian govern-
mental grants. After his death, many of
his works were reprinted and translated
into many languages. Levinson died in
Kremenets in 1860 and was buried there.

An-ski in Kremenets ¶ The eth-

nographic expedition led by S. An-ski
(Shlomo Zanvel Rapoport, 1863–1920)
visited Kremenets during its first two
seasons (1912 and 1913). The visit of
July 1912 is fairly well recorded and was
later included in the Memorial Book of
Kremenets. ¶ The author of this record,
Hanokh Gilernt recollects that An-ski
arrived in Kremenets accompanied by
the ethnographer and musicologist Zus-
be banished from the Jewish educational man (Zalman) Kisselgoff and the painter
curriculum and Hebrew introduced in and photographer Solomon (Shlomo)
its stead – while he propagated Hebrew Yudovin. They arrived on Friday, stayed
as a full-fledged language capable of con- at Moshe Melamed’s hotel, and the owner
veying most sophisticated philosophical was surprised to see the Yiddish-speak-
Kremenets

and scientific concepts. Levinson moved ing guests from St. Petersburg. Gilernt
to Brody for a while because of the resist- added: “Some strange Jews checked in
324 ance to his innovations in Kremenets. and said they were from St. Petersburg.”
 Roadhouse in
Kremenets, 1928,
collection of the Institute
of Art of the Polish
Academy of Sciences
(PAN)

Synagogue in
Kremenets, 1925. Photo
by Henryk Poddębski,
collection of the Institute
of Art of the Polish
Academy of Sciences
(PAN)

Former synagogue
in Kremenets, currently
a bus station, 2014.
Photo by Boris Bertash,
digital collection of the

„
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” (www.teatrnn.
pl)

Wooden buildings of
On Friday night, the streets were usually filled with young people; this time, Kremenets, 1918–1939,
collection of the Institute
they all gathered around the hotel and envied the group that was privileged to of Art of the Polish
be inside. Meanwhile, Sender Rozental and Yashe Roytman, and Shlome the baker’s son, Academy of Sciences
(PAN)
joined the group and were told by the hotel owner that An-ski wanted to visit a Hasidic
kloyz on Sabbath morning. The hotel owner went to the caretaker, Peysi the blind, to let
him know. An-ski asked for information about Hasidic liturgical rites and details about the
Hasidim in town. He was quite astonished to hear that Hasidim in town lived in piece and
that representatives of various Hasidic trends – Trisk, Stolin, Ruzhin, Husiatyn, Chernobyl
– all prayed in the same synagogue and in the same style. He was not surprised, however,
to hear the maskilim prayed with them. After a while, the young men took Kisselgoff and
Yudovin for a short walk to the “mountain.” An-ski [did not] forget to greet them with
“good Sabbath” and [reminded] them to behave properly, meaning that they should not
smoke or speak Russian … in other words, they should behave in a Jewish manner. ¶ Based
on Hanokh Gilernt’s account in: Pinkas Kremenits (Hebr.: The Record Book of Kremenets),
Tel Aviv 1954, retrieved from www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor

During their stay in Kremenets, An-ski’s town. The main synagogue of Kremen-
team managed to record some unique ets was located in Żydowska St. (now
Hasidic nigunim (tunes), to write down Shevchenka St.). According to the 1563
local tales, and to obtain two copper inventory, at the end of Żydowska Street
lanterns from the synagogue for the there was “doctor Smuyla’s plot” (more
museum in St. Petersburg. than two hectars); on Średnia Street,
running parallel to it, there were two
Synagogues ¶ The Memorial Book school plots (three and two hectars
of Kremenets mentions 18 synagogues accordingly), a “Jewish doctor’s plot”
and prayer houses that existed in the (about seven hectars), a Jewish hospital 325
 plot (three hectars), and “shkolnik Józek’s of both sexes with instruction in Hebrew
plot” (two hectars). A synagogue was was established. A year later, a vocational
probably located on one of these plots. training school was opened, with Russian
Towards the end of the 18th century, as the language of instruction: its statute
a new stone synagogue was erected. It stipulated that 40 percent of its students
was designed according to a rectangular were to be Jewish, and 60 percent –
plan, and had a nine-section prayer hall, Christians. In order to keep up with this
and a gable roof. On the eastern wall, regulation, a Jewish family wishing to
there was an impressive cartouche with send a child to the vocational training
the Star of David and the crown of the school was required to find a Christian
Torah, supported by two lions. In the child and cover the cost of his or her edu-
backyard, there was the smaller Syna- cation too; this included buying school
gogue of the Maggid, named in honour of supplies. ¶ During World War I, the front
Yakov Israel ben Tzvi ha-Levi, a maggid line ran near the city, but Kremenets suf-
who worked in Kremenets in the second fered no damage, thanks to its location
half of the 18th century and was the surrounded by hills. There was percepti-
author of several exegetical works that ble tension between Jews and Christians,
appeared in Zhovkva (1772, 1782). ¶ but Kremenets Jews experienced no
In Żydowska Street, there were also the mass violence. ¶ Between 1917 and 1920,
kahal house and two batei midrash – the Kremenets changed hands seven times.
old one and the new one, known as the From the moment the Central Rada
“Cossack” bet midrash, the town’s second declared the independence of Ukraine
largest synagogue. The tailors’ synagogue on January 22, 1918, until the entry of
(Yid.: shneider shul) stood in Krawiecka Bolshevik forces on June 2, 1919, the
(Tailor) St., and the butchers’ synagogue town was controlled by the government
(Yid.: katzavim shul) in Jatkowa St. There of the Ukrainian People’s Republic which,
were also several Hasidic synagogues however, changed its political profile and
and prayer rooms in private houses. cadre three times during the 18 months
Synagogues existed in the Dubno and of its existence. ¶ During the election
Vyshnivets suburbs, too. ¶ The only of the town councillors in the fall of
synagogue building that has survived is 1917, Jews representing various political
the one at the end of Dubienska St. Thor- parties won more than half of the seats,
oughly rebuilt after the war, it now serves and for some time in 1919 a Jew, Azril
as a bus station. Kremenetski, held the post of Chairman
of the Municipal Council. After the Bol-
The time of change ¶ At the begin- shevik coup d’état in Petrograd, a faction
ning of the 20th century, the young gen- of the Bund advocated closer coopera-
eration of Kremenets Jews studied at the tion with the Central Rada of Ukraine. In
traditional educational institutions (such April, 1918, it fought for the introduction
as the elementary heydorim, a Talmud of an 8-hour working day. ¶ After the
Kremenets

Torah school, and a small yeshivah), but war, Kremenets found itself within the
there were also secular institutions: in borders of Poland. According to the 1921
326 1907, a “progressive cheder” for children census, the Jewish community had 6,397
people and constituted nearly 40 percent
of the local population. Subsequently,
after the change of the town’s adminis-
trative borders, the percentage of Jews
decreased a little. The Jewish population
had their own Society for the Care of the
Elderly, the Jewish Sports Club “Has-
monea,” and the Jewish Workers’ Sports
Club “Jutrznia.” The Zionist organisation
and Jewish trade unions had their own
libraries and Yiddish-language newspa-
pers. ¶ In 1931, a report on the difficult

„
situation of the local Jewish community
appeared in the newspaper Kremenitzer Shtime (Yid.: Voice of Kremenets). Jewish cemetery in
Kremenets, 2017. Photo by
Andrey Malyuskiy
The economic situation of the Jewish community is difficult and is getting worse
year by the year. A considerable number of people are ruined and forced to look
for new ways to earn a living, since the old ones are no longer sufficient. Many respected
merchants have gone bankrupt, and the situation of small shopkeepers and craftsmen is
even worse. Unemployment and low income lead to hunger and poverty. ¶ Based on Kre-
menitzer Shtime, December 19, 1931.

In the 1920s, the Jews of Kremen- Those who decided to return were unex-
ets began to leave for Palestine in an pectedly visited by the NKVD at night.
organised way. First preparations took Whole families were loaded on trains
place in the village of Verba (currently and deported to Siberia. Meanwhile,
in Rivne Oblast), where a kibbutz was all Jewish parties and movements were
set up – a settlement whose inhabitants banned, including even a theatre troupe.
were trained to live in harsh conditions Only the cinema continued to function
of an agricultural settlement. They learnt and only Soviet films were shown. The
Hebrew and the kinds of work that could NKVD murdered 100–150 Ukrainian
be useful in Israel; they were also learn- and Polish inmates in the local prison.
ing Hebrew songs. Then the Germans entered the town on
July 2, 1941; more than 8,500 Jews lived
World War II and the Holocaust in Kremenets at that time. On the fol-
¶ In September 1939, Kremenets was lowing day, a pogrom against the Jewish
captured by the Red Army. Waves of population took place, organised with
Jewish refugees from the German- the help of local Ukrainian collaborators,
occupied part of Poland arrived. In the in which at least 130 Jews were killed.
spring of 1940, the authorities required On July 23, 1941, the Germans car-
that the refugees either register and ried out a mass execution of the Jewish
declare their intention to remain in the intelligentsia; members of the Polish and
Soviet Union or to return to Poland. Ukrainian intelligentsia were arrested on 327
 28 July. On 1 March 1942, a ghetto was Only 14 people from the entire ghetto
established in the centre of the town. survived.
Many people died of hunger there. On
August 10, 1942, the Germans began the Memory ¶ Today, there is no Jewish
liquidation of the ghetto: 5,000 people community in Kremenets. The Kremen-
were shot that day. According to vari- ets Jews who managed to survive the
ous accounts, a group of armed Jewish Holocaust or who emigrated earlier, as
young people put up resistance. The well as their descendants, established
ghetto was put on fire; the people were active compatriots’ associations in Israel,
marched out and shot near the tobacco Argentina, and the USA. They published
factory. To this day, it is not known two memorial books: in 1954, in Israel
who set fire to the ghetto: the Jews in and in 1965, in Argentina, and also the
self-defence, or the Germans in order to Hebrew periodical titled Kol Kremenitz
force the Jews out of their hiding places. (Hebr.: Voice of Kremenets).
The old part of the town burnt down.

The violinist Isaac Stern (1920–2001), left Kremenets with his family as a child,
emigrating to the USA. It is his violin that can be heard in the Fiddler on the Roof,
the 1971 Hollywood musical that won three Oscars and two Golden Globes.

Another figure who emigrated to the USA was Mark Katz (also Kac;
1914–1984), who left one year before the outbreak of war, already
with a PhD in math and a representative of the renowned Lwów school
of mathematics. He became a famous expert in the field of spec-
tral theory and the winner of several prestigious scholarly awards.

There are two monuments at the site of on its scenic landscape, a past shrouded
the mass grave at the former tobacco in legend, numerous monuments, and
factory where thousands of Kremen- deep traditions of spiritual life.
ets Jews were murdered. The first one
dates back to Soviet times. The other Cemeteries ¶ Cemeteries of vari-
was erected in 1992 on the initiative ous religions are located on the hills
of the Israeli association of the former around Kremenets. The oldest surviving
residents of Kremenets. In the vicinity, tombstones can be found at the recently
there is also a mass grave of the mem- fenced and restored Jewish cemetery
bers of Ukrainian, Polish, and Jewish on a slope of Mount Chercha. Among
intelligentsia, murdered by the Nazis the approximately 7,000 surviving
at the foot of Krzyżowa Hill. ¶ Present- matzevot, about 50 date back to the
day Kremenets is a district center with 16th century. On a different slope of the
a population of about 20,000. It is the same hill there is the Cossack Pyatnitsky
Kremenets

seat of the Kremenets–Pochaiv Reserve Cemetery, the burial place of Maxim

of History and Architecture and an Kryvonos’ Cossacks killed during the
328 important centre of local tourism, based siege of the town in 1648. At the Tunicki
Cemetery, founded towards the end Orthodox, Uniate, and Roman Catholic
of the 18th century, Christians of the rites are buried together.

Jewish cemetery (16th c.), Dzherelna St. ¶ Former synagogue (19th c.), Dubienska St. Worth
(now a bus station). ¶ Castle ruins (13th c.), on Bona Hill. ¶ Cossack cemetery (17th c.), seeing
Kozatska St. ¶ St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral, former Franciscan monastery (17th c.),
57 Shevchenka St. ¶ Buildings of the former Kremenets College (18th c.), 1 Litseyna St.
¶ Orthodox Monastery of the Epiphany (18th c.), Dubienska St. ¶ Twin houses (18th c.),
1 Medova St. ¶ Church of St. Stanislaus (19th c.), 30 Shevchenka St. ¶ Local History
Museum, 90 Shevchenka St., tel. +38 035 462 27 38. ¶ Juliusz Słowacki Museum in the
poet’s family home, 16 Slovatskoho St.

Pochaiv (23 km): Orthodox monastery – Pochaivska Lavra (16th c.). ¶ Vyshnivets (25 km): Surrounding
a Jewish cemetery (16th c., several hundred matzevot, the oldest one dating back to 1583); area
the palace and park of the Wiśniowiecki (Vyshnevetskyi) family (1720); the Orthodox
Church of the Ascension (1530). ¶ Shumsk (38 km): a Jewish cemetery (18th c., more
than 100 matzevot);
Kremenets the Orthodox Church
of the Transfiguration
(17th c.); the Church of
the Immaculate Concep-
tion of the Blessed Virgin
Mary (1852). ¶ Yampil
(46 km): a Jewish cem-
etery (16th c.); the ohel of
the Maggid of Zolochiv,
a pilgrimage destination
of Hasidim. ¶ Zbarazh
(52 km): a Jewish cem-
etery (18th c.); a former
synagogue (18th c.),
Zbaraski castle (1626);
Bernardine monastery
and church (17th c.);
Orthodox Church of the
Transfiguration (17th c.);
the Orthodox Church
of the Dormition of the
Mother of God (18th c.).
¶ “Kremenets Hills”
National Park

329
 Dubno
Ukr. Дубно, Yid. ‫דובנע‬ This is one of our most lively towns, bustling
with trade, in some seasons of the year.
J.I. Kraszewski, Volhynian Evenings, 1859

Contracts ¶ Dubno is one of the these fortifications, it has gone down

oldest towns in Rivne Oblast. The first in history as a town that was never
written mention of it dates back to seized during Tatar or Cossacks raids.
1100. Since the late 14th century, the Even Jews of Dubno called the town
rural settlement of Dubno belonged to Dubna rabbati – the great and mighty
the Ostrogski princely family. In 1498, Dubno. ¶ In 1774, Dubno became an
at the request of Prince Konstanty important trade centre thanks to the
Ostrogski, the owner of Dubno, Grand establishment of wholesale contract
Duke Aleksander of Lithuania granted fairs, which were held until 1795. After
the town free settlement privileges. At this date, it had the biggest Jewish com-
that time, the castle was modernised munity in Volhynia. Profits generated
and its wooden structure was replaced by contracts allowed the owners of the
by a masonry one. According to the town – Princes Lubomirski – to develop
1616 register, the castle had the larg- the municipal infrastructure. The town
est treasury in the entire estate of the streets were paved, and many stone
Ostrogski princes – an irresistible lure buildings were erected. The increasing
for enemy armies. In the first half of the significance of Dubno as a trade and
16th century, Dubno was circumscribed cultural centre made it the largest city

„
by walls and ramparts and thus trans- in Volhynia in the late 18th and at the
formed into a fortress-town. Thanks to beginning of the 19th centuries.

We, who need fixed times during the year to remind us that we need to think
of ourselves, come here to the so-called contract fairs. The Dubno fairs used to
compete with those of Lviv, and now they are threatened by the more and more frequently
attended fairs of Kyiv […]. In addition to the entrance gate from the direction of Mura-
wica, known as the Lutsk gate, where a Masonic lodge met in the early years of our century,
a nearby church and a former Bernardine monastery, a newer parish church, one convent,
Dubno

the so-called town hall in the middle of the market square and housing a contract hall and
shops, Dubno has only a few brick houses, and no sign of new buildings emerging are to be
330 seen for some years now. ¶ J.I. Kraszewski, The Volhynian Evenings, 1859
When the wholesale contract fairs were
moved to other towns, the economic
life of Dubno went into decline. From
the second half of the 18th century, it
gradually acquired features of a military
town due to the 41st Selenginsk Infantry
Regiment and the 11th Chuguev Uhlan
Regiment that were quartered there.
In the late 19th century, a fort was built
near Dubno, which became a strategi-
cally important Russian military facility
on the border with Austria-Hungary.

The Jews of Dubno ¶ The first

mention of Jews in Dubno is dated to
1532 and states that local Jews pos-
sessed 300 oxen. In the 16th century,
Jews from Spain and Orleans, France,
came to Dubno, but the large-scale
Jewish settlement in the town did
not begin until after the 1569 Union Lithuania into a single Polish-Lithuanian Gate building of
Dubno Castle, 2014.
of Lublin which brought Poland and Commonwealth. Photo by Robert
Miedziocha, digital col-
lection of the “Grodzka
A unique find connected with the Jewish community of Dubno is a mysterious Gate – NN Theatre”
object made of marl. It has a distinctive, flattened, roughly square-shaped base. Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)
Its upper part is elongated, with a widened shield bearing carved symbols, Lutsk Gate in
divided by a horizontal line. The escutcheon bears vivid images of two hands Dubno, 2014. Photo by
Yuriy Pshenichnyi
and, above them, three letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Dimensions: height – 2.3
cm, length – 2 cm; dimensions of the escutcheon: 1.6 × 1.8 cm. The inscription on
the artefact can be translated as follows: “For the priestly (kohens’) blessing.” It
is possible that the object was used as a stamp or a matrix for casting a stamp.
Perhaps it was also used as a lid or a decorative element of some tool or ves-
sel. Discovered near the synagogue in Dubno, the object is dated to the 16th
century. At present, it is the oldest object connected with the history of Dubno’s
Jewish community and is kept at the Historical and Cultural Reserve in Dubno.

Dubno Castle was not captured by the As a result, between 1,100 and 1,500
Cossacks during the Cossack wars in the Jews were murdered by the Cossacks just
mid-17th century. When Cossack troops in front of the castle. The Jewish com-
approached the town, the town elder munity was reborn after this tragedy.
voivode, along with 80 Polish soldiers, Already, a map of the town drawn in
locked himself in the castle, but Jews 1671 shows a synagogue and a Jewish
were barred from entering the fortress. quarter. 331
 Dubno, a view of
the town, 1925. Photo
by Henryk Poddębski,
collection of the Institute
„ One valuable ritual object in the
great synagogue was a golden
menorah (110 cm high and 100 cm wide). It is
of Art of the Polish
Academy of Sciences
[said]: this menorah was stolen by a non-Jew
(PAN) who used to put out the candles on Friday nights. After he broke it he put its shafts and its
Residents of Dubno
parts in a sack and brought it to one of his associates to sell. One man saw it, and alerted
near the synagogue, the people of the community. The thief was sent to prison and the menorah was returned
circa 1914, collection of
the YIVO Institute for
to the synagogue. ¶ Dubno: A Memorial Book of the Jewish Community of Dubno, Wolyn
Jewish Research (Dubno: Sefer zikkaron), trans. by Sara Mages, Tel Aviv 1966, retrieved from www.
jewishgen.org/Yizkor

In 1716, a girl who had converted from In 1794, a Jewish printing house opened
Christianity to Judaism so that she could in the town, which functioned for 40
marry a Jew was brought before the years. In 1857, there were 15 synagogues
local court. The court decided to burn and prayer houses and 22 heydorim
the bride alive for her crime against the (elementary schools) in Dubno. In
Sacraments. The kahal that had allowed 1861, Dubno had a population of 7,922,
this wedding to take place was punished including 6,258 Jews. In 1897, 7,018
with a hefty fine. The 18th century was out of the town’s 14,257 residents was
marked with a belated Polish reaction Jewish.
to Counter-Reformation. It was the
period when Jews were prohibited from The Maggid of Dubno and others
employing Christian servants and when ¶ One of the most famous 18th-century
conflicts between the Jewish community Jewish preachers, Jacob ben Wolf Kranz
and monasteries were not infrequent. (known as the Maggid of Dubno), resided
Documents from the late 16th and early in Dubno. The town was also the birth-
17th centuries attest to regular argu- place of the translator of the Pentateuch,
ments over ponds, breweries, and an Salomon ben Joel, and the writer Haim
Zvi Lerner. ¶ Jacob ben Wolf Kranz
Dubno

inn, but later 18th-century conflicts

include disputations on matters of theol- (1740–1804) lived in Dubno for 18 years
332 ogy and direct anti-Judaic invectives. ¶ and was also a preacher in Międzyrzec
Podlaski (Mezrichh), Żółkiew (Zhovkva), Aron Kodesh in the
synagogue in Dubno,
Włodawa, Kalisz, and Zamość. He 1930s, collection of
enjoyed immense popularity and also the Institute of Art of
the Polish Academy of
visited various German lands, where he Sciences (PAN)
delivered sermons in major Jewish com-
munities. In Berlin, he met the philoso-
pher Moses Mendelssohn, the founder
and spiritual leader of the Haskalah
(Jewish Enlightenment). Mendelssohn
called Kranz “the Jewish Aesop” because
of his brilliance and love of parables:
Kranz wrote a multi-volume Hebrew
commentary on the Torah adding to his
meticulous exegesis various parables, folk
legends, and real life examples making
his commentary into a Musar (ethical)
text. His jokes about Hasidim (of whom
Kranz was quite critical) were rich in folk back into Yiddish (the language in which
humour. His disciples published his com- Jacob Krantz preached), and published in
mentaries together with the text of the two volumes entitled Ale masholim fun
Pentateuch and later in the 19th century, Dubiner Maggid (All Parables of the Mag-

„
the parables from the commentaries were gid of Dubno).
extrapolated from the text, translated

Once the Gaon of Vilna, undoubtedly the most influential legal authority among
eighteenth-century Jews, asked [Yakov Kranz]: why was he so keen on parables
and fables? Would it not be better to make a direct statement in a sermon? Tell Jews the
truth – directly, to their face! Well, said the Maggid of Dubno, let me answer this question
with a parable. ¶ Once the naked Truth was walking through the streets of the shtetl, seek-
ing alms. Nobody wanted to greet her, nobody let her in, and nobody wanted to recognize
her. She was desperate and depressed, and her life was miserable. Once a Parable met her
and asked: why, what’s going on with you, sister? The Truth complained and cried bitterly.
Well, said the Parable, let’s do this: I will lend you my clothes and you will walk around in
them seeking support and exposure – deal? The Truth agreed. Once she put on the Parable’s
clothes, everybody began turning to her, everybody was seeking her; they welcomed her and
rejoiced in and were uplifted by her presence. ¶ Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern, A Tale of Two
Towns, 2015, www.shtetlroutes.eu

Solomon (Shlomo) ben Joel Dubno Mendelssohn, who – holding Dubno’s

(1738–1813) was a translator of the knowledge in high esteem – became
Pentateuch, a philologist, and a poet. his patron and friend. It was Dubno
From 1767, he lived in Amsterdam who insisted on publishing the Ger-
and Berlin. He taught the son of Moses man translation of the Pentateuch that 333
 topics more effectively compared to
former textbooks. ¶ Avrom Ber Gott-
lober (1810–1899) was a Jewish poet,
historian, writer, and journalist, and
a Haskalah activist. He was born in
Starokostiantyniv. In his youth, he stud-
ied the Bible and the Talmud and was
fascinated by Kabbalah. In 1828, when he
met the Jewish educational activist and
maskil Josef Perl in Ternopil, he devoted
himself zealously to studying secular
sciences. Gottlober’s acquaintance with
the Jewish Haskalah activists Menahem
Mendel Lefin and Isaac Ber Levinsohn
had a major impact on his worldview.
Gottlober became one of the most active
and prolific maskilim (enlightened Jews)
in the Russian Empire. In his poems and
prose narrative, he fought for reforms in
Jewish education, welcomed the reform
of the school system undertaken by the
Entrance to the Mendelssohn had made for his son; he government, and criticised Orthodox
synagogue in Dubno. An
inscription in Hebrew is
also wrote a commentary on the text. He Jews for bigotry, backwardness, and
visible over the entrance, died in Amsterdam. ¶ Haim Zvi Lerner obscurantism. He worked at public
reading: “In the house schools for Jewish boys in Kamianets-
of God we walked with
(1815–1889) was a Jewish scholar, writer,
the crowd,” meaning and columnist, born in Dubno. Thanks Podilskyi and Starokostiantyniv. From
the Jewish year 5553 1866, he taught Talmudic texts at the
(1792–93), before 1914,
to the support of Jewish educational
collection of the Institute activists, he attended the Bezalel Stern rabbinic seminary in Zhytomyr. After
of Art of the Polish Jewish school in Odessa, one of the first the school was closed down in 1873, he
Academy of Sciences
(PAN) modern-type enlightened Jewish schools settled in Dubno and, in 1876, started
in the Russian Empire with German as publishing a magazine Ha-boker Or
the language of instruction. He taught at (Heb.: Morning Light). Gottlober’s mem-
a Jewish school in Berdychiv and, from oirs and autobiography are a precious
1851, at the rabbinic seminary in Zhy- source of knowledge about the history
tomyr. He published a Hebrew-language of European Jews in the first half of the
grammar textbook More ha-lashon (The 19th century. The poet, by then blind,
Language Mentor), that was reissued spent the last years of his life in Białystok.
six times during his lifetime and several ¶ Salomon Mandelkern (1846–1902)
times after his death. The textbook owed was a Jewish writer, lexicographer, and
its popularity to the way it explained translator. He was born into a Hasidic
Dubno

grammar, which resembled the system family in Mlyniv, in Dubno County. After
used for teaching European languages. moving to Dubno at the age of 16, he con-
334 It enabled learners to study individual tinued his religious education studying
with local rabbis but also mastered
European languages. He graduated from
the Department of Oriental Languages
at the St Petersburg University from the
Department of Law at Odessa University.
In 1873–1880, he worked as a rabbi’s
assistant in Odessa. He wrote a 3-volume
history of Russia and Poland in Hebrew
and published the first translation into
Russian of Nathan Hannover’s chronicle
Yeven Metsulah (The Abyss of Despair)
on Jews in the midst of the Cossack
Revolution of 1648–1649. ¶ In 1880, led to high-density urban housing with Jewish gymnasium
(secondary school), 1928,
he moved to Leipzig, where he became many small streets and lanes. Parts of collection of the Dubno
fascinated with Zionism. He published this urban layout have survived until Historical and Cultural
Reserve
two volumes of his own poems and today. In 1782–1795, a wooden shul was
was one of the first Hebrew poets who replaced with a grand stone synagogue,
composed ballads. He translated the which still stands. The construction was
works of Goethe, Heine, Byron, Pushkin, founded by the kahal with the financial
and Lermontov into Hebrew as well as support of Prince Michał Lubomirski.
Vladimir Korolenko’s stories into Ger- That is why there is a plaque above the
man. Mandelkern’s magnum opus, which entrance with the coat of arms of the
brought him fame around the world, was Lubomirski family with the prince’s
the Jewish-Aramaic Concordance, pub- initials and an inscription below the
lished in 1896 (the last edition – 1967). coat of arms, reading: “We shall go to the
House of God, heedless of the lightning,
The Jewish quarter ¶ When Jews thunder, rain, and snow,” as well as the
settled in Dubno, the southern part of date according to the Jewish calendar:
the town, on the swampy banks of the 5554 (1794/1795). The synagogues in
Ikva River, was allocated to them, and this region mentioned the name of the

„
this is where the Jewish quarter devel- generous prince in their prayers.
oped. The increasing Jewish population

The synagogue in the city of Dubno is a very beautiful stone building, its height is
about 30 cubits (21 meters), and its dome rests on sixteen pillars that were built
in four rows. Its construction lasted approximately twelve years, from 5543 to 5554, when
– as it [was] written in the community ledger – they started to pray there. […] Twenty-five
years have passed since a reliable man, an old man of about seventy years, told me that he
had heard in his youth from his father, who was eighty years old at that time that he was
there when the cornerstone was laid for the synagogue’s building. He saw with his own eyes
how the townspeople, their chiefs and notable persons sat around the tables, which were
made of wooden planks that were placed on top of empty wine and brandy barrels, and [a]
glass of brandy and honey cakes before them, and in their company was also this prince, 335
 a great respected minister of the Polish Kingdom and one of the military leaders, who
drank a glass with them after he [had] told them a few things and after he blessed them:
That they’ll finish successfully what they have started to build, and they’ll pray in this syna-
gogue to God who created the heavens and the earth, and all living things upon the earth.
¶ Based on: Dubno Rabbati (Hebr.: Dubno the Great) by Rabbi Haim Zeev Margaliyot,
Warsaw 1910, as cited in: Dubno. A Memorial to the Jewish Community of Dubno, Wolyn
(Hebr.: Dubno: Sefer zikkaron), trans. by Sara Mages, Tel Aviv 1966, www.jewishgen.org

World War I and its aftermath ¶ numerous “forced contributions” as

During World War I, the town’s eco- well as by outright robbery and holding
nomic situation deteriorated sharply. people for ransom. In July 1919, the Jews
Dubno was essentially destroyed and of Dubno had to face another challenge
abandoned. In addition, it was struck by – Soviet authorities ordered the liquida-
epidemics of pox and typhoid. The troops tion of the kahal, the so-far officially
stationed here began to take advantage recognized Jewish communal umbrella
of every opportunity to rob the local organization.
population. They did so by imposing

Isaac Babel (1894–1940), a Russian Jewish writer of international renown

and formidable artistic influence. In 1920, as a war correspondent with the
Commander Budyonny’s First Cavalry Army, he stayed in various towns of
the Rivne Oblast; his observations were reflected in the pages of his later
works, first and foremost, The Red Cavalry. Using the events in Dubno as
an example, he gave a detailed description of the “liberation mission” of

„
the Bolsheviks. Russian military authorities including Commander Budyonny
considered his description of the Red Army an anti-patriotic lampoon.

Dubno synagogues. Everything destroyed. Two little vestibules left, centuries, two
tiny rooms, everything full of memories, four synagogues, close together, then
pasture, plowed fields, the setting sun. The synagogues are ancient buildings, squat, green
and blue, the Hasidic synagogue, inside, nondescript architecture. I go into the Hasidic
synagogue. It’s Friday. Such misshapen little figures, such worn faces, it all came alive for
me, what it was like three hundred years ago, the old men running about the synagogue, no
wailing, for some reason they keep moving from corner to corner, their worship could not
be less formal. […] A quiet evening in the synagogue, that always has an irresistible effect
on me, four synagogues in a row. […] Can it be that ours is the century in which they per-
ish? ¶ Isaac Babel, Dnevnik 1920 (1920 Diary), trans. by H.T. Willetts, 1990.

In 1921–1922, the Jewish community First, a hospital was established. But in

began to gradually rebuild its institu- the first few years it had no surgeon,
Dubno

tions, including the social relief organi- which meant that patients requiring an
zations. The funds were limited, so they operation had to go to Lwów – and they
336 appealed to Jews from abroad for help. did not always make it. It was not until
1925 that the Rojtmans – a surgeon
couple – came to live in Dubno. They
had at their disposal a spacious operat-
ing theatre and X-ray equipment.

Jewish education ¶ As in other

shtetls, Jewish education in Dubno
was based exclusively on religious
upbringing. The situation changed in
the mid-19th century. The first Jewish
private school was established in 1876,
and another one was opened in 1890,
both with elements of German-oriented June 25, 1941, German troops entered Dubno, Kyryla i Mefo-
diya Street, with the
and Enlightenment-inspired education. the town. They began persecuting and synagogue building vis-
When Countess Shuvalova founded murdering local Jews, who at that time ible in the background,
2014. Photo by Emil
a modern secondary school for women constituted a 12,000-wise community. Majuk, digital collection
in the town in 1907, Jewish girls were In April 1942, a ghetto was established of the “Grodzka Gate
(in addition to Jews, Roma Gypsies also – NN Theatre” Centre
among its students, and two Jews became (www.teatrnn.pl)
members of the School Welfare Com- were confined there). On May 27, 1942,
mittee. The same year, a boys’ secondary the Einsatzgruppen executed approx.
school was opened, in which 230 out of 3,800 Jews at the old airport outside the
310 students were Jewish. The curricu- town. The last residents of the ghetto
lum of the School of Trade in Dubno were murdered in October 1942. Only
– apart from mathematics, economics, a few dozen Jews from Dubno survived
and science of commodities – included the Holocaust.
such cutting-edge matters as advertising
and Esperanto. There was also a local Traces of Jewish presence ¶ Today,
Tarbut Hebrew school. Jews who planned Dubno has around 38,000 residents.
aliyah to the land of Israel (Ottoman, There is no registered Jewish community
later British Palestine) gained practical here, but the architecture of the former
skills in workshops and learnt agriculture Jewish quarter has been preserved. South
by working at a hakhsharah (training of the market place there stands the aban-
farm) located in a nature reserve called doned building of the former synagogue,
“Palestine.” Some Jewish young people and behind the bus station, there is
belonged to Hashomer Hatzair Zionist a destroyed 16th-century Jewish grave-
youth organization. There was also a local yard. Only fragments of matzevot have
sports club, “Maccabee,” named after the survived, but there is also a monument
leaders of the anti-Hellenizers movement and plaque reminding all who visit about
of the early 2nd century b.c.e. the history of this place. The museum in
Dubno Castle is one of the region’s major
World War II and the Holo- tourist attractions – a part of the exhibi-
caust ¶ In September 1939, Dubno tion is devoted to the history of the Jewish
was incorporated into the USSR. On community in the town. 337
 Worth Former synagogue (16th c.), 23 Kyryla i Mefodiya St. ¶ Ostrogski Castle: the complex com-
seeing prises the buildings of the 16th-century castle of Princes Ostrogski, plus the castle wing over
the gate from the 16th–17th c. and the 18th-century Lubomirski Castle, 7a Zamkova St, tel.
+380365643568. ¶ Bernardine Monastery (1629), 28 Danyla Halytskoho St. ¶ Lutsk Gate
(1623), 32 Danyla Halytskoho St. ¶ Orthodox Church of St. George and bell tower (1700),
10 Sadova St. ¶ Carmelite Church and Convent (1630–1742), 51 Tarasa Shevchenka St.
¶ Dąbrowski’s house (19th c.), 156 Mykhaila Hrushevskoho St. ¶ St. Elias Orthodox Cathe-
dral (1908), 13 Danyla Halytskoho St. ¶ Merchant houses (19th c.) 6, 10 Kyryla i Mefodiya
St. ¶ Elbert’s house (19th c.), 4 Tarasa Bulby St. ¶ Grynberg’s House (18th c.), 1 Svobody
St. ¶ Parish church (1830), 18 Ostrozkoho St. ¶ Commercial and residential houses
(19th c.), 8–18 Svobody St.; 1 Mykhaila Drahomanova St.; 12 Kyryla i Mefodiya St. ¶ Hop
manufacture (19th c.), 48 Svobody St. ¶ Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration (Spaso-
Preobrazhenska) (16th c.), 30 Ivana Franka St. ¶ Countess Shuvalova’s Manor (19th c.), 104
Mykhaila Hrushevskoho St.

Surrounding Tarakaniv (6 km): defensive fort (19th c.). ¶ Mlyniv (20 km): a Jewish cemetery (18th c.);
area a palace (1791), currently a museum; the Orthodox Church of the Intercession of the
Mother of God (1840). ¶ Mizoch (30 km): a Jewish cemetery (18th c.); the Church of St.
John of Nepomuk (1795). ¶ Zdolbuniv (42 km): a Jewish cemetery (18th c.); more than 100
matzevot; the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul (1908). ¶ Rivne (45 km): the main city of the
region; a Jewish cemetery (16th c.); two synagogues (19th c., Shkilna St.); the Local History
Museum; Catholic and Orthodox churches; parks, theatres. ¶ Klevan (64 km): a Jewish
cemetery (18th c.); a former synagogue (19th c.); Czartoryski Castle (15th c.); the Church of
the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1630); the Orthodox Church of the Nativity
of the Mother of God (1777); the green railway “tunnel of love.”

Dubno
Dubno

338
Ostroh
Pol. Ostróg, Ukr. Острог, It happened in Ostroh. I was young at that time and spent my days and
Yid. ‫אָסטרע‬ nights at the bet midrash, studying the Torah. During the day, when the
Jews went home, I sometimes locked the bet midrash and stayed inside,
alone with the books…
Tailor of Lublin, in: Yevreyskie narodnyie skazki, predania, bylichki,
rasskazy, anekdoty, sobrannyie E.S. Rajze (Rus.: Jewish Folk Tales…),
ed. Valery Dimshitz. St Petersburg 2000

The letter of the Torah ¶ The in 1603 by Prince Konstanty Wasyl

town’s name was pronounced “Ostre” Ostrogski in which he divided his estate
in Yiddish, which can be understood as between his sons, Janusz and Alexander,
“Os To[y]re”, the Yiddish for “the letter noted that Christians (Eastern Orthodox
of the Torah”. With a name like this, and Catholics) as well as Jews and Tatars
the town was well suited to become an all lived in the town. Jews were the
important place of the Jewish culture. second largest religious group in Ostroh.
¶ A mention of this old settlement can Since the town was divided between two
be found in the Old Ruthenian Primary owners to whom the Old Town and the
Chronicle (around 1110). In the 14th New Town respectively were submitted
century, the town became the seat of the after 1603, it had two separate but coop-
Princes Ostrogski, who built a fortified erating Jewish communities. ¶ Scat-
castle here. In the second half of the 16th tered references to Jews living in Ostroh
century, it was called “the Athens of Vol- appear as early as the 13th century;
hynia” because of the famous Ostrogski however, the dynamic growth of the Jew-
Academy, a university founded in 1576 ish community in the town began only
by Prince Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski. in the second half of the 16th century.
This academy became a leading edu- The Jewish quarter developed southeast
cational center for Orthodox Christian of the marketplace. In 1603, there were
clergy in the Polish-Lithuanian Com- 73 Jews registered in Ostroh, and their
monwealth. Ostroh is also known for number increased to 229 by 1629. At the
its famous Ostroh Bible, printed by Ivan end of the 1640s, the Jewish community
Fyodorov in 1581; it was the first com- of Ostroh boasted about 1,500 people.
plete printed edition of the Bible in the The Ostroh kahal, governing over the
Church Slavonic language. most important and the largest Jewish
community in Volhynia, represented the
The Jews of Ostroh ¶ No detailed Jews of Volhynia at the Council of Four
data on the ethnic make-up of the town Lands, along with Lutsk, Volodymyr-
population can be found in medieval Volynskyi, Kovel, and Dubno.
documents. However, an act issued 339
 known Rabbi of Ostroh and the head of
the yeshivah was Kalman ben Yaakov
Haberkasten, succeeded by Solomon
ben Ezekiel Luria (1510–1573), known
as Maharshal. The yeshiva teachers
included a famous Kabbalist, Isaiah
Horowitz (1565–1630), the author of
Shela’h (Shney lukhot ha-Brit, Heb.:
Two Tablets of the Covenant). Another
prominent rabbinic leader was Samuel
Ostroh, a general view Maharsha and other prominent Edels, dubbed Maharsha (an acronym
of the town before 1897,
collection of the Institute
rabbis ¶ As the centre of a sizeable and for: More(y)nu ha-rav rabi Samuel Edels,
of Art of the Polish influential Jewish community, Ostroh Heb.: Our Teacher Rabbi Shmuel Edels).
Academy of Sciences
(PAN)
attracted eminent learned rabbis. From In his honour, the main synagogue in
the beginning of the 16th century, the Ostroh was named the Great Maharsha
town had its own yeshiva. The first Synagogue.

Rabbi Samuel Eliezer Edels (1555–1631), was a Talmud commentator and

expert in Jewish law, one of the most prominent rabbis of his time. He was
married to Dvorah Halperin, the daughter of the influential Rabbi of Poznań,
Moshe Halperin. He headed a yeshivah in Poznań, which his mother-in-law,
Edel, supported for 20 years (1585–1605), in recognition of which he adopted
the nickname “Edels.” In 1605, he became Rabbi of Chełm, then of Lublin, and
from 1624, served as Rabbi of Ostroh. He opposed the then universal practice
of studying mainly the 16th-century Halakhic law code Shulkhan Arukh (Heb.:
Set Table) and insisted on the need to study earlier Halakhic sources comparing
them to later ones to be able to understand how the Judaic law comes to being
and how the mind of a posek (top religious authority) works. Edels was known
for his radiating kindness and selfless help to others. On the door frame of his
house (which burnt down in 1889), a verse from the Book of Job was carved: “no
stranger had to spend the night in the street, for my door was always open to
the traveller” (Job 31:32) – this was the motto he observed all his life. ¶ Between
1600 and 1602, Edels published commentaries on most treatises of the Talmud:
Hiddushey Halakhot (Heb.: Novellae in Jewish Law) and Hiddushei Haggadot
(Heb.: Novellae on the Haggadah), in which he explained the Talmudic text with
its legal debates, its historical tales and legends, parables, aphorisms, and ethi-
cal maxims of sages. In the classic editions of the Talmud, his commentaries are
necessarily attached in appendices, along with commentaries by Solomon Luria
(Maharshal) and Meir Halperin (Maharam) of Lublin. ¶ Rabbi Shmuel Edels died
in Ostroh on November 30, 1631 and was buried at the local Jewish cemetery.
Ostroh

Another eminent scholar connected with (1586–1667) – a rabbi and expert in

340 Ostroh was David ben Samuel ha-Levi Jewish law, better known by the acronym
‫ַט”ז‬, Ta”z, from the first letters of his
work Turei zahav (Heb.: Pillars of Gold).
In 1641, he settled in Ostroh, where he
served as rabbi and head of the yeshiva.
Turei zahav (published in parts between
1646 and 1766) is an influential com-
mentary on Shulkhan Arukh. Fearing
the Cossack mass violence against the
Jews, Samuel ha-Levi moved to Moravia.
A year after returning to the Polish-
Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1653, he
became Chief Rabbi of the Golden Rose
Synagogue in Lwów. He participated estate. The inventories of 1708 and 1724 Leyvi Soyfer, the scribe
(right), with his two
in the meetings of the Council of Four testify to the presence of Jews among tai- “unequal” students, one
Lands, his signature appearing on many lors, barber-paramedics, smiths, furriers, old, one young, at the
end of a table by a win-
of the Council’s resolutions. butchers, bakers, tin-plate and copper dow (photographer’s
artisans, glass-makers, bookbinders, note), photo published
doctors, and pharmacists. in 1925. Photo by Alter
Crafts and trade ¶ As Ostroh was Kacyzne, collection of
situated on an east-west oxen trade route, the YIVO Institute for
the cattle trade became one of the main Cossacks and Tatars ¶ Ostroh was Jewish Research

occupations of the local Jews, though the birthplace of Nathan Hannover (c.
some of them worked as merchants 1610–1683), the author of the influential
and craftsmen as well. In the first half Yeven Mezulah (Heb.: Abyss of Dispair)
of the 16th century, Ostroh received the chronicle published in 1653 in Venice.
privilege of holding weekly two-day fairs Although it is written as an early modern
(on Fridays and Sundays) and annual chronicle, not as an accurate historical
three-day fairs on St. Onuphrius’ Day, report, its details in many cases (but not
on Our Lady of Protection Day, and on the ethical stories and statistics) are accu-
St. Nicholas Day. This privilege signifi- rate. Hannover reports that in August
cantly boosted the trade and helped local 1648, during the Khmelnytsky Uprising,
merchants attract and support most about 600 Jews were killed in Ostrog
significant rabbinic scholars in Poland. within just a few days. No less tragic was
At the end of the 17th century, the most another Cossack raid, in 1649, which
widespread crafts in Ostroh were alcohol brought death to about 300 people. Their
distillation, brewing, and malting, the bodies were dumped into a well near
importance of which is evidenced by the synagogue, which was turned into
numerous vineyards, breweries, and malt a stable. Nathan Hannover, whose father
houses. In 1687, these were owned only was one of the victims of the massacre,
by Jews, who had a total of 144 process noted that only three Jews and five Jew-
tanks in the Old and New Town. At that ish houses had been left in Ostroh. The
time, there were 17 vineyards, 5 brewer- community quickly recovered, however.
ies, and 5 malt houses in the part of the The act of 1654 stated that, out of the 93
town belonging to the Ostrogski entailed houses and palaces in the Old Town of 341
 Ostroh, 44 belonged to Jews. In 1666, the
Jews of Ostroh sent their own delegate to
the Council of Four Lands again, which
means their community re-established
its significance and reputation.

Massacres during the Khmelnytsky

Uprising were a great tragedy for the
Jews living in Ukraine, but the number
of victims reported by 17th-century
chroniclers tends to be overstated and
should be treated with caution. Accord-
ing to Prof. Shaul Stampfer from the
Hebrew University, around 40,000
Jews lived in the Ukrainian lands of
the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
in the 1640s. During the Khmelnytsky
Uprising, about 14,000–18,000 were
killed, about 1,000–2,000 – con-
verted under duress to Christianity,
Mausoleum of and about 1,000 – taken captives and sold at the slave markets in Istanbul.
Rabbi Samuel Edels at
the Jewish cemetery
in Ostroh, 2014. Photo In 1687, there were 390 houses in older prayer house, probably after 1627.
by Boris Bertash,
digital collection of the
Ostroh, of which at least 135 belonged ¶ Reportedly, the foundation stone for
“Grodzka Gate – NN to Jews. The town was destroyed again the synagogue in Ostroh was laid by
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)
during the Great Northern War in the Rabbi Maharsha himself. Its similarity
early 18th century. According to the to the Great Suburb Synagogue in Lwów,
Market square in erected at the same period, suggests
Ostroh, 1900, digital col-
1708 partial inventory, there were 58
lection of the “Grodzka Christian and 40 Jewish houses, nine that it may have been designed by the
Gate – NN Theatre” unoccupied houses, and 14 mansions; same architect, Giacomo Medleni from
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)
188 houses were vacant. ¶ According to Lwów. Its main hall (11 metres high at
a legend circulating among Ostroh Jews, its highest point) is a rectangle with
in 1734 during the Cossack and peasant thick walls of stone and brick. Each of
uprising remembered as the Haida- the four walls has three large windows,
machchyna, the local Tatars defended together symbolizing the 12 tribes of
the Jewish community. For many years, Israel. The vault is supported by four
this event was commemorated annually octagonal pillars with Doric capitals. In
in the Great Synagogue in Ostroh. the past, vestibules and women’s gal-
leries adjoined the main hall from the
The synagogue ¶ The preserved west and south. Nothing has been left of
Ostroh

building of the former main synagogue the rich synagogue interior; its origi-
can be found in the northern part of nal appearance can be recreated only
342 Ostroh. It was erected on the site of an from old photos and descriptions. The
synagogue fell victim to many raids and the guidance
fires, but it served as a prayer house until of the enthusi-
World War II. Turned into a chemicals astic Gregory
warehouse in the Soviet times, it was left Arshinov, made
abandoned and in ruin until recently, extraordinary efforts to preserve and Ostroh Castle – the
round tower, 2015.
when a group of Ostroh residents under reconstruct this unique monument. Photo by Boris Bertash,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Among the traditional elements typical for synagogue interior, there was also Theatre” Centre (www.
one unique item: a cannonball suspended on a long rope from the ceiling. teatrnn.pl)
According to a legend, the Russian troops tried to storm the Ostroh synagogue Synagogue in
in 1792, believing that it was a hiding place for Poles. Luckily, the cannon- Ostroh, 1933. Photo by
Jerzy Łuczyński, col-
balls that fell into the building did no harm to the Jews gathered inside. After lection of the National
a three-day siege, a Jew by the name of Eliezer left the synagogue and swam Digital Archives, Poland
across the river to the invaders’ camp. He convinced them that there were no
more Polish troops in the town and showed them a ford they could use to cross
the river. The Russians lifted the siege and left Ostroh. To commemorate this
extraordinary event, the Jews decided to have one of the cannonballs sus-
pended from the ceiling. Several other cannonballs from that time are exhib-
ited in the Ostroh Museum of Local History. Additionally, to mark the day on
which the Jewish community was saved from the Russian attack, the 7th day
of Tamuz (June–July) was celebrated in Ostroh as a Purim-like holiday, and
a text written specially for this occasion called Megilat Ester Tamuz (Heb.:
The Scroll of ester for the Month of Tamuz) was recited in the synagogue.

Printing houses ¶ At the end of the established there, the first one around
18th century, Ostroh became one of the 1792, by Avraham ben Yitzhak Ayzyk
most important centres of Jewish print- of Korets. Avraham ben Yitzhak Ayzyk’s
ing in the Russian Empire. Between 1794 partner was Aaron ben Yona, who
and 1832, seven printing presses were opened another Hebrew printing house, 343
 which competed not only with the pub- in a collection of many important and
lishing establishment in Ostroh, but also interesting documents about the life of
with a highly influential Krüger’s print- Ostroh Jews from the town establishment
ing house in Novyi Dvir. To confuse cus- until the 20th century. Bieber presented
tomers and make them believe that they the results of his research in 17 articles
were buying Krüger’s books, Aaron ben published in academic journals in St.
Yona used a printing signet that resem- Petersburg, Moscow, and Warsaw, as
bled the one used by Krüger. Soon, in well as in many notes and press releases.
1795 or 1798, a third printing house was His first historical monograph Di alte
set up. It was run by Shmuel ben Issakhar Ostroger yiddishe velt (Yid.: A History
Ber Segal (the owner of Hebrew printing of the Jews of Ostroh) was published
houses in Korets, Shklov, and Polonne). in Warsaw in 1902 and the second one
Segal’s establishment in Ostroh, however, (written in Hebrew), Mazkeret li-gdolei
was eventually shut down because it pub- Ostroha (Heb.: In the Memory of the
lished materials for the Polish insurgents Great Rabbis of Ostroh) in Berdychiv,
during the November Uprising in 1831. in 1907. The latter describes the life and
work of more than 400 rabbis and leaders
History scholar ¶ Menachem Men- of the Ostroh Jewish community and
del Bieber (1848–1923) was a historian, remains an invaluable historical ency-
writer, and teacher who researched and clopaedic source to this day. Bieber also
chronicled the heritage of the Ostroh enthusiastically promoted the knowledge
Jews. From his early age, he was fas- about Ostroh and its inhabitants. He
cinated by the history of his town and wrote more than 100 articles for news-
collected materials to create a literary papers and magazines all over the world,
monument to the Ostroh Jewish commu- while still teaching history at the Ostroh
nity. In 1866, he married and moved to high school and at the Talmud Torah
Cracow, where he received higher educa- school. He died in 1923 at the age of 75.
tion in history and became a teacher at
the Jewish secondary in Cracow. In his The cemetery ¶ Menachem Mendel
spare time, he worked at the libraries in Bieber found eternal rest at the local
Cracow, Warsaw, and Vilnius. Bieber is cemetery, which is as old as the Jew-
the author of historical novels such as ish community of Ostroh. The follow-
Di nacht in goles (Yid.: A Night in Exile, ing inscription was engraved on his
1874) and Ven dos leben ot geblit (Yid.: matzevah: “Born in Ostroh, our teacher
When Life Bloomed, 1877). At the end of and mentor, Menachem Mendel Bieber,
1889, he returned to Ostroh only to find son of Ari Leib Bieber. May he rest in
out that several historical monuments peace. A history scholar, attentive to
he was researching and the collection people. A teacher and school headmaster.
of his documents had been lost in a fire. The author of two books. He is our pride
It was then that he decided to carefully and glory!” Unfortunately, his gravestone
Ostroh

examine the inscriptions on matzevot, has not survived. ¶ In his book Mazkeret
gravestones, the material that hardly li-gedole Ostroha (Hebr.: In the Memory
344 burns. His painstaking work resulted of the Great Rabbis of Ostroh), Bieber
 Synagogue in Ostroh,
2017. Photo by Andrey
Malyuskiy

wrote that the oldest part of the cemetery victim to the Soviet regime. In 1968, it
included many old matzevot but only two was closed and then converted into a lei-
of them bore legible inscriptions, which sure park with a dancing hall, an indoor
he cited and dated to 1445 and 1449. shooting range, and an amusement park;
A photo of one such matzevah has sur- the tombstones were used to make pave-
vived, but in his detailed analysis, Prof. ments at the military base and in the psy-
Andrzej Trzciński indicates that the date chiatric hospital. In recent years, thanks
was misread and the matzevah should be to the efforts of Hryhoriy Arshinov, the
dated to 1520, which still makes it one leader of the local Jewish community,
of the oldest known gravestones with the park has been closed, some matzevot
Hebrew inscriptions in Poland-Lithua- removed from the squares and streets,
nia. It reads: “Here lies a good man, Mr. carefully identified and cleaned, brought
Menakhem, son of Mr. Eliezer, buried on back to the cemetery and reestablished.
Thursday, the 15th day of the month of Also, the ohel (stone burial canopy) over
Shevat, in the year 280 according to the Rabbi Edels’ grave has been rebuilt and is
short reckoning. May his soul be bound again a pilgrimage place for Jews from all
up in the bond of life.” ¶ Other promi- over the world.
nent residents of Ostroh buried at the
Jewish cemetery include such illustrious The Book of Desire ¶ Ostroh was
individuals as Shlomo ben Eliezer, Yoel twice visited by the ethnographic expedi-
Halperin, David Shmulevich, and Haim tion led by S. An-ski, who discovered
Horowitz. However, the most famous during the tour an enigmatic manuscript
person buried there is Samuel Edels entitled Sefer ha-Heshek (Heb.: The Book
(Maharsha). ¶ Having withstood the of Desire). The manuscript is written by
tests of time and wars, the cemetery fell a Kabbalist and popular healer (a baal 345
 shem) who called himself Hillel, and who
made his living selling amulets and herbs
and exorcising evil spirits in the towns of
Volhynia and Podolia between 1732 and
1740. Sefer ha-Heshek is a collection of
refuot and segulot (folk medicine recipes
and healing remedies), and exorcism
stories and instructions. Interestingly, it
not only contains examples of success-
ful rituals, but also describes situations
when attempts to banish the dybbuk
ended in failure. Such a situation took

„
place in Ostroh, and Hillel describes it as
follows:

Once with the help of God I came

across a dreadful incident in the
country of Volhynia in the town of Ostroh
where the demon of idol-worshippers
appropriated the soul of a woman from
the same town. I was not able to perform
[against the dybbuk] for several days.
I resorted to great oaths in the synagogue
with the Torah scroll and the people and
Interior of the holy witnesses. And the spirit answered me from the body of that woman (may God protect
synagogue in Ostroh
– a view of the aron
us): “You are the Rabbi who has been working for six days already, you pronounced oaths
kodesh, circa 1930. Photo over me and tried to exorcise me using the holy names. However, you could not do any-
by Szymon Zajczyk,
collection of the Institute
thing [shum pe’ulah] to me at all, although you have somewhat weakened the evil powers
of Art of the Polish that surround my soul, and damaged my members, sinews, and bones. This is not the place
Academy of Sciences
(PAN)
that permits you to utilize the holy names, because there is a place of filth next to this holy
synagogue. So if you would like to complete this work, you should go together with me and
try in a different place. Only with seven Torah scrolls and with seven boys who have not
sinned up till now or with seven – or more – proper men [will you be able to perform]. The
same day when they pronounce oaths, let them go with you to the ritual bath, pray [daven]
together with you, and after that, with the help of God, you will succeed and I will go out
of the body of this woman. The only thing I do not know is whether I will leave her body
without her soul or with it.” ¶ Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern, ‘We Are Too Late:’ Shloyme
Ansky and His Paradigm of No Return, Stanford 2006

The Kultur-Lige in Ostroh ¶ The was established. Its branch in Ostroh

Ostroh

beginning of the 20th century saw the rise appeared due to Jacob Tolpin, an activist
of new political and cultural life. In 1918, of Poale Zion, who describes the organi-
346 the Yiddish “Kultur-Lige” organization sation in the Memorial Book of Ostroh:
„ Ostrog’s Cultural League grew. It combined different streams of thoughts, but
Jewish culture played the most important part. People who would otherwise not
have shown interest in Jewish culture became interested. Despite the fact that the League’s
program dealt only with culture and not with politics, most of its supporters were from
Poalei Zion and the Bund. ¶ When the Soviet government was formed, it took over various
institutions. Plans for expansion were made, but in effect just the opposite occurred. The
governor of Zhytomyr County ordered all Hebrew schools and evening courses to close. The
Cultural League continued, however, and its salaries were paid by the government. Once
when they brought the salaries for our town, I distributed the money among the Jewish
teachers, leaving my father, my sister, and myself for last. But by that stage there was noth-
ing left for us! We did not mind, the institutions functioned regularly, we had a kinder-
garten, the I.L. Peretz School and the Ber Borochov evening courses. We also organized
cultural gatherings, concerts, plays, etc. […] ¶ When the borders between Russian and
Poland were altered after the First World War, Ostrog became part of Poland. This brought
about a change in the school system. At first the Inspector of Schools nominated me as the
superintendent of the Borochov courses and the technical school. But when I arrived in
Warsaw at the beginning of 1921 there was already a new law which stated that only teach-
ers who passed a special exam would qualify to teach together with Polish teachers. ¶ The
work of the Cultural League to spread Jewish literature, etc., continued as before. However,
with time, the Jewish school and other institutions gradually diminished and then disap-
peared completely. ¶ Prof. Jacob Tolpin, Ostrog’s Cultural League, in: Pinkas Ostroha; sefer
zikaron li-kehila Ostroha (Ostrog Book: A Memorial to the Ostroh Holy Community), Tel
Aviv 1987, retrieved from www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor

In the interwar period, Ostroh became socio-political life. There were branches
a sleepy provincial town, although its of Jewish political parties, cultural
location on the border with the Soviet organisations, a Jewish library, and
Union meant that both border-guard a Tarbut school. In 1933, a new yeshivah
soldiers and smugglers could be encoun- was opened. It was named “Maharsha”
tered there. The Jewish community in honour of Samuel Edels.
was actively involved in cultural and

The hospital ¶ In the second half of the 19th century, between eight and ten
Jewish doctors worked in private practice in Ostroh. To provide poor Jews with
access to medical care, local entrepreneur Moshe Zusman bought a large building
and handed it over to the Jewish community in order to open a hospital there. The
facility was opened on September 16, 1861, with Lev Altshuler as chief physician.
The hospital had 20 permanent beds and could accommodate 100 outpatient visits
per day; it also had a pharmacy and a shelter with four beds. ¶ The institution was
financed from private donations, but in the 1920s, due to the difficult economic
situation, it faced closure. To save it, the hospital staff came up with the idea of
organising charity concerts and dinner parties. These were held at the A. Bludova
Secondary School for women. Thanks to such events, it was possible to ensure the 347
 financial stability of the institution. ¶ The
Jewish hospital operated for more than
78 years and provided assistance to
all the inhabitants of Ostroh, regard-
less of their ethnicity. It was closed
when the Soviet authorities took over
the town in 1939. All the equipment
and property were transferred to the
newly opened regional hospital.

was designed by Zalman Shoychet, born

in Ostroh.

Jewish cemetery in World War II and the Holocaust Present day and memory ¶ After
Ostroh, 2017. Photo by
Christian Herrmann,
¶ In 1939, the Jewish community of the war, several dozen Jews who sur-
www.vanishedworld. Ostroh numbered around 10,500 peo- vived the Holocaust returned to Ostroh,
blog.
ple. In September 1939, Soviet troops including some who fought in partisan
entered the town and deported many units. Later, most of them emigrated,
residents (Jews, Poles, and Ukrainians) but a small Jewish community is still
to Siberia, first and foremost, those present in the town. Its leader, Hry-
active in communal organizations and horiy Arshinov, an architect, engineer,
political parties. In July 1941, Ostroh and restorer, managed to organise the
was taken over by the Germans, who restoration of the Jewish cemetery and
arrested and shot 300 representatives has been working to save the historic
of the Jewish intelligentsia on the very synagogue building. Meanwhile the
first day of their occupation. Then, in Ostroh Academy, a unique university
two mass executions (in August and in of humanities, has opened a Centre for
September 1941), they killed another Jewish Studies (e-mail: ostrohsemitol-
5,500 Jews. Those who survived imme- [email protected]), headed by a talented
diate liquidation were confined in the medievalist Dmytro Tsolin, specialist
ghetto, and most of them were killed in in rabbinic Midrashim and Aramaic Tar-
the next mass execution on November gumim (translations of the Biblical text).
19, 1942. The executions took place Ostroh abounds in monuments and
near the forest of the New Town. In the tourist attractions, and each year it is
1990s, a monument commemorating visited by increasing number of tourists.
Holocaust victims was erected there. It

Worth Synagogue (16th–17th c.), Edelsa St. ¶ Jewish cemetery (16th c.), Kozatska St. ¶ Ostroh
seeing Academy: the oldest Ukrainian educational and research institution (16th c.), converted
into a Catholic academy in the 17th c. and later into a teachers’ institute, re-established as
Ostroh

a National University under the 16th c., 2 Seminarska St., +380365422949. ¶ Church of

the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (15th–19th c.), 4a Kniaziv Ostrozkykh St. ¶
348 Orthodox Church of the Epiphany (15th c.), 5 Akademichna St. ¶ Brick Tower (14th c.):
former residence of the Ostrogski family, currently the Ostroh Museum of Local History,
5 Akademichna St, tel.+380365422593. ¶ Round Tower (16th c.), 5 Akademichna St. ¶
Museum of Books and Printing located in Lutsk Gate Tower (16th c.), 5 Papanina St., tel.
+380365423271. The main part of the exhibition is the collection of books from the local
Museum of Ethnography, founded in 1909–1912. The rare exhibits include the Ostroh Bible
printed by Ivan Fyodorov. The collection comprises about 3,000 exhibits, half of which are
16th- and 17th-c. manuscripts and antique books in Latin and Cyrillic scripts. ¶ Tatar Gate
Tower (16th c.), 65 Tatarska St. ¶ Museum of Numismatics, 11 Nezalezhnosti Ave, tel.
+380365422698. ¶ 19th-c. residential houses, some of them marked as historical sites with
the names of the pre-1939 owners, including: doctor Vobly’s house (10 Heroiv Maidanu St.);
Weintraub’s house (4 Heroiv Maidanu St.); Scheinenberg’s house (45 Nezalezhnosti Ave);
Scheinfein’s house (2 Heroiv Maidanu St.).

Mezhyrich (5 km): the Holy Trinity Orthodox Monastery (13th c.). ¶ Novomalyn (12 km): Surrounding
remnants of the castle that belonged to Princes Maliński and Sosnowski (14th–17th c.). ¶ area
Derman (25 km): an Orthodox monastery founded by Princes Ostrogski, where Ivan Fyo-
dorov worked; in the 20th c., it was turned into an Orthodox convent for women. The village
is the birthplace of the famous 20th c. Ukrainian Diaspora writer Ulas Samchuk. ¶ Slavuta
(27 km): an operating synagogue; a Jewish cemetery with the grave of rabbi Moshe Shapira,
a famous printer; a burial place of Holocaust victims; Church of St. Dorothy; the crypt of
Princes Sanguszko; the administrative buildings and stable of the Sanguszkos; commercial
buildings, and a town hall.

Ostroh

349
 Korets
Pol. Korzec, Ukr. Корець, Yid. ‫קאָריץ‬ Rabbi Pinhas used to say: “I am always afraid to
be more clever than devout.” And then he added:
“I should rather be devout than clever, but rather
than both devout and clever, I should like to be good.”
Martin Buber, Tales of the Hasidim,
trans. O. Marx, New York 1991

A stroll with pleasure ¶ The leather goods were established. In

first reference to a settlement named 1788, the town owners Counts Potockis
Korchesk dates back to 1150 and is established a faience and china manu-
found in the Primary Chronicle, the facturing plant, but they were forced to
12th-century historical account of the close it in 1831 after the local white clay
history of the Slavic people also known deposits were exhausted. After the1793
as the Kiev Chronicle. In 1380, Grand Second Partition of Poland, Korets came
Duke Jagiełło (Jogaila) of Lithuania under the rule of the Russian Empire.
transferred the lands of Korets to Prince After the peasant reform of 1861, part of
Fedor Ostrogski. In 1386, the Ostrog- the Great Reforms of Alexander II, the
skis built the castle here and redirected town became a significant commercial
the course of the Korchik River. At the and industrial centre. In 1887, Korets
beginning of the 15th century, the settle- had a brewery, two leather factories,
ment became the property of the Princes a cloth factory, and five water steam
Koreckis, and after the 1596, Union of mills; most importantly, annual fairs
Lublin it became part of Lutsk County bringing international merchants and
in the Volhynian Palatinate. From the commodities from all over Europe were
16th century until the mid-17th century, held 12 times a year. In 1898, Count
Korets was one of the largest towns in Józef Potocki established a sugar refinery
Volhynia. ¶ In the second half of the here. ¶ In November 1846, the Ukrain-
17th century, Korets gradually fell into ian poet Taras Shevchenko visited the
decline, as the result of several devastat- town; he later mentioned Korets in his
ing attacks of the Cossack army led by short novel Progulka z udovolstviiem
Bohdan Khmelnytsky in 1648–1649. i nie bez morali (Rus.: A Stroll with
The town began to revive only in the Pleasure and Not Without Morals,

„
second half of the 18th century; manu- 1858). This is Shevchenko’s impressions
factories producing cloth, fabrics, and of the town:
Korets

In the fields of Volhynia and Podolia one can often admire picturesque ruins of
350 massive ancient castles, once magnificent, such as those in Ostroh or in Korets.
In Korets even the church, a shelter of the
embalmed corpses of the princely family of
Korecki, has turned into a ruin. What, then,
do these grim witnesses of the past say, what
do they bear testimony to? Despotism and
serfdom! Peasants and magnates!

The Jews of Korets ¶ Jews settled

in Korets in the 16th century, though,
according to the local legend, Jews
settled there much earlier. As in other
towns, the Jewish community suffered
significant losses during the mid-17th- generation of religious enthusiasts, who A view of Korets, circa
1930, collection of the
century Cossack revolution. By 1655, the called themselves Hasidim, and who Historical Museum in
devastation of the Cossack-Polish War eventually established the key cent- Korets
left only 10 Jewish houses in Korets. The ers of the rising Hasidic movement in
oldest matzevah at the Jewish cemetery Karlin, Liady, Berdichev, Chernobyl,
dates back to the 17th century, and Hannipol, and Vitebsk. In the second
towards the end of that century a syna- half of the 18th century, most of the Jews
gogue was built. The main occupations in Korets associated themselves with
of the Korets Jewish population in the the Hasidic movement. In 1760, Rabbi
18th century were crafts and trade; Pinhas Shapiro, a close associate of the
among other businesses, Jews owned founder of Hasidism, the Baal Shem Tov,
two tanneries and 14 stores in the moved to Korets from Shargorod and
marketplace. ¶ In the first half of the soon became known as Rebbe Pinhas of
18th century, Korets was home to Dov Korets. Inspired by their father, his sons
Ber of Mezheritch, known as Maggid of established one of the most significant
Mezherich: after the death of the Baal Hasidic printing presses in East Europe
Shem Tov in 1760, he gathered at his – the one in Slavuta.
table in Mezherich (near Rivne) the new

Pinhas ben Abraham Aba Shapiro (Pinchas of Korets; 1728–1790) was an

eminent Hasidic master, a colleague of the Baal Shem Tov. He was born in the
town of Shklov (Szkłów), where he received a traditional Jewish education. As
a young man, he worked as a melamed in Korets, where he found himself in the
centre of the budding Hasidic movement. He was strongly influenced by the ideas
of the Baal Shem Tov. Rebbe Pinhas became the head of the Jewish community of
Korets, and in the last period of his life also acted as the highest legal and spiritual
authority for Hasidim in the towns of Slavuta and Ostroh. In 1790, at the age of
63, he set out from Ostroh on the long journey to the Holy Land, hoping to spend
the rest of his life there. However, he died suddenly at the very beginning of his
trip, in the town of Shepetivka (Szepietówka), on the 10th day of the month of Elul,
in the year 5551 according to the Jewish calendar. He did not leave a Hasidic 351
 treatise yet his aphorisms and short
commentaries on the Torah recorded by
his disciples and children were pub-
lished posthumously in a two-volume
collection Imrei Pinhas (The Sayings
of Pinhas) His ohel – gravesite – was
reconstructed in the late 1990s and is
located in the center of Shepetivka at

„
the site of the oldest Jewish cemetery
next to the central police station.

Monument to Taras Rabbi Pinhas often cited the words: “A man’s soul will teach him”, and empha-
Shevchenko in front of
the Regional Historical
sized them by adding: “There is no man who is not incessantly being taught by
Museum in Korets, 2014. his soul.” One of his disciples asked: “If this is so, why don’t men obey their souls?” “The soul
Photo by Emil Majuk,
digital collection of the
teaches incessantly,” Rabbi Pinhas explained, “but it never repeats.” ¶ Martin Buber, Tales
“Grodzka Gate – NN of the Hasidim, trans. O. Marx, New York 1991, p. 121.
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)
Hasidic printing house ¶ In 1776, publishing house and ran it until 1786.
a Jewish printer (whose name is not He had an excellent understanding of the
known) arrived in Korets after obtaining Jewish market – hence published major
a privilege from Count Józef Klemens Kabbalistic books and Hasidic commen-
Czartoryski to establish a Jewish printing taries to Kabbalistic sources. In 1798,
press. The Korets printing press operated a printing company owned by Shmuel
until 1819, and over 40 years it published ben Issachar Ber Segal and his father-in-
about 93 books. As many other print- law Tzvi Hirsch ben Arie Leib Margaliot
ing presses established in Volhynia and took over the Korets printing business.
Podolia at that time, the Korets printing Yet the change of hands changed little in
press published predominantly books on the books repertoire of the Korets print-
Kabbalah and Hasidism, prayer books ing press: till the mid-1830s, when this
with Kabbalistic commentaries and press was denounced by the anti-Hasidic
traditional books of Jewish learning con- minded Jewish censors and advisers and
taining glossas provided by Hasidic mas- eventually shut down, Korets remained
ters. That printing house played a major one of the keys which nourished the
role in fostering the spread of Hasidic Hasidic movement in east Europe with
Judaism in Poland and neighbouring Kabbalistic prayer books, classical
countries. In 1780, the Korets printing sources of Jewish mysticism, and newest
press published the book Toldot Yaakov writings of the Hasidic masters.
Josef by Yaakov Yosef of Polonne, one of
the first foundational books presenting Synagogues ¶ In 1865, Korets had
the theology of Hasidism. ¶ In the 1780s, 10 functioning synagogues, six of them
Jan Antoni Krüger, a Christian who Hasidic. But tragedy struck in 1881,
Korets

owned a Hebrew printing house in Novyi when they all burnt down in a great fire:
352 Dvir (Nowy Dwór) took over the Korets the Main Synagogue, the tailors’ and
shoemakers’ synagogues, the Berezner- An ohel at the Jewish
cemetery in Korets, 2014.
shul, the Chernobyler-shul, and all the Photo by Emil Majuk,
others. They were gradually rebuilt, and digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
other synagogues were added thanks Theatre” Centre (www.
to the increase in Jewish population. In teatrnn.pl)
1847, the town had 3,832 Jewish resi-
dents, and in 1897, 4,608 Jews, making
up 76 percent of the total population.
¶ In 1910, there were 15 synagogues in
Korets. In addition, there was a Talmud
Torah school for poor Jewish boys and
Jewish orphans, a private Jewish school,
and a sizeable public library, and separate
private Jewish vocational training schools
for women and men.

Rabbi Nechemia Hershehorn (1833–1923) served as a rabbi of Korets for

59 years (1864–1923). He was exceptionally active in organizing various phil-
anthropic services for the needy, particularly providing traditional education
to Jewish children, disregarding their financial status. On many occasions, and
in many of his articles in the Jewish press, he stressed the necessity to teach the
Torah broadly conceived to young Jewish people seeking to prevent their assimi-
lation. He bombarded state officials with requests to introduce classes in Jewish
religion and Russian language at all Jewish educational establishments start-
ing with the cheder (elementary school). Though he was successful in obtaining
the permission, the Hasidim of Korets did not allow him to do so. In response,
with the help from the local Jewish elites, Hershehorn created a modern Jewish
school based on the local Talmud Torah. Unlike the traditional Jewish educa-
tion which did not differentiate teaching elements of Judaic religion from teach-
ing the basics of Hebrew language, the new school taught Hebrew grammar,
the Tanakh, the history of the Jews, and Russian language. On the ground floor
of the school building, there was a canteen for students, a prayer room, and
a library, and in the yard there was an orchard where students acquired elemen-
tary skills in botany and agriculture. After the great fire of 1881, Rabbi Hershehorn
made every effort to rebuild the main beth midrash. In 1883, a Jewish hospital
was built, established by his initiative. ¶ Rabbi Hershehorn also established the
Hebrew-language Tarbut library, which became an important spiritual proto-
Zionist centre, as well as the National Credit Bank, an important institution for the
local Zionist movement. Rabbi Hershehorn was an ardent Zionist. He attended
a Zionists’ convention in Minsk and was in long-lasting correspondence with
many distinguished leaders of the movement. Together with his followers, he set
up a Zionist club, in which he gave lessons in Hebrew promoting Zionist ideas
in Korets. Every Saturday, he also gave lectures on Zionist and literary topics. 353
 The time of change ¶ The beginning the local population, among which Jews
of the 20th century was a time of political performed a prominent role. At the end
action in Korets. Branches of the Zionist of World War I, when Korets came under
organisations “Tseeirei Zion” and “Poale the West Ukrainian People’s Republic,
Zion” were established in the town, and Korets economy had been paralized. The
from 1905, also a branch of the Bund new authorities introduced a new mon-
(Jewish socialist Marxist movement). etary system based on the circulation of
In 1914, a volunteer social relief society large denomination banknotes, meaning
helping Jewish craftsmen was founded. that there was no way to obtain change.
Jews were active in all branches of social The Jewish community stepped in and,
and economic life, too. Korets Jews man- as a solution, started to print their own
aged a pharmacy and four pharmacy low-value notes, printed on poor-quality
warehouses, wholesale companies, the paper since the war was still going on and
town’s only public library, all three book- better-quality paper was impossible to
shops, leather factories, all three timber come by. Each note bore the signatures of
wholesale outlets, three factories produc- three leaders of the Jewish community,
ing mead, both steam mills, two cloth a stamp, and a serial number. It was pos-
factories, two beer wholesale outlets, one sible to exchange that “Jewish money”
printing house, four photographic stu- for “official” money, thus helping the new
dios, and 84 other businesses (including administration to solve financial issues.
all 22 workshops and 21 groceries). There ¶ After the Bolsheviks suffered serious
were also three Jewish doctors and three losses in the 1920s fighting the Poles,
Jewish dentists in Korets. ¶ The Jew- new borders were established and Korets
ish population decreased during World was incorporated into the revived Polish
War I, but still, in 1921, the town’s 3,888 Republic. The establishment of the new
Jews made up 83 percent of the popula- borders had a negative economic impact
tion. In the interwar period, this number on the town. Impoverished refugees
increased and reached 4,695 by Decem- escaping the pogroms and the new Soviet
ber 1937. ¶ Like many towns in Ukraine, regime inundated the town. The new
particularly in Volhynia, Korets changed 1924 elections under Polish rule brought
hands many times during World War several Jews to the municipal council,
I and the subsequent post-revolutionary and even to the position of a deputy
Civil War. Occupational administrations mayor, but Jews found themselves a seg-
sought to exploit local resources and regated and marginalized minority in
embezzle themselves at the expense of a new Polish state.

Rabbi Joel Sorin (Shurin) (1871–1927) was a distinguished preacher and Torah
scholar. He was born in Lokhvytsia in Poltava Province, to a poor Jewish family.
From his childhood, he showed exceptional talent and soon earned his nickname
of “the illui [child prodigy] of Poltava.” Having learned about the talented young
man, the local rabbi Moshe Ber Luria helped him enrol in Volozhyn yeshiva,
Korets

a prestigious Talmudic academy. After getting married, Joel Sorin moved to live
354 with his father-in-law, Rabbi Elkhanan Shiff, in the town of Cherniche in Minsk
Province. His goal in life was to spread the Torah knowledge and Talmudic
education and to found yeshivas in places where educational opportunities were
limited. In 1897, he founded a yeshiva “Or Torah” (Heb.: Light of the Torah) in
Brzeźnica, attended by 70 students, and a few years later he transferred it to
Zviahel (Yid.: For Novohrad-Volynskyi). In the fall of 1920, when Polish forces
were to transfer Novohrad-Volynskyi to the Soviet authorities in accordance
with the Polish-Soviet peace treaty, most of the yeshiva’s students left town and
settled in the nearby Korets, where the “Or Torah” yeshiva, directed by Rabbi
Sorin, was re-established. In the school year 1929/1930, the yeshiva boasted
160 students. Rabbi Joel Sorin died in Warsaw at the age of 61. He was buried
at the Jewish cemetery in Gęsia Street (now Okopowa Street) in Warsaw.

World War II and the Holocaust all Jews were obligated to sew yellow
¶ On September 17, 1939, Soviet troops patches onto their clothes: on the back
entered Korets. Jewish institutions were between the shoulder blades and on
liquidated and political parties dis- the left side of the chest. Every day they
banded. The Jews tried to adapt to the were taken to clean snow from the road
new reality by learning new trades or by to the village of Samostrily (Samostrzały,
setting up Soviet-style cooperatives for located 16 km away) and sent to the for-
craftsmen. ¶ Early in July 1941, German est for various kinds of the humiliating
troops entered Korets. The murder of and usually unnecessary manual work.
the Jews and the destruction of Jewish The exhausted Jews were succumbing
economies and residences immediately to various diseases and died in large
ensued. For five weeks there was mass numbers due to the lack of clothing and
“hunting” for Jewish men, who were medicines. ¶ Early in 1942, a ghetto was
brought by brutal force into a pigsty established in Korets, where all the Jews
near the municipal pharmacy. After from the town and the nearby villages
gathering about 300 men (the group also were rounded up and confined. The
included boys aged 10–12), the Ger- Germans regularly carried out opera-
mans transported them on trucks in the tions in which people unfit to work were
direction of Novohrad-Volynskyi. Once murdered: children, elderly people, and
they were outside the town, the people the sick. ¶ On May 21, 1942, the Nazis
were forced to dig ditches, in which they liquidated the ghetto. They herded all
were buried alive. Similar operations the Jews and selected about 250 people
were later repeated, resulting in the who could still do some physical work.
death of almost 1,000 Jews, who were Others were executed after the Nazis
buried outside Korets, near Kamienna searched them and confiscated any
Hill and Shytnia manor farm. ¶ Accord- valuables. On September 23, 1942, the
ing to the September 17, 1941, order Germans finalized the final liquidation
of the District Commissar Dr. Beyer, of the ghetto.

Moshe Gildenman (1898–1957) was a partisan commander, journalist, and

prose writer. He worked as a construction engineer, owned a concrete factory, 355
 and was the head of the Jewish Paint-
ers’ Association; he also founded
a choir, an orchestra, and a theatre
at the Jewish school. ¶ In May 1942,
the day before the feast of Sha-
vuot, the occupying forces and the
local police killed 2,200 Jews from
Korets, including Moshe’s wife and
his 13-year-old daughter. When the
Jews gathered in the synagogue to
say kaddish for the victims, Gilden-
man gave a sermon from the bimah,
calling on the Jews to fight. ¶ In
September 1942, during the liquida-
Memorial at the site of tion of the ghetto, Gildenman, his son Simha, and 15 other young people man-
the mass execution of
Korets Jews, 2014, col-
aged to escape from the ghetto, cross the Sluch River, and hide in the forest.
lection of the Regional Moshe became the commander of a Jewish partisan unit (known as “uncle
Historical Museum in
Korets
Misha’s group”), which fought its way through to the forests of the Zhytomyr
region. The unit carried out more than 150 combat operations and liberated 300
inmates from German camps. In 1943, it joined the Red Army. Moshe Gilden-
man and his son both survived and celebrated the end of the war in Berlin. ¶
From 1946, Gildenman lived in Poland, then Paris, and from 1952, in Israel. He
wrote short stories and memoirs about his life as a partisan. In Israel, he worked
for the Yad Vashem Institute, engaged in social activity, and wrote his memoirs,
published in The Memorial Book of Zviahel (Novohrad-Volynskyi) in 1962.

Memory ¶ Only about 500 Jews rabbis at the Jewish cemetery attract
from Korets survived the war. Most crowds of pilgrims. Part of the exhibi-
had escaped or were evacuated into the tion at the Regional Museum in Korets,
Soviet Union. In 1948, under a directive founded in 2000, is dedicated to the his-
from the Korets municipal council, the tory of the town Jewish community, and
former synagogue building was con- in the 1990s, memorial plaques were
verted into a movie-theater. In 1959, the established at the sites of executions of
police broke up a minyan that was pray- Korets’ Jews during World War II.
ing during Pesach in a private house. By
1970, only a few Jewish families lived The cemetery ¶ Korets still has its
in the town. ¶ Things changed radi- old Jewish cemetery with 17th-century
cally after Ukraine became independ- tombstones. Three outstanding Hasidic
ent in 1991. Today, about 7,000 people leaders are buried here: Rabbi Asher
live in Korets, which is located on the Tzvi (a disciple of Dov Ber, the Maggid
main route between Kyiv and Rivne. of Mezeritch, and the author of Ma’ayan
Korets

The numerous local Christian churches Ha-Hokhma (Heb.: A Spring of Wis-

356 and the ohalim (burial sites) of famous dom); Rabbi Yitzhak ha-Kohen (also the
disciple of the Maggid of Mezeritch, and and Rabbi Mordechai (the head of the
the author of Brit Kehunat Olam, Heb.: rabbinic court).
The Covenant of Eternal Priesthood);

Jewish cemetery (17th c.), Korotka St. ¶ Orthodox Convent of the Holy Trinity (17th c.), 56 Worth
Kyivska St. ¶ Orthodox Church of St. George the Victor (19th c.), 13a Kyivska St. ¶ Ortho- seeing
dox Church of St. Nicholas (1834), 4 B. Khmelnytskoho St. ¶ Orthodox Monastery of the
Resurrection (Voskresienskyi), 50 Staromonastyrska St. ¶ Roman Catholic Church of St.
Anthony of Padua (1706), 6 Zaulok Kostelnyi. ¶ Orthodox Church of the Resurrection, 4
Y. Konovaltsa St. ¶ Ruins of Princes Korecki Castle, 16a B. Khmelnytskoho St. ¶ Czarto-
ryski Little Palace, “Hostynnyi Dim,” 75 Kyivska St. ¶ Regional Historical Museum, 45
Kyivska St., +380365122737. ¶ Catholic cemetery, Y. Konovaltsa St. ¶ Municipal park, 45
Kyivska St. ¶ Orthodox Church of Sts. Cosmas and Damian (1897), near Korets. ¶ Ortho-
dox Church of St. Paraskeva Pyatnitsa, near Korets. ¶ St. Elias Orthodox Church, near
Korets. ¶ The site of a mass execution of Jews from the village of Shytnia (near Korets, at
the entrance to the town from the direction of Novohrad-Volynskyi).

Velyki Mezhyrichi (21 km): a Jewish cemetery (17th c.), St. Anthony’s Church (1702); Surrounding
Piarist College (18th c.); Counts Stecki palace and park complex (late 18th c.); the wooden area
Orthodox Church of Sts. Peter and Paul (1848). ¶ Hannopil (37 km): a Jewish cem-
etery (18th c.) with the ohel of Dov Ber of Mezeritch; the Jabłonowski Palace (18th c.). ¶
Novohrad-Volynskyi (39 km): a synagogue (the only reminder of the building’s past is
the memorial plaque in honour of Mordechai Zeev Feierberg); the remains of a fortress
(16th c.); Lesya Ukrainka Museum; Kosach Family Museum.

Korets

357
 Berezne
Pol. Bereźne, Ukr. Березне, Yid. Berezne had its respectable Torah scholars. It had its
‫בערעזנע‬ maskilim and dissenters, its tax collectors and social activ-
ists, and even its own lunatics. And so Jewish life would
flow, like a quiet river. The shuls were filled with Jews
perusing the Talmud and yellowed books by candlelight.
G. Bigl, Mayn shtetele Berezne
(Yid.: My Town Berezne), Tel Aviv 1954

A town on the Horyn River ¶ it was a small community: its first kahal,
The first written mention of this set- umbrella communal organization, was
tlement dates from 1445, when Grand established in the 18th century. It main-
Duke Švitrigaila (Svidrigailo) presented tained synagogues, educational institu-
it to Dymitr Sanguszko. The County of tions, a cemetery, the Linat Ha-tsedek
Berezne is mentioned in documents Society (Heb.: A Nightly Shelter for the
from 1552 – at that time, the town was Righteous), and a hekdesh for the alms-
an administrative centre. It used to be seekers. ¶ At the beginning of the 20th
called Jędrzejów, Bereżenka, or Bereżne century, 70 percent of the town residents
(Berezhne), but in the 19th century the were Jews. According to data from 1927,
name Bereźne (Ukr. Berezne) finally Jews made up 93 percent of the 2,900
became formalized. town dwellers in Berezne (this does not
include those residents who owned plots
The Jews of Berezne ¶ The first of land). There were also Ukrainians
Jewish community in Berezne dates back (1.3 percent), Poles (4.3 percent), and
to the second half of the 17th century. Czechs (0.6 percent). In 1928, 17 out of

„
There were 48 Jewish houses in the town 21 members of Berezne town council
in 1764, 29 in 1784, and 37 in 1787. Still, were Jewish.

Hevra Kadisha [Burial Society] ¶ One of the most noble achievements

of Berezne’s Jews was its Hevra Kadisha [Burial Society, Heb.lit.: Holy Brother-
hood]. Almost all the notable members of the Jewish community were members of the
Burial Society. […] Once a year they organized a meeting of all the members of the society,
during which the chairman – in my time that was Yitzhok Pechenik (Josele) – reported
about the annual activities. Next, the members recited “El mole rachamim” [God full of
mercy] prayer and elected the new board, with the rabbi as the head. After this official
part, there was a ceremonial supper with a glass of vodka, fish, meat, and compote. […]
Berezne

The society took care of the deceased with proper respect [kvod ha-met]. Care was taken to
ensure that the deceased was clad in a beautiful shroud. Showing respect to the deceased
358
 Berezne, circa 1930,
a 3D model prepared by
Polygon Studio as part
of the Shtetl Routes
project, digital collection
of the “Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” Centre
(www.teatrnn.pl)

was a great merit and mitzvah [the fulfilment of a commandment] in any shtetl. ¶ G. Bigl,
Mayn shtetele Berezne (Yid.: My Town Berezne), Tel Aviv 1954

The dynasty ¶ At the beginning of town-owner gave Pechenik a slot of land

the 19th century, a local landowner and helped him to build a house, hoping
invited Rabbi Yechiel Michele Pechenik that the famous rabbi would attract Jews
(d. 1849) from Pinsk to Berezne. As to Berezne and that this would bolster
the legend has it, the local town-owner the town’s economic development. This
was jealous of Stolin, a town in Belorus- happened indeed, and the Pechenik
sia (today Belarus) that had developed family established here a new Hasidic
thanks to a tsadik who settled there and dynasty, stayed in Berezne from that

„
his followers, the Hasidim who con- time onward, and contributed to further
tinually came to town as pilgrims. The economic development.

Michele was the son of a maggid [preacher] from Stepan, a disciple of the Maggid
of Mezeritch, a grandson of Rabbi David Haloi, and at the same time the son-in-
law of a great Hasidic teacher, Rabbi Yechiel Michl, the Maggid from Zlotchov [Zolochiv].
When he had been in Stolin, Rabbi Michele would sit day and night studying the Torah
at the town beth midrash, together with his son Yitzyk, the son-in-law of Rabbi Aaron of
Chernobyl. The Rabbi’s wife worked at a store and was the family breadwinner, so that her
husband and son could devote themselves to the study. Rabbi Yitzyk had a reputation as an
illui [child-prodigy]; he was highly respected and loved by the residents of Chernobyl. ¶ G.
Bigl, Mayn shtetele Berezne (Yid.: My Town Berezne), Tel Aviv 1954

The Jewish quarter ¶ In Berezne, the whose clients could enter from the street.
typical shtetl architecture has survived When the children of a Jewish family
in relatively good condition: the town married, new rooms were built as an
center still has wooden and brick houses addendum to the house. A characteristic
with wooden porches. The front part of feature of the houses in Berezne was
the houses served as stores or workshops, their high hip roofs, almost as high as 359
 3 Maja, Korzeniewskiego, Pocztowa, Jose-
lewicza, and Kilińskiego, forming a Jew-
ish district associated after the war with
the spatial memory of the shtetl. ¶ The
1922 map of the town indicated Szkolna
Street, a small lane forming part of what
is now Bukhovycha Street, running
perpendicularly to the central Komisar-
ska Street (now Andriyivska St.) as far
as Lipki Street (now Kyivska St.). On this
street, there were two synagogues and the
rabbi’s house in the 1920s–1930s. ¶ On
11 Listopada Street (currently Nazaruka
St.), in 1934, there was a pharmacy and
many craft shops. In 3 Maja Street (now
Andriyivska St.), there were buildings
housing a club and a reading room. There
was also a mill here, owned by one of the
Jewish families (a building that today
houses a music school). ¶ In the market
square, there were small stores run by the
Berezne, town cen- the buildings themselves. ¶ In the 1930s, Berezne Jews. In total, about 90 stores
tre – Andriivska Street
most Jews lived in several streets of the functioned in the town. Regular market

„
(formerly Piłsudskiego
St.), 1928, photo archives town adjacent to the marketplace, includ- fairs also played an important role in the
of the Museum of Local
Heritage in Berezne
ing 11 Listopada, Zamkowa, Kopernika, town’s commercial life.

Berezne,
Rzemieślnicza Street,
Fires in Berezne ¶ The whole town of Berezne was built of wood. Peasant
circa 1930, Anna huts had thatched roofs. A spark was enough for an entire house to be burnt
Skulska’s archives,
digital collection of the
down. What was usually behind the fires was peasants’ mutual animosity. The Jewish
“Grodzka Gate – NN houses had shingled roofs, so if there was a fire they would be ablaze in no time. In times
Theatre” Centre (www. of crisis, it sometimes happened that craftsmen set fire to the houses so that they could
teatrnn.pl)
earn money by rebuilding them. This was the case when a fire broke out in 1908, and both
craftsmen and timber merchants made money of it. Half of the town burnt down at that
time. Twelve years later another fire broke out. ¶ G. Bigl, Mayn shtetele Berezne (Yid.: My
Town Berezne), Tel Aviv 1954.

The synagogue ¶ The Great Syna- weekdays; the main sanctuary was used
gogue was built in 1910, on the basis of for services on Sabbath and holidays. ¶
a square-shaped foundation with sides After World War I, the building housed
measuring 9 × 12 m. It had separate the Registry Office. Located at 3 Bukho-
Berezne

small rooms in which carpenters, vycha St., it has been completely rebuilt
tailors, and shoemakers had their and is hardly recognizable.
360 separate prayer quorums and prayed on
Educational and cultural institu-
tions ¶ In 1917, a Tarbut school was
founded in Berezne, with instruction in
Hebrew. The best-known teacher at the
school was Yakov Ayzman, who used
Hebrew to inspire his students with
Zionist ideas. There was also a secular I.L.
Peretz School in town, with Yiddish as the
language of instruction. ¶ There was also
the Peretz Library on Pocztowa Street and
a Zionist library on Komisarska Street. In
both of them, one could obtain the cur-
rent newspapers suchas as Der Moment
(Yid.: The [Present] Moment) and Voliner
Shtime (Yid.: The Voice of Volhynia). The
town also boasted a drama group that
gave performances in the “Ogniwo” club,

„
located on Komisarska St. (the building
has survived to this day).

There was a Tarbut library, which

had mostly books in Hebrew but
also quite a few in Yiddish. […] The librarians
were: Gendler, the late Shmuel Toibman, and others, who worked there entirely on a non- Berezne, Berka
Joselewicza Street
profit basis. ¶ The Peretz Library was located in Efrim Litvak’s house in Pocztowa Street. (formerly Szkolna
It was a fairly large room, with capacious bookcases with books in Yiddish lined along its St.), circa 1930, Anna
Skulska’s archives,
walls. The books included works by classic Jewish authors as well as masterpieces of world digital collection of the
literature. Young people, especially, derived knowledge from this abundant resource, for “Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
this was one of the best equipped libraries in the area. The librarians [Yankiel] Pinchuso- teatrnn.pl)
vich and Feiga Liberzon helped the readers competently and knew each of them very well.
Carpenter’s
Thanks to their knowledge, they educated the entire generation of readers. The Tarbut workshop of N. Klejman,
library could not compete with the rich resources of the Peretz Library. ¶ Two drama before 1939, photo
groups functioned in Berezne – one at the Peretz Library, and the other was a Zionist archives of the Museum
of Local Heritage in
one. Both groups staged plays in Yiddish, either together or for each other. Some members Berezne
of these groups showed considerable acting talents, so people of the theatre from outside
Berezne would come and join the local drama groups to organise performances, which
attracted crowds of the town’s residents. ¶ G. Bigl, Mayn shtetele Berezne (Yid.: My Town
Berezne), Tel Aviv 1954.

Cemeteries ¶ Jewish cemeteries were of the river, and the new one, established
located in the northwestern part of the in the 19th century, was on the western
town, on the banks of the river. The old side, next to the Catholic cemetery.
cemetery was situated on the eastern side According to witnesses, all matzevot at 361
 the Einsatzgruppe soldiers. ¶ The local
residents remember Doctor Lerner, who
used to live with his family in a house on
the hospital premises on Piłsudskiego
Street (now Kyivska St.). To avoid the
ghetto confinement in August 1942, he
administered a lethal dose of morphine
to his wife and little son, and then to
himself. All three of them were buried
in the garden next to the hospital. ¶
Few people managed to escape from the
Synagogue in this cemetery were wooden, and only the ghetto. The fugitives remained in hiding
Berezne, circa 1930,
Anna Skulska’s archives,
central ohel over the graves of the famous in the woods until the arrival of the Red
digital collection of the rabbis was made of brick. In the 1960s, Army. Seeking to save their lives, they
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
the Soviet authorities established a new forged identity documents or baptism
teatrnn.pl) park with an artificial lake, thus, the cem- certificates, and some joined Soviet
Memorial at the site
eteries were flooded and destroyed. partisan units.
of the mass execution of
25 August 1942, in which The grave in the Dendropark ¶
3,680 Jews were killed,
World War II and the Holo-
2014. Photo by Emil caust ¶ In September 1939, the Red Towards the end of the 1960s, at the place
Majuk, digital collection Army entered Berezne and established of the Berezne mass executions, they
of the “Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” Centre the Soviet rule which lasted for a year found exhumed human remains – the
(www.teatrnn.pl) and a half. In June 1941, the Germans result of the sinister activities of grave
arrived and established a ghetto in the robbers looking for valuables. Later,
centre of the town (the area is now occu- a dendropark (Arboretum, a kind of the
pied by a marketplace and a secondary botany garden with a variety of trees) was
school with a boarding house). More established in this area, which to some
than 3,000 Jews were confined there. extent, protected the site and put an end
On August 25, 1942, all the inhabitants to the practice of digging up graves. In

„
of the ghetto were led out of the town, the late 1980s, a memorial plaque com-
forced to dig a grave, and murdered by memorating the victims was established.

The story of the survival of Rejzele Scheinbein and her family ¶ I had a cousin
Beniamin, who was a year older than me, and he was there [in the ghetto]. He
was very clever; he would go up and down the streets and see what was going on. He came
back to the house and he says to his mother and my mother, and to his sister: “We’re getting
out of here!” He could see that something was underway – one could see the preparations.
So, how do you get out of the ghetto as a Jew? My mother and my aunt put kerchiefs on
their heads to look like peasant women […]. And they ran into the forest […], because
they knew that in the forest they were safer. […] ¶ We went earlier into the forest too – my
Berezne

uncle, my father, and me. And we thought that the others were all killed […]. My uncle
picked ten trees to represent a minyan [Jewish payer quorum]; he put on the tallit […] and
362 he said kaddish for his family, as we thought they were probably dead by now. […] And
then we heard that my mother and my
aunt survived and were hiding somewhere.
So we had a reunion in the forest – a very
happy reunion. […] And all this because
my cousin, who was only a year older than
me, and who had enough sense and enough
presence of mind to say: “We’re getting out!”
¶ Source: http://collections.ushmm.org/
search/catalog/irn42261

Berezne National Dendropark: in the park there is the site of the execution and burial Worth
of Berezne’s Jews murdered in 1942, with a memorial plaque in two languages (Ukrain- seeing
ian and Hebrew). ¶ Berezne National Local History Museum: a building dating back to
1901–1905; in the 1940s and 1950s, the basement of the building was the NKVD torture
dungeon, 8 Kyivska St., tel. +380365354869. ¶ St. NicholasOrthodox Church (1845).

Mokvyn (3 km): a former church (19th c.). ¶ Zirne (6 km): the Maliński palace and park Surrounding
complex (19th c.). ¶ Sosnove (28 km): a Jewish cemetery, the site of the execution of area
approx. 3,000 Jews (1942). ¶ Hubkiv (30 km): ruins of a medieval castle (16th c.); a Jew-
ish cemetery (19th c.). ¶ Marynin (34 km): an open-air museum; the wooden Orthodox
Church of the Transfiguration (1801). ¶ Sarny (58 km): a memorial at the site of execution
of 15,000 Jews (1942). ¶ Rokitno (75 km): a Jewish cemetery (19th c.). ¶ “Nadsluchansky”
Regional Landscape Park (28 km).

Berezne

363
 Kovel
Pol. Kowel, Ukr. Ковель, Yid. ‫קאָוולע‬ Kovel was the largest railway hub in the East and the
direct Warsaw–Kovel rail connection was faster than it is
today. The trip took less than five hours.
Michał Friedman

The smiths of Kovel ¶ Kovel is on Jewish houses (except the rabbi’s

located in the very centre of Volhynia house) and made the Jews equal to the
Province, on both banks of the Turija Christian population in terms of their
River, a tributary of the Pripyat flowing privileges and duties before the crown.
from south to north. The first written ¶ As elsewhere, devastating pogroms
mention of Kovel is dated to 1310. Per- and bloody persecutions of the Jews
haps the town owes its name to the word took place during the mid-17th-century
kowal, meaning “blacksmith” – a com- Cossack revolution. In 1650, however,
mon trade in this area in the 10th–13th local Jews managed to re-establish the
centuries. A local legend tells about kahal of Kovel and revive their economic
a blacksmith who made a sword for activities due to the earlier privileges
Prince Danylo of the medieval Galicia- confirmed by King John II Casimir. ¶
Volhynia Palatinate. ¶ On December 24, The number of Jews in Kovel began to
1518, in Brest, King Sigismund I granted increase in the 18th century. In 1765,
Prince Bazyli Sanguszko a privilege there were 827 Jews registered in the
establishing the town around the medi- town as poll tax payers (the tax had to be
eval Kovel and granted the town with paid by every person aged one or above).
the Magdeburg law. Towards the end of the 19th century, the
number of Jews in Kovel exceeded the
The Jews of Kovel ¶ Jewish settle- number of Ukrainians. In 1893, the total
ment in Kovel began after the town was population of Kovel was 15,116, which
granted municipal rights in 1518. In included 5,810 Jews, 5,498 Orthodox
1536, Queen Bona confirmed the town Christians, 3,088 Roman Catholics, 612
privileges and obligated the Jews of Protestants, and 108 adherents of other
Kovel to take part in repairing its walls religions. In 1921, the town had 32,500
and bridges. Additionally, she issued registered residents, including 15,000
a special privilege allowing Jews to settle Jews.
locally but only on streets designated
Kovel

for them and not among Orthodox

364 Christians. In 1547, Bona imposed a tax
„ Kovel was a Jewish town,
the outskirts of which, where
the Ukrainians and Poles lived, formed
a separate town. The river Turia flowed
through the town. Kovel was divided into
three different parts. On one side of the river
there was the Old Town, called Zand [in
Yiddish], or Sand, as it had been built on
sandy ground. In the new part, on the other
bank of the Turia, there was Kovel where
the Poles lived, most of whom were employ-
ees of a railroad company […]. That was
a separate town. There were fewer Ukrainians than Poles there. The Ukrainian farms began Kovel, Warszawska
Street, 1938, collection
just behind the main street. Those three worlds lived side by side. […] ¶ That small county of the National Library,
town was something more than a shtetl. It was a bastion of the Jewish Hebrew-speaking Poland (www.polona.pl)
intelligentsia. The older people still spoke Russian, but the new generation had already
adopted the Polish language. ¶ Anka Grupińska, Stories of Polish Jews (1). Michał Fried-
man talks about his family, the festival of Pesach, Trisk Hasidim, and Kovel, his hometown:
http://www.dwutygodnik.com/artykul/1075-z-opowiesci-polskich-zydow-1.html

Synagogues and Rabbis ¶ The rebuilt. ¶ By the early 20th century,

best-known 16th–17th-century rabbis there were several synagogues in Kovel,
of Kovel and heads of the local yes- one of them was the Great Synagogue,
hivah were Shimon and Yitzhak ben built in 1886–1907. This unique, though
Nathan Shapiro and Yehuda (Yudl, Idl), reconstructed, monument has retained
a descendant of Yehuda Löw ben Bezalel its grandeur despite wars, revolutions,
(the Maharal of Prague). After Rabbi confiscations of Jewish religious prop-
Mordechai of Nesukhozhe (currently erty and its reconstruction. The former
the village of Toikut in Kovel Region) Great Synagogue in Kovel is located at
(1752–1800) settled in Kovel, Hasidim the intersection of Nezalezhnosti St.
established in town their headquar- and Volodymyrska St. and is one of the
ters. ¶ A synagogue was built in 1660, buildings of the local sewing factory,
but in 1744, it was destroyed by fire. WKF Kovel. Before 2009, a Star of David
In 1857, another fire destroyed nearly was visible in front of the entrance to

„
all the town, including the synagogue. the synagogue, but later it was painted
However, the town was later successfully over.

In Zand there was a large, beautiful synagogue, in a somewhat fortified style.

The best Jewish cantors used to perform there on holidays: Koussevitzky, Rozenb-
latt, etc. There was also a choir, which several of my classmates were in. And there was one
more synagogue in the town, a private synagogue, built by a local rich man, Eppelbaum.
He lived in what was called a sinful union with a Ukrainian woman; I remember that the
town always held it against him. The story was that he had built the synagogue in order to 365
A leaflet in Polish and wipe out that sin in the next life. We used to
Yiddish announcing
a football game
go there to pray on the important holidays:
between military sports Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover,
club “Kowel” and
“Makabi” sports club,
Shavuot and Sukkot […]. That synagogue
1920s, collection of the has remained in my memory as a tragic
National Library, Poland
(www.polona.pl)
place. ¶ Anka Grupińska, Stories of Polish
Jews (1). Michał Friedman talks about his
family, the festival of Pesach, Trisk Hasidim,
and Kovel, his hometown: http://www.

„
dwutygodnik.com/artykul/1075-z-opowi-
esci-polskich-zydow-1.html

Theatrical life in Kovel ¶

In Kovel, just like elsewhere in
tsarist Russia, theatrical performances in
Yiddish were forbidden, and during World
War I the war ministry forbade even to write letters in Yiddish. Yiddish troupes from
Warsaw, Vilnius, and other places performed in Kovel on rare occasions trying to outwit
the authorities and circumvent the law. They announced their performances as plays in
German, whereas in fact the plays were performed in Yiddish, presented on the posters as
a dialect called “deichmerish – ivri teich” (Hebrew-German). Elements of German were
stronger in such performances than in colloquial Yiddish. The performances were usually
attended by the rich citizens and by Jewish-Russian intelligentsia. Ordinary spectators
showed little interest in such artistic events. ¶ Paradoxically, the Yiddish theatre experi-
enced a revival with the outbreak of World War I, during the German occupation, when the
Jews were allowed to have cultural events and performances in their native language, that
is, Yiddish. One of the stimuli that contributed to the emergence of the Kovel Jewish drama
group was the difficult economic situation. Jewish refugees from nearby towns, fleeing from
the war and the revolution, settled in their hundreds in Kovel. The town’s Jewish residents
helped their brethren by organising a network of social services, for example, a mobile
kitchen for a street canteen. Donations were scarce, therefore there emerged an idea of
setting up a drama group that would combine business with pleasure: the group would
demonstrate high artistic quality while the proceedings from the performances would be
directed to the needy. ¶ The group had two enthusiastic leaders: the talented director Moshe
Pugach and the generous patron and head of the group Moshe Kagan. Both were the loyal
devotees of Melpomene, and both had gained theatrical experience in the country in which
Jewish theatrical life was then thriving – namely, in the USA. Their main goal was to
foster a love of the theatre among the masses and to develop a sense of the quality perfor-
mance. The repertoire they chose included a selection of the best European dramas as well
as several plays by Jacob Gordin and Avrom Goldfaden. Pugach and Kagan put on stage
three–four plays a year and quickly gathered a cast of talented young actors. ¶ The activity
Kovel

of the Kovel Yiddish theatre group completely changed the perception of the Jewish theatre.
366 It put an end to the contemptuous, but widely held, attitude towards “Tiyater” (Russian
derogatory for “theatre”) as a Purimshpiel
and towards actors as “comedians” who
would lead people astray (into debauch-
ery). In the first years of its existence, the
Yiddish theatre group also created a bond
between the audience in Kovel and theatri-
cal troupes from other cities, such as Vilnius
and Warsaw, which came to Kovel and
performed on the premises provided by the
local drama group. These troupes received
help, technical support, and good advice on
how to win hearts and minds of the local audience. ¶ The Yiddish theatre group brought Former Jewish school
in Kovel, 2014. Photo
together people from all social strata. Even the representatives of the Jewish-Russian intel- by Serhiy Hladyshuk,
ligentsia, educated in Russian literature and scornful of the Yiddish language, changed digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
their attitude towards Yiddish literature and learnt to appreciate it. The “folkists” were Theatre” Centre (www.
active in running the group, too. And Zionist and nationalist circles were also attracted teatrnn.pl)
to the theatre group, particularly those attached to Hebrew culture. Even the community
of religious Jewish town dwellers, who always opposed any theatrical activity as a sign of
assimilation, made allowances for the sake of cultural development and started to attend
performances. ¶ Thus Kovel Yiddish theatre group became a non-partisan, neutral cultural
endeavour which brought together and accommodated many different political groupings,
theatre and folk art enthusiasts, and those who aimed to raise the general cultural level of
the otherwise provincial Kovel Jews. Each of the above groups contributed something to the
group’s activity. This made the group popular and ensured the support of the entire Jewish
community of Kovel. ¶ Based on Sefer Kovel (Hebr.: The Memorial Book of Kovel), ed.
Yaron Karol Becker, Tel Aviv 1959.

Michał Waszyński (Mosze Waks, 1904–1965) born in Kovel in the family

of Hasidic blacksmith. As a teenager he interrupted his education in yeshiva,
went off to Warsaw and became one of the most colourful figures in the his-
tory of Polish cinematography. In the 1930s, he directed 37 films, includ-
ing smash hit films such as Antek Policmajster (Police Chief Antek, 1935) and
Znachor (Quack, 1937). The most important of his achievements is Dybbuk
(1937), which is the film adaptation of S. An-Ski’s play written in Yiddish lan-
guage. During World War II, Waszyński found himself in Siberia, from where,
together with the Polish Armed Forces of General Anders, he went through
the combat route through Iraq, Iran and Palestine to Italy, which he immortal-
ized in the film Wielka droga (Long Road, 1946). After World War II, he lived
in Rome. Although he did not direct films anymore, he became an important
figure in the Italian film industry. He collaborated with Orson Welles, Audrey
Hepburn and Sophia Loren. The story of his life can be seen in the documen-
tary The Prince and the Dybbuk (2017) awarded at the Venice Film Festival.
367
 stores it owned, and Soviet officers were
billeted in two rooms of their house.
The same fate befell the Tenenboims,
who owned a furniture factory. ¶ On
June 28, 1941, Kovel was captured by
German troops. Only a small part of
the town’s Jewish population managed
to flee. About 1,000 Jews were killed
during the first days of the occupation.
On May 21, 1942, two ghettos were
established. In one of them the Germans
confined 8,000 people fit for work (and
their family members), and in the other,
located in the suburbs, they placed 6,000
people unfit for work. On July 2–4, 1942,
the Jews from the second ghetto were
transported out of the city and killed.
On August 19, 1942, the Nazis began the
liquidation of the first ghetto. ¶ After
the Soviets again took over the town,
only about 40 surviving Jews returned
to Kovel.

Cemeteries ¶ Two Jewish cemeteries

survived in Kovel until after World War
II, but neither has survived to this day.
One of them (in Volodymyrska St.) was
liquidated by the Soviet authorities in
1970, when dozens of Jewish cemeteries
in Ukrainian SSR were demolished, and
the Taras Shevchenko Community Cen-
tre was built on the site. The gravestones
were transported to a military base.
World War II and the Holocaust The other Jewish cemetery (located in
¶ In 1939, there were 17,000 Jews Varshavska Street), was also liquidated
among the 36,000 inhabitants of Kovel. by the Soviets.
After the town was annexed by the USSR
in September 1939, the new authorities Memorial site ¶ A memorial dedi-
considered its well-to-do dwellers as the cated to the Jews shot in 1942 is located
exploiters and blood-suckers and par- in the forest, on the right side of the road
tially confiscated and partially national- to Kamin-Kashyrskyi, a few kilometres
Kovel

ised their property and real estate. For from the edge of town near the village
368 instance, the Grinblats lost the three of Bakhiv. In 1944, a memorial post
stood here with the number of 18,000 unveiled in 2002 and 2015. Unlike the Marketplace in
Kovel, before 1918, col-
inscribed in it: the number of murdered previous memorials dedicated to the lection of the National
Jews from the Kovel ghetto. In the 1960s, “peaceful Sovet citizens” murdered by Library, Poland (www.
polona.pl)
a high mound was constructed here. the “Nazi invaders,” the post-communist
A granite monument was established memorials explicitly mentioned the Workers during the
construction of a street
in 1990, and further memorials were Holocaust and the Jewish victimhood. in Kovel, after 1928, col-
lection of the National
Digital Archives, Poland
Kovel
Former synagogue
building in Kovel, 2014.
Photo by Serhiy Hlady-
shuk, digital collection
of the “Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” Centre
(www.teatrnn.pl)

Former synagogue, mid-19th c. (now textile factory), 125 Nezalezhnosti St. ¶ Orthodox Worth
Parish Church of the Resurrection (1877), intersection of Nezalezhnosti St. and Volody- seeing
myrska St. ¶ Fridrikson’s Pharmacy (19th c.), 89 Nezalezhnosti St. ¶ St. Anne’s Roman
Catholic Church (1771), 1a Verbytskoho St. ¶ Kovel Local History Museum, 11 Oleny
Pchilky St., tel. +380335232435.

Kolodiazhne (9 km): The Lesya Ukrainka Museum. ¶ Turiisk (20 km): a Jewish cemetery Surrounding
(18th c.) with a surviving ceremonial hall and about a dozen matzevot. ¶ Hishyn (15 km): area
the wooden Orthodox Church of St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki (1567), the oldest wooden
Orthodox church in Volhynia. ¶ Lutsk (73 km): the main city of the region; a kahal house
(early 20th c.) currently used by the local Jewish community; a former fortified synagogue
(1626–1629), Lubart Castle (13th c.) with the Museum of Typography; the Orthodox
Church of the Protection of the Mother of God (13th c.); Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul
(1639); Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral (1755); numerous monuments, museums, and
galleries. ¶ Zofiówka/Trochenbrod (110 km): a memorial at the site where a town inhab-
ited exclusively by Jews once existed, wiped off the face of the earth during World War II.

369
 Volodymyr-Volynskyi
Pol. Włodzimierz Wołyński, My grandfather’s Jewish world, in
Ukr. Володимир-Волинський, Yid. ‫לודמיר‬ which he believed that “God wanted
a beautiful land where people could live
and be happy,” was almost completely
destroyed by the Holocaust.
Ann Kazimirski, Witness
to Horror, 1993

A thousand years ¶ The millen- through Hungary, Bohemia, and Poland

nium-old history of Volodymyr has to Galician and Volhynian towns and
been described by many Ukrainian, cities, and further on to Kyiv. Due to
Polish, and Jewish authors. The oldest their broad commercial networks, the
mention of the town can be found in the Jews of the medieval Slavic state known
12th-century Primary Chronicle (also as ‘Kyivan Rus’ (also Duchy of Kiev)
known as the Tale of Bygone Years), were mentioned in 11th- and 12th-cen-
which reports that in 988, Prince Volo- tury medieval rabbinic sources.
dymyr (Vladimir) Sviatoslavich of Kyiv
presented this Volhynian city to his son The Jews of Volodymyr ¶ In the
Vsevolod to rule. There is a questionable early modern times, the town’s Jewish
Arabic source mentioning the Jews of population established a kahal – an
Volodymyr in the 10th century, but this autonomous self-governing communal
could not be substantiated. On the other umbrella organization. The authority
hand, there are Old Rus sources testify- of the kahal of Volodymyr extended
ing to the Jewish communal presence in over the smaller sub-kahals nearby: in
town in the 13th century, supported by Lokachi, Kovel, Kysylyn, and some other
external evidence of rabbinic responsa. places. The Jewish quarter was located
The description of the death and funeral in the northeastern part of the town,
of Prince Vladimir Vasilkovich in but Jews also lived in many other parts
1288 in the Hypatian Codex reads that of the town centre. The streets in the
“a whole host of people of Volodymyr Jewish quarter bustled with trade; small
wept over his death: men, women, and craftsmen offered their services here,
children; Germans, Surozhians, and too. The Volodymyr Jews prospered at
Volodymyr-Volynskyi

Novogorodians; and the Jews wept, as the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries,
they had wept when they were taken engaged in active trade with Lwów (now
into Babylonian captivity after Jerusa- Lviv), Lutsk, and Kyiv. Commodities
lem was conquered.” ¶ With time, the were freighted from Ustyluh down the
town turned into an important trade Bug River to Gdańsk, and then further
370 centre. Merchants from Europe came to Western Europe and back. Volodymyr
was a town where one could see Jewish
merchants from Turkey, Italy, Kyiv, and
Cracow. ¶ At the beginning of the 16th
century and after Poland and Lithuania
united their lands under one Common-
wealth, Volhynia was incorporated into
Poland, and the Jewish community pros-
pered. Jews were active in crafts, trade,
tavern-keeping, and tax collecting, as
well as various lease-holding occupa-
tions (leasing fish-ponds, weights and
measures, customs, etc.). As elsewhere,
the Jews suffered from the bloody mas-
sacres during the 1648–1649 Cossack
revolution led by Bohdan Khmelnyt-
sky. Many Jews were killed during the
mass violence of 1653, when the town
was seized by the Commonwealth
Lithuanian troops, and also during the
Polish-Russian War (1654–1667), when
the town was completely ravaged; there
remained only two Jewish families in
town. However, the community regener-
ated fairly quickly.
called Hibbat Zion (Heb.: The Love of Volodymyr-Volyn-
skyi, 1915, photo archive
Modern times ¶ According to the Zion) was established in town, and from of the Historical Museum
1897 census, Volodymyr had 9,883 1906, there emerged also a branch of in Volodymyr-Volynskyi
inhabitants, including 5,869 Jews (60 the Bund – the socialist Marxist Jewish A market day at
percent). A Talmud Torah school was proletarian party. The newspaper Ha- the town square in
Melits (Heb.: The Advocate) reported Volodymyr-Volynskyi,
opened towards the end of the 19th 1930s, photo archive of
century. At the beginning of the 20th that in 1903, the town had a hospital the Historical Museum in
century, a yeshiva and the Russian state and a pharmacy. Most Jews worked in Volodymyr-Volynskyi

school for Jews were established. On the cattle (especially horse) and grain
May 5, 1900, a great fire broke out and trade. According to the 1910–1911
destroyed 250 houses; six prayer houses census, 7,060 out of the 15,622 inhab-
burnt down, and 68 Torah scrolls were itants of Volodymyr-Volynskyi were
destroyed. The main synagogue also Jewish. At that time, in addition to
suffered damage. This catastrophe the synagogue, there were nine prayer
prompted the Jewish community to set houses. In the first decade of the 20th
up a mutual assistance fund a year later. century, a Jewish vocational school was
¶ Various political parties emerged at established. Shortly before the outbreak
this time, too. At the end of the 19th of World War I, representatives of
century, a branch of an organisation religious and political organisations set 371
 The Great Synagogue in Volodymyr: the former was estab-
in Volodymyr-Volynskyi,
1915, photo archive of
lished in 1925 and the latter in 1935.
the Historical Museum in There were also schools with Hebrew
Volodymyr-Volynskyi
as the language of instruction, “Beth
Yaakov” and “Javneh;” a private Jewish
secondary school (gymnasium) with
instruction in Polish; and a yeshiva for
boys. The youth scouting organisations
included “Ha-tsofim,” “Ha-shomer ha-
leumi,” “Ha-noar ha-tsioni,” and “Bei-
tar,” the socialist Zionist organisation
“Ha-shomer ha-tzair,” and a branch of
the Zionist-Marxist party “Poale Zion.”
A community kitchen provided food
for the needy. On the eve of World War
II, several Jewish schools functioned
up the “Kultura” (“Culture”) committee, in Volodymyr: a Talmud Torah school,
which helped the Jewish poor and also a “Beth Yaakov” school for girls from
ran a hospital, a theatre, and the Sholem the Orthodox families, and a primary
Aleichem Jewish literature library. ¶ school, cheder. The yeshiva was attended
After the outbreak of World War I, by 138 talmidim. The “ORT” craft school
the Jews suffered each time the town trained tailors. There were also a library,
changed hands, and the introduction a hospital, a national bank, a Jewish
of the new order nearly always started orphanage, an old people’s home, and
with acts of mass violence against the two cinemas.
Jewish population. After the withdrawal
of Austrian troops, for example, Polish The synagogue ¶ The largest of
forces entered Volodymyr and carried the known Volodymyr synagogues was
out pogroms. After almost two years of located in what is now Roksolany Street.
fighting and alternate occupation by the But with the emergence of Hasidism,
Polish Army and the Red Army, Volo- small prayer houses called shtiebels
dymyr-Volynskyi (then Włodzimierz also appeared. The main synagogue
Wołyński) eventually remained under is believed to have been built in 1801.
Polish rule from September 13, 1920. The members of its congregation were
¶ In the 1920s and 1930s, the town mainly wealthy people. The building
had about 20 functioning synagogues. survived World War II but was destroyed
The Rabbi of Volodymyr-Volynskyi at at the beginning of the 1950s. Its walls
Volodymyr-Volynskyi

that time was Yitzhok Grosman, who were so strong that tank carriers had to
was succeeded in the 1930s by Yaakov be used to pull them down.
Dovid Morgenstern, who died during
the Nazi occupation. Technical and Rabbis ¶ The first important rabbi in
agricultural schools belonging to the Volodymyr was Yitzhak ben Betsalel,
372 Zionist-oriented Tarbut network opened known as the Gaon of Ludmir (Ludmir
being the town’s Yiddish name). He
enjoyed great authority and was the
leader of the community in 1542–1576.
Volodymyr was the birthplace of his
grandson, David ben Shmuel Halevi
Segal (1586–1667), also known as
“TaZ”, an acronym of the title of his
major work Turei Zahav (Heb.: Golden
Rose). David stands out as one of
the most highly recognised rabbis of
his time. ¶ The leader of the Hasidic
community in Volodymyr-Volynskyi
Shlomo Gottlieb Halevi Karliner became famous for many good deeds. Talmud Torah religious
school on Kopernika
(1738–1792) was one of the most influ- He helped people regardless of their Street in Volodymyr-
ential rabbinic scholars in the history of creed or ethnicity. He wholeheartedly Volynskyi, 2014. Photo
by Boris Bertash,
Hasidic Judaism. His mentor was Aaron embraced the teachings of Baal Shem digital collection of the
Perlow of Karlin, who studied together Tov, the founder of Hasidism, that one “Grodzka Gate – NN
should be ready for death when starting Theatre” Centre (www.
with Shlomo under the guidance of the teatrnn.pl)
Great Maggid – Dov Ber of Mezherich. to pray, since prayer, by its very nature,
Aaron Perlow set up a centre of Hasi- requires the one who prays to aban-
dism in Karlin, giving rise to a move- don himself or herself entirely. Rabbi
ment that was later named Karlin-Stolin Shlomo was shot by a Russian soldier
Hasidism. It is due to his influence that when he was praying in the synagogue
the mitnagdim, the opponents of the on July 10, 1792; he was buried at the
Hasidim – and later the Russian tsarist Jewish cemetery, where Gagarin Park is
authorities – referred to the rapidly now located. Exploratory work revealed
spreading Hasidic movement as the Kar- the foundation of the ohel at the site
liner Jews. Shlomo Karliner was Aaron of his burial, and in 1999, the ohel was
Perlow’s best student and led the move- rebuilt. ¶ The Hasidic dynasty of Ludmir
ment after Perlow’s death. He enjoyed in Volodymyr-Volynskyi was continued
immense authority; his influence by Moshe Gottlieb (d. 1821), his son
extended to the distant communities Shlomo, and his grandson Nahum, who
of Lithuania, Belorussia, and Volhynia. were the leaders of the town commu-
Reb Shlomo moved to Volodymyr in nity. The last tsadik of Volodymyr was
1786 and established there a branch of Nahum’s son, Gedalia.
Ludmir Hasidim. During his lifetime, he

The Maiden of Ludmir ¶ Volodymyr-Volynskyi was the birthplace and

home town of one of the most colourful figures in Hasidism, a charismatic
female leader of the Hasidic community – Hannah Rachel Verbermacher
(1806–1892), considered a tsadekes (a female righteous person, a tsaddik). She
became famous for her healing skills and was known among the local people
as the Maiden of Ludmir. Numerous scholars (such as Shmuel Horodecki or 373
 Students and teachers
in front of the Talmud
Torah school, 1930s,
reproduction from
Pinkas Ludmir; sefer
zikaron li-kehilat Ludmir
(Hebr. A Chronicle of
Volodymyr-Volynskyi;
The Memorial Book of
Volodymyr-Volynskyi),
Tel Aviv 1962

Nathaniel Deutsch, the author of Maiden of Ludmir. A Jewish Holy Woman and
Her World, Berkeley 2003) described the life of that remarkable woman – the
first (and only) female tsaddik in the history of Hasidic Judaism. Hannah Rachel
was born into a wealthy Hasidic family and received an excellent education. Her
followers, called the “Hasidim of the Maiden of Ludmir,” gathered around her.
She ran a prayer house in Sokalska Street – a beth midrash in which her fol-
lowers would gather, most of them poor members of the local community. She
would remain hidden from the sight of her audience when delivering her teach-
ings. The Maiden of Ludmir was known in all the nearby towns and attracted
crowds of people, including learned scholars and rabbis. Men found this out-
rageous and she was forced to marry, but the marriage did not last long. She
later emigrated to Palestine, where she gathered a Hasidic community around
her. She died in Jerusalem on 17 July 1892 and was buried on the Mount of
Olives – the burial place of some of the world’s most highly respected Jews.

World War II and the Holocaust was at that time. The town became the
¶ After the city was seized by the Soviet administrative centre of the District
troops in 1939, the teaching of Juda- Commissariat of Vladimir-Volynskyi
ism and of Hebrew was banned. Jewish (Wladimir-Wolynsk). In the fall of 1941,
schools were initially allowed to provide a German military police post was set
instruction in Yiddish, but they were up in the town, with police troops num-
soon closed altogether. The activity of all bering several dozen people. The troops
Zionist parties was halted and in 1940 were reinforced by local Ukrainian
their leaders were arrested and deported volunteers, and after 1943, also by Poles.
Volodymyr-Volynskyi

to Siberia. ¶ The Wehrmacht occupied ¶ Soon after the occupation began, the
Volodymyr-Volynskyi on June 23, 1941. Nazis opened their hunting season: they
Due to the large influx of refugees from caught Jews in the streets or in their
Poland immediately after the outbreak homes under the pretext of work. Once
of the war, it is impossible to stipulate assembled, these people were immedi-
374 how big the town’s Jewish population ately executed in the prison yard, where
they were also buried. Mass murders The Jewish cemetery ¶ Draho- A stonemason from
Volodymyr-Volynskyi,
were committed in other places, too. manova St., where Gagarin Park is 1916, collection of
In April 1942, the Germans established now located, is the site of the Jewish Bildarchiv Vienna
a ghetto, to which they also transferred cemetery – one of the oldest in Central The ohel of Rabbi
the Jews from nearby towns and vil- and Eastern Europe. Many eminent Shlomo Gottlieb on
people were buried here. During World Kozatska Street in
lages. Divided into two parts, the ghetto Volodymyr-Volynskyi,
was inhabited by about 18,000 people. War II, matzevot were used for pav- 2015. Photo by Volody-
In September 1942, about 15,000 people ing streets. Even just a few years ago it myr Muzychenko

were murdered in the village of Pia- was still possible to see a pavement of
tydni. Another mass execution, in which matzevot along Wasylivska Street, with
several thousand more Jews lost their inscriptions already worn away. The
lives, took place in town on November destruction of the Jewish cemetery was
13, 1942. The 1,500 Jews remaining in completed in Soviet times. Some of the
Volodymyr were murdered on Decem- matzevot are known to have been used
ber 13, 1942. to make other tombstones, predomi-
nantly for Christian grave sites. School
Memorials ¶ On September 17, 1989, No. 2 with a sports field, a sports school,
a candle-shaped obelisk, 12 meters high, and a residential building, was built
was erected in the village of Piatydni, directly on the cemetery grounds.
on the road from Ustyluh to Volodymyr,
near the site of mass executions of Jews. Traces of Jewish presence ¶
The mass graves are located 300 meters A few houses directly connected to
north of the obelisk. ¶ In 2010, a mass the history of the Jewish community
grave was discovered during excavations still survive in the town. For instance,
carried out in an old fortified settle- at 81 Lutska Street there is a building
ment near the town. In that one grave that once served as a prayer house; on
the bones of 747 people were found and Pidzamche Street there is the build-
exhumed; 47 percent of these people ing that housed the Jewish youth club
were women and 27 percent were chil- “Akiva;” and on the wall of the house at
dren. In 2014, a memorial to Holocaust 22 Danyla Halytskoho Street visitors can
victims was placed in Shevchenka see the Ets Hayim symbol (Heb.: The
Street, at the site of the ghetto. Tree of Life). Another building surviving 375
 Memorial plaque at the to this day (at 2 Zelena Street) is the for-
site of the ghetto in
Volodymyr-Volynskyi,
mer elementary religious school for boys
2015 Photo by Volodymyr from poor families (Talmud Torah),
Muzychenko
which functioned until the beginning
of World War II. One can see the Star of
David in the form of a low relief in its
brick wall. The buildings of the former
Tarbut school at 24 Haidamatska Street
and the former Beth Yaakov school for
girls at 9 Drahomanova Street have also
survived.

Worth Municipal Local History Museum, 6 Ivana

seeing Franka St. tel. +380334221911; the exhibi-
tion includes Jewish objects of everyday
use found in the town. ¶ Former Talmud
Torah school (19th c.), 2 Zelena St. ¶ Bulwarks of an old fortified settlement (10th–
14th c.), Pidzamche St. ¶ Orthodox Church of St. Basil (14th–15th c.), Vasylivska St. ¶
Orthodox Cathedral of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God (12th c.), Soborna St. ¶
Dominican Monastery (1789), Danyla Halytskoho St. ¶ Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas
(1780), Mykolayivska St. ¶ Walls of the Capuchin Monastery, Kovelska St., Drahomanova
St. ¶ Church of St. Joachim and St. Anne (1790), Kovelska St. ¶ Greek Catholic Church
(formerly a Lutheran kirche, 1890), Kovelska St. ¶ Orthodox Cathedral of the Nativity of
Our Lord (1762), Kovelska St.

Surrounding Zymne (7 km): the Zymne Svyatohorskyi (Holy Mountain) Monastery of the Dormition of
area the Mother of God (late 10th-c.; 15th-c. buildings).

Volodymyr-Volynskyi
Volodymyr-Volynskyi

376
Luboml
Ukr. Любомль, Yid. ‫ליבעוונע‬ The town held a noteworthy position among the Jewish
communities of Volhynia.
Luboml. The Memorial Book of a Vanished Shtetl,
Tel Aviv 1974, Hoboken, NJ 1997

Postage stamps ¶ In the 1920s, for many centuries, it played a special

Luboml, located in the northwestern role in the development of the town
part of Volhynia, was the town with the economy and culture. In his fundamen-
highest percentage of Jewish population tal work Yidn in amolikn Poyln in likht
in the Second Polish Republic, and it fun tsifern (Yid.: The Jews in Old Poland
was in Luboml, in 1918, that the world’s in Numbers, 1958), Raphael Mahler
first postage stamps using the Hebrew states that as early as the 14th century,
alphabet (and showing a synagogue) there already were a small number of
were issued. Jewish communities in Poland, Polesie,
Belorussia (Lithuania), and the Land
The Jews of Luboml ¶ The first of Chełm (Kholm), and he brings the
mention of Luboml dates back to the Luboml of 1370–1382 as an example.
13th century, though there had been Under the Polish-Lithuanian Com-
earlier settlements here. The town began monwealth, Luboml was the seat of the
to thrive after the 13th-century Mongol Chełm Land starosty, and, according to
invasions. The Jewish community of the Jewish administrative division, the
Luboml is believed to have been one of capital of the Belz–Chełm District.
the oldest in Poland and Ukraine, and

The Jewish name of the town ¶ The Jewish residents of this Vol-
hynian settlement called their little home town by the diminutive Yid-
dish Libivne, which, given the Slavic context of this nickname, implies “the
beloved one.” In the rabbinic Hebrew texts, one will also come across
the names Libavne or Libavna. Because of the similar-sounding names,
Jews (even educated rabbis) often confused Luboml with Lublin.

The synagogue ¶ In 1510 (or, most beautiful stone synagogues in

according to other sources – in 1521), Poland-Lithuania. It was located near
the Jewish community built a syna- the bulwark within the city limits, in
gogue in Luboml that was one of the the southwestern corner of the market 377
Postage stamps issued in square. ¶ Luboml’s Great Synagogue (Heb.: pulish) was adorned with two
Luboml in 1918. Source:
Wikimedia Commons.
was built in the Renaissance style and inscriptions – quotations from the Bible;
had certain elements of a fortification. at the bottom: “How full of awe is this
The outer walls, for example, were place! This is none other than the house
surrounded by a defensive gallery with of God, and this is the gate of heaven”
observation holes. In the eastern regions (Gen 28:17), and at the top: “In the
of the Kingdom of Poland, such fortress- house of God we walked with the crowd”
type synagogues were fairly common, (Ps 55:15). Another inscription – “How
although the synagogues of this type beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, and
very rarely played a role in the town your dwelling places, O Israel!” (Num
defence system, and were not built with 24:5) – was carved on the arches of the
a defence purpose. ¶ In Luboml, the three large windows in the southern wall
synagogue main building was cube- of the Great Synagogue. The inscrip-
shaped, and the adjoining precinct for tions reminded the worshippers that the
women was lower. Each of the intercon- synagogue was a mikdash me’at – a little
nected parts of the building had an attic Temple, a sui generis replica of the Sec-
adorning the edges of the roof. Unique ond Temple in Jerusalem, destroyed by
decorative elements on its outer face Romans in 70 c.E. The architect of this

„
gave the building a majestic air. The magnificent building remains unknown.
entrance through the main vestibule

The Great Synagogue was the glory of the city and the source of its pride – though
not the center of its religious life. The Jews of the city pointed from afar to the
fortifications surrounding it, to the slope of its thick walls – but they did not rush to go
inside. […] During the week no one prayed there, and only on the Sabbath were its doors
opened wide, though only a few minyanim [groups of ten men for prayer] came. This was
also the only place in the city where the service was conducted according to the Ashkenazic
rite, whereas in the rest of the places of worship they prayed in the Sephardic style, accord-
ing to Hasidic custom. […] During holidays and festivals, and on those days when the
“congregation should be called together,” people instinctively came to the Great Synagogue.
[…] During two months of the year, Elul and Tishri, the synagogue manifested majesty
and greatness and drew many thousands. It was a custom that on the New Year all the old
Torah mantles were hung on the walls. Metal wire was strung beneath the windows and
Luboml

all the mantles were hung there on rings – mantles of many ages, sizes, and colors, shining
with silver and gold, gleaming with scarlet and azure. […] Nowhere else was there a shofar
378 as curved and as large as the one in the Great Synagogue; nowhere else was there an
ancient Pinkas [ledger] with the names of
thousands of those who had passed away;
and nowhere else was there a chest full of
hundreds of defective Torah scrolls. […]
And when, on Simchat Torah evening, the
synagogue filled with men, women and
children – including non-Jews who came
to join the Jews’ celebration – it was a sight
never to be forgotten. It’s unlikely that this
scene could have been repeated – hun-
dreds of Jews carrying hundreds of Torahs,
dancing through the hakafot (traditional
circumambulations around the bimah). ¶
Yakov Hetman, The Great Synagogue, in:
Luboml. The Memorial Book of a Vanished
Shtetl, Hoboken, NJ 1997, edited.

The ghosts of the Great Syn-

agogue ¶ According to the Sefer
Luboml (Hebr.: The Memorial Book of
Luboml), during long autumn nights,
when the wind would whistle and dogs
would howl, the children of Luboml
would listen with bated breath to terrifying ghost stories told by their grandpar- Arcaded houses in
Luboml, 1925. Photo
ents. The book reports one legend according to which the souls of the dead come by Henryk Poddębski,
to the Great Synagogue at night to pray. This type of legend was very popular collection of the Institute
of Art of the Polish
among the Jews of Eastern Europe, related to synagogues in general. In his novel Academy of Sciences
From the Fair, Sholem Aleichem wrote: “And then the hollow sounds of voices (PAN)
came out of the Cold Shul. Strange, whining sounds, accompanied by sobs – the Houses in the
dead praying. They prayed every Saturday night in the Cold Shul. They prayed market square, 1925.
with a minyan. Who didn’t know that?” By the Cold Shul the Yiddish writer meant Photo by Henryk
Poddębski, collection of
the Great Synagogue, used for Shabbat, Passover, and High Holidays only. the Institute of Art of
It was very expensive to warm it up – therefore daily prayers were conducted the Polish Academy of
Sciences (PAN)
elsewhere in the prayer houses or in a “Warm Shul” – a smaller precinct adja-
cent to the Great Synagogue and separated from it, which was easier to warm.

We learn from the reminiscences followed by the congregation: Twersky

penned by Yisroel Garmi (Grimatlicht) (Trisker), Ruzhynsky (Ruzhiner), Kotsky
that, near the Great Synagogue and (Kotzker), Radzynsky (Radziner), and
the beth midrash, there were separate Stepansky (Stepaner). The synagogue of
kloyzn for groups of Hasidim and for Trisk/Twersky Hasidim was located on
craftsmen. Hasidic shtiebels bore the the right side of the beth midrash.
following names, based on the rebbe 379
 Prominent figures ¶ One of the
most famous rabbis of Luboml was
Rabbi Hersh, who served from 1556
until the 1570s. From that time, for
nearly a century, the rabbis of Luboml
were among the most famous in Poland.
One of them was Abraham Polak,
a teacher and the author of numerous
rabbinic works. A well-known rabbi
late in the 16th century was Moshe Mes,
who put 613 commandments in a poetic
form and penned an important work on
Jewish rituals. His books printed in 1591
in Cracow were reprinted in Frankfurt
and Main in 1720, in London in 1958,
and in Brooklyn in 1964.

One of the students of Luboml’s Jewish

school was Seweryn Lubomelczyk,
born in Luboml (1532–1612), who
converted to Catholicism as an adult
and became famous across Europe
as an eminent theologian and orator.
Unlike it happened with other converts,
Seweryn made a vertiginous career
Hebrew inscription in the Catholic world. The pope and Polish kings entrusted him with the most
over the portal of the
synagogue in Luboml,
important matters. Seweryn of Luboml authored numerous theological studies
circa 1930, collection of and had considerable standing in the Dominican Order. ¶ Frank (Ephraim)
the Institute of Art of
the Polish Academy of
Rosenblatt (1884–1927) was a literary critic, columnist, and doctor of philoso-
Sciences (PAN) phy, who was born in Luboml. He received a traditional religious education.
Synagogue in
Initially, he supported Zionism but later became disillusioned in Jewish diasporic
Luboml, a view from the nationalism, chose Marxism, and joined the Bund movement. In 1903, he was
southwest, circa 1930,
collection of the Institute
arrested by the Russian police and left for the USA on his release. He graduated
of Art of the Polish from Columbia University in New York in 1910. Rosenblatt eventually became an
Academy of Sciences economic expert in state institutions and also Secretary General of the Arbeter
(PAN)
Ring (Yid.: The Workmen’s Circle), a left-wing, non-profit Jewish organisation
protecting Yiddish culture, supporting working people’s rights, and propagating
the ideas of social equality. Rosenblatt was one of the leading Yiddish-language
American literary critics of early 20th-century literature. He began his literary
activity in 1903 – first he wrote in Russian and then switched over to Yiddish.
Luboml

He published poems in various periodicals, such as Tsukunft (Yid.: Future). In

the same journal, he published socio-political and economic articles and wrote
380 about various literary issues. He authored profound studies devoted to the
 Synagogue in Luboml,
circa 1930, collection of
the Institute of Art of
the Polish Academy of
Sciences (PAN)

work of Sholem Aleichem, Avrom Reyzen, I.I.-M. Weisenberg, M. Winczewski,

M. Rosenfeld, and others, as well as to the work of the key Russian writers.

According to 1564 tax records, there Jewish community. ¶ After a census in

were 8 merchants and 26 craftsmen in 1847, the Jewish community of Luboml
Luboml, organised into guilds; there had 2,130 members. By 1870, Jews
were 3 functioning Orthodox churches, already constituted two-thirds of the
an Orthodox monastery, and a syna- town’s inhabitants. In 1897, the popula-
gogue. ¶ In 1564, the Jewish community tion of Luboml was 4,600, including
paid 150 florins of tax – 1 florin per 3,300 Jews – among them (according
person. The Jews worked in crafts, leased to the 1898 data) 349 craftsmen and 52
land, and traded with Lwów, Kyiv, Brest, workers; 370 students received education
Przemyśl, Lublin, and Warsaw. Com- under the guidance of 17 teachers, and
modities were transported down the 60 students attended the Talmud Torah
Bug River to Gdańsk and other cities. school. ¶ During World War I, the town
These were mainly timber, potash, wax, was occupied by Austrians. While a large
honey, salt, saffron, jewellery, and other number of local inhabitants had fled to
commodities. The 1667 protocols of the Russia, most of the Jews remained. The
Council of Four Lands list annual tax mayor of Luboml at that time was David
rates per person. Larger towns are listed Wejtsfrucht-London, brother of the local
separately, particularly Luboml with rabbi Aryeh-Leib London.
8,100 guilders tax levied on the local

It was in 1918, when Luboml was still under Austro-Hungarian occupation, that
the municipal council issued postage stamps with Yiddish inscriptions. Those were
part of a series of stamps issued that presented notable views of Luboml – includ-
ing the Great Synagogue – and bore inscriptions in four languages: Polish, 381
 Ukrainian, German, and Yiddish. The
Yiddish inscription read “Shtotpost
Luboml” (The City of Luboml). This
was the first time that letters of the
Hebrew alphabet (in which Yiddish is
written down) appeared on stamps,
and the first time a postage stamp
bore the image of a synagogue.

World War II and the Holocaust

¶ In September 1939, the Germans
entered the town and then retreated
across the Bug after a few days, accord-
ing to the secret addendum to the 1939
Memorial to Holocaust The interwar period ¶ The interwar Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Some of
victims in Luboml, 2008.
Photo by Taras Mykytyn,
period saw the heyday of Jewish cultural the residents – those with communist
digital collection of the and social institutions in Luboml. In sympathies – built a welcoming gate for
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
1921, the town had a population of the Red Army. On seeing this, a retreat-
teatrnn.pl) 3,328, including 3,141 Jews, and in ing unit of the Polish Army carried out
1931, Jews made up 91.3 percent of a series of executions in retaliation. From
its residents. Many cultural and youth October 1939, until June 1941, the town
organisations and sports clubs were remained under Soviet rule. All social
established; the Zionist movement, activity outside the official Soviet insti-
forbidden across the border in the USSR, tutional framework was banned; the old
experienced a second revival in Luboml Jewish cemetery was destroyed. On June
under independent Poland. At the same 22, 1941, German troops entered Luboml
time, however, many young people left again. In December 1942, the Nazis set
their homes and set off abroad: for the up a ghetto encompassing the area of just
USA, Palestine, Canada, and Argentina. a few streets. In the first days of October
¶ Numerous Jewish businesses were 1942, the Germans shot nearly all Jewish
family businesses, e.g. the Milstein inhabitants (almost 5,000 people) in
brothers’ shoe repair shop or the Rejz- the forest near the brickyard close to
man and Kopelzon Vodka and Liqueur the village of Borki. ¶ The synagogue
factory. ¶ Some Jewish craftsmen were functioned until the beginning of the
members of the underground Com- Nazi occupation and survived in good
munist Party of Western Ukraine and condition. In the first months of the Nazi
were persecuted by the authorities. Even occupation, the new authorities forced
though the authorities barred Ukrain- the Jews to carry all valuable scrolls and
ians and Jews from high state offices, books out of the synagogue, and then the
Jews and Ukrainians did elect their Nazis burnt them. Afterwards, the Ger-
Luboml

representatives to the municipal council mans broke a hole through the wall of the
and the county council. synagogue, large enough for a truck to
382 get in and out. The truck was loaded with
the clothes of people who had been shot the building of the synagogue did survive

„
and the goods looted from Jewish houses the occupation and was not pulled down
stockpiled in the synagogue. However, until 1947, under Soviet rule.

There were no barbed-wire fences as in other ghettos, but sentries were posted to
see that no one got out. The Jews were careful not to leave the ghetto. Those who
went out of the ghetto to work were accompanied by guards and were brought back into the
ghetto after work, tired and depressed. ¶ From the account by Rochl Leichter, in: Luboml.
The Memorial Book of a Vanished Shtetl, Tel Aviv 1974, Hoboken, NJ 1997.

The Jewish diaspora ¶ In 1973, in about the town’s Jewish community.

Israel, on the occasion of the 600th anni- A major exhibition of these materials
versary of Luboml’s Jewish community, and documents, entitled Remembering
Jews from Israel, Canada, and the USA Luboml, was shown all over the USA,
who had been born in Luboml published as well as in Jerusalem, London, and
a large volume of memories about the Warsaw. In 2003, a documentary was
town and its Jewish community. Thanks produced about the history of the town’s
to the efforts of Aaron Ziegelman, a New Jewish community, Luboml. My Heart
Yorker born in Luboml, a large amount Remembers (for more information, see:
of material and documents was collected www.luboml.org).

Jewish cemetery with a memorial to Holocaust victims. ¶ Holy Trinity Church (1412), 16 Worth
Kostelna St. ¶ Church of St. George (13th–18th c.), 1 Yaroslava Mudroho St. ¶ Landscape seeing
park and the outbuildings of the former Branicki Palace (18th c.). ¶ Local Heritage
Museum, 33 Nezalezhnosti St., tel. +380337724256.

Shatsk (32 km). ¶ The Shatsk Lakes (34 km). ¶ Ratne (80 km). ¶ Kamin-Kashyrskyi Surrounding
(106 km). area

LUBOML

383
 Shtetl Routes
Through Belarus
Shtetl Routes Through Belarus
Luboml

384
Pinsk
Pol. Pińsk, Bel. Пiнск, Yid. ‫פּינסק‬ It seems Jews are everywhere in Pinsk. Not only the whole
town but also the trade of the whole country is thriving
thanks to their activity. Craftsmen, merchants, hackney
drivers – all of them are Jews, and nothing can happen here
without a Jew.
Nikolay Leskov, Iz odnovo dorozhnovo dnevnika
(Rus.: From a Travel Journal), 1862

The capital of Polesie ¶ Pinsk, the articles. On January 12, 1581, King Stefan
capital of Pripyat Polesie, lies on a pla- Báthory signed a privilege granting the
teau, at the confluence of three rivers town with the Magdeburg rights. The
– the Pina, the Yaselda, and the Pripyat. economic and commercial significance
The date of its foundation is believed to of Pinsk increased after the construc-
have been November 5, 1097: this is the tion of two overland routes – Pinsk-
date mentioned in the old Ruthenian Slonim and Pinsk-Volhynia – as well as
chronicle, The Tale of Bygone Years. Next canals connecting the Pripyat with the
to the entrance to the castle there was Neman and the Western Bug Rivers.
a marketplace – the Old Market Square, The Mukhavets, Berezina, and Oginski
where the town’s main streets inter- Canals served as routes for transporting
sected. In the early modern period, the goods from Pinsk to the Baltic and Black
town’s dominant architectural features Sea ports.
became the commercial market square,
with its Jesuit monastery complex (17th The Jews of Pinsk ¶ On August 9,
century), its town hall (1628), and its 1506, Prince Fyodor Ivanovich Yarosla-
synagogue complex, as well as the houses vovich of Pinsk signed an act granting
of rich burghers, the clergy, and the the Jews plots of land on which to build
nobility lined up. The Franciscan and a synagogue and set up a cemetery. This
Jesuit monastery complex is an excellent act is the first written mention of the
example of Vilnius Baroque style. After Jewish community in Pinsk. About 15
1521, Pinsk came under the dominion of families established a Jewish community
Sigismund the Old, who transferred the here. ¶ Jews dealt in leasing various prop-
town to his wife Bona Sforza (1494– erties (mills, fish ponds, taverns, timber
1557), Duchess of Milan, Queen of freight), but also in usury, tax and tariff
Poland, and Grand Duchess of Lithuania, collection, lumber, bread, and potash
for as long as she lived. ¶ In the mid-16th trade, as well as crafts. The kahal of Pinsk
century, Pinsk became a centre of trade was one of the wealthiest in the Grand
in timber, salt, wax, smoked fish, honey, Duchy of Lithuania, but in 1574, due to
furs, metal wares, fabrics, and craft numerous fires, epidemics, and other 385
 plundered again by the Russian forces
and the Cossacks; many Jews were killed.
The economic situation of the town
became so precarious that the town was
twice exempted from all taxes and duties
for four years, in 1655 and in 1660. Fur-
ther tragedies befell Pinsk and its Polish
Catholic, Jewish and Eastern Orthodox
communities at the beginning of the
18th century, especially in 1706, when
the town was captured by the forces of
King Charles XII of Sweden. ¶ The kahal
of Pinsk turned to the Dominicans, the
wealthiest money-lending institution
Synagogue in Pinsk, disasters, the Jews of Pinsk requested the in the Polish-Lithuania Commonwealth
1929. Photo by
A. Bochnig, collection of
Grand Duke of Lithuania to exempt them requesting financial assistance: in 1693,
the Institute of Art of from all taxes and fees so that they had it borrowed 1,000 zlotys from them,
the Polish Academy of
Sciences (PAN)
the resources to rebuild their houses and and in 1737, 16,630 zlotys. In the late
restore their estates. They were granted 17th and early 18th century, the Lithu-
the exemption for six years. ¶ At the anian Tribunal admonished the elders
beginning of the 17th century, the Pinsk of the Jewish community of Pinsk and
kahal was one of three main communi- threatened them with expulsion from
ties of the Lithuanian Vaad. Pinsk and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania or even
its Jewish community suffered greatly to capital punishment if they failed to
during the Cossack invasions in the 17th pay back the debts to the state treasury
and early 18th century. Supported by the and private creditors. ¶ The following
town Orthodox residents, these wars trade guilds were registered in the town
devastated the Jewish community of inventory for 1764: blacksmiths, tanners,
Pinsk. The local Jewish community also shoemakers, butchers, tailors, fishermen,
suffered during the Russo-Polish War of furriers and some other craft guilds. ¶
1654–1667, when the town turned into With the spread of public philanthropy,
one of the battlefields. In 1654, Pinsk a Jewish hospital was established in

„
was burnt down by the Russian troops, Pinsk (9 Zawalna St.) in the second half
and in 1660, the town was captured and of the 19th century.

The Jewish public hospital in Karlin was built and maintained thanks to Pinsk’s
merchants. There are seven rooms, where sick people are placed according to the
nature of their illness. […] Doctor Fishkin, a Jew by birth and by religion, was an extraor-
dinarily open-minded and honest man and enjoyed the respect of the entire town. He was
known not only as a good doctor but also as a selfless one. His lifetime goal was to serve the
people, forgetting about his personal interests. He was the one who originated the idea of
Pinsk

building a hospital for the poor in Pinsk, sought to put his noble plan into practice, worked
386 as a doctor in that hospital without receiving any remuneration, and died the way good
people usually die: no one screamed about or announced
his death anywhere. ¶ Nikolay Leskov, Iz odnovo dorozh-
nogo dnievnika (Rus.: From a Travel Journal), 1862.

The Karolin suburb ¶ In 1690, the and the

starost of Pinsk, Jan Karol Dolski, set old and respectful Pinsk Jews took Men and boys in
front of the charred
up an urban settlement in the village of legal, economic, religious and socio- remains of the
Zagórze and named it Karlin (or Karo- political forms. Particularly since karlin synagogue, holding five
Torah scrolls saved from
lin). Pinsk and Karlin – this is what the quickly became headquarters of the the fire, Pinsk, photo
Jews called it; Karlin, the contemporary rising Hasidic movement, while Pinsk published on 8 June 1923
tried to protect traditional Lithuanian in Jewish Daily Forward,
name of Pinsk suburb, was separated collection of the YIVO
from Pinsk just by Rowecka Street. The (Litvak or mintagdic, anti-hasidic) rites Institute for Jewish
Jewish community of Karlin, burdened and customs. In the second half of the Research

with less taxes, grew rather quickly: 18th century, Pinsk became the scene of The interior of the
synagogues appeared, a cheder, a mikveh, a major controversy between Hasidic synagogue in Pinsk,
1921, collection of the
and a cemetery were established; stores, followers and the Mitnagdim, opponents YIVO Institute for Jewish
granaries, and warehouses were built. of Hasidism. As a result of this contro- Research

The riverbed of the Pripyat was straight- versy, the anti-Hasidic leaders of the
ened by means of a canal, which gave Pinsk kahal forced Rabbi Levi Yitzhak
Karlin an advantage over Pinsk: cargo (the future chief rabbi and head of rab-
and commodities transported by the binic court of Berdichev and the famous
Dnieper River were brought first to the Hasidic leader), who served a term as
quay of Karlin. Karlin began to outdo the chief rabbi of Pinsk to leave the town
Pinsk in terms of turnover and residents’ while Karlin turned into one of the head-

„
income, and the competition between quarters of the rising Karlin-Stolin trend
the satellite Jewish community of Karlin in the Hasidic movement.

If only I could love the greatest of tsadikim as God loves the worst of sinners. ¶
Aaron Karliner
387
 Ludmir (Volodymyr-Volynskyi), where
the opposition to Hasidic Judaism was
comparatively milder. Rabbi Shlomo
was killed by a Cossack bullet during
the Polish-Russian War of 1792, while
praying in the Ludmir synagogue.
Posthumously he entered many Hasidic
legends. Hasidim believed that Shlomo
“understood the language of trees,
animals, and birds,” and they used to
say: “Who can be compared to the holy
Shlomo: after all, he is head and shoul-
ders higher than the world.” ¶ The next
leaders of the dynasty were the descend-
ants of the founder of the dynasty, Rabbi
Aaron: Asher ben Aaron (1765–1826)
and his son Aaron II (1802–1872).
Asher ben Aaron settled in the town of
Stolin, near Karlin, in 1792; after this,
Karliner Hasidim began to be called
Stolin Hasidim and eventually, Karlin-
Stolin Hasidim, as they are known to
Old Jewish cemetery The founder of the Karlin dynasty was this day. Emphasising the religious
in Pinsk, 1916, collection
of Beit Hatfutsot, The
Aaron Karliner (real name: Perlow; value of physical work, Asher ben Aaron
Museum of the Jewish 1736–1772), son of Yaakov, a gabay demanded that the Hasidim be diligent
People, Photo Archive,
Tel Aviv, courtesy of
(synagogue warden) from Janov, whose in all areas of work and condemned
Hanna Gelman family, according to a legend, directly Jews who exploited non-Jewish work-
Male school of
descended from King David. In his ers. Denounced by the mitnagdim, who
crafts in Pinsk, 1921, col- youth, under the influence of his uncle, called all Hasidim karlintsy (using the
lection of Beit Hatfutsot, name of karlin for all of them), Asher
The Museum of the
Aaron, set off for Mezhyrych, where he
Jewish People, Photo became one of the favourite disciples ben Aaron was arrested by the newly
Archive, Tel Aviv of Rabbi Dov Ber, the Great Maggid of established Russian authorities as a “sect
Mezhyrych who entrusted Aaron with leader” in 1792, yet returned to Karlin
the mission of spreading Hasidic Juda- after his release from prison. Under the
ism in Lithuania (which at that time also leadership of his son Aaron II, Karlin
included Belarus/Belorussia). The next Hasidism extended their influence in
tsadik of the dynasty was Shlomo (Got- Polesie and Volhynia, establishing mul-
tlieb) of Karlin (1738–1792), a disciple tiple maamadot – groups of volunteer
of Maggid of Mezhyrych and Aaron Kar- financial supporters of the Karlin-Stolin
liner. Persecutions of Hasidim by their Hasidic masters. In a treatise entitled
fierce opponents, Mitnagdim, forced Beth Aaron (Heb.: The House of Aaron),
Pinsk

Rabbi Shlomo of Karlin to move to the Aaron II stressed that everyday life, as
388 Volhynian centre of Hasidic Judaism in well as prayer, is the service to God, and
 Street trading in front
of market halls in Pinsk,
1935, collection of the
National Digital Archives,
Poland

the attainment of spiritual excellence synagogue (although it never performed

precipitates the coming of the Messiah. any defense function). It was burnt and
Aaron II, as well as some other Hasidic desecrated many times, but was always
masters, for example, Israel of Ruzhin, rebuilt. In 1863, there were 27 syna-
provided spiritual and financial aid to gogues and prayer houses in Pinsk, in
the communities of Karliner Hasidim 1910, there were 35, and in 1940, 43. ¶
who settled in the the land of Israel. Severely devastated during World War II,
In 1867, he moved to Stolin. In the the Great Synagogue did not survive the
mid-19th century, the counrt of Hasidic post-war socialist reconstruction of the
masters in Karlin produced most famous town, and in 1956, the Soviet authorities
tunes and songs for Shabbat and festival levelled it. In its stead, the town com-
liturgy of that Hasidic trend which are munity centre was built. Other syna-
used to-date among the followers of the gogues and prayer houses of Pinsk were
movement and far beyond it. destroyed as well. The last synagogue
functioning in Pinsk in the Soviet times
Synagogues ¶ In 1506, a synagogue was the synagogue of Stolin Hasidim,
was built next to the central market also known as Kitaevskaya (Chinese; the
square in Pinsk, and in the mid-17th name is connected with the clothes worn
century another one was established by Hasidim, made of satin called kitaika
– a stone Great Synagogue, belonging – Chinese textile – in Russian). It stood
to the schneider-shul (Tailors’ guild where there is now a busy intersection of
synagogue). The Great Synagogue was Bielova and W. Korzha Streets.
built in the times when the Renais-
sance style with its pseudo-military Jewish cemeteries ¶ The first Jew-
elements came to vogue in East Europe, ish cemetery in Pinsk was established
therefore, it has ornaments that made at the beginning of the 16th century,
some historians classify it as a defense between Kotlarska and Zawalna Streets 389
 of 18 enterprises from Pinsk and its
vicinity; the directors of twelve of them
were Jews. The largest ones included L.
Gershman’s match factory, tar factory,
and repair shop (that boasted more than
300 employees), the factory producing
spike heels for Lurie footware factory
(180 employees), and E. Eliasberg’s
stearin production plant (79 employ-
ees). The production of Tobal plywood
invented by Alexander Lurie was also
launched in Pinsk. Lurie was a monopo-
list of plywood production in the entire
Russian Empire. In 1914, 49 of Pinsk’s 54
industrial enterprises belonged to Jews. ¶
Wooden houses in (Mashkovskogo St.). One of the people During World War I, the town was occu-
Pinsk, 1929. Photo by
A. Bochnig, collection of
buried here was Tzvi Hirsch of Pinsk, the pied by German troops. Under the terms
the Institute of Art of son of the Baal Shem Tov, the legend- of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the County
the Polish Academy of
Sciences (PAN)
ary founder of Hasidism. The Hasidic of Pinsk was to be incorporated into
cemetery was located in Pushkina Ukraine, but the town changed hands
Street; it was the burial place of Aaron several times: the Red Army, the Polish
the Great of Karlin, his son Asher, Rabbi forces, and the troops under the com-
Dovid Friedman of Karlin, and also mand of General Bułak-Bałachowicz all
of Ezer Weizman (father of the first took control. For the Jewish community,
President of Israel, Chaim Weizmann). the most tragic event of that period was
Both cemeteries were destroyed in the 1919 shooting of 35 Jews: the Polish
Soviet times. At the site of the Hasidic soldiers accused Jews of the Bolshevik
cemetery, a monument was established conspiracy and executed them at the
to commemorate the Holocaust victims wall of the Jesuit college. This execution
murdered in Pinsk in 1941–1943. There had a lasting negative impact on Polish-
is a section at the municipal cemetery on Jewish relations in the region. ¶ In the
Spokoynaya Street in which the Jews of 1920s, Pinsk industry slowly but steadily
Pinsk were buried after the war. revived after the wartime destruction.
By 1936, despite the global economic
Industrialisation in Late Impe- crisis, 13 thriving industrial enterprises
rial Russia ¶ In the 19th century, Pinsk functioned in Pinsk; most of them were
turned into one of the main Belorussian timber processing plants. Jews consti-
centres of metal and timber process- tuted the vast majority of artisans and
ing and the production of phosphor craftsmen and a considerable proportion
matches. In the 1860s, about 750–950 of physicians, lawyers, and teachers.
Jewish craftsmen lived in the town. The
Pinsk

1897 Inventory of Factories and Plants

390 of the Russian Empire contained a list
 Market on the bank of
the River Pina, after
1918, collection of the
National Library, Poland
(www.polona.pl)

„ But I remember mostly the Pinsker blotte, as we called them at home, the
swamps that seemed to me then like oceans of mud and that we were taught
to avoid like the plague. In my memory those swamps are forever linked to my persistent
terror of the Cossacks, to a winter night when I played with other children in a narrow lane
near the forbidden blotte and then suddenly, as though out of nowhere, or maybe out of the
swamps themselves, came the Cossacks on their horses, literally galloping over our crouch-
ing, shivering bodies. ¶ Golda Meir, My Life, 1975

Education and charity ¶ With the metukan – a Hebrew-based Jewish

opening of the yeshivah (Talmudic acad- elementary school that taught Zionist
emy) in 1632, Pinsk became an impor- values. Additionally, there was a branch
tant centre of the rabbinic studies. In of the Society for the Promotion of Edu-
1853, there was a Russian state school for cation among the Jews of Russia (OPE)
the children of Jewish merchants as well in Pinsk, a major assimilation organiza-
as a Jewish elementary school for girls. tion sponsored by Baron Guenzburg
In the 1860s, a Talmud Torah school was with headquarters in St. Petersburg and
opened, and in 1863, a two-level Jewish public libraries throughout the Russian
state school opened its premises for those Empire. ¶ About a dozen schools func-
seeking secular and Russian-language tioned in Pinsk in the interwar years too:
education. Two private Jewish schools there was a school run by the Zionist-
for boys were founded in 1878 (one of oriented Tarbut Society and a seven-year
them with instruction in Hebrew), and Midrash-Tarbut school – in 1936 it was
in 1888, a Jewish vocational training divided into two schools with Hebrew as
school. In 1895, a certain I.L. Berger the main language of instruction; there
a member of the proto-Zionist (called was a private Jewish secondary school
at that time “Palestinophile”) organiza- for girls with instruction in Polish;
tion Hovevei Zion, established a cheder there were seven private Jewish primary 391
 1898, the Pinsk Women’s Jewish Charity
Association was established; in 1912,
the Jewish Aid and Loan Association
was founded; and in 1908 and 1913, two
poorhouses were established: one by
the Society for the Assistance of the Sick
and Pregnant; another by the Society for
the Assistance of the Poorest Jews. From
1914 on, there was also a Society for the
Support of Jewish Teachers and Mela-
meds active in the town.

Political parties and organisa-

A riverside station on the schools, two schools run by Poale Zion tions ¶ In the 1860s, one of the first
Pina River, 2015. Photo
by Monika Tarajko,
(Marxist-Zionist party), a vocational proto-Zionist (Palestinophile) groups of
digital collection of the training school, and a commercial Hovevei Zion was set up in Pinsk, with
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
school. The five Jewish religious schools Rabbi D. Fridman as its leader. Towards
teatrnn.pl) in Pinsk and karlin included three Tal- the end of the 19th century, branches
mud Torah institutions. In Bernardyńska of the Bund and Zionist organisations
Street in Pinsk (now Savetskaya St.) began to operate locally. Chaim Weiz-
there was also a pompous yeshivah “Beit mann, a graduate of Pinsk’s Realschule
Yosef.” In 1888, Shomer (pseudo.; real and the future first President of Israel,
name: Nokhem Meyer Shaykevitch), the represented Pinsk at the Zionist con-
famous author of the exceptionally popu- gresses. ¶ Communist organisations were
lar shund (kitsch) Yiddish novels, organ- set up by D. Shlesberg and W. Shklarnik.
ised in Pinsk a Yiddish theatre. ¶ As in Other organisations operating in Pinsk
many Jewish communities in the Russian included a branch of the Marxist Zionist
Empire, the Pinsk Jews established party Poale Zion and various Zionist-
a number of social relief and philan- oriented youth organisations such as
thropic voluntary institutions. The major Freiheit, Betar, and Hechalutz. The Bund
philanthropic gemilut hasadim (free-loan activists organized the workers’ strikes,
society) society was established in 1899. and with the help of the Jewish diaspora
Records show that in 1903, 797 members of New York and Chicago, they opened
of this society made voluntary contribu- an orphanage, a number of cooperatives,
tions. Until the outbreak of World War I, and a workers’ canteen, and evening

„
about a dozen other institutions helped courses for young professionals.
the poor, refugee and destitute Jews: in

Most of the young Jewish revolutionaries in Pinsk […] were divided at that point
into two main groups. There were the members of the Bund (Jewish Marxists),
who believed that the solution to the plight of the Jews in Russia and elsewhere would be
Pinsk

found when socialism prevailed. Once the economic and social structure of the Jews was
392 changed, said the Bundists, anti-Semitism would totally disappear. In that better, brighter,
socialist world, the Jews could still, if they
so desired, retain their cultural identity
[…]. ¶ The Poalei Zion (Labor Zionists)
[…] saw it all differently. They believed
that the so-called Jewish problem had other
roots, and its solution therefore had to be
more far-reaching and radical than merely
the righting of economic wrongs or social
inequalities. In addition to the shared social
ideal, they clung to a national ideal based
on the concept of Jewish peoplehood and
the reestablishment of Jewish independence.
At the time, although both these move-
ments were secret and illegal, ironically enough the bitterest enemies of Zionism were the Pinsk, former Rabbi
Perlow’s prayer house,
Bundists. ¶ Golda Meir, My Life, 1975 2008. Photo by Irina
Pivovarchik, digital col-
lection of the “Grodzka
In the 1920s and 1930s, 19 periodicals A stroll through Pinsk ¶ Present-day Gate – NN Theatre”
in Hebrew and Yiddish were published Lenin Street (formerly named Wielka Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)
in Pinsk, including Pinsker Woch (Yid.: Spaska, Wielka Franciszkańska, Wielka
Pinsk Week) edited by M. Treibman, Kijowska, Tadeusza Kościuszki, and also
Pinsker Wort (Yid.: The Word of Pinsk), Grosse Str.) leads to Lenin Square, in
Pinsker Shtime (Yid.: The Voice of Pinsk), which there is a statue of Lenin. Ironi-
Poleser Najes (Yid.: Polesie News). cally, it was this square that the main

„
façade of one of the oldest stone syna-
gogues of Belarus used to overlook.

The first house on the even numbered side belonged to Moshe Schmit, and it was
written down in the history of Pinsk as the “Angielski” (“English”) hotel. It is an
elegant three-storied house in modern style. The builders left an unpainted-over inscription
in Polish, reading “A. L. Goldberg Commission sales.” Schmit’s house had an inner yard,
in which there was Kagan’s Clothes and Haberdashery shop, the best in town. People used
to say that one could step into it completely naked and leave it dressed and shod, donning
a tailcoat, a bowler hat, lightweight shoes, and gloves, with a cane in one’s hand, all of these
brand new and custom-made. What made the “Angielski” hotel exceptional was not just
its furniture and the interior. It had also a telephone in every room, which made it very
convenient for business people. And after their business matters were over they could drop
in at the restaurants named Ritz and Paradis. The latter was made famous by its “taxi
dancers” – ladies to dance with. ¶ Schmit’s house was also the traditional place where
people met and started strolling along Pinsk’s first paved street. We are off for a “stroll along
the Gas” – people in Pinsk used to say before the war, combining Polish and Jewish words
[“gas” – Yid.: street]. ¶ T. Chwagina, E. Złobin, J. Liberman, Pinsk – Poleskiye Jeruzalem
(Rus.: Pinsk – The Jerusalem of Polesie), Pinsk 2007.
393
 to execute people en masse – several
thousand Jews were killed there. Another
site of mass executions was situated near
the village of Kozlyakovichi, where 1,200
Jews were shot. ¶ According to January
1942 data, 18,017 Jews were registered
in Pinsk, including 11,911 women (66
percent) and 6,106 men (34 percent). ¶
On April 30, 1942, the ghetto was estab-
lished. The following streets marked the
borders of the ghetto: Zawalna, Albre-
chtowska, Logiszyńska, Teodorowska
The Jewish community World War II and the Holocaust (currently: Zavalnaya, Kirova, 1 Maya,
building in Pinsk, 18
Belova St., 2014. Photo
¶ After the outbreak of World War II and Gogola, and Partyzanskaya). Accord-
by Irina Pivovarchik, the annexation of West Belarus into the ing to May 1942 data, there were 18,644
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, people in the Pinsk ghetto. Several
Theatre” Centre (www. Pinsk became the centre of the Pinsk synagogues and prayer houses were in
teatrnn.pl)
Region (oblast). Polish-Jewish refugees the ghetto area too, and the authorita-
appeared in Pinsk as early as September tive Rabbi Perlow provided services and
1939, coming mainly from Warsaw and attended to the raditional Jews. A few
Łódź. According to the October 1939 underground organisations were also set
data, 1,771 refugees were registered up. One group, led by Dr. Edward Prager,
in the town, most of them Jewish. In prepared to escape from the ghetto and
1940–1941, 385 Jewish families (883 form a partisan unit. Another group, led
people) were deported from Pinsk to by Lolek Slutski, consisting of about 50
Siberia and Kazakhstan together with people and in touch with members of the
many other refugees from Poland, both Judenrat and the Jewish police was plan-
Poles and Jews. ¶ On 4 July 1941, the ning to set the town on fire the day before
German Wehrmacht occupied Pinsk. the liquidation of the ghetto. ¶ The liqui-
That day, 16 young Jewish men were dation began in the morning of October
shot in the forest. German authorities 29, 1942. The elderly patients of the
announced that the executed individuals hospital were shot on the spot or at the
were in fact the victims of Soviet terror. Karlin cemetery, which was within the
On July 30, 1941, a Judenrat (Jewish ghetto borders. A group of 150 people
town council) was established. Its head managed to escape during the execution,
David Alper, the former director of the but most of them were found and killed.
Tarbut Society, resigned from this post After a search of the ghetto on November
after only a couple of days – as soon as he 10, 1942, more than 5,000 Jews were shot
realized that the Judenrat had to bow to in the Jewish cemetery on Pushkina St.
every whim of the Nazis. Together with Only 150 craftsmen were left alive and
several other Judenrat members, Alper placed in the so-called “little ghetto.” But
Pinsk

was shot in early August 1941. The Nazis on December 23, 1942, all of its inmates
394 chose the site of the village of Posenichi were shot. In the spring of 1943, in the
 Participants in Shtetl
Routes tour guides
training inside the
functioning synagogue
in Pinsk-Karlin, at
12 Irkutska-Pinskai
Dyvizii St., 2015. Photo
by Monika Tarajko,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)

Dobra Wola forest wilderness, occupa- Jewish community attempted to ques-

tion authorities carried out the operation tion this decision, but the authorities
of burning dead bodies and destroying transferred the building to the sports
the vestiges of mass extermination. ¶ school. Rabbi Aaron Potapovski, who
About 25,000 Jews were murdered in lived in the synagogue building, did not
Pinsk during the Holocaust. On July 4, leave it, however, and led the services
1944, Soviet troops entered the town. until 1954. In the 1960s, an unregistered
Jewish community of about 80 people
After the war ¶ Most likely, only 42 functioned in Pinsk, with its own rabbi.
Jews survived the Holocaust in Pinsk. In 1966, the last synagogue was shut
Some had joined partisan units, others down. ¶ Jewish life started to revive
were saved thanks to the help of local after the collapse of the Soviet Union
dwellers. About a dozen people from and the rise of independent Belarus.
Pinsk were subsequently recognized In 1992, the Chaim Weizmann Jewish
as the “Righteous Gentiles.” ¶ After Cultural and Educational Society was
war, several hundred Jews who had founded, and on April 20, 1993, the Jew-
been deported to the distant areas of ish religious community of Pinsk was
the Soviet Union returned to Pinsk. In officially registered. On April 10, 1995,
1944, they rebuilt one of the synagogues religious services were resumed in the
(the one at 7 Pionierskaya St.). In 1948, reconstructed Karlin-Stolin synagogue
the leader of the community, Sholom (12 Irkutsko-Pinskoy Divizii St., tel.
Yuzhuk, applied for the registration of +375165324320) for the first time after
the Jewish community and the syna- World War II. In 2000, the only Jewish
gogue, but a year later, the authorities religious boarding school in Belarus –
confiscated the synagogue. Certain “Beth Aaron” (9a Ostrovskogo St., tel.
Burdo, a representative of the town +375293643682) – was opened in Pinsk. 395
 In 2014, a new school building named ago, the local Jewish History Museum
after the Bielski Brothers, the leaders (18 Bielova St), was founded by Josif
of the famous Jewish partisan unit, Liberman (1947–2017), the head of the
was opened in Pinsk too. ¶ A few years Jewish community of Pinsk.

Worth Karlin-Stolin Synagogue (1901–1904), 12 Irkutska-Pinskai Dyvizii St. ¶ Jewish History

seeing Museum, 18 Bielova St. ¶ Former “confederate” synagogue (1889), 109 Kirova St. ¶ For-
mer synagogue, 63 Gorkogo St. ¶ Former Jewish hospital, 9 Zavalnaya St. ¶ Former dorm
for the students of the Karlin yeshivah (1920s), during the Nazi occupation it served as the
headquarters of the Judenrat, 42 Savetskaya St. ¶ Former Jesuit College (17th c.), Lenin Sq.;
currently the Museum of Belarusian Polesye, tel. +375165316646. ¶ Church of St. Charles
Borromeo (1770–1782), today the municipal concert hall, 37 Kirova St. ¶ Franciscan
Monastery and Church (14th–18th c.), Lenin St. ¶ Bell tower (early 19th c.), Lenin St. ¶
Palace of the Butrymowicz family (1794), 44 Lenin St. ¶ Former Courtier School (1858),
39 Lenin St. ¶ Church of St. Barbara (1786), the former Bernardine church, 34 Savetskaya
St. ¶ Former Kolodny hotel (late 19th c.), 5 Lenina St. ¶ Former Warszawski Hotel, 35
Kastyushki St. ¶ Former Bristol Hotel, 39 Dniaprovskay Flatylii St.

Surrounding Pogost-Zagorodskiy (34 km): a former yeshivah and synagogue (late 19th c.); a destroyed
area Jewish cemetery; Sts. Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Church (19th c.); a memorial to
the Holocaust victims in the “Mała Dolina” (“Little Valley”) wilderness, in the forest by
the road to the village of Vyaz and in the former ghetto area. ¶ Logishin (22 km): Holy
Trinity Orthodox Church; the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul with the painting of Our Lady
of Logishin, Queen of Polesie (1907–1909); a Jewish cemetery with about 100 matzevot;
a memorial at the Orthodox cemetery where Jews were executed.

Pinsk
Pinsk

396
Davyd-Haradok
Pol. Dawidgródek, Bel. Давыд-Гарадок, Each and every individual was unique. […] Simple,
Yid. ‫דויד הורודוק‬ unassuming­– poor but always cheerful –each Horo-
doker had his/her own wit and mannerisms.
Itzhak Nahmanovitch, David-Horodok up to the Second
World War, in: Sefer zikaron David-Horodok (Heb.:
Memorial Book of David-Horodok), Tel Aviv 1957

Town on the Horyn ¶ Davyd- and the Dnieper rivers to Kyiv, as well
Haradok was established in 1100 by as through the Oginski Canal to the
Prince David, grandson of Yaroslav the Neman and further on to the Baltic Sea.
Wise: the name of the prince gave the On January 22, 1796, Davyd-Haradok
name to the town. Due to its location obtained a coat of arms, the design of
on the River Horyn, the town dwell- which reflected those economic activi-
ers engaged in boat-building and river ties of the town and which had a symbol
trade, centered at the local river port. of the river with a golden harbour, gates
Wood, bread, agricultural products, tar, on both sides, and a golden ship reach-

„
and other goods were floated along the ing the river bank with three bales of
Horyn and further down the Pripyat goods.

Trade is quite significant, as this is a place visited by local people who either
sell their products or pass them on to traders to take them to other towns; the
products included ham, dried fish, different kinds of game, mushrooms, dried plums, etc.,
but, most importantly, tall calf-length boots – the pride of Davyd-Haradok’s shoemakers.
All this is transported to Vilnius, Warsaw, and other cities every year. The residents are also
famous for magnificent decorations of woven horse carts. ¶ P.P. Semionov, Zhyvopisnaya
Rossiya (Rus.: Picturesque Russia), 1882.

The Jews of Davyd-Haradok ¶ A 1667 document notes that the kahal

Jews may have settled in Davyd-Haradok of Pinsk collected taxes from various
as early as the 14th–15th century but Jewish communities, including the Jews
the process of Jewish settlement was of Davyd-Haradok. The Khmelnytsky
particularly intense in 1521–1551, Uprising in the mid-17th century left
when the town came under the rule the town residents in a difficult financial
of Bona Sforza, the Polish queen and situation, leading to a conflict between
the Great Duchess of Lithuania. The the Jewish communities of Davyd-Hara-
Jewish community of Davyd-Haradok dok and Pinsk that was resolved through
was subordinated to the kahal in Pinsk. the intervention of the Radziwiłł family, 397
 A view of the Haryn
River and the harbour
in Davyd-Haradok; the
Orthodox Church of the
Ascension is visible in
the background. Photo
by S. Hochmann, repro-
duction from Światowid
magazine, 1936, no. 35

whose patronage made it possible for which resulted in the town residents
an independent kahal to be established being categorised as serfs, did not affect
in Davyd-Haradok. Davyd-Haradok Jews, who were allowed to continue to
was a fairly small trade and craft centre, work as free residents in crafts and trade
but still, in the 17th century its artisans as well as to keep their shops, lumber

„
engaged in 35 occupations. Prince mills, tailor and shoemaking workshops,
Radziwiłł’s administration reform, and a bathhouse.

The bathhouse ¶ I can see before my eyes the long building with red bricks,
the high narrow windows with the small square bracketed panes. In the first
anteroom, a pile of branches lay prepared. […] From there a door led to the “thrashing
bath.” The “thrashing bath” or, as others called it, the “sweat bath,” constituted another
world. […] The thick steam was intermingled with the stench of dirty underwear hang-
ing from sticks inserted in the overlying rafters. Not every heart could endure it. Indeed
this is the reason that such a frail Jew as Boroch the Planter never experienced the zest
of being steamed-out in the Jewish David-Horodoker “sweat-bath.” The only one who felt
better there than at home was Zelig’s son Moishe Mordechai the Fat. The heat was never
enough for him. When he got together with Maier Hershl the Butcher, then things really
were spirited. First Maier Hershl shouted in his husky voice: “Throw on another bucket!”
To pour a bucket of water on the boiling hot stones in the oven required great skill and
Moishe the Fat was an expert. The heat increased with one bucket after another. The steam
could be cut with a knife, as it was thick enough simply to choke a person. At this point
they both climbed up to the highest step and their work began. They raised and lowered
Davyd-Haradok

their branches to clear away the steam on all sides. One thrash and then another, and
a third, a fifth, and a tenth. […] And where did they go after the sweat-bath? To the mikve
[ritual bath]. In the mikve room it was a little quieter. ¶ Berl Neuman, Picture of a Town’s
Sabbath Evening, in: Sefer zikaron David-Horodok (Heb.: Memorial Book of David-Horo-
398 dok), Tel Aviv 1957.
 Davyd-Haradok is located near Pinsk, Wooden buildings
in Davyd-Haradok,
Hasidim – those 18th-century religious 1922–1937, collection
enthusiasts – did not have much influ- of the National Digital
Archives, Poland
ence on the town’s Jewish community.
The Jews of Davyd-Haradok were under Wooden synagogue
the cultural influence of anti-Hasidic in Davyd-Haradok, 1929.
Photo by A. Bochnia,
The full bloom of the Jewish minded Litvaks, and in many houses, collection of the Institute
there was a portrait of Elijah ben Solo- of Art of the Polish
community ¶ The number of Jews Academy of Science
in Davyd-Haradok grew constantly. mon Zalman, known as the Vilna Gaon (PAN)
In 1782, the town had only one syna- (d. 1797), who vehemently opposed the
gogue, but in 1865 it had three, and at Hasidic movement. Having finished
the beginning of the 20th century, it had cheder, young boys continued their edu-
5 shuls located close to one another: cation in Litvak yeshivot. From 1917 on,
the Great Synagogue (also known as the town also had a Hebrew-based and
the Cold Synagogue, Yid.: Kalte shul), pro-Zionist Tarbut school, whose many
established thanks to the efforts of the graduates moved to big cities in order to
glazier Pinchas Nowik; it was used from pursue higher education. ¶ Still, a small
Passover to High Holidays, during late local Hasidic dynasty that was a branch
Spring–early Fall season, and was not of the Kashevka dynasty (from the
used in winter as it was next to impos- village known today as Kashivka in the
sible to heat it. Therefore, it was called Vohlynia, Ukraine) later in the 19th cen-
“cold” – not heated synagogue. There was tury appeared in Davyd-Haradok. The
also a beth midrash (study house) built dynasty was founded by Rabbi Shmuel of
by Zeev Yudovich; a beth midrash of the Kashivka, who was succeeded by his son,
Ginsburg family; and the shul of Stoliner Rabbi Yekhiel Mikhl of Kashivka; but this
Hasidim (the so-called shtibl, derivative line was not very large and was virtually
of the Yiddish for “chamber”), managed unknown in Volhynia. The second son of
by Rabbi Abraham Kolton, known as Shmuel of Kashivka was Rabbi Zeev-
“Malach” (Heb.: angel). ¶ Even though Wolf Ginsburg, who founded a Hasidic 399
 and with his death the Kashivka dynasty
disappeared. ¶ Industrialization of the
late 19th and early 20th centuries radically
transformed the life of Davyd-Haradok.
The town expanded to the left bank of the
Horyn River, where two watermills were
built on the old river bed – the left-bank
part of the town is still called Watermills
[Pol.: Wiatraki]. Workshops were also
opened where pots, jugs, and containers
for vineyards were manufactured out
of metal sheets. The local distillery pro-
duced annually about 450 buckets (5,400
liters) of vodka made of potato, not of
grain and called peysakhovka (suitable
for Passover), as it did not contain leav-
ened bread and was fit for Passover use.
¶ The first owners of passenger and cargo
steamboats settled in town. A relatively
small cargo and passenger steamboat,
the “Leontina,” sailed on the Horyn and
was used to deliver raw material from
Volhynia to the Finkelstein’s tannery.
The former court in Davyd-Haradok in the mid-19th Many residents worked at the local ship-
Jewish school in
Davyd-Haradok, 2014.
century. After Zeev-Wolf, the dynasty yard, established in 1830. Its last private
Photo by Paweł Sańko, was led by David, grandson Israel-Josef owner was a Jew, Moshe Rymar. In 1939,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
(d. 1899) and great-grandson Rabbi after the town was captured by the Soviet
Theatre” Centre (www. Zeev-Wolf (d. 1921). The last representa- army, the shipyard was taken away from
teatrnn.pl) the owner and nationalised.
tive of this dynasty, Moshe-Yehoshua
Yudovich’s Ginsburg, was killed in the Holocaust,
pharmacy in the centre
of Davyd-Haradok,
1930s, collection of Beit The first bookstore was opened in Davyd-Haradok in 1904; its owner was
Hatfutsot, The Museum Shloyme Meyerovich Zagorodski. In 1910, the merchant Shloyme Kozieł
of the Jewish People,
Photo Archive, Tel Aviv, opened a printing house here, with a mechanical rotary printing press.
courtesy of Bela Magala In the interwar period, there were two Jewish libraries in the town. Jew-
ish young people in town were passionate about sport, and the first Jew-
ish sports team, “Kraft” (Yid.: Strength), was established in 1928. Two years
later, another club – the Zionist-oriented Maccabee – was founded.
Davyd-Haradok

World War II and the Holocaust September 1939, and incorporated into
¶ On the eve of the war, about 3,000 the BSSR. Then, on July 7, 1941, it was
Jews lived in Davyd-Haradok. The town occupied by German forces. On August
400 was captured by the Soviet army in 10, 1941, 3,000 Jewish men aged 14 or
older were shot in the Chinovsk-Horki
forest, about four kilometers from the
town. Women, children, and elderly
people were forced to travel on foot
and settle in the overcrowded ghetto
in Stolin. Some people were billeted to
live in the empty residences, some were
taken in by relatives or friends. The oth-
ers were sent back to Davyd-Haradok at
the beginning of 1942, where a ghetto
was established between Yukhnevicha,
Lermontova, and Gorkogo Streets, on
the right bank of the Senezhka River
(a tributary of the Horyn). The number
of prisoners, including the inhabitants
of Olszany (Alshany) and Siemihościcze
(Semigostichi), was 1,200. The ghetto
was liquidated on September 10, 1942.
Its inmates, mainly women and chil-
dren, were shot in the deserted region
of the Chinovsk valley. About 100 Jews
managed to escape, and some of them
joined the partisans. ¶ The Nazis raised
Jewish houses and synagogues and sewed boots (his house has survived The former
Jewish quarter in
paved the road between Davyd-Haradok at 1 Gorkogo St.). Certain Muravchik Davyd-Haradok, 2014.
and Lakhva with material from the had a privately-owned manufacture in Photo by Paweł Sańko,
digital collection of the
destroyed buildings (it was meant to be his house at 1 Yukhnevicha St., today “Grodzka Gate – NN
a retreat route for German troops). a municipal library. The Borukhin Theatre” Centre (www.
family had a mill and sawmill; the teatrnn.pl)

Traces of Jewish presence ¶ In building today is the seat of the Town The former house
Davyd-Haradok, as elsewhere in the Council, at 2 Yaroslavska St. ¶ Neither of shoemaker Ronkin in
Davyd-Haradok, 2014.
private towns of the Polish-Lithuanian the synagogue building nor either of the Photo by Paweł Sańko,
Commonwealth, Jews lived in the local Jewish cemeteries has survived. digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
central part of the town. Their houses The synagogue was destroyed during Theatre” Centre (www.
frequently comprised a residential the war, whereas the graveyards were teatrnn.pl)

part as well as a store, workshop, and washed away by the waters of the Horyn
granary; the doors would open onto during water level rises in spring.
the street. Residents of Davyd-Haradok
remember Jews as industrious people, Present day ¶ Davyd-Haradok has
good professionals who taught many 6,500 residents and is the second largest
Belarusians shoemaking and hairdress- town in the Stolin District – a good start-
ing. In the centre of the town lived a Jew ing point for a cruise of the Pripat River
called Rankin, who tanned hide and or a trip to picturesque Polesie marshes. 401
 Worth Davyd-Haradok History Museum (1908), a former school building, 11Yurchenko St.,
seeing tel. +375165551337. ¶ St. George’s Orthodox Church (1724). ¶ Former Catholic church
(1935–1936), Luchnikovskaya St. ¶ Orthodox Church of Our Lady of Kazan (1913), Savet-
skaya St. ¶ Monument to Prince David (2000), Savetskaya St. ¶ Former headquarters of
the Polish Border Protection Corps (1918–1931), Kalinina St. ¶ Monument to Holocaust
victims in Chinovsk forest wilderness, by Leonid Levin (7 km from the town).

Surrounding Turov (39 km): the place of origin of the Turov Gospel – the oldest Belarusian written text
area (11th c.); the castle mountain with a preserved fragment of the park; All Saints’ Orthodox
Church (1810); Sts. Borys and Gleb cemetery at the site of the first Orthodox monastery
and the burial place of St. Cyril of Turov; Jewish cemetery; wooden buildings; landscape
museums. ¶ Lakhva (93 km): in September 1942, an uprising broke out in the local ghetto;
it was probably the first Jewish uprising during World War II; a Jewish cemetery; a memo-
rial to Holocaust victims; former wooden Jewish houses; the Orthodox Church of the Nativ-
ity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1870). ¶
Lenin (110 km): a Jewish cemetery (16th c.),
the only Jewish cemetery in the world with
preserved wooden matzevot; a monument
at the site of the mass execution of approx.
3,000 Jews. ¶ Kozhan-Gorodok (134 km):
a devastated Jewish cemetery; a memo-
rial to the victims of the 1942 execution;
the Uniate Church of St. Nicholas (1818);
a 500-year-old oak, one of the oldest trees
in Belarus.

The Haryn River, 2014. Davyd-Haradok

Photo by Paweł Sańko,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)
Davyd-Haradok

402
Stolin
Bel. Столін, Yid. ‫סטולין‬ Stolin was a beautiful city and its scenery was rich and
beautiful. Rivers, forests, trees and fields surrounded it.
A city that was vibrant with a proud Jewish life.
Tova Klein–Rabinovitz, Thoughts and Memories, in:
Sefer zikaron Stolin, Tel Aviv 1952, http://www.jewish-
gen.org/yizkor/Stolin/Stolin.html; trans. by Sara Mages

Table at the Horyn River ¶ century, it belonged to the Grand Duchy

Located in the Polesie region 15 km of Lithuania. After the 1793 (Second)
from the Ukrainian border, Stolin Partition of Poland, the Stolin lands were
extends on both banks of the Kopanets incorporated into the Russian Empire.
River all the way to where it flows into ¶ In 1886, Stolin had 121 households
the Horyn River. Various legends explain inhabited by 815 people. They were
the town’s name. According to one, there an Orthodox church, a synagogue and
was once a lake on the site of today’s Jewish prayer houses, a Catholic chapel,
town, in which 100 tenches (lin in Slavic a commune office, an inn, a distillery,
languages) – a type of fish – were once an agricultural school, a tea-importing
caught (“100” – sto and “tench” – lin company, a post-office station, and 20
in Polish). Another legend says that 12 stores. Local people dealt with agricul-
brothers who ruled over seven towns ture, livestock breeding, farming, fish-
on the Horyn used to meet at a table ing, and wood-cutting and freighting.
that stood where the town now lies (in According to the 1897 census, the town
Russian, стол – stol – means “table”). had grown to include 250 households
¶ Although archaeologists believe the and 3,300 people.
town origins can be traced back to
medieval period, the first written men- The Jews of Stolin ¶ It is not known
tion of Stolin dates to 1555 and can be when exactly the first Jews settled in Sto-
found in the Inventory of the Pinsk and lin. In 1765, the local Jewish community
Kletsk Principalities. In the 12th or 13th numbered 408 people. The first stone

„
centuries, Stolin was part of the Turov- synagogue was built in 1792.
Pinsk Principality. From the mid-16th

We will remember you, our quiet town, your streets and the row of shops that
stood in your centre in the market square; your synagogues’ yards (the shulhoyf)
next to the Rebbe’s “court;” the magnificent buildings of the Tarbut School and the orphan-
age; the Zionist library and the charitable institutions […]. We will remember, with trem-
bling, your Jews: Hasidim, Mitnagdim and Maskilim. ¶ Aryeh Avatichi, Yizkor Memories, 403
A meeting of school
students from the
Tarbut schools in Stolin
and Davyd-Horodok,
1928, collection of Beit
Hatfutsot, The Museum
of the Jewish People,
Photo Archive, Tel Aviv,
courtesy of Yehuda
Schifman

in: Sefer zikaron Stolin, Tel Aviv 1952, http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/Stolin/Stolin.

html; trans. by Laia Ben-Dov, ed. by Irit Dolgin.

The synagogue building com- Opposite the synagogue a former yes-

plex ¶ The white stone synagogue hivah building still stands – a white and
established between 1792 and 1793 pink building with a balcony and a slop-
is the oldest preserved stone building ing roof. In the past, it was equipped
in the Stolin region. It is also the only with a special mechanism that lifted the
18th-century synagogue built in the late two sloping parts and opened the roof,
Baroque style with elements of Neoclas- so that it could be used as a sukkah dur-
sicism that has survived in Belarus to ing the Sukkoth holiday (that requires
the present day. Starting from the end of a temporary – and natural – roofing).
the 18th century, a departure from the Some sources claim that the last rabbi of
traditional central plan can be observed Stolin, Moshe Perlow (1892–1942), lived
in the architectural style of Belarusian in this building.
synagogues. The Stolin synagogue does
not have a traditional bimah with pillars Stoliner Hasidim ¶ In the 19th
supporting the vault. Built on a rectan- century, Stolin was an important centre
gular plan, it stands out with its unusual of the Hasidic movement. The Stolin
two-storey façade with cut corners and dynasty was founded by Rebbe Asher
a small triangular pediment. Similar Perlow (1765–1826), son of the famous
architectural features can be found in Rabbi Aaron Perlow of Karlin (Aaron
palace buildings of that time. Inside, the Great, 1736–1772), a disciple of the
there are partially preserved frescoes. Maggid of Mezeritch and the author
Adjacent to the synagogue, there were of Sefer Beit Aaron (Heb.: The Book of
Stolin

three or four batei midrash (study Aaron’s House) with a commentary on

404 and prayer houses), used in winter. ¶ the Torah. Asher Perlow moved the
dynasty from Karlin (now Karolin dis-
trict in Pinsk) to Stolin. Rabbi Aaron II,
known as “the man of Mlynov” or “the

„
holy grandfather,” spent his entire life in
Stolin. This is what he said about prayer:

One should stand up to pray

only in a joyful frame of mind.
“Whenever a prayer is uttered something
is born… And when is something born?…
When the prayer is uttered joyfully. But
prayer uttered (Heaven forbid!) in sadness
bears no fruit. […] Not only when praying
should a man be happy, but whatever he
does should be done joyfully, for, by joyful-
ness he will be able to remove himself from
everything evil and to bring himself closer
to the good. One must beware of sadness
and melancholy, as of all the other sins and
vices.” ¶ Pinsk: sefer edut ve-zikaron le-
kehilat Pinsk-Karlin (Heb.: Pinsk. Book of
Memoirs and Remembrance of the Pinsk-Karlin Community), ed. by W.Z. Rabinovitch, Former synagogue
in Stolin (1792–1793),
Tel Aviv 1966–1977, trans. by E. Stepak. 2014. Photo by Paweł
Sańko, collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Musical tradition ¶ The Stoliner Hasidim in 1958 is kept at the YIVO Theatre” Centre (www.
Hasidim were famous for their out- archives in New York. ¶ Stolin musi- teatrnn.pl)
standing musical skills. Aaron Perlow’s cians (klezmorim) masterfully per- Former tzadik’s
Sabbath Hymn was included in many formed Eastern European folk melodies. court in Stolin, Moshe
Their charming music resounded not Perlow’s yeshiva since
Hasidic (and not only Hasidic) prayer 1922, 2014. Photo by
books, and about 20 different melodies only throughout the town but all over Paweł Sańko, digital col-

„
were composed for it. A recording of Belarus, much to the delight of both the lection of the “Grodzka
Gate – NN Theatre”
the hymn performed by the Stoliner Jewish and non-Jewish populations. Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)

Every Jewish shtetl […] had its own klezmorim and other entertainers who
would play for all the Jewish weddings. They would play at the wedding feast for
the father and mother, grandfather and grandmother, guests and relatives from both sides,
and especially for the bride and the groom – a bride and groom taking the first precarious
steps in their unclear life… The music stirred the public, and especially the young couple,
who were moved to reflect on the tenor of the past and their long life ahead. The townspeo-
ple believed in an old saying: “As the klezmorim played, so it went in life.” ¶ Yale Strom,
The Book of Klezmer: The History, the Music, the Folklore, Chicago 2002

405
 Asher Wainshteyn (1890–1983), a Sto-
liner Hasid and a musician in a local
klezmer band that toured the region
in 1906–1919, brought Klezmer tradi-
tions from Stolin to the United States.
He settled in the USA after World War
II and continued the musical tradition
of his town, which he passed on to the
American klezmer musician, violinist,
and director Yale Strom, along with
a manuscript of Stolin melodies. The
manuscript contains nearly 100 tunes
played by Stolin klezmer musicians
before World War I, a time when
different cultures and religions existed
side by side. In addition to original
Jewish melodies, the manuscript
included the Ukrainian hopak, the
Polish mazurek, polka, and skoczna
(a fast folk dance with hopping);
Russian padespan (a ballet dance
Former Jewish danced in pairs), Tchaikovsky’s waltz Op. 51 No. 6, and more.
houses in Stolin, 2014.
Photo by Tamara Vershit-
skaya, digital collection The tsaddikim of Karlin-Stolin Hasidic (Hasidic melodies) created during those
of the “Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” Centre
dynasty shared a love of music as well. celebrations often became popular.
(www.teatrnn.pl) Rabbi Aaron the Great performed songs Rabbi Aaron encouraged others to intro-
Gravestone of
of his own making. His Shabbat evening duce instrumental music into traditional
Mordekhai Lekhovicher prayers sent the faithful into spiritual ritual prayer, organising two orchestras
at the Jewish cemetery for Motzei Sabbath (Saturday evening),
in Stolin, 2014. Photo
ecstasy: the Hasidim danced and sang
by Tamara Vershitskaya, until early morning hours, often leaving hanukah, Purim, and intermediary days

„
digital collection of the the houses of prayer and celebrating in of Sukkot, when playing instruments is
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www. the streets. The Karlin-Stolin nigunim not prohibited.
teatrnn.pl)

During such visits at the tsadik’s court, a Hasid would forget about his bitter, sad,
and woeful everyday life and find a haven for his tired body and weary soul.
Released briefly from his worries through a general joy, he would rise to a state of self-obliv-
ion. ¶ Yale Strom, The Book of Klezmer: The History, the Music, the Folklore, Chicago 2002.

The great tsadik of Stolin, Rabbi Israel Jacob of Telekhany and Josel Talner.
Perlow was also a music-lover and Rabbi Perlow’s children were musically
received at his court eminent compos- talented, too. Three of his sons played
Stolin

ers, who wrote new nigunim for Jewish in a band that performed on the eve of
406 liturgy. The most famous of them were Simkhat Torah.
„ A Matzo Bakery for the Needy ¶ The baking of Matzo for Pesach/
Passover in Stolin started immediately after Purim. Balebatim [Yid.: homeown-
ers], especially the “wealthier” ones, were the first to bake matzos in the bakery, while the
poorer folk, the paupers and the needy, had to wait until the final week before Pesach, for
they did not have the necessary funds to purchase flour and to pay the bakery dues. […]
¶ The Rav, however, and the activists in town, saw to it that no poor person would be left
without Matzo […] ¶ Then, in 1904, the Zionists of Stolin decided to deal with this vital
issue in a way that would help the multitudes. They went and rented a separate Matzo
bakery, solely for the purpose of providing free Matzo for the needy. They called it “The
Zionist Matzo Bakery.” ¶ To finance this project they held a fundraiser among their friends
and people of the town; the tens of rubles that came in were enough to pay for the rent, the
tools and the baker’s salary. Wood for the oven was collected from the townsfolk, and the
daughters of the town volunteered to knead and roll out the dough. Other men volunteered
to bring water and run the bakery etc. ¶ The men behind this bakery idea and those who
ran it included: Shlomo Roseman, Alter Muchnick, Yehuda Leib Hoberman, Yitzchak
Blahousky, Leibel the Chazzan and others. […]. At the end of the Matzo-baking season the
Zionists gave the profits to Rabbi Fialkov to distribute to the needy. ¶ Yankel Rabinovitz,
A Matzo Bakery for the Needy, in: Sefer zikaron Stolin (Stolin; A Memorial to the Jewish
Communities of Stolin and Vicinity), Tel Aviv 1952, http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/
Stolin/Stolin.html; trans. by Aaron Housman.

Economic development ¶ The processed 900 kg of grain a day; Berko

Jewish community of Stolin grew rapidly Frankel’s mill at 1 Market Square – 3,000
toward the end of the 19th century. kg of grain a day; and Sokhar Shklaver’s
According to the 1897 census, the town mill at 8 Wygonna St. – 2,000 kg of grain
had a population of 3,342, including a day. Jewish merchants Durchyn, Fur-
2,489 Jews (74.4 percent). The economic man, and Israel Zarakhovich traded in
growth of the region was fostered by the timber and salt, also acting as creditors
construction of a railway line between in Prince Radziwiłł’s business affairs.
Luninets and Rivne, which connected Stolin had 50 stores (e.g. Liberman’s
the south and the north of the country. and Bashkin’s groceries, Kontarovich’s
Stolin benefited also from its location haberdashery, Fialkov’s household store,
near the Radziwiłł family estate in the Motorin’s office supplies), as well as bars
nearby village of Mankoviche (now and restaurants (the most popular ones
part of the town). A wonderful land- were run by Goński, Tukin, Winnik,
scape park at the estate has survived to Wysocki, Rogozinski, and Kosmowicz).
this day, but the palace was destroyed There were hotels, owned by Gleiber-
in 1943. ¶ Initially, there were no big man, Rodkievich, and Hoberman; and
industrial establishments in Stolin. also Samson Motorin’s printing house,
Goldberg’s bakery was opened in 1899 Kogan’s sparkling water plant, and
and Kolodny’s sawmill in 1911. During Ruchocki’s cinema. ¶ All market fairs
the interwar period, a few mills operated were held in Rynkowy (Market) Square
in the town: in 1929, Gleiberman’s mill (now Kamsamolskaya St.). Its central 407
A Hasidic rebbe from
Stolin with his followers,
on his way to attend his
son’s wedding, Stolin,
photograph published
on 3 June 1923 in Jewish
Daily Forward, collection
of the YIVO Institute for
Jewish Research

part was filled with peddlers and sellers Jewish communities were disbanded and
of agricultural produce, who displayed their property nationalised. The ensuing
their products on carts, while rows of arrests and repressions affected religious
stalls were located around the market. leaders, communal activists, members
On non-fair days, Jews travelled to of Zionist organisations, and the Bund.
neighbouring villages and settlements to Many Jewish refugees from western and
sell their goods. ¶ Soviet rule was estab- central Poland arrived in Stolin. On July
lished in Stolin in November 1917, and 12, 1941, the Nazi Germans entered the
then from February 1918, until Decem- town. They established a ghetto in the
ber, 1919, the town was occupied by early spring of 1942 and confined all
the Germans. The Treaty of Riga (1921) the Jews there (including Jewish women
returned this territory to Poland, and on and children from the Stolin region).
December 6, 1925, Stolin County (Pol. The ghetto was bounded by Poleska
powiat) was established in the Polesie St. (from the riverside), Kosciuszko St.
Voivodeship (Region). ¶ In the interwar (now Savetskaya St.), Rynkowy Square
period, the town had a kindergarten, (now Kamsamolskaya St.), Unii Lubel-
a cheder, a Tarbut school, a Talmud skiej St., and the river (in the west), with
Torah, and a Yavneh religious school. In Naberezhnaya St. running through its
1925, the Jewish community adminis- centre. The ghetto in Stolin was liqui-
tered a synagogue, a mikveh, a cemetery, dated on September 11, 1942, on the eve
and three houses of prayer. The chair- of the Jewish new year (Rosh hashanah),
man of the community board until 1939 when about 7,000 Jews, were executed.
was Asher Fialkov. During the entire occupation period,
the Germans and their collaborators
World War II and the Holocaust killed a total of 12,500 people, including
Stolin

¶ With the establishment of Soviet rule approx. 8,500 Jews, in the Stasino forest.
408 in the territory of West Belarus in 1939, ¶ The Germans spared a few doctors
from the local hospital, as they needed Rabbi Osher Fialkov and
his shammes walking
extra medical assistance; among these across the market
doctors there were Dr. Roter – hospital square to collect alms
for the poor before the
ward head (who later helped partisans feast of Pesach, Stolin,
in the forest), Dr. Henryk Rid with his 1929, collection of the
YIVO Institute for Jewish
wife Ewa and 3-year-old son Sasha, Research
Dr. Poznański with his wife Henia, and
a vet named Akharonger with his wife.
Helped by a Stolin priest Fr. Franciszek
Smorcewicki, a forester named Kijowski,
and two Baptists, Stefan Wasilewicz and
Agafia Mozol, who hid these strangers
for several months, the doctors spared In 1979, Smorcewicki, Wasilewicz, and

„
by the Nazis managed to escape and Mozol were awarded the title of “Right-
make it to the partisan underground. eous Gentiles.”

Here is the text of a farewell letter written by Stolin ghetto prisoner Shlomo
Bieloguski and given to his son in 1945: ¶ My dear Libele, Mojshale and
Gershale! Yesterday I sent you two greetings in Abrasha’s letters, which he handed over
to trustworthy people. I hope that you will receive them if you survive, with God’s help.
And now, my dears, I must say goodbye to you for the last time. I wish you all the best in
life. Let good Fate shine on you more brightly than it did on me and all the Jews of Stolin.
No human pen can describe our pain and what we have experienced, or everything that
happens to those who expect death at any minute. But that is our Fate and it cannot be
changed, my dear and dearest. You must live together. I appeal to you, Libele, and I ask you
to do everything in your power to stay with the children until they grow up and can take
care of themselves. Mojshale, I oblige you to replace me in the family. Live in peace with
Mashele, Gershale, and your mother. And if you ever have a chance, try to get to Bezalel
and to Fana in Israel. […] ¶ Mashele, be a devoted daughter. I believe and hope that you
will always live in harmony with your mother and listen to her advice. Know that there
are not many such mothers as yours. […] Finally, I turn to you, Gershale, my son, who has
always been dedicated to everyone, body and soul. Remain so in the future. I kiss all of you
from afar on the last day of my life. Be happy and live well. ¶ Your Shlomo. Thursday, three
o’clock at night, 10.09.1942

Remembrance and revival ¶ In World War II, people from remote parts
1960, a monument was erected at the of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia came to
site of the mass grave in Stasino, but settle in Stolin, which suffered a major
some years later it was taken down. In population decrease. There were Jews
October 1993, a new monument was among those resettled, but it was not
established. It has the form of an open until 1999 that it became possible for
book with writing in Hebrew on one a Jewish community to be officially reg-
page and in Russian on the other. ¶ After istered here. The Stolin Jewish Cultural 409
 and Educational Association “MOST” “Yakhad” were also established.
and the Progressive Judaism community

Worth Synagogue ruins, Telmana St. ¶ Former yeshiva building, Pinskaya St. ¶ Grave of Rabbi
seeing Mordekhai Lekhovicher at the site of the destroyed Jewish cemetery, 63 Garynskaya St. ¶
Krupnik’s house, formerly housing Aizenberg’s liquor and metal store, Goński’s canteen,
and Motorin’s office supplies store; 1 Pinskaya St. ¶ County Office building (1st half of
the 20th c.), 4 Lenina St. ¶ Market stalls (19th c.–1st half of the 20th c.), Kamsamolskaya
Ploshchad (Sq.) ¶ Distillery building (turn of the 20th c.), 2 Tereshkovoi St. ¶ Stables (turn
of the 20th c.), 22 Tereshkovoi St. ¶ Tuchman’s manufactory, currently “Slovianski” Bar, 6
Kamsamolskaya Ploshchad (Sq.). ¶ Fikangor’s manufactory, currently the Food Coopera-
tive, 5 Kamsamolskaya Ploshchad (Sq.). ¶ Chernik’s pharmacy, currently Paritetbank, 9
Kamsamolskaya Ploshchad (Sq.). ¶ Motorin’s printing house building, 55 Savetskaya St.
¶ Memorial to the murdered Jews of Stolin, Stasino forest. ¶ Orthodox Church of the
Ascension (1939), wooden architecture, 64 Garynskaya St. ¶ Mankovichi Park in the estate
the Radziwiłł princely family. ¶ Stolin Museum of Local History, in the Mankovichi Land-
scape Park, tel. +375165562396.

Surrounding Luninets (49 km): the memorial house of Jakub Kolas, one of the founders of the Bielorus-
area sian literature; the former printing house of the Aizenbergs; former Jewish houses in
Gagarina St.; the monument at the mass grave in the woods of Magula and Borovschina;
Church of St. Joseph (1931); the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (1912–1921). ¶
“Rafting on the Pripyat River,” a 45-kilometre water trail. ¶ “Into the boggy labyrinths”
trail (a 26-km hiking trail through the Olmany Swamps Nature Reserve).

STOLIN
Stolin

410
Motal
Pol. Motol, Bel. Моталь, [We] had our own house – one storey, with seven rooms and a kitchen
Yid. ‫מאָטעלע‬ – some acres of land, chickens, two cows, a vegetable garden, a few
fruit trees. So we had a supply of milk, and sometimes butter; we
had fruit and vegetables in season; we had enough bread – which my
mother baked herself; we had fish, and we had meat once a week – on
the Sabbath. And there was always plenty of fresh air.
Chaim Weizmann, Trial and Error. The Autobiography,
Philadelphia 1949

Hebrew greeting ¶ Motal, the into the Slonim Province, then into the
birthplace and childhood home of Lithuania Governorate, and from 1801, it
Chaim Weizmann, the first president was made part of the Grodno Province of
of Israel, is probably the only town in the Russian Empire.
Belarus that has a sign with its name in
Hebrew posted by the road leading out of The Jews of Motal ¶ In 1562,
town. ¶ The earliest written mention of “a Jewish landlord and tax collector from
Motal is found in the documents of the Kobryn Favish Yeskovich,” who leased
Lithuanian Metrica from 1422, where the right to collect taxes on merchandise,
it was referred to as a private estate in complained to Savostian Druzhylovitski
the Principality of Pinsk. In 1520, it was that the ruler of the district did not allow
the property of Prince Fyodor Ivanovich him to collect taxes in his town of Motal
Yaroslavich, who later donated it to the and in the neighbouring villages. This
Orthodox Church of the Assumption of document suggests that Jews collecting
the Blessed Virgin Mary in Leszno. After taxes – the wealthiest, best-connected
Yaroslavich’ death, Motal became the and most respectable Jews in the eyes of
possession of the Polish King Sigismund the Polish nobility – were known to the
I the Old, who then transferred it to his inhabitants of Motal, but it is not certain
wife Bona Sforza. In 1555, Motal was whether they were permanent residents
granted Magdeburg rights and became there. The presence of a Jewish commu-
a craft and trade centre. Its large fairs nity in the town is attested to in the 17th
attracted people from all the surround- century. The Pinsk cadaster includes two
ing area. ¶ In 1706, the Swedish troops documents dated August 13, 1652. In
entered Motal, burning it down and kill- one of them, an Orthodox priest, Nikolai
ing most of its inhabitants. On November Baranovich, complained about two Jews
28, 1746, King Augustus III of Poland from Motal, Leiba Girshevich and his
confirmed the privileges for the town. son-in-law, who assaulted him during
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Motal a dispute that took place on Sunday,
had the status of a county town in Brest when the Jews were engaged in build-
Palatinate. In 1795, it was incorporated ing a house in the town. ¶ According to 411
A portrait of cantor the 1806 census, there were 152 Jews in
Reznin, Chaim Weiz-
mann’s teacher, 1920s.
Motal (64 men and 88 women); by 1811,
Photo by Weintraub, the Jewish community had grown to 222
collection of the YIVO
Institute for Jewish
members. According to the 1897 census,
Research Motal had a total population of 4,297,

„
including 1,354 Jews. In 1921, the Jewish
population totalled 1,140 (26 percent).

According to Chaim Weizmann’s

memoirs, Motal lay in one of
the darkest and most forgotten corners of
the Jewish settlement zone that the tsarist
authorities had designated, but still for
people from the villages situated on the
farther shores of the lake, it was a metropo-
lis. This metropolis – muddy in spring and
autumn, frozen in winter, and dusty in
summer – had no post office, railway, or
paved roads, and the living conditions there
were so primitive that modern Westerners
would find them impossible to imagine. The Weizmanns, however, prospered quite well.
Chaim’s father was a resourceful lumber trader; his uncle floated lumber down the river
to Gdańsk and took Chaim on his raft, which had quite a comfortable hut with a kitchen
and a bed. Because of the water routes that ran all the way to the Baltic and the Black Sea,
neither Chaim nor his family had the feeling that the world was closed. ¶ Małgorzata Sze-
jnert, Usypać góry. Historie z Polesia (Pol.: To Heap Up Mountains. Stories from Polesie),
Cracow 2015.

Two clans ¶ There were two influen- The feud between the two clans lasted
tial feuding Jewish clans in Motal: the for centuries and entered memoirs and
Czemeryński (Chemerinsky) family and belles lettres written about Motal. ¶
the Piński (Pinsky) family. The former The Czemeryńskis, who had settled in
were members of the municipal board, Motal around the second half of the 18th
while the latter served on the religious century, left an indelible mark on the his-
community board. In February 1883, tory of Motal Jews, with many important
the Czemeryńskis filed a complaint with people descending from this family: the
the Grodno Governor against Abram kahal chairman (Lejzer Czemeryński),
Piński, who had allegedly come drunk to rabbis (Wewel Arielovich), the syna-
the synagogue, asking to replace Piński gogue warden (Israel Czemeryński and
with Rabbi Shmul Rubinstein. Piński Ezer Weizmann), communal treasur-
denied the accusations and claimed that ers (Avigdor Czemeryński), butchers,
Motal

he had urged fellow believers to pray and innkeepers and the writer Haim
412 for the Great Emperor and his family. Chemerinsky (1861–1917), the author
of the influential Hebrew book My Shtetl
Motale. Not to mention Chaim Weiz-
mann himself.

Chaim Weizmann (1874–1952),

the first President of Israel, came
from the Czemeryński family on his
mother’s side. His father, Ezer Weiz-
mann (1850–1939), arrived in Motal
to study and it was there that he met
Rachela, daughter of the Motal land leaseholder Michel Czemeryński. They Former house of
Chaim Weizmann in
married in 1866. Chaim was the third of Ezer Weizmann and Rachela’s 15 chil- Motal, 2014. Photo by
dren. He spent his childhood in Motal and at the age of 11 was sent to school Margarita Korzeniewska,
digital collection of the
to Pińsk, where the rest of his family also moved in 1892. Weizmann’s house in “Grodzka Gate – NN
Motal is partially preserved and currently (after being relocated) stands at 1 Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)
Bannyi Zavulok. In 2010, the Pińsk Jewish community together with the Museum
of Belarusian Polesie, organised a temporary exhibition at Weizmann’s house.

Synagogue ¶ On Motal marketplace, a shingled roof, built in the characteris-

a synagogue and an Orthodox church tic synagogal style of the Grand Duchy of
stood opposite each other. Located Lithuania. It was completely destroyed

„
in the corner of the marketplace. The by fire during World War II, but legends
synagogue was a wooden structure with about it have been preserved.

In the town of Motele there is a synagogue about which tales of wonder are told.
I have heard them myself from an old man who lived there. Listen now to what
they say about that synagogue: ¶ There was once a rabbi in the town who was a great
genius and a saintly man, a tsadek, may his memory be blessed. Even the Gentiles greatly
respected him. ¶ One day it happened that the lord of nearby castle got sick (God keep us
from the same) and the doctors despaired of his life. The nobleman decided to send a serv-
ant to the holy man to ask him for a blessing. As it happened, the nobleman was actually
a great anti-Semite but, because he was in such trouble, the rabbi was willing to give him
a blessing. ¶ And the nobleman did indeed recover. Since the town of Motele did not have
a synagogue, the lord had the idea of donating lumber to the Jewish community so it could
build one. He gave the Jews twelve of the largest trees in his woods, and from those twelve
trees they built a synagogue so large that today it holds a congregation of two hundred. ¶
A considerable time has passed since its construction, but the synagogue still looks practi-
cally new. And to this day, when a misfortune (God forbid) happens in the town – when
someone is sick for instance, or a disaster threatens the community, people gather to pray
at the grave of the holy rabbi, may his memory be blessed. ¶ B. Silverman Weinreich, “The
Old Shul in Motele,” in: Yiddish Folktales, New York 1988.

Heder ¶ In 1895, a heder was located on Pińska Street in the house of Judel Portny. 413
 „ Next I was taken to Motele,
which was already quite a dis-
tance. My mother arranged an apartment
for sleeping and eating and a Rebbe and
Cheder. She then kissed me, said to me “Be
well my child”, and went home. I stood
there heartbroken – I couldn’t hold myself
back. I went to a corner and cried bitterly.
[…] The next day, I went to Cheder and did
my best for a few days. I didn’t have another
choice – I was too far from home. Then
came Thursday. I waited for my mother to
come see me but she didn’t come. My heart
filled with sadness. […] ¶ The next day, Fri-
day, I took the black bread with jelly. I took
these sandwiches and went on pretending
nothing had happened. Later, the Rebbe sat
down next to me and said to me, “You are
learning so well, you have a good head. If
you learn well, the angels will throw money
at you.” On Monday, this happened. The
A scale model angels threw money at me. The Rebbe sneaked to the back and suddenly, kopecks were
of Motal at the local
Museum of Folk Art
falling. This went on for a few days until suddenly one day a boy screamed out, “Rebbe,
in Lenina Square, throw me also a kopeck.” I pretended like I didn’t know what was going on, and waited for
2014. Photo by Tamara
Vershitskaya, digital col-
my mother to come on Thursday. My mother came to Cheder and hugged and kissed me.
lection of the “Grodzka The Rebbe said to my mother, “Your son has a precious head, the angels are throwing him
Gate – NN Theatre”
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)
money.” I shouted, “Rebbe, you are a liar.” Despite the great embarrassment and trouble
I caused my mother, she laughed. From then on, I didn’t believe him. I understood that it
Museum in Lenina was a made-up thing, that when she hired the Rebbe, she gave him a few kopecks to throw.
Square in Motal, 2014.
Photo by Paweł Sańko, In the old country, no one threw money, neither the Rebbes nor the angels, because they all
digital collection of the were poor. ¶ From Motal to Chicago. An Autobiography by David Chez, 1902–1976, trans-
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www. lated from Yiddish by Rutie Gold, http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/motol/memories.htm
teatrnn.pl)

Leonard Chess (1917–1969) – the founder, along with his brother Phil, of
the record company Chess Records, which played a crucial role in popu-
larising blues and rock ’n’ roll music in the USA after World War II. Born in
Motal, he immigrated to Chicago together with his family. There he co-owned
several nightclubs with his brother. The first step toward his overwhelming
business success was purchasing the shares of Aristocrat Records. The com-
pany was then renamed Chess Records and produced albums by such stars
as Chuck Berry (ranked the fifth greatest performer of all time by the Rolling
Motal

Stone magazine), blues man Muddy Waters, and The Flamingos (an Ameri-
414 can male vocal group included in the rock ’n’ roll Hall of Fame), whose hits
were at the top of the charts. Leonard Chess was the heart and soul of his
company; when he died, the status of Chess Records gradually declined.

Economic life ¶ Commercial tradi- one of the most profitable local business
tions in Motal date back to the mid-16th activities, as evidenced by the presence
century. Big fairs were held there eight of three distilleries and two breweries
times a year, during important Catholic in town, as well as countless taverns
and Orthodox holidays, when Gentile and bars. Takeaway sale of alcohol was
merchants were coming to Motal on permitted only with a licence, which was
a pilgrimage to local churches and Jews, more often granted to Polish residents,
a dominant force on the marketplace, not to the Jews. Jews leased their licenses
could trade with them; smaller trading from Poles, which allowed them to open
fairs took place every week and attracted their own stores. There were occasional
tradesmen from the whole neighbour- incidents that tainted the reputation of
ing area. The biggest fair was held on the respectable shopkeepers, e.g. on July
festival of Corpus Christi, in May or June. 1, 1928, Chana Szac’s liquor store was
The Memorial Book of Motal describes closed after a police search had revealed
street peddlers who bought various items counterfeit vodka sold there. ¶ In the
at fairs and then sold them to the resi- 1920s, Motal had a cooperative mill, six
dents of nearby towns and villages. Street slaughterhouses (four of them belonging
peddlers were no real competition for to Jews), and a tannery. These pre-war
stationary stores because they charged business traditions were revived in the
more for their goods. ¶ Small industry 1980s, when Motal enjoyed rampant
started to develop in Motal at the end of economic development as a thriving
the 19th century with the establishment center of the fur coat industry. Sausages
of two candle workshops, three smith- made in Motal are still wellknown
ies, a fullery, and a horse-driven mill. In throughout Belarus. ¶ Jews in Motal
1914, the fullery and steam butter factory also worked as medical doctors serving
were owned by Josel Pomerants, while all the townspeople, Jews and Gentiles.
the local tannery belonged to Aaron- The mid-19th century saw the opening
Berek Gotlib. ¶ In the interwar period, of a shelter with three beds located in
Polish authorities did not segregate a room next to the public baths. In 1913,
Jewish communal life thus Motal became all of its staff (a doctor, a dentist, and
the centre of an independent community a midwife) were Jewish. Later on, medi-
with its own administration, police, and cal treatment was provided by a feldsher,
a fairly large fire brigade. The majority of or emergency paramedical practitioner,
residents were Orthodox Christians (74 named Schaudier at his surgery, and in
percent) and Jews (26 percent). In the the 1930s, by physician Szyja Feldman. In
1920s and 1930s, the town’s life centred 1922, there was also a private pharmacy
around the marketplace, with its 85 and two pharmaceutical storehouses
stores offering a wide variety of goods – owned by Jews.
meat, snuff, alcohol, utensils, furniture,
shoes, etc. ¶ Alcohol production was 415
Jewish cemetery in
Motal, 2014. Photo by
Tamara Vershitskaya,
digital collection of the
„ On Rosh ha-shanah it was
the same as on Shabbat. The
whole family (but not the girls) went to the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
shul. We girls just went there to listen to
teatrnn.pl) the sounding of the shofar. […] After the
Kiddush and the Hamotze [blessings on
wine and bread – eds.], it was customary
to dip a piece of challah in honey and make
a blessing for a sweet and good year. […]
On the first day of Rosh ha-shanah […],
young and old went to the lake and emptied
out their pockets, ridding themselves of
their sins, chanting some psalms and the last three verses of chapter seven of the Book of
Micah where it reads: “[…] and they will cast all of their sins into the depths of the seas.”
Hence, the ceremony is called Tashlich (symbolic “sending” of the personal sins into the
waters – depth of the seas). ¶ Sukkot. We had a permanent, built-in [Sukkah – temporary
dwelling with a roofing made of green tree-branches or woodsticks]. We kept our library
there during the rest of year. It was a large room. The wooden roof was built so when pulled
with a rope it opened and exposed the sky. […] We decorated it. We had all meals there for
7 days, no matter how cold it was. We had our own etrog [citron fruit – one of the four
species used on Sukkot for ritual purposes – eds.] and lulav [closed frond of the date palm
tree] and took pride in their beauty. ¶ Passover. Because there were no matzoh factories,
the matzoh had to be baked at home, mostly in our house as we had a large kitchen, dining
room and good oven. […] Several families made use of the facilities, and they pitched in
because the baking had to be done in haste. The work was divided, a person for each of
the following tasks: to measure the flour, pour the water, knead, divide the dough, roll the
dough into round cakes, to smooth the cakes with a little cog wheel to prevent its rising
in the oven, to keep the oven hot, to shove the cakes in the oven and a carrier to put the
baked matzot onto a white sheet. ¶ Sarah Heller, Celebrations of Jewish Holidays in Motele,
contributed by her daughter Tauby Shimkin, http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/motol/
celebrations.htm (edited).

World War II and the Holo- (500 metres from Motal). Over just a few
caust ¶ In September 1939, Motal was days, the Jewish community of Motal
captured by the Red Army. After the (almost 3,000 people) ceased to exist.
Germans took over the town on June 26, Only 23 people survived.
1941, SS men carried out the extermina-
tion of the Jewish population (August Memory ¶ In 2004, on the initia-
2–3, 1941). Adult men were marched tive of a descendant of Motal Jews who
towards the village of Osovnitsa (2 km immigrated to the USA, the old Jewish
west of Motal), while women, children, cemetery was cleared up and fenced.
Motal

and elderly people were taken to the A few matzevot have survived to this day
416 woods of Gaj near the village of Kalily at this cemetery, as old as Motal’s Jewish
community. The new Jewish cemetery, books, a tray, a sauce boat, a jewelry box,
set up in the 19th century, was completely mortars and pestle, a shoemaker’s tool-
devastated during the Soviet era and is box, a laundry wringer, and ink writing
now overgrown with a forest. ¶ In 2010, utensils. It also displayed a painting by
an exhibition was organised at Chaim Arkadiy Shusterman (painted in plein-air
Weizmann’s old house in cooperation to commemorate the 65th anniversary of
with the Pinsk Jewish community and the the Holocaust in Belarus), which depicts
staff of the Belarusian Museum. The exhi- the oldest Jew born in Pinsk – Chaim
bition featured pre-war everyday house- Krasilski – wearing religious attire and
hold objects that had never been shown donning a tallit (a prayer shawl), a kippah
before, such as candlesticks, prayer (yermolka), and tefillin (phylacteries).

Former house of Chaim Weizmann, the first President of Israel (partially preserved), Worth
Bannyi Zavulok. ¶ Jewish cemetery (17th c.). ¶ Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration seeing
(1888). ¶ Sts. Boris and Gleb Chapel (1986). ¶ Motal Museum of Folk Art, Lenina Sq., tel.
+375165258753.

Ivanava (20 km): the site of the martyrdom of St. Andrew Bobola (1657); the Church of the Surrounding
Exaltation of the Holy Cross (1848); the Orthodox Church of the Protection of Our Lady area
(1901); former Jewish brick houses (early 20th c.); a monument at the execution site on
Inkubatornaya St.; a monument in the Rudzki Forest at the site of mass executions of Jews
from Motal and Ivanava. ¶ Khomsk (29 km): memorials at the site of mass executions and at
the old Jewish cemetery. ¶ Telechany (45 km): a former wooden house of prayer (currently
a residential building); wooden houses; a manor house (19th/20th c.); the Orthodox Church
of the Holy Trinity (1934); the Ogiński Canal; a Jewish cemetery with a few matzevot;
a monument on the mass grave in the Grechishche forest wilderness. ¶ Drohiczyn (50 km):
a former Jewish hotel, whose guests included Golda Meir (1912); a cheder; a pharmacist’s
house; a smithy; two monuments on execution sites; the Orthodox Church of the Epiphany
(19th c.); Eliza Orzeszkowa lived in nearby Ludwinów (between 1858 and 1864).

Motal

417
 Kobryn
Pol. Kobryń, Bel. Кобрын, Yid. ‫קאָברין‬ At first glance, Kobryn seems to be a beautiful and
elegant town because it is all interspersed with
orchards and partly surrounded by a canal and by
the Mukhavets River…
Translated from: P.M. Szpilewski, A Journey
Through Polesie and the Land of Belorussia, 1858

Origins ¶ Kobryn first emerged on an come from the Germanic lands and
island, where the Kobrynka River flows thus were genuine Ashkenazim. In the
into the Mukhavets River. The Upper memorial book of Kobryn, published
and Lower Castle were built later. In the in Yiddish in the 1950s in Argentina, it
first half of the 14th century, Kobryn states at one point that Jews appeared in
became part of the Grand Duchy of Lith- Kobryn in the 12th century, reportedly
uania. In 1532, Bona Sforza, the wife of attested to by the oldest inscriptions on
Poland’s Kind Sigismund I the Old, was a gravestone at the old Jewish cemetery.
granted the rights on the County of Kob- However, according to a more reliable
ryn. It was under her dominion that the opinion found in the same book, the
Queen Bona Canal was built; the canal is oldest tombstones in the cemetery date
now the oldest structure of this kind in back to the 16th century. ¶ In fact, the
Belarus. Polish writer and ethnographer first written mention of a Jewish com-
P.M. Szpilewski wrote that in the 16th munity in Kobryn is found in a 1514
century “there still was a beautiful and document, in which King Sigismund
majestic castle with twelve towers and I the Old confirmed the already exist-
a separate, smaller one with a fence of ing privileges for the Jews of Kobryn
sharpened poles, a drawbridge at a huge which his brother Alexander Jagiellon
gate, and high walls, […] Queen Bona had granted to the Jewish communi-
lived in it.” In 1586, Kobryn came under ties in Lithuania in 1503. In 1563, Jews
the dominion of Queen Anna Jagiellon; comprised 25 out of the 377 households
in 1589, she brought the town’s residents in Kobryn. Their activity was described
a document granting the town Magde- as follows: “Kobryn’s toll and kapszc-
burg rights, signed by King Sigismund zyzna [the fee for the sale and manufac-
III Vasa, thus allowing a high level of ture of alcohol] from inns serving beer,
self-administrative power. mead, and distilled beverages are all
held by the Jews.” ¶ In 1910, Kobryn had
Kobryn

The Jews of Kobryn ¶ Accounts a private Jewish school for boys, several
were handed down from generation reformed cheders, a Talmud Torah
418 to generation that Kobryn’s Jews had school, a yeshiva (founded towards the
 Market square in
Kobryn, 1906–1914, col-
lection of the National
Library, Poland (www.
polona.pl)

end of the 17th century or in the early There was also a theatrical troupe, work-
18th century), a seven-grade Tarbut ing under the guidance of film director
school taught in Hebrew, a school taught Peisach Boim and the Markuze brothers,
in Yiddish, and a two-grade Orthodox and a local football team “Ha-Koach”

„
Jewish Beit Yaakov religious school for (Heb.: Strength).
girls, founded by Rabbi Noah Weinberg.

I go out into town. Opposite the hotel there is an Orthodox church. Next to the
Orthodox church there is a monument to Kościuszko: a stone bust, surrounded
by cannons and cannonballs. The inscription on the monument reads: “In memory of the
expulsion of Muscovites – from the residents of Kobryn”… I pass it by. I move on. A tin
lady and then a wooden officer with two left legs are looking at me from gently swaying
signboards. Through small, clean windowpanes I can see the glowing light of candles
and the white of tablecloths. The night is a Friday night: the Sabbath. Inside their homes,
the residents of Kobryn are having a joyous supper. Through the gaps in doors and lintels
comes the smell of fish, saffron, and Sabbath bread. It saturates the night. ¶ Separately,
far from the flickering Sabbath candles, the cold autumn moon is shining. It is shining
high over the rooftops, over the gutters, over the market square, over the wooden bridge
across the Mukhavets, and over the Mukhavets River. ¶ […] A sleeping horse is drawing
an empty cab with a sleeping driver across the dull bridge. In the grass between the pave-
ment stones, crickets are chirping regularly. The Sabbath candles behind the window
panes of the houses have melted down. Kobryn is asleep. ¶ Ewa Szelburg-Zarembina,
“Myjcie owoce!” (“Wash fruits!”), Wiadomości Literackie, 1933, no. 43.

The Hasidim of Kobryn ¶ A dynasty Kobryn since the 19th century. It was
of tsaddikim has been associated with started by Moshe ben Israel of Kobryn 419
Market square and
Brzeska (Brestskaya)
St. in Kobryn, 1909, col-
lection of the National
Library, Poland (www.
polona.pl)

(1783–1858), and his successors were: which functioned until World War II.
his grandson Noah Naftali of Kobryn (d. Chaim Zundl, born in Kobryn in 1856,
1889), David Shlomo (d. 1918), Moshe graduated from the yeshiva in Brest
Aharon (d. 1942), and Baruch Joseph and became famous as the Kamenetzer
Zak (d. 1949). Another Hasidic rabbi, Maggid. He was one of the founders of
Menachem Nuchim ben Yehuda Leib the Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) move-
Einstein, was born in Vysokaye (Wysokie ment in Russia known as Palestinophile
Litewskie). Having completed his educa- movement which emphasized modern
tion among the Hasidim of Slonim, Hebrew learning and support of the set-

„
he moved to Kobryn and, in 1846, tlers and vocational training specialists
founded a Slonimer Hasidim Shtiebel, in the ottoman Palestine.

Like Joseph with his brothers… A touching meeting of a Kobryn rabbi with his
two brothers ¶ “Parizer Hajnt” reports: A rabbi from Kobryn and the head of
a yeshiva, Pesakh Pruskin, arrived in Paris this Friday on his way to America. His meeting
with his two brothers, Parisian engineers and industrialists in the aeroplane business,
whom he had not seen for 50 years, was very touching. The rabbi was three years old
when they last had met, and the engineers were nine and fourteen. They were orphans,
and their uncle – the well-known doctor Rabinovich, who translated a part of the Talmud
into French – took the elder children to Paris, where he provided them with education.
The brothers did not correspond with one another, and all the ties between them seemed
to have been broken forever. On Friday, the brothers met. There was a striking contrast
between the elegant gentlemen wearing formal clothes and the dignified-looking rabbi,
dressed in satin, wearing a luxuriant grey beard. One other thing turned out – the brothers
were unable to communicate. After 50 years, the engineers did not speak a word of Yiddish,
and Rabbi Pruskin spoke no French; he only whispered: “Like Joseph with his brothers”…
¶ They all remained silent for a long while, until their hearts spoke. They began to look at
Kobryn

family photographs. Tears started to flow down their cheeks – after 50 years, the brothers’
feelings revived. They communicated with the help of an interpreter… ¶ Lubliner Togblat,
420 2 Dec 1929
 Parade on the Jew-
ish feast of Lag BaOmer
on the streets of Kobryn,
reproduction from Kobrin
zamlbuch (an iberblik
ibern jidishn Kobrin)”,
ed. Melech Glotzer,
Buenos Aires 1951

Hasidic tzadik
Rebbe Pininke Shick,
reproduction from Kobrin
zamlbuch (an iberblik
ibern jidishn Kobrin)”,
ed. Melech Glotzer,
Buenos Aires 1951

Economic life ¶ Almost all Kobryn Tenenboims; furniture factories – to

industrial enterprises were managed the Mezrichs and Słomiańskis; tanner-
by the Jews: brickyards belonged to ies – to the Pintchuks; the bakery – to
Mote Weinstein, Shlomo Pintchuk, and the Gorzańskis; the soap factory – to the
Shlomo Rimland; the lumber mill – to Mazurskis; the soda water factory – to
the Hurwitzs; three steam mills – to the the Palevskins and Wiesensteins; and
Broitbards and Yedvabs; butter factories the candle factory – to the Tenenboim
– to the Katzs, Leizers, and Aliniks; the brothers. The Kobriner Shtime (Yid.: The

„
string factory – to the Kobrinetzs and Voice of Kobryn) was the main local
Kramans; the cigarette factory – to the Yiddish newspaper.

Jewish drivers’ hackney cabs – prototypes of today’s taxis – moved quickly

through the town. From a tailor and shoemaker to a clockmaker, locksmith,
blacksmith, leatherworker, and metalsmith, Jewish craftsmen dominated everywhere and
their mastery was unrivalled. They took photographs, cut people’s hair, showed films, and
even treated the ill – for a majority of practising physicians were also Jewish. For the pic-
ture to be complete, it should be added that financial operations in the town were carried
out by several little Jewish commercial banks, and readers were catered to by the Brenner
Library, which had 1,400 volumes of books and 175 readers. ¶ Alexei Martynov, Pamiati
kobrynskovo yevreystva (In Memory of Kobryn’s Jewry), Kobryn 1991.

Pogroms, epidemics, and fires Kobryn was ravaged twice by Swedish

¶ Over centuries, Kobryn experienced troops: in 1666 and at the beginning
various kinds of disasters. In Sep- of the 18th century. A local saying was
tember 1648, the Cossack troops of even coined about those hard times,
Bohdan Khmelnytsky, set Kobryn on in Yiddish – Gei tzu di shvedn! (Yid.:
fire. According to Nathan Hanover’s Go to the Swedes!). In 1662, the town
contemporary chronicle, 200 Jewish was plundered by the Polish-Lithua-
families were killed at that time. Later, nian troops, commanded by Marshal 421
 led, among other things, to a decline of
trade and crafts. In 1895, 310 dwelling
houses burnt down in a fire; the very
next year another fire consumed 210
houses, leaving more than 2,000 people
homeless, and another fire in 1905
destroyed 104 houses. ¶ Hardship and
legal strictures led to mass emigration
of Jews to America. Specific factors in
this were the regulation enacted in 1882
that prohibited Jews from leasing land in
the rural areas and the introduction of
liquor production and sale monopoly in
Residents of Kobryn in Żeromski. In 1711, bubonic plague 1897. In 1906, about 1,500 people from

„
front of the workshop
of capmaker A. Belske,
claimed the lives of more than a half the County of Kobryn left for the USA
reproduction from Kobrin of Kobryn population. The epidemics and Canada.
zamlbuch (an iberblik
ibern jidishn Kobrin)”,
ed. Melech Glotzer, Zariski was a man caught up in many of the central conflicts of the twentieth
Buenos Aires 1951
century. He was torn between his early dedication to communism and his later,
more sober, reflections on the success of capitalism. He was torn between an allegiance to
an intellectual world that ignored the politics of race and his emotional need to find safety
for those members of his family who escaped the Holocaust. ¶ Carol Parikh, The Unreal
Life of Oscar Zariski, New York 1991

Oscar Zariski (Aszer Zarycki, 1899–1986), a brilliant 20th-century American

mathematician, was born in Kobryn to the family of Betsalel Zarycki, a learned
Talmudist, and Chana Tenenbaum, a local shop owner. The mathematical tal-
ents of the future Harvard University professor manifested themselves as early
as his study in the gymnasium (secondary school) in Chernigov (now Cherni-
hiv, Ukraine), where the boy escaped with his brother during World War I.
He went on to study in Kyiv and Rome, from where he emigrated to the USA
in 1927. In America, Zariski was given a chance to make full use of his intel-
lectual potential, as shown by his awards and achievements: he was a Cole
Prize winner for outstanding contribution to the field of algebra, a member
of the Fields Medal Committee, Vice-President and President of the American
Mathematical Society, a Wolf Prize winner (as the originator of the modern
approach to algebraic geometry through its interface with commutative alge-
bra), and a Steele Prize laureate for his lifelong contribution to the field of
mathematics. His services as a teacher devoted to his students were rewarded
with the National Medal of Science, awarded by the US president in 1965.
Kobryn

World War II and the Holocaust Army on September 20, 1939, some of
422 ¶ After the capture of Kobryn by the Red the Zionist youth escaped to Vilnius and
„
later made it to Israel, in most cases –
through central Asia or China.

The new authorities immedi-

ately launched an all-out attack
on private trade. They crushed it without
mercy using odd taxes and other repres-
sive measures. ¶ Alexei Martynov, Pamiati
kobrynskovo yevreystva (In Memory of
Kobryn’s Jewry), Kobryn 1991.

Kobryn was captured by German

forces on June 23, 1941. In the fall of
that year, the local Jewish population
(about 8,000 people at the time) were
confined to a ghetto, consisting of two
separate parts. The inmates in ghetto “A”
were Jewish professionals (specialised
workers, artisans, doctors, and others)
as well as physically strong people. Its
borders ran along Suvorova St., Svobody
Sq., Pervomayskaya St., and Kirova
St. Ghetto “B” was for elderly people,
women, children, and invalids. Its bor-
ders coincided with the western part of
Svobody Square as far as the bridge and Angielovich. The Judenrat building was Former synagogue
in Kobryn, 2014. Photo
the right side of Savetskaya St. and Spor- located at the former Jewish cemetery in

„
by Irina Pivovarchik,
tivnaya St. The head of the Judenrat was Pervomayskaya Street. digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
a former wholesale merchant named Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)
On the first days of occupation, the Jewish prayer house at the beginning of Old architecture in
Oktyabrskaya Street was set on fire. As a result, the entire quarter between Kobryn, 2014. Photo
Oktyabrskaya and Internatsionalnaya Streets burnt down. In July 1941, in the fields of by Irina Pivovarchik,
digital collection of the
the Patryki estate, the first Jews were shot – about 200 people caught in a manhunt in the “Grodzka Gate – NN
streets. Soon afterwards, near the village of Imielin, 180 Jews suffered the same fate. […] Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)
In July 1942, all the population of ghetto “B”, more than 2,000 people, were transported to
the station of Bronna Góra, where they were shot together with other Jews from the Brest
Region amounting to 50,000 people. In November 1942, the inmates of ghetto “A” – more
than 4,000 – shared their fate; they were killed on the southern outskirts of Kobryn, in
the fields of the “Novyj put” kolkhoz (the place was later named “The Valley of Death”).
In December 1943, the last Jews of Kobryn were also shot there – 72 specialists in various
fields, whom the Nazis had used as professionals. ¶ Alexei Martynov, Pamiati kobrynskovo
yevreystva (In Memory of Kobryn’s Jewry), Kobryn 1991. 423
 number of Holocaust victims in Kobryn
amounts to about 6,900 Jews. In 1975,
on the southern outskirts of Kobryn,
an obelisk was erected at the site of the
mass execution of Jewish people carried
out in 1942.

Traces of Jewish presence ¶ The

Jewish cemetery on the outskirts of the
town, in Kutuzova Street, was devastated
during German occupation and almost
completely destroyed in Soviet times.
A matzeva at the Jewish Young people formed an underground Only a few matzevot can be found there
cemetery in Kobryn,
2014. Photo by Irina
group led by a Jewish police official. today. There is also a memorial plaque
Pivovarchik, digital col- When they found out about the death of placed a at the beginning of the 2010s,
lection of the “Grodzka
Gate – NN Theatre”
their families in the executions carried with an inscription in Hebrew, English,
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl) out on October 15, 1942, they started and Belarusian. ¶ In July 1944, 64 Jews
an uprising. The uprising was brutally returned to the town. In the 1950s,
put down, and 150 people were killed. ¶ the Jewish community of Kobryn was
About 100 Jews managed to escape from refused formal registration and the
the Kobryn ghetto. Many of them joined main synagogue building, dating back
partisan units. During the liquidation of to the middle of the 19th century, was
the ghetto, a group of children man- converted into a brewery. From the
aged to escape too; they found refuge in late 1980s until 2000, the building had
a church. Two priests, Jan Wolski and no owner. In 2003, the Jewish reli-
Władysław Grobelny, harboured 8 Jew- gious community of the city of Kobryn
ish children in the church, but they were obtained a state registration. The organi-
denounced and shot next to the church, sation’s plans include the renovation of
together with the children. ¶ The overall the synagogue.

Worth Former synagogue (mid-19th c.), 40 Pervomayskaya St. ¶ Jewish cemetery, Kutuzova St. ¶
seeing Former post office building (1846), 106 Savetskaya St. ¶ Alexander Suvorov Park, from
the mid-19th c. it belonged to Aleksander Mickiewicz, poet Adam Mickiewicz’s brother.
¶ Former Spaski Monastery building (1465, 17th–18th c.), 11 17 Verasnia St. ¶ Ortho-
dox Co-Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky (1864–1868), designed by I. Kalenkevich, 17
Lenina St. ¶ Manor house (1790), the Alexander Suvorov house-museum, 16 Suvorova St.,
dedicated to the most illustrious 18th-c. Russian field marshal. ¶ Memorial in honour of the
first great victory of the Russian army over Napoleon on 27 July 1812. ¶ Orthodox Church
of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (1465); in 1913 the Orthodox church was transferred
from the Bazarovyi Sq. (now Svobody Sq.) to the cemetery, Pervomayskaya St. ¶ Orthodox
Kobryn

Church of St. Nicholas (1750–1860), 2 Nikolskaya St. ¶ Orthodox Church of St. George
(1889), 104 Lenina St. ¶ Former prison (1821), Savetskaya St. ¶ Former Maria Rodziewicz
424 Gymnasium (1910), School No. 1, 94 Savetskaya St.
Horodets (23 km): the former mikveh building; a Jewish cemetery with a memorial to Surrounding
Holocaust victims; the Orthodox Church of the Ascension of Our Lord (1735); remains area
of a manor house. ¶ Hrushava (29 km): “Dewajtis” oak; a memorial plaque and the grave
of the parents of Maria Rodziewiczówna, a celebrated interwar Polish writer. ¶ Antopol
(33 km): two former synagogue buildings (19th c.); market halls; a Jewish cemetery with
100 matzevot; a memorial at the grave of Holocaust victims in Chojniki forest wilderness;
Resurrection Orthodox Church (1854). ¶ Brest (46 km): Brest Fortress (1833–1842); the
remains of the Great Synagogue, currently a cinema; the Ekdish synagogue; the Feivel
prayer house; a synagogue, a Sunday school, and a kosher canteen in Kuybysheva St.; the
buildings of Isaac Hendler’s printing house and the Tachkemoni school (attended, among
others, by the future Prime Minister of Israel Menachem Begin); ruins of a convent of Ber-
nardine nuns (18th c.); the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (1856); St. Simeon’s
Orthodox Church (1868); the Polish Bank (1926); the Railway Technology Museum. ¶
Kamyanyets (51 km): a former synagogue and a yeshiva (1932); dayan’s house; former Jew-
ish houses with the Stars of David and traces of mezuzot; rabbi’s house; the White Tower,
a bastion (13th c.); Orthodox Church of St. Simon; the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul (1925).
¶ Skoki (52 km): the Niemcewicz family palace and park complex (1770s); a cemetery of
Soviet soldiers and World
Kobryn War II victims. ¶ Volchin
(82 km): the birthplace of
Poland’s last king, Stanisław
August Poniatowski; the
layout of the old town
with the market square;
a former Jewish prayer
house; Holy Trinity Church
(1729–1733); Orthodox
Church of St Nicholas
(wooden, mid-19th c.);
a Jewish cemetery with
several dozen fieldstone
tombstones. ¶ Damachava
(89 km): the former mikveh
and rabbi’s house in Gogola
Street; in the forest, next to
the memorial of the execu-
tion site, several post-war
matzevot; Orthodox Church
of St. Luke (1905).

425
 Pruzhany
Pol. Prużana, Bel. Пружаны, Yid. ‫פרוזשענע‬ I wanted to begin by saying that I left
Pruzhany, but which of you, dear readers, is
strong enough in geography to know about
Pruzhany?
J. Kraszewski, Memories from Polesie,
Volhynia, and Lithuania, Vilnius 1840

A little town ¶ Pruzhany has been the Magdeburg municipal rights. After
known since 1487, at first as Dobuchin – 1795, Pruzhany became part of Russia.
at present, this name belongs to a village
seven km from Pruzhany. Initially, the The Jews of Pruzhany ¶ Most likely
settlement developed at the intersec- Jews lived in Pruzhany from the 15th
tion of two routes: the Sialets Route, century. In the 1450s, the town already
linking Europe with Muscovy, and the had a functioning Jewish cemetery and
Ruzhany Route, also called the Vilnius a Hevra kadisha (Heb.: Burial society).
Route – later, Jews named that route Its first synagogue was probably built in
the Jatke gas (Jateczna St.). This route the 15th century and stood for 400 years
was used in 1551, when the body of the until it burnt down in a fire that devas-
deceased young queen Barbara Radziwiłł tated the town in 1863. In 1495, the Jews
was carried from Cracow to Vilnius, via were expelled from the Grand Duchy
Pruzhany. The Sialets route was the one of Lithuania, but they were allowed
that King Władysław IV chose in the to return a few years later. The names
mid-17th century, when he was going of Jewish merchants from Pruzhany
to wage war against the Khmelnytsky’s appear in the 16th-century tax register
Cossacks. The Napoleon army used it too, of the town of Brest. Various surviving
when it marched on Moscow in 1812, documents contain records connected
and Russian tsars followed it when they with Jewish life in this town: in 1560,
came to Warsaw and went on wild hunt- a Jew from Kobryn, one Faivush ben
ing expeditions in the Białowieża Forest. Josef, obtained a lease on a distillery in
¶ Until 1519, Pruzhany was part of the Dobuchin; in 1562, a Jew from Brest,
Principality of Kobryn. After the death Peisach ben Ajzik, leased an inn; in 1583,
of Kobryn’s Prince Jan Szymonowicz, the Mordke ben Yankiev traded in goat skin
Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund I the with the merchants in Lublin; in 1583,
Old granted the settlement to Marshal Eliyahu ben Chaim brought Moravian
Pruzhany

Kościewicz. On May 3, 1588, the Queen cloth, paper, raisins, figs, plums, oil, pep-
of Poland and the Grand Duchess of per, and rice to Pruzhany from Lublin.
426 Lithuania Anna Jagiellon granted it with ¶ In 1623, the Jewish community of
 A clown performs on the
street in Pruzhany, sum-
mer 1916. Photo taken by
a German soldier during
World War I, collection
of Beit Hatfutsot, The
Museum of the Jewish
People, Photo Archive, Tel
Aviv, courtesy of Gamal
LTD., Kibbutz Sarid

Pruzhany reported to the Brest kahal of land on which to build synagogues.

(communal regional umbrella organiza- These same privileges were confirmed by
tion). At the meeting of the Lithuanian John III Sobieski (1677) and Augustus II
Council (Vaad, the umbrella organiza- (1698). ¶ Towards the end of the 16th
tion of the entire duchy) that took place century, the post of rabbi in Pruzhany
in Pruzhany in 1628, it was decided that was taken by the famous Joel Syrkes,
the Vaad meetings would continue to a reknowned scholar and rabbinical
be held in the town; but in fact no such authority, the author of Beith Khadash
meeting took place in Pruzhany after a collection of responsa the acronym
that. ¶ In 1644, Władysław IV granted of which gave the rabbi his name – the
the Jews of Pruzhany with special Ba”kh. ¶ In the 19th century, Pruzhany
privileges, which also included basic was a well-known pottery centre. In
privileges Jews received in the private 1857, there were 14 small businesses
towns of the Polish-Lithuanian Com- here, county schools and two-grade par-
monwealth such as those to purchase ish schools, six hospitals, two Orthodox
houses and plots of land in the market churches, a Catholic church, a syna-
square and along the streets, to produce gogue, and several Jewish prayer houses.
and sell wine, to brew and sell beer and In 1873, the town had four functioning
mead, to trade, to work in crafts, to build synagogues and a free Jewish hospital,
synagogues provided that they did not and from the mid-1860s, there was also
resemble Catholic churches, to forego a Jewish state school. ¶ A charity called
tax payments for the plots of land used Linas ha-Tsedek (Heb.: An Overnight
for synagogues or Jewish cemeteries, Stay for the Righteous) was founded in
and many others. Though he confirmed 1880, and the Organisation for the Assis-
the basic privileges in 1650, King John tance of Homeless Jews was set up in
Casimir, who succeeded Wladyslaw, pro- 1899. The 1890s saw the establishment of
hibited Jews from purchasing new plots a proto-Zionist Palestinophile club, and 427
 Zion. In 1904, left-wing Zionists and
Bundists united into one party, Kadima.
In October 1905, a self-defence unit was
formed to protect local Jewish popula-
tion from the anti-Semitic mob in the
times of revolutionary violence. ¶ By
1910, the town had nine functioning
synagogues and a Talmud Torah school.
The chief rabbi was Berko Joselevich
Kontorshchyk, and Moshe-Fishel
Berkovich Goldberg took over in 1915.
A description of the rabbis who arrived
Market square in from 1900, Zionist organisations became in Saint Petersburg to attend a conven-

„
Pruzhany, 1938, collec-
tion of the National
active, among them Tiferes Bakhurim, tion of rabbis in 1910 mentions a rabbi
Library, Poland (www. Pirkhei Zion, and after 1903, also Tzeirey from Pruzhany:
polona.pl)

The figure who inspired particular admiration was Rabbi Elijah Feinstein of
Pruzhany. A good-looking old man with a long luxuriant beard as white as the
moon, with wise and lively eyes, gave an impression of a patriarch; he spoke little, but his
every word was a result of deep thought and honest conviction. Such rabbis inspire respect
for the inner spiritual life that they are filled with. ¶ Feliks Kandel, Istoriya rossiyskich
yevreyev (The History of Russian Jews), Jerusalem 2014

In 1913, Jews owned all four pharma- Distribution Committee – an orphanage

cies, one branch of a bank, one restau- was established. In the 1920s and 1930s,
rant, and an inn, as well as 166 market local branches of various Jewish parties
stores. The only jeweller working in and organisations operated in Pruzhany,
Pruzhany was Jewish; five Jews made and five Jewish schools functioned. In
money by renting out furnished rooms. 1922, they established a seven-year Tar-
¶ A school with Yiddish as the main but school with Hebrew as the language
language of instruction was opened of instruction (in the 1927/1928 school
in 1915. It was closed down the next year it had 229 students and employed
year, but a new Jewish school started to eight teachers). Later, a five-grade Jew-
function, with instruction in German. In ish school was opened, run by TSYSHO
1917, the Yiddish school was reopened. (Tsentrale Yidishe Shul-Organizatsye,
It was also then that a Jewish old people’s Yid.: Central Yiddish School Organisa-
home was established. ¶ In 1921–1939, tion), with Yiddish as the language of
Pruzhany (Prużana) and the lands instruction, and an eight-grade classical
around the town came to be incorpo- Jewish gymnasium or secondary school
rated into the reconstructed Poland as was also established (in 1929/1930, it
Pruzhany

a county center in Białystok Voivodeship had 163 students and six teachers; in
(Palatnate). In 1919, with the help of 1935, 116 students and nine teachers).
428 the JOINT – the American Jewish Joint The Jewish community of Pruzhany ran
two nursery schools. In 1922, a branch
of the Jewish Cooperative Bank was
opened, and 1931 saw the opening of
a branch of Bank Handlowy (Com-
mercial Bank). In 1929, a yeshiva began
to function. The weekly newspaper,
the Yiddish newspaper Pruzhener
Lebn (Yid.: The Life of Pruzhany) was
published in 1930–1939, and the Zionist
weekly Pruzhener Shtime (Yid.: The
Voice of Pruzhany), also Yiddish, began to be issued in 1931. 19th-century market
halls – cloth halls in
Pruzhany, 2014. Photo
In 1930, the “Pinkas” publishing house released a book titled Pinkas fun der by Irina Pivovarchik,
digital collection of the
shtot Pruzhany (Yid.: A Record Book of the Town of Pruzhany) edited by Ger- “Grodzka Gate – NN
shon Urinsky, Meir Wolanski, and Noah Zukerman. In more than 300 pages, Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)
the book described the history and the present-day life of the residents of
Pruzhany. Its particular value lies in the fact that the memorial books of most
towns were not written until after the Holocaust. This book about Pruzhany has
had two post-war editions, in Buenos Aires in 1958, and in Tel Aviv in 1980.

World War II and the Holocaust Army. On June 23, 1941, it was taken by

„
¶ In September 1939, Pruzhany (then German troops. Pruzhany became part
Prużana, Poland) was seized by the Red of the Białystok District (East Prussia).

The war found me in the borderland town of Pruzhany, where I worked as

a doctor at the hospital. On June 22, 1941, I was on night duty. At 3:30 am, the
Germans started to bomb the town. The Germans entered the town on June, 23, and then,
having jumped out of their cars, they began to rob and beat the Jews. ¶ Doctor Olga Gold-
fein. Shorthand Notes, based on Chornaya Kniga (Rus.: The Black Book), ed. I. Erenburg
and W. Grossman, 1947.

On 10 July 1941, the Gestapo arrived in St. and included all the adjacent streets
Pruzhany. Arrests began and the first (now Kobrynskaya, Svobody, Lenina,
executions were carried out (18 Jews were Kirova, Ostrovskogo, and Tormasova
shot in the forest, two km from the town). Streets). ¶ Between the fall of 1941 and
In August 1941, Jewish women and chil- the spring of 1942, about 4,500 Jews from
dren were forcibly resettled to Pruzhany Białystok and about 2,000 Jews from the
from Hajnówka and Narewka Mała, towns and cities of the western districts of
where the men had been executed. ¶ On Belorussia were resettled into the ghetto:
September 25, 1941, a ghetto was estab- from Białowieża, Stołpca, Novy Dvor,
lished, which included Dąbrowska and Kamyanyets, Zamosty, Byaroza, Sharash-
Kobryńska Streets and stretched as far as ova, Bluden, Malecz, Slonim, Ivatsevichy,
the bridges, Brzeska St. and Czerczewska and from nearby villages. ¶ According 429
 Memorial at the weapons and fix the broken German
Jewish cemetery in
Pruzhany, devoted to the
guns. They also established contact with
people killed during the partisans. More than 20 ghetto dwellers
Holocaust, 2014. Photo
by Irina Pivovarchik,
escaped into the forests, carrying weap-
digital collection of the ons with them. ¶ On the morning of Janu-
“Grodzka Gate – NN ary 28, 1943, the Nazi soldiers and the
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl) auxiliary police surrounded the ghetto.
The Jews were informed that they would
be sent to Silesia to do forced labour,
to Doctor Olga Goldfein, 6,000 out of the but instead, about 10,000 people were
18,000 inmates of the Pruzhany ghetto packed into railway wagons and sent to
died over the winter of 1941/1942 due to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The
cold, hunger, and deprivation. The com- transports were dispatched until January
munities of nine local synagogues had to 31, 1943. About 2,000 people managed to
pay a substantial ransom to the Nazis, but hide and survive the operation, but later
after that the Nazis completely devastated most of them were found and murdered.
the synagogues. ¶ Early in November ¶ Only about 20 Jews from Pruzhany
1942, the Nazis surrounded Pruzhany survived the Nazi terror. On 17 July 1944,
ghetto with barbed wire. The dwellers the town was liberated. One woman, Olga
of the ghetto were informed that there Goldfein, was saved by a nun, Genowefa
would be an evacuation. Everyone knew Czubak. In 2001, Ivan, Anna, Aleksandr,
about the annihilation of Jewish commu- and Lidia Pauk were honoured with the
nities in the nearby villages and towns, titles of Righteous Gentiles for saving the
and, therefore, a group of doctors, teach- lives of teacher Moshe Judevich and his
ers, and lawyers decided to commit group wife Regina, who escaped from the Pru-
suicide. They took morphine and turned zhany ghetto to her friends in the nearby
on the gas. Neighbours saved the doctors village of Chakhets.
and their families; only one of them, Tzvi
Nitzkin, died. Still, a total of 47 ghetto Memorials ¶ In 1965, an obelisk was
inmates did take their own lives. The erected at the site of mass executions in
deportation of the Jews was postponed the Slobodka forest (one km northwest
and the subsequent registration of the of the village of Slobodka). On Novem-
ghetto’s dwellers showed 9,976 Jews in the ber 21, 2005, the community of the
ghetto. ¶ In spring 1942, underground refugees from Pruzhany Region (resid-
organisations were set up in the ghetto. ing in Israel) established a memorial to
A group of Jews working in the bar- the Holocaust victims at the old Jewish
racks and in warehouses began to gather cemetery.

One of the houses in Pruzhany bears a memorial plaque commemorating the

Fridberg family, murdered in Auschwitz-Birkenau. The plaque was funded by
Pruzhany

Abraham Fridberg-Harshalom, born here in 1926, who was the only sur-
vivor of the family. His story is told in the book and documentary entitled Alive
430 from the Ashes (Jerusalem, 1988) and on the website: www.harshalom.com
Traces of Jewish presence ¶ there. ¶ When in Pruzhany, it is worth
A former synagogue building from visiting the Pruzhany Palace Museum,
the early 20th century has survived in whose collection includes magazines
Pruzhany. It is now used for industrial and books in Hebrew and Yiddish as
purposes and can be found behind the well as a collection of graphic works by
Baptist church in Tomasova St. ¶ There Moshe Bernstein (1920–2006), a painter
is also a large surviving Jewish cemetery from nearby Byaroza, who lived in Israel
in Gorin Kolada St. Although the cem- after the war. The collection presents the
etery has been partly destroyed, about life of Jewish towns.
2,000 fieldstone matzevot can be found

Former synagogue (early 20th c.), Tormasova St. ¶ Jewish cemetery, Gorin Kolada Worth
St. ¶ Szwykowski Palace – Pruzhany PalaceMuseum (1850s), 50 Savetskaya St., tel. seeing
+375163221896. ¶ Chapel at the Catholic cemetery (1852), Kafanova St. ¶ St. Alexander
Nevsky Orthodox Cathedral (1866), Komunistichnaya St. ¶ Church of the Assumption
(1883), 39 Savetskaya St. ¶ Cloth hall (1896), Savetskaya St. ¶ Pharmacy building (1811),
20 Savetskaya St.

Sharashova (20 km): a Jewish cemetery with approx. 2–3 thousand matzevot; former Jew- Surrounding
ish houses (19th c.); Holy Trinity Church; the Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas ¶ Bluden area
(36 km): a former synagogue and cheder building, currently a shop; the Orthodox Church
of St. Nicholas (1887–1888). ¶ Byaroza (40 km): ruins of the Carthusian Monastery (1648–
1689); a former prison; the Orthodox Church of Sts. Peter and Paul (1860); St. Michael
Archangel Orthodox Church; Holy Trinity Church; the former Jewish school and a building
with a Hebrew date (early 20th c.); a monument in the forest near the village of Smolarka.

PRUZHANY

431
 Slonim
Pol. Słonim, Bel. Слонім, Playing with his peers a game of the strange-sounding name “klipa”
Yid. ‫סלאָנים‬ in 1930s Slonim; listening to visiting cantors in the Slonim synagogue;
together with his father reading newspapers that had been imported
from Warsaw or London; learning Latin at school; and going to the
synagogue every Saturday and on holidays, Briker lived in a big world.
Galina Levina, on the childhood Slonim memories of Tzvi Shefiet
(chairman of the Association of Slonim Jews in Israel)

Beginnings ¶ The first mention of town of Slonim were confirmed by Sigis-

Slonim dates back to 1252 and states mund III Vasa, and in 1605, Lew Sapieha
that the Prince of Galicia Daniel managed to obtain the “right of staple”
Romanovich sent “his brother […] to on foreign merchants, obliging inter-
Vawkavysk and his son to Usłonim” to national merchants moving through
fight against the Lithuanians. From the Slonim to stop at the town council and
mid-13th century, Slonim belonged to offer their merchandise for sale. In the
the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and in same year, Sapieha founded the first
1531, it was granted the Magdeburg local weaving guild. ¶ From the 16th to
rights allowing the town a high level the 18th century, Slonim was a major
of self-governance and considerable trade centre, owing its popularity mainly
economic independence. In 1586, the to the Grand Lithuanian Hetman Michał
Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithu- Kazimierz Ogiński, who founded several
ania, Lew Sapieha, became the head of companies there and built a canal that
Slonim town council, soon transform- connected the Yaselda (a tributary of
ing it from a provincial town into an the Pripyat) and the Shchara Rivers. The
important political centre. Under Lew town appearance changed; a town hall
Sapieha, the local castle was extensively and a church were built, and new market
reconstructed, and a new stone palace stores were set up. About 1770, Ogiński
(called the Sapieha Palace) was estab- also established a court theatre and an
lished next to it. In 1597–1685, the orchestra. The theatre employed profes-
palace hosted meetings of the nobility sional dramatic and opera actors from
of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, held Poland and Italy, painters, ballet danc-
before the Sejm’s sessions and attended ers, and a choir made up of serfs. As
by deputies and senators. To be able to a result, Slonim (as well as also privately
receive so many visitors, Sapieha built owned Shklov) became known as the
guest houses close to the castle. He also “Athens of the North.” ¶ In 1795, after
Slonim

paved the marketplace plaza and streets, the Third Partition of Poland, Slonim
planted orchards, and built new bridges. was incorporated into the Russian
432 In 1591, the Magdeburg rights for the Empire. From 1919 to 1939, it was again
 Jewish cemetery in
Slonim, 1930s, collection
of Beit Hatfutsot, The
Museum of the Jewish
People, Photo Archive,
Tel Aviv

part of Poland as the capital of Slonim of Slonim County. ¶ The chronicle of

County in Nowogródek Voivodeship the local Bikur Holim (Visiting the Sick)
(Palatinate). society, which provided help to poor and
sick Jews, notes that an annual fast was
The Jews of Slonim ¶ The first men- introduced to commemorate the events
tion of Jews in Slonim comes from 1551, of the 26th day of the month of Sivan,
when the town was listed in the register year 5524 (17/18 June 1764), when Rus-
of Jewish communities exempt from the sian troops clashed near Slonim with
household tax, the so-called srebrszc- the Polish levy of the nobility (pospolite
zyzna (silver tax). In 1623, Slonim Jews ruszenie) commanded by Prince Karol
reported to the kahal of Brest, but three Radziwiłł. The approach of the armies to
years later, the Slonim Jews formed an the town provoked fear among the Jews,
independent community with their own who expected a pogrom. Soon, fasting
kahal. In 1660, many Jews of Slonim gave way to collecting donations for the
were ruined as a result of local clashes hospital’s needs.
started by Hetman Stefan Czarniecki’s
soldiers during the Potop era – a period Economy at the turn of the 20th
of devastation in Polish history with its century ¶ In the 19th century, the town
Cossack wars, peasant rebellions, Swed- population increased: in 1797, there
ish and Muskovy invasions and internal were 1,360 Jews and Karaites living in
military clashes. ¶ At the turn of the 18th Slonim; in 1847, there were 5,700 Jews,
century, the town’s Jews traded in lumber and by 1847, their number reached
and wheat, engaged in the production 11,515. ¶ Jews earned their living from
and sale of alcohol, and carried out trade (selling lumber, fur, and leather),
various crafts. The Ogińskis encour- transport, wood processing, manufac-
aged merchants and craftsmen, includ- turing metal products, firing bricks,
ing Jewish ones, to settle in Slonim. As and tanning; some of them owned
a result, by 1766 the Jewish population steam mills. The first textile factory was
numbered 1,154 people residing in and founded in 1826 by a Jewish entrepre-
around the town and 4,289 in the whole neur. It employed 35 people, including 433
Members of the Butch-
ers’ Synagogue, who
built their synagogue
on the ruins of the old
one thanks to the help
of the Association of
Slonim Jews in America.
Sitting in the middle,
wearing a top hat, is
the rabbi, surrounded by
his assistants and other
dignitaries of the town.
Photo published on 21
October 1923, collection
of the YIVO Institute for
Jewish Research

20 Jews. By the end of the 19th century, The synagogue ¶ In 1642–1648,

about 30 small factories were opened in the Great Synagogue was established
Slonim, almost all of them belonging to in Slonim with the permission of King
Jews. Jewish entrepreneurs contributed Władysław IV. It was built on the site of
significantly to the town’s modernisa- a wooden shul that had burnt down. The
tion; for instance, a water supply system Great Synagogue was built as an impor-
was built thanks to one Grisha Konicov, tant part of the town defence system,
a Jew who invested into the urbaniza- and its massive stone walls hid a richly
tion of his native town. ¶ The first Jewish decorated interior, filled with stucco
workers’ organization was set up in ornaments and wall paintings. The
1897, followed by the establishment of main façade of the synagogue featured
the Bund, Poale Zion, and the Zionist compositional and artistic arrangements
Socialist Workers’ Party branches. From characteristic of the 17th and 18th-cen-
1905 to 1906, a united self-defence unit tury Baroque school. In the 18th century,
of Jewish socialist parties operated in the synagogue was significantly rebuilt,
town. In 1913, Jewish workers went on but some original stuccowork and draw-
strike to protest against the Beilis trial ings have been preserved. ¶ In 1881, the
in Kiev, were the tsarist police instigated synagogue was badly damaged by fire. It
by the anti-Semitic Black Hundreds and was re-opened thanks to donations, but
the Union of Archangel Michael accused as this was done without the permis-
Menahem Mendel Beilis, local Jewish sion of the authorities, the building was
clerk, of committing a ritual murder and put under arrest. On May 11, 1883, rich
allegedly killing Andrei Yushchinsky, Slonim town dwellers requested the
a Christian boy. In 1921, 6,917 Jews lived governor to re-open the synagogue and
in Slonim constituting 71.7 percent of allow them to use the money they raised
the population. All political parties that to “restore the synagogue to a satisfactory
existed in Poland at that time had their condition.” ¶ The synagogue was in oper-
local branches there. Yet in the 1930s, ation until 1940. After the war, it served
Slonim

the Zionists (especially the Revisionist as a warehouse. Since the mid-1990s,

Zionists inspired by Zeev Jabotinsky) the building has been abandoned, falling
434 were particularly influential. into decline and awaiting renovation. In
2001, it was handed over to the Jew-
ish Religious Union of the Republic of
Belarus. ¶ Another synagogue building,
constructed in the modernist style in
the early 20th century, still stands at 26
Kamunistychnaya St. Today, it houses the
medical school gym.

The dynasty of tzadikim ¶ The

founder of the Slonim Hasidic dynasty
of tsadikim was Avraham ben Yitzhak
Weinberg (1804–1883), head of the
Slonim yeshiva and one of the most
prominent Hasidic leaders of his time.
His influence extended to the Jewish
communities of the northern Polesie
region, all the way from Slonim to Brest-
Litovsk and from Kobryn to Baranovi-
chi. ¶ When Weinberg was still alive,
Noah (d. 1927), one of his grandsons,
settled in the land of Israel, in Tiberias,
where he spread the rites and customs of
Slonim Hasidism. In 1942, Slonim Hasi-
dim founded in Jerusalem a Talmudic
academy named Bet Avraham Slonim.
From 1955, their leader was Noah’s son, was named after the founder of the Interior of the
synagogue, the bima,
Avraham III. One of Jerusalem’s streets dynasty – Avraham of Slonim. and the aron kodesh,
circa 1920, collection of
the Institute of Art of
Rebbe Avraham Weinberg said the following: […] melody is like a hammer the Polish Academy of
and words are like a nail. Man wants to drive a nail into the wall, but is pre- Sciences (PAN)
vented by hard stones. So he hits the nail with a hammer, and drives it into the Synagogue in
wall. If he hits the wall instead of the nail, the wall will crumble and this will be Slonim, circa 1920,
collection of the Institute
of no avail. ¶ With this metaphorical description, Weinberg wanted to empha- of Art of the Polish
sise that singing zmirot (lyrics) from the holy books to a cheerful or sad melody Academy of Sciences
made particular sense because, when hearing the melody the human heart (PAN)

opens up and words carrying holiness and faith can penetrate the inner soul.

Social and educational life ¶ In and four private Jewish schools (two for
the 1880s, there were 21 synagogues boys and two for girls). In the interwar
and prayer houses in Slonim. In 1910, period, there were Tarbut secondary
the town had seven synagogues, several schools with instruction in Hebrew and
prayer houses and cheders (elementary TSYSHO schools with instruction in
Jewish schools), a Talmud Torah school, Yiddish. 435
 Great Synagogue Jewish press in Slonim ¶ The Poale Zion made another attempt to
in Slonim, 2015. Photo
by Monika Tarajko,
emergence of the Jewish press was an issue its own newspaper under the title
digital collection of the important sign of the profound changes of Slonimer Leben (Yid.: Slonim Life),
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre”Centre (www.
that took place in the Jewish community which relied mostly on students submit-
teatrnn.pl) of Slonim after World War I. The first ting essays and news for its publication.
Interior of the Great
local publication was Unser Zhurnal The same year saw the re-emergence of
Synagogue in Slonim, (Yid.: Our Journal), published by the Slonimer Wort, which appeared regularly
2015. Photo by Monika every week for the next 10 years (from
Tarajko, digital collection
Jewish community from 1921 and
of the “Grodzka Gate edited by its president Moshe Zabłocki. August 1929 until September 1939). It
– NN Theatre” Centre Originally a weekly, it was later issued was a Friday supplement to a Warsaw-
(www.teatrnn.pl)
more often (until 1925), in cooperation based daily Haynt, printed and circu-
with a Jewish newspaper based in New lated in 600 copies but read by about
York, Morgen Zurnal (Yid.: The Morning a half of the 10,000 Jews in Slonim.
Journal) and with the help of the Slonim Slonimer Wort actively defended the
Association in the USA. ¶ Another title policy of the National Minorities Club in
was Slonimer Wort (Yid.: The Slonim the Sejm, a faction defending non-Polish
Word), also edited by Moshe Zabłocki, and non-Catholic minorities in the inde-
but under the auspices of the Zionist pendent Poland. It engaged in polemics
Congress. It was issued between 1925 both with the Orthodox party Agudat
and 1926. The year 1927 saw the appear- Yisrael and with the Marxist-oriented
ance of a biweekly Unser Shtime (Yid.: Bund. It supported young literary talents
Our Voice), edited by Yekhezkiel Rabi- and wrote about important everyday life
novich and founded under the pressure issues. ¶ The success of Slonimer Wort
of the Poale Zion (Right-wing branch) encouraged other political parties to
party members. According to accounts issue their own publications. Revisionist
in the Slonim Memorial Book, this Zionists published Slonimer Woch (Yid.:
periodical, which was published on an Slonim Week) in 1933. The Agudat
on-and-off basis until 1933, was distin- Yisrael issued Slonimer Yidishe Shtime
Slonim

guished by its high-quality journalism; (Yid.: The Jewish Voice of Slonim),

it served primarily as the party platform especially before the elections of 1930,
436 to attract new followers. ¶ In 1929, 1932, and 1935; and the Bund had its
Der Weker (Yid.: The Alarm Clock).
¶ In addition, before elections to the
Jewish community, one-off issues were
published, as well as leaflets, prospec-
tuses, and brochures of various political
parties and social organisations. Zionist
youth organisations were particularly
active in this respect. They could not
afford a printing press of their own, so
they used a hectograph (an early copy
machine) to publish papers in Hebrew.
Ha-shomer Ha-tzair issued Ha-medurah
(Heb.: Bonfire) for its adult members, the antithesis of “a yeshivah student, Former synagogue
on Kamunistychnaya
Sha’agat Ha-kfir (Heb.: The Lion’s Roar) a frail and round-shouldered Talmud- St. in Slonim, 2014.
for the younger, Ha-tsofe (Heb.: Scout) ist.” The first sign of this trend was the Photo by Paweł Sańko,
digital collection of the
for scouts, and Mesibah (Heb.: Fes- establishment of the Jewish Sports Club, “Grodzka Gate – NN
tive Gathering) for everyone. Another which brought together about 50 young Theatre” Centre (www.
men who, following the example set by teatrnn.pl)
Zionist youth organisation, “Gordonia”,
published similar papers: Dvareinu the Polish soldiers of the local military
(Heb.: Our Words), Aloneinu (Heb:. garrison, decided to form their own
Our Papers), and Aspaklaria (Heb.: The football team. Soon, football games
Glass). Moreover, secondary school stu- were played between the Jewish Sports
dents had their own magazines devoted Club, the Polish garrison team, and the
to poetry and prose. Sixteen of these Żyrowa Street seminary team. ¶ The
were issued in Hebrew under the title first political party to start a sports club
of Ha-netsots (Heb.: Spark). A similar for socialist athletes was Poale Zion.
collection was published in Yiddish, Established in 1926 as “Kraft” (Yid.:
titled Bieriozke (Yid.: A Small Birch- Strength), the club was later renamed
tree), and five brochures were issued “Ha-poel” (Heb.: Worker). The Revision-
under the ambitious title Ha-heder – ist Zionists inspired by Zeev Jabotinsky
Voice of Hebrew Youth. A humorous responded by opening the “Trumpel-
magazine Kundas (Heb.: Joker) appeared doria” sports club named after the war
occasionally. hero Josef Trumpeldor, while the Bund
socialists founded a sports club under
Jewish sports life ¶ Sports classes the poetic name of “Morgenstern” (Yid.:
organised by the Zionist youth organisa- Morning Star). In 1930, a branch of the
tion Ha-shomer Ha-tzair encouraged world Jewish organisation Maccabee
young Jewish people to take up sports was opened in town, soon to be joined
more seriously. This was also in line by the Jewish Sports Club. An honorary
with the youth Zionist ethos, which committee supporting Maccabee was
sought, following the motto of Max appointed. Also, fund-raising was organ-
Nordau, one of the leading European ised, enabling the Slonim branch of
Zionists, to “create a muscular Jew” as Maccabee to expand its sports activities. 437
 not always peaceful, with football games
sometimes turning into brawls. In the
late 1930s, there were four Jewish sports
clubs in Slonim with a membership of
about 500, out of approx. 7,000 Jewish
residents of the town.

World War II and the Holocaust

¶ In September 1939, Soviet troops
captured Slonim. The town became
the centre of the Slonim region in the
Baranovichi District of the Belorus-
sian Soviet Socialist Republic. Refugees
from Nazi-occupied Poland started
to flood into the town. According to
the records of October 30, 1940, there
were more than 15,000 of them (mostly
Jews but also Poles). Immediately after
the Soviets installed their rule, they
suppressed and outlawed all Jewish
communal activities, shut down reli-
gious institutions, and banned political
organisations other than communist.
Pre-war Jewish At the beginning, its members included Hundreds of religious Jews and politi-
house in Slonim, 2014.
Photo by Irina Pivo-
100 Jewish athletes in different sections: cal activists were deported to Siberia
varchyk, digital collection gymnastics, cycling, swimming, and and Kazakhstan. As a result of deporta-
of the “Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” Centre
rowing on the Shchara River, as well as tions, the number of refugees in Slonim
(www.teatrnn.pl) skating and skiing sections in winter. significantly decreased. On April 12,
Slonim, town centre,
The Maccabee football team played 1940, the NKVD, Soviet secret service
2014. Photo by Paweł regularly against other Jewish teams, as deported approx. 1,000 Jews, and a few
Sańko, digital collection months later the Bund activists shared
of the “Grodzka Gate
well as against the garrison team, the
– NN Theatre” Centre Polish office workers’ sports club, the their fate. Well-known Jewish leaders
(www.teatrnn.pl) Żyrowa Street seminary team, and other from Slonim, including Dr. Shmuel
Jewish clubs from the region. The gar- Wajs, Dr. Isaac Efros, and vice-mayor
rison pitch was enlarged and could be Boris Piasecki, were also deported. ¶
used also by the Jewish clubs, following Slonim was taken over by the German
their agreement with the garrison. Once army on June 25–26, 1941. At that
opposition by Orthodox Jews to having time, the town Jews numbered 22,000,
sports competitions on Saturdays was constituting two-thirds of the local
overcome, the stadium on Skrobova St. population. The first operation aimed at
Slonim

held regular games attracting crowds liquidating the Jews was carried out on
of Jewish sports fans. The competitions July 14, 1941. Seven km from Slonim,
438 between Polish and Jewish athletes were near the village of Pietrolewicze, more
than 1,000 Jewish men were executed. Monument on
Petralevichy Hill near
The second Aktion was carried out by Slonim, dedicated to
the SD troops on November 14, 1941, the memory of Jews
murdered by the Nazis,
when more than 10,000 people, includ- 2014. Photo by Paweł
ing all members of the Judenrat, were Sańko, digital collection
of the “Grodzka Gate
transported to the village of Czepielów – NN Theatre” Centre
(now Chapyaleva, 12 km from Slonim) (www.teatrnn.pl)
and shot. On December 24, 1941, it was
announced that all Jews had to move to
the ghetto. From January to March 1942,
the Slonim ghetto received Jews from
Dziarechyn, Golynka, Byten, Ivatsevichy,
and Kosava. Ghetto dwellers organised
an underground organisation called Nonetheless, during the third operation,
the Anti-Fascist Committee. Though around 10,000 Jews were shot and bur-
supervised by the Germans and the ied, while 700 men and 100 women were
police, ghetto prisoners who repaired left in the so-called “small ghetto.” In
and cleaned weapons for the Nazi troops December 1942, they too were executed.
in the local mechanical shops managed About 400 people from the Slonim
to smuggle parts of weapons, grenades, ghetto survived.
loads, rifles, and uniforms out of the
ghetto. One of the organisation’s mem- Memorial sites ¶ In 1964, a 12-metre
bers was Erich Stein, a German Jew and obelisk was established in the village of
an engineer who supervised the labour Pietrolewicze (at the forest of Krzywa
camp workers; this greatly facilitated Góra), at the site where Slonim ghetto
the collection of weapons. Once contact prisoners were executed in June and
with the partisans was established, July 1942. To commemorate those killed
weapons, warm clothes, soap, salt, and on the Chapialeva Fields and on the
radio receivers were sent to the forest. Slonim–Baranovichi road, memorial
Dr. Abram Blumovich and Dr. Cieslawa stelae were erected in 1967. Another
Orlińska helped send medicine to the stela was placed in 1979 in the open
partisans. Underground activists started field near Morgi on the right side of the
to escape from the ghetto to the forest Slonim–Derewnaja road, where approx.
– individually at first, and then in small 2,000 Jews were shot and buried in
groups. ¶ When the third operation of 1942. The year of 1994 saw the crea-
liquidating the Jews was carried out in tion of a memorial site at the former
Pietrolewicze, from June 29 to July 15, Jewish cemetery on Brest St., which
1942, it met with armed resistance from had been destroyed in the Soviet times.
underground activists, resulting in eight The monument there, commemorating
Germans killed and seven wounded. the Jews of Slonim and the region, was
More than 70 armed young Jews were designed by Leonid Levin. Behind it,
accepted into the Shchors partisan unit, some remnants of gravestones can be
the rest organised a “family camp.” found. No trace has been left of the other 439
 two Jewish cemeteries in Slonim – on on Gorky St.
Shkolnaya St. (near the synagogue) and

Worth Great Synagogue (17th c.), 1 Savetskaya St. ¶ Former Hasidic synagogue (20th c.), 26
seeing Kamunistychnaya St. ¶ Jewish cemetery (18th c.), Brest St. ¶ Town hall (mid-18th c.), 6
Savetskaya St. ¶ I.I. Stabrovsky Local History Museum in Slonim, 1 Lenin Sq. ¶ Church
of St. Andrew the Apostle (1770–1775), Lev Sapeha Sq. ¶ Church of the Immaculate
Conception of the Virgin Mary (1645), 11 Pervomayskaya St. ¶ Holy Trinity Orthodox
Church (17th c.), 23 W. Krayny St.

Surrounding Albertin (within the town’s borders): a palace and park architecture complex (19th c.)
area comprising: a manor house, an outbuilding, farm buildings (a barn, a windmill, etc.),
sculptures, and a scenic park with a lake. ¶ Zhyrovichy (11 km): the Basilian monastery
and Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God (17th c.). ¶ Synkovichy (12 km):
St. Michael the Archangel Orthodox Church – the oldest defence Orthodox church in
Belarus (1st half of the 16th c.); buildings of the former manor farm and distillery. ¶
Aziarnitsa (26 km): a Jewish cemetery (19th c.) with fragments of destroyed gravestones.
¶ Palonka (30 km): a Jewish cemetery (18th c.), the Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas the
Wonderworker (1924). ¶ Bycień (30 km): a Jewish cemetery with about 100 gravestones
(19th/20th c.); the Church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary (17th c.). ¶ Dzi-
arechyn (34 km): a Jewish cemetery with about 150 matzevot; neo-Gothic Church of the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (early 20th c.); a former presbytery and the gateway
to a Catholic cemetery; a monument at World War II mass graves; Orthodox Church of the
Transfiguration.

Slonim
Slonim

440
Ruzhany
Pol. Różana, Bel. Ружаны, Lie down and sleep, little one
Yid. ‫ראָזשענוי‬ Listen, I will sing you a song
A long, long time ago, far, far away,
There was a town
Aharon Libuszycki, Shir eres (Heb.: Lullaby),
Warsaw 1900

A Sapieha residence ¶ The first Samuel Becker, was a magnificent

written mention of Ruzhany (Różana) palace and park complex that used to
dates back to 1490. The magnate family be called the “Belorussian Versailles”, or
of Sapieha received Ruzhany into their the “Versailles of Polesie”. Yet, the estate
possession in 1598 and made the town approached the brink of bankruptcy,
their main residence. Towards the end which forced Aleksander Sapieha to
of the 16th century, Lew Sapieha, the lease the palace out in 1829 to a Jew-
Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithu- ish entrepreneur, Mordechai Pines. ¶
ania, had a castle built on a high hill of Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz recollects: “In
Ruzhany; the castle was often visited by Różana, the princely estate once owned
the members of royal family. After a visit by Hetman Pociej, a famous drunk,
to the castle of Ruzhany, Władysław I saw a different ‘library’ of cups […].
IV Vasa said that he had “[…] spent These were cups that could hold two or
nine days in unspeakable luxury as more bottles, and which had different
the marshal’s guest.” Additionally, he shapes: of sticks, pistols, or bears. What
was showered with gifts by the gener- a pity! It was from those unmeasured
ous host and received “[…] a Belgian vessels that the fathers and grandfathers
carpet worth 10,000 zloty, a ring for had drunk away Poland’s wellbeing, hap-
the queen, bought for 16,000 zloty, piness, independence, and unity. They
and a sable fur bought for 3,000 zloty rested in peace, whereas we and our
in Moscow […].” Thanks to the efforts children have to suffer because of their
of the Sapiehas, Ruzhany was granted idleness and inactivity.” ¶ From 1786
Magdeburg municipal rights and its own until the early 20th century, the palace

„
coat of arms. Ruzhany Castle, rebuilt hosted a factory producing silk fabrics,
in 1784–1786 and designed by Johann velvet, and cloth.

What can you say: for a small town such as Ruzhany, the return – after a hun-
dred years – of the family that had built the town […] was an extraordinary
sensation. The Catholic church, the Orthodox church, the monastery, administrative
buildings, and so on – everything was built by the Sapiehas, and the most magnificent 441
Ruzhany, Sapieha family
estate. In the chapel of
the palace, the body of
St. Casimir rested for
a few years after it had
been taken away from
the Vilnius Cathedral
during the wars of 1655.
Postcard from the 1920s,
drawing by Napoleon
Orda, collection of the
National Library, Poland
(www.polona.pl)

edifice was the huge castle, which had once towered over the town and of which now only
ruins were left. Most people probably had a poor knowledge of history, but they did know
that Ruzhany meant the Sapiehas. ¶ After the mass, a little crowd gathered in front of the
church – very solemn, but joyful. […] Everyone welcomed us and wished us happiness
and many years of life in the family hearth again. ¶ Suddenly, just like in Nowogródek,
a serious-looking elderly Jew with a long beard approached us and, bowing with great
dignity, invited us to his place because he had something very important to tell my Dad.
After the welcome was over, and after a short visit at the presbytery, we went to the house
they showed us. He introduced himself to us as Pines, treated us to tea with some kind of
bagel, and told us a story of his family, which settled in Ruzhany at the beginning of the
18th century. It turned out that shortly before the November Uprising, his grandfather
together with my great-grandfather Eustachy drew up a sales contract for the Ruzhany
Castle, which was later converted into a textile factory by his grandfather. Our interlocutor
bent down and took out the original certificate of sale from the lower drawer of the desk;
the certificate stipulated that the buyer would pay as much as he would manage to collect
quickly within a certain time, provided that if any Sapieha, the seller’s rightful heir, ever
returned to Ruzhany, the palace was to be returned to him for the same price. ¶ – You are
now reclaiming your rightful inheritance, Your Grace, so the contract is valid and I return
your property to you in accordance with the contract. I know that Your Grace will not take
it back now, as it is merely a worthless ruin, but a contract is a contract and I just wanted
to inform you about it. ¶ We finally learnt that, when joining the November Uprising as
a volunteer, grandfather Eustachy knew very well that it was only a patriotic bid that could
not possibly succeed; he also knew he would not return to Ruzhany and the rest of his
estate. Unfortunately, it is often rumoured that Sapieha sold his family hearth to Jews in
order to have money for debauchery. ¶ Eustachy Sapieha, So It Was… Eustachy Sapieha’s
Undemocratic Memoirs, Warsaw 2012
Ruzhany

The Jews of Ruzhany ¶ The first in a record stating that, by the 1623 deci-
442 mention of the Jews of Ruzhany comes sion of the Lithuanian Vaad, Ruzhany
became part of the Brest kahal region.
Decades later, in 1662, the Ruzhany
community received the status of an
independent kahal. The Jews living there
suffered severely during the Great North-
ern War between Russia and Sweden
(1700–1721). Despite that, the commu-
nity was considered prosperous, and in
1721, it paid 1,100 zlotys of poll tax (the
same amount was collected by the entire
Vilnius community). Later, the situation
of the Jews deteriorated to the point that
they began leaving Ruzhany. In 1766, the were established near Ruzhany – that Bima in the synagogue
in Ruzhany, 2014. Photo
community diminished to 326 members, was part of greater Nicholas I’s plan to by Siergiej Piwowarczyk,
154 of them living in the town. ¶ As the transform the trading Jew, whom he digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
result of the Third Partition of Poland deemed unproductive, into agricultural Theatre” Centre (www.
(1795), Ruzhany became part of the Rus- workers engaged in manual labor. Jews teatrnn.pl)
sian territory. In 1847, there were 1,467 from those villages were among the first
Jews living in Ruzhany, and in 1897 there émigrés from Bielorussia to the land of
were 3,599 (71.7 percent of the popula- Israel, where in 1884, they established
tion). After the opening of six textile the farm of Ekron, subsequently kibbutz
factories and several spinning mills in Mazkeret Batya. In 1875, almost all of
the first half of the 19th century, many Ruzhany burnt down in a fire; the flames
Jews from the town and the surround- also destroyed Jewish prayer houses and
ing area began to work there. In 1810, the synagogue.
Itzko Leibovich, Berko Meierovich, and
Gershko Yankielevich opened a textile Accusations of ritual murder ¶
factory there. By 1829, Jews owned The Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic
three local textile factories. Some Jewish Dictionary (1908–1913), Yevreyskaya
families grew vegetables and engaged entsyklopedia (Rus.: The Jewish Ency-

„
in fruit farming on leased land. In 1850, clopaedia) contains the story of a blood
two Jewish agricultural settlements libel that took place in Ruzhany:

In 1657, on the eve of Easter, the body of a child from a Christian family was
found in the Jewish quarter – “a victim of the Jewish thirst for blood,” as rumour
had it. The crowd was ready to attack the Jews, but the town’s authorities prevented that
from happening. […] The municipal court accused the entire kahal of ritual murder and
demanded that two representatives of the congregation be surrendered. The two chosen
were Rabbi Israel Ben Sholom and Rabbi Tobia Ben Josif (they may actually have volun-
teered for the sake of sanctifying the name of God by becoming martyrs). The execution
was carried out on the second day of Rosh ha-shanah. […] The Jews remember the martyrs
to this day. […] At the local cemetery, a stone-built memorial to the murdered victims was
erected (and renovated in 1875). 443
 The story had a continuation, centuries
later, told here by Olga Adamova-Slioz-
berg, a Russian economist and a Gulag
prisoner, whose father-in-law was
related to one of those who in the 17th

„
century volunteered for martyrdom to
save the community.

My father-in-law, Ruvim Yevs-

evich Zakheim was a taciturn Jew,
immersed in holy books. Sometimes he
would argue loudly with some old men in
Hebrew. The argument concerned differ-
ent interpretations of the Talmud, and for
several thousand years it had intensely
preoccupied Talmudists, living in their own
world, very distant from issues of every-
day life. […] ¶ In 1930, my father-in-law
ceremonially entered my room, where I was
sitting at my newborn son’s bed. ¶ – I need
to talk to you. Do you want to circumcise
Pre-war houses the child? ¶ I knew the old man had prayed to God that I would give birth to a daughter
in the former Jewish
quarter in Ruzhany,
because he knew that a boy would remain uncircumcised, which would have been a trag-
2014. Photo by Siergiej edy for him. […] ¶ – No, I cannot do that – I said categorically. ¶ – But your son won’t be
Piwowarczyk, digital col-
lection of the “Grodzka
a Jew! Do you understand what this means? ¶ I didn’t understand. It seemed completely
Gate – NN Theatre” irrelevant to me if my son would be Jewish or Chinese: after all, he would live in the time of
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)
communism! […] ¶ – Do you know the origins of our family name? The old man took out
Former yeshiva and of his pocket an old leather case decorated with the Star of David and an inscription in the
synagogue in Ruzhany, Jewish language. Inside the case there was a parchment scroll. He solemnly read to me an
2014. Photo by Siergiej
Piwowarczyk, digital col- incomprehensible text in Hebrew and translated it. ¶ The content of the manuscript was as
lection of the “Grodzka follows: ¶ “In the 17th century in the town of Ruzhany, the body of a child from a Chris-
Gate – NN Theatre”
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl) tian family was found before Passover. The Jewish community of Ruzhany was accused
of ritual murder. The influential prince who owned the town announced that he would
wipe the whole community off the face of the earth if they would not give up the murderers
within three days. For three days and nights, the entire community prayed for rescue in the
synagogue, and in the morning on the fourth day two old men went to see the prince and
confessed to the ritual murder. The old men were hanged at the gate of the castle.” ¶ The
community prepared two documents and gave it to the families of those killed. One of them
was in my father-in-law’s possession. It certified that the old man (the name was specified)
was not a murderer but had sacrificed his life to save the community, that prayers would
Ruzhany

forever be said for his soul in the synagogue in Ruzhany, and that his family would be given
the name of Zakheim, which means “zerekh keidesh geim” – “his seed is sacred.” His family
444 should last forever and ever, and if there is no male descendant, the daughter would give
that family name to her husband after marriage. My father-in-law read the document and
gave me an inquiring look. ¶ – If he is not circumcised, I cannot give him this document,
and he is the descendant of the family. ¶ I wanted very much to get that scroll, and I was
sorry for the old man, who hoped I would not resist any longer. ¶ But I persisted. Offended,
he went out of the room and took his treasure with him. My father-in-law died a long time
ago. The scroll was lost during the war. The last Zakheim, my son’s son, will soon be one
year old. He is learning to walk. He is unable to keep his balance yet, and he sways on his
plump legs. I look at him and think to myself: How many storms have swept over man-
kind since the 17th c., when the document for the Zakheim family was issued “forever and
ever”… ¶ One Zakheim, head of the municipal executive committee, was torn apart during
the White Guard rebellion in 1918. Four others were killed in the war. Several people died
in the furnaces of Auschwitz. ¶ My husband was shot in the basement of the Lubyanka in
1936. ¶ Olga Adamova-Sliozberg, Put’ (Rus.: Journey), 1993.

Modern times ¶ In the second half In 1905–1907, various political par-

of the 19th century, a Jewish hospital ties across the Russian political spec-
was established in Ruzhany. In 1883, trum were active in the town. ¶ In the
a charity called Linas ha-Tzedek (Shelter interwar period, the number of the town
for the Righteous) was founded and Jewish residents gradually decreased,
a Talmud Torah school functioned, with with 3,718 Jews living here in 1921 and
about 300 students. It was in Ruzhany 3,500, in 1939. The Jewish community
that one of Russia’s first branches of the tried to maintain their Jewish educa-
Zionist organisation Hovevei Zion (Heb.: tion and culture; the town had a Tarbut
Lovers of Zion) was established; in 1884, secondary school with Hebrew as the
its representatives attended a conven- main language of instruction, a Yiddish
tion of Palestinophiles (the name for secondary school, a private elementary
proto-Zionist activists) in Katowice. In school, and an amateur theatre. The
1904, a self-defence organisation was religious community also maintained
organized here to prevent pogroms. a nursing home.

Yechiel Michael Pines (1843, Ruzhany – 1913, Jaffa) – a religious and Zion-
ist activist, writer, and teacher, proponent of religious Zionism (called Mizrahi
movemement, in modern-day Israel – a national religious camp). He advocated
multiple Jewish reforms, particularly educational, but thought that the religious
life of the Jews should be left intact. He taught at the yeshiva in Ruzhany inspiring
religious students with the idea of a settlement in the land of Israel. In 1878, having
arrived in Jerusalem as a representative of the London-based Montefiore Foun-
dation, he studied the possibilities of enlarging Jewish presence in Palestine. He
was one of the founders of the association Thiyat Israel (Heb.: The Rebirth of the
Jewish People), the aim of which was to make Hebrew a colloquial language. He
also served as a superintendent of charities run by the Ashkenazi Jewish popula-
tion in Eretz Israel. Pines’s works were published posthumously in three volumes in
1934–1939. The Israeli settlement (moshav) Kefar Pines was named in his honour. 445
 translator, and the writer Zelig Sher
(Shereshevsky) (1888–1971), the author
of many books and memoirs in Yiddish.
Sher studied at the yeshivot in Ruzhany
and Slonim and learnt the weaving trade
in Vilnius. He was an active member of
the Socialist Zionist movement (Poalei
Zion). After emigrating to the USA in
1909, he started to publish articles and
short stories in American newspapers
and magazines. During World War I,
Sher served in the American army and
fought on the French front, where he
was wounded. When he returned, his
short stories – both those about the
war and others – began to appear in
Jewish American periodicals: Forverts,
Der Tog, and others, and the author
himself became one of the editors of Di
Tseit. Melech Epstein (1889–1979) had
The renovated Writers ¶ One of the descendants of a similar history. He was a historian,
main gate and rebuilt
guardhouses of the
the Jews from Ruzhany executed during a journalist writing for the Forverts
Sapieha Palace in the ritual murder trial was Meir Kryński (Yid.: Forward), Der Tog (Yid.: Day),
Ruzhany, 2014. Photo by
Siergiej Piwowarczyk,
(1863–1916), a teacher, and an author and Morgen Fraykhait (Yid.: Morn-
digital collection of the of textbooks both in Hebrew and in ing Freedom), an activist involved in
“Grodzka Gate – NN trade unions, socialist parties, and the
Theatre” Centre (www.
Yiddish. He founded the first illustrated
teatrnn.pl) periodical devoted to literature and art Communist Party of the USA, which
Exhibition at the
published in Yiddish, Roman Tseitung he left in August 1939, after the USSR
museum in the Sapieha (Yid.: A Gazette of Stories, 1906–1907), and Nazi Germany signed the Molotov-
palace complex in and was a co-founder of the Folkist Ribbenthrop Pact. Twenty years later,
Ruzhany, 2014. Photo by
Siergiej Piwowarczyk, daily Der Moment (Yid.: The Moment), he described his experience with the
digital collection of the perhaps the most widely read Yiddish Communist Party in the book titled
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www. newspaper with circulation about 40,000 The Jew and Communism. The Story of
teatrnn.pl) copies. He was buried at the Jewish Early Communist Victories and Ultimate
cemetery in Warsaw. Ruzhany was also Defeats in the Jewish Community, U.S.A.,
the hometown of Aharon Libuszy- 1919–1941.
cki (1874–1942), a Hebrew poet and

Yitzhak Shamir (Jaziernicki) (1915–2012) – an Israeli politician, who served

twice as Israeli Prime Minister. In 1935, he emigrated from Ruzhany to Palestine.
Ruzhany

Besides the prime ministership, he held a number of other senior political posi-
tions: in the Mossad (Israeli Intelligence Service), in the Herut (a political party
446
whose priority was to establish a Jewish
state encompassing the entire historical
territory of Israel), and in the Knesset.

World War II and the Holocaust

¶ After the outbreak of World War II,
Ruzhany was initially captured by
the Red Army. The Jewish population
swelled due to the influx of several thou-
sand refugees from the areas occupied
by the Third Reich. The Soviets deported
most of them to the distant regions of The synagogue complex ¶ At Matzevot at the Jewish
cemetery in Ruzhany,
the Soviet Union such as Siberia and 6 Jakuba Kolasa Street in Ruzhany, 2014. Photo by Siergiej
Kazakhstan, but some remained in the synagogue building has survived, Piwowarczyk, digital col-
lection of the “Grodzka
Ruzhany. With the beginning of the established probably towards the end Gate – NN Theatre”
Nazi occupation (in July 1941), a tribute of the 19th century, to the design of Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)
payment and forced labour duty were Samuel Becker, the court architect of the
imposed on the Ruzhany Jews; the Jews Sapiehas. A two-storey brick building
were forced to wear bands with the word with a main prayer room, it was in use
“Jude” on their right arms. The Nazis until 1940, when it was closed down by
established the ghetto that existed for the Soviet authorities. The building is
a short time only. As early as Novem- currently in a state of ruin, but a stone
ber 2, 1941, Jews from the ghetto were bimah has survived. Next to the syna-
transported to the Treblinka death camp. gogue stands the building of the former
The entire urban center of Ruzhany, yeshivah, opened around the 1840s. In
where the ghetto was located, was burnt 1855–1888, the rabbi of Ruzhany was
down. ¶ In 1965, an obelisk was erected Mordechai Jaffe (1820–1891), one of the
in Ruzhany to commemorate the victims illustrious pioneers of the first aliyah in
of the Nazis; as it was routinely done in 1888.
the USSR, the inscription on the memo-
rial mentioned only the peaceful “Soviet The Jewish cemetery ¶ There is
citizens,” and purposefully neglected the a Jewish cemetery with more than 200
fact that a majority of the victims were surviving matzevot in Tchyrvonarm-
Jews. ieiskaia Street. The oldest ones date
back to the first half of 17th century,
Traces of Jewish presence ¶ which means they are among the oldest
Numerous houses built before the war preserved matzevot in Belarus.
by the Jewish inhabitants of the town
remain till this date; one of them is
the former pharmacy. The local his-
tory museum exhibition in the partly
restored castle has a section devoted to
the Jews of Ruzhany. 447
 Worth Synagogue complex Ruzhany
seeing (18th–19th c.), the former
synagogue and yeshivah,
6 J. Kolasa St. ¶ Jewish
cemetery (17th c.). ¶ Cas-
tle, formerly the residence
of the Sapieha family
(16th c.), Pianierskaya St.
¶ Holy Trinity Church
(1617), Tchyrvonoarm-
ieiskaia St. ¶ Orthodox
Church of Sts. Peter and
Paul (1675), 2 17 Veras-
nia Sq. ¶ Former Basilian
monastery (1788). ¶
Church of St. Casimir
(1792). ¶ Former inn (2nd
half of the 18th c.), Tchy-
rvonoarmieiskaia St.

Surrounding Lyskava (20 km): ruins

area of a synagogue (early
20th c.); a Jewish cemetery
with about 150 matzevot;
the Orthodox Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God (1933); the former missionary
monastery (1763–1785); Franciszek Karpiński’s grave; Holy Trinity Church. ¶ Kosava-
Paleskaie (26 km): the Pusłowski Palace (1838); Orthodox Church of St. Anthony (18th c.);
the Church of the Most Holy Trinity (1878); a Jewish cemetery; the manor house in Mera-
chovshina in which Tadeusz Kościuszko was born. ¶ Izabelin (38 km): the former stone
synagogue (18th c.); the rabbi’s wooden house (early 20th c.); a Jewish cemetery; Church of
Sts. Peter and Paul (1778); tombstones connected with the history of Lithuanian Calvinism);
Orthodox Church of St. Michael (late 18th c.). ¶ Ivatsevichy (38 km): the manor house of
the Gołuchowski and Jundźwiłł families (18th c.); a memorial at the grave of World War II
victims; a plaque commemorating the designation of a triangulation point that was part of
the Struve Geodetic Arc in 1830, established to mark and measure the meridian. ¶ Porazava
(42 km): a brick synagogue, currently a warehouse; the old and new Jewish cemeteries;
Church of St. Michael Archangel (1825–1828); Holy Trinity Orthodox Church (1872); the
manor house in the Bogudzięki estate (19th/20th c.); a Catholic cemetery with a chapel
(1894). ¶ Vawkavysk (49 km): a Jewish cemetery, a collection of documents and ephemera
from the Vawkavysk ghetto at the Vawkavysk War and History Museum in the manor house
Ruzhany

called Bagration’s House; Castle Hill (14th c.); St. Wenceslaus Church (1841); St. Nicholas
Orthodox Church (1847); January insurgents’ cemetery. ¶ Bronnaya Gora (50 km): a memo-
448 rial at the site of the extermination of more than 50,000 people, mostly Jewish.
Haradzishcha
Pol. Horodyszcze, Bel. Гарадзішча, Fejga’s shop was the prominent one – the largest and the
Yid. ‫האָראָדישטש‬ richest, where you could buy chocolate, sweetmeats, and
Glauber’s salt. At Fejga’s you could hear the latest gossip
from the vicinity of Haradzishcha.
Translated from: Jan Bułhak, Kraj lat dziecinnych
(The Land of Childhood), Gdańsk 2003

Origins ¶ Haradzishcha, on the town, including 2,108 Jews (80 percent).

Servetsh River, is mentioned for the During World War I, Haradzishcha came
first time in written sources in 1413 under the German occupation. The
as a settlement in the Grand Duchy of front line coincided with the Servetsh
Lithuania. Some local scholars believe River. During the occupation, many
that Haradzishcha was actually the photographs were taken that recorded
legendary Voruta, the capital of the the almost complete destruction of
Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the times Haradzishcha. The 1828 population was
of its first Grand Duke, Mindaugas. only one-third of the pre-1914 popula-
In 1506, the Niemirowicz family, who tion: 1,021 residents, including 760 Jews.
owned Haradzishcha, defeated Tatar
forces nearby. Their Tatar captives sub- The Jews of Haradzishcha ¶ In
sequently formed the Tatar community the 18th century, Haradzishcha changed
of Haradzishcha. A Muslim cemetery its official status from a grand-ducal
(mizar) survived in town, and one of the residence to a town. The town received
streets until recently was called Tatarska the privilege allowing for regular market
Street (currently it is Praletarskaia St.). fairs, due to which the town attracted
In the second half of the 16th century, craftsmen, traders, and merchants,
the then owners of Haradzishcha – the including Jews. The Jewish community
noble family of Chodkiewicz – con- of Haradzishcha numbered 422 people
verted from Orthodox Christianity in 1766, and 277 people in 1834, which
to Catholicism, leaving the Orthodox amounted to nearly a half of the town
churches they had established. The new population. In 1840, Jews owned 48
owner, Trojan Piotrowski, built a Calvin- houses which were inhabited by 55 fami-
ist church that was later converted into lies. At that time, the town was home
a Catholic church and then again back to the families of craftsmans Michel
into an Orthodox Church: since 1868, it Krolowitz and Chaim Gudamovich,
has functioned as Holy Trinity Orthodox tavern keepers Beniamin Bogatun and
Church. ¶ At the turn of the 19th and Shmoila Vonkhadlo, butcher Mendel
20th century, 2,631 people lived in the Molchadsky and others. The Jews lived 449
 Wooden buildings in
Haradzishcha, 1936.
Photo by Henryk
Poddębski, collection of
the Institute of Art of
the Polish Academy of
Sciences (PAN)

in the centre of the town. In the main also had its own mohel, who performed
street (formerly Nowogrodzka, now circumcisions, and a kosher butcher.
Edunova St.), several early 20th-century In the second half of the 19th century,
wooden residential buildings have sur- a brick synagogue was built in the centre
vived. ¶ In 1852, a wooden synagogue of the town. There were also four prayer
and a wooden beth mid were established. houses. In Soviet times the synagogue

„
The community’s rabbi at that time was building housed a community centre,
Hirsch Vonkhadlo. The community but it was pulled down in 1999.

The legend about Marshal Piłsudski saved by a Jew ¶ During

the Polish-Soviet Russia War of 1919–1920, Józef Piłsudski was hiding from
the Bolsheviks and found himself in the vicinity of Haradzishcha. Legend has it that
a Jew by the name of Lickiewicz from Haradzishcha (or, according to a different version,
from the village of Arabovshchina, which is part of the Haradzishcha district) saved his
life. ¶ The Jew disguised Piłsudski in his wife’s female jacket and told him to milk the cow.
After the danger was over, Lickiewicz led the commander to his unit. Piłsudski gave the
Jew a Vilnius-style sukmana (a peasant coat) as a reward, and a few years later he sent
him a permanent pass to the Belweder – the Warsaw residence of Poland’s leader. When
Lickiewicz visited Warsaw, Piłsudski, already the Chief of State, gave him money, with
which he built a steam mill that worked in the village of Arabovshchina until the 1980s. ¶
Translated from: Tomasz Krzywicki, Szlakiem Adama Mickiewicza po Nowogródczyznie,
Wilnie i Kownie (Following the Footsteps of Adam Mickiewicz Through the Land of
Navahrudak, Vilnius, and Kaunas), 2006.
Haradzishcha

World War II and the Holo- Belorussia, the territory of which had
caust ¶ In September 1939, a wave been seized by the Red Army. In August
450 of refugees flooded into western 1940, 1,337 refugees were registered
in Haradzishcha. The size of the Jew- 1943, about 4,000 local inhabitants were Church, school, and
holiday centre in
ish community increased to nearly killed, many of them Jews. Haradzishcha, 1930s.
3,000 people. Some were arrested and Photo by Paweł Sańko,
digital collection of the
deported deep into the USSR. At the The Koldichevo camp ¶ In the “Grodzka Gate – NN
beginning of 1940, a school teaching village of Koldichevo, six kilometers Theatre” Centre (www.
from Haradzishcha, a Nazi death camp teatrnn.pl)
in Yiddish was opened. The German
occupation began on July 10, 1941; only functioned from March 1942 until
a few days after the Germans arrived, June 1944. More than 22,000 people
a ghetto was established and executions were killed there – mostly Jews, but
of the local Jews began. On October also Roma, Belarusians, and Poles. ¶
20–21, 1941, after an SS unit arrived In 1964, a memorial was established to
in the town, more than 1,500 Jews the victims of fascism, the inmates of
from Haradzishcha were shot at the the Koldichevo camp. An inscription
Pohorelce forest wilderness and in the reading “to the victims of the Holocaust”
Michnovshtchina Forest, both just a few was added in 1994. In 2007, near the
kilometres from the town. The victims former entrance into the camp, on the
included several dozen representa- road from Baranovichi to Navahrudak,
tives of the local intelligentsia: doctors, a memorial to the victims of Koldichevo
teachers, and lawyers. Further liquida- was unveiled. Three religious symbols
tion operations were carried out in the were placed on it: a Star of David, an
Haradzishcha ghetto in spring and sum- Orthodox cross, and a Catholic cross.

„
mer 1942. During the German occupa- The memorial also includes a plaque
tion, which lasted until December 24, commemorating the Roma killed here.

A diary from the Warsaw Ghetto, written by Chaim Kaplan,

born in Haradzishcha ¶ Chaim Kaplan, the author of one of the four
diaries written in the Warsaw Ghetto that have survived, was born in Haradzishcha in 451
 1880. In 1905, he moved to Warsaw, where
he set up one of the first primary schools
teaching in Hebrew, which he ran for the
next 34 years. He authored Hebrew Gram-
mar (New York 1926), a Haggadah with
commentary (New York, 1927), and an
anthology of articles on Jewish educa-
tion and pedagogy (Warsaw, 1937). His
Warsaw Ghetto diary covered the period
from September 1, 1939 to August 4, 1942.
Chaim Kaplan was murdered in Treblinka,
probably towards the end of 1942 or at
the beginning of 1943. The diary was first
published in English in 1965, under the
title Scroll of Agony.

Traces of Jewish presence ¶

Haradzishcha’s cemeteries bear witness
to the many ethnicities and religious
groups that contributed to the history of
this place. Orthodox, Catholic, Jewish,
and Tatar cemeteries were located in
different parts of the town. The wooden
houses along the streets of Haradzish-
cha, standing on the high foundations
where there used to be Jewish shops,
give the town a special atmosphere.

Worth Traditional architecture (19th–20th c.), Edunowa St. (formerly Nowogrodzka St.). ¶ Jew-
seeing ish cemetery (18th c.), Naberezhnaia St. ¶ Catholic Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(18th c.), Mickiewicza St. ¶ Orthodox Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (1764),
a wooden church, reconstructed in the early 20th c., 28 17 Verasnia St.

Surrounding Wrzątek Spring: a non-freezing hot-water spring near the village of Jasieniec. ¶ Koldichevo
area (6 km): a memorial at the site of the Koldichevo death camp (1942–1944); foundations
of the prison within the camp; the remains of the Szalewicz family manor park. ¶ Zaosie
(12 km): the wooden manor house in which the poet Adam Mickiewicz was born and
lived, currently a museum. ¶ Lake Świteź (16 km): a 1.5 sq. km lake that inspired Adam
Haradzishcha

Mickiewicz’s ballad Świtezianka. ¶ Molchad (25 km): a synagogue (19th/20th c.); a former

Jewish inn; a Jewish cemetery with approx. 150 matzevot; a memorial at Popowe Hill forest
wilderness; the Orthodox Church of Sts. Peter and Paul. ¶ Baranovichi (28 km): two former
452 synagogues, currently a vet clinic and a residential building (19th c.); two yeshivas, currently
 Old settlement in
Haradzishcha. From the
11th to the 13th c. this
was the town of Mind-
augas, the first King of
Lithuania, 2014. Photo
by Tamara Vershitskaya,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)

Former Jewish
school buildings; a Jewish cemetery with two memorials; the Orthodox Church of the Holy street in Haradzishcha
(formerly Nowogrodzka
Myrrh-Bearing Women; the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (1924); the Ortho- St., now Edunova St.),
dox Church of the Protection of the Mother of God (1921); a fire station from the times of 2014. Photo by Tamara
Vershitskaya, digital col-
the Second Polish Republic; the manor houses of the Królewski and Razwodowski families; lection of the “Grodzka
the buildings of a post office, a bank, and the municipal slaughterhouse; civil servants’ Gate – NN Theatre”
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)
housing estate (circa 1925); a collection of Judaica at the Local History Museum. ¶ Novaia
Mysh (29 km): a former synagogue, currently a community centre; a former rabbinical Memorial in the
village of Koldichevo,
school; a brick-built inn; a neo-Gothic distillery building; a Jewish cemetery with Rabbi dedicated to the 22,000
Yechiel Musher’s ohel; a memorial to the victims of an execution in the forest by the road to Christians, Jews, and
Roma murdered in the
Kazliakevichy; the Church of the Transfiguration (1825) with baroque interior decorations Koldichevo death camp,
moved from Nesvizh; an Orthodox church (1859); an interwar Polish school; the remains of 2014. Photo by Paweł
Sańko, digital collection
a Polish cemetery (19th c.); of the “Grodzka Gate
Chodkiewicz Castle for- – NN Theatre” Centre
Haradzishcha (www.teatrnn.pl)
tification walls; remains
of the manor alley. ¶ A matzeva at the
Jewish cemetery in
Liakhavichy (45 km): the Haradzishcha, 2014.
birthplace of Jakub Szynk- Photo by Tamara
Vershitskaya, digital col-
iewicz (1884–1966), the lection of the “Grodzka
Great Mufti of Polish Gate – NN Theatre”
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)
Tatars, who rendered
great services to that Remnants of the
Koldichevo death camp,
community (1884–1966); 2014. Photo by Paweł
a former synagogue, Sańko, digital collection
of the “Grodzka Gate
currently a tinned-food – NN Theatre” Centre
factory (late 19th c.); (www.teatrnn.pl)
brick Jewish houses (early
20th c.); a monument at
the site of Chodkiewicz
Castle; Church of St.
Joseph (1910); a Catholic
and Orthodox cemetery
with ruins of chapels.

453
 Mir
Bel. Мір, Yid. ‫מיר‬ Here the people saunter along at a very
slow pace. Life in Mir does not exactly have
the hustle and bustle of New York City!
Ruchoma Shain, All for the Boss,
Jerusalem 1984

Beginnings ¶ The first mention of surrounded the marketplace: a wooden

Mir dates back to 1395, when the town mosque (not preserved), the synagogue
was burnt by the crusading Teutonic complex, the Holy Trinity Orthodox
Knights on their Christianization mis- Church, and St. Nicholas’ Catholic
sion through the towns of Lida and Church. ¶ Mir became famous thanks
Navahrudak. In 1486, Mir became the to its castle and a park complex – a 16th-
property of the Illinicz family and then century architectural monument. Built
in 1569, of the Radziwiłłs. In 1579, in the Gothic and Renaissance styles, the
Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwiłł gave the castle belonged to the families of Illinicz
local dwellers the privilege allowing for (1568), Radziwiłł (until 1828), Wittgen-
producing and selling mead, beer, and stein (until 1891) and Świętopełk-Mirski
vodka. The multi-cultural character (until 1939). In 2000, Mir Castle was
of the town at that time was reflected included in the UNESCO World Heritage
in various religious buildings that List.

In the second half of the 18th century, Mir was known as the “Gypsy capital”: it
was home to Jan Marcinkiewicz, a Gypsy king of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, to

„
whom Karol Radziwiłł (nicknamed “My Dear Sir”, Pol. Panie Kochanku) in 1787,
granted the privilege of the chief judge over all the Gypsies residing in the area.

There are five main streets. […] The entire town is no larger than an area of five
or six city blocks on the East Side of New York, with a population of five hundred
Jewish families […]. The river is used by the people to swim in during the warm weather.
Clothes are also washed at the river bank in the spring and summer months. […] The
electricity is controlled by the town electrician, who switches on the lights before nightfall
and off at midnight. I had noticed that on most evenings our light bulb goes off and then
on again at around the same time. To my surprise, I learned that the electrician uses this
as a signal to alert his wife that he will be coming home shortly for his evening meal! ¶
Mir

Ruchoma Shain, All for the Boss, 1984.

454
 Yeshiva students, Mir,
photo published on 23
January 1925, collection
of the YIVO Institute for
Jewish Research

The Jews of Mir ¶ The Jewish com- products. These fancy goods available
munity of Mir was established at the in Mir for sale gave rise to a saying, “she
beginning of the 17th century and grew has already gone to Mir,” referring to
rapidly, soon receiving its own jurisdic- a woman who was getting ready for mar-
tion (earlier the Jews of Mir had been riage: it meant that she was preparing her
under the jurisdiction of the Nesvizh dowry and purchasing fancy commodi-
kahal) as well as membership in the ties. ¶ The Jews of Mir enjoyed a repu-
Lithuanian Vaad. Mir Jewish commu- tation as outstanding craftsmen who
nity hosted several Vaad conventions: – according to Ruchoma Shain – “[…]
in 1697, 1702, and in 1751. In the early could turn an old thing into a new one
18th century, the town was a major trade so well that even in Paris nobody dreamt
centre, developing thanks to Jewish mer- about it.” ¶ In 1806, the Jewish popula-
chants and their fur trade with Leipzig tion of Mir numbered 807 (including 30
and with the Baltic ports such as Königs- merchants and 106 tailors); in 1833, it
berg and Memel. Mir was also the site of stood at 1,583 (75.5 percent of the town’s
many annual fairs and weekly markets; population), in 1847 – at 2,273, and in
its St. Nicholas Fairs, for example, held 1897 – at 3,319 (about 62 percent of the
twice a year (on 9 May and 6 December) town’s population). Most Jews worked as
and lasting 2–3 weeks each, were famous craftsmen and tradesmen; some of them
for horse trade. ¶ Local stores in Mir were wealthy merchants with extensive
enjoyed high sales: in 1822, 18 stores had trade contacts, as can be seen in the
a turnover of 100 to 900 roubles (approx. 1832 records of the Leipzig fair, which
323 roubles per store, which was a price listed several residents of Mir. The Jews
of a very fancy house or a drive-in tavern of Mir were also involved in industry.
in a shtetl). As a Polish romantic poet In 1839, a cloth factory that belonged to
Władysław Syrokomla noted, the stores guild merchant Mejer Czarny produced
were full of high-quality cotton and silk 3,200 pieces of cloth worth 2,400 roubles. 455
 Additionally, Mejer Czarny leased Prince
Wittgenstein’ s cloth factory.

In 1814, in his petition to the Governor

of Grodno, merchant Boruch Czarny
requested a reward for his services: “In
July 1812, when foreign troops invaded
our borders, I served under Count Pla-
tov, taking part in various expeditions
to find out the enemy’s location and
other information. This task I carried
out, risking my own life. In return, Count
Platov promised to present me to His
Imperial Majesty for a decoration. But
due to the rapid retreat of our troops,
I was left without a written confirmation
of whether or not Count Platov fulfilled
his promise. The enemy seized all my
property and house in Mir, where I live,
and even threatened to kill me.” It is
not known if the petition was success-
Mir Castle, 1930s, ful, although this was one of many petitions of the Russian Jewish guold merchants
collection of the
National Library, Poland
who purveyed the Russian army with fodder and victuals during the campaign
(www.polona.pl) against Napoleon’s invasion and served as spies in the Russian army interests.
The yeshiva in Mir,
circa 1920, collection According to the data collected in 1834 “cold”, and next to it there is a “warm”
of Mir Castle Complex
Archives
by the provincial administration, Mir house of study – beth midrash. There
– with its 2,198 Jewish residents – had are four small brick prayer houses, all of
the following Jewish institutions and which have been in existence for about
officials: five shuls; eight temporary 200 years, but there is no information or
shuls, eight elementary schools for Jew- documents about when and by whom
ish children; as well as eight cantors, five they were founded. The number of the
trumpet players, two town rabbis, two observant Jews is 1,520.” The synagogue
other rabbinic scholars with ordina- complex was located in the town centre
tion but without a communal rank, one close to the marketplace, on a plot that
lawyer, five judges, five experts in Torah belonged to the Jewish community.
recitation, three kosher butchers, and six This place was called a school court or
mohalim (specialists in circumcision). szkolisko (Rus.: школище); the latter
The 1853 data on synagogues and Jewish name is still remembered by the oldest
prayer houses included the following inhabitants of Mir. ¶ In 1886, the town
information: “[…] in the town of Mir had eight shuls, including two Hasidic
Mir

there is one synagogue and five prayer ones. All of them were destroyed in a fire
456 houses. The synagogue is wooden and on August 9, 1892.
Philosopher ¶ Solomon (Shlomo) a long journey, unsuccessful attempts
Maimon (Heiman ben Yehoshua, to settle in Berlin, and an attempt to get
1753–1800), the famous radical rational- baptised, he returned to Berlin, where
ist philosopher and educator and one of he dedicated himself to the study of Kant
the most insightful commentators and philosophy, to which he dedicated his
critics of Immanuel Kant, was born in first book Transcendental Philosophy
the village of Suchowyborg near Mir. (1790). Kant saw and highly assessed
He attended a cheder in Mir and then Maimon’s work, emphasizing that none of
studied at the yeshiva in the town of his critics understood his philosophy as
Ivyanets. Already at the age of 11 he was profoundly as Maimon did. Kant’s remark
considered an yilui (a genius) in the influenced the Maimon’s life – he started
rabbinic sources, memorized several publishing philosophical books and
tractates of the Talmud, and was a sought articles as well as works on mathematical
after groom. He had his and his bride’s physics and algebra, which were appreci-
parents arranging his marriage, and three ated by Goethe, Schiller, Humboldt, and
years later he became a father. Maimon other outstanding European thinkers and
supported his family by giving private scientists. In scholarly literature, Maimon
lessons in the nearby towns. In his spare is referred to as a German, Polish, or Jew-
time, he studied Jewish philosophy, ish philosopher, although he spent most
European languages, drawing, natural of his life in Belorussia. It is in Belorussia
sciences, and Kabbalah. Around the early where his worldview was formed, where
1770s, his spiritual quest brought him to he discovered books with Latin script,
Maggid of Mezherich, then the head of where he read his first scientific books
the first Hasidic court and study group; by Enlightened thinkers, Jewish and
his account of his visit became one of the Gentile, and where he began his literary
earliest outside sources on the grow- and scientific work. Published in Berlin
ing Hasidic movement, which Maimon in 1793, Maimon’s autobiography (Leb-
described accurately yet critically. The ensgeschichte) constitutes an important
next direction of his quest was Berlin. source of information about the history of

„
Maimon travelled to Prussia, leaving Belarusian Jews, the Haskalah, and early
behind his wife and family. In 1786, after Hasidism.

From childhood I had a great inclination and talent for drawing. True, I had in
my father’s house never a chance of seeing a work of art, but I found on the title
page of some Hebrew books woodcuts of foliage, birds, and so forth. I felt great pleasure in
these woodcuts, and made an effort to imitate them with a bit of chalk and charcoal. How-
ever, what strengthened this inclination in me still more was a Hebrew book of fables […].
My father indeed admired my skill in this, but rebuked me at the same time in these words,
“You want to become a painter? You are to study the Talmud, and become a rabbi. Who
understands the Talmud, understands everything.” ¶ Solomon Maimon, Autobiography

The shtetl of Mir was home to many and statesmen as well as social, cultural,
well-known Jewish scholars, politicians, and religious activists. These included: 457
 Zalman Shazar (1889–1947) – a scholar,
writer and journalist, an active Zionist,
the third president of Israel; Naftali Zvi
Yehuda Berlin (1817–1893) – one of the
leading rabbis of his generation, head of
the world-famous yeshivah in Volozhyn;
and Heinrich Sliozberg (1863–1937) –

„
an outstanding Russian-Jewish lawyer
and social activist.

Five hundred young Jewish boys

bent over books were silently
repeating the words of the Torah. Their
combined whisper sounded like a tide,
like a fresh gust of wind filling the sail. ¶
Ruchoma Shain, All for the Boss, 1984.

students from around the world: Great

Britain, Holland, France, Germany,
Sweden, America, Canada, South Africa,
and other countries. ¶ Following the
Exhibition at the Yeshivah ¶ The year 1815 saw the generally accepted tradition, yeshiva
castle in Mir devoted
to the ghetto, 2014.
opening of one of the most famous students ate their meals in the houses of
Photo by Paweł Sańko, Jewish institutions of higher learning, the town’s well-to-do residents, engag-
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
the Mir yeshivah, today one of the most ing their hosts in academic discussions,
Theatre” Centre (www. famous Talmudic academies. Founded which often ended in a successful
teatrnn.pl) marriage between a talented student
by Rabbi Shmuel Tiktiń (or Tiktinski), it
Former Jewish enjoyed an exceptionally high reputation and a rich man’s daughter. The students
houses in 17-ha Vier- were important for the town economy
asnia St. in Mir, 2014.
from its earliest days, and in terms of the
Photo by Paweł Sańko, number of students it was second only because the town residents earned their
digital collection of the to the Volozhyn yeshiva. It earned itself living by providing various services to
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www. the name of “The Yeshivah of Roshei them (renting rooms, doing laundry,
teatrnn.pl) [Heads of] Yeshivahs,” since most future etc). Students were also the main cus-
teachers and leaders of the Lithuanian tomers of small stores and craft shops.
Talmudic academies studied there. At ¶ Mir is remembered by students as
the head of the Mir yeshiva were emi- “[…] a town consisting of five streets,
nent figures such as: Yeruham Leibovitz where you meet friends wherever you
(1874–1936), Chaim Leib Tiktiński go […].” The American Ruchoma Shain,
(1824–1899), and Eliezer Yehuda Finkel the American-born wife of a Mir yeshiva
(1879–1965). This educational estab- student, wrote in her memoirs: “[…]
lishment brought together important I am impressed with the custom of wives
Mir

Jewish religious authorities, and in its supporting their families to permit their
458 heyday it accommodated about 500 husbands to devote all their time to
Torah study. In addition, they brought in 1803 and created a blueprint for all
up children and ran the house. Is it any other yeshivahs in Lithuania, including
wonder that they knew everything and that of Mir. After the Volozhin yeshiva
could do everything in the world?” ¶ was forcefuly shut down, the Mir yeshiva
The Mir yeshiva was the second only to took its place and kept its position until
Volozhyn yeshiva, which was established World War II.

After Mir was incorporated into the USSR in 1939, the yeshiva was relocated
to Vilnius. Its students managed to escape the Holocaust, fleeing to Shang-
hai with visas issued by Chiune Sugihara, Consul for the Empire of Japan in
Kovno (Kaunas). Sugihara was later awarded the title of a “Righteous Gen-
tile” for rescuing Jews. After World War II, branches of the Mir yeshivot were
founded in New York and Jerusalem. At present, the Jerusalem-based Mir
Yeshivah boasts over 8,500 students, it is the largest yeshiva in the world.

World War II and the Holocaust was later moved to the Mir Castle. On
¶ In September 1939, Mir was annexed August 9, 1942, members of the Jewish
to the Belorussian Soviet Socialist underground organised an escape from
Republic. When the Nazis captured the ghetto after Oswald Rufeisen, a town
the town on June 27, 1941, about 1,500 police interpreter, warned the Jews about
Jews were executed immediately while the Nazi plans to liquidate it. Those who
others were confined in a ghetto, which remained were killed on August 13, 1942.

The Story of Oswald Rufeisen ¶ The story of Aaron Shmuel (Oswald

Rufeisen; b. 1922, Żywiec – d. 1998, Haifa), a Jew who became a Catholic
priest and Carmelite monk is dramatic. Together with several Mir ghetto pris-
oners, he fled the ghetto the day before the mass shooting in June 1941. Once
outside, Rufeisen passed himself off as a  Volksdeutcher. In December 1941,
Serafinowicz, the head of Mir police, offered him the position of an inter-
preter. In June 1942, Rufeisen warned the ghetto prisoners of the planned
Aktion; he helped them to get weapons and organise an escape. However, not
all Jews in the ghetto trusted him, and he was given away. He was arrested,
but miraculously managed to escape and returned to Mir. For ten months he
lived hidden by four nuns, and it was then that he converted into Catholi-
cism. After the war, he moved to Israel, where he was ordained as a Catholic
priest. As a priest, he settled in the Discalced Carmelites’ monastery on Mount
Carmel and worked as a tour guide. ¶ He became a protagonist for Daniel
Stein, Interpreter, a popular Russian novel by Ludmila Ulitskaya. The author
borrowed the main facts of Rufeisen’s biography from the book In the Lion’s
Den. The Life of Oswald Rufeisen, by the American author Nechama Tec.

Cemeteries ¶ There are four cemeter- beliefs of its inhabitants (Orthodox,

ies in the town, reflecting the religious Catholic, Tatar, and Jewish). The Jewish 459
 da’at, hokhmah u-mussar (The Book of
Knowledge, Wisdom, and Ethics) and
Sefer da’at torah (The Book of Torah
Knowledge). His recently reconstructed
grave draws Jewish pilgrims from
around the world.

Traces of Jewish presence ¶ The

only synagogue complex that has been
preserved in Belarus is located at Kirava
St. in Mir. It consists of a synagogue,
a beth midrash, a kahal building, and
a yeshivah. Other surviving buildings
connected with the Jewish community
include: a cheder, a mikveh, a pharmacy,
and a Jewish bank. Many items con-
nected with Mir history and culture
can be found in the museum “Mirskij
Posad” privately run by Victor Sakel. The
museum is located near the synagogue
complex in a former inn. One of its
New yeshiva cemetery is located in the northeastern rooms is entirely devoted to the history
building in Mir, 2014.
Photo by Paweł Sańko,
part of the town, at Pionierskaia St. The of Mir Jews (it has a collection of Jewish
digital collection of the cemetery is fenced, with an entrance religious items, books and magazines in
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
through an open gate. During the Nazi Yiddish, musical instruments, and eve-
teatrnn.pl) occupation, many of its gravestones ryday objects). ¶ The Mir Castle hosts
The shulhoyf
were stolen and used for construction a branch of the National Art Museum of
(synagogue complex) purposes. Several hundred gravestones the Republic of Belarus. It includes 39
in Mir, with the main permanent exhibitions, one of which is
synagogue and the
have survived to this day. A narrow path
merchants’ synagogue, to the left of the entrance leads to the devoted to the life of the Jewish com-
2014. Photo by Paweł grave of Yeruham hа-Levi Leibovitz, son munity of Mir, especially the Holocaust
Sańko, digital collection
of the “Grodzka Gate of Abram, known as Mashgiah (here – period. The tragic events of the Holo-
– NN Theatre” Centre spiritual supervisor, d. 1936). He was caust are commemorated with obelisks
(www.teatrnn.pl)
a lecturer at the Mir yeshiva and the at the mass graves of ghetto prisoners.
author of religious books including Sefer

Worth Formergreat synagogue complex (19th c.), Kirava St. ¶ Victor Sakel’s “Mirskiy Posad”
seeing Museum, located in a former inn, 2 Kirava St. ¶ Former synagogue (19th c.), 1-ha Maya
Ave. ¶ Jewish cemetery,Savetskaia St. ¶ Catholic cemetery, Leninhradskaia St. ¶ Orthodox
cemetery. ¶ Tatar cemetery. ¶ Castle (16th–18th c.) with a museum, in which one of the
exhibitions is dedicated to the life and death of the Jewish community of Mir, 2 Chyrvono-
Mir

armieyskaya St. ¶ Church of St. Nicholas (end of the 16th c.–early 17th c.) 1-ha Maya St. ¶
460 Holy Trinity Orthodox Church (16th–19th c.), 17-ha Vierasnia St.
Turets (14 km): the Orthodox Church of the Protection of the Mother of God (1888); Surrounding
a Jewish cemetery with a few matzevot and a monument. ¶ Stowbtsy (21 km): a former area
synagogue, currently a factory (19th c.); a mikveh; Church of St. Anne (1825); the remains of
two clerical colonies (circa 1925); the Mickiewicz family manor house in Okinchitsy – the
birthplace of Jakub Kolas, one of the founders of Belorussian literature; a Jewish cemetery
with about 200 matzevot; a memorial to the victims of World War II. ¶ Novy Sverzhen
(23 km): synagogue ruins; the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul; the Orthodox Church of the
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; a watermill; a cemetery of Polish soldiers from
1919–1920; a Jewish cemetery. ¶ Ishkaldz’ (23 km): Holy Trinity Church – the oldest church
in Belarus (circa 1472); ¶ Nesvizh (31 km): Radziwiłł Castle, currently a museum; Corpus
Christi Church with the tombs of the Radziwiłł family (1587–1593); a Jesuit college (1586);
Slutsk Gate (1690); a town hall with market halls (1752); a manor-style clerical colony
(1925); a Benedictine convent and Church of St. Euphemia (1590–1596); a Bernardine
monastery; the wooden yeshiva building; a grave of Holocaust victims at the municipal
cemetery. ¶ Kletsk (50 km): a Dominican monastery (1693); the former Dominican Church
of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, currently the Resurrection of Christ Ortho-
dox Church (1683); a watch tower of the Border Protection Corps (1924–1925); a former
yeshivah (19th/20th c.); a Jewish cemetery. ¶ Dzyarzhynsk / Koidanov (59 km): a site of mass
executions during World War II; a former yeshiva (1892); the Orthodox Church of the Pro-
tection of Our Lady; Church of St. Anne. ¶ Uzda (64 km): a former synagogue (19th/20th c.);
a former mikveh (19th c.); the former Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross; the burial
chapel of the Zawisza family; a Tatar cemetery (mizar); the Orthodox Church of Sts. Peter
and Paul ¶ Kapyl (65 km): the birthplace of the classic Yiddish author Mendele Mocher
Sforim (Sholem Yakov Abramovich, 1836–1917). Judaica collection at the Local History
Museum, a former synagogue; Jewish cemetery with about 100 matzevot; buildings around
the market place (19th c.); the Orthodox Church of the Ascension; a Tatar cemetery.

Mir

461
 Valozhyn
Pol. Wołożyn, Bel. Валожын, People come here to study to become rabbis, not only
Yid. ‫וואַלאָזשין‬ from different parts of Russia and Europe, but also
from all over the world – from America, or even from
Japan. […] and the Jews here […] do not chatter like
magpies, in a foreign language; no, they firmly cling
to their faith, customs, and tongue…
Yadvihin Sh. (Anton Lyavitski), 1910

Włoszyn ¶ The first written refer- and two Orthodox ones. The number
ence to Valozhyn (more often referred of households grew from 83 in 1690 to
to in Jewish sources as Volozhin) can 107 in the early 18th century and 186 in
be found in German chronicles from 1790. ¶ In 1793, Valozhyn was incor-
the late 14th century, where it features porated into the Russian Empire as part
as “Flosschein” or “Włoszyn” (Vloshin) of the County of Ashmyany (Oszmiana)
– a name used by the Teutonic Knights. in Vilnius Province, and in 1803, it was
In 1407, Valozhyn became the prop- purchased by Count Józef Tyszkiewicz.
erty of the Palatine of Vilnius, Albertas In the years 1803–1806, Tyszkiewicz
Manvydas (Wojciech Monwid), who founded a palace and park complex that
obtained it in his possession from Grand included a large orangery (designed by
Duke Vytautas of Lithuania. The town A. Kossakowski) in the town centre, as
belonged subsequently to the families of well as the Church of St. Joseph. At that
Manvydas, Wieriejski, Gasztold, Słuszka, time, the town had a population of 2,446
Radziwiłł, Czartoryski, and Tyszkiewicz. residents. ¶ In the 1880s, according to
Between the 16th and 18th centuries, the contemporary description, Valozhyn
Valozhyn was located in the Grand had “three Orthodox churches, a tempo-
Duchy of Lithuania – first as part of the rary magistrate’s office, a police station,
Vilnius Voivodeship, then in the Navah- the estate administration building, a folk
rudak (Nowogródek) Voivodeship, and school, a post office, a pharmacy, a mill,
then again in the Vilnius Voivodeship. a synagogue, two prayer houses, stores,
¶ In the second half of the 16th century and taverns. The peasants work in farm-
and at the beginning of the 17th century, ing, while Jews work in trade. Five fairs
the town enjoyed a privilege for a weekly are held during the year, their turnover
“bazaar day.” In the early 17th century, reaching 4,000 roubles, and markets
the town consisted of a market and take place every Sunday.”
three streets, and by the beginning of
Valozhyn

the 18th century, it had as many as five The Jews of Valozhyn ¶ Most
streets (Wileńska, Smorgonska, Mińska, likely the first Jews settled in Valozhyn
462 Krzywa, Tylna), two Catholic churches, in the 16th century. According to the
1766 census, the local kahal numbered 90-year-old shochet
Yehuda Avram worked
383 members. In the second half of as a ritual slaughterer
the 19th century, about 2,000 Jews and food controller for
70 years, Valozhyn,
accounted for more than 70 percent of photo published on 16
the town’s population. At the end of the March 1924 in Jewish
Daily Forward, collection
19th century, the town had 523 houses of the YIVO Institute for
(including two brick ones), and the pop- Jewish Research
ulation of 2,446 (406 Orthodox Chris-
tians, 140 Catholics, and 1,900 Jews).
The Jews of Valozhyn enjoyed their
most prosperity in 1803–1840, when
the town was administered by Józef
Tyszkiewicz. In a document of 1809, he
granted them special economic privi-
leges and extablished the amount of tax
they were to pay. The following provi-
sions were also favourable for them: “All and four batei midrash (prayer and
Jewish-owned land, as well as houses, study houses).
malt houses, distilleries, shops, or any
kind of building located on this land, The mother of all yeshivot ¶ The
both existing and planned in the future, spiritual life of the town flourished in
should be considered the property of particular due to the yeshiva founded in
Jews and of their heirs, on which they 1803 by Chaim ben Isaac of Valozhyn,
are required to pay an annual tax; the disciple of the illustrious Eliyahu ben
synagogue, school, hospital, bathhouse, Shlomo Zalman, the Vilna Ga’on. The
and cemetery are exempt from this Valozhyn yeshiva (usually referred to as
tax.” In 1900, the Vilnius (at that time, the Volozhin yeshiva) and also known as
Vilna) Province Governor requested the Etz Chaim (Heb.: Tree of Life) – became
approval of the elected Jewish members the blueprint for large Talmudic acade-
of the municipal Land council because, mies across Eastern Europe as well as in
as he wrote, “the Valozhyn community Israel, North America, and other coun-
consists exclusively of Jews, and there tries. Known as Em a-yeshivot (Heb.: The
are no Christian townspeople here mother of all yeshivot), it greatly influ-
at all.” ¶ The synagogue played a sig- enced the religious and spiritual life of
nificant role in the life of the Jewish the so-called Litvaks (Lithuanian or non-
community. Not only was it a house of Hasidic Jews), who became the back-
prayer and learning, but it also served bone of modern Jewish Orthodoxy. The
as the communal meeting place, its spir- yeshiva building was completed in 1806
itual and social centre. The 1868 census (and, according to some sources, rebuilt
listed three prayer houses in Valozhyn, after a fire in 1865). It attracted students
one brick and two wooden ones. from different countries, including the
According to 1897 correspondence, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Habs-
Jews of Valozhyn had one synagogue burg Empire, and the United States. In 463
 A panorama of the late 1880s, the number of students process took place 24 hours a day,
Valozhyn, 2014. Photo
by Paweł Sańko,
exceeded 400. In the mid-19th century, which reflected the view of the yeshiva
digital collection of the despite the reservations of the yeshiva founder that the existence of the world
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
spiritual management, a new Musar was directly linked to a non-stop study
teatrnn.pl) (Ethics) movement began to penetrate of the Torah. Entrance examination, and
the groups of students at the Volozhin self-education was required from all the
yeshiva. The institution was also increas- students. Additionally, every student
ingly influenced by the ideas of the received a small scholarship sufficient to
Haskalah, while in the 1880s many of meet his modest needs which students
its students were attracted to various used to pay to the Valozhyn dwell-
proto-Zionist groups and even founded ers for residence and services. ¶ The
a Nes Tsiona student group of Palestino- Valozhin yeshiva was shut down in 1893
philes, supporting the settlement of Jews by the tsarist educational authorities
in the land of Israel and raising funds who required that the secular subjects
for the purpose . ¶ The Volozhin yeshiva be included into its curriculum. It was
distinguished itself from other institu- soon reopened but never achieved the
tions of that kind both in terms of its reknown it enjoyed from 1803 to 1893.
organisation and its teaching methodol- The yeshiva continued to function until
ogy. It relied not only on funding col- World War I – it was only after the front
lected in Valozhyn, but also on financial line came close to Valozhyn the classes
support from distant Jewish communi- were discontinued and the yeshiva was
ties, including those in Siberia, Central moved to Minsk. It resumed its activity
Europe and the USA. As the result, it in 1921, though with a reduced number
was free from any local influences and of students, and operated until World
Valozhyn

pressures and had the local commu- War II, when its last 64 students were
nity depending on the operation of the executed by the Nazis. ¶ One of the
464 yeshiva, not vice versa. The learning graduates of the Valozhyn yeshiva was
the great Hebrew poet Haim Nachman in his poem Ha-matmid (Heb.: A non-
Bialik (1873–1934), who humorously stop Torah learner):
depicted the atmosphere of the yeshiva

[…] / Within those walls, not one day, but six years, / Have watched his toil – his childhood
ripened there / Too soon, his youth matured there ere its time, / His eyes were darkened
and his face grew white. / […] / Some go to spend the Solemn Days at home, / Some spread
to neighbouring villages and there, / Delivered from the dread Superior’s eye, / Disport
themselves beneath the kindly roof, / Where pride and pity wait such learned guests. / And
some have been expelled and leave in haste / And sadly to their fathers these return. / But
one remains, stuck faster than a nail! // Translated from Hebrew by Helena Frank, https://
www.poetrynook.com/poem/talmud-student

Torah scholars ¶ Haim ben Isaac of Volozhin (1749–1821) – a rabbi

and teacher, a disciple of Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman (known as the Vilna Gaon),
and the founder of the yeshiva, was born and died in Valozhyn. His major work
Nefesh ha-hayim (Heb.: Soul of Life) was published posthumously in 1824. ¶
Haim Soloveitchik (1853–1918) – an outstanding Talmudic scholar, the head
of the yeshiva at the turn of the 20th century, one of the founders of the famous
Soloveitchik dynasty of Talmudic scholars. During his life, Soloveitchik did not
publish any works, but his teachings were spread in Lithuanian yeshivot by his
students. He published very few of his rabbinic novellae – only those that he

„
considered absolutely proven. The method of Halakhah (legal aspects of Juda-
ism) study proposed by Soloveitchik is still used in Lithuanian-type yeshivot.

Of medium height, well dressed, with a typical belly, a gold chain, a tiny French
beard, and parted hair. All this made Orie Poliak look just as a rich man should
look like. Everyone treated him with respect and was the first to wish him a good day. After
his wife died, he lived alone in a big house on Wileńska St, opposite the pond. The house had
many rooms and a spacious guest room with paintings on the walls and upholstered furni-
ture. The children, however, were more interested in his collection of butterflies and insects.
Every box had both a Latin name and a common name written on it. When thinking of
wealth in Valozhyn, one simply said: “If I were Orie Poliak ….” ¶ The first and most impor-
tant barber in Valozhyn was Moshko der Sherer (Yid. scissors). His clients were the wealthy
and prominent people of the town, officials of the Count, officers, etc. […] The other barber
– Alterke – did not have a hair salon. In one room there was a chair, a mirror on the wall,
and a desk with hairdressing tools. His clients were poor and less important people, artisans,
labourers, and youth. Here they all felt at home, […] especially when Alterke left his client
in the middle of the haircut or shave, and went to another room to calm a crying baby. And
there were many crying babies, every year a new one was born. Alterke had a goat, which he
left to graze on the empty square between his house and the beth midrash. The boys dragged
the bearded animal to the beth midrash door, opened it, and let the goat saunter between
praying Jews wrapped in a tales (prayer shawl). They watched the resulting confusion for 465
 some time and then closed the door and ran
away happily. ¶ Osher Malkin’s memories
in: Volozhin. Sefer shel ha-ir-shel yeshivat
Etz Haim (Heb.: Valozhyn. The Book of the
Town and Etz Chaim Yeshivah), Tel Aviv
1970, retrieved from www.jewishgen.org/
Yizkor

1958, the production was transferred to

the newly established town of Ashdod
in Israel, at the request of the Israeli
Minister of Trade and Industry, Pinchas
Sapir. Israel Rogosin became a genuine
philanthropist: he donated $1 million
for the establishment of the Centre for
Jewish Ethics in New York and $2.5 mil-
lion for the construction of ten schools
throughout Israel, three of them in Ash-
dod. He founded a medical treatment
and research institute for the study of
kidney diseases – the Rogosin Institute
in New York.
A matzeva at the Philanthropist ¶ Israel Rogosin
Jewish cemetery in
Valozhyn, 2014. Photo by
(1887–1971) was born in Valozhyn Sculptor ¶ Max Kalish (1893–1945)
Paweł Sańko, digital col- into an Orthodox family. In 1890, at was born in Valozhyn into an Orthodox
lection of the “Grodzka
Gate – NN Theatre”
the request of Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin Jewish family that later emigrated to
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl) (then head of the Volozhin yeshiva), the United States. He graduated from
The yeshiva in
Israel’s father Samuel Eliezer traveled to the Cleveland School of Art and went
Valozhyn, also known the USA to raise funds for the yeshiva. to study in New York and Paris. He
as Etz Chaim, founded became famous for his sculptures of
in 1803 by Rabbi Chaim
A year later, he was joined by his wife
of Valozhyn, 2014. Hana and their four children. In 1895, American workers. He also worked
Photo by Paweł Sańko, Samuel Rogosin set up a textile mill in on decorations for the Panama-Pacific
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN Brooklyn, which became a profitable International Exposition (San Francisco,
Theatre” Centre (www. undertaking. In 1903, he decided to 1915). During World War I, Kalish
teatrnn.pl)
found a yeshiva modelled on the one in served in the medical corps, where he
Valozhyn and left the mill management helped to design prostheses for wounded
to his 16-year-old son Israel, who turned soldiers. In 1944, he created 48 figures
out to be an extremely talented entre- of social workers entitled The Living
preneur. In 1912, the mill employed 200 Hall of Washington for the Smithsonian
workers; eight years later their number Museum in Washington.
Valozhyn

grew to 1,000, working in five mills. In

April 1956, Rogosin founded Rogosin World War II and the Holocaust
466 Industries Ltd., a viscose fibre plant. In ¶ In September 1939, Valozhyn was
seized by the Red Army, and on June 26,
1941 it was occupied by the Nazi Ger-
mans. Soon after taking over the town,
the Germans established a ghetto and
set in motion their plan of exterminating
the Jews. Local Jews organized an under-
ground resistance group. According to
the documents in the National Histori-
cal Archive of Belarus, six Aktions were
organised in Valozhyn between 1941
and 1944, in which approx. 3,500 people
were executed. The bloodiest events
took place in June and July 1942, when ben Isaac and other rabbis associated A former Jewish house
in Valozhyn from the
about 2,000 Jews were shot at the Jewish with the town; there are also the mass early 20th c., at 13
cemetery. Soviet army troops captured graves of Holocaust victims and a plaque Savetskaya St., 2014.
Photo by Paweł Sańko,
Valozhyn on July 5, 1944. ¶ A monu- commemorating the Jews of Valozhyn digital collection of the
ment to ghetto prisoners is located murdered during World War II. The “Grodzka Gate – NN
last burial at the cemetery took place in Theatre” Centre (www.
near the town, at the foot of Wysoka teatrnn.pl)
Góra (High Hill), where about 1,000 1957. The cemetery is taken care of by
people were executed in September the town’s last remaining Jewish inhabit-
1942. Another monument at the mass ants. ¶ After World War II, the yeshiva
grave of Jews (100–220 elderly, women, building was converted into a grocery
and children) murdered in October store. In 1998, when former Israeli
and November 1942 can be found at Prime Minister Shimon Peres (born in
a municipal stadium. In the spring of the nearby town of Vishnieva) visited
2015, a park was planted around it. Valozhyn, it was agreed that the building
would be reconstructed to commemo-
Traces of Jewish presence ¶ rate the 200th anniversary of the yeshiva
A fenced Jewish cemetery with several establishment. Today, the building of
hundred surviving gravestones is located the yeshiva is under the auspices of the
on a hill north of the yeshiva building, Union of Jewish Religious Communities
at the intersection of Kirova and Kupala of the Republic of Belarus and a memo-
Streets. In the 1990s, with funding rial plaque has been placed on it. In
from foreign Jewish organisations, the 2010, a commemorative 10-rouble silver
cemetery area was cleared up and grave- coin dedicated the Volozhin yeshiva was
stones were restored. Here are buried released by the National Bank of the
the Volozhin yeshiva founder Haim Republic of Belarus.

Vishnyieva (23 km): the birthplace of Shimon Peres; the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary Surrounding
(1442); the Orthodox Church of Sts. Cosmas and Damian (1865); the manor house of the area
Chreptowicz family; a Jewish cemetery; a mass grave of Holocaust victims in the village
of Helenowo. ¶ Haradok (30 km): a former synagogue (1875); a former Jewish water mill
(19th c.); ruins of a yeshiva (early 20th c.); a Jewish cemetery with about 100 matzevot, 467
 a memorial to Holocaust victims; Holy Trinity Church (1884); a hill fort (11th–12th c.); the
Literature Museum. ¶ Ivyanets (32 km): a former synagogue (1912); the rabbi’s house, now
a music school (19th c.); a Jewish cemetery; Church of St. Michael the Archangel, called the
“white” church (1702–1705); a Franciscan monastery; Church of St. Alexis, called the “red”
church (1905–1907); a Catholic cemetery (19th c.); remnants of manor farm buildings; the
House-Museum of Apollinaris Pupko. ¶ Maladzyechna (37 km): a former synagogue (early
20th c.); military buildings: an officers’ casino, an NCOs’ manor house, commander’s office,
and barracks (1922–1939); a Trinitarian monastery (18th c.); a railway station; an Orthodox
church (19th c.); a memorial complex – Stalag 342 on Zamkowa St.; a castle with remains
of ramparts of a bastion castle (16th–17thc.). ¶ Rakaw (40 km): wooden buildings of the
former Jewish street; a Jewish cemetery (17th c.); a memorial to fire victims at the site of
a burnt synagogue; Transfiguration Orthodox Church (1730–1793); the Cemetery Church
of St. Anne (1830); the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1906); the Museum–Art Gallery
“Yanushkevichy”; a hill fort near the church. ¶ Radashkovichy (56 km) a former yeshiva,
currently a store (19th c.); Church of St. Elijah; Holy Trinity Church; a Jewish cemetery
on a hill; a World War I cemetery of Polish soldiers. ¶ Zaslawye (58 km): a historical and
archaeological museum; Transfiguration Church (1577); ruins of Jan Hlebowicz’ bastion
castle; an old Christian cemetery; a Jewish cemetery.

Worth Former yeshiva (1806), 2 Kirova St. ¶ Jewish cemetery, Kirova St. ¶ Valozhyn Regional
seeing Museum of Local History 9 M. Gorkogo St.; tel. +375177255865. ¶ Tyszkiewicz palace
and park complex (1782–1806), Belarusskaia St. ¶ Church of St. Joseph (1816), Svabody
Sq. ¶ Orthodox Church of Sts. Constantine and Helena (1886), Savetskaia St. ¶ Municipal
palace in the former Market Square, the southern part of Svabody Sq.

Valozhyn
Valozhyn

468
Ashmyany
Pol. Oszmiana, Bel. Ашмяны, I remember a man whose name I cannot recollect. […] On every
Yid. ‫אָשמענע‬ Thursday, the market day, he would go around with a cloth bag
and collect silver coins from the shopkeepers; by the way, some of
the shops were so tiny that they looked like small cupboards […].
Memories of Aliza Gofstein, Oshmana – My Hometown, in: Sefer
zikaron le-kehilat Oshmana (Heb.: Oshmana Memorial Book),
Tel Aviv 1969

Beginnings ¶ The establishment of conditions for the development of trade

Ashmyany is traditionally linked to the and crafts. In 1766, the kahal had 376
Lithuanian expedition of Prince Yaroslav taxpaying members, and towards the
the Wise in 1040, but the first mention end of the 18th century, a total of 2,212
of the settlement dates from 1341. After Jews and Karaites were registered in the
the death of Grand Duke Gediminas of County of Ashmyany (Oszmiana). In
Lithuania, Ashmyany came into the pos- 1897, Ashmyany had 7,214 residents:
session of his son Jaunutis. The origin 3,832 Jews, 1,981 Belarusians, 812 Rus-
of the town’s name is usually associated sians, and 525 Poles.
with Lithuanian words: aszmenies –
“blade,” or akmenas – “stone,” although The synagogue ¶ The construction
in the chronicles of the Teutonic Knights of the synagogue, which has survived
in the late 14th century, the town is to the present day, was completed at the
referred to as Aschemynne (“a town beginning of the 20th century (in 1902
with wooden buildings”). ¶ In 1556, or, according to other sources, in 1912).
Ashmyany was granted Magdeburg This synagogue is a red-brick build-
rights, confirmed in 1683 by King John ing, rectangular and austere in form.
III Sobieski and later by the last King of Its external ornamentation includes
the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, pilasters at the corners and between
Stanisław August Poniatowski. the windows and a round window over
the entrance. There is also a beautifully
The Jews of Ashmyany ¶ The first tiered roof. The façade is decorated by
documentary mention of the Jewish a wooden pediment with carved figures
community in Ashmyany dates to the of lions. The plastered walls of the
second half of the 18th century. Jews interior are embellished with painted
were attracted by the proximity of the floral designs. On the pilasters, there are
town to Vilnius, which was conducive small recesses with symbolic representa-
to the regional economic development, tions of animals and insects. The dark
as well as by the municipal status of blue ceiling, imitating the starry sky,
Ashmyany, which created favourable is especially impressive. In 1940, the 469
 A panorama of the town synagogue was closed, and the building served as the rabbi of Ashmyany for
of Ashmyany from the
direction of the River
began to serve as a warehouse. In 2015, more than 10 years. Rozenblat was well
Ashmyanka, 1919–1939, an exhibition room of the Franciszek known as a tsaddik (a righteous person
collection of the
National Digital Archives,
Boguszewicz Museum of Local History with charisma) and gained a reputation
Poland in Ashmyany was opened there. as a miracle-worker whose blessings
came true. Thousands of people from
The town’s religious life ¶ Towards all over Lithuania came to see him,
the end of the 19th century, three or Jews and Gentiles. The general respect
four prayer houses functioned in the and love for him is confirmed by the
town in addition to the synagogue. In words engraved on his tombstone:
1846–1860, the head of the Jewish com- “Herein concealed is a holy ark, a truly
munity of Ashmyany was Rabbi Meir great [rabbi], a prince of the Torah
Kohen, elected to the post five times and a spring of fear [of the Almighty],
and approved by decrees of the Vilnius a teacher and a luminary of the Jewish
Guberniya Government. In 1859, Rabbi nation…” ¶ Rabbi Yehuda Leib Fein
Kohen was awarded one of the high- (1869–1941) was also one of the most
est distinctions at that time – the gold prominent spiritual leaders of the Jews
medal “for services, to be worn on the in Ashmyany. In 1906, he opened a small
St. Stanislaus ribbon around the neck.” yeshiva in town. During World War I,
The medal was granted at the initia- he showed great devotion in helping
tive of the municipal police, on whose Jewish refugees. After his appointment
behalf a request was submitted to the to the post of the rabbi of Stolin in
provincial administration to award the 1920, he continued his commitment to
rabbi because he performed his duties social issues. In the 1930s, Rabbi Fein
“honestly and diligently.” ¶ The commu- vehemently protested against the ban on
nity in Ashmyany became known due shekhita (Jewish ritual slaughter needed
Ashmyany

to Mordechai Rozenblat (1836–1916, for the preparation of kosher meat) in

known as Motele Oshmianer), an Poland. He perished in the Holocaust.
470 eminent theologian and Kabbalist who
Ashmyany was the birthplace of the writer
and traveler Yakov Sapir (b. 1822,
d. 1885, Jerusalem). After an expedi-
tion to the Middle East, he published his
travelog Even Sappir (vol. 1 – 1866, vol.
2 – 1874; republished in 1969), which
contains important information about the
life of Jews in the Middle East in the 19th
century; Sapir devotes special attention
to Yemen, describing the everyday life
and customs of its Jewish inhabitants.
He was the first to publish fragments of
the Yemenite Jews’ poetry; he also described the syntactic and phonetic features Synagogue in Ashmyany,
1930s, collection of
of the Hebrew language used by Yemenite Jews. One of the settlements in the the Institute of Art of
Judea Mountains, Even Sapir, was established in 1950 and named in his honour. the Polish Academy of
Sciences (PAN)

The entrepreneurs of Ashmyany entrepreneurs included the owners of

¶ In the 1890s, Jewish factory owners tanneries (Aviel Piktushanski, Leizer
occupied key positions in the town’s Bloch, Itzek and Yankel Sołoducha),
developing economy. Lev (Leiba) the owners of a snuff tobacco factory
Strugach (1842–1906) owned yeast and (Borukh Rishdinski and Shlomo Ger-
distillery plants. The factory founded shator), and the owner of a plant manu-
by the Strugach family continues to facturing raisin wine (Yulyi Schmidt).
produce yeast through the 21st cen- The mineral water plant belonged to
tury. In the village of Budenovka, one Berko Daniłowski, and the local printing
kilometer from Ashmyany, ruins of the house – to Ziska Mekel. The owner of
former Strugach family estate have been the brewery was Josef Yezelson.
preserved: a modernist-style house,
outbuildings, remains of the orchard, the Jewish farmers ¶ In addition to
place for a pool, and the stone wall with the Jewish entrepreneurs, merchants,
columns at the entrance gate. Lev Stru- and craftsmen, there were also farmers
gach, his wife, and his son Abram were among the Jews of Ashmyany; about 58

„
shot by the Nazis in 1942. They were of them lived in the vicinity on the eve of
buried in the Jewish cemetery. ¶ Other World War I.

After obtaining a plot of land, the Jewish farmer would build his farm and plan
his farming following the ways of the local peasant, the “goy”; he would fence off
an area of a few dunam, using wooden poles and logs to make the fence. In the yard, he
would build his dwelling-house and farm-buildings, then dig a well. The fields were in the
shape of long narrow strips. It often happened that the field would be only 15–20 metres
wide and several kilometres long. Between the different strips there was a path about 50
centimeters wide, which was not cultivated and was therefore overgrown with all kinds of
weeds, amongst them sorrel, which grew here wild, and all sorts of berries. They used to pick 471
 them and make preserves for the winter
[that were] usually served for dessert on
Shabbat, after the cholent. ¶ Those Jewish
farms and villages were scattered like tiny
islands in the sea of the native peasants.
Yet between the two communities there
were good neighbourly relations, there was
even friendliness towards each other, until
the ill winds began to blow in Poland, just
before the outbreak of the Second World
War. ¶ The Jewish farmers were bound,
body and soul, to their own community:
they saw to it that their children received
a traditional Jewish education. On festive
days they would leave their farms in their
neighbours’ care, so as to be able to celebrate
the Holy Days with all the Jewish com-
munity. ¶ Memories of Moshe Becker, in:
Sefer zikaron le-kehilat Oszmana (Hebr.:
Oshmana Memorial Book), Tel Aviv 1969,
trans. by Yocheved Klausner, retrieved
from www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor

Jewish schools ¶ Children aged 5 to police, who reported to the provincial

Former synagogue 13 received elementary education from administration, the situation in the field
in Ashmyany, 2014.
Photo by Paweł Sańko,
melameds (elementary-school teach- of Jewish education, particularly how
digital collection of the ers); each melamed taught 6–9 students. Jews were learning Russian language. ¶
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
Parents paid from 4 to 12 roubles per After completing several years of instruc-
teatrnn.pl) student for half a year of instruction. tion under a melamed, a child could
Dark blue ceiling
Initially, in order to work as a melamed, continue education at the Jewish state
in the Ashmyany one had to finish a Jewish school and school in Ashmyany. Tsarist authorities
synagogue, imitating have good basic knowledge of Russian. began to establish Jewish state schools
the starry sky, 2014.
Photo by Paweł Sańko, In 1872, there were 18 melameds in Ash- in the 1840s seeking to promote Russian
digital collection of the myany, teaching 132 students. The teach- culture among the Jews. In the 1850s
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www. ers were Leib Baron, Kapel Shylevich, and 1860s, the school in Ashmyany had
teatrnn.pl) Josef Kikovich, and others. In 1876, a rule one class of 35 students. Apart from
was introduced that a melamed should that, there was a private one-class female
have higher or secondary education or boarding school (with 12 students) and
be a graduate of a rabbinic seminary a private Jewish school for girls. In 1881,
(two existed at that time in the Russian a one-grade Jewish primary school with
Ashmyany

Empire, one in Zhitomir, another in a preparatory class functioned in the

Vilnius/Vilna). The teaching process town, and in 1910, a state boys’ school
472 was supervised by the rabbi – and by the with a department for girls was opened.
With craftsmen in mind, a school with
classes taking place on Saturdays was
established in Ashmyany. In addition to
the schools with the Yiddish language
of instruction, schools with Hebrew
language of instruction also emerged
(Tarbut and Yavneh), usually with
Zionist political orientation. The Tarbut

„
school building has survived and is now
situated in Mickiewicza Street.

Great were the sacrifices of

a large part of the population
to ensure Jewish education for their sons
and daughters. Those people did not send
them to the State elementary school, where
tuition was free, but with their meager
resources founded a Hebrew school. This
school became an example for the whole
surrounding region. I see before my eyes the
worried parents from the Parents’ Commit-
tee who used to gather in our house. Where
would they find a place? Finally a corner
was found in a religious school for the nine of us. The sacrifices were great indeed, since the Wooden inn in
Ashmyany, 1930s. Photo
graduates of the Hebrew schools were bound to encounter many difficulties after finishing by Jan Bułhak, collection
school. ¶ Memories of Aliza Gofstein, in: Sefer zikaron le-kehilat Oszmana (Hebr.: Osh- of the Institute of Art of
the Polish Academy of
mana Memorial Book), Tel Aviv 1969, trans. by Yocheved Klausner, www.jewishgen.org Sciences (PAN)

Former residence
Political turbulence ¶ The popula- captured the town council and held of the Strugach family,
tion of Ashmyany included a large group Soviet power. ¶ From the mid-1890s, owners of the yeast
a branch of the Jewish socialist Bund family in Asmyany, 2014.
of workers and artisans, who welcomed Photo by Paweł Sańko,
revolutionary ideas and new socialist operated in Ashmyany coordinating digital collection of the
political agenda. A particularly impor- the activities of Jewish workers against “Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
tant year for the workers of Ashmyany the local administration and entrepre- teatrnn.pl)
was 1896, when a series of riots took neurs. As a sign of solidarity during
place. A Bund-type Marxist labour the revolution of 1905, it opposed the
organisation operated in the town at repressive measures taken by the tsarist
that time, which campaigned among the administration against proletarians in
workers in Yiddish, Russian, and Pol- Łódź and Odessa. Together with the
ish. In 1896–1897, Ashmyany tanners social democrats, its members set up an
fighting for their social rights held more armed, self-defense unit of 40 people. At
than ten strikes, inspired by the tanners that time, the local branch of the Bund
of the town of Krynki where the tanners had 150 active members. 473
 When the Nazis occupied Ashmyany on
June 25, 1941, the town filled with refu-
gees from the surrounding area. There
was no time for the Jewish population to
flee. The occupation authorities estab-
lished a Judenrat, headed by a rabbi. The
Judenrat was forced to execute the Nazi
orders concerning the supply of Jewish
property for the Germans’ needs. ¶ The
first extermination operation (Aktion)
took place in the summer of 1941.
Between the end of July and August 14,
Students and World War II and the Holocaust 1941, some 1,000–1,200 Jews were killed
teachers at tailoring
classes posing in front
¶ In autumn 1939, the town was captured in Ashmyany. In October 1941, a ghetto
of the vocational school, by the Red Army, and the Soviet admin- was established: in Polna St. (currently
founded in 1919 by Avdieieva St.), Wileńska St. (currently
YEKOPO (Rus. Evreysky
istration took radical steps towards
Komitet Pomoshchi nationalisation of all privately-owned Krasnoarmieiskaia), and as far as
Zhertvam Voiny – Jew- Savietskaya St., including the synagogue.
ish Relief Committee for
industries. It seized Jewish-owed com-
War Victims). The slogan mercial and industrial enterprises, and Initially, the Jews were allowed to leave
in Yiddish on the paper repressed the non-employed people: the ghetto after showing a special pass,
banner reads: “Work
makes life sweet”; they were arrested and deported to the and once a week they were also allowed
Ashmyany, 1 August Eastern parts of the USSR. All Jew- to do shopping at the market. They were
1921, collection of the
YIVO Institute for Jewish ish religious schools were shut down later deprived of this possibility. With
Research following a ban on religious education, time, the occupation authorities tight-
Rabbi Menashe’s and only secular schools were allowed ened the regulations for ghetto dwellers.
grave at the Jewish to function: it was at those Yiddish and They were sent away to labour camps
cemetery in Ashmyany,
2014. Photo by Paweł socialist-oriented schools that the Sovi- to do forced labour, or to death camps,
Sańko, digital collection etisation of the young generation took where mass executions were carried out.
of the “Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” Centre place. According to data from August The United Partisan Organisation of the
(www.teatrnn.pl) 31, 1940, four schools functioned in Vilnius ghetto sent Liza Migun (Magun)
The tombstone of the town: Belorussian, Polish, Russian, to Ashmyany to organise rescue for
Leiba Strugach (Lev and Jewish. A part of the Jewish popu- ghetto inmates. Thanks to her activity,
Davidovich Strugach,
1842–1906), at the lation supported the new authorities. about 80 people escaped from the ghetto
Jewish cemetery in Jews held seats in the town council, and and joined the partisans. ¶ Few Jews of
Ashmyany, 2014. Photo
by Paweł Sańko, Zalman Yudovich became Chairman of Ashmyany survived. The names of about
digital collection of the the Executive Committee – among the ten of them are known. Some lived to see
“Grodzka Gate –
NN Theatre” Centre 35 members of the Executive Commit- the end of the war in Vilnius, Dachau,
(www.teatrnn.pl) tee there were 10 Jews. Ashmyany town and Stutthof; others survived because
councillors included the director of the they hid outside the ghetto’s walls. One of
local children’s home Sonia Shleifer, the these survivors is Aron Segal, who, with
Ashmyany

editor of the local newspaper Yankel his mother, found shelter on the “Aryan
Chaimovich, and the leader of the black- side” in Ashmyany. David Deul survived
474 smiths’ union Solomon Karchmer. ¶ a mass shooting and managed to get out
of the death pit. He was then hidden by
a Belarusian family.

Memorials ¶ In 1958, a memorial stele

was established in the Lugovshchina for-
est opening, at the site of the execution of
573 Jews from Ashmyany. In the Roista
forest opening, a mound was constructed
and an obelisk was erected in 1967 to
commemorate 353 Jews from Ashmyany
shot at the beginning of July 1941. In
1967, a memorial plaque was placed near
the small village of Uglivo at the grave
of 700 Jews shot in November 1942. ¶
About 100 Jews lived in Ashmyany in
the early 1980s, but most of them left for
Israel with the last wave of emigration
from the Soviet Union.

The Jewish cemetery ¶ The earliest

burials at the Ashmyany Jewish cem-
etery took place in its southern section,
where about 180 matzevot from the
first half of 19th century have survived.
The tombstones in the western part of
the cemetery, about 370 matzevot, are
arranged in even rows; they date back to is the well where people symbolically
a later period and bear inscriptions in washed their hands when leaving the
Yiddish, Hebrew, or Russian. The nearly cemetery. Closed in 1969, the cemetery
200 graves in the northern part of the was renovated in 2008–2009 at the
cemetery date to the second half of the initiative of Avina Shapiro, a native of
19th century. There are also two special Ashmyany, thanks to funds collected by
gravesites at the cemetery: one of them the Ashmyany Compatriots’ Association
is the ohel of Rabbi Menashe Shmuelzon, in Israel. With the help of the local public
and another ohel most likely indicates utility company, most of the matzevot
a place where a damaged Torah scroll were restored and the entire cemetery
is buried. Surviving to the present day was enclosed with a wall.

Former synagogue, Savietskaia St. ¶ Jewish cemetery, Krasnoarmieiskaia St. ¶ Fran- Worth
ciszek K. Boguszewicz Museum of Local History in Ashmyany: the exhibition includes seeing
F.K. Boguszewicz’s personal belongings, objects of archaeology and numismatics, items
of everyday use, works by folk artists, as well as documents and photographs dating
back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 2000, it was moved to the building of 475
 a pharmacy once owned by a Jew, Ilya Vladimirovich Ajzensztadt; 128 Savietskaya St., tel.
+3750159342593. ¶ Church of St. Michael the Archangel (early 15th c.): in 1900–1906, it
was renovated in the Vilnius Baroque style, and in 1950–1990, it served as a factory; masses
were resumed in 1990; 17 Verasnia Sq. ¶ Franciscan church (ruins) (19th c.): fragments of
the previously pulled down late-Gothic 16th-c. church were used in its construction; Frant-
sishkanskaya St. ¶ Orthodox Church of the Resurrection of Christ (19th c.), renovated in
1988–1990, Savietskaya St. ¶ Water mill, built towards the end of the 19th c. ¶ Hospital
(currently the court building), erected in the early 20th c.

Surrounding Halshany (22 km): a wooden water mill; buildings around the market square (19th c.);
area ruins of the Sapieha Castle (17thc.); the Church of St. John the Baptist and the Franciscan
monastery (1st half of the 17th c.); St. George’s Orthodox Church; ruins of a chapel; a hill
fort; a Jewish cemetery. ¶ Baruny (23 km): the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul and the former
Basilian monastery (late 17th c.); a World War I cemetery. ¶ Kreva (Krewo) (30 km): Algir-
das Castle (mid-14th c.); the place where Grand Duke Jogaila (Jagiełło) of Lithuania married
Polish Queen Jadwiga and the Union of Krewo was signed; a former beth midrash (early
20th c.); a Jewish cemetery; a collection of Judaica at the school museum; the Orthodox
Church of St Alexander Nevsky (1854). ¶ Smarhon’ (35 km): the birthplace of Yiddish poet
Avrom Sutzkever as well as poet, prose writer, and playwright Moshe Kulbak; a collection
of Judaica at the school museum; Church of St. Michael the Archangel (early 17th c.); World
War I fortifications. ¶ Mikhalishki (54 km): a Jewish cemetery with about 150 matzevot
and a memorial; Church of St. Michael the Archangel (circa 1670); a cemetery chapel
(1885); the Brzostowski manor house; the birthplace of poet Menke Katz. ¶ Svir (75 km):
stone foundations of a synagogue; the former Jewish restaurant and hotel, currently a hos-
pital; a Jewish cemetery with more than 200 matzevot; the Byszewski Palace (early 20th c.);
Church of St. Nicholas (1653); wooden Orthodox Church of the Dormition of the Blessed
Virgin Mary.

Ashmyany
Ashmyany

476
Ivye
Pol. Iwie, Bel. Іўе, Yid. ‫אייוויע‬ The town is of a considerable size and quite densely
built up. It trades mostly in linen, of which fairly large
quantities are sold. Horses and cattle are traded during
ten annual fairs.
Czesław Jankowski, The County of Oszmiana,
Cracow 1898

Beginnings ¶ Located by the Ivyanka languages – Greek, Hebrew, Latin,

River, Ivye is mentioned in sources Polish, and Belarusian. ¶ In 1598, Yvye
from the first half of the 15th century had two taverns and 129 households,
as a grand-ducal court. The origins of while 19 farms outside the town were
the town’s name are not quite clear: allocated to the Tatars (who are believed
according to some sources, it comes to have been brought to the area by
from the name of a tree, the weeping Duke Vytautas in the 14th century). In
willow, which is common to the local 1634, the town consisted of a market,
fauna; others point to a Tatar legend, three streets, and 180 households. The
which says that a castle was built here mid-17th-century wars led to a sharp
at the request of Duchess Eve, wife of decrease in the town population:
the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas, according to the inventory of 1685,
and that this gave rise to the settle- only 91 houses in Ivye and eight Tatar
ment. ¶ In the 16th century, when the houses near the town were inhabited. ¶
Arian heresy was banished elsewhere in In 1795, the Ivye area was incorporated
Europe, Poland welcomed the perse- into the Russian Empire, with Ivye
cuted minority. Ivye became a centre becoming the administrative centre of
of Arianism, with a printing house a commune in the County of Oszmi-
and an Arian school whose headmas- ana (Ashmyany) in Vilnius Guberniya.
ter between 1585 and 1593 was the From 1843, it belonged to the Zamoyski
well-known thinker and educator Jan family. ¶ In 1861, about 10,000 peas-
Licyniusz Namysłowski. The school ants in the Ivye land rebelled against
became known as the Ivye Academy the agrarian reform. The revolt, known
and provided education not only to the as the 1861 Ivye Peasants’ Uprising
Arian children but also to Orthodox was suppressed by substantial military
Christians and Roman Catholics. The forces (four companies of infantry
subjects taught there included ancient regiments). ¶ In 1864, eight fairs were
philosophy, history, law, rhetoric, ethics, held in Ivye: on January 1, February
music, medicine, physics, Justinian’s 2, May 28, June 18, September 29,
Code, Aristotelian logic, and, of course, November 1, and November 11. From 477
 Ivye, a fragment
of the town after
a fire, 1929. Photo by
Muller, collection of the
National Digital Archives,
Poland

A street in Ivye.
Drawing by B. Tomasze-
wski, reproduction from
Czesław Jankowski’s
book Powiat Oszmiański:
Materiały do dziejów
ziemi i ludzi. Część 3
(Ashmyany County:
Materials for the History
of the Land and the
People. Part 3), Saint
Petersburg, 1898

June 29 to September 29, weekly fairs a chapel, a synagogue, three other

and bazaars took place on Sundays, Jewish prayer houses, a mosque, a folk
and in the remaining part of the year school, a pharmacy, a mill, 17 small
they were organised on Wednesdays. shops, and four taverns. Fairs were held
The Ivye fairs were known mainly for five times a year. In Napoleon Orda’s
cattle sales. Apart from the stalls set Guide to Lithuania and Belorussia
up on market days, 17 shops and four (Vilnius, 1909), we read: “Ivye – a small
taverns operated in the town (data of town in the Oszmiana County in Vilnius
1897). Local inhabitants made their Guberniya. Its 5,000 inhabitants include
living also as craftsmen and fishermen. 3,500 Jews, 800 Catholics, 500 Tatars,
¶ In 1897, Ivye had 2,828 residents and and 30 Orthodox Russians.”
387 households. There was a church,

Tatars have been living in Ivye for centuries. The wooden mosque built in 1884 was
the only operating mosque in the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic during the
entire Soviet period. The town is sometimes called the “Tatar capital of Belarus.”

The Jews of Ivye ¶ The first infor- Nowogródzka St., which led to the mar-
mation about the Jews in Ivye comes ketplace. ¶ Many Jews were artisans or
from the 1685 town inventory. Out of craftsmen, working as tailors, shoemak-
61 homesteads, nine were inhabited ers, blacksmiths, carpenters, or rope-
by Jews. The following are mentioned makers. In 1852, they tried to organise
among them: Israel Szmailwicz, a guild but the authorities rejected
Yehiel Hoszkiewicz, Abram Mordu- their request. As a result, a simplified
Ivye

choiewicz, Szapszaj, Hoszko, Leyzer, craftsmen’s board was established,

478 Peyzel, and Hirszel; all of them lived in which consisted of the tailor Jankiel
Zoseliowicz, the blacksmith Nachim
Ginzburg, and the shoemaker Szmaj
Bloch. The council included four master
tailors, a blacksmith, and a master
shoemaker. In addition, five Jews from
Ivye – three carpenters, a rope-maker,
and a day-worker – formed a so-called
non-artisan guild. Many Jews worked in
the “drinking” business – the produc-
tion and sale of alcohol. According to
1866 records, there were 10 taverns and
4 inns in the town. Some Jews of Ivye
tried to find a niche in the manufac-
turing industry; for example, Jankiel
Lewin opened a match factory in 1890.
Jews worked also in medicine. At the
end of the 19th century, Leib Flaum
was a freelance physician, while Arie
Bojarski ran a pharmacy. ¶ Yehuda Leib

„
Bloch’s memoirs illustrate the ubiquitous
poverty reigning among the Jews in Ivye:

Almost everyone thanked God

for a piece of bread and a few
potatoes. My father told me that when he
had been a little boy and when he was
coming back home from the cheder during
Hanukkah with his friends, they saw a few
potatoes drop from a cart. The children put
those frozen, half-rotten potatoes into their
pockets. There was no end to joy at home,
as there were fresh potatoes to cook. The
houses were not heated in winter because
few could afford the “luxury” of buying
wood. All year, people wore the same “clothes,” repaired and turned inside out. Deep faith Wooden synagogue
in Ivye, circa 1915, collec-
gave them the strength to face harsh living conditions. People were poor, but not unhappy. tion of S. Mirocznik
¶ Yehuda Leib Bloch, in: Sefer zikaron li-kehilat Ivia (Hebr.: Memorial Book to the Com-
Synagogue complex
munity of Ivye), Tel Aviv 1968. in Ivye, circa 1915, collec-
tion of S. Mirocznik
Before World War II, the town had The Jews of Ivye had their own theatre
its seven-year Tarbut school, taught and a soccer team. ¶ In the town center,
in Hebrew. Jewish and Tatar children there was a synagogue built in the 18th
attended a Polish seven-year school, too. century and an old Jewish cemetery 479
Former synagogue nearby, to the west. The buildings of the war, 2,524 bodies were found in a mass
complex in Ivye, 2011.
Photo by Emil Majuk,
synagogue complex have survived to this grave near the village of Staniewicze at
digital collection of the day. the southern edge of the forest. What
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
happened to the others is unknown. ¶
teatrnn.pl) Notable people ¶ Ivye was the Only a few Jews survived: Four families
birthplace of Haim Ozer Grodzieński from the Ivye region have been awarded
(1863–1940) – a halakhist, religious and the title of “Righteous Gentiles.”
social activist, and spiritual leader of the
Lithuanian Orthodox Jewish commu- Traces of the Jewish presence
nity; the (unofficial) Chief Rabbi of Vil- ¶ Three buildings of the synagogue
nius. The main street of the Israeli town complex of Ivye have been preserved
of Petah Tikva bears his name. ¶ Other (houses no. 9, 11, and 13 located on
notable people born in the town include Pervomaiskaia St.); in one of them there
Shakhno Epstein (1881–1945) – a social is now a sports school. Late 19th-century
activist, journalist, and literary critic. and early 20th-century Jewish houses
He was the chief editor of the Kharkov are located on Karla Marksa St., Pervo-
magazine Di Rojte Welt (Yid.: The Red maiskaia St., and Komsomolski Square.
World). Between 1942 and 1945, he was One of them features a fragment of
secretary-in-charge of the Jewish Anti- a Hebrew inscription with the year when
Fascist Committee. the building was established, according
to the Gregorian calendar (1929). Not
World War II and the Holocaust much is left of the Jewish cemetery of
¶ After the Soviets attacked Poland in Ivye. It has been partially built over and
September 1939, Ivye became part of only fragments of its stone wall have
the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Repub- survived. ¶ A stele was erected in 1957
lic. Then, from June 29, 1941, to July at the mass grave of ghetto prisoners
7, 1944, the Ivye land was occupied by killed near the village of Staniavichy.
the Germans, who established a ghetto Every year, Jews gather for prayers in the
in the town (February 1942), confin- Staniavichy forest on the Memorial Day
Ivye

ing 3,000 people there. The ghetto was for the Jewish community of Ivye (May
480 liquidated on May 12, 1942. After the 12). In 1989, a memorial was set up in
Staniavichy, with the words of the Soviet
Yiddish poet Aaron Vergelis inscribed on
the monument. In 1994, a performance
was staged there that was directed by
the American ballet dancer, choreogra- Israel, grew up in one of them. Born Hebrew inscription
on one of the houses in
pher, and director Tamar Rogoff, whose in 1949 into a large and happy Jewish the town centre, 2011.
grandfather left Ivye in 1911. family, she is the initiator of the “Roots” Photo by Emil Majuk,
digital collection of the
international project and organises trips “Grodzka Gate – NN
Roots ¶ After the war, six Jewish for Jews with ancestry in Belorussia to Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)
families lived in Ivye. Tamara Borodach the places where their families lived and

„
(Koshcher), long-time school direc- died. Over 25 years, 2,500 people have Mosque in Ivye,
taken part in such trips. 2011. Photo by Emil
tor in the town of Lida, now living in Majuk, digital collection
of the “Grodzka Gate
I was the youngest and the most inquisitive of all the children. I asked my father – NN Theatre” Centre
(www.teatrnn.pl)
about Jewish Ivye from before the war, about who had lived there and where,
how it had happened that the houses were still standing, and the people who had lived in
them were dead. He told me about five schools and two theatres: about a yeshivah, the fire
brigade orchestra, craftsmen and their small shops, delicious Jewish food, about Nachi-
mowski’s windmill and Dr. Małalide, about his family and neighbours. […] Children who
were born after World War II of Jewish families, reacted strangely to holidays observed
by others: on Sundays, Catholics dressed up in their best clothes and went to church; on
Fridays, the Tatars prayed in their mosque, located at the end of Savetskaya St., where
I lived; the so-called Soviet citizens went to a club – which used to be a synagogue – to
celebrate Soviet holidays. Only six Jewish families returned to Ivye after the war. There was
no place for them to celebrate their holidays. Nor were there people to celebrate them with.
[…] For a long time I would call the Jews of Yvye my uncles, truly believing that they were
my father’s (Moisey Koshcher’s) brothers. […] As a child, until I was five years old, I used
to think that 12 May was a Jewish holiday. Our parents dressed us up, put us in a cart or
a “truck” – the only one in post-war Ivye, and we drove or walked to the forest. However,
for some reason, the adults took shovels and rakes with them. The forest was the place
where the Jews of Ivye gathered, those lucky ones who had miraculously survived the war,
at the front and as partisans, in the evacuation, or avoiding the extermination of May 12,
1942 by chance. As a child, I was not able to put together the overall picture: people crying, 481
 raking and covering some holes, which
sometimes revealed children’s shoes, toys,
bones – these were made by local residents
looking for some gold teeth and other gold
things. […] [Returning years later to visit,
we] were received with bread and salt in
museums, schools, municipal offices, and
villages. We met the authorities’ representa-
tives and journalists, the radio and televi-
sion, local residents, the Jewish community,
Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians,
folk and music groups. We sang partisan
songs by a campfire, drank vodka, lit
candles on the Jewish memorials, said the
Kaddish, wept, and looked for inscriptions
on the weed-overgrown and moss-covered
graves. The people who had survived the
Monument to the war told those who came – adults, children,
harmony of religions
in the Ivye Land, 2015.
and grandchildren – the story of their fami-
Photo by Ina Sorkina lies, their town, and their people. After such
Memorial plaque
trips, they understood each other better.
at the mass grave of […] Sabbath candles were lit, the Kaddish
Holocaust victims in the
Staniavichy Forest, 2011.
was said, but there is still no answer why,
Photo by Emil Majuk, on one sunny day in May, the whole Jewish
digital collection of the town of Ivye disappeared, as did thousands
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www. of other small towns in Eastern Europe.
teatrnn.pl) There is no answer to why some other peo-
ple’s fires are burning in the houses, why we
are left only with the graves of those dear to
our hearts. ¶ Tamara Borodach (Koshcher)
To See Ivye and Die, 2015. Account written
for the Shtetl Routes project, collection of
the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre

Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Ivye

also features the Museum of National
Cultures, the only institution of this
kind in the Republic of Belarus, with
its permanent exhibition devoted to the
The year of 2012 saw the unveiling of history and culture of this multi-ethnic
a monument in honour of the friend- town. One of the museum rooms tells
Ivye

ship and harmony of religions in the the story of Jewish culture.

482 Ivye land – Roman Catholics, Orthodox
Ivye Former synagogue Worth
complex – the main seeing
synagogue and two
beth midrashim (late
19th–early 20th c.), 11
Pervomaiskaia St. ¶ Ivye
Museum of National Cul-
tures 6 17 Verasnia St.;
tel. +375 159 526 896. ¶
Church of Sts. Peter and
Paul (15th–17th c.), Karla
Marksa St. ¶ Mosque
(1884), the only operat-
ing mosque in Belarus
during the Soviet era,
76 Savetskaia St. ¶ Tatar
cemetery, Savetskaia St.
¶ Chapel of St. Barbara
(first half of the 19th c.)
¶ Orthodox Church of
St, Gabriel Zabłudowski
(1994–1995), 1 Per-
vomayskaya St. ¶ Water-
mill (19th–early 20th c.).
¶ Elements of urban
architecture dating back
to the late 19th c. and early 20th c.

Lipnishki (15 km): a Jewish cemetery; Church of St. Casimir (19th/20th c.); a manor park Surrounding
with a preserved outbuilding. ¶ Traby (30 km): former Jewish houses (early 20th c.) includ- area
ing the rabbi’s house; Judaica in a school museum; a cemetery with approx. 100 matzevot;
the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1900–1905); Sts. Peter and Paul
Orthodox Church ¶ Lida (42 km): Gediminas’ Castle (14th c.); the Church of the Exaltation
of the Holy Cross (1770); the Piarist church, now the Orthodox Church of St. Michael the
Archangel; the remains of a monastery which housed a Piarist college; a wooden church in
the Slabodka district (1930s); a Jewish cemetery, a Catholic cemetery (1797); barracks of
the 77th Infantry Regiment; a brewery (1876); the building of Hetman Karol Chodkiewicz
Gymnasium (secondary school) (1929).

483
 Navahrudak
Pol. Nowogródek, Bel. Навагрудак, The new inn not distinctive in style or in line;
Yid. ‫נאַוואַרעדאָק‬ While the other was built to an older design,
Tyrian carpenters’ pattern, it is now well known,
Which the Jews had adopted and took for their own:
A style of architecture they through the world carried,
Abroad quite unknown; we from the Jews it inherit.
Adam Mickiewicz, Pan Tadeusz
(trans. Marcel Weyland)

The cradle of Belarusian state- Navahrudak and the surrounding area.

hood ¶ The earliest settlement at the In the 16th century, the Jewish com-
site of present-day Navahrudak was set munity became an integral part of the
up in about the 10th century, and the town and an active participant in its
first written mentions of it dates back social, economic, and spiritual life. First
to 1044. External threats from Crusad- mentions of the Jewish community
ers, Mongols, and Tatars prompted the date back to 1529. ¶ The 1560s inven-
union of the Principality of Navahrudak tory informs that in return for fulfilling
with neighbouring Lithuania into one their municipal obligations the Jews of
state, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Navahrudak obtained 20 parcels (plots
which gave the town the honorary title of land) in the town and two shops in
of one of the residences of the Grand “a municipal row amongst Christians.”
Dukes of Lithuania. A visible sign of its In 1636, King Władysław IV Vasa
status was the castle with seven towers, allowed the Jews to build stone houses
once believed to be the strongest fortifi- and stores to prevent fires in town, and
cation in Belorussia, the construction of in 1646, he granted Jews with further
which lasted from the 13th century until privileges, allowing them to own houses
the early 16th century. All that remains and plots of land, to engage in trade,
of its former glory are the ruins of three to establish buildings for religious pur-
towers, ramparts, and a deep moat. ¶ In poses, and to establish cemeteries.
the 14th century, Navahrudak was also
the seat of the Orthodox metropolis of The synagogue ¶ In 1648, a stone
Lithuania, and from 1581 to 1775, the synagogue was established in Navah-
Supreme Tribunal of the Grand Duchy of rudak in place of an older, wooden one.
Lithuania convened here. Prayer and study houses functioned,
too: for example, in 1861, the town
Navahrudak

The Jews of Navahrudak ¶ had four wooden and six stone batei
Towards the end of the 14th century and midrash. ¶ The synagogue operated
in the early 15th century, Grand Duke uninterruptedly until World War II.
484 Vytautas of Lithuania settled Tatars in After the war, the synagogue building
 Ruins of the castle
in Navahrudak, 2014.
Photo by Paweł Sańko,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)

Market square
in Navahrudak, early
20th c., collection of
the Institute of Art of
the Polish Academy of
Sciences (PAN)

served as a warehouse, and in the early an outstanding and unparalleled legal

1960s, it was torn down as part of the authority (posek).
Soviet atheistic campaign. ¶ Navah-
rudak boasts several outstanding rab- Jewish-Christian relations ¶
binic scholars such as Yitzhak Elchanan In the 17th and 18th centuries, due to
Spektor. In the mid-19th century, natural increase, the Jewish commu-
Rabbi Spektor interceded on behalf nity grew significantly pushing Jews
of the Jews before the Russian high- to settle outside the sections of town
ranking officials and was considered designated for them and purchasing 485
 The interior of land from Christian burghers. Well-to-
the synagogue in
Navahrudak, a view
do Jewish merchants managed to settle
of the aron kodesh, within Prince Radziwiłł’s jurydyka (i.e.
1920-1930, collection of
the Institute of Art of
jurisdiction district; currently Minskaya,
the Polish Academy of L. Setchko, and 1 Maya Streets). ¶ In
Sciences (PAN)
1652, Jan Kazimierz King of Poland and
the Grand Duke of Lithuania, issued
a privilege permitting the rebuilding of
Navahrudak (town hall, shops, bakeries,
butcheries, houses) after a devastating
fire. However, the privilege barred Jews
from purchasing real estate in the town,
allowing them to settle only outside the
town walls. In 1724, under a proclama-
tion issued in Nowogródek (Navah-
rudak) Palatinate, Jews and Tatars were
barred from hiring Christians for work.

When King Stanisław August Poniatowski visited Navahrudak on August 23,

1784, the first ones to welcome him were Jews who carried candles and were fol-
lowed by trade guilds wth the landvogt (communal elder), who made a speech
in the King’s honour and gave the monarch the keys of the town. In the even-
ing, the town hall, churches, the synagogue, and the town houses were illumi-
nated, fireworks organized, and balls held to celebrate the monarch’s visit.

Economic life ¶ In 1799, contract the country. The gathering was so large
fairs (at which wholesale merchants and magnificent […] that even a theatre
exchanged bills of sale) were allowed to from Vilnius came to give performances
be held in Navahrudak: from March 19 during the contract fairs […] and Nav-
to March 23 and in the ninth week after ahrudak became a real capital.” Contract
Easter. These contract fairs drew over fairs were a good time for young people
1,000 people, who bought and sold silk to date and marry. Parents deliberately
and linen textiles, dishes, sweetmeats, sent their sons to these fairs, knowing
and fish, and also colonial such as Chi- that the entire regional elite attended
nese and Indian tea and Turkish snuff them. Contract fairs enjoyed consider-
tobacco. A special area was designated able popularity until 1863, when the
for the wholesale trade of bread, vodka, Russian government decided to entirely
wool, and tar. According to the memo- suppress the economy in the former
ries of Jan Bułhak, a Belarusian and Pol- Polish areas and instead establish
Navahrudak

ish photographer born in Navahrudak, market fairs in the interior Russian

“contract fairs gathered all the landown- provinces. ¶ In the first half of the
ers and peasants, as well as merchants 19th century, the settlement of Jews in
486 and traders from the farthest regions of Navahrudak underwent several changes.
At the beginning of the century, the
vast majority of Jewish houses were
located in Żydowska St. (30 buildings)
and Walewska St. (41 buildings; now
Savietskaya and Lenina Streets). In
1825, Jews lived in Zamkowa, Kowal-
ska, Trojecka, Sienieżycka, Walewska,
Żydowska, Słonimska, Franciszkańska,
Szkolny Dwór, Voskriesienskaya,
Bazyliańska, and Przesiek Streets as well
as in Wójtowszczyzna and Racewlanski
Lanes. Houses in Kowalska Trojecka,
Słonimska, Voskriesienskaya, and
Przesiek Streets were inhabited by both
Jews and Christians. Jewish stores were
located in market stalls in the town
square. ¶ Jews were at the forefront
of local commerce and industry. The
Leitneker’s tilery was opened in 1860; it
became widely known after its products
were awarded the bronze medal at the
1882 all-Russia fair. In 1893, Zelman
Hirsch Shlomovich established a textile
factory equipped with a 214-horsepower
steam engine. In the late 19th and early Palatinate capital ¶ In the Synagogue in
Navahrudak, 1920–1930,
20th centuries, the town had a steam interwar period, Navahrudak (then collection of the Institute
mill, a brickyard, an earthenware fac- Nowogródek) became a voivodeship of Art of the Polish
Academy of Sciences
tory, two factories manufacturing pots (palatinate) capital in the Second (PAN)
and tiles, and two distilleries. Among Polish Republic. In 1935, the town
other businesses, Jewish entrepreneurs had 9,567 residents, 1,055 houses, Market halls at
the market square
ran pharmacies, public baths, a hotel, two Catholic churches, two Orthodox in Navahrudak, circa
several photographic studios, a barber’s churches, three synagogues, a mosque, 1916, collection of the
National Library, Poland
shop, and a notary public office. There a Polish and a Belarusian secondary (www.polona.pl)
was a hospital, too. Visitors could stay school, and two hospitals. The choice of
in one of three hotels: the “Europa,” accommodation for visitors increased,
the “Warszawa,” and the “Petersburg.” with the construction of a number
According to the 1897 census, Navah- of hotels: the “Europa,” “Paryż” (in
rudak had 7,887 residents, whose native Zamkowa St.), “Szwajcaria” (near the
languages were: Yiddish (4,992 people), Castle Hill), “Targowy” (Kościelna St.),
Belarusian (1,676), Tatar (475), Polish “Brazylia” (Mickiewicza St.), “Italia,”
(401), Russian (319), Ukrainian (16), and “Wileński” (Piłsudskiego St.). In
and German (5). his memoirs, Stanisław Czajewicz, who
visited Navahrudak on his pilgrimage to 487
 the sites connected with Adam Mickie- dark dresses, white caps, and aprons).
wicz’s life, noted that the town’s oldest He wrote that such elegant service was
restaurant, run by one Liponer, offered nowhere else to be seen, including the
an array of freshly prepared dishes and local casino.
high-quality service (the waitresses wore

Alexander Harkavy (1863–1939) was a famous linguist, journalist and

writer born in Navahrudak, where he received a traditional Jewish education.
In 1879, he took up a job at a printing press in Vilnius. After 1881 pogroms in
the Russian Empire, he emigrated to the USA, where his artistic career blos-
somed. English Teacher (1891), his English-language textbook, sold 100,000
copies. ¶ Harkavy translated European classics such as Don Quixote, into
Hebrew, wrote books about the history and culture of America, lectured in
Yiddish and social sciences at academic institutions in New York. His most sig-
nificant achievement is considered to be the publication of dictionaries: English-
Yiddish and Yiddish-English (40,000 words, more than 22 editions) as well as
Yiddish-English-Hebrew (1925). ¶ It is possible to visualise and understand the
world of the shtetl of Navahrudak and its residents thanks to the documentary
film Nowogródek. 1931, produced by Zenit Studio, Warsaw, with the help of
Alexander Harkavy whose visit to his home town was featured in the film.

Cultural life and education ¶ In newspapers were published locally:

the early 20th century, girls from Jew- Novogrodker Lebn (Yid.: The Life of
ish families were able to study at E.W. Nowogródek) and Novogrodker Woch
Kudryatseva-Mele’s four-year second- (Yid.: The Week of Nowogródek).
ary school (gymnasium). On March
17, 1910, the Nasha niva Bielorussian- The yeshivah ¶ Among Jewish higher
language newspaper reported that the educational institutions, the yeshiva
school had “half of the students who established in 1896 by Rabbi Yosef Yuzl
were Jewish girls, and the other half Horowitz (“The Old Man of Navah-
Bielorussian country girls.” Graduates of rudak”; ca. 1848–1920) stands out. It
the gymnasium often went on to work was part of the Jewish Ethical Movement
as teachers. ¶ In 1919, a seven-year (Musar), which placed special empha-
Hebrew school was set up as one of the sis on ethical aspects of Judaism (and
Tarbut schools network. There was also lesser on legal). ¶ With the outbreak of
Shlomo Volfovich’s religious school, World War II, the yeshiva was trans-
which later became part of the Mizrachi ferred to Vilnius, were several students
school network. Several hadarim func- managed to survive the Holocaust by
tioned in the town, too. ¶ One of the two obtaining Japanese transit visas issued
Navahrudak

local Jewish libraries had a collection of by the Japanese Consul Chiune Sugihara.
more than 300 volumes of literature in With these, they travelled by Trans-
Yiddish, Hebrew, Polish, and Russian. Siberian railway through Vladivostok to
488 In the 1930s, two Yiddish-language Kobe. From there, some of the students
eventually left for the USA, some for Gentile.” ¶ Some other yeshiva students
Israel, and some for Great Britain. survived because they were deported
At present, various branches of the to Siberia by the Soviets after the USSR
Novogrudok yeshiva called Beit Yosef annexed Lithuania. Rabbi Avi Shafran,
(Heb.: House of Yosef, in honour of Yosef whose father was among them, pro-
Horowitz) operate in New York (Brook- duced an album of songs in Yiddish per-
lyn), Jerusalem, and London. Consul formed by yeshiva students (the songs

„
Chiune Sugihara was posthumously had been recorded before World War II).
awarded the title of the “Righteous Rebbe Avi Shafran recollects:

Listening to Novogrudok yeshivah students sing, and knowing from my father’s

tales how cruel the fate was to them, each time I was transfixed by the optimis-
tic power of their songs. And I couldn’t understand where these young people drew such
carefree spirituality from, and where they found the joy of life that pervaded every sound
they produced. […] It was not until a few years later that I was able to find the answer to
this question. […] The spiritual strength of Novogrudok yeshivah students increased and
intensified thanks to their unshakeable faith in the Most High. They were not discouraged
by the vanity of human life. Life difficulties, persecutions, and smear campaigns were a test
of constancy in striving to do the Creator’s Will and to bring the light of His Torah to the
world… ¶ Avi Shafran, Fire, Ice, Air. A Polish Jew’s Memoir of Yeshivah, Siberia, America,
Baltimore 2012 (edited).

World War II and the Holo- selection involving two formal questions
caust ¶ On September 18, 1939, Red about profession or trade and the num-
Army troops entered Navahrudak ber of children, about 1,500 people were
(Nowogródek, Novogrudok). The confined in the Navahrudak ghetto in
Soviet authorities nationalised private Przesiek Street, where they were forced
enterprises and institutions, and Jewish to work for the German administration.
schools were all merged into one nine- Others were transported to the village of
year school, taught in Yiddish. Some Skridlevo and shot. Between 4,000 and
of the town’s residents were deported 5,100 people were murdered at that time.
to Kazakhstan or Siberia. ¶ With the On August 7, 1942, the 36th Estonian
German occupation of the town at the Police Battalion carried out a second
beginning of July 1941, the Nazis began liquidation operation, in which 4,000
the persecution of Jews. According to Jews were transported out of the ghetto
September 26, 1941 special order, Jews and shot near the village of Litovka
were obligated to wear a yellow star on (2 km from the town). The day before
their chest and back. They were forbid- that operation, 500 people – qualified
den to leave the town without official specialists – were resettled to the newly
permission and also barred from trading, established labour camp in Korelicka
coming to the market, having contact Street (now Minskaya St.). A further
with the Christian community, etc. several hundred people were shot on Feb-
In winter 1941, after several stages of ruary 4, 1943 during the final liquidation 489
 The wooden building
of the Jewish school in
Navahrudak, 1918–1939,
collection of the Institute
of Art of the Polish
Academy of Sciences
(PAN)

of the ghetto in Przesiek, and on May 7, 250 people managed to flee through an
1943, the last, fourth Aktion took place, underground tunnel, about 200 metres
in which 250–370 people from the labour long. Some were caught in a manhunt
camp were executed. ¶ On September 26, and shot on the spot, but about 150 made
1943, there was a mass escape from the it to the forest and joined the partisan
labour camp in Korelicka Street. About forces.

The Jewish Resistance Museum ¶ In 2007, the world’s only Museum of

Jewish Resistance was opened, housed in the Secondary School of Agriculture in
Navahrudak (64–66 Minskaya St.).
Part of the exhibition at The Museum was established at the
the Jewish Resistance
Museum in Navahrudak,
former barracks from which the ghetto
2015. Photo by Agata dwellers escaped. The exhibition was
Radkowska
designed by Tamara Vershitskaya,
then director of the Navahrudak
Museum of Local History and Culture,
and Jack Kagan, one of the surviv-
ing escapees. Tel. +375159721470.

The partisan unit of the Bielski

brothers ¶ The fugitives from the
ghetto in Navahrudak managed to
survive by joining the troops of the Jewish
partisan unit formed by the Bielski broth-
Navahrudak

ers: Tuvia, Asael, and Alexander (Zus).

The brothers organised the first fam-
ily partisan camp in the early summer
490 of 1942, renamed in 1944, the Kalinin
unit. Tuvia’s 1,230-strong otriad was the A view from the
Jewish cemetery in
largest Jewish partisan unit in Europe. Navahrudak, 2015.
¶ The unit’s base looked like a town, Photo by Tal Schwartz,
digital collection of the
with 20 dugout dwellings built in two “Grodzka Gate – NN
rows along a main street. In the center, Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)
there were the staff, workshops, and the
drill ground. The dugouts, each housing Monument to
Adam Mickiewicz in
around 40 people, were organized into Navahrudak, 2014.
units inhabited by people of similar social Photo by Paweł Sańko,
rank. The hospital and the quarantine digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
unit for patients with typhus had 27 Theatre” Centre (www.
doctors, nurses, and dentists. Watchmak- teatrnn.pl)

ers repaired firearms, 18 tailors mended

clothes and sewed underwear out of
linen, 20 shoemakers repaired and made
footwear out of leather processed at the
tannery, which also served as a syna-
gogue. Blacksmiths shod horses and pre-
pared elements necessary for the repair
of weapons. The bakery baked several
kinds of bread, while the butcher shop
produced sausages and cured meat. There
was a school, a bath, a soapworks, and
a barber shop. There was also a prison. ¶
In 1944, along with part of the unit, Asael
Bielski joined the Red Army and died in
Malbork (in Poland) just before the end Memorials ¶ About 11,000 Jews
of the war. Tuvia and Zus Bielski survived were murdered in Navahrudak during
and first emigrated to Palestine; then, in the German occupation. Only about
1955, they moved to the USA and settled 600 people, or 10 percent of the town’s
in New York. ¶ In 1986, the people saved pre-war Jewish community, survived the
by the Bielski brothers organised a ban- Holocaust. Most of them emigrated to
quet in their honour at New York’s Hilton Israel and the USA. Currently, Nav-
Hotel. Six hundred people gave a standing ahrudak has a small group of Jewish
ovation to 80-year Tuvia Bielski. Born in residents but no Jewish community. ¶
1906, Tuvia died in 1987 and was buried In the 1960s, monuments were erected
with honours on the Herzl Hill in Jerusa- at the sites of mass executions, but (as
lem. ¶ Prof. Nechama Tec wrote about the elsewhere in the Soviet Union) their
Bielski brothers in his book Defiance; the wording only commemorated the death
book served as the basis for a 2008 film, of the peaceful “Soviet citizens.” In the
directed by Edward Zwick and featuring 1990s, at the initiative of survivor Jack
James Bond actor Daniel Craig. Kagan – and at his expense, memorials
were erected at the mass execution sites 491
 near the village of Skridlevo (1995), the
second one stands 2 km from Navah-
rudak, outside the village of Litovka
(1993), and the third one is at the end of
Minskaya Street (1993), at the site of the
last mass murder, committed on May 7,
1943. On each memorial there is a text
in Belarusian, English, and Hebrew.

The cemetery ¶ A Jewish cemetery,

located on a high, wide hill on Sad-
ovy Pereulok Street, near the Muslim
cemetery, has survived. Around 700
Café-Bar “Rim” in whose inscriptions contained informa- tombstones still stand, the oldest one
Lenina Square in
Navahrudak, 2014.
tion about who the murdered people dating back to the 18th century.
Photo by Paweł Sańko, were. One of these monuments is located
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www. The town of Adam Mickiewicz ¶ Navahrudak was the childhood town of
teatrnn.pl)
the great Polish-Belarusian-Lithuanian poet and social activist Adam Mickiewicz
(1798–1855). From 1924 to 1931, the so-called Immortality Mound was constructed
in his honour. In 1938, a museum devoted to the poet was established in town. In
1992, a monument to Mickiewicz was erected (sculptured by W. Januszkiewicz). ¶
Mickiewicz was a staunch philosemite, favourably disposed towards his contem-
porary Jews, and an ardent critic of anti-Jewish bias. Such attitudes are reflected
both in his works and in his social activity. One of the main images in his epic
poem Pan Tadeusz (1834) is the innkeeper Jankiel, a talented dulcimer player, who
remains faithful to the Jewish tradition and at the same time supports Polish anti-
imperial insurrection. Mickiewicz believed that the union of the Catholic Poles and
the Polish Jews would lead to a spiritual and economic revival of the country – as
Polish union with Lithuania had once given rise to the powerful Commonwealth. ¶
During the Crimean War (1853–1856), Mickiewicz proposed to organise a Jewish
Legion to fight against Russia, similar to General Zamoyski’s Polish regiment and
the Cossack regiment commanded by Sadɪk Pasha (real name: Michał Czajkowski,
1804–1886). In 1855, Mickiewicz went to Istanbul to convince Turkish authori-
ties to support the Jewish Legion. He died there, failing to carry out his plans.

Surrounding Vselyub (15 km): a former synagogue; a Jewish cemetery with isolated tombstones; the
area Church of St. John the Baptist (15th c.); St. Michael the Archangel Orthodox Church;
Navahrudak

a palace and park complex and the O’Rourke family tomb chapel; the town’s buildings
(19th/20th c.) ¶ Karelichy (24 km): the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help; the Orthodox
Church of Sts. Peter and Paul (1866); a manor farm house; a distillery; a Tatar cemetery.
492 ¶ Lubcha (26 km): a former synagogue (19th c.); a former cheder and mikveh; wooden
houses and shops (19th–20th c.); a Jewish cemetery; Radziwiłł Castle (16th–17th c.); the
Orthodox Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah (1910); a church converted into a dwelling
house. ¶ Delyatichi (32 km): a former synagogue, currently a school (late 19th c.); the
remains of a Jewish cemetery; three wooden houses at the market square, formerly owned
by Jews (19th/20th c.); the Orthodox Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (1867).

Castle (11th–16th c.) ¶ Orthodox Church of Sts. Boris and Gleb (12th–17th c.) ¶ Old par- Worth
ish church (fara church) (late 14th c.–1712). ¶ Franciscan church and monastery (1780), seeing
converted into the Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas in 1846. ¶ Dominican Church of St.
Michael (1724). ¶ Mosque (1855). ¶ Dwelling houses (19th and early 20th c.), Zamkova
St., Lenina Sq. ¶ Cloth hall (sukiennice) (1812). ¶ Convent of the Sisters of Nazareth
(1930s). ¶ Palatinate Office building (1920s and 1930s). ¶ Former railway station
building (1920s). ¶ Bank building (1920s and 1930s). ¶ Mindaugas Hill, according to
a local legend, the burial place of Grand Duke Mindaugas; in the 18th c. and in the early
20th c. there was a Christian cemetery there. ¶ Adam Mickiewicz Mound, constructed
in 1924–1931. ¶ Navahrudak Museum of Local History and Culture, 2 Grodnenskaya
St., tel. +375159721470. ¶ Jewish Resistance Museum, 64-66 Minska St., authors of the
project: Tamara Vershitskaya, Jack Kagan. ¶ Adam Mickiewicz House-Museum, 1 Lenina
St. ¶ Monuments: to Adam Mickiewicz, St. Elizeusz Lavryshevski, Yakub Kolas,Vladimir
Vysotsky, the Unknown Soldier, and compatriots killed in the Soviet was in Afghanistan
(1979–1985). ¶ Magdeburg Law Memorial Stone, erected in 2011 to commemorate the
500th anniversary of Navahrudak receiving Magdeburg municipal rights.

Navahrudak

493
 Dzyatlava
Pol. Zdzięcioł, Bel. Дзятлава, Yid. ‫זשעטל‬ People spoke Yiddish, prayed in Hebrew, learnt
Polish, and talked in Belarusian with their non-
Jewish neighbours.
Bernard Piński’s account,
Yad Vashem Institute collection

Zetel ¶ Dzyatlava (Zdzięcioł) is first torn down during the Great Northern
mentioned in documents in the mid- War in the early 18th century and rebuilt
15th century, when it was a village in in 1751 on the site of the 16th-century
the territory of the Troki (today Trakai, castle. ¶ During the Great Northern War,
Lithuania) Palatinate. In about 1492, in 1708, Russian troops were quartered
Grand Duke Casimir IV financed the in the vicinity of the town, while Tsar
construction there of the Church of the Peter I stayed in the town for a week.
Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Later, Dzyatlava was taken over by the
In 1498, Grand Duke Alexander trans- Swedes, who set fire to the town and the
ferred Zdziecel (Dzyatlava) to Lithu- castle. In 1784, the town had 186 houses,
anian Hetman Konstanty Ostrogski, for five streets, and three blind alleys; there
life possession, giving him the privilege were three mills, a school, a hospital,
to transform it into a town. At the and a bathhouse. Following the Third
beginning of the 16th century, Prince Partition of Poland in 1795, the town
Ostrogski built a wooden Orthodox became part of the Russian Empire.
church and established a wooden forti- Because its last owner, Stanisław Sołtan,
fied castle (referred to in documents took part in the Polish November
as Zdzieteło mansion). ¶ The 1580 Uprising against the Russian dominion
inventory of the town lists 118 houses, (1830–1831), his property was confis-
a market square, and five streets. In the cated by the state treasury, and soldiers
early 17th century, Dzyatlava became the were quartered in his palace and farm
property of the Sapieha family of Polish buildings. ¶ In 1866, as part of the Rus-
magnates. From 1624 to 1646, Prince sification policy, Zdzięcioł was officially
Sapieha built a stone church, the Church renamed Dzyatlava after the 1864 Polish
of the Assumption of the Mother of God, rebellion against Russia. In the docu-
and a hospital. From 1685, the town was ments of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania,
owned by the Radziwiłł family of the the town was referred to as Zdziecel
Dzyatlava

wealthiest and most influential Polish (Zdziacel, Zdietiel), but the Jews called it
magnates, who erected a two-storey “Zetel,” as there is no letter representing
494 palace in the late 17th century. This was “dz” in Yiddish.
 Children at the market
square in Dzyatlava,
circa 1920. Photo by
Leibovich, collection of
the YIVO Institute for
Jewish Research

The Jews of Dzyatlava ¶ The Mounted Light Artillery Division sta-

history of the Jewish community of tioned in the town and a peasant from
Dzyatlava dates back to the late 16th Dzyatlava – were arrested. ¶ On the
century and is primarily linked to the night of October 19, 1844, a fire broke
Polish private ownership of the town; out in Zaułek Kościelny destroying
the 1580 town inventory lists a certain Abram Levin’s barn and granary, with
Misan, a Jew, as one of 10 house owners a loss estimated at 424 roubles, approxi-
at the marketplace. According to the mately the price of a luxury house in the
1699 inventory, there were 126 houses in area. As the community was becoming
Dzyatlava, of which 25 belonged to Jews. increasingly impoverished, 35 Jews from
¶ After the partitions of Poland, the Dzyatlava requested tax allowances and
condition of Jews deteriorated not only cash benefits to be able to rebuild their
due to the tsarist policy, but also because houses destroyed in fires. In response,
of wars, confiscations, and frequent fires, the provincial administration decided
like other towns built mainly of wood. that wood should be given to those
Dzyatlava suffered from at least nine families. This decision, however, was not
fires in the 19th century. A blaze in 1874 implemented, as “there was not enough
destroyed a synagogue, 211 houses, and wood in the forests near Dzyatlava to
119 farm buildings, resulting in damage satisfy even the needs of state peasants.”
amounting to 134,500 roubles. ¶ Some ¶ The Jewish population of Dzyat-
fires were allegendly started by arson; lava gradually increased. In the late
for example, over several days in April 1860s, the town had 1,576 inhabitants,
1844, eight fires were set deliberately: on including 1,241 Jews (78 percent of its
Friday night (April 7), a pigsty belong- entire population, but 100 percent of its
ing to a Jew, Wolf Wolsin, was set on merchants and burghers). ¶ In the late
fire; the following night the same hap- 19th and early 20th centuries, the town
pened to Wolf Razważski’s pigsty, then economy improved. The 1900 address
to Lejzer Giercowski’s pigsty, peasant directory The Russian Book of Industry,
Mikhail Chucheyka’s shed, and the shed Agriculture, and Administration listed
of a peasant widow, Anna Grajewska. the following companies belonging to
The suspects – three soldiers of the 5th Dzyatlava’s Jews: a pharmacy, mead 495
 Members of the ARVI
theatrical circle with
a band. Photo taken on
the 10th anniversary of
the circle, Dzyatlava,
1927, collection of the
YIVO Institute for Jewish
Research

breweries, and trading companies NY; and Baruch Sorotzkin (1917–1979),

dealing in colonial goods, iron artifacts, head of the Telz yeshiva in Cleveland,
leather and other manufactured goods, Ohio. ¶ In 1867, the town had one
grains, and eggs. In addition, the town wooden synagogue and four Jewish
was famous for producing wooden par- prayer houses. The stone synagogue
quet known as “Dzyatlava parquet.” built in the late 19th century has been
preserved to this day. It is currently used
Religious life ¶ Many notable rab- by the fire brigade, but the position of
bis and religious activists came from its side windows – one row of large win-
Dzyatlava, including Haim Rapoport (c. dows and two rows of smaller-sized ones
1700–1771), who served as a rabbi in – clearly indicates its former function.
Dzyatlava in 1720–1729 and was later Next to the synagogue there was once
a rabbi in Lwów; Yakov Krantz (1741– another prayer house, but a bank was
1824), known as the Maggid of Dubno, built in its place in Soviet times.
perhaps the most famous preacher
in East Europe; Israel Meir ha-Kohen Interwar period ¶ From the fall of
Poupko (1838–1933), known as the 1915 to December 1918, Dzyatlava was
Hafetz Haim (after the title of his main occupied by the Nazi Germans. From
work), founder of the Radun yeshiva, March 1918, it was part of the Belorus-
and the paramount East European sian People’s Republic, and in 1919 it
legal authority and religious thinker was captured by Polish troops. Following
in the 1870s–1930s; Tzvi Josef Reznik the Treaty of Riga in 1921, Dzyatlava
(1841–1912), head of the Suwałki was incorporated into the Second Polish
Dzyatlava

yeshiva; Reznik’s son Menachem Risikoff Republic as an administrative centre of

(1866–1960), an Orthodox rabbi and a community (gmina) in the County of
496 prolific religious writer in Brooklyn, Nowogródek (now Navahrudak), in the
Nowogródek Voivodeship (Palatinate). ¶
In the interwar period, Jews accounted
for around 75 percent of the town popu-
lation, with about 3,450 Jews living there
in 1926. Out of 621 Jewish families, 303
earned their living from crafts (working
mainly as tailors and shoemakers) and
210 from trade. There were four mills
and three traction engines which gener-
ated electricity and supplied power to
the town. Electricity was supplied until

„
midnight, and just one light bulb was
allocated to each house.
Market square in Dzyat-
lava, before 1934. Photo
The town population consisted of 6,000 souls, 4,500 of them Jewish; the rest were by Jan Bułhak, collection
Belarusians and a few Poles. Cultural institutions in Dzyatlava included a Jewish of the Institute of Art of
the Polish Academy of
school (approx. 100 children and 6 teachers), a Hebrew school (250 children and 7 teach- Sciences (PAN)
ers), and the community-run Talmud Torah school for poor children (100 children and 4
teachers), established as early as in 1909. Jewish children also attended a state primary
school. They continued their education in secondary schools in Grodno, Lida, and Vilnius.
A permanent cinema operated in the town. A Jewish theatre group staged performances.
There was a large Jewish library. ¶ Liza Kaplińska, Account No. 301/2092, Archive of the
Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw.

A school with Yiddish as the language of was opened. There were also traditional
instruction was established in 1921, and hadarim (Yid.: for Jewish elementary

„
eight years later, a Tarbut school with school) and a Talmud Torah school.
Hebrew as the language of instruction

When my father was 6 years old, he was sent to one of the four Zetel schools,
which was called Talmud Torah; it was a Jewish religious school where they
also taught the Polish language. […] Officials, such as police officers, judges, or munici-
pal administration officials, did not speak Yiddish. In the Talmud Torah, lessons were
conducted in Yiddish, but secular subjects were taught in Polish. Religious subjects were
taught in Hebrew, but translated into Yiddish for discussion. ¶ Account by Bernard Piński,
collection of the Yad Vashem Institute

World War II and the Holocaust settlement and becoming the capital of
¶ After the Red Army took control of the Baranavichy District. ¶ On June 30,
Dzyatlava in September 1939, the town 1941, the Third Reich forces entered
was incorporated into the Belorus- Dzyatlava, and repression against the
sian Soviet Socialist Republic, receiv- Jewish community started soon after.
ing the official status of an urban-type Jews were arrested, forced to wear the 497
 spot. Skilled Jewish men were selected
and kept behind, while the rest were
transported to the nearby Kurpieszowski
Forest and shot. Around 1,200 peo-
ple were killed on that day. The last
extermination operation took place on
August 6, 1942, when approx. 200 young
men were selected and transported to
Nowogródek, while the rest were taken
to the Jewish cemetery and forced to dig
a mass grave for themselves. Around
2,000 were killed in this operation,
which brought an end to the Jewish
community of Dzyatlava.

Memorial sites ¶ About half a kilo-

meter north of the town, on the left of
the road to Navahrudak, 2,800 Dzyatlava
residents were murdered by the Nazis in
April 1942. In 1945, an obelisk to com-
memorate them was erected. At the Jew-
ish cemetery on the southern outskirts
Torah scroll. Star of David, and deprived of their of Dzyatlava, there is the mass grave of
Exhibition devoted to the
Jews of Dzyatlava at the
valuables; members of the Jewish intel- 3,000 local residents who perished at the
school museum, 2015. ligentsia were shot, and a Judenrat was hands of the Nazis in August 1942. An
Photo by Paweł Sańko,
digital collection of the
set up. On December 15, 1941, about obelisk was erected there in 1945, too,
“Grodzka Gate – NN 400 Jewish workers were transported to and in 2003 a commemorative plaque
Theatre” Centre (www. with the Star of David and inscriptions
teatrnn.pl)
the ghetto in Dvarets. December 1941
saw the emergence of the Jewish resist- in Hebrew and Polish was put up. ¶ The
Memorial at the site history and culture of Dzyatlava’s Jews is
of the mass grave at
ance movement. Its members tried to
the Jewish cemetery in acquire weapons and ammunition and shown in the school museum located in
Dzyatlava, 2015. Photo established contacts with partisan units. the local middle school.
by Monika Tarajko,
digital collection of the On February 22, 1942, an order was
“Grodzka Gate – NN issued setting up a ghetto in Dzyatlava Jewish cemeteries ¶ Nothing is
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl) around the synagogue and on Lisogor- left of the old Jewish cemetery that was
ska and Slonimska Streets. As many as located next to the synagogue. Its area
4,500 Jews were crowded in this small has been built over completely. A par-
area. On April 30, 1942, the Germans, tially preserved newer Jewish cemetery,
aided by the local police, started to with only a few dozen gravestones with
drive people out of their houses and to different degrees of damage, is situated
Dzyatlava

round them up in the market square. in the southern part of the town. A con-
Those who were found hiding or tried crete wall was built around it in 1997,
498 to put up resistance were killed on the thanks to the efforts of the descendants
of the Dzyatlava Jews. In 2006, thanks of Dvarets killed here in 1942. “Eternal
to the Simon Mark Lazarus’ foundation, memory to the victims of the Holocaust.
another memorial was unveiled at the May their souls be bound in the bond
cemetery, commemorating the 54 Jews of life.”

Dzyatlava Former synagogue, cur- Worth

rently a fire station (late seeing
19th c.), 4 Pervamayska
St. ¶ Jewish cemetery,
Oktiabrskaya St. ¶
Church of the Assump-
tion of the Blessed Vir-
gin Mary (1624–1646),
Lenin St. ¶ Wooden
Orthodox Church of
the Transfiguration
(18th c.), Peremogi St.
¶ Dzyatlava Palace
(owned by the Radziwiłł
and Sołtan families)
(18th c.), Sverdlov St. ¶
“Żybortowszczyzna”
manor house of the
Domeyko family (early
19th c.). ¶ Historical
buildings (turn of the
20th c.). ¶ Christian
cemetery ¶ Dzyatlava
Museum of Local His-
tory, 12 Pervomayska
St., tel. +375156321341. ¶ School museum at the local middle school (with a separate
room devoted to the history of the Dzyatlava Jewish community), 4 Krasnoarmeyska St.

Kozlovshchina (22 km): a Jewish cemetery; a memorial at the mass grave of the Holocaust Surrounding
victims; a water mill (1859); the Drucki-Lubecki family burial chapel (1843); the Drucki- area
Lubecki family manor house (19th c.). ¶ Dvarets (13 km): the Church of St. Anthony of
Padua; the Orthodox Church of the Protection of Our Lady. ¶ Navajelnia (13 km): a memo-
rial to Holocaust victims at the railway station; a historic column (18th c.); the Orthodox
Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1876–1879); the Church of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus. ¶ Lipichany Forest: a landscape reserve.

499
 Radun
Pol. Raduń, Bel. Радунь, Yid. ‫רַאדין‬ Radun was a quiet shtetl with low houses.
Their straw roofs were blackened with
mould, and tiny windows were often
skewed to one side because of age.
A. Rywkes, The Hafetz Haim’s Yeshivah, in:
Lite (Yid.: Lithuania), New York 1951

Beginnings ¶ Radun was first to settle in Radun, but they always

mentioned in the 1217 Monumenta returned. They built a synagogue, sent
Germaniae Historica chronicle. In 1387, their children to a cheder, earned their
Władysław Jagiełło (Jogaila), Polish King living from trade, lease-holdings, and
and Grand Duke of Lithuania granted crafts, and engaged in charity. In 1866,
“the settlement of Radun and the entire Radun had 101 houses inhabited by 869
estate, together with all the servants, people (361 Catholics and 508 Jews),
people, villages and livestock,” to Skir- a wooden parish church, a synagogue,
gaila Alexandrovich, as can be read in a state school, and a municipal office.
a document issued to Alexandrovich. In 1885, there was a tannery, a brewery,
According to the census of 1538, Radun 14 stores, three inns, and four smith-
consisted of seven streets leading to ies in the town. Market fairs were held
the marketplace, 210 Christian houses, every Thursday. ¶ As there was no river
35 beer stores, one vodka store, and near Radun, the only source of water
seven shops selling mead. Jews were not was a communal well located on a small
allowed to settle there. The town was municipal square. As the place to get
granted Magdeburg rights in 1649, and fresh water, it also served in summer as
in 1795, Radun became part of the Rus- a busy meeting point for Jewish women,
sian Empire. whose children would splash around at
the well, and for the peasants who pulled
The Jews of Radun ¶ Because of its up there and, having left their carts,
status De non tolerandi Judeos, forbid- went shopping in the Jewish stores. In
ding Jews to settle within the town walls, spring and autumn Radun was full of
Jews could not settle in Radun until mud, as none of its streets were paved. ¶
1679, when John III Sobieski granted The town boasted a yeshiva, founded in
them with the privilege of permanently the 19th century and then rebuilt in the
residing in town. In 1765, the Jewish early 20th century. The tall white build-
community of Radun and its vicinity ing with large windows and spacious
Radun

had 581 people. Over five–six centuries, bright rooms attracted hundreds of Jews
500 Jews were either allowed or forbidden from all over Europe. These yeshiva
students added colour to the routine
and, at times, quite monotonous life of
the shtetl and constituted another source
of income for the town’s inhabitants.

The Hafetz Haim and the Radun

yeshiva ¶ The fame of the Radun
yeshivah was probably exceeded only
by that of its founder – the prominent
Talmudic scholar and the paramount
rabbinic authority Israel Meir ha-Kohen
Poupko (1838–1933), known as the
Hafetz Haim of Radun. The name under
which he is known throughout the Jew-
ish world today came from the title of
his first book, published anonymously
in Vilna (Vilnius) in 1873 and focused
on the laws of lashon ha-ra (evil talk,
gossiping). Its title, Hafetz Haim (Heb.:
Desire Life), comes from Psalms 34:14–
15: “Who is the man that desireth life,
and loveth days, that he may see good
therein? Keep thy tongue from evil, and
thy lips from speaking guile.” Thus the
book outlined most important legal rul-
ings (hilkhot) from biblical and rabbinic rabbinic tradition, spending days and Rabbi’s house in
Radun, 1920–1930,
sources and various Jewish practices nights at the local beth midrash. In 1869, collection of Beit
that targeted ethical aspects of gossiping he established a yeshiva of his own, Hatfutsot, The Museum
of the Jewish People,
and evil talk. The popularity of the book known as the Hafetz Haim. Rabbi Israel Photo Archive, Tel Aviv,
– as it often happens in Judaic tradi- Meir refused to accept a salary for serv- courtesy of Dr. Franklin
tion – made people refer to its author ing as rabbi and subsisted on the money Kasman

with the name of his book. ¶ Israel Meir that his wife earned running a store. He Market day at the
Poupko was a son of Arie Zeev, a pious always taught his students not to study market square in Radun,
1920–1930, collection
Jew and a graduate of the Volozhin too much at the expense of their health of Beit Hatfutsot, The
yeshiva. Israel Meir’s love for learning and made sure that none of them went Museum of the Jewish
People, Photo Archive,
was fostered by his father, who took him hungry. The custom of different families Tel Aviv, courtesy of Dr.
to Vilna (Vilnius), then the center of providing meals for students, called esn Franklin Kasman

Ashkenazic Judaim, where he met with tog (Yid.: eating days), was simplified
the local Torah scholars. Even as a little at the Radun Yeshiva. To spare students
boy, Israel Meir amazed everyone with the embarrassment of asking for food
his remarkable memory. After he mar- and to avoid distracting them from their
ried Frida ha-Levi Epstein, he moved to classes, Radun’s residents delivered food
Radun, where he continued the study of directly to the yeshiva. If some student 501
 and he opened the First General
Convention of the Agudath Israel. In
1924, he initiated the establishment of
Vaad ha-Yeshivot – the Central Com-
mittee managing the affairs of Eastern
Europe’s yeshivot. He had foreseen the
extermination of the Jewish popula-
tion in Europe and the establishment of
a Jewish state. ¶ Hafetz Haim devoted
more than 65 years of his long life (he
died in Radun in 1933) to his yeshiva
and left an indelible mark on Jewish
religious thought. Elhanan Waserman
(head of the Baranovichi yeshiva) made
the following comment on the modestly
of Hafetz Haim’s life: “If he wants to
hide from us with his brilliant mind, we
will, with our small minds, find him.”
¶ Hafetz Haim authored many works
on moral, ethical, and halakhic issues.
These include: Shmirat Lashon (Heb.:
Guarding One’s Tongue, 1876), Ahavat
Hesed (Heb.: Introduction to Charity,
Boys posing for happened to be left without lunch, the 1888) devoted to the sin of slander, and
a photograph at the
market square, Radun,
yeshiva head himself brought in a hot Mahaneh Israel (Heb.: The Camp of
1920s, collection of the lunch for him. Later, kitchens were built, the sons of Israel, 1881) about the way
YIVO Institute for Jewish
Research
and Hafetz Haim’s daughters – Reizel, halakhic rules should be observed by
Faiga and Sara themselves cooked and tsarist army soldiers of Jewish origin.
Above the entrance His Mishnah Berurah (1894–1907) –
to the wooden
served the food. ¶ At the outbreak of
synagogue there was an World War I, in order to save his stu- a detailed commentary on the Orach
inscription in Hebrew, dents, Hafetz Haim left the yeshiva and Haim (asection of the Shulchan Aruch
reading: “This is the
gate of the Lord; the travelled with them to the town of Smi- Code devoted to everyday Jewish life)
righteous will enter lavichy near Minsk, where they found has been accepted as one of the main
through it,” 1920s,
collection of the YIVO temporary refuge. When the Bolsheviks sources of the Halakhah for many
Institute for Jewish came to power, Hafetz Haim allowed decades by the entire Ashkenaic Jewry. ¶
Research
the Jews to flee Radun even if it violated The Hafetz Haim yeshivot founded later
the Sabbath, because he believed that on by Israel Meir’s followers in New York
their lives were in danger. ¶ Israel Meir and Israel breathed a new life into the

„
was a founder and spiritual leader of the Lithuanian traditions of Jewish religious
Agudath Israel Orthodox movement, and academic life.
Radun

Torah study and sport ¶ In the nineteenth-century shtetl, reverence and

502 concern for the head, for the intellect – far more than the cultivation of the
body – was where these Jews’ emphasis
lay. Although few in the community were
rich or knowledgeable enough to engage in
full-time study, most people looked up to
these sheyne Yidn, these Jewish “beautiful
people.” With that ideal squarely in mind,
parents hoped to raise their sons to be
scholars, to work with their minds and not
with their muscles, even if most fathers were
butchers, bakers, porters, coachmen, and so
on. […] Rather, the superstars of the Jewish
town were the sedentary types who stuck
to their books. Of course, in keeping with
Jewish tradition, even the most committed
students participated in outdoor games on
Lag B’Omer – the Jewish field day. But there
was no social sanction for daily and violent
pastimes – fighting [was] ‘un-Jewish’ in the
extreme. ¶ Jack Kugelmass, Jews, Sports,
and the Rites of Citizenship, 2007.
The graves of Israel
Meir ha-Kohen, the
Interestingly enough, when ruminating activities were a loss of valuable time founder of the Radun
about how he was raised and educated, that should be spent on Torah study. yeshiva, and other
lecturers of that school
Rabbi Hafetz Haim publicly regretted at the Jewish cemetery
that he had not devoted enough time in World War II and the Holocaust in Radun, 2014. Photo
¶ Before World War II, there were by Natalia Filina,
his youth to physical fitness. A sounder digital collection of the
body, in his view, would have helped about 800 Jews in Radun. In September “Grodzka Gate – NN
him become an even greater scholar. 1939, Radun was incorporated into the Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)
Addressing his disciples during a lecture Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic,
at the Radun yeshiva, he said: “Do not and on July 1, 1941, it was captured by Traditional Jewish
architecture on Savet-
study too much. Man must preserve the the Wehrmacht troops. In November skaya Street in Radun,
body so that it does not grow weaker 1941, the Germans rounded up the Jews 2014. Photo by Natalia
Filina, digital collection
or fall ill, and for that it is crucial to from nearby villages and secluded them of the “Grodzka Gate
rest and relax, to breathe fresh air. One in the Radun ghetto (1,834 people in – NN Theatre” Centre
(www.teatrnn.pl)
should go for a walk in the evening, or total). ¶ On May 11, 1942, during the
rest at home. If possible, one may have liquidation of the ghetto, the Nazis and
a swim in the river, for this, too, is an their local accomplices executed 1,137
excellent way of strengthening the body.” people. During another liquidation
Despite Hafetz Haim’s reputation and operation, carried out in the field 100
prestige, his remarks did not inspire metres west of Radun, about 180 people
yeshiva students to start a physical fled, but 20 of them were shot to death.
training movement. On the contrary:
the prevailing opinion was that physical 503
 Former yeshiva
at 29 Savetskaya Street
in Radun, 2014. Photo
by Natalia Filina,
„ […] Mother was devoted to the Jewish faith with all her soul. My father did not
protest. She brought us up in this faith. […] I remember that when I came back
home, she was sewing and singing beautifully. These were the songs about Eretz Israel
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
[Hebr. The Land of Israel] and about the Jewish nation. They were all in Yiddish. Sad
Theatre” Centre (www. songs. ¶ Avraham Aviel, Yad Vashem Institute collection.
teatrnn.pl)

Avraham Aviel was born in 1929, in executed ghetto prisoners, later replaced
Dugalishok, a Jewish farming village on with a memorial to the Radun Jews (“To
the outskirts of Radun. He managed to the Victims of the Holocaust”). ¶ By
escape from the mass shooting in the the road to Novy Dvor, about a kilom-
Radun ghetto, where his mother and eter from the town, there is a Jewish
younger brother were killed. His father cemetery. It covers an area of about 2.8
and older brother were shot later, when ha (six acres) and is fenced and well-
they were hiding from the Nazis in the maintained. Hafetz Haim’s ohel is there
nearby forests. Avraham joined the and has been renovated in recent years;
partisans and, together with other Jew- there are also gravestones of the yeshiva’s
ish survivors, fought against the Nazis teachers, a dozen old stone matzevot,
until 1944. After the war, Aviel settled in and a contemporary gravestone from
Israel. He wrote a book about the Jews 2007. In the 1990s, a memorial was
in Belarus and was a witness at Adolf erected to the Jews of Radun killed in
Eichmann’s trial in Jerusalem. The life the mass executions during World War
of Aviel and his family as well as the fate II. ¶ The story of Radun’s Jews is shown
of Belarusian Jews during the Holocaust in an exhibition at the school museum of
are presented in a documentary …But the Radun middle school. The exhibition
Who Could I Pray For? (Israel 2010) pro- includes copies of the privileges granted
duced by Yad Vashem within “Witnesses by King John III Sobieski and Augustus
and education” project. III, Hafetz Haim’s works, and archival
photographs.
Memorial sites ¶ After Radun was
liberated in July 1944, 32 Jews returned
Radun

to the town. In 1961, a sculpture of

504 a soldier was put up on the grave of the
Voranava (32 km): a former synagogue (19th/20th c.); the wooden Orthodox Church of St. Surrounding
Alexander Nevsky; the Scipio del Campo Palace (19th c.); a pharmacist’s house. ¶ Bienia- area
koni (44 km): a former synagogue, currently a library (early 20th c.); a wooden funeral
parlour; Church of St. John the Baptist (1900); the railway station building (early 20th c.);
the grave of Maryla Wereszczakówna – the poet Adam Mickiewicz’s muse. ¶ Hajciunishki
(57 km): considered to have been the prototype of the village of Soplicowo described in
Adam Mickiewicz’s Pan Tadeusz; the fortified manor house of the Nonhart family (1613);
the ruins of a Calvinist church (1633).

Former Hafetz Haim’s Yeshivah (1882), currently a cultural centre, 29 Savetska St. ¶ Jewish Worth
cemetery (17th c.) (at the road towards Novy Dvor). ¶ Our Lady of the Rosary Church seeing
(1929–1933), Lenin St. ¶ School Museum, 36a Lenin St.

Radun

505
 Zhaludok
Pol. Żołudek, Bel. Жалудок, Zhaludok had three schools with instruction in Yiddish,
Yid. ‫זשעלודאָק‬ Hebrew, and Polish, and two synagogues – the old and the new
one. I remember Rabbi Sorochkin; there were branches of the
Hechalutz and Beitar organisations.
Miron (Mordechai) Morduchowicz’s Account, in: Zheludok.
Pamiat’ o evreiskom mestechke (Rus.: The Shtetl of Zheludok
in Contemporary Cultural Memory), Moscow 2013

Beginnings ¶ Zhaludok is mentioned town. Throughout the 19th and in the

for the first time in the 1385 documents early 20th century, Zhaludok was the
written by the spies of the Teutonic centre of a commune (gmina) in Lida
Order, who mentioned the settlement as County.
a country estate of the Ściegiewiłłowicz
family. From 1486, Zhaludok enjoyed The Jews of Zhaludok ¶ The Jew-
the status of a town, and in 1512 it was ish community of Zhaludok emerged at
included in the register of the Grand the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Duke’s mansions in the Lida County. In According to the 18th-century poll-
the mid-16th century, the town became tax register, the Jewish community of
the property of the Sapieha family of Zhaludok numbered 287 tax-paying
the wealthy Polish magnates. In 1680, Jews, which means that the town was
the Zhaludok demesne – a large estate inhabited by around 600 Jews. In the
situated on both banks of the Neman 19th century, after the Russian authori-
River, which consisted of a manor ties had implemented laws restricting
house, the town, villages, arable lands, Jewish residence in the countryside,
and forests – came under the rule of the percentage of Jews in the popula-
Kazimierz Frankiewicz-Radzimiński. tion of Zhaludok increased significantly
In February 1706, Zhaludok served as and ranged from 53 to 73.5 percent.
the headquarters of the Swedish King The town’s commercial and industrial
Charles XII. At the beginning of the 18th development relied on Jewish merchants
century, the Zhaludok demesne passed and artisans. In 1830, Zhaludok had
to the Tyzenhauz family, who gave it its a population of 349 people, 17 brick and
original urban design with the central 24 wooden houses, two stores, and seven
elliptic square and six streets radiating taverns. ¶ In the second half of the 19th
from it. This design has been preserved century and in the early 20th century,
till today. In 1835, Zhaludok became horse fairs were held in the town on
Zhaludok

the property of the Uhruski family. The Pentecost Sunday. This was also the
new owner’s son, Ludwik Świętopełk- time when match-making was arranged
506 Czetwertyński, built a palace near the and students were recruited for various
Talmudic academies. ¶ In 1852–1853, The petition included a design plan with Third-of-May parade
in the market square
guilds were established in nine towns both the existing and the planned build- in Zhaludok, with the
of Lida County, including Zhaludok. ings in Targowy Square. In his response Volunteer Fire Brigades
participating, 1926; vis-
They brought together 329 artisans of to the Vilna province office, the Lida ible in the background:
different trades. Zhaludok had 26 guild County head administrator wrote that the spire of the fire
the third prayer house was planned to station, the western side
craftsmen, such as tailors, shoemakers, of the old synagogue,
saddle-makers, glassmakers, paint- be built on the plot of land where there and the house with
ers, hatters, butchers, blacksmiths, and already were two brick synagogues, a balcony belonging
to Shmuel of Grodno.
beekeepers. but this was not possible because the Collection of the YIVO
plot was too small. The Board refused Institute for Jewish
Research
Religious life ¶ At the turn of the 19th to enlarge it or find a different one.
century, there were two synagogues in Nevertheless, the county head thought
Zhaludok. In 1899, the Jewish com- that the third prayer house was neces-
munity requested permission to build sary because of overcrowding and poor
another one. In the petition, it was sanitary conditions during religious
pointed out that there was one heated services in the two existing shuls. Still, as
and one unheated synagogue in a town is evident from the archival documents,
that had 200 Jewish households with the building was not established.
1,500 people of both sexes. In winter, the
synagogue could not hold all those who 20th century ¶ During World War
wished to participate in the services. For I, in August 1914, 36 Jews (Zhaludok
this reason, the community requested residents and Princess Czetwertyńska’s
permission to build “one more wooden tenants) were called up into the Rus-
shul, or, if the authorities find [a pos- sian army. Their families, left without
sibility to allow] a brick one, we agree, breadwinners, received financial aid.
as we have enough funds to build a shul.” Some Zhaludok residents were evacuated 507
 three schools operated in Zhaludok:
a state school taught in Polish (255 stu-
dents), a private Orthodox Jewish school
taught in Hebrew (58 students), and
a private Jewish school taught in Yiddish
(101 students). ¶ Industrial establish-
ments included a brickyard, a tannery,
two distilleries, an open sand pit and
gravel mine, a bakery, a small brewery,
and a watermill. There were 10 stores
trading in colonial goods, 10 groceries,
one tobacco store, and three restau-
rants. Zhaludok also had three medical
institutions (two medicine warehouses,
a hospital, and a pharmacy) whose staff
included one doctor, one dentist, and two
medical assistants. Financial operations
were handled by the community bank.

From Zhaludok out into the

world ¶ Zhaludok was the home town
of several well-known intellectuals. One
of them was Ben Avigdor (Abraham Leib
The building that to the Samara province. ¶ In 1921–1939, Shalkovich), who was born in Zhaludok
housed the Jewish
school in Zhaludok in
Zhaludok was the centre of a township in 1867 and moved to Warsaw in 1891.
the early 1930s, 2014. in Lida County, Nowogródek Voivode- He received a traditional Jewish educa-
Photo by Natalia Filina,
digital collection of the
ship, in the newly independent Poland. tion. A writer and publisher, he was
“Grodzka Gate – NN According to the 1931 census, the town one of the first to revive and popularise
Theatre” Centre (www. Hebrew literature in the spirit of critical
teatrnn.pl)
had 274 houses inhabited by 1,552
people: 1,053 Jews, 467 Catholics, 31 realism. Avigdor’s stories and novels are
The early 20th- among the first prose works in Hebrew
century mikveh in
Orthodox Christians, and one Lutheran.
Zhaludok, 2014. Photo In addition, the princely manor farm in to focus on the problems of individual
by Natalia Filina, Zhaludok included 14 houses and 242 characters rather than on the history and
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN people: 204 Roman Catholics, 21 Ortho- culture of the Jewish people in general.
Theatre” Centre (www. dox Christians, and 17 Jews. ¶ In 1925, He died in Karlovy Vary in 1921.
teatrnn.pl)

Pinchas Kremień (Krémögne) was born in Zhaludok in 1890. Between 1908 and
1912, he studied at the Vilna Art School, where he made friends with Chaim Soutine
and Michel Kikoine. In 1920, he illegally crossed the border, penniless, and then
made his way through Germany to Paris. He met his old friends there and made
Zhaludok

new ones, such as Modigliani and Chagall. Kremień painted in the spirit of moder-
ate Expressionism, mostly still lifes and landscapes. The best period of his painting
508 career is considered to be between 1916 and 1920. During World War II, he was
a hired worker in a village in southern
France. His paintings were exhibited in
Paris, London, Philadelphia, Lausanne,
Geneva, Cannes, and Moscow. Kremień
died in 1981 and was buried in Paris.

World War II and the Holocaust

¶ After the establishment of the Soviet
rule in 1939, the synagogue in Zhalu-
dok was converted into the Red Army
House. In 1940, the Jewish population of
Zhaludok stood at 70 percent (1,708 out
of 2,436 inhabitants). Several refugee
families from Łódź arrived here. In
addition, more than 200 Jews lived in
the village of Orla. A week before the
outbreak of the war between Germany
and the USSR, several traders, arti-
sans, and representatives of the Jewish
intelligentsia were arrested and sent to
prison in Lida. Some managed to return
to the town at the end of the first week
of the war. ¶ The Germans marched into
Zhaludok on June 27, 1941, shooting ghetto on Rosh Hashanah (21 Septem- Former synagogue
in Zhaludok, 2014.
six Jews denounced as communists in ber) and Yom Kippur (1 October); Rabbi Photo by Natalia Filina,
the first liquidation operation, and then Chaim Shlomo Weinstein took part in digital collection of the

„
“Grodzka Gate – NN
establishing a ghetto on July 10, 1941. ¶ them. ¶ Nochum Szyfmanowicz, who Theatre” Centre (www.
Secret religious services were held in the was born in Zhaludok, recalls: teatrnn.pl)

The Czetwertyński
The local authorities fled with the beginning of the German-Soviet war. During (Chetvertynsky) manor
house in Zhaludok, 2014.
the week of anarchy that followed, until the Germans entered the town, village Photo by Natalia Filina,
peasants pillaged Jewish houses, especially the ones where they encountered no resistance. digital collection of the
The Germans burnt the town, leaving only the suburbs, where they established a ghetto. “Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
The Jews were crowded together, several families in one room. Some locals joined the teatrnn.pl)
police and cooperated with the new authorities; others were ready to help, but the majority
remained indifferent. ¶ On May 9, 1942, a general operation was carried out. All the people
were herded into a ditch that had been dug outside the town. The Germans and policemen
carried out the shooting. The only person who survived was a boy, Fishele Zborowski. He
got out of the ditch and escaped but was caught by the Germans again. Our whole family,
about 30 people, were killed in the pogrom – my mother and father, my sister Enia –
a beautiful dancer, and others. My mother managed to save only Shloymele, hiding him in
a furnace and covering it with bricks. At night, he managed to get out and ran away. After
wandering around for a long time, he found several partisans and got himself admitted 509
 into a partisan unit. Shloymele, who was 19, often went on a reconnaissance missions;
he was brave and always wanted to be in the forefront. In the last clash, he was mortally
wounded. ¶ I survived only because at the time of the execution I was working in a neigh-
bouring village, from where I was transferred to Lida. The partisans had already been there
then. One night, a liaison came to take a surgeon from the ghetto to the forest. On October
15, 1942, together with him and a few other companions, we escaped from the ghetto,
taking with us some faulty weapons. The partisans treated Jews in different ways. Some
showed sympathy, but others did not conceal their hostility. I served in a partisan unit on
equal terms with the rest, I carried out tasks, lay in ambush, and kept guard. Boruch Levin
escaped together with me. The police had sought him, so he had to hide all the time until
he escaped to the forest. In the unit, Boruch became something of a legend; he derailed 18
trains and was put forward for the title of a Hero of the Soviet Union, but he did not receive
it. After the war, Boruch Levin went to Palestine and lived there until 1981. He died at the
age of 70. ¶ Zheludok. Pamiat’ o evreiskom mestechke (Rus.: The Shtetl of Zheludok in
Contemporary Cultural Memory), Moscow 2013.

Zhaludok was liberated by Soviet troops in Zhaludok. Its participants made an

in July 1944, but none of the surviving inventory of the Jewish cemetery and
Jews returned to the town. conducted interviews with those resi-
dents who still remembered their Jewish
Memorial sites ¶ In 1959, an obelisk neighbours. The result of the project was
was erected at the site of the execu- an online publication Zheludok. Pamiat’
tion of Zhaludok’s Jews (one kilometer o evreiskom mestechke (Rus.: Zheludok.
east of the town, 300 metres from the The Shtetl of Zheludok in Contemporary
Jewish cemetery). In 2002, a memorial Cultural Memory, Moscow 2013), which
plaque was placed on the obelisk with is available at: http://sefer.ru/Zheludok_
an inscription in Russian, English, and sbornik.pdf ¶ The publication presents
Hebrew, reading: “Here lie buried more inscriptions from all the matzevot found
than 2,000 innocent Jews of Zhaludok at the Jewish cemetery (about 500, the
and Orla, barbarously murdered by the oldest ones dating back to the early 19th
German fascists and their collabora- century). Commemorative plaques were
tors on May 9, 1942. May the memory placed on the former synagogue and
of the fallen be eternal.” ¶ In 2012, mikveh. Also the traditional buildings
the Moscow-based “Sefer” Centre for on Orlańska St., once inhabited almost
University Teaching of Jewish Civilisa- exclusively by Jews, have survived to this
tion, in cooperation with the University day.
of Grodno, organised a summer school

Surrounding The Struve Geodetic Arc, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, is located on
area the way from the train station in Razhanka, close to the village of Lopaty (8 km). ¶ Orla
Zhaludok

(11 km): a Jewish cemetery. ¶ Murovanka (15 km): the fortified Orthodox Church of the
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary – one of the most precious monuments of Belarus
510 (16th c.). ¶ Razhanka (21 km): a former synagogue, now the Orthodox Church of St.
Nicholas the Wonder-maker (late 19th c.); the rabbi’s house and former Jewish houses
(19th/20th c.); Church of Sts. Peter and Paul (1674); stables of the former Razhanka estate
(2nd half of the 19th c.); a Jewish cemetery.

Zhaludok Buildings in Żydowska Worth

– Orlańska St. (currently seeing
Krasnopartyzanskaya St.). ¶
Jewish cemetery with about
500 matzevot, located on the
eastern outskirts of the town,
300 metres from the memo-
rial to those executed in May
1942. ¶ Former synagogue
(currently a cultural centre),
5 Bateriava St. ¶ Former
mikveh, 150 metres from
the synagogue, Bateriava St.
¶ Former Yiddish school,
23 Oktiabria St. ¶ Former
Hebrew school, 23 17
Verasnia St. ¶ Church of the
Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin Mary (1853–1854)
built in the Classicist style, 21
Savetskaya St. ¶ Świętopełk-
Czetwertyński palace and
park complex (late 18th c.–
early 20th c.) Pervomayskaya
St.

511
 Astryna
Pol. Ostryna, Bel. Астрына, Yid. ‫ַאסטרין‬ The wooden synagogue near the marketplace, the
hearth and heart of the Jewish community. […] The
centre of worship and study […], it was literally
never closed.
Leo W. Schwarz, Wolfson of Harvard:
Portrait of a scholar, Philadelphia 1978

Beginnings ¶ The first written men- to 1,210 people living in 295 houses.
tion of Astryna dates to the 1450 inscrip- The town had a municipal office, an
tion in The Lithuanian Metrica. In the Orthodox church, a chapel, two Jewish
15th–16th century, Astryna was under prayer houses, a school, 10 market stalls,
the king’s rule and was the centre of a brewery, a water mill, and a tannery.
a gmina in the County of Troki (Trakai). A market fair was held every Sunday.
In 1520, King Sigismund I the Old, who
owed one A.I. Chreptowicz “500 times The Jews of Astryna ¶ The earliest
three score groszy,” gave him “his manor mentions of Astryna’s Jews date back to
of Astryna, to pay the amount back, for 1569, when the local community was
three years and then until his death.” In subordinated to the Grodno kahal. In
1641, Władysław IV granted the town 1765, there were 436 registered poll tax
Magdeburg rights and a coat of arms. ¶ payers in Astryna and the surrounding
In the 16th century, Tatars settled in the area. In 1897, there were already 1,440
vicinity of Astryna for the first time. This Jews living here, making up 59 percent
was connected with King Sigismund I’s of the population. ¶ At the beginning of
gift of land to Aziubek-Soltan, the khan’s the 20th century, two synagogues were
son. Having received land near Astryna, built in Astryna: the “cold” (functioning
Aziubek started the princely family of from Passover through the High Holi-
Ostryński – the most influential Tatar days) and the “warm” (functioning from
noble family in the Grand Duchy of the High Holidays through Passover);
Lithuania. The Tatar prince’s descend- they were erected in place of the previ-
ants held important offices at the ducal ous synagogues, which had burnt down.
court, had the right to maintain their A bathhouse was also built at that time.
own armed troops, and were directly All these buildings have survived to the
subordinate to the Grand Duke. ¶ In present day.
1795, Astryna was incorporated into
Astryna

the Russian Empire and was leased out

on a long-term basis to the Governor of
512 Kherson. ¶ In 1885, Astryna was home
 A view of Astryna,
2014. Photo by Siergiej
Piwowarczyk, digital col-
lection of the “Grodzka
Gate – NN Theatre”
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)

Harry Austryn Wolfson (1887–1974) was a scholar, philosopher, and

historian born in Astryna, a Harvard University professor, the first chair-
man of the Judaic Studies Center in the United States. ¶ In his thirst for learn-
ing Wolfson resembled a Jewish gaon: he would spend days and nights
over books, resisting the temptations and distractions that could entice

„
him away from study. He published his first work when he was still a stu-
dent. This is what Astryna looked like in the future scholar’s eyes:

Ostrin is a small town, surrounded by thick forest. In its center is a wide, sandy
marketplace which contains the town well. On one side of the marketplace
stands the white church building encircled by a stone fence; on the other side stands the
black, wooden synagogue with its trebled roof, which is never closed. A number of narrow,
unpaved streets, commencing at the marketplace, run in curved lines for about half a mile
on each side. The houses around the market and those near it are inhabited by Jews, who
are the merchants, the mechanics, and the professional men of the community. These are
hewed log houses built at a distance of some yards from each other. Their roofs are shingled,
their windows high, and in some cases the frames painted red and white. At the extremi-
ties of each street the moujiks live in their humble thatched dwelling places, each of them
having in its front a well, a pen, some trees, and a dog lying in wait. ¶ Leo W. Schwarz,
Wolfson of Harvard: Portrait of a Scholar, 1978.

The interwar period ¶ According to in Lida County, and from 1926 – in

data from 1919, Astryna (then Ostryna) the Shchuchyn County of Nowogródek
had 1,841 residents, 1,067 of whom were Voivodeship (Palatinate) in the Second
Jewish. From 1921, the town functioned Polish Republic. There was a TSYSHO
as the centre of a municipality (gmina) school there, influenced by the Bund 513
 and with Yiddish as the language of
instruction, and a Tarbut school, run by
Zionists, with the instruction in Hebrew.
Towards the end of the 1920s, a Hakh-
shara, a special training program for the
Jewish youth, was launched in the local

„
forest, preparing young people for emi-
gration and settlement in Palestine.

The maggid was a multi-faceted

preacher who delivered colour-
ful sermons on a variety of ethical themes,
using a combination of stories and parables
to give either harsh rebuke or gentle persua-
sion. From time to time, such preachers
came to the village. As soon as one arrived,
he would hang a notice on the door to the
synagogue informing the public as to when
he would speak and his subject. By the time
the sermon began, the synagogue would
be filled to capacity, standing room only.
Former synagogue Each maggid had his own signature melody by which he preached. The sermon would be
in Astryna, 2014. Photo
by Natalia Filina,
generously peppered with verses from the Torah, the Talmud, and the great classic Jewish
digital collection of the sages, heavily dosed with humorous anecdotes. When the preacher described the waiting
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
terrors of Gehinnom (the place of punishment in the afterlife), the audience could feel its
teatrnn.pl) feet burning and smell their singed beards. When he spoke of Gan eden (the place of reward
Tarbut Jewish
in the afterlife), his listeners thought they could feel the bliss and taste the ecstasy awaiting
school, Astryna, 2014. each upright and righteous Jew “after a hundred and twenty years”. All the men would nod
Photo by Natalia Filina, their heads sagely as they followed the message of the maggid while the women in their
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN separate gallery wept with excitement. Laborers who had worked hard all day fell asleep
Theatre” Centre (www. with expressions of nakhas (satisfaction) on their slumbering faces, their tired heads lean-
teatrnn.pl)
ing on the wooden shtenders (high tables for prayer books or the Talmudic tractate). Every
sermon was based on the weekly Torah portion and incorporated practical moral lessons
applicable to the people’s daily lives. Among the maggidim were some real “fire and brim-
stone” preachers whose sermons were a lively topic of conversation even after the preachers
had long left the village to move on to their next appointment. Collectors visited each home
in the village the next day in order to collect donations for the maggid who had spoken the
previous night. ¶ Sefer zikaron li-kehilot Szczucin, Wasiliszki, Ostrin, Nowidwor, Rożanka
(Heb.: Book of Remembrance for the Communities of Shtutshin, Vasilishki, Ostrina,
Novi Dvor, and Rozanka), Tel Aviv 1966, retrieved from www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor
Astryna

World War II and the Holocaust September 1939 put Astryna within
514 ¶ The Soviet invasion of Poland in the borders of the USSR. The activity of
Jewish religious and secular organisa-
tions was banned. In 1940, Jews made
up 73 percent of the town’s population.
In addition, about 500 Jews lived in
the village of Novy Dvor, 10 km to the
northeast. At the beginning of World
War II, eight refugee families from War-
saw and Łódź had arrived in the town,
but after the Soviet rule was established,
they were deported to Kazakhstan. ¶
German forces seized Astryna on June
24, 1941; the Jewish population faced
repression: contacts with the local com-
munity were prohibited, forced labour
was introduced, and Jews were com-
pelled to wear yellow armbands. Eyewit-
ness accounts reveal that the first mass
killing of Jews in Astryna took place in
the second week of German occupation.
¶ A resident of the town, Mordechai

„
Cyrulnicki, who managed to survive the
Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, recollected: Prayer house and
cheder in Astryna, 2014.
Photo by Natalia Filina,
Executions by shooting became frequent and normal in our little town. They took digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
place on the market days, in order to frighten the peasants living in the sur- Theatre” Centre (www.
rounding area. The commander, who lived in the regional centre, Shchuchyn, often came teatrnn.pl)
to Astryna, and then we knew that people would be shot. ¶ The account by Mordechai The original Jewish
Cyrulnicki based on Chernaia kniga (Rus.: The Black Book), ed. Ilya Erenburg and Vass- buildings surviving in
Astryna, 2014. Photo
ily Grossman, 1947. by Natalia Filina,
digital collection of the

„
The ghetto in Astryna was established estimates, between 1,200 and 2,000 “Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
in October 1941. According to different inmates were confined there. teatrnn.pl)

In early December 1941, Jews from all the nearby villages, as well as from Novy
Dvor and Dąbrowa were rounded up in our town. They said that all the weak
and ill ones had been killed on the way. During the establishment of the ghetto, 10 more
people were shot. Further orders followed, and there were further executions. Leib Mikhel-
evich and his sister Feige-Sore were shot for secretly bringing some grain to the ghetto.
Osher Bojarski was caught grinding grain – and he was shot, too. ¶ The account by Morde-
chai Cyrulnicki, based on Chernaia kniga (Rus.: The Black Book), ed. by Ilya Erenburg
and Vassily Grossman, 1947.

515
 Entrance to the
synagogue in Astryna,
before 1939

Soccer team at the

Hebrew school

Shmuel Dolgov,
the cantor (hazan),
before 1926

Tailoring course,
1930. Source: Sefer
zikaron le-kehilot
Szczuczyn Wasiliszki
Astryna Nowy-Dwor
Rozanka, Tel Aviv 1966

The liquidation of the ghetto began population on the way to Auschwitz and
on June 6, 1942. At the end of Octo- Treblinka. The few survivors (Vladimir
ber 1942, the Jews from the ghetto in Glembocki, Shlomo Bojarski, Mordechai
Astryna were transported to the Kolbas- Cyrulnicki) were liberated by the Red

„
sino camp, 5 km from Grodno, which Army in 1945. ¶ Mordechai Cyrulnicki
was the transit point for the Jewish recollected:

I was born in 1899 in the town of Astryna, currently the Grodno Region. I lived
there with my family until the Nazi invasion. I had a large family: 5 children.
I had wonderful children. All of them were students. With the arrival of Soviet rule,
the elder daughter, Gala – she would have been 22 now – was admitted to the Grodno
secondary school of engineering and construction and got promoted to the second grade
in the spring of 1941. My eldest boy, 17-year-old Yakov, attended a factory-based printing
vocational school. The others were still in school: 16-year-old Joel was promoted to the 9th
grade, 13-year-old Wiktor – to the 8th grade, and the youngest girl, Łania – only 9 years
old – would have been in the 4th grade. ¶ The account by Mordechai Cyrulnicki, based on
Chernaia kniga (Rus.:The Black Book), ed. by Ilya Erenburg and Vassily Grossman, 1947.
Astryna

Traces of Jewish presence ¶ the synagogue complex have survived

516 The early 20th century buildings of in Pereulok Zhukovskogo Street. The
former synagogue now houses a com- cemetery has survived, though without
munity centre, and the former beth any tombstones. Fragments of matzevot
midrash, currently abandoned, served as can be found in the pavement next
a production plant after World War II. to the community centre (the former
In the former Mogilna Street (now Mart synagogue).
Eighth St.) the site of the former Jewish

Astryna Former synagogue Worth

complex, Pereulok Zhu- seeing
kovskogo St. ¶ Hill fort
(10th c.) ¶ Transfigura-
tion Orthodox Church
(1855), 5 Grodnenskaya
St. ¶ Church of St.
Theresa (2001).

Novy Dvor (10 km): Surrounding

a masonry former area
synagogue (early
20th c.); the Church of
the Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary;
a Jewish cemetery. ¶
Shchuchyn (23 km):
the Drucki-Lubecki
palace complex (late
19th c.); the building
of the former prayer
house and yeshiva, cur-
rently shops; a Jewish
cemetery with about
40 matzevot; a monu-
ment at the mass grave
of Holocaust victims; Church of St. Theresa (1828); a Piarist monastery; St. Michael the
Archangel Orthodox Church (1865); ruins of a cemetery chapel. ¶ Aziory (24 km): Christ
the King Church (1992); Holy Spirit Orthodox Church; January insurgents’ grave; remains
of a Jewish cemetery. ¶ Vasilishki (23 km): a former synagogue, currently a community
centre (early 20th c.); former Jewish houses; Church of St. John the Baptist (18th c.); in the
nearby village of Staryya Vasilishki there is the house of the Wydrzycki family, in which
Czesław Niemen was born.

517
 Lunna
Pol. Łunna, Bel. Лунна, Yid. ‫לונע‬ The town boasted for its shoemakers, tailors, home-
owners, annual-fair days, market days, as well as
for its fires.
Yitzchak Eliashberg, Memoirs from Lunna,
http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/lunna

Beginnings ¶ The little town of Lunna divided into two parts: the royal town
was established in 1531 on the order and the land belonging to the Sapieha
of Queen Bona, who also gave permis- family. On the private estate, a settle-
sion for a marketplace and a tavern to ment named Wola emerged, and the
be established there. The name Lunna Jews moved there in 1785 after a fire in
derives from the Baltic word łunas Lunna. The name Lunna-Wola is often

„
(“mud”), or from the name of a marsh found in the literature.
bird, łuń (“harrier”). The settlement was

Once there was a little shtetl named Lunna. It was situated near the southern
bank of the Nieman River and was surrounded by its lush green forests. A small
town populated by 300 Jewish families, which was not known for its geniuses, famous
rabbis, bright disciples or by any kind of glorious history whatsoever despite the fact that
it was written in the Community’s historical documents that it had been traversed by the
Napoleon armies at the time of his war against Russia. Trotzky also visited the headquar-
ters, which were temporarily situated inside one of the town’s houses, at the time of the
war between the Bolsheviks [and] the Poles. ¶ Yitzchak Eliashberg, Memoirs from Lunna,
http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/lunna

The Jews of Lunna ¶ Most likely, the inhabited by 665 people, mainly Jews;
Jewish community of Lunna emerged Lunna and Wola had separate syna-
in the second half of the 16th century. gogues and Jewish cemeteries. ¶ The
The first written mention of the local Jews traditionally worked in trade and
Jews dates back to 1606: “A Jew from crafts. The first and the twenty-first day
Lunna was carrying 40 tanned calf of each month were designated to be
hides for sale.” During the 19th century, the market days, and annual fairs were
the number of Jews in the town stead- held in April and December. Lunna was
ily grew, and by the end of the century, a center of the grain trade in the Grodno
Lunna

it reached 965 in a total population of Province. The town had a synagogue,

518 1,211. The Wola suburb at that time was three Jewish prayer houses, a poorhouse,
20 little stores, three roadhouses, two and in their homes. After we entered, Moshe Yudl Arkin’s
house with a balcony)
inns, a bath, two windmills, an elemen- as a force of one regiment, the Rus- in the market square
tary state school, a distillery, a first-aid sians began to bombard the town with of Lunna, before 1939,
collection of the YIVO
station, and a post office. In Wola there grenades from the opposite bank of the Institute for Jewish
was a wooden synagogue, built towards river. We deployed our forces behind Research
the end of the 18th century. In 1901, the synagogue, where the Russians
Josel Rubinovich opened a photographic couldn’t do us any harm, but there were
studio. a few injured among the people, which
caused terrible panic. Everyone started
World War I ¶ With the outbreak to flee from the town, wailing, cursing,
of World War I in August 1914, some and crying, with their children and
of the town’s residents were called up possessions.” ¶ The occupation authori-
into the Russian army. Judel Gisser, ties issued an order uniting Lunna and
Mendel Kaplan from Lunna, and Aaron Wola into one town; they permitted the
Fridman from Wola fell into German functioning of two synagogues in Lunna
captivity. In autumn 1915, Lunna was and one in Wola. ¶ Between 1916 and
occupied by German forces. Friedrich 1921, the post of rabbi in Lunna was
Grelle, a soldier of the German army, held by Isser Yehuda Unterman (1886–
recollected: “We moved further, to the 1976). After 1921 Unterman moved to
town of Lumno-Wola (Lunna), situ- Grodno, where he was also a rabbi and
ated directly on the Neman River. […] director of several yeshivot. Later, he
there are few stone-built houses here, emigrated to England, were he was the
most of them are wooden, and the rabbi of the city of Liverpool from 1924.
streets are not paved. All the Jews were In 1946, he became Chief Rabbi of Tel
still there, in the synagogue, at school, Aviv-Jaffa, and in 1964–1972, he held 519
 replaced by Tuvia Rotberg (executed by
the Nazis in 1942).

The interwar period ¶ After

March 1921, Lunna was within the
borders of Poland and had the status of
a gmina town in the County of Grodno
in Białystok Palatinate (Voivodeship).
In 1921, the town had 307 houses and
1,884 residents. In 1938, 1,671 of the
town’s 2,522 residents were Jewish (60
percent). ¶ In 1928, the Gmilut Hesed,
a free-loan society was established,
headed by the most distinguished Jews
in town including Rabbi Rotberg . ¶
The town’s economic life depended
heavily on the timber and grain trade,
the construction materials trade, small
crafts, and light industry. As elsewhere
in Belorussia, practically all tradesmen
and craftsmen were Jews. ¶ The town
had three functioning synagogues, two
schools, a theatre, and a fire brigade
band. There were two charity associa-
tions caring for the sick and the poor,
A brick house from the office of the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi a bathhouse with a mikveh, and two Jew-
1931 in Geroev Square
in Lunna. The Star of
of Israel. In Lunna, Unterman was ish cemeteries (a third one was in Wola).
David is visible in the
centre of the triangular
gable wall, 2014. Photo
Aaron Lieberman (1845, Lunna – 1880, New York) – a well-known journalist
by Natalia Filina, and publisher. He studied the Torah in Vilna (Vilnius), worked as a melamed in
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Suwałki, and was an extra-mural student at St. Petersburg Institute of Technol-
Theatre” Centre (www. ogy. He published articles in the Forverts about the labor conditions of Jewish
teatrnn.pl) workers. In Vilnius, he became a socialist agitator, for which in 1875 he was
The construction forced to leave the country. In London, he set up the Hebrew Socialist Union,
of the Jewish primary and in 1876, he started to publish a socialist magazine Ha-Emet (Heb.: Truth). In
school in Lunna, 1927,
collection of the YIVO 1878, he was arrested in Berlin, but managed to emigrate to the USA in 1880.
Institute for Jewish
Research
World War II and the Holocaust Soviet intelligence. In July 1941, the
¶ The Wehrmacht troops captured Germans organised a Judenrat (Jewish
Lunna on June 28, 1941. German council) in Lunna, with Yakov Welbel
soldiers started to pillage Jewish houses. as chairman. A Jewish police force was
Lunna

Already on the first day, a few Jews were established to maintain order.
520 shot for their alleged contacts with the
„ “[…] both younger sisters, Leja
and Chaja, lived with their
mother in Lunna. Father could take only
one of them to Palestine. For this purpose,
it was necessary to pay all the travel fees
through a friend, so that he could go to
Lunna, enter into a fictitious marriage
with her, and thus obtain a permit for her
to leave for Palestine, where a divorce was
to be obtained later. Father decided that
Leja would be the one to go. Leja arrived in
Palestine at the last moment – on April 5,
1940. Her mother and sister Chaja stayed in
Lunna and were killed during the Holo-
caust together with the town’s remaining
1,549 Jews. ¶ Ruth Marcus, Once There
Was a Little Shtetl Called Lunna, translated
from http://www.mishpoha.org

In September 1941, before the feast of

Sukkot, the occupying forces announced
the establishment of a ghetto, and in
October that year, they ordered the
confiscation of all personal property and
real estate of Lunna Jews. On the night of the camp’s prisoners on October 7, 1944 Former mikveh
in Lunna, 2014. Photo
November 1–2, 1942, all the dwellers of and was killed in a shooting. His notes by Natalia Filina,
the ghetto were deported to the transit were found and published in the col- digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
camp in Kolbassino (near Grodno). On lection entitled Megiles Aushwitz (Yid.: Theatre” Centre (www.
December 5, 1942, prisoners from the Scrolls from Auschwitz), ed. B. Mark, Tel teatrnn.pl)
Kolbassino camp began to be transported Aviv 1977. Jewish cemetery in
by rail to the Auschwitz death camp, Lunna, 2014. Photo by
where 1,549 Jews from Lunna-Wola were Traces of Jewish presence ¶ At Siergiej Piwowarczyk,
digital collection of the
murdered. Of the town’s entire Jewish the new Jewish cemetery on Sheremeta “Grodzka Gate – NN
population, only 15 people survived; one Street in Lunna, more than 300 19th- and Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)
of them was Eliezer Eisenschmidt, who 20th-century matzevot have survived. In
managed to escape during transport. ¶ 2005, a group of American students from
Zalman Gradowski, a former member of Dartmouth College under Dr. Edward
the Judenrat of Lunna, found himself in Boraz’s supervision carried out inven-
a special unit in Auschwitz that worked torying and restoration works at the
at the crematorium. He wrote down his cemetery. The site where the old cem-
experiences and buried his notes in the etery used to be located, a few hundred
ashes near the crematorium. Gradowski metres away in Komsomolskaia Street, is
was one of the leaders of the uprising of currently a square with a memorial to the 521
 Holocaust victims, but a fragment of the during World War II; no material trace
wall and three matzevot have survived. of it remains. ¶ The houses formerly
The Jewish cemetery in Wola, with about inhabited by several Jewish families
80 surviving tombstones, is located in have been preserved. The gable walls of
the forest of Zalesie, 700 metres to the some houses bear brick ornaments in
left off the Grodno–Vawkavysk road. the shape of the Star of David. ¶ A part
¶ The building of Lunna’s main syna- of the exhibition in the school museum
gogue survived the war but was totally (10 Shkolna St.) tells the story of the
reconstructed in the times of the USSR; local Jewish community. The exhibits
it served as a bakery and currently include a preserved fragment of a Torah
houses a community centre. The wooden scroll as well as many photographs and
synagogue in Wola was destroyed documents.

Surrounding Skidziel (18 km): a former yeshiva; the Chapel of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
area Mary (1870); the Antonowicz-Czetweryński manor park (circa 1840); the Orthodox Church
of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Belarus; a Jewish cemetery; a memorial to
the victims of World War II. ¶ Voupa (17 km): a former prayer house, cheder, and mikveh
(early 20th c.); a memorial at the execution site at the Jewish cemetery; Church of St. John
the Baptist (1773); Sts. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church (20th c.); a collection of Judaica
in the school museum. ¶ Ros’ (24 km): a former synagogue (early 20th c.); the remains
of a Jewish cemetery; Holy Trinity Church (1807); the Potocki manor farm; Holy Trinity
Orthodox Church (early 20th c.); a World War I military cemetery. ¶ Kamianka (27 km):
a Jewish cemetery, a few dozen matzevot; the Church of St. Anthony of Padua.

Worth Residential houses with decorations shaped like the Star of David, Kirova St., Geroev Sq. ¶
seeing Three Jewish cemeteries, Sheremet St., Komsomolskaia St., Zalesie forest. ¶ Former syna-
gogue, rebuilt (currently a community centre), Geroev Sq. ¶ Church of St. Anne (1782). ¶
Wooden Orthodox Church of St. John (1889).

Lunna
Lunna

522
Indura
Bel. Індура, Yid. ‫אַמדור‬ Indura has lost its Jewish flavour…
W. Karpyza

Beginnings ¶ The town’s name is forces. In 1921, under the Peace Treaty
connected with the Balts, who called of Riga, it was incorporated into the
the local river Indrupis, which meant Second Polish Republic.
“reedy” – indre meaning “reed”. Thus,
a melodious word was coined: Indura. The Jews of Indura ¶ The first men-
In 1413, Indura was mentioned in the tion of Jews in Indura dates back to the
resolution of the Grodno Sejm on the 16th century. The Indura Jewish com-
Union of the Grand Duchy of Lithu- munity was administrated by the kahal
ania with the Crown of Poland. Under of Grodno. In 1720, during an annual
that resolution, Ashmyany, Slonim, fair, the elders of Lithuanian kahals (the
Vawkavysk, Indura, and Grodno – all Lithuanian Vaad) convened in Indura
of them referred to in the document and drew up a list of Jewish community
as towns – were incorporated into taxes for 1721. According to the 1766
the Troki (Trakai) Palatinate. ¶ In the census, Indura had 505 Jewish residents.
16th–17th centuries, the town of Indura
belonged to the noble families of Kiszka, Hasidism ¶ In the second half of the
Radziwiłł, Pac, Wałowicz, Isakowski, 18th century, Indura was the second
and Mlecznik, and in the 18th century – largest centre of Hasidism in north-
to the Ogiński, Sałaguba, and Masalski eastern Poland after Pinsk. Although it
families. During the Great Northern was a small town, it had its own yeshiva.
War (1700–1721), Swedish General One of the figures in the local commu-
Meyerfeld defeated the Russian troops nity leadership was Haim Haykel ben
in a battle near Indura. ¶ With the Shmuel, also known as Haim Amdurski,
Third Partition of Poland (1795), Indura a disciple of the Maggid (Dov-Ber) of
fell within the borders of the Russian Mezherich and Aaron of Karlin. Haykel
Empire. The town was situated on the Amdurski was a tzadik in Indura in
Brzestowski and Kozłowski family the 1770s and 1780s. At Haim Haykel’s
estates. In 1915, it came under German court, there was a custom of confess-
occupation. In 1919–1920, it was seized ing to the tzadik or to one another. As
by the Red Army and then by Polish long as Haykel lived in Indura, Hasidim 523
A view of Indura from
the Jewish cemetery,
2011. Photo by Emil
Majuk, digital collection
of the “Grodzka Gate
– NN Theatre” Centre
(www.teatrnn.pl)

from all over Lithuania would come to admors of the Karlin Hasidic dynasty;
see him. Other tzadikim of his genera- it was printed for the first time in 1891
tion – such as Pinchas of Korets and in Warsaw. ¶ When Haim Haykel ben
Boruch of Medzhibozh – respected him Shmuel died in 1787, his son Shmuel
for his deep prayer and asceticism. For (d. after 1798) took over as head of the

„
a long time, the manuscript of his book, community, and Hasidism ceased to be
Haim ve-hesed, was in possession of the a presence in Indura.

Rabbi Aaron travelled through all of Russia, from one Jewish city to the next,
in search of young people worth bringing to his teacher, the Great Maggid, as
disciples, so that through them the hasidic teachings might spread through the world. Once
he came to the city of Amdur. Now he had heard that, beyond the town, in a lonely wood,
lived a devout and learned man, Rabbi Hayke, who kept aloof from the world and from
men, and mortified his flesh. In order to bring him to the town, Rabbi Aaron preached in
the House of Prayer a number of times, and his words had a powerful effect, but it took
a long time for the hermit to hear of it. When the hour for the next sermon drew near,
something drove him to the House of Prayer. When Rabbi Aaron heard he had come, he
did not preach his sermon, but said only these words: “If a man does not grow better, he
grows worse.” Like a poison which rouses the very core of life against itself, these words
bit into the mind of the ascetic. He ran to the rabbi and begged him to help him out of the
maze of error in which he had lost his way. “Only my teacher, the maggid of Mezherich can
do that,” said Rabbi Aaron.“Then give me a letter to him,” said the man, “so that he may
know who I am.” His request was granted, and he started out on his journey confident that
before he spoke freely to the maggid, the famous teacher would know that he had before
Indura

him one of the great men of his generation. ¶ The maggid opened the letter and – obviously
524 with deliberate intent – read it aloud. It said that the man who was delivering it did not
have a particle of sound goodness in him.
Rabbi Hayke burst into tears. “Now, now,”
said the maggid. –“Does what that Litvak
(a non-Hasidic Jew) writes really matter
so much to you?” – “Is it true or isn’t it?”
asked the other. – “Well,” said the maggid,
if the Litvak says so, it is, very probably,
true.” – “Then heal me, rabbi!” the ascetic
begged him. ¶ For a whole year, the maggid
worked over him and healed him. Later,
Rabbi Hayke became one of the great men
of his generation. ¶ M. Buber, Tales of the
Hasidim, trans. O. Marx, New York 1991.

Famine ¶ The collection of the

National Historical Archive of Belarus in
Grodno contains documents connected
with the life of Indura’s Jews, reflecting
the town life in the 19th century. One
of these documents describes a famine
experienced by the Jewish population
in 1823–1825. A county doctor’s report
reads: “having visited all the houses
together with the chief of county police, The 1897 census reports 314 houses, Former mikveh
from 1883, located in
I found only eight ill Jews, suffering a Catholic church, an Orthodox church, Leningradskaya Street
from undernourishment. If the rumours a synagogue, four Jewish prayer houses, in Indura, 2014. Photo
by Natalia Filina,
are to be trusted, approximately 100 a parish school, a post office, a first-aid digital collection of the
Jews died. They have no money for station, a brewery, two distilleries, 16 “Grodzka Gate – NN
workshops, a limestone processing plant, Theatre” Centre (www.
medicines, in their homes [there are] teatrnn.pl)
impurities and the situation [is] desper- eight inns, market fairs on Sundays, and
ate. The kahal has no resources.” 2,674 residents, 2,194 of whom were The building of
the former synagogue
Jewish. in Indura, 2014. Photo
The shtetl in figures ¶ In 1847, the by Natalia Filina,
digital collection of the
Jewish community of Indura numbered The bookshop ¶ In 1910–1911, Shm- “Grodzka Gate – NN
1,220 people. Data from the National uel Wolf Naufakh opened a bookshop Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)
Historical Archive of Belarus in Grodno in Indura. He obtained a licence to deal
reveal that in September 1852, a fire in “books allowed by censorship, only
in the town consumed 54 Jewish and in Russian.” He requested permission to
15 Christian houses with outbuildings deal also in censored Jewish and Ger-
as well as all shops and their goods. man books, but the request was rejected
About 150 families were left home- after a report by the local chief of police
less. ¶ In 1881, there were 237 Jewish stated: “Naufakh holds the post of the
and four Christian houses in Indura. elder of the Indura Munucipal Board, 525
 of granite. The oldest surviving tomb-
stones date back to the 18th century.
Along Gagarin St., the cemetery is partly
fenced by a steel barrier with metal ele-
ments incorporating the Star of David.
The area of the cemetery is now used for
grazing.

World War II and the Holocaust

¶ In 1939, Indura fell within the borders
of the Beloriussian Soviet Socialist
Republic. In June 1941, it was seized
by German troops. In late August and
Members of Hechalutz and his duties do not always allow him early September 1941, a ghetto was
from Indura, 1927, repro-
duction from Amdur,
to work at the bookshop personally. Usu- established. On November 2, 1942, the
majn geboiren shtetl, ally, a member of his family is in charge inmates of the ghetto were deported to
Buenos Aires 1973
of sales. But neither the family nor Nau- the Kolbassino transit camp, and then
fakh himself have any idea of marketing sent to the Treblinka and Auschwitz
books, and yet, they are eager to take up death camps. However, according to the
anything, as Jews typically are. There is data cited by Marat Botvinnik (Monu-
no demand for Jewish or German books, ments to the Genocide of the Jews of
and demand for the Russian ones is low.” Belorussia, Minsk 2000), on November
2, 1942, Germans stationed in Indura
The synagogue ¶ The synagogue aided by policemen shot dead 2,800
in Indura was built in 1885 on the site people, most of whom were women and
of a previous one, which probably had children.
been wooden. It reflects an austere
monumental-classical style of synagogue Traces of Jewish presence ¶
architecture, with only a minimum of Indura was liberated on July 14, 1944.
decorative elements. The synagogue was After the war, there was no Jewish com-
built of brick and originally was plas- munity. On December 29, 1949, the
tered. After the war, it was used by the town lost its municipal rights and was
local kolkhoz for farm-related purposes. downgraded to a village. In 2007, it was
At present, it stands abandoned, and its granted the status of an agrotown. The
condition is gradually deteriorating. synagogue building still dominates the
local landscape and, though in deterio-
The Jewish cemetery ¶ Indura’s rating condition, is one of the best-pre-
Jewish cemetery is located in the served Jewish heritage sites in Belarus.
southwestern part of the town, in On Leningradskia Street, a mikveh build-
Gagarin Street. It occupies an irregular ing from 1883 has survived and now
L-shaped plot, including an oblong hill functions as a public bath. A source of
Indura

about five metres high. Several hundred information about the town Jewish life
526 tombstones survive, most of them made is the memorial book entitled Amdur,
 The area of the former
ghetto in Indura, cur-
rently Leningradskaya
St., 2014. Photo
by Natalia Filina,
digital collection of the
“Grodzka Gate – NN
Theatre” Centre (www.
teatrnn.pl)

mein gebijren shtetl (Yid.: Indura, My introduction by Abraham Zak (1891–

Home Town), published in Buenos 1980), a Yiddish-language poet and
Aires in 1973. The book contains an writer born in Indura.

Grodno (26 km): a choral synagogue (17th c.); a Jewish cemetery with approx. 2,000 Surrounding
matzevot and the tombs of Rabbis Shimon Shkop and Alexander Zyskind (17th c.); the area
buildings of the former Tarbut school; the Jewish community building; a hospital; and
a yeshiva; a rich collection of Judaica at the Grodno Museum of the History of Religion;
the Castle Hill with the Old Castle (11th–19th c.); the New Castle; the Orthodox Church
of Sts. Boris and Gleb (12th c.); monasteries: Bernardine, Franciscan, and Jesuit, as well
as convents: Bridgettine and Basilian; a monument to Eliza Orzeszkowa, a famous female
Polish 19th-century writer who wrote favourably about Jews, and a museum devoted to
her. ¶ Kolbassino (circa 30 km): a memorial to the victims at the site of the transit camp
(1942–1943). ¶ Sapotskin (50 km): the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary (1789); a cemetery of Polish soldiers killed in 1919–1920 and 1939; tomb chapels
of J. Dziekońska (1858) and J. Górski (1873); a Jewish cemetery with several hundred
tombstones; bunkers of the 68th Grodno Fortified Region of the Molotov Line. ¶ Mstibava
(53 km): a Jewish cemetery, Church of St. John the Baptist, and an old castle (12th–18th c.).
¶ Svislach (56 km): a former synagogue, currently a cinema (19th c.); a Jewish cemetery;
the building of a former Jewish inn, currently a museum; the Tyszkiewicz family mano-
rial complex and parks (early 20th c.); the Orthodox Church of the Exaltation of the Holy
Cross (1884); the gymnasium (secondary school) building (1802–1803); the railway station
(19th/20th c.). 527
Indura, 1930s, a 3D
model prepared by
Paweł Sańko and
Polygon Studio as part
of the Shtetl Routes
project, 2015. Photo by
Paweł Sańko, digital col-
lection of the “Grodzka
Gate – NN Theatre”
Centre (www.teatrnn.pl)

Worth Former synagogue, Rogachevskogo St. ¶ Former mikveh (1883), Leningradskaya St. ¶ Jew-
seeing ish cemetery, Gagarin St. ¶ Hill fort. ¶ Holy Trinity Church (1815). ¶ Orthodox Church
of St Alexander Nevsky (1881). ¶ Indura Culture and Entertainment Centre, 1 Niekra-
sova St.

Indura
Indura

528
Glossary

admor (Hebr. acronym for adonenu, morenu, ve-rabenu, ‘our master, our teacher,
and our rebbe’) – an honorific title given to religious leaders of the Jewish
community.

aron kodesh (Hebr. holy ark, Yid. orn-koydesh) – the closet in the synagogue wall
facing Jerusalem, which is the eastern wall in Europe. The place where Torah scrolls
are kept. It is covered with a parochet topped with a lambrequin (kaporet) symbolis-
ing the lid of the Covenant Ark.

Ashkenazi Jews (Ashkenazic Jews, Ashkenazim) – the term used with reference to
Jews from Central and Eastern as well as Western Europe, and after the 17th c. also
from America. Their language was Yiddish.

beth midrash (Hebr. house of learning, Yid. bes medrish) – a kind of synagogue with
a room for religious study, prayer, and debate, with a collection of books. Any man
could attend it, regardless of age. Every Jewish community, regardless of its size, had
a beth midrash.

Beth Yaakov (Hebr. the house of Jacob, Yid. Beis Yaakov) – an Orthodox school
organisation associated with Aguda, running religious schools for girls and evening
courses for women, placing emphasis on religious education and practical skills. The
first Beth Yaakow school was established in Cracow in 1918. Its founder was Sarah
Schenirer.

Bikur Cholim (Hebr. visiting the sick, Yid. Biker Khoylim) – one of the most impor-
tant commandments of Judaism, whose fulfilment in communities was ensured,
e.g., by Bikur Cholim brotherhoods. Their members’ activities included visiting the
sick and attending to their needs.

529
 bima (bimah) (Hebr. elevation, Yid. bime) – a podium in the centre of the main
hall of the synagogue, usually with stairs, a canopy, and a table for reading the
Torah. It is also the place from which the congregation is addressed and prayers are
conducted.

Bund (full name: The General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland, and Russia)
– the largest and the most powerful Jewish workers’ party in Poland in the interwar
period, founded in Vilnius in 1897. It functioned until 1949.

cantor (Hebr. hazzan) – the person leading the prayers in the synagogue. This must
be a person with musical talent, thoroughly educated, as well as respected in the
community for his moral virtues. As such, a hazzan is referred to as shaliach tzibur –
delegate of the community.

cheder (Hebr. room, chamber, Yid. cheider) – a traditional primary religious school
for boys up to the age of 13, providing instruction in the Hebrew alphabet as well as
in reading the prayer book, the Torah, and the Talmud. It was often located in the
teacher’s (melamed’s) house – hence the name.

Chevra Kadisha (Aram. holy brotherhood) – a fraternity of the last offices, one of
the oldest and the most influential kahal fraternities, ensuring that all members of
the Jewish community have a funeral in accordance with the Jewish tradition. The
responsibilities of the brotherhood included keeping vigil by the dying person’s side
and at the body, washing the body, escorting it to the grave and burying it, prayers
on the death anniversary (yorzeit), and sometimes taking care of the sick as well as
supporting widows and orphans.

Council of Four Lands (Hebr. Vaad Arba Aratzot) – the central Jewish self-govern-
ment institution, whose beginnings date back to 1580, representing the interests of
all Jewish communities located in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was the
highest authority in legal and judicial matters and regulated all the domains of the
life of Jewish communities (for instance, it made economic decisions, engaged in
charitable activity, and negotiated with the authorities). The Council was officially
dissolved in 1764.

De non tolerandis Judaeis, (Lat. On not tolerating Jews) – a privilege granted by

the sovereign to a town, a city, a land, or a larger area prohibiting Jews from settling
there.

diaspora (Gr. dispersion, Hebr. tfutsa, gola, Yid. golus) – the term referring to all
Glossary

centres of Jewish population outside the Land of Israel.

530
Gemilut Chesed (Hebr. acts of loving-kindness, Yid. Gmiłes Chesed) – the name
of fraternities granting interest-free loans, particularly to Jewish craftsmen and
merchants.

ghetto – a quarter of a town sectioned off for Jews. The term has been in use since
1516 r., when, in Venice, the area adjoining the foundry (It. getto) was proclaimed
the only part of the town open to Jewish settlement. In the 20th c., the Nazis revived
the idea of ghetto, isolating the Jews from the rest of society – first in German towns
and cities and then in Eastern Europe.

Gordonia – a pioneer youth organisation, associated with the Hitachdut party,

established in Galicia in 1923.

Hanukkah (Hebr. dedication) – also called the Festival of Lights, celebrated for eight
days starting on the 25th day of the month of Kislev (November–December), in
remembrance of the victory of the Maccabees in 164 BC over the forces of Antio-
chus IV Epiphanes, a Syrian ruler of the Seleucid dynasty, and in remembrance of
the Hanukkah miracle, connected with the purification and re-consecration of the
Temple of Jerusalem and with the resumption of worship there.

hanukkiah – an eight-light lamp or (since the 18th c.) a candlestick for eight candles
and an auxiliary one. The lamps (candles) are lit on eight consecutive days of the
feast of Hanukkah. The lighting of the lamps (candles) begins after sunset. Lighting
one candle from another is not allowed: the auxiliary candle (shammes) serves this
purpose. It begins with one light, and one more is added each day.

Hasidim – the adherents of Hasidism.

Hasidism (Hasidic Judaism) – a Jewish religious and mystical movement that

originated in Podolia in the 18th c., whose aim was to revive religiosity among the
followers of Judaism. The founder and first leader of the movement was Israel ben
Eliezer of Mezbizh (1700–1760), known as Baal Shem Tov (Master of the Good
Name). Hasidism never developed a uniform doctrine: the practice and teaching
differed among tzadikim. The common features of the movements were: the rejec-
tion of institutionalised forms of religiosity, ecstatic practices (especially in prayer,
singing, and dancing), enthusiasm and spontaneity in prayer, hierarchization (based
on the tzadik’s authority), and blurred borders between the secular and the reli-
gious spheres of life. Until World War II, the centre of Hasidic Judaism was Eastern
Europe; at present, the main Hasidic centres are located in the United States and in
Israel.

Haskalah (Hebr. enlightenment, Yid. haskole) – the Jewish Enlightenment, a late

18th-century intellectual movement. It promoted integration with non-Jewish 531
 communities, the development of secular sciences, and the use of the Hebrew lan-
guage. It initiated the emancipation movement and, consequently, the assimilation
movement.

Judenrat (Ger. Jewish Council) – the referring to the Jewish administrative bodies
established by the Germans in ghettoes during World War II. The competence of the
Judenrat was limited to organisational and administrative matters (such as popula-
tion records, food provision, firewood, social services, and health care); the main
decisions regulating the life in ghettos were made by the German authorities.

Kabbalah – an esoteric and mystical movement in Judaism, which originated in

medieval Spain. It appeared in Poland around the 16th c.

kaddish (Aram. holy, Yid. kadesh) – a prayer said in Aramaic, expressing faith in the
one and only God, submission to His will, and praise of his power. In order to say it,
a minyan is required. One of the types of this prayer is kaddish yatom (orphan’s kad-
dish) – a prayer for the dead. After parents’ death, the sons say the kaddish every day
for 11 months, and later once a year at yorzeit.

kahal (kehila) – a term referring both to a local Jewish community and to the auton-
omous self-government together with its leaders. The level of a kahal’s autonomy
used to be determined by the sovereigns.

kiddush (Hebr. sanctification, Yid. kidesh) – a blessing recited over wine on the
evening that starts the Sabbath and every other holiday, immediately after returning
from the synagogue, before the meal.

kiddush cup – a vessel for wine, used for ritual purposes on Sabbath and other
holidays.

kippa (from Hebr.; Yid. yarmelke) – a round skullcap made of cloth, covering the top
of the head, worn by men in accordance with Jewish religious law.

klezmer (from Hebr. Kli zemer, literally: an instrument of songs) – a Jewish musi-
cian. The violinist played a central role in a klezmer band. There were also a  bassist,
a clarinettist, and a trumpeter; they hardly ever knew the notes.

kloyz (Yid. chamber) – a small synagogue or beth midrash, usually belonging to

a particular occupational or social group.
Glossary

kosher ( Hebr. kasher – proper, fit) – allowed by Jewish religious law. The term refers
to food, religious objects, their application and use, as well as the right manner of
532 performing actions, rituals, and ceremonies.
kvitlech (Yid. slips of paper) – the slips on which Jews write the prayer requests they
have brought to a tzadik. Such slips are also left at the graves of tzadikim, among
other places.

Linas Hatzedek (Yid. honest accommodation) – a charity brotherhood helping

the poor, the weak, and the elderly as well as providing accommodation for poor
wanderers.

maskil (Hebr. enlightened) – an adherent of the Haskalah.

matzah (Hebr. cake, Yid. matze) – unleavened bread, made of flour and water alone.
Eaten during the holiday of Pesach to commemorate the Israelites’ hasty departure
from Egypt, when they had to eat bread that had no time to rise. Therefore, during
the eight days of this holiday one must not have at home or eat articles that could
sour (such as groats).

matzeva (Hebr. tombstone, Yid. matzeive) – a type of tombstone. A vertically posi-

tioned stone tablet with a rectangular, triangular, or arch-shaped top. It is covered
with inscriptions and often decorated with low reliefs symbolising the descent,
attributes, or name of the deceased.

menorah (Hebr. candlestick, Yid. menoyre) – a seven-branch oil lamp. One of the
oldest Jewish symbols; its description can be found in Exodus 25:31–40. Initially, it
was made of pure gold, kept in the Tent of Meetings at first and then in the Temple of
Jerusalem, from where it was stolen by Titus’ troops. It symbolises the Jewish nation
(“the light of nations”) and is now part of the national emblem of Israel.

mezuzah (Hebr. door frame, Yid. mezuze) – a term referring to a little box made of
wood, glass, or metal, containing a scroll of parchment with handwritten quotations
from the Torah (Deut 6:5–9; 11:13–21). A mezuzah is attached in a diagonal posi-
tion to the doorcase of every Jewish house, on the right door frame (looking from
the outside). When going in or out, Jews touch the mezuzah with their right hand
and kiss their fingers.

mikveh (Hebr. tank, Yid. mikve) – a pool or a natural reservoir with running water,
serving the purpose of ritual purification of people and objects.

minyan (Hebr. number, Yid. minien) – a group of at least ten male Jews aged over
13, which is necessary to say some prayers and perform certain religious ceremo-
nies, such as Torah reading.

mitzvah (Hebr. commandment, good deed, Yid. mitzve) – a religious duty.

According to the Talmud, an adult man (aged over 13) is obliged to keep 613 533
 commandments: 248 orders and 365 prohibitions. A mitzvah is also a good deed,
such as giving alms.

mohel – a man performing ritual circumcision.

ohel (Hebr. tent, Yid. oyel) – a type of tombstone in the form of a small building,
sometimes in the form of a roof resting on four posts, under which there are the
actual tombstones. Erected over the grave of a particularly distinguished person –
a rabbi, a tzadik, or a learned Talmudist.

parochet (Hebr. curtain, Yid. poroykhes) – the curtain covering the front of the aron
kodesh, usually richly decorated.

Pesach (Hebr. passed over, Yid. Peisach) – the holiday commemorating the Jews’
exodus from Egypt. It starts on the 15th day of the month of Nisan (March–April)
and lasts eight days. The celebrations begin with a ceremonial dinner (seder), during
which the story (haggadah) of liberation from bondage in Egypt is read and bread
made without leaven (matzah) is eaten. The Song of Songs is read in the synagogue
and Hallel (psalms of thanksgiving) is recited.

Purim (Hebr. lots) – a joyful holiday celebrated on the 14th day of the month of
Adar (February–March), established to commemorate the prevention of the anni-
hilation of Persian Jews planned by Haman. That evening, as well as after morning
prayers in the synagogue, the Book of Esther is read out. On this holiday, friends
send one another gifts; presents are also given to the poor. Until late at night there
are feasts, games, and fun; people drink alcohol; one is even expected to get drunk
enough not to be able to distinguish the evil Haman from the good Mordechai.

rabbi (Hebr. my master) – an official, religious head, and spiritual leader of a Jewish
community. He settles matters connected with the regulations of Halakha – Jewish
religious law; he also supervises the teaching, approves community laws, presides
over weddings, and pronounces on kosherness. His authority is based on knowl-
edge: a rabbi is not anointed by God.

Rosh Hashanah (Hebr. the beginning of the year, Yid. Rosheshone) – the New Year
holiday, celebrated on the 1st and 2nd days of the month of Tishrei (September–
October). In Poland it is also known as the Feast of Trumpets. The holiday starts the
period of atonement (the so-called Fearful Days) before Yom Kippur. According to
tradition, it is the anniversary of the creation of the world.
Glossary

Sabbath (Hebr. to rest, Yid. shabes) – the seventh day of the week, the day for rest.
A weekly holiday lasting from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday, introduced
534 in accordance with the prescription of the Torah – one should rest, just like God
rested after creating the world. In traditional Judaism it is forbidden on the Sabbath
to perform 39 categories of work, whose characteristic feature is that they serve to
produce a new object or to transform one object into another. These are creative
actions.

Sefer Torah – a Torah scroll for liturgical use, handwritten with a quill on parch-
ment sheets sewn together and rolled on two decorative wooden poles. A rolled
Sefer Torah has a richly embroidered cover and decorations (Torah crown, rimonim,
tas); it is stored in the aron kodesh at the synagogue. Ceremonially taken out and
read out during services – on Mondays and Thursdays, as well as twice during the
Sabbath.

Sephardi Jews (also: Sephardic Jews, Sephardim; Hebr. Spharad – Spain and Portu-
gal) – the term referring to the Jewish population inhabiting the Iberian Peninsula
(Spain, Portugal) and using Judaeo-Romance dialects. After their expulsion from
Spain and Portugal (late 15th c.), they settled in the Ottoman Empire and in several
European countries (southern France, Italy, the Netherlands); they also live in the
Maghreb, the Middle East, and South America. In Poland, a group of Sephardi Jews
settled in Zamość, where they quickly assimilated. At present, the Sephardim are
a group observing a rite somewhat different from the Ashkenazi rite and have their
own rabbi in Israel. In the Hebrew language used in Israel, the Sephardic pronuncia-
tion is the standard.

shammes (Yid. servant, Hebr. shamash) – a beadle or caretaker at the kahal, syna-
gogue, rabbinical court, or fraternity.

Shavuot (Hebr. weeks, Yid. Shvues) – the Feast of the Weeks, commemorating the
giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai; it is also the feast of the first crops and, like
Pesach and Sukkot – one of the pilgrim holidays. It is celebrated on the 50th day
after the beginning of Pesach – namely, on the 6th day of the month of Sivan (May–
June) in Israel and on the 6th and 7th days of Sivan in the diaspora. Tradition associ-
ates it with God’s gift of the Decalogue tablets to Moses on Mount Sinai. On that day,
the Decalogue is read out in the synagogue, among other texts. The synagogue is
decorated with flowers and tree branches. Dairy dishes are eaten at homes.

shkolnik see shammes.

shochet (Hebr. slaughterer, Yid. shoichet) – a qualified employee of the kahal, per-
forming slaughter in accordance with the rules of kosher.

shtetl (Yid. small town) – a small urban settlement in Central and Eastern Europe in
which the Jewish community was often the majority of the population; it developed
a characteristic model of social and cultural life, both individual and communal. 535
 shtiebel (Yid. chamber) – a Hasidic prayer house.

Star of David (Hebr. Magen David – the Shield of David) – a six-pointed star con-
sisting of two equilateral triangles. In 1897, the World Zionist Organisation chose it
as its emblem, which was later also placed on the flag of the state of Israel.

sukkah, succah (Hebr. suka, Yid. suke) – the hut (booth) built for the feast of Suk-
kot. It stands under an open sky; it has at least three walls and only a partial roof,
covered with branches and leaves. During the feast, people have meals and some-
times also sleep in it. It symbolises God’s protection over the people of Israel and is
built in memory of the wandering in the desert.

Sukkot, Succot (Hebr. booths, tabernacles, Yid. sukes) – the Feast of Booths, also
known as the Feast of Tabernacles (in Poland: Kuczki). It commemorates the forty-
year migration of the Jews across the desert to the Promised Land. The feast is
celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei (September–October) and lasts
eight days. During this feast, the Jews pray, have meals, and if the climate permits
they even spend nights in specially constructed huts – sukkahs (sukkoth).

synagogue (Gr. meeting place, Hebr. bet ha-kneset, Yid. beisakneses, shul) – the place
where the faithful gather, prayers are said, and teaching is delivered. The synagogue
is the centre of religious and community life.

tallit (Yid. robe, Hebr. talit) – a prayer shawl, made of white cotton, wool, or silk
cloth, with black or navy blue stripes and tzitzit (knotted tassels) attached to its four
corners, worn by married men for prayer.

Talmud (Hebr. learning) – contains comments on the Torah, rabbinic discussions,

moral guidelines, and parables. It consists of two parts: the Mishna (being the writ-
ten record of Oral Tradition) and the Gemara (commenting on the Mishna). Two
versions of the Talmud were written down: Palestinian (known as the Jerusalem
Talmud, written down about AD 400) and Babylonian (written down about AD 500).
They differ in terms of volume, style, language, and subject matter. The commonly
accepted version today is the Babylonian Talmud.

Talmud Torah – a traditional religious school at the level of cheder, usually financed
by the community (for poor children and orphans).

Tarbut (Hebr. culture), full name: Jewish Cultural and Educational Association “Tar-
but” – a cultural and educational organisation, operating under the auspices of the
Glossary

Zionist Organisation; founded in 1917 in Russia and in 1922 in Poland.

536
tefillin – two leather boxes containing wads of parchment with quotations from the
Torah (Deut 6:4–9, 11:13–21, Ex 13:1–10, 13:11–16), attached with black strings to
the forehead and the left forearm, worn for morning prayers on weekdays, which is
supposed to symbolise the devotion of one’s thoughts and heart to God.

Tisha B’Av (Hebr. the ninth day of Av, Yid. Tishebov) – the 9th day of the month of
Av (July–August). The anniversary of the destruction of the First and the Second
Temples of Jerusalem. The day is preceded by three weeks of mourning. Tisha B’Av
is a day of strict fasting. Work is allowed, but it is forbidden to indulge in pleas-
ures, which include studying the Torah. Jeremiah’s Lamentations are recited in the
synagogue. During prayer, people sit on the ground or on low stools. The synagogue
is dimly lit.

Torah (Hebr. instruction, teaching); – in a narrow sense, Moses’ Pentateuch, the

main part of the Hebrew canon of the Holy Scripture, comprising the following
biblical books: Genesis (Bereshit), Exodus (Shemot), Leviticus (Vayikra), Numbers
(Bemidbar), and Deuteronomy (Devarim). Tradition ascribes their authorship to
Moses. The Torah scroll with the text of the Pentateuch written on it in accordance
with the ancient tradition is the holiest book of Judaism.

TSYSHO, acronym for Tsentrale Yidishe Shul-Organizatsye (Central Jewish School

Organisation) – a secular Jewish educational organisation promoting Yiddish
culture, based on socialist ideas. It ran schools with Yiddish as the language of
instruction.

tzadik (Hebr. the just one) – a charismatic leader of the Hasidim, who believed in
his supernatural power of working miracles. The cult of tzadikim developed from
the 1780s. The position was inherited by their descendants.

tzitzit (Yid. tzytzes, tzyztele) – tassels woven of threads and attached to the edges of
the robe (in biblical times), to the tallit, or to the four corners of the tallit katan (Yid.
tales kotn; a waistcoat sewn out of two rectangular pieces of cloth, tied at the sides,
worn under the outer garment), in accordance with the biblical instruction; Num
15:38–40 and Deut 22:12). A symbol of covenant with God and the fulfilment of His
commandments, they serve the purpose of fortifying a person against the danger of
committing a sin.

women’s section (Hebr. ezrat nashim, Yid. ezres noshim) – a place for women in the
synagogue, usually located behind a mechitza (partition) in the main hall, in the
adjoining annexe (except the eastern wall), above the vestibule (the western side), in
the upper gallery, or on the balcony.

537
 yad (Hebr. arm, hand) – a decorative pointer in the shape of a hand with the index
finger extended. Made of ivory, a noble metal, or wood. It facilitates reading the
Torah and makes it possible to avoid touching the parchment with one’s hands.

yeshiva (Hebr. session, Yid. jeshive) – a higher Talmudic school for older (aged 13
and above) unmarried boys. They studied the Talmud and later rabbinic literature.

Yiddish – one of the Jewish languages. It was used by most Ashkenazi Jews until the
outbreak of World War II. At present, Yiddish is used in Hasidic communities and
cultivated by Yiddishists – Yiddish Studies graduates.

Yom Kippur (Hebr. the day of atonement) – one of the most important and oldest
feasts in Judaism. It is celebrated on the 10th day of the month of Tishrei (Septem-
ber–October). Yom Kippur concludes the ten-day period of mourning (Hebr. Yamim
Noraim – Fearful Days), when people do an examination of conscience and ask for-
giveness from those they have wronged. On the eve of this feast, a solemn Kol Nidre
service is held. On the feast day itself, there is obligatory 24-hour fasting; it is also
forbidden to work, have sexual intercourses, wash, or wear leather shoes. According
to tradition, each person’s fate for the next year is determined on that day.

yorzeit (Yid. anniversary) – death anniversary, the day when the dead are remem-
bered, kadish is said, and graves are visited. Hasidim make pilgrimages to the graves
of the tzadikim who died on a particular day.
Glossary

538
Authors of texts

c – cultural heritage card, describing the cultural resources of a particular place
g – text in the guidebook, edited on the basis of information from the cultural heritage card

PL ¶ Sejny – Michał Moniuszko (c), Emil Majuk (g) ¶ Krynki – Cecylia Bach-Szczawińska (c), Emil Majuk
(g) ¶ Knyszyn – Ewelina Sadowska-Dubicka (c), Emil Majuk (g) ¶ Tykocin – Małgorzata Choińska (c),
Emil Majuk (g) ¶ Orla – Wojciech Konończuk (c, g) ¶ Siemiatycze – Marcin Korniluk (c), Emil Majuk (g) ¶
Międzyrzec Podlaski – Monika Tarajko (c, g) ¶ Włodawa – Paweł Sygowski (c), Monika Tarajko (g) ¶ Kock
– Paweł Sygowski (c), Emil Majuk (g) ¶ Kazimierz Dolny – Paweł Sygowski (c), Emil Majuk (g) ¶ Izbica –
Robert Kuwałek (c), Emil Majuk (g) ¶ Wojsławice – Paulina Kowalczyk (c), Emil Majuk (g) ¶ Szczebrzeszyn
– Paweł Sygowski (c), Emil Majuk (g) ¶ Biłgoraj – Paweł Sygowski (c), Emil Majuk (g) ¶ Józefów – Paweł
Sygowski (c), Emil Majuk (g) ¶ Wielkie Oczy – Paweł Sygowski (c), Emil Majuk (g) ¶ Łańcut – Paweł
Sygowski (c), Emil Majuk (g) ¶ Dukla – Paweł Sygowski (c), Emil Majuk (g) ¶ Rymanów – Paweł Sygowski
(c), Emil Majuk (g) ¶ Lesko – Paweł Sygowski (c), Emil Majuk (g)

UA ¶ Belz – Bozhena Zakaliuzna (c, g), Anatoliy Kerzhner (g) ¶ Zhovkva – Bozhena Zakaliuzna (c, g),
Anatoliy Kerzhner (g) ¶ Busk – Bozhena Zakaliuzna (c, g), Anatoliy Kerzhner (g) ¶ Rohatyn – Bozhena
Zakaliuzna (c), Volodymyr Bak (g) ¶ Halych – Renata Hanynets (g), Emil Majuk (g) ¶ Drohobych – Renata
Hanynets (g), Emil Majuk (g) ¶ Bolekhiv – Bozhena Zakaliuzna (c), Volodymyr Bak (g) ¶ Khust – Bozhena
Zakaliuzna (c), Volodymyr Bak (g) ¶ Delatyn – Bozhena Zakaliuzna (c), Volodymyr Bak (g) ¶ Kosiv –
Bozhena Zakaliuzna (c), Volodymyr Bak (g) ¶ Chortkiv – Bozhena Zakaliuzna (c), Volodymyr Bak (g) ¶
Buchach – Bozhena Zakaliuzna (c), Volodymyr Bak (g) ¶ Pidhaitsi – Bozhena Zakaliuzna (c, g), Anatoliy
Kerzhner (g) ¶ Brody – Bozhena Zakaliuzna (c, g), Anatoliy Kerzhner (g) ¶ Kremenets – Volodymyr
Sobchuk (c), Volodymyr Dyshlevuk (g) ¶ Dubno – Yuriy Pshenichnyi (c, g) ¶ Ostroh – Viktor Naumovich
(c, g), Emil Majuk (g) ¶ Korets – Bohdana Brukhliy (c, g) ¶ Berezne – Natalia Trochliuk (c, g) ¶ Kovel –
Serhiy Hladyshuk (c, g) ¶ Volodymyr-Volynskyi – Volodymyr Muzychenko (c, g) ¶ Luboml – Oleksandr
Ostapiuk (c, g)

BY ¶ Pinsk – Irina Yelenskaya (c), Ales Astrauch (g) ¶ Davyd-Haradok – Margarita Korzeniewska, Tamara
Vershitskaya (c, g) ¶ Stolin – Margarita Korzeniewska, Tamara Vershitskaya (c, g) ¶ Motol – Margarita
Korzeniewska, Tamara Vershitskaya (c, g) ¶ Kobryn – Irina Yelenskaya (c), Ales Astrauch (g) ¶ Pruzhany
– Irina Jelenskaja (c), Ales Astrauch (g) ¶ Slonim – Irina Yelenskaya (c), Ales Astrauch (g) ¶ Ruzhany –
Irina Yelenskaya (c), Ales Astrauch (g) ¶ Haradzishcha – Margarita Korzeniewska, Tamara Vershitskaya
(c, g) ¶ Mir – Ina Sorkina (c, g) ¶ Valozhyn – Ina Sorkina (c, g), Tamara Vershitskaya (g) ¶ Ashmyany –
Margarita Korzeniewska, Tamara Vershitskaya (c, g) ¶ Ivye – Ina Sorkina (c, g), Tamara Vershitskaya (g) ¶
Navahrudak – Ina Sorkina (c, g) ¶ Dzyatlava – Ina Sorkina (c, g) ¶ Radun – Irina Milinkevich (c), Natalia
Pasiuta (g) ¶ Zhaludok – Irina Milinkevich (c), Natalia Pasiuta (g) ¶ Astryna – Irina Milinkevich (c), Natalia
Pasiuta (g) ¶ Lunna – Irina Milinkevich (c), Natalia Pasiuta (g) ¶ Indura – Irina Milinkevich (c), Natalia
Pasiuta (g)

The Surrounding Area section was prepared by Monika Tarajko.

local consultations: Hryhoriy Arshynov (Ostroh), Tamara Borodach (Ivye), Mateusz Borysiuk
(Międzyrzec Podlaski), Nickolai Brezovski (Davyd-Haradok), Sylwia Dmowska (Kock), Leonid Golberg
(Drohobych), Stefan Kołodnicki (Pidhaitsi), Fiodor Krasiuk (Dzyatlava), Natalia Lobanova (Haradzishcha),
Mariana Maksymiak (Buchach), Krzysztof Dawid Majus (Wielkie Oczy), Józef Markiewicz (Podlaskie
Voivodeship), Anastasia Novitskaya (Ashmyany), Yadviga Prasolovskaya (Ashmyany), Vladimir Puchkov
(Valozhyn), Viktor Sakel (Mir), Dorota Skakuj (Biłgoraj), Mirosław Tryczyk (Biłgoraj), Svetlana Verenich
(Stolin), Mykhailo Vorobets (Rohatyn), and others.

We are grateful to everyone who contributed to the realization of the “Shtetl Routes” project. 539
 Shtetl Routes. Travels Through the Forgotten Continent

Chief editor and project coordinator Emil Majuk

Co-editors of English version Ruth Ellen Gruber, Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern
Consultation Ales’ Astrauch, Yaron Karol Becker, Anna Chebotarova, Agnieszka Karczewska, Anatoliy
Kerzhner, Bella Szwarcman-Czarnota, Taras Voznyak, Konrad Zieliński
Proofreading Marta Mazur, Magdalena Dziaczkowska, Shaun Hume, Anna Hume
Cartographic material preparation Jakub and Anna Kuna
Collaboration Volodymyr Dyshlevuk, Renata Hanynets, Paulina Kowalczyk, Dominika Majuk, Maria
Radek, Galina Shportko, Ivan Shpynda, Wojciech Szwedowski, Anastasia Vynohradova
Translations Semantica – semantica.net.pl (unless otherwise specified)
Cover design, graphic design and typesetting Studio Format – studioformat.pl

This publication was prepared as part of the project “Shtetl routes: Vestiges of Jewish
cultural heritage in cross-border tourism,” co-financed by the European Union through the
European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument, Cross-Border Cooperation Program Poland–Belarus–
Ukraine 2007–2013

Publisher and leading partner of the project

The “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre (Lublin, Poland)
ul. Grodzka 21, 20-112 Lublin

Project partners
Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno (Grodno, Belarus)
Navahrudak Museum of Local History and Culture (Navahrudak, Belarus)
Centre for Social and Business Initiatives (Yaremche, Ukraine)
Rivne Marketing Research Centre (Rivne, Ukraine)

Project team
Coordinators Emil Majuk (PL), Borys Bertash (UA), Viktor Zagreba (UA), Sergei Balai (BY)
Cultural heritage experts Agnieszka Karczewska, Paweł Sygowski, Tamara Vershitskaya, Bozhena
Zakaliuzhna
Tourism experts Sarhei Pivovarchik, Monika Tarajko, Taras Mykytyn
Translation experts Yaron Karol Becker, Galina Shportko

This edition was prepared with the support of the European Union. The contents of this edition are the pub-
lisher’s exclusive responsibility and should not be regarded as reflecting the stance of the European Union.
Glossary

© Ośrodek „Brama Grodzka – Teatr NN”

Lublin 2018
540 ISBN 978-83-61064-94-7