DCZMB No

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The Dereczin Memorial Book

A Book of Remembrance
Honoring the Communities of
Dereczin, Halinka, Kolonia-Sinaiska
Publication Committee
Yekhezkiel Raban, Editor
Malka Alper, Meir Bakalchuk, Aryeh (Leibl) Beckenstein
Abraham & Masha Kulakowski, Chaim Rabinovich
Published By The Dereczin Organizations in Israel and The United States of America
1966
English Translation Prepared and Published By

Jacob Solomon Berger
Mahwah, New Jersey, USA

2000
Copyright © 2000 by the Dereczin Yizkor Book Committee
All rights reserved. No part of this

book may be reproduced in any form
or by any electronic or mechanical
means, including information storage
and retrieval systems, without
permission in writing from the
publisher, except by a reviewer who
may quote brief passages in a review.
First Edition
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 99-80145
Other Books by Jacob Solomon Berger
The Zelva Memorial Book

The Book of Remembrances
Published in the United States
by Jacob Solomon Berger
Mahwah, New Jersey
Printed in the United States of America

Dedication
Mayn Shvester Khaye vhj rgyxguua ihhn
(My Sister Khaye)
Poem: Binem Heller (1906 - 1998)

rgkkgv ogbhC :dbUyfhs
Music: Chava Alberstein ihhyargCkt vuj :iUdb
Arrangements: Klezmatics rgehytnzgke :vfrg
Myn shvester Khaye mit di grine oygn, My sister Khaye, her eyes were green,
Myn shvester Khaye mit di shvartse tsep – My sister Khaye, her curls were black –
Die Shvester Khaye, vos hot mir dertsoygn, Sister Khaye, it was she who raised me,
Oyf Smotshe-gass in hoyz mit krume trep. In the house on Smotshe Street with crooked stairs.
Di mame iz avek fun shtub baginen, Mother left the house at dawn,
Ven oyfn himl hot ersht koym gehelt. When the sky had hardly lightened.
Zi iz avek in krom arayn fardinen She went off to the shop to earn
Dos bidne-drobne groshinke gelt. A wretched penny’s worth of change.
Un Khaye is gebliben mit di brider, And Khaye stayed with the brothers,
Un zi hot zey gekormet un gehit, She fed them and watched over them,
Un zi flegt zingen zey di shayne lider, And at evening, when little kids get tired,
Far nakht, ven kleyne kinder vern mid. She’d sing them pretty songs.
Myn shvester Khaye mit di grine oygn, My sister Khaye, her eyes were green,
Myn shvester Khaye mit di lange hor – My sister Khaye, her hair was long –
Die Shvester Khaye, vos hot mir dertsoygn, Sister Khaye, it was she who raised me,
Iz nokh nisht alt geven keyn tsendlig yor. She wasn’t even ten years old.
Zi hot geroymt, gekokht, derlangt dos esn, She cleaned and cooked and served the food,
Zi hot getsvogen undz di kleyne kep. She braided our little heads.
Nor shpiln zikh mit undz hot zi fargesn – All she forgot was to play with us –
Die Shvester Khaye mit di shvartse tsep. Sioster Khaye, her curls were black.
Myn shvester Khaye mit di oygn grine, My sister Khaye with her eyes of green,
A Dytsh hot in Treblinka zi farbrent. Was incinerated by a German in Treblinka.
Un ikh bin in der Yiddishe medine, And I am in the Jewish State,
Der samer letster vos hot zi gekent. The very last one who knew her.
Far ir shrayb ikh oyf Yiddish myne lider, It’s for her that I write my poems in Yiddish,
In teg die shreklekhe fun undzer tsayt. In these terrible days of our times.
Bei Gott aleyn is zi a bas-yekhide, To God Himself she is an only daughter,
In himl zitst zi bei zayn rekhtn zayt She sits in heaven by His right side.
iii
All of us have a Shvester Khaye...
Table of Contents
Foreword .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Yekhezkiel Raban i
The Translator’s Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Jacob Solomon Berger iv
A Silent Kaddish for Our Dearest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Abraham-Kadish Feder vi

To Our Dereczin Brothers & Sisters in The U.S. Greetings & BlebsysM
inaglksa!A
. lper iii
On the Occasion of the Publication of the Book.. . by David Rabinovich (kz) ix
Once there was a Town.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Dereczin of the Past. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Chaim Rabinovich 3
They Exalted the Name of Dereczin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Chaim Zvi Miller-Sinai 9
My Grandfather Occupying the Rabbinical Seat of Dereczin. . . . . . . by Eliyahu Herenson 3
The Dereczin of My Youth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Shlomo Yudson 25
Three Tales from Dereczin of Yore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Shlomo Yudson 30
The Sinai Colony. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Chaim Zvi Miller-Sinai 39
From the Mouth of My Mother, of Blessed Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Yaffa Prozbol 46
At the Dawn of the Twentieth Century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

In the Days of Change and Transformation by Jacob Kobrins.ky 49
A Torah Scroll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Fanny Boyerman-Feder 51
Rabbis, Scholars and Teachers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Malka Alper 54
Our Town at the Beginning of the [Twentieth] Century. . . . . . . . . . . . by Naftali Ben-Dov 56
Haskalah, the Bund, Self-Defense.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Chaim Rabinovich 56
Sent Off to Dereczin.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Ray Raskin 65
Stormy Years.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Joe Silkovich 67
Once Upon A Time..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Feiga-Leah Abramovich 69
Memories from My Father’s Tavern. . . . . . . . . . . by Dvora (Dvosha) Kress-Beckenstein 71
Bitter and Sweet Memories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Nahum Bliss-Blizniansky 72
Jewish to the Last Breath. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Moshe Kwiat 72
Those Pious, Upstanding Jews by Esther Nissenbaum-Brick.er 75
A Night Ride on the Coach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Malka Alper 76
A Teacher in Dereczin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Hannah Novick 77
From the Last Will and Testament of Simkheh the Storekeeper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
In the First World War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

The Years of War & Occupation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Chaim Rabinovich 83
In the Vise of the War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Malka Alper 87
Under the Yoke of the German Occupation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Jacob Rabinovich 89
The Food Committee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Mattityahu (Mottel) Abelovich 91
A Charity Soup Kitchen for the Needy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Malka Alper 92
War Chitchat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Malka Alper 93
Personalities & Their Achievements .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
David Alper.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
My Brother, David. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Malka Alper 97
Our Unforgettable Teacher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Liza Katz-Bialosotsky 97
The Alper Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by David Rabinovich 99
David Alper, Our Teacher and Principal. . . . . . . . . . . by Asher Shofet (Negbah) 100
He Who Is Not Forgotten Is Not Dead by Naftali Ben-.Dov (Dykhovsky) 102
Rabbi Chaim Zvi Sinai-Miller. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Our Father’s Way. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Khemda & Israel Artzi 103
A Figure of Shining Light. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Malka Alper 104
My Mentor and Teacher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Kalman Abramovich 105
I Was Proud to Call Him ‘Uncle’. . . . . . . . . . . by Gustav Sharon (Johannesburg) 106
Chaim Lansky. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
A Difficult Childhood, A Hard Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Jacob Rabinovich 107
Lansky In His Town.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Malka Alper 109
A Poet Under Duress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Joshua Gilboa 113
My Friend Chaim, The Dreamer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by David Rabinovich 115
The Role of Home in Lansky’s Poetry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Abraham Kariv 116
The Last Generation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

I See Her, Dereczin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by M. Izaakovich 121
Our Synagogues.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Jacob Rabinovich 122
Dereczin In No-Man’s Land. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Chaim Rabinovich 123
During the Stormy Days. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Malka Alper 124
Memories From Those Days. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Jacob Rabinovich 127
A Jewish-Polish Kitchen.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Malka Alper 129
Planting and the Harvest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Schraga-Fyvel Einstein 130
Between Zion and Revolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Malka Alper 134
Following Upheavals and Pogroms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Moshe Sedletsky 136
The Tarbut School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . As Told By a Group of Students 138
My Father, The Last Rabbi of Dereczin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Meir Bakalchuk 140
The Holy Rabbi, Gaon of Dereczin, Bakalchuk kmz. . . . . . . . by Rabbi Chaim Grinberg 142
The Yavneh School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Nekha Petrukhovich 143
Betar & Tzahar In Our Town. . . . . . by M. Bakalchuk, A. Beckenstein, K. Abramovich 144
In the Service of the Dereczin Community. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Eliyahu Herenson 147
Visiting the Sick & Overnight Sick Watch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Nekha Petrukhovich 151
Our Town in the Thirties.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Isser Lev 152
Hatred of the Jews on the Eve of Destruction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Malka Alper 153
Memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
This Is How We Lived in Our Town. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Haya Kreslansky 157
My Grandfather, kmz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Tzirel Kamenetsky 160
Under the Bolsheviks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Mattityahu Abelovich 162
The Budding of Zionist Socialism in Dereczin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Naftali Ben-Dov 163
The Origins of the HeHalutz Branch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by David Rabinovich 164
My Grandfather & Grandmother, kz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Dov Gorinovsky 164
The Holy Sabbath In My Father’s House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Sarah Basevitz-Slonimsky 165
Festivals and the High Holy Days. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Malka Alper 166
How Could One Possibly Forget!?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Dvora Smith-Shelkovich 168
My Birthplace, Dereczin.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Shayndl Wilenczyk 169
My Grandmother & Grandfather. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Sarah Teichman-Levinger 170
Festival Time in Town. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Chaya Beckenstein-Pilzer 171
My Husband’s Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Nekhama Petrukhovich 172
My Scholarly and Enterprising Father. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Shimon Abramovich 173
How I Took Leave of My Home. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Miriam Pechersky-Slonimsky 174
And This Is How We Emigrated to The Holy Land. . . . . . . . . . . . . by Esther Dlugolansky 175
My Last Sabbath in Dereczin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Saul Gorinovsky 177
My Little Town, Halinka.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Mina Liebreider 177
Enlivenment in Town - An Autobus.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Chaya Beckenstein-Piltzer 179
A Comical Event. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Shayndl Kamenitzer 179
A Master of the Tanach.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Meir Ziskind 181
A Fire in Town.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Leah Eliovich-Yatvitsky 182
I Met With My Very First Teacher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Rachel Alper 183
My Family That Was Wiped Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Shoshana Shapiro-Nozhnitsky 185
Dereczin No Longer Exists.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Dora Birnbaum-Rothstein 186
A Visit to My Hometown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Rukhamah Ziskind-Abelovich 188
I Was a Witness to a False Accusation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Leah Shlechter-Shapiro 189
My Brother Leibeh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Leah Elyovich-Yatwitsker 190
My Father’s House on the Schulhof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Liza Katz-Bialosotsky 191
The Pain of Memories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Rivkah Saglowitz-Dykhovsky 192
The Destruction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

My Town Dereczin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Katya Klebnik-Bialosotsky 194
This Is How the Jewish Community of Dereczin Was Destroyed
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Masha & Abraham-Hirsch Kulakowski 195
The Fate of the Feldman Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Rachel Efrat-Feldman 03
The Germans Have Arrived. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Sara Wachler-Ogulnick 204
From the Hideaway into the Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . by Yehudit Yankelevich-Lantzevitzky 205
Barely Escaping With Our Lives to the Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Pesha Feinsilber 206
We Were Slaves..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Y. Reich 211
How Tzippel Beckenstein Committed Suicide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Pesha Feinsilber 212
I Was A Refugee in Oppressed Dereczin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Shmuel Bernstein 213
Escaped from the Slaughter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Gutka Boyarsky-Salutsky 231
Out of the Mass Grave.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Musha Novitsky-Grachuk 231
The Destruction of the Dereczin Jewish Community.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Sh. Nieger 234
The Bloody Tenth Day of Ab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Tsirel Kaminetsky-Friedman 235
From the Memories of a Refugee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Y. Krimolovsky 237
The Fate of My Family.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Chaya Levin-Glicksfeld 239
During the Days of Slaughter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Katya Bialosotsky-Khlebnik 242
This Is How I Was Saved On the Day of Slaughter. . . . . . . . by Sarah Wachler-Ogulnick 244
Remaining the Only One.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Avraham-Yitzhak Medvetzky 246
The End of Halinka. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Mina Liebreider 247
Tribulation, Torture and Death. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Jekuthiel Khmelnitsky 248
Only I Remained from My Entire Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Chaya Einstein-Osterovitz 252
I Saw All This With My Own Eyes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Nekha Petrukhovich 253
To the Entire World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Regina Rabinovich 255
In the Forests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Two Years in the Partisan Forces. . . . . . . . . . by Masha & Abraham-Hirsch Kulakowski 258
The Only Imperative – Take Revenge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Jekuthiel Khmelnitsky 264
Hunger and Death in the Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Tsirel Kamenetsky-Friedman 270
Dr. Yekhezkiel Atlas – The Partisan Doctor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Dr. Y. Rockover 272
With the Dereczin Fighters in the Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Shmuel Borenstein 276
The Whole Family Lost in the Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Gutka Salutsky-Boyarsky 287
I Saved Myself Along With My Children. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Kayla Azaf 290
In the Partisan Camp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Yehudit Yankelevich-Lantzevitzky 293
Two Out of the Entire Family by Moshe Kw.iat 294
We Were Saved from a Terrifying Trap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Masha Kulakowski 296
My Life in the Forests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Haya Beckenstein-Pilzer 298
In the Forest With My Brother. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Musha Grachuk-Novitsky 302
Anti-Semitism in the Forest.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Moshe Kwiat 304
With the Partisans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Abraham-Yitzhak Medvetsky 304
My Sister Ruzha Falls in the Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Katya Khlebnik-Bialosotsky 305
The Zionist Dream in the Thickness of the Forest. . . . . . . . . . . . . by Masha Kulakowski 307
They Fell With Their Guns In Their Hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Wandering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Uprooted with the Maelstrom.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Meir Bakalchuk 323
From The Foreign Land to the Homeland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Rivkah Becker 330
Torn Out of the Pulpit at Sinaiska. . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Rabbi Israel ben Ch. M. Kaplinsky 331
On the Ruins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Back in Dereczin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Sarah Wachler-Ogulnick 335
No Where to Return. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Chaya Beckenstein-Pilzer 337
On the Ruins of the Dreams of My Youth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Masha Kulakowski 337
From Forest Bunkers to Mass Graves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Malka Bulkovstein 339
Orphaned, Abandoned, and Hopeless. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Moshe & Israel Kwiat 339
A Kosher Passover Among the Ruins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Nekhama Petrukhovich 340
Among Ruined Streets and Lanes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Meir Bakalchuk 340
Derecziners in America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

The Founding of the “Derecziner Society”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Joe (Jonah) Silkovich 345
The Work of the Dereczin Relief Committee in New York. . . by Abraham Kadish Feder 346
In Memory of Our Friend, Nathan Bliss.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Jonah Silkovich 349
Derecziners in America.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by David Rabinovich 350
Sarah Slotnick-Yanofsky, kz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Malka Alper 352
Her Son, Meir, vg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Dereczin Kinfolk in Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Relief-Work of the Dereczin Kinfolk in Israel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Malka Alper 357
From Sinaiska – To the Land of Israel. . . . . . . . . by Esther Dlugolansky (Petakh-Tikvah) 358
Yaakov Izaakovich, A Chess Fanatic Among the Blind. . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Moshe Guter 359
What I Learned from the Mouth of My Mother.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Yitzhak Wachler 360
In Memory of Deceased Dereczin Landsleit .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Remarks in Memory of David Rabinovich kz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Kalman Lichtenstein 361
My Father, of Blessed Memory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Ilan Rabinovich 362
Elkeh Lichtenstein. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Malka Alper 363
At the End of the First Year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Miriam Musikant 364
Elkeh Lichtenstein of the Dykhovsky Family kz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by David Rabinovich 364
A Portrait of the Late Chava Sharar kz of the Salutsky Family. . . . . by Menahem Rahat 365
A Portrait of My Mother, Bluma, kz. . . . . . . by Khemda Artzi, of the Sinai-Miller Family 366
In Memory of my Mother Shoshana Gutman kz . . . . . . . . . . by Israel Gil-Or (Gutman) 367
A Portrait of My Mother Dina Levitin of the Sinai Family. . . . . . . . . . by Naomi Mizrahi 367
Rachel Eichenbaum-Walansky kz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by A. 372
Shimon Lusky kz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by M. A. 373
In Memory of Reb Mordechai Zolotkovsky.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Abraham Baysman 373
Ze’ev Ogulnick kz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by M.B. 374
Moshe Izaakovich kz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
My Sister Shoshana kz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Y. Izaakovich 374
[E]lazar Rosenberg kz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
Beba, (Nekhama)Wife of Reb Yoshe Rabinovich kz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Eliyahu, son of Reb Yoshe(Joseph) Rabinovich kz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Ethel (Esther) daughter of Joseph & Beba Herenson-Rabinovich kz 375
Our Sister Rachel Alper kz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Malka Alper 375
Rachel had Many Facets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Amiram 376
With the Memory of Rachel Alper kz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Meir Bakalchuk 377
Rachel Daughter of Dereczin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Y. Raban 378
Liova (Aryeh) Greenwald kz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Nachman (Nakheh) Goldenberg kz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Alter Lobzovsky kz.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Memorial Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
Necrology: Martyrs of the Community of Dereczin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Dereczin
ihmrs
Foreword
This Memorial Book, which is presented by the committee of its creators to those who come from
Dereczin, Kolonia Sinaiska and Halinka, who live in Israel, the USA and other countries where Jews
have settled, has been conceived to serve as a memorial to the martyrs of the communities who were
shot, slaughtered, asphyxiated, burned, and buried alive, in the fields of our town, and to those who
fell in battle against the cruel and murderous oppressor in the forest around it, with their hands still
holding the arms of vengeance, their hearts yearning for the deliverance of their people – and who
themselves were never brought to rest in a proper place of Jewish burial.
From one perspective, the book is about the hallowed community of Dereczin and the residents of
its environs – about its history, its conviviality, its deeds and accomplishments, from its very
beginning to the time it was erased from the face of the earth. Hundreds of years of Jewish life, about
all the happiness and suffering that are imbedded in the life of a Jewish shtetl, in the Pale of
Settlement of Czarist Russia and the corners of anti- Semitic Poland, are reflected in the pages of this
book. All this is told, in order that we shall know, we, our children and our children’s children,
about that which was, lived, and worked – and was then cut off.
Tens of people who came from Dereczin wrote this Memorial Book, simple people whose job is not
writing, but the memory of their shining childhood and youth in their tranquil town, and the memory
of their loved ones, who were annihilated in its streets, fields, and forests during the years of the War
and Holocaust – all these things did not give their souls peace until they put down their memories
on paper, their meditations, and the stories of their suffering and what they went through. It is they
– they who brought the stones for the erection of this monument.
The Book presents the simple story of Dereczin, in the character that was put down in its pages and
with its intent. The Book does not pretend to aggrandized historical sketches and synthesis of all the
incidents that are described within – not with regard to the history of the town, not concerning the
organizations of its community and their works, not with regard to the annihilation of the Jews
during the years of the Holocaust, and not even in connection with the energetic, stubborn and
audacious exploits of the sons of Dereczin against the Nazis. This is a collection of stories by many
Derecziners, and every one of them wrote from memory that which he or she saw with their own
eyes from their perspective, from his street and from his parents’ home. This is the source of
differences in how things were seen, and how they are described.
We were not concerned with alignment to related history in an objective fashion, in picking the
subject matter and in approaching its reading, where even to this day, not everything is known in
precise detail. We were guided by the desire to permit the words and the writing of all our townsfolk
to convey that which they wanted to tell, and all the gaps in their memory.
We have published the words of all the writers in the language in which it was written. The volume
of material forced the need upon us to abridge part of the writings, [but we did so] without doing
violence to the essential facts and their spirit. And from this, there emerges from all the memories,
stories, descriptions, personal and family portraits, a clear picture, and to our knowledge a picture
i
full of shining light about the life of our town, full of the pain and tears over the demise of its
community, and adorned with glory and pride for the heroism of its warrior-sons.
Dereczin was a Jewish town, within its walls and in its yards, in its houses of learning and worship,
in the way of life of our forefathers, in the spirit that reigned in its youth movements and parties, in
its schools, in its yearnings and dreams, during ordinary weekdays as if they too were Sabbath and
festival.
Until the end of the nineteenth century, the traditional Jewish way of life based on Torah scholarship
was dominant, filling its every nook and cranny. From the beginning of our turbulent century it was
the spirit of nationalism that set the tone for the youth movements, the parties, and public
organizations of Dereczin. Elements of ideology appeared, that catalyzed large parts of the Jewish
community in Eastern and Central Europe.
We can freely take pride in raising a banner to the part played by Dereczin in the War of Vengeance
of the partisans against the Nazi Murderer. Every historian of the guerilla war of the forests tells
about it. There is no doubt that the aggressive spirit of the sons of our town was aided by the
nationalist education they received, and by the fundamental spark of allegiance to their people and
its aspirations for redemption.
Years have passed since the days of the Holocaust and the War. Several years have also passed since
we first met to gather the materials for the Memorial Book, and to start the work. The task was not
easy.
In conveying the Book to the hands of those from Dereczin, Halinka and Kolonia Sinaiska let us
offer our thanks to the members of the publication committee for their considerable and fruitful
effort – first and foremost to Malka Alper who worked without a surcease and involved herself in
every detail that was related to the improvement of the Book and its publication; to Chaim
Rabinovich who drew the history and the past of our town from the wellspring of his wondrous
memory; to the committee members, Meir Bakalchuk, Aryeh Beckenstein, and the couple Masha &
Abraham-Hirsch Kulakowski, who lent their hands to everything where they could help, in no small
measure to setting up its format, its content and the appearance of this Book.
Words of thanks are in order to the members of the “Memorial Book Committee in the USA” for
obtaining material and funding to enable it to be published. The gratitude of the publishers goes to
the family of Jacob Mishkin in Venezuela, who gave generously to this community memorialization
project.
To the fighting partisan, Shmuel Bernstein, from whose book, “The Dr. Atlas Brigade” excerpts are
incorporated into this Book, to the beloved writer, a townsman Shlomo Yudson, from whose book,
“Three Worlds,” several warmhearted stories about our way of life were taken – the thanks of those
involved in the work on this Book is sent.
ii
i
Let us remember at the hour in which we unveil this memorial, Rabbi Chaim-Zvi Sinai-Miller kz,
who never let go of his dream of a Yizkor Book for his town, and to which he dedicated the better
part of his will and energy, as an active and enabling teacher, and a Zionist; let us remember David
Rabinov ich kz, who put an immense amount of effort into the preparation and organization of the
work, in the gathering of the material, the collection of funds in Israel and outside The Land, to get
the book published – these two beloved sons of Dereczin did not live to see the fruit of their labor
and effort.
The reader of the pages in this Book should silently whisper the pure and poignant Kaddish prayer
from the depths of his heart over the distant graves spread out across the fields and forests of our
fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, dearly beloved, and entire families of
which there remains not even a trace.
Let us therefore reverently take this Book in our hands, read it with the trembling that comes with
the remembering of the pure souls of the departed, and when we finish reading, press our trembling
lips to its pages and its lines, that perpetuate the memory of the martyrs and warriors.
Yekhezkiel Raban, Editor
iii
The Translator’s Foreword
By Jacob Solomon Berger
The preparation of this English Dereczin Yizkor Book represents another step in my continuing effort
to make histories of Eastern European Jewish shtetl life more accessible to interested readers who
live in the English-speaking world. My interest in Dereczin can be attributed to my maternal family
origins in the shtetl of Zelva, a scant 15 km from Dereczin.
The two towns both had Jewish communities that were centuries old, until they were cruelly
eradicated in the Holocaust. Young people from families in both towns very likely married one
another over long periods of time. Indeed, the complete understanding of how these bloodlines
mixed is probably lost to us forever, but that the Jewish communities in both towns were related
seems indisputable. The rosters of both communities are replete with the same names: Gelman,
Lantzevitzky, Lev, Ogulnick, Salutsky, and so on. So for me, having already translated The Zelva
Memorial Book into English, this step seemed to be a natural corollary to that earlier effort.
Translating Sefer Deretchin constituted a different experience for me. In the case of the Sefer
Zikaron Zelva, the editor, Yerachmiel Moorstein vg, accepted a burden of translating all of his inputs
into Hebrew. His objective was to assure that the result would be accessible to the Hebrew-speaking
progeny of Zelva in Israel. There were some interesting consequences to this decision:
• The resulting text continued to be beyond the reach of those who speak only English as a
native tongue. Since more than half the descendants of Zelva emigrants and survivors are in
this category, the issue of meaningfully assuring the preservation of memories remained
open.
• Three quarters of the Zelva text had started out being written in Yiddish, of which only a
handful of pages were so preserved for illustrative purposes. Consequently, the ‘feel’ of the
original writers had already undergone one level of filtration before reaching my hands.
• Even as late as 1980, there was resistance to an all-Hebrew edition by aging members in the
Zelva diaspora community, for whom Yiddish was their true mameloshen. Without Yiddish,
they felt alienated from a text that they would not be able to read, and consequently some
were not forthcoming with either material or financial support.
Sefer Deretchin was published about two-thirds in Yiddish and one-third in Hebrew. Having been
published nearly twenty years earlier than its Zelva counterpart, it benefitted from the oversight and
participation of a still vigorous, though aging, American landsmanschaft, and an as-yet-emerging
Israeli presence, which itself had strong Yiddish roots. Consequently, creating the Dereczin Yizkor
Book has been a more personal experience for me, and one closer to the source material. Indeed, the
Byelorussian Litvak Yiddish idiom, laced with its Russian words, struck a deep and emotional chord
within me, because it represented the voice of those very grandparents that raised me as a child. It
instilled a sense in me that the Derecziners too, were my kith and kin.
The two books parallel each other in many obvious ways. The structures of the books are nearly
identical. It is noteworthy that Dereczin seemed to resemble Zelva a great deal in its physical layout,
iv
to the point that the Synagogues and Batei Midrashim had many of the same names. The striking
similarity in town layout raises the intriguing question of whether they were conceived from the
same general plan at one time, early in the Middle Ages. Qualitatively the two books are equally rich,
but because the Dereczin book is nearly three times larger, there is a greater body of anecdotal detail
which enriches the record substantially, and deepens our insight into the daily lives of our collective
forbears.
The tragic end of these communities came about somewhat differently, even though the grisly
outcome was the same. Zelva was in that part of Byelorussia that was formally incorporated into the
Third Reich. It also had a railroad station, which Dereczin did not (in fact, Derecziners would have
to travel to Zelva by horse-drawn wagon to have access to rail transport). Consequently, Zelva never
had a ghetto. Rather, the Jews were rounded up and transported first to Volkovysk, as a staging point
that eventually led them to their final doom at Treblinka.
Just because Dereczin lay outside of the borders of the Third Reich was no basis on which its Jews
would be spared. However, lacking the transportation infrastructure, the Nazis appear to have opted
for creating a ghetto. After drafting available Jewish manpower into forced labor for digging massive
grave pits, they and their local henchmen, summarily butchered the entire Jewish population on the
10th Day of Ab 1942, burying them in these very same mass graves. Of the more than two thousand
Jewish souls in Dereczin, all were killed, save approximately 200 who fled to the nearby forests
where they fought the Nazi German aggression as partisans. Ultimately, only 60 would emerge from
the forests, as survivors of the rigors and dangers of partisan existence, to begin reclaiming what
was left of their shattered lives. It is this aspect of the history of the Dereczin community that sets
it apart, and makes it different and complementary to the Zelva story.
And yet even here, the overlaps continue to manifest themselves. If scores of Derecziners fought in
the Partisan Pobeda Battalion, there were also the two brothers, Moshe & Katriel Salutsky from
Zelva who were there, as were all the members of the family of Ephraim (Foyka) Gelman and his
wife Alta, herself a daughter of the Dereczin Osherovich family. So who is to say we are not one...?
In preparing this manuscript, I have followed the same disciplines that I outlined in the foreword to
the Zelva Memorial Book, so I will not repeat them here. Suffice it to say, I have tried to leave as
much flavor of the original writing as is possible.
I also wish to extend thanks to a number of people for helping to make this work possible. First, my
thanks go to Sol Phillips of Rochester, NY, a scion of the Becker family of both Dereczin and Zelva.
It was Sol who engaged me on this subject and eventually made a copy of Sefer Deretchin available
to me. A word of thanks is in order to Miriam Kreiter, who translated several dozen pages at the
behest of various interested parties. The quality of her work lightened my own load somewhat, for
which I am grateful. Finally, I want to thank my ‘backup Yiddishists,’ Faygel Garber York of
Monsey, NY and Mildred Shapiro Ragosin of Edmonton, Alberta in Canada. Both ladies, born in
Zelva, gave generously of their knowledge to keep dem Amerikaner Yoongotch from linguistic
pitfalls. And when all else failed, our gratitude goes to Professor Mordkhe Schaechter of Columbia
University for his peerless expertise in clarifying the handful of esoterica that was beyond us all.
Spring, 2000
v
A Silent Kaddish for Our Dearest
By Abraham-Kadish Feder
Chairman, U.S. Yizkor Book Committee
(Original Language: Yiddish)
When I undertook the work of becoming the Chairman of the Committee for the Dereczin Yizkor
Book, I was fully cognizant how great the effort would be, and even greater the responsibility.
We began working on the Yizkor Book in 1964. We had our first general meeting of residents of
Dereczin, concerning the Yizk or Book, on Hol HaMoed Sukkot, with the participation of Malka
Alper, during her visit to the U.S.
The idea of producing a Yizkor Book had already gestated for some time in the thoughts of several
Derecziner landsleit. We saw, that in such a book, we had the only possibility of preserving the
memory of our small town, where we were born, raised, and where we spent the sweet years of our
youth.
This, indeed, is the lesson of our Yizkor Book. In it, are preserved for all eternity, the happiness and
the sadness, the lives and daily occurrences, the tribulations and good things of all our closest ones,
until they were led to their demise in a locked ghetto, dragged to their slaughter, and bit by bit,
revealed themselves after having escaped to the forests, by doing battle with the enemy, and by-and-
large condemned to their deaths in The Sanctification of the Name.
Let this Book be a memorial to those who were murdered in the pits, and those who fell in battle, and
those who were denied the decency of a Jewish burial. Let it be a memorial marker for those who
did battle heroically against the greatest enemy ever to arise against our people in the course of its
long and distinguished history. For us, and for our children, they will stand as heroes, who defended
their honor as human beings and as Jews.
We are indebted to all of those who participated in this undertaking, and who helped in producing
this Book, whether with content, or whether with financial support. A special thanks is due to the
Derecziner Society, and the members of the Yizkor Book Committee. Our dear townsfolk, Jonah
Silkowitz, Tzirel Kamenetsky, Fanny Berman, Ida Sarnotsky, Judith Yankelewick, Guta Boyarsky.
The President of the Society, S. Bernicker, Rachel Efros, Chaya Pilcer, David Yanofsky, and finally
--the most dear of all- - our secretary, Rose Siskind and Treasurer, Sarah Slotnick, who worked
extremely hard and were dedicated to the completion of the Book.
With the Dereczin Yizkor Book, we place an eternal monument dedicated to the sacred memory of
all the Jews of Dereczin who were killed and tortured. The book is a tear that we shed, on the
scattered and far-flung family graves of our collective brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers,
friends and comrades, from the Dereczin Jewish settlement, who are no longer with us.
With respect for the Almighty, we will take this Book in our hands and we will read it, as if it were
a silent Kaddish, in memory of our nearest and dearest.
Kislev, 5727 (November 1966)
vi
Transcription of the English Letter to the Dereczin landsleit (p. 11).
Deretchiner Yizkor Book Committee

A. FEDER, Chairman N. BLIS SHUMAN
SARA SLOTNICK, Treasurer J. SILKOWITZ SH. BERNICKER
ROSE SISKIND, Secretary F. BERMAN P. LANCE
365 W. 28th Street I. SARNOTSKY SH. PILCER
New York 1. N.Y. R. EFROS D. YANOFSKY
Tel. WA 4 - 1286 G. BOYARSKY J. YANKELEWICK
S. KANINETSKY LEVIN
Worthy Landsleit,
As you know, the Deretchiner Landsleit in America, together with our Landsleit in Israel are
publishing a YIZKOR (MEMORIAL) BOOK for our hometown DERETCHIN.
Deretchin was a small town, but it was rich in culture, Rabbinical personalities and fine people.
This will be the only monument for our town, for our dear beloved martyrs who were so brutally
murdered during the last war. In this YIZKOR BOOK they will be commemorated.
If you have a picture from streets or houses of certain people of interest in our hometown,
which will shed a light on the way of life in Deretchin, please send it to the Committee. Also if you
could send us articles describing your life there in school, organizations, World War I and especially
from the World War II. Please send it to us as soon as possible and all the material and pictures will
be reviewed by the Editorial Board
and whatever they will find of interest, will be printed.
Naturally, worthy Landsleit, a book like this costs about 4 to 5 thousand dollars. Our Landsleit
in Israel do more financially for this cause than they can afford, therefore we appeal to you, please do
your share, send us your generous contribution for this sacred cause. We thank heartily for those of
you who already sent in their contribution.
If you know some Deretchiner who doesn’t know yet about this project, please talk to them,
also to your children, and see that they should contribute to the Yizkor Book.
We hope that your name will be among the contributors to this everlasting Memorial. Write
to your out-of-town Deretchiner friends, tell them about the Yizkor Book. Or se nd to us their
addresses and we will write them.
Please do not delay – We expect to hear from you in a few days.
Fraternally yours
ABRAHAM FEDER, Chairman SARA SLOTNICK, Treasurer ROSE SISKIND, Secretary

Please make checks or money orders payable to:
DERETCHINER YIZKOR BOOK COMMITTEE
and send to:
ROSE SISKIND, 345 West 28th Street, New York 1, N.Y.
vii
To Our Dereczin Brothers & Sisters in The U.S.
Greetings & Blessings!
By Malka Alper
The years are flying by, and already it is 28 years out over fields and forests, in places that we cannot
sinc e the destruction of our dear ones in the ghetto even access. These places are under the c ontrol of
and in the forest, from cold and hunger, or on the those who would hold themselves out to the world
battlefield, at the bloody hands of the Nazis and as defenders of righteousness and the equality of
their collaborators. men --- Except, of course, the Jews!
Our Sages of Blessed Memory would say, that with Each of us must keep this [virtual] gravestone
every life that is extinguished, or cut off, it is as if before our eyes in the form of a Book, a Yizkor
an entire world was destroyed. And here, in Book, in which, with sanctity and love, memories,
Dereczin, so many such worlds were destroyed, as writings, expressions, stories, and songs, have been
a result of courageous confrontation with the enemy, brought together, about everything we have lost in
often barehanded, or with minimal forms of our town of origin. In this process, we wish to
weaponry -- fathers and mothers, little children, inscribe forever, the names of those that were killed
grandfathers and grandmothers, young people, sons in Sanctification of the Name in the ghetto, and
and daughters, and on and on. those who died in battle against the greatest enemy
of the Jewish people.
All of us, who trod Dereczin’s soil either barefoot
or shod, who in their childhood years on summer Let future generations learn from the pages of our
Sabbath days, would roll down the Puster Barg Yizkor Book that they are descended from
(there, opposite the barracks-palaces), who strolled industrious, productive people, who in creating a
in the park-like fields on the Zhetl road, or in the life for themselves, also contributed to building the
Ager-Sod 1-- summertime, in the shade of chestnut land in which they were considered to be second-
trees, and in autumn, when the trees began to shed class citizens; from people who struggled for a
their yellow-golden leaves, together with the better tomorrow for themselves and those around
chestnuts, and they crunched underfoot – – – them; for the Jewish people, and for people of other
nationalities. Coming generations may read this
All of us, who today see this through the lens of book. Upon us lies the burden --nay the obligation--
[spilled] blood and extermination, remember every as the Torah says --and thou shalt teach them
minute, and there, in that ground, lie -- not in a diligently unto thy children -- show them the
cemetery, old or new -- more dead Jews that ever pictures, tell them the stories, and do everything
lived during the entire existence of Dereczin as a feasible to bring them close to the experienc e and
Jewish community. way of life of their forbears.
In the hearts of each one of us, there is a gravestone, May your hand be strengthened. Do what you can to
the final memorialization, but according to Jewish make this Book richer in content, more attractive in
tradition we must place such a symbol, a stone, on appearance, and affordable in cost for every single
the grave [itself]. But go -- put such a gravestone on member of the Dereczin community.
the resting places of our kinfolk, which are spread
With regards in the name of all of us [in Israel]
1
Informal name of the Agreste Sod, the Malka Alper
formal park in Dereczin (see Shlomo
Yudson’s memoir later on).
viii
On the Occasion of the Publication of the Book
By David Rabinovich (kz)
Photo: Reception for Jacob Mishkin & his wife (p. 14)
No trace of the Jews remains in all the cities and Jacob Mishkin joined me and Chaim Rabinovitch,
towns of Poland and Lithuania. There was no one and immediately asked in what way he could be of
left even to place gravestones on the burial places. assistance to the Dereczin survivors, who came to
The one way in which it is possible to preserve the the Land after the [Second World] War, and the
memory of our relatives, and dearly-beloved who destruction of the Eastern-European [Jewish]
were sacrificed, of the beloved and unforgettable community. We had not, at that time, yet thought
home cities and towns, is to gather the memories about publishing our Memorial Book, and [instead]
and writings of those who survived, and to present proposed to him that he establish a credit union that
them in the form of Memorial Books, which portray would provide interest-free loans to those from our
the history of the annihilated communities and the town who were needy. He immediately allocated
Jews who were systematically murdered; and also to two thousand pounds, and we raised another one
pass on to the coming generations the story of thousand between us. The credit union continues to
Jewish resistance in the ghettoes and in the forests -- function until this day.
a story of indescribable heroism, which reflected,
after the long bimillenial diaspora, like a bright A few years later, during the second visit by the
shining ray off of the heroic national rebirth in our Mishkin family to Israel, the concept of a Memorial
own Homeland. Book had come to fruition in the minds of the
Dereczin circle, in memory of our annihilated
Large cities and small towns have already published community. We approached them for assistance in
their Memorial Books. It has been some time since the publication of Pinkas-Dereczin. Jacob Mishkin
the circles of the Dereczin community planned and immediately provided three thousand pounds for the
worked for the publication of its Pinkas-Dereczin. undertaking, and his wife, Sofia, in a subsequent
trip, added her own support in the form of yet
A committee was appointed which assumed another thousand pounds. Jacob’s two sisters, when
responsibility to gather all materials-- memories, they visited Israel, contributed six hundred pounds.
writings, photographs, historical material, etc.
In the ensuing years, we have received donations
A separate difficult, but important task, was to raise from Derecziners in the U.S., Canada, Argentina,
the necessary funds to publish the Book. Expert South Africa, and other lands where Dereczin
assistance was provided by our fellow townsman, survivors may be found. In Israel itself, a sum of
Jacob Mishkin from Venezuela. In the early fifties, money was also raised for this purpose.
he made his first trip to the Land of Israel.
ix
Photo (p. 12):
Picture of Deretchiner Yizkor Book Committee in the U.S.

June 1965
Left to Right
(Standing):
Sam Bernicker, David Yanofsky,2 Ida Sarnotsky-Feder, Mrs. Bernicker,

Shimon Bernicker (vg), [Abraham] Kadish Feder, Chairman
(Sitting):
Guta Boyarsky, Rachel Efros-Feldman, Rukhamah Siskind-Abelovitch

(Secretary), Sarah-Beilkeh Slotnick-Yanofsky (vg) (Treasurer), Tsirel
Kamenetsy-Freedman, Judith Yankelevich-Lantzevitzky
2
This is the chosen English spelling in the text. The original Yiddish suggests a spelling of Yanovsky.
x
Once there was a Town....
1
Map of Western Byelorussia
Showing Dereczin and its Environs
2
Dereczin of the Past
By Chaim Rabinovich
Photos: The Sapieha Palaces (p. 21)
Gravestone of R’ Yaakov ben Ze’ev Beckenstein (p. 23)
West side of the Dereczin town marketplace (p. 24)
East side of the Dereczin town marketplace (p. 25)
The Feder Family at the grave site of their mother (p. 30, Top)
The Einstein Family at their mother’s grave site for Yahrzeit (p. 30, Bottom)
Sholom Mansky, the last of the Starotsas (p. 33, Top)
Soldiers in the Czarist Army: Reuven Shelkovich & his cousin Mottel from Zelva (p.33, Bottom)
A Market Day in Town (p. 34)
Simkheh die Kremerkeh (storekeeper) (p. 35 Top)
Her husband, R’ Yehuda-Shmuel Epstein (p. 36 Bottom)
Reb Meir-Shia Wolfowitz the Feldscher and his family (p. 39)
Reb Shlomo ‘Kazianer Rav’ with is wife & nephew (p. 40 Top)
The melamed, Reb Alter Falakovich (‘Reb Alter Deikhess’) (p. 40 Bottom)
Between the borders of Lithuania, Poland and White Russia from the very first weeks of their
Ukraine, in the opening years of the sec ond half of attack, and carried out their agenda there, just as
the Middle Ages, there was a broad, half-desolate they did in all occupied territories of Eastern
land, flat, with much water, marshes and forests, Europe. In 1944, they retreated from the area, under
with poor soil, and a sparse population, fortified the pressure of the [advancing] Soviet military
cities and towns, and poor villages around machine, leaving behind an impoverished, starved
formidable palaces. These were the broad tracts of out and plundered land, devoid of almost its entire
what was later to become White Russia, whose original Jewish population that inhabited its cities
boundaries were never precisely set down, and and towns. From that time on, the half-empty area
which achieved independence only after the Russian once again reverted to White Russian rule.
October Revolution, as a part of the Soviet Union’s
array of fifteen republics. The true rulers of these tracts of land were, until the
beginning of the 19th century, not the countries
In the course of the past six or seven centuries, which held sovereignty, but the noble families who
White Russia belonged to several different countries acquired both the lands and the towns therein, as
of Eastern Europe, beginning with the Lithuanian either [royal] gifts or inheritances, with thousands of
monarchy, then to the Polish-Lithuanian kingdom, hectares of land around them, and they ruled over
and remained within Polish borders until the this and the resident population under their
partition. After the partition of Poland, White oversight.
Russia found itself under Russian hegemony, and
remained there until the end of the First World War, Dereczin at the Beginning
in which the Germans occupied almost the entire
area, remaining there until the end of the war. After Dereczin can be found in the western part of White
the brief occupation by the Red Army, the entire Russia, near the Polish border. Historians are
western part of White Russia is incorporated into inclined to accept that the first settlements in
the new Polish Republic, and this c ontinues up to Dereczin took place approximately at some time
the outbreak of the Second World War. The area toward the end of the 1400's to the beginning of the
remains in White Russian hands for barely two 1500's. Dereczin was then built along a commercial
years. The Soviet forces are overrun after the road that led from Slonim to Grodno. The town is
invasion of the German military, at which time, the barely 32km to the northwest of Slonim, and 46
Nazi murderers are in control of the entirety of
3
versts3 north of Ruzhany. The Shchara River flows the year 1495, he dec reed the expulsion of all Jews
to the northeast of Dereczin, emptying its waters from Lithuania. Commerce, and the development of
into the Neman [River]. Dereczin itself, abuts the areas under his rule, became so weakened as a result
[Shchara] river, which older maps show as Zelva, of this decision, that he was forced, eight years later
but later ones took the more appropriate name of in 1503, to invite the expelled Jews back, and return
Sapaya, which in time, became die Shihpeh in them to their former places of residence. Once
Yiddish. It is both understandable, and assumed that again, they were invited back to fill the emptied
the name Sapaya does not stem from the original purses of the anti-Semitic King. Later, as the Polish-
times of Dereczin, but from the later [times], when Lithuanian king, he appointed individual talented
the Sapiehas were the landholders of the town and Jews as finance ministers in his royal bureaucracy.
its environs. Needless to say, Dereczin Jews suffered too, from
the expulsion, and the repatriation during which
Dereczin residents, and along with them, many they rebuilt their wrecked houses, stores, and places
others who have familiarized themselves with the of work. For the Lord of Dereczin, for Kapaczewicz,
town, and have thought, spoken and written about it, he certainly secured a goodly number of new Jewish
link the origin of the name of their hometown to the residents.
name of the ruling noble Sapieha4 family. From
many historical and chronological sources, one At the dawn of the 1500's one has to look for Jewish
could obtain the impression that Dereczin, from the origins in Dereczin among single families of men-
start, belonged to the Sapieha Dynasty. for-hire, who were there at the outset along with a
number of Jewish craftsmen.
However, if one delves into older books and
documents, one learns that Dereczin, along with An interesting fact is established in the historical
large tracts of land around it, went through many record about the crisis, which reigned the area
changes of hand before the Sapiehas took control of covering Lithuania and White Russia, from which
it. the Jews were expelled: In the year 1501, a few
years before the Jews were recalled to settle again in
In the second half of the 1500's, the Lithuanian- these areas, the sister of Jaczek Kapaczewicz, the
Polish King Casimir Jagiello gave Dereczin as a wife of the nobleman, Michal Sanguszek, willed a
present to his faithful vassal Vasil Kapaczewicz. large portion of her estate and serfs to the Church,
Casimir’s son, Aleksander Jagiello, later confirmed but this will only became known after her death.
the gift, and formalized this fiefdom, which had Once she died, all her assets once again reverted to
already passed by inheritance to Vasil’s son, Jaczek her heirs:
Kapaczewicz. To her son, Anzhei Sanguszek,
Son-in-law, Semen Bohdanovicz, Lord of
It might not be so important to set out all these Andiczewicz, husband of her daughter,
details, were it not for those descendants yet to Nastasia, and
come, with no direct link to this area, or so think the Her second son-in-law, Lord Ivan
Jewish historians about the history of the Jews in Anzhiewicz Poluvinskii, husband of her
Lithuania and White Russia, and equally so about daughter, Nievidana.
Dereczin. Here is an interesting fact about the reign
of the afformentioned noble, Aleksander Jagiello. In The Poluvinskiis later bought out the share of the
Andiczewicz’s. It was bought by Lord Aleksander
Poluvinskii, the Castellan5 of Novogrudok, who in
3
The verst is a Russian measure of this manner, became the sole owner and ruler of all
distance. Dereczin and its surrounding territory.
4
The Sapieha (or Sophia) family is an
ancien t W hite Russian-Lithuanian
5
noble family that traces its origins to Ro man Catholic spiritual leader with
1413, in Smolensk, and Polock. temporal powers as well.
4
It is only at the end of the 1700's that Dereczin falls invited Germans, and settled them with special
under the control of the Sapiehas. The daughter of rights and privileges to develop industry and
Aleksander Hilari, the Marshalek of the Grand commerce. This entailed a substantial migration of
Duchy of Greater Lithuania, married Lord Jerzy German citizens to Poland on the basis of the A.G.
Stanislav Sapieha, and he received Dereczin and its Magdeburg Rights. But the German settlements
estates as a dowry in the year 1686. were largely concentrated in the Polish cities, and
very few of the Germans settled in White Russia.
From then on, Dereczin belonged to this famous
noble dynasty, which did a great deal to develop the The fact is, that in Dereczin, there was a street
town as the ‘capitol’ for the Sapiehas. They helped called Deutsche Gasse, which suggests an almost-
to build a great deal of the housing, in which both certain hypothesis about the Germans, that they
Jews and Christians alike were invited to live and came, many hundreds of years ago, to Dereczin,
work in Dereczin. They also donated building very likely at the invitation of the ruling nobility, to
materials to erect stores and synagogues. attempt to establish somehow, small businesses. It
appears that the efforts of the German colonization
Exactly a hundred years after Dereczin passed into in Dereczin did not take. In the past decades, there
the hands of the Sapiehas, and possibly to was only one known German family in Dereczin,
commemorate this important date for the ruling that engaged in the weaver’s trade. With the passage
family, in the year 1786, a family palace was built. of centuries, the Germans moved away from
Over time, the Sapiehas m o v e d h u n d r e d s o f Dereczin, and the town was left largely Jewish in
paintings, books, and all manner of precious gems, character and population. After the Germans, and
into their new Dereczin palace from their Ruzhany until the last World War, there was only one piec e
residence. It was in this manner that Dereczin of evidence of their sojourn -- the name of a street.
became the principal residence of the Sapiehas. The
foremost of the Sapiehas who was instrumental in It is also reasonable, according to the opinion of the
building the palace and the town itself, was the great historian Dr. Raphael Mahler, that German settlers
Hetman6 and Chancellor of Lithuania, Aleksander were imported to Lithuanian and White Russian
Sapieha. In 1831, after the Polish rebellion against cities after the 1495 expulsion. It is possible that this
Russia was put down, the palace, and all of its happened in Dereczin as well. This was negated,
contents were taken by Czarist forces from the however, after the repatriation of the Jews to
hands of Aleksander’s son, Franciszek. Thus the Dereczin, and the development of the town then fell
Sapiehas were driven out of Dereczin, but their on the backs of the Jewish populace.
name endured for many long years in the memory of
the Dereczin population, who saw them as the From an old document we know, that in the year
builders of their town. 1550, Dereczin, together with Zhetl and Dvorets,
belonged to the community of Slonim. It is clear that
Jews -- The True Builders in every respect, the Jews of Dereczin were already
organized.
Were the Sapiehas the real builders of Dereczin?
Officially, that is what is written in historical books The first document that tells of Jews in Dereczin
and c hronologies. But if one delves deeper, and dates from the year 1619. From a second document,
finds a variety of facts from the later Dereczin dated 1766, we learn that the number of Jews in
legacy, everything becomes clearer, that the true Dereczin at that time was 404 souls. By the year
builders of the town were the Jews. 1847, that number is reported at 542. On 01 January
1878, the total population numbered 2,269 residents,
The method by which Poland chose to develop its of which 1,725 were Jewish. In 1897 there were
cities in the Middle Ages is known to us. They 1,887 Jews in Dereczin. Then came the years of the
great emigration over the ocean, migration to large
urban centers, and aliyah to the Holy Land.
6 Consequently, the number of Jews in 1921 stood at
An Eastern European title of authority
5
1,396, and their percentage of the population also In the park, and on the Puster Barg, the Dereczin
fell from 71% to 61.7% at that time. Jews, their wives and children, would come to spend
the Sabbath days during the summer. There was a
In 1897 there were 227 Jewish craftsmen and legend that circulated in Dereczin, and was handed
tradespeople, represented for the most part as down from one generation to the next, that the
follows: passages of the hill once extended underground
71 - Shoemakers from Dereczin to Ruzhany. Both towns once
46 - Day Laborers belonged to the Sapiehas. The distance from
28 - Factory Workers Dereczin to Ruzhany is about 50km. The legend said
that the tunnels were dug as a security measure.
Six families engaged in vegetable farming.
The same legend has it that hundreds of years ago,
Then comes the long list of organizations and aid it pleased the ruling noble of the period to construct
societies, which were already established in a small town around his personal residence. To
Dereczin as early as seventy years prior to 1897, and accomplish this objective, he imported thirty Jewish
which bear witness to the highly-developed sense of families from Lithuania, specifically manual
community responsibility for: good deeds, helping tradespeople, such as tailors, builders, carpenters,
the unfortunate, clothing the naked, meting out and artisans, and a selec t few business people. He
justice, accommodating guests, visiting the sick, etc. provided them with construction materials from his
forests, and they built themselves houses. In
Even more instructive is the number of institutions accordance with his orders, an arcade of stores was
established for learning -- a Talmud Torah with constructed in the center of the town, in the form of
fifteen classrooms. The Jews of Dereczin were a three-sided plan (the Hebrew letter Het ), and
always concerned, and looked after, the education of about thirty stores were located in this arcade. Later,
their children. he helped to build the large, walled synagogue,
where the old cemetery was eventually located to
It is therefore appropriate to describe more one side. By the end of the nineteenth century, the
thoroughly and tell about the establishment, growth, lettering on some of the stones in the cemetery were
development -- up to the tragic destruction of Jewish so badly eroded, that it was no longer possible to
Dereczin. decipher them. It was estimated that this cemetery
was about four hundred years old.
The Origins of Dereczin
From this handful of Jews, brought to reside in
As previously mentioned, for many years, Dereczin Dereczin, grew the population of Jews in the town
was the principal residence of the renown grew to a size where it numbered about three
Lithuanian-Polish noble family, Sapieha. They thousand souls prior to its destruction [in the
constructed large, two-story palaces, by the small Holocaust].
river, Shihpeh, surrounded by a magnificently
beautiful orchard park. Large paths cut through the It was often told in Dereczin, that the two-story
park both along its length and breadth, and along house at the head of the Zelva & Slonim Gasse, was
their sides, old, high trees grew, among them many especially built at the capricious whim of one of the
fruit trees. The Sapiehas cultivated a special breed Sapiehas, who was dissatisfied with the view from
of pears, which bore the name of the noble family -- the windows of his palace, at the head of the
sapiezhankas. Deutsche Gasse, and at the end of Zelva Gasse, of
two streets stretching in a straight line from one end
Near the park, at the beginning of the town line, and of the town to the other, cutting through the
opposite the great palace, where the Deutsche Gasse marketplace. Zelva Gasse was the only street where
began, was the Puster Barg, overgrown with old a majority of the population were Catholic
linden trees. Christians, Mieszczanii, interspersed with a few
Jewish households.
6
I etched the stories and legends, as well as the raw hundred years, which Dereczin took pride in, and
facts about the olden times of the Jewish community from which it obtained a reputation:
of Dereczin , into my memory from the days when
I studies the Gemara7 with the oldest of the Rabbi Eli’ Chaim Meizel, of sainted
Derec zin Rabbis, Rabbi David Chaim Shmeuns, a memory, who later became the Rabbi of
true Jewish scholar, who at the end of the nineteenth Lodz9;
century was already a man in his eighties. He would
tell us, his students, all manner of things that he had Rabbi Joseph (Yosseleh) Shluffer, who
heard from his grandfather, and that were handed became Rabbi of Slonim;
down from generation to generation. A portion of
his storytelling can be corroborated in the scarce Rabbi Sholom Ber , who became the Rabbi
documents and works of historians. of Kletsk;
The first Lithuanian Jews, practical folk people, Rabbi Joseph Zundel, Rabbi of Eishyshok;10
who, in time were able to provide for their material
well-being either through their own labor, or Rabbi Leib Bialyblatzky, Rabbi of Luneh,
through trade and commerce, also concerned and who passed away in Dereczin;
themselves with the spiritual nurturing of their
children. That is how the Talmud Torah came to be Rabbi Plotkin, who became the Rabbi of
build, housed in the structure between the Smargan;
synagogue and the old cemetery. Other houses of
worship were built, two of stone, and one a wooden And the last, Rabbi [Zvi-Hirsch]
structure, as well as a separate synagogue for the Bakalchuk, who was killed by the Nazi
tradesmen and laborers, the Hayyat [Schul]. Some murderers, along with the remainder of the
of the townspeople sent their children to study at the Jewish community.
Yeshiva in Slonim.
All of the aforementioned rabbis occupied positions
For young (sic: unmarried) daughters, the Jews of great respect in the rabbinical community.
would customarily obtain from far away, sons-in-
law, who were scholars and students of the Torah, The procedure of selecting a rabbi used to involve
whom they would financially support for many long the entire community, especially the leadership.
years, to afford them the opportunity to pursue their Knowledgeable members of the community
religious scholarship. leadership would travel to become familiar with the
available candidates, and those that stood out as
It was in this manner, that the study of Torah, and being more accomplished were invited to give
the pursuit of doing good deeds became the several sermons either in the large main synagogues,
hallmark of Jewish family life in Dereczin. The or some of the other houses of worship. All of
town shone with its renown Rabbis, Gaonim,8 and Dereczin, merchants, storekeepers, workers and
great scholars during all the years of its existence.
The Rabbis of Dereczin 9

Later text indicates that the full first name is
Eliyahu. Wrote a letter of praise in support o f Beyt
Our memory teems with the names of prominent Yehoshua, the second book authored by Rabbi Yehoshua
Rabbis, from olden times, from the past four Freidin, Rabbi of Ozern itsa, son of Tanhum Yitzhak
Freidin of Zelva. At that time, he was Rabbi of Pruzhany
(birthplace of the late Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, The
Rav).
7
The Talmud and its commentaries.
10
Rabbi Yossef Zundl Hutner (1844? 46? -
8
A title accorded a scholar of 1919). See Yaffa Sonenson Eliach’s landmark history of
exceptional intellectual capacity. Eishyshok, There Once Was A World.
7
laborers (who in the daily idiom were called “the Plotkin, took the Rabbinate [of Dereczin] after the
mass”), lock, stock and barrel, would come to hear death of Rabbi Leib Bialyblatzky, called Rabbi Leib
these sermons, and took an active part in the process Luner. Rabbi Plotkin had a broad network of
of voting for the final candidate. The selected rabbi contacts in the higher echelons of Polish society,
was then received with a big parade, and after the and when Dereczin went over to Poland, the one
execution of the rabbinical contract, there usually time Polish foreign Minister, Sapieha, great-
ensued rather extensive celebrations. grandson of the Dereczin Sapieha dynasty founder,
upon finding out that the former family residence of
The following characteristically rabbinic story about his grandfather was being used by Rabbi Plotkin as
Rabbi Sholom Ber is told by his grandson, Eliyahu a Rabbinical Residence, summoned him to Warsaw,
Herenson, the son-in-law of Rabbi Joseph and sent him as a delegate to America to negotiate
Rabinov ich, who lived in Dereczin for the longest for financial assistance on behalf of the new-born
time, and has lived in Israel since 1932: Rabbi Polish regime.
Sholom Ber was a great scholar and wise man, and
in addition was renown as a unique Baal-Tefilah During the time of the first Polish occupation, from
(leader of religious services, perhaps a Cantor). He which Dereczin Jews suffered much misfortune,
would always lead prayer services during holidays, Rabbi Plotkin used his connections and authority to
and was greatly beloved in Dereczin. rescue c ertain young people from arrest and
punishment. A story is well-known of a young girl
In those days, each town used to also retain a from Pinsk, who was accused of spying for the
Cantor, who had to be proficient as a ritual communists, and was sentenced to death. Rabbi
slaughterer as well. Rabbi Sholom Ber, as an expert Plotkin put all of his authority on the line, and
cantor himself, did not permit a slaughterer to be personally traveled to the prison in Slonim, and
retained who could also perform as a cantor. He did rescued the innocent, wrongly-accused girl,
not accept remuneration for leading services during guaranteeing to the higher authorities that he --
the High Holy Days, but over a number of years, he personally-- was certain of her innocence.
caused the stipend to be applied to build out the
rabbinical residence which was on the Schulhof, and The Rabbis were much more than religious leaders
which served for many years as the Bet Din of their community. In olden times, the Rabbi was
(religious law court). the leader of the community, both internally and
externally. He not only passed judgement on matters
One time, the community voted to retain a cantor pertaining to kashrut, but also ruled on a wide
who would also serve as ritual slaughterer -- against variety of matters arising in disputes between the
the will of the Rabbi. This irritated the Rabbi Jewish residents, [he was] the spiritual leader, and
greatly. As luck would have it, at that precise time, the one who provided oversight for the religious
a delegation of Jewish townsfolk from Kletsk schooling [of the children]. He would teach the
arrived, and offered Rabbi Sholom Ber the pulpit in Talmud to the qualified youth and the Club of men
their town. As he was in a state of anger with the who studied Talmud regularly (i.e., the Chevra
town, which retained a cantor/ritual slaughterer Shas), giving appropriate sermons in the various
without consulting him, Rabbi Sholom Ber accepted houses of worship, and causing his spiritual force to
the offer, and left to go to Kletsk. be an influence over all aspects of Jewish life.
Later, after the death of Rabbi Leib Luner, there was The salary of the Rabbis was very meager, and they
a desire to appoint Rabbi Sholom Ber’s son, Rabbi would supplement their income with sales of yeast
Chaim Shimon (the father of Eliyahu Herenson), but for Sabbath Challah and candles. It was the Rabbi’s
as it transpired, Rabbi Sholom Ber himself passed wife, the Rebbetzin, who was concerned with these
away in Kletsk, and Rabbi Chaim Shimon left for matters, because the Rabbis themselves were
Kletsk to take his father’s place. preoccupied with scholarly pursuits, and dealing
with community matters.
One of the last of the [Dereczin] Rabbis, Rabbi
8
Until the beginning of the nineteenth century, the houses, and one wooden study house -- this last
Jewish community of Dereczin was administered by being the property of the Burial Society. In the foyer
a system of rotating “Monthly Magistrates.” [The of the wooden study house, stood the planks on
town] would select twelve respectable townsmen, which the dead would be carried out. To this day, I
each of which would serve [as an executive] for a c an recall the fright we used to experience as
month. The “magistrates” dealt with all manner of youngsters about going into the wooden study
community issues, and also had the right to impose house, because of these planks.
punishment on a guilty Jewish resident, to the point
of holding him in “arrest” chained to a post in the The study houses, in those olden times, served as
corner of the Great Synagogue. spiritual centers, and focal points for the gathering
of the entire Jewish population. Apart from the fact
The Rabbis did not confine their judging to disputes that almost all the Jews of the town, and their
among only Jews. More than once, Christians who children, would come to pray three times daily --
had serious monetary disputes with Jews, would Shacharit, Mincha, and Maariv, -- tens of students,
decline to use the court system of the land, native and from out of town, and many sons-in-law,
preferring to c ome to the Rabbi of the Jewish who were supported by their wive’s parents, studied
community. In most cases, they were quite satisfied the Gemara, all day long there. These self-same
with the rulings handed down by the Rabbis in these students would eat “days12” with the local residents.
situations. Every Jew, whether poor or rich, accepted it as a
good deed --a mitzvah -- and a privilege, to provide
The nobility, in the Dereczin environs, who used to such a student with a meal of food and drink, or
plant specially set-aside fields with wheat to be used several suc h meals, during a week. This is how we
for the shmura matzoh on Passover, customarily dealt with the poorer Talmud-Torah students who
would invite the Rabbi into the fields, in order to c ame to us from surrounding towns and villages --
assure that the necessary work was conducted under they would obtain a place to sleep from the native
his oversight, and that all matters would be carried Jewish residents, and also food to eat without any
out within the letter and spirit of Jewish law. A few charge. Jews held that they were responsible not
of the nobility would also send the Rabbi donations, only to have the Torah taught to their own children,
for Maot Chittim,11 potatoes, assorted vegetables, to but also to provide for those children who want to
be divided among those needy members of the learn, but [whose parents] could not afford to obtain
Jewish community for the holiday. The noble the services of a Rabbi-teacher for cash. Do
landowner of Alexandra, an estate near Dereczin, on understand that there were those among these
every Yom Kippur Eve, would send in a few large youngsters who would take meals in two homes.
bales of straw (hay?) and spread it out in the The Jewish community knew about this, but it didn’t
Schulhof. The children would then come, and each raise any concern. Jewish mothers used to say: let a
of them would gather up some of it, and carry it to poor Jewish child enjoy himself, perhaps he
their father’s house of worship, spreading it on the remained hungry from another of his “days.” Pious
floor, so it will ease the burden of the worshipers Jewish women, and they constituted the majority in
who would be standing for the entire next day in those days in Dereczin, considered it the greatest
their stockinged feet without shoes on. mitzv ah to provide food for a poor Jewish child to
eat, in order that he be able to pursue the study of
The Bet-HaMidrash – A Spiritual Center Torah.
The synagogue and houses of learning became The study houses were also centers for initiatives
concentrated on the Schulhof. There stood the large aimed at helping the itinerant Jewish needy, who
stone-walled synagogue, two similarly walled study would often come into Dereczin for the Sabbath, or
11 12
Charitable sustenance distributed to the needy Taking donated meals on a rotating basis.
for the Passover holiday. Called essen teg in Yiddish.
9
a place for itinerant preachers who used to come to wandering and lost paupers who chanced to arrive in
give sermons -- all of these were provided with town late at night, and had no other place where to
lodging and food, along with the cadre of students spend the night.
and yeshiva scholars. The praying members of the
congregation would always take such an individual It was in the hours between Mincha & Maariv that
home as a guest for the Sabbath, and there was the itinerant preachers [sic: Maggidim] would hold
never an occasion where someone was left without forth with their rousing sermons on all manner of
a place to [go and] eat. There was always a religious themes, always touching on general
worshiper to look after such an individual. problems in Jewish life in the larger sphere of
communal existence.
There was also a military garrison stationed in
Dereczin, stationed at the former palaces of the Almost every such study house had its club for the
Sapiehas. There were always 20 to 30 Jewish study of the Talmud [sic: Chevra Shas], and its
soldiers in the garrison. The circumstance of the adherents would come together every evening to
times was such, that the Rabbi would work out an study a page of the Gemara . They would come after
arrangement with the military command to give a hard day’s work, because they were all laborers,
leave to the Jewish soldiers on the Sabbath. Then, smiths, tailors, shoemakers, weavers and
they would attend synagogue, and be able to eat in storekeepers: they were all good and tired, but in the
the home of a Jewish family. It was a special study house, they took pleasure to sit and listen to
mitzvah, and honor, to be able to host a Jewish the discourse over the Law, to learn a little
soldier for the Sabbath. themselves, and to carry on a conversation with
others [like themselves]. These were hours of
In those days, before libraries were established, and tranquility that they could find in only one place --
also newspapers appeared rarely, the study houses in the study house. There they befriended other
served as centers of culture. In the winter season, Jews, expressed what was of concern to them
during the cold months, various craftsmen, small personally, and listened to the troubles that others
business people, and laborers would gather there at had, taking comfort and solace from the soothing
nightfall after work. They used to stretch themselves words of other sympathizers. This was the way the
out on the warm, long lezhankas13, and those who study house became the physical and spiritual
could, would study a page of the Gemara , and resting place for the Jews of the town. I remember to
others -- a chapter of the Mishnah . Those less gifted this day, those evenings in the “New Building”
in scholarship would recite a chapter from the where I would come to study every evening with the
Psalms [of David], and afterwards, all would carry Chev ra Shas, and after that, studying the Talmud
on a conversation about all sorts of civil and with the aged Rabbi, Reb David Chaim Shmeuns, a
communal issues, and also listen to all sorts of news Jew who was a formidable scholar and God-fearing
that may have been brought from whatever area. individual. Many townsfolk would come there to
study in the evening, among them tradespeople and
Every study house was built in the following craftsmen of every kind. When we concluded the
manner: in the center, surrounding the Bimah , was study of a volume of the Talmud, we would have a
a large podium, and around it were long benches -- great feast at the home of Reb Areh [sic: Aharon]
these were the lezhankas. In the winter, they served Menzheh’s. We would eat and drink, dance and
as warm sitting places, and in the twilight hours, make merry until late at night.
between Mincha and Maariv, it was sort of a folk
club for the general public. The students would The study house provided the continuity for the
sleep on the lezhankas during the wintertime if they Jewish people to remain the “People of the Book.”
had no warm lodging elsewhere in town, as well as
It was in the study houses that the entire communal
life was concentrated. It was there that [public]
13 assemblies took place to discuss various issues; it
A low stove, with a bench on it, on which one
was during one such meeting that a Bikur Cholim
would recline.
10
society14 was established, and a practical program emigrated to the Land of Israel from Dereczin.
was also worked out as to how each and every one Naturally, they were not making this journey to
of the members would visit and attend someone who undertake building the land, but rather to live out
was seriously ill; it was there that the Hekdesh, or their final years, and be assured of interment in the
“guest house” was [also] established, where various soil of the Holy Land, in order that when the
poor people, or itinerant preachers would have a Messiah comes, and the dead are raised to join the
place to spend the night without charge. The town living, that their bones would not have to roll all the
also had a communal bath, with an attached mikvah, way to the Land of Israel...
naturally, which were located on the same street as
the “Guest House,” not far from the small river, Over a hundred years ago, Reb Ber, the father-in-
Shihpeh. It was during these town meetings at the law of Rabbi Moshe Rabinovich (the founder of the
study houses that decisions were taken regarding all well-branc hed Rabinovich family), a fellow
manner of town affairs. townsman from Dereczin, left to go to the Land of
Israel with [a family of] eight sons and four
In between the study houses, there was also to be daughters, all born and raised in Dereczin. From
found a shtibl15 of the Lubavitcher sect, with several these twelve children, the son of Rabbi Moshe,
tens of adherents [of that movement]. Rabbi Aryeh-Leib Rabinovich [also] went to Israel
in later life, and he was accompanied by several
Apart from being the center for both the social other Dereczin townspeople, among which were,
initiatives and [the resolution of] communal issues, Reb Ahareh Menzhe’s, Reb Avreml Henia’s, and
the study house was the center of Jewish belief, in Reb Itcheh Elateh’s, the sexton of the “New
all the concepts with which the Torah is imbued, as Synagogue,” and a number of other elderly Jews.
well as the religious and ethical writings of the
Jewish people. It was there, that the solidarity of the The Old and New Cemeteries
Jewish community became cemented; it was there
that belief in miracles that would lead to the The ‘old’ cemetery, it appears, was in Dereczin
liberation of World Jewry were nurtured, there hope from the first time that Jews settled there. Its
for a better future was strengthened, and there, Jews headstones were already sunken in the ground and
sat and studied, and dreamt of the coming of the overgrown with old moss [presumably at the time
Messiah, and of the Redemption that would come the author saw them - Ed]. It was practically
for all the Jewish people. impossible, already, to read the lettering that had
been carved into them. When it was first
Older Residents Emigrate to the Holy Land established, hundreds of years ago, it
understandably lacked access from the residential
In those years, the last decade of the previous streets, but we recall it sitting in the middle of the
century [sic: nineteenth century], the ideals of Schulhof, adjacent to the wall of the stone-wall
modern Zionism were still not well-known, that is, constructed synagogue, not far from the Talmud
to colonize the Land of Israel. Observant Jews Torah and the Bet-Din building. The “newer” [sic:
placed their hope in the coming of the messianic era, contemporary] cemetery, was on the way to Zelva,
and believe that only a Messiah would lead them out and further from town. It was opened for use in the
of exile and return them to the Land of Israel. early part of the 19th c entury, and was surrounded
by a stone wall. Towards the end of the 19th
But even at that time, at the end of the nineteenth century, due to the generosity of the tenant farmer of
century, there were a few older Jewish folk who the Alexandra estate, Reb Moshe Maleticher,
donated before his death, a larger sum of money in
order to build up [sic: enhance?] the stone-walled
14
perimeter wall [of the cemetery].
A ritual committee whose purpose was to
provide assisted visitation to the sick. It was the Chevra Kadisha that concerned itself with
15 burial of the dead. This work was performed
A small prayer and study house
11
voluntarily by noteworthy townspeople, members of The magistrates were from the more substantial
the Chevra Kadisha, who even had their own study families in town, and they conducted [these]
house close to the old cemetery. The support of the community affairs with a firm hand. Kidnappers17
cemeteries and payment for the grave diggers was would forcibly take the children of poor people and
covered by burial funds that the Chevra Kadisha put them in the hands of the Czarist ruling authority.
raised from the families of the deceased. The There were instances where children were bought
proc ess of raising burial funds often caused for money from poor parents. The first victims were
incidents to break out, sinc e it was the custom to usually the orphans. Very few of the children
request larger sums from those individuals thought remained true to their Jewish faith after spending
to be capable of giving, but had not been 25 years living deep in Russia among gentiles. Only
particularly generous during their lifetime. In the a very few would return home after performing this
end, an understanding was reached with the family service in the Czarist military. It is in this way, that
of the deceased, and life in the town would return to I recall two such “Nikolai Soldiers” who lived with
its normal quiet course, after having been roiled up us in Dereczin -- Gershon, “The Greek,” and
over a burial fee incident. Shamurka. The first one used to stand with a gaming
table at the marketplace, and also served as an
The entire town of Dereczin would participate in a armed guard; the second served as a hired crier for
funeral. The more prominent among the deceased Russian merchants, who every Sunday would walk
would be carried all the way to the cemetery; while the streets and announce the schedule for the sale of
folk of more modest stature would be taken there by pigs at the marketplace. They both were estranged
wagon. It was on the Schulhof that the deceased from Judaism, but nevertheless they retained their
would be eulogized, and from there the funeral Jewish identity. The greater part of “Nikolai’s
cortège would wend its long way to the cemetery. Soldiers” were lost, or settled deep in Russia, in
white Siberia, because as a consideration for their
Town Leadership servic e, they had the right to live anywhere in
Russia that they chose to. For the most part, those
As told [to us] by the older people, by the middle of who did remain in the distant Russian cities and
the 19th century, oversight for all community towns, were good and hearty Jews, and those that
matters was handled by a rotating system of monthly prospered were generous in offering support to their
“magistrates” that is, twelve selected leaders, each Jewish brethren.
of whom served a specified one-month term during
the year. They were also recognized by the Russian Starostas18
authorities as spokesmen for the [official] point of
view concerning Jewish life in the town. Later, in the second half of the 19th century, and in
the beginning of the 20th century, we find in the
Those were the years of the [infamous] forced- Jewish towns within the Pale of Settlement, and also
conscription ukase16. Annually, each Jewish in Dereczin, the Starostas, who were the
community was required to provide a quota of representatives of the Jewish community to the
young boys between 8 and 10 years of age, who various organs of the Czarist government.
were taken away by the Czarist authorities for
mandatory army service of 25 years, deep in the For an extensive period, the Starostas of Dereczin
Russian heartland, in order that they develop into was the eminent townsman named Jacob Shayeh’s.
soldiers loyal to the Czar. They were called I can still recall his children -- skilled and intelligent
“Nikolai’s Soldiers.” young people (their house was later occupied by the
Needless to say, this gave rise to many injustices.

17
Called khappers in Yiddish, from the
word, “to grab.”
16
Promulgated by the notoriously anti-
18
Semitic Czar, Nicholas I. Equivalent of a county sheriff
12
Alper family, which we know). brothers.
After Jacob Shaya’s, the popular grain merchant, Jews, therefore, demanded of the Starostas that they
Leib, the son of Moshe Rabinovich was selected as research all forms of combinations [sic: stratagems]
Starosta towards the end of the previous [sic: by which it might be possible to avoid military
nineteenth] century. He was selected against his conscription. Gentiles would accuse the Jews of
own will, and he appointed Sholom Mansky, the being disloyal citizenry, cowardly, and being
son-in-law of Reb Jacob Rabinovich, as his frightened of military servic e, etc. -- but the deep
secretary. After his official term of two years as and true reason why they wanted to avoid military
Starosta, Reb Leibeh, Moshe’s resigned the position, service for the Czar, was the feeling of Jews that
and Sholom Mansky became Starosta. He served they were treated as citizens of a lower rank, having
until the year 1915, until the time that the Germans no right to live outside the Jewish Pale of
captured Dereczin during the First World War. Settlement, being pursued and harassed by the
decrees of anti-Semitic rulers -- why, and for whom,
Mansky was a skilled and able representative of the should they give up years and personal energies in
interests of the Jewish c ommunity before the military pursuits?
Russian authorities. He conducted his work with
much c ommon sense and tact, and not only once Consequently, it was common to inflict a variety of
was able to assist Jews who found themselves in bodily injuries [to create defects], in order to be
trouble. discharged from the priziv. Or, one would emigrate
over the ocean, to distant lands, despite the fact that
The objec tive of the Starostas was to carry out the the family would have to pay a penalty of 300
family-mission for the town community, providing rubles. There were many other stratagems that were
passport documentation for each citizen, carrying used to free oneself from having to serve the Czar.
out a formal military registration of the town youth
who had to report for military service at age 21, to Many of these things, and the efforts they entailed,
order with designated Jewish merchants the were carried out by the Starostas, and Sholom
provisioning of kosher meat, for which a special Mansky was their designee, as the representative of
price was a charged in order to defray the costs the Jewish community to the Czarist authorities.
associated with government levies against the
Jewish community. How Jews Made a Living
Yet another special task that the Starostas had to There were three principal thoroughfares in
perform was in the time of the priziv , that is, the Dereczin -- the Deutsche Gasse, Zelver Gasse, and
time when he had to present the roster of draft- Slonimer Gasse. The market square was in the
eligible young men in the regional town middle of the town.
[headquarters] at Slonim. Usually, and
understandably, these were sad and tragic days for These streets, and the market, were inhabited mainly
the Jewish families, who used to stretch out their by self-employed people, jobbers, storekeepers,
farewells with their designated children -- young saloon keepers. In the center were also found the
Jewish boys, raised in a traditional Jewish lifestyle, store complex, 30 in number.
with no knowledge of Russian language, limited in
their rights as citizens, “stepchildren” of “Great Grain merchants and millers occupied the first
Mother Russia,”-- who went away to serve the Czar houses on these streets. The farmers from the
someplace far from home for three whole years and surrounding hamlets used to immediately sell their
eight months. And there, they were in a strange and grain produce to the Jewish jobbers on arrival in
hostile atmosphere, being unable to lower town on the market days.
themselves to the lowest common denominator. It is
no wonder that this parting was a tragedy not only The storekeepers from the complex would servic e
for the sons, but also for their parents, sisters and the entire Christian community of tens of little
13
towns, and the landed estates of the nobility, with about eating and a roof over their heads -- they also
a wide variety of merchandise. On market days, the reared and raised children, sent them to be educated
saloon keepers would earn quite a bit from the by teachers in yeshivas, and later also in the
farmers for a variety of [strong] drink. gymnasiums. In former years, Jews were in the habit
of subsidizing their sons-in-law, in order that they
There was a significant number of craftsmen in should devote themselves to [sic: religious]
Dereczin, such as bakers, shoemakers, tailors, scholarship. Jews gave charity for the poor, fed
bottlers, carpenters, artists, milliners, and laborers. orphans, yeshiva students, visitors, organized
We also had a few tanneries. holidays, celebrated happy occasions -- with one
c onsideration: lead a Jewish family life; seize every
Tuesday was the official market day. Thousands of free moment to hear, or study a page of the Gemara,
Christians form the environs would arrive, binging a bit of the Shas; a little of Ein Yaakov 19; etc. One
their produce, along with their wives and children, groaned, and belly-ached, one asked of the Master
and bring grain, fruits, eggs, c hickens, and other of the Universe that the Final Redemption come,
products of the barn, nest, garden and field. and hoped for the arrival of the Messianic Era.
The Jewish craftsmen would lay out their products Settlers

and handiwork lengthwise along the market square.
First, the farmers would sell their produce, and then A separate chapter [of history] is put forth about the
they would come to buy those things that they settlers that lived in and around our town.
needed for their house or work.
Around Dereczin, there were tens of tiny hamlets
From those years, I recollect only one Russian and the estates of landed aristocracy. Between two
jobber, who came to the market days with a large and three Jewish families were to be found in almost
platform covered with all sorts of merchandise. And every one of these places, who held a kretchma20 as
also among this, religious articles such as crucifixes, a grant, inherited from their fathers, grandfathers
prayer books, etc. and great-grandfathers. In the [early] times
described, Jews were invited to settle in these
Sundays were a day of business for those many hamlets, and only those who took over specific
farmers who came from the surrounding towns to go undertakings from their parents, were able through
to church, and thereby permitted themselves the protection [e.g. of the ruling c lasses] to work out
opportunity to go out and make purchases and to rights of residence in the hamlet, and that passed
have a little to drink “in honor of Sunday.” Strictly down as an asset from father to children.
speaking, it was not permitted to do business on
Sundays, but the Jews had an “understanding” with These settlers had their gardens and orchards around
the single constable in town, who also needed to their homes, with vegetables and fruits, but their
“make a living”.... principal source of income came from trade with the
peasantry. They were typically the only merchants
It was often the case that the farmers would get in the town, and they especially took up the sale of
drunk and create a scene. Before journeying back to alcoholic beverages. Little by little, they diversified
their hamlets, young non-Jews would fall upon the their trade, and sold other products to the peasants,
bakery establishments, and grab bagels, rolls, and that were needed in the house, and for agricultural
cakes. But the Dereczin constable was always on labor, suc h as oil, axle grease for wheels, matches,
duty, watching, and calmed down the hot-headed salt, tobacco, etc. For his own field work and
perpetrators. commercial activities, the settler had a horse and
This is the way Jews in Dereczin derived sustenance

from trade and labor. Constantly working, 19
A noted Jewish commentary.
constantly fretting, and exhausting themselves in
order to make a living. But Jews didn’t think only 20
A large gathering house.
14
wagon. Also, each settler [typically] had a couple of Most of the time, settlers were referred to according
cows, and raised chickens. to the town that they came from, and this
nomenclature was handed down from one
The kretchma, a large house, was a place that the generation to the next: Moshe Daraliner, Yoshe
peasants would gather, a place where they would get Milevitcher, Mordechai-Binyamin Natzkever,
together in the evenings, drink on credit, and the Moshe-Jekuthiel Vanilevitcher, Avraham-Yaakov
peasant could pay off his debts after the cutting, Lantzevitzer, Zelik Mankevitcher, Alter Mikhuisker,
reaping of the wheat from the fields, and the Leizer Krupever, Zelik Ostrover, Shachna Ostrover,
harvesting of vegetables from the gardens. It was in Berel Falizhiner, Israel Uriner, Shmuel Labzovner,
this manner that the kretchma became a necessary Yitzhhak Alekshitzer, Binyamin Rabever, Yochanan
source of credit to the peasant. Zolotsheyever, Zalman Repnitsher, Herschel
Korolev itcher, Chaim Halubiv er, Shimon
They would come to drink a little whiskey, talk with Zamoscher, Shapiro der Kleinvolyer, and many
their neighbors and the saloon keeper, discuss a others.
variety of town issues and questions, and find out
when and where a great fair would take place. Two towns were not far from Dereczin: Volya21 and
Insofar as any news of world-level significance, they Shchara, in which the transport of forest products
would rely on the owner of the kretchma , the Jew, from the Shchara [River] to the Neman [River] had
who invariably knew more of what was going on in become concentrated. A goodly number of Jewish
the world at-large than the peasants. Even when it families lived in both of these towns, who dealt in
came to matters in the gentile world, the Jew was the forest products business, and surrounding them
typically better informed than the peasant. there lived hundreds of peasants, in the surrounding
towns, who brought the logs from the forests to the
One should not forget, that in those years towards river, and then driving the lumber rafts down the
the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th water.
century, the Byelorussian peasantry was almost one
hundred percent illiterate, led a poor and primitive As a result, in Volya lived Litman Ohreh’s extensive
existence, so that the [Jewish] settler, was in their family, Simcha Rabinovich and the c hildren; in
eyes, a “formidable” individual, and therefore they Klein-Volya [sic: Little Volya]-- the Shpiras
concluded that he was wise and all-knowing. They [Shapiros?]; in Shchara -- Zalman Shcharer, Leibeh
related to him with respect and friendship -- exc ept Shtein, Simcha-David. In the three towns, hundreds
for those instances when an anti-Semite, a priest or of Jewish merchants would gather during the
an instigator of a pogrom, would tell them once, and summer, as well as the representatives of the
then again, that the Jews killed Jesus. German companies who would buy the lumber from
the Jews, which afterward was transported by way
There were instances when a settler would deceive of the Shchara and Neman [Rivers] to [the port city
an unwitting peasant. The few instances of this kind of] Memel. There, in those years, the distinguished
would besmirch the reputation of all Jews in the forest product merchants, Noah Yosselevitch, the
eyes of the peasantry. By and large, these settlers Chaikin brothers, and others were well-known.
were good people, Jews who adhered to their faith,
observing the mitzvot, and a number of them were All the settlers, rich and poor, adhered to their
scholarly as well. Not only once, were there times Jewish tradition in those years. Several neighboring
when a learned settler would expound to the settlers would have a minyan for Sabbath services
peasants on something from the Gemara. Often, the using a Torah scroll that they owned. The larger
peasants would bring disputes that arose between
them to the settler, and the Jew would find a
21
compromise, thereby bringing an end to the conflict. Spelled Wola in Polis h . We will
It was in this manner that the settler oc cupied a continue to use the Yiddish rendition,
unique niche in his little town, and the peasants had p rob ab ly close to the Russian
pronunciatio n , u n les s o therwise
respect for him.
dictated by the context.
15
part of the settlers had teachers for their children, town -- his spirituality, his spiritual satisfaction, and
and those that lived close enough to Dereczin sent his sense of security in a world to come.
their children to school in town.
Tenant Farming22 & Jobbing
The more prosperous of the settlers allowed
themselves the luxury of having a Torah scholar as As was the case with the settlers, the tenant farmers
a son-in-law, and provided him with c ontinuous and jobbers also occupied a respected position in the
support over many years, to enable him to remain in eyes of Jews and Christians.
the small town and pursue his scholarship.
On almost every nobleman’s estate, one could find
The settler families produc ed Rabbis and a Jewish jobber in his employ. He [the jobber]
Emissaries. The renown Hebrew writer, Bershadsky would buy the nobleman’s entire milk production,
was a son of Shimon Zamoscher, Domashevitzky, and produce butter, cheese and other [dairy]
Shimon himself being a well-educated Jew, and a products. Most often, the jobber, or “factor” would
wise person. A second son of his was well-known as be allocated a house with a yard on the landlord’s
a mathematician, and was retained by the Russians estate, or not far from it, and together with his wife
as a land surveyor. and children, would produce the various dairy
products, especially all manner of cheeses, and sell
A son of Yoshe Milevitcher became the Rabbi of them in the city, or send them for export. The
Memel. Mordechai-Binyamin Novick, from Natzkev, majority of these jobbers lived on their property
had grandchildren who were teachers -- one of them, much in the same pattern of inheritance as the
Hannah Novick, was a teacher for many years in the settlers. The right was passed down from a father to
school system of the National Labor Farband in the his children.
USA, and was popular among the Jewish
intelligentsia in New York. The jobbers were in good standing with their bosses,
the landowners. They made a good living, and
The settlers also produced well-known industrialists retained good teachers for their children. They were
and forest product merchants. the constant intermediaries between the noble, and
the merchants of Dereczin and the workmen with
In general, the homes of the settlers were wide open whom the landowner needed to do business. The
to guests, itinerant scholars, and Jews in general. jobbers would rec ommend a variety of Jewish
Everyone, through the [kindness of the ] settler and tradespeople to the nobleman, for whom he had a
his family, was taken care of, and was provided with need, bringing him butchers, and grain merchants,
food, drink and a night’s lodging. Itinerant paupers who would purchase from him cows, calves, or
and laborers, who worked in the surrounding towns, grain.
always found a warm home [sic: refuge] with the
settler’s family. The nobleman, from his part, whether Russian or
Polish, treated his jobber/factor as a trusted advisor,
Miscellaneous sextons and religious functionaries with whom he would consult on a wide variety of
would come to visit the settlers from time-to-time, issues.
in order to collect contributions for a variety of
c haritable causes. For the holidays, especially the There were also Jewish tenant farmers who would
High Holy days, settlers would come to town, and rent land and gardens from the nobility for a number
celebrate the occasion either with relatives or of years, for which they would pay an annual rental.
friends. There were nobles who took on government and
It was in this manner that the settler was connected

to his hamlet and peasants on one side -- and to the 22
town and its Jews on the other; from the hamlet, he Undertaken as part of a system called
the arenda, hence the Yiddish n ame,
had his secular life, his livelihood, and from the
arendaren, for these people.
16
military personnel, and ordinary Polish people, who Jews helped a great deal in the development of the
were not particularly skilled in managing their peasant population.
parcels, and thereby suffered chronic deficits. The
Jewish tenant farmers generally managed their [It was the] Jews who developed markets for the
parcels well, and were able to extract sustenance entire production of the surrounding villages,
from their land for themselves, and other dependents whether the produce of the peasantry, or that of the
of the nobles. The Jewish farmer used to keep a landed estates. Almost the entire production of
number of cows, and used their manure to fertilize c onsumables, grain, vegetables, lumber, the output
the less fertile fields, and was able to reap good of mills, weaving, factories – was in Jewish hands.
crops of grain. There were tenant farmers who built
mills on the land holdings of the nobility, and A small town like Dereczin, with its couple of
weaving facilities from which they were able to hundred Jewish families, serviced the entire area
manufacture finished woolen goods. with its tens of thousands of peasants, hundreds of
nobles, and provided them with a greater part of
In this manner, the Jewish tenant farmers dominated their needs. Jewish craftsmen and laborers,
the noble land holdings, and aligned their skills and shoemakers, tailors, construction workers,
energies with the needs of the market, and the blacksmiths, etc., used to go on the road for weeks
surrounding Jewish and peasant populations. at a time, to the villages, and carry out all the
necessary work needed in those villages, and also in
Jewish Initiative the estates of the nobility. Over the course of
hundreds of years, close ties were forged between
If one wishes to summarize the totality of the Christians and Jews in our area. Quite often, even a
various Jewish occupations in Dereczin and its peasant would immediately know which work he
environs, one can from the outset establish that there could bring to a Jewish craftsman, who would then
were significant Jewish occupations in the branches carry out that specific work.
of commerce and labor. But if one researches the
local industry, and its development over a long When nobody would incite or instigate the White
period of time, it becomes immediately clear that Russian peasantry [sic: to riot, or pogroms], these
only the Jewish initiative contributed to the peasants would conduct themselves in a friendly
development of Dereczin and the surrounding area, fashion to the Jews, with whom they shared a great
in all branches of production and commerce. deal in common.
Limited in their [civil] rights, and opportunities for However, it was a little different with the landed
all manner of secular educ ation, and access to the nobility. In general, each nobleman had his coterie
educational institutions of the [Russian] Empire, as of Jewish merchants and craftsmen, and he got
well as rights to live in large parts of the Russian along well with them. But, anti-Semitism was
homeland, always under the despotic rule of the deeply rooted in the nobility, almost like a tradition,
Czarist monarchy – the Jews nevertheless managed where it was necessary to despise the Jew in
to build cities and towns, were skilled craftsmen and general, even when it could not be logically
workers, initiating industrious undertakings, justified. It was only his “own Jews” that the
developing many branches of industry and nobleman befriended, and he exhibited loyalty to
commerce. Although the law forbade them from them more so even that to his close Christian friends
engaging in tilling the soil, they were able to find and allies.
ways, both direct and indirect, to engage in this
work as well, and demonstrated their initiative and In Dereczin, there was a Christian physician and a
skills in this line of endeavor as well. Jewish feldscher – the Christians from the villages
preferred to be treated by the Jewish feldscher, that
Thanks to the energies of the Jews, Dereczin was is, Shmuel-Moshe Wolfowitz, or his son, Meir-Shia,
built out, along with its community life, its who were more popular among the villagers than
institutions, with its industrial role for its environs. Dr. Nowicki.
17
The official Russian authority in those years in whole day, drilling us with ‘kometz-aleph, oh;
Dereczin consisted of a pristav23 and an uradnik.24 kometz-beyz, boh,’ etc. The melamed barely earned
The two were the ruling authorities over the life of enough to buy bread and water, but he put his entire
the Dereczin citizenry. They were big “takers,” and life into teaching the children. It was with him that
that was helpful in a variety of circumstances. Many we learned the Hebrew language.
[unfavorable] decrees were buried or quietly ignored
through many combinations and diversions, aided by After studying with the dardekei-melamed, we
these authorities whose “palms had been greased.” studied Pentateuch with Rashi commentaries [in the
class of] Reb Alter Deikhess. After a couple of years
Over the course of generations, Jewish communities of studying Chumash,26 we went over to the class
developed a skilled readiness and a rapid orientation run by Reb Shlomo the Kazianer2 7 Rabbi. Apart
to respond to all manner of situations, which the from scholarship, Reb Shlomo, who counted himself
Czarist regime would impose with regular to be fluent in Russian, also was the bookkeeper for
frequency, and their experience in mitigating the the Dereczin Jews. In his class, we already learned
potential tribulations grew, or they would find the Tanach,28 and a little Gemara. In this class, we also
means to minimize the impact of these laws and studied for two years, and from there, advanced to
dec rees. And even in the event there was a “bad” more intense study of the Gemara, with the likes of
official, a mean bailiff, or an anti-Semitic governor, Rabbi Velvel Meitess , a Jewish sc holar with
the Dereczin Jews would not become flustered. rabbinic ordination, Reb Avraham Yitzhak-Meir,
They would offer prayer to the Almighty, and hope Reb David-Chaim Shmeuns, and a variety of other
that He would rid them of their angry ruler. teachers.
The Children Study the Torah In all these classrooms, c hildren studied from early
in the morning until dusk, and in the wintertime, in
And it was in this fashion, that the Dereczin Jews in the evenings as well. The teachers used to impress
those years, and also in later years, toiled for their Torah study and common sense into the children,
economic viability, but in doing so, they did not inculcating them with the understanding that a Jew
neglect, even for one day, their spiritual lives. has to have the capacity to learn, be pious and
This small-town community had not only the righteous, have respect for their elders, and have a
continuing oversight from a permanent Rabbi, [who love for their own people.
was also] a scholar and righteous person, who
served as the spiritual leader of the Jewish The teachers, on the Sabbath Day, would visit the
community – but also a goodly number of teachers, parents of their students, and over a Saturday glass
in whose classrooms the Jewish children of of tea, poured from the lyak,29 they would examine
Dereczin became imbued with the Torah, their pupils, to see whether they had retained what
Yiddishkeit and wisdom. they had learned during the entire week.
My childhood memories return to me, yet again. By Apart from the Melamdim,30 Rabbis, and their
the time we reached five years of age, we were
already under the tutelage of a melamed. We were
a group of boys, and we were instructed by Reb 26
Hebew, for the Pentateuch
Avraham-Chaim, the dardekei-melamed 25 whose
c lassroom was in a side street, in a modest house 27
Possibly refers to the Kazan.
with a straw roof. He would hold us in class for a
28
Hebrew for the complete Holy Writ,
including not only Pentateuch, but
23
A bailiff, or police inspector. Prophets and Hagiographica.
24 29
A magistrate Presumed, a vessel of sorts.
25 30
Elementary Teacher. Religious teachers
18
respective classrooms, by the end of the 19th polloi, Jews of more simple means, would just stand
century, there were already in Dereczin specific around.
teachers who taught the children Hebrew, Yiddish,
and a little Russian. More that the others, I recollect Indeed, the children from these “better families,”
from those years, Dokhkeh der Schreiber,31 a teacher used to be embarrassed to assoc iate with the
with a magnificent penmanship, and he really taught children of poorer families, and in those years those
the children fine penmanship. From some faraway were two different worlds, with a tangibly visible
location, a teac her named Razvilovsky came to difference in class.
Dereczin, who subsequently directed a school in
Warsaw. This age-old distinction began to break down first at
the end of the nineteenth century, and the beginning
In time, the more general [sic: formal] school was of the twentieth, when new, fresh winds began to
founded by the outstanding teacher and pedagogue, blow in the Jewish streets and in the larger
Avraham (Avrohmeh) der Mik hoisker. This was a broadened Russian land.
school with a more modern approach to the teaching
of the Tanach and Hebrew language, and it was It took several years until the new thinking, the
from here that the beginning of the infusion of the ideas behind socialism, reached the smaller towns
Haskalah32 was initiated among Dereczin’s youth. and cities, among them also Dereczin.
In those years, a couple of young teachers also A new, modern era then opened up in the lives of
appeared from the Vilna community, who undertook Dereczin youth.
to teach Jewish children the Russian language.
But these new influxes of learning, the Haskalah,

and the study of Russian, were in those years only
available to the more well-to-do children who came
from families of economic substanc e. Needless to
say, the children who c ame from families of lesser
means, craftsmen, laborers, or just plain paupers,
obtained their instruction in the Talmud Torahs or
from teachers who charged a lesser amount for their
instruction.
One has to recall, that in those years in Dereczin, as

was the case in all cities and towns in the Pale, a
distinct dividing line existed between the
homeowners and “people of worth,” and the general
masses, those of lesser economic status. The
balebatim, lived on the nicer streets and in the better
houses, and in the houses of worship, they took
possession of the better seats, near the Ark, and they
used to be called for the more “prestigious” readings
of the Torah on the Sabbath. When there were
community meetings, the balebatim would be seated
around the long table , while the rest of the hoi
31
A writer, or scribe.
32
Jewish Enlightenment.
19
They Exalted the Name of Dereczin
By Chaim Zvi Miller-Sinai
(Original Language: Hebrew)
Time marches on, and with its passing, incidents Menashe of Eiliyah. All of these were
come and go in our memories both from private and small towns, and were it not for these noted
community life that caused me a terrifying personages, who knows if anyone would
disturbance. There is apparently no refuge from the know or hear of them;
ravages of time, and since there is no escape from
these memories, we cannot ask for respite from the 5. By yeshivas of note, who brought [the
Lord of Forgetfulness. We must therefore be active towns] recognition for many decades, like
in taking advantage, yet now, and immediately, the the Yeshiva of Volozhin, which was a
opportunity to enter our memories into this Book center for the study of Torah for more than
about Dereczin, and her Jewish residents. Let this be a hundred years, the Mirrer Yeshivah, and
the solitary monument that will be raised by the others, which also were in small towns, but
remnant that survived from our town, who were thanks to the yeshivas, who in their time
privileged to have survived among the living, and were famous throughout the length and
from this marker, the coming generations will be breadth of the land of Russia, would draw
able to read about the experiences of its people, and [students] from the greatest distances, who
its history over the course of the hundreds of years came to them to study Holy Writ. And their
of its existence. names have also survived in the folk
memory of our people after the destruction
Our Sages said: “Everything depends on luck, even of the towns themselves;
regarding a Torah scroll in the sanctuary” – one is
used for reading on all occasions, and the second 6. Because of scholarly Rabbis, Gaonim, who
sits in the corner, neglected, and is not used for held pulpits, who during their tenure,
reading. Millions of people are born into anonymity, published important books, and in the
and their birth is known only to the most immediate frontispiece of the book, the name of their
members of their family. And they leave this world town appears, and those people who have a
equally anonymous, as their influence is felt only fondness for such books, will recall, upon
within the narrow confines of the immediate family. opening such a book, the name of the town
Only those, who were privileged to be people of from which the author came.
accomplishment, thanks to their outstanding talent,
became well-known, either as great scholars through Dereczin belongs to the third of these categories.
the important books that they left behind, the There was an extensive period, during which
discoveries that they made – preserved themselves Gaonim of renown resided there, and during their
in the memories of ensuing generations. tenure, became well-known through the important
scholarly works that were widely studied, and it was
And this is the case with the cities and towns, the because of this, that the Rabbinate of Dereczin was
towns of the Diaspora, in which the bereaved people viewed as a prize pulpit, and a young Rabbi who
of Israel dwelt, and in which the Jewish population was appointed to that post could harbor expectations
was eradicated after the Holocaust. For many of of advancement up the ladder of the rabbinate,
them, no trace will remain in [Jewish] folk memory, higher and higher, suc h as was the case with the
unless there was one of the following: Gaon Eliyahu Chaim Meizel, who began his career
in Dereczin, and in his later years was the Rabbi of
4. A famous individual who was referred to by Lodz, and there were others like him that held the
the people in connection with his city of [Dereczin] pulpit and then afterwards went on to
origin, such as, The Maggid of Dubno, The serve in the larger cities.
Rebbe of Gur, The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Reb
20
The Maggid of Dereczin when he died33.
However, there was one individual who, one From this story, we obtain an insight into the
hundred and eighty years ago, to his credit, caused spiritual and temporal state of mind of the town of
the name of Dereczin to be on the lips of tens of Dereczin more than one hundred and eighty years
thousands of Jews, even in faraway places, and even ago, that apart from having a Rabbi and a Dayan34,
beyond the borders of the vast Russian homeland. who served as official clerics, the needs of the
This was Rabbi Yehezkiel Feivel, who was called community demanded a Maggid, and indeed, the
the Maggid of Dereczin. He was born in 1756, most famous of that era.
[well] over two hundred years ago, in a small Polish
town on the edge of the Baltic Sea, to his father, Reb Up until eighty years ago, in addition to a Rabbi,
Zev Wolf, who was one of the respected residents of there was also a Dayan in Dereczin. The last of the
that town. While he was still a young boy, his Dayanim was Rav Michal Berkowitz, the head of the
intellectual gifts were already apparent at those Berkowitz family, from this it is possible to deduce
times when he would discourse in public, because the material circumstance of the community in those
when he was about five or six years old, he would days, that it was able to support three families, apart
wrap himself in a tallit, and would mount a ‘pulpit’ from the expenses for other institutions, such as the
of his own making, and would discourse [literally, Talmud Torah, Taharat-Mishpocha,35 and others.
‘drip’] words as if he were an accomplished
lecturer, and as he matured, this skill coalesced in The Youth of the Town of Bayki
him to the point of causing the listeners to be in
awe. At the age of eighteen, he was accepted as a There was another person, who some sixty or
Maggid in the town of Dereczin. After occupying seventy years ago, contributed to making Dereczin
this position for three years, he became ill with a household name on the lips of many people, even
rheumatism, and traveled outside of the country to among non-Jews. I write about him as if he is one
seek a cure by taking mineral waters, and when he vanished, because I do not know his name, and it is
held forth in the larger cities, such as Prague, in this capacity, as one who has vanished, that I
Lemberg (Lvov), Brody, and others, the Rabbis and wish to memorialize him in this book.
distinguished scholars there, would publicize his
wondrous lectures, and would invite the populace to In my youth, I heard people whispering, that in the
come and hear “The Maggid of Dereczin” from village of Bayki, whic h was in the Dereczin
whose mouth, pearls would fall, young in years, but environs, A Jew lived, who had an unmarried son,
whom the soul of the Lord inspires. Everyone who aged thirty years, withdrawn and bedridden, who
heard him would wonder, “is it possible that such a was racked with pain, and all too familiar with
person even exists!?” This was the kind of fame and illness. Simply, afflicted by God, but from another
respect acc orded him by the distinguished scholars perspective, also blessed by God, bec ause he had a
of that generation. ‘gift’ that a covenant consummated with regards to
his lips: whomever he gave a blessing, was blessed,
In 1798, he moved to Vilna, where he had the and whatever he predicted came to be. In the area,
privilege to speak before the Gaon , Rabbi Eliyahu he was known as “The Youth of Bayki,” but in
of Vilna kmz, and it was in this fashion that he faraway places, he was known as “The Good Jew of
preached for twenty-four years in all the synagogues Dereczin” – “Der Derecziner Guter Yid.” And they
of Vilna under the name, “The Maggid of would travel to him from hundreds of miles away,
Dereczin,” until [the year] 1812, when he was
accepted as the Maggid of Mata, which at the time
33
was considered a prestigious appointment, and he There is a slight discrepancy here: the
remained there until his passing in the year 1836, for computation shows eighty years of age.
twenty-two years. He was seventy-eight years old 34
A Dayan is a judge.
35
Family purity.
21
even non-Jews. He would take no money or my reading. Secondly, I had completely forgotten
donations for this, even though his parents were the connection of the Guter Yid to Dereczin. I
poor people. On a table in his room, was an alms answered him emphatically, “I don’t know!” From
box to support settlement in the Land of Israel, and the tone of my voice, my message was quite c lear:
all who visited him would drop their contribution in leave me alone, and stop talking! But he didn’t stop,
it. and with greater force he said: I will tell you
something about him, to which I was an eye witness.
When I grew up, and studied in yeshivot and This will not only interest you, but you will be
returned home occasionally for holidays,-- I was not impressed with it, and it will remain in your memory
interested enough to know about the welfare of this for many days. And he begins his tale:
‘wonder youth’ or from what source he drew his
capacity and expertise in Holy Writ. Later, when I He himself was from Volkovysk. In the 1890's, the
married in the city of Shavill, which was far from draftees into the [Czar’s] army from the Slonim-
my birthplace, – he lapsed entirely from my Volkovysk area were taken to the Lublin gubernia,
consciousness, and I forgot the entire matter. But, to centers in Chelm, Krasnystaw and Zamoœæ. He
after a few years passed, I had the opportunity from served in the army with a contingent that was
a story told by an eye witness to stand at the center bivouacked in a village not far from Krasnystaw. In
of his insight, apart from his other skills. that village, a Jew owned a saloon where he sold
strong drink. This was in the period prior to the
It was the summer of 1912. I was traveling to Lodz release of the Monopoly Decree in Russia. There
in connection with my business, and at one of the was a Catholic church there, whose priest was a
stations between Grodno and Bialystock, a Jew virulent anti-Semite. For some time, he tried to
boarded the train, who was of mature years, and he contrive schemes to get rid of this Jew, and one day,
sat down next to me. Here, in our land, we were he sent his servant to buy a bottle of whiskey [from
already accomplished in the habit that was quite him]. When it was brought to him, the priest opened
common among all the Jews of Poland and the bottle. He put poison into the bottle, and re-
Lithuania when they meet during travel for the first sealed the cork, as it was, and he returned it with the
time – one starts immediately to ask one another excuse that it was for guests that didn’t show up,
first, “Where are you from? Where are you going? and that was why he was returning it. The Jew did
Why?” [One asked about] where he lived, where he not pay attention to the appearance of the seal, and
was born, and about his family. In most cases, they when a farmer came to buy whiskey, he gave him
would arrive at a conclusion that if they were not the poisoned bottle, and the buyer who drank from
[directly] related, there was some family connection it died a painful and excruciating death. It goes
between them through marriage of relatives. without saying, that when this incident bec ame
known to the authorities – they came and seized the
When this Jewish man had introduced himself, he Jew, handcuffed him and threw him in jail. All his
asked me where I was traveling to, and I answered pleading, that the bottle had been returned to him by
– to Lodz, it was no longer necessary to ask for what the priest, who had put a poison in it, in order to
reason, because it was evident that whoever was incriminate him, was to no avail, and after he had
traveling to the city of the weavers was a merchant sat in jail for several months, he was released on
of woven goods. Afterwards, he asked me where I bail until the day of his trial.
lived, and I said: Shavill, he hadn’t said enough yet,
and he then asked me where I was born. When I told The Jew, who was telling me this story, used to
him that my origins were in Dereczin – his face travel back and forth to that location, and he saw the
changed, and he became very emotional, as if a great pain and anguish written on the fac es of the
wave of memories suddenly crashed through in his man’s family, as they waited in the court of law --
head. “Ho! From Dereczin! And how is the Guter and he advised them to travel to see Der Derecziner
Yid there?” I had become engrossed in reading an Guter Yid. He told of how other people had
interesting book, and wanted rather to avoid getting benefitted from his advice and blessings under
involved in a long conversation that would disrupt similar circumstances. When he received notice
22
from the court as to the day of his trial – he took his priest who had connived against him, and that in
advice, and departed on the trip. When he got off the only ten days, he would have to stand trial, and he
train, and asked the wagon driver how he could find was terrified by the possible outcome of the trial.
Der Derecziner Guter Yid, the driver answered that These people attempted to soothe him, and they
he could be found in the village of Bayki that was asked for the names of the friends of the priest. The
nearby. A Jew in Poland sixty and seventy years ago Jew gave him these names exactly, and he wrote
would visit his Rebbe several times a year, and they them down.
would accord him all the appropriate protocols: first
he would have to approach and ‘grease’ the It subsequently became evident that this was a
shamash, and then afterwards give a ‘consideration’ famous Christian lawyer. A few days before the
to the gabbai, and then wait, until he had the trial, he came to visit the priest in the company of
opportunity to pass his note [to the Rebbe]. Yet another person. They represented themselves as
here, he was able to enter without all these gifts and devoted and faithful ‘friends of a friend’ of the
payoffs, although he was quite put off by the priest, and that this friend, when he found out that
shabbiness of the place that unfolded before him: a they would be traveling by this village – asked that
rundown rural shack, whose windows lacked panes they stop off to the priest and convey regards from
of glass, without shutters; in a bed lay a pale him.
scrawny man, a pile of bones. Is this the person from
whom he was to expect salvation? Was it worth The priest received them with much dignity, and
having made a trip of such a distance? He related ordered the table to be set for them with all manner
the story of what had transpired from beginning to of good food and drink. In the middle of this feast,
end, and the Youth, after hearing him out, told him when they were all into their cups, the lawyer
to return home, and at the train station in Zelva, he confided to the priest about his substantial wealth,
should buy himself a ticket to ride in first c lass, that he has several parcels of land and forests, but
which he didn’t think would cost more than three that all of this is worth nothing to him, because a
times the usual fare. This strange answer, which in Jew continues to operate a saloon in one of the
his view, did not seem to have any connection to the towns that belong to him. It was at this junction that
impending judgement, caused the man even further the priest saw an exceptional opportunity to reveal
confusion. But the Youth, perceiving his confusion, his connivance and cleverness and he told him that,
repeated himself another time, and implored him to in this town too, there was a Jew who owned the
follow his advice. Without having any recourse, he saloon, and all these years he sought a way to get rid
did as he was advised, paid more than twenty rubles of him, and he couldn’t, however, now, after he told
for the tic ket, and entered one of the first class him what he had done – he was certain that [the
compartments, where he found people there, who by Jew] had reached his end, and the priest showed him
their dress and their facial appearance, were among the notice from the court where he was to appear as
the important personages of the area. The sun was a witness, and that he didn’t have a shadow of a
already tending toward the edges of the sky, twilight doubt that the minimum sentence that the Jew would
time, and very shortly, the hour of the Mincha receive, would be exile to Siberia for life. After
servic e would pass, and because of this, he spending several hours, they parted, after conveying
immediately rose to pray. His concern over the trial their thanks for the warm reception and good advice
which did not leave him for even a moment, in that they had received.
addition to the thought that he had wasted money
and time for no good reason – pained him in spirit On the day of the trial these two guests appeared in
and broke his heart. He tarried over his prayers a the courtroom at the time that the court bailiff was
long time, poured out his bitter discourse to his reading the charges. After the prosecution
Maker, and his eyes were a veritable sea of tears. completed its case, the legal counsel for the Jewish
His tears melted the hearts of the people who sat man began to attack the basis for the charges, and
near him, and one of them asked: what terrible proved that the priest put the poison into the bottle.
tragedy had befallen him that has caused him to At the end of his defense, he called the two ‘guests’
weep so? The Jew related the whole story, about the as witnesses, and the Christian lawyer told
23
everything [that he had heard]. This would pull on the heartstrings of the people
around him, and that they would then ask him the
What happened on that day, was as we read in the reason for his tears, and once the reason became
Megillah of Esther, ‘and he was upended,’ the known, it would be possible that one of them,
punishment that he had intended for the Jew was whose conscienc e would not give him any rest,
meted out to the priest: hard labor in Siberia. would be prepared to do anything in his power to
rescue him, and indeed, this is precisely what
In this we see the great insight of Der Guter Yid fun happened.
Dereczin , as our Sages say, ‘who is the wise, he
who sees the obvious.’ He knew that in the first I asked several older people from the Dereczin and
class compartment, there would be important Slonim area if they knew the name of Der Guter
people, and among them would be people whose Yid, details about him, and when he died. To my
inner drive was to seek the truth and to rescue the disappointment, I received no further information.
pursued from their pursuers. And he understood, Many people were helped by the advice and
that a Jew who awaited such a terrible trial in a blessings of Der Guter Yid fun Dereczin, as related
fortnight was certainly brokenhearted and driven, by many. It is fitting that he is memorialized as
and when he would pray – his prayer would be full someone who has disappeared, in a book that
of deep groaning and endless weeping. records the history of Dereczin, as a ‘wonder-
worker’ of a man, even though anonymous, let his
memory be blessed.
My Grandfather Occupying the Rabbinical Seat of Dereczin

By Eliyahu Herenson
From my childhood memories, I recall several dates questions and answers and fresh viewpoints on
in the life of the Dereczin Jewish community the matters from the Shas,37 [books] in which he was
texture of its life, and the nature of the changes that revealed as an incisive thinker, an innovator, and his
took place there in the course of more than thirty book, Darkhei Noam [as well] which deal with
years between date milestones. many issues that are relevant in our time, both in the
i diaspora and in the land of Israel. My grandfather
At the outset, let me open my remarks by noting the published his book, Darkhei Noam at the time that
year 1873, the year in which my grandfather, the he occupied the pulpit in Dereczin.
Gaon Sholom-Rav Herenson, of blessed memory,
known from one of his publications as the He was one of the well-known Gaonim of Lithuania,
‘Heykhalei Shen’ accepted the summons of the town born in Slutsk to an established family of note,
of Dereczin to assume the rabbinical seat and serve which according to the family tree in my parents
as the spiritual leader of the community.36 In those home traced its lineage to the royal line of the house
days it was not the accepted practice for a of King David. In his youth, he became well known
community to accept the Rabbi, but rather the for his intellectual prowess, and at age 19 reached a
opposite. Summonses went out to my grandfather decision point. It was not his desire to make a career
the Gaon, as one of the judges and lawmakers, out of Torah scholarship, but his in-laws urged him
because of his well-known publications in the Torah to pursue the rabbinate.
literature: Heykhalei Shen, which consists of
When he was considering the pulpit in Dereczin, he
36
The abbreviation, sCt, stands for Av Bet
37
Din. Also sometimes rendered as esCt, when the word Hebrew abbreviation for the six major
kodesh is appended, indicating a holy court. divisions of the Talmud.
24
reviewed the community, in which there sat before Jewish customs and law, its commandments,
him distinguished rabbis, whose names were very schooled in the Shas, Ein Yaakov, and the Mishna,
familiar, and who had world-renown reputations, and who came to pray at the synagogue three times
such as the Rabbi Gaon Eliyahu-Chaim Meizel, who a day, and placed value on Torah study.
subsequently occupied the pulpit in Lodz. The
Dereczin community was noted as a place where All would come and go in the Rabbi’s house which
one would find distinguished rabbinic scholars. And was held in great esteem by the members of the
so he took consideration of the Jews in Dereczin, c ommunity. In my father’s house, they used to tell
which was a small town in physical size, but about a simple, modest Jew, Zadok the Milliner, and
outstanding and significant in the quality of its from the Hasidim loyal to my grandfather, that he
[scholarly] reputation, in which there were about was responsible for livening up and creating
four hundred Jewish people [but they were] well- merriment on the holiday of Simkhat Torah. Once,
schooled in Torah, and among them scholastic a rabbi from another city was invited to give a guest
leaders and Gaonim. sermon, and after giving the sermon, it didn’t satisfy
Reb Zadok, who summarized his critical opinion of
My grandfather used to say, that it was an the speaker with the following few words: “I do not
astonishing thing that a community like Dereczin grasp or understand the sermons of our resident
felt a need to have a rabbi formally designated as Rabbi, Rav Sholom-Dov, but before he finished, I
their leader, given that the town had in its midst so thoroughly grasped and understood the sermon of
many distinguished Torah scholars, many who were the guest Rabbi...”
teachers of [rabbinic] ordination in their own right
– despite this, his explanation to this question was My grandfather [himself] was a modest man, and
that it was just because of this, that these great did not make distinctions between the great and
scholars could not work out a compromise among small, between the rich and poor. He would say that
them as to whom the Cantor would wait for before every man is created in God’s image, and therefore
beginning his recitation of the Amidah prayer in there is something important (hidden perhaps) in
front of the Ark, and that he was appointed as each and everyone’s soul.
‘official’ Rabbi and community leader, in order to
avoid undue delay in the conduct of daily prayers. In 1881, my grandfather took the pulpit in the city of
Kletsk, where he was invited by a delegation from
During my grandfather’s tenure in Derec zin, there that city, who brought with them the contract for the
were three senior rabbinic teachers and Dayanim rabbinate of the community.
(among whom were Rabbi Gaon Moshe ben Isaac ii
Rabinovich, who subsequently taught in Slonim, Twenty-five years passed. In the year 1906, when
and the Rabbi, and Tzaddik the Gaon Rabbi Netah). the pulpit in Dereczin was vacated, my father, Rabbi
My grandfather’s custom was not to sit continuously Gaon Chaim-Shimon Herenson, of blessed memory,
in the Bet-Din himself, but came to depend on these was invited to become Rabbi, and spiritual leader of
three scholar-teac hers, because he himself was the community, where he served as the Rabbi and
deeply involved day-and-night in providing answers spiritual head of the community as did his father,
to issues that came from far distances, ands also ‘Heykhalei Shen.’
with the dissemination of Torah to the masses.
When he arrived in Dereczin, he brought with him My father was born in Mezrich-Podolski. He, as
thirty young men who were Torah sc holars, and well, became renown as a scholar while still a youth,
founded a Kollel-Yeshivah , under his supervision, and at the age of twelve, he would render
in which young men studied, and nearly all of whom judgements on issues under his father’s guidance,
went on to become ordained rabbis. and from whom he also drank in the study of Torah.
My father also did not have an inclination to the
In that era, the majority of the Dereczin citizenry, rabbinate, and sought a vocation in c ommerce,
from all walks of life – merchants, storekeepers, however the majority of his time and interest were
laborers – were Jews of ardent faith, adhering to in matters of Torah scholarship, as well as other
25
intellectual pursuits, which brought him to become I recall my father’s acc ount of the changes in
a spiritual leader in the city where he dwelt, in Dereczin from 1881, at which time my grandfather
Mezrich. left that town, until 1906, when my father returned
there. In the course of a quarter century, many
In the end, he took the advice of his great father, and significant and profound changes had taken place in
undertook to study for rabbinic ordination. And this the customs and the way of life of the Jews of
is how he came to Dereczin. Dereczin. The generation of Torah scholars and men
of faith had given way to a generation of the
He became a guest in the house of one of the Haskalah (Enlightenment) and the rise of a new
distinguished citizens of the town, Reb Joseph ben culture in the life of the community.
Moshe Rabinovich, of blessed memory, (who in ii
time bec ame his father-in-law), and then accepted
the pulpit. It did not work out for him to stay in the Twenty years later, in 1926, I came to live in
pulpit [at Dereczin] at that time. It was at that time Dereczin, where I remained until 1933. I will
that my grandfather passed away, and my father describe those seven years in a separate chapter,
inherited his post with the community in Kletsk, and specifically dedicated to that.
he remained in that pulpit.
The Dereczin of My Youth

By Shlomo Yudson
I do not know if there are Derecziners today in all of length, and Slonimer Gasse and Yatkeh-Gessel,
the lands to which they emigrated from their along the width of the town. All of our streets and
hometown (certainly not in the destroyed body of byways exuded warmth and “homey”-ness,
Dereczin itself) apart from one handful who knew especially in the sunny summer days, when Jews
the town about which I write here and now. This is both small and grown would be seen in the streets.
Dereczin of 75-80 years ago, and the memory of
those years and of that town which to this day, stand The one discordant thing that stands out in my mind
before my eyes. from those childhood days, was the tall church that
stood at the edge of the marketplace on the Slonimer
My childhood years stream past in my memory, my Gasse, even though during the middle of the week,
life as a young boy in loving, homey Dereczin, until one seldom saw gentiles there.
circumstances forced me to forsake my hometown,
and move to Lodz, where my father already was In those years, the concept of a wealthy man in
living. I knew then, that I would long for Dereczin. Dereczin was unknown. The population that
And I long for the town of my birth until this day. amounted to more than one thousand souls,
Believe me that I am not making up a story. consisted of homeowners, who owned their own
houses and stores; laborers, who were self-
Even as a child, I loved to outline and describe those employed, or hired themselves out to others; and a
things that interested me, and it is in this fashion small number of people whose livelihood was
that I depict the harmonious portrait of our unknown, nor was it known from whence they
Dereczin. derived their sustenance. Fundamentally, if one saw
a Jewish pauper going from house to house, one
I recall the layout of the principal streets that knew that he was not from Dereczin, but rather
stretched out from the well-constructed marketplace: someone who had come from somewhere else. And,
Zelver Gasse, and the Deutscher Gasse, along the if occasionally, one saw a man or woman finely
26
dressed, they were known to be from the Hof on the (Against the Tide), and other novels, that enriched
other side of the river, about a verst from Dereczin. the budding Hebrew literature of the time.
ii And it is hardly any wonder that Dereczin served an

inspiration to spiritually endowed and emotionally
In Dereczin, in those years, there was no lack of sensitive young people. I am, to this day, full of awe
Heder schools. We already had a Talmud-Torah, but and respect for my birthplace, especially as that
never had a [fully-fledged] Yeshiva. feeling was strengthened after I had become familiar
with other towns in our area, suc h as neighboring
The pride of the pious Jews of Derec zin was the Zelva or Zhetl, where I studied for a time at the
remarkable Schulhof that consisted of a beautiful Yeshiva. First I have constructed for myself an
synagogue, and four Batei Midrashim: the Alter image of beautiful Dereczin, with all its satisfying
Mauer, the Neuer Mauer, the Hiltzener Bet twists and turns, its unifying places, and nooks and
Midrash, and a Hasidim Shtibl at the side. In the crannies which hearken back, apparently, to those
midst of this imposing collection of sacred olden times when the Duke Sapieha selected
buildings, the Rabbi’s manse was located, where the Derec zin as his residence during the years of his
Rabbi [of the town] and his family lived, and also rule in Lithuania.
served as a c ourt for adjudicating disputes among
the Jewish townsfolk, who would come there with Thanks to the Sapieha family, large parts of
their various complaints and demands – issues that Dereczin were built to be more comfortable and
were never in short supply in Dereczin. attractive [than they might have otherwise been], but
the project with the greatest impact made by the
In the years about which I write, the spiritual leader Duke, which lasted well into our time as evidence of
of Dereczin was the renown Rabbi, Rav Joseph- his handiwork and industriousness, were “the
Zundl Hutner, the author of significant books, who palaces,” whose c onstruction he sanctioned at the
bequeathed yet two more generations of outstanding end of the Deutscher Gasse, and on the Puster Barg,
Rabbis: a son who occupied a prominent pulpit in opposite the palaces (about nine years after I left our
Warsaw, and a grandson – the son of the Warsaw town, when I returned in to address my issues with
Rabbi – a formidable rabbinical authority, who military service, the palaces had been transformed to
together with Rabbi Meir Berlin, of blessed Russian military barracks, from which the odors of
memory, worked on the production of a new edition a military environment emanated...).
of the Shas in Israel.
The Puster Barg, very clearly intrigued the children
About the Rabbi of Dereczin in those years, I have and young people of Dereczin. This was a hilloc k
something interesting to relate, but [I will do this] with a large, roomy cellar, with walls and floor
a little later, after I complete the portrait of my plastered over with concrete, with a strong door
birthplac e, which I have been composing covered with cement, which ac cording to local
c ontinuously for 75-80 years, as it appeared in my stories and legends, led to a long tunnel that had
eyes as a child at the time, when Dereczin was [yet] been dug to reach all the way to Ruzhany.
‘in order,’ that is to say, and when those born in
Dereczin did not yet venture into the larger world The most attractive location in all of Dereczin was
[around them]. In later years, when individual the Agrest-Sod,38 at the front side of the Deutscher
Derecziners did leave, and go to faraway cities and Gasse, bordered by a solidly built barrier.
countries, a few became well-known, however not
always in a good light. It was not for nothing, that this section of Dereczin,
In general though, the Jewish community of

38
Dereczin did produce famous scholars, thinkers and Seeming ly a botanical garden or
writers, among them the highly acclaimed Hebrew o rch ard. Referred to by Chaim
Rabinovich & Malka Alper as the
writer Bershadsky, who wrote Neged HaZerem
Ager-Sod.
27
with its old botanical garden, with the palace and the Mendel, a boy of my age – both brothers with sharp
hillock covered with old trees, served as a magnet intellects for learning, my uncle proposed that an
for the young people of the town, and was a place accomplished scholar be retained who, during the
that they favored for their getting together. summer, would study with me and with Hertz-
Mendel at least a couple of hours a day. The Rabbi
ii agreed to my uncle’s plan, and since it was not
possible to find an appropriately qualified teacher in
When one speaks of Jewish Dereczin, it is the town itself, they brought a rabbi from another
worthwhile to become acquainted with its spiritual town and they arranged for a suitable room in the
leadership, even though it is of the recent past. home of a widow for two students to study for two
to three hours in the afternoon.
In the rabbinical world, it was once well known that
a goodly number of rabbis who were privileged to During the third week of this private tutoring, one
attain special prestige and rec ognition, had their day, Hertz-Mendel came in excitedly with a request
start in Dereczin, and that one of the greatest of his from his father, the Rabbi, that I come to see him
generation, Rav Eliyahu-Chaim Meizel, who in the after the study session was over.
second half of his life occupied the position of Chief
Rabbi of Lodz, was not the only rabbi to have had I began to feel ‘peculiar.’ A little shy, I always had
his start in Dereczin. sought out opportunities to be drawn into a
conversation with adults, particularly on subjects
Returning now to more contemporary times, about that were not specific to c hildren of my age – and
which I am writing, I cannot refrain from telling my who would have thought of a conversation with the
Dereczin landsleit who will read this Dereczin Rabbi himself, whom my uncle Shlomo held was the
Yizkor Book, a noteworthy story about an experience very embodiment of the Torah itself! But I
that I had as a youngster, in the eleventh year of my understood that my hesitance and shyness would not
life, with the Rabbi of Dereczin of that time, which help me at all, so I fortified myself, and immediately
has become etched into my memory more than any after the study class, I accompanied my friend
other experience in my hometown. Hertz-Mendel to find out what his father, the great
Rabbi, wanted with me.
At the beginning of my tenth year, my father, may
he rest in peace, who was known as Yudel der When we arrived at the Rabbi’s manse, my friend
Schreiber, left small, Lithuanian, Dereczin and went ushered me into his father’s presence, who sat in a
to Lodz. He sought out, and found better deep chair, with his prominent large head bent over
opportunities to take advantage of his extensive a large folio of the Gemara, which he was
knowledge of Hebrew and German. Our (no-evil- continuously scanning with his darting eyes.
eye-intended) large family remained behind in
Dereczin, until such time as our father would be in Feeling that someone was standing nearby, the
a position to send for us. Rabbi raised his head, and seeing me, he said: “It is
good, Shloimkeh, that you have come.” He rose, and
His departure, caused a problem for me, the oldest started to head for another room, motioning to me
of the children,. I had just finished schooling at the with his hand that I should follow him.
Zhetler Yeshiva, and I didn’t know what to do with
myself. The small room into which the Rabbi led me, was
furnished with armoires full of books, with a table
As a relative of Rav Joseph-Zundel, my uncle, which was covered in sheaves of paper, already
Shlomo Rosenberg, an acc omplished Talmud written on, and various writing implements, and a
sc holar, and a self-educated rabbi in those years, couple of comfortable stools.
proposed a good idea as to what should be done
with me: as the Rabbi had two sons, the older one, The Rabbi, Reb Joseph-Zundel beckoned to me to
Leib, a boy of thirteen, and the second, Hertz- one of the stools in front of the table, and after I had
28
seated myself, he took the top written page [from the The Rabbi went on to relate that he was unable to
pile] and he handed it to me, in order to determine if find anyone in town who could undertake this sort
I would be able to read [sic: understand] what had of work, and my uncle Shlomo advised him to give
been written. me a try, and see whether I will be able to perform
the duties of a scribe and copyist.
At my first glance at the handwriting, I thought I
saw only clumps of circuitous and random In order to be certain, right on the spot, that I was
scrivening of Talmudic language, and thereby I felt capable of copying from his more difficult
the Rabbi was standing next to me and waiting for handwriting, the Rabbi immediately asked me, right
an answer. I did not, however, give up. My [eager] then and there, to sit down and demonstrate to him
young eyes flew over the text a second and third what I was capable of doing (the salary paid to a
time, until I was certain that I could read it [sic: copyist to transcribe one double-sided page of
decipher the handwriting], and to a good measure manuscript was five kopecks).
understand what the text dealt with as well. But, I
still did not understand to what purpose the Rabbi Finishing with me, after making me aware of certain
had sent for me. But, at this point, the Rabbi, while notations and writings, where there were added
still standing, began to speak to me: “Do you think, remarks made in the wide margins, the Rabbi
Shloimk eh, that you will be able to read this returned to the room in which he was studying the
handwriting, and copy the text so that it will be Gemara at the time of my arrival, and I buc kled
easier for others to read it?” down to my work, not being entirely certain that I
would succeed.
“I think so,” – I replied, acting like an adult,
although I still did not fathom why I was required It took me a full three hours to transcribe two and a
altogether for such an undertaking. half pages on that first day, into a more legible
handwriting. That is to say, that on that first day as
The Rabbi then knowingly began to expound on a wage-earner, I was able to earn twelve and a half
what he was thinking, and began to explain: “The kopecks.
handwritten pages that you see on the table are a
part of a book that is to be published. As my I was not, however, discouraged. I was pleased with
penmanship is a little difficult [to read], [and] for my work, and it is entirely possible, I would have
typesetters in the publishing house to work from, a done it for nothing.
scribe who studied in the Alten Mauer [Bet
HaMidrash] until recently would copy for me. Up By the third day, in the afternoon, the work was
till now, he has transcribed my handwritten going much easier, and I transcribed a full four
manuscript for my first book, Hevel Joseph,39 prior pages, which means that I earned twenty kopecks for
to its going to press, and of late, he began working the three hours of work. But when it came to the
on the transcription of my second book, Hevel fourth day, we were able to complete our study
Joseph Tanina,40 but his circumstances were such session an hour earlier than usual, and as it was a
that he was compelled to return to his home [sic: in beautiful day, and I hadn’t been to the Agrest-Sod
another town].” in over a week, I thought that I would want to run
over there, for an hour or so, which would still leave
me plenty of time for my work at the Rabbi’s. No
sooner said than done – I strolled off to the Sod.
39
Literally “The Halyard of Joseph.” Other than myself, no one else was in the area, and
Titles o f these books were often it made me feel like the entire orchard belonged to
allegorical, an d may, in this instance me. I ran and jumped from one place to the next; the
reflect the author’s sentiment of having springlike air caressed me from every angle, as if to
‘tied things together.’ thank me for coming at this special hour, when no
one else was in the orchard. Enraptured with such
40 thoughts and emotions, I suddenly realized that
Tanina - A further commentary.
29
[time had flown by, and] there was no time left for ii
me to go do my work for the Rabbi, and I went
home. At the end of my recollections, I wish to stress that
I have always carried with me, everywhere, [an
The following day after lessons, when I should have image] of my birthplace Dereczin in my memory.
gone to do my work for the Rabbi, I felt that under And as I wrote these lines, that image of my shtetl
no circumstances could I go, because what sort of an was before my eyes, just as it was in those days, in
excuse could I give for not having come the prior the light of a beautiful summer day, from Yoshe der
day? So, once again, I left the Heder, and went to Schmid’s blacksmith shop to the tannery, and
the Agrest-Sod, thinking that the Rabbi would most Hekdesh on the other side of the river, across the
certainly have found someone else to take my place. width of Dereczin and its length – from the end of
But the following afternoon, Hertz-Mendel came Zelver Gasse to the ‘palaces’ and the Agrest-Sod on
into the classroom, and in his monotone voice said the Deutscher Gasse.
again: “Shloimkeh, father asked for you to come.”
Having no choice, after class, I went to the Rabbi’s
manse, being completely certain that this would be
the last time ever that I would ever go to see the
Rabbi.
I was, however, quite mistaken. Entering the large

room both shamefacedly and slightly lost, where the
Rabbi usually sat bent over a large volume, I was
astonished to see the Rabbi rise, and lead me right
into the small room, all the while speaking to me
softly and patiently, his words measured:
“Shloimkeh, if you mean [by your action] that five
kopecks a page is insufficient, I will give you ten
kopecks for each page.” I was profoundly touched
by the sincerity with which the great Rabbi, Rav
Joseph-Zundel spoke to me, a young boy, who was
not yet eleven years old. I girded myself, and swore
that I meant nothing by the fact that I had not come
to work the past two days; that I had not even begun
to think about money,-- but the Rabbi did not permit
me to continue speaking, and from that day on, I
would receive ten kopecks a page.
The result was that the speed of my work doubled

from that day onward, until I earned more than three
rubles a week. This continued for seven months,
until the last page of Hevel Joseph Tanina was
transcribed in my handwriting.
30
Three Tales from Dereczin of Yore
By Shlomo Yudson
Photo: Shlomo Yudson (untitled) (p. 52)
[Biographical Note: Shlomo Yudson, born in Dereczin, emigrated to America early in

life, and for many years was an employee of the Forverts and Der Tog-Morgen Journal.
These three tales are excerpted from his first book, From Three Worlds, published by
Kletsker-Verlag in Vilna, 1929.
1. Fear
I would have considered myself the most fortunate least; there Yoshkeh lives right by the moihilkehs,
little boy in the town, were it not for the fear, which and he walks home in the wintertime at night by
embittered the choicest years of my upbringing. himself; and Hertz-Mendel, the Rabbi’s son, Can
chase cats across the cemetery in the middle of the
As quickly as night would fall, I would be seized by night, and it doesn’t even occur to him to be afraid,
a peculiar feeling of terror. Everything about me and you, almost a grown young man are afraid of the
acquired a terrifying meaning, and in the air, the shadow on the wall?
essence of the cemetery, funeral shrouds and the
cleaning board for the dead seemed everywhere. That was during the day. But as soon as it got dark
outside, my thought processes became paralyzed.
I did not fear demons as much as I feared the dead, Regardless of what I sought to distract myself with,
even though in town they would tell the most it didn’t help. I think of climbing up a tree, jumping
terrifying tales of demons and other evil creatures, over the pits near the barracks, or playing at war;
who burrowed themselves into the Khotcha’s here, I have practically worked out an entire plan for
stodola; in the old wreckage behind the bathhouse, a maneuver for this coming Friday. – When I come
and in Itcheh Kalman’s travel house; I feared to the end of it, and I want to review it, suddenly, a
demons no more than any living creature that was World of the Dead swims out from my eyes which
capable of inflicting harm or causing a difficulty. my emotions have woven out of the darkness.
The most fundamental fear I had came from the idea
of death. Death, for me, was the wellspring of all I would go to bed while others in the house were
fears. still awake, in order that the fear not dominate me,
and I would awaken in the middle of the night,
If it happened that someone died, I became obsessed feeling the dark air against my bare face,
for weeks at a time and nights filled with terror. immediately covering myself with the blanket,
During the day I would stew over it myself, rolling myself up, as if I would feel safer with all my
seriously thinking about all those deceased people extremities closer to me, and toil at trying to fall
that I had known while they were alive, as if it really asleep again, until I was drenched in sweat. If
didn’t bother me at all. But at nightfall, an ominous anyone snored, or coughed in their sleep, this
silence would envelop everything, a creepiness c almed me down, I would draw in a deep breath,
would pervade my skin; the all-encompassing dark and feel more relaxed in heart.
terror would press down over my eyes, and Death
would parade in front of me in his white shroud. And when I would vigorously address the matter,
and attempt to force my mind to get closer to this
– Only one – I would pose the question to myself issue, bit by bit, my fear would entwine itself in
during the day – why are not the other children something for which I could find no name. It was
afraid? There is Moishkeh, who lives right by the not that same terror which unwittingly tortures and
very bathhouse, and it doesn’t bother him in the shakes up the nerves, when one is surrounded by the
31
dark, rather, a gestalt would appear standing before But counterac ting all of these attractions, the
me, clear and distinct, which I did not dare to look Hiltzener Bet-HaMidrash had one shortcoming, that
directly into its face – Oh my God, Death itself! – I offset them all ten times over – there, in the foyer, at
would think, how can one avert this misfortune? the right entrance, the Burial Society stored the
How can people live in peace, while at the same board on which it prepared the dead for burial.
time knowing that somewhere or another, Death
lurks after them? And at this point, the images of Year in, and year out, it stood in the same corner, in
elderly people of my acquaintance loom before me, the same position, the top fastened to the wall, and
and my heart sinks. Just, just soon, how much longer the bottom pushed out till it reac hed the stairs,
can they possibly live? And my fantasy progresses where they meet the wide door of the Bet-
further, and conjures up an image of these selfsame HaMidrash, so it would not fall down. Its left side
people in a pale deathlike yellow face c olor, and a was fastened to the west wall, and gave the
tremor crawls across my skin, as I try to find a way impression of a booth standing in an orchard.
to avoid and forget these faces, so that later, after
their death, they will not stand so distinctly before At no time did I pass it by that a shudder didn’t
my eyes. seize me as if someone had hit on a nerve. It could
have been in the middle of the day, in the strongest
But slowly, a time arrived when I felt that to a sunshine, and I still could not open my eyes fully,
greater degree, I had achieved a standoff with my and bring myself to look at it directly. Even on the
fear. Then, discovering the correct reason for my Sabbath, or holidays, when it came time for reading
fear, my night demon did not manifest itself any the Torah, and when the foyer was full of people,
worse than in my day, that is, my fear was not a this self-same board deterred me from fully
foolish weak one, but the opposite, [it] was a strong participating. And don’t even mention evenings. In
assault from the inevitability of human mortality. the evening, I wouldn’t walk past that place even if
I would be showered in gold. And if, on occasion, I
And once, on a nice, mild winter evening, it would notice that the c orner was empty, my fear
occurred to me that I should put myself to the test. would oppress me even more, because I knew that
later, or the next day, it would be back again,
Our entire family had their plac es in the Hiltzener standing in its usual place, covered with damp
Schul. It is understood, that this was also my Bet stains.
HaMidrash , and was, by my reckoning, the most
important one in the town, despite the fact that the It was well into [the month of] Adar already. Nights
Rabbi used to pray at the Alter Mauer, and the no longer made the same stern impression that they
wealthy man, Reb Moshe [also] in that schul. It was did during the middle of winter. They became
definitely livelier at the Hiltzener Bet HaMidrash somewhat shorter, and with that more bearable, for
than at the others, because since the inn had been [my] fragile nerves. The air was full of Gift-Giving,
closed, itinerant people of little means would find Hitting Haman, and a heartfelt participation in the
their lodging there. There, on the warmed benc hes, festivities of the Purim holiday.
one c ould always count on seeing a new face, and
hear a witticism from faraway places. Today, the Sitting thus, on one of these evenings in the Bet
“Little Orphan” and Old Man Reshkess would HaMidrash, I suddenly felt like someone else
disport themselves by performing their tricks when entirely, not myself, and I immediately said to
the townsfolk would present themselves: jumping myself: today, I’m going home alone! And barely
over barricades, and tossing packages at the students had I uttered this, when an echo replied from the
under the bimah; taking a mouthful of kerosene and innermost chambers of my being: today, I am going
spraying it out of their mouths at burning havdalah home alone! I could not re-live this moment. Too
candles, from which would stream a veritable rain of bad!
flame, and other such tricks, and it would truly get
quite merry, and one simply didn’t want to leave the I screwed up my courage, and hoped for a miracle.
place.
32
It was after Maariv. The congregation had already I opened the door wide. A pale red light fell in the
dispersed. Apart from the few students, who were bend of the foyer. It fell precisely on the board used
tucked in under their stands in the corners, and the to prepare the bodies of the deceased.
few paupers on the bimah, there was no one else in
the Bet HaMidrash. Yerachmiel der Tcheshler, with I felt my heart sinking inside of me. But – I’m lost!
whom I used to walk to our house, had just left the
Bet HaMidrash, and I immediately saw, that I left the door open, and quickly sped through the
whether I wanted to or not, tonight I was going to foyer. My eyes furtively glanced at the accursed
have to be a hero. corner, where the Board stood (like the escapee
looks at the wild beast after slipping out of its cage).
A half hour went by, then a whole hour, and I still I trembled in every one of my extremities.
had no stomach for carrying out my plan.
– Close that door, you rascal! – a voice was heard
I thought well about the very last second, when I from behind the Board.
would have to leave, and I got an entirely ill feeling
in my heart, and I wished that someone would I didn’t close the door...
happen by, with whom I could at least get as far as
the Schulhof. But to my misfortune, nobody came, Half dead with fear, I barely was able to run all the
and I lost all hope. way home. A couple of days later, the “Orphan”
meets me.
Suddenly, I see through the window, how a person
is crossing the Schulhof carrying a lantern. I hastily Wagging his finger at me while he spoke, the
sprang up, and began to sprint to the door, taking “Orphan” said – If you leave the door to the Bet
large steps, and something is intruding on me, as if HaMidrash open again while I am having fun with
I really wanted to get involved just at this moment. Beilkeh the Bath House attendant’s daughter, you’ll
get a ‘black year’ from me!
As I approached the door, I felt myself getting warm
all over, as if something had grabbed hold of me by
the suspenders. – Lost! – I said to myself.
2. An Eclipse of the Sun
As quickly as the news of the solar eclipse spread, doorstep had been totally worn down. People
that is how quickly the whole town began to wanted to see what HaTzefira had to say with their
percolate. No matter where one went, that is all own eyes about this event, and when a new edition
people talked about, and late into the evening you arrived, with a comprehensive article that described
could run into clutches of people in the marketplace, a solar eclipse at great length, and in general about
or at Khacheh’s on the square, talking about this these rare occurrences, people were literally
very news item that had been reported in transported: Wow! Will we live long enough to see
HaTzefira.41 Do you imagine that a solar eclipse was this? An event that occurs once in a hundred years!
some insignificant event? And when do you suppose
there will be another one? In HaTzefira it was stated I was still too young – a year, no, entirely – to be
that there hadn’t been a solar eclipse since the year able to grasp what a solar eclipse was, and even
1724. when I had read the artic le in HaTzefira, I didn’t
extract any meaningful understanding from it. The
At the home of Shmuel, Joseph Nakhass, the only whole story held me in a dreamlike pensive state. In
person in town to subscribe to HaTzefira, the the inner recesses of my mind, a picture of sorts,
comprised of the heavens, of suns, moons, and plain
planets did take shape, that rotate through the great
41
void of space, and occasionally get in each others’
A Jewish periodical of the times.
33
way, but when I tried to grasp this with my intellect, Finally, the time arrived.
the image began to melt and blur. I envied the
adults, who spoke about this event with such After Maariv, the participants in the vigil began to
certainty, just as if they had it right in front of their assemble at the Hiltzener Bet HaMidrash, and little
eyes. by little, almost all the young people of the town
assembled at that point. Initially, a vigil was also
As the designated day approached, one could see in planned for the Alter Mauer , but as there were
the various houses of worship, especially the rather few young people there, they had to abandon
Hiltzener Bet HaMidrash, how the students, and their plan, and join with the Hiltzener Bet
ordinary young men from established families, HaMidrash
smoking pieces of glass, which was known to be a
requirement in order to be able to look through [the The entire town was already fast asleep. Everyone
glass] at the sun. went to bed early, in order to be able to get up
before dawn. The little houses stood silent and
Townsfolk provided large vessels of water, a lifeless. They looked like they would be absorbed in
remedy that was thought to be wise to have for any the shadows of the night. The pale white light of the
circumstance. new moon, which hung like a silver light fixture
behind the “Rad” stores, fell on their roofs. From
I had already smoked a couple of large pieces of time-to-time, one would hear how Fyvel ‘Krivool’42
glass, for which I had to break a window in the attic; the old, lame night watchman, would play a note on
I had my viewing apparatus ready, and waited his flute.
impatiently for the event-filled day to arrive.
In the Bet HaMidrash it was lively. It was
I simply could not fathom how, in the middle of a immediately apparent that this was no ordinary vigil.
bright, clear day, when the sun is red-hot in a clear Nobody was studying, even Berel Masmid,43 sat in
sky, that it should suddenly fall dark, as if it were the corner near the Ark, his reading stand pushed up
night, as if you could bring this on by reading the against him, with his hand on the closed Gemara
Shema. But the entire world isn’t going to allow volume, and looked sunk in thought about the world.
itself to be played for a fool! A lot stood around, or sat in little groups, absorbed
in conversation about this important moment, that
According to the article in HaTzefira, the solar imminently would arrive. Others told ordinary
eclipse was supposed to start a few minutes after stories, while yet others rode around on the benches,
6:00AM, right after the first minyan, and end late in and carried out maneuvers around the bimah. I went
the day. Well, what does one do to get up so early? from one group of people to the next; I got up on the
Many times, I had wanted to get up in time for the benches and rode around a couple of times.
first minyan, but I could not. And what, really, However, none of this really appealed to me.
would happen if I overslept? Something about the whole vigil struck me as
sacrilegious. I wanted this moment to be one that
The young man from Skidel, the oldest of the was quiet. Every person should be alone with
students at the Hiltzener Bet HaMidrash, proposed himself, and to individually absorb within
a plan for spending the night prior to the solar themselves the divine majesty, that causes the suns
eclipse, a “vigil,” thereby assuring that nobody and planets to follow those orbits which had been
would oversleep. Everyone eagerly subscribed to prepared for them in the heavens.
this plan, and wherever there was a youngster in
town, he [was sure] to subscribe to the vigil.
42
The Russian word for a thief, used to
I was barely able to convince my father to let me characterize the job of the individual,
participate as well. For this, I had to promise to who might have to shout, ‘thief!’
“listen to my mother” for a least one continuous 43
month. A masmid is one who is continuously
d ed icated to h is calling (i.e.
scholarship)
34
As dawn began to break, the assembly turned to the I thought of going to the Krenitsa44 in the orchard. I
smoked glass. Each person sought out a spot thought: if it is possible to look at the solar eclipse
unobstructed to the east, and prepared themselves in a vessel of water, then it should be certainly
for the spectacle. One group went to the rear of the possible to look at it in the Krenitsa?!
town, to the Puster Barg. I would have gone with
this group, even though I would have preferred to be I immediately rushed to that place.
alone. However, it was not light enough outside, and
I felt uneasy. The Krenitsa was very deep. Its surface glinted with
a quiet sheen. On one side, where the little retaining
As we approached the Puster Barg, the day became wall was lower, a thin streamlet ran down, coursed
lighter. The east was reddish, lined with violet-rose through a washed out pebble bed and clear sand,
stripes, which spread out like a fan to the middle of until it came to the brook, at the foot of the hill. It
a mixed green and blue sky. A silvery dew covered shone like a peaceful mirror, just as if nothing was
the grass, and big drops hung like cold tears on the going on, as if its continuous flow were an eternal
leaves, peering out anxiously for the day to arrive. peac e. The sky above, and a crooked branch were
reflected off its surface.
A thin, penetrating mist covered everything. I felt
the entire breath of nature. It was so cool, so I sat down on a nearby flat stone ands waited.
mysterious!
Suddenly the tips of the trees were bathed in the
Ans soon, soon the great, perhaps the greatest pale light of the just rising sun.
wonder of all would occur.
And the shine [of the sun] bec ame ever stronger,
The light became gradually stronger, one could see and the higher the sun rose, the light fell on more
how it would become lighter and lighter. The and more of the tree branches. The old green oaks
surface of the land became wider and more spread were already half in the sunlight. Finally, I saw them
out. On one side the hamlet of Alekshits swam out reflected in the krenitsa. Its color was like freshly
of the mist and on the other, the forest began to poured satin.
appear more distinctly with its deep granite-like
coloration. Birds awoke, and refreshed, and not And shortly, the image of the sun’s orb began to
sensing anything special imminent, chirped a flatten itself out on the left side. The flattening
welcome to the new day. eventually became more distinct, assuming the
shape of a half circle. The appearanc e of the sun
Thoughts flitted through my mind: continued in this fashion, assuming the shape of the
moon, when it begins to wane. Slowly, and a little
– One hundred sixty five years have passed since the bit at a time, the sun was entirely extinguished,
last time this event occurred, which is about to occur leaving only a trace of its surface [visible] – a round
again. Oh, how vast is eternity?! – And as many thin strip of light in the sky. All around it became
years will pass again, before once again the same darkened, just like the night, and a great uneasiness
event will occur that is about to occur today. Where fell over me. I was afraid to move from the spot
will a memory of our existence remain at that where I was. I sat petrified. A breeze blew from
[distant future] time? Who will then bring us to branch to branch, passing on still secrets of the air.
mind? Who will remember us? The leaves rustled in the great darkness, and an aura
of mystery pervaded the entire orchard.
My heart was filled with heavy and sour emotions.
I felt it impossible to remain with the group, and I My skin crawled. I felt as if the proverbial six days
resolved to find a place where I could be alone. of creation had returned, when God says one Word,
44
A body of well water. Perhaps a
decorative pool of sorts, found in this
botanical garden.
35
and an entire world is created. I entered the town by way of the Deutscher Gasse.
The marketplace and the Schulhof were full of
Suddenly, a half-circle of light appeared in the place people. In the wide street drains, water was flowing
where the extinguished sun had been, and the like after a heavy downpour. All the water vessels
orchard once more became distinct. had already been emptied.
A little bit at a time, the strip of light became wider

and lighter, a little bit at a time, the light returned,
pouring itself over everything about, until the last
blemish disappeared from the sun.
3. To the Hakafot
For the entire year, we barely saw the young people emanated downwards.
in the synagogue, superficial prayers all of them,
who came with the objective of getting their praying The long, stretched out windows were set quite high
over with, and then fly off. On the Sabbath, when in in the walls, much closer to the heights than the
the houses of prayer, the portion of reading the lower part of the structure, and the sun, shining
Torah was reached, or the beginning of the Musaf through them could never reach the congregants.
service, it was usual in Schul to fold up the prayer The best one could do, was to look into the window
shawls, and rush home. Even on the Sabbath that the from the south side, at the gray, raw, unfinished
New Month was blessed, or on a Yom Tov, when the north wall, or to shine a lamp from the high,
Hazzan performed together with a choir, people did unfinished wooden bimah, which was situated in the
not leave any later than from any other synagogues, dead center of the Schul. The only place where the
because the ‘core worshipers,’ from time sun could reach a person, was in the women’s
immemorial, always arrogated certain ‘privileges’ to section, which was to the rear and west, elevated,
themselves, the style of the davening was constantly over the foyer. However, it was seldom that there
subject to debate; and no big thing was made out of was anyone there for the sun to shine on.
the Shacharit service either. They would send up
Shlomo der Tchesler, and he would grind through First and foremost, the Schul did not have the
[the prayers] like milling flour, and during Yom Tov, dedication, and the fundamental courtesies46 the way
whole sections of the Piyyut were entirely omitted, the Bet HaMidrash had. The schedule was run
to the point where one simply had to take pity on the chaotically, when on one Sabbath, one person would
Makhzor. During winter, in the middle of the week, be in charge, and a week later, someone else. It
the Schul wasn’t even opened, because it was as looked communal, but it was only at the time of the
cold as an icebox, and in the summer, it was High Holydays that one could see who really was
impossible to get together a minyan. Early in the running the show.
morning, the air was biting cold there, even in the
month of Tammuz,45 and when one rolled up a But when it came to the eve of Simkhat Torah, the
sleeve in order to put on tefillin, a chill would pass cold, ordinary appearance of the Schul would
over the skin of the exposed arm, and cause it to suddenly vanish, and it was as if a warm, happy,
break out in tiny goose bumps. And from the floor, animated breeze, would have streamed out from
which was below the level of the Schulhof, and every corner, and filled [our] hearts with life.
whose boards didn’t quite fit properly together, the
cold air of the earth seeped in, and from up above,
from the unfinished soffit, a peculiar cold emptiness
46
The author uses the Yiddish word,
balebatishkeit, for which it is difficult
45
Jewish month in July/August. to find an accurate translation!
36
On Simk hat Torah, the Schul was the center of life feel from the girls quite often.
and merriment in the town.
When the time for Hakafot arrives, and the girls try
Wherever one could place a candle in a hollowed- to get near to kiss the Torah scrolls, an aggressive
out potato, a candle burned; wherever there was a young man will sometimes put out his hand to
balcony, an attic, or an overhang, hanging lanterns intercept the girl’s kiss. The girl blushes, the little
and candle decorations were affixed there, in boys and youngsters make a big deal out of it,
hollowed out gourds or potatoes, in which lit exclaiming, Oh! Oh! Oh! She kissed a boy on the
candles were inserted. They twinkled above like hand! The girl is not, however, scared off, and
stars in the sky, and the great chandeliers with the simply finds her way to a different Torah scroll.
large wax candles, and also the four large lighting And the more the girls press upon the Torah scrolls,
lamps filled every corner with light. the more the boys stick out their hands in order to
intercept a kiss, and if this doesn’t work, they look
Every face shone. It was possible to see how full of for a chance to touch a girl, by the hand, the
happiness everyone was. Young and old, observant forehead, or at least by the blouse. These were the
or not, everyone felt full of life. most joyous moments for the young boys.
It is a custom in town that on the eve of Simkhat ii

Torah, services in the Schul are led by the Rabbi.
This is the one time of the year, that the corner to This year, the Schul was even more lit up than most
the right side of the Ark is occupied. And years. The new chandelier, donated by Reb Moshe
accompanying the Rabbi, c omes his whole der Geveer,48 hung over the right center of the
entourage, and just plain pious Jews from the other bimah, and all three of its candle holders were filled
Batei Midrashim, who otherwise would not be with half-pound c andles, which together provided
coming to the Schul. for a large, central flame. Everyone stood in
wonderment at this powerful source of illumination.
On this day, it is possible to see red, blue, white, and
all sorts of other colored clothing, that assault the – Well, look what we have lived to see in Dereczin!
eyes among the monotonous, dark and subdued – a young homeowner was overheard to say – a
color of clothing that men wear. chandelier of this kind should only be suitable for a
synagogue in Vilna!
Girls, little, somewhat older, and those of
marriageable age, all come downstairs, right – Not bad – someone answered from the side – We
alongside the men. True, they don’t come any have no reason to be ashamed of our synagogue. I
further forward than the bimah, but up to that point have seen something of the world, but I haven’t seen
they mingle with the menfolk as if they were at a many synagogues like this one.
songfest.
I used to dedicate my entire attention with the
They c ome here to see the Hakafot47, to kiss the greatest interest to comments of this nature. But this
Torah scrolls, and to take part in the happiness of time, I felt like it was going in one ear and right out
the evening. the other. I hear the names of cities, people, things,
and so forth, but I feel that right now, for me they
For the young people, it is total joy. Whoever can, have no meaning. My entire attention is riveted on
tries to get as close to the bimah as possible; one the bimah. Every couple of minutes, I glance over
divides oneself up into groups, ogling the girls. there. It is, however, too early.
Others, more bold, have no shame in trying to cop a
– Will she come to the Hakafot too? – a question
47
The ritual marching of the Torah
48
scrolls on Simkhat Torah. A rich man
37
that had been nagging at me for several days not long ago I had no hope to aspire to. I literally get
already. hot. – I want to press her to me, to feel her warm,
fresh body, to kiss her every part of her body. But I
My eyelids fluttered tiredly, just as if a weight was become ashamed of my own thoughts, and I lower
continuously pulling on them. My heart beat wildly, my hands in inaction, and I give her a look that asks
and my thoughts were mixed up, as if in a stew. for pity.
I hadn’t seen Chaykeh since the Fast of the Ninth of That is the way I used to start this dream sequence,
Ab, from that day on, when my child’s heart first from the same scene. Quite often, I would try to
imbibed its first love, and my mood suddenly invent new versions, new positions, but naturally
acquired a peculiar quality, which enveloped me in feeling, that in this very scene – at that spot in the
nebulous secrets. But from that time on, she didn’t forest where we really at one time sat together – I
leave my fantasizing for one minute. Her pale could not come up with any variation. I would often
complexion, her coal-black shining eyes, and her get very confused, not being able to come up with a
black curly hair, cut short, entranced me; I could not completely original fantasy sequence. And so, I
get her red blouse, and her rose-striped short skirt, would return to the same, familiar scenario, which
whic h she wore at that time, out of my mind. I had so well rehearsed, that it seemed to me that we
Wherever I would look, I would see Chaykeh first, actually lived it, and in this manner I would put
and then she became the reason I would look. myself to sleep every night.
Especially her eyes, they didn’t let go of me for a
minute. – I’d be studying, reading a book, and they ii
would intrude between the lines, between the words,
and totally addled my senses. My happiest moments A loud slap was heard over the ammud, and the
were when I would go to sleep. No sooner would I voice of the gabbai, that the “bidding” for Atah
lie down, than my imagination would begin to Har’Eta,49 was starting.
construct a picture of a paradise in which she and I
were the only living beings.. – we are both sitting in It started with “three gulden and ten groschen,” and
the forest, in the same spot where on the Ninth of Ab gradually rose, ten groschen a turn, until it reached
we gathered berries. We are sitting close to one thirty-six gulden. Two of the settler families bought
another, much closer than at that time... and are it together in partnership. They allocated four of the
looking at one another with wide-open eyes. Not the readings as follows: to the Rabbi, to Reb Moshe,5 0
same as then, when our eyes met, and then hastily to two other prominent homeowners, and the rest
were lowered to the ground; – I take her hand, and they kept for themselves. They mangled the Hebrew,
try to imagine in my mind, what it would feel like to and yet the congregants followed repetitively, and
hold her soft, warm hand in mine. I take her other smiled at their provincial accents.
hand, and look deeply into her eyes. She looks at me Standing with my uncle, and reading with him from
ashamedly, blushes, and shudders confusedly. Her one Makhzor, I noticed a couple of youngsters
lips part, she wants to say something, but doesn’t starting to move towards the bimah. I understood
have the capacity... My ardor grows stronger as a that there must be girls there already. Oh, did my
result. “Oh, Chayelkeh!” I call out to her lengthily, heart start to beat wildly. It told me that Chaykeh
“Do you love me as much as I love you?” She turns was certainly there already, but I couldn’t decide to
pale. I let go of her hands and throw myself face go there; I was afraid that she wasn’t there yet. It
down on the ground; My eyes fill with tears, and my was more pleasant for me to stand here, and imagine
heart beats so strongly and quickly. My head is so that she really was there – so near to me...
disoriented, and so pained. I try to find a place to lie
my head. I put it here, and then there, until I crawl
over with it to the hem of her dress. – The smell of 49
the new cardboard box strikes me full in the nose. A The opening recitation of the first
fresh stream courses through my heart: I feel as if a Hakafa.
new world is opening up for me, with a new life that 50
Presumably der Geveer
38
Finally, I found some will, and went nearer to the immediately, and I detected an embarrassed
bimah. I situated myself between two pillars, from satisfaction in Chayk eh’s eyes. I took that into
which vantage point I could see the entire company account.
of girls, who were all to one side. There were,
however, so many, that it wasn’t possible to see any In the meantime, the Hakafot had commenced.
single individual clearly. I searched for a red blouse
and a rose-colored dress. But, there was none to be The young people at the rear of the synagogue made
seen. a move to get closer to the bimah. A complete
mishmash ensued. Boys, girls, all together.
As I came closer to the girls, acting as if I was just Everyone sorted themselves out in two lines and
walking by, I hear one of the girls say: – Chaykeh, aligned themselves, deciding who would use their
look! Here’s Shloimkeh! I didn’t hear an answer, hands to touch the girls, and who the Torah scrolls.
but I sensed the predicament that she found herself,
and from which my face burned. I came out standing in the second line, opposite
Chaykeh,-- every time my glance met hers, I felt like
Chaykeh was sitting on a bench with a friend of some new magic enveloped me. I stood in thrall,
hers, at the rear of the company of girls. She was hoping that she would not look at anyone else in the
wearing a white dress with a folded over black same way. I began to wish that it would have been
edging on a sailor’s collar. The outline of her bosom better had she not come at all...
showed the onset of womanhood. She looked much
more attractive than at the time of the Ninth of Ab in I stood as if addled in the senses. Three of the
the forest. Her eyes looked bigger and more Hakafot had already been finished, and I hadn’t
sparkling. I looked at her, and she at me, and kissed even one Torah scroll. Chaykeh also had not
instantly our glances were diverted to the touched a single Torah scroll. Palpably, my
surroundings. restlessness had also made an impression on her.
Oh, if she only knew what I thought of her, Suddenly the fourth Hakafa procession begins to
especially when I go to sleep, what would she think arrive. Someone had given Chayk eh a shove, and
of me? – A thought ran through my mind that she prac tic ally fell with her mouth on the Torah
warmed me all over. She knows already that I’m not scroll. She c ouldn’t so anything else but give it a
as shy as I’m made out to be. When I took her hand kiss.
in the forest that time, she looked at me with an
expression as if one said: “Feh! This doesn’t All at once laughing burst out Berel, the carpenter’s
become you! Today, after such things, what I permit sleepy-headed son stuck his paw under her mouth,
myself to think of her... and the kiss fell on it.
I started to get all confused. I thought everyone was My mind became inflamed.
staring at me, and they see everything that comes
into my mind. Every second was for me an eternity. – You boor! Lout! – my voice rose up out of my
I didn’t know how all of this would end. throat. If I had the capacity to at that moment, I
surely would have killed him.
Fortunately, one of my friends approached me, and
we started to talk about other matters. I felt a little Chaykeh reddened, looked at me with moist eyes,
distracted. and went out.
This self-same friend knew Chaykeh well, and also I thought my heart would break.
the second girl that sat with her. He went over to
them, and I barely tagged along with him.
A general conversation started up between us
39
The Sinai Colony
By Chaim Zvi Miller-Sinai
Translated preface supplied by Sol Phillips without attribution)
Dedicated to my gentle daughter, Dina, of blessed memory, chaste in

thought and deed, who was taken from us in the prime of life, during
Passover of 1955.
Ch. Z. M-S.
Introduction from my father, of blessed memory, from my

grandmother, my father’s mother , of blessed
Myriads of c ities and towns in the countries of memory, who were among the original founders of
Eastern Europe and in its center, in which the Nazi the place. This feuilleton will serve not only as
Asmodeus exterminated the Jews who lived there chapter and verse on the village – it will tell of its
for centuries, continue to remain in their place. In history to my progeny, and to all those who
some of them isolated [Jewish] families still reside. emigrated from Sinaiska, wherever they are, and
But even those that were completely cleansed of a from it, they will understand the trials and
Jewish presence, where no Jewish foot treads any tribulations endured by their anc estors in subduing
longer – their names have not been erased, and their and possessing the place, and those of them that live
existence will not vanish from Jewish memory, in the Land of Israel will recognize, when they come
since many of them were places renown as centers to it, the difficulties associated with absorption and
of Torah scholarship, such as: Volozhin, Mir, Radin, the conflicts with neighboring peoples in the early
Slobodka, Telz, and others; or that they produced days of the settlement of Jews in the Holy Land.
people [of repute] such as: The Gaon, Rav Eliyahu
of Vilna, Reb Levi-Yitzhhak of Berdichev, Rav Preface
Yisrael Salanter, and others; or because rabbis lived (Supplied with Translation)
there who authored books during their residence,
and by virtue of such authorship, the name of the Chaim Zvi Sin ai-Miller was born in
town was preserved through their writings. 1885 in the Sinaiska area of Slonim.
He studies in the Yeshivot at Slo nim
and Vo lozhin. The following is an
Only the place where I was born, a Jewish village
account of the settling of this village,
comprised of thirty farming families, called and the trials and tribulations of its
“Sinaiska” was completely eradicated from the fac e settlers as related by him.
of the earth, and from which there remains no trace
[memory] at all. I was inspired by the great events of the outside
world (the Dreyfus trial, etc .). The Dreyfus trial
I was jealously possessive of my birthplace, where influenced me greatly. I came to the conclusion that
members of my family lived for more than a century the only solution to this problem of the Jewish
– they plowed, spread seed, planted, and earned nation was Zionism: and this became a driving force
their livelihood with the labor of their hands, and and an integral part of my life. It was very important
there remains no memory even of the beautiful that I settle in the Land of Israel.
name, “Sinaiska,” that only with tremendous energy
and effort was extracted from the ruling authority. During World War I, I left Lithuania and went to
Now, in the sunset of my life, when I am the only Poltava in the Ukraine. I talked about Zion ism
one left, who knows about the undertaking of those constantly. We all suffered greatly du ring the
who founded the village from its very beginning, I [Russian] Revolution. My only goal was to settle in
said that I would set down my recollections in these Palestine. From Poltava, I went to Dereczin, where
few pages, which I absorbed from firsthand sources,
40
I was a Hebrew School teacher and taught many Redemption that would come in the future. It was in
students. In 1926, I emigrated to Palestine, with my this manner that the village existed for more than a
wife and three children, to a village called Moriah. century, until the Holocaust, a calamity
We were subjected to great hardship there. In 1929, unprecedented since the destruction of the Second
the village was attacked by neighboring Arabs. We Temple. The town was erased from the face of the
were saved by an Arab leader, who lived in a nearby earth, all the houses were burned down, the
village, whom I had previously befriended. We left synagogue was razed to the foundation, and the land
this village and moved on to settle in Ramat was divided up among the farmers in the
HaSharon, where I taught Torah. surrounding area.
Note: In Ramat Ha S haron, he was a The name of this town is “Kolonia-Sinaiska” which
member of the governing municipality was in the Slonim area, seven kilometers from the
and Chairman of the Religious town of Dereczin. Even though the name “Kolonia”
Advisory Committee. A boulevard in is a general name, and the name “Sinaiska” – a
this subu rb was named after him.
specific name, it was the accepted practice in the
There is a plaque on this boulevard,
which reads as follows:
area to refer to the town as “Kolonia” only.
“Chaim Zvi Sinai-Miller, may he rest This Kolonia, in which I was born, and among
in peace. He was a pioneer of Ramat which my ancestors were founders – was
HaSharon, a man of Torah and keeper established approximately in the year 1835. This
of the eternal spark of God, whose parcel was one of the possessions of Prince Sapieha
light many follow.” , leader of the rebellion against Russian rule in
1831. After the rebellion was put down, and when
The Jewish Settlement of Sinaiska the prince fled the country to exile, the government
(This is Kolonia-Sinaiska) confiscated all his property. In those times, there
was a plan formulated by the rulers of the state and
In the expanse of White Russia, among the gentile Czar Nicholas I to convert some part of the Jewish
villages and Jewish towns, there was to be found a population of Russia into farmers. It is possible that
slightly unusual village. In many ways it was a the motivation came from a desire to cause the Jews
village like any other village: [it had] barns, stables, to become assimilated into the Russian nation, and
vegetable gardens and fruit trees. Surrounding the for related reasons, to transform the Jews into a
houses – wooden houses with straw thatched roofs productive element of the population. Let us,
– were fields for growing grain, and fields of however, leave the clarification of this point to
pasture; and the farmers – farmers obviously historians. One of the properties of Prince Sapieha
experienced in cultivation, harvesting and threshing. was allocated to this Kolonia. In those days, in the
But they have a different appearance: [the grown period of the Cantonists, the khappers spread
men] are bearded, their heads are covered, and they through the villages like beasts of prey, they seized
don’t have the [same] Russian features as the other Jewish children, and turned them over to the
farmers in the area. These were Jews. On every door [Czarist] Army for a twenty-five year tour of duty.
a mezuzah was hung, And in the middle of the A part of them were lost51 among the gentile
[village] street, a synagogue stood, built of brick population, and a portion died in childhood. Those
with a slate roof, which in comparison to the who adhered to their Judaism suffered terribly. The
wooden houses of the farmers was a beautiful poet, Chaim Nachman Bialik, in his ballad, Jonah
building indeed; and they had their own Rabbi, and the Tailor, described that era:
also a ritual slaughterer, and they would retain
teachers for their children by invitation from out of
town. Jews lived here, good and straightforward
workers, and they died here. Here, children were
51
born to them, and here they married them off, and An interesting choice o f Hebrew
with the rest of world Jewry, they awaited the Final metaphor: the writer u ses the root for
‘becoming ritually unclean.’
41
Like one carrying a nursing lamb, disruptive to the creation of an orderly community
Or a suckling sheep from the flock, life. This settlement was quite different from the
So the orphan was snatched from a house, settlement in the Land of our Forefathers. Here, in
A child from the room. our land [sic: the Land of Israel] [the concept of]
settlement stems from an idealistic objective, of a
And the government, in order to attract the Jews to
Return to Zion, from a deeply seated longing of two
working the land, excused those who became
thousand years to free ourselves from the chains of
homesteaders and became farmers – from having
the Diaspora, to cast away forever the walking stick
their sons taken to army service for twenty-five
of the wanderer, to rejuvenate the ancient homeland,
years.
to re-awaken ourselves, and to live an ordinary life
like any other nation among the nations of the
And families who had largely male children, and
world. Secondly – this marvelous ideal united the
were perpetually engulfed by the terror of having
olim5 2 and made a single family unit out of them,
their offspring grabbed by these kidnappers, they
‘with one heart and one mind,’ before they even
were attracted to the concept of ‘productivity’ and
became familiar with one another. Third – those
abandoned their homes, their commerce and
who came to possess the land took limitless
livelihood, in order to take up agric ulture. They
encouragement from the fact that they were neither
gave no thought to their talent to undertake land
alone nor forsaken. Behind them stood the Makhon53
cultivation under harsh conditions, with no help
to help them, so they won’t fail, with an eye out to
from the government or any other organization. And
ensure their success, and shepherding them along
in an area of hostile people who looked with
with the blessing, “may your hands be
derision and contempt on these Jewish farmers and
strengthened.” But those there, in that settlement, in
there agricultural labor.
those days in the wide expanse of Russia – they had
no shred of an ideal around which to rally. The fled
My grandfather, Reb Ze’ev who was blessed with
out of fear of the kidnapers, they went onto the land
many sons, on whom the fear of kidnaping weighed
without any skills or direction. Without any form of
heavily, was also captivated by this idea. He lived
help or support, into the middle of a gentile
as a man of means in the town of Novy Dvor, near
community, saturated with hate and full of jealousy,
Grodno. He sold all of his possessions, pulled up
over the good portion, this beautiful asset, that had
stakes in order to settle in Kolonia in order to work
been turned over to these Jews. On top of this, there
his [parcel of] land. My grandmother, Chaya Sarah,
was a completely negative attitude from the Jewish
of blessed memory, was gifted with a good memory,
communities in the surrounding area toward these
and descriptive skills. In my childhood, I very much
farmers. They were perceived to be prodigal sons,
enjoyed listening to her stories of how this little
who had abandoned the way of life of Jews in the
agricultural spot was established, and how
Diaspora, and were taking up the ways of gentiles
enchanting the plac e was in its [natural] beauty,
by working the soil, and on that count would fall
there being majesty and glamour imbedded all over.
away from the Torah, and its commandments,
The palace of the prince, where the settlers first
thereby ultimately assimilating into the larger
came was eye-opening. Large windows, doors made
gentile fabric . They related to them as people of a
from precious woods, worked with etchings and
lower station, and of lesser worth, – they were
carving, a spacious orchard with choice fruit trees
‘peasants’ in their eyes.
around the palace. Stables set up with all needs for
cows, and even a pool of water to bathe them with.
Additionally, with every pail of water that was
drawn, you would bring up live fish. 52
I choose not to translate this word as
‘immigrants’ so it retains its special
The settlers c ame from various places, and at the meaning for those who ‘go up’ to the
outset, there was no connection between them. Land of Israel, i.e. make aliyah.
When they all came in to occupy a single house, and
53
with every family having a lot of children, this was Referring to the agency lan d
cooperatives.
42
A half century after the establishment of the town, zekel mit gelt.” [Trans: We brought
I personally experienced this attitude. I recollect, a whole sack full of money.]
when I was a youngster, about age nine, I was
studying in the adjacent town of Zelva, and the boys I don’t have any idea exactly how much money this
in the Heder distanced themselves from me. They was.
tagged me with the name, ‘son-of-the-peasant’ from
Kolonia, notwithstanding the fact that I excelled in Even before the farmers began to construct their
my studies. homes in the location of their choice, the Russian
[governmental] administration took no interest in
It is understood that under such circumstances, a them. It [the administration] was aware of the rate of
signific ant portion of the settlers became abandonment on the part of many in that area, and
disappointed with the hasty step that they had taken, thought that even this remnant would not be able to
when they had abandoned their businesses, and their hold on, and in the end they would all leave. But
homes in order to come here. They gave evidence after the houses were built, along with the remaining
that they had consumed their remaining resources, structures, and the place started to look like a real
and returned, regretting that they had come, and village – the government took notice of it, and the
having left behind bitterness and resignation. From first thing they did was give it a name, and of all
all the ranks of the settlers, a small clutch of people things, after one of the church saints: this colony
stayed behind, whose conviction was focused on was designated to be called Konstantinovka, after
staying, and to come to grips with all the St. Constantine. When this became known to the
circumstances that lay ahead, and they were farmers, they sent a delegation to the district
prepared for every trial and sufferance that lay officials and presented their objection, explaining
ahead of them. It was in this fashion that eight that since this was a Jewish town, they proposed to
families remained, that formed a pact to establish call the village by the name, Sinaiska, after Mount
this Jewish village, and these are the families: Sinai, on which the Jews received the Torah, which
is a light unto all nations. After [many] explanations
1. Miller - from Novy Dvor and entreaties, the regime agreed to their
2. Becker - from Knishin recommendation, and from that time on, the
3. Kresnovsky - from Sokhobolya settlement was called Kolonia-Sinaiska. It is
4. The Spector family appropriate to emphasize the nationalistic and
5. Stein - from Brisk religious feelings of the peasantry in those years.
6. Dlugolansky The settlers felt that the era of contention and
7. Sirota - from Yashinovka bitterness had ended, to groping along an endless
8. Cohen path, and that they were entering on an ordinary life
trajectory of a people who worked the land. With
They left the palace. Over time, as people passed hearts full of hope, they approached the preparation
through, the palace became a guest house, seeing as of the land for seeding. The land was rich, from
it was not appropriate for use as a dwelling. For this among the choice parcels of the surroundings, and it
they selected a parcel that was centrally located to had been left fallow for several years, and was rich
their farmland. This was [also] close to the road that with [agricultural] potential. With an enthusiastic
led to the nearby towns. Apparently, those that attitude, they put in a great deal of energy into their
remained were the ones who were people of means work, in the expec tation of excellent crops which
among them, because the money they brought with will improve their circumstances, and will help them
them was sufficient to sustain them during the time to forget the bad experiences that they had to date.
that they built houses, stables, barns, household
goods, and work implements, primitive though they They sowed their seed with great joy, and a blessed
were. My recollection is that my grandmother, of rain came and wet Mother Earth. The fields grew
blessed memory, expressed herself in this way: green and were a feast to the eyes, and they thought
surely they would see the words of a song of Israel
“Mir haben gebracht a gantzen come to fruition: “a crown of the year of your
43
goodness.” But alas! The gentiles from the adjacent shepherds were dozing peacefully, without an
villages deliberately let their sheep and cattle onto inkling of what was about to happen. Only the
the green fields of the Jews, and these animals barking of the dogs – so they thought – awoke them
devoured everything, literally ‘ in the manner of from their slumber. Only when they saw the youths
hungry oxen.’ These few Jews, who saw their joy mounted on their steeds did they become alarmed,
turn to sorrow, literally wept when they saw what and they yelled for help to the villagers who were
these wicked neighbors had done to them. They working the fields nearby. They sped from all sides,
attempted to get compensation, but nothing resulted and the battle was joined. The gentiles, who were
from this. It was in this manner, that several years surprised by the strength of the “Young Israelites,”
went by, of suffering and disappointment, in which and their courage, were alarmed, they became
they barely sustained themselves with the meager victims of the ensuing pandemonium, and they did
yield from those parcels that were closest to their not have the will to continue the fight. After
homes, or the ones that were at a goodly distance. sustaining some pointed beatings from the young
Even when they sowed, there was nothing to reap. men, who smote them hip and thigh – they fled. The
The surrounding villages, who covetously cast their young men seized the herd, and brought it back to
eyes on the land held by the Jews, were certain that their settlement where they penned the animals up,
after the trouble and heartbreak that they were until such time as they were compensated for the
causing them – the patience of the Jews would give damage caused. The Jewish farmers did not stop at
out, they will forsake the place, and then the gentiles this point. They killed two roosters, and poured the
will be able to move in and take possession of their blood on the scratches and lighter wounds that they
good fields. But how true are the songs of Israel: had sustained, in order to intensify the impression of
their ordeal. They quickly mounted the better of
“For like arrows in the hand of the their horses and thundered off to the town of
valiant, so are our youth; Dereczin, the location of the local government
Fortunate is the individual who has office, and they submitted a complaint regarding the
filled his quiver with them.” incident and the attending damages. The impression
made was quite strong, reinforced by the appearance
The sons of the farmers, who grew up as children of of their wounds and the copious amount of blood on
the countryside, in the expanses of nature, were the clothing. And if, in connection with complaints
fired up, confident and focused on returning a fitting that they presented from time-to-time, they received
retribution while still young, being only sixteen no response because they could not provide
years of age. The depredations of their wicked witnesses, this time the bruises and the many
neighbors kindled a vengeful fire in their hearts, and bloodstains on their clothes were like a hundred
they waited for that day, when they would grow up witnesses, and the authorities could no longer
and feel that they had the might in their hands to refrain from discharging its duty. An order was
take revenge upon the gentiles. issued, at the behest of the municipal authority, to
immediately summon five of the elders from the
At last, the hour arrived. They spoke among nearby town in order that they be flogged. And they
themselves, and arrived at a decision: This is the end were publicly flogged on that very same day (in
of it! From tomorrow on there will be no hoofprint those days, flogging was a common punishment).
from the herds of these uncircumcised infidels on And they were further warned in this connection,
their land! They fashioned whips of intertwined that if they allow their herds once more to tread
barbed wire, with a round stone stuck at the end of upon the land of the Jews – they’ll get double
the whip. Impatiently they waited for daybreak, and lashes, and with that they levied a monetary fine on
very early in the morning, when one could not yet them for the damage they had caused. The beating
distinguish white from blue, they set out, imbued they got, the lashing they received, and the money
with an heroic spirit, riding on their horses to the they had to pay – these three things together with
grain fields that bordered on the fields of the the intervention of the authorities on one hand, and
gentiles. As usual, they found the herd of cattle the Jews on the other, made an impression. The
grazing in the midst of the grain stalks. The relationship went from one extreme to the other.
44
The neighbors c ame together because of this, and parents of sc holastically gifted young men, who
established c ordial relations as befits equals. There demonstrated an ability to master advanced Torah
were, among the gentiles, those who looked upon study, to send them to the great Yeshivot, such as
the Jews with respect: I recall, that when I was a Volozhin, Radin, Slobodka, and Telz. I recall, that
little boy, when a gentile from the surrounding area in comparison with nearby towns, where one
would enter our home, he would take off his hat, [student] would be enrolled in one of the
and didn’t have the temerity to draw near until my afformentioned Yeshivot, – from our community of
father, of blessed memory, told him that he had thirty families there were five. And there was no
permission to approach. bounds to the affection of this Rabbi for a Torah
scholar. When I would return home from the
From that day on, a transformation occurred in the Yeshiva for the holidays, he would embrace me with
temperament of all the residents of the settlement, great joy. It was through his many initiatives that a
rooted in the rec ognition that everything that had synagogue was built, a stone structure made of
gone on in the past had evaporated and vanished, brick, with a slate roof in the center of the
and from this day forward, they would not reach settlement, which amidst the wooden houses of the
destitution, and will see a return for their labor. farmers, thatched with straw, took on the appearance
Nonetheless, they never achieved great wealth, but of a magnificent castle.
they had bread to eat and clothing to wear, and they
were content with their lot. They had a ritual This Rabbi was HaRav HaGaon & Tzaddik Rav
slaughterer at all times, who also served as a teacher David Yitzhak Magen kmz , who went to the Holy
for the youngest children. They would retain the Land in 1927, and took up residence in Jerusalem.
services of two [additional] teachers from nearby He was known there as the Rabbi of Dereczin, and
towns during the school season. They would pay he passed away at the onset of the Second World
them a set amount of money for half the year, apart War, but was privileged yet to be interred on the
from the meals they would take at the homes of their Mount of Olives. He was survived by two married
students. They did not have a permanent Rabbi, daughters: one married to Rav HaGaon Aharon
because thirty families did not have the means to Weinstein, a Rosh Yeshiva and author of books on
support a Rabbi who was also a family man. the Halakha, and a second, married to the great
Rabbi, Rav Hillel Witkin, a worker and Headmaster
About twenty years before the First World War, a of the Beth Joseph Yeshiva of Novogrudok. His son
young Rabbi came to this place, and resided there is Rabbi V.M. Magen, Principal of a state-run
permanently until the outbreak of the War, this religious school.
Rabbi, who subsequently became well-known as one
of the Righteous Men of his generation, was far It was in this manner that several decades went by,
removed from worldly experience, from its tumult and the farmers of Kolonia-Sinaiska conducted their
and hubbub. Having found a quiet little retreat lives as if on still waters, raising their children to
where he could study Torah and say his prayers lives of Torah and honest labor. Those who were
among straight and simple people who tilled the scholastically talented – continued to learn, and
soil, who live by the labor of their hands, he was those skilled to work – went into agriculture or other
able to fulfil that which is written: forms of labor. Idlers or shiftless individuals, which
was common to the urban middle class – were not
And h e saw tranquility, that it was to be found. Nonetheless, they worked hard,
pleasant; although their demands from life were not many,
So he put his shoulder to it, that he and they made do with what was given to them, and
might take part of it.
most were content with their lot. After the Russian
pogroms of 1905-6, a noticeable change began in the
He injected the love of Torah and the fear of God
settlement; most of the young people immigrated
into that place, and brought more suitable teachers,
across the ocean, especially to the United States.
and stimulated parents to send there children to
The settlement lost almost all of its young people,
centers of Torah scholarship. And he influenced the
and only the very old and very young remained. The
45
central reason was this: the farmland had already conditions would continue to improve, a new cadre
been subdivided into thirds and quarters of the of young people came of age, with an inclination to
original land holdings of the settlers, and didn’t lend do the work, with the lot of the farmer in those first
itself to further subdivision, in order that it be years after the War coming together rather nicely,
adequate to provide any sort of a livelihood. In without suffering at the hands of their gentile
those days, Jews were forbidden to accumulate land neighbors who had returned to their places, because
assets.[Under these conditions] Young people did at the end of the War, that vale was annexed to [the
not see any future in working the land. An new republic of] Poland, and the village peasantry
additional factor was the wave of immigration, that was Russian, and they were afraid to raise their
swept over the entire Jewish Pale of Settlement like heads. The ruling of a Polish judge was so abhorrent
a powerful tidal wave, which took up many in its to them, that the most virulent invective one man
wake, and among them were the youth of the could hurl at another in the heat of an argument was
settlement. This was a bad turn of events for the : “I hope you have to stand trial before a Polish
settlement, whose results were emotional, and judge!”
immediately recognizable: the gentile neighbors
from the surrounding villages, on seeing the outflux Years of quiet returned to the settlement. They built
of Jewish youth, reverted to their old behavior, and houses much nicer than the ones they had before the
began to permit their herds to graze the Jewish War, the roofs were slated, and even the synagogue
farmland. As it was during the early years, they took was renovated and repaired, and returned to its
advantage of every opportunity to do so. And onc e normal place. However, not many years went by
again, the thought entered their hearts that sooner- before the price of grain plummeted disastrously.
or-later, the Jews would leave, and they would be Even dairy manufacture did not bring in much
able to take over their lands. The spirit of the income, and the economic circumstances of the
farmers weakened under the influence of these farmer deteriorated. When H. Sitkov, the emissary
forces. The force of creativity was undermined, and of the “Farmers Cooperative” in the Holy Land
the farmer, even as he walked in the furrows behind came to Poland in 1924, with the consent of the
the plow, would have the following question Palestine Mandate government, to recruit
constantly burrowing in his mind: “whom am I experienced farmers and their families to come to
working for?” the Holy Land, people sped to him, and enlisted as
eligible for aliyah, and in time, twenty families,
They continued to carry on in this way, without consisting of about 100 souls made the journey.
much expectation for the future, until the outbreak Most of them, as did most [at that time] settled in
of the First World War. The retreating Russian Rishon LeTzion, and a few families went to Petakh-
Army put the town to the torch, setting fire to all Tikvah, and Netanya. All eventually attained a
four corners, and all of it went up in flames, up to its measure of peace and land entitlement. Those left
synagogue. The Jews, who were driven for several behind in Sinaiska, about five or ten families, were
weeks already to an adjacent village, returned and as if orphaned, and they were left forsaken. Smitten
entered a nearby village to take up residence, all the by a loss of spirit, and emotionally pained, they
residents of the village, who were Russian, fled to continued to reside there until the outbreak of the
the interior of Russia for fear of the invading Sec ond World War. The terrifying Holocaust
Germans, and the villages were emptied of their engulfed them. The filthy Nazis razed the
occupants. settlement, and transferred its Jews to the
neighboring town of Dereczin, and threw them with
The Jews took this opportunity to work the the rest of the Jews of that town into a ghetto. And
abandoned fields of the gentiles in addition to their on that bitter and overzealously prosecuted day,
own lands. And in light of the fact that the price of whic h was the Tenth day of the Month Menahem-
grain rose during wartime, buyers were found, and
they were able to earn a significant enough sum of
money, to rehabilitate their property in Kolonia-
Sinaiska after the war ended. And yet, it seemed that
46
Ab54 1942, they were exterminated together with the moistened the furrows of black loam, and whose
Jews of Dereczin. And this is how the end came to prayers called down the rains of heaven on their
the settlement of Sinai, a Jewish agricultural fallow land. Let the sons [of coming generations]
settlement that existed for more than a century. read this chapter, and read about it to their sons and
Everything was destroyed. The land is now worked tel them this tale, and their children to the
by the gentiles of the surrounding area. No trac e generation after them.
remains of the settlement, as if a Jewish foot never
had trod the earth. Of the families that founded the In order to preserve the name and memory of my
settlement, more than twenty families live in Israel, birthplace, I changed my family name from Miller to
and several tens of families are scattered in lands Sinai, and I have raised a marker to my forbears who
overseas, especially the United States. All are walked after the plow, and whose beads of sweat
established, and a number of them have achieved
great wealth. Her sons – among them are those of
high intellectual accomplishment, including talent in
engineering, that are recognized as inventors.
54
This is significant ins o far as it is one
day after the Ninth of Ab – Tish’a
B’Av, which commemorates th e
destruction of both Jewish Temples in
Jerusalem.
47
From the Mouth of My Mother, of Blessed Memory
By Yaffa Prozbol
I am a native of Dereczin, the daughter of Haya-Esther & Yaakov-Raphael Salutsky. To this day, the stories of my
mother, of blessed memory, come to my mind, about our town, and its way of life.
Distinguished rabbis were leaders of the Dereczin Jewish community, and among the lay community there were also
many who studied and learned, among them many who sat and learned days at a time, from one prayer session to the
next in the Bet HaMidrash on the Schulhof. Among these was numbered my grandfather, Abraham ben David, who
would rise in the dead of the night, at about three-thirty AM, go to the synagogue to pray, to learn and to teach a page
of the Gemara and to read for those gathered a chapter from the Mishna. This was the way those in town who studied
would ‘sit on the Torah’ until noon, the hour at which they would go home to eat and rest, in order to return after their
rest to prayer and to the Gemara.
And additionally, my mother who bore me, may she rest in peace, told me about the handshake agreement between my
grandfather and grandmother: grandfather, as I said, spent his entire day learning and teaching, while grandmother took
care of household affairs, occupying herself with the preparation of wine and honey mead, and supervising the work on
the parcel of land that was in the control of the family, raising and supporting the entire family, consisting of her six sons
and single daughter. On the occasion of the marriage of their eldest son, there was much joy, and in honor of this festive
occasion, the two of them, my grandfather and grandmother agreed on a handshake, that half of the benefit earned by
my grandfather (who occupied himself solely with prayer and good deeds), in the World-to-Come, after his allotted One
Hundred Twenty Years, would accrue to my grandmother, who was the provider and took care of household affairs. They
formalized this agreement legally...
It was from my mother that also heard stories and legends about the house of the Duke to which Dereczin belonged. The
duke, who ruled at the beginning of the last century,55 was a good-hearted liberal man, according to my mother, who
heard this from her grandmother, and she from her mother before her, and so it was handed down from generation to
generation. Once, coming through the door of his palace, and spying the decrepit house of the mother of Hasia-Faygel
in the distance, which appeared to him to be “standing on chicken’s feet,” ordered it taken do wn , and a two-story
dwelling put up in its place.
The duke had a son, and in the days of the uprising of Poland against Russia, he was promised dominion over his
liberated possessions, if he will lend his support to the rebellion. The son came to his father, and attempted to persuade
him also to join the rebels against the Czar, but his father refused to take heed of his son’s advice. Legend has it that the
son poisoned his father. After the Polish rebellion was crushed, the son fled into exile, and the Russians confiscated the
assets in the duke’s home, and converted his palaces to royal use.
My mother, of blessed memory, told me, that when I was still a little girl, my father took me in his arms, and brought me
to the market square to see the great miracle that had first come to our town – a horseless carriage. It was said, at the time,
that the driver of the car that he was the grandson of the duke, owner of the palaces, the beautiful orchard, and possessed
of the good heart.
55
This was likely a Sapieha, and the reference is to the early 1800's
48
At the Dawn of the Twentieth Century
49
50
In the Days of Change and Transformation
By Jacob Kobrinsky
Photos: The Levitt Brothers – Sitting Herschel, Standing Berel (p. 72)
As one of the sons of Derec zin who left their villages, and the Catholic ‘townies’ went to their
birthplac e at an early age, I was not close to the homes on the outskirts of town, and the town center
initiatives that motivated that marvelous generation reverted to being an exclusively Jewish quarter. The
which lived there between the two world wars, the Jews then began, for the afternoon and evening
generation that was incinerated, as all the Jews of prayers, to stream toward the spiritual center, the
Poland from that time were, [not close to] its means Schulhof, where three Batei Midrash were clustered,
of sustenance and international values, which paved along with the large, beautiful synagogue, which
the way to the establishment of the State of Israel, was silhouetted against the sky, with its typical roof,
and the rescue of masses of people. It is to our great alongside the old cemetery. What a good feeling and
chagrin that only few, a small number, were so sense of beauty descended on these holy places,
saved, while the majority were left behind in graves. especially during the major holidays, the High
Holydays and Simkhat Torah!
ii
And these days were harbingers of change in the
When I reach into my memory for the Dereczin that lives of the Jews: new ideas, challenging trends,
I recollect, I return back to those early years at the increased anti-Semitism, and the footfall of the
dawn of the twentieth century. The little town is approaching upheaval, slowly but surely began to
nestled among the impressive buildings of the erode the solid signposts in their way of life, one of
golden age of Poland – the large fortress and the which stands out in my memory as most vivid of all.
remaining palaces of the Duke,56 in whic h the This was my grandfather, and mentor, Reb Ze’ev
soldiers and officers of the Czarist Army were Wolf Lev, the Dayan. He sedulously observed the
billeted, along with other officials of the regime. commandments of the Torah and its interpreters
We, the Jews, lived in adequately spaced houses, without any compromise, read only the works of the
built in rows a handbreath on either side of the Sages and learned rabbis, and dismissed as rubbish
market square, and also in flimsy houses that any challenging [external] thinking. On Yom Kippur,
seemed to be constructed without any order or plan he would not leave the synagogue from the time of
on the way down to the river. his arrival for Kol Nidre, until the blessing of the
moon at the nightfall of the observance. During the
On market days, and on the Russian Orthodox holiday night, he would snatch a short nap on his
holidays, the large market square would fill up with bench, and the rest of the time he would recite
the wagons of the farmers from the nearby villages, chapters from the Psalms, and selections from the
until there was no space left. Alongside the wagons, writings of the Kabala. My grandmother supported
and in the adjacent stores, business is being the family with a small store, and when it was
conducted, and we children, are catching snatches of necessary for her to leave it, for some reason, and
the intonation of the strange language being spoken, my grandfather was left to mind the store, he found
that our parents resort to with some difficulty. it extremely difficult to conduct transactions with
Towards the end of the day, the square became non-Jewish people. When he became a widower in
emptied, and the farmers traveled back to their his seventies, he turned over his house and assets to
his heirs, and he himself went up to the Holy Land.
I recall with what pride I sat with my grandfather
56
and parents in the wagon that took us to the railroad
Seemingly, yet another reference to the station in Zelva, and how after us, came a long line
works of the Sapieha family.
51
of wagons and pedestrians – literally the entire congregate at the Bet HaMidrash, and orate about
town came out to wish farewell to my grandfather. their ideas over the objections of the synagogue
Subsequently, he settled in Jerusalem in one of the functionaries. On the Sabbath, and sometimes
Kollel institutions, but he did not live very long during the midweek towards the evening, large
thereafter. groups of the ‘brothers and sisters’ would parade
with red colors, with the songs of revolution on their
My parents, Reb Aryeh-Leib and Rivkah, were lips, to the outskirts of the town behind the
already ‘exposed’ to the new winds [blowing Ma’agilkes (the Christian cemetery). Workers
through] the Jewish world. My mother was one of demanded an increase in pay, and once actually
those women in Dereczin who knew how to read went on strike. Muscular young men would come
and write Hebrew in an open [free] manner. She around and shake down the wealthy for protection
even peeked into the modern literature of the time, money (a ‘self-protection’ organization), they
but she was sharply critical of those writers and distributed labor organizing leaflets, brought outside
authors who wrote about non-traditional subjects, union people from the big cities, marched with red
and were derisive about the faith. She was the one flags, and of course, there were run-ins with the
that townspeople turned to, when they needed constabulary. A part of the bourgeoisie, and most of
enveloped to be addressed that were sent to the the common people sympathized, even warmly with
United States – in those days, knowledge of the these young people, but even so, they could not
Roman alphabet was a rarity in Dereczin. forgive them “because they say there is no God.”
My father practically instigated a ‘revolution’ when Not many days went by, and this upheaval was
he decided to enroll me in the ‘Revisionist Heder’ suppressed, and all of its external trappings
established by the teacher, Abraham Izaakovitz disappeared. But the way of life in Dereczin,
(who came from Mikhoysk), who attempted to teach especially of the young generation underwent a
reading and writing using the method of Ivrit- transformation, a daily Yiddish newspaper became
B’Ivrit,57 using the textbook, Eden HaYeladim.58 compulsory in each and every home. Emigration
My father, and his friend Eliyahu Abramovich, the surged upward. Many young men left, not to go to
tavern keeper, nurtured the seed of the Maskilim59 the Yeshivas, but to secular schools, or to learn a
and subscribed to the Hebew newspaper (HaTzefira, trade. And a new custom arose: unions that were not
which later became Zman - the Times), and read the arranged by a matchmaker, but rather ‘out of love.’
creations of our authors and poets. In secret, the ‘self-protection’ organization began to
operate again.
However, sharp and fundamental change c ame to
our town on the wave of the Russian upheavals of The younger generation in Dereczin became driven
the years 1904-5. It was as if the entire town was by the challenges of the times, and was hurled
drugged. Young men and women, from all walks of headlong into them with the outbreak of the First
life, mostly from the ‘Badgessel,60’would World War.
In those days, when I was on the threshold of

57
Th is is the pedagogic technique of maturity, having gone through growing pains of
teach ing a language by using the investigating what was over my head, faith and its
language itself in the instruction, abandonment, the secrets of nature and the human
literally, ‘Hebrew with Hebrew.’ soul, the ways of the world both Jewish and gentile,
etc . – I loved carrying on extended conversations
58
Literally, the Eden of the Children. with two of my friends who were inspiring – and yet
both of them had ideas that were at extremes from
59
Disciples of the Haskalah
60
The meaning is not completely clear:
the word suggests the ‘little’ s treet inference may be from ‘the other side
where the bath house was located. The of the tracks.’
52
one another. Menahem Mansky went to Moscow, where because
of his good skills, immediately obtained a
One was Menahem Mansky, a man of revolutionary distinguished position with the Soviet newspaper
ideas, opposed to religion, and who saw the future establishment. During the 1930's we lost all contact
of the community and its fortune dependent on the with him, and according to what we heard he fell
harnessing of the forces of nature, and who saw the victim to the [Stalinist] purges. And David Alper,
ultimate salvation of the Jewish people through the true to his creed, became one of our better teachers
establishment of a society based on equality and in Poland during the years between the two world
justice. The second, was David Alper, a man wars, and as the headmaster of the Hebrew
possessed of a profoundly intense sense of Judaism, Gymnasium in Pinsk, he was responsible for
rooted in the notion of being one of the ‘Chosen inculcating a love of the Jewish people into many
People.” A believer in the eternal existence of the students, and to encourage them to make and
Jewish people without hesitation or doubt, who consummate aliyah. Most of his students [in fact]
yearned for the realization of the Zionist ideal. He did make aliyah, and he, himself was planning to do
was not well-read in books having to do with the so himself, except that the Tormenter61 may his
debate of ideas, or natural phenomena, and in name be for erased, got to him first. The master
contrast to this, he literally ingested volumes of educator fell at his post.
philosophy of the Jewish philosophers, and those of
other nations, and was aroused especially by the 61. A euphemism for the Nazis.
new Jewish poetry which appeared at that time
already in its greatest glory.
A Torah Scroll
By Fanny Boyerman-Feder
Photos: Copy of a letter f rom R’ Gavriel to R’ Simkha-Isser in America, requesting him to remit
funds speedily to his wife to cover the cost of writing the Torah scroll. (P. 74)
Rabbi Plotkin (p. 75)
This story took place in the year 1907 or 1908 when expired. My father takes an interest in the deceased
Rabbi Leib Luner passed away in Dereczin, and pauper’s family, sends for his widow, and assumes
there were no funds to provide a proper headstone responsibility for arranging the funeral. We host the
for his grave. poor widow for a couple of weeks, and send her
home with a few rubles. Needless to day, this poor
My father, Simkha-Isser, may he rest in peace, went woman does not have the means with which to fund
out across the entire town, and went door-to door, a headstone, so my father, once again, made the
once, and then again, until he was able to rounds around town, and gathered money from the
accumulate a specific [sic: the necessary] amount of balebatim for this purpose.
money. [From this] it would be possible to place a
beautiful headstone for the deceased rabbi, and a In assembling these funds, my father computed that,
small amount of money remained afterwards from after providing a headstone for the grave of this
the funds raised by my father. deceased poor man, a tidy sum of money would be
left over. [From this} he conceive the notion that
As it happened, at that time, a pauper came from a with this remaining money, together with an
faraway place to solicit alms, and he fell sick in additional sum he would contribute from his own
Derec zin, laid for a short while in a sickbed, and poc ket, that he would commission the writing of a
53
Torah scroll. break.
So, he went off to Yudel the Scribe, and took Our father counted himself as the happiest man in
counsel with him. The idea inspired Yudel, and the the world, and our mother radiated with joy, and she
two of them applied themselves to the endeavor. was exceedingly proud of her husband’s
accomplishment.
Yudel the Scribe ordered the best quality parchment
from Warsaw, and it took a while until the Torah Shortly thereafter, our father departed for America.
scroll was completed. He arrived there during the time of a severe
ec onomic crisis, when many people were
And when the Torah scroll was completed, my unemployed. He worked extremely hard, under
mother, Hindeh, may she rest in peace, baked and bitter conditions, and yet from his meager wages, he
cooked for three days and three nights, to prepare was able to send back money to Derec zin to help
the repast for the Feast of Completing the Scroll. build a new ritual bath. At that time, he [also]
Flyers were sent to the surrounding towns, and brought me to live with him in America.
many rabbis came for this great [festive]
celebration. He yearns, however, to return to his roots. After
spending a couple of years in America, he returns to
Our father felt himself to be the principal host for Dereczin, and I stay in America. To me, he said, that
the entire celebration. he is going back home, where Shabbos is Shabbos,
and Yuntiff is Yuntiff, and Jews can live as Jews.
After the feast and all the formalities, the question When he arrived back in Dereczin, my mother wrote
was posed as where the Torah scroll should be to tell me that all the Jews came to greet him. In
domiciled. It was decided to do this by lottery, and those days, it was not a trivial thing to survive such
the lots cast were in favor of der Alter Mauer a long voyage from America to Dereczin.
[synagogue], which was the plac e where the town
rabbi made prayers. My father, indeed, brought back some dollars with
him to Dereczin, but could not find an occupational
This caused yet another occ asion for celebration in outlet for himself. After another bit of time back in
the town. Can you imagine: a brand new Sefer his hometown, my father dec ided to go once again
Torah is to be installed in a synagogue – no small to America. With him, he takes my two younger
thing! We grab a bite, and the brand new Torah is sisters and a brother, and leaves my mother and two
carried under a canopy from our house on the Neuer younger brothers in Dereczin. He agrees with
Gasse, to the Schulhof, with care not to go past the mother prior to his departure, that as soon as he can
church. The young folk got a pail of kerosene from find suitable housing for the entire family, and get
Sholom Pinoyer, and soaked rags in it, and carried himself established and organized, he will send back
torches [lit from this]. In all the houses that we ship tickets for her and the two brothers.
passed during this parade, there were lamps lit in all
of the windows. The Torah scroll is escorted with However, at the time that father arrives in America,
song on the lips of the entire company, and all the with three young children, the First World War
faces are shining with joy. breaks out. This was in 1914. Contact between
America and the ‘old country’ was broken. A couple
When the procession drew near the Schulhof , the of years later, America also is drawn into the world
Jews brought out all of the Torah scrolls from each war.
and every house of worship, and came towards us in
a welcoming procession for the new Torah. The During the war years, father was unable to discharge
community celebration lasted well into the night, his plan concerning those whom he left in God’s
and by the time the new Torah scroll was deposited care, my mother, who was ill, with two small
in the ark of the Old Synagogue, and the company children. Meanwhile, the Russian Revolution breaks
dispersed to their homes, dawn was beginning to out, the sovereignty in that part of the world changes
54
periodically, and we get no news at all from Rabbi Plotkin replies: “ I know, Reb Simkha-Isser,
Dereczin. that you are an observant Jew, and I [also] know
how much time, work, energy and money was
Finally, when the war ended in 1918, we received a expended until this Torah scroll was completed...”
letter from Derec zin, with the sad news that our
mother had died, along with one of the two younger And, it was in this manner, that the conversation
brothers. Meir, may he rest in peace, died at the age between my father and Rabbi Plotkin ensued for
of 13 in a typhus epidemic. Our youngest brother, several hours, during which time the Rabbi related
Kadish, remained alone in Dereczin. to my father what his plans were for his American
trip, and he also solicited a variety of suggestions
At the same time, a letter comes from Rabbi Plotkin, from my father. As the hour was growing late, my
with a request to help find the Rabbi’s relatives in father arranged with the Rabbi that in a few days,
the United States, who originally were from Minsk. the second day of Hol HaMoed of Passover, a
It was not the easiest thing in the world to track Tuesday, the Rabbi would be a guest for dinner at
down the rabbi’s relatives. Our father attended our home.
several meetings of the Minsk Society, and in the
end this finally led to him finding a cousin of the Rabbi Plotkin then wished us a Happy and Kosher
rabbi, who was a ritual slaughterer - a shokhet. In Passover, and I left with my father to go home. On
1920, when Rabbi Plotkin visited the United States, the way home, we decided to invite several other
he was indeed able to meet with his kin. Jewish relatives and acquaintances to dinner with
the rabbi.
When Rabbi Plotkin arrived in America, he first
sent for my father. I accompanied my father to this To our greatest sorrow, Rabbi Plotkin came to our
meeting. It was three days before Passover. home, not on Tuesday, but on Monday, the first day
of Hol HaMoed.. And he came, not to a festive
Rabbi Plotkin embraced my father like a long-lost holiday dinner, but for the funeral of my father. My
brother. The hosts receive us with great respect, and father died suddenly on the second day of Passover.
father begins to inquire about his youngest child in
Dereczin, about the family in general, and about I do not remember who brought the Torah scroll to
everything and everyone. our house – father, or Rabbi Plotkin. I do recall,
however, that during the days when we sat Shiva,
The Rabbi says: “Reb Simkha-Isser, relax, sit down, the Torah scroll was used for reading.
and I’ll tell you everything, whether it is about your
son, or about Dereczin. Thank God that we are able When we left home for work, I was so afraid of
to see each other again in good health. But before either a fire or theft, that I asked our relative,
anything else, Reb Simkha-Isser, I want to tell you Zalman Friedman, that he should take the Torah
that I have brought you a gift...” scroll to his place, and turn it over to our landsleit
from Dereczin.
My father is astonished: “A gift for me? From
Dereczin? Rebbe, I need to give you a gift for There were those among our landsleit who proposed
Dereczin, not you to give one to me...” that the Torah scroll be sold (it would have fetched
about a thousand dollars at that time) and that the
“Reb Simkha-Isser, I have brought you a gift,” the proceeds be sent to Dereczin to provide for the
Rabbi reiterates, in a quiet but firm tone, “ I have for needy Jews there. However, the majority of the
you the Torah scroll which you commissioned to be Derecziners were opposed to this proposal. It was
written in Dereczin!” decided to establish a Dereczin Landsmanschaft
Synagogue, and this Torah scroll, which was
At this point, my father lodged a complaint: “See commissioned by my father to be written in
here, Rabbi, you removed a Sefer Torah from such Dereczin, was taken into this synagogue.
a sanctified location, from our old Bet HaMidrash,
and you brought it here, to a treyf country?! This synagogue was situated in Brownsville, a
55
neighborhood of [Brooklyn] New York City, which
at the time was largely inhabited by Jews.
A short time back, I became interested in

determining the fate of this Torah scroll, and the
Dereczin Synagogue. All these years, I live far away
from Brownsville. To my sadness, I discovered that
the synagogue had not existed for many years
already, the neighborhood had completely turned
over, and most of the Jews from their had moved to
other neighborhoods in New York. I did not find the
Torah scroll, and I do not know where it is. I hope
however, that I will have the opportunity to continue
to search for it.
Rabbis, Scholars and Teachers

By Malka Alper
Photos: The Melamed, R’ Yosheh Abelovich (p.77 Top)

R’ Meir Yanovsky (‘Meir der Melamed’) (p.77, Bottom)
The Teacher, Leib Abelovich (p. 78, Top)
Y. Pintzov, Teacher of Russian Language (p. 78, Bottom)
When I cast a glance at Dereczin from the of the Hevra M’Fitzei Haskalah,63 before the First
perspective of many decades later, I can confidently World War, they began to teach arithmetic there
say that my town stood – without exaggeration – on also to the children.
a very respectable cultural level, even by today’s
standards: all children of school age were enrolled In the first decade of the twentieth century, the
in study at a Heder, or in Talmud Torah, or under Haskalah movement, with the concept of promoting
the tutelage of a rabbi. And Dereczin was blessed the study of Russian language and other general
with good rabbis and scholars. education in middle-level schools, began to do so as
well in my town of Dereczin. The instruction of
The scholars that I remember were: Reb Meir children in Russian was begun, preparing them for
Yanovsky (Meir der Melamed)62, Reb Alter (Alter gymnasiums, taking advantage of every opportunity
Deikhess), Hirschel der Lehrer, Reb Leib Abelovich, to utilize the skills of qualified or trained teac hers,
who later emigrated to America, Abraham such as the pharmacist, and Mordechai-Yankel
Izaakovich (der Mikhoisker), Reb Leib Kobrinsky Lansky (the father of the well-known Hebrew poet,
(Leibeh Meite’s), and others, whom I can no longer Chaim Lansky, who perished in Siberia), and
recall. Pintzov, and Motkeh Izaakovich, and others. More
and more spheres of skills were encompassed and
When the Talmud Torah came under the oversight harnessed through the spread of general education.
Young people champed at the bit, to leave the town,
and Pale of Settlement, which was far from the
railroad, even without a spur to the train station, to
63
The Organization for Dissemination of
62
Spelled Yanofsky in the USA. Father of the ‘Enlightenment,’ a progressive
Sarah Slotnick; originally from Zelva. movement.
56
break out into the larger world. The long and the processes, into the life and learning of the young
short of it was – one wanted to be “a person, people.
alongside other people, on an equal basis.”
Indeed, the debate surrounding the Hebrew-Yiddish
The religious balebatim did not want to, and could issue took on a concrete form, when a Culture Club
not reconcile themselves, to permitting Russian to (Kulturverein) was founded, at the initiative of
be the language of instruction for the children. What Bundists, and a library for Russian and Yiddish
is to happen to Yiddishkeit? A page of the Gemara? books was opened. The pro-Hebrew faction, who
Reb Velvel Meite’s the Talmud teacher, in his older also joined as supporters of the Club, demanded that
years, after his wife passed away, went to the Holy a section be set aside in the library for Hebrew
Land; the Talmud teacher from out-of-town, hired books as well, in order that [the library] be given a
by several of the balebatim to come to Dereczin to truly general nationalist character. After some
teach the Talmud to their children, found it heated discussions, debates, and lobbying, they
necessary to return home after a couple of years. were able to carry out their agenda in large measure,
Can this be? No Gemara? and a section for Hebrew books was created for the
library.
In this instance, it was Rabbi Plotkin who came to
the aid of the balebatim. He organized the parents, Those who were caught in the yeshiva reading a
and arranged to send the young boys to study at the treyf-possul64 pamphlet, such as the poems of Bialik,
Yeshiva of Szczuczyn. He, the rabbi, took or other authors, or books by the new Hebrew
responsibility to escort the boys there to the writers, were forced to leave the yeshiva. Fairly
Yeshiva. As he said, so did he do. To the best of my advanced yeshiva students, already c lose to
recollection, this group [of boys] consisted of: the ordination, used to wander between the smaller
Rabbi’s son, Moishk eh Plotkin, Shmuel yeshivas, looking for an opportunity to complete
Shepshelevich, Shmuel Abelovich, Dav id Alper, their studies and reach their objective.
David-Zelig Epstein, and his brother, Berel, Joseph
Dyk hovsky, Berel Sakar, and several others. The Der ‘Mikhoisker’ and His Progressive Heder
rabbi accompanied them, arranged for where they
would be given their ‘days’ of food, and lodging – I will tell of one of the exponents of Hebrew and
in a word, he erected a wall as a barrier against secular education in Dereczin – about Reb Abraham
assimilation. Izaakovich, who is remembered as der Mikhoisker.
In those years, in the beginning of the twentieth When I c ame to his Heder, at the age of seven, he
c entury, the yeshivas were already not so had already educated a couple of generation of
hermetically sealed off from the influences of the students, among them were such that were already
Haskalah, especially not opposed to the influence of studying medic ine at the university, or pedagogy at
Hebrew language. The young men began to look Steinberg’s Teachers’ Seminary in Vilna.
into the pages of the new Hebrew books of prose
and poetry, which they would conceal inside the His progressive Heder was very well received in
folios of their Talmud volumes. When they came Dereczin. There were two sessions taught: until
home for the holidays, at the end of a school period, noon, Pentateuch, Prophets, Hebrew and Prayers
one would hear them singing songs written by Bialik (davening). In the afternoon – reading and writing
or Tchernikhovsky, carry on literary discussions, or Russian, penmanship, and arithmetic (the afternoon
general themes of public interest, such as Zionism, sessions were conducted in Russian). Both boys and
the Bund, Hebrew, Yiddish, etc. girls received instruction in his progressive
It was in this way that the modern Yeshiva students

64
sought a synthesis between the Gemara and the new Impossible to translate the sense of
national imperatives, in order to inject a little loathing that comes with the notion of
b eing ritually unfit for h uman
modernity into the Jewish-national thought
consumption!
57
classroom, in which they sat as equals but in two His memory and his pedagogic and scholarly
separate groups. accomplishments are woven into the history of
Dereczin, quite apart from his skillful leadership in
His classroom was to be found in his own small school education from the end of the nineteenth
house, which stood off to a side on the Neuer century until the end of the first quarter of the
Gessel. The house was divided into two parts, and a present [sic: twentieth] century.
large dark foyer separated his private quarters from
the Heder. The windows of the small house were set
close to the ground, and in the winter, during the
great snowstorms, they became obscured by the
snow, and it was necessary to learn by the light of
kerosene lamps which hung from the rafters.
Reb Abraham Izaakovich was an intellec tually

accomplished Jew. Apart from Jewish reference
material, he was knowledgeable in Russian (his
children were education by the Russian method – in
high schools), and German. He made use of a
Tanach with Mendelson’s commentary. Often, his
discourse on the Tanach, peppered with German
phrases, was unintelligible, almost as bad as the
source material itself.
His classroom took on a much improved appearance

when he built himself a new house, a wooden
construction, with nice windows and well-lit rooms.
Reb Abraham went through many changes of

situation as a teacher: he ran the progressive Heder
until the First World War, then there was a period
during which he was unemployed during the
German occupation; later, [he was] a teacher of
Jewish religion and German language in the German
school, which the occupation forces established; and
at the beginning of the 1920's he taught Hebrew
(Ivrit B’Ivrit) in the middle classes of the Tarbut
School for a number of years – until is children
brought him to Russia, where he was not
comfortable.
Our Town at the Beginning of the [Twentieth] Century

By Naftali Ben-Dov (Dykhovsky)
Translation by: Miriam Kreiter
On restless nights, as I lay tossing on my bed, the pain and grief over the destruction of Dereczin.
image of our town appears in my mind as I
remember it from sixty years ago. These Our town was small and impoverished. There were
recollections are always accompanied by feelings of no paved roads, and no railroad passed through it. In
58
order to get to Slonim, the seat of the district, we There were two coachmen who served this
traveled for an entire night in the well-known wagon ‘Dereczin - Zelva Line.’ I remember their frequent
of Sholom Hirsch, of blessed memory, the only quarreling very well.
coachman on the ‘Slonim-Dereczin Line,’ seemingly
having a franchise for that line. Most of the travelers The only hotel in town, an inn for transient people,
were tradesmen who had business contacts in was the hotel of Beckenstein, in his home, a building
Slonim, and occasionally people who had business of two stories in the center of town.
to attend to at the regional government offices.
Because of this, a hidden envy lay deep in the hearts
Derec zin’s contact with the outside world was of Dereczin residents relative to their more affluent
through the railroad in Zelva, a distance of two neighbors in Zelva, but they understood that their
hours by [horse-drawn] wagon. And those who were town, Dereczin surpassed Zelva in its spiritual
fortunate, got to Zelva, which was endowed with a qualities. Beginning with the great rabbis who
railhead that led to all the cities of Russia and the served the community of Dereczin, up to the time of
outside world. our national liberation, Dereczin was known as a
seat for learning, study and reflection. Its Jews were
Every day at noon, a wagon drawn by two horses blessed with lively thought, a yearning for
would bring us the mail. At 3:00PM, the mail would scholarship, and Zionist activities.
leave for the train.
We find testimony to all this here in Israel and in the
Diaspora, among the remnant of Dereczin residents,
who are doing everything they can, to perpetuate the
glory of the little community of Dereczin, destroyed
and annihilated during the Second World War.
Haskalah, the Bund, Self-Defense

By Chaim Rabinovich
The old, traditional way of life continued without such as ÁîñõËä,65 and ÅâðÁéñêàÿ Óâîçåðíÿ. 66 We
being threatened until the beginning of the twentieth would study together with him in Chevra Shas, and
century. On the threshold of the new century, the he would, from time-to-time discuss worldly and
new winds of the Haskalah blasted through even our scientific matters with us; He also permitted us to
little town, and with them came – the rise of new, read selected pamphlets of his.
revolutionary movements.
It didn’t take long, and a number of our small-town,
The Thirst for Knowledge more sheltered young folk (please understand, with
a Talmudic education and religious inculcation)
In those years, there suddenly appeared among the began to see in front of them a new world with
freshly arrived students in our Batei Midrashim, also entirely different horizons. A little at a time, they
those sort of young boys, who would conceal under began to look beyond, and free themselves of the
their Talmud volumes and on their learning stands, atmosphere of the Bet HaMidrash, and quite
all manner of treyf-possul books. I remember one frequently began to strive towards a more
such student, who was a relative of Reb Leib Luner, cosmopolitan education. A portion of them went off
an outstanding scholar, who brought to Dereczin all
manner of Hebrew books and Russian periodicals,
65
Voskhod, a periodical. Means ‘ascent.’
66
A Jewish Periodical, Yevereiskaya
Ovozernya, or Hebrew Courier.
59
to our district seat in Slonim, and began to study lectures on all subjects to the newly arrived
there in existing [more] worldly schools, such as the knowledge-thirsty students, for a small fee, and
ÅâðÁéñêàÿ Ó÷Åëèùå, and the Ãîðîäñ êàÿ often free of charge.
Ó÷Åëèùå.67
Large, famous libraries, where stacks and reading
Young people who lacked the material means to go tables stood at the disposition of those willing to
and study out of town, began to dig in for learn, who wanted to c ontinuously absorb the
themselves into the books of the Haskalah. A little Russian language, and other languages, and read,
at a time, they began to distance themselves from literally swallow, the books written by the best that
the Gemara, and began to learn Russian, Hebrew, were available. Especially, they interested
and a variety of intellectual disciplines from which themselves with disciplines which to this point they
they had heretofore been distant. had not been introduced, such as, science,
anthropology, cultural knowledge, general history,
A few of the Dereczin youth decided to go to the etc.
major Jewish cultural center, to the “Jerusalem of
Lithuania,” – Vilna. That place [was a magnet] that The larger portion of the Jewish youth in Vilna was,
drew many hundreds of Jewish young people from in those years, already involved in the general
the cities and towns of the Pale. Russian revolutionary movement and in Jewish
socialist circles.
It was in this manner that the following went away
from Dereczin to Vilna in those years: Pesach It is no wonder, that these Jewish young folk:
Dworetzky, Ezer Weinstein, Katriel Gelman, David
Poupko, Leibeh Abelovich, Aaron Rabinovich, and which always saw in front of its eyes the
the writer of these lines. terrifying tragedy and chronic martyrdom of
the Jewish people, the life without civil
Naturally, for parental consumption, this meant that rights of the Jewish masses in despotic
one was going to Vilna for the purpose of Czarist Russia,
continuing Torah and Gemara studies with the
famous scholars to be found there. In reality, as soon these Jewish young folk:
as these young men, who for the first time in their
lives, and in the lives of Dereczin youth in general, who, with smoldering anger and clenched
were exposed to a large, tumultuous city, with a fists, heard the news of the pogrom of
populous young intelligentsia, they were drawn into Kishinev, and the hounding of Jews and
spheres and circles where they immediately became excesses against them in other cities in vast,
infused with new ideas and pursuits. dark Russia,
Haskalah & Revolution these young folk:
It was in this manner, that these former small-town, raised in their hometowns on Torah
provincial young people, threw themselves with conc epts, such as ‘love thy neighbor as
their entire enthusiasm and energy into the world of thyself,’ and the vision of the prophet Isaiah
Haskalah and general education. There were no of the ‘end of days,’ –
shortage of teachers in Vilna – Instructors from the
Jewish-Russian Teachers-Institute, and students That these Jewish young folk seized upon the ideals
from the university, would provide lessons, and of socialism, of freedom, equality, and brotherhood.
They saw, in their youthful fevered dreams, the
immediate coming, in the near future, that New
67
World with its New Order, in which slaves and
Y e v reysk a ya & Go ro d sk a y a oppressed nations will be liberated from their chains
Uchilishcha: Jewish and Municipal
and their poverty. For this Jewish youth, socialism
Academy.
60
was the new Messiah, a modern one, real, and for immediately joined up, and began our fomenting of
which it would not be necessary to wait so long. agitation.
The First Bundists As their first objective, the Bundists saw the need to
organize an economic strike against the 12-hour
A specific circumstance arose in that the small circle workday and the attendant low wages. The older
of Dereczin youth happened to land in a workers, who did the “dirty” work in the factory,
neighborhood where there was a c ertain active cell worked 14 to 15 hours a day, and earned 3 rubles a
of Bundists. {The Bundists] immediately began to week. Even the older, more observant people were
nourish our young folk on Bundist literature, and by intrigued by the new “revelations,” namely, that it
applying its entire energy, normally focused on is possible to improve ones working conditions
agitation, it so influenced the thinking of these through a strike, and thereby better both one’s
former yeshiva students, that it didn’t take very long salary, and lot in life. It didn’t take long, and the
before they were spending their time studying this younger workers, together with some of the older
‘new Torah.’ ones of poorer circumstance, gladly seized upon
these new ideas, which promised to better their
The new [sic: Bundist] “Rebbe,” was extraordinarily bitter condition, and in the process bring a New
pleased with his pupils, who had honed their Order with a paradise for the working class. A
intellectual skills through study of the Talmud, and temporary organizing committee of the factory
[therefore] quickly absorbed the new disciplines of workers was created, of which I remember the
political economics, and other socialist knowledge, following persons [who were members]: Moshe-
and philosophical teachings. Our Bundist neighbor Yaakov Abramovich, Leibkeh Shalkovich, The
provided a variety of lecturers to our circle. These Jezernitzky brothers from Ruzhany, Nahum
Dereczin inspired young people saw before them a Blizniansky, one Motkeh, a worker from out-of-
new world, with entirely new and unlimited town, and another couple of younger workers, such
prospects. A little at a time, they distanced as the daughter of the blind musician, the children of
themselves from their studies of the Gemara, and Shlomo the water-carrier, Moshe Grachuk, Arkeh
from their one-time plans and dreams. They agreed (Aharon) the synagogue crier’s son, Berel, the
to bring back to Dereczin, the ideas of the new, hatmaker’s son, Temkeh Brick er – Elieh Paretz’s
socialist Messiah. son, etc.
After having spent a year in Vilna, we traveled A strike broke out in the fac tory, and after a sharp
home for the holidays, with our travel cases full of conflict, almost all of the demands were met: the
illegal revolutionary literature. workday was shortened, and the pay scale was
raised. The 70 year-old “dirty” workers now had
The first act, on the part of these newly-minted more time to go to the Bet HaMidrash and recite a
socialists, was to tear down the wall between the chapter from the Psalms, and a couple of more
young people from the family of the balebatim, and rubles on which to live; the young workers got a
the young people from the families of the working bigger pay raise, and more free time to attend illegal
class and those of the poor. They started to pal assemblies and to read illegal literature.
around with the embittered working class young
people. They did this, having cloaked themselves in Meetings in the Forest
the Marxist truth, that these productive laborers
were in reality the true role models, and not the The period of summer vacation was utilized by the
balebatim. returnees from Vilna to foment agitation. They
found clandestine quarters, far behind the barracks,
In Dereczin, the majority of young working people which was rented from a certain Christian butcher
were employed in the big factory of the partners, for six rubles a month. For this sum, her was also
Bialystosky-Goldenberg. Among them were obliged to stand watch in the street for the entire
c ircumspect, yet savvy workers, with whom we time that the secret meetings took place, to look for
61
any strangers who might accidentally chance upon In the course of a couple of years, a library was
the location. created in our small town of Dereczin, which housed
over a thousand books in the Yiddish language, and
At these meetings, the first session was devoted to also a certain number of Russian books, for the few
lectures about the meaning of socialism. Excerpts Christians and those townsfolk who were drawn to
were also read from Philip Krantz’s Kultur- the Bundist circles. In order to promote general
Geschichte, and Bogdanov’s Political Economics, socialist objects, it was necessary to maintain
which had already been translated into Yiddish. contact with the town, and train people who would
be able to act as membership recruiters, a
Apart from these sessions, on every Saturday circumstance that was to prove quite useful later.
afternoon, the various Bund supporters were called Among the comrades, were two talented non-Jewish
from their homes by means of [pre-arranged] signals shoemakers, Juzik and Stepan, who taught
and code words. One at a time, they would go off to themselves to read and speak Yiddish.
the Visoka-Gur Forest which was about 3km from
town. There, larger meetings and discussion I am reminded of an interesting episode, that took
[groups] took place, which continued until nightfall place in those years, involving those two Christian
came. Then one would silently part from one shoemakers. One night, a couple of professional
another, and quietly return to our respective homes. thieves in Dereczin broke into their shoemaker’s
People at the fringe [of this activity] were unaware shop and proceeded to rob them of all their
of these clandestine gatherings for quite some time. possessions. The Bund organization reacted swiftly
and sharply. Saturday afternoon, when the thieves
The conspiracy was a strict one. A newly proposed appeared in the Ager-Sod park, at a pre-arranged
member underwent and extensive investigation, and signal, they were surrounded by a group of young
was observed for a significant amount of time, people armed with revolvers. The thieves were
before the committee designated him as a full- soundly thrashed, and compelled to return their loot.
fledged member. Special men and women took care At an order from the Bund, they were driven out of
of orienting and assuring the adherence of new town for a long time.
recruits to the tenets of the group, and controlling
them. After the decision to admit a new prospect, Intense Conspiracy
that individual was sworn in with a oath to be
intensely conspiratorial, committed and decent, also The Bund organization developed systematically,
in their personal conduct and demeanor. and in time numbered over one hundred comrades.
Drunkenness, card-playing – this was strongly The number of readers, and volumes available, also
prohibited to the membership. grew at the library. The local committee stayed in
continuous contact with the founding group, which
The general ‘Vilna Group’ used to return to Vilna was studying in Vilna and Bialystock. A clandestine
after the holidays, in order to continue their studies correspondence was carried out between Dereczin
and to complete their development in socialist spirit. and the afformentioned two cities. The messages
During all this time, they maintained a clandestine were sent, that is to say, from one private person to
contact with their comrades who remained back a second individual, since friends were in the habit
home in town, sending them periodically, by all for sending each other letters regarding personal
sorts of means, secret illegal literature and matters, but between the lines, it was usual to write
proclamations. From the center in Vilna, various about organizational issues, utilizing a goose feather
reference materials were also sent to the clandestine dipped in lemon juice. The secret writing became
meetings in the forest. The larger part of this entire legible only when the letter was held up to a
effort was aimed at raising the spiritual and cultural kerosene lamp. For reasons of security, in order that
level of the masses that had been oppressed for ages, the confidential deliberations of the organization not
and to rectify their condition with respect to their fall into the hands of the Czarist police, we would
human rights. constantly be looking for all manner of alternatives
[to communicate]. So it was, that we, the
62
intelligentsia, became compelled to give lectures, Czarist regime became intensified. The black-mood,
and to read from illegal publications, to gatherings intransigent rulers decided to drown this revolution
of young workers. The gatherings used to assemble in rivers of Jewish blood, and they began to
in upper stories of buildings, always in the evening organize an array of terrifying pogroms in various
hours. In order to disguise the true purpose of the sections of the country, pointing to the Jews, and
meeting, one male and female member were accusing them of being those principally responsible
outfitted as a bride and groom, with bottles of for the revolutionary movement.
whiskey on the table along with food. In the event of
a surprise visit from the police, the pamphlets were The socialist parties on the Jewish side, among them
immediately stuffed out of sight, and the assembled the Bund, decided to establish self-defense groups
young people began to “carry on the Simkha,” in all of the cities and towns of the Jewish Pale,
whether it was an engagement or a wedding. You which were known by the familiar Russian name,
should understand that we would always honor the ÑàìîîâîðËíî (Samo-Oronova). A group of this
visiting police with a couple of drinks, and with sort, and quite a strong one, was founded by the
that, get rid of them. Bund in Dereczin. From various sourc es, it was
possible to assemble through purchased, about forty
It is necessary to remember, that in those years, all revolvers and about a hundred metal nagaikas.68
the party members were pure idealists, and no
ambitious plans were either thought of, or made, by It is worthwhile and interesting to tell how the
the rank and file membership. The one career that money was come by, in order to purchase the
awaited every one of them was – exile to Siberia. necessary arms for the Dereczin self-defense group.
Because of the intensity of their conspiracy, The other factions, such as the anarchists and
members were carefully chosen, and well- revolutionary socialists, used to carry out various
controlled, and it was seldom that there was an expropriations, [even] attac king governmental
instance of betrayal, or being turned over to the financial institutions, and even private wealthy
authorities. Soc ialism at that time, was accepted as people, in order to generate the funding for their
an ethic ally pure ideal, that demanded loyalty and undertakings. The Bund, as is well-known, was in
decency from its adherents. Nobody in those years principle opposed to expropriation, and only seldom
could imagine, that in the end, these ideals would be engaged in assaulting government financial
crippled by a socialist leadership in socialist institutions.
country, and to debase the worth of an individual
human being, and inaugurate such terrifying deeds And so it came to pass, that once in 1904, it was
against those who offered their lives for [the agreed with the Slonim chapter of the Bund, to carry
advancement of] socialism in Russia. out an assault on the Dereczin government post
office. From time to time, large sums of money
This is how the endeavor proceeded for a number of would be kept in the safe there, amounts even up to
years. The original founders, who would return at 100 thousand rubles. The postmaster was at that
least annually from Vilna or Bialystoc k to visit their time a Russian from Kiev, by the name of Batrokov,
parents, continuously managed the intellectual work, a virulent anti-Semite, and also understand, a big-
and occupied themselves with developing the time card player, a drunkard, and always short of
knowledge and awareness of the working masses. money.69 The organization, for its purpose, located
During those years, they were the ones responsible
for maintaining the revolutionary spirit among the
circles of the poor, downtrodden and oppressed. 68
A riding crop, or nightstick, favored by
Cossack Hetmen as a swagger stick.
Revolution and Self-Defense
69
In other words, a shayner mensch mit
In the years of 1904 and 1905, the general alle myless. Und oubtedly, had the
revolutionary movement in greater Russia grew Sapiehas en dowed Dereczin with a
racetrack, he would have also been
stronger, and from the other side, the reaction of the
remembered for playing the ponies.
63
a Jew who was well-known to the postmaster. This these auctions. As is usually the case in such
Jew approached the postmaster c onfidentially, and auctions, the merchants would enter in competition,
made a deal with him, to assemble a large amount of and bid each other up by large sums of money. The
c ash in the post office safe by a specific date, and Dereczin and Slonim Bund chapters agreed to
then allow himself to be held up in the middle of the propose an ingenious ploy: before the auctions,
night, when the robbers will tie him up, gag him, representatives of both organizations made their
etc., understand that according to this plan, he way to the merchants with the following proposal,
would be cut in for a significant part of the take. To that they should designate specific forest parcels,70
carry out this planned expropriation, several beefy on which no competitive bidding would take place,
Bundists were selected, who would have to put on but rather, one designated merchant would buy it in
military uniforms, and attack the post office at his name at a reduced price. Then after the [regular]
about 2:00AM, in the [dead of] night. Two ‘hit auction, open bidding would be conducted privately
men’ came from the Slonim Bund chapter especially for these ‘designated parc els,’ and the profit from
to help carry out this escapade – a certain Luria, and that [private] auction would go towards the needs of
with him, Shmuel Izaakovich, known to us from the Bundist self-defense group. Naturally, the
Slonim, who owned a couple of good horses, and merchants were briefed on the objectives of the
was employed often by the revolutionaries for all Bundist self-defense groups.
sorts of dangerous illegal actions.
The merchants agreed to the scheme, and it was in
Everything was ready for the attack. The this manner that over a 2-3 year period, greater sums
perpetrators were disguised as soldiers in uniform, of money were generated for the disposition of self-
and a control group of ‘the boys’ had the house on defense groups, from which arms were procured for
Slonimer Gasse under observation, where the post the use of the Slonim and Dereczin self-defense
office was to be found,. The ‘two guys from Slonim’ organizations. A part of these funds were used to
were already stationed with the two horses at the enlarge the library.
end of Slonimer Gasse, behind Mishkin’s house,
ready to make a break for it, with the perpetrators The revolvers were procured through the facilitation
and the money. of the great Slonim iron merchant, Nissan
Jeserieski. He had connections thanks to which it
Suddenly, someone articulated the thought that the was possible to procure these arms from Germany.
postmaster Batrokov could raise an alarm, and offer
armed resistance. It was proposed that the attack After acquiring these weapons, the young people
group would have to take along loaded weapons, learned how to use them in the fields, where they
and if there was any indication of a hostile reaction would meet secretly for practice.
from the postmaster, there will be no choice, and
they will just have to blow him away. The The books for the library were bought in Bialystock.
comrades, who had been designated to carry out the It was there that Kotik’s Book Publishing company
attack, could not agree among themselves to carry could be found, where it was possible to buy all
out a plan that possibly involved murder, and the manner of publications.
entire action was called off at the last moment.
Loyal Commitment
To the best of my recollection, the Dereczin Bund
c hapter never again undertook to execute plans of In those days, the Bund would get illegal Russian
this nature, but another way was found to generate newspapers from Switzerland through a anonymous
the funds for self-defense and the library. address. The conspiracy was under very strong
In Dereczin, year in and year out, there were open

auctions conducted for forest products, which the 70
government had decided to sell. Many Jewish forest- Called delyankehs in Yiddish, from the
Russian word for ‘parcel.’
product merchants from the entire area would attend
64
surveillance, and as a consequence, the discipline The first incident occurred in 1904, at the time of
was exemplary, and the integrity and commitment of the Russo-Japanese War. A mobilization of draft-
the members was so high and strong, that it is not age conscripts took place in our district city of
possible to bring to mind an instance of informing, Slonim. Several hundred White Russian peasant
or internal sedition, despite the fact that the youth were called there, from the surrounding
movement conducted a widely diffused and multi- villages in the Dereczin region.
branched operation, with a large library, an armed
self-defense group, which recruited fully tens of All over Russia, it was the ‘season’ for pogroms and
members in the small town of Dereczin, and all manner of attacks. The black-hearted slogan,
conducting secret meetings, with clandestine caches “Áèéåé Æèäîâ, ÑïàñÁé Ðîññéþ” – “Kill the
of ammunition, etc. Zhids, Save Russia” reigned the land. In this spirit,
the recently inducted Belorussian recruits, after
The bonds of friendship and camaraderie between getting themselves drunk, wanted to ‘play around a
the members of the Bund were exemplary. There little’ with the Jews. Seeing as they didn’t want to
were no paid party officials whatsoever at that time. make such a bloody scene in Slonim, those who left
It was exactly the opposite – more than once, each there after noon to return home, agreed to settle a
and every one would commit even their last grosch score with the Jews on the way, in the small town of
to support the causes of the organization. Nobody Halinka.
competed or fought for ‘position’-- everyone knew
only too well, that the more active one was, the By coincidence, a couple of the ‘brothers’ from the
greater the risk to one’s personal freedom, and Slonim self-defense group overheard the drunken
possibly also one’s life. A sacred imperative ruled conversation of these young shkatzim.71 They got on
the circles of the young Bundists, that they were their bicycles and went after the gentile wagons. It
fighting for a New World, and for the liberation of was in this manner that they were witnesses to a
all mankind. It was assumed and understood, that as small pogrom that these new recruits carried out
the children of the victimized Jewish people, it was against the owners of a couple of poor storekeepers
incumbent on us to fight for a just outcome. The in Halinka. The young shkatzim got themselves
first objective was to overthrow the monarchy, drunk again in Halinka, beat up Jews, and destroyed
institute a democratic order, bringing freedom and small shops.
equality to all, and then anti-Semitism would vanish,
and Jews will be able to live in tranquility also These perpetrators, on the way home, had to pass
among gentiles. through Derec zin. So the two Slonim self-defense
group members sped to Dereczin, and told the entire
Nobody then was able to imagine what awaited the story to the responsible organization. It was very
Jews, and with them other nationalities in Europe, in clear, that any moment, the ‘caravan’ along with the
only a couple of additional decades, after years of peasant wagons, loaded down with the stolen
socialist endeavor and upbringing among the merchandise from the Halinka Jewish stores, has to
civilized European nations, with Germany at their pass through the Slonimer Gasse in Dereczin.
head. Nobody could foresee how revolutionary
movements and regimes would be able to cripple the It was Friday afternoon before nightfall. In an
high socialist ideals, for which the young people in instant, the entire self-defense group was assembled.
those days were prepared to even lay down their Armed with revolvers and nagaikas, the self-defense
lives. group members arrayed themselves along the length
of Slonimer Gasse in small groups. When the
Self-Defense Shows Its Might
71
The Dereczin Bundist self-defense group twice Plu ral of sheketz - Hebrew for
demonstrated its role as an organization of life-or- something to be despised. Used
death necessity, in order to defend Jewish self-worth pejoratively against a male non-Jew,
pronounced more familiarly, shaygets
and Jewish welfare.
in Yiddish.
65
wagons arrived, two armed young men immediately into their cups, an inflammatory compact was
jumped up on them, took the reins in hand, and established among them. It was clear that there was
brought the wagon to a pre-arranged location – a specific element among them that was inciting
which was the children’s school of the known them to attack the Jews in their place of domicile.
teacher, Abraham der Mikhoisker. There, the gentile
wagons were thoroughly searched, the stolen Through a pre-arranged fire alarm signal, the
merchandise was confiscated, the pogromchiks were readied self-defense group was instantly alerted.
roughed up a bit, and then they were permitted to The ‘klein-Bund’ quietly began to set fire to a
flee to their homes with horse and wagon. number of peasant wagons filled with straw. The
sound of gunfire was heard from all sides. It didn’t
Jews came running from the synagogues, as they take more than a half hour, and not a trace remained
were on their way home after the Sabbath Kabbalat of the hundreds of peasant wagons in the town. The
Shabbat prayers. I remember that among them was peasants drove their horses with speed and fear, and
the extremely religious storekeeper Reb Yehuda- they fled the marketplac e like poisoned mice. The
Shmuel, who kept shouting at us: “Little children, Christians knew already then in 1905, of the
may God help you. It matters nothing that you have existence of a revolutionary organization among the
to violate the Sabbath a bit – it is a mitzv ah to Jews in Dereczin.
salvage poor Jewish welfare.”
After these two previously described incidents,
We even force the one police officer at that time, which occurred within a few months of each other,
Ostrowski, to stand nearby and assist in repossessing the surrounding Christian peasantry came to fear
the stolen merchandise. these Jewish youths. Jewish fathers and mothers
first became aware of what their children were
The work of detaining and searching all the wagons secretly involved with. The respect shown for these
took about 2 to 3 hours. In the middle of this affair, young people grew, to these so-called Apikorsim.73
from out of nowhere, a drunken postmaster, Ordinary Jews became proud of the organized
Batrokov appeared, who began to berate the police youth, and dubbed these young people Hevrei
officer for ‘helping the zhids’ to attack Russian Yosher (Comrades of Justice). Jews began to
peasants. He got such a tongue-lashing that he understand the reasons why the young people would
barely was able to get himself away from the scene. go off into the forests for meetings, and how this all
came about, that the children of the balebatim
The second incident happened several months later, intermingled with working class children and
I think it was already in the year 1905. It was a befriended one another.
special Sunday, when thousands of peasants came to
town, to go to church for prayers, but first of all they 1905 – In the Breakdown
had to get good and tanked. We learned through our
Christian security men (we had a few of these in And it was in this way, that the year 1905 opened.
some of the villages), that on this particular Sunday, The revolutionary expansion across all of Russia
the peasants were intending to “have some fun” in reached its climax. It was generally believed that
Dereczin, and carry out a bit of a pogrom. momentarily, we would see the end of sovereignty
for the Czarist monarchy.
We assembled the entire self-defense group, and
distributed arms and nagaikas to all the young men. In Dereczin as well, the Bund began to feel a little
The youngest of them, called the ‘klein-Bund’ were more free, and more confident, and emerged a little
given bottles filled with kerosene.7 2 After their from its underground operations into the streets.
services in church, and after the peasants had gotten
73
Plural of the Yiddish, Apikoress,
72
Regrettably, it would be anachronistic meaning an apostate, or no n -believer
to refer to these as Molotov cocktails. (from the Greek name Epicurus).
66
I remember how the Bund prepared in 1905 to Bit by bit, the working class Jews began to stand up
observe the First of May publicly for the first time. straighter, began to learn and read, intermingled
On a specific Sabbath, young people, also from with the children of the balebatim, who in turn
Zelva and Halinka , began to gather in the great park stopped being embarrassed about labor, and began
on the opposite side of the Shifa River. At sunset, a to detest idleness and ‘hanging around’ with nothing
huge parade came out of the park, with red flags to do.
flying, and with revolutionary singing and shouting.
The parade went through all of Derec zin, from the In that year, I recall that discussions would take
Deutsche Gasse all the way to the marketplace. place between the Bundists and the Zionists. The
Zionist movement was established during this same
Fathers and mothers ran out of their houses, period. It also had a strong influence on the
frightened, shuddering and bewildered – they were development of the younger generation in Dereczin,
terrified that in the very same night their children and on its cultural undertakings.
will be fettered and chained, and exiled to Siberia.
As everyone knows, the year 1905 did not bring the
But everything went through peacefully. Indeed, the long-awaited redemption. The revolutionary
following morning a couple of gendarmes came movement was drowned by the Czarist monarchy in
from Slonim, with one called Bolbot at their head. rivers of blood from idealistic youth, workers who
They immediately went to the Jewish Starosta of rose up and demonstrated for their rights, and Jews
that time, Sholom Mansky, who was well acquainted subjected to pogroms. After the uprising for
with these law enforcement people. He talked the freedom was strangled, yet another wave of
matter through with them, and it cost a couple of pogroms descended upon the Jews.
bottles of whiskey, an a 50 ruble ‘donation,’ and the
whole thing was smoothed out. It was a sort of I was witness to the terrifying Bialystock pogrom of
twilight time all of Russia. Day-to-day, one awaited 1906. By coincidence, I was stopped in Bialystock,
the overthrow of the regime, and the atmosphere on the way to Dereczin from Warsaw, together with
was a bit more free. my cousin Yocheh,74 of blessed memory, who later
became my wife, and the mother of my martyred
In the same year, we permitted ourselves to appear children. We were at our friends’ in Bialystock,
openly at a large meeting in the Great Synagogue. when the pogrom erupted, which lasted for three
All of Dereczin came to this meeting, the old and days, and ended with 120 Jewish dead. Bialystock
young, men and women – everyone wanted to hear had a strong Jewish self-defense group – but this
what the Hevra Yosher would have to say. I pogrom was carried out by members of the military
remember the astonishment of my parents, and that garrison located there, under the leadership of
of other close friends, when they saw their ‘quiet officers brought in from deep and faraway Russia
Chaimkeh’ the once shy Gemara student, get up to who were re-uniformed. It was very clear that the
the Bimah and delivery a fiery revolutionary Czarist regime had organized this pogrom.
peroration against capitalism, Czarism, religion, etc.
For sure they bit their nails, with great regret, over A black reaction reigned over all greater Russia
the sin of having sent their son to Vilna during the after the revolutionary movement was broken. The
prior year to study Torah. Now it became clear to worker organizations once again went underground,
them that “Vilna had caused their son to stray from and a deep despondency pervaded their ranks.
the Way.”
Life in Dereczin continued to go on as usual. In the
After this, it was commonplace to hold [such] years after 1905, the emigration of young people, to
assemblies and meetings in the Batei Midrashim. faraway lands across the sea, continued to grow.
Dereczin began to treat the Bund as a serious force
[in community life]. More than once, the town
would approach the Bund on resolving a variety of 74
Yiddish diminutiv e for the Hebrew
disputes.
name, Yocheved
67
However, the wave of cosmopolitan education The old way of life was transformed, new
already had taken hold and was dominant among the disciplines and professions dominated the thinking
young people. of Dereczin’s young people. The Zionist movement
grew, and former Bundists were influenced by it. In
general a calm after the storm reigned, but the ideals
of freedom did not vanish in those dark years
leading up to the outbreak of the First World War.
.
Sent Off to Dereczin

By Ray Raskin
I recall Dereczin and its Jews, who are today no Chief’s office, I could see inclined faces peering in
longer with us, with love and pain. through the windows. The Chief himself was good
and scared as well after he read over my paperwork.
I was not born in Dereczin, but in another town, not In that paperwork, it stated that I had to live in
far from there. Through a circumstanc e, I was Dereczin under police surveillance. The Pristav
recorded as a Dereczin citizen, and obtained my yelled:
passport there in those Czarist days of long ago.
-- “You all need to be strung up!” –
When I was very young, I was impelled to know
more about the larger world, and I voyaged to the What he meant was all revolutionaries. When the
distant Russian city of Kharkov. I worked there for crowd out under the windows heard his shout, they
a woman clothing tailor. Very quickly, I became a fled to their homes quickly and full of dread.
member in a secret revolutionary organization.
When I was apprehended, I was sent under guard by After that, you can imagine, it was difficult for me
the authorities to... Dereczin , because my passport to obtain a plac e to live. Only one family had
identified me as a Derecziner. sufficient courage, and rented me a small corner in
In small, tranquil Dereczin, a modest but orderly their dwelling. The people in town were still very
way of life prevailed. I scrutinized the faces of the uncomfortable with me, the “sentenced one.” At
residents – worried, overworked people, with night, when I was already in bed, I could still hear
insufficient sustenance. I already felt myself to be voices whispering about me:
better off, more developed and better experienced
than all of these Jews, young and old alike. I already – “What is she doing?”
harbored dreams of a better more beautiful, and –“She’s not asleep yet. She’s reading a book.”
more just world , and I was prepared to sacrifice –“Really?!”
myself for such a world.
And during the day, when I walked down the street,
There was no secret revolutionary organization in I could see how stealthily the windows on the small
Dereczin at that time. When the citizens of Dereczin houses would be opened, and the heads of the
became aware that a young Jewish girl had arrived womenfolk would emerge, with inclined eyes that
under guard, and was involved with the authorities would follow me:
and the police, they became alarmed. I remember
when I went to present myself to the Pristav (the –“There she is.”
Police Chief), many of the townsfolk followed me. –“There she goes.”
Something of this nature had never happened in
Dereczin. And when I was already inside the Police It was difficult for me to live in this atmosphere. I
68
had an opportunity to submit a report to the higher All of this was prepared by the mother of the family.
authorities in St. Petersburg, in which I requested She washed the children, dressed them in c lean
permission to move to Slonim, the District capital, clothes – as befitted the Sabbath. When everything
where I would be able to get work. Deep in my was set for the reception of the Sabbath, she blessed
heart, I hoped that in Slonim there must certainly be the candles. In that instant, I was able to perceive
a sec ret revolutionary organization with members the day-to-day cares of the week vanish from her
that will make it possible for me to have an easier otherwise worried countenance. A joyful Sabbath
and better existence. aura spread over all faces, and suffused every nook
and cranny.
Days and weeks went by. The townsfolk in Dereczin
got a little used to my presence, “the banished one,” And just at that moment, the father returned from
and they were not so frightened of me. People would Schul, walked through the house, and sang the
even say: hymn, Shalom Aleichem. Everything in the house is
joyful with the arrival of the Sabbath. At the table,
– “A Jewish girl, and she strayed from the straight all are sitting in a more elevated and tranquil state of
and narrow...” mind. The children are quiet and attentive, when the
mother brings the delicious Friday night delic acies
I even got a job with the Damask cloth tailor in to the table. Afterward, the father chants zemirot,
town. Every day, a policeman would come there to and everyone at the table accompanies him softly.
verify that I had not run off, because all this time, I
was under police surveillance. I already had in my I also sat with them every Friday night at the table.
mind to approach and propagandize the two young Not willingly, I found myself drawn into the feeling
girls I worked with at the cutting table, to “open of ennoblement and the beauty of the Sabbath. It
their eyes,” so that they too, would begin to believe was so incompatible with my revolutionary theories
in a better, more beautiful world, and become against religion, and I remember well my mixed
revolutionaries, like me. I lived with a family emotions on those Friday and Sabbath days.
(unfortunately I don’t remember their names) that
c onsisted of a man and wife, and three children. Then, a reply came from St. Petersburg, which gave
They had a grocery store. The two little boys studied me permission to go to Slonim. I had a heartfelt
at a Heder. The little girl used to play outside, in the parting with the family and other people that I had
sand, with her girlfriends. The father and mother come to know in Dereczin. I packed my bag, and
were totally occupied all week with the store. But traveled over to Slonim.
when Friday came around, one could feel the onset
of the Sabbath in the house. The poor little dwelling And that is the way my short stay in Dereczin
was freshened up, and the floor was washed. In ended. For the [short] time, many things and many
honor of the Sabbath, the table was covered in a people became dear and precious to me. The feeling
white tablecloth, on which lay the two challahs, of love for that Jewish Dereczin [way of life]
covered in white napkins. followed me for my whole life, and only became
stronger, when it was encumbered by that great,
sharp pain after the terrifying destruction of
Dereczin Jewry at the hands of the cruel Nazi
murderers.
69
Stormy Years
By Joe Silkovich
Photos: Zalman Weinstein, longtime Commander of the Dereczin Fire Fighters (p. 95)
Rabbi Plotkin’s Children. Top Right to Lef t: Yaakov-Meir & Emanuel,
Below (i.e., sitting), Beilkeh, Moishkeh, & Hadass. (p. 95)
I am impelled to relate to those younger landsleit men would pull all sorts of pranks, especially to
from Dereczin, who by some miracle passed through irritate the balebatim, or the quiet, circumspect
seven levels of Hell and remained alive, a collection Jewish daughters of the town.
of memories of Dereczin from days gone by, from
those years between 1903 and 1910, to the extent The best night for these young folks was Friday
that those memories still remain with me. night. They would hang out all over town until late
at night – [after all], it was not necessary to get up
Dereczin was a shtetl, like many other shtetlach, early the following morning to go to work – and pull
pretty, lovely, warm, and impoverished. Yes, there all sorts of pranks, such as, for example, taking the
were a few prominent balebatim, and among them, butcher block, which the town butchers would leave
even a few with some significant means, however, at “deaf Eshkeh’s” store, and heave it into the brook
the majority of Derecziners were simple by the market, or flinging a cat through the window
storekeepers and laborers, who exerted themselves of Elyeh der Kvossnik 75 , who was sunk in a deep
strenuously, just to be able to make a living. Not sleep after a debilitating week of hard work.
only one Derec ziner would start on Monday patting
his brow, wondering from what means the coming It was a custom, at the time of a wedding, to
Sabbath would be funded. celebrate the wedding c eremony on Friday night,
and the vechereh,76 that is, the feast, the singing, the
The children of the balebatim were schooled by the musicians and the dancing, all would be held over
better teachers, the poorer children – largely to until after the Sabbath at night. If, it should happen,
Talmud Torah, where they managed to learn a little that a daughter from a balebatisheh family refused
Hebrew, not even knowing the translation of the to dance with a young man from the family of a
Torah text. For a long time, children of the poor common laborer, that was fodder for something to
could not come by learning, because even as do the coming Friday night: at the bank of the brook
youngsters, they would have to leave school and go by the market, on the wall of the old Mauer [schul],
to work in order to add to their father’s efforts to on the Sabbath, Derecziners would discover
provide sustenance. placards with all sorts of nasty comments about the
behavior of that young woman, “with her nose stuck
The Ruffians up in the air...” These signs hung for the entire
Sabbath, because no Derecziner would venture to
Understand, that the children of the well-to-do, tear them down, thereby desecrating the Holy Day.
would continue their education, going to Yeshiva or Among the zhulyikehs, was one fellow, who
a Gymnasium in various c ities. The poorer young excelled at this form of communication, and he
boys, who became workers at an early age, and had would create these placards...
not learned a great deal, would hang out all over the
town in the evenings, and would not have anything
to do. It was in this fashion that a group of young 75
A person engaged in the manufacture
people got patched together who were termed, of the beverage, kvass.
zhulyikehs.
76
From the Russian, Âå÷åð, meaning
Seeing as there was nothing else to do, these young ‘evening,’ and hence the ‘evening
meal.’
70
One Becomes a Bundist the slap, a friend of mine approached me on a Friday
night, and let me know that a meeting was being
While we were still Yeshiva students, periodically, planned. It will be necessary to go past the barracks,
we were tossed proclamations. There were Yeshiva and over the bridge that leads to Aleksich, and there
students who immediately discarded these materials, take a left turn, to the pretty shrubbery. He then
but there were individuals who would take the time whispered the secret password into my ear that I
to read this material through with care, and make the would have to provide on the way to the meeting.
effort to understand these new concepts, suc h as
‘proletarian,’ ‘struggle’ and ‘unite together,’ While The night was dark, and the sky was full of stars.
there was a lot in this material which we as yet did We came to the appointed place. Along the way, we
not fathom, something did stick. encountered a number of young people who were
known to us and were already organized Bundists.
In short, little by little, I became a proletarian The young women had covered their faces with their
[radical] in Dereczin. I remember very well how this kerchiefs, in order that they not be recognized.
got started. On a certain Saturday afternoon, when However, I knew everyone in Dereczin very well!
I took a stroll through the Agrest-Sod, as was the
custom, I was approached by Sarah-Leah’keh, the Try to imagine my emotions at the time I went to
blind musician’s daughter, and asked me whether I attend the very first illegal gathering. I relived
wanted a pamphlet to read. Sarah-Leah’keh had almost the identical feeling of that time when my
come to us from deep in the Russian heartland, father wrapped me in his tallit when I recited the
where she had worked as a laundress, and was a Haftarah at my Bar-Mitzvah. The thought that
well-read Bundist, who was very articulate and people had confidence and trust in me, filled me
capable of creating labor agitation, and on top of with great pride, and because of this, I had a great
this was good looking too.77 I had heard by this time inclination to see whom I would encounter at this
that she went around with young men from clandestine gathering.
balebatisheh families. As a result, I was inclined to
accept a pamphlet from her. And I was indeed awestruck to see Chaim
Rabinovich and to hear his speech. There were
But as soon as I brought this pamphlet into our several other young people there whom I never
house, my brother came over to me and gave me one would have thought belonged to us, the workers.
good slap, yelling at the same time: “You, Yeshivah
Bokher, are you starting to hang out with There were fifteen comrades at that first get-
socialists!?” together, but from one meeting to the next, the
Bundist ranks grew. The leather factory workers and
That slap turned me into an ardent Bundist. other young workers came, as did the young
intelligentsia. A culture initiative was undertaken,
Slowly, the small circle of Bundists grew, until it whereby the young people were taught to read and
encompassed the larger part of Dereczin’s younger write Yiddish. In time, a library was established. A
generation. Also, the former zhulyikehs abandoned Drama Circle produced Goldfaden’s plays on the
their prankish behavior, and organized themselves stage, and for the first time Dereczin saw theater!
into Bundist cells.
Slowly, the town began to show the Bund some
The First Meeting consideration. And for us young people, there came
a substantive, serious, but also happy time in our
A short time after the incident of the pamphlet and lives. In the summer, when various activists and
speakers would come to Dereczin, every Sabbath
get-together was literally like a Holiday. We sang a
77
great deal, studied, strolled about, and dreamed of a
Sounds a lot like Adam being offered happy outcome for all working peoples.
an ap p le by Eve. I don’t think
‘comrade’ Silkovich had a chance!
71
The Fire-Fighting Brigade active, meaningful and enthusiastic communal life,
there were those daughters of balebatim, who in the
In those years, the firefighting brigade was evenings and on the Sabbath, sat on the sidelines,
established in Dereczin, die Pozharneh Komandeh and observed how the daughters and sons of
– the fire-fighters who wore helmets and shiny working class people would promenade, spend their
buttons. The entire firefighting apparatus consisted time together educating themselves, and keeping
of two tanks that always leaked, and one hand- company with one another as if they were part of
pump. Every time there was a fire, the machine one big family. And it was not easy to be ‘outside
would malfunction and be useless. the camp.’
But it is because of this that I recall an instance When a wedding was celebrated by one of the
when everything in the firefighting brigade members, it became everyone’s happy occasion.
functioned properly: one of the Dereczin balebatim Almost all of the young people in the town would
had caught his daughter with a treyf book, and out of come to make merry, to danc e and enjoy each
great anger, this [traditional] Jew tore it to shreds other’s company.
and then slapped his daughter around. The Bundist
members of the fire brigade found out about this, By this time, the Bund was arbitrating between labor
and decided to conduct a fire drill, using the house and management. Saturday night working hours
of that particular family. The pump worked, the were eliminated. And when the sun of revolution
tanks did not leak, and that Jewish man got a taste of managed to shine in Russia, even though it was
a blaze without so much as a lick of fire, but with briefly, the youth of Derec zin marched through the
plenty of water... marketplace on the First of May with red flags.
In those times, when the majority of young boys and

girls in Dereczin were organized and carried out an
Once Upon A Time...

By Feiga-Leah Abramovich
Once upon a time there was a splendid little town by of our group, stood a talented orator, who would
the name of Dereczin. Within its boundaries, and speak to us at every meeting, and entrance us with
around it, nature was benign. About four hundred his speeches. We felt a sort of holy aura during the
Jewish families lived there harmoniously, as if they time we were together in the woods.
were part of a single family. The friendship among
the Derecziners was noteworthy. The youth of the And that is how the time went by, we wanted to
town strongly wanted to develop itself intellectually. know more rather than less and also – to get a little
An unwritten moral code governed our lives and pleasure out of life. I am reminded of the time that
was continuous between generations, and we had decided to put on a show. We had decided to
Derecziners, from the oldest among us recall this, put on the play, Bar Kochba.78 I was also a member
until the last day of the last Derecziner. of the Drama Circle, and I was given the part of
Dina the bride of Bar Kochba. This was no light
A sense of security pervaded our lives. We walked role, and I put in considerable effort and energy and
and rode through those fields and woods without despite everyone else’s opinion, played the role
fear. well. Also, the remaining “artists” performed their
i
In my younger years, I belonged to an organization
– I always wanted to be with adults – which in the 78
summertime would gather in the woods. At the head The Jewish leader of a rebellion against
Rome c. 135A.D.
72
respec tive roles in a fitting manner. I recall the The director of the drama was also not from
young man who played the role of Bar Kochba – tall Dereczin. He was called Aharon-Yaakov and he was
and handsome and vigorous young fellow, not from a Yeshiva student at the Alter Mauer [Bet
Dereczin, but from Izavelin, a town near Volkovysk. HaMidrash]. He matched up the parts to the actors
His name was Shlomo Azernitzky. Both of us were very well, and also directed the play very well with
required to demonstrate ardent love for one another all the participants.
in the performance. The role of Dina’s father
Eliezer, was played by Volfeh Zaklas, the son of I recall that the staging of Bar Kochba in Dereczin
Israel the Shammess. His brother, Chaim-Nahum, made a colossal impression, and it was talked about
Moshe-Yaakov Abramovich, Shmuel-Yaakov Muller, for several months in town. The proceeds earned
Leib’keh Shulkovich [Shelkov ich?], and Moshe from the play were applied to benefit the poor
Minkovich played the part of the Sanhedrin. Nahum families for the Passover Holiday [sic: Maot Hittim].
Blizniansky played the part of the King, Rufus, who The play was put on three times. Being in the role of
was also in love with Dina, and wanted to take her Dina brought me invitations to perform in a variety
forcibly. When Dina refused to consent to go to of roles in surrounding towns. Please understand
Rufus, he had her arrested. There, she is subject to that I refused these invitations.
torture, but she refuses to submit and is prepared to
die rather than become Rufus’ mistress... i
Dereczin had a lively and talented community of
I remember that three other girls played parts in the young people who knew how to make merry and
drama, as chaperones to Dina: Henya Lubetsky, enjoy themselves. It was for this reason that
Rachel Grachuk, and Chyenkeh Abramovich. They relationships between the young boys and girls were
were in bondage to Rufus, and devised all manner of of a correct nature, and in accordance with the
burdens for the arrested Dina, forcing hard labor on expectations of the adult community.
her, and all manner of tiring and debilitating
activities on the delicate arrested young woman. She This is how I spent my youth in Dereczin until I got
begs them to be more civil toward her, and sings married. As usual, that changed my entire way of
them a song about a young shepherd boy. Her life, with the onset of worries for financial
singing is well rec eived by the three overseeing sustenanc e and the raising of children. This was
slave women, and they slacken their discipline followed by the outbreak of the First World War,
toward her, joining in her singing. with its difficult years of hunger, and then the Polish
occupation, with its attendant tribulations for the
A third character, Pappus the Lame is also sec retly Jewish people.
in love with Dina, and he steals his way into the jail
where she is held, and hears her singing from behind However, from today’s perspective, those times
the walls, and becomes enchanted... the role of the seem to be almost idyllic when plac ed against what
lame Pappus was played by someone from another happened under Hitler’s dominion, when Dereczin,
town, who worked in the factory, named Eliyahu the that once lovely and happy town, was annihilated
Plotnick (I do not remember his family name). under trial and torture, murder, and bitter battle in
the woods – those very woods, where in our youth,
Understandably, Bar Kochba does not want his we wove the most beautiful dreams about the
beloved Dina to die in prison, so he comes with his attainments of our people and of all mankind.
warriors to do battle with Rufus. When Dina learns
of this, she c rawls out onto the roof of the prison,
and gives a long dramatic oration directed at Bar
Kochba, in which she urges him to desist from battle
with Rufus, because he will lose the battle and his
life. Dina throws herself from the high roof and is
killed...
73
Memories from My Father’s Tavern
By Dvora (Dvosha) Kress-Beckenstein
I came to America before the First World War, Not long after this misfortune, we were beset by an
while still a young girl, and in Dereczin people even larger one: one day, late at night, several
wondered: “How is it that Shmuel Beckenstein people who worked at the church were sitting in our
comes to send his daughter to America?” In those back room, and they were eating and drinking. All
years, the ones who went to the ‘Golden Land’ of of a sudden, my father hears a knocking at the door.
America, were those who could not find work in He opens the door and sees a well-dressed man in
Dereczin. In our family, things were quite good, civilian clothing. The man asks my father if he can
although you could never describe us as wealthy obtain a night’s lodging. Father took him to a room.
people. We ran a tavern, a way-station, and a beer The other person requested a bottle of beer, which
brewery, in which we would pour beer from barrels my father brought to him forthwith. The guest drank
into bottles for subsequent sale. Understand, that we one glass of beer, and then addressed my father:
had written permission and a license to do this, “Do you know who I am?” and proceeds to take out
which granted us a franchise to serve beer, mead credentials from his wallet and show them to my
and wine, and also associated solid foods, but we father. My father was appalled: it was Zayats, the
were not allowed to hold [or sell] strong liquor, Chief Inspector in charge of all Excise Agents in the
because this was a state monopoly. Grodno Province. He had the reputation of being an
extraordinarily evil man, who inspired fear in
But how then, can one come by a shot? To meet everyone. My father wanted to remove the bottle of
this demand, we did keep this type of beverage on beer, but he didn’t permit it, saying that he needed
hand, but in secret. We had to be constantly fearful the bottle as evidence to prepare charges against my
of the Excise Tax Agent, because when such an father for the hearing in front of the magistrate.
official arrives, and catches us with whiskey on the
premises, it is necessary to pay a monetary fine. In To add to these troubles, it was the eve of a local
Dereczin we had a ‘good’ Excise Agent. He was holiday, when the sale of strong drink was
required to inspect us three times a month, and he prohibited for three days. But it was precisely on
would always first come into the store of our aunt such occasions that we expected a big surge of
Eshkeh, which was his signal to us that he would be business, and in the adjacent room we had stocked
coming to inspect us shortly. Until his arrival, we a rather large supply of whiskey. It was already
worked around our store to bring everything in midnight when Father came to us, the children, and
order. By the time he came into our store, all that woke me up, and my brother, Yaakov-Chaim.
was left for him to do, was to enter a notation in his
book that he had found everything in order. Once a In the room where the large cache of liquor was
month we would receive a visit from a District stored, one of our small children lay sleeping, so we
Agent, and the local Agent would alert us to the woke him up in order that he cry, and in this manner
time of that visit, in order to assure that the District our cross guest in the next room would be unable to
Agent would not find any forbidden merchandise in hear what we were doing.
our store.
We did what we had to: For a long time, we put the
This continued until our good situation came to an bottles of drink into cartons, and handed them
end. Someone squealed on our Excise Agent, and he through the window to our father. From the garden,
was sent away from Dereczin, and in his place a real we later dragged and hid all this at Leibeh Valitzkin
bloodhound by the name of Rafalovich was sent. He the shoemaker on the Slonim Gasse. Afterwards we
was known as a bad person, who made everyone in went to all the Dereczin tavern keepers, and woke
town miserable. them, and alerted them to the imminent possibility
of an inspection. A substantial cache of strong
74
liquor had been put in place in all the taverns. Late The following morning these three inspectors
at night, we found out that, in addition to our searched and ransacked all of the Jewish taverns,
terrible “guest,” an additional two “officials” had but they left with nothing.
arrived. They were billeted at the home of Yosheh
Mishkin, whose house served as the seat for the
constabulary.
Bitter and Sweet Memories

By Nahum Bliss-Blizniansky
Yizkor – To Remember! It is easy to utter this word, My father sent me to the best teachers in the town,
but what memories this word is tied up with! first to Reb Avraham-Chaim the teacher of Alef-Bet,
For me, as a Derecziner, it brings to mind our town, afterwards to Reb Alter then to Reb Shlomo, the
its Jews, and their bitter fate. Kazianem Rav, and then later I studied the Gemara
with Reb David-Chaim Shmeuns, and toward the
Along with the Jewish community, the larger part of end with Reb Chaim-Yitzhak in the Talmud-Torah
my family, the children and grandchildren of until Bar Mitzvah.
Maishel Blizniansky were annihilated. Oh, what has
happened to such a large family! From a family of After becoming Bar Mitzvah, I went away to study
ten brothers and sisters, with their numerous at Yeshiva out of town. I “ate days,” and came home
children, only nine persons remained living, sown very infrequently, only on holidays. When I became
and spread all over the world. I am in America for a little older, I traveled to the larger metropolitan
many years already. I was the oldest son in the centers – to Vilna, Warsaw.
family. Our youngest sister was saved from the
murderous German hands. An additional seven Later, I spent a few years in Germany, Switzerland,
grandchildren are found in a variety of countries. and traveled to Argentina. I have lived in America
for more than 53 years.
Yet, I have sweet memories of our Dereczin from
my childhood years up to the time I became Bar I am now an old man. Those sweet years I had in
Mitzvah. Dereczin, blend in my heart and mind with the bitter
recollection of the destruction of my beloved family.
Difficult – it is difficult to have survived all of this.
Jewish to the Last Breath

By Moshe Kwiat
I will relate what I know of our town from my those generations at the beginning of this [sic: the
childhood years. Many years have elapsed since the twentieth] century.
wars, slaughter, and partisan resistance in the
woods, and it is possible that portions of my
memory are not so accurate, but the readers of our
Yizkor Book will forgive me if I make a small error Rural-dwelling Jews
in related my recollections. The important thing is
my well-intentioned desire to portray the Jews of Good, loyal and observant Jews, were those that
75
homesteaded land in and around Dereczin. In almost matter, and dispatched his daughter to America.
every such rural town there was a Jew who served This was one of the ways that Jews tried to look out
as a middleman, an estate manager, and was also a for one another. The rural gentiles had respect for
tiller of the soil. In certain of these towns, there the Jewish Yishuvniks in their midst, to whom they
were several Jewish families in residence. would come for advice, even on family matters.
They were all pious and observant, and a number of The Dereczin ‘Bourgeoisie’
them were scholars as well. And while they lived
among gentiles, they took special care in providing My grandfather, may he rest in peace, was a
for a Jewish upbringing for their children. Stolliner Hasid, and he was a tailor. He would sew
On the High Holydays, and other Holidays as well, for the gentiles in town, the so-called ‘bourgeoisie.’
they would come to Dereczin to pray in our Batei- I recall at the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War,
Midrashim. In town, they were held in respect and when the draft was being mobilized, older Christian
well received. people largely from the bourgeoisie of the town,
came to my grandfather so that he could offer them
It is because of this that I cannot forget the a blessing before they departed for war. My
Yishuvnik from Puzovitsa, a town between Dereczin grandfather would offer them his hand and wish
and Piesk. He was a Jew possessed of a very them a safe and sound return from the hazards of
accommodating personality. As it happened, our battle. As it transpired, by the time the soldiers from
Derec zin merchants and workers would make a Dereczin arrived in Siberia, the war had ended...
monthly trip to the market fairs in Piesk, they would
regularly have the occasion to travel by this town. And I also remember, that in Dereczin there were
And this Jewish Yishuvnik would be out, standing several Christian women, who would be in the habit
by the road, stopping all those coming from of bringing gifts to the Batei Midrashim, mostly
Dereczin. It was necessary to stop and come into his towels, when someone in their family would fall ill.
establishment 79 and partaking of food and drink – And I further remember when Ahar’keh 8 0 the schul
he did not let anyone go by without extending this crier, would come to us on the Zelva Gasse, which
courtesy at his establishment, and no one was had a mixed Jewish and gentile population, and in
prepared to insult him by refusing to do so. the middle of the night wake my father and others
for Selikhot services with such loud shouting – but
My father, of blessed memory, used to tell me how never did a gentile utter a cross word either to
this Kretchmer of Puzovitsa, not once, would Ahar’keh , or any other Jewish resident on our street
forcibly shove him through the door of his because of this.
kretchma, give him a bite to eat, and even afford
him use a room in private to rest and wash off the This contrasts sharply with the murderous and
sweat of the summer heat, and only then permit him rapacious behavior shown to us by the same
to continue his journey to Piesk and the market fair. residential bourgeoisie, in their great fear, during the
Nazi occupation, both before and after the
It is, by now, difficult to enumerate the names of all Holocaust.
the Yishuvnik families that lived in our area. I do
recall though, my father telling us about the pretty From the New Month of Elul to Simhat-Torah
daughter of the Yishuvnik, Berel Plishiner, who fell
in love with a shaygets, and wanted to convert out of I am the son of an observant family. My mother was
Judaism. Her father was apparently unaware of this, so Yiddish-frum that year-round on Fridays, she
but my father, to whom this news did arrive,
immediately went to Berel in order to c onvey this
bitter pill. The Yishuvnik immediately addressed this
79
Called a kretchma in Russian, b eing
80
something of a café or restaurant. A Yiddish diminutive for Aharon.
76
would gather the cholent81 pots from many drunk, and started arguing and fighting with on
neighbors and put them into her baking oven, even another – and it eventually came to physical
though each of these houses had their own baking violence, and they started to break windows...
ovens. “I want to earn a mitzvah, and yet another
mitzvah,” she would answer, when I asked her why Such conflict was unknown in Dereczin. Dereczin
she offered the other balebustas this service of always had only one sitting Rabbi.
setting their cholent up.
I cannot forget those special days from Rosh Hodesh The Authorities in Dereczin
of the month of Elul to Simhat-Torah. With the
onset of the month of Elul, an inc redible dread I remember the Jewish Starosta of the time, Sholom
would fall upon us all, young and old alike. For that Mansky. He would distribute passports to everyone,
entire month, and throughout the High Holydays, I and annually would determine who would have to
used to tremble like a fish in water, and I didn’t yet go do military service. He had a Christian secretary
understand what it all meant. employed in his chancellery, Citizen Sienkewicz.
His principal function was to affix the official stamp
Yom Kippur was a day of prayer, fasting and in the designated strip on the document. This was all
trembling. One could barely wait until the final still under the regime of Czar Nicholas II.
Ne’ilah service arrived – and immediately start
building a Sukkah. This was a sign to us that lighter I still recall Shlomo the Kazianer Rav, whose duty it
and happier days lay ahead. was to record all new births and deaths in Dereczin.
With what joy we used to construct our Sukkah, The authorities in town consisted of a Pristav
making an effort to assure that our Sukkah would be (bailiff), an Uradnik (magistrate), and gendarmes
nicer and better than the others around us, and we from the local gendarmerie. Among these was one
would bring green branches in order to decorate our Jewish gendarme. He would accompany the
Sukkah both inside and out. Christian Stasrosta to collect taxes. If someone was
unable to pay the tax, he would confiscate the
Simhat-Torah was for everyone, but especially for candlesticks, and run from the house. He would
us young boys, happy holiday. It was a joyful have to be pursued in order that the Sabbath
holiday. Even the gentiles in town would come to candlesticks could be suitably redeemed...
hear the cantor, and watch the Hakafot. Simhat-
Torah in the afternoon, the Jews would have a drink The Fire Brigade
in schul, and go to each others’ homes for a glass of
drink and a bite. It was merry in Dereczin! At that time, Dereczin already had a respectable fire
brigade, with fine membership – entirely Jewish.
My father told me that once, the day after Simhat- The Marshall of the Fire Brigade was Zalman
Torah, he came to a neighboring town, and saw Weinstein.
several Jewish homes with broken windows. What
did this mean? In that town there were two sittings As was the case in many other towns, also in
Rabbis, and each Rabbi had his own following. On Derec zin there was for many years a running bitter
Simhat-Torah, the Jews of that town got good and fight for the control of the Fire Brigade between
Zalman Weinstein and Yankel Dworetzkin. Each one
desperately wanted to win the sympathy and support
81
A bean-potato-meat casserole/stew, of the rank and file firemen, and the last holdouts,
prepared o n an overnight flame, indeed, benefitted from this – receiving good food
favored by Eastern European Jews as a and drink from both sides... The gentiles would
main Sabbath meal. Recent scientific literally bust with envy when they saw the modern
evidence has shown that cholent can Jewish firefighting equipment, and the Fire Marshall
produce some of the lowest pH factors in his white gloves during parades, the gentiles
measured in the human alimentary
would literally have to show respect to the Fire
canal.
77
Brigade from their horses. Until its last day when it ceased to exist, Dereczin
was Jewish and manifested a Jewish character – and
Dereczin Was a Jewish Town that is what it was when it was destroyed.
The Sabbath in Dereczin was – Shabbos, and a It was of no use to the Germans during the First
Holiday was – Yom Tov. The gentiles understood World War to “Germanize” our town, and
this very well, and on the Sabbath one saw virtually [subsequently] the Poles to “Polonize” Dereczin.
no Christian horse-drawn wagons. In general, on the
Sabbath and the High Holydays, one saw virtually
no gentiles in the streets.
If, perchance, a market fair day should happen to

have been scheduled for a Saturday or for a Jewish
Holiday, the Christian in charge of the calendar
would soon ‘hang out a notice that the fair day had
been delayed to a further week day.
And as much as the gentiles, with their officials and

priests, tried to make Dereczin “more Christian,”
more Russian – it was to no avail.
Those Pious, Upstanding Jews

By Esther Nissenbaum-Bricker
It is not possible to forget those Jews, pious and immediately was filled to c apacity with people. It
upstanding, poor and believing, who are today no was a summer’s day, and we opened the windows,
longer with us in those lands to which we have been and many of the neighbors positioned themselves
scattered. there – everyone giving heed to the entreaties of Job
Of all the nice, special type of people, most often, and his great misfortune. Our house was always
my own family comes to mind, the family of open to Jews and Christians alike. There, weddings
Yitzhak-Yaakov Bricker and his wife, Hannah- were arranged, with the badecken 82 and all the
Rachel. He was an educated man, and the Rabbi ceremonies leading up to the huppah; on the
invited him more than once to be one of the Sabbath, after services, [our house was the place
arbitrators, when amongst Jews there was a conflict where] honey cake and a shot of whisky were served
among parties. in honor of the parents of the bride and groom, and
toward nightfall – the sumptuous ‘Third Feast.’83
Physically, he was a weak man, and he was unable The house was made available without charge, and
to rise and attend the morning Shacharit prayers, but the parents of the young couple had only to carry
every afternoon, he attended Mincha services in the out the furniture in order to create more spac e
Bet HaMidrash, studied a page of Gemara, a inside. It was we, the young children, who derived
chapter of Mishna, and a coterie of listeners always the greatest pleasure from these wedding
sat about him there, who would take in his every ceremonies.
word.
82
I am reminded of the day when my grandmother, The ceremony of uncovering/covering
Sarah-Hinde passed away. My father returned from the bride with her wedding veil.
the interment, sat down to observe the Shiva period, 83
Called Shalosh Seudot in Hebrew, and
and began to study the Book of Job. Our house elided in Yiddish to Shaleh-shudiss
78
Our house stood across the street from the Russian Yes, there were Jews like that at one time, and let us
Orthodox Church. On Christmas Eve and New always remember them.
Years Day, when it was intensely cold outside, our
house stood open to the Christians for them to be
able to warm themselves up a little.
A Night Ride on the Coach

By Malka Alper
Dereczin was strongly bound up with Slonim, its c irc umstance would deign to move from where he
distric t seat for c ommerc e, educ ation, had chosen to stand.
administration, medicine, etc. As Dereczin was
about fifteen kilometers from a railroad station84 The people in the riding compartment attempt to
from which the train could take you to Slonim, the grab a few winks: on with his head on another’s
practical means of connection with Slonim was -- on shoulder, or on a package of merchandise, and
horses, that is to say, by coac h. The coach was a whoever couldn’t find such a resting place, nodded
large wagon, covered with an awning, which was their heads from side to side, or up and down – all in
intended to offer cover from the sun and rain. rhythm with the movement of the wagon, as it
traveled over an unpaved thoroughfare.
From Dereczin [to Slonim], the coach almost always
went empty of cargo, but on the return trip from The horse decides to stop, and the passengers are
Slonim to Dereczin, the wagon was loaded with awakened – but not Reb Sholom-Herschel. They try
everything that could be pac ked into it, and on top to urge the horse on, but he refuses to budge.
of all the packages and bundles, the passengers were
‘packed in’ as well. –“Reb Sholom-Herschel, the horse is standing
still...” – a passenger says, waking him up and
I recall, from my childhood, a hot summer’s night in sitting next to him.
the seating compartment of Sholom-Herschel the
coachman. The wagon was filled up with kegs, Hearing his master’s name, the horse moves off his
packages, and boxes, and was hitched to a tired old spot, urged on by Reb Sholom Herschel’s cry of
nag. Even more exhausted was the appearance of the ‘Whoa! Whoa!’
passengers, who were packed into the seating area
under the canopy, which covered the larger part of One of the ‘esteemed passengers’ had bought a
the wagon. bread roll in Slonim (A Slonimer Kuchen had a
name [sic: as a delicacy] in the area). In a stored
Reb Sholom-Herschel himself, who the prior night little container, he also had taken with him a pat of
had made the trip from Dereczin to Slonim, and had butter. And so, in the middle of a summer night,
spent the entire day running around to all the when the air outside is hot, and the heat in the
various businesses, delivering packages and taking passenger compartment is oppressive, and packed
on merchandise, was sorrily sitting, with his head with people – he takes the kuchen out of his napkin,
nodding, on the wagon behind his horse. He had sticks his finger into the butter container, and
conc ealed his horsewhip, in order that it not be proceeds to spread the melted grease on the
taken, and used to urge the horse on, who had the kuchen... and starts to eat with gusto.
habit of stopping where he pleased, and under no
Oh...how does one get out of this overcrowded
84
coach compartment that is full of the stench of
This railhead was in Zelva. rancid butter, and into the fresh air! But go now,
79
crawl over legs, hands and even bodies. So, one sits The coachman snaps his whip in the air to drive off
imprisoned for the entire night, not being able to the hounds. And the ‘esteemed passengers’ get a
move. treat – the horse moves along more rapidly, and the
awning protects them from the dogs...
A break in the monotonous and tiresome journey is
provided by the barking dogs as we pass through The night passes, and is replac ed by a gray dawn.
gentile villages. The horse is frightened, and moves Through the grayness, it is already possible to catch
more quickly. a glimpse of the Church in Dereczin. The heart
lightens a bit, in anticipation of the end of the
fatiguing trip.
A Teacher in Dereczin
By Hannah Novick
Photo (p. 104): From L to R: Sh. Rothstein, the music teacher and bandleader, his wife,
Eydeleh and her sister Rachel – both of whom were midwives, daughters
of Meir-Shia the Feldscher.
Before my eyes pass a gallery of my relatives, lovely younger boy, who stayed home with his
people, forgotten events and experiences of my grandmother, Fradl’s old mother.
pristine childhood, which remain deeply etched in
my memory. Fradl’s house was in the middle of town. Across the
street was Alpert’s Pharmacy, Bebbeh’s place of
I remember, as a child, that my brother and I spent business, Yochi’s house, and the way to the
nearly a year at the home of my grandfather in Schulhof, where there was a wedding taking place
Notzkeveh. This was after my mother passed away. practically every Friday. The Huppah was erected
On one occasion I fell, and twisted my hand out, at on the Schulhof, and when I would hear the
which point my grandfather took me to Dr. musicians start to play, I knew thereby that the bride
Novitzky, after which he took me to the Feldman and groom were being escorted to the Huppah. At
family where there were many children, and later, he which point, I also made my way there, and met
went with me to Bebbeh’s where I went to work. with people that I knew.
From that point on, I remember Bebbeh as a short
lady with wise and understanding eyes, and a sweet With what impatience I used to wait for Fridays!
feminine voice, which made a very good impression When I arose in the morning, the floor in the main
on me. I was so satisfied, that my grandfather, room had already been waxed, on the table, which
Mordechai-Benjamin Novick told me afterwards, had already been covered in a snow-white
that for the High Holydays, he and my grandmother, tablecloth, stood sparkling candlesticks with
are planning to come to Dereczin and to stay with candles, ready for the Sabbath blessing.
this goodly woman – with Bebbeh Rabinovich.
Two challahs lay on top, modestly covered in a
Years later, my grandfather found lodging for me napkin, the oven was partitioned off with a board,
with Fradl Goldberg. It was at that time that I and from it, emanated tempting odors of the Sabbath
decided to undertake teaching as a profession, delicacies.
giving private lessons – in Dereczin. Fradl had a
sewing store, and rose early in the morning to On Friday, by noon, Fradl was already closing her
prepare food for her oldest son, little Shlomo’keh, store. After coming home, she would put on her
who was already attending Heder, and for the Sabbath clothing, dress up her children, and along
80
with her mother, begin preparations to receive the Across the way was a park, over which the moon
Sabbath. Her fac e looked entirely different from the shined seemingly brighter and friendlier than
way it looked during the middle of the week: her anywhere else. By the park, in an old house with
face, usually manifesting the burdens of work, rather large rooms, lived the daughter of my
shone, the wrinkles were smoothed out. When she grandfather’s brother from the town of Lantzevitz.
stood up and chanted the Sabbath Kiddush, it She was called Shayna. My grandfather’s sister,
seemed as if the Holy Spirit rested on her. After the Stirkeh, had a little store in the middle of the
Sabbath meal, we would go out for a stroll, during marketplace. Her husband, a scholar, would come to
which she would tell me about her husband, who help out on market days, and would give away the
had died prematurely, and her plans for raising her merchandise free of charge to the poor peasants out
two small children. of pity for them. Their only son, Berel, studied at a
Yeshiva. This also belongs to the packet of
When I hear talk today of the Sabbath, the image of memories from Dereczin.
Fradl swims out in front of my eyes, along with her
Friday nights. It is especially pleasant for me to recall that winter
and summer in Dereczin, with all the people, who
In the middle of the marketplace was the home of remained my closest friends also later in life, but it
Meir- Shia the Feldscher. There were two daughters is painful and bitter to remind oneself of their
there. The oldest was called Rivkah. Young people annihilation and the destruction of the beloved town
used to get together there, and so I would go there as of Dereczin.
well, but I somehow didn’t quite fit in with this
crowd, despite the fact that I was treated in a very
friendly manner.
About that time, I was invited to Yochi’s house, for

a literary evening, where her husband Chaim was to
give a talk, and I made the acquaintance of Rivkah
Rabinovich, who for a long time remained my close
friend. There, also, I became acquainted with
Yehudit Plotkin, the Rabbi’s daughter, with the
teacher, Pintzov, with Rachel Kaplan.
A new and interesting world opened up for me. I

even took parts in two theater productions which
were suitably produced under Chaim’s direction in
a fully-packed auditorium at the edge of town. The
proceeds were applied to a much-needed purpose.
The two productions were: Sholom Aleichem’s
Mazel Tov and The Doctor. The children in town,
after my performance used to call me ‘je vous prie,’-
- a French phrase I had occasion to use in my role.
And how can I ever forget the summer in Dereczin?

The meetings on the little bridge past the
Blizniansky house, the first house on the way into
town from Notzkeveh into Dereczin.
81
From the Last Will and Testament of
Simkheh 85 the Storekeeper
– A time will come when we will have to give an accounting for everything. At that time, there will be no
excuses in order to remain ‘right’ before the Final Judgement. At that place, the argument that “I didn’t have
the time to think about myself, but day and night, I was over my head in worldly concerns . . . ” simply won’t
work. But what can one like me say, who has taken stock of himself a little too late in life? What indeed, will
my purpose be seen to be? I feel myself growing weaker from day to day, there is no immortality, and one
needs to anticipate all things...
– My entire hope, that my sons will lighten my eternity with the recitation of the Kaddish, with study, as is
the custom among good sons to lighten the passage of parents in the afterlife, – is a hope I do not have any
longer. I have transgressed against my two crown jewels, through whom I would be freer of the bonds of
Gehenna, and now I have no one on whom I can rely on, but first on God, and on my son-in-law. Because
he understands my plight quite well. I have nothing to say about my children, they should only be well and
prosper – those who are far and near, all. But they are busy men, and one can’t expect this from everyone,
it is difficult for them to demonstrate this.
Only Yitzhak do I implore, that he should count me like a mother, that he should do me the truest boon that
can be done as a compensation, with prayer, the saying of Kaddish, and study, all these things that I ask.
Even though I understand that what I ask for is too great a request to make, nevertheless, I hope that he will
feel able to oblige me. And I ask that a candle be carried for me each day for the first year. The Yahrzeit
should be recorded, so that it not be forgotten.
Also, I come to implore my husband and my partner, that in the case where I have given something with my
own hands shall be mine – I have worked hard enough in my life to the end of my strength, not having spent
any money on frivolities, or on any entertainment. My entire c oncept is to sustain oneself for life’s basics,
and to set something aside for the later years.
I ask you once again that everything I have asked be done properly, even if this is asking a great deal, but I
beseech you one and all not to refuse me.
I ask my beloved and loyal daughters to live a good and proper life, even though I know I don’t have to write
this, you are capable, but despite this, it is important to say this to you, because one must obey what a mother
has instructed to be done.
You have to know, my dear daughters, that I have led you in a path of Yiddishkeit, and your husbands are like
my own sons. Remind them, when Yahrzeit comes, that they are to pray, and to set lit candles. This is my
entire behest, something to lighten my transition to eternity.
I know that my sons-in-law are decent Jewish men.... I also ask of my children that my candlesticks be
utilized each Shabbos, on my behalf, to bless the candles on the same table, as a memorial —
85
Here, the name of a woman. This is Simkheh die Kremerkeh, Epstein the grandmother of Dov
Gorinovsky, who writes about his grandparents on p. xx . Her picture appears earlier, on p. 35 of the
original text.
82
In the First World War
83
84
The Years of War & Occupation
By Chaim Rabinovich
When the First World War broke out in 1914, many military forces day and night, who fled in panic, and
young people from Dereczin were mobilized into the often without order or discipline, full of fear for the
Russian Army, and immediately sent to the front. German enemy. Our own fear grew with each new
Immediately, in the first days of conflict, the Czar’s wave of retreating Russians. The Cossack battalions
Army suffered severe defeats, and began to pull of the Russian army wreaked havoc on us. Russian
back from the borders. In the first days of the war, officers and soldiers were billeted in nearly every
Dereczin suffered its first casualty – Pesach one of our homes.
Dworetzk y fell at the front, who had recently
completed studies at the Vilna Teachers Institute, Many Dereczin Jews had already prepared horses
and was known in Dereczin as an intelligent and and wagons, to be used in the event there was a
capable young man and an active revolutionary. He forced evacuation, or in the event that other dangers
had married not long before that, and left his young might befall us, which threatened us from the side of
wife widowed and pregnant. Their son became a the Russian soldiers and other organs of the
doctor in Ramat-Gan, and to our sorrow, passed military.
away in 1963.
I remember that in the last days before the Germans
The reversals of the Russian Army came one after arrived, a senior Russian Officer stayed in our home
another. The Germans moved ever closer to our a certain Grand Duke Trubetskai, an intelligent and
area. As was usual in times of stress for the Czarist cultured Christian. When we became better
regime, so it was this time, that the anti-Semitic acquainted with him, we were motivated to ask his
rulers sought a scapegoat in the Jews, and accused advice – should we also abandon our hometown
them of collaboration, espionage and, of course, along with the Russian Army. Our three c hildren
plotting [with the enemy]. were still very young, and we were literally in a
state of flux, and unable to decide what to do. At
The then Commander-in-chief of the Czarist army, any moment, we had already prepared a horse and
Nikolai Nikolaevich, uncle to the Czar, Nicholas II, wagon for the inevitable march into Russia. The
was a sadist and anti-Semite. He gave the order that officer thought for a moment, looked at our small
Jews, along with the retreating army, should children and our frightened faces and said: “I advise
abandon their homes and towns, and permit you to remain here, in your home. You will be lost,
themselves to be moved deep into the heart of if you get in the way of such a chaotic route and
Russia. First off, Jews were driven out of the border retreat of our army, with such small children. The
towns, away from their homes, and arrived in our Germans will not do you any harm as civilians. You
neighborhoods almost empty-handed, and then they may pass along my advice to the rest of your friends
were driven even further, to the east. Not only one and relatives.”
town or village, in the path of the retreating Russian
army, was put to the torch. Indeed, this is exactly what we did, and immediately
advised our surrounding neighbors that they should
The Russians Retreat not budge from their places.
We, in Dereczin at that time, lived in daily fear. We Two days later, during the night hours, the last
did not know where we stood, or what it was that we detachments of the Russian army passed in retreat
had to do. from the front through Dereczin. The same senior
officer, the Grand Duke, directed us not to spend
When the Germans got close to our area already, that night in our own homes, which were on the
Dereczin became flooded with retreating Russian front street through which the retreating soldiers
85
would be marching, especially Cossacks that had went to him. With tears in our eyes, we told him that
been incited to riot. “They will cause you trouble,” the Cossacks were preparing to burn down all our
the Grand Duke warned us. houses. Our entreaties had the desired effect on him,
and he told us: “Go in peace to your houses, I will
A 24-Hour Period of Fear be here until the last soldier leaves here...”
On the last day before they departed from Dereczin, The Germans were already a couple of kilometers
a certain angry and panicked [Russian] officer gave away from the town, and the Hetman did not permit
the Cossacks an order to drag all the Jewish men out the houses to be set afire. We wanted to present him
of the houses and line them up in the marketplace with a gift, but he refused to take anything.
across from the church. By hand and with nagaikas,
the inflamed Cossacks ran from house to house, The Germans March In
driving out the menfolk to the designated place.
Thus, they gathered all the menfolk, and let them At about seven in the morning, the last bomb
stand in fear for an hour, surrounded by Cossacks. destroyed the church – and the German cavalry
Nobody knew what they were planning to do with marched into Dereczin. The last of the Cossacks had
us. Fortunately, a group of womenfolk furtively only minutes before galloped away on their speedy
went to the manse of the Polish Priest, where a horses.
Russian General was quartered, and with tears and
wailing told him what the officer had ordered to do After a night of such terror, several of the elderly
with all the men. The general immediately ordered Jews broke out into a dance, seeing the arrival of the
all the menfolk to be released and sent home. German leaders of that era, who had liberated us
from the wild Cossacks.
We went through such hours of terror more than
once in those days. All the houses and stores that we had abandoned,
were robbed and pillaged on that last night. We
That last night was terrifying. We were, altogether found practically nothing left, even to the point of
about a hundred souls with women and young having nothing to eat on that first morning.
children, at the home of Alter Bukshtever, who had
a house on a side street behind Meir-Shia the After the arrival of the initial reconnaissance troops,
Feldscher. The men c oncentrated themselves in a phalanxes of soldiers began to march into town. The
front room, and we concealed the women and very first day, their penchant for order showed its
children in a back room. The night was frightening. real face. They began to drive the Jews to start clean
From the faraway houses, we heard terrible screams off the mountains of rubble from the streets, left by
of alarm. Periodically, drunken soldiers would also the retreating Russian army.
barge into our location, tearing off whatever they
could that we had on, especially better shoes, taking In town, signs of a cholera epidemic began to
money, and watches. At that time, the womenfolk appear. The Russian soldiers dragged everything
would raise such a hue and cry, that the soldiers they found out of storage. Dried, tanned leather
would become frightened and run away. They didn’t goods, they stole, the wet, damp sections they
have muc h time to rob and plunder – the Germans pulled out of their c ontainers and tossed them all
were already quite close. over the streets – and this befouled the air and called
out all manner of illnesses.
At about five in the morning, we observed that the
last contingent of Cossacks were pouring kerosene Because of the suspicion of cholera in Dereczin, the
on the houses, and were getting ready to set the German Command was afraid to establish itself in
town ablaze. As we had become emboldened, the town, and so it quartered itself in Halinka.
knowing that there was a Cossack Hetman at the
home of Rivkah-Rachel, a good person, we got a Suddenly, about three or four days after occupying
delegation of about ten men together, and secretly the Dereczin surroundings, an order came from the
86
Command that the leadership of the Jewish Dereczin and the peasants in the surrounding area.
community should immediately present itself in It became quickly apparent that for a variety of
Halinka. A fear gripped everyone. Rumors began to reasons, far fewer peasants fled with the Russian
circulate that the Germans were apprehending army into the heartland of Russia, from Derec zin,
Jewish “detainees,” and holding them as hostages than from most other areas. Almost in every village,
under arrest. Nobody wanted to risk their lives, until a substantial number of peasants remained behind,
it was decided that the following four people would who had guarded their fields, as well as the property
appear: the immediately past Starosta, Sholom of their neighbors that did flee, and were well
Mansky, Hirsch Beckenstein, Fyevsky from Halinka, provisioned with a large number of the tools needed
and the writer of these lines, Chaim Rabinovich. to do their work. The Jewish leaders conserved
resources for the entire war, on behalf of the Jewish
Frightened, we came to Halinka, and presented population in their town, and concerned themselves
ourselves at Command Headquarters. We were with assuring that they should not, God forbid,
received by an elderly Major, named von Wrangel, suffer from hunger. A number of the Dereczin Jews
with a number of other staff officers. There we met had actually begun to manage the fields of those
two Christian representatives, the Graf Tishkevich, peasants that had fled. Under the influence and with
and another nobleman. the cooperation of the Area Overseers, a reserve of
grain and other produce was created, to serve the
The Area Overseers needs of the citizens of Dereczin, the Christian
population and the villages were also satisfied,
The old Major immediately declared that the because each Overseer had selected those villages
Germans had taken possession of the surrounding that were familiar to him, and dealt with peasants
area and would remain here as the permanent whom he had befriended through many years of
masters. There were in need of six overseers who acquaintance. In addition, we advanced our interests
understood German and will represent the six through a variety of arrangements, in which we put
districts, into which they had divided Dereczin and in place successful relationships between the
its environs. Without waiting for an answer, he populace and the military forces. Our management
immediately spoke to us in an authoritative voice: “I created a situation where “the wolf was satiated, but
appoint all six of you as officials, who will be the sheep remained whole.”
responsible for the six so designated districts. You
are appointed as those designated by civilian It is significant to underscore that Dereczin was one
consent and will receive a salary of fifty marks a of the few regions where not only did the populace
month.” not suffer from hunger, but was able to provision,
more than once, other regions such as Slonim and
The officer immediately took down our names and Baranovich, which suffered from a complete
addresses, and spreading out a map of the area in absence of food. From those places, almost the
front of us, proceeded to show each of us the entire Christian populace either fled, or was driven
specific areas for which we would be responsible. because of their proximity to the battlefront.
The districts encompassed villages and fields, and
each of us had the right to appoint assistants and Frequently, and understandably, there were difficult
intermediaries. months during the war years. The German
occupiers, more than onc e, demonstrated their
It was in this fashion that we were transformed not despotic character in regards to the resident
into “detainees,” but into – officials, “Area population. However, it must be said that in our
Overseers.” We breathed a little more easily, and area, we did not experience serious incidents or
returned to Dereczin, not under arrest. complications.
Concern for Food More or less, life in Dereczin under the German
occupation proceeded normally. Apart from the
This turned out to be a favor both for the Jews of Officer, Sholom Mansky, in whose district Dereczin
87
fell, along with those villages on the way to Zelva, for cultural causes, and I went to the Beamts-
together with Kolonia Sinaiska, as the representative Forsteher, with a request for him to permit us to call
of Dereczin proper, there was Itcheh-Berel the for a larger-than-normal gathering to which Patt
carpenter a skillful and intelligent Jewish man. would give his appeal. The German leutenant asked
Several young Jewish boys were designated as only if the speaker will speak in Yiddish or Hebrew,
intermediaries. and when he heard that Patt would speak in Yiddish,
he immediately granted his permission, provided a
The secretary-bookkeeper for the Jewish area was location, and requested that he also be invited to the
the religious Jew, Reb Yitzhak-Avraham Abelovich, assembly. Indeed, he actually did come, and stayed
well known in Dereczin, a beloved and upright man, to the very end of the meeting, thereby establishing
and with the permission of the German military that Patt was a good speaker...
Beamts-Forsteher86, leutenant Rhein, a magazine for
grain and other produce was established in the town. In general, the Jews continued to conduct their lives
The representative Itcheh-Berel, with the secretary according to their prior prac tic es, they went to the
Abelovich, would every two weeks distribute set synagogue, studied the occasional page of Gemara,
food rations to each family, in accordance with the organized weddings and circumcisions, to which
number of people in it, for quite low prices. The they invited Germans of their acquaintance. The
Jewish overseers from the Christian districts conduct of commerce took place even under a more
received special permission from the Beamts- strict military oversight, the roads form Dereczin to
Forsteher to submit even fish caught in the lakes of the larger commercial centers, such a Bialystock,
their rural districts to the food-magazine, and even were always full of German patrols, who strongly
that was distributed to the residents of Dereczin at forbade transport of a variety of products, but
reasonable prices. despite this, Jews found a way to deal with this. A
familiar ruse of that time was often used: when a
Some time after their arrival, the Germans opened a German patrol would stop a wagon with Jewish
public school with a German as its headmaster. merchants that was carrying contraband
Local male teachers, and a number of female merchandise, in order to avoid the customary search
teachers were appointed to the faculty, among them, of the wagon contents, the patrol leader would
two from the Novick family. It is understood that in encounter one of the Jews lying down in the wagon,
that school, the German language was also taught. covered with bandages on the head or abdomen. The
partner, namely the wagon driver, would
A German-Jewish “Ideal” immediately start describing to the German, that he
was transporting someone ill with typhus – and this
The military Beamts-Forsteher, leutenant Rhein, produced the absolutely best result. The Germans
was an intelligent man with higher education. His always would immediately recoil from such a
secretary was a German Jew. Both were attracted wagon, murmuring “Donnerwetter!” and similar
with understanding and sympathy to the Dereczin epithets.
Jewish populace. It was anyway, convenient and
comfortable for them to maintain a relationship with Jews developed all manner of stratagems of this
the Jewish, more cultured community, because they nature, and smuggling was carried on. Actually,
could not find a common basis for discourse with because of the outbreak of various epidemics, we
the standoffish Byelorussian peasantry. were able to cause the German staff headquarters to
remain in Halinka, thereby causing them to remain
I remember an incident in the year 1916, when the at a distance from Dereczin. Every time when we
well-known Jewish Bundist lecturer and culture district overseers would report to the staff
worker, Jacob Patt came to Dereczin to raise funds headquarters, the old Major would always ask us
about the status of the cholera epidemic that broke
out shortly after the Russians had departed from
86
Official military representative to the Dereczin. For a long time, our answer was that there
civilian population. were still cases of cholera, and this significantly
88
alarmed the Germans. It was because of this, that we were able to render
assistance to the fire victims in Slonim after the
Banditry in the Forests great blaze of 1917, even though Slonim was in
another district, and it was strictly forbidden to
A c ertain time after the arrival of the German conduct the transaction of merchandise between our
occupiers, deserters from the Russian army, who town and Slonim. We lobbied the military authority
were hiding themselves in the thick forests around for permission to assemble grain, potatoes, and other
Dereczin began to appear, and who engaged in foodstuffs, and transport it to Slonim for the use of
attacking isolated citizens, and wagons passing the fire victims.
through the area, whom they would rob, and even
commit murder. The German military lacked the The Jews of Slonim were extremely grateful to us,
forces needed to track them down, bec ause the and could not forget the help that they received from
surrounding Christian populace was fearful of Dereczin. Several years later, when a fire broke out
turning them over, as it was often forced to among us, the Slonim community sent us several
provision the deserters and robbers, under threat of wagons with clothing, and other products, along
mayhem and murder. with a sum of money to help the victims.
At the outset, two Jewish victims fell at the hands of This was the way Jews managed to get through the
these thieving deserters. Two Jewish millers had set difficult war years. During this time, a part of the
off on foot to a distant village, carrying money with Dereczin Jewish population learned how to reclaim
whic h to buy a horse. They never returned, and all land, farm and plant. The Jewish population also
the efforts to find them on the part of the German became accustomed to the German standard of
military, the Jewish distric t overseers and orderliness and attention to detail – characteristics
intermediaries, produced nothing. Not even a trace which had never been seen during the era of Czarist
of them was found. Also, a Slonim forest products rule.
merchant who had a wood business in the forests
around Dereczin, was murdered along with his All of this generally was to the benefit of the day-to-
Jewish foreman, while traveling with a large sum of day life of the Jewish populace during the German
money that he was going to use to pay off his forest occupation, but the real purpose of German attention
workers. to detail, and “order,” the real face of German
hegemony, was felt by the Jews during the years of
Because of these bandits in the surrounding forests, atrocity of the Second World War.
we found it necessary to purchase from the
Germans, because they had left Dereczin, a larger
amount of weaponry, with hand grenades, and even
a machine-gun in order to protect ourselves against
their predations, when there were no forces in the
town.
A Privileged Town
Now, many years after the first German occupation,

and informed by the terrifying deeds of their second
occupation, one can obtain the impression that
Dereczin enjoyed the status of being a privileged
town.
89
In the Vise of the War
By Malka Alper
Photos: Chaykeh Mishkin, Teacher (p. 117, Top)
A German School class, with their teacher, Chaykeh Miskhin (p. 117, Bottom)
A. Sh. Emanuel, (sometimes spelled Emiel) Teacher at the German School (p. 118)
With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, populace, and the “good” Germans take over
our town, like someone dead, became enshrouded in already.
despair. Really, an understatement! They mobilized
fathers of children, reservists who had fought in the After the last days of summer, the High Holydays
Russo-Japanese War, young sons of elderly people, arrived, and after nights of fear and sleeplessness,
and even slightly underage young people. Many after hiding oneself wherever possible, we became
families were left without their breadwinners. free of the Russians, and the Germans occupied our
area.
The Jewish c ommittee that was organized to help
those families whose fathers were on the front, In town, there is a transport garrison, the horses are
focused on lightening the need and difficult stabled with the local Christian populace. Everyone
circumstances of those families that were suffering, had rooms [in their homes] taken for use and they
but this was like a drop in the ocean. From what I were occupied by Germans of all types. The
recall, the Czarist regime, apart from the meager economic circumstances were not good. In order to
salary paid to each soldier, largely did not care for travel from town to the village, or from the village
the families of those who were mobilized. to town, it was necessary to receive [formal]
permission.
Also, the Christian populace was shaken up by the
outbreak of the war: apart from the mobilization of And then they started taking men for conscripted
the skilled workers, their inventory of livestock labor, to repair the infrastructure that had been
suffered neglect, and fields were left fallow and ruined [because of the fighting]. The pay for this
unplowed. Understand, that this had immediate work was meager, often in the form of bread ration
repercussions on the livelihood of the Jews in the coupons. Dereczin finds itself caught in the vise of
town. war, with everything that this condition entails.
Under such circumstances, there was nothing to Whole families, women and children, go out into the
think about regarding sending children off for an fields to dig up what few potatoes they can find that
education. Only the Talmud Torah continued to haven’t already been harvested, in order to stockpile
function after a fashion, and even took in more than for the coming winter with whatever they can. It was
its usual amount of students. The entire energy of terribly sad to look at the women and c hildren,
the town was focused on generating sustenance, returning from the fields after a wearying day, with
about which there was a continuous stream of bitter a basket full of potatoes on their backs, often
news. Everyone’s thoughts were occupied with their barefoot, wet from the rain. From eight o’clock in
relatives either at the front or in the barracks. the evening on is “curfew,” and you are not allowed
to be on the streets, and gendarmes patrol the
And so, the months flew by, and the front got closer streets to enforce the order. Even if someone had
to Dereczin. One lived in fear and under pressure good reason to be out of their house and on the
from the decrees of the military authorities. It street, where the outhouses were found, one had to
becomes clear that the Germans are going to reach be extremely careful, and be able to account for
us as well. Everyone prays that we will live through oneself, or have to plead with the patrols.
the impending transition of power: that the Russians
retreat without bloodshed among the civilian In time, the pressure felt from the occupation forces
90
began to lighten, but the first period, with its The Prussian School
character of compelled activities etched itself deeply
into the memories of the Jews of Dereczin. I For the first year of the war, and until the Germans
remember very well the school established for came, nobody gave any thought to the need for
school-age children, by the military command, educating the children. Worry about husbands and
shortly after they took over Dereczin. It was sons who were at the front, and also the day-to-day
compulsory education, conduc ted in the Prussian concerns of making a living, for these families who
manner and style. Jews accustomed themselves to were left alone, consumed the time and attention of
this as well, and attempted to infuse the education most of the Dereczin residents. This same condition
with more Jewish character and content. continued to prevail for the first several months of
the German occupation. Derec zin was virtually
Things became a little easier when in the plac e of isolated from its entire surroundings. The military
the military command, an official representative to authorities made themselves comfortable. The
the civilian population was installed (Beamts- military condition was a difficult one. Apart form
Forsteher). He looked down on all the Jews. He the Talmud Torah, there was no institution of
granted permission to bring in and move out learning.
merchandise and food, and the livelihood of the A short time after the occupation of Dereczin, the
Dereczin Jews depended on him. occupiers established a school for the sc hool-age
children -- a German school. The Germans had the
And what can one not get used to eventually? expectation that the territories that they had
Slowly the Jews, and the young folk who came of occ upied would remain under their control even
age in the war years, became bound to the yoke of after the war ended. They were certain of their
finding sustenance. One traveled around from town vic tory. They dec ided t o initiate the
to town, or to nearby cities, some looking for “Germanization” of the occupied territories, and
business, others for work. with giving the occupied territories a “taste of
German culture.”
The epoch of occupation comes to its end a little bit
at a time. Revolution breaks out in Russia. The They did this in their usual Prussian way. On one
reverberations reac h even the areas under German day, an order went out, requiring all children from
occupation. The German front is shaken up. the age of 6 to 13 to enroll in the school. The
organizer and director of the sc hool was a military
The surrounding forests are full of deserters and man, a Prussian. With his swagger stick in hand, he
escaped prisoners of war. It is dangerous to travel on drove the German-Prussian discipline into the
the roads, but what does one not do in order to make school. The rod was not spared in instances when
a living? Ignoring the isolated instances of murder the director felt that a child was slow to understand,
on the highways, Jews travel the villages, build or did not respond quickly enough to please the
houses, set up ovens, sew clothing, and footwear for director.
the local peasantry, and bring a little food into
Dereczin. Merchants travel to Slonim and Teachers? Local men and women who could read
Volkovysk to bring merchandise from there. and write a bit of German. One teacher was from
outside Dereczin – A. Sh. Emanuel. The director
But the young people, who make these trips instead himself taught the highest grade, and he kept his eye
of their parents, come back with not only on everything that went on in every corner of the
merchandise and food – they frequently bring back place.
a periodical, a brochure. Just as the town Jewish
people would duck into a convenient Bet And since this school was compulsory, the Heders,
HaMidrash, in order to partake of a sacramental bit which were barely existing, closed up, one after
of learning, so these young people duck into the another. Few families who had the means, allowed
branches of their organizations in order to obtain themselves to have their children schooled in
material for the young people in their town. Hebrew by private instructors such as Feivel
91
Einstein, Leizer Matz, and the same A. Sh. Emiel
who taught at the German school.
Despite its Prussian character, the German school

was to a large degree, a planting of the seeds of
general education for the children of Derec zin – a
current that had its origins in the first years of the
twentieth century.
Under the Yoke of the German Occupation

by Jacob Rabinovich
Photo: Jacob Rabinovich as a student in the German School. (P. 119)
As a memorial to my fath er, brother this, there were no human casualties.

an d sisters, and their children, who
were exterminated in the Holocaust at The following daybreak, the Germans entered the
the end of 1942. town. At first, the thought was that the Germans
were bringing liberation to the Jews, but in the end,
In September 1915, about a year after the outbreak the bitter disappointment came. They issued a
of the First World War, the great retreat of the decree that all citizens above the age of nine were to
Russian armies from the province of Grodno began. appear in the courtyard of the Russian Orthodox
Whole battalions of Cossacks and artillery began to church, and to be photographed there and receive a
stream through Dereczin. The first-aid stations residential passport. Whoever was not provided with
became clogged with wounded soldiers. The Jews of a document was liable to be conscripted into forced
the town were filled with fear of the impending labor.
events. Cossacks would break into the houses and
take whatever they could, especially money. I During the three years of the German occupation,
recollect, that at about that time, there was a festive from 1916-1918, the economic condition in the town
parade in honor of the Czar’s uncle, Nikolai was lamentably bad. The captors c onfiscated
Nikolaevich, apparently to help raise his spirits. The everything, beginning with clothing, and bedding,
great prince received the review standing on the all the way through to copperware. Sholom Mansky
porc h of our house. When the show was over, my was selected by them to function as the city’s chief
mother, she should rest in peace, approached him, executive (Burgomeister). At his side, a sort of
and invited him and his retinue in for a glass of tea. citizen’s committee worked, (Burger-komitet). One
He responded to her request, and from then on, his of the duties of this committee was to distribute
soldiers did not have the nerve to enter our home for food rations in accordance with ration cards. The
purposes of plunder. Jewish community suffered from a state of
malnutrition. Every little thing, like a trip to the
At the end of the month of Elul, the Russian army cemetery, required prior clearance and special
left the town. On the night of the retreat, there were permission from the German ruling authorities. Jews
many incidents of robbery. The citizenry locked managed to sustain themselves through smuggling
themselves in their homes, but the Cossacks forcibly and trading. They would secretly buy from the
broke into them. The Jews were defenseless. These Germans, and resell to the farmers. All of the
wild men broke into our house as well. Suddenly, synagogues in town were seized by the occupiers.
the wife of Shmuel Stukalsky, Vikhna, appeared, The Jews prayed in minyans that were convened in
accompanied by a Cossack officer. It turns out she private homes. Despite this, the plight of the Jews in
had bribed the officer, and was going from house to the town was much better than that of the farmers in
house, in order to calm the residents, and thanks to
92
the surrounding area. They were beholden to the wouldn’t catch us. From time to time, there would
Jews, who understood the language of the be evening discussions held jointly between the two
conquerors, and who ruled the farmers with a harsh groups. I have the impression that in those years, the
hand. hand of the Bundist-Yiddishists was the upper one,
and their influence on the young people was
In the middle of 1916, the Germans issued a decree stronger than that of the Zionist Youth organization.
requiring all Jewish children beginning at age nine,
to undergo compulsory registration in a German The relationship of the German authorities to the
school. As it happens, only part of the children got population improved and softened.
registered. There were many parents who were
reluctant to enroll their children in a non-Jewish
school. The director of the school was a German
officer by the name of von Zusnirtz. Three classes
were opened. Two of the classes were conducted in
the in the hospital building, and the highest class
(Uber Stuffe) was held in the school building across
the street from Izaakovich (der Mikhoisker). There
were several Jewish teachers: A. Sh. Emiel, of
blessed memory, Sima Rubinovsky from Slonim, and
others. The language of instruction was German.
Textbooks were received from Germany. Discipline
was strict. The curriculum was quite varied. The
common name for this school was : Stadt-Schule der
Judische Gemeinde zu Dereczin. A portion of the
students secretly studied Jewish subjects in the
afternoon.
After the October 1917 revolution, the governance

of the German occupation forces became more
liberal. Almost completely out in the open, a
Yiddish cultural group, called Atid87 was founded
(the Yiddish Kulturverein “Zukunft”), in which the
influence was Bundist. The group was headed by the
sons of Sholom Mansky, Menahem and David, and
the son of Ephraim-Yehoshua, Herschel Levitt. With
the consent of the Germans, representatives from
Bialystock, such as the Bundist representative
Jacob Patt would appear in town, as did others.
At about the same time, word of the Balfour

Declaration reached the town, which led to the
establishment of the Histadrut organization of
Zionist Youth (Tze’irei Tzion), under the direction
of David Alper, of blessed memory. We, the young
people in town, would split up to attend the
meetings of both of these organizational streams,
but with care, so the director of the German school
87
“Future” in Hebrew
93
I recall that a portion of the Jewish residents took up
working the fields of the farmers that fled in fear of
the Germans, at the time of the Russian retreat.
Jewish refugees reached our town from areas that
were quite distant from us, from even as far as
Warsaw, and they stayed to live in our midst during
the entire period of the occupation. The people of
Dereczin assisted them quite a bit, a portion of them
remained afterwards permanently.
The Food Committee

By Mattityahu (Mottel) Abelovich
Our town was on a side thoroughfare, without populace, and to keep the books. A daughter of the
railroad service, and without a highway. In order to Hurwitsch (Horowitz?) family, who knew German,
get to Slonim or Zelva, it was necessary to be taken helped my father with the bookkeeping.
by a horse-drawn wagon driver.
There was no lack of work for the committee to do,
The Germans c ame into Dereczin at the time of the especially my father. A lot of the menfolk from
First World War, disc iplined in their manner, with town had already been mobilized into the Russian
a complete plan as to how they will “bring army, and their wives and children remained behind
everything to order.” They immediately took to the in town, many of them already widows and orphans.
task, putting sanitation facilities in place, building Apart from them, there were many elderly people
roads, and later, even opened a school in order for who were desperately in need. My father did
children to begin the study of German. They took everything to assure that the foodstuffs would be
the former Russian teachers, and prepared them to divided fairly and equitably, and that no one, God
be German teachers. The occupiers had a good idea forbid, should be left without something to eat.
of what they wanted to accomplish, and allocated Periodically, German inspectors would come to us
capable people and leaders [to get it done.] from Slonim in order to assure that everything was
being carried out properly.
I myself, was prepared to enter the high class (Uber
Stuffe) of the school. I knew a little German from I greatly want to write about my father, may he rest
before, having taught myself from a Yiddish in peace, who was taken from this world at a young
textbook. Quite a number of young Dereczin age. I cannot forget my early childhood, when I
children studied with me at that time. studied the Gemara with Reb David. On the
afternoon of the Sabbath, he would invite the fathers
In the town proper, a committee was established, of his pupils to come and hear the way their children
which gathered food products from Dereczin and its learned. My father was a scholar in his own right.
surroundings. With the approach of the German He would listen to me, and when I demonstrated that
army, many of the peasants from the surrounding I understood the issues of the Talmudic debate I was
area fled into Russia, leaving the villages behind studying, he would swell with pride, come home full
with significant amounts of food. All this was of nachas, and tell this to my mother.
gathered up by the food committee, which was
headed by my father, Yitzhak-Abraham Abelovich. And to this day, I cannot forget the Passover Seders
His responsibility was to distribute this food to the at my home. My father would sit at the head of the
94
table, and together with my older brother, Shmuel, It was in this manner that my father, during the time
would direct the course of the Seder, with the of the German occupation, served his community
Haggadah and with singing. People actually came to with integrity, and concerned himself with the
stand under our windows to listen to the singing, in welfare of the poorer element in our midst.
which we, the younger children chimed in to help
our father and Shmuel. The war, as we all remember stretched on for a long
time. After the Germans retreated, the sovereignty
On Yom Kippur Eve, after taking the last meal prior of our area changed frequently, the Bolsheviks
to the fast, our father would put on his tallis, and came, and after them – the Poles, and later, once
before he departed for the synagogue, one-at-a time again the Russians. When they entered Dereczin,
he would take each of us aside, and bless us with a they immediately mobilized the youth. Part of these
warm, Yiddish blessing. young people were shipped deep into the Russian
heartland.
The Friday nights in our family remain as some of
the most beautiful and shining memories that I have. My father had by this time passed away, and we, the
younger children were with our mother. The oldest
When Rabbi Plotkin assumed the Rabbinate of in the house at this time was our brother, Yudel. He
Dereczin, he became very friendly with my father, worked in the mill owned by Shelovsky, and through
and always took his opinion into account when him we had the ability to buy wheat, store it at the
dealing with community affairs. mill, and then sell flour. This provided us with some
modest income during those difficult times.
A Charity Soup Kitchen for the Needy

By Malka Alper
During the First World War, when Dereczin was following: a salaried cook, with assistants, daughters
under German occupation, a soup kitchen for the of the townsfolk, who would come at a scheduled
needy Jews in town was established by the Amts- time to peel vegetables, provided by the
Forsteher, who served as the senior officer in surrounding landholders at no cost.
charge of the civilian administration. He was a
uniformed German, with a thin rod in his hand, He In those days of limitation, an order was given and
was deferential to his seniors, but looked haughtily the kitchen came into being as a reality. Eac h day,
down with derision at all those he came in contact daughters would come to participate in the
with, he was the “mover and shaker” because by his preparation of the vegetables for the following day.
word, commerce could dry up, and he was the one Even “the Boss” in all his glory, would show up
that established who had permission to take out farm almost every day, since he was pleased to see the
produce, and who could import from the markets of young women gainfully occupied, and jeering at
surrounding towns. those who seemingly had no skill for this kind of
work, sticking the ladle into the big pot, and tasting
He personally knew all the residents of the town, what was cooking, remaining sometimes for the
and knew the distress suffered by part of the period where the food was distributed into pots, that
population, and it was then that he granted a “great every mother would bring there to get their ration
boon” to the [food] committee that had been for their family. They were often given a portion of
organized at his behest (door-to door solicitation bread that was provided by the Jewish “committee,”
and street begging were outlawed), to open a soup to take home along with the soup.
kitchen so the needy may be able to obtain hot soup,
if the Jewish community would provide the The kitchen was set up in the home of Zelig
95
Lobzovsky, not far from the old Bet HaMidrash. A landholder from the area had arrived with a
shipment of vegetables – mostly potatoes, beets and
One day, I was summoned to the office of “The carrots, for the kitchen, and it was my responsibility
Boss.” Every request of this nature aroused dread, to show the wagon driver where to deposit the
because a meeting with him, and his haughty shipment. In turning to the landholder, without so
looking down caused very unpleasant feelings, much as introducing me, he said:
which when they welled up inside, needed to be
consciously suppressed with effort, lest they burst “The vegetable girl Alper will look
out into the open. What was up? after arranging this.” I parted from
them with good wishes, and a
lighter feeling, that this was the
sole purpose of the call.
If my memory doesn’t deceive me, the kitchen

functioned for the years of 1916-1917.
War Chitchat
By Malka Alper
(Original Language : Yiddish)
Photo: The barracks. Before the Germans, a part of the barracks served as a prison. By the end of
the occupation, the larger part was used as a public meeting place.
Immediately after the outbreak of the First World – “You don’t know what they are like. At the time
War, reservists from Dereczin were mobilized, they signed the Russian-Japanese peace treaty, the
among whom were those who had already served in plans for the present war were already lying under
the Russo-Japanese War. that very table...”
The reservists were the fathers of families. Their A second woman, whose husband was also
families were left without breadwinners, and mobilized and sent to the German front, complained
suffered a great deal materially, because the Czarist about her bitter fate. Suddenly, she abruptly stops
regime provided next to nothing for them. The what she is saying, and asks:
community did whatever they could for them.
– “Tell me, I beg you, and please don’t take an
On a certain evening, a woman came to us [in the umbrage at the question, but do they wage war there
store], whose husband had been a soldier in the during the night?”
Russo-Japanese War, and had been mobilized again,
and was at the front. After purchasing what she – “Of course,” came the reply.
needed, she paused, and spoke from the heart:
– “Oh, my God,” she says, clasping her hands,
–“You could knock someone’s eye out that way!”...
96
Personalities & Their Achievements
97
98
David Alper
My Brother, David
By Malka Alper
Photo: Portrait of David Alper (p. 125)
Even as a child, he stood out in handsomeness, He never confined himself within the narrow
wisdom and quick-wittedness. He was the darling of boundaries of his own knowledge base, wanting also
his teachers, beginning with his the teachers who that others should be knowledgeable, beginning with
taught him alphabet, through his Gemara teachers, the establishment of Hovevei S’fat Ever, evening
and those who taught him secular studies. c ourses for [the study of] Hebrew, Tanach, and
Jewish History, through the Tarbut School, and the
He teachers and melamdim, who lived in Dereczin, Tze’irei Tzion – Poalei Tzion [organizations].
would come to visit him on Holidays or during
vacation periods, when he would come home. They He was skillful at stimulating the desire for ambition
had a great interest in talking with him, because he and self-development among his [own] sisters: he
was always – in that period of his life – more would lightly and good-naturedly banter about the
developed, and knew more than most people his age: role of women, and would bring examples from
he was never satisfied only with the material he history, women who he held out as role models,
received from his teachers, he constantly searched which awoke in them the desire to struggle for
for opportunities, through self-study, to slake his gender equality, not to relent in this regard, and find
thirst for knowledge. means to learn and develop oneself, and thereby
create a place for oneself in society.
He was greatly attracted to philosophy, and used to
devote the larger part of his scarce free time to He never compromised with himself, he did
pursue philosophical study, and that at a young age. everything with full commitment, with his whole
heart, and this showed itself especially in his role as
By being correct and tactful in his relationships with a teacher and educator in the Tarbut Gymnasium in
everyone, old and young alike, and with those not as Pinsk, in the years 1922-1939, and from the year
gifted as he himself was – made him beloved by all 1931 onwards as its director.
segments of the population.
Until the hand of The Tormenter reached him in
1941, at the beginning of the occupation.
May his memory be blessed!
Our Unforgettable Teacher

By Liza Katz-Bialosotsky
The beginning was in a Heder, in the conventional at the shtibl, after the morning prayers, would get
tradition of a Heder, and as it happened in a tiny there before we arrived carrying our book bags.
little darkened room, in the Hasidim-Shtibl, in the They would typically be rushing to put away their
poorest quarter of the town. The remainder of the own prayer books in the old armoires, and would
regular minyan that would come late on the Sabbath leave, in order to make room for us.
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We, the young little girls of our households, would to us within the walls of the school, and all this
rush to take the places around the big wide table and thanks to David Alper and members of his family,
begin the study of our alphabet from the teacher of who served as a wellspring of Hebrew-Sec ular
that time, Leib Abelovich. education, and a cradle for the Zionist-Halutz
movement in Dereczin. Even today, decades after all
We mastered reading skills rapidly, and began to that has happened to us during the years of the war
understand the words and whole sentences. The and the Holocaust, at every gathering or
more advanced among us moved on to study with celebration, we bring to mind memories from those
Feivel Einstein, who was already a more advanced distant and precious years, when we sat rapt, on the
teacher, who taught us Tanach with commentaries, student benches of the new school, full of light,
providing instruction in Hebrew (Ivrit Be’Ivrit). Torah and faith, and our hearts exude love and
gratitude to the Alpers, and especially to David. He,
Another year went by, and our parents became and members of his family rooted the love of our
concerned and started to discuss: what to do with us, homeland in our young hearts, as well as the
and how to give us an educ ation and an exposure yearning to make aliyah, and the conviction to
that was full of the spirit of these new times? reestablish our people in its [ancient] homeland.
Apparently the parents sensed that the day was not
far off when their children would begin to seek In those years, we learned to give homage to, and
places of learning that would be outside the celebrate every national holiday and feast day. As an
boundaries of their parents’ control, and far from extension of our Jewish tradition, we celebrated the
our town. Many ideas were presented, but the New Year of the Trees in our rustic town – Tu
sentiment of my father prevailed, supported by a B’Shevat. We would go out, with the blue and white
group of the attending parents, that a Hebrew School flag leading the way, to the outskirts of the town –
be established for their children. It was David Alper, as if we were going to plant trees and sow grain,
of blessed memory, who came to the support of with agric ultural songs on our lips, the song of the
these forward-thinking parents. flowering almond tree. 8 8 We knew that a repast
awaited us, consisting of fruits grown in the Holy
David, a man of broad perspective, and a proponent Land, and all this aroused us, and filled our hearts
of the upcoming ideals of the time, was especially with love for a new life in our [ancestral] land. And
alert to the issues surrounding the education of the did we know how to celebrate Lag B’Omer!
young generation, beginning from the earliest age
through to maturity. He invested his entire energy in And the end of the [school] year was also marked by
the establishment of a modern, secular school, able celebrations, and presentations by the drama club
to provide instruction of knowledge, and to instill that was established within the walls of the school.
love of ones’ people and homeland. He assumed the When we were c alled upon to participate in the
responsibility on his own shoulders to assume the celebration of national holidays of Poland, we were
position of principal of the school, and its founder, not embarrassed to appear before a large audience
dealt with every detail, large and small, brought and to perform in the local language [sic: Polish] as
talented young teachers in, and joined in the well.
establishment of the new curriculum at the pleasure
of knowledgeable people of the area. Our teachers And it was in this manner that our education
in those years were: Zvi Marmanski, Tieger, Sinai, continued up to the time that David Alper went to
and others. They brought education to a high level. Pinsk. The strong bonds that tied his students to
The sc hool on Dereczin was not open very long their teacher and educator, and to his household and
under the direction of David Alper before offers sisters, did not cease after this. At every holiday or
began to come in from all around the area.
88
Studies were conducted entirely in Hebrew. The Reference to the Hebew song for Tu
preservation of the ancient language of our people B’Shevat, which opens with reference
to a flowering almond tree.
was wrapped in a Zionist educ ation that was given
100
feast day, when he came to visit his parents, we To our terrible sorrow, David delayed his timetable,
would do everything we could to meet with him, and and the hand of The Tormenter reached him, and
not only for just a few minutes. When he would robbed the family and the community of his students
return to his position in Pinsk, we would escort him, of the good fortune of the most unique reunion of
whether from near or far, with feelings of respect, our lives.
and boundless affection.
David was precious to each and every one of us, and
With the passing of the years, his sisters also began his memory is as precious today in our hearts. To
to leave home, and made their way to the Holy this day, I can see him in my imagination, in the
Land. Thanks to them, their aged mother was able to fullness of his height and handsomeness, with his
reach the shores of our homeland, and to live there. infectious smile, as he speaks to his pupils who
What a pleasure it was for me to visit her, and find ingest every word he utters, and their hearts
her bent over a newspaper or a Hebrew book, as she quivering with love for their gifted, unforgettable
anticipated the arrival of her townsfolk, and began teacher.
with memories of Dereczin – and her beloved son,
David.
Until the outbreak of the Second World War, we

had continued to hope that we would yet see David
among us, together with his wife, Shoshana, and
their two children.
The Alper Family

By David Rabinovich
It is not possible to describe the community life, and with great clarity to his audience. He would speak
the Halutz-Zionist movement, and the organization with grace, and the entire town would come to hear
of the secular education in Derec zin, without his words. In debates with anti-Zionists, he always
underscoring the c entral role and leadership held the upper hand, and I will not exaggerate if I
provided by the house on the market street, which aver that David stood head and shoulders above his
bordered on the school building, in which the Alper supporters as well as opponents, his friends as well
family lived. as his pupils. His acuity and depth of knowledge
might occasionally falter, but of all his undertakings,
There was a wide wooden porch at the front of the what stood out most of all, was his initiative in the
pharmacy of the Alper family, and it was on the field of education of the younger generation, and his
wooden steps of this porch that the Halutz-Zionist skill in the establishment of the frameworks and
movement was born in our town, along with all of organization for the Zionist-Socialist youth, the
its offshoots. Halutzim, the workers for Keren Kayemet LeYisrael,
and for anyone prepared to contribute effort for the
The pride of this family, and the pride of the town Zionist cause. His impact on the cultural community
was the only son of this family, David Alper. life was felt in every aspect of these undertakings in
Educated at the Yeshiva of Szczuczyn, rooted in the Dereczin, and to this day, it is possible to see among
Jewish Torah, David succeeded in absorbing and the many good sons and daughters of our town, the
internalizing the best of the intellectual and literary legacy of the marvelous teacher, David Alper.
works of the enlightened world. He was brimming
and effusive with knowledge of Torah, science, David was raised in a Zionist home, and along with
literature and philosophy, and everything that he him were raised five sisters. Four of them are found
learned and absorbed, he knew how to communicate here with us in Israel, and of these, three continue to
101
be employed in the field of education, and the fourth And when David left for Pinsk to assume the
is a pediatrician. position of Head of the Jewish Gymnasium there,
and to work in the Zionist movement, many of his
Among the sisters, who were all committed to the neighbors and friends would wait with longing for
Zionist ideal, it was Malka who especially excelled, a holiday or celebration, and would meet with him
who in those years was the head of the Zionist during that time when he would come home to visit
Halutzim at the right hand of her brother David in at the home of his parents. I, also, will not forget my
all his undertakings, in the establishment of the meeting with David Alper in the year 1932, when I
Tze’irei Zion (Zionist Youth), and the young returned from the Holy Land for a visit to Poland.
peoples’ auxiliary for this organization, the We fell into each other’s embrace, and had a long
establishment of Bnot Zion (Daughters of Zion), that and very warm conversation. When we parted,
encompassed tens of young girls from town, in the David said to me: “Nu? And now we will meet
establishment of the library, in the name of Y. Ch. [again] in the Holy Land...”
Brenner, and all manner of other activities in town.
But David did not reach the homeland, because he
The Alper house served as the center of all Zionist dedicated his entire life and energy to his calling.
activities in Derec zin. In the pharmacy, And we were denied the privilege of seeing this
prescriptions were concocted, and inside the house greatest of Dereczin’s sons among us, this
and in front of it, the agendas for all the cultural- outstanding personality, under whose aegis, a whole
community-secular activities were “concocted” with generation in our town was educated.
David and his sisters. There practically was not an
hour in the day or evening, when someone wasn’t
sitting at the Alpers discussing one thing or another
that needed to be done, over a glass of tea. There
were those who came just to unburden their hearts,
while others wanted to obtain advice from David, or
a point of view on one subject or another.
David Alper, Our Teacher and Principal

By Asher Shofet (Negbah)
(From the Hebrew article al HaMishmar – At His Post – written on December 25, 1961 at the 20th
anniversary of the death of David Alper)
David Alper came as a teacher to the Gymnasium in First and foremost, he proved himself as a teac her
Pinsk shortly after it had been founded. From the and educator. He was a great believer in conducting
time of his arrival, he was accorded a senior a class. I recall: the class is rapt with attention and
standing among the organization of the teachers holds its breath as the woven fabric of the lesson
there, for many years, even prior to his becoming unfolds from the mouth of the teacher. He is
the principal in fact, he was the living spirit of the imparting his thoughts to his audience standing, or
organization. The positions he held both internal and in the middle of stepping lightly between table and
external, his role in cultural and Haskalah activities, chair. Hand gestures that clarify and explain, an
in addition to the responsibilities for educ ational intelligent and lively look over his ever-present
direction and teac hing, transformed him into the eyeglasses, a black mustache which concealed a scar
central figure in the Gymnasium, and it became one from his boyhood, adds a measure of affability to
of the greatest and best of the Tarbut Gymnasiums the appearance of his already pleasant face.
throughout Poland.
Of the many subjects which he taught at the
102
beginning of his work, among them mathematics time, and to control his restlessness, by adhering to
and engineering, he moved subsequently to the a set schedule of daily tasks and periodic
exposition of Jewish learning and other subjects in recuperative activities, and found for him a
the humanities, and in these he was unique. classmate with whom he could jointly prepare his
lessons; in follow-up meetings, the young man
By today’s standards, I see his educ ational would sit across from him with bright smiling eyes,
enthusiasm and attention to detail which he very strongly motivated by his return to the right
provided for the modern courses of study, as line of endeavor.
incredible. How he brought a question up in front of
the class, whether large or small, how he guided the We left the walls of the Gymnasium, and fresh new
ideas and exchange among the students, youngsters took our place in the rows of seats. The
transforming it into a riveting debate, how he held future of young Jews in Poland was decidedly
the scepter of c onquest in his hand, with which to unc ertain, and the reaction to this was – the
tame the subject matter, and the solution to the development of a community and cultural focus,
question residing in his mouth, regarding the sought with an orientation to the Holy Land, whose gates
after literary-social issue under discussion. the British had effectively locked up already.
The main discipline which he earned in his c lasses, David Alper faithfully guarded the relationship he
and in all his demands from pupils, was the had with those of his students who emigrated, and
discipline of respect for position. The sobriquet of he was proud of them, and they would even write
“teacher-friend” did not apply to these relationships, him letters from [such] great distances, and when
but rather, “great father,” before whom his pupils they visited home, they would meet him, yet again,
stand with mixed awe and affection. on the grounds of Jewish education in the city. In
the meantime, he was appointed the principal of the
At his height during his appointment to the Gymnasium, when his predecessor Abraham Mazer,
institution, David Alper was the principal catalyst of blessed memory, made aliyah to the Holy Land.
and the one who freshened the lives of his students.
When the time for the long vacation began, he What transpired and was created in the Holy Land
would walk up and down the length of the lived in every nook and cranny of his soul. He
auditorium of the Gymnasium, with his hands educated his only son in Hebrew, as if it were his
outstretched to the masses of students, he would mother tongue. His pupils in the Holy Land, who
look about him, quip a bit, and smile at the older came to visit Pinsk, never forgot to visit with him.
classes, while gathering in rivers of their laughter
that would c ome back to him from all directions, His students became leaders and heads of most
and outside – talks with the collected parents, movements in Poland, and ideological differences
founders and authorities. were forgotten in his group. But, he himself,
remained at his post to the end. This for him was
And even this – in those years, when the like Mount Nebo89, from which he was not destined
oc c upations of “guidance counselor” and “special to come to the land of his dreams, and the center of
services teacher” were practically unknown, David his yearnings.
Alper understood how to allocate both thought and
effort to these needs. Not once, did a growing young 89
boy find himself getting lost, and unable to keep The mountain from which Moses saw
focused on the rigors of his study, especially at the th e Promised Land that he was fated
onset of puberty – and it was at such a time that a not to enter.
youngster would find the way to the home of David
Alper, where he would find an attentive ear, and
good advice.
He would teach the young man how to organize his
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He Who Is Not Forgotten Is Not Dead
By Naftali Ben-Dov (Dykhovsky)
I heard these words from the mouth of one of the He was my classmate at the Yeshiva in Szczuczyn.
pupils of David Alper, of blessed memory. In I carry the memory of those days with me even now,
reminiscing about this outstanding scion of our his warmth and graciousness in me, as the memory
town, Moshe Koll, an officer of the Government of of one who stood out from the rest, who will forever
the State of Israel said: “Men of accomplishment are be remembered by those who knew him.
not dead, so long as their memory has not vanished
from the hearts of the members of their generation.” David, David, we will not forget you, because you
live within us, in our memories, in our souls, with
And I know, feeling this with my whole heart, and all that ties us to the distant past in out town, and the
I am certain that many feel as I do, that it is bright future in our Land.
impossible to forget David, his good-heartedness,
the high level of his spirit, his nobility and devotion
to the essential – the preservation of our language,
and the transmission of the heritage of our people,
which he strove to preserve.
104
Rabbi Chaim Zvi Sinai-Miller
Our Father’s Way
By Khemda & Israel Artzi
Photo: Rabbi Chaim Zvi Sinai-Miller (p. 130)
Our father, Rabbi Chaim Zvi Sinai, of blessed into possession of a parcel of land in Kf ar Uriah,
memory, was in his youth deeply immersed in the and in 1926 he made aliyah together with his family
study of Torah, and far removed from the practical and settled in the town along with eight other
aspects of life. The one big event in the outside families. It is difficult to describe the difficult
world that had the greatest influence on him, was circumstances that these settlers had to contend with
the Dreyfus Affair. The trial laid bare before him the in a hostile land, surrounded by Arabs, isolated in
Jewish Question in all its depth, and he came to the the Judean hills, far from the centers of the Yishuv.
unsurprising conclusion that the only solution to the He assumed the burdens of subjugating the land and
dilemma of the Jewish people was the Zionist building it with love, and lived his life together with
solution. From that time on, the Zionist ideal his wife, Bluma kz, who was his helpmeet, and a
became the c entral focus of his life. He took an role model of devotion and total dedication. She
interest in all the proceedings of those first Zionist followed him (as she herself often expressed it)
congresses. Understandably, his Zionism was an “into the desert, an unsown land.”90
inseparable part of his religious world outlook. A
complete Jew, according to his profound perception, In 1929, this little dot was destroyed at the hand of
was only one whose world was based on Torah and the Arabs, and their lives were spared thanks to an
Mitzvot, in which residence in the Land of Israel Arab Mukhtar who befriended them, and guided
was an integral part. He remained faithful to this them to his village and home in the dead of night,
outlook for his entire life: only that individual who and from there to the settlement at Rehovot. He
personally performs the mitzvah of building the continued to fulfil his desire to build the land with
Homeland – fulfills his destiny. his settling in Ramat HaSharon.
He was active with his entire heart and soul on In his new home, he continued with his way of life
behalf of Zionist organizations, and he raised the to which he remained faithful for all of his days:
Zionist issue prominently in every possible instance Torah, Work, and Performing Good Deeds.91 His
before the community: In the streets of Lithuania, in love of nature, raising living things, which he
Poltava in the Ukraine, and in Dereczin in Poland. brought with him from his native town of [Kolonia-
These cities were way stations in his life after the ] Sinaiska were expressed in excerpts of his
First World War, which uprooted entire peoples memories that he wrote in Ramat HaSharon:
from their places of origin. With the publication of
the Balfour Declaration, he was transported on the “...The fruit orch ard, which turned
waves of Zionist enthusiasm, and his oratory about wh ite during the winter months,
the onset of the Final Redemption captured souls for became a carpet of flowers...the trees,
the Zionist c ause in each and every city. In because of their clusters of blossoms,
emitted a pleasant fragrance. The
Derec zin, he put in place a generation of students
ches tnut colored animal, with the red
loyal to the Zionist cause, most of whom, because of
his influence, made aliyah to the Holy Land.
90
From Jeremiah 2:2
His longing for Zion received tangible expression
91
through his desire for the land. In 1912, through the Expressed by the Hebrew expression,
“Organization for Facilitating Settlement,” he came Torah, Avodah, U’Gemilut Hasadim.
105
alter around its neck and a He was ac tive up to the last half year of his life,
bell hanging from it, sent a until he became ill with the disease from which he
rushing ringing sound to me... did not recover. He withstood all the stormy
ev erything about me is tribulations of life, being a widower, and sustaining
effervescent, exuding life and
the loss of children. We saw him as “strong in
ecstasy.”
spirit, certain in his c onvictions, independent of the
opinion of others, following his own chosen path,
From this it is possible to apprehend his love for the
carrying his ensign within and without, and a
labor that he devoted to the development of his
pleasant lands. This fundamental value he blended guardian of the divine spark.”
with yet another such value: love of the Land of
We will follow in the light of his steps for many,
Israel. He had three loves that formed a three-part
many days!
strand of his life: love of his people, the land and the
cultural heritage of Israel, in the middle of which
was the faith of Israel. In Ramat HaSharon he taught
the Tanach, and the Oral Tradition to many
[students], and was the leader of the religious
advisory board, a member of the local leadership
council for many years, a founder of the local
charity organization, and a member of many other
organizations.
A Figure of Shining Light

By Malka Alper
Rabbi Chaim Zvi Sinai-Miller was a man who was order to settle there. The War not only denied him
exceptionally gifted, a figure that emanated the light the fulfilment of this desire, it even uprooted him
of friendship, truth, the love of Torah, his people, to from his place of residence in Lithuania, and sent
his fellow man, and to the land. him into the vast reaches of Russia, where he tasted
the taste of a double exile: as a war refugee, and as
He was a man of deep and abiding faith, with no a Jew without civil rights.
conflict between his faith and deeds, at one with
himself and his God. A person whose signature was He was not seduced by the calumny of the Russian
truth [itself], and anything else was not imaginable. Revolution, nor swayed by the limitless possibilities
A broad-hearted man, of expansive thought, with of America, from which his brothers and sisters
sensitivity to the opinions of the public. called to him without a surcease. He preferred the
life of a pioneer to all of these, in the Land of his
During the time when we lived within the ambit of Fathers, his heart’s desire since the days of his
Rabbi Chaim Zvi kz, he was involved with youth.
education only for a limited number of years, but his
persona served as an educating force in all his It was my privilege to receive Rabbi Chaim Zvi and
undertakings, in the light of his face, and the under his family when they reached the port of Jaffa on
the influence of his good heart. Passover eve of 1926. How his face shone with
happiness and good fortune: for his dream of youth
That he was a Zionist from his early youth, was a had come to pass: he did not want to have the sailor
matter of course, and even before the First World carry him from the dinghy to dry land, as was the
War, he obtained a parcel of land from Kfar Uriah custom of the time, but desired rather to walk in the
for the purpose of coming to [The Holy] Land in surf, in order to feel the seashore of his ancestral
106
homeland under his own feet. “You will be carried He was a man of enlightenment, a man who could
upon shoulders,” as is written in the Book of Isaiah, carry on an interesting conversation, radiating light
he shouted from the distance, as he was carried and love in all his words to everyone with whom he
nevertheless, on the shoulders of a beefy sailor. came in contact.
The life of a pioneer, for whic h he yearned, During the time of his illness, neither a word nor a
continued through all the years that he resided in the hint was heard from his lips conc erning his
Holy Land, nearly thirty three years, beginning with condition. About two weeks before he passed away,
Kfar Uriah in the hills of Judea, the events of the I visited him once more, and he was weak, and it
Sharon in 1929, leadership in Ramat-HaSharon, and was evident that his days were numbered. But his
through the difficulties and sacrifices associated mind was clear, and he took an interest in what was
with the work of creation and development of the going on in our town, he asked if we had called the
land. In every tree that he grew, he saw the fruition annual assembly in memory of the annihilated
of his caring, every house he saw built in the community, he wanted to know what the disposition
settlement gave him true joy, and every settlement was of the Dereczin Yizkor Book, and the welfare of
that was put up on his land, was a major event to those who were putting it together.
Rabbi Chaim, and he lived it with the total depth of
his Jewish-Zionist soul. And it was in this fashion He fell like a great tree. He was interred in the earth
that he lived the building and the creation of his of the Land of Israel, whose image he apprehended
settlement with all his might, and above all these, in his youth, and was privileged to see its
the miracle of the establishment of the State of establishment and early development.
Israel in his land. Despite suffering and misfortune,
loss of children and sorrow, he bore his pain with an
unshakeable spirit, and elevated ideal, as one in the
vanguard, who believes that this is the destiny of
those living on this land.
My Mentor and Teacher

By Kalman Abramovich
There ware three things that served as a beacon to concerning the young generation to be raised in the
his path in his role as a teacher, and to these he gave homeland: “For one eye and the next will see the
his entire energy, thoughts, and a great part of his light.” This, too, was the teacher’s belief, that the
life: the inculcation of knowledge to his pupils, the world will be transformed into light, people would
transmission of the Hebrew language, and become pure in mind and deed, the love of man for
implanting a love of the ancestral homeland. his neighbor would rule throughout the world, and
when this becomes the way of mankind, there will
He focused all of these three pillars on one be a light in the world that will be seen from one eye
objective: abandonment of the Diaspora, and aliyah to the next, that is to say, that as an eye gets close to
to the homeland. In the instruction of students in the light, it is no longer sensitive to it, but accepts it as
subject that he taught, Tanach, literature, he the norm.
explored the material in every fac et, leaving no
stone unturned, until he was convinced that his He sought to lead his students in this direction. I am,
students had absorbed his words and explanations, again, reminded of our study of the poem by [Chaim
and that the work of the lesson was not in vain. Nachman] Bialik, ‘El HaTzippor.’ What longing
and love he instilled in us during the study of this
I am reminded of one of his explanations of a poem poem, and we knew these were his dreams and
by Shaul Tchernyikhovsky, ‘Ani MaAmin’ aspirations as well: who shall give me the
107
appendage, and I will wing my way to the land of He was active in all manner of organizations, for
the almond tree and date palm... the common good in his place of residence – Ramat
HaSharon.
All this was not in vain. Thanks to Miller-Sinai the
Teacher, who educated us to a love of our ancestral May his memory be for a blessing!
homeland, a portion of his students made aliyah to
the homeland, from those who did not delay because
of the times. Because of this, they were saved from
the Holocaust. His students made the move at a time
when they achieved fluency with the Hebrew
language. The teacher continued his dream of life in
Israel through his connection to the land itself.
And it was in this fashion that he continued in the
study of Torah and its explication in the synagogue.
I Was Proud to Call Him ‘Uncle’

By Gustav Sharon (Johannesburg)
My thoughts return to that night, thirty-three years I knew that he took a fatherly interest in me, and he
ago, on which I first reached the place that was then once told me that he kept every letter I ever sent
called “Palestine,” and I met, for the first time, my him. I have a sad feeling about the fact that my
aunt and uncle and the rest of the family. To this exchange of letters with him over the years became
day, I remember the powerful and deep impression less frequent, which I attribute to the difficulty I had
made on me by my uncle, in his role as the trusted in expressing my thoughts in Hebrew, and that
leader of the old settlement, the Zionist, the writing in English to him struck me as being
Fulfiller, the True Builder of Zion, who guarded his somewhat bizarre.
faith in the face of disappointment, misfortune and
even tragedy. I was struck by his good-hearted With his passing, a chapter is finished, but it is
charac ter, his patience, the good, capable Jew. closed in only one respec t. I am hopeful that my
When I returned to South Africa, I published a short memories of him will always be with me – the
article about him in the local Jewish press. memories of a man possessed of impeccable
conduct, a faithful Jew of the old school, who took
part in the brilliant attainments of the people. A man
whom I was proud and happy to call ‘uncle.’
108
Chaim Lansky
A Difficult Childhood, A Hard Life
By Jacob Rabinovich
Photo: Chaim Lansky (p. 133)
I remember Chaim yet from the days of the Germ an My grandfather, nevertheless, continued carrying his
Schule. It was already apparent then how different he was difficult burden until darkness. As is well known,
from the rest of us, and the degre e to which he
transcended us in ability. At an early age, he began to the burden of much work accompanies a deficiency
read serious books in Hebrew and in Russian: he also of blessings in life. They scrimped on food in order
drew and sculpted, and played the vi o l i n . He learned to assure that payment to my teachers was made on
music from his neighbors, the musicians.
time. I studied in the best of the Heders in town. The
He had a difficult childhood. In 1922, I was in his company core of the studies was the Tanach, which the
in Vilna, and after he left Poland, in the period 1924-1933, teacher knew how to impart effectively to his
he would occasionallydrop us a letter from Russia. I recall students.
that in his last letter to us, he asked for a picture of the
Great Synagogue in town. He summarized his life’s story
and sent it in 1934 from Leningrad to his friend, the writer A Poem
Avraham Kariv. by Chaim Lansky
I was born in 1905 in the city of Slonim in the Zelva is famous for its fairs,
Grodno Province. Before I even learned to say Slonim for its rolls with mohn seeds.
‘father-mother,’ my parents were driven from their You will take pride yet, my far flung town,
home. They traveled into the larger world. He – to In my songs which will make me renown
the interior of Russia, she – to Austria. I was taken
Because I suffered and sang,
into his home in Dereczin by my paternal
I returned pained in heart,
grandfather (a town close to the city of my birth). They will raise a memorial to me,
He made his living by his pail and axe. Apart from In the garden of my heartwarming hometown.
drawing water and hewing wood, during the fall, he
also acted as a watchman for fruit and vegetable ***
gardens. He was an early riser during weekdays. In
the middle of reciting his morning prayers,
accompanied by the clang of his pails, he would At rare intervals, my father would turn up for a few
tread out into the early morning darkness. He would days, and leave behind for us and our neighbors
recite his evening prayers in the house. He would enough material for several months worth of
take [the ritually required] three steps back, start the conversation: the son of Reb Shlomo the Water
Amidah prayers yet again, in order to discharge the Carrier rode on a machine that had two wheels! And
obligation of also reciting the Mincha prayer. On the the kids at school envied me for having such a
Sabbath and Holidays, he loved to pass in front of father...
the Ark. Between the Mincha and Maariv services
he enjoyed looking into the Midrash. On Saturday During the first days of the War, I saw my mother
nights, after the Havdalah service, people would for the first time. – Where did she come from? She
come over and spend a quic k hour in front of our stayed a day, and then traveled on. – Where did she
well lit window: Reb Shlomo and his grandson are go? – Another issue for the townsfolk to take up.
singing Zemirot. My grandmother was a good, wise
woman. I never heard her complain about her lot in I composed my first song [poem?] at the age of 12.
life. And our lives were not particularly easy either. It grew on well-worked ground – they are the
109
teasing rhymes I used to compose for use on my On Rosh Hashana of 5684 (the year 1924), I sneak
friends. across the [Russian] border. I am apprehended on
Soviet territory. I am kept in quarantine for two
For my subsequent compositions, I found a months in the area of Borisov. I am sent to Samra,
sympathetic ear in my teacher at the German Schule, and given a card: “This citizen is a Soviet subject
Sima Rubinovsky. She knew a little Hebrew. Once, with all attendant privileges, but is denied
she invited me to her residence. I came to visit her permission to leave this city for two years.” I flee. In
with my notebook ... and after reading her my new Tsaritsyn I change my name. At the end of February
poem, she gave me a little box full of c andies. My 1924 I reach Baku. A total disappointment – my
first reward was a sweet one! father has finished burying his second wife, and was
marrying his third.
This teacher of mine arranged for me to have access
to the home of the city leader (the intent is to refer Friction begins to set in among the family members
to Sholom Mansky – JR), where there was a rich and relationships begin to deteriorate. I leave the
library in three languages – Hebrew, Yiddish and house. I survive by giving Hebrew lessons, and on a
Russian. All may spare time was given over to be monthly stipend from the Yiddish Club for my
spent with books. But the world of books did not poems and songs that are publicly read twice a
deter me from the world of diversion. Among the week. At the end of 1925, I travel to Moscow, from
kids on my street, I was always the leader, and first there — to Leningrad. I work for “Amal.”
in all sport activities. It was in this manner that my
childhood years were spent. In 1929 – I marry. In 1932 I receive a letter from the
Holy Land. In it, it is written: My dear brother, do
I lost both my grandparents in 1921. I found refuge not be dismayed that I call you ‘brother.’ I have
with my aunt. My uncle took it upon himself to good reason for this – we are the children of one
teach me his trade – shoemaking. I wasn’t mother... I saw in the ‘Weekly’ a poem called
particularly good at the work. They gave up on me ‘Polonz’ signed by you. I went to the publisher, and
– I wasn’t going to succeed. I travel to Vilna, and I they gave me your address. It was in this fashion
am accepted as a student at the Teachers Seminary. that my sister, the daughter of my mother, found her
Its Headmaster is Joshua Gutman. I neglect my outcast brother. I discovered that my mother was in
studies. The good will of the Headmaster enables Kovno. I wrote to her onc e or twice, but did not
me to remain in the institution. I publish my first receive any reply. The contact between my father
collection of works, Leket, around which all the and myself was completely broken off. Today, he
literary forces of the school rally. Two printings go works as a chief engineer at some establishment. I
out of 300 pieces. am no longer of any interest to him. I am employed
as a second level employee in the ‘Elektrofribur’
Spring 1923 – My first love, my first plagiarism (the factory, and I earn 120 rubles a month...”
author will forgive my “lifting” of several of his
songs). I attempt suicide. It is not a pretty This is where Chaim Lansky ended his description of
experience. I send my songs to Yaakov Cohen. His his life’s story.
reply: “your songs are immature, study, practice a
lot and observe nature. Then, in three years time,
send me samples of your song writing.”
I get a letter from my father in Baku, and he invites

me to come visit him. I return to my town, and work
for several months in the forest, and save up money
for the expenses of the journey.
110
Lansky In His Town
By Malka Alper
It was a small wooden house with wooden shingles, own words – he would be in a position to continue
leaning on its side, on a hillock at the edge of town. his education: he was certified as a general teac her.
Behind it, and to the right was a parcel of land that
was a vegetable garden, extending to the other side There was no Russian language school in town in
of the river that flowed by the edge of town. those days, only a rural school established by the
Opposite the house was the community bath house church, in which the Christian children of the town
which used to go up in flames every few years. The and surrounding area received three years of
reason – God only knows. And the sight which was instruction. The balebatim were therefore very
revealed through the windows on the south and west pleased with the arrival of a teacher in town. There
sides of the house were entirely different: a bubbly were, nonetheless, heders in town at several levels,
river, and on its second side, green meadows in the beginning with elementary subjects, and ending with
summer, in which the Christian citizens of the town, an ‘advanced class’ in which Tanach was studied,
who were farmers, pastured their domestic animals: Aggadah with Yiddish commentaries, an
horses, cows and pigs. introduction to the Russian language, Russian
calligraphy and writing, and even arithmetic in
A wide wooden door, dusty with age, having a Russian. Chaim’s father was the teacher of the
wooden doorstep higher than the outside, and twice highest level class, and was received with great
as high as the inside, bringing you into an entry- favor as a teacher.
foyer of the house, an unusual type of entrance that
served as a sort of foyer. From there, into the In the summer, my brother kz, and I would go to his
interior of the house, which was sort of divided into house for instruction, and during the winter, he
two parts: two small furnished rooms sparkling with would come to our house. In the year and a half that
cleanliness, whose furniture took up the entire space he spent in town, we were his pupils.
of the rooms, on its small windows, white shutters
with floral designs. This was the first half As it came to reach our ears, the ears of the children
encountered on entering, and then a sort of kitchen from the conversations of our parents, Mordechai
that took up about half the house. In which the Yankel, Chaim’s father separated from his wife. The
baking oven – as in the rest of the town, divided the child, (on top of the furniture) came under the
kitchen in two: in front, a form of dining room, on father’s control, and here they were, in the house of
which the mouth of the oven faced, and behind it a his parents, in the town of his birth, that also was
roomlet with a combination wooden bench and bed, my hometown.
with a window facing to the west.
A dark and shrunken little boy of about five years of
In this house, which looked so seedy on the outside, age, short in stature, with shining eyes in which the
but sparkled with cleanliness within, lived the sadness of the entire world seemed collected,
grandparents of Chaim Lansky, Reb Shlomo the looked out from a pale face, when I first saw him in
Water Carrier, his wife, and daughter, Bashka, who their home (and I was then not much older than he),
had reached adulthood. It was in this house that I when his father was first introduced to us in Russian
first saw Chaimkeh, as his relatives called him, and before our first lesson.
even us children, when he was introduced to my
older brother kz, and to me by his father, who The young boy stood respectfully before his father,
would become our Russian and Frenc h teacher. perhaps even with a touch of fear, and on trembling
Chaim’s father, Mordechai Yankel, came to his legs, timidly approached us, and with a lack of
town of birth in order to engage in teaching, and to confidenc e, extended his hand. The relationship of
support himself and his son, until – according to his the father to his son was neither warm nor cold, and
111
it is possible to say that he turned him over to the eyes, as they were.
members of his family to deal with him. And those
members of his household related to him in a very The relationship of Chaim’s father, Mordechai
warm and exceptionally loving way. He used to call Yankel, to his mother was an interesting one: she
his aunt, Bashka, and his grandmother, Mameh, just had an attitude of respect toward him, and he
like his father and aunt did. They spoke Yiddish to showed her both love and attentiveness. Here he
him, and his father – Russian. was, standing outside, the axe in his hand, chopping
wood to prepare them for use an oven fuel. He cut
And his zaydeh, his grandfather, Reb Shlomo the the wood, and stacked it in a pile, washed his hands
Water Carrier, used to make the rounds of the town and face, entered the house, and the table was set for
every day, carrying his yoke and pails on his him: a small dish of pickled beets on its leaves, half
shoulders, and was an honest, observant Jew, of a salted fish from the crock, broiled on the hot
respected by all the town’s residents: Rebbe Shlomo, coals, a cask of baked goods, a round loaf of black
they would c all him, when they encountered him. bread on the table, and the man, a product of the
The water that he provided to all the houses, he Haskalah, in accordance with the ideas of the time,
drew from a well that flowed not far from his home would seat himself at the table side, eat with relish,
near the river, this was water for tea, sweet enough and say to his pupils – to my brother kz, and myself
for drinking even without being boiled. He would go – who were waiting for their lesson, in Russian with
down to the well, which was at the base of the the lilting accent that earned him the nickname
hillock, with his pails empty, and would trudge back “Raven” – Here I have worked and toiled some, as
uphill with his pails full. It was Reb Shlomo’s soon as I have satisfied my appetite, then we shall
custom to hum sections of the prayers to himself as engage in scholarship.
he walked, or to recite excerpts from the Psalms. In
the winter, when it was possible to hear the crunch I did not see this scene only once.
of the white mantle of snow beneath the feet of
walkers, it was possible to hear the crunch of his And Chaim spent his time within the confines of his
feet at the third watch of the day, whose sound house, and nothing seemed able to warm his heart
reached our ears even through double-glazed enough to bring a smile to his lips; not his
windows as he walked by our house. I remember an grandmother’s tousling his hair, when he would rub
exc hange between my brother kz, and my late up against her and hold on to her wide apron which
father, at which time my brother told of having been was tied around her narrow hips, following in her
on his way early in the morning one day to the first footsteps in the living room, or the entrance, going
minyan, and meeting Reb Shlomo quietly whispering with her into the vegetable garden, which she would
verses of the Psalms to himself, and asking of him: begin to prepare in the spring for the planting of
vegetables for use in the house, with the idea of
– Reb Shlomo, how many times is it now? (the intent selling off the excess. At the direction of my mother,
being to ask how many times had the old man I would come to his grandfather in the summertime
managed to go through the entire text of the Psalms) for purposes of purchasing from the harvest crop of
And the answer of the old man was : the third time! vegetables (we would study with Mordechai Yankel
The old man was not a man of many words, taciturn in the afternoon, because my brother kz, would
by nature, doing a tough job in order to earn a study Talmud in the morning with a special teacher,
respectable living from which he could support his that had been hired by my late father in partnership
family. with a number of other balebatim), and I would see
Chaimkeh tagging along in her footsteps in the rows
It was not only once that I would find Chaim of the vegetable garden. I don’t remember a single
standing on the threshold of the foyer, greeting his instance where they criticized or rebuked the young
grandfather who would be passing by across from boy.
their house, burdened with his pail yoke, smiling at
him with his sad little smile, which he would form I remember one summer day from those days, in the
by slightly bending his lips, and with his sad lidded afternoon. The skies darkened, and heavy, low
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clouds covered the horizon, the air became heavy [Czarist] Russian Army retreated, and we found
with electricity and was suffocating. The ourselves under the control of the Germans. It is the
approaching sound of thunder could be heard in the fall of 1915. Despite the elation of being rid of the
distanc e. We arrived for our lesson. The teacher is terror of the Cossacks, and the warm reception
urging us to go to the entrance way, and to observe accorded by the town to the “Good Germans,” the
the storm breaking out around us. town was concerned about its future fate: work
disappeared, stores stood empty, and farmers were
The teacher held his son’s hand and mine, because forbidden to leave the confinement of their villages.
I was younger than my brother (I had followed him The ruling authority is tracking the harvest and the
only reluctantly, because I was frightened), and the output of the town.
four of us came closer to the threshold, which was
very high on the inside, because the floor of the Many of the farmers in the vicinity, who had
foyer was significantly lower than the street level. transportation vehicles fled to the east either before,
As we stood, a bolt of lightning flashed that blinded or on the heels of the retreating army, and those that
us, followed immediately by a deafening crash of remained behind, do not have the means to reach
thunder, and it seemed like the very foundations of town. Winter begins to make itself felt, and arrives.
the world were coming apart. This so frightened us Fields full of potatoes, but abandoned by their
children that we screamed, just as the teacher burst owners abound in the vicinity. The Jews of the town
into a laugh from deep inside of him. Chaimkeh was spread out into the fields to dig up these potatoes, in
especially frightened. His father grabbed him, and order to stock supplies for the winter, while there
carried him in his arms into the kitchen, and stood are still good days of light. Among those who went
him on a bench, and began to soothe and c alm him out into the fields were Chaimkeh and his aunt,
down. The young boy stood stone-like, frozen with Bashka. At that time he was barely ten years old.
fear. The father then took down his violin, which Even the old man, Reb Shlomo, went out into the
hung on the wall, and in turning to us, he said: – I fields a number of times. But the pressure from his
love to pour out my soul through music from time to daughter and grandson grew great on him to stay
time. And he began to pluck at the violin strings that home, and that they would look after this matter of
began to emit different enlivening melodies. I will supply. And several times a day, Chaimkeh would
not forget the smile that appeared on Chaimkeh’s appear, returning from the fields, carrying on his
pale lips. It didn’t spread to the rest of his face, young back, the sack with its valuable provisions,
however, that same smile that in normal even though its weight was more than could be
circumstances would be confined to his lips, and his managed by a youngster of his age. And so, day
eyes – the sorrow of the world was in them. after day, until the rains came, the young boy was so
occupied.
In wintertime, the teacher would come to our house
for our lesson, and in the spare time after his lesson The [military] regime announced a labor draft for
with us, if, in fact it was his last of the day, it was the purpose of repairing roads and highways. The
his custom to tarry a while and carry on a wage – bread, coffee to drink, and a number of
c onversation with my late father, read a Russian pastries. Among those who presented themselves
newspaper, engage in a wide variety of diversions, daily, in the marketplace at the center of town across
or puzzles that were at hand. He would take them from our house, were Bashka and Chaimkeh. His
apart, and try to put them back together – without head was bound up with old kerchiefs to protect him
much success. My ambition – he would say – is to from the cold. On his feet he wore ill-fitting shoes,
study mechanical engineering... not of his size, from which a variety of rags stuc k
out, to provide him protection from the cold, and to
His father left Dereczin, and Chaim remained in the fill up the empty spaces between the shoe and his
household of his grandparents. Other teachers came foot.
to our town, and the memories of Mordechai
Yankel, nicknamed “The Raven” faded. Years went At the beginning of the year 1916, the authority
by, and the First World War broke out. The opened a school for 14-16 year-olds, in which
113
attendance was compulsory, and the study of obtained his facility with Hebrew before he came to
German was required. The Headmaster – a German me – I am uncertain. I assume that he occasionally
officer who immediately introduced Prussian attended a Heder, and his strong desire for
discipline. The authority provided the textbooks. knowledge was that which propelled him ahead.
The teachers, who were local residents, had to fulfil
their tasks under stingy conditions. Jewish studies Taciturn, inner-directed, soft-spoken, almost to the
were only permitted to the students and their point of inaudibility, occasionally bantering, the
teachers in the afternoon hours. same smile that I recall from his youth, except that
it was tinged with sarcasm.
For every misstep on the part of a student –
punishment. Among those who attend school is also The young man amazed all of us with his unique
Chaim. Pale, shrunken and with the appearance of a feel for the Hebrew language. He wrote with such
c hild who hasn’t eaten properly, he would come focused precision, as to surround the reader. I
every day to school. He was a clever student, but for became filled with respec t for his sentence
some reason did not find favor with the Headmaster, construction, for finding the right word for the right
who continuously found fault with him (about which place, and for the maturity of his thought processes.
the teachers from our community would discuss). It was not only once that I kept his work at my hand
Was it bec ause he was not outgoing enough, or for days at a time, in order to show it to those who
because he was not as quick to seek diversion like were older than I, so that they could appreciate his
the rest of the kids – the ire of the Headmaster use of the language. And all of us were amazed by
cascaded over him more than any other of the him. As was c ustomary of all budding “teachers,”
children – and he took it silently. (and I was yet quite far from being a fully qualified
teacher) the temptation is aroused to “edit” the text.
The school remained in existence for the entire But I immediately felt that his was superior to mine,
period of the occupation. At the beginning of the because there was no way to alter or c hange even
year 1918, when the severity of the occupation one syllable of what he wrote. And when I praised
eased slightly, the civilian authority permitted a him – it was as if it made no impression on him, not
revival of some aspects of town life: the opening of even an eyelid fluttered.
the library, organization of evening classes for the i
study of Tanach and Jewish history, to call together The years 1918-19 were stormy years for us, in our
Zionist meetings, and to establish youth groups, and area in general, and in our town in particular:
things of that sort. Zionist organizations, and in counterpoint, the Bund
and its organization. A youth movement was
During one of these days, Chaim’s aunt Bashka established. I do not recollect Chaim [participating]
came to our house, and turned to me with these in these. Town meetings took place with sharp
words: discussions in the Batei Midrash concerning control
over the funds being made available by the “Joint 92”
– I have come to ask for you to teach Chaimkeh that became available in those days with Jewish
Hebrew. His father, Mordechai Yankel taught you support, the Zionists or the Bund?
Russian, and I ask you to do this thing, teach him
Hebrew, because his heart is in it. We do not have Both adults and young people of all ages took part
the means to hire a teacher for this. When Chaimkeh in these discussions, either as participants or
grows up, and will become an adult, he will find a listeners, but I do not recall seeing Chaim at any of
way to repay you in kind. these.
i
I did not hesitate. I began immediately to teach him I left home in the fall of 1919. I would come home
language and literature, and his speed was a marvel
to behold. Like an open pit, he swallowed
92
everything that he heard. Every book that was put in Th e Jewish Joint Distrib u tio n
his hand, he consumed in short order. How he Committee.
114
for vacation from school during the summertime. It I made aliyah to the Holy Land in 1925. I didn’t
was told in town that Chaim’s father was studying hear about him until the early 1930's at the time that
at a university in Russia. And what of Chaim I had returned for a visit to the home of my parents.
himself? This will undoubtedly be related by those It was at that time that his aunt told us that she had
who met him in his travels and wanderings outside received a letter from him in which he happily
of Dereczin in those days. related to her that he is writing songs, and
publishing them, and that he is sending two copies
If my memory serves me properly, the last time I of his collection, one insc ribed to her, and one for
saw him in person was in 1923, it was during my our family. He said to her in the letter that he
vac ation from school, I was at the home of my understood the material would be difficult for her to
parents, and my brother kz, was also with me. On understand, and that she should turn to a member of
one of those days, Chaim c ame to us to take his our family to translate and explain it to her.
farewell from us, especially my brother, with whom
he was wont to speak with more freely than with Up to September 1933, on the day that I left
me. He seemed to be the same Chaim that I recalled Dereczin, the volumes had not yet arrived.
from my earlier memories in his youth, when we
would meet. On my return to the Holy Land, in the year 1939, a
collection of his songs was published in Davar.
– I’m going to my father, I’m going to him even
though passage is illegal. My father is in Baku, in And her, in front of this large collection of rhythmic
the Caucasus, working as an engineer. Perhaps I too, songs – a dedication to me from this member of my
will succeed in getting an education there. It is said town, and my student “from the other side of the
that there are tremendous opportunities for those Lithuanian River!”
willing to learn.
(Davar – Literary and Art Supplement, 16 Sept 1960)
He related that he planned to hit the road,
unencumbered, and sneak across the border, but that
he would take along the violin that his father had
left behind, along with a change of underwear.
He left, and we eventually got word that he had been

stopped at the border by the Russians, was being
detained until his father could be located, who
would then take him to his home.
A Poet Under Duress

By Joshua Gilboa
In the prominent constellation of Hebrew writers, and flew across borders, making its way from
the writer, Chaim Lansky, occupies an unchallenged Siberia to the Holy Land. This writer had the
place. opportunity recently to meet with someone who had
been arrested in Leningrad at the same time as
In the second half of the year 5698 (1942), news Lansky. He related that Lansky had ‘served’ the five-
reached the Holy Land that Lansky had been year sentence, and was subsequently released. When
arrested in Leningrad, and sentenced to a war broke out between the Nazis and the Russians in
concentration camp for five years. But even during 1941, Lansky volunteered to serve in the Russian
the time of his detention, the writer’s creative muse Army, but he was excused from service because of
was not stilled. His song burst through prison walls, his frail health. The subsequent fate of this writer is
115
unknown to us. lectures from royalties for his songs, and by
storytelling in the Yiddish language.
Today, in Israel, there are a few people who in his
day in Russia, were in close contact with Lansky. Lansky was perpetually drawn to the places and
From their stories, memories and impressions, it is experiences of his childhood throughout his entire
possible to construct a portrait of the writer and his life. His poem, Litteh, is a lovesong to those faraway
personal life, and this portrait harmonizes with his times and places. His verses in Litteh are simple and
writing. This was a man of exceptional sensitivity, full of pathos. Important tales are told with grace,
great feelings and very talented. He could play the alongside mundane day-to-day activities, warmly, as
mandolin and the flute, as well as composing if describing a legend.
musical pieces. Physically, he was chronically weak,
and lived in a state of perpetual deprivation and The poem, Litteh makes clear to us, that the persona
need. A friend of his from the years in Leningrad of Chaim Lansky’s grandfather was the
told of him that he never changed out of the clothes personification of the Jewish masculine ideal,
that he c ame in from Lithuania, but “almost every because he saw in him the embodiment of physical
day he managed to squeeze in another book into his strength in synthesis with spiritual gentleness. He
writer’s cramped quarters.” Lansky worked in a took great pride in his grandfather, “He didn’t have
metallurgical factory in Leningrad. The heavy work any outstanding business,” but he built up “strong
exacted a toll from his energies, but he specialized muscles in the hand on which he laid his tefillin”;
in the work and became a skilled c raftsman. He “who else could compare to him as a leader of the
became sick, however, with tuberculosis, and daily prayers,” and who else but he could swim and
because of this was exc used from military service. course through the water with his eight-year-old
Later, he fell in love, married, and became the father grandson? With epic tranquility, the poet braids one
of a son. line and then another, and weaves his song about
Kabbalat Shabbat, Sabbath candle-lighting, Sabbath
Something of the writer’s life story, up to the period delicacies, and Zemirot. But this epic description
of his life in Leningrad, is known to us from an cannot suppress the poet’s unrest. The stanzas fill
autobiographical letter written by Lansky to the the reader with peace, but simultaneously awaken
Jewish writer and critic, Avraham Krivaruchka turbulent emotions. A rich play of colors, artful
(Kariv): expressions, and elegant tonalities weave
themselves together. The poem ends with Messianic
He was born in 1905 in Slonim, in the Grodno longings, and a certainty of a day of redemption –
Province. Chaim’s parents became divorced before “and the Redeemer will come to Zion.”
the young boy could speak. The child was taken in
by his grandfather, Reb Shlomo – a hewer of wood, Despite the difficult experiences that the writer
drawer of water and vegetable gardener in Dereczin. endured, his work is suffused with optimism. His
Chaim wrote his first song at the age of twelve, and joy of life was not diminished even during the
at that time he was already possessed with a craving travail-laden years he spent under arrest and in
to read. During the First World War, the area in exile. On the contrary: “Bitterness exposed me [to
which he lived was occupied by the Germans, and it the world] with its sharp, full aura.” The “North of
was at this time that he mastered the German the World” attracted him, which even in its
language, and in later years, he was much taken by primitive harshness, evoked images of the time of
the poetry of Heine. In 1921, his grandfather passed Genesis in his mind. The writer was able to create
away, and Chaim attempted to learn shoemaking pearls out of the maudlin and sad waters of his own
from his uncle, but is not successful. In 1923 he life. He sated his eyes with real life nature vistas;
attempted suicide out of great depression. On Rosh even in the land of his fated exile, he listened
Hashana 5684 (1924), after receiving a letter from attentively to the swish of fish in the rivers, to the
his father in Baku, he stole across the Soviet border. song of birds, and the whispering of the branches in
He was detained, but obtained release in short order. the trees. In Marinsk Siberia, in 1935, the poet asks
In Baku, he supported himself by giving Hebrew himself the tragic question: “shall he hang up his
116
violin on a northern tree branch?” For what is the Just as we are inspired by Lansky’s patience in the
purpose of playing a Hebrew melody in this alien land of his oppression, we are equally inspired by
wasteland? But the poet answers himself: no; even his stubborn allegiance to the Hebrew language, in
though he does not know what is in store for him “in the hostile climate in which it was. Poetic talent and
the land of Siberia in the enchantment of its snows” love of the Hebrew language were part and parcel of
he will not stop singing “so long as he hears the his very being. What Lansky has bequeathed to
sound of music from above...” Hebrew literature is a sufficient testament to what
our people have lost because of the excision of
Russian Jewry from its corporate body politic.
(“Zion & The People,” Vol. 13)
My Friend Chaim, The Dreamer

By David Rabinovich
Aportrait of a friend and neighbor, from different he was from all the other children about
my childhood days, and from our time
together as students.
him. He was quiet, and a dreamer, preoccupied with
his own thoughts. He was largely withdrawn and sad
A number of years before his demise in the wilds of among us, the children without concerns, who lived
Siberia, his name bec ame publicized in the land as under the aegis of their parents, and Chaim didn’t
a gifted songwriter, one of those few who sing their have his parents. At that time, we did not understand
songs in Hebrew, in the land of the Soviets, through his feelings, and there was not one among us who
which our ancient and regenerating language was would offer him encouragement. Like many of the
graced and edified. kids, he earned a nickname from his friends, “Chaim
the Raven,” (die Voroneh). In his solitude, he sought
Who would have foretold then, many years ago in a home and refuge, coming to our house and
our town, that this young dreamer who wandered its sometimes spending days at a time, coming after
streets, would become one of the outstanding poets school, and staying for lunch and dinner.
of our generation?
I rec all his interest in the violin. He never studied
I did not know his father and mother, but even music formally, but he had a good ear, and he was
Chaim could recollect them only with difficulty. His drawn to violin playing, and especially loved to
father left for Moscow when he was about three or listen to the sad pieces, and the Nesaneh Tokef
four years old, and from that time on, Chaim grew prayer of the Cantor on the High Holydays. In view
up in the home of his grandfather, Reb Shlomo the of the fact that he lived next door to the klezmorim
Water Carrier. His grandfather was a simple and (musicians) in town, he would come to them in his
straightforward man, who knew the Psalms by heart, free time, and listen to their practice on the violin.
and as he made his rounds, with the water pail yoke From time to time, he would ask permission of
on his back, his lips never ceased uttering verses Archik the Violinist to play on his violin. And he
from the Psalms. Chaim was raised in the home of was able to play without knowledge of notes or the
this observant Jewish man from early childhood on. details of music composition. To this day, I can
The house was small, seemingly about to fall down, recall how he would start to play the Hatikvah, and
covered by a straw roof, hidden among the other segue into other light songs, and other folk songs.
dwellings by the bathhouse, adjacent to the well (die For a long time, he dreamed of owning his own
krenitseh). violin, but when it became clear that he would not
satisfy this desire any time soon, he dec ided to
I sat next to Chaim on the bench at sc hool. It was construct one with his own hands. He would sit in
only years later that we came to realize how our house in the afternoon hours, and carve the
117
piec es of his violin. When he finished his work, he Afterwards, it became known to us, that on a dark
had a sort of primitive instrument that produced night, he stealthily crossed the border near
very interesting melodies from its body, but it is Stolupczy under a hail of bullets, and that in the end,
difficult to describe Chaim’s sense of satisfaction in he managed to reach his father, to whom he was
those days. drawn since early childhood.
He did not excel in his studies, and was particularly And again, he was confronted with bitter
not enamored with the study of arithmetic, but he disappointment. The meeting between father and
forged ahead in Hebrew literature, and wrote poems son was not at all encouraging. Even with his father,
without showing them to anyone to obtain an he found no emotional peace as he had dreamt and
opinion about them. His most loyal friend was my hoped. His bitter destiny hounded him even there.
brother, Jacob, and it was from him that I heard of He worked at hard factory jobs, and in his spare
his longing for his father, to whom he was attracted time wrote poetry – in Hebrew. He succeeded in
from his earliest days, until he grew up in his getting in touch with (Chaim Nachman) Bialik, and
grandfather’s house. He spoke to us about his father transmitted a number of his poems to the Holy Land,
out of envy for those of us who had a mother and and it was only then that he was revealed to be the
father at hand. He dreamed endlessly of the ways he gifted poet that he was. During the years of Stalin’s
might get to his father who was so far away. Reign of Terror, he was exiled to Siberia, and died
alone in one of the slave labor camps, my friend the
In 1922, he left Dereczin, and went to Vilna where Hebrew poet in Soviet exile, Chaim Lansky.
he was ac cepted as a student in the Hebrew
Teachers Seminary. He had no money with which to
support himself, and often times went hungry. I ran
into him under these circumstances in Vilna, in
1923. He told me how he earned a few pennies,
hiring himself out as “The Tenth Man” for a
minyan, on the outskirts of the city of Vilna. During
this depressing and painful encounter, I heard from
him that he had fallen in love with a young seminary
student, a beautiful young lady from Slonim, who
was vivacious, and surrounded by many admirers.
Chaim did not have the nerve to open his heart to

her. In those days, he wrote many love poems, and
secretly dedicated them to the love of his heart.
His rebellious life, loneliness in the big c ity, and his

unrequited love – all these taxed his strength and
deteriorated his health. For a long time he made
himself miserable, and suffered accordingly, until he
came to terms with his disappointments in love, and
realized that this was one more letdown added to the
many letdowns in his life. After a while, I returned
home, where I received a letter from him, in whic h
he communicated his decision to cross the Russian-
Polish border in order to reach his father.
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The Role of Home in Lansky’s Poetry
By Abraham Kariv
“Where does the Elegance Come From?”
The three-sided thread, grass-green on one side, snow-white on the other, and blood-red in the center, is
woven through Lansky’s poetry through the three principal forces in his life (until he disappeared from view):
Lithuania – Leningrad – Siberia. They were like three aspects of his poetry, centers of the melody in his
heart, each different from the other – the tune of a sad, intense prayer, the tune of a bitter, frustrated
circumstance, and the tune of a quiet, resignation and acceptance of one’s fate.
The first center, from whose source his heart and song never ceased to drink sustenance, was his distant and
far-flung hometown, from which he drew his warmest memories, and to which he poured out his love through
the intensity of his poetry, his compassion and his longing. Many poets and writers, men of thought and
action, turned their backs on the Jewish shtetl in the last years of its existence, but Chaim Lansky, the scion
of such a town, from which he had wandered such a great distance, always remembered it, and thought of
it with love and warmth, with affection and a prayer in his heart. From that time on, in the most distant of
locations, his shteleleh played on the most delicate of his heartstrings. In the lines of his poetry that he writes
about his home, a tear seems to tremble in every line, a tear of longing, compassion and love. The most
intense of his emotions stream forth in his poetry when he is describing each and every nook and cranny of
his town, and every single individual who did him a good turn during his formative years there.
A double-entendre cries out from the lines:
The last pail is filled from the stream,

The last bird has flown from the garden;
The house, sunken and in despair, becomes visible,
And who has gone, will no longer return.
The wanderer will not return now, he has no place to come back to. The stream has run dry, and the house
stands desolate, the nest has been destroyed, and those friends and brothers who have survived have been
scattered to the four corners of the world by angry winds. Yet in those days, even before the bitter end of his
hometown, Lansky sent to this writer his poem, “The Dying Town,” and added a few words: “This is my
Kaddish for my dying town, perhaps you will answer Amen after the Kaddish.” About fifteen years before
the destruction of his hometown, its loyal son sent a sort of Kaddish [to me] from Leningrad to Moscow.
Several years afterward, he also set a poetic gravestone on that town which was so dear to him – that is his
poem, “Litteh.”
The poem is a voyage back into the past, to those years that have permanently disappeared, and that no
experience can replace in the innermost reaches of his soul. With playful phrases and verse, the wandering
poet celebrates the occasion of his return visit to the neighborhood of his youth, to the modest little house
where he was raised from childhood on. Lansky never had a home with his parents from his earliest years,
and this forlorn child was raised at his grandfather’s knee, who extracted a hard living from his axe and water
pail; potatoes – Lansky relates, were a “royal delicacy.” And to so difficult an upbringing the poem pulls the
reader, and refers to it as “my morning-gilded childhood!”
We can understand how he paints his grandfather in rich colors, as we read the poem, “Litteh.” The old
grandfather is “merely” a hewer of wood and a drawer of water in the small town, carrying his load from the
119
dark of morning to the dark of night, and in harvest time, is a night watc hman in the gardens – but he is
replete with a heartfelt joy of life, and steeped in the old tradition, a wonderful harmony fills out his entire
person. His grandfather has keen senses, is deeply tied to nature, the dew of humor spurts out of him, he is
beloved by all, and loves them in return, and fully tastes the fabric of his life. He is a caring Jew, in whom
every fiber prays and sings – a Jew who is at once a member of the common poor, and the people’s
aristocracy.
From him, his grandson inherited many emotional qualities that were not diluted even by his many long years
in unfamiliar places. Reflections of the Sabbath sanctity of the ‘old home’ followed him during the
weekdays, and from city to city in his travels; memories of those days made the burden of his bitter days and
nights in cold exile easier to bear, lighter, and warmer.
It appears that poverty alone cannot ruin everything around it. Poverty can also be majestic. Here, from an
impoverished ‘kingdom,’ with its pitiful crown on his head, Chaim Lansky wandered out into the unfamiliar
world, and yet zealously guarded in his heart a fiery love for his poor-but-rich childhood. He never once
denied his ‘family tree,’ and sang the song of a grandchild of a water carrier.
120
The Last Generation
121
122
I See Her, Dereczin
By M. Izaakovich
– And here I see our town, in my mind’s eye, as it Parallel to the marketplace, on its second side, with
stands on its hillock more than a half century ago. the houses and low hanging branches ready to fall
She sits at a crossroads, at a distance of two hours on the straw thatched roofs, and this street, it so
ride in a passenger wagon, from the nearest railroad happens was called Neue Gasse (The New Street).
station.
For generations upon generations, our town stood
From the center of the marketplace, one could see this way on its hillock, and Jews grew up here, were
the column, bearing witness to historical events of education in the spirit of the times, and entered into
the times of the larger than life rulers, a place where marriage and the task of earning a living. We are
evil spirits and the shades of the underworld short of space to completely detail all the
congregated. Everything entwined in imaginary occ upations undertaken by the residents, however,
legends, which in our childish perceptions were when the first years of this stormy and turbulent
entirely credible, and caused us to believe that our [sic: twentieth] century arrived, the winds of change
town was the center of the universe, with everything did not pass over our town, as did not the sense of
else – attached to it. resignation and stasis that accompanied the failure
of the revolution of 1905. Only that, since that time,
Here are the houses on both sides of the the rate of emigration across seas and oceans
marketplace, here are the plentiful stores. At the end strengthened considerably, and the pastoral sense of
of the marketplace – a two-story building, the only tranquility of prior generations no longer found a
one of its kind in town. A few steps from it is the place in the midst of the town’s youth. The Jews
[Russian] Orthodox Church, which instills fear in us continued their business of buying and selling to the
children. On the other side, the marketplac e is farmers of the area, and craftsmen continue to ply
completed with the Rad Krommen,93 and behind their respective trades, as rabbis and Dayanim, and
them the Deutscher Gasse up until the second edge all manner of religious functionaries – engaged in
of our town. Behind the marketplace stand the their sacred work, and teachers continued to instruct
synagogues, and right beside them the old Jewish their pupils in the study of Holy Writ, each in his
cemetery, which was there to make you understand: own area of expertise – but the sparks of yearning
‘ know, where you are destined to go.’94 To the back for the acquisition of knowledge, the linkage to the
of the Schulhof , alleys and lanes extended all the larger world, and the movements for international
way to the Shifa River. liberation and brotherhood did not cease from that
time on in Dereczin.
93
Attached storefronts, not unlike a mall
of small proportions.
94
Expressed in the metaphor of the Pirkei
Avot.
123
Our Synagogues
By Jacob Rabinovich
Translated by Miriam Kreiter
Translation edited by Jack S. Berger
The most splendid of the synagogues was the Great There were various interest groups (A Hevrah)
Synagogue (Die Grosse Schul), where all the attached to each synagogue. A Hevra Shas for the
official celebrations took place. It was a large study of the Six Orders of the Mishna and Talmud,
building. Inside, its walls were covered in drawing a Hevra Tehilim for the study of the Psalms, etc.
of lions and eagles, interspersed with biblical and During the long winter nights, one could see tens of
prayer verses, such as Mi SheBerakh,95 in Hebrew Jews from all walks of life, sitting around the long
and Russian, in honor of the Czar of all Russia. tables, listening carefully to the commentaries of the
scholars of the c ommunity. On the night of
Almost every Dereczin resident, even those not Hoshanna Rabba, there were many from the ranks
ardently observant, felt a great attachment to one or of the scholars in Derec zin, who would go through
another of our synagogues. A synagogue called the entire Five Books of Moses, studying in the
“The New Wall” (Der Neuer Mauer), was a popular synagogue until the early hours of the morning.
place of prayer for the distinguished citizenry of our
town. Next to it was “The Old Wall” (Der Alter It is true that there might occasionally be quarrels
Mauer). There was also “The Wooden Synagogue” and disputes among the Jewish residents of the
(Der Hiltzener Bet HaMidrash). Besides those, town. But at times of crisis, suc h as during war,
there were also prayer houses for the tailors natural disasters, fires, and general deprivation, the
(Hayatim) and shoemakers (Sandlarim). sense of kinship among the Jews and the imperative
to extend aid to one another who were needy, would
The sitting Rabbi of the town would normally pray intensify. This was, in no small measure, due to the
at Der Alter Mauer Schul. role of the synagogue, and to the study of the Torah
and the Gemara, and its commandments, over the
95
course of many generations.
A prayer to bestow a blessing.
124
Dereczin In No-Man’s Land
By Chaim Rabinovich
Photos: Reb Dov-Ber Walitsky, the Master of the Talmud Torah, and His Wife (p. 154 Top, Left)
Hazzan Zvi-Hirsch Beshkin (p.154 Top, Right)
The Wedding of Treineh Levitt to Avraham Blacher, 1919 (p. 154, Bottom)
The Wedding of Noah Lifshovich to Mirel Ogulnick, 1922 (p. 155, Top)
The Yiddish Folks-School and Culture Organization “Zukunft,” 1922 (p. 155, Bottom)
When the First World War ended, and the Germans From Russia, the peasants began to return to their
began to leave the Dereczin region, we as yet did villages, and it was necessary to provision them with
not know into whose hands the area would fall – to food as well, from the German reserve magazines. It
Russia or to Poland. was necessary to maintain a tight oversight to assure
that these [limited] supplies were properly
For a short time, our town and its surroundings were distributed and not dissipated. This responsibility
without balebatim. Deserters from the Russian front was attended to by the administration and
continued to hide out in the surrounding forests, cooperating Christians from the villages.
who engaged in acts of robbery and murder. The
German occupation forces carried on a continuous What was interesting was the approach taken by the
campaign against them, but were unable to c lear deserters-turned-bandits, to the administration.
them from the forest areas. Seeing that we had taken control of the situation,
they sent a delegation with a request that they be
We saw, that with the withdrawal of the Germans, incorporated into the standing militia, until such
that Dereczin and its surroundings and neighboring time that they could return to their homes in the
villages, were being abandoned without any control. interior of Russia. It is understood that the
At that time, we created a self-defense organization, administration did not accept this offer. We
comprised of local Jewish youth, and selected promised them, that if they behaved decently, and
Christian residents of the town. In order to protect did not attack the town, that in time, we would
ourselves from the eventual depredations, we permit them to return to their homes freely.
purchased about forty guns from the departing
Germans, a machine gun, and several cases of hand As has previously been told about these forest
grenades for two thousand marks. bandits, they did not only once fall upon and murder
or rob Jews on the roads, and also the resident
The first objective of the organization was to form Christians as well. They murdered the [entire]
a strong self-defense company. A local town leader, Fyev sky family in the town of Klimovich – the
Danielevich, a returning officer from the Russian father, mother and two young daughters. During the
Army, was appointed as Commandant and instructor time of the German occupation, it was not possible,
for the self-defense force. A group of from thirty to under any circumstances, to try and track these
forty young people would patrol the town with lawbreakers, and not find the bodies of their victims.
loaded guns in the evening until midnight, covering
both the interior and exterior parts of the town. A During the time of the [interim civilian]
peacekeeping force was also established with a administration, it happened that a couple of these
militia, who would detain alleged lawbreakers, and murderers were apprehended, and they were tried
try them for possible penal action. and sentenced to death. However, there was no one
to carry out the death sentence. They were kept
The reserves of grain, potatoes, and other foodstuffs, under arrest until the arrival of the Polish
that remained after the Germans departed, was authorities. The lawbreakers were turned over into
turned over to the local administration. the hands of the Polish police, however, no one
125
knows what was done with them. I had no choice, and turned over to this new
authority everything that the administration had.
This interregnum situation continued for several
weeks. Slonim had already been occupied by the Two days later, groups of the Polish Dombrowsky
Bolsheviks, who came from Baranovich – Army marched into Dereczin. They plundered the
meanwhile Dereczin remained in the middle without town, dispersed and drove out the newly formed
anyone in authority. We still did not know into Communist Committee, and confiscated all the
whose hands fate would cast our lot. weapons and ammunition, which had been procured
through us for the purpose of protecting the resident
A portion of the Dereczin Bundists began to show population and its welfare.
open sympathy to the Bolsheviks. Over the course of
several days, there were heated discussions both for I found out about this when I already was in
and against Bolshevism. Volkovysk, where I had gone with my family after
turning over everything to the communists. It was at
At that time in Dereczin, there was a certain that time that my membership in the Bund ended, as
Russian, by the name of Tchatkov, who had come to well as my living in Dereczin. From Volkovysk, I
visit some of his relatives. He was a specially sent went to Slonim, where I was active during twenty
Bolshevik agitator – this became apparent later, years in a variety of community posts. From there in
when he took a high position in Slonim as part of 1940, the Soviet rulers sent me deep into the
the Bolshevik administration. It appears that he had Russian heartland – and my family, my wife with
a significant influence on swaying the majority of our three precious children were brought to their end
the Bund to the Bolshevik cause. at the hands of the Nazi murderers.
Suddenly, one day, I received a letter from a newly

formed Communist Committee, with a demand that
within 24 hours, we were to turn over all our
weaponry and ammunition to this Committee,
because this Committee was taking control over
Dereczin and its environs.
During the Stormy Days

By Malka Alper
Photo: Group Picture of Histadrut Youth 5683 (1922) untitled. (P. 157)
With the outbreak of the First Worlds War, the the allegiance of the students who were enrolled in
international sentiments of the Russian Jewish them.
people grew strong, and the intelligentsia drew
closer to the masses. The expulsion of Jews from Zionist organizations did not stop even during the
the boundary territories created a wave of donor time of interdiction, and actively raised funds for the
assistance on the part of the city dwelling Jews, Land of Israel.
whose locations were traversed by these refugees,
and who were given sustenance in the form of food, The expectation that the war would be over, and the
drink and clothing. These refugees reached up to belief that this would bring with it equal rights for
Niznii-Novgorod (modern day Gorky). Schools were Jews, accelerated the organization of the Jews.
opened there for the children of these refugees. The
“Hebraists” and the “Yiddishists” competed for a The front began to disintegrate, and danger began to
number of the schools that were established, and for materialize for both Jewish life and possessions, and
126
it was at this time that a self-defense force was The youth thirsted for leadership. David Alper came
organized; In the Jewish street there was talk of to this role, and along with him (with a wish for
autonomy. long life) Feivel Einstein, who today is in the United
States. A vision of an Israel that was working,
In the captured area where we were, the hand of the pioneering, providing personal freedom and
occupying force began to weaken, and news begins fulfilment – this was their world outlook, and they
to reach us through neutral countries concerning the wished to instill in the youth.
conditions of Jews inside Russia, which are
published in a Jewish newspaper in Bialystock – the Many of the young people rallied to them. The Bund
closest city to us, from the standpoint of such did not stay its hand either, and its influence on the
communication reaching us. soul of the ignored town youth was at its peak of
intensity. In public gatherings, the discussion
The revolution broke out in Russia, and it inflamed inc luded issues regarding nationalism and
the passions of the youth in Dereczin. Most of the internationalism, the expectations of the diaspora
young people who were Bundists , allied themselves Jews for salvation at the hands of the International,
with the revolutionary cause, believing that from it and the question of cultural autonomy and self-rule,
would come the salvation to the Jews as well. the organization of the community (gegegenwarts
arbeit -- as it was called) – all these [subjects]
The youth, which had international sensibilities, bec ame fodder for discussion at the public
which before the war had been educated on the new, gatherings, that took place largely in the Old
modern Hebrew literature, had sung Zionist songs, Synagogue, taking into consideration that the youth
and held discourse on the writings of Ahad-Ha’Am, was supported by the balebatim, who gave them
and spun the thread of hope throughout the war permission to use the building.
years that even Zionism would be rescued and
become widely accepted when the victorious powers In addition to these, more limited meetings were
would sit down to delineate the new world that held in which Zionist Socialism was discussed. The
would have to be built on the wreckage of the old. facilitator who brought the topics up for clarification
– Young people such as these found themselves an [and debate] was David Alper kz. After these
expanded vista for their endeavors, and under the meetings and discussions, it was decided to establish
encouragement of the occupation forces were a branch of the Zionist Youth Organization , Tze’irei
permitted to undertake cultural initiatives, started up Tzion, in Derec zin, for all ages beginning at age 18
evening lessons in Hebrew language, history and and up.
Tanach. Under this guise, they also undertook to
deal with the clarification of issues concerning both The youth of Dereczin were not dull-spirited, and
general Zionism and Socialist Zionism. A group these meetings along with the discussions and
formed a Bnot Zion chapter, whose goal was to debates roused their emotions. The disc ussions
promote speaking Hebrew in daily life, and also for spilled out beyond the walls of the gathering halls
raising funds for the Keren HaKayemet LeYisrael. (where possible...) and consistent with the
temperament of the youth, in which each individual
Then came the Balfour Declaration. There was, recognized his neighbor up close, the members of
however, no one to organize the townsfolk to focus each faction saw the other as mortal enemies.
on a Zionist initiative, because of the concerns about
making a livelihood, and the lac k of security to life When the chapter was organized, David Alper was
and limb which was threatened by the Russian selected as its leader, and its governing board
deserters and military prisoners who preyed on the consisted of: Rachel Shelovsky, Abraham Zlotagura,
populace from the nearby forests, thereby David Zelig Epstein, and as the Secretary – Malka
eliminating the possibility that the grown-up Alper. The news of the establishment of the chapter
members of the community could focus on this took wing, and it began to receive visits from young
opportunity. people in the area, even from Bialystock, who took
an interest in the new movement.
127
And it is now the days after the War in 1918. We The working class youth, which felt stirrings of
are still disconnected from the center, and it is still independence in its midst, was not at peace with the
not known who will have sovereignty in our area: Bund, which had allied itself almost entirely with
will it be the Poles, who were granted their the Bolsheviks, was also not comfortable with the
independence by the Allies, and wanted a nation ZYO, whose leadership came from the family of the
defined by its historical boundaries, or the balebatim. David Alper initiated an effort to found
Bolsheviks, who cast their eyes on their a right-wing branch of Poalei Tzion, which he
Byelorussian brethren. There are also unaffiliated would oversee, but be run by its own organizers. It
forces, from both sides, who come to town was at this time that a PT chapter was established
periodically and plunder it, and from whom one tries (among its founders who still survive today and
to keep away to avoid harm. The roads were reside in Israel are: Nekha Petrukhovich and her
especially dangerous, but commerce was carried out husband, Michael).
one way or another, with merchandise brought in
from Slonim or Volkovysk. This burden fell Every member of the ZYO saw himself perforce as
primarily on the young people, who when they a pioneer, and spoke of facilitating aliyah, and the
returned home, would bring any and all materials first one who actually fulfilled this dream, and made
with them from the nearby cities that they visited aliyah in 1921, was Naftali ben David Dykhovsky.
(the mails did not work at all). Just as in other times,
the Jews in outlying villages would come to town, In the meantime, the Russo-Polish War of 1920
and go to the Bet HaMedrash, so now, the young broke out. The Russians got as far as the Viszla, and
people would stop off at the offices of the Zionist were under their rule from the Ninth of Ab in 5680
Youth Organization, or clubs, provision themselves (1920) to the Eve of Sukkot in 5681, amounting to
with whatever they could lay their hands on, and about nine weeks. It should be clear that all manner
return home. This [experience] served as a means to of Zionist initiatives were silenced. As the Red
hone and clarify the various practical questions Army pulled back on the Eve of Sukkot, the Poles
concerning Zionism. entered the town on the next morning. After the
cease fire, life began to return to its normal course.
Meetings of the ZYO took place on Saturday
afternoon in the main Hall in the center of town. It was a period conducive to the launching of a
There were some incidents of disturbance instigated fully-branched set of Zionist initiatives: the hearts of
by opponents [of the movement], but slowly, the the Jews were open to these ideas, and they
issues were channeled into their proper courses, and entertained the champions of these causes with
the incidence of disturbance subsided. sympathy.
During Hanukkah, a soirée was organized with In 1921, Fyvel Einstein emigrated to the USA, and
lectures on issues of comparison and presentation – in the fall of 1922, David Alper kz moved to Pinsk,
the inauguration of the Keren Kayemet. All the town to serve as a teacher at the Tarbut Gymnasium there.
residents came to the event, regardless of age or
outlook, and the crowding exceeded the capacity of Activity began to wane, but the seed that was
the premises, to the point that the [candle]light planted in those days did yield fruit, and a portion of
glowed at its minimum from the heat and humidity. those young people did make aliyah. It is a pity,
The event went over with considerable success, and however, that the number who did so was so little.
was talked about for a long time afterwards.
Fund-raising for Keren Kayemet occupies the youth,

and even the ZYO, appearing first as ‘collection
plates’ for the benefit of KK adjacent to the various
synagogues on the Eve of Yom Kippur prior to the
Mincha service.
128
Memories From Those Days
By Jacob Rabinovich
Photos: The Tze’irei Tzion Chapter takes leave of Fyvel Einstein in 1921 (p. 159)
The Cultural Organizations Committee (untitled). (p. 160)
Poalei Tzion group picture on the occasion of Ch. A. Reichman visit, 1930 (untitled). (p.161)
At the onset of winter in November 1918, when Polish retreat, new incidents of plunder and abuse
revolution erupted in Germany, the German Army arose. Thanks to the volunteer Fire Brigade (who
abandoned the captured environs around Dereczin, were all Jewish), the officers of the retreating army
and like this entire area, it remained without rule. A were bribed, and as a result, there were no incidents
Regional Committee was organized that consisted of of murder, as did take place in nearby towns.
Jews and Byelorussians, with pro-Bolshevik
sentiment. In January 1919 a pro-Bolshevik In the month of August 1920, the forces of the Red
demonstration took place, with all organizations Army occupied the town. Once again, it bec ame
participating, inc luding the ZYO, with red flags necessary to become ac c ustomed to a new regime.
waving in the open. It was bitter cold on that day, It is difficult to describe the suffering of the Jewish
but the attendanc e at the demonstration was population during that period. Stores were emptied
substantial. That evening, as large, well-attended of their goods, and the air was heavy with tension.
feast was held under the auspices of the pro- In Slonim, at that time, a young Jewish woman was
Bolshevik Bund (KomBund), sitting at long tables. executed for smuggling dollars. In town, labor
Suddenly, news reached us that Polish forces were assemblies organized by the Bolshevik regime took
drawing near to the town. The crowd dispersed. place daily. Participation in the assemblies was
That night, the Polish army, raised by General c ompulsory. The loc al authority was a
Dombrowsky entered town. They began a manhunt “revolutionary committee,” and was led principally
for the organizers of the demonstration, going from by Jews who were members of the Communist
house to house, on the basis of lists that they had. Party, of which only a portion were idealists. The
All night long, they plundered homes and abused the alert ones, who could speak Russian, obtained
citizenry, especially those they suspected of positions in the offices of the authority. Many young
harboring Bolshevik sympathies. The following people and also family men, were drafted into the
morning, the Poles left town. In the course of Red Army, and the older ones were drafted into
several months, Dereczin was passed back and forth labor forces to build fortifications. At the beginning
like a ball between the competing powers, from the of October 1920, the Polish Army went aggressively
Bolsheviks to the Poles, and God-forbid, back again, on the offensive, and the Red Army was obliged to
until finally the Poles established their hegemony initiate retreat. The last of the Red Army companies
over western White Russia. c ame through town on the Eve of Sukkot. It is
noteworthy that they did not plunder or abuse the
The relationship of the Polish regime to the Jewish population as the Poles did during their time. The
residents was not particularly good. There were also Jewish communists left along with them. The
language problems. Despite this, the Jews inured following day, the Poles occupied the town.
themselves to Polish rule over time. Many residents,
who had relatives in the USA began to receive Slowly but surely, life began to return to its prior
support from them. A number of them emigrated to course, after the tribulations that had beset the town,
the USA. from the outbreak of the First World War in August
1914. The storekeepers reopened their stores, and
In the summer of 1920, the Polish-Bolshevik War the craftsmen their stalls. The Joint, once again,
broke out, and under the pressure of the Red Army, provided support. It was at that time that a general
the Poles were forced to retreat. In the midst of this Hebrew school was established due to the efforts of
129
David Alper kz. This school was the marvel of the ropes, etc. for this purpose. If my memory is not
area. mistaken, I believe that the chapter of the T”T
ceased to function in 1923. Because of this, in 1925,
Beginning in 1918, Agudat Tze’irei Tzion was an organization called HeHalutz (The Pioneer) was
established; a Keren Kayemet chapter began to founded. In the month of May 1926, the first
function; a Hebrew library was opened, named after organized aliyah left for the Holy Land, with the
Y. Kh. Brenner. The foundation of the library assistance of anonymous help from Poland: Shimon
became the books of the teacher, Fyvel Einstein, Abramovich, Dov Gorinov sk y, and Dav id
who donated them for that purpose, at the time of Rabinovich. With their departure, the energies of the
his emigration to the USA in 1921. A goodly pioneering organization were weakened, and the
number of the Hebrew books that were published in chapter disbanded. Only the Keren Kayemet and the
Warsaw were acquired, published by Shtibl, and Brenner Library c ontinued with their work. The
also books written in Yiddish. leadership of the KK consisted of Abraham
Zlotagura, Masha Alper, and Dov Polachuk. In
At the same time, the activities of the local Bund 1929, a branch of Poalei Tzion was reestablished in
expanded under the guise of the cultural Dereczin, with a membership of about eighty souls.
organization called Zukunft. They also opened a In that time, the organization developed quite nicely.
library and reading-room. Most of the books, in Members were [also] active in K”K, the library, etc.
particular the Russian volumes, were remnants of Thanks to this branch, a Schul-kult organization
the Bund library from 1905. At the head of this was established and it led to the opening of a Jewish
organization was Shmuel Abelovich, a man with a school, in which instruction was given in Yiddish
leftist outlook. As a result of the work of an and Hebrew. Before the establishment of this
informer, the Polish police suddenly instituted a school, Jewish children studied in the Polish school
series of arrests among members of this (Szcola Powszecznie). In 1930, the central office
organization. The Russian books were seized and sent A. Reichman as a teacher, who was very active
impounded. After efforts made with the authorities in the branch of that organization, and thanks to
in Slonim, the detainees were set free. From that him, the ac tivities of the Poalei Tzion in Dereczin
time on, there was no indication of activities in the widened. A branch of the Labor League for workers
Jewish neighborhoods on the part of the Yiddish of the Holy Land was also established. In the
Left. Only in the year 1928, did the Polish elections for the 17th and 18th Zionist Congresses,
authorities return about two hundred Russian books the Labor League scored large victories, despite the
that had been confiscated years back, to the hands of efforts of the revisionists who attracted a goodly
the management of the “Brenner” library, with the part of the young people around them. Together
intervention of the Vice-Mayor of Slonim, Mr. with Poalei Tzion, the Halutz movement was also
Zabludsky. From that time on, those books were revitalized. The town changed its face. From time to
kept in the attic of our house. Periodically, the time, the directors from the district office in Slonim,
young Byelorussians would come and ask to borrow and the central office in Warsaw would come to
these books to read, and we would willingly, if visit. The youth that was attracted to these
secretly, respond to their requests. movements came from all walks of life, beginning
with gymnasium students and ending with the ranks
In 1921, the first pioneer from Dereczin left for the of tailors and shoemakers. Every day, twenty copies
Holy Land. This was Naftali Dykhovsky. The ties to of Der Wort, the printed organ of the organization,
the central Tze’irei Tzion office in Warsaw were published in Warsaw would arrive. My brother
quite flexible. Occasionally, the members of the David regularly sent the paper, Davar, home to us,
central office would c ome to visit us in town. The and anyone who was interested to learn about what
daily Yiddish newspaper, Befreiung, and the was happening in the Holy Land was welcome to
monthly Hebrew publication Atid, were distributed read it. It is worthwhile at this time to take note that
in town. I recall the time when the T”T took up a in 1925, with the initial publication of Davar, The
collection for Keren HaAvodah. They took up a HeHalutz, chapter took a subscription to the paper,
collection of tools from the townsfolk: axes, plows, and up to the middle of 1927, packages of the Davar
130
paper were rec eived weekly at the address of the I recollect, that before I made aliyah to the Holy
Secretary of HeHalutz, who at that time was David Land in 1933, it was forbidden for the farmers from
Lifshovich. In the period between 1929-1933, the the surrounding area to park their wagons with
following exc elled in their unique contributions: produce in the marketplace during the weekly
Fyvel Gelman, Issachar Abelovich, Yitzhak Minkov, market days, or monthly fairs, as they had done
kz, and to be separated for long life, Moshe since time immemorial, but rather had to park them
Sedletsky. Let us also recall Joseph Dykhovsky kz, outside of town.
who put his shoulder to any task that was asked of
him. This robbed the storekeepers of their livelihood.
There was already talk at that time to open a
There was also a Players Group in town, who would centralized purchasing cooperative for agricultural
put on performances from time-to-time in Yiddish. produce. Up until that time, many Jewish families
Simkha Hurwitz was very active in this group. made a living from running merchandise stores. The
Revenues were donated to the Library, charitable difficulties associated with making a living led to
purposes, etc. [sic: unhealthy] competition and intense hatreds.
There also existed a general Zionist Histadrut in Relationships with the Christian population was
Derec zin, headed by M. Feldman, but it did not generally benign. I do not remember any time when
produce much in the way of activities, because the we felt the danger of a pogrom. The farmers, who
majority of the young people were under the were largely Byelorussians, also suffered from the
influence of the Poalei Tzion, and the revisionists yoke of Polish rule. Naturally there was anti-
who grew strong during the early 1930s. Sima Semitism under the surface, and it was felt in
[Sioma] Shelovsk y kz, was active in that relations with the urban Christians, who always
organization. acted tense. They were more readily influenced by
anti-Semitic activity, but these issues never came to
A communist cell operated underground, which was a confrontation.
connected to the Communist Party in Western White
Russia. On May 1, they would paste up notices in
Yiddish with revolutionary slogans.
At the end of the Twenties, a general Jewish bank

was established in Dereczin, that was instrumental
in providing credit to storekeepers and craftsmen.
Because of inept management, it went bankrupt in
1933. The economic c ondition, which had always
been at a low level, worsened as the Thirties
progressed. The Polish regime did whatever it could
to beat down the Jewish population.
A Jewish-Polish Kitchen
By Malka Alper
It was at the outset of Polish rule. In the USA, a this committee. The requested that no distinction be
Polish-American Committee was established for made between Jews and Christians in rendering aid
the relief of the newly established Republic of to the people of the new Polish Republic.
Poland. Jews of Polish origin also participated in
131
One day in 191, we received word that they were For almost the entire year of 1919 until about the
getting ready to open a shared kitchen to serve the month of November,
needs of both Jews and Poles. They turned over the
organization of this matter to Mrs. Nowicka, the I would come daily to the kitchen, which was
wife of Dr. Nowicki. She invited Rabbi Plotkin, kz, located in one of the buildings of the aristocracy,
who proposed that two separate kitchens be ‘die palazen’ outside of town to keep an eye on the
established, one for Christians and one for Jews, or cooks, who were two elderly teachers who had
that the foodstuffs be distributed to the Jews dry, moved to Dereczin, Russian by their appearance,
and they would prepare their own meals at home. who declared themselves to be devout Catholics
(they were the Goznyuva sisters), especially to
The “old lady” suspected that the Jews would take oversee the rationing, and assure that no swine
their rations and trade them in the market for products were put into the pots. Jewish children
whatever they wanted, and stubbornly insisted on a received cartons of buttermilk in place of meat.
single, shared kitchen (perhaps she held some inner
hope that it would be possible to tempt some The old lady also used me in the evening to do the
unsuspecting Jewish child into eating non-Kosher accounting (those receiving rations were asked to
food), and there would be a need for someone to pay a nominal sum for each portion), and conveyed
stand guard, in the spirit of shared work, to assure them to the central district, and consequently it was
that needy Jews would obtain Kosher food from incumbent on me to be familiar with a variety of the
whoever was dispensing the rations. aspects of the kitchen’s operation.
It was my lot to be selected as the link between

Rabbi Plotkin as the head of the Jewish community,
and Mrs. Nowicka as the head of the local
committee.
A tiring negotiation was carried out with her, until

she agreed that the portions of lard would be given
to the Christian children who were town residents,
and also the residents of the village of Aleksich,
which was nearby, and those items prepared in the
kitchen pots would be dairy only, and supervised as
suc h. The interesting thing was that the old doctor
[sic: her husband] would always stand by my side,
and gently ease the temper of his wife during the
discussion, by citing different illogical customs that
existed in the Catholic faith as well.
Planting and the Harvest

By Schraga-Fyvel Einstein (Chicago)
Photo: Schraga-Fyvel Einstein, Ethel Rabinovich & Yaakov-Meir Plotkin (untitled) (p. 164)
After having spent three and a half years in Krynki out in the Holocaust), who subsequently became one
(the Bialystock District), the place where I was a of the founders of Tarbut in Poland – I returned
Yeshivah student, and during which time, I was home to Dereczin. This was my home, and the home
placed under the care of my late older brother, of my family, in the middle of the summer of 1915,
Abraham Yehuda kz, (he and his family were wiped when the intensity of the First World War was at its
132
height. The full military pressure of the conquering Tanach, History, and Hebrew language. And with
German military was not felt at its greatest intensity the support of yet other young people, who came to
in our area, since the front of battle receded from us as unaffiliated, with our collective efforts, we
our area on a daily basis. The Jewish population in opened a town library.
Dereczin, as in all the surrounding towns of the
distric t, was elated by the temporary peace that And then David Alper kz, joined our group. He was
c ame to it, and quickly began adapting to the young, talented and intelligent, and had received a
conditions of a new life. comprehensive progressive education. He was
among the few from our town, who as a young man,
When I was possessed by the fire of youthful had the opportunity to attend the Russian public
exuberance for the realization of the desired ideals schools, because of the governmental requirement.
of the salvation of our people, the Hebrew language, As a result, he was able to obtain exposure to more
and the Land of Israel, I set my steps first in the broadly based ideas in the Hebrew language and in
direction of organizing Hebrew education in our its literature. We saw in him the man destined to
town. In accordance with accepted custom, I pasted bring “the splendor of Japheth into the tents of
a short notice on the door of the Great synagogue, Shem.”96 It did not take many days before the group
arranged in Hebrew, describing the founding of an found their leader in Member Alper, as well as their
ordinary Hebrew school. I signed the announcement director and organizer. A working committee was
in the capacity of a teacher of this school. Parents formed, headed by Member Alper. Also, David’s
immediately rallied to me, enrolling their sons and sisters, Malka, Masha vg (she and her family were
daughters so that they could learn Hebrew, Tanach, wiped out in the Holocaust), Beileh, Duba, and
and the history of Israel. I divided the children into Rachel, all joined the group as members. It was in
classes, and I taught them around one large table, in this way, that the Alper house became the center of
a four foot by four foot room in the home of my the Hebrew movement in Dereczin (the father of the
parents. This was a sort of “Reformed Heder.” The family was the sole pharmacist in town. The
method of teaching that I selected was, naturally, pharmacy store business was conducted from a
Ivrit B’Ivrit (Hebrew taught in Hebrew). room of the house that faced out onto the street). It
was here that the meetings of the working
And soon a message began to permeate the town committee took place, during which the various
that something new, vibrant and stirring, was agendas of our activities were created. Slowly but
coursing through the educational process of the surely, the urge to organize our work grew stronger,
children: Hebrew speech. An awakening arose in the with the goal of satisfying our desire to embrace
midst of the community, interest strengthened not more general Zionist principles, with an eye toward
only in broadening the renewed Hebrew language the welfare of our people and the redemption of the
studies, but also in Zionism, and in nurturing Land. After a course of rulings and discussions, we
Hebrew culture in all its aspects and nuances. A “ founded a branch of “Zionist Youth” in our town.
Lovers of Hebrew Language” Club was organized, We established relations with the central office in
whose objective was to meet periodically for the Warsaw (our area was at that time already under
express purpose of c arrying on Hebrew Polish rule), and we received periodic news
c onversation. This group was led by young people, regarding different activities aimed at supporting the
who in the past had benefitted from a Yeshivah workers movement in the Holy Land. Onc e , we
education. Meetings of the group took place in the received a notice from the central office to collect
regular homes of the members. During our first tools and farm implements for the use of pioneers
meetings, we clarified our own agenda of efforts who had gone to the Holy Land. We returned to our
that we would like to realize. In about an hour, we sources and gathered all sorts of tools, most of
had decided what our course of action would be on
the cultural front. We put out a weekly newspaper
96
called HaNoar (Youth), which we would publicly Allusion to descent from the sons of
read during our meetings. We opened evening Noah, where Jews (Semites) are
lessons to the older members of the community in thought to descend from Shem.
133
which were rather old and worse for wear, and nobility in the area. This building also served to
whose utility was questionable... but we did our house the large public meetings that our movement
thing. organized periodically. At the request of the sc hool
administration, we put on the play, Shnei Nigunim
Of all the efforts that we undertook in various fields (Two Songs) by Y. Shweiger. The performanc e
of endeavor in the “Zionist Youth,” none was as made such a strong impression on the audience, that
successful as what we were able to accomplish on filled the hall from end to end, that even the diehard
the cultural front. On this front we went from one Yiddishists were compelled to say, “Amen!”
success to the next, until we proved to ourselves that —
we had laid down a firm basis on whic h we could In the middle of the summer of 1920, our movement
establish formal Hebrew education. We turned with temporarily ceased its activities. The Soviet Russian
an announcement to the Hebrew community at Army spread throughout our district, and pushed the
large, which responded to us immediately. Everyone Poles back to the gates of Warsaw.
felt that the time had come for the establishment of
a general Hebrew school. In a large public meeting, The head of the city that was appointed by the
in which David Alper spoke on – the issue of a Soviet military, invited me to his offic e – a bare
[Hebrew] school – the curriculum of study in room in one of the houses – and turned to me with
accordance with the outline of the “Zionist Youth” these words: “I have heard that you were a teacher
was approved by a voice vote. In the middle of in a general school here, [therefore] from this day
1919, after all the necessary preparations were forward, you will serve as a teacher in a Soviet
made, a general Hebrew school was opened with school that will be established shortly. In the coming
three classes, with a broad curriculum, that included months, you will be free of any military obligation,
Hebrew studies as a significant part along with because you will be responsible for organizing a
general studies and the study of the national group that will assist you in the establishment of a
language (Polish). Our member, [David] Alper was school, which will have the curriculum of a Soviet
appointed as Headmaster of the sc hool. school. You will be responsible for participating in
Considerable difficulty was experienced in the the meeting of the District Committee of Soviet
teaching of general subjects (arithmetic, geography, educators that will take place in Slonim.
physics) because of a dearth of suitable textbooks.
We, the teachers, were compelled to prepare our Needless to say, I was compelled to follow his
lessons in these subjects by translating Russian and orders. I traveled to Slonim, to the Committee
Polish text material into Hebrew. In a short period meeting. There were about two hundred teachers
of time after its establishment, good reports went there who came from all the cities of the district. A
out not only in our town, but to the entire area young lady, of about twenty-eight years of age,
around us. This contributed to giving us both addressed us as a meeting facilitator, who had been
strength and encouragement. sent to us especially for this purpose from Moscow.
In time, when the Tarbut movement was created in She explained the nature of the curriculum in Soviet
Poland, with its headquarters in Warsaw, for the schools, and emphasized the Soviet recognition of
purpose of establishing Jewish day schools the responsibility of the teacher to indoctrinate
throughout the country, our school became affiliated students. Her presentation was given both forcefully
with the movement as a Tarbut school as well. and with great emotion. Prior to the conclusion of
the meeting, the people who ran the meeting
In those years an unaffiliated drama soc iety was distributed to each teacher one inkwell, one pen, one
formed in our town. The Players staged several notebook and one pencil, to be used in teaching their
plays, among them, Aluvei HaChaim (The Slings students.
and Arrows of Life) (in Hebrew) by D. Pinsky. For
a theater, we used an old large stone building, which I returned to Dereczin, and as I was standing
was in a state of disrepair standing in the center of bewildered and struck dumb over what had
town, which at one time had been used by the Polish transpired there, the miracle happened: the Poles
134
succeeded in driving the Soviets back, and our In the meantime, we received (both myself and the
district became “liberated.” rest of my family) a formal invitation from our
relatives in Chicago to emigrate to the USA. We
made all the necessary preparations for our trip to
America, and at the beginning of November 1921,
we reached Chicago – where we live to this day.
Text of the Message Over the Picture (see P. 165)

Taken at the Time of Fyvel Einstein’s Departure
From Dereczin, in 1921
Given to our dear and respected friend and Committee Member, Schraga [Fyvel] Einstein on the
occasion of his departure for America.
Our comrade! With our hearts fluttering, here we are, preparing to take our leave of you. In our
minds is the great void that will remain behind in our midst in the Zionist-Socialist camp in
Dereczin. We find a bit of comfort in recognizing that you are transferring your work to another,
large arena, and we give you our blessing with the wish that the line of your endeavor will broaden,
and you will continue to rise higher together with the outlook of our world that continues to prosper.
On behalf of the Organization: Head: D[avid] Alper
Sec’y: Y [Yosef]. Dykhovsky
Members: Nachman Goldin
A[braham] Zlotagura
L. Kwiat
D[avid] Alper
135
Between Zion and Revolution
By Malka Alper
Photo: A group of young women active in the Brenner Library (untitled) (p. 168)
The repercussions of the Russian revolution reached long time afterwards.

the oc c upied territories. It became clear to the
Germans that they had not really won the war, and A group of children, ages five to six is assembled,
that they had no real expectation of retaining control and the first c lass of the [new] Hebrew school is
over western White Russia. [Consequently] the opened. The German school is closed. The school of
relationship of the occupying force became more Abraham Izaakovich has not yet been reopened.
liberalized toward the local populace. A freer access
to other locations around Dereczin is permitted. The The work of the school is initiated and directed by
youth takes advantage of this opportunity to engage David Alper, kz. He was assisted in this by
in culturally-related work. [Schraga] Fyvel Einstein, and the writer of these
lines.
But where would an appropriate place be, in which
to c onduct expanded cultural activities? In this The older youth carries on discussions about the
regard, the German military command themselves problems of communism-bolshevism, general
placed a room in their barracks building at the Zionism, and socialist Zionism. A number of the
disposal of the culture workers, practically in the former Yeshiva students are drawn closer to the
center of town. It was there that lectures were ideals of the Bund, and even further left, but the
organized with regard to Yiddish subjects and largest part with Zionist sensitivities seek a
Tanach. synthesis of religious values with Zionism and
socialism. I am reminded of the long discussions in
News reaches us regarding the Balfour Declaration! a small circle that took place in my home, in which
The enthusiasm of the young people rises. Bnot David-Zelig Epstein took part (he died young in
Tzion, a circle of Hebrew speakers is organized, 1919 from typhus), Shmuel Abelovich, Joseph
along with committees for Zionist activities. Dykhov sk y, Abraham Zlotagura, Shmuel
Discussions are initiated regarding a variety of Shepshelevich, Nachman Goldin, and others.
Zionist themes, and fund-raising begins for Keren
Kayemet LeYisrael. Every opportunity is utilized, The “Zionist Youth Organization” is established.
when special evenings come, like Yom Kippur Eve, The worked out program of the new organization is
when collection boxes are put out for various agreed to at the founding meeting. Meetings are
charities, the KKL box is also put out among them. organized, speeches are given, and a mission-
clarification initiative is undertaken. ZYO does not
encompass all the older young people, and it is
I remember well the Hanukkah evening celebrations therefore necessary to launch a larger invitational
that were organized annually, with a lecture about effort, in order to prevent the young people from
the meaning of Hanukkah, followed by a falling under the influence of the leftist, anti-Zionist
presentation. Young and old alike, all the residents movements. David Alper kz, assembles a group of
of Dereczin came to the Hanukkah evening. The hall young people, including married individuals, and
was packed full of people to the point of means are sought to establish a more right-wing
asphyxiation. In this stifling air, the Hanukkah Poalei Tzion organization, that will be active among
candles were barely able to stay lit. The speaker the working class young people. And this is, indeed,
could barely hear himself speak. Despite this accomplished.
crowding, the celebration was carried off with
aplomb, and it was talked about in Dereczin for a A variety of material begins to arrive from the
136
centers in Slonim, Volkovysk, and Bialystock. arrived from Slonim a couple of days before. The
Despite the tenuous contact with Warsaw, because rural populace streamed into Dereczin to observe the
of the chaos that reigned in those times, even from demonstration, particularly the young people, which
there we received helpful materials. had been co-opted by the ‘solution’ of having large
parc els of the landed aristocracy divided up among
However, the Bund wasn’t about to give up so the land-hungry peasantry. The older peasants came
easily. Its loyal members organize themselves as to town to celebrate their Christian holiday, buy
well, and a war is declared for the soul and spirit of some merchandise, and in the meantime, also listen
the young people in town. At open gatherings in to what the bolsheviks had to say.
schul, in the Alter Mauer, or in the barracks-hall,
debates between the leftists and Zionist-socialists The demonstration began first with the communists
take place with regularity. leading the parade, with their flags, followed by the
Bundists, and then Poalei Tzion with red flags.
In the meantime, aid began to arrive from America There was a large crowd. Speakers held forth with
for the impoverished population of Poland, which fiery oratory from the veranda at Joseph
looked upon our area as part of their country, as Rabinovich’s home. Afterward, the demonstration
promised [to the new republic] by the Allies Powers. continued peacefully.
The “Joint” initiated its activities, and among the
populace a discussion began regarding who would At night, after the demonstration day was over,
be responsible for distribution of the aid, where immediately after midnight, a group of Polish army
should the resources be sent to – and what form officers from Dombrowsky’s army appeared in the
should such support take, or should it be through marketplace. They fell upon the stores there, and
constructive activity of some kind. The “Joint” began robbing and pillaging whatever came to hand.
required that the people who needed the support The senior offic ers began to hunt for the Jewish
should participate in community projects. It was the speakers who spoke at the demonstration. If one of
community at large that would receive the funds them had hidden themselves, then their fathers were
involved, and decide how these funds would be taken as hostages and whipped, it force them into
allocated. Will this newly appointed body be revealing the hiding places of their children. It was
Jewish-nationalist and Zionist, or one with leftist, literally a miracle that no loss of life occurred on
anti-nationalist tendencies? Heated debates took that night.
place around this issue, at public forums, with
speeches that lasted many hours, until the speakers Both the Bund and the Poalei Tzion had to furl their
themselves grew hoarse. red banners until better days would come.
The town balebatim were sympathetic to the Zionist Meanwhile, there was no sense of security, neither
youth. An administrative body was formed with for life itself, nor for the ability to make a living.
representation from all parties, but with a Zionist One lived in constant fear, “from hand to mouth.”
majority. And what did one not do in order to find
sustenance? One traveled to the neighboring towns,
This was an interesting, if stormy epoch, when our and even more distant places, as far as Warsaw,
region changed hands between Russia and Poland, returning with merchandise and products. If young
and during which we experienced periods with no people are traveling, they bring back also [reading]
national rule at all. materials, literature and ideas.
On January 6, 1919, a Christian holiday, a large The older youth gets together almost every evening,
public demonstration was called with red flags mostly in private homes, to hold discussions, to
paraded, during which the authority of the church listen, talk and deepen the foundations for the
was challenged, and in which bolshevik authority coming movement to a working Land of Israel. In
was championed. The demonstration was organized those trying times, the Hebrew school was also
by a group of bolsheviks and commissars, who had established.
137
Where did those active young men and women find we had over songs and stories, I come to the
the stamina and energy to create the spark and conclusion that they were nothing less than the
effervescence for their fierce love for the Land of teachers of an entire young generation. It is our
Israel, for the preservation of the Hebrew language, great loss, that only very few survived the Holocaust
for their love of humanity, for their own peoples, for years, to find refuge in the Jewish Homeland.
peace and brotherhood of man all over the world?
When I recall the personalities of those days, of

those debates, of those activities – none of them is
with us any longer – when I think of the sharp
analysis and heated arguments over newspaper
articles, and the discussions about them, of the talks
Following Upheavals and Pogroms

By Moshe Sedletsky
Photos: The HeHalutz Chapter in 1925 at the time of Minkowski’s visit (untitled). (p. 170)
The Keren Kayemet Committee - 1925 (untitled) (p. 171, Top)
The Keren Kayemet Organization - 1930 (untitled) (p. 171, Bottom)
Young people on the barracks lawn (untitled) (p. 172)

By the Church (untitled). (p. 172 Center, Left)
A group of Dereczin girls (untitled). (p. 172 Bottom, Left)
In front of the [Sapieha] palaces (untitled) (p. 172, Bottom, Right)
Hanan Abelovich & Chaim-Yehoshua Lifshovich (p. 173, Top, Left)

A group of young people (untitled) (p. 173, Top, Right)
A going-away party for Shmeryl Mishkin (untitled) (p. 173)
When the first news of the October 1917 Revolution conducted in the streets of the town? As a little boy,
reached Dereczin, a great joy erupted in the town, I too, was caught up in the stream of exhilaration of
and demonstrations and holidays were proclaimed in the moment. I recollect the stormy debates that I
honor of the great revolution. listened to on the other side of my teacher’s door,
Red flags were flown in public, and young people who boarded in my parents home, kz. They would
marched and sang revolutionary songs. With this rule and debate how to bring the newfound freedom
great awakening, active people and the intelligentsia and redemption to the entire world, and to the
of the town began to set up parties, and give very masses of Jews, and I almost believed that the end to
inspiring speeches. It appeared to me that this lowly suffering was really at hand. I saw the
redemption has, finally, arrived. stalwart young men, who had taken control of the
town, joining the Red Army. News was spread to
An I, a lad of ten years age looked about me with the effect that the assets of the wealthy were being
wondering eyes: what happened here? According to distributed to the poor, a New World was upon us,
my grandfather, Reb Abraham kz, the Final everyone would equal, whether big or small,
Redemption would come with the arrival of a whether rich or poor.
Messiah, Zion would be redeemed and the Hebrew
tongue would be our tongue. If that were the case, This joy didn’t last very long in our town. The Poles
then why, suddenly, are revolutionary songs being reached Dereczin, and the supporters of the
sung in Russian , and demonstrations being revolutionary government fell back along with the
138
retreating Red Army. The young people of the town was – cutting firewood, and even that work could be
began to emigrate across the ocean. The town had only with great difficulty. It was no wonder that
became emptied of its youthful energies, and we everyone agreed that “Jewish Children” would work
began to hear about the pogroms in the Ukraine. at hard physical labor.
Even in Dereczin, we felt the influence of these
Halrachiks, who would c ut off beards and side The events of 192997 led to a great awakening
locks, and give beatings, which caused the Jews to among the members of the HeHalutz chapter. The
lock themselves in their homes, fearing what the young people were ready to go join the defenders,
next day might bring. A sense of crisis weighed on but to our sorrow, their will did not prevail, but
the hearts of the young people, who saw in this that rather the refusal of their parents to let them go.
the redemption of Jewish people was yet far distant, Despite this, four members of the chapter did go in
yet many c ontinued to err in following this that year. In 1930, the HeHalutz chapter hit a crisis,
fallacious cause. Left-wing Jewish movements went with some of the members making aliyah, a few
underground. emigrated to Argentina, and only a small body of
members remained to carry the burden of work in
The Zionist movement was revitalized by the the chapter. The Betar movement was established,
Balfour Declaration. Through the effort of several and most of the young people joined their ranks.
active people, the youth in town gathered together, The chapter became frozen. In order to generate
displayed a blue and white flag, and sang songs. membership interest that would strengthen the
This great day remains guarded in my memory, a Zionist movement, we established Poalei Tzion,
day in which our hope for the redemption of the and several of the teachers joined its ranks, along
Jewish people, once again, waxed strong. with a number of the leaders from the ranks of the
working class. This chapter was under the aegis of
We finished the Tarbut school that was established the HeHalutz chapter. In order to broaden our
through the efforts of the educator, David Alper, kz. membership ranks, we opened evening classes in
We matured, and understood what we had to do and general subjects, and by this means, we succeeded
how to face the future, in order to realize our dreams in attracting the young workers to our ranks, as well
of going to the Holy Land and joining those who as craftsmen, who left the non-Zionist organizations.
were building the Homeland. In 1925, even before
a chapter of HeHalutz was established in Dereczin, I recollect a Bund-sponsored meeting which several
the first of the pioneers made aliyah. In 1926, we of us HeHalutz members attended, and after the
established the HeHalutz chapter, and began putting presentations, we asked for time to speak. We said
the KKL collection boxes into houses, and what we had to say, and when the moderator saw
throughout the town, sympathy for the Zionist ideal that our words had aroused some interest on the part
grew. We initiated cultural work in our chapter. The of the listeners, he replied to us off the topic,
arrival of the newspaper, Davar, which came to the jokingly, with words of the following nature: – the
Rabinovich home, was a major event for us. We children of the rich play, each of them bringing the
would gather there, and read from the paper about toys that they received – from their parents; a poor
events that took place in the Holy Land. We boy approaches and wants to join the play. So they
broadened the scope of our cultural activities, we set ask him, what toys have you brought? The boy
up classes for the study of the Zionist movement, for raises his shirt and says: I have a bellybutton, it
the Zionist-socialist workers’ movement, and for the croaks. Laughter broke out all over the auditorium.
kibbutz movement in the Holy Land. We dreamed of I was not embarrassed, and asked for permission to
emigration, getting certifies to leave, and aliyah. say a few words.
There were no organizations that facilitated
emigration in our area, and it was at that time that I said that I understood the implic ations of the
we tried to put one together under the auspices of a
“nobleman” who was know to be an ec centric, but 97
this endeavor did not succeed. We began to look for Possible reference to the Hebron
massacre.
work among the Jewish households. The only work
139
moderator’s remarks, but there is one thing that the Not all of them succeeded in getting through, and
Bundist moderator does not know, that he who many fell victim to the Nazis or as casualties
transgresses gets his just desserts, and this is the fighting with partisans in the forests [during the
same with the Jewish people, who will obtain Second World War].
redemption through return to our motherland, the
Land of Israel, to derive sustenance from her. The May their memory be a blessing to us all!
audience applauded me, and a craftsman, known for
his communist leanings clapped me on the shoulder,
and said: “You’ve convinced me!” and he joined our
sympathizers, and when we returned, he joined up
with HeHalutz. We established a branch of The
Worker and a number of the craftsmen [in town]
joined this organization, among them S.
Beckenstein, who was one of the workers in the
branch.
To our great sadness, the gates of emigration closed,

and our membership did not succeed in making
aliyah. The mood of the town was not lacking in
Zionist inclination. The movement to the Holy
Land, and the work toward that objective grew in
our town, Jews donated generously to Zionist causes
and the interest in everything that transpired in the
Holy Land was received with great interest.
In 1933, several members of the HeHalutz branch

obtained permission to emigrate, a portion of them
were fortunate enough to obtain proper certification,
and another group went up with Aliyah Bet.
The Tarbut School

As Told by a Group of Students
Photos: David Alper (p. 174, Top Left)

Eliezer Tatz, of the Hebrew Pioneers in Dereczin (p. 174, Bottom, Right)
The Teacher, Shoshana Alper, of the Berels Family (p. 175, Top, Right)
Eliyahu Abramovich, one of the founders of the Tarbut School (p. 175, Bottom, Left)
The Teacher, Schraga-Fyvel Einstein (p. 176, Top, Right)
The Teacher, Malka Alper (p. 176, Bottom, Left)
A group of students in 1925 (untitled) (p. 177, Top, Left)
The Teacher, Zaydl Emiel (p. 177, Top, Right)
A 1922 Tarbut School Picture (p. 177, Bottom)98
98
Note of Interest : In this Tarbu t Scho o l portrait of the Class of 1922 (presumably all grades, as
distinct from a graduating class), Carol Gelman Lowenbraun (whose father, Foyka Gelman , was from
Zelva), identified her mother, Alta Osherovitz Gelman (from Dereczin).
140
The Tarbut School was founded in 1918 by David Despite the difficulties of external life
Alper, kz and [Schraga] Fyvel Einstein. It was a circumstances, the atmosphere inside the school was
group of mothers, among them Fruma Bialosotsky, a good one. The teachers dedicated themselves,
Rachel Shelovsky, Sarah Leah Gelman, and others, heart and soul to inculcate their charges with
who turned to David Alper, kz with a directive and important disciplines: knowledge of the Hebrew
a request to establish such a school. He responded language, love of the Tanach, love of the Land of
willingly, and the institution was opened initially for Israel that was in the proc ess of being reborn, and
first and second grades, with established love of their fellow man.
pedagogical resources.
The school lived every happening in the Holy Land:
The Tarbut School obtained for its use, the physical the defense of Tel-Chai; the death of [Joseph]
resources that had been used by the German School Trumpeldor, and his companions; collection of tools
during the occupation period of the First World for the Keren Poalei Eretz Yisrael. I am reminded of
War. The school did not wait for a building of its Abraham at the time the tools were being donated –
own [to begin functioning], even when it reached and he was the youngest of the children – after the
the point of running four and five grades, doing so representatives of HeHalutz taking donations had
in rented rooms, some of which were large, well-lit left their home, and his father had given whatever he
and airy, while others were too small and stuffy. had given – he said that it was not enough, and
secretly went to the assembly point and added a
Despite this, the atmosphere in the classrooms was large axe that he took from his house.
a good one, and the relationship between the
students and their teachers was one of trust and At the end of the school year, there were final
respect. examinations given, in which the Headmaster David
Alper himself participated, along with the officers of
Despite the shortage of adequate textbooks, the the school committee that consisted of parents who
conduct of study took place properly, that is, Ivrit served with the Headmaster.
B’Ivrit (Hebrew taught in Hebrew). During recess
time, which was held out of doors, the teachers Even when David was a temporary visitor to
mingled with the children, whic h contributed to the Dereczin, he would frequently visit the school, and
good atmosphere that prevailed among them. Not involve himself in lessons, testing the mettle of the
every house in which there was a school classroom class and individual students, testing one or two of
had a gated yard; in those instances, the children them individually, in order to take a measure of their
spent their recess time in the street, and filled it with progress. He was a stickler for discipline, and it was
the chatter of play, and the sound of speech, not once that he took a student to task for not
peppered with Hebrew. The adults would pass by measuring up to his standards.
the c hildren, with ears cocked toward them in
wonderment, as they listened to the use of the Holy When David left the town to take a position in
Tongue. another city, it was the custom to wait for him at
final examination time, because it was known that
All the Jewish residents literally lived out the he would be returning to visit his parents during
activities of the school: whenever there was a class vacation.
in gymnastics (conducted out of doors for lack of an
indoor facility) – many were curious enough to Education professionals from nearby towns would
come and stand around the gymnasts; a walk or a come to the school, because it had garnered a
tour, if it occurred through the town streets – would reputation as a sc hool with high standards in the
be accompanied by a throng of young people and district. We took great pride in the good name that
adults; if a play or a celebration was being staged, the sc hool appeared to have earned among our
either on a holiday or at year-end -- this became an guests.
event for the entire town.
At the center of the school’s educational endeavors
141
were the initiatives undertaken on behalf of the Another adds: Every morning that we arrived at a
KKL. In this respect, the efforts of the teacher, class that took place in a gathering house, in which
[Rabbi] Chaim Zvi Sinai-Miller kz, were the teacher Sinai kz, lived in a room, we found a
prominent. Pupils donated themselves, and solic ited saying from the Tanach on the blackboard, or a
donations from others. On Yom Kippur Eve, they riddle.
would set out a ‘Collection Plate’ at the entrance to
the various synagogues for purposes of soliciting It is important to take note that with the aliyah of
donations from those coming for the afternoon the teacher, Sinai to the Holy Land, the school went
Mincha service. into a decline that eventually led to its closing.
It is our responsibility to commemorate those
It is clear, that the home of every father and mother teachers, who thanks to their efforts, we, the
was influenc ed by the atmosphere of the school, students of the Tarbut School are found here today:
which was permeated with an international spirit, as
the speech of the children rang with Hebrew. We David Alper – The founder and first Headmaster of
accepted a Tarbut obligation on ourselves, to fulfill the school, killed in the Holoc aust in Pinsk soon
the Hebrew dictum even outside the walls of the after the fall of that city in 1941, when the German
school, and to elucidate its message among all the command ordered him to become the head of the
children, and assure its realization. Judenrat, and he refused. He was seized
immediately, with his 14 year-old son, and taken out
The Hebrew Lending Library was right beside the for execution.
school, and the students ran it under the supervision
of the teac her [Rabbi Chaim Zvi Sinai-]Miller kz, Malka Alper – A resident in Israel since 1925.
and lent out books twice a week.
Abraham Izaakovich – Went during the mid-1920s
A youth movement named Agudat Trumpeldor also to live with his sons in the USSR, and our contact
existed, and this was a long time before [the with him was lost.
formation of] Betar.
Moshe Vankhutzker – Made aliyah during the 1930s
On Lag B’Omer we satisfied the mitzvah of going and is today in Haifa.
out into the forest with bows and arrows, a parade
led by the international flag, and a line of young Zvi (Grisha) Marminsky – An outstanding science
people, mothers and their little kids tailed after, with and mathematics teacher. Later worked in a number
the students marching decked out as Jewish of Tarbut schools in Poland. Killed in the Holocaust
pioneers, with songs of the Holy Land on their lips. in Kharkov.
As for Tu B’Shevat, The Jewish Arbor Day, we Shlomo (Solomon Rothstein) – A music teacher.
celebrated that in the height of the Polish winter, in Killed in the Holocaust in Slonim.
whic h the ‘fruits of the fifteenth’ when they did
arrive, were accompanied by the singing of songs of Zeydl Amiel – A citizen of Piesk. Died in the
Zion, and praises for the Holy Land and its fruit. diaspora.
Kalman emphasizes: To this day he recalls the Yaff a Berzovsky – Made aliyah and settled in Kfar
experience of learning stanzas of the poetry of Eyn-Kharud.
[Chaim Nachman] Bialik a nd [Shaul]
Tchernikhovsk y from the mouth of the teacher, And the last is our most beloved: Rabbi Chaim Zvi
[Rabbi Chaim Zvi Sinai-]Miller kz, those that had Miller-Sinai, who made aliyah with his family in the
been put to music. The teacher, Sinai, with his spring of 1926. Until the events of 12929, he was a
endearing pedagogical approach, inculcated in each resident in Kfar Uriah, and from then to his passing
of us, a love of Zion, a love of the Hebrew language, in 1963, he resided in Ramat HaSharon. His entire
and a love of Tanach. life in the Holy Land was literally the life of a
Halutz – a pioneer.
142
My Father, The Last Rabbi of Dereczin
By Meir Bakalchuk
Photo: Rabbi Zvi-Hirsch Bakalchuk (p. 178)

Various pieces of correspondence by the Rabbi
My father, kmz, the last Rabbi of Dereczin, knowledgeable in history, literature and grammar.
dedicated his whole life to study and preaching. His sermons had a reputation throughout all of
From the gray hours of the morning on, one heard Poland. On the Sabbath between Rosh Hashana and
his voice – he sat over his books and learned. It was Yom Kippur , and on the Great Sabbath before
his feeling that the well of Torah study had not yet Passover, the synagogue would be packed with
been plumbed out, and he sat studying for long people who had come to hear his sermons, and for
hours, over yet another line of reasoning, and a new many months afterwards, his explanations and
insight. exegesis would continue to serve as themes for
discussion.
My mother kz, looked after her husband and her
c hildren, from the early morning hours until late at His principal concern was to assure that Jewish
night, carrying out her duties as a housewife like a children would study [the Torah], and he sunk a
proverbial Woman of Valor. Every difficult problem great deal of his energy into this. He was true to his
that arose in our house, or in the family, was solved calling, and organized a group called Tifereth
by her to the best of her abilities. I always felt that LeBakhurim, and studied with selec ted students
my mother could overcome any difficulty. She never individually. When he detected a gift for scholarship
asked anyone for help, and complained to no one. in any young boy, he would not let him go, and
tasked him to learn. There is more than one student,
My father came from the shtetl Sernik, near Pinsk. who achieved advanced cultural development, that
From childhood on, he demonstrated an inclination owes thanks for such achievement to my father, the
for Torah study, and he excelled in the development last Rabbi of Dereczin.
of his skills. My father was one of the first students
of the Gaon, Rabbi Yossel Hurvich, the Head of the Over the course of decades, my father wrote
Novogrudok Yeshivah. Reb Yossel personally gave extensive Torah commentaries. During this time,
my father his ordination (smikha) as a Rabbi. Later, packages of his manuscripts accumulated. This
my father also studies with the Hafetz-Hayyim and would have been a very substantial contribution to
received smikha from him as well. the Masoretic literature. He had continuously hoped
to submit this work for publication, but so much
I feel small and inadequate to the task, when I try to [raw material] had been amassed, that it would have
put down my father’s character traits on paper. I been an overwhelming effort to prepare it for
know that I am not qualified to undertake this task. printing.
Who can describe the greatness, gentleness and
persuasive personality of a Gaon, who was able to In the [final] fateful days of the town, he found a
elicit commitment from anyone who came within hiding place for his creations, in a corner of the
the four walls of his presence. attic. Witnesses give testimony that he had
approached a number of the balebatim, and asked
Apart from his thorough expertise in the vast sea of that his work be made public if any of them
Torah lore, and its commentaries, my father was remained alive.
a ls o a n ac c omplished m a t h e m a t ic ia n ,
This work subsequently was consumed by fire
143
amidst the general destruction that ensued. occupy a pulpit in Baltimore, Maryland in America.
After considerable wrestling with this matter, he
My father did not occupy himself with money declined this offer as well. He couched his refusal to
matters, and would not have recognized a coin of the take the offer in the thought that he had lived the
realm had he seen it. The material side of existence better part of his life in Dereczin, where he had his
for him was merely a means to provide necessary family, and grandchildren who come to see him
sustenance, in order to serve his Maker and the every morning, to wish him a good morning before
congregation. The one to whom these concerns fell he goes off to the synagogue to study, and he is very
was my mother, and this was not easy for her, comfortable and satisfied with his congregation and
because, just as was the case in all rabbinical his family. I remember to this day, how my father
households in Poland, we did not have much of an used to stand at the window each morning, waiting,
income. until his grandchildren appeared on the little hill
between the Old Synagogue and the Bialosotsky
My father was nationalistically Jewish, and proud of family’s house.
his identity as a member of the Jewish people. Back
in the days of the First World War, when he was the “Here they come running, my little birds,” – my
Rabbi of Stolovich, near Baranovic h, he hosted the father would say with great affection. And not only
Catholic Archbishop, religious leader of the Polish once did he complain: “In America, I would be a
community, during the time of the Soviet Rabbi by position, not because Jewish people need
occupation. My father held that a person of such me, but rather because a Jewish community has to
high rank in a second religion should be accorded have a Rabbi.
the dignity of a reception with great respect.
Apparently the Catholic leader said certain things, Here, in Dereczin, I am needed. There is always a
perhaps that he should not have, because when he Jewish person [here] in need of some advice, an
arrived in Gorodishch he was arrested. He was answer to a question, a specific form of assistance.
condemned to death. My father then presented And here, I always find a Jew with whom I can
himself to the Soviet authorities, and he was carry on a conversation, or to study a page of
afforded an opportunity to explain to the bolsheviks, Gemara with him. I will not leave Dereczin...”
that the Archbishop did not malign the authorities,
but rather said a prayer in accordance with Catholic It was in this way that my father, the last Rabbi of
ritual. The priest was set free. Dereczin, together with my mother, that righteous
woman, perished in Treblinka. The two, beloved
A year afterwards, when a stable Polish regime had and faithful to eac h other in life, were not parted
been established in our area, my father was invited even in death.
to see the Polish President, Wojieczowski, who
thanked my father for what he had done, and offered
him a concession in either tobacco or alcohol – a
business from which it would have been possible to
become rich in those days. My father, a proud Jew,
did not accept this offer, saying that a Rabbi does
not accept compensation for his humanitarian deeds.
The Polish officials were literally stunned to see this
forthright Jew before them. My father was awarded
a medal of high rank, but I do not recall him ever
making use of it for his own interest.
During the 1930s, my father was formally invited to
144
The Holy Rabbi, Gaon of Dereczin, Bakalchuk kmz
By Rabbi Chaim-Chaikel Grinberg
Photos: The construction committee with Rabbi Bakalchuk in front of the building of the Yavneh
School (untitled). (p. 182)
A list of contributors to the Yeshivah Committee (p. 183, Top, Left).
In front of the Grosse Schul Wall, children of the Yavneh School with their teachers and
committee chairman, M. Feldman (untitled) (p. 183, Bottom).
At the time that I studied in Baranovich, there was I rec all, in Baranovich and Slonim, when notices
an event – to hear the sermons of the Rabbi of were posted that the Rabbi of Derec zin would be
Stolovich, and he was received in Slonim as a preaching, the Bet HaMidrash would fill up with a
preacher, and as a great orator and with distinction, large audience, drawn from all walks of life, would
as the Rabbi of Dereczin. The holy Rabbi kmz, was come to hear his awe-inspiring words, that came
famous, renown as a spiritual man who could from his mouth as a means to draw the children of
c onquer hearts with his words. Rabbi Bakalchuk Israel closer to their Father in heaven.
was known as a man of religious outlook, godly
presence, and an exponent of the highest human I heard words of endearment uttered in memory of
values of truth, goodness, charity, modesty and this saintly Rabbi from many people and those who
straightforwardness. His name went before him, were born in Dereczin, not only from those who
because he was known as a great and accomplished were religious, but also more sec ular people, who
scholar, being both thoroughly versed and retained something of a feeling for their faith from
analytically gifted in matters of Halakha. As the their homes and from the town. Each and every one
leader of his community, he reached the hearts of of these enhance the typing of the Rabbi, who was
not only scholars, but also the hearts of the masses from the old school, which is the image that has
of Jews, in general. As a shepherd overseeing his remained etched in their memory from the town –
flock, he tried to imbue the essentials of Judaism to the spiritual shepherd of the town.
his congregation, even as it applied to practical
matters. The home of the Rabbi, kz, was a symbol That was the way the saintly Rabbi of Dereczin
of sanctity, purity, c harity, good will, and love of was. To be compared to a shepherd that leads his
Israel and the people of the town and its flock while walking in their midst, giving
surroundings. The Rabbi understood how to lead the the appearance that he is walking alone, and that he
members of his community in the path of Torah and happens to be walking in the direction he is taking
good works. his floc k – as in the manner of the Rabbis, the
shepherds of Israel.
It was not only with his oratory that he was able to
capture hearts, but more so with the projection of That is why the Rabbi kz , fought like a lion lest the
his character, and the conduct of his congregation, influenc e of the rabbinate on the people be in any
to which he dedicated his entire life, his energies way impaired. He was used to saying that if God
and the force of his influence. He did not lack for forbid, the influence and the support of the
the tribulations of life, tiring and burdensome – Rabbinate was removed – it was inevitable that a
however, he did not abandon his study of the Torah calamity would befall the Jews, and a dissipation of
for even a day, because he always saw before him their spiritual vigor.
the motto: “your words are a lamp unto my feet, and
a light to my pathway.” It was the Rabbi’s [tragic] privilege to give his life
145
to sanctify the Name of Heaven, along with myriads
of others – because he fell in Sanctification of The
Name at the hands of the Nazi murderers, anh . We
honor his memory. Would we be so fortunate as to
be blessed with his equivalent again!
The Yavneh School

By Nekha Petrukhovich
Photo: School picture (untitled) (p. 184, Bottom)

A Purim play at the Yavneh School, 1937 (untitled) (p. 185, Bottom)
The Kindergarten class of Malka Shelkovich (untitled) (p. 186, Top)
Kindergarten class of the Kreslansky sisters (untitled) (p. 186, Bottom)
The following responsible people were involved house-to-house, and whatever was possible was
with the Yavneh School in town: Hirschel donated for the buffet. Hazzan Beshkin’s son-in-
Beckenstein, Berel Walitsky, Mendel Feldman, law, Tambolsky, Rivkah’s husband, himself a
Berel Polachuk, along with Rav Bakalchuk at the Hazzan and a ritual slaughterer, prepared the
head. It was the Rabbi’s custom to come to the meat, mothers prepared the baked goods and
school on Friday in order to orally test the sweets, and parents would lay out all this [food] in
children. the auditorium where the presentations were made
– many people worked to put on the “evening” at
All Jewish children attended this school, and their the Yavneh school. To this day, I cannot forget
parents paid tuition. Parents of lesser means paid one special Purim presentation put on by the
according to their ability. It was in this way that schoolchildren.
Jews did everything within their power to assure
that their children would have a Jewish They put on a presentation based on the Book of
upbringing. Esther. The part of Esther was taken by Moishkeh
Mishkin’s daughter, the role of Ahasuerus was
I am also reminded of the evening presentations played by Abraham Zlotagura’s little boy, Chaim.
that the Yavneh school would organize on specific Parents, fathers and mothers, teachers, brothers
holidays. The children would present, and the and sisters, and even ordinary townsfolk, all
teachers, with the principal Berenholz, as their basked in the satisfaction and joy of watching
leader, put in a lot of work to prepare the these presentations by the children. And on every
youngsters for their presentations. Especially, I Hanukkah, the Hanukkah candles were lit in
wish to note the teacher, Leah Alpern, Eliyahu school, accompanied by the singing of Hanukkah
Abramovich’s cousin, who did most of the work in songs, and putting on presentations.
organizing and directing these presentations. i
With the arrival of the Soviets in 1939, teaching at
At the time of these “evenings,” there would also the school was converted to Russian. Among the
be a buffet set out for the audience. It was the teachers were Chaikeh Mishkin, and Chaikeh
parents and the school leadership who supervised Dworetsky; science was taught by Alter Skrabun,
the preparation of the buffet and the sale of Berel Gorinovsky’s father-in-law.
tickets to the presentation, which provided a
source of income for the school. The buffet was a This was the beginning of the end of the Yavneh
“pot luck” sort of affair, in which one went from school of that time.
146
Betar & Tzahar In Our Town
By M. Bakalchuk, A. Beckenstein, K. Abramovich
Photos: Girls chapter of Betar and the membership (untitled) (p. 188)
The Tzahar Organization in Dereczin in 1930 (untitled) (p. 189)
The Tzahar Organization at the departure of Eliyahu Abramovich (untitled) (p. 190)
The Betar facilitation organization in Dereczin and the members of its cell (untitled) (p. 191, Top)
A gathering of the Betar membership on a porch opposite the theater hall (untitled). (p. 191, Bottom)
The Betar facilitation organization & members (untitled) (p. 192,Top, Left)
A portrait day for the fire-fighters (untitled) (p. 192,Top, Right)
Dereczin soldiers in the Polish Army, Abraham Kulakowski kneeling. (P.192, Bottom, Left)
A group of members with Moshe Sedletsky before his aliyah (untitled). (p. 192, Bottom, Right)
As was the case in all of the cities and towns of Canada) – Shlomo (Siuma) Shelovsky, kz, Joshua
Poland, there existed both a Zionist and Halutz Sedletsky, kz, Jacob Sakar, kz, and to mention
movement in Dereczin as well. At the end of the separately, for long life, Eliyahu Abramovich (today
twenties and in the early thirties, this movement was in the USA), as well as the authors of this memoir.
not active, and did not attract the youth to its ranks, That night, Betar [in Dereczin] was established, and
which rather was drawn to activities with a began its activities with great enthusiasm and
framework of ideals that enabled them to realize limitless commitment.
their desire to demonstrate their national loyalties.
The inspiring appearance of the outstanding leader, We did not antic ipate, that the lessons of pride and
Ze’ev Jabotinsky, amidst the Jewish communities of glory, whic h permeated the Betar training, would
Eastern Europe, especially after the events of bring not few of our members into the ranks of the
1929,99 aroused our young people from their partisans and rebels, who fought against the Nazi
slumber. The charisma of this Zionist leader made a invaders during the Holocaust against the Jews, in
great impression on many of the young people of the days of the Second World War.
our town, even before they actually saw him
personally, or heard his words. Like a magical force, i
his personality drew countless young people and
even more mature folks, into the ranks of the Betar Betar was ac tive in Dereczin up to the outbreak of
movement, which in Dereczin had its origins back as the war, in September 1939. Most of our young
far as 1927. people joined our ranks. Among the active
membership, and those who led the movement, we
It was on one of those evenings in the fall of that raise the following names: Aryeh Beckenstein,
year, when we were called for a meeting at the home Avigdor Shelovsky, Melekh Sakar, Abraham-
of the Wilenczyk brothers. While we have already Hirsch Kolkovsky, Jacob Azov, Eliyahu Lifshovich,
forgotten [the names of] many of those who Aryeh Kreslansky, Shmuel Korn, Mendel Grachuk,
attended that night, filled with many issues of the brothers Meir & Shmaryahu Mishkin, Hanan
importance, certain of them remain etched in our Abelovich, Ze’ev Shelkovich, Ze’ev Ogulnick, and
memories, and of them especially, the brothers, many, many others. The membership grew, and over
Shimon & Moshe Wilenczyk , (who are today in the years became endeared not only to the young
people, but to their parents as well. Until the
99 establishment of Betar, our parents were not used to
Reference to the Hebron Massacres
147
a youth organization that adopted a special uniform, Walman, Rudenstein100, Dr. Shelovsky, Moshe
and that engaged in both sporting and military Kustin, Miriam Podlishevsky, Liota Beckenstein,
exercises. When they saw the effect of the training and others. Tzahar served as a community backbone
that was carried on in the evenings in the hall, and for Betar, composed of [more mature] adults. Both
the inculcation of the knowledge and common organizations were visited by officers of the central
sense, and the adherence to the principles of Betar, organization, and speakers, such as Dr. Lipman, Dr.
the older populac e began to respect and favor the Yunichman, Captain Yanovsky, Ze’ev Burstein, and
organization, which was a focal point for their others. All praised the outstanding chapter in
younger sons and daughters. Dereczin.
Betar would also appear on different oc c asions in The Betar branch established a public library for all
Polish national holidays, in parades jointly with to use. Because of the efforts of a number of the
Polish youth. The disciplined presence of the Betar members, quite a number of books, of a wide
marchers in these festivities, along with their orderly variety, were acquired. Many young people and
military marching, when they were called to arms by adults used the library extensively, in order to enjoy
their officers – and he was one of them – roused a the benefits of reading from its collection, among
sense of respect and admiration among the Poles, them books about Betar, which conveyed the
toward the Jews of the town, and its young people. essence of the thinking of the movement’s leader.
i
The Dereczin branch set up a curriculum that was
During the thirties, the Lunsky family, which had recognized by the office in the Holy Land. Those
come from one of the surrounding villages, settled who finished this course of study were awarded a
in Dereczin. The oldest daughter of this family, certificate, and no few of them were privileged
Zina, joined Betar. From her first day, Zina stood eventually to make aliyah before the war broke out.
out in her commitment and energy, and until the day Many members of the branc h completed their
she left for the Holy Land, she was the living spirit requirements for aliyah in a number of Polish Betar
of Betar. By sheer force of her will, and with chapters. Kalman Abramovich, a member of our
focused initiative, she overcame her liabilities, and chapter, was sent to take Betar naval training in
with her intellectual gifts, she stood at the head of Ziutvikia in Italy.
the movement with her activities on behalf of Betar, i
in whose ideals she had complete faith. Her home During the thirties, anti-Semitism was on the rise
was open to all, and was visited by visitors who throughout all of Poland, and even in Dereczin, the
were representatives of the [larger] Betar hatred toward the Jews was felt forcefully. A group
movement. Her advice was eagerly sought, and quite of Polish ne’er-do-wells began to pick on the Jewish
often things were done according her dictates. She population, and to create disturbances in town. The
was privileged to make aliyah, and live in the Holy Betar leadership decided to put a halt to these
Land. She died prematurely, but left a family abuses. This mission was given to those members of
behind. Her memory is sealed in the hearts of her the chapter who were not daunted by the dangers of
near ones, and her comrades from the days of Betar such an undertaking in the Poland of that time. This
in Dereczin. group of ruffians was ambushed and subjected to a
serious thrashing. After that, the anti-Semites ceased
i their arrogant acts of abuse. The entire town
breathed a little more easily, and everyone sang the
After the events of 1929, a branch of Tzahar was praises of the brave Jewish youths, that simply could
also established in our town. Among the organizers no longer stand by without taking action.
and workers were: Zvi Zlotagura, Aryeh Kushnir,
Shimon Wilenczyk, Joseph Rabinovich, Yoshe
100
Also spelled Radenstein.
148
The Betar club was the only one in Dereczin that His parents, his brother, Avigdor, a member of the
held its activities in the evening, each and every chapter, and his two sisters, Sima & Zipporah, all
evening, and Saturdays. The membership was fell in the forests.
always full of young people of all ages, and adults.
These were all divided up into groups by age, and Eliyahu Lifshovich - A member of Betar from his
each group had a leader. The leadership of the club earliest youth, committed to his movement, and
allocated out the various duties (general discharging all his obligations faithfully, was one of
administration, secretariat, treasury, organization, the fierce combatants in the forests, as the deputy
culture, military training) to the membership, and commander of the partisan group of Dr. [Meyer]
each of the members looked after the proper Atlas. When the Doctor was mortally wounded, in
discharge of these assigned responsibilities. It was battle with the Germans, he turned over command of
in the evening that classes and lectures took place. the group to Eliyahu, who directed his campaigns,
Not once, would parents invite themselves into the going form victory to victory. Much has been
club, to find their children occupied with either written about the outstanding exploits of Eliyahu,
lessons or various sporting activities. for which he was subsequently decorated by the Red
Army. Our Eliyahu was not privileged to make
Betar continued to function up to September 1939, aliyah to our Homeland – he fell at the hands of
when the war broke out, and the Soviet army Polish murderers from the ranks of the AK, in the
occupied the territories of Western Byelorussia. city of Legnitz (Legnica) .
When these territories were subsequently captured
by Hitler’s armies in 1941, and the extermination of Zvi Zlotagura & David Dombrowsky, who were
the Jews began in each and every town, the Betar Betar loyalists, fell in battle together with regular
members were among the first to join in the military forces in Dereczin.
resistance movement in Derec zin and its
neighboring forests. In their lives, their fighting, and Tens of members, inculcated in Betar disciplines,
their deaths, they stood out as a shining symbol of faithfully upheld the Betar teaching: “I will raise my
the defenders of the honor of the Jewish people. arm to defend my people,” fulfilling their oath
Their memory is guarded in each and every one of through actual deed.
our hearts, and we intone their names here with a
holy trembling. We will remember them to the end of our days, in
our Homeland which continues to fight for its very
Shlomo (Siuma) Shelovsky - Leader of the Dereczin survival.
Betar Chapter, and Head of the Betar Slonim
District.
He was the very embodiment of the military arts. A

man of culture, a medical student, modest, diligent,
and a man of influence on all his charges, quiet, and
introspective in his thinking – was respected by all
of us, his peers, who accorded him with respect,
every time he appeared among us.
Along with many of the young people of our town,

he fled to the forests, and in his works of vengeance,
took no rest in his assault on the German aggressors.
He fell, betrayed from within, during an attack on a
dairy that supplied milk products to the Germans.
149
In the Service of the Dereczin Community
By Eliyahu Herenson
Photos: Hebrew calendar, 1938-39. (P. 195)
Baruch-Neta Glinkovsky & his family in front of their home. (P. 196)
The Market Day (p. 197)
In 1926, I came to live in Dereczin. To live – but not utensils, and a variety of implements useful to the
to put down roots, because from my earliest youth, surrounding populace. On market and fair days,
I held the hope of making aliyah to the Holy Land. thousands of rural dwellers would come to town,
and whoever had a store in the marketplace, or its
In my parent’s home as a child, I collected a variety environs was guaranteed of some income. The
of stories about Dereczin and its populace, but an qualities of a market day were present during all
absolutely different picture remains in my mind of days of the week, but on market day itself, Dereczin
the town , as I saw it and came to know it so well in took on a completely different air, and assumed a
the years that I dwelt there. The memory of this new color: everything hustled and bustled, the pace
community, its character, the way of life and its was quicker, rushed and pressured – the Jews in the
customs, come back to my mind frequently from presentation of their merchandise, and the farmers in
time to time, and I will try to paint a portrait of the their purchases. Only with the coming of evening
town from these memories of mine. did the hectic pace slow down, and the town return
to its former calm.
Dereczin was a beautiful town, c lean and open,
surrounded by an enchanting ambience, with a well- The Appearance of the Community Changed
populated area. The Zelva Gasse led to the railroad
station at nearby Zelva, and was our gateway to the This portrait of the market days, that left such a
wider world; from the Slonim Gasse, the way led to pronounced imprint on the life of the town and its
the district capital, in which many of the town youth livelihood, are in my memory from stories told to
went to be educated, and to which Dereczin was me by my parents when I was a child, but the face of
also tied with links of commerce, family the community, and the character of the Dereczin
connections, culture, and joint organizational populace changed in the years after the First World
memberships, etc.; the Deutsche Gasse led to the War, which was in itself the cause of these changes.
villages, estates, and nearby towns. These three
broad streets served as the means of access to the A new generation came of age, with greater insight,
near and far surroundings, and bounded the large and more liberal in its thinking, with significantly
market square in the center of Dereczin. greater connection to the wider world than its
parents, who had lived their entire lives within the
To the extent that I can recall the population boundaries of their town and its immediate
statistics of 1928, the population of Dereczin was surroundings. A variety of political organizations
about thirty thousand, of which 72% lived in the appeared and began to work within the community,
town itself. each with its own active chapter and meeting place.
Those young people who did not move away to
Most of the Dereczin Jews were people of action, distant places, began to dominate the community
possessed of energy and initiative in matters of and cultural life of the town. New concepts began to
commerce and crafts, of these – grain merchants, stimulate the young people: Zionism, socialism, and
operators of flour mills and other factories, but most the Halutz movement. The system of balebatim that
were energetic storekeepers and craftsmen. All had for many years been the dominant form of
worked in the creation of c lothing, footwear, community rule, slowly began to disappear, and in
150
the place of these stalwarts of the community, an example, Reb Moshe Shelovsky and his son,
representatives of the people, of “your people” Yehuda (a dentist), Reb Mendel Feldman, Head of
began to speak its piece. the General Zionist Organization, Reb Buma
Grachuk, Reb Fyvel Blizniansky, Reb Eliyahu
Despite this, Jewish tradition did not completely Abramovich, father-in-law of the writer Reb Moshe
disappear, since it was observed even by the rising Rabinovich, Reb Eliezer Hanoch Alper – the head of
young generation. The young people c ontinue to the family of educators and disseminators of Torah,
attend synagogue on the Sabbath and Holidays, and whose home was a center for active Zionism.
they continue to use these synagogues as centers of
assembly for debates, discussions, and events of All of these people, and many others of the Dereczin
organizations to the left and right as if one. community, had their own private concerns, there
were among them scholars, wise men, strong in their
In those years, whic h I describe in this memoir of convictions and attuned to the surroundings, but all
mine, general Zionist organizations were active in were equally faithful to the obligations that they
Dereczin, along with Poalei Tzion, Betar, and to undertook, and nurtured the seed of benefitting the
some extent, the Bund. public good for the community of Dereczin.
Many, many of the young people of Dereczin left The “Alper House,” in which the workers and young
their town in those years, traveling to other cities for people of Dereczin would meet daily, to read
education, and ultimately many of them emigrated newspapers, carry on conversations on all subjects,
out of Poland, in which they could not aspire to a whether general, Jewish or Zionist, was always
future with any meaningful potential, and went to imbued with the spirit of the son of the family,
distant lands. A portion of that generation was David Alper kz, the outstanding and c ommitted
bound up with the Halutz movement, and made Zionist educator, whose influence on that
aliyah to the Holy Land. Because of this, it was of generation of Dereczin youth was considerable even
great importance whenever any young people came in the years when he was away, when he served as
from other cities to live in Dereczin, settling there, the Headmaster of Jewish studies in Pinsk, where
and contributing from their energies and strengths to eventually, he met his end at the hands of the
its communal life. German murderers.
A formal Jewish community did not yet exist in And if I raise the memory of my individual dear
those years of the twenties, with an elec ted ones in Dereczin, I have a sacred obligation to
governing body, and the local community was record the name and memory of my childhood
governed by a ‘committee’ that was selected by a friend, the son-in-law of Reb Eliezer Alper, Reb
handful of the balebatim. This establishment, Isser Lamprat, the scion of a distinguished family
nevertheless, saw itself as the leadership of the from Kletsk, wherein he, his wife and all the
Jewish community of Dereczin, but was not members of his household made the supreme
recognized as an ac tive body, with most of the sacrifice during the Holocaust. He was a Zionist
essential work being done by the Zionist Histadrut from his earliest days on, and worked a great deal
organization in town. for the redemption of the Homeland.
The “Movers & Shakers” I will remember and not forget one of the members
of the community, Reb Dov Polachuk, an
There were not few among the citizens of Dereczin, enthusiastic Zionist, an orator and debater with
who dedicated their energy, effort and time to the those opposed to the concept of the rebirth of the
public welfare, through their participation in various [Jewish] people and their Homeland.
organizations. Let us remember several of these: As
151
I would really like to recall many more of the Jews Before the Community Council Elections
of the Dereczin community – but if I should omit
some, I will beg the pardon of those surviving As previously noted, towards the end of the
descendants who still live among us. Well known twenties, there was not yet an elected town council,
and respected were the heads of the families of and the ‘Committee’ functioned at its own
Ratner, Zelikovich, Weinstein, whose family head discretion.
was Zalman Weinstein, the head of the fire brigade,
and involved in all aspects of town public issues, Zvi The organized power in town was in the hands of
Beckenstein, his son-in-law, Abraham Rozovsky, son the Zionist Histadrut, which was led by several
of the Rabbi, these are among those who came from important citizens of the town – Reb Mendel
outside Dereczin and worked in its Jewish Feldman, Reb Eliyahu Abramovich, Reb Berel
community. And there were among the balebatim, Polachuk, Reb Eliezer Alper. The youth primarily
important yet modest men, operating behind the joined the Poalei Tzion, whose leadership consisted
scenes, who did not get involved in the “politics” of of Sedletsky, Rozov sky, and the writer of this
the town, but did their good work secretly – all of memoir.
them straight of heart, doing what they had to do
faithfully, suc h as Reb Shmuel Beckenstein, Reb The work to disseminate cultural initiatives and
Sholom Sakar, Reb Ze’ev (Veleh) Rabinovich, whose attempts at influencing those issues that affected the
two sons, David & Jacob were among the first of way the community was led, and its institutions, was
the Halutzim from Dereczin to make aliyah to the in the hands of the youth who conducted their work
Holy Land, Eliezer Sedletsky, Gorinovsky, and their with the support of the general Zionists. There was
grandfather, Reb Yehuda- Shmuel, a righteous and also a small segment of extremists who were active,
straight man of the older generation, Reb Joseph from which the revisionist eventually evolved, and
Mishkin, Reb Aryeh-Leib Bialosotsky, Reb Meir- also the Betar movement. In their ardor for their
Yehoshua, the well-known feldscher. principles, it was not only once that they generated
arguments and conflict between different
And I must raise the name of the Rabbi of the movements. The Bund as well, did not sit with
c ommunity, kmz Rabbi Gaon Rav Zvi Bakalchuk, folded hands, and periodically was a disrupting
one of the truly great Torah scholars of the force to the Zionist effort, and general community
rabbinate, a man of commanding presence, and a initiatives. It is to the credit of the people of
wondrous orator. Dereczin that these disputes never once created a
schism in the institutions of the town, instead they
It is incumbent upon us to also remember the many were largely resolved through compromise and a
good people from the rank and file of the people, continuation of partnership in the endeavor.
from the craftsmen and laborers such as Zvi the
Blacksmith from the Slonim Gasse; Mordechai Disputes among the factions of the town started up
Zambrovsky & Noah Lif shovich, workers for the over matters in the cultural sphere – concerning the
Bund, who gave of themselves selflessly and library, the drama society, etc.
honestly for the public good.
A credit union was [also] established in those years.
And once again, I beg the forgiveness of those, The members of its council were: B. Grachuk, E.
whose names escape me, because of the betrayal of Alper (who served as Treasurer),M. Feldman, D.
a failing memory, after so many years of being Polachuk, Eliyahu-Chaim Walitsky, and the writer
uprooted from that distant past that was, but is no of this memoir. The credit union went out of
more. business under distressed circumstances, because
the economic circumstances of the Jews of Dereczin
worsened year-to-year during that period and at the
152
same time throughout all of Poland. There was great excitement in the town. The
election committee was organized according to
The membership of Poalei Tzion, in cooperation parties. The election slates were composed of eleven
with the Zionists, would organize evening lectures candidates, in accordance with the rules established
that were held twice monthly in the ‘headquarters’ by the government. Three slates were presented to
of the community (Der Kehilla’sheh Mauer), in the the public: Zionists & Poalei Tzion, The Bund, and
neighborhood of the Dworetsky home in the center ordinary Balebatim.
square of the town. During the day, [this facility]
was used for classrooms, and in the evenings it was Election day was a real holiday in Dereczin.
used for a variety of assemblies and public Approximately 85% of the eligible voters turned out
meetings. at the polls, and elected 8 members of the Zionist
party and 3 members of the Bund.
A Committee for Charitable Works (Gemilut
Hasadim), and a Society to Visit the Sick (Bikur The first meeting of the Council, the inaugural
Kholim) also existed. The Fire Brigade occupied an meeting, was a stormy one, because it was then that
esteemed position in town, which under the the Counc il leadership was selected. After extensive
leadership of Zalman Weinstein, who was a negotiation and debate among the elected members
committed leader, became the pride of the town. themselves, this writer was selected as the
Chairman, and his deputy was a Bund officer, with
This condition of partisan conduct of the institutions Eliyahu Abramovich as the Treasurer. The
of the town by different public groups continued remaining duties were allocated out to the rest of the
until 1928, until a law was promulgated by the Council membership.
Polish regime, that made it c ompulsory to establish
a formal Jewish community with elected officials The community office was open three days a week,
that would be accountable to the government. in the afternoon and evening hours, naturally, so the
elec ted officials could properly discharge their
The Community Council Elections obligations, seeing as no stipend had been
established for their work.
As was the case in all of the towns in Poland, an
awareness began to grow in the Dereczin Jewish Initially there was much accumulated work, since in
community, and its various parties, regarding the Dereczin nothing had been done to organize
formal establishment of a community and the institutions for meting out justice, aid and culture.
election of its leaders. The passage of the law There was neglect in the Talmud Torah, Bikur
regarding formal community establishment was seen Kholim, and other institutions.
in the midst of the Jews as an important milestone in
the striving for Jewish autonomy both within and The town Council also came to grips with the
without Poland. declining economic fortunes of the Jews, oversaw
the taxation of the Jews by the regime, in
The youth of the community were active in the appropriate measure with the lines of work of each
organization of the elections, and most of the work individual. The Council also sent its officers to the
was in the hands of the Poalei Tzion membership – town meetings. The condition of the Jews was,
all the Jews of Dereczin were registered and granted generally speaking, bad, with many of the
the right to vote. This was the first time that the storekeepers and craftsmen going bankrupt every
Jews of Dereczin participated in a democratic day of the week, and competition was great, but
election by secret ballot for the members of their sources of livelihood dwindled.
community council.
In the years between 1928 and 1931, developmental
153
work was done on some institutions in the The work of the Zionist party membership –
community: a new Talmud Torah building was including Poalei Tzion, Tzahar - did continue
erected, the charitable works of the Kupat Kholim afterward. I can never forget those friends of mine,
was renewed, and an audit was conducted of all the the workers of Poalei Tzion-Tzahar, who despite
towns institutions. their own difficult ec onomic and family
circumstances, continued to do good things for the
In 1931 before the elections to the Polish Sejm, settlement of the Homeland,
pressure was brought to bear on the leaders of the
community, by the ruling party of the regime, to the redemption of Its Land, and the facilitation of
‘deliver the vote’ of the town on behalf of the party aliyah for the youth of our people, to rebuild the
in power. Even the writer of this memoir was land and then lead it.
subject to this pressure, and because of this,
submitted his resignation as a member of the town In 1933, I and my first wife, Esther Rabinovich kz,
Council. The other members of his party joined him of the well known and extensively branched
in resigning as well. The only remaining members Dereczin family, made aliyah to the Land of Israel.
were the Bund officers, and a number of balebatim,
and these tried to carry on in some fashion with the
management of public affairs.
Visiting the Sick & Overnight Sick Watch

The two organizations of Bikur Kholim and Linat with hot tea, in order to promote sweating and to
Tzedek, assumed the responsibility to help the sick lighten the impact of a cold. Dried cherries
among the poor, who themselves did not have the (karschen) were used to freshen the mouth of the
wherewithal or the necessary means to heal patient, and to provide a bit of strength in the
themselves. instance of severe illness.
Bikur Kholim concerned itself with providing Dedicated ladies would collect monies for the
medical assistance, bringing a doctor or a feldscher purchase of the fruit in season, and sugar as well.
to the aid of the indigent sick, and to provide the These ladies would also volunteer to prepare the
patient with medicines. fruits to make these preserves, and also act as safe-
keepers for subsequent allocation among the sick.
Linat Tzedek would send its supporters to spend the
night at the bedside of the sick individual, to keep a Year in and year out, if I am not mistaken at Hol
watch over him, administering the necessary HaMoed Sukkot, one of the responsible workers was
medicines, and to provide assistance to the members selected as the “Gabbai” of the Bikur Kholim.
of the family of the patient thereby enabling them to
obtain some rest after a hard day of labor and worry. Every Friday, one of the Jews would go around and
take up a collection for the necessities of support for
In the summertime, it was customary to boil up and the ill, in order that there be resources for the
reduce raspberries and cherries, in order that these outlays of the Bikur Kholim.
“preserves” be distributed among the poor who were
ill. The raspberries (malyeness) were c onsidered In the case of Linat Tzedek, leadership was provided
especially effective against colds, and was taken by either a male Gabbai or female Gabbait. They
154
already knew who in town was ill, and had an Not once has the thought crossed my mind: perhaps
understanding of who required overnight assistance, in c onsideration of this [charitable] work, and in
in order to relieve the household members. They consideration of those young boys who took meals
would normally approach either the young or the old in my home, we were granted the boon of continued
who would have the capacity to spend the night at life?
the house of the person who was ill.
My house was used more than once to prepare the

preserves, and I was the one who kept an eye on the
produc t to assure that it remained useable. When it
became necessary to allocate this among the sick,
they would come to me. Also, a variety of
implements and utensils to minister to the sick were
also kept with me. I was always strongly interested
in providing help to the sick, and I always stood
ready to provide such help with other men and
women. It was in this fashion that my husband,
Michael Petrukhovich was active in the capacity of
Gabbai both for Bikur Kholim or Linat Tzedek, and
he was also the Gabbai in the Bet HaMidrash, and
a fellow of the group of Psalm Reciters.
Our Town in the Thirties

By Isser Lev
When I recollect Dereczin in my memory, it people was on every mouth. Not one of them saw
seems to be tranquil and quiet on its place, during a future for themselves in their birthplace, and
those very stormy years of the 1930's before the dreamed instead of aliyah to the Holy Land,
outbreak of the Second World War. Externally, because it was not permitted – to emigrate over
everything was in turmoil. In Germany, Hitler the sea and ocean.
ascended to power, and his influence was
especially felt in Poland. The anti-Semitic ferment Most of the young people were organized in those
became a national policy, and the economic years into the Zionist movement – be it HeHalutz,
circumstances of the masses of Jews worsened Poalei Tzion or Betar & Tzahar. The eyes and the
daily, as sources of income for storekeepers, interests of the youth were diverted to distant
merchants and craftsmen were foreclosed. places. To another life, a life that would be better
and more attractive than the one they were
Only someone who penetrated within the life of currently living. Only the coterie of balebatim, the
the Jewish community of Dereczin would know older generation, continued in its traditional
that there is no peace and quiet in the ranks of fashion, seasoned by trial and tribulation and
Israel. Nevertheless, the young people occupied secure in its faith in Divine beneficence. Under
themselves in a variety of activities, cultural life the supervision of the spiritual leader, Rabbi Zvi-
c ontinued in its accustomed path, children Hirsch Bakalchuk kmz, religious life was
learned, and parents worked to earn money for conducted as usual, such as when the Rabbi
their loaf of bread as they had always – but the conducted the study of the daily page of Talmud
sense of resignation that was eating at the young (Daf Yomi) in the Old Synagogue between the
155
afternoon and evening prayers. Occasionally, Reb Compassionate women would go out on Fridays
Abraham Shelkovich, & Reb Yitzhak Epstein to solicit Sabbath victuals for distribution among
would read the daily Mishnah chapter after the the poor of that place.
morning prayer service. Reb Eliyahu Abramovich
would teach the Daf Yomi at the New Synagogue. And the Sabbath would descend peacefully, quiet,
The Cantor and Ritual Slaughterer was the newly and relaxing, on all the houses in Dereczin. And
married young Reb Moshe Tobolsky. not a single person foretold in those years of the
thirties, what would befall this, our beloved town,
Bet Midrash offic ials would be invited to in a matter of a few short years, in which the
Dereczin from other places. It was Reb Zelig community would be cut down, her youth, elderly,
Lobzovsky, one of the elders of the town, who and children – all annihilated.
looked after their billeting, who worked hand-in-
hand with Reb Dov Walitsky.
Hatred of the Jews on the Eve of Destruction

By Malka Alper
The decade of the twenties goes by quickly. It is goods in the store or the marketplace.
already the end of 1928. The Sanacia rules in
Poland. For the elections to the Sejm, Jews are Tuesday is market day. A day for the eager Jewish
forced to go to a specific town in order to vote. We [merchant] to determine the weather: will it snow or
hear, already, the name of Kartuz-Berezo, where not? Will it rain or be a sunny day? Will more
Pilsudski has condemned his opposition from many peasants come to the market because the weather
circles. will be nice?
Jews continue to feel that they live securely in In the market square stores, the women sit at their
Poland. Part of the forests around Dereczin are storefront doors looking for a customer that might
cleared, and Jews circulate in the forests, taking buy a blouse, an apron, or a kerchief. Goods are
control of these parcels. Storekeepers buy sold almost for cost, just to make the sale, for the
merc handise on credit, in the commercial centers, sake of having something to “turn.” One storekeeper
and sell on credit, even to the peasants. Trade credit envies the next one, and together, the lot of them
is good for only one week, so there are few days for have no business and no income.
which payment can be deferred: Sabbath — Jews
don’t do business, Sunday – maybe God will send us And this is how the Jews live, day in and day out,
a little bit of business from which to earn something, one grabs a consideration from someone, a few
and then it will be possible to pay on Monday. zlotys to pay off a trade note, so it is not submitted
Sunday, stores are supposed to be officially closed, as delinquent (for “protest”). Merchant from the
but the police turn a blind eye to the peasant who land parcels in the forest contest with one another
steals into the store through a back door in order to for control of different pieces of land, swearing up
buy something. and down how fortunate their lot would have been,
had not the “other guy” gotten control of a
Young Jews wander about without work or purpose. particularly attractive parcel. On market days, Jews
Each year it becomes increasingly difficult to be go through the marketplace carrying finished pairs
ac c epted at a university with a faculty where you of shoes in their hands, tied by their laces.
want to be chosen. Not all are Agreeable to taking
over their father’s livelihood, to go stand and sell But Christians are buying less and less from the
156
Jews. There are already gentile shoemakers in the Halutzim wait for many years in order to get proper
villages. Indeed, they learned this trade from the permission, and yet there are no certificates
Jews. The same is also true of tailors and available. Betar conducts parades, its members
seamstresses. wearing their brown shirts.
The regime assists the Christian craftsmen with In the course of the thirties, all the processes are
credit and new equipment, and in this fashion, old honed and sharpened. Anti-Semitism grows with the
occupations slip out of Jewish hands. Jews keep growth of German Hitlerism. The circumstances in
looking for the postman, perhaps carrying a letter the town become even more difficult, but not all
from children, or a brother or sister living across the seek refuge from the gathering storm.
ocean, perhaps with a couple of dollars. And better
off Jews still laugh when it is proposed to them that And you look at everybody and wonder: God in
they send some of their money, along with their Heaven, don’t these people realize they are living in
children, to the Holy Land, in order to buy a parcel a world at the brink of chaos? How long c an they
of land: “I’m not at that point yet” – they say hold out?
jokingly. In a few [short] years, the bloody flood did come,
and erased it all.
157
Memories
158
159
This Is How We Lived in Our Town
By Haya Kreslansky
More than thirty years have passed sinc e I left the expectation that God will provide for tomorrow. The
town where I was born, Dereczin, where my cradle Jewish populace engaged in a variety of
stood, and where my childhood and youth were occupations: tailors, shoemakers, small goods,
spent, but to this day, [the town] stands as if living, merchants. Every Tuesday was our market day.
before my eyes. Every sapling, branch, and blade of Starting very early in the morning, the peasants
grass, is etched into my heart. In order to better would begin to arrive, with their wagons full a
recollect eac h nook and cranny, I close my eyes: variety of products: chickens, eggs, pig hair (!),
there is the big market, with its businesses and sheep, cattle, grain, potatoes, etc ., and the smell of
stores, between the first two is our own horses suffused the air. Their horses and wagons
ironmonger’s store; further along, the Deutsche clogged the entire marketplace to the point that it
Gasse extends , with its pretty houses, all the way to was impossible to get through. Our womenfolk
the green fields, that stretch far, far beyond the would go out looking for bargains, feeling the hens
town; to the left – the Puster Barg, where we would and blowing their feathers, to see which was fatter,
stroll on the Sabbath afternoon; further is the Shasei bargaining with the peasants to lower the price, and
that leads to the village of Kuczin; the Slonim Gasse then weighing the merchandise. The scales in our
that was used to travel to Slonim; the Zelva Gasse, store didn’t get a moment’s rest during those market
half Jewish and half Christian, from which it was days. The women would come into the store even
the way to travel to the neighboring town of Zelva, after getting their bargains, and re-weigh their
with its railroad station, to which we would have to onions, or beans, to assure themselves of the correct
travel in a horse and wagon, in which we got shook weight. That’s the way it continued till noon. When
up really badly during the 12-kilometer ride, and the peasants had sold off their produce, they turned
were tired out by the time we got to the train; to the to the stores in the market to buy products for
right – the forest, where we went to gather themselves. They bought kerosene, salt,
mushrooms, raspberries and strawberries; the Neue manufactured goods, dyes, and all things that they
Gasse, and all the remaining smaller streets and needed. Our store was also full of buyers, and one
back-streets; at the marketplace -– the Russian had to watch them with a thousand eyes, and not
Orthodox Church surrounded by a garden, and permit them to grab any items of merchandise, even
further on, near the barracks -– the Roman Catholic the cheaper ones. In our store, the peasants bought
Church. Very early on Sundays, the Catholic Church cast iron pots, pails, locks, files and saws. The
would peal its high note bells with a dainty ding- saloons and guest houses were full of peasants, who
dong, ding-dong, to be answered by the bass bells of would drink and eat, often getting drunk, to the
the Orthodox Church, bing-bong, bing-bong. point that they would stagger through the wagons
tied up in the marketplace. As soon as it began to
To this day, I do not know why the pealing of those get dark, the marketplace would begin to empty out,
bells invoked such a sense of sadness in me. It is the gentiles, with drunken shouts, would climb into
possible that in my Jewish subconscious, it awoke their wagons, and ride off to their villages to the
the experience of the times of the inquisition, when sound of the bells ringing that were attac hed to the
the church bells pealed as Jews were led off – collars of their horses. Merc hants and storekeepers
would begin to count the take of the market day.
– Life in Dereczin flowed peacefully, and eac h Between one market day and the next, Dereczin
person earned a minimal living. There were no great yawned and daydreamed, with the merc hants
yearnings for the luxuries of life, and one was waiting for a customer.
content to make it through the day, with the
160
Year after year this fashion continued, and since no We would then come to the cemetery, half for
one knew of a better way of life, there was a Polish Catholics, and half for Russian Orthodox,
contentment with what we had. No sensational where we would sit and sing in several voices, until
criminal episodes ever occurred in Dereczin, and it it got dark, and a pale moon would illuminate the
was rare even that a theft was ever mentioned. crosses and gravestones around us. Fear would
descend upon us, and we would quickly run home.
For us, the children, life in Dereczin was literally an
ideal. We would get together in my big yard. My Our childhood years flew by without care. We were
older sister Sarah, appointed herself as the “baker,” educated, some in a Heder, some in the Talmud
making mud pies out of sand and water, and then Torah, and others at the Polish public school. We
dusting them with “cinnamon” scraped from red borrowed books to read from the town library, and
bricks. She would sell her “baked goods” to the it was at this time that many of us committed
other children. We make a scale from sticks, and as ourselves to a variety of organizations such as, the
money, we used pieces of broken plates, rounded Poalei Tzion, Revisionists, Zionists. A Drama Club
out by rubbing the pieces against a stone. And if we was ac tive in Dereczin. Many of our young people
didn’t get a fair weight, we immediately got into an traveled to bigger cities to get an education, such as
argument, – and started wailing at the top of our Lida and Slonim, Vilna, etc. The Hebrew Tarbut
lungs. School stood on a high plane – there, we were
suckled with our national ideology, and to this day
I personally ran a “greengrocer:” I tore up a variety we remain grateful for what was planted into our
of grasses and leaves, and sold them to my hearts and our minds. Apart from local teachers,
customers. When this play-commerce began to bore many also came from other places. To this day I
us, we would play “blind hens” (blind man’s buff) remember the teachers, Zvi Mereminsky from
– covering up the eyes of one of us, who would then Slonim, Stefania Ruzetsky, and the old teacher
try to catch someone else of us. I recall once, that Izaakovich (Der Mikhoisker).
we broke an electric lamp once while playing this
game, which stood on a Marmaran (Turkish ?) We loved and respected our teachers, and more than
stand. anyone, we treasured our unforgettable Headmaster,
David Alper. A sense of respectful awe would
I recall, that when we got a little older, we found a possess us the minute he walked into the classroom.
new game: we would stick a marker in the ground, I remember his smile, and his gentle hand gesture,
and from a set distance, we would throw sticks at it indicating that we could be seated, after we rose and
to dislodge it. We called this game, Metteh. Once, in greeted him with a hearty “Shalom,” and he would
the middle of a game, one of us broke a window in begin his lecture. I remember his first words, as for
the Bet HaMidrash with such a stick. I remember example: “Today, children, is Rosh Hodesh Adar
that we all agreed that under no circumstances (The first of Adar), and the saying is, “When Adar
would we reveal the name of the individual who arrives – It is appropriate to multiply one’s joy...”
cause the damage. Before each holiday, he would tell us about the
historical meaning of the occasion, and with great
Saturday afternoons, we would take a walk in the spirit, we would imbibe every word of our Mentor.
fields, passing by the Catholic Church, its crucifix
and image of the Christ, from which we would avert I am reminded of the last days of the sc hool year,
our eyes, and asking one another: “Have we passed the Day of Judgement – of final examinations. I
by yet?!” And while a Jewish child was forbidden to work a great deal, literally not letting the books out
gaze at the image of Jesus, one was tempted to steal of my hands, and my heart is full of trepidation –
a glance in passing... will I succeed in being promoted to a higher class?
I arrive with the first crowing of the rooster, and
161
quietly and imperc eptibly, in order not to wake This was the way we grew up in Dereczin, until we
anyone, I steal out of the house, with my books reached a point where we asked the question: what’s
under my arms, and pick a corner where I can study. next? Dereczin had become too crowded for us, and
The sun shines at length from the east, and the odor we saw no real prospects for ourselves. The young
of freshly baked goods wafts over from the nearby people began to leave the town, going off to a
bakery, and I run over to get fresh rolls for variety of other countries. Our mother, who also
breakfast. doubled as our father, because we had lost our father
in early childhood, had given us the maximum and
Finally, the day of the examinations arrives, which the best in an upbringing that was possible in
I awaited with such trembling. The students all Dereczin. She would also spend a lot of time with
come to school dressed in their holiday finery. The us, and our friends, whiling away many hours
teac hers sit across from us with serious looks on reading to us from various books. Our mother was a
their faces. Each of the students is called one at a well read and wise woman, and did not obsess over
time. My turn comes, and I answer all questions the difficulties she encountered in life, first losing
meaningfully and clearly, apart from which I am her parents as a young girl, and then her beloved
proficient in language, the Pentateuch and Tanach. young husband – she was always full of good humor
I get a good report card and I move over to a higher and in good spirits.
class. In the higher grades we get homework,
c ompositions and speeches. I remember one of my My older sister Sarah, married young, and stayed in
pieces, titled, “The Life of an Orphan & Widow.” Dereczin. My mother and I moved away to Belgium,
And who better than I could understand the fate of where we lived through the terrifying time of the
an orphan? I had been such from early childhood. German occupation and miraculously survived. I
Indeed, I remember how I started my composition: lost my young fiercely beloved husband, who was
“Life is like a sea, and the father of a family is like deported, along with 28 thousand other Belgian
the captain of a ship. He guides that ship with a Jews to the Nazi death camps. My sister Sarah, her
steady hand through stormy waves and holds fast the husband Velvel, and their only son, Yehudeleh, were
rudder of family life, he wrestles with the killed in Dereczin. The lie in a mass grave, not far
difficulties, until he brings the ship into safe harbor. from the place where as children, we would stroll,
But it is bitter indeed, when a ship loses its captain play and sing.
and navigator. Then the ship becomes a plaything
for the angry waves...” That is the way we lived in Dereczin, and this is
how our most beloved ones were killed there, and of
My composition made a strong impression on our our hometown, all that remains are sweet memories,
teacher, Dav id Alper. He brought it into class, and wretched ruins, and mass graves without any
read it in front of the students. A few of them were markers.
brought to tears.
Then our beloved teacher left Dereczin, and took up

a position in Pinsk. When he would return to visit
his parents during holidays, or for vacation, he
would send someone to call for me, asking for
copies of my work that he could read to his students.
For many years, I took care of my schoolwork, and

my diary, which I took with me from Dereczin to
Belgium, but when the Germans occupied Belgium,
I lost everything.
162
My Grandfather, kmz
By Tzirel Kamenetsky
My grandfather, Reb Moshe Friedman – Reb Moshe them through lecturing or emotional discourse. The
Shayneh-Chaya’s – kmz, was a wonder of a Jewish acceptance and respect that he won from other
scholar, spending days and nights in study. I can see observant people and Torah scholars, as well as
him now, reciting the Hadaran blessing101 in front more liberal and non-observant people, was
of his Mishnah study group. obtained thanks to his personality and gentleness.
He was a mayven (expert), and an auditor of Reb
Residents of rural settlements around Dereczin Zundeleh The Righteous,103 for whose sake, may we
would travel and come to our house. I recall Reb and all Israel be worthy of Divine protec tion. Reb
Leib Stein from Shchara, a son of Reb Jacob- Zundeleh was a great Gaon, but was lacking in
Abraham, Dayan of Volkovysk, with his marvelous administrative and prac tic al skills, and my zaydeh
presence, and his handsome white beard; and Reb assisted him in administering his rabbinical chair.
Simkha Rabinovich, of Wielka Wola102, the son of a When Reb Zundeleh was called away from Dereczin
Rabbi and a renown scholar, whose scholarly to take the pulpit in Eishyshok,104 thanks to my
pedigree extended back many generations. My dear grandfather’s familiarity with the position, we
grandfather would spend his time with them in the obtained the services of Rabbi Leib Luner, kmz.
discussion and study of Torah. I can remember how When Rabbi Luner passed away, Rabbi Plotkin,
they would accord respect to on another, and how kmz, was selected with the informed counsel of my
their goodness and gentleness was suffused in their grandfather. He oc cupied the pulpit for many years
faces, and how it radiated into every nook and in Dereczin. The gentle Rebbitzen Plotkin passed
cranny. They would engross themselves in away in 1920. I c an still recall how all of Dereczin
wordplay, and with inferences in Torah portions, escorted her funeral cortege to her eternal resting
referring to a book here, and a line of reasoning place, may her memory be for a blessing. The
there. In the world of casuistry and logical Rabbi’s children, at that time were in Russia. Rabbi
inference, they understood each other very well. Plotkin emigrated to America, and the pulpit was
given to Rabbi Bakalchuk, kmz.
The following picture stands in front of my eyes: the
samovar is percolating, the electric light is shining, My husband, Moshe Kamenetsky, was a close friend
illuminating our large house. My dear mother, of to Rabbi Bakalchuk, and to this day, the extent of
sainted memory, brings in delicious cakes and this ‘last Rabbi of Dereczin’s’ scholarship and
strudel, which she baked herself. Our worthy guests personal presence is a source of wonderment to him;
dink tea, grab a bite of baked goods – our house was he had a reputation as a magnificent orator and
a genuine conclave for Torah scholars. disseminator of Torah scholarship, and was a
persona who possessed a gift of open sensitivity to
My zaydeh, with his shining countenance and fear of
God, never instilled fear in anyone or intimidated
103
Rabbi Yossef Zundl Hutner (cf.
Eliach).
101
The Aramaic formula expressing the
104
sentiment of returning to s tu dy the Confirmed in Eliach: see pp. 99-100.
chapter once again. This ‘recruitmen t’ took place in 1896.
The account offers a fascinating
102
Pronounced Velikaya Volya in Russian, g limp s e in t o t h e r a b b in ical
meaning Greater Volya. ‘headhunting’ of the day.
163
all manner of issues in community life in Dereczin. business and with her children. The first one of
Dereczin’s children who studied medicine [and
I return, once again, to memories of my grandfather. became a Doctor] was her son, Ezer, vg. In this
He was full of a love of his people, Israel, and the manner, my Aunt Chana had nakhas, despite the
fear of God. He had a great influence on many fact that she lost two children, a son, Joseph, and a
walks of religious life in Dereczin. Everyone took daughter Dvora-sheh. As only a truly righteous
his opinion into account. He was always invited to person would do, she bore her pain with love as
participate in religious courts; every involved and well.
convoluted dispute would be brought to my
grandfather, who could unravel and simplify, and I remember how my aunt Chana was eulogized at
was one of the best arbitrators of his time. her funeral by Rabbi Bakalchuk, kmz. He spoke of
her distinguished lineage of many generations, of
During the time of the First World War, my how her [good] deeds were an example to her
grandfather went to his daughters in Slutsk – and children, and how with womanly wisdom she built
from there to Rostov. He writes to us, begging for her house and family. She raised her children to be
our mercy, and asking to be brought bac k to fine and gentle people, full of positive virtues. My
Dereczin, to the Hiltzener Bet HaMidrash, to his son her memory be for a blessing. Perhaps it was
and daughter-in-law, who accorded him such a large ordained that such a righteous lady should pass
measure of paternal homage. away before she could witness with her own eyes
how her children and grandchildren were tortured by
My grandfather never returned to Dereczin, but his the German murderers.
[good] name remained behind, and he was well-
known someone active in assuring c ontinuity of I would like to place on record the memory of my
Torah study across generations, in sanctity and dear cousin, Chaim Weinstein, a man of many
purity. virtues, with a gentle approach to personal
relationships, who was always ready to offer
My grandfather’s sister, Chana – Shayneh-Chaya’s, assistance to those in need. He rendered assistance
Chana Weinstein, vg, 105 was the wife of Reb to members of the family in every conceivable way.
Shmuel Weinstein. He was a scholarly Jew, having
been a student of the Yeshivah at Volozhin, a He was a son-in-law of Reb Mendel Feldman, vg.
substantial businessman with a worldly education. Those townsfolk who survived, know well the way
In his spare time, he was always occupied with of life of this head of our community, who took his
study and with reading. own life when, with his own eyes, he saw the end of
the Jews of Dereczin.
His dear, modest wife was a true Woman of Valor,
who ran the manufacturing business, and raised her As I relate stories about members of my family, I am
nine children. I see her now before me, with her reminded of my childhood years at home. I was born
combed wig, decent, regal and modest in her eighteen years after my parents were married. I was
appearance and demeanor. She was always satisfied raised as the apple of their eye. My father, Reb Zelig
with what she was able to accomplish, with the Friedman, the son of the renown scholar Reb Moshe
Shayneh-Chaya’s, spent almost his entire life in the
105 Hiltzener Bet HaMidrash. He studied the Shas, and
This form of appellation was common
was a member of a Mishnah study group and a
among Eastern European Jews, linking
the individual to his or her mother. Pentateuch study group. I recall his wonderful
This, then is Chana the daughter of appearance, his generosity in receiving guests, and
Shayneh-Chaya. how his face shone when he made Kiddush on
Friday nights. And I recall my mother, with her
164
good virtues, and her piety. Those, who will be writing about the last twenty
years of Dereczin, will describe his good virtues and
My parents raised me in the Jewish way, and at the great works on behalf of the education of our
age of six, sent me to Reb Leib’s [Abelovich] Heder, children. It is literally difficult to portray his great
where I learned from 9AM till 6PM. Who doesn’t personality, and the extent of his strong influence on
remember Reb Leib, who would explain to us the the spiritual life of the last generation of Dereczin.
meaning of the words in the prayers; Reb Leib
Abelovich, a Jew from his heart, and a fine educator, When the general school closed because of a lack of
he would satisfy us with a portion of the Chumash, resources, our group of girls went to study with the
and his presentations were always full of wisdom teacher, Fyvel Einstein. We obtained a great deal of
and a Jewish flavor. knowledge from him, and to this day we remember
him with great respect and gratitude.
I spent five years under the tutelage of Reb Leib, and
to this day I cannot forget the Abelovich family, with
Reb Leib’s wife, Chaykeh, vg, with their two
children, Dvorah’leh & Abraham’eleh, along with
Reb Leib’s elderly father, Reb Joseph, vg. They
lived in a small house, and there were many children
underfoot who were there as pupils, but how
magical it was there! We were especially happy,
when Reb Leib’s wife would bake bread, and take
the symbolic ritual portion of Challah, and throw it
into the oven fire – the dough would begin to burn,
and the air in the small room would get filled with
smoke. We would all get a headache, and the good
Reb Leib would send us home early.
From Reb Leib’s, I moved on to the Mikhoisker, to

Reb Abraham Izaakovich. There we undertook the
study of arithmetic, grammar, and the history of our
people – HaKorot HaIvrim
It did not take long, and a general school was

opened in Dereczin. David Alper, kz was the
founder
Under the Bolsheviks

By Mattityahu Abelovich
I remember the day that the Bolsheviks came to authorities took advantage of the situation, and
Dereczin. The orchestra played in the middle of the drafted 18 year-olds into the Red Army. All the
marketplace, and all of Dereczin turned out to listen, conscripts were taken to the synagogue, from where
The youth was in the vanguard, and the success of they were destined to be sent away deep into the
the Russian revolution inspired their full ranks. The Russian heartland. Among these was also our
165
brother, Yudel. He was not yet eighteen, but because My mother began to plead with him, with tears in
of his greater than normal height, the Bolsheviks her eyes, that he should release Yudel, who was not
signed him up as well, and were prepared to ship yet eighteen, which Hirschel Levitt knew well. Our
him out. mother reminded him that Yudel was our only
breadwinner, after Shmuel & Hirschel our two older
My distraught and trembling mother went off to brothers had passed away.
Hirschel Levitt, our c ousin, the son of Ephraim-
Yehoshua. He was a communist, a good speaker, an Hirschel Levitt promised my mother to have Yudel
effective doer, and was already playing an important released, and in a couple of hours, our brother
role among the Bolsheviks. returned home. We all cried – but this time they
were tears of joy.
Hirschel Levitt, and his entire family moved into the

Soviet Union, where in the 1930's, he died of
tuberculosis.
These are my recollections of those war years,

whic h extended from 1914 to the time that the
Polish regime occupied Dereczin.
The Budding of Zionist Socialism in Dereczin

By Naftali Ben-Dov
Photo: Membership of HeHalutz on a trip (untitled). (p. 210)
How far we are from those years, when the first For a number of consecutive years, the anti-Zionist
Zionist-Socialist seed sprang up , the first of the Bund movement was dominant among the youth of
Zionist Youth! What a difference between that Dereczin. There were [at that time], very committed
handful of young people, aroused, aspiring, Zionists, but the extent of their commitment was
dreaming in a small out-of-the-way town, and a manifested in the reading of a Hebrew newspaper,
nation working to renew its own homeland – to the and in debates with their protagonists. Actual work
children of our generation, the children of the on behalf of the movement was expressed through
pioneers on the land, and its preservers. support of the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael.
Nevertheless, we – thirsty for activities relating to
In my innermost dreams, I constantly sense the being a Halutz, felt weary of our existing way of
initial stirring of those ‘enables of the mitzvah’ the life, and sharpened our desire to be Halutzim in the
founders of the Zionist Youth Organization. Like all Land of Israel. And a powerful imperative existed
beginnings, this beginning was also a difficult one, among us to find a synthesis between the ideals of
and our initial steps were hard ones to take. We did nationalism and internationalism and the ideals of
not have a clear path that we, the young people full Zionist socialism. I will not say that we understood
of aspirations of the Halutzim, and the energy and how to realize the aspirations locked within us, and
spunk of the young, could follow with any to bring them to the youth of the town for fulfilment.
conceptual or practical certainty.
166
It was the Balfour Declaration that awakened the But the seed had been planted, and people to carry
Zionist feelings of the Jews in the Pale of Settlement on were found, who possessed both intellectual and
and the Jews of our town. You would have thought administrative skills, at the head of which stood
that Dereczin, being small and out-of-the-way, David Alper, kz. It is not easy to succinctly convey
would have been among the last to respond to this the extensive good works of this educator of the
awakening, yet miraculously the following young generation in Dereczin, how he broadened the
happened: they were among the first respondents to horizons of so many of our youth, and set them on
this important nationalist event, the Balfour the proper path of loyalty to people and to socialism.
Declaration, when young people took the leadership
of this movement, whom I shall never forget. The It was David Alper who led me to the path of being
living spirit of this small group of young people was a Halutz, and helped me to make aliyah to the
David Zelig kz, an ardent, yeshiva-trained young homeland. I was active for all the years I lived in our
man, who was a fiery orator, who in those days, homeland, as a member of the Third Aliyah, who
gave an inspiring and fiery expression to readings saw in this work a dedication and commitment in
from the leadership of the movement who exhorted the day-to-day life of the people – and I always saw
the young people to make aliyah, and build the myself as a disciple of those progenitors, the
homeland for the sake of generations yet to come. founders of the ZYO in our town.
Whenever he went to the podium, he was
accompanied by stormy applause. I see him as the
founder of the Zionist Youth Organization in
Dereczin, because the young people gathered around
him in those days, before there was a Zionist-
socialist movement implanted in these territories,
since only now were they beginning to gradually
liberate themselves from the tribulations of the
[First World] War, and the burdens of the German
occupation.
To our great distress, the fate of this wondrous

young man took a turn for the worse, and he was
taken from us in the prime of life, after he
contracted typhus.
The Origins of the HeHalutz Branch

By David Rabinovich
Photo: The HeHalutz membership in 1929 (untitled) (p. 211)
From the time that the Zionist-socialist seed was of other classmates to study, in order to qualify for
planted in the midst of the Dereczin young people, acceptance to a technical school. For economic
with the establishment of a ZYO branch and the reasons, I was compelled to return home, and we
establishment of a Hebrew School, the spirit of then decided to establish a branch of HeHalutz in
these young people would not go quiet, fortified by Dereczin. Before I left for Vilna, I had already
their desire to be Halutzim. become ac tive in a number of Zionist institutions in
Dereczin, in the KKL”L, the Brenner Library, and
In 1923, I journeyed to Vilna, along with a number various other cultural undertakings. When the time
167
to realize our plans came – that is when I decided to In order to speed the aliyah process, I attended a
return home. facilitation camp with other members near Suwalk-
Augustov. As the leader of our group, I stood
In the span of a couple of months, the membership together with the central leadership of the HeHalutz
of HeHalutz in Derec zin reached about fifty people. movement, especially with Pinhas Kozlovsky, (who
These young people were in essence the seed of the is today Pinhas Sapir, the Israeli government
active and operational Zionist movement in our official), who was the organizer of these camps in
town. the Grodno Province. After I returned home from
this camp, Pinhas Kozlovsky visited us, and asked of
We decided to go to work and prepare ourselves for me that I participate in a HeHalutz seminar in
making aliyah. We turned to various balebatim, and Warsaw, and delay my aliyah for a number of
asked of them to retain us to do any manner of work, years. I did not agree to this proposition, and in May
light or heavy, for which they had a need. At first 1926, a group of five of us from the movement in
they greeted this request derisively, but little by town made aliyah to the Holy Land.
little, they gave us access to a variety of things to
do. Even in the general community, we earned a
good reputation for dedication to work.
In 1925, when the [Hebrew] newspaper Davar was

established in the Holy Land, our house was the
only one to get a subscription. I would read from its
articles to assembled meetings of the HeHalutz
branch, and the members would devour every word
about news from the Homeland.
My Grandfather & Grandmother, kz

By Dov Gorinovsky
Who in Derec zin did not know Yehuda-Shmuel small. Despite this, he had an understanding of the
Epstein and Simkheh die Kremerkeh 106? More than heart of young people and their spirit. He was one of
one person received help from them, and their home the supporters of the Zionist movement , and of the
was open to all. They were generous with their Homeland itself.
charitable contributions, both public and private, Not once during conversation, would he find favor
despite the fact that they worked very hard to earn with our side [saying]: ‘you young people will have
their own livelihood. the privilege of seeing the redemption of the Land of
Israel and the establishment of a Jewish State in
My grandfather, Yehuda-Shmuel, was born in your lifetime...’
nearby Kozlovshchina. He was orphaned at an early
age, and was educ ated by relatives. He studied in After the terrible tragedy of losing two of his sons
yeshivas, as was the custom in those days. He was a within days of each other, he turned inward,
scholar, and dedicated all his spare time to the study brooding in his sorrow. As expected, he was in the
of the Shas. He was strictly religious, with a habit of going to synagogue on a daily basis, to the
tendency to sterner observance in matters great and Neuer Mauer. After services, he would remain
behind, and study a chapter of the Shas in memory
106
of his two sons, who were taken in the prime of life.
Yiddish for ‘storekeeper’ (fem.) His tearful voice would be heard through the open
168
windows of the synagogue, and his weeping would And when his second son [Dov-Berel] fell sick and
tug at the heartstrings of the neighbors. died, only weeks after the death of his brother, my
grandfather found the spiritual fortitude to say the
The extent of his faith can be gleaned from what he following at grave side, after the Rabbi’s eulogy:
had to say at the burial of his [first] son, David- ‘The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away; would
Zelig, who died in the typhus epidemic that ran that my sacrifices cause Him to turn away from his
through town inn the closing days of the First World wrath, and let the pestilence subside...’
War. After the eulogy delivered by Rabbi Plotkin,
kz, my grandfather found the spiritual strength to My grandmother, Simkheh die Kremerkeh, was tied
mourn his son as follows: ‘God gave me the down to the store from morning until late in the
responsibility for twins for a specified period of evening, with the entering customers, with a
time. I will not speak against the Lord, even after so seemingly permanent smile on her face. The battle
great a tragedy. I will always bear this pain in my for making a living was a difficult one, but for her
heart. entire life, she was a helpmeet to my grandfather.
Despite the burdens of her labor, this woman had

the talent to put down in writing the circumstances
of her life in a clear and heartfelt manner. A portion
of her writing, which by chance is preserved with
me, is also reproduced on Page xx in this volume,
ands it serves as a means to highlight her noble
character.
The Holy Sabbath In My Father’s House

By Sarah Basevitz-Slonimsky
Friday was always filled with activities: My father, wearing a kapota (black traditional
preparations for the Sabbath. My mother was busy garment) hurried off to synagogue. My sisters,
and anxious, never sparing any effort to add warmth Hanna-Esther and Zeldeleh, kz, Miriam, and I,
and a holiday spirit to our home. Mother was always began chanting ‘Lekhu Neranenah.’ We were all
afraid that perhaps she would not manage to finish joyfully anticipating my father's return.
all her preparations before the Sabbath. That was
her custom. She was always among the first to Impatiently, I would go outside and stand at the
receive the Sabbath Queen, and the last to see her on entrance of the house in order to welcome my father
her out. on his return from the synagogue. How I loved to
hear his greeting: "Gut Shabbos!" How profound
As usual, all the preparations were ready on time was his faith in this blessing, and how much I
and before twilight, the house was spotless and believed that it would materialize. The Sabbath
shining. A white table cloth adorned the table, and would rid my father of the day-to-day worries, of
eight Sabbath candles burning brightly spread which he had plenty, and it would transport him into
warmth and light in the room. a world which was all goodness and beauty.
The shadows melted away and with them the Father sat down at the table, blessed the Sabbath,
[weekday] anxiety. A holiday ambiance and made the blessing over the wine. We all
encompassed every comer of the house.
169
accompanied his words with "Amen." During the "In the Lord I will trust" the singing would burst
meal, my father spiced the conversation with verses forth. Until late in the evening they would sing with
from the Scriptures, and we sat and listened. The joy and thanks.
same thing happened the next day. The custom was
prayer, study, and singing. The Sabbath meal, with The passers-by would slow down their steps. A
the traditional cholent (meat stew), passed from its neighbor's window would open, and yet another
beginning to its end in a holiday atmosphere. My would peek through the door. Even the Christians
father was a Hasia, and his worship of God was were full of wonder: how great were the strength
conducted with joy in his heart. and sustenance that a Jew would draw from his God,
they would think.
For the last meal, called "the third meal," my father
used to invite a number of Yeshiva students to eat After the departure of the Sabbath Queen, our house
with us. The joy was seven times greater. would go back to the routine of everyday life, but
always with faith in the Rock of Israel.
There was no limit to the singing and chanting.
What did the worries of daily life matter? Thus it was until, until that terrible and bitter day,
for my family and all Israel, good and just people,
who fell before the forces of evil. May their souls be
bound up in the bond of life.
Festivals and the High Holy Days

By Malka Alper
A. Passover we may have been young at the time, we also leafed

through magazines, and attempted to influence our
Passover would arrive early in our home, by about mother in the matter of a dress pattern), an this is
Tu B’Shevat, when the owner of the textile store, how the consultation among us proceeded, the
where our mother was in the habit of shopping, daughters, their friends, until an auspicious hour
would come around to discover what our mother had when the final measurements were taken for each of
in mind to buy for the various family members for us, and transcribed like the law into the notebook of
the up-and-coming holiday. He did this, because in the seamstress.
a matter of a few days, with God’s help, he would
be turning to travel to Bialystock, to arrange for his Then came the process of fitting. In the afternoons,
purchases, and it would be at that time, that he young women, mothers and grandmothers would
would want to take into account my mother’s come together. If indeed, there was a line for first-
specific tastes, and reflect her order among the other come first-serve, how could one not give way in
orders he would be fulfilling. favor of the mother of a good friend, or some other
respected lady? Meanwhile, the hours run by, and it
On Shushan Purim, a day on which sc hool was is after dinner, and then our father appears, to find
closed, mother would go to the store to obtain her out what has delayed our return home.
necessities. We would naturally accompany her, and
assist her in the selection of merchandise. And the baking of the matzos? Even before the
special bakeries were opened up, their owners
Once material was purchased, then the selec tion would come to my father to offer their services (my
process of the dress patterns begins, coupled to a father was the designate to oversee the performance
visit to the seamstress, reading magazines, (although of this mitzvah). But we also personally participated
170
in this mitzvah: we wanted to be present every time even with its two leaves was often insufficient to
the dough was kneaded and baked, to pass the matzo accommodate all those sitting around it.
from the table where it was rolled to the table where
it was perforated, and to inhale the fragrance of the Yet the eight days of the holiday fly by, and on the
freshly baked matzo as it emerged from the oven. last day of Passover, we begin to pack our bags. At
That morning, when the matzo was being baked, we a late hour, the wagon driver takes us to the train
were late for school, with the permission of our station, and from there, each one goes off -- either
father and mother. And when we returned from to work or to study.
school, how not to help store the matzo in the large
storage area of Eli the Stout!? The matzo was B. Yom Kippur
stored in as big wicker basket, and was accorded its
own special corner, from which exuded its odor, On Yom Kippur Eve, our mother would get up
literally the odor of the Passover holiday. espec ially early, in order to bake the special
Challahs in the shape of a ladder while it was still
The various preparatory tasks, like cleaning the morning -- symbolic of the path that our prayers
house, taking out the Passover dishware and would take to heaven, as was the custom of the
utensils, storing all the year-round dishes – all this women of our area.
occupied us, the students and young people, and
filled the days leading up to the holiday. Then, in the early hours of the morning, the ritual
slaughterer, Reb Yankel-Aryeh, would come
When we grew up, and either studied or worked knocking at our door, a venerable man with a clear
away from home,. We never lost the opportunity to voice, who passed before the Ark during the festival
spend the Passover holiday under the roof and days, scrawny and short. He had come to slaughter
between the walls of our parents’ home. We would the kaporeh107 roosters in our yard. The rest of the
gather from the ‘four c orners’ of the country, and town had managed to recite the ritual over their
come by train or horse-drawn wagon, on the roads, kaporehs on a prior day, and had brought them to
or off the roads, in order to be seated at the table of the shokhet or the Hazzan, but our parents had the
our parents on Passover. custom of reciting these blessings precisely on the
Eve of Yom Kippur, and the shokhet would come to
On the Eve of Passover, we would seat ourselves us, for which he was specially compensated.
around the table which had been set for the holiday,
with our father at the head, wearing his spotless Until the fowl are chased down and tied up, the
kittel, and read the Haggadah together. And we do shokhet sits himself at the table and has a boiling hot
not content ourselves with mere rote recitation, for glass of tea, a second and a third, while snatching a
everyone adds some insight to enrich the reading: bit of conversation, and then sets his sights on the
someone with a new explanation he had come upon, yard, from whence then come the squawking of the
another with an historical insight to a specific bound fowl and the ones being killed.
portion; pedagogical points are exchanged with the
children during the Passover event — During the day, our father would take an interest in
each one of us, in terms of the state of health of each
And the Seder lengthens and stretches out, until member of the household, he would ask about and
mother begins to urge us on to reach a break point
where she can begin to serve the food, because she 107
is beginning to feel tired. The ritual p lacing of one’s sins on a
chicken, as a substitute for the biblical
scapegoat. Often replaced by a
It was our custom to invite friends for the holidays,
mon etary co nsideration in more
or younger relatives. The big dining room table, modern times.
171
direct choices of food intake, how much, and when The rabbi’s manse was also in this courtyard. From
– all of this with an eye towards the rigors of the both sides of our house, main thoroughfares came to
fast, or half-day fast. As the sun began to set in the the afformentioned courtyard.
west, father would return from his afternoon
prayers, after having distributed his contributions to I liked standing on the porch of our single story
the various plates [set out at the synagogue]. house to watch everyone walking to worship,
parents and children, young and old [alike], in
On that same day of Yom Kippur Eve, many particular to reply to their blessings with the
children would come around to us with small bottles blessing ‘A Good Year!’ And it was here that the
for sale containing ‘smelling salts,’ really being stream of passers by stopped. The houses of worship
drops of ammonia inside, whose sharp odor enveloped even the latecomers. The full light shines
counteracted any fainting, should a worshiper be out of the open windows, whether kerosene lamps,
overcome by the rigors of prayer and fasting. or the high candelabras. The sounds of prayer
reached all the way bac k to our house, and it was
The table is set for the final meal before the fast. possible to participate in the service even while
Father’s kittel, along with his prayer shawl, are set sitting in our house.
aside on a spec ial chair, as are the makhzors of our
parents. With trepidation and anxiety, we approach During the fast day, Father would come back home
the table, with a broken and roiling heart: The Day several times during the day, to find out how we
of Judgement! were doing. I remember distinctly my very first Yom
Kippur fast. Father was on top of me the evening
Before the final meal, the tea has been poured into before the fast to eat a lot of fruit, to eat fully, but in
glasses, in order that it c ool down, so it could be small portions. And during the fast day, he was
drinkable as a closing to the meal. As they recite the unceasingly interested in how I felt. At the end of
blessing after the meal, tears begin to fall from the the fast, after he blessed the wine in the light of the
eyes of both parents. Yom Kippur candle, he passed me the cup of tea he
held in his hand: I was astonished: ‘Why, Father, do
And then they rise from the table. Father puts his you give me the tea first?’ To which he immediately
kittel on over his holiday finery, approaches each of replied: ‘I am used to this, but you – this is your first
us filled with emotion and trembling , from withheld fast...’
tears and intense feeling, he embraces and kisses us
giving us his blessing: A Good Year, may we all be
worthy to be here for the next year! And our mother
does the same.
They turned to the synagogue. The way is not far,

the courtyard of the synagogue is behind our house,
in which the Great Synagogue was found, a stone
structure which was mostly closed during the winter
because it wasn’t possible to heat it, Der Alter
Mauer, where my parents worshiped, and Der
Hiltzener Bet HaMidrash.
172
How Could One Possibly Forget!?
By Dvora Smith-Shelkovich
Here she stands before my eyes, my hometown that The song of our brothers and sisters, together with
I loved so much. There, we were close to one that of our fathers and mothers, was silenced. After
another, and I will always remember neighbors, difficult and tortured years, I still held the hope that
friends, the houses, the streets and gardens, the I might find a member of my family [still alive] –
summer sands, and the winter mud – every highway but when I stood at the long large mass graves, into
and byway, which were happily traversed by our which our Dereczin townsfolk were cast, old and
young people. young alike, I saw that I had been left all alone.
When the heart of a Jewish member of the It is our Yizkor Book that will serve as their
community became heavy [with a concern], he memorial marker, over which we will be able to
c ould always turn for solace to a neighbor or a mourn and weep.
friend. Our street was inhabited with Jewish
laborers and craftsmen who worked hard to make a
living, but would derive full joy from their children
and grandchildren, living in nakhas, and always
hoping for a better life.
This is the way my father’s family also lived. Who

in Dereczin didn’t know Shmuel der Schmid (The
Blacksmith),with his perpetual smile, with his wit
and wisdom, with a comforting word for anyone
who needed one.
My father survived different [sic: difficult] times,

but together with my mother, he always hoped to
have nakhas from his children and grandchildren:
from Elya & Bluma and their children; from Esther

& Shimon and their children; from Liebeh & Velvel
and their children; from Leibl & Zlateh and their
children. Here, I have listed some of my nearest and
dearest. They grew and matured around my mother
and father, just like the trees that sprouted and grew
about our house.
Until the angry tempest came that disrupted the lives

of towns and cities. Our Derec zin also was
destroyed, and our loved ones were cut down just
like trees that are uprooted from the soil.
173
My Birthplace, Dereczin
By Shayndl Wilenczyk
The larger part of my life has been spent in The all.

United States, but my birthplace Dereczin, lives ever
in my memory, even though that lovely town no When the Polish forces drove the Bolsheviks from
longer exists, where my eyes first saw the light of our area, they began to look for the local young
day. I recall the way of life of the Jews of Dereczin radicals, and especially the “Committee Head.” One
with great affection. It was from those roots that I of the local leaders accused my father, and together
imbibed my spiritual nourishment, and that is why with a goodly number of young people, who were
I am full of respect for the legacy I received from informed upon by local Christians, he was detained
those Jewish generations in their long march to at the local constabulary. All the detainees were
martyrdom. This legacy is all the more precious to given sentences of punishment by flogging across
me, after thousands of Jewish c ommunities in the their bare backs, which when carried out caused the
towns and cities of Eastern Europe were wiped off walls to be spattered with their blood. When it came
the map by a murderous hand. time for my father to be whipped, he pleaded to be
spared the punishment, because he had a family with
Our town of Dereczin was small, but it had valuable small children, and in any event had never been a
human resources, organized into different functions, “Committee Head,” on behalf of the Soviet regime.
which constituted its community infrastructure. The Another local leader, who was witnessing the
Poalei Tzion and Bund were active, theater, punishment, recognized my father, and gave
libraries, and charitable works, and all manner of testimony that a mistake had clearly been made,
activities to serve the needs of the Jewish residents. bec ause everyone knew that my father was one of
those who was involved in the distribution of the
My grandmother, may she rest in peace, was known American aid among all the residents of Dereczin,
for her work on behalf of orphaned young girls in without regard for religion or nationality. Indeed,
the town, who needed a dowry to get married, lest, my father was immediately released.
God forbid, they be left in spinsterhood. Where in i
today’s world will you find that level of concern for Deep in my heart, I continue to carry a little of the
all manner of people in need, as existed then in tiny, joy and a great deal of sorrow regarding that which
poor Dereczin? I imbued from my town of Dereczin. That is the joy
And when the years of war and revolution c ame, of my childhood, and the sorrow of the destruction
Dereczin and its youth was also active. I still and Holocaust. I cannot forget that soil on which my
remember the year 1919, after the Russian young feet sprang, and beneath which lie the hidden
revolution, when the Bolsheviks came into our remains of our loved ones.
town. The Bundists, together with some of the
radical youth in town, allied themselves with the Written in honor of your memory and out of
Bolsheviks. The leader of the communists in respect for beloved, Jewish Dereczin!
Dereczin was a “Committee Head.” In those years,
we would receive wagon loads of flour and other
foodstuffs from The United States for city and town
residents, who suffered greatly during those years of
The First World War. Rabbi Plotkin was the head of
the committee that oversaw the allocation of these
supplies, and my father was also a member of this
committee. Produce was distributed equally among
174
My Grandmother & Grandfather
By Sarah Teichman-Levinger
It is the sacred duty of each and every one of us to I feel obligated to recall for good the name of Reb
remember and preserve the memory of our families Shmuel Beckenstein kz, because thanks to him, the
that were martyred. My nearest and dearest were finances were made available that permitted me to
also among the victims of the bloodthirsty Nazis: pay for the travel expenses connected with my
My mother Masha, and father Karpel Leibovich, my aliyah to the Land of Israel.
brothers and sisters, Moshe Levinger, together with
his wife and children, who were killed in The monies were on deposit with the bank formed
Volkovysk, and David, Itteh-Leah, Liebeh, Esther, for charitable works in Dereczin. In those years of
Sholom, Kalman, Basheh-Minkeh, & Resheh – who the early thirties, the bank fell on hard times, and I
met their murderous end in Dereczin. was unable to withdraw my funds. Because of this,
my chance to make aliyah was at risk of being
I cannot forget my dear grandmother, Chaya-Beileh canceled.
Zoger, who at the age of 92 was shot to death at the
side of the mass grave by the Murderers. Her days Reb Shmuel Beckenstein, who was responsible for
and years were dedicated to helping the needy in the money in the bank, called me to him, and gave
town, bringing them all manner of sustenance and me those funds for which he was obligated to the
support, as for example, an anonymous donation so bank, in order to help me out in the quandary of my
as not, God forbid, to embarrass someone who situation. When this became known around town,
might be down on their luck or fortunes. several other men followed his example.
I can recall, as a child, when she would give me the It was in this way that the funds for my trip were
privilege of accompanying her to earn the mitzvah of preserved, and thanks to that I remained alive, and
privately bringing a Challah to the home of needy find myself today in our own Land.
family for the Sabbath. And one day, when I could
not repress my feelings and said: ‘Grandma, these
people live in such a neat and orderly house , do
they really need your help?’-- my grandmother
warned me, if I once more ask such a question of
her, she will ‘not take me to provide aid.’
My grandfather, Kalman-David, who passed away

before the [Second World] War, needs to be
favorably remembered for his constant concern for
the welfare of the Yeshivas. He was a formidable
scholar in his own right, and held ordination as a
rabbi. He did not want to practice as a rabbi, since
he was conc erned about making a potentially
questionable ruling in connection with an issue.
That is the way my grandmother and grandfather

were, good, heartfelt Jewish people, who we must
never forget.
i
175
Pages of Poetry Skipped: PP 218-219
iiii
Festival Time in Town

By Chaya Beckenstein-Pilzer
It is the eve of a festival, and everyone is getting have come to pray, others -- to have some
ready. Houses are being cleaned, and there is conversation with friends. For us it was like
running to the stores to get ingredients for cooking paradise. First one has to show off one’s new
delicious preparations in honor of the coming clothes, and afterwards go present oneself to our
holiday. Every Thursday evening, or on the evening grandparents. I very much loved to hear the Cantor
prior to a festival, we the children, would go to accompanied by the choir. I was actually quite angry
Rachel the Storekeeper, and purchase those things that I was not asked to sing. Our Cantor was a very
told to us by our mother. Later, our mother would handsome man with ruddy cheeks and a very fine
knead the dough for a Challah and a babka, and set voice. Having had my fill of the men, I go off to the
it aside to let the dough rise. She had already been women’s section of the synagogue. My father and
working since early morning in the kitchen, being both my grandfathers prayed in the Hiltzener Bet
occupied with baking and cooking. When we would HaMidrash, apart from which I also do rec ollect
come home from school, the whole house was both the Old and New Mauer synagogues, the
suffused with cooking odors, and I remember how Grosse Schul, and the Hasidic schul. Up in the
we would peek into the cooking pots, and filch little women’s gallery it was always hot, and one had to
pieces of the freshly baked Challah. Our mother, look down into the main sanctuary through bars, as
upon seeing this, would chase us from the kitchen. if we were in a jail. Our grandmother, Malk a, was
always happy to see us, but didn’t permit us to utter
Oh, how beautiful the house looked on the eve of a word, in order not to disturb her own devotions.
Yom Tov! The white tablecloth on the table, and on Our grandmother, Nekhama gave us a bit more
it the fish and wine; the candles cast a shadow on attention, and loved to show off her grandchildren to
the wall, and all of us are around the table, dressed her neighbors (“What do you say to her, not a bad
in our Holiday finery, with hair combed, waiting specimen of a young lady, eh?”). After we had been
impatiently for the Kiddush to be recited, in order duly inspected and suitably praised, we would go off
that we be able to get on with eating. to see the grandmother of a friend at another
synagogue. We could hardly wait to get out on the
The best time was in the morning, when we got Schulhof and open our little packages of goodies.
ready to go to synagogue. All decked out in our new Everyone shows what they have brought, and we
clothes and shoes that had been purchased for the begin to trade morsels, so we can taste some of
holiday, we get a snack wrapped in a handkerchief everybody’s snacks.
from our mother, in case we get a little hungry
during the somewhat lengthy prayer services. In the As prayers draw to a close, the Schulhof once again
little package – a couple of pieces of babka, a couple becomes crowded with people, who wish each other
of cookies, ands an apple. Just in case we might run a happy and healthy year, walking home, also not
into another youngster on the Schulhof who might alone. By the time I got home, the house was
be hungry. We arrive at the Schulhof, teeming with already full of people, family, friends, neighbors,
people, old and young, children large and small – everyone having come for Kiddush. After noon, we
everyone has come to go into the synagogue. Some went out for a stroll through the main streets of the
176
town, where we would encounter gentile children
who looked at us with consternation, and we thought
they envied us, because we had such a lovely
holiday, in which our entire family strolled together,
surrounded by friends and with other Jews, carefree
and with no fear of what the morning after would
bring...
My Husband’s Family
By Nekhama Petrukhovich
I wish to briefly describe my husband’s family. My husband, who should live and be well, is from
His grandfather, Reb Eliezer vg, was a pious and the same mold. He was the Gabbai at the Bet
righteous Jew, and pro-active as well, always HaMidrash, and took an active part in all of the
ready to put himself in danger, if it would only institutions, going weekly on visitations to the
help rescue someone else. It was told in Dereczin, sick, and participating in overnight nursing of the
of the instance when Leib, the son of Ben-Zion ill. Understand, that he did this along with other
suddenly took sick with cholera. The Jews of the good and pious Jews from Dereczin. I also helped
town were terrified of even coming c lose to his out a little – it was in our house that the various
house, so my husband’s grandfather ran to him, in implements of the overnight nursing group were
order to help see if he could be saved. For the sake kept, and I often cooked up the brews for the sick.
of his Judaism, he was prepared to do everything.
He would wake people up to go to Selikhot Our house was always open to the poor and
services, or to recite Psalms. People remember to needy, during the week and especially on the
this day, how he stopped in the middle of the Sabbath, when we would have guests. This is the
street and gave his boots away to a poor man, and way we ran our lives. I would always be going
put a pair of rough walking clogs on his own feet. around town collecting money and food, and on
Friday before nightfall, I would go out with
My husband’s father, my father-in-law, Reb Musheh die Kvoshnyitzeh108 vg, and we already
Chaim-Yehoshua vg, was also such a warm and knew who was in need of help – and we would
committed Jew. He did many things for the poor bring challah, bread, and other things for the
of the community. When the Bet HaMidrash Sabbath.
burned down, he, along with other men of the
community, traveled to secure lumber, from which Even here, I do what I can, health permitting, I go
they constructed a new Bet HaMidrash. His home out prior to the festivals, before Passover, collect
was open to all – to the poor, to itinerant a little money, and I have my places, where I
preac hers, and emissaries who would visit know who is needy. God should help us so that we
Dereczin. There were a number of families in will not have to extend such help to others and
Derec zin who literally had no bread to eat, for above all – we should all be healthy and well.
them he took a wagon, and together with Itcheh-
Yankel Ogulnick , they procured flour, corn and 108
potatoes, and divided it among the [needy] Wife of a Kvossnyik, a maker of the
beverage, Kvass.
families, and saved them from certain hunger. A
Sabbath did not go by without a guest seated at his
table.
177
My Scholarly and Enterprising Father
By Shimon Abramovich
When I made aliyah in 1926, my father, of blessed He always worked hard, from early morning until
memory, escorted me to the railroad station in the late at night, and worked at many different
town of Zelva. At the time we parted, he blessed endeavors, everything according to the stormy era
me, wishing me a successful journey, shed a tear, that prevailed in those days. Before the First World
but whispered to himself: I am indeed fortunate to War, he operated a wine press, which he had taken
have been privileged to have a son making aliyah to over from his parents, who had made aliyah to live
the Land of Israel. out their last days in the Holy Land. He was the
overseer at the wine press. During the German
Forty years have gone by, and yet I can see him occupation, when the wine press ceased operation,
before me in that moment as if it happened just he switched over to farming. He bought a horse and
today. cows, and worked a large parcel of land at a time
when my brother and I were still quite young, and
My father was a wonderful man, handsome, were still dependent on him.
intelligent and a Torah scholar. He was considered
to be a well-off individual, although he was never After the period of the German oc cupation, the
rich by any measure. He treated everyone as an Poles took control, and my father kz, switched over
equal, whether the person was educated or simple, to being a forest products merchant. Together with
whether rich or poor. Everyone had respect for him, the Mishkin, Blizniansky & Weinstein families, he
both Jew and gentile, and he was especially held in bought un sections of the forest from the landowners
affection by the farmers of the area. His integrity of the area, cut down the trees, and floated the
became the talk of the town. lumber down the Shchara River to the outside
world. With great speed, he turned into a truly
He was a Zionist heart and soul, and worked for the skillful forest products merchant. Much later, when
Holy Land on all fronts: KK”L, Keren HaYesod, and the lumber business hit a crisis, he bought a hand-
the HeHalutz movement. Accordingly, he was operated wool-combing machine. The farmers of the
among the founders of and workers for the basic district would bring the wool of their sheep to him,
Hebrew school in the town. and my father kz, would put the wool through his
machine. It was hard labor.
He was an observant man, attending prayers daily,
studying a page of the Gemara in the Bet Before I made aliyah, my father attempted to
HaMidrash, in front of a group of listeners, and with reactivate the wine press business, and once again
all this, he was both liberal and progressive. dealt in lumber, and at an even later date he even
opened up a store. He was constantly busy, on the
My mother kz, was a simple, yet clever woman, who one hand with making a living, and on the other
conducted her household in an almost miraculous hand with work around the house. He never once
of necessity confined her to bed for extended complained, never raised his voice, and never lost
periods of time. My father kz, was also occupied his temper; he was totally devoted to my mother and
with housework. I can remember a house full of the children without any measure.
little children, with my father feeding, dressing them
for bed, helping them with their homework, all this In 1932, when I was in the Holy Land for six years
– on top of his difficult work he did to provide for already, He found out from my friend, David
the household. Rabinovich, who had gone to visit his parents, that
178
I had fallen ill and was in hospital. He acted To this day I do not know how they fell, or how they
immediately, and sent me money, with the died; Holocaust survivors from our town either do
admonition that I should rest and not work. My not know, or are unwilling to relate how the
situation was undoubtedly better than his, and my members of my family met their end, and they keep
health was satisfactory, and when I took him to task their counsel to themselves.
for sending me money, and wanted to return it – he
refused. May their memory be blessed.
Together with my mother and father kz, the

following members of my family were killed on the
11th Day of Ab: my sister Freda and her husband
Leibl Beckenstein a townsman, and their daughter
Chanaleh, my sister Leah and her husband, my
brother Moshe, my sister Batsheva, and my sister
Rivkah. The last three were still young children at
the time I made aliyah. My older brother Menahem
Mendel, apparently perished with his wife Genya of
the Yafsha family, along with their little daughter
Esther, in Bialystock.
How I Took Leave of My Home

By Miriam Pechersky-Slonimsky
Translated by Alain Drezdner and Miriam Kreiter
Sometimes one feels the need to write pages and In the morning of this last Sabbath, when my father
pages, but when confronting the challenge, each and returned from prayers, we sat together around the
every line is an effort. Thus, even writing these few table to the traditional warm cholent. In honor of
lines was delayed for days and months. Thirty years my departure, mother prepared two kinds of kugel
have passed since I left my parents' home and (pudding). I remember how, with difficulty, I sat at
established my own. To this very day, when I the table tasting my mother's delicacies. With all
reminisce or talk about "home," it is the image of my strength, I held back from bursting into tears,
my parents' home which appears before my eyes. It lest I should darken even further the already
is there that I spent my childhood and adolescence depressing mood at home. I remained silent and
and there that we all lived together, bound up with sought an excuse to leave the table.
bonds of love. There is no power on earth that can
erase my feelings about my parents' home. In the afternoon, I went to say good-bye to my
friends. My mother kz, accompanied me. Parting
I will recount one episode, one that took place the was not easy, for every house I went to triggered
last Sabbath I spent with my family: how I said memories of friendship and my childhood. To this
farewell to my parents, my sisters, my friends, and day, I vividly remember my farewell visits to
to the community of Dereczin. Even this short tale acquaintances and friends, in each and every house
brings choking tears to my eyes, as to everyone of us individually. It seems as if I didn't skip a single
who remember our loved ones and what happened to house in Dereczin, for we had all been friends.
them. Everyone was happy that I was making aliyah,
179
emigrating to - the Land of Israel. They were even Israel, he protested not the slightest. He simply
envious of me. They wished me all the best and bid went to synagogue and immersed himself in prayer
me farewell, with their last words being an the entire night. I know it was difficult for him to
expression of hope that they would see me again or part with me. Moments before the train departed
rejoin me in the land of our ancestors. from the station, my father leapt onto the train and
stayed with me until the train began to move.
By the time evening arrived, people ceased coming
to give their last farewell wishes. Father returned I remember my father, wrapped in his prayer shawl,
from synagogue and prolonged the recital of the steeped in a Holy Book resting in his hands, with a
Havdala, the blessings for the separation of the holy constant smile on his lips.
Sabbath from the mundane. It was apparent to me
that all of us, and I no exception, wished to lengthen A nightmare that pursues us, sons and daughters of
this Sabbath day ad infinitum. Derec zin, took place the infamous 10th day of Ab.
It is on that day that our dear ones died in agony and
The moment arrived. Mother's countenance was everything that we held dear went up in flames.
lime-white. Her hands were cold and trembling. Only with great effort, are we successful in
She uttered not even one word. She merely pressed preserving in our memories the image of the
me against herself with all her might. She looked members of our family as we saw them last: the last
into my eyes and I into hers, signaling day, the last hour, the last moment when we parted
encouragement to each other, conversing in silence, and were tom away from one another. In my case,
like only a mother and a daughter can. This is the I remember my family as they were that last Sabbath
image of my mother that has remained with me. we spent together. This memory is the only monu-
Refined and sensitive, she was able to bear her ment that I am able to erect for their sake in the
hardships without complaints. depths of my heart.
I said good-bye to my younger sister, Zeldeleh, who

remained at home with my mother. My two elder
sisters, Chanaleh and Sarah, came along with Father
to accompany me to the train station, as did many of
our friends. It was particularly difficult to part with
Chanaleh. She stood as if paralyzed, near the
window of the train station. She didn't budge. She
was immersed in a deep sadness. She didn't even
utter a murmur. She was very attached to me and
she loved me very dearly. When I used to come
home in the evening, she used to find a sweet to give
to me. Every Saturday morning on the Sabbath, I
would open my eyes to see her standing quietly at
my bedside ready to engage in conversation.
Father was never dismayed by the reality that he

would have to part from his children and maybe not
see them for a long period of time. He was not
disturbed by the great geographic distance that
would separate us.
When he learned that I was planning to leave for
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And This Is How We Emigrated to The Holy Land
By Esther Dlugolansky (Petakh Tikvah)
Translated By a Nephew of Morris Spector
Once, in the late afternoon on a winter’s day, guests At that time, it was already evident to us that there
arrived at our home in Sinaiska. We were the first was no future for us in Poland. Each and every day
place people generally stopped off when they came we listened to the rising tide of anti-Semitism. From
to our settlement. My father-in-law, Simkha the time that Hitler rose to power in Germany, the
Dlugolansky was a sort of ‘Soltis’ or ‘Mukhtar’ (like hatred of the Jews began to intensify in Poland as
a Mayor) of the settlement, and all of the issues of well. Life became difficult, and the economic
the place passed under his scrutiny. c onditions worsened. Despite the fact that the
people of the area distanced themselves from
We were sitting in the house, when suddenly we politics, and avoided where possible any form of
heard the rolling wheels of a horse-drawn wagon, conflict with their Christian neighbors in nearby
which entered our courtyard, carrying two guests. villages, they would hear from the lips of the
“Reb Simkha,” cried the wagon driver cheerfully, gentiles at every opportunity [the epithet] Zydy do
“this time I have brought you two distinguished Palestyny.109 It was for this reason that the news of
guests that are special,” – “Blessings of welcome a possibility to make aliyah to the Holy Land made
upon you, please enter,” Reb Simkha said to them in such an impression, for the spark of zeal for the
greeting them by opening the door to his expansive Holy Land was constant and basic, but we simply
home – “Where are these Jews from, and what is on did not know at that time how we could approach
their minds?” the [apparently] sealed gates of entry. Only the
organized Halutzim, who executed their
“I come from the Land of Israel,” said Tzidkov, as he preparations during a few short years, were
introduced himself and the friend who accompanied privileged to singly gain entry on the basis of very,
him. When we heard ‘the Land of Israel,’ our eyes very few entry c ertificates. And now, an emissary
opened wide with wonder, and it appeared to us that comes from that magical land, with promises of
we were looking at an entirely different kind of Jew. taking us there collectively.
He was tall, his face was tanned, and his bearing
made a very strong impression on us. There was great excitement. Almost everyone
registered, however we all understood that only a
After the initial introductions, it became clear to us part of us would be selected to go. Everyone did
that the man was an officer with a farm cooperative their utmost to improve their standing with the
in the Land of Israel, and he had come to register emissaries. One would show his calloused hands,
candidates prepared to make aliyah to the Land, and another his muscles; one would demand aliyah
seeing that the British Mandate had authorized 400 for the sake of his children, and a second would
entry certificates for farmers, to enable the import of demand it just for his own sake. I will not forget
laborers to do agricultural work. The news spread those minutes when the emissaries stood ready to
quic kly among the populace, and in less than an depart from our house. We took our leave of them,
hour our house was filled with most of the and I held my little daughter in my arms, and my
settlement residents. The news of the possibility of sole request of them was not to forget us, because it
reac hing the Holy Land ignited all hearts. All the was my desire to see my daughter grow up in our
young people, including family men and their Land. With a smile on their face, and a gentle pinch
children, were prepared and ready to leave the
settlement, which their parents had established, and 109
in which they had lived for decades. Jews, go to Palestine!
181
on my daughter’s cheek, they gave me their promise It is difficult to describe the parting from those Jews
in saying: ‘Don’t worry – you will be among the who had to remain behind in place. Almost all [who
first.’ From that day on, the great anticipation, for made aliyah], left parents or other close kin behind.
the sign of news concerning our destiny, began to The sorrow was great.
grow. In everyone’s heart was the hope that indeed
he – he was precisely the right type of individual to When we left the settlement, no person stayed
be selected for aliyah, and would merit allocation of behind at home, everyone came to escort us far, far
a certificate. Until one day, which I will never to the distant outskirts of the place. Their only
forget, when my father-in-law Simkha arrived from solace was in our commitment to do everything in
Derec zin c arrying all the mail, which contained the our power to be reunited with them, this time in our
hoped for approvals. Twelve families were selected own land. To our great and everlasting sorrow, this
from among the 25-30 that had registered. The remained only a dream for all of us. This desire was
entire settlement behaved as if drugged. The never brought to fruition, Hitler’s hand reached
community divided into two parts – the happy ones, them, and all were wiped out in the gas chambers,
and the disappointed ones. It was as if their hearts apart from two people of that place who succeeded
told them that their lives hung on the possibility of in surviving among the ranks of the partisans, and
aliyah, and those left behind would be condemned those were Alter Becker & Leah Becker with their
to destruction. two daughters.
And these were the twelve families who made

aliyah to the Holy Land:
i Shmuel Becker, Jacob Becker, Leiba Becker

The three with their families.
i Natan Dlugolansky , Leibkeh Dlugolansky
Together with their families
i Jacob Turetsky and his family
i Jacob Spector, Meir Spector
i Michael Kresnovsky, Zelig Kresnovsky
i Shimon Miller, Aryeh Miller
And their families.
My Last Sabbath in Dereczin

By Saul Gorinovsky
When I think about our birthplace, I am reminded most Dereczin families.

not only of every street and byway, not only of the
pretty little nooks in and around Dereczin, where we How can I forget the degree to which our parents
whiled away our time as youngsters – I cannot undertook the strain and wore themselves out on
forget the Jews of Dereczin and their daily way of behalf of their children, so that God forbid, they
life, the hard and bitter struggle for sustenance, the should not want for anything, in addition to their
deprived and often primitive standard of living of concern about the needy in the town!? One thing my
182
parents understood: the future of the children, the When I received my orders to travel to the Holy
youth, was not going to be in Dereczin, not among Land, the news spread quickly throughout all of
those who so often remind us that ‘our plac e is in Dereczin. On the way to see my grandfathers, whom
Palestine.’ This, during those years when the Land I visited frequently, both young and old
of Israel was practically closed to us; how many congratulated me, and shook my hand.
tiring efforts and disappointments everyone had to
put up with and survive until he reached the goal of The last day of February 1932 will always remain in
being able to arrive in the Holy Land! my memory. It was a Sabbath day, my last Sabbath
and my last day in Dereczin. I went to say good-bye
I remember to this day the conversation I had with from door-to-door, accompanied by my friends.
my beloved parents. Their concept and orientation
was first to enable the children to make aliyah to the Here, before my eyes, is that last image, when
Holy Land, and in time, they too, would come, and practically the whole town of Dereczin turned out
in this manner we would once again all be together. on Saturday night to escort me to the edge of town,
to the road leading to Zelva, to the train, which I
rode to Warsaw, and from there to the Land of
Israel. That was my last encounter with Dereczin.
That is why the pain is so great when we gather for

our annual memorial meeting. Together with that
pain, our hearts are filled with solace from the
knowledge that a few of our Dereczin brethren were
saved, and lived long enough to be privileged to be
in the Land of Israel.
My Little Town, Halinka

By Mina Liebreider
My town of Halinka was tiny, but it was pretty and We made a living from our market days, and the
neat in my view, comprised of good people, good Christian holidays, when the peasants from the
Jews, who lived and worked hard there for many surrounding villages would come to worship in their
long years. church, and in passing also make a variety of
purchases. Among the Halinka Jews, there were a
Surrounding Halinka were the towns and c ities of number who kept a cow for their own personal use,
Slonim, Dereczin, Zelva, Baranovich – surrounding and always had fresh dairy produce in their homes.
the town were green fields and forests, a quiet There were some who made a living from
stream that flowed by the town, where children went maintaining several c ows, made a little bit of butter
to bathe, play and catch fish. and some cheeses, and sold them in Slonim. For
winter, they would buy a couple of wagon loads of
That is the way it was generation after generation, hay, store it up in the attic, in order to have c attle
long, long years of quiet, work-filled Jewish fodder. During the summer, a number of these Jews
existence. engaged in dairy making, would jointly hire a cattle
tender, who would take the animals out to pasture
As was the case in other towns, we in Halinka had on land that was rented from a Christian.
people who worked in many walks of life:
merchants, storekeepers, middlemen, and craftsmen. Potatoes were stored in the cellars as part of
183
preparation for winter, along with firewood for It was not so easy to get from Halinka to the Land of
heating the house. Bread was baked by each family Israel in those days. One needed to go through years
for its own use, once or twice a week. of getting qualified. But anyone who approached
this task in earnest, attained the goal. It is only a
Everything was good and satisfying when our hearts shame that so few managed to escape the tragic
were not troubled. In a town like Halinka, you ending. I left home, harboring the expectation that I
understand, there naturally was a synagogue and a would yet again see those nearest and dearest to me.
rabbi, and even a cantor and choir. Our rabbi didn’t If I didn’t think this way, I don’t know if I would
exactly live in the lap of luxury, he lived in a small have had the strength to tear myself away from my
house, and had a number of children, no evil-eye family. There are times when I believe that I would
intended. It was not permitted to sell candles and have been better off had I stayed behind and shared
yeast for the Sabbath [Challah] – that had to be in their bitter fate, and to this day it is not c lear to
bought from the rabbi. Indeed, it was a little more me which alternative is right. The mind and heart do
expensive, but the rabbi needed this as a source of not always align in the directions they suggest.
income. Jews with means would occasionally
provide support by offering him ‘a gift.’ Now I have only one alternative – to cherish the
memory of my family. My good-hearted father was
We had neither a Yiddish nor Hebrew school in good to everyone. He would treat someone who was
Halinka, and therefore the children attended the poor as if he were a close friend, in order that such
local Polish school. A Hebrew teacher was retained a person not feel burdened by his misfortune. He
on a separate basis. One well-to-do family retained would sit at the table with such a person, and engage
such a teacher for their exclusive use, while others him in conversation, in order to help the man feel
would pool their resources to hire a Hebrew teacher better. During the selikhot season, he would get up
for their children, who otherwise were required to before daybreak, and listen to the subdued
attend the Polish school. Others sent their children incantations, mixed with tears. The trees would
to study in the surrounding towns and cities. We rustle, and the brook flowed – as if everything was
were educated in Dereczin and Slonim. It was not so reciting the prayer along with the supplicants, and I
easy for our parents, until they reached a point would lie in bed, with my eyes closed and a
where they had made something of their children. trembling heart.
Both we and the Polonskys had water mills. During The Eve of Yom Kippur is especially etched in my
the Christian holidays, the peasants would c ome to mind. Father would c all all the children together,
Halinka and the mill for several days, until they and place both his hands on our little heads and
finished milling [their grain], packing it, and making bless us. We stood frightened, and with tears in our
flour, and these were days of hard labor both for the eyes. The following morning, we would go to the
peasants and the millers. synagogue to see how our fasting parents were
faring. I looked at my father, wearing his white kittel
One evening, my father went down to the mill to see and prayer shawl, with his good, bright and shining
how the work was coming along, and he heard a eyes, as if he were an angel. To this day, I cannot
gentile say: ‘A day will come when we will describe the feelings that overcame me then during
slaughter all the Jews...’ When our father related my childhood.
this to us in an upset tone, it was the first time that
the thought entered my mind to get out of Poland
and go to the Holy Land, start a new life, and not be
ashamed of any kind of work that we would have to
do, even if we were ashamed to do it in Halinka.
184
We could talk to our father about any subject, even Both Christians and Jews knew him very well, and
about modern problems, he was a well-read man, appointed him to oversee provisioning. Not once did
was acquainted with worldly matters, and loved to he put his own life in danger to help rescue women
discourse on any subject with anyone. Through this, and children, who were unwanted in the ranks of the
he was able to help anyone he could at any time. partisan groups.
Even my mother didn’t always know the extent to
which my father did things for others. The war destroyed my town, Halinka, and my entire
family. Very few people from the Halinka Jewish
There were suc h good people in this little town. populace survived the war. My family was also
Such a person was Shimon Lusky. Many remember wiped out, and only my sister Leah’s daughter,
him. During the [Second World] War, he went off to Esther, extricated herself from the bloody slaughter.
the forests and joined the partisans.
Enlivenment in Town - An Autobus

By Chaya Beckenstein-Piltzer
I remember when I was still a little girl, autobuses look around for a familiar face, immediately
began to run between Dereczin and Slonim, and also everyone began to speculate as to whom a
between Dereczin and Zelva. prospective groom was coming, and what would be
the size of the wedding dowry he will get.
Toward evening the Slonim Bus would arrive, and
when it was seen turning off of Slonim Gasse On the other hand, if this really was a prospective
toward the marketplace – it was like a signal for groom coming, then the prospective in-laws were
everyone to start running – big and small, young and very fearful, and protected him from strange young
old alike – everyone ran for the station near the row ladies, in the event someone says an untoward thing
stores in the market square. You would have thought about him, and ruin the entire match.
the town was on fire!
The little kids would run after the driver and the
The bus arrived, the door opened, and everyone conductor, looking upon them as great heroes. The
waited impatiently to see who would get off. If a bus was unloaded, and then re-loaded for its return
townsman was returning from Slonim, then journey, and once it had left, the town returned to its
everyone stared at the packages he carried in his normal, quiet pace, everyone went home to wait
hands; until morning, when a bus from Slonim would again
bring a little ‘enlivenment’ to town...
A Comical Event
By Shayndl Kamenitzer
I know that our Yizkor Book is dedic ated to the recollect and tell about everything that we recall of
memory of our murdered brothers and sisters, and our once, beloved Dereczin, I present this story to
the destroyed [town of] Dereczin, and therefore, I my landsleit. Many of them certainly remember this
thought a long time about whether this book was an story, because all of Dereczin knew about it, and got
appropriate plac e to record a very funny incident more than a few laughs from it.
that took plac e at our house. But since we wish to
185
Our house, the house of Shmuel-Zerakh & Sarah of these dogs, about the size of a young calf, brought
Bernicker, was in those years after the First World him home, and tied him to the leg of a table, in order
War, the only house at the head of Kamenitzer that he serve as the night watc h for the goods we
Gasse, near the Zelva highway. Every spring, we had set outside the house. My brother himself, went
were afraid that the runoff from the melting snows off to get a restful night’s sleep. The dog crawled
which filled the canal at the side of the highway, underneath the table, and also went off into a deep
would overflow, and flood our little house. There sleep.
was no other house around us. Near our house was
Der Vian ,110 and during the war years from 1914 to I remember quite well, how in the summertime,
1920, when cavalry and other divisions of various early in the morning, the shepherds would take out
armies would stage themselves along the Vian, their their herds of c attle to their early morning pasture,
horses, more than once would come off the road and which was called ‘the early morning feeding.’ These
nibble on the tasty straw on our roof thatching. herds also had to pass by our house. One such herd
went out to pasture, and when it passed by our
It was not only the horses that caused us damage, house, a young calf was curious as to what kind of
but also the soldiers in all of these divisions. From four-footed animal was lying under a table. I
all the armies and horses, our miserable little shack appeared to be a calf. So, the young beast stuck its
was turned into a complete wreck, and we were left head under the table to better sniff what it was that
with no choice but to institute fundamental repairs. was lying under there. At that precise moment, the
dog awoke with a start, and was frightened by the
The workers whom we hired to repair our house horns of the young bullock. The bullock in turn,
asked us to move all of our possessions out of doors, was frightened by the dog’s barking. When the dog
and they stayed outside for quite a number of days jumped up on its four legs, the young bullock
and nights. Understand that we had to keep a careful wanted to run away, and then raised its head,
watch over these things, otherwise they would have causing the table to rest on its head and neck. Scared
quic kly been stolen. So we alternated in standing to death, the young bullock began to run with the
watch outside, and everyone used to watch and was table on its head, pursued by the dog, which is tied
raw. by its neck to one leg of the table.
Longer time residents of Dereczin will recall, that The young bullock, with the table on its head, and
anyone who needed to go from Kamenitzer Gasse to the dog behind, ran right into the middle of the herd,
Zelver [Gasse], or back, needed to pass by our and stampeded all the cows which scattered over all
house. When they were working on our house, the area. The young bullock ran towards the river,
people literally would walk through our furniture, constantly shaking its head in an attempt to dislodge
bedding, possessions and kitchen utensils, which we the table and free itself. The dog also was constantly
had put outside. tugging, in order to disc onnect itself from the table
and from the fleeing animal.
Well, everything would have gone well, were it not
for the attitude of my brother, Yitzhhak Bernicker My brother and the herder ran after them – my
(known in Dereczin as Yitzhak der Kamenitzer). He brother wanted to save the table, and the herder
did not feel like spending the whole night on watch. wanted to save the animal. But the beast had so
He went off to the butchers in the marketplace, shaken up the table that the table fell apart
where stray dogs used to hang out. He grabbed one completely into a bunch of boards.
110
The unfamiliar stray dog ran off somewhere or
A long unpaved road. Remarkably, a another, together with one leg of the table to which
road with a similar name existed in he was tethered.
nearby Zelva.
186
My brother gathered up the boards and the three
[remaining] table legs, and brought them home.
On those days, when we remind ourselves of our
It took the herder the rest of the day to round up his nearest and dearest, and in our ancestral home, there
scattered cows... is a desire to remember the funny things from what
was once a happy Dereczin. That is why I have
brought once of those light episodes here.
A Master of the Tanach

By Meir Ziskind
Of all my teachers, Reb Moshe – my Tanach teacher pupils: “Hebrew without its grammatical rules
– has etched himself into my memory to the greatest cannot be; it is like a garden with no boundaries –
extent. He was taken for a good teacher in town. chaos,” that was how he would express himself. He
Apart from his appearance – proud in stance with a would love, in the middle of a lesson, to stop at
well-kept red beard, and penetrating eyes, he was an specific words, and then completely parse them. The
outstanding Tanach teacher, and a good explicator. students were not particularly fond of this
His personality made a great impression on his discipline; grammar was for them a real letdown.
students.
Once, when he was teaching masculine and
He had no children of his own; his family life was feminine declensions, the door opens; in walks the
not peaceful. He and his wife constantly quarreled. father of one of the boys. Being a miller, the man
She – his exact opposite – short, scrawny, and was covered from head to toe in flour dust. It was
sharp-tongued – did not understand him. Being not for nothing that he was nicknamed ‘the corpse.’
unfulfilled and by nature a brooder, he sublimated He really looked like he was dead: his clothes, the
himself through his scholarship – putting his entire hair on his head, his beard and eyebrows, were as
fiery energy into teaching young boys the Tanach. white as snow. When he walked into the room, the
little children greeted him by crying out: “Here
A man with excellent diction, and a talent for comes the corpse!” “The corpse” was not any sort
weaving a good tale, he loved to relate at great of scholar. As he listened to the Rebbe teach, the
length in Yiddish, the terse constructs of the entire issue didn’t register with him. In a choked
Prophets. His spirited descriptions ignited boyish voice (his nostrils were caked with flour) he
hearts and touched their imagination; the images addresses the Rebbe: “Why is this necessary?” Reb
from the Tanach became etched into their young Moshe answered that one could not properly address
minds – never to be forgotten. a man with the same language as one uses to address
a woman. Seeing that the miller still doesn’t
Reb Moshe also had a talent for drawing; he loved understand the point, the Rebbe attempts to clarify
drawing a complete picture of the Tabernacle and it to him as follows: “Every week I buy a chicken
the Holy Temple for his class, with all the details from a peasant woman for the Sabbath meal. I speak
included, and to c ut out the paraphernalia of the to her in Russian – using masculine declension,
High Priest from colored paper – just as it was when in fact I should be using feminine declension.
described in the Pentateuch – and thereby elating his Do you know why? Because I am ignorant of
students. Russian grammar.”
Grammar The miller didn’t grasp Reb Moshe’s words. He bent

over to Reb Moshe, and murmured: “When I went to
Reb Moshe constantly inculcated grammar into his Heder, we didn’t know about such things.”
187
“Where Did It Happen?” Cheek-Pinching
Reb Moshe’s Heder was in a wooden house which Teaching The Song of Songs to children was no
was divided by a wall. On one side, the owner lived, simple matter in those days. Apart from the literal
and in the second side – the Rebbe. The Heder itself translation of the words, students were required to
– small and long – with two windows looking out on have an understanding of the Commentaries of
the yard, which was always busy with the sounds of Rashi – to derive the explanation of the parable in
all manner of barnyard fowl: chickens, ducks and the sentence – the role playing of the Lord and the
geese. Children of Israel.
In the summertime, the neighborhood women would It was the beginning of spring. The snow had begun
stand underneath the open windows and listen in on to melt; the rivers began to flow with the runoff.
the Rebbe’s teac hings – while sighing, whining and The sun became warmer: young green sprouts began
blowing their noses. The boys sat around a long to poke out of the black earth. It was before
table; the Rebbe – at the head, with his bac k to an Passover, and everyone was a little more light-
oven, conducted the class. hearted. Reb Moshe was teaching his class The Song
of Songs. Having a love for a well-turned phrase, he
A restless man, he taught while standing – sitting conveyed the beautiful imagery of the verses in The
down only during recess, when he took a sip of hot Song of Songs with a great deal of feeling and fire.
tea from a glass, and then stood up again.
Finishing the first chapter, Reb Moshe declared a
I am reminded of a winter’s night – outside a major short recess, sat down and wiped the sweat off his
snowstorm was raging; the room was so heated up, brow, took a sip of tea, and signaled to me with his
that the warmth pervaded every appendage of the finger to approach: “Nu, Meir repeat – let me hear
body. Teaching the verse from Ezekiel 16:6, [what you know]!” I interpreted the verses for him,
and with great intensity and pleasure, wove into my
h h jQ h n s C Q kr n t Qu h n s C, x CxIexplanation
, nQ t r the t parable
u Q h of k gr the c verses
g t u – in
h: h jQ h n s CQ kaccordance
r n t u with Rashi’s explanation. The Rebbe
was simply beside himself with satisfaction, and he
(And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in gave me a cheek-pinch, saying: “May you be
thine own blood, I said unto thee [when thou wast] in thy blessed!” The Rebbe’s fingers were like a pair of
blood, Live!; yea, Isaid unto thee [when thou wast] in thy pliers; my cheek hurt; tears welled up in my eyes.
blood, Live!)
On my way home, my c heek burned like fire. As I
Reb Moshe waxed with ecstasy, and with great came into the house, my mother immediately saw
spirit, told a story to us at great length, portrayed to the bruised cheek. Wringing her hands, she wanted
us in great detail: of an individual walking in the to know if I had “once again gotten into a fight.”
fields who finds an abandoned little girl – barefoot, “No, mother! I haven’t fought with anyone. The
naked and covered in blood. He picks her up from Rebbe did this by pinching me.”
the wet field and brings her home, binds her wounds
and dresses her regally, and in the end, she My mother was beside herself with anger, grabbed
transgresses against him. me by the hand, and we ran off to the Rebbe so she
could complain. Pointing to my cheek, she asked the
The Rebbe’s storytelling was so animated and Rebbe if it was true that he had indeed pinched me.
engaging, that the lady neighbor on the other side of The Rebbe, in an explanation, clarified for her that
the wall, hearing this story, ran into the Heder, and her son had earned a cheek-pinch because he had
cried out:”Reb Moshe! Reb Moshe! I beg you, [tell explained The Song of Songs so well.
me], where did this happen?”
188
My mother, seeing no connection between
proficiency in The Song of Songs and a swollen
cheek, addressed the Rebbe as follows: “Reb Moshe,
I implore you, please don’t pinch anymore! But if
you deem that he is deserving of a pinch, be so kind
as to let me know; I will pinch him myself!”
A Fire in Town
By Leah Eliovich-Yatvitsky
I remember the Great Fire of 1924. In the middle of And by the time a pail of water reached a burning
a perfectly clear day, the fire broke out in the middle house, the flames had [consumed it and] moved on.
of the Neuer Gasse. The wind got hold of the flames
and blew them over all the neighboring houses. The cries of the fire-fighters, who were fighting the
burgeoning flames literally with their bare hands,
The roofs, made of old shingles and thatch straw, mixed with the wailing of little children and the
caught fire quickly, and were lifted into the air, womenfolk filled the air, but none of this was
carrying the conflagration to the houses near and effective in putting out the fire...
far.
The flames first began to die down when they
People began to try and save their belongings by reached an empty space.
pac king things in sacks and sheets that they found
immediately at hand, dragging these parcels as far And after the fire – ruins, smoldering pieces of
away from the fire that they could, and then lumber and blocks of wood from walls and roofs,
returning on the run to see what else they could blackened chimney stacks, and around the burned
salvage – and then finding their houses engulfed by down houses, dazed little children wandering
flames. There were those who barely managed to aimlessly, the fire victims poking through the
save their young children and emerged from this remnants to see if there is something left to salvage
conflagration literally ‘naked,’ with no possessions from the blaze. They wander about with a sense of
whatsoever. homelessness, as warm-hearted neighbors and
relatives welcome them into their own homes.
The town fire-fighters worked bitterly and hard to
contain the blaze, but they lacked the proper
equipment with which to do so. Everything worked
against them: the streams, in the summertime were
not full of water; water had to be drawn from them
in pails on the end of a chain; the pails had to be
carried from the stream to the fire by hand (a bucket
brigade) – the fire-fighters did not have horses of
their own, and they were forced to ask for horses
from the Jewish wagoners, who were not always
around, or from the Christians, who were not
inclined to provide them, and had driven them off
during the fire to the Vian.
189
I Met With My Very First Teacher
By Rachel Alper
Mrs. Rukhamah Ziskind[-Abelovich] from the concerned that my appearance would emphasize his
United States, the niece of Reb Leib Abelovich kz, own advanced age, and impair his spirit.
invited me to meet with my very first teacher, and I
will never forget this boon! How different it all turned out to be in reality!
We started out on our journey on Lag B’Omer of I met my teacher outside his house. He had gone out
1953 on an express train from New York [City] to for a swim on an early spring morning day. I
Harvard in Connecticut.111 I will shamelessly admit, recognized him without anyone identifying him to
that on that morning I felt no less as moved than on me. It looked to me that the years had hardly left
the day that I found out that I would be counted their mark upon him. His stance had not diminished!
among his pupils. During that ride of several hours, His sallow complexion was, literally as it was in
the street that led from the house of my parents in days gone by, when I sat at my desk by his side, as
Dereczin to the very lane on which my teacher and he organized his folders and notebooks on the table
Rebbe’s house stood, on a high stone foundation, in front of him. His dress – not extravagant, his
was before my eyes along with the appearance of beard unkempt, and his voice soft.
that house, the way the rooms were laid out inside,
with the Shtibl between them, in which my father He know I was c oming, and when he saw me, he
and teacher, Reb Yosheh would give lessons to the was hit with a wave of emotion. He was left
beginning students in the afternoon hours of the day. speechless.
I was reminded of that lane on which my teacher’s
house stood, along with the wondrous stories of the As we entered his daughter’s house, where he lived,
well of Henya “die Groiseh,” who inspired terror in he began to pepper me with questions – about
me even before I had ever met her. These memories myself, my father’s house, if it still existed, about
of my teacher’s house and of the well named for pupils and people from all different neighborhoods.
Henya brought back the fragrance of the tanner’s
house which was nearby, and the mock fights with How astonished I was at the precise knowledge he
sharpened sticks that we carried on with the pupils had of the character of all his students from then! It
of Reb Abraham Izaakovich. Fights of this nature was as if he was reading from an open book on the
inevitably caused me to get an extra hair shampoo days that I spent in his Heder, on the happenings of
during the week (an unpleasant prospect for a young my childhood, and my academic accomplishments
lady with long locks), and to the protagonists as relative to my sister.
well, to prove to them that they could not vanquish
me so easily. A look of grief covered his face, when he learned
that my brother, David and my sister Masha and
I imagined what this imminent meeting would be their families, were among the vic tims of the
like at my teac her’s house, accompanied by a long Holocaust.
silence – a typical silence of those people sunk into
memories of the past, and regretting the passage of From his memories of his two students, the Alper
days that can no longer be retrieved. I was sisters, he moved to tell about the ‘Alper House’
which cast its influence on all its surroundings and
set the character of an entire generation of our town.
111
Harvard University is in Cambridge, With a sense of yearning, he told of the evenings
MA. This reference may be incorrect. when he would come to our home after a hard
190
twelve-hour day of work, in order to read [the paper] him, with our meals before us.
HaTzefira. With special emphasis, he recalled the
boiling hot glass of tea that my mother kz, would It appears to me today, if my memory does not
bring to him, and above all – the conversations with deceive me, that the teacher’s portion was the most
David! “Ay-ay!” – he would crinkle his eyes – “a meager of all, but I shall never forget the white
conversation with David...!” And he added: “I never napkin spread before him, and his care in assuring
once let an opportunity for that pass by.” that we properly made the blessing for washing our
hands before we ate.
Reb Leib was extremely proud of those of his
students who achieved professional status as My teacher asked me to read some Hebrew for him
educators, but no less regarding the one who became in the Sephardic accent. I read to him from the
a physician. And how great was his interest in second chapter of Psalms:
everything going on in the field of education in “Why are the Nations Moved...”
Israel! Initially, the sound of the accent was strange to him,
but as I continued – the smile on his lips widened.
He was delighted to hear me praise the folders and
notebooks that he used to inculcate reading skills He had a great deal to ask about the institutions of
into his students, and the animal pictures drawn on culture and Haskalah in Israel, and he suddenly
them. “Don’t forget,” – he emphasized – “I learned remembered that he had sent a book to the
the art of teaching reading from Dr. Moshe international library in Jerusalem.
Cahanstam ,kz.
Had they received it? – I promised him I would
He let out a sigh and continued: “I did not complete search for the book. A long day, filled with interest
the course work in Grodno. I didn’t have the and emotion passed by quickly.Towards evening, he
physical strength to complete these studies under went up to his room, and then returned. With a
conditions bordering on starvation. I wasn’t the only trembling hand, he gave me a memento of my visit
one in these circumstances.” to him that day: a mezuzah for the wall, about 20-25
cm. long, encased in metal, hand wrought by Reb
I described to him the appearance of the classroom, Yudel the Scribe of Dereczin.
in which we sat and listened attentively to Torah i
teachings, the black board and the white chalk,
whose boards caused us so much concern. I recalled The following day, I had to justify my meeting to
to him the dictionary with the yellow cover that the Professor Charlotte Windsor of the university.
stood next to the c oat closet, and how he our Her conclusion was that “Your visit was a good
teacher, would consult it from time to time. deed for your teacher.”
He was full of wonder at the way I was able to But there were “deeds” without number that I
describe to him those winter days when we were in uncovered in my teacher, “deeds” in which one can
his Heder, when the cold became intense, and the revel in the goodness of all teachers, and Jewish
snow c overed the face of the earth, and we didn’t teachers [especially].
have a noon recess. And how our parents were in the
habit of providing us with a cooked meal in a It was not for nothing that I was motivated to see
special pot, especially for Heder. The teacher’s him after a hiatus of decades. I will always carry his
wife, Chaykeh kz, would keep these prepared memory with me, and pass it along to those that I
dishes in her oven, and when the hour arrived teach.
(usually close to sunset!) Our teacher would sit at
the head of the table and we [his students] around
191
My Family That Was Wiped Out
By Shoshana Shapiro-Nozhnitsky
Many years have gone by since those years of the

Holocaust, in which all the members of my
extensive family were killed, the family of Hanan-
Yaakov Nozhnitsky, his wife, sons, daughters, and
my grandmother along with them. Two sons, four
daughters, my brothers and sisters, were all married,
and they fell at the hands of their pursuers along
with their children.
The pain will not be forgotten, just as the home of

my mother and father will never be forgotten. My
father was a man of many means, engaged in
commerce and community affairs, providing his
support in any activity that was for the public good.
He was especially concerned with providing medical
help to those in need, as a member of the Linat
Tzedek. My mother assisted him in this regard, by
the decoction of summer fruits into medicinal
preparations, for distribution to those needing such
preparations when they were sick, to help them
revive themselves. Our house was always full of jars
of these preparations.
My father was also a Gabbai of the Neuer Mauer

Synagogue and was active in its burial soc iety, out
of consideration to show respect for the deceased of
our congregation.
When I was ready to make aliyah in 1935, my

parents objected strenuously, as did many other
Jewish parents of that time. I was stubborn, and
stood my ground, and it was then that my father said
to my mother: “Let’s let her go, apparently that is
where her fortune awaits her. Who is to know, but
we might yet meet again. At the very least, she will
save her own future...”
My father did not realize the prophetic nature of his

words. The clouds of the Nazis already hung in the
skies of Europe, and in a few short years, my entire
family fell at the hands of the German murderers.
192
Dereczin No Longer Exists
By Dora Birnbaum-Rothstein
My dear and warm-hearted Dereczin, you are no better outcome in life.

more. All that remains are those sweet memories of
my childhood, and of my early youth, and they are I see the big marketplace in the middle of town
so fresh in my memory that they will remain there before me now, diagonally opposite our wall, where
for my entire life. the peasants from the surrounding villages would
come for market days and fairs, to sell their produce
Dereczin, like hundreds of other towns and villages and buy those things that they needed for their
in Poland, Lithuania, and Byelorussia, was homes and work. Also, on certain days, the
destroyed, and its Jews systematically killed by marketplace was full of peasant wagons, with
Hitler’s murderers. My dear parents, Samson & people who were sick, who had come to my
Adela Rothstein, my brother Yosheh, and little sister grandfather for medicinal help. My grandfather
Masheleh, were cut down together with thousands inherited this profession from his father and
of other Jews, on that black, bloody Sabbath day in grandfather, going back many generations, and he
Slonim – the city to which Dereczin was bound like was an accomplished professional in his field, both
to an older sister. The same fate overtook both these loved and trusted by Jews and Christians of
neighboring towns, and more that one citizen of Dereczin, and the area far and wide. He was
Dereczin lies in the graves of our brethren committed heart and soul to his patients, he helped
surrounding Slonim. everyone whether rich or poor, day and night,
whenever his help was required.
Our town, Dereczin, was small, but it was so
precious and dear to me, that I see all of its virtues, My mother, the midwife, also followed in the
its grace and Jewish good-heartedness, when I stop footsteps of her father, She was also dedicated to
to think about it. My family was always involved her profession, and very strongly attached to those
with Dereczin, even during the time when we lived families whose children she helped bring into the
in Slonim. world, she fully comprehended the circumstances in
each and every household and each family, guarded
I fear that there are indeed very few Dereczin and cared for her patients, and in turn was valued
residents still alive who remember my grandfather, and appreciated by them. She was the closest friend
Meir-Yehoshua Wolfowitz, and my grandmother, to those who were giving birth in many Dereczin
Chana-Chayeh. My grandfather was the feldscher of families.
Dereczin. My mother Adela, was a midwife.
There was another midwife in Dereczin, Nekhama
Each street and byway in Dereczin remains yet so Manikov. While she and my mother competed with
fresh in my memory, the green fields, gardens and each other, the children of both were good friends,
pastures that surrounded the houses of the town, and to this day I am friendly with Nekhama’s
with the large, many-branched fruit trees and the daughter, Sonia Manik ov, who today lives in Israel
clean fresh air, suffused with the odors of greenery with her husband, Dr. Rockover.
and fruit. And I cannot forget the Derecziners
themselves, close and distant, known and unfamiliar Diagonally opposite our wall, on the second side of
to me – each a special good-hearted person, each the marketplace, were the large, beautiful houses of
working at their own trade or business, in order to the large Dereczin families, the Rabinoviches &
make a living, and often not a particularly easy Alpers, who over the course of [many] years, had a
living, but peaceful and tranquil, full of hope for a great influence on the cultural and community life
193
of the Dereczin Jewish populace. The Rabinoviches, to Dereczin and spent our summers vacations there.
and especially Chaim Rabinovich, were active, Those were beautiful years of our youth, and I don’t
specifically up to the end of the First World War. forget those summer get-togethers with our friends
Afterwards, they transferred their community who came together from all manner of cities, from
activities to Slonim, and were also well-known there gymnasiums and universities, in order to take
for their activities in community institutions and recreation in our tranquil, green hometown. And I
municipal government. The influence of the Alpers can recall those sweet evenings, when we would all
was especially felt in the areas of education, and get together, sojourning on our large porch, talking
Zionist and Halutz activities. They were the and joking, singing and playing on mandolins,
founders of the Tarbut School, from which I also pianos, and listening to my brother Yosheh play the
graduated. I remember well to this day, how our violin. The beautiful strains of the music would waft
teacher, Malka Alper took leave of us, her pupils, through our open windows, across the streets and
and how we escorted her to the train for her byways of Dereczin, and lull the citizenry into a
subsequent trip to the Land of Israel. I cried at the sweet sleep.
time, and for weeks and months afterwards was
lonesome for my good-hearted teacher. We felt Later, after my grandfather passed away, my mother
precisely the same when David Alper, and his wife and grandmother also moved to Slonim, where my
Shoshana left Dereczin to go to Pinsk, where accept mother also worked as a midwife, both privately,
a broader mandate for the national development of and together with the well-known Slonim midwife,
Jewish youth. And I cannot forget all the other Yocheh, in the newly established maternity clinic. It
teachers, who enriched our understanding, and was much easier for us this way, and Yosheh also
implanted in our young hearts and minds the love of worked as a secretary, and in time, I left to go to
our people, the concepts of justice, and the hope for Warsaw for two and a half years, where I completed
a national rebirth in our historic homeland, the Land studies to become a midwife. After completing my
of Israel. studies, I took a position in Zelva, a town
neighboring on Dereczin, and worked there with
These are memories from the far, distant past. They great intensity until 1941. I married Chaim
return me to my childhood, and years of early youth. Pasmanik from Kosovo, and we had a baby
I would so very much like to show respect for the daughter, Bella, we opened a nice shoe store,
memories of all Dereczin families, especially those “Bata,” and we lived happily and in contentment.
from which neither a trace nor survivor remains, and
for whom there is no one to mourn them, or to That is how our life proceeded, quietly and
revere their memory. I cannot forget my happy beautifully, until Hitler’s deluge flooded the entire
childhood years, those times when I learned and Polish country with blood and destruction,
played together with the sons and daughters of annihilated cities and towns, among whic h was our
Dereczin families. Later, each of us went off in their beloved Dereczin.
own direction, but we remained good friends and
associates, and with many of them, we used to meet From my entire, large family, I am the sole survivor,
during the summer months in Dereczin, [while] literally as if by a miracle, tossed about in ghettoes
others emigrated to America, Argentina, or made and partisan camps, losing my own little family, and
aliyah to the Land of Israel. built from the start my [current] family and house,
with my husband Adek Birnbaum, with whom we
Also, when together with my brother, Yosheh, we survived the seven circles of Hell, until we managed
studied at the gymnasium in Slonim, after our father to come to America, with the help of my aunt,
had become the director of the Cantor’s choir and as Rachel Rabinovich from San Francisco.
a music and song teacher at the gymnasium, and in
other Slonim schools, – were still remained attached My husband also comes from a musically gifted
194
family, and was together with his brothers in the fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, lives
choir of his father, a well-known Cantor in Cracow within our hearts along with the terrifying memories
up to the Second World War. My husband was a of life in the ghettoes and forests. I bow my head in
graduate of the Cracow [Musical] Conservatory. It honor of my dearest, for my dear hometown of
is for this reason, that my new life is also bound up Dereczin, and for those sacrificial victims and
with the musical tradition that so dominated the heroes.
lives of the family of my parents.
The music lives again in our family, our two sons,

who c arry the names of both our fathers, also
inherited the talents of their grandparents. They are
studying music, and hope to attain their ambitions as
concert pianists.
Despite the fact that our home rings with the sound
of joyous music, the great tragedy that befell our
A Visit to My Hometown
By Rukhamah Ziskind-Abelovich
With a warm feeling for my hometown Dereczin, I them, to anticipate them, and to provide them with
would like to relate certain specific events that have needed medical help.
remained etched in my memory. I left my hometown
while I was still young, but like everyone, there are Between the afternoon Mincha and evening Maariv
memories that one c arries around for one’s entire service, my father would study a page from the
life. Gemara with other balebatim.
I am reminded of my very first days in school. It was My first teacher was a young man from Slonim,
an elementary level Heder which was founded by Pinkhas Itzkowitz. After him, we were transferred to
my father, Yitzhak-Avraham vg, who was a very study with Abraham Izaakovich, known by the
intelligent Jew. When he was young, he dreamed of nickname, Der Mikhoisker.
traveling to study at the Vilna Teachers Institute, but
his father, that is my grandfather, Reb Yosheh, vg, The classroom was equipped with desks and a
opposed the idea. He argued that it would be blackboard on which one wrote in chalk. We would
necessary to write on the Sabbath there... come to class early on a Sabbath morning. The
teacher’s son, Motkeh, who was a student at the
My father was also active in the town’s community Vilna Teachers Institute, would read to us from the
life, he was a Gabbai in the Alter Mauer works of Sholom Aleichem, and from the works of
[Synagogue], and involved in the Bikur Kholim Russian authors.
Society (Care & visitation to the Sic k). I can still
remember to this day, how those who were ill would I remember well both my boy and girl friends with
come to him for a note to take to the doctor or the whom I studied. I think none of them is still alive –
pharmacist. These were people from poorer life whether they died a natural death, or were martyred
circumstances, who lacked the means to heal [in the Holocaust].
themselves. My father would do everything for
After having lived in America for many years, I
195
came back for a visit to my hometown in 1927. This performance, because everyone had someone who
was a great experience for both me and my family. had a part in the play. My brother, Issachar was also
I found many changes among my family and also in among the artists, and I sat with our family members
Dereczin. My brother Shmuel came to Warsaw to and worried that he perform his role well.
meet me, and I traveled home together with him. Everything came off as intended.
From America, I was accompanied by Berel the
Hatmaker’s son, who was visiting Velvel Walitsky. I felt particularly close to my brother Shmuel. He
was at that time already married to Bashkeh Plotkin,
As our auto got closer to Dereczin, I could see from and we would sit up talking all night. From time to
a distance a group of young boys running ahead of time, my mother would also sit and talk with us, but
us. I then asked my brother why they were running we would send her off to bed, since we didn’t want
this way, and he said to me, that my [other] brother her to stay up all night. For me, these were very
Hanan was running on ahead with his friends, to tell special days, weeks and months. My younger
everyone that the auto with the American guests was brothers would go off to spend time with their
arriving. We drove into town early in the morning, friends, and in the evening, would return home to
and found all the stores [still] closed, with almost tell us what was going on in town. Once again, I
the entire town of Derec zin come to the went for walks to the Puster Barg, to the fields and
marketplace, to see how the visiting American parks that were the pride of Dereczin. I met with a
would greet her mother and brothers. It is difficult to large number of townspeople, bec ause almost
describe the [ensuing] scene. everyone had a relative in America, and wanted to
know what life was like there. I spent quite a bit of
When things did quiet down, everyone went off to time with the Alpers. Malka was already in the
their respective work or business. Then relatives, Land of Israel, and the other sisters would come
friends and ac quaintances began to arrive to greet home for summer vac ations. We would meet often
me. The first to come was Boma, that is, Abraham- and keep company.
Shlomo Grachuk, who became the head of his
family after his father’s death. Among the others, I spent six months in Dereczin, until it came time for
Henokh Alper also came, a long-standing good me to return to America. I stayed for my father’s
friend of many years. Mendel Feldman, a good Yahrzeit, which comes out on the 19th Day of
family friend also came to see me. Heshvan.
I found much change in the town itself. Not We rented a sleigh, and on a cold snowy morning,
withstanding the difficult economic circumstances rode out to my father’s grave site. In the evening,
of the Jewish populace, or the pressure from the my brothers went to the Synagogue to recite the
Polish regime, a young intelligentsia had developed Kaddish. I left a few days later.
in Dereczin, which was active on many fronts of
Jewish cultural life. At that time, there was a very The parting was very difficult. My brother Shmuel
good library in Dereczin, which also served as a again accompanied me to Warsaw, from which I
youth c enter, and a place to gather for discussions departed for America.
about all manner of issues. One was torn to go into
the larger world, but there was an absence of Let these recollections serve as a monument to my
understanding as to how this could be done, or town, Dereczin, which vanished with the smoke,
where to go. At that time there was also a drama along with my nearest and dearest who were
theater in Dereczin, which that same summer put on martyred in God’s holy Name.
the play, ‘The Duke’ by Alter Katsizna. The
performance was held on Saturday night in the
barracks. Everyone large and small came to the
196
I Was a Witness to a False Accusation
By Leah Shlechter-Shapiro
After my aunt Elka Savisky became a widow, it saccharine from her, but the judges were not
became difficult for her to manage her store, which satisfied with their testimony. As evidence before
was a distance from where she lived. She eventually the judge, the piece of newspaper was presented,
made the decision to move the store to her place of together with the newspaper from which it was torn.
domicile. On one occasion before the Christian My aunt was acquitted, and the gentile was
Easter holiday, a gentile came into the store whom obligated to pay all court costs.
she had never before seen, and asked for some flour
on credit, adding that her husband would give him In a second trial against him, which was conducted
suc h without cash. When she refused, he asked to in Dereczin, he was asked from where he had
purchase grain ready for milling. She took some obtained the saccharine. He continued to claim that
newspaper that was on her counter top, and used it he had bought it from my aunt. Here, as well, his
to wrap the grain for him, and he went away. witnesses were not seen to be credible.
After this, he returned again, saying that he had This judgement roused considerable interest among
obtained some money, and asked her whether she the Jewish populace in Dereczin, that is to say that
had any Challah that she had baked from this flour. on the day of the trial, which was on Friday, the
When she left the room to get the Challah, the courtroom was filled.
gentile surreptitiously hid a package of saccharine
on top of a shelf, which was illegal to sell, subject to At the end, the perpetrator was sentenced to several
a severe penalty. When my aunt returned, this years imprisonment. The, [finally], we breathed a
reprobate told her that he didn’t like the Challah, little easier.
and he left.
A short time later, a constable appeared and asked

her if she sells any saccharine. When she answered
in the negative, he went directly to the very spot on
the shelf, and took out a box of saccharine wrapped
in newspaper. She immediately grasped that this was
a setup by the gentile customer. She [also]
recognized the piece of newspaper as the one in
which she had wrapped the grain. The piece of
newspaper matched the piece that was still on her
counter top.
A trial took plac e in the district court in Slonim, I,

together with Resha Kulakowski, the daughter of
Abraham Herschel gave testimony: while we were
standing in the doorway of the store, we saw the
gentile reach out with his hand to the shelf, as if he
was looking at something.
And he, from his side, brought witnesses who

testified, as it were, that they had actually purchased
197
My Brother Leibeh
By Leah Elyovich-Yatwitsker
We had a very difficult childhood. As refugees from matters. At that time, being still a very young girl, I
the First World War, relocated along with the other had little understanding, and Leibeh would argue
Jews from the war zone, we arrived in Derec zin. that as working people, we should belong to the
Shortly thereafter, our father died, and our mother Halutz movement and not to Betar, whom he would
was left a widow with three orphaned c hildren, even go so far as to characterize as ‘fascists.’
whom she had to support and raise during those
harsh war years. Our bitter lot in life consisted of The conflicts between Betar and the left-wing
hunger, need, cold, and being tossed around from Zionist organizations became even sharper because
place to place. of the competition between these two organizing
forces in Dereczin, one driven by Betar and the
Firstly after the end of the war, when contact with other by HeHalutz. I remember the Betar leadership
America was resumed, our relatives located us, and having a house on the Slonim Gasse. There wasn’t
they began to provide us with assistance, and for the enough work even for one such organization. The
first time began to eat full meals to satisfaction. leadership would undertake to hew wood, carry
water, and in the wintertime, chop ice from the
My brothers Leibeh & Chaim studied at a Talmud [frozen] streams.
Torah. The rabbi of Kolonia112 arranged for them to
say Kaddish for their father. I remember how At the Betar meetings, my brother Leibeh would
Leibeh, who was yet a small boy, would recite the create disruptions by interrupting speakers, and
Kaddish, under the oversight of the rabbi of asking all sorts of questions, which would often
Kolonia, while standing on a bench. leave the speakers at a loss for a reply.
Shortly after he completed studies at the Talmud My friends and I would take sides against my
Torah, my mother vg, sent him to the Yeshivah in brother, and not once I would c ome home in tears.
Slonim. He was a diligent student there, and the In the meantime, the Second World War broke out.
Head of the Yeshivah was very pleased with him. My brothers ran off to the forests, fought with the
partisans, and thanks to their brotherly concern for
Quite suddenly, Leibeh joined up with the Halutz me, I survived, and came to the Land of Israel.
organization. He said that he no longer wanted to eat
‘the bread of charity’ as a Yeshivah student, but My brother Leibeh was an effective partisan. He was
rather to work, and support himself by working, and among those who attacked Dereczin, Ruda Jatkova,
make aliyah as a Halutz to the Land of Israel. My together with other Dereczin partisans, burned down
mother was absolutely beside herself, wept, and the mill at Kozlovshchina, and carried out many
begged him – but he no longer wanted to attend the other campaigns.
Yeshivah.
He fell, a victim of anti-Semitism which was not in
Leibeh was a well-informed Halutz, and active in short supply even in the partisan ranks. From being
the labor movement for the Land of Israel. In those almost superhumanly tired one night, he fell asleep
years there was already a strong Betar movement in at his watc h, with gun in hand. The Christian
Dereczin, to which I also belonged. Leibeh and I command of the unit decreed the death penalty for
often had violent arguments over ideological him, as they were wont to do with Jews.
It was in this way that my brother Leibeh, the heroic

112
While n ot explicit, it would seem this partisan, met his end in the forest.
refers to Kolonia-Sinaiska.
198
My Father’s House on the Schulhof
By Liza Katz-Bialosotsky
My father’s unforgettable house stands before my exc lamation, ‘c harity will avert death’
eyes, along side the memories of those years that I communicating something bad and frightening.
passed in Dereczin during my beautiful childhood.
It seems to me that the house stands there yet as I And how our happiness waxed when we learned that
left it, before I left for the Holy Land, in the a wedding would be celebrated in our town! We
courtyard of the Synagogue, the Schulhof. didn’t have to go look for things to do. From every
Our home was built with ‘high windows.’ I nook and cranny of the town, celebrants would
understood this in its simplest terms, namely, that approach us, the people with the large yard: the
the windows were inserted high, in order to prevent young couple, their parents, and the entire town
people from the outside from looking in, as opposed following after them, from the very young to the
to the other small houses in town. very old, accompanied by a band of musicians,
playing traditional Jewish wedding music. The town
The courtyard of the Synagogue was surrounded of Dereczin was effusive with happiness and gaiety.
with all of the Bet Midrash buildings, and on side,
the pretty house of the Rabbi also stood out Now, we have obtained eye witness accounts from
prominently. What else could be missing from this those who survived the Holocaust, that the Nazi
lovely courtyard? murderers, may their names be forever erased,
selected this beautiful courtyard specifically as the
The old cemetery bordered it as well on one side. center of a ghetto for our unfortunate parents and
With effort, protruding past the gate, when we family in order to facilitate their cruel and inhuman
peeked in sometimes out of curiosity, were old deeds. Thus, the ground of the Schulhof was
gravestones, overgrown with weeds and plants from sanctified by the blood of our dear, martyred
the passages of days and years. We would parents. And that pure blood will never cease to cry
occasionally hear stories about the old cemetery out from the depth of that earth.
from the elders of the town, stories that they in turn
had heard from their fathers before them, there According to the witnesses, my father was among
grandfathers and great-grandfathers. Stories would the last of the victims of the slaughter of the 12th of
circulate among us about demons and spirits that Ab, and he was buried – in a mass grave near his
wandered among the graves, and these stories were house. My mother died two weeks before the
enough to instill fear and terror in us. As we slaughter took place, and was one of the martyrs of
matured, we came to understand that this was only the ghetto that was privileged to rec eive a Jewish
a place to be treated with sacred respect. burial.
Most of our years were spent in play in this

courtyard. Everything centered on my father’s
house. When the students would assemble to march
with their flags, they would first gather in our large
yard. The older folks would come out for the
blessing of the new moon, with song and prayer,
understandably only in this large courtyard adjacent
to the Synagogue itself. And in contrast, a funeral
procession taking the deceased to his final resting
place would come through here, with the
199
The Pain of Memories
By Rivkah Saglowitz-Dykhovsky
It is hard for me to write about the home of my to be among the first to flee, while he was in the rear
father and mother, which I left while still a young guard, and it was in this fashion that he was killed
girl, especially as their beloved picture accompanies beside the river. My mother who remained, suffered
me, and is literally a lamp unto my feet. in her misery in the forests for six months, and when
she was already half-frozen in body, she begged
We had a simple and modest home, and we were not people at the time when they were fleeing the forest
often fortunate when it came to matters of business, for fear of German attacks, “take me with you, I
but we had a warm home, and an open door to have good children who will reward you!” Those
anyone who was pressured or had a need. I was still were her last words that were conveyed to me by
a little girl at the time of the First World War. My witnesses who were close with her in the forest.
parents were left penniless, because the ‘Nobleman’
from whom my father leased work, fled to Russia And this is my consolation, that in her final hours
out of fear of the Germans. My two younger she thought well of us. Two days later, the people
brothers went to gather potatoes from the abandoned returned to the place where she was hidden, but did
fields. I remember that our mother, at that time, took not find her.
in an orphan who had no parents, covered in sores
and infested with vermin. With her own hands, she May the souls of my father and mother and my
cut off his hair and burned all his clothing, bathed brothers be bound up in the bond of life.
and dressed him, situated him in a Talmud Torah,
and after the Rabbi investigated his background,
discovered that he had a father in America.
Menashkeh (that was his name) spent two years with
us. We had any number of refugee families in town,
among them noted and respected scholars, but
without any means. My mother would draft me and
my sister into preparation of food bundles, and on
Thursdays, with great discretion, would send us to
their homes. If a poor bride was lacking adequate
dowry, my mother would approach the better off
families in town who respected her, and helped her
obtain bedding, some money, and our big room
served as the wedding hall.
We had a simple home charac terized by respect for

parents. My brothers secretly supported the house
for many years, with love and understanding. When
I approached my brother Jacob, in 1933 during a
visit, to come to the Holy Land, he asked me to
whom could he entrust the “old trees.” “I will not
uproot them from their home” – my brother said.
And, as a consequence, he paid with his young life
for his loyalty. On the night of the slaughter, he sent
my mother and sister-in-law along with the children
200
The Destruction
201
My Town Dereczin
By Katya Klebnik-Bialosotsky
O town of mine, you are etched into my memory,

I see you from afar – and my heart is choked up –
I see you swaying softly in the shadows of sunshine,
Even though the black darkness reigns in your streets.
My destroyed Dereczin, you are dear and precious to me,

You were always with me in my wanderings.
My innocent happiness of youth was consumed with you in fire,
But my weeping over your ruins will never go away.
Stone upon stone in your streets, shrieking voices

Cry out from the fields drenched in blood,
The smoke of the incineration is gone, your skies again are azure,
As they were in that spring when all was good.
As on those Sabbath days, when walking by my window,

Were Jews in their prayer shawls going to the Synagogue.
The joy of the Sabbath twinkled in all eyes,
A happiness, with which each house was full.
Now, however, I know that in your desolated streets,

The joy of each house will no longer resound.
I know: it isn’t there any longer, Jewish Dereczin no longer exists,
With “Hear O Israel” my little town went to its grave.
202
This Is How the Jewish Community of Dereczin Was
Destroyed
By Masha & Abraham-Hirsch Kulakowski
The date of March 23, 1939 comes to mind. A cold terrified. Under these extenuating circumstances, all
rain, mixed with snow, fell ceaselessly since the the mobilized troops piled into wagons, and went off
early morning hours, but the snow didn’t last, and to Zelva to the train station.
melted underfoot. A swamp-like mud covered all the
streets and byways of Dereczin. A few days went by, and the first letters began to
arrive. The young people were somewhere on the
The 23rd of the month was a day for which the Jews Polish-German border, intensely occupied with
of the town waited weeks at a time – it was the military affairs, but they c ommunicated that
major market day, when thousands of peasants everything was all right with them. However, the
would come to town to sell their produce, buy a highly anxious state in Dereczin continued to
variety of things, such as kerosene, salt, sugar, persist.
footwear, clothes, etc. The marketplace was packed
with hundreds of wagons. The peasants were in a It was in this fashion that days, weeks and then
hurry to sell their produc e in order to have the time months went by, and the residents of our town did
to drop in on a saloon to get some drink, have some not return. From time to time, one or another of
talk with their acquaintances, buy whatever they them would come home for a couple of days leave,
needed, and then return to their villages before but no one of our people was discharged from
nightfall. military service.
The First News of War Life proceeded normally, but our sense of unrest did
not leave us. Five months had passed, it is August
On the outside, it looked like a normal market day, already, and the state of anxiety persists the entire
but I remember it so vividly because on that day we time, and grows more intense day by day. All
lived through the first news of possible war, and this manner of rumors and suspicions ceaselessly
was the onset of the terrible misfortune that two circulate among the Jews, and everyone’s nerves are
years later befell Dereczin, and specifically its Jews. taut with tension.
On that day, the news of an instant mobilization hit The last week of August arrives. The remaining
us like a thunderclap. Before the news of the eligible age cohorts are mobilized, and in the air,
mobilization arrived, no one even dreamed of suc h one senses that the war is near.
a sudden mobilization order. But now it became
clear – the smell of war was in the air. The War Breaks Out
The first of the mobilized troops ran around town On the morning of September 1, the bitter news
putting outstanding affairs in order. Their mothers arrives: the German Luftwaffe has bombed Suwalk
wept and wailed to the point where it was heart- and other Polish cities. Everyone becomes heavy-
rending. However, the older folks still recalled the hearted. At noon, we heard the words of the Polish
mobilization of 1914 and remembered how President Maszczycki, in which he expressed the
tragically it was received by everyone at that time. hope that God would help the Polish nation defeat
But nobody took any comfort from this. We were all its enemies. It became rapidly evident to everyone
203
that this was an empty wish. Hard days, filled with It is difficult to describe our sense of elation. At the
reports of the German victories, c ome along. The time, I thought that I was living the happiest day of
Jews, by and large, sit in their houses full of fear. my life. The entire Jewish population, and also
Commerce was practically paralyzed. In the town, many of the Christians from Dereczin and its
there is no military force. News reaches us that the environs, went forth to greet the Soviet military
Zelva railroad station has been bombed. Dereczin forces. There relationship to the native population
gets its first taste of these bombs on Rosh Hashanah. was very friendly. There ride into town made a
A few of these bombs fall outside of town, but apart colossal impression. They were especially inspired
from instilling fear, they cause no material damage. by the Red Cavalry, which came riding in on their
white horses, with shining beautiful pelerines over
Out of fear of the German bombardment, we leave their shoulders. They embraced and kissed everyone
Dereczin, and we go to a [neighboring] village. Our who came to greet them, giving the children little
Polish neighbors ask us to flee from the German red flags as souvenirs of this great day of good
planes, because [they believe] they are bombing fortune. Our joy knew no bounds. It seemed as if the
only the Jews... but we react to this specious Messiah had come...
suggestion without laughter, because we know that
the Germans have a long list to settle with us Jews. To the celebration gatherings, tens of thousands of
people from the entire area came together. Dereczin
The war was already almost two weeks in progress was literally too small to absorb them all. The
before Dereczin received a detachment of several masses found many ways to express their
tens of Polish youths, who were sent as a military enthusiasm and inspiration for the liberating Red
formation to protec t law and order. You are to military forces, and its shining leader, Stalin.
understand that the “ordering” started with the Jews.
Several Jews fell victims at their hands, and they It quickly began its work to establish control of the
occupied themselves with instituting their bloody town. It was immediately decided to continue
work. With armed weapons in hand, they forced utilizing Polish currency, and the Polish zloty was
several tens of the Jewish populace into an old made equal in worth to the Russian ruble. The
abandoned barn, and wanted to torch it. It was only arriving Russians began to buy up everything that
thanks to the energetic intervention of the town came to hand. In comparison with the prices that
priest that these Jews were saved from an awful they experienced at home, the c ost of merchandise,
death. especially clothing and footwear was very cheap.
A new ‘situation’ developed in Dereczin. Hundreds

The Soviets Save Us of Jews, who fled the German-occupied parts of
western Poland, streamed into the Byelorussian
An alarm then went out through the town, that the cities and towns, and came into Dereczin en masse.
Soviets had crossed the Polish-Russian border, and Despite the fact that the Dereczin Jews did not live
they were c oming to save us. We did not then in the lap of luxury, they took in these ‘homeless’
understand exactly what would constitute their people with open arms. Jews from Poland lived in
‘rescue’ and as a result, a great sense of relief held almost every home, and they brought in a new color
sway among the Jews. And that happiness, was very to life in Dereczin. Together with our Litvak
understandable [at the time]. Yiddish, one could now hear, from all sides, the
musical tone of Polish-ac cented Yiddish.
On September 17, the Red Army crossed the border, Relationships between the two groups was generally
and a few days later, we were privileged to see the amicable.
Soviet military arrive with our own eyes.
204
Soviet Influence Arrives Days of Fear and Panic
Our ardor for the Soviet rulers began to get Bitter bulletins about the enemy follow one on top
quenched a little at a time. Apart from continuous of the other. The Germans have bombed military
changes, our lives took on the character of the barracks, airfields, railroad stations, highways and
familiar Soviet way of life. Free trade was no longer cities. The Soviet military personnel are constantly
permitted. One central store was opened, which disoriented and confused.
needed to serve the entire town populace with all
required products. While no official sanc tions were On that sad June 22, German aircraft appeared over
put in place, as a practical matter, it was impossible Dereczin as well. The Zelva railroad station was
to get a hold of anything. also bombed. An indescribable panic took hold
among the populac e, especially the Jews. The
When word of a product newly arrived at the store surrounding Poles take great joy in the misfortune of
was passed, immediately a long line formed in the Jews. They hated the Soviet rule intensely, and
which the ‘bullies’ had control. It was in this fashion now thought only of revenge.
that 400g of sugar was allocated to each family for
several months. To the best of my recollection, I can Our hearts told us that the most terrifying period of
remember only one instance in which my family our lives was approaching.
received such a ration of sugar from the Soviets
during the period of their occupation. There were In the evening, all the young people received orders
those who happened to receive more than one for mobilization, and in the morning they were to
portion during rationing. Few families were able to rendezvous at the railroad station in Zelva.
provision themselves adequately with all of the However, it appears that the Germans had good
necessities of life. intelligence, and from early morning on, bombed the
rendezvous point heavily. The Soviet authorities
Life became difficult, but this did not disturb the had no alternative means by which to dispatch the
good relationship that had been created between the assembled young people. Whoever survived the
Soviet residents and the local young people. It was German bombardment fled for home. With the
in this manner that we befriended a high-ranking return of the mobilized young people, the
officer, who was Jewish, who spoke a ‘gentile’ atmosphere in Dereczin became even more
Yiddish, but could recite [Ch. N.] Bialik by heart. burdened. A deep sorrow took hold of all the Jews.
Slowly, all the people fell into various lines of On the second day, Monday morning, all the Soviet
endeavor, wherever they had skills, as a teacher, or authorities abandoned Dereczin, and began to flee
worker, in one of the [newly] created work eastward to the Russian border. A part of the young
collectives. It was hard for us to get used to the idea people fled with them as well. The roads were
that if you were late for work, by even a few pac ked with the military and civilians. Everything
minutes, that you could be severely punished, even was focused on fleeing into Russia. But very few
be liable for arrest. But, it is possible to get used to were able to break through and reac h areas still
just about everything... under Soviet control. The roads were cut up by the
fire of the Germans and their troops. People fell on
That is how the time passed by. Twenty-one months the roads from German bullets. Those who remained
had passed since the arrival of the Soviet forces. alive, managed to crawl back home.
Suddenly, there came June 22, 1941. Dereczin was left without military protection. On
the fourth day, Wednesday, an alarm was given that
a German tank had rapidly run through the town.
205
Nobody wanted to believe that something like this falling artillery shells, which set fire to the houses
had happened – in Dereczin, the billeting point for adjacent to the church, so disrupted these German
one of the best Soviet battalions, and the young ‘heroes,’ that they began to run back and forth like
people who were friendly with the Russian military poisoned mic e. We all fled the church courtyard
personnel, would relate not once how the battalion’s toward the burning houses. We began to try and
equipment was so good and modern. Had the save whatever we could. It was at that point that
battalion abandoned its base in Dereczin without people began to run into the fields surrounding the
defense? These type of questions were posed from town, to save themselves from the conflagration.
all sides, until we saw with our own eyes that not a When we regrouped, we found that our house had
single Soviet soldier remained in town. been burned to the ground. Temporarily, we went
into the barn, which had managed to survive the
The Germans Are Here blaze.
Dereczin was captured by the Germans on June 27. That evening, the S.S. troops wanted to begin
A detail of German paratroopers entered the town, murdering Jews. We were lying in the barn, together
while the regular German Army was still in Zelva. with our neighbors and other refugees, who had just
As they entered the town, they began shooting arrived from the Soviet side. Suddenly, we were
indiscriminately, and started to drive the people out surrounded by German soldiers armed with hand
of the houses into the courtyard of the church. Also, grenades. They entered the barn and ordered the
black uniformed S.S. troops came into town, with men to raise their hands, and took away their
the white skulls on their insignias, and ordered us to watches along with anything else of value. They
march with raised hands to the church. didn’t touc h the women. They told us to remain in
the barn, and not to move. Anyone who would
The entire population, young and old, Jews and presume to go outside would be shot immediately.
Christians, had been gathered there, and one of the
Germans said that Dereczin had been occupied by Beaten and frightened, we sat that way, not knowing
the Germans, and martial law was being declared in what the coming minutes were going to bring. The
the town. ‘Suspicious’ people were immediately put little children cried, asking to be taken home, not
off to the side. In order to be ‘suspected,’ of being a knowing that all that remained of their home were
fleeing Soviet resident, it was enough to be c lean- the charred walls. The adults sat and their hearts
shaven, or simply to have a haircut. They also began gave out. So many stories had already been heard
to separate the Jews and Christians. about German cruelty, about bestial murders. If true,
then these perhaps are our last minutes [of life]. The
That is how we all stood there, not knowing what sorrow of those sentenced to death fell heavily on
would become of us. But then, suddenly, a miracle us. No one spoke, no one stirred from their place.
happened that permitted us that day to stay alive, but The German patrol is guarding us, we hear their
consumed half the town in flames. footfall around the barn.
To this day, we don’t exactly know who, in that It is a dark night around us. What will the night
hour when we feared death, opened artillery fire on bring? Will we live long enough to see the light of
Dereczin. Perhaps it was the regular German Army, dawn?
which was advancing from Zelva to Dereczin, fired
on the town, not knowing that the town had already About midnight, strong gunfire erupted all about us.
been taken by their own paratroops. Other The shells of automatic weapons are flying over our
knowledgeable people say that it was a Soviet barn. And we are sitting inside as if caught in a trap.
detachment that opened fire, in a move to break My father, a former Russian soldier in World War I,
through the German lines. One way or another, the identifies the different artillery shells to me. Out of
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sheer exhaustion and weeping, the children have Beginning tomorrow, July 16, all Jews above the
fallen asleep. My mother vg, sits and watches over age of 14 must wear yellow badges 10cm2. The
them, and tears fall from her eyes. penalty for not wearing this badge of shame, or for
not displaying it properly, has been set – death on
The coming of dawn pierces the blackness of the the spot. All Jews age 14-60 must every day present
night, and it becomes possible to see something themselves for forced labor. All we got for this work
again. I steal quietly to the door, and peer through a was a beating, and later – even a bullet. Jews were
crack. I see soldiers on motorcycles, and it appears forbidden to go on the roads, to live next to
as if the Germans are getting reinforcements. But as Christians, and leaving their houses after 5PM.
the morning proceeds, and gets lighter, I recognize
these as Soviet troops. We immediately saw that our This is how the litany of decrees began. The
German patrols had fled. In the confusion of battle, Germans established a Judenrat to monitor
they had forgotten about us, and we remained alive. compliance with these decrees and regulations. The
One miracle after another. German authorities related to the Judenrat with
disdain and mockery, and treated its members no
In the morning we returned to town. There we better than all the other Jews.
learned that a part of a Soviet Division, which was
surrounded by the German military forces, wanted Forced labor was varied and also peculiar. Their
to break through the German lines, and not having true goal was to exhaust the Jews to death. We dug
any other alternative, attacked the Germans in town pits, and then filled them in again, moved large
in the middle of the night. There was a life and heavy boulders from one place to another, and then
death struggle in the middle of the streets. The town back again. As an overseer of the women’s work,
was inundated with cannon fire. None of the one of the refugee homeless people was appointed,
residents got any sleep. At the end of the battle, the one Belkovich, a quiet and good man, who was lame
Russians were able to break through and they went in one foot. He would always beg our pardon
through Dereczin eastward, in order to join up with whenever he came to summon us to conscript labor.
their fragmented formations. It was no secret what was happening when a young
girl went to work, and hadn’t returned by the
The Germans fled from Dereczin to Halinka. This afternoon, he would try to calm us by saying that we
was good news, but it didn’t last very long. News will yet be privileged to see the murderers get their
reached us very soon thereafter that on arrival in own bitter comeuppance.
Halinka, the Germans murdered and also buried
alive 140 Jews. They had taken away everyone from It was not once that I would start up from sleep in
Dereczin that they suspected of being a conscript in the middle of the night, fearful that I would
the Russian army, and to this day, no one knows oversleep and be late for work. Here it is 2AM, and
where they were taken and killed. They were the in three hours, I must present myself to the Gestapo
first victims of German rule in Dereczin. Command. The Head of these murderers would
Afterwards, there was a brief interlude without any personally count and control his workers, cursing all
death victims. the Jews and cruelly beating anyone he felt like
beating. The entire process was frightening and
The Nazi Reign of Terror demeaning. You think to yourself that nothing here
can be c alled ‘human,’ what with this German
About July 15, a whole camp of Nazi agents of animal standing in front of you with hate flickering
destruction entered the town. In a matter of minutes, in his eyes.
all Jews, men and women, age 14-60 were ordered
to assemble in the marketplace. An S.S. officer gave There is not much time for such thinking. An order
a short speech to this gathering. He said as follows: is barked to leave the yard and begin work. All day
207
we are transformed into robots, who do things didn’t take long before the first victims were
without thinking about the purpose of the work. We brought to the police. They are boarded on a vehicle
become exhausted and oppressed. In the winter, for and driven to the outskirts of town. I am made aware
example, we had to clean the snow off all the that Sonya Grachuk is among them. Later, witnesses
streets, and as it happens, that winter, the Lord sent told that when the auto passed through the center of
us snow without measure. I stand on the the marketplace, Sonya raised her head, in order to
marketplac e where the market fair days took place. bid farewell to the forced laborers. An Estonian
Also, in those days, the peasants would come on the struck her violently in the head with the butt of his
23rd of the month, to the market day. We have to rifle, and she fell dead in the c ar. Two years later,
clean the snow off this large expanse, along with the on my way to the tomb, I came across the mass
refuse from the horses and wagons that was left grave where Sonya was buried. I paid homage to her
behind. And the snow is up to our knees. The shining memory with a profound silence.
remaining peasants look at us mockingly, as if to
express their will to wreak vengeance on these very News of Enemy Actions
Jewish girls that, not so long ago, had lived such a
tranquil life, studied, hoped and dreamed about Meanwhile, an alarm spread that in Slonim 1000
things that these peasants couldn’t even begin to Jews were rounded up without any cause and sent to
understand. an unknown destination. A few days later, we found
out that they had all been shot not far from the city.
Once, in such a distressed time, I spy my friend Equally bitter news began to arrive from other
Sonya Grachuk not far from me. Recently we have surrounding cities and towns. The disquiet among
not met very often, because of the strict curfews, we the Jews grew from day to day. We lived in constant
would spend entire evenings in our c ramped and fear, until the High Holydays c ame, which in that
over-c rowded homes. Sonya is standing, but not year were truly transformed into Days of Awe.
working. When I asked her what was happening, she
said to me that where possible, we must damage and On the first day of Sukkot, as usual, the Jews left
sabotage whatever the Germans force us to do. And quite early for their work. But this time, they were
in connection with this, she tells me the following not taken to there usual work, rather the police took
overwhelming thing: there are thousands of them to a totally different location. In vain we
partisans operating in the Byelorussian forests. They waited for the return of parents, husbands and
are waging guerilla warfare against the Germans. At brothers, and they [finally] returned after 36 hours
this point, Sonya suddenly went silent – from the of inhuman labor. They had dug out a mass grave 45
distance, the Hangman of the Jews of Dereczin was meters long, 20 meters wide, and 4 meters deep.
approaching, in his glistening high boots and leather
jacket, which he had extorted from the Jews, and Why do the Germans need such a pit? Many
more than once had been stained with Jewish blood. speculations circulated among the Jews. We tried to
We immediately stooped to our work. submerge the awful feeling we had, and said that it
would be used to make storage units for potatoes
Several months later on a summer’s day, a and other produce. But that pit did not disappear
contingent of Estonian police suddenly arrived in from anyone’s thoughts. We talked about it day and
Dereczin. We all became terribly frightened. The night, and it often came to us in our dreams.
Estonians were already well known as wild animals.
Every Christian who had a complaint against a Jew, By that time, the command had already been given
or just plain hated Jews, was in a position to inform that all Jews must vacate Christian homes, and move
to these police, and the Estonians would inflict the out of mixed residence streets, and to set up
murderous punishment. It was in this manner that residence in the so-called Jewish Quarter, which
they were sent on “guest duty” in the towns. It occupied one side of the marketplace and the
208
Schulhof. Quite often, S.S. troops would come from were shot in the middle of the marketplac e. Death
other cities, and the Jews would live through hours awaited those who wanted to leave town, or
of indescribable terror. The town would be approach the local gentiles in search of something to
surrounded by military personnel and police, and eat.
these bandits would descend on the Jewish homes
looking for gold, money, leather, and other items of Terrifying news reached us from various sources,
value. Such plundering was always accompanied by from the surrounding cities. The Jews in Baranovich
murderous beatings. After such incidents, the Jews and Horodishch (possibly Gorodishch) had already
would temporarily breathe a little easier. been slaughtered out. Life for us had ceased to
exist. We spoke only of death, which stood before
However, they were not permitted to breathe easy our eyes. Little children already understood to flee
for very long. the presence of the bloody Poritz. Every night, two-
year-old children would ask their mothers if it was
During the first months of the German oc c upation, safe to get undressed for bed, and if the night will be
the local administration was in the hands of Polish an uneventful one.
authorities. Their relationship to the Jews was no
better than that of the Germans. On November 17, a At Purim, a couple of hundred men were taken from
contingent of 11 S.S. troops arrived to take over the Dereczin to Slonim for work. They were taken
town governance into their hands. At the head of under heavy guard by Germans and [local] police,
this group was a young, dangerous sadist named [recruited] from Dereczin gentiles. It was bitter cold,
Poritz. He was as bloodthirsty as a wild animal. The and the young Jews were clothed in tattered
Polish authorities are replaced with Byelorussian garments and footwear. They were led, as you can
police, who are no better than their predecessors. imagine, on foot, and were murderously beaten
The Germans set themselves up in the movie along the way for trying to stop and rest.
theater, and from there, spread their bloody rule
throughout the town. Poritz was the Leiter for the Some of them, after a while, managed to turn back
‘Jewish Question.’ to Dereczin without permission. The Germans found
out about this, and on a spec ific day in April they
Day in and day out, hundreds of Jews would arrested these young people and their families.
assemble in front of Gestapo headquarters, and from Whoever was found in their homes was [also] taken
their go to work. For that many people, there was off to the police. Without any charges, they were
entirely insufficient work of any kind in Dereczin, held the entire night, and beaten with the intent to
but the Germans took pleasure in watching how kill. On April 30, they took everyone, about 200
hungry and driven Jews are made to stand in the rain souls, and led them off to the large pit, near the
and snow, and expend the last of their failing village of Radziak. A few understood what was
energies. going to happen, and began to run [away] across the
fields. They were shot and left to lie in the fields.
The Mass Grave Receives Victims The others, forced by beatings, were thrown into the
pit, and then they opened fire on them with machine
The situation became increasingly unbearable. guns and hand grenades. Dirt was thrown into the
Gentiles were forbidden to have any sort of contact pit, which barely covered the dead and those that
with Jews, and it became increasingly difficult to were still alive and lay dying.
procure the essentials of life. A Jew was prohibited
from making any purchase in the marketplace, even Among those who fell in the fields was one woman
in the circumstance that he had any money. It was who had only been wounded. With enormous effort,
not uncommon that in reprisal for buying a little bit she managed to drag herself back into town, where
of milk for children, or a bit of bread, that Jews Jews secretly brought her to the hospital, and when
209
the Germans found out about it, they took all these Germans divided the Jewish population into
unfortunates out to the cemetery and shot them “essential” and “non-essential” Jews. The
there. “essential” [Jews] were the ones who worked for the
Germans. They implied that the “essential” [Jews]
The following morning, after this terrifying day of did not have to fear for their lives. In order to obtain
slaughter, the Leiter of the Jewish Question Poritz, an “essential” certificate, the Jews paid large sums
came before the Jewish laborers, threw his leather of money to those close to the German authorities,
jacket to them and ordered: “Clean the Jewish blood and were prepared to do the hardest and dirtiest
off the jacket.” work for the Germans. Please understand, that this
whole rigmarole with “essential” Jews turned out to
First Reports from the Forest be a gruesome ruse perpetrated by the Germans, in
order to sow hatred and envy between one Jew and
The Germans carried out a registration of all another, and in this fashion weaken their ability to
Russian citizens who remained in our area. This resist the dangers that lurked for them, coming from
consisted of about 100 men. These were rank and the Germans.
file soldiers and officers of the Russian military,
who could not get out of the region after the German The newly-minted bourgeoisie was organized into
invasion, because this entire area of Byelorussia was collective districts by the Germans, they emptied out
in fact surrounded by German forces withing the a large Jewish dwelling, and turned it into a
first few days. They removed the Russian military warehouse. Village residents who had need of labor,
insignias [from their uniforms], and went away to would come to these collectives. The Jews would
work for the local peasants. c arry out this work without compensation. There
were many among the peasants who did not
The Germans arrested the registered Russians, and sympathize with this disgusting exploitation of the
herded them of in the direction of Slonim. On the hapless Jews, and they would bring a little flour, a
way to Halinka, they were all shot. When the small bottle of milk for these workers – and all this
remaining Russians heard about this, they fled from clandestinely, because they stood to be punished
the villages into the forests. They were the founders severely for providing assistance to a Jew. The
of the partisan brigades in our area. cows, which were owned by the Jews, were
confiscated by the Germans within the first days of
News of the partisans and their daring feats reached their arrival, and the little bit of milk from them
Dereczin. Legends were literally spun out of air literally helped to keep small children alive. I am
about their exploits, their number put in the reminded of how difficult it was to bring the
thousands, and that they were equipped with modern sanctioned products from the warehouses, whic h
weaponry. At that time, this was pure fantasy, but were outside the ghetto, to our home. My little
later it became reality. But this news served to raise brothers vg, made themselves a small wagon, and at
the spirits of the Jews; a small hope awoke in their great risk to themselves, through side streets and
hearts that now, the Germans might experience a back yards, would bring this meager produce home
little fear in starting up with the Jews. Many young with them.
people began to think about going to the forests
themselves. However, it was not that easy to get out It was in this manner that four thousand people lived
of the ghetto and go to the forests. A danger in suffocation together, in 40 houses, consisting of
emanated not only from the Germans, who would ‘homeless refugees’ and natives of Dereczin, and
have taken revenge on the families of these Jews brought from Halinka and Kolonia [-Sinaiska].
escapees, but also from the Jews as well. About 500 “essential” Jews lived outside the ghetto.
There was absolutely no contact between different
In order to create antagonism among the Jews, the segments of the Jewish population.
210
With these types of relationships, it wasn’t easy to for merely going out of the ghetto you could get a
contemplate fleeing to the forests, because no one bullet. It was also not easy to find a Christian, who
was prepared to place the entire Jewish ghetto even for a large sum of money, would agree to
population at the risk of death. The so-called transport Jews to Zelva. Despite this, there was an
“essential” Jews were especially opposed to this inclination among many Jews to try and steal over to
idea, because they lived with the illusion of their this “Garden of Eden” of Zelva. I personally
“essential” status for the German occupiers. escorted two of my sisters-in-law and a young
girlfriend, and said my farewells to them at the
Despite all this, the youth secretly prepared itself to boundary of the ghetto, in preparation for them
flee to the forests, and establish a resistance to the smuggling themselves across the boundary in order
finish. Those who worked in the ammunition to go to Zelva. I parted from them with an eternal
dumps, where equipment that had fallen into finality, because I am certain that our end is close at
German hands from their engagement with the hand.
Russians, used to slowly and one at a time, carry out
individual firearms and bullets. In this fashion they The Bitter Hour Has Come
assembles twenty guns and automatic weapons,
hiding them outside of town, in order that no Jew The Ninth of Ab of 5702, and the following day, the
fall under suspicion. An agreement was made to tenth of Ab, July 24, 1942, will never be forgotten
utilize this weaponry when there was no other by the Jews of Dereczin all over the world.
choice remaining. One must recall the nature of the
danger involved in trying to take arms out of a The anxious sentiment was already palpable on
German ammunition dump in order to appreciate the Tisha B’Av. Jews fasted, prayed for their
heroism of these Dereczin young people. deliveranc e, and the downfall of the Germans.
Neither the fast nor the prayers were of any use. The
It was felt that the end of the Dereczin Jews was fate of the Jews of Dereczin was sealed on that day.
drawing closer. The Germans had milked the last
shreds of value, through contributions, from the One sensed the odor of gunpowder in the air that
Jews. From time to time, under direc tion from the day, somewhat more strongly than usual. The
Nazi regional command in Slonim, the Judenrat was Germans and the police were making an incursion
compelled to offer up kilograms of gold, silver, furs, into the ghetto on that day. The Jews became
and large sums of money – and the Jewish houses uneasy, and began running around, one to another,
had become emptied of their valuables. Physically, seeking some insight or advice.
the Jews had become exhausted through hard labor
and hunger. People dropping dead in the ghetto was A certain Jew, apparently sent as an emissary by the
a frequent occurrence. Everybody participated in the Germans, kept constantly assuring people that there
shooting: the Germans, the [local] police, everyone was nothing to fear, nothing was going to happen,
had a grudge against the Jews and wanted to exact and one could peacefully disrobe for sleep. As
revenge, giving no thought to why or for what. usual, we went to sleep fully clothed.
The situation for the Jews in Zelva was at that time It was still dark when the ghetto was surrounded by
still somewhat better. Zelva was officially part of the Germans and the police. There were four of us
the Third Reich, and Jews were permitted to live – my mother-in-law vg, my husband, an
there. They were even paid for their forced labor. acquaintanc e, and myself – outside the ghetto. Our
From the perspective of the Jews of Dereczin, Zelva eyes were not shut, and we saw everything that
seemed like a Garden of Eden. It was no wonder, happened in the ghetto.
then, that people did almost anything to try and steal
over to Zelva. This was no easy thing to do, since
211
My mother-in-law gave each of us a half loaf of After exhausting ourselves by crossing the swampy
bread and convinced us to flee. We all left the house mud, we hid ourselves in a corn field. It was quiet
together, taking nothing with us, and running all around. From the distance, the sounds of heavy
towards the fields. It got as little lighter, and the gunfire was carried to us on the wind.
police spotted us. A hail of bullets flew over our
heads. We ran off in all directions, and from that
time on, I never saw my mother-in-law again. My
husband Abraham, our acquaintance, Munya and I
continued to run together. A large swampy mud
plain was in front of us, and we sank into it up to
our knees. Before that, we had to run through the
yard of the Russian Orthodox Bishop, whose son-in-
law was a known lackey of the Nazis. It would
appear that they were all still asleep, since it was
given to us to cross that dangerous yard by stealth.
The Fate of the Feldman Family

By Rachel Efrat-Feldman
Photo: Mendel Feldman (p. 257)
My parents, Mendel Feldman, and his wife Pesha, head of the community in Dereczin, and with his
neé Bernstein, had one of the prominent families of wise and diplomatic leadership, earned respect from
Dereczin. It was also a large family – six daughters all parts of the town. Jews often came to seek his
and two sons. advice, because he was endowed with straight
thinking and robust logic. My mother was the
Only two children remained alive from the family: symbol of goodness to us and to everyone [in town].
the author of this memoir, Rachel Efrat, who
fortunately emigrated to the United States shortly It is therefore understandable that we, the children
before the outbreak of the Second World War, and of the Feldman family household got a good
a son, Chaim Feldman, who along with his wife upbringing, and we were active among the various
Liza, and two small children, survived the passage youth groups in town.
through seven circles of Hell, first in the ghetto of
Novogrudok, and afterwards with the partisan My sister Tamara, died before the war. All the other
brigades in the forest; they lived through every of my brothers and sisters, except for my brother
c onc eivable terrifying experience, and after Chaim, were brought down by the murderous hands
emerging from the forests, reac hed America where of the Nazis.
they settled themselves.
During the first days of the Nazi occupation, my
The Feldman family in Dereczin was an institution father once again proved adept at protecting the
unto itself. Everyone recalls both my mother and interests of the Jewish community, but he quickly
father vg, with their cordiality to guests, and their perceived the nature of the murderous plans that
warmhearted relationships to everyone. these butchers had prepared to carry out.
My father Mendel Feldman, was for many years the
212
On one morning, an order came from the Nazi The sons and daughters of the Feldman family that
commandant that Mendel Feldman and his wife were slaughtered by the Hitlerite murderers were:
must present themselves for relocation into the Chaya Dworetsky and her husband Hirschel along
ghetto. with two children (a third remains living in Russia);
Shayndl Blum, her husband and daughter; Rivkah
Father packed everything and hastily arranged all Viniatsky with her husband and two sons; Elkeh
our effects. At a specific time, he left home, but did Weinstein with her husband and two sons; Hirschel
not return too quickly. Suddenly, there was a cry Feldman met a hero’s death in the forest as a
from my mother: “Jews! Come and save us!” When partisan.
the neighbors who were around came running, they
saw my father hanging from the loft. A funeral was
organized with the permission of the Nazi
commandant. When the cortege wound its way
through the streets of Dereczin to the cemetery, the
lowlife of a Nazi commandant shouted out with
great conviction and malice: “They are taking the
smartest Jew in the town to burial...”
The Germans Have Arrived

By Sara Wachler-Ogulnick
So many years have passed since those terrifying daughter Tzippeh113 in a small class. She escorted
days, and I still cannot forget that frightening me as far as my home. The elation of my parents
picture. Living through that first day when the was understandable. In Dereczin, this deathly
Germans arrived in Dereczin. silence persisted until Friday.
The German attack across the Soviet border on June That Friday is strongly etched into my memory. I
22, 1941 found me in Zheludok, where I was a guest remember at about nine in the morning, tanks and
visiting my grandmother. On the third day, Tuesday, other Panzer autos entered the town, full of
after heavy bombardment, I fled early in the Germans. With arms in both hands, the German
morning from Zheludok to home in Dereczin. I soldiers came to us and ordered Jews and Christians
made the 50 km journey in one day, and arrived alike to gather in the courtyard of the church. An
home broken in body, and exhausted to the point older German, speaking a broken Russian, outlined
that I was unable to stand on my own two feet. a variety of edicts to us, what was permitted and
what was forbidden. The picked out all the men who
A peculiar and gruesome silence pervaded the were shaven, thinking that these were Russian
streets, when I arrived in Dereczin. I couldn’t troops. Those were all shot on the same day.
comprehend from where such a deathly quiet came
to this plac e, at a time when all roads were packed As we were standing in the courtyard of the church,
with refugees, people were running from place to a bombardment began, and the town began to burn.
place, often without any seeming purpose, trying to Even the Germans were frightened, and ran to their
find any way to save themselves from the Germans. vehicles.
I was met by Bashka Abelovich. I studied with her 113

Yiddish diminutive for Zipporah.
213
I ran to our house, because a bomb struck the The town was ablaze. The smoke was heavy and
Beckenstein home in the wall, and the fire was constant. People screamed hysterically, cried, and
spreading right toward our house. My mother kz, wrung their hands. Women with children in their
looked after the children, while my father and I laps tore the hair from their heads. One heard the
started to throw whatever contents we could out of continuous shouts of a variety of names, lost people
the house. In the end I even rescued my bicycle. were looking for one another, parents were
searching for children, and children wailed and
Our house began to burn. In the ensuing tumult and looked for their parents. Sheep and cattle ran wild in
confusion, I became separated from my family. I the fields – a terrifying portrait of wartime.
fled to the road leading to Slonim.
The fields were full of Jews and their children. I sat

alone and looked at the devastating images about
me. To this day, it appears before me like some
gruesome film. It started to thunder and flash
lightning, and an intense downpour of rain
commenced. Airplanes flew overhead. The Germans
rode back and forth in their tanks.
From the Hideaway into the Forest

By Yehudit Yankelevich-Lantzevitzky
As soon as they marched into Dereczin, the and a local policeman came to our home, the
Germans drove all the Jews around the church, men, Dereczin magistrate Kozya Tchaplinski, and they put
women and children, with no exception, and inside my father up against the wall, intending to shoot him
the church itself, they gathered captured Russian on the spot. My sister and I then emerged from the
prisoners of war. cellar where we had hidden ourselves, and went off
to work with the other Dereczin girls – digging
Suddenly, a bombing attack by airplanes erupted, ditches, under the direction of the Germans, in the
many houses were set on fire, and we all scattered. Shlizer woods, on the way to Puzovitsa.
That very evening, the Russians re-entered the town,
and all night a bloody battle ensued in Dereczin and When I returned home a couple of days later, they
its environs. By morning, the Russians retreated and had already confiscated all valuables from the Jews,
the Germans entered the town once again. such as furs, gold, jewelry, etc. From us they also
took away our cow and the horse and wagon.
Their bloody reign ensued. They established a
Judenrat, and made the Jews miserable with At that point, the Germans constructed a ghetto, and
decrees, forced contributions and death threats. confined all the Jews within it. The overcrowding
They would often pillage Jewish houses, and our was indescribable.
home was among the first to be victimized by
German predation. Many young Jews were taken for forced labor in a
Beute-lager, which were magazines for storing
They drafted all the Jews into forced labor for a munitions captured from the Russian military forces.
mere piece of bread a day. Also, all the young Conditions at this work were frightening, and a
women, according to a decree, were required to number of these young people fled home to
present themselves for this work. I did not present Dereczin from these locations. The German killed
myself to them for work, and therefore a German the entire families of those who fled outright.
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In the summer of 1942, a day after Tisha B’Av, the The [local] police discovered the bunker, tore off
Germans surrounded the ghetto, took the Jews out of the cover, and demanded that we come out. We did
their houses and hiding places, and led them off to not exit. The polic e were afraid to crawl into the
a mass grave. It was at that location that the majority interior, so they locked up the cellar and went away.
of the Jewish population of Dereczin was murdered
and buried. At midnight, we tore off the cover ourselves, left the
cellar and went up to the attic, broke through the
I had, on that day concealed myself, along with 20 roof and fled. I fled with Motya Bosak and Alter
other people, in a hideout. Our bunker was outside Kolonar. [In this way] we reached the forest of
the ghetto, in the cellar of a mill. We spent the entire Volya.
day there.
Barely Escaping With Our Lives to the Forest

By Pesha Feinsilber
When the news came over the radio in September displeasure at the arrest of their officers on us, the
1939 that bec ause of the German-Soviet Pact, the Jews. Many Jews fled the town, and hid out among
Red Army was to enter Dereczin, a tumult and a Christians and in the fields. We hid at Rushetzky’s,
shudder ran through town. Polish notables fled, and “The American.” The Rabbi, his wife and their
with them the police and anyone else who had children, were with us as well.
reason to fear the Soviet forces.
In the early morning, the Rabbi was summoned to
In the meantime, Dereczin was left without police the local priest. There it was demanded of him that
and without protection. Local Jewish youth, along he should try to influence the young people, and
with Christians from nearby villages took over the obtain the release of the Polish officers from jail,
forces in Dereczin on a temporary basis, until the because of the impending danger attending the
Russians would arrive. They had a little bit of arrival of the Polish army contingent who might
armament. wreck all of Dereczin. Only after expending
considerable energy, did the Rabbi and the priest
Immediately on that first night, they came knocking obtain the keys to the jail, and release the officers.
on my door, and ordered me to open the store, and
to provide red cloth for banners and tablecloths, in At about ten in the morning, the retreating Polish
order to receive the Red Army. army arrived. The officers singled out the
Beckenstein home, and related how the “Reds” that
Victims of Polish Revenge fell upon them and wounded one of them had hidden
themselves in the yard of this house. The Poles
On the second night, three vehicles with Polish immediately shot into Beckenstein’s windows. The
officers drove through Dereczin, after whom were entire family was hiding down in the cellar, except
supposed to come a contingent of the Polish army. for the aged Hirschel Beckenstein, who asked of
The temporary authorities detained the Polish them from the house, what was their concern with
officers, beat them up, confisc ated their autos, and his house. With shouts that they had been fired upon
arrested them. In town, an uproar and panic ensued: from the walls of the house, they shot the elder
the contingent of Polish army was expected any Beckenstein. When the Poles retreated to a distance,
minute, and the Poles [surely] would take out their Shmuel Beckenstein came up out of the cellar, to see
215
what was happening in his brother’s house. Seeing bombed our town.
his brother lying dead, he fell down from a heart
attack and died on the spot. The Red Army was not prepared for the German
assault. Germany attacked suddenly, like a wild
Elation and Disappointment animal leaping from ambush. The Soviet authorities
and military did not know where to run. Early that
All the Jews began to emerge from hiding and began Sunday, autos and wagons with Soviet commanders
to prepare a reception for the Red Army. The and their families began to pull back. Along with
following morning, the first detachments of Soviet them, went Jews who worked for the Soviets, and
soldiers arrived in wagons. They were greeted with Jewish women who had married Soviet personnel.
joy and hand-clapping. When the first tanks arrived, Everyone fled to Russia. On Monday, many also
they were greeted with shouts of: “To your health! fled on foot. However, very soon people appeared
Hurrah! Hurrah!” The entire town turned out to who were running back – the roads were fraught
greet them. with danger, the German aircraft were raking all the
roads and train tracks with machine-gun fire. Only
The first few days went by, and a decree came out to a portion of those fleeing managed to reach Russia,
open all the stores and sell everything to the old for and travel further. Many fell along the way, and the
low pric es. There was no source of new rest largely returned.
merchandise. For many weeks, there were long
lines in front of my store and other businesses, Dereczin was bombed yet again. The noise from the
comprised largely of Russian officers and soldiers, German airplanes literally deafened us, and we
and in this fashion I sold out my entire store of would immediately drop to the ground, and wait
goods. The Soviet officers bought more than anyone fearfully for the explosion of the bombs. One bomb
else, and sent their purchases home to Russia. hit the Stukalsky house, killing Musha and another
refugee woman.
A year went by this way. Many Jews arrived in
Dereczin from Warsaw, Lodz, Ostrolenka, Suwalk This is what it was like day after day. In the middle
and other cities. Polish Jews were fleeing the of a clear day, a wooden ammunition dump was set
Germans, may their names be forever erased. {The ablaze, full of Red Army munitions. Two Soviet
Germans] caused them untold grief, and their ran to commanders set the fire, in order that it not fall into
Russian arms. A short while afterwards, the German hands. At that precise moment, a couple of
Russians began to distribute certificates of German airplanes flew by, and came down very low,
citizenship, except to those who refused Russian for the purpose of seeing what was burning below.
citizenship, c hoosing rather to retain their Polish Many people fled the town and hid in the fields. I
citizenship. In a couple of months later, the also ran, along with my child. On the way, I saw tow
authorities c ame in the middle of the night and [Soviet] commanders hiding under an overhang. I
arrested everyone who had refused Russian will never forget the sight of Rocheh (Rachel) the
passports. As they were seen to be enemies of the Milliner, dragging herself across the ground, trying
state, they were exiled to distant Siberia. to save herself from the gunfire, and get out of town.
Both her feet were bandaged, and she dragged
The remaining Jewish refugees remained with us herself on her back, supporting herself on her hands,
until [the invasion by] Hitler. and attempted to crawl to the fields.
Dereczin Is Bombed The German airplanes would open fire with their
mac hine guns and rake the streets. So we would
Sunday morning the radio tell us: Germany has crawl behind a wall in order to avoid being hit by
declared war on Russia. Shortly thereafter we got their bullets.
our first taste of the war. Airplanes arrived and
216
The Germans Arrive allowed to leave. People are running back [inside].
A panic sets in, as people fall over each other, and
By Thursday night, it grew quieter. It is said that the then I see my own 9 year-old child falling down, and
Germans are getting closer to Dereczin. There isn’t a mountain of people fall on top of her. I start
a Russian left to be seen in the town. That morning, screaming all sorts of imprec ations, and in the end,
we heard about two German paratroopers who were I am able to grab my child by the hand and run for
dropped along with their armored cars from their an exit on the other side. My child falls again, and I
planes. Later, I personally saw how an airplane was am screaming at the top of my lungs. People started
dropping a small tank. The Germans entered to jump over the church wall, running wherever
Dereczin. Nobody went out into the street. their eyes were facing, to the surrounding fields.
Later, more Germans arrived, and two of them These were the Russians, firebombing Dereczin.
undertook to go from house to house and extract the The side of the street opposite the church
people. They came to [our house] – I was at that immediately went up in flames. All the houses from
time at Golda the Butcher’s wife. They shouted: the church to the house of Veleh (Velvel) Rabinovich
“Hands up in the air!” and told us to get out of the were consumed.
house and go to the vicinity of the church.
The houses burned, and the Germans stood and
When we got to the church, we met up with many watched. A German asks my sister and Beilkeh,
Jews and Christians. Around the church were Shmuel Lobzover’s daughter: “What are you,
automobiles and tanks. A young German looked us Russians? Poles? Jews?! – Slime, Slime –” he says,
over with his light murderous eyes, latched up his hearing that they are Jews. He made a sort of mark
firearm, and said to a second German: “Indeed, in the ground, and said that this is what they were
we’ll have to take them to Berlin yet.” And we were going to do to the Jews. We didn’t understand him.
all certain that this was the end of our lives.
Standing beside me was the husband of Cherneh Decrees and Fear of Death
the Seamstress, Mikhl the Tailor’s son, with a
prayer shawl in his hands, asking his wife and An alarming report spread one day, that nine
children to hold onto him. We all thought that our thousand Jews were taken outside of Slonim to a
death was near. On the surface around us, grenades mass grave, where they were all slaughtered. They
were laid out. were told that they were being transported to
another city, and they needed to take small bundles
An older German, perhaps fifty years old, stood up with their best possessions. Many took gold and
and began to speak. His false teeth rattled in his jewelry with them. At the pit, they were ordered to
mouth: “Russians and Poles – to the right! Jews – to take off all their clothes, their clothing and packages
the left!” They had begun to sort us. The German were tossed into the autos used to bring them there,
said a few more things, took out his pocket watch, and the Jews were laid out in the pit, and murdered
and said to us that it was twelve o’clock, and from in a terrifying manner.
this time on we were in German hands. Then he told
us to exit the church. A Polish Dereczin policeman told how the police
were forced to help carry out this ‘action’ in Slonim.
We were let out through a small door, which could
barely accommodate two people at a time, with Imagine then what sort of panic broke out in
everyone pushing, seeing as everyone wanted to get Derec zin, when one day nine Germans appeared in
out of the church as quickly as possible. a fleet of automobiles. Jews ran out of town, but
they were fired upon, and warned not to panic.
Suddenly gunfire erupts outside. No one else is
217
First, after the Rabbi went out to meet the Germans their homes immediately, and move to another
and hear their demands, one Poritz stood out from street. One packs, one runs, one grabs a corner
among them, and ordered the formation of a somewhere to lie down. All of this – to delay the
Judenrat to c arry out all orders. [He threatened] [inevitable] slaughter.
otherwise, that they would do in Dereczin what was
done in Slonim... Entire Families Are Wiped Out
These were the first words of the Germans, may Every morning before dawn, all the men are forced
their names be forever erased. out to work. One time, a couple of hundred young
men are taken on foot to Slonim, for road work.
A Judenrat comprised of seven balebatim was Nobody knew what happened to them there, and
immediately established. Immediately, a whole some returned home sick under doctor’s orders.
series of decrees began to rain down on our heads. Early on a Saturday morning, the Leader issued an
Each was worse than the previous one. Jews had to order requiring the Judenrat to hand over the
wear a yellow badge, first a circular one, and then families of each of the young men who had returned
later a Star of David. It was prohibited to appear in from the work detail. Some were brought by force.
public places. Every morning, all men from the ages They were all taken out to a freshly dug grave and
of 14 to 55 were driven to forced labor, and Poritz murdered. Among them were Itcheh Walitsky and
stood over them with his riding crop in hand. Jews his six children, Dvora the Koloner and two
were required to give up their linens, furs, children, Gershon the Dyer And his entire family,
silverware and other valuables. The Germans incited and many families of the refugees that had arrived.
the local Byelorussians and induced them into
helping with extorting valuables from the Jews by When the police came to take Itcheh Walitsky and
promising them a share of the Jewish assets. his family, through a window they noticed a small
mound of freshly turned earth. This was a ‘hideout’
Twenty nickel bed frames along with a variety of dug by Jews to hide from a possible massacre,
bedding, pillows and blankets were provided to the behind the wall of Shlomo the Kazianov Rabbi. The
arriving Germans. The better houses were vacated police immediately informed the [German] Leader,
by the Jews, refurnished, and turned over to the and he issued an order to bring all the residents of
Germans. that house, all together about fifty people. It was on
the Sabbath. Children of other families were playing
Later, a contribution of 3 kilograms of gold was around that house. They took all of them.
demanded from the Jews. A howl went up in town,
as everyone brought to the Judenrat what they had Two women, the mothers of c hildren who were
managed to accumulate only through the taken away came looking for them. The doors of the
expenditure of enormous energy, assembled all the condemned house stood open, so both women, Alter
gold and turned it over to the Germans. Immediately Koloner’s wife, and another Koloner woman, went
came yet another decree: the Germans demanded inside to look for the children. German murderers
fifty meters of green woolen fabric for making arrived, and seeing the women, accused them of
trousers. This [merchandise] had never been seen in coming to rob the house. These unfortunate and
Dereczin stores. Each of the balebatim was asked innocent women were taken off to the cemetery to
for twenty dollars, and the Judenrat sent three men be shot. I saw how both of them were led off. They
to Volkovysk, who at great risk to their lives, went to their deaths bent over in terror, with heads
illegally crossed the border and returned with the covered in woolen scarves.
demanded woolen material for the Germans.
It was in this manner that the family of Yankel
Yet another decree: many Jews are required to leave Weinstein w as cut down on that day – he, Yankel,
218
put up resistance, and would not let himself be taken the house, all that remained were an 80 year-old
away – the Zlotagura family, and the Ostrolenker couple, Berel Walitsky and his wife. The police
watchmaker and his wife and child, and many other came immediately and took them away.
families.
We lay and muttered Shema Yisrael. Suddenly we
This was some time before the major slaughter took hear knocking on the side of the cellar: “Come out!”
place. We are certain they have found the entrance to the
cellar and that our end of our lives is near. We sit
The decrees kept falling on the heads of the Jews, a trembling, and the police shout over the wall:
new one each day: prohibition against entering “Come out, or we will throw grenades!”
Christian premises to buy something; prohibition
against leaving the town and going to a village; At this point the Shapiro’s daughter Liebeh came
prohibition against spending too much time in the close to me and whispered in my ear that the police
streets. We were choked off in the ghetto, with are not banging on the entrance to our hideout but
several families to a room. I was in the shtibl of rather on the double wall. The entry to our hideout
Shmuel-Meir. is made from a broken slate whose back panel acts
as a door, held in plac e by a nail. Once again we
Poritz would shoot people in the streets, and then mutter Shema Yisrael. We hear the police enter the
send an order to the Judenrat to have the remains adjacent cellar, and seeing that it is empty, they
removed and buried. leave.
This is the way a year went by, living with constant We stayed this way in our hideout for a couple of
fear of death. days, abandoned and hungry. There was nothing left
to breathe, since the air had all been used up.
The Day of The Slaughter Liebeh, the Shapiro’s daughter, crawled out through
the entranceway crevice into the house, and brought
The Terrible Day arrived. Very early in the back a pail of water and bread. I attempted to eat
morning, Mikhl the leather worker, who together and drink, but nothing would go down my throat –
with his wife and daughter, Rishkeh, lived together I was literally asphyxiating without air.
with us in the ghetto, and conveys the bitter news:
“Children, we are surrounded! Our slaughter is I have to get out of this suffocation. I think to myself
imminent!” that it is better to die from a bullet than from this
suffocation. The people don’t let me move, since it
We didn’t stop to think very long, and immediately is still possible to betray the location of our hideout.
descended into the cellar, which Herschel
Kulakowski had prepared for his mother, Elkeh, Suddenly, we hear a voice coming from outside:
Shmuel-Meir’s wife. It was a cellar chamber with a “Open up, the slaughter is over!” We become
double stone wall, four meters deep, without terrified, but I rec ognize the voice as that of my
windows. sister’s son, Yankeleh. My dear one! His first
question is whether my mother is with us. He had
Those who went into the cellar were: my child and left her in another cellar, and was now trying to find
I; Zelik Friedman, his wife, and daughter, Chana- her there, but he found that cellar open, inside he
Chaya; the Shapiro Family – the father, mother and found my mother’s shawl and a little girl who had
daughter, Liebeh; Elyeh-Chaim Walitsky with his been strangled. Pitiably, he came running to us, to
wife and four small children; the old lady Sarah, try and find my mother.
with her brother; Rivcheh the storekeeper, my
mother; Mikhl Derlekh; the leather-worker, his wife We came out of the cellar.
and daughter Rishkeh – all told about 25 people. In
219
No Place for Us who was in the cellar with us. I tell her that a
policeman is off in the distance, looking for us in
When we got close to the barbed wire at the ghetto the potato field, and we must run away from this
boundary, I saw two Germans who shouted to us: place. She answers me that she has to go call for her
“Come! Come!” and I ran back through the ghetto, father and mother, who lie hidden in Leibeh Zuber’s
to the bathhouse and again out of the ghetto. barn, along with the Stukalskys and o lot of other
Together with my child, we hid ourselves in a potato Jews.
field.
Liebeh went off to retrieve her parents, and I never
It was night. The moonlight was clear, illuminating saw her again, to this day.
the fields and our bullet-ridden Dereczin – lit up so
tranquilly, as if there were no butchering taking My child and I crawled to the Vian fields, and went
place on this sin-filled earth. into a corn field. There I met up with Nahum,
Bertcheh’s (son of Ber), with a loaf of bread in one
My child says to me: “Let us go here, outside the hand and a child’s jac ket in the other. He related
ghetto, to Leibeh Zuber’s little house. There is that the prior night, the police shot all the Jews who
bedding stored there on the ground – I will be able had hidden out in these c orn fields. “Come to the
to lie down there and sleep a bit.” forest – Nahum says – there is no longer a place for
us here.”
My child fell asleep, and I stood watc h. I watched
every minute, looking for it to get light. Light meant But how can I enter the forest when my child is
danger. hungry!
As the sky began to turn gray, I spied in the distance I look about, and I see a peasant woman carrying a
a policeman dressed in black, with a gun, drawing heavy blanket. I approach her – and she becomes
near to the potato field where we had previously startled, and drops the heavy blanket. I say to her
hidden ourselves. Quickly I awakened the child, and that I no longer need the blanket, but that she must
squirmed out to find a place to which we could flee. give me a piece of bread. She replies: “Go to the
I see that Moshe-David the butc her’s son is sitting forest. My hut is there. My children will give you
near us, with a loaf of bread under his arm. I quietly water to drink.”
shout over to him: “Come, come quickly!” He
answers: “I have nowhere to go. My wife and I take my child and I go to the peasant woman’s hut
children are gone, and I don’t want to live any near the forest. Three young gentiles run out with
longer.” sticks and begin to beat me. In the yard I see three
wagons brimming with Jewish belongings from the
I see my brother-in-law sitting on a bench in a ghetto. Their father helped the Germans carry our
corner. I call to him, saying that he should run away the slaughter, so they gave him permission to pillage
with us. I get the same kind of answer from him: the Jewish belongings. I fought with these young
“My wife is gone. I am alone, bare and naked. I have thugs, and took a blow in the head from a stick, but
nowhere to go.” I managed to get away alive with a wound in the
forehead.
I quickly pried open a small window on the dark
side of the small house, and jumped – right into a We entered the forests of Lipov. The child is hungry
swampy muck. My child jumps after me. We both and thirsty. I begged for a scrap of bread from a
crawled over the ground, until we reached a brook. peasant woman in a forest hut, so she shouts to me:
“Go into the forest! The police will see you here and
I look around, and I see Shapiro’s daughter, Liebeh come and kill you!”
220
She told me that at night, Jews come out of the
ghetto and flee into the forest. I will be able to
rendezvous with them at night in the forest.
I could barely wait for nightfall. I hear a stirring

between the trees, and I go nearer to it. A lot of
Jews, from Dereczin, are sitting there and thinking
about where to go. There is no place for us
anywhere.
We Were Slaves...
By Y. Reich
The eyewitness account of Reich, the refu g ee fro m Poland, who survived the war years and
occupation in Dereczin, turned over upon completion to a Commission concerned with preserving
the testimony of those who survived the Holocaust.
The German occupation reached me in the town of is imposed three times on the Dereczin population –
Dereczin of the Slonim district, in the Baranovich a quarter kilogram of gold the first time, five
area. There were about two thousand Jews in the kilograms the second time, and two million rubles
town. The German “Plan” regarding the Jews the third time.
manifested itself in Dereczin as a model of their
intent for all the places where Jews resided in From the nearby towns, Ozernitza, and Halinka, and
Byelorussia. Every day they drove the populace to also the Jewish settlement of Kolonia Sinaiska,
do purposeless work, or work of little real where Jewish farmers had lived for generations, the
significanc e. They oppressed, murdered for Jewish residents were uprooted and concentrated in
infractions of no significance, whether real or the Dereczin ghetto, in which 34 houses were
imagined. After a couple of weeks, the Gestapo established in which the rooms were used to house
officials arrived for a visit, all the menfolk were 2880 souls. Typhus, dysentery and hunger ran
turned out for an assembly, from which the leaders through the ghetto. The Byelorussian police
of the intelligentsia were selected, along with the authority provided its complete support to the
respectable people according to their appearance, German executioners.
sent to dig a mass grave, and were then murdered.
At the beginning of 1942, about 700 young men After this, they burdened the local Jews with the
were forcibly taken to work on the Vilna-Slonim work of digging huge pits, 50 by 20 meters. The
highway. They were billeted in struc tures pursuit of the shaynim began. There were isolated
surrounded with barbed wire. They rec eived a instances of dealings with the Germans, but there
quarter kilo of bread a day, and soup twic e a day. was not one person who informed or passed the
They were beaten there without letup. word from the Jewish population, which was unified
in its misfortune – an unusual phenomenon,
In May, these slaves were sent home to Dereczin. considering those trying times.
The Jewish population begins construction of
hideouts, influenced as they were by the The slaughter was carried out on July 23, 1942. It
earthshattering news of the bitter end that Jews reached all of the Jews, not leaving alive even
came to in the surrounding cities. If such clandestine doctors, dentists, and other “useful” Jews.
construc tion is discovered in a house, then all the
residents are taken out to be killed. A “punitive tax” The “action” continued for two days, after which a
221
communication came out that no one else would be Approximately 250 people escaped into the
taken out to be killed. Members of the Judenrat surrounding forests. From this group, 80 able-bodied
went from house to house, and told people that no men joined partisan units. The rest, women, the
one would be harmed, on the word of the head of elderly and children, were concentrated into family
the gendarmerie, “the word of a German officer.” camps. During the two and a half years that they
The Jews began to emerge from hiding and their were in the forest, they withstood five German
caves, into the light of the July sun. For two days it attacks, suffered from pestilence and disease, and
was quiet in the town, and on the third day they not once felt the pangs of hunger. Only about 90
gathered everyone and assembled them in the people returned alive from the forest.
market square, surrounded them and led them off to
the death pits.
How Tzippel Beckenstein Committed Suicide

By Pesha Feinsilber
Photo: Untitled, but presumably of Tzippel Beckenstein (p. 267)
At the end of 1941, barely six months after the Her two older sisters, Bashkeh & Golda had left the
arrival of the Hitlerists, the streets were completely country, but her parents did not permit Tzippeh to
plastered with placards of Hitler’s portrait, and his travel as well, because they wanted to have [at least]
feral countenance looked down on us from every one child nearby.
wall. Nearby, also hung a picture of a Jew bowed
over from the blows being rained upon his head, and Tzippel saw how the sacred Jewish writings were
from the sport being made from him. being desecrated, the Torah scrolls. She came home
entirely distraught and cried to her parents: “It is
Jews didn’t go out into the streets, not wanting to impossible to continue living! It is impossible to
look at the German placards. continue living!”
Then the Germans took the Torah scrolls out of all At night, she took kerosene and doused the entire
the synagogues, threw them out and began to tear house and herself. She stood herself in a corner and
them apart, burning and desecrating them with wild lit a match. She was already enveloped in huge
ferocity. The pain and shame was enormous. The tongues of flame when her parents started up from
unfortunate Jews had to stand by and observe our their sleep, and the neighbors form all around came
holiest objects being desecrated. Everyone was to attempt to rescue her. She continuously begged:
broken and hurt, not knowing what to do. “Let me be consumed with you together! If our
sanctity has been destroyed we have nothing to live
Mendzheh Beckenstein the Sc ribe lived next door to for! I cannot continue to live after what mine eyes
us. His sole remaining daughter, Tzippel was a have seen.”
young lady, 20 years of age who had studied for and
had become a teacher. She managed to survive one additional day.
Everyone wanted to help save her, but she refused,
and asked to be buried in the garden near their
home.
222
I Was A Refugee in Oppressed Dereczin
By Shmuel Bernstein
War Again On November 12, I parted from my family with their

blessings. My mother and brother stood dumbly. My
My wanderings essentially began from the first day father blessed me in a trembling voice:
of the war. As the enemy approached Lodz, a tumult
arose in the city, and people began to flee toward – May God give that you succeed, my son!
Warsaw. We: my father, oldest brother, and myself
tearfully parted from my mother and joined up with And then he added:
the masses fleeing on foot.
– My heart tells me that we will not see each other
We pass towns and cities that were noted for their again in this world. Apparently his heart did not
beauty. Now they had become fodder to feed the prophesy in vain.
flames caused by the planes of the enemy. Remnants
of houses still on fire, with horses running about in The path through the forest brought me to the town
the streets that has gone astray. People keening out of Dereczin, near Slonim. I began employment as
loud over the loss of their relatives. the director of a school there. I lived quietly. It was
in this fashion that a year and a half went by in the
We found no rest in Warsaw either. The days of Soviet sector, far from the din of war. At the outset,
terrifying siege began. The city fell on September I would receive letters from home, but after a while
26, And once again there was no reason to stay these stopped as well.
there. After a month of purposeless wandering, we
finally returned home. A terrible fright gnawed at us Midway through June 1941, when the school
concerning the fate of our mother. To our good vacations started, I left with my fried Arik, who
fortune, we found her alive and well, and it was served as a teacher in Slonim, to visit Tadak , who
wonderful that for a moment it seemed that nothing lived in Kobrin, close to the German border. Our
had transpired. meeting was an emotional one: We hadn’t seen one
another for nearly a year. Tadak whispered his fear
But very swiftly, depredations began to be directed to us: they observed vast military troop movements
at the Jews. Fines, confiscations and summary on the other side of the border. We went to be full of
judgements. Every night, young Jewish boys are suspicions. —
taken from their homes, nearly naked only in their
undergarments: they are taken off to an unknown On June 22 at 4AM we were awakened from our
location. sleep by the sound of explosions. Once again, we
found ourselves in the crossfire of battle. We left on
At the end of October, news was spread through the the road to Dereczin to present ourselves at our
city that there was a possibility to make transit to point of military mobilization. The railroad track
Soviet Russia. Every day, someone that we knew was destroyed. On the roads, one could sense the
would disappear. Even two of my friends, Arik movement of military transports. We reached
Mollor & Tadak Kuperman stood ready to depart. Slonim only with great difficulty. In the city – mass
They proposed that I join them. One night, with the confusion. Contingents of retreating Red Army units
advic e of our family it was decided: my oldest are moving eastward in a disorderly fashion. All the
brother would stay at home with our parents; I was offices of the local authorities are closed. The
to travel at my own risk. military draft boards ceased to function. There was
nothing to discuss concerning military c onscription.
223
The Russian soldiers told stories about the swiftness Our hearts told us that this was the calm before the
of the German army advance. According to their storm. We sit and wonder what is going to happen
reports, the German army was getting close to next, and lo:
Volkovysk. Battles were being fought at 80-100
kilometers from Slonim. I weighed the options in – Cr-r-rash – a window pane is smashed to
my mind, and conc luded that it would be a good smithereens. At the window, steel helmets and guns
thing for me to head to the east as well. I believed in appear.
my heart that the Russians would quickly regroup
and counterattack the enemy. Sadly, Arik was Alle Raus114!! – a German shouts in a loud baritone
unable to join me. On the way from Kobrin, he was voice.
wounded in the leg, and was not fit for travel. It was
in this fashion that I left the city by myself. The first arriving German units captured the city.
Like a flash of lightning, the thought crosses my
I made part of the trip in a military vehicle, but mind: once again, I am in the talons of the evil
mostly – on foot. I reached the city of Minsk on the beast!
seventh day of the war. The cup of war had reached
this capital city of Byelorussia. Almost the entire An almost irreversible depression took hold of me.
city was a vast island of upheaval. The street were Pursued and sick, I was from both a physical and
empty. The young people had fled to the east. Those emotional point of view a tempest-tossed mote in an
who were left behind had hidden themselves in unforgiving world. What was the point of living?
various places of refuge. The stench of burning is in
the air: houses are going up in flames. In the streets, German military vehicles were going
back and forth. With thundering noise, tanks and
The planes do not stop bombing the city; descending cannon made their way through the streets. In open
practically to the rooftops. Occasional wandering limousines, Nazi officers rode displaying excessive
people pass me by and tell me that the enemy has effusion. On the sides of the vehicles were scrawled
captured a huge army to the east, and very quickly : “To Moscow!”
the city will be entirely surrounded from all sides.
There is no point to continue eastward. The And it appeared to me that there was not a force in
Germans are everywhere, and even my feet, which the world comparable to them. Warsaw, Brisl, Paris,
are swollen from the arduous walking, cease giving Minsk and many other European capitals – fell. In
me support. its victorious thrust, the German army had speedily
penetrated to the east, to the capital of the Red
In one of the outskirts of the city, I enter a small Land.
house that was somehow miraculously spared. All of
the surrounding buildings were c ompletely Nach zwei wochen in Moskau!
demolished. Inside this house there was no place to
move. The neighbors, whose roof had collapsed on Only two more weeks to Moscow, so trumpeted the
their heads were sleeping on the floor, along with Hitlerites, drunk with their victory.
other wanderers like me. The considerate woman of
this house gave me assistance: in a matter of an On the day after the capture of the city, notic es
hour, my feet had been bandaged. As I sat there, I appeared in the streets of Minsk , which c ontained
fell asleep. The sounds of war reached me as if from the outlines of the new order of things, calling on all
behind the mask of some awful dream. men from age 15 to 50 to present themselves at
spec ified gathering points. Noncompliance was
When the rhythm of the cannonade subsided, which punishable by death.
lasted through the night, the light of the morning
came.
114
Everybody out!!
224
I decide to sneak out of town and get to Dereczin. There were a high percentage of “prisoners” in the
The woman of the house gave me a loaf of bread, camp, we were [comprised of] sentenced offenders,
and some provisions for the journey. With heartfelt detainees of the Soviet labor camps. All of the
blessings, I took leave of her, and at dawn, I went Christians understood quite well that the Jews
out on the road to leave. stood outside the framework of the law, and they
preyed on the camp like hyenas, tearing the clothes
As I neared the edge of the road, I silenced my off the backs of the Jews, and grabbing their last
footfall: one more kilometer, and I’ll be outside the morsel of bread out of their hands.
city line.
On day, the Germans announced over a loudspeaker
-- Halt!! – I heard the command barked in German. that the Jews were immediately to be transferred to
a ghetto. What a pleasant prospect! A ghetto inside
From a foxhole, two Germans jumped up. After a of a concentration camp! Approximately six
thorough search, they walked me to the side. Here thousand Jews were confined on a rectangular plane
there were already a goodly number of ‘tourists’ like within the general camp, surrounded by barbed wire,
me, “fellow travelers.” The Germans put us into a measuring 50 by 100 meters.
car, while cursing us and beating us with the
truncheons in their hands. In about ten minutes they By the end of the second week, many of us had died
brought us to a large square, where thousands of the from the exhaustion of our energies. During the day,
citizenry were crammed in at the order of the the sun beat down mercilessly on us, and at night we
commandant. would be drenched by torrential downpours. Quite
frequently, the Germans would amuse themselves at
The sun burned fiercely. Thirsty and hungry, we our expense, at night they would open fire on us
waited to see what our fate would be. People kept with machine guns, and we would all fall to the
pouring in endlessly, and the overc rowding became ground. After “exercises” of this nature, tens of dead
greater. People had already been in the middle of would have to be buried in the morning.
this stifling condition, for several days. Once a day,
a vehicle would come to the square carrying On the fifteenth day, an open limousine drives up to
[drinking] water. Everyone would stream towards it. the ghetto gate within the detainment camp. From
The pushing was terrible. Everyone sought to slake the car, officers alight crisply dressed, their
their thirst. At that time the Germans would shoot ornaments glistening down to their feet, with the
into the unruly mob, and the people would retreat. death’s head symbol on their caps. These were the
Rivulets of the water would be mixed with the Gestapo officials. We understood that the critical
blood of those killed. moment had arrived. They began to organize a list
of the people and to sort them by occupation. Moral
After four days, the Germans transported all the improved.
people to the edge of the river where they set up a
camp. With trunc heons in their hands, they goaded Ho! Ho! – the optimists said – it appears they are
the people along like cattle. going to release us, and send each of us to the
designated place for us to work.
Hungry and exhausted from the recent weeks, I
hovered like a shadow over the face of the camp. After ordering us by name, the Germans separated
Only from time to time was I able to break my fast us into two groups. One group of freed workers, and
and satisfy my hunger; the Jews of the area would a second group. Everyone asked themselves – whose
give me the privilege of sharing their meager rations fate would be better.
still in their possession.
It was my perception that the Germans were
225
particularly interested in the Jewish intelligentsia. Baruch, who never permitted a passing guest to go
through without providing him with at least a loaf of
The following day, the Germans began to take the bread. I found his residence only with great
intellectuals out in cars. Soon thereafter, the sounds difficulty. I knocked on his door with trepidation.
of machine gun fire reached our ears. From the non-
Jewish section, we heard loud exclamations. – They It had been several weeks since I had rested
are shooting the Jews – I heard one Russian say. properly, and my feet ached to the point that they
could no longer carry me. My body reeked by itself.
It was in this fashion that the Germans sealed the How would this man receive me?
fate of the Jewish intelligentsia of Minsk in the third
week, and the rest of us were taken to prison. In the doorway of the house stood a tall old man,
whose beard was streaked with gray. His blue eyes
As a temporary visitor, I was commanded to return conveyed good-heartedness and understanding. He
home to Dereczin. That is what I had put down as looked at me for a moment, saw that I had come a
my place of residence. distanc e, that I was tired and exhausted, dirty and
with torn clothing, mostly barefoot, with my toes
So wie so wirst du erschossen! sticking out of my shoes, and he only let me hear the
words:
One way or another, you will be shot – and with
these words I took leave of the guards. – Come in
On the Way Back Inside the house, the poverty emanated from every
July 1941 c orner. A shaky bed, two primitively constructed
chairs and a table, made from a couple of boards –
Where to? – I asked myself. There was only one that was the extent of the furniture inside. In the
answer: onto the necks of the Germans, right into second room – a prayer stand, and a reading place,
the middle and into the fury of the hangmen. Before with thick, heavy books on them, sacred volumes.
this I knew: It was incumbent upon me to head to The old man immediately went about dealing with
the east, to flee the cursed enemy; now, the the affairs of his poor house. Quickly a rustling
uselessness of this plan weighed on me like a heavy sound was heard, and immediately bread appeared.
stone. I tried to use side roads. To the extent
possible, I skipped going through cities and towns. – This is all I have – take advantage of it, Baruch.
But around nightfall, hunger forced me into the said.
town of Zaslov, near the former Russian-Polish
border. I entered the first dwelling to ask where the After washing myself and a ritual laving of my
Jews live here. The owner of the house, an elderly hands, I sat down at the table. I told the old man the
and talkative gentile, whose face portrayed a kind fate of the Jews of Minsk. Baruch wept when he
heart, told me about the tragic fate of the citizens of heard my words. After the evening meal, he offered
Zaslov. Almost immediately after the Germans me his bed, and asked me to lie down and rest. I
captures the town, they killed all the young men. It protested.
was in this way that they exacted revenge for the
death of those few Nazis who were killed in the – I am the young one – I protested to him – and I can
streets, as they fought with the soldiers off the sleep on the floor; you only have one bed.
retreating Red Army.
– You are exhausted from travel – Baruch replied –
There were a few Jewish families that resided in and you are entitled to rest. I will go sleep at the
Zaslov. The old Russian, who immediately neighbor’s.
recognized that I was a Jew, advised me to go to
226
Tired and exhausted I climbed up on the bed. After hour, I had managed to get inside the car. On the
many weeks of wandering, this was the first time I floor there were crusts of bread rolling around. In
had slept on a bed under the beams of a roof, not my ravenous hunger, I wolfed down this sc attered
hungry, and encouraged by the good words of the debris.
old man. With pleasure, I felt my aching legs under
me. The following day I got off at a small station near
Slonim.
I awoke in the night. A small flame sputtered on the
table. The door to the adjacent room was ajar, and In a few hours I was with friendly and familiar
beyond the opening it appeared to me that I saw the faces. In the house, the mood was one of oppression.
outline of a man sleeping on the bare earthen floor. Three nights prior, the Germans had taken out about
It was the elderly Baruch. He was asleep with his a thousand young Jewish men and marched them off
arm under his head, on a hard place. to an unknown destination. Rumors abounded that
they were shot to death in the nearby woods.
After resting, and eating my fill, I left that morning
to continue my journey. Baruch saw me to the Hunger pervaded the town. The farmers stopped
outskirts of the town. We parted with a handshake. bringing their produce. It was forbidden for the Jews
The old man blessed me. to go to the villages. Anyone who broke this law –
his blood was on his own head. Despite this, a
– Go in peace – he said – and my God watch over number of mothers risked their lives, and took from
you no matter where you go. their valuables to go to the villages and exchange
them for foodstuffs.
On the second day, I stopped at the town of Ivnitz,
near the border. On the street I was detained by a A day didn’t go by with some tragedy for the
Pole who wore an insignia on his cuff. At the police residents. I decided to rest a bit, and then c ontinue
station, they demanded papers from me. my journey. It was less than 30 kilometers to
Dereczin.
– Aha – said the commandant, – the leprous Jew
didn’t succeed in fleeing to Stalin. The Cauldron of Misfortune
I was hit with a fist several times and ordered to Aug - Nov 1941
leave the town.
The appearance of Dereczin, that had been at times
It was difficult for me to continue on my way. In the full of yearning and gaiety, had absolutely been
villages, the Christian children would throw stones transformed. One no longer heard the sound of
at me and sic their dogs on me. At infrequent children playing in the streets; instead, here and
intervals, homeowners would permit me to drink there, someone would flit by hurriedly, trying to
water, and I did not have the nerve to ask for a slice steal across the street with their head bowed down,
of bread. glancing furtively from side to side, trying to
unobtrusively slip by. The storefronts are closed up.
– Dirty Jew! – is what I heard around me wherever The tumultuous noises that were the hallmark of the
I went. small towns of Byelorussia had completely fallen
still. In the air hung the terrifying fear of the
On the fourth day I reached a train station. It was mournful new times that were upon us.
full of Germans. I decided to sneak on board the
garbage car. This was laden with life-threatening As soon as I arrived, I underwent the Ivnitz
danger, but I really had no choice. In a matter of an experience a second time. As soon as a policeman
227
saw a “new face” he detained me and marched me The Germans didn’t waste much time with
off to the police station. investigations and defense speeches. Prisoners were
taken out for immediate execution. Terror roamed
The police headquarters were in a very fine building the streets of the town, and the air was thick with the
that housed the 311th Red Artillery Guard on its screams of those who were innocent of any
ground floor. In place of the Red Flag, on the pole wrongdoing. The circumstances of the Jews was
that was in front, flew the flag with the swatstika. In particularly bad.
the guardhouse in front of the gate, a single Hitlerite
soldier sat, and on his cuff were written the words, A short while before the outbreak of the war, after
Hilfs Polizei (Helping Police). His face manifested I had left town to find my freedom, the Soviets
a haughtiness that conveyed his sense of importance arrested Lewandowski, the local newspaper editor,
regarding the position that had been accorded him. and removed him from the town. It was
subsequently revealed that he had a secret radio
The foyer was completely filled with people. station in his house. War broke out while he was on
Among the Jews present, I saw an individual who a train to Siberia. The train he was on was bombed
was known to me. In a whisper, he related to me by the Germans and the spy, who miraculously
what had transpired in the town prior to my arrival. survived, returned home unharmed. In assessing his
When the news spread that the Germans were “credentials,” the Germans appointed him as the
getting nearer, the young people fled to the east. A head of the town of Dereczin. This newspaper
few days later, a brutal battle took place between the publisher, who had previously been a quiet and self-
Russians and German paratroops. In the end, on the effacing man, now revealed his true countenance.
third day, the regular German army entered He turned over many Jews to the Germans, with the
Dereczin. The Nazis put a new administration and representation that they were c onspiring with the
polic e force in place. First priority was given to Bolsheviks.
people who were on the list of suspects compiled by
the Russians. Apart from these, people were In a short span of time, this head of the town
attracted into this police work who were looking for managed to amass a large fortune. Those who
an easy way to make a living. understood his lust for valuables would redeem
themselves at his hands with all that they possessed.
A bitter fate awaited those who were successful Many families that had heretofore been wealthy,
during the Soviet era. The newly installed were left destitute in their quest to save the lives of
constabulary did not cease to pick at and uncover a relative or dear one. There were times when even
old misdeeds, and to arrange for mass arrests. The money was of no help, especially in situations where
cells in the prison were rapidly filled to the point of the heat of the town held a spec ific grudge against
no space being left, and they taunted the frightened an individual.
prisoners. Many who had a grudge against someone
that they knew were encouraged to inform on their As his deputy, Mr. Lewandowski picked a very
political leanings. In so-and-so’s house, one used to compatible helpmeet for himself, a tanner named
see visiting Soviet officials, in the house of another Limansky, who had at one time been a Polish
lovers of communism were seen; such a person said polic eman. He was an incredible drunkard without
something once that was anti-German. The tiniest a conscience, who during two years had managed to
suspicion was sufficient: the suspect was imprisoned hide himself from the Soviet regime. Now he had a
and all his assets were confiscated. high position: Head of the police constabulary.
From time to time, the constabulary would empty And I am [now] a prisoner. The hours go by. Finally
out its prison, and hand over the inmates to the the duty officer called my last name. A while later,
Gestapo that was headquartered in nearby Slonim. I found myself in the office of the Head Constable.
228
The room was furnished beautifully. On the wall – war, and in this he gave credibility to my story. At
a large portrait of Hitler. Under the portrait, the end, I found myself outside, cleared but beaten,
Limansky swung around in an armchair in a careless wiping off the blood that was dripping from my
pose, manifesting his dominance. The probing nose.
questions started to come. I showed him the transit
papers that I had in hand, given to me by the – And now, where to go? – I asked myself.
Germans to permit me to return to my home. I lied,
and said that I had used this time to travel to Minsk There was no point in going back to my old place of
where one of my family relations lived. I knew that residence, which was a Polish home. I knew that it
my fate hung in the balance. If the slightest shred of was forbidden for Jews to be found in the homes of
suspicion entered the heart of the Head Constable, “Aryans.” My status in the meantime had also
he would without hesitation turn me over to the c hanged: before I was a teacher, a person who
Germans. commanded respect; but now, as a Jew, I found
myself outside the framework of the law; I was
– I recognize these made up stories quite well – worse than a dog in their eyes.
Limansky said to me persuasively. – You would be
best off to immediately admit that you fled to the I set my sites on the communal hall across the way.
Bolsheviks. Now, the Judenrat is located there. In a tight and
dirty little room, tens of people are milling around.
I grasped that behind these soft words a terrible At that hour, the head of the town had issued an
danger lurked for me. It looked out form the cunning order to the Jews to produce within the hour, beds,
little eyes that darted back and forth without rest in blankets and pillows. And these things in substantial
his fat face, the product of his good fortune. I fell quantities, and an enormous amount of money for
silent. I refused to speak. This reaction caused the the needs of the Germans who were delayed in their
Head Constable to lose control of himself. Suddenly transit in the town. Incidents of this sort would be
he was transformed into a malevolent beast. The repeated with variations almost on a day-to-day
softness vanished from his face. The silence gave basis. There was no end to these different demands.
way to a tumultuous outburst. A hailstorm of People would quarrel with one another. Everyone
invective cascaded down onto my head. He yelled: would exclaim that he had surrendered everything
“Communist! Accursed Bolshevik!” He hit me with he had the day before, and that he had nothing left.
an outpouring of anger and anything that came to his Tens of people wailed that they had absolutely
hand. Finally, he saw that this line of inquiry was nothing left; the indigent who surrendered their
not having any effect on me, he retreated and sat pennies last, cursed those who were not
down again in his place. I sensed that a new idea forthcoming.
had entered his mind. He called the duty officer and
whispered something in his ear. Hungry and tired, I sat on a bench. I was indifferent
to everything around me, and did not try to catch the
– We will know the truth soon enough: you have attention of people who were ignoring me. I saw that
fallen my little bird into an old and well-seasoned everyone was totally immersed in their own
jail, – face me. personal misfortune.
Barely an hour went by, when the sexton of the Standing next to me was an elderly woman who
sc hool in which I previously had worked appeared. wept because they had come and arrested her
The old sexton, who had seen generations of daughter in the night. A Polish neighbor had
students and teac hers, winked at me out of a sense informed on her that a Russian officer used to come
of participation in my sorry situation. In response to and visit her. There was no money in the house, and
the question of the Head Constable, he indicated it was not possible to obtain her release.
that I had left Dereczin before the outbreak of the
229
At the side, two little girls slept. On their pale and knocking at the door. In front of me stood my friend,
tired faces were the signs of undried tears. The Paula Rosenzweig , the wife of the local doctor. The
women clucked about the misfortune of these circumstances of fate brought her and her husband
orphans. There was some sort of disagreement in the year 1939 from Warsaw to distant Derec zin.
between their father and the Head of the town that I recalled her to be a high-spirited person. It was
reached the c ourts. The Head, Lewandowski, then said of her that she was prepared to render
made use of his position, and ordered him arrested assistance to anyone in need, no matter what the
as a communist sympathizer. Yesterday he had been problem. She would help the poor with whatever
taken out and sent to the Gestapo in Slonim. Nobody means she had at her disposal. In 1939, she
comes back from there. especially looked after refugees, who would arrive
hungry and exhausted seeking refuge from the
In one house, the Germans smashed up all the Nazis. Without spending too much time discussing
movable possessions. In another house, the son was it, she took me, almost by force to her home.
killed at his work. The depredations skipped no one.
Here she prepared a hot bath for me. Paula gave me
From time to time, people who recognized me clean underwear and a change of suit. I took off my
approached me and asked: where, when and how. I old and dirty underwear and my suit that had been
repeated to them all my tribulations. Someone gave torn completely to shreds from the vicissitudes of
me a slice of bread. A woman offered me a bowl of my wanderings during the past few weeks. Clean
warm soup. and properly dressed, I felt like someone who
belonged in the place. I sat down to eat breakfast. I
Some people came and offered me a place to sleep felt like I had returned and found a family setting
for the night. I preferred to spend the night on the after many years of wandering. After noon, Paula’s
bench in the Judenrat office, sunk in my own husband returned home from the local hospital
thoughts. In the evening, as the hall emptied out, I where he worked. He also greeted me with a warm
laid down to sleep. Despite my great exhaustion, I welcome.
could not fall asleep for a long time. Those nearest
to my heart were probably lost in faraway Lodz. My – Stay with us – the two said to me. – The company
circumstances were difficult. I had no money. There is welcome in these trying times.
was no possibility to earn money. There was little
hope for any support to be had from those who knew A day didn’t go by in Dereczin without some new
me. And I was too proud to hold out my hand to beg decree against the Jews. The constabulary was
for charity. rampant. Jews were taken into forc ed labor. I also
worked in the cleaning of the houses of the
In my heart, the thought of committing suicide Russians. In general, it seemed that the sole purpose
began to take shape. of the regime was to make life miserable for us, the
Jews. At the end of September we were forbidden to
Aloud, my heart told me that this was just a walk on the sidewalks. “Jews are permitted to walk
weakness of resolve. My suffering – was no only on the paths where cattle are driven,” –
different from that of the remainder of my people. I Limansky informed the Judenrat.
brought to mind the history of our people, which
was laden with incidents of terror, oppression, that At that same time the rule was enacted to wear
seemed to be our constant companion, but that our badges on which the Star of David was drawn. Very
strength stood us in good stead and allowed us to quickly, the badges were altered to be yellow, so
overc ome those who would bring us down. In the that Jews could be identified at a distanc e. Night
end I fell asleep. after night we would go to sleep, terrified of what
the next day would bring.
The following day, early in the morning, I heard a
230
One day a rather luxurious limousine pulled into driving rain; We became caked with the recalcitrant
town in front of the police station. A commotion earth. And woe betide anyone who stopped his work
developed in the town: to mop the perspiration from his forehead. The
police would immediately fall upon him and beat
– The Gestapo is coming! him senseless. We worked tight-lipped. But in our
minds the words that went back and forth were: you
At that hour, I was engaged in cleaning a wrecked are digging your own grave...
place to the side of the police station. The
policemen that guarded us cursed at us with all At the end of October the pit was finished. On the
manner of foul epithets, not sparing us from last day we left that terrifying place. We were
beatings with their stic ks, in order to prove their emotionally disturbed by this huge maw that stood
enthusiasm and diligence to their masters. We ready to receive thousands into their final resting
worked as hard as we could, while quietly place. Shortly after the completion of the
attempting to assess the implications of this visit. excavation, the limousine returned again to the
After eac h visit by the Gestapo, a hue and cry of police station. A terror spread through the town, like
despair would spread through the town. never before. People vanished into their hideouts;
those who were on the streets looked from side to
After a while, the Gestapo officials got into their car side in fright, sizing up in which direction to run
with Lewandowski and drove off somewhere. The away. The Judenrat officials were called to meet the
following day Lewandowski ordered the Judenrat Germans. In less than an hour, the members of the
leadership in to see him. board ran distressed in to the streets.
With lightning speed, the news of the Gestapo’s new – Jews, a c alamity! They are demanding an
order sped through the town. In two week’s time, it enormous c ontribution. If we fail to respond – they
would be necessary to dig a huge pit in the nearby will take us out to the pit and shoot us to death.
woods. Why do they need such a pit? And what’s
the rush? The optimists among us said that the Mothers took their last pennies out of their
Germans wanted to prepare a line of defense in the kerchiefs, that they were saving for a time of crisis.
event of a counterattack. But their theory didn’t Wedding rings, watches and other valuables were
make any sense. We were aware that at that time collected. On that terrible day, most of the Jews
that the German army was engaged in battle near were reduced to abject poverty and destitution.
Moscow; the majority tended to agree with the
pessimists, who saw the ominously approaching end Towards nightfall, the Gestapo officials left.
in this new demand.
– And with what will we redeem our lives
– We are digging our own grave – this was the tomorrow? – We would ask ourselves.
prevailing opinion.
New Masters
That night, in a stifling heat, people began to dig
under their houses to create hiding places, to protect Nov 1941 - Feb 1942
them from all manner of trouble.
At the beginning of November a terrifying
The depth of the pit that the Germans had ordered to communication reached Dereczin; very soon,
be dug was five meters; it was fifty meters long and German police would be coming; they are going to
20 meters wide. The job of digging in the hardened take over the town administration. The people tasted
ground, full of roots, was filled with many the brunt of the administration of Limansky and
difficulties. We worked by the sweat of our brows in Lewandowski on their flesh: it was understood that
231
one could not expect any relief from the Germans. crowds of people were standing about, dressed in
There was total despair among the masses. On thin clothing, bedecked by the onslaught of nature.
everyone’s lips was heard the sentiment: – let it be The head of the gendarmes, Poritz Pigass issued an
better – let it be , it can’t get any worse than it is. order: it is forbidden for the streets to be covered in
snow for even an hour. This brutal Prussian, dressed
The Head of the town and the constabulary were not in warm winter clothing, would pass by in a winter
particularly happy with the arrival of the new sled, drawn by a brace of horses, meting whipping
regime. They recognized that this would diminish people left and right to cries of: Arbeiten, verfluchte
their own importance. Even the resident Polish Juden! (Work, you accursed Jews!).
citizenry was not happy when they heard this news.
Everyone knew that the Germans also hated the Women, children, the elderly, battled the snow with
Poles. Until now, the entire burden fell on the all their might. Some piling it up into piles, others
shoulders of the Jews: from now on the others will carting it off in wagons.
also have to shoulder the yoke.
– Lord in Heaven! – God-fearing people would
The Head of the town ordered the Judenrat to clean groan, – must the snow fall endlessly, all the time?
up the house in honor of the conquerors. Tens of
workers were drafted into this labor. The house was Poritz, who runs about like a beast of prey, issues
c ompletely cleaned out, the walls were new orders every day to torture the exhausted
strengthened, and the floors swept. Quickly, this people. The work continued from morning until
house was turned into a palace. Finally, the new evening. All the shacks were cleaned, all the snow
owners arrived. was removed. Skilled workers are performing all
manner of jobs for the Germans. These craftsmen
On one day, several automobiles arrived at the set up c ooperatives that employed the tailors,
police station, and ten gendarmes disembarked. The shoemakers and carpenters. No one dared to
bark of command from the new arrivals was complain for lack of work. However, the only wage
immediately heard. That evening, a new sign was a daily ration of 150 grams of bread, for which
appeared on the side of the police station. Terrifying people labored by the sweat of their brow, with the
words looked out on us from it: knowledge that at home, hungry children were
waiting.
S.S. und Ortspolizei
(S.S and Local Police) At that time Poritz also established a doctors
cooperative. All the Jewish doctors and their
It was a difficult winter. The residents had nothing families were moved into one house, and they had to
with which to fuel their stoves, and the inventory of be at every beck and call of the administration. I,
foodstuffs ran out. Hard times befell us, with hunger who had lived all this time at the home of Dr.
and cold, no bedding, no clothing, and with snow Rosenzweig, was appointed as a watchman for the
falling endlessly. Formerly, I used to see the winter house.
as a pleasant season; on the roads, we would see
sleds with their bells ringing gaily; happy children The owner of the house in which the doctors were
would play in the streets, throwing snowballs at moved to was an intelligent man, a Zionist and a
each other, and making snowmen. Warmly clothed, venerable person by the name of Feldman. He was
I would go outside early in the morning and with for many years the leader of the town in Dereczin.
pleasure taste the wet virgin snow lying about. Seeing as he had the respect of the Jewish
community, the Germans initially appointed him as
Now the winter had turned into a curse. In the head of the Judenrat. However, after a while, when
houses – a penetrating cold. In the streets, large Feldman saw that this [responsibility] was causing
232
him great vexation and sorrow, he found an excuse pinched, short in height, a high forehead, a long
to vacate his position, c laiming that he could not nose and big black, deep eyes. By intellec tual
keep up with the demands of the job by virtue of his development and maturity, he was in every way
advanced age. And indeed, he was too old for this already like an adult. He managed to educate
kind of burden. himself, even in those trying times. During the
daytime, he would come near me and help out with
This was a man with very set ways, not knowing my keeping order in the house, and in the evenings
how to relax his standards. He took great care of his we would go into one of the rooms that was used to
external appearance. Even in those difficult times, receive patients during the day, and there the young
he was fastidious about his personal hygiene, and lad would play the violin. With us also was a sixteen
took care to arrange his c lothing and tie properly. year-old girl named Bella, the daughter of Dr.
His wife Pessia would complain to him: What is the Hirschenson the dentist, who during the war had
point of you dressing yourself up that way in times been blown into Dereczin from Grodno.
like these? And he would answer:
It might appear somewhat surprising that I kept
–Fool that you are, one must never submit to them! company with people significantly younger than I.
But, the other residents in that house were
This Jew at that time remained with us in his house signific antly older than I was, and naturally I was
along with the doctors. attracted to the young. Our fate, our closeness to one
another, and the presence of a young woman, all
Our custom in the house was communal in nature in contributed to flavoring our talks.
all matters: we ate together in a large room, the
women cooked, each woman in accordance with her In the middle of the winter, the farmers, who came
particular skill. On the eve of the Sabbath, to us in stealth, began to tell of miraculous feats
Feldman’s wife Pessia would light the candles, and performed by Pavel Bulak 115a resident of the nearby
the spirit of the Sabbath could be felt throughout the village of Ostrovo, who in his time was the head of
house. Old man Feldman would shuttle back and a Kolkhoz.116 He was a stout-hearted man, who
forth between the rooms of the doctors, humming concealed himself from the Germans in the forest.
Sabbath melodies. As the Passover season drew Woe betide any of the Nazis that fell into his hands!
close, one of the doctors bestirred himself, a Dr. He would shuttle between the villages, and call for
Rosenthal – a man with a warm Jewish heart, the farmers to rise up against the Germans and go
intelligent and a Zionist – who turned to Feldman into the forests. There hidden in the forests, there
and all the other doctors with a proposal that they apparently were also a small number of Russian
organize a communal Seder for all the residents in soldiers, who remained there after the fall of the Red
the house. The gentiles, who would come from the Army. It was in this way that a new word was added
surrounding villages to our home to receive medical
care from the doctors provided us with foodstuffs. It
115
was in this fashion that matzoh was baked, in a The heroic exp loits of the Pobeda
primitive fashion. There was even sacramental wine partisan battalio n , led by Commander
Bulak are recorded in the annals of the
over which to recite the ritual blessings. And Dr.
Russian military history of the time.
Rosenthal gave an emotionally moving speech about
Reference to this resistance u nit has
our condition, which brought a number of us to also been documen ted b y o u r
tears. landsman, Murray (Moshe) Salutsky,
who together with his brother Casrael
I grew c losest to the son of this Dr. Rosenthal. ( Katriel) fought in this partisan
Seven years younger than I, he captured my heart. battalion.
He looked younger than he actually was, somewhat
116
A Soviet farm collective.
233
to our vocabulary in our area: partisan. The thick, the support of Ukranian soldiers and local
heavy obscuring forest was already serving as a Byelorussian and Polish police. The Jews were
staging area for Jewish youth. evicted from their homes, and taken to the outskirts
of the city. There, they were thrown down into the
In those days, at the beginning of 1942, news pits that were prepared in advance, and they were
reached the forests conc erning the [initial] victories shot to death. These trampling executioners were
of the Russians in the heartland; these offered a occupied for two days in the murder of [these]
little comfort to the people, and helped to keep their people. Only the people with yellow cards remained
hopes alive. alive. They were herded into a small area
surrounded by barbed wire, and that is how the
Ah, but woe unto us! The coming spring brought Slonim ghetto came into being.
with it evil tidings: in our midst, in the midst of the
Jews, there was no outlook any better than the In abject terror, we listened to the stories told to us
blackest of the black. by those few escapees that managed to reach
Dereczin c landestinely. But even here,
The Youth Organizes Itself circumstances did not bode well at all. By us, the
gendarmerie began its preparations. The
Mar - Apr 1942 Byelorussians moved into a specific section of the
town. Not far from the police station, formerly the
At the beginning of spring, the bad news c ame poor sec tion of town, the Germans set aside a
raining down on us, one item after another. The section, not very large, in which there were several
Germans initiated the general extermination of all tens of buildings, largely run down. This section
Jews in Byelorussia. Despair welled up from within. was designated to serve as a ghetto in the future.
A loss of spirit and a loss of will pervaded everyone. With deliberate speed, workers began sinking posts
around the buildings and connecting them with
– There is nothing that can save us – was the barbed wire. That is how the cage for the human
prevailing opinion. Bitter tidings reached us from birds was begun.
nearby Slonim, where the headquarters of the
Gebeits-kommissariat was located, the district The transfer to the ghetto was accomplished in
command. The head of the section that dealt with several stages. We, who were living in the doctors’
‘Jewish issues’ was a young Nazi named Heik. The house, were moved as part of the last stage. At first,
18 year-old Prussian who had the face of an people without work cards were driven into the
innocent child, was nothing less than a bloodthirsty ghetto. It was in this fashion that one family was
wild beast. He always carried out decrees on the taken from our house. It was the family of Feldman,
residents with extra zeal; this is how he advanced. the homeowner and his wife.
At that time, a census was taken of the all the Jews Early in the morning, a representative of the
of Slonim. A list was prepared, in which the Jews Judenrat came to us, and read the names of these
were sorted into several categories, in accordance two people from the list in his hand. Feldman, for
with their skills. Ordinary laborers were envious of whom no decree had caused him to leave beyond his
those craftsmen that were in demand by the gate, was shaken to his roots. His upright stance
Germans. Those craftsmen received yellow cards, collapsed immediately. His wife stood and wept, as
who were designated as ‘cards for the living.’ he silently began to assemble their belongings, to
pac k them for transport, and even in this instance,
A short while passed after the census was went about it with crisp discipline. He gathered up
completed. And here came one day when the Jewish his books, religious texts, and arranged them in a
quarter was surrounded by drunken S.S. troops, with precise order; he packed up the clothes in a suitcase,
234
folding one shirt on top of another, so they should cause death. Those that survived envied the dead
not –God forbid– get creased. We, the other laying by the wayside. Those that reached Slonim
residents of the house spread out, each to his own were sent into the ghetto.
task. Afterwards, we discovered that in the middle
of organizing and packing, Feldman had suddenly Our hearts told us that this bitter cup was soon to
disappeared. A search began to find him. After a pass before us. No one took off their clothes to go to
little while, we heard screams of alarm from sleep at night. Feverishly, we busied ourselves with
Feldman’s wife: the digging of bunkers, and in the event we were to
have an unexpected visitor look into our windows in
– At the sound of the screams, people came running; the middle of the night, he would be astonished at
in the year of the woodshed, the seventy year-old the level of ac tivity there. On the other side of the
man was found hanging by a rope. glass pane pale and frightened faces peered out; they
were the upright but tired, standing watc h to make
His funeral was held several hours later. With the sure that no death-battalion was coming near.
permission of the Nazi commander, Poritz Pigass,
the deceased was escorted to the cemetery. He was The news of Russian victories in the interior did not
placed on an old wagon, hitched to an old horse gladden our hearts. In the Jewish interior, the
provided by the Judenrat, and he was taken out of Germans were reaping one victory after another.
the yard. As we passed the front of the house, we
saw Pigass standing and looking at us. The Nazi In the month of April, the Germans disseminated an
called out in a voice calculated to assure that we order to all Russian soldiers who were in the
would hear him: conquered zone, and who had moved into the
villages after the defeat of the Red Army, to present
– They are taking the smartest Jew in this town to be themselves to the authorities. Most of those
buried! summoned in this fashion fled to the forests. They
trusted the farmers not to reveal where they were
Events were propagated with electric speed. hiding.
Fragmentary reports reached us from all sides.
There was an ‘aktion’ in Baranovich – (that is what From time to time, word would reach us concerning
these killing sprees were called); Heik and his band the partisans. The farmers, who had a tendency to
were at one time reported in nearby Kozlovshchina. exaggerate, would tell us secretly that a full division
There a sorting took place along the lines of Slonim of Red soldiers was circulating in the forest,
(these to life and work, the others to death). The equipped with the latest weapons, and ready to wage
Germans did not stop with murdering the local war. We had no remaining capacity to believe such
residents. On one day refugees entered Dereczin stories, because we were not disappointed in this
from faraway places. Their stories made our flesh regard only once. For example, there was a period
crawl. during this winter, where we had hopes of seeing a
day when the Germans would flee before the
Here is what happened in the town of Ivatsvich: one Russians. Instead, Heik and his band initiated their
night in February, Heik arrived suddenly with his depredations. Consequently, we were used to having
band. A strong icy wind was blowing. The residents good news not materialize, while bad news always
were driven from their homes, and half-dressed did. If an extermination campaign was rumored for
marched on foot to Slonim. On the way, all the example in a Polish or xxx Aleman town, it always
children froze to death; old people and women fell turned out that it was really the case. But if it was
by the way. Woe betide anyone who wanted to stop told that after the capture of Minsk that the Red
and rub their frozen feet. They would be set upon as Army was nearing Baranovich, in the end it turned
if by beasts of prey, and beaten severely enough to out that the battle was being fought at Stalingrad. It
235
was in this fashion that people came to see After the days work, we would gather in a tiny
everything for its worst, and believed that only evil group to assess our chances for escape. One thing
would transpire. was c lear: If someone ‘disappeared’ then his entire
family would pay with their lives. It was difficult for
Nevertheless, we began to see hints, evidence, that a person to undertake an act that would doom his
something was really going on in our area. own parents and younger brothers and sisters to
death. And the idea of an entire family trying to
A day did not pass that the polic e did not come to escape was enmeshed in a variety of constraints and
Dereczin from neighboring area police stations, pitfalls that could not be overc ome, since nearly
worn out and upset, with tales of partisan attacks on every family had someone who was underage or old,
their tongues. The Germans were of the opinion that who simply did not have the personal resources to
these were nothing more than bands of robbers and bear the burdens of an arduous trek full of
thieves, intimidating the smaller constabularies, so unknowns and danger.
as to be able to pillage the local farmers without fear
of serious retribution. The Germans would yell at There was no way to resolve this issue.
the police and order them back to their stations, but
the threats, shouting, and even severe blows did not We decided at one point to begin accumulating
serve to influence the frightened Byelorussian weaponry. This task fell to those who were at work
policemen. with the Germans in overseeing the weaponry that
had been left behind after the defeat of the Russians
– We fear for our lives – they would argue in 1941.
stubbornly, – We are ultimately going to be killed
by the partisan army. It was a difficult assignment. If even a single bullet
was found in the possession of a Jew, the sentence
Occasionally, a miserable farmer, who was was certain death for the head of household and all
sympathetic to the Germans, would come up the the members of his family. But how wondrous were
narrow trail to the army headquarters in town, and those moments, when we became profic ient in
inform on ‘bandits’ operating in his village. stealth, in caches, in hiding places that we reached,
Immediately a ‘posse’ would be formed, at the head and then afterwards transferring this to secure
of which the local police would ride out in their hiding places. With painstaking attention to detail,
cars, followed by the [German] gendarmes who we would put together the parts of rifles and
were concerned for their own lives. It is understood revolvers and clean and polish the rusty bullets. At
that by this time the attackers had long since night on our beds, we would see in our dreams how
vanished from the village, and the loose-lipped we would take our revenge on the enemy from
farmer got severely beaten for misleading the whom we had stolen our arms. And indeed, those
authorities. very rifles that we hid at that time, more than once
were responsible for killing many Nazis.
At that time, a new spirit began to course through
the hearts of the Jewish youth. Longingly, they For me, a new life started. My circumstances were
raised their eyes to the forests, as a place where better than that of my companions. The Germans did
people lived who refused to submit their necks to a not know that I was connected to the family of Dr.
yoke of oppression. The concept of revenge, that Rosenzweig. They thought that I was alone and
had been sown in their hearts already, germinated unattached, and if I left town, they would be
and began to bear fruit. A period of dreaming began inclined to think that I had returned to my family in
– about freedom, and of exacting retribution from some faraway place. My idea was to get out into the
the enemy. forest at the earliest opportunity.
236
To the Forest barracks surrounded by barbed wire.
May - Jul 1942
And suddenly, a few days after the police station in
The incidents began to arrive one on top of the Halinka was attacked, these young people who had
other, which sped the coming of the critical moment. been forcibly taken away, began to return to
At the beginning of May, the partisans attacked the Dereczin by stealth. From them we learned that on
nearby police station in the town of Halinka. Several one of the nights, the partisans burst into their labor
police were killed, and the remainder fled in camp, arrested the command, and ordered the
disarray to Dereczin, where they told of “huge workers to return to their homes. According to the
forces” of Bolsheviks that has surrounded the town words of the those who told of this, the partisans
and attacked the police station using all the were wearing Soviet insignias, and their movements
stratagems of warfare. This time the Germans were shrouded in secrecy.
exhibited real fear, and from that moment on
anticipated that the partisans would attack Dereczin, We gulped down every word that they uttered. We
and consequently strengthened their guard; they waited with bated breath: when finally, would the
placed heavy machine guns on the roof of the police partisans “pay a visit” to Dereczin.
station: at night they would continuously c onduct
maneuvers and drills. Clearly a piece of news of this import could not be
kept a secret for very long. The head of the
The more the Germans suspected trouble, the gendarmes finally felt that the ground under him
greater the satisfaction grew in the Jewish quarter. was giving way, and he began to roam about like a
Even the greatest of the pessimists began to believe beast of prey. He devised a diabolical plan whose
that the partisans would effect a liberation. In sole purpose was to demonstrate that the Germans
addition, we had “political commentators” who were still in control. One night, all the families of
constructed proofs out of various indicators that the the workers in Puzovitsa were taken as prisoners. At
Russians had dropped many paratroopers to dawn, the Germans led the prisoners, about 160
surround the Germans. people, the elderly, women and children, to a nearby
village. Near a grove of trees, these unfortunates
In the meetings of our secret organization, we would were ordered to dig a pit for themselves: afterwards,
prepare, in great detail, the plan for an uprising that they were put into the pit, and began to shoot them
we would initiate, upon an appropriate signal from with machine guns.
the forest.
That night, a woman returned to the Dereczin ghetto
As usual, after a period of flowering hope, the who had miraculously escaped. The Germans
disappointment was not late in coming. At the end thought she was dead. She was however, only
of the winter, the gendarmerie send about sixty heavily wounded. The woman got up, and crawled
young Jewish boys to a labor camp near the village out from under the corpses. Her tale measured up in
of Puzovitsa. For a number of months, they worked terror to everything that we had heard up to then.
on paving the road from Slonim to Kozlovshchina. The Germans tortured the people without mercy
From their secret letters sent back to us, we learned before killing them. Poritz with his own hands
of the terrible tortures to whic h these exiles were smashed the skulls of little children against the trees
subjected. They were assaulted with murderous of that grove. The suffering was so great that each
brutality. The Polish police would steal more than and every person prayed in his heart for a swift
half the inadequate food portions that were allotted death.
to them. They would work from the first appearance
of the sun until late into the night. For their evening A few days later, these evildoers got their
sleep, they were escorted under armed guard to a comeuppance. Together with police personnel, the
237
Germans went out on a sortie against the partisans, Dereczin to the partisan command. It would be
who according to reports were at that hour to be nec essary to convey the state of the morale of the
found in one of the villages at the edge of the forest Jews to the Russians, who were ready to fight, and
on the opposite bank of the Shchara River. to persuade the partisans to attack the occ upying
However, after a couple of hours, the Germans were forces in Dereczin. In the event of an attack on the
seen to have taken to their heels in disarray, town, they could rely with complete confidence on
retreating as if running from death itself. It appears the help of the organized forces from within.
that the partisans were ready for this attack, and
anticipated it by meeting it with rifle fire from That day, all the members of the organization were
ambush. oc c upied with the details of our escape. Lookouts
were dispatched to determine those points where the
Poritz was severely wounded, and that night his surveillance was most intense.
hand was amputated, the very hand that was
responsible for the murders of tens of Jewish The day began to wane and grow dark. The people
children only days before. had already returned to their homes from work.
Silence pervaded the ghetto.
I decided to wait no longer, to flee, and find my way
to the partisans. The critical moment drew near. We stood by the
barbed wire and looked longingly at the adjacent
fields. From time to time, the silence was broken by
The Escape the shouts of the police. Finally, the lookouts
July 5, 1942 returned, and were received the needed findings
from them orally. We hugged our comrades with
At last, the day arrived. That morning, I left for intensity. Farewell!
work as usual. This time [however], the work
seemed more difficult than usual. In my mind, tens In a little while, we found ourselves outside the
of schemes bounced back and forth as to how I barbed wire perimeter. With deliberate speed we
would effect my escape from the town. The police forded the small rivulet, which was narrow and
who were guarding us beat me generously for my shallow. On the nearby hillock, we spied the outline
wandering attention span. of several figures. It was a German lookout point.
With quick steps, we directed ourselves to the
Two other members of our combat group were nearby field of rye grain.
supposed to leave with me : Herschel Zuckerman,
age 29, and Anka Kaplan age 24; they too, were At each and every minute there was the possibility
refugees like myself. We had decided not to take that the erect watc h would detect us. But the hour
any weapons with us. The Germans, who feared a was with us, though tired and sweaty, we hid in the
partisan attack, set up strengthened guard patrols end in the tall growth. We paused momentarily to
around the town, and consequently patrols were catch our breath. I looked over at the ghetto one last
circulating along the roads. The police, who were on time. I am free! There, in that accursed trap, there
duty at the edge of the river at the town line kept the were pursued people who had no certainty in what
ghetto under tight surveillance. If they found us with tomorrow might bring.
weapons in our hands, then scores of Jews would
pay for it with their lives. We felt that the partisans Exhausted, we parted a path for ourselves through
did not lack for weaponry, and it would not prove the mature sheaves of grain. We sped up our pace.
difficult for them to arm us. At the final meeting of Now we stood in front of a great difficulty: we had
our clandestine organization, a decision was agreed to skirt the Polish neighborhood, the settlement of
to that it was up to us to be the official Kamienka.
representatives of the organized Jewish youth in
238
In the lead was Herschel who was thoroughly covered in dew. Around us sprouted greenery. We
familiar with the area. Night fell. Suddenly, dogs gulped the fresh air into our bodies, after continuous
began to bark. From nearby, we heard the voices of months of suffocating existence in the confining and
people. stinking ghetto. A giddiness possessed us. Herschel
answered the birds with his own whistling. Anka
– Maybe they detected us – as Anka whispered. suddenly started to laugh hysterically, as she pointed
to the large lurid yellow badges that stood out
We fell to the ground. After a minute has passed, the against the fabric of our clothing. With heartfelt zeal
voices fell silent. We continued along our way. In we tore off these badges of slavery from our
front of us, the hospital appeared that was opposite clothing. We started a new life.
Kamienka, at the outskirts of Dereczin. There was a
German lookout post there. We had to pass by this However, our elation didn’t last very long. In this
obstacle, and once done, we would be outside the huge forest, unknown to us, there was no sign or
town line. trace of human life. We walked in depressions,
attempting to utilize the tracks that were in them,
I checked my watch. It was 10:30PM. Herschel but all our searching was in vain.
strode forward with confidence, and we followed in
his footsteps. We proceeded according to plan, that On the third day our provisions gave out. We were
we had worked out from the beginning in all its wary of entering a village. We had no arms. Despite
details. In the end, the silhouette of the hospital was the freedom we had obtained, our prospects looked
behind us. We crossed the Dereczin-Zelva road with dismal.
conviction. We completed the first part of our
dangerous journey successfully. Finally, we approached an old man, who seemed to
be gathering branches from which to make
We headed toward the edge of the forest opposite broomsticks. Nearby we heard the voices of
the town of Ostrovo. It was known to us that children, and of dogs barking. The old man told us
partisans frequented this locale. Bulak, the leader of that we were near Dovorovka on the banks of the
the partisans, whose name had become well known Shchara River. To obtain clarification, we then
already at that time, was born in Ostrovo. asked the old farmer:
Exhausted from the forced pace we kept all night, – Tell us, grandpa. Where are the partisans to be
we finally found ourselves in a village. The dogs found? The old man looked at us with a blank stare
who detected us as strangers, began to bark. Until and answered:
now, we were fairly confident, because we knew
that at night, the Germans were not likely to leave – I don’t know, my dear sirs. As God is my witness,
their quarters. But now, dawn was breaking. I don’t know.
Through the melting darkness, we could see the
tower of the church in Dereczin. In a little while, we All our coaxing was in vain. The old man stubbornly
anticipated the arrival of the ‘night visitors’ that we argued that he did not know a thing.
awaited with such eagerness. And here, the village
awoke from its slumber. Once again, we could not Rain began to fall. Disc ouraged, hungry and tired,
tarry, and set our sights to the adjacent forests at the we decided to enter the village. Only very few of the
opposite side. houses offered us a piece of bread.
Quickly we entered Boralom (this was the name of – These are Jews that have escaped from the ghetto,
this particular forest). It was a hot July morning. – the news would go before us as we approached
The forest gave off a fresh aroma. Everything was each little hut. We also picked up bits and snatches
239
of the women’s talk: we listened with great care to each and every word
that he uttered.
– These are spies, sent by the Germans. We
recognized that the farmers understood how cunning Among the Partisans
the Germans were, and simply didn’t believe July 1942
wandering strangers who were not known to them.
It was clear that this was not the way to reach our And this was the partisan’s story:
intended goal.
– My name is Mishka Dubokov, and my origin is
– But maybe the partisans are not known here, from the line of Kuban. Before the war, I was
maybe its just a story? – we asked ourselves. drafted into the army. My unit was literally on the
German border. In June 1941, after the defeat
We decided to go to the nearby forest of Kazibar. – suffered by our army at the hands of the Germans, I
Perhaps the partisans can be found there? – we was separated from my mates, and was swept up by
consoled each other with this thought. chance to this particular village. Older farmers took
me in, and for some time I was able to live here
After many hours of wandering, we finally reached quietly, doing farm work. Recently, this past spring,
the small village of Slizhi, opposite the Kazibar the Germans issued an order that all men who at the
forest. We were standing at the outskirts of the time were in the Red Army but remained behind in
village. And suddenly my attention is caught by a Byelorussia, were to report to them. At that
young, blond man, tall and blue-eyed, who was instigation, we dug up the weapons we had hidden,
tramping through the grass and singing the song, and fled to the forests. A small detachment of us is
Katyusha in a loud voice. There was nothing loc ated in the Kazibar, consisting of 21 people.
surprising in his appearance, except for the pistol Bulak and his division of 40 people are located in
that was sticking out of his belt. I immediately Boralom. Units slightly larger than this are
called the attention of my companions to this decamped across the river from Dereczin. The
unusual farmer. Germans think that we number in the thousands.
And the farmers deliberately spread exaggerated
– From what we can see, this can only be a partisan, tales about the partisans in order to deter the
– Herschel Zuckerman whispered. occupation forces from coming into the villages. I
am currently here in Slizhi as a forward lookout on
We drew near to him. On the pilot’s cap that was behalf of my unit. At night I will have returned to
sitting jauntily on the young man’s head, there was the forest, to our camp. Tomorrow, I will report your
a red star affixed, along with a hammer and sickle. presence to the head officer of the camp, Vanya
At the sight of this insignia, all our doubts vanished. Zaitsov. He is in the habit of receiving all manner of
We stood in front of the first partisan that we had people graciously. For the entire winter, he
encountered. With great difficulty, I formed the blundered about alone in the snow-covered forests
question: in order not to surrender into German hands. In the
spring, he organized our unit, and from that time on,
– Are you a partisan? – the Germans have known no peac e in Dereczin. He
will most certainly welcome you into his unit.
– Yes, I am a Red partisan – the young man proudly
replied. It was already towards sunset, and Mishka Dubokov
stopped his work and said:
We told the partisan what we had been through. The
youth listened to us with great feeling. At the end, – And now lads, let’s go to eat.
he began to tell us about himself. With bated breath
240
He brought us into a small house set apart that was the handiwork of the farmer, and ordered the
outside of the village. As he opened the door, we farmer’s wife:
saw the woman of the house: a fleshy farmer’s wife
of great girth, who filled the entire room with her – And now, give them provisions for their travel, for
presence, in contrast to the farmer, who was a a few days.
shrunken man of small stature. Both of them do not
look us in the face. Mishka turned to them and said: The order was filled. It was in this way that we
learned about our portion regarding life among the
– Is there something here for them to eat. partisans.
And to us: Mishka ac companied us to the nearby thick

underbrush where we were supposed to conceal
– Sit down and make yourselves at home. ourselves to await the command.
The farmer’s wife went to the oven with a sour look We waited for two consecutive days for Vanya to
on her face, took out a plate that she put on the show up, lying among the reeds. It rained the whole
table, bearing pancakes made from rye flour that time, and we shuttled around in the underbrush,
were cold from the morning. gathering field strawberries. We spoke about what
we had heard from Dubokov. Now, we realized, the
Misha’s face that had previously been full of good- situation was quite different from that which we had
heartedness and affection, turned stern. He pushed conceived. In place of a huge partisan army, there
his hat bac k with a violent move, hit the table are only small units which are instilling fear in the
angrily and proclaimed: German occupation forces in Dereczin.
– Since when are you in the habit of eating cold rye Finally, on the third day, we heard an elongated
pancakes? whistle. In response to this signal, we emerged from
the reeds. Before us stood Mishka, and another
The farmer’s wife and the farmer whispered to him: partisan whom we did not know.
– In the name of God, the young men were here and – I am Vanka - the stranger introduced himself,
they ate everything. while extending his hand.
Mishka relented and said: This indeed was the head offic er that Mishka had
told us about.
– Well, we shall see.
We saw before us a short, scrawny young man,
The farmer’s wife then changed her attitude, wearing a short officer’s jacket, whose appearance
hastened to the window and said: was very much like that of a Jew: dark hair and dark
eyes. A slightly protruding nose. He had a couple of
– Marusya, bring what we have in the case. Now the false teeth, sharp cheekbones, and a sharp facial
door of the oven was opened, and from a hidden appearance.
place, good warm pancakes were hauled up, and the
table was quic kly covered with goodies that we Vanka pointed to the felled tree trunks and said:
hadn’t seen in a long time: sour cream, cheese,
wheat bread, eggs. – And now lads, we must go back.
After we had finished eating, Mishka took a basket, He waited for us to sit, and then also sat down.
241
Turning to Misha Dubokov, he asked: We gave him a big hug, and didn’t really know how
to thank him. Misha continued to train us in partisan
– Do you have newspaper? techniques:
We, the novices, thought that he wanted to read us – The rifle – he said – is like the soldier’s wife: he
the political news. must never be separated from her, she will sleep
with him and rise with him.
Mishka took a folded newspaper from his pocket
and gave it to the leader. Instead of spreading it out We fortified our spirits with this precious gift. Only
for reading, Vanya used his nails to tear a long sliver a few days ago I was still wearing the yellow badge
from the paper, and handed it to me, without saying on my clothing, and now here I am a free man, a
anything. I did the same, taking a piece of the paper protagonist.
and handing it to Herschel. Then Vanya stuck his
hand into his pocket and pulled out a plug of (From the Book, “The Battalion of Dr. Atlas)
tobacco, ‘ersatz,’ and extended this hospitality to me
and my companions. He also offered this to Mishka,
and then took some for himself.
Now his request for the newspaper became clear.
– I see – said Vanya, blowing out smoke from his

hand-rolled cigarette – that you are enterprising.
You succeeded in escaping from the Germans and
reaching us. But I must caution you at the outset,
that our lives are not easy, and there is no way to
know what the future will bring, or the ultimate
outcome of all this. I would like to see good
partisans in you.
Vanya’s demeanor and sincerity made a profound

impression on us. We told him that we hoped he
would not be disappointed in us. We told him about
the tribulations of the Jews in the ghetto, about our
clandestine organization, and the preparedness of
those who remained behind to do battle.
The leader then took his leave of us, and ordered us

to fortify ourselves with patience. The following day
Mishka arrived with two rifles.
– Now lads, – he called out gleefully, you are real

partisans!
242
Escaped from the Slaughter
By Gutka Boyarsky-Salutsky
Those sunny and happy years that I spent under the slaughter! Let us flee...”
aegis of my parents – the first sixteen years of my
life in tiny, warm Dereczin – come back into my We cannot flee. Because a watch has been posted in
memory like a distant, sweet dream. Along with our courtyard. A little while later, the watch is
myself, my two brothers, Moshe & Abraham and my transferred from our courtyard to the Schulhof, and
sister Beileh were raised by my parents, Israel & we make ourselves seen long enough to crawl into
Devorah. a hideaway. We lie there, and can see everything
that transpires outside.
The bloody years from September 1939 on, when a
blac k cloud covered our skies, are etched into my Night falls, and we flee this town of slaughter. Our
memory like an angry and desolate dream. The entire family flees into the forest. Our mother
Germans attacked Poland, and the bombing drew weeps, she has lost her mother, five brothers and
closer to Dereczin. The entry of the Soviets saved us sisters and their children. She is certain that we have
from German occupation, but for barely less than saved ourselves, but her closest kin have all been
two years. I am attending a Russian school, but there wiped out. But the forest exudes the smell of death.
no longer is any normal sort of life. The tranquil
way of life in Dereczin has already been disrupted.
My father, a fabric dyer traveled to distant Siberia –

he volunteered to work on painting tanks in a large
factory. In the spring of 1941 he returned, and our
family was filled with elation. But what a short
elation indeed! A couple of months later, the
murderous Germans arrived. Burning, shootings,
hunger and forced labor – we live day-to-day in
terror. Decrees follow one on top of the other.
We. The children, became old overnight, we know

and understand everything that is going on around
us, and what is waiting for us. We do everything we
can to achieve rescue, but we are not in a position to
help. As a fabric dyer, my father is counted among
the ‘necessary Jews,’ and we are moved to live in a
house on the other side of the ghetto, on Deutsche
Gasse, near the Kamienkas. A number of other
families are situated together with us in this house.
We are the envy of the ghetto, where we are called
‘the living Jews,’ but we don’t feel at all like we are
alive.
Late at night after the fast of Tisha B’Av, our mother

wakes us up: “Get up, children, I see a great deal of
military around the ghetto and everywhere. It is a
243
Out of the Mass Grave
By Musha Novitsky-Grachuk
Our family lived in Dereczin for many, many Cantor’s house. My mother was looking for me
generations. My grandparents were born there, my everywhere, and later, she too ran home. The
parents were born there, and I was also born there. Germans were constantly driving the Jews towards
the streets that were engulfed in flames from the
We were six children, five boys and a girl. My conflagration.
father died as a young man, and left my mother with
six young children, of whom the eldest son was 12 Upon arriving home, we immediately went down
years old, and the youngest, age 2. I was six years into the cellar to hide. At the time, we didn’t think
old at the time. we would ever emerge from the cellar alive.
My mother did everything possible to raise the My husband, Shmuel had worked for the Soviets,
children in Dereczin. We received an upbringing and it was a great risk for him to show himself in
highly appropriate for Jewish children. This is how public. He sat for long days in the cellar, emerging
life went on until the outbreak of the war. to get a breath of fresh air only when it got dark
outside.
As I recall it, it was in the year 1941 on a pretty
summer day after Shavuot, when airplanes suddenly A couple of months later, my husband screwed up
appeared over the town. People became disoriented his courage and went out during the day to bring us
and ran to hide. back some water and food. A local gentile by the
name of Hatcheh apprehended my husband, and
It didn’t take long before the Germans entered the dragged him off to the police station. I had a woman
town. Immediately on the first day, they assembled gentile acquaintance, whose husband, a certain
all the residents near the church. Amidst great Rublevsky, was a policeman. So I went to her to ask
shouts, they separated the Jews and Christians. After her help in seeing that my husband would be
that, they took out Feivel Meshels and his wife, and released and allowed to return home.
a c ouple of others from amongst the Jews, and we
never saw them alive again. When I came to the police station, I met with
Rublevsky. He told me that in a few days they will
One German gave a speech and shouted that the take a large number of Jews to Slonim, my husband
Jews are responsible for the war. He heaped fire and among them, and my husband will be hanged there.
brimstone on the Jews. He promised me, however, that he will see to it that
my husband would be turned over to the Slonim
Afterwards, we heard gunfire, and they ordered us Judenrat. Indeed, this is what actually happened.
to run. We ran to wherever our eyes pointed. I ran
behind the grave mounds, and hid myself in the My brother, Chaim, lived in Slonim. I sent him a
bushes, I ran this way with my little two year-old letter through Velvel Hanch who transported the
daughter, and I was then eight months pregnant. We Germans to Slonim. I told my brother that my
laid this way in the field, and from a distanc e were husband was under arrest, and that he should try to
able to see that from a number of the streets of do everything possible for him. Indeed, my brother
Dereczin, high flames began to shoot up skyward. was able to effect a rescue of him.
I decided that regardless of the consequences, that I The Jews of Derec zin suffered from the German
must return home. At that time, I lived in the decrees. From their depredations. From hunger and
244
oppression. In the confining ghetto, it became more they ride away.
and more crowded with each passing day. When the
day arrives – one prays for the night, when night It was as if a boulder rolled away from beneath my
comes – one prays for the coming day. heart. Plodding along this way, we arrived in
Slonim, entering the small ghetto. There we met up
Weeks and months flew by in this manner. My little with my brother, Chaim.
newborn was already four months old, and my Three weeks after we arrived in the Slonim ghetto,
mother didn’t even know when our child was born. the first slaughter took place there. Those who
remained alive were transferred to another ghetto.
We had a gentile acquaintance in Dereczin, Petrusza
Rushetsky. Once, he secretly brought in some flour There, in the new ghetto, I met up with my brother
and grits to us in the ghetto. I begged this gentile, Itcheh. He had fled from Dereczin to Minsk, though
falling to his feet, that he should help me to leave for what purpose, I don’t know. From Minsk, he
Dereczin and bring me to Slonim, to my husband returned to Slonim. My second brother, Meirkeh
and brother, and I promised him all my worldly fled with him, but he was killed on the way to
possessions. My assets consisted of my bedding and Minsk.
20 yards of material. The gentile promised me that
in two days, his brother would come and take me to In the ghetto to which we came there was a terrible
Slonim. overcrowding. There were natives of Slonim, as
well as displaced refugees from Poland. We were 40
And he kept his word. On the second day, his families in one house.
brother came at five o’clock in the morning, when it
was still dark outside, and indicated that his wagon At night, hideaways were constructed inside the
was on the hillock, and he brought two suits of ghetto. They were constructed in the cellars, under
peasant’s clothing, for me and my mother. Quickly which, even deeper cellars were dug.
we c hanged clothing and left the ghetto. I myself
don’t completely know how it was that we Several weeks later, the opportunity arose for my
succeeded, but we reached the wagon safely. The mother and I to move over to a less crowded house.
gentile told us to bury ourselves into the hay. He did We remained there until the slaughter of the
not go through Slonim Gasse, but rather by way of children was upon us. On that terrifying day, I lost
Zelva Gasse, using the Zelva highway to ride around both of my children. There is no ink that is suitable
the woods, and thereby reach and come out onto the to record the feelings of a mother, who loses her
Slonim highway. children all on the same day.
Having traveled 12-15 verst from Halinka, we heard My husband went out of the house one day to search
a shout: Halt! Stehen Bleiben! – A darkness looms for a bit of food, and I never saw him again after
before my eyes. I am sitting in this manner on the that.
wagon, holding one child, with my mother and the
second child. I look, and see that Moteleh Sinyiss is Everything around us was closed and loc ked up,
driving the German, Poritz to Slonim. nobody heard the groans of the Jews. As soon as the
Germans occupied a place, the Jews were
The German asks the gentile: Whom are you immediately sentenced [to death].
driving? The gentile replies: I am taking my ailing
mother to the doctor in Slonim. And of me, he said: In the last house where I was with my mother, we
This is my sister. lay for 14 days without food or water. A number of
Jews from Lodz were together with us. On of the
As the children cried, Moteleh Sinyess said to the Jews proposed that we get out of there, and my
German: The children fear us, let us continue with mother and crawled out like frogs.
our trip. The German mutters, Donnerwetter, and
245
About a week later, the Germans arrived with and told me to take off my bloodied garments. She
transports to collect the Jews. The took my mother gave me a plac e to sit, and gave me something to
and I as well. As we were riding, my mother said to eat, and said that I could spend the night there.
me: Jump out, my child, save yourself!
Very early in the morning, she came to me and said
I don’t know where I got the strength, but I jumped to me that I must go away from this place. She did
out. At that point, the Germans let the Jews out, and not want to risk her life for a Jewish person. She
we returned to the ghetto. demanded that I leave immediately, since she and
her husband had to go work in the fields.
A few weeks later, they once again collected the
Jews. This time, they were being taken to their I began to weep and begged her not to drive me
death. The pits had already been dug. away, but to let me stay here. She said: Very well,
then. Spend the day here, but you must leave this
They shot, and people fell into the pit. My mother night.
fell on top of me.
And she added: Go back to the ghetto, and your fate
When the Germans left, I had the opportunity to will be the same as that of the other Jews.
crawl out from under my mother’s body. I did not
know where I was, I was so disoriented. Where should I go? To whom shall I go? The enemy
lies in ambush all around. I have no one left in
I implore: Help me! But I do not see a living person Slonim any longer. The gentile woman permits me
around me. to take the dress that she had given me yesterday to
wear. I leave my own blood-stained clothes with
Suddenly, I see that a man is lifting himself up from her. She comes with me part of the way. I go back to
the midst of the mountain of corpses. I see that one the ghetto.
of his hands is halfway severed. He extends his
other hand to me, helps me stand up on my feet, and On the way, I see a horse and c attle grazing. They
pulls me out of the pit. are free, eating with gusto, and I am on the run like
a poisoned mouse through this horrible world,
Terrified and covered with blood, I began to without purpose, having emerged from the grave.
wander. It was getting dark. Dragging myself in this
way, I crawled to the outskirts of the city. In the In the ghetto, I acquired a pair of shoes and another
distance I see a house, it was a farm house. As I dress, and a couple of days later, on a Sunday, when
approach, I see a gentile woman milking a cow in the Germans and other gentiles were good and
the barn. She looks at me and says nothing. I say to drunk, I left the ghetto.
her: Have mercy, please let me in. She takes me by
the hand and leads me behind a shed, and says to me We had agreed to meet near the cemetery. We went
that I should stand there and wait until her husband by way of the Nevsk. Somewhat further along,
returns from the fields. The gentile woman went Germans spotted us at a distance, and began to shoot
away, and I thought – perhaps they will call the at us. We dropped to the ground and proceeded by
Germans and turn me over to them? That is what I crawling.
think as I stand and wait.
We wandered this way for a long time, crawling
I observed from a distance how her husband came through mud, streams and fields, until we reached
in, and how she gave him food. She then brings me the forests of Valtchenar.
a bath pan and two pails of water, and tells me to
wash myself. Then she brought me a dress of hers,
246
The Destruction of the Dereczin Jewish Community
By Sh. Nieger
The gruesome day of slaughter in Dereczin is also described in Sh.

Nieger’s book, “Kiddush HaShem.”
It happened on the tenth day of Ab in the year 1942. The yelling and screaming could be heard for miles.
It fell on a Friday. Despite the fact that it was A portion of these were buried in three grave sites,
strictly forbidden to pray, the Jews nevertheless and the others lie in six grave sites in Blizniansky’s
assembled in the cellars and recited the kinot fields.
(prayers of lamentation). The destruction of two
thousand years ago was mourned, as was the present A small number had the opportunity to save
destruction... themselves and exact revenge from these murderers.
After the night of Tisha B’Av, when day began to The escapees joined up with the partisans, and two
break, the Gestapo, along with Ukrainian and weeks after the slaughter, a group entered Dereczin
Lithuanian police surrounded the ghetto and began on a dark night and killed the entire garrison,
to shoot into it from all sides. Jews ran to hide in the captured weapons and ammunition, burned the
pits they had dug under the houses, which they had houses in which the police were stationed, and
previously prepared [for this purpose], but the returned to the forest...
Germans, with the assistance of the local police,
extrac ted the Jews from these pits, led them to the
Schulhof and to Blizniansky’s fields, and killed them
with rifle bullets, machine guns and hand grenades.
They set the ghetto on fire.
The Bloody Tenth Day of Ab

By Tsirel Kaminetsky-Friedman
It is with a pain in my heart that I undertake to Who among us does not remember that Friday,
describe that terrifying period in which my town, when the Germans entered Dereczin?! Who does not
Dereczin, that town of such prominent Jewish recall the scene in front of the churc h, when the
connections for many generations, was destroyed town was aflame, people were treated like discarded
and everything in it was lost. rubbish, and one saw death staring at you before
your eyes!? A mirac le occurred then, we remained
Fear and terror dominated the Jews of Dereczin in alive – to a life of oppression and fear of death.
1941 when the German airplanes bombed the town.
Our hearts told us that terrifying days were drawing A short time later, the succession of decrees was
close, especially for us Jews. And the terror was not initiated. Every time a new decree – yellow badges,
in vain – we could not begin to conceive or imagine Jews driven together, from the very young to very
how pathetic and gruesome our condition would old into the market square, hungry and frightened to
become. death, driven to work with beatings and force. It was
247
not once that a bullet from a revolver proved to be innocent Jew was taken away to the cemetery and
the solution to that hateful terrible life. shot there. Subsequently, no one survived from that
entire family.
From time to time, alarming reports would circulate
that the Germans were shooting entire Jewish Jews at that time already perceived how terrifying
populations in surrounding cities and towns, killing and unfortunate their situation was. Everyone
innocent people only because they were Jewish. thought to themselves, surely the end is right at
hand.
The Great Pit
The news that the Slonim ghetto was going up in
The High Holydays arrived, and they were truly flames hit everyone like a thunderbolt. It didn’t
Days of Awe that year. On the first day of Sukkot, require much disc ussion, young and old alike
the able bodied Jews were driven to another district. understood the implications: thousands of Jews are
For the entire day, people thought of the worst and losing their lives and are being asphyxiated in their
most terrifying of fates for them. A panic gripped hideaways in the Sanctific ation of the Name. It is
the town, especially after parents, brothers and not possible to describe the feelings of the Jews of
sisters, waited in vain for the return of their near Dereczin during those days.
ones at the usual hour after the end of the day’s
forced labor, – they did not return at the appointed The Bloody Tenth of Ab
time. It was only later that they returned, exhausted
and broken with a mournful tale: under beatings and That terrible hour finally arrived for the Jews of
force, they had worked strenuously to dig out an Dereczin as well. The surviving Derecziners will
enormous pit... never forget that Tisha B’Av and the Tenth of Ab of
that tragic summer. It seems to me that those days
We wanted to dispel the suspicion we had, and we were more terrifying than the days of the destruction
c onjured up all sorts of reasons that the Germans of the First Temple.
would want to have such a pit, but the pit remained
fixed in everyone’s mind. Jews went about like bare Pious Jews fasted, and prayed for deliverance and a
shadows, pale and frightened. Death would be downfall for the Germans, but it came out exactly
preferable to a life of this kind. But almost on the opposite. In our hearts, everyone felt as if the air
purpose, normal death didn’t come in those days, as was laden with gunpowder. So many Germans and
if it had been decreed from heaven that we would be police came driving into town that the Jews
brought down by these murderous hands. understood that something terrible was going to
happen.
Behind the Ghetto Walls
My dear father, Reb Zelik Friedman returned home
In the meantime, the ghetto was erected in Dereczin. from synagogue after Tisha B’Av prayers and a
The overcrowding, filth and hunger were terrible. whole day’s fasting, but we were so broken that no
There were also acts of murder on the part of the one could open their mouths to eat. I said to my
police. One of the first victims in those days was father: “Dear father, the fate of the Jews of Dereczin
Moshe Kostellyansky (Moshe der Kvossnik). He is sealed.” To which my father answered:
entered the premises of a Christian to obtain some “Deliverance from the Lord can come in the blink of
potatoes. A policeman saw this, and got involved in an eye.” But the deliverance did not come.
the matter, implying that there were people ill with
typhus in Moshe’s house, and that Moshe should be My father was then seventy-six years old, but he
shot in order that no one would catch the typhus looked like a man of fifty, and not only once did he
from him. It was no sooner said than done – the receive murderous blows as he was driven to work.
248
The following morning after Tisha B’Av, while it She wept and shouted, and the sound of our reply
was still dark, the police surrounded the ghetto. from the depths of the little cellar nearly made her
They were dressed in black, and joked with one faint. My sister and her husband moved the large
another: “Give me a watch, and I will let you live,” bundles away, that the Germans had prepared for
and other such bloody taunts. themselves.
My husband and I with our three young children We also met up with my dear father, but he shouted
were in the home of Leibeh Zuber, outside of the to us: “Dear children, run! Save yourselves! I will
ghetto. The Stukalsky family was with us. not go with you. I have lived together with your
mother for 54 years, and we must now both be
Shema Yisrael! together...”
They dragged my dear mother out of the house and On Sunday, my father and his two sisters were shot
beat her murderously, to which she screamed Shema to death. My father met a violent end. He was
Yisrael! Vikhna Stukalsky rebuked the policeman ordered to dig himself a grave. Out of sheer terror,
with the words: “Why do you beat me? I helped to he could not control his own hands, and he was
bring you up!” beaten murderously, until they knocked his brains
out. He was buried on the Schulhof, near the
Pesha Feldman, Chaya & Zvi Dworetsky with their Hiltzener Bet HaMidrash, where he had spent his
two children, were among the first victims. With us life.
were Cherneh Stukalsky, Leizer & Izzy Stukalsky
with their wives and children, and Avigdor Ratner. To this day I remember the blessings he bestowed
upon us in connection with our flight into the forest,
Saved by a Miracle and the tears with which he bestowed those
blessings. Accompanied by his blessings and tears,
We saved ourselves by a miracle. We ducked into a we made our way through the fields and entered the
small c ellar under the kitchen. When they had shot forest directly.
everyone, one policeman asked a second one if he
had thoroughly searched the entire house. The other
said that he had been into the cellar and up into the
attic. Meanwhile, we sat stuffed together in this
small cellar.
A couple of hours later, my small children wanted to

eat. Having no choice, I had to crawl on all fours, so
I would not be spotted through the windows, to see
if I could find something for the children to eat.
We sat in that cellar from Friday before dawn, until

Saturday night. These two days seemed like an
eternity to us, and I can never forget those terrifying
two days.
On Saturday night, my dear sister, vg came to us.

She had been certain that we had all been shot,
because it was nearly impossible to conceal my
small children.
249
From the Memories of a Refugee
By Y. Krimolovsky
I came to know the town of Dereczin under overly superfluous to describe – as others have already
tragic circumstances, having arrived there already a done so – the ‘welcome’ the Germans had prepared
refugee (Beznayets in the local [Russian] language) for us when they entered Dereczin. I will simply
for more than a year and a half. I left the capitol city note that the ‘straw castle’ in which I lived went up
of Warsaw in 1939. In crossing over to the Russian in flames at the sound of the first shot. Once again
side, to a town called Zarembi Kuchylna, I suffered we were left without a roof over our heads, and with
pursuit and oppression that words do not have the no belongings to pack, and so we turned to the
power to desc ribe. I was in the town of Zarembi synagogue that served as a sort of central refuge for
with my wife and her parents for over two and a half those with no place to live.
years until I was able to get a Russian passport with
‘paragraph no. 11' that was known – this section News began to circulate through the town that the
according to a standing order, because as refugees, Germans intended to establish a ghetto in Dereczin,
we were not permitted to live close to the German and everyone set about seeking refuge and making
border. Once again we took up the staff of the themselves a hideaway from the Germans. Rabbi
wanderer, and went at least 100 km to Slonim and Bakalchuk, kz took us in under his care, along with
then from there to Dereczin. four other refugee families in addition to his own.
In Dereczin, we moved into the abandoned quarters
of the Boltotz family, on Soytska Street. It is hard to And so the days past, in which hearts fluttered and
describe this place as a residence, since all that ached at the news of the depredations that were
remained of it was abandoned wreckage. There were ordered in other cities and towns: every day there
many refugees that found refuge – of one sort or were new decrees, killings and mass murders...
another – in Dereczin. Carrying on any sort of
business in the town was forbidden, and especially I recall that we arranged a night watch, and every
with our arrival, our ec onomic c ondition night, someone would volunteer to sit at the
deteriorated significantly to a low level. Over a window, keeping an eye out in the event that
period of time we either sold or bartered a garment troubled would break out. We knew that our turn to
or some other possession that had some value for a death would come, yet there seemed nothing that we
little bit of flour or some potatoes. could do, everyone arranged a hiding plac e for that
hour of extermination. Undoubtedly, many others
Today, after all these years, I must underscore with have already told of the great pit that we dug with
gratitude the selfless assistance of the Nozhnitsky our own hands. A number arranged a hiding place in
family kz, that lived in my neighborhood, and the cellar of the Rabbi’s house, whose entrance was
espec ially the help of their grandmother, Rivkah inside the bottom of a closet. I found an awning on
Weissberg, kz who stood by us in our hour of need. the Rabbi’s porch, and organized a spot for myself
there. In that same spot, the Rabbi kz hid his sacred
And so we lived this way under Soviet rule in texts as well as some of his own writings on the
Dereczin, hoping for the end of the war. We toyed Torah.
with the hope that the Soviet Union would not
remain sympathetic to the terror of the Nazi regime I remember how several times Rabbi Bakalchuk kz
– but these hope dissipated rapidly in the face of the hugged me to him, put his hand around my throat
way cruel events unfolded. and recited the biblical injunction: “and you shall
erase the memory of Amalek,” and asked me to
The Germans reached us in 1941 at the time they answer “Amen” afterwards. It was not only once
opened their war against the Russians. It is that the Rabbi offered me a little tobacco for a
250
cigarette in order to help raise my spirits. that they would never slaughter him, and to Mrs.
Dubinchik kz, who tried to defend her life, but to no
In order to forget and suppress the terrifying avail. They were shot trying to climb up to the
happenings in our lives, the Rabbi kz, who received roof...
his ordination from the well-known Yeshivah at
Mir, and an outstanding Torah scholar by the name ...I sat in my hiding plac e, trembling all over like a
of Zuckerman kz from Ostrolenka, and my father-in- buffeted leaf. On all sides Germans are on the prowl
law, Reb Ephraim Hof fman kz, who was also an ready to kill, and I was afraid to even breathe lest I
outstanding scholar – would sit and engage in reveal myself. Minutes seemed to me to last
dialogue over the complex arguments of the Torah forever... but the nearing sound of the voices of
and the Gemara. But it was impossible to insulate Germans accompanied by the local police, the
oneself from what was going on, because every day Lithuanians, who were all liquored up, reminded me
people were being murdered and entire communities every second that my end was near.
were being wiped out. Once again, we attempted to
console ourselves with the aid of political ideas. We I will never know from where I, and two other men
would carry on discussions about the conduct of the and one little boy who joined me, found the nerve
Russians – I recall my father-in-law kz accusing the and strength of spirit to offer the person who found
Russians arguing that they were just like the us the material that saved us from death. The police,
Germans; I need to point out that this was at the who lusted after wealth, gave us our lives in return
time when exile to Siberia was running rampant for the money we had in our possession.
through all the Jewish communities; and the Rabbi
kz argued forcefully against him – in what turned Towards nightfall, when they finished their
handiwork, the Germans shouted over the houses:
out afterwards to be true – that the Russians were
ten times better than the Germans. “All those who remain hidden are ordered to come
out! There will be no more killing!” We held back
in terror, after one person who came out of hiding
As we were sitting and discussing political issues,
was immediately taken away. All his efforts at
trying to live each minute of the hours in a day with
the clear understanding that a day would soon come resistance were to no avail, and he fell with the
words “Shema Yisrael!” loud on his lips, and his
when we would no longer be able to argue and
blood was added to the enormous flow of blood in
discuss, we heard the siren summoning us to
assembly. Precisely the day after Tisha B’Av, with the courtyard.
the break of dawn... they are going to come!
It is difficult to describe, especially after so many
Immediately a panicked stampede began to get into
years have gone by since that day of slaughter, the
the hideouts and secret getaways. My neighbor
argued that they would not take him to be details of the terrifying sights that we saw with our
own eyes. We sat bent over, terrified and trembling
slaughtered, and kept a knife in his pocket, and I
at the edge of the roof. Hoping that no one would
went to the awning over the porch, from which I
could see, but not be seen. And as a result I saw and find us – we had nothing to lose – the only thing of
value left was a gold watch and chain that I had
witnessed with my own eyes what has been termed
received from my grandmother. We attempted yet
“the slaughter.”It is hard to describe in words the
again to cause the police to turn a blind eye using
stirrings that took place when the Germans entered
the ghetto. But that image is very much alive in my this gold, and as if from heaven, our hand was
guided to success. As I left our hiding place, I raised
eyes... men, women and children, taken from places
my voice to a shout: “Good sirs!” – the police on
of hiding amidst shouting and cursing, pushing and
beating. Those who resisted, or tried to fight back guard immediately gathered around me with their
against the Germans were shot on the spot. – that is rifles cocked to fire – I raised my hands and drew
near them, offering them the watch and chain in
exac tly what happened to my neighbor who swore
251
exchange for my life and the lives of my We perceived that the only path to safety was to go
c ompanions who remained behind in the awning. to the forest. The companions who were with me did
After an argument and negotiation among them on not want to subject themselves to the dangers of the
how they would divide these spoils, they agreed to forest, and they decided to return to the Germans, in
let us go, and initially we did not believe that we the hopes that it will still be possible for them to be
had saved ourselves. saved. I don’t know why or for what reason, but I
dec ided it was better to flee into the woods. And
It was hard for us to understand the significance of that is what I did. In the woods I ran into several
what had happened, especially since the attitudes other people from Dereczin, who like myself, had
were not particularly clear after a day like this one. succeeded in escaping from the slaughter.
The Fate of My Family

By Chaya Levin-Glicksfeld
I will tell of the bitter fate of our large family, of demand that he write êàê ýòî áèëî,117 meaning: to
Shlomo Rudenstein’s family, their sons, daughters, confess how he had set the mill on fire.
son-in-laws and grandchildren.
After this pack of trouble, we were afraid to remain
Our troubles began with the outbreak of the Second in Dereczin, and moved to Volkovysk. There, we
World War in 1939. When the Soviets took over worked at jobs in military conscription in the
Byelorussia, they nationalized everything , Russian aerodrome as freight-handlers, and the
confiscated everything and took away the [flour] children remained behind in Dereczin. Do
mill from us. In this manner we were left without so understand that life was not exactly all sweet honey
much as a piece of bread. Each of us went to work for us in Volkovysk either. And this was the way we
at jobs. My husband, Yaakov Glick(s)feld, became a continued in drudgery until the outbreak of the
Vesovchik (weighing-master) for the Soviets at the German-Russian war in June 1941.
mill. Rivkah’s husband, Simkha Hendlisch became
a teacher in the village of Ugrin. Itkeh’s husband, When the terrible Germans entered Dereczin, my
Hirschel Gurvich, worked as a the head of a factory husband and younger daughter Olya were in
that was near Sczuczin. My brother, Elyeh-Chaim Volkovysk. Somewhere in a cellar, they managed to
went to work as an engineer in the mechanical survive the bombing there, while people around
operations in Baranovich. My younger brother, them fell. I, along with our older daughter Mina
Yosef-Shmuel worked as a broker in the forestry were in Dereczin.
collective. It was in this manner that we all became
gainfully occupied... It was not easy to get from Volkovysk to Dereczin
in those days. Roads were full of German military
It didn’t take very long, and the mill burned down forces, which constantly was pulled toward the front
under their supervision. The responsible parties in the east. Jews were very fearful of even stepping
were the ‘specialists’ and the director that they had over their thresholds to go out into the public
set over the mill to run it. You can understand that thoroughfares.
they tried to transfer the blame to my husband. He
was arrested, and before we could demonstrate his
innocence, he was taken off to jail in Zelva, and 117
there the NKGB used to arouse him every night, and Russian for ‘that’s the way it
happened.’
252
My daughter Olya who was 12 years-old, did not forests. If one survived till the evening, and saw the
want to wait for the roads to clear, and set out alone men return from their work, one counted oneself to
to go home to Dereczin. She told her father nothing, be fortunate. Many were taken away to forced labor
because he would have never let her undertake such camps.
a journey.
One such camp was between Slonim and
Along the way she was detained by the Germans Kozlovshchina.. My younger brother Yossef-Shmuel
who asked her if she was Jewish. She answered that was sent there. He never returned from there. They
she was Christian. When my husband saw that the did him in there.
younger daughter was not to be found, he ran to
seek her. And the Germans apprehended him, and Using all manner of stratagems, they deceived
had already taken him aside to shoot him. A miracle people, exhausted them, starved and killed them. It
happened, because the entire echelon was in a hurry, was not possible to earn one’s bread by working for
and from the rear command a shout went up not to them. It was not permitted to exchange something
block the passage forward – and only thanks to this with a Christian in return for bread – it was
was my husband saved on that day. punishable by death. A Jew was forbidden to show
himself in the marketplac e. So, my daughter would
He arrived in Dereczin a half-hour after our dress up like a Christian, and bring home something
daughter did, scared to death after such an to eat concealed under her kerchief.
experience with of the Germans.
Entire nights were spent looking out the windows, to
In those days, my brother Elya-Chaim decided to see if the S.S. troops were not coming to take and
return home to Dereczin. On the way, he was slaughter all of us at the pits. We were too fearful to
detained by the Germans, who discovered a German attempt escape, because the Germans held to
textbook of higher mathematics on him when he was account that if anyone was missing, the Germans
searched, and seeing that he was an engineer, shot would shoot their whole family, and it was indeed
him right on the spot. for this reason that no one fled.
He was the first victim from our family. In our house we prepared a hideaway for ourselves
in the event of an ‘action’ against us. Our floor had
When the Germans entered Dereczin, they been laid on concrete supports, so a c ouple of
immediately established a Judenrat. Its leadership boards were taken out, and we dug out the earth
was plac ed in mortal danger every minute of the from under the floor, and carried it out at night and
day. The Judenrat was tasked to produce gold and spread it out near the mill. The construc tion of this
silver, furs and jewelry – every time a different hideaway occupied my sister Rivkah, my brother-in-
decree. All Jews lived in terror day and night. law Simkha, Sonya Manikov, who happened to be
found with us along with her mother and child, and
Our street, Deutsche Gasse, was outside of the I also helped. My husband, at that time, had
ghetto, in which the ‘needed Jews’ lived – departed for Volkovysk, to determine if there were
shoemakers, tailors, mechanics, bakers, blacksmiths, better possibilities for concealment there. It was said
doctors, etc. About 90 people lived in our house. We that in the cities that bordered on the Third Reich,
slept in the attic, on the sides and in the cellars. It the Jews were not being killed. Consequently, Jews
was thought that whoever lived on our street was to from all manner of cities and towns fled to
be spared from death... Volkovysk and Bialystock to save themselves from
death.
Every morning before dawn, the men were driven to
work in the various labor centers or to dig pits in the
253
My husband had sent me a guide who was supposed one of the militia, a Volksdeutsche118 who had
to take me and the children over the border which worked as a miller for us, and then for Shelovsky,
was at Zelva. On the night I was supposed to go promised the Shelovskys that he would let them live
over the border, there was a wedding of a police if they would come out of the hideaway. They
officer on the Aleksandr farmstead, which was near wanted to really go out, but my children began to
the road to Zelva. I therefore remained in Dereczin. cry and scream that the Shelovsk ys would save
themselves, and the rest of us would be shot. We
Before dawn, the Germans along with their bloody begged them to stay with us. And so we sat this way
supporters surrounded the ghetto. We descended until Sunday.
into our hideaway. In concealment were: myself and
both daughters with my mother, Sonya with her When we no longer heard the sound of shooting, we
mother and c hild, Itcheh Shelovsky with his wife came out of the hideaway. We ran into a lot of Jews
and 4 children, Leah from Kolonia [Sinaisk] and her in the Ratner’s house, whom the Germans had
4 children, the Tanner and his family, and many extracted from their concealment, and led to the
others, whom I cannot bring to mind. My sister Ratner house, promising them that these remaining
Rivkah, her husband and two children Zyama & people would not be killed.
Yisrael-Meir were hidden in a second hideaway
under a crevice near us in the yard. We did not believe the German promises and went
to the fields toward the forests. The Byelorussian
Thursday had been Tisha B’Av, and the slaughter police apprehended us, and brought us back to the
started on Friday, the tenth of Av, immediately in the Ratner house. We gave them money, but this also
morning. did not help. They took the money, and brought us
back to the other surviving Jews.
The Germans came in transport trucks into which
they forced everyone without exception, whoever We didn’t stay there very long, and once again set
they ran into, or found. Everyone was taken out to out to reach the forests. My eldest daughter could
Blizniansky’s fields, where they were shot and not move her feet from sheer terror, and thereby we
thrown into the 7 pits that had been prepared for this agreed with the Shelovskys that we would
purpose. rendezvous at the Presada, and as we didn’t want to
lose one another, our youngest daughter went off to
From the vantage of our hideaway, we were able to the meeting place to ask that they wait for us. We
see how they loaded up the people from the house couldn’t reach them any longer, and my little
next door onto the auto transport. The Germans daughter Olya did not return. So I went into the
were terrifying. forest with my mother and oldest daughter.
We sat like this until Saturday. My daughter Olya I looked for my little daughter all day, but I couldn’t
and Leah-keh dressed themselves as Christians, and find her. Later, I was told she was beaten to death
went out to see what was going on in the town. They with rods.
saw no people in the streets. Only in the pharmacy
did they run into two Jews. It took us a long time to reach the forest. My
mother, then 66 years of age, dragged herself along
The militia approached our hideaway a couple of with exhaustion, having to stop frequently. We
times, and attempted to get us to c ome out by helped her to the best of our abilities, waiting for her
subterfuge. They lit the area with electric lights, and while she caught her breath.
118
An ethnic German who lived in
territories that were predominantly
Slavic.
254
My sister and brother-in-law carried their children My daughter and I went of to a combat battalion,
on their backs. We did not know the way, and made and with this army group we survived all of the
our way in the darkness. We were afraid to stop, tribulations that were set before Jewish partisans in
because the Byelorussian peasants were turning over the Byelorussian forests.
lots of Jews into German hands.
Also in the forests, we fled from one place to the

next, as we eluded German retaliation. In the
retaliation for the partisan reprisal attack against the
Dereczin murderers, my mother, sister, brother-in-
law and their children were brought down by
German bullets.
During the Days of Slaughter

By Katya Bialosotsky-Khlebnik
– Tisha B’Av, July 23, 1942. rumored...one hopes to rescue oneself from certain
death [here]. The silhouettes leave a dark shadow on
The day of Tisha B’Av passes quietly. Everyone the soul. Do they know something, and are therefore
speculates why the German murderers seem to have fleeing? A slaughter? – a cold shiver passes through
retrained themselves to be more subdued than in all extremities.
past days.
That night, from the 23 r d to the 24th of July, almost
But there is a thought in the air that does not give us no one slept in the ghetto.
rest. Nobody wishes to be a seer and forecast what
the coming day will bring to us. A great weight lies The ghetto is comprised of the entire Schulhof, the
on our hearts, our minds are working ceaselessly, premises of the Tailor’s Bet HaMedrash, called the
and an angry premonition roils within us without Hayatim Schul, up to the Kamienitzya. The area is
any letup. c ordoned off with barbed wire. The entry to the
ghetto is through the yard between the wall to
It is twilight. The sun is setting toward the horizon. Slutzky’s house (where the Edelstein’s lived) and the
It gets dark, and a spiritual darkness begins to steal wall to Bebbeh Rabinovich’s house. Our house is
into the soul. the first one in the ghetto, our stairs are a few steps
from the ghetto gate.
We go out into the yard to snatch a word of
conversation with one another, perhaps some Even before the dawn begins to break, we observe
consolation, some news... one wants to know what how the ghetto is being surrounded by hundreds of
a second person is thinking. police troops that had been brought up from Slonim.
It becomes clear what is going to happen. We have
Suddenly we see two silhouettes at a distance in the to hide ourselves.
darkness, that are heading out of town in the
direction to Kolonia [Sinaiska]. There is a side road Our hideaway had been prepared by my father kz, in
there that leads to Zelva. The border to the Third the following manner: to the right of our kitchen
Reich is in Zelva. There are no pits dug there – it is there was a Sukkah, a small room with a removable
255
roof. From the Sukkah there was an entrance into the waited...maybe a miracle from heaven will occur.
attic by way of a ladder. The window from the
Sukkah looked out at the yard of Bebbeh We were 12 people there: My father, Moshe
Rabinovich’s [house], and as long as I remember, Gelman, Hasia Gelman, Sheplian 1 19 and his son,
there never was a pane of glass in this window, Sasha, Zina Blizniansky, a young man from Suwalk
rather it was nailed over with wooden boards. My and his wife, Herschel Zarnik and his wife, Pesha,
father did away with the way up the ladder into the brother Shmuel and me.
attic, and he moved the ladder into the yard, where
there was a passage into Bebel’s property. Under the The bloody play began at about 6AM. Max Sheplian
roof of our house he constructed a small door, took the first bullet, who also lived with us. He did
through which it would be possible to crawl into the not enter the hideaway with us, he wanted to try and
attic. My father blocked the door from the kitchen to get out of the ghetto.
the Sukkah with the kitchen buffet, which at its full
stance completely blocked off the door. He arranged Heartrending screams and wailing reached us from
that the very bottom panel on the buffet could be all sides. They literally cut you to the heart, filled
raised and lowered by pulling on a rope. your mind and paralyzed your limbs. We sat as if
mortally wounded. Outside we heard the engine roar
It was through this lift-door and into the bottom of the motor transport trucks, that were taking
shelf of the buffet, I led the residents of our house people to the killing fields. One can hear the sounds
into the Sukkah. I was the last one to crawl in. At the of beating and shooting, and over the din from time-
last minute, I pushed the door to the street wide to-time, one can hear the hoarse broken cry of
open to give the murderers the impression that we “Shema Yisrael!”
had all fled from the house. I had also provided
several loves of freshly baked bread. Before And here they are almost at our front door, up in the
crawling into the hideaway, I wanted to be sure of attic. They are searching, throwing things about,
what was happening around us, because it was breaking things, stabbing at things with their
deathly quiet in the ghetto. So I ran into the bayonets. Debris falls from above onto our heads,
bedroom and leapt to the window, from which it was and all of our limbs are trembling as if from an ague,
possible to have a good view of Chava Itcheh’s and it is only by sheer force that one can keep one’s
house where the barbed wire boundary of the ghetto teeth clenched together, so they won’t chatter
ran. noisily, and we hold our breath, we sit in anxiety
with our nerves taut, full of terror that something
A shudder ran through all my limbs. The police inside of us is going to simply burst. The air in the
stood there with their guns aimed, and I was still hideaway gets stuffier minute by minute, creating
able to see how people who lived in the Bet suffocation in the throat, since it is impossible to
HaMedrash premises began to run back and forth breathe continuously through the nose – but nobody
like poisoned rats, deathly pallid, with bulging eyes. dares draw a breath with an open mouth. Every rasp
The police train their guns on them, laughing from a mouth can give us away – better already to
cynically and in jest. choke to death...
Instinctively, I tore myself away from the window,
and upset and trembling I let myself into the It gets quieter in our house, they go away. But here
hideaway. I closed the door to the shelf put a they come again, it must be other bloodthirsty two-
floorboard in plac e, placed several pots on it, and legged beasts. Again the searches start, and once
closed the lift door to the buffet, pulled the ropes to again hearts start to beat like trip-hammers. We hear
me, so they would not be noticed, and closed the how they approach the kitchen buffet and how the
Sukkah door.
119
That is how we all sat, deathly still and Very likely that Sheplian & Shaplan
are one and the same families.
256
buffet doors are opened, two smashing blows from they stood over me, with frightened and awed stares.
rifles push out the lift door, the door to the Sukkah “What [now] Katya?” – the young Suwalker asks. I
falls down – and the four eyes of policemen look in was tongue-tied, and it was hard for me to keep my
at us – – head on my shoulders.
The end has come, they will take us to the pits – this What they lived through, and what they thought in
is what each of us is thinking. those minutes until I returned to the inside of the
hideaway, is hard for me to say. For the time being,
Even now, many years since that terrifying moment, apparently everyone thought, we have for now
as I write these lines, I still cannot believe that a avoided a certain death...
miracle could indeed happen.
Friday night was quiet. Very early on Saturday
At this time I am amazed at my temerity. In that morning everything started anew. Through the
tragic moment of my life, I took stock of what boards hammered across the window, once again
awaited me. It entered my mind that if a man is to came the cries and wailing of the Jews who lived
drink, he has to grab a straw. outside the ghetto, near the bathhouse street and the
market square shops. It appeared that the murderers
I flew out of the hideaway with the speed of a cat. had finished their handiwork in the ghetto, and now
Two police, who were not local, stood before me. I fell upon the “necessary” Jews who had been
took them both by the hand and addressed them in designated to be left living. The entire Sabbath day
Polish: panawie, zlituczieszie. Not another word they were shooting, and once again we lived through
came out of my mouth at that moment. Both stand a day of distress and pain.
and silently look at me. I don’t lose my composure,
and hop back in through the entry into the hideaway, We agreed to flee that night. As soon as evening
Sheplian gives me a watch, I gather up my few came, I opened a container, took out several pieces
valuables, the Suwalk young man gives me a finger of underwear for the men, put a few bolts of fabric
ring, and I run out back to them – both are standing into a small sack, which would always come in
at the same spot as before. I give them these things, handy, put aside some underwear for my father, and
which at the time were of absolutely no value to us. got myself ready to leave.
“Tilko to?” – one asks, “Is that all? How many of
you are in there?” I anser him: “Twelve.” I run into I presented myself to my father and said: “Papa,
my bedroom, because there I had hidden a few come, we will flee.” My father does not move from
hundred rubles, my mother’s golden chain and a his place. “Go – he says – run, save yourself if at all
watch. But I found nothing. The whole house looked possible. For me it is all the same now. Either here
like it had been hit by an earthquake. or there, I will in any event fall...” I was seized with
a shiver. I tried again and again to argue with my
I address the two police: “When it quiets down, you father, but he stubbornly said: “I will remain
will be well taken care of.” The second one answers behind...” I said my final goodbyes to my father,
me: “You’re lucky you ran into us.” – and in a never to see him again.
moment, they give me a push through the shelf and
close the doors [to the buffet]. Herschel was our guide, he was well acquainted
with all the roads, villages and farmsteads. On our
A ray of hope flashed through my thoughts. Once way we met the Petrukhoviches. Mr. Petrukhovich
again I replaced the floorboard, put the pots on top, was a good guide, and was able to offer counsel in
repaired the lift-door, and closed the [Sukkah] door. many areas.
Again I sit among those who were scared to death.
They knew what was going on with me, and now
257
This is how we saved ourselves from the slaughter. Sunday, on the 26 th of July, my father left the
This was the beginning of our life in the forest, full hideaway with a loaf of bread under his arm. He was
of dangers and tragedies. Of all those who escaped walking this way, calmly and sadly in the vicinity of
from our hideaway, only two remained alive – Judah Wolfowitz’s house.
Herschel and I.
He was approached from the opposite direction by
It was Isser Lev who told me of my father’s bitter Albin, a local policeman who had been a miller in
fate. Shelovsky’s mill.
“Where are you going, Bialosotsky?” – he sternly

asked my father. My father answered him: “I am
going where my eyes are taking me. I am bringing
bread to the hungry...”
My father fell, shot by Albin’s murderous bullet.
This Is How I Was Saved On the Day of Slaughter

By Sarah Wachler-Ogulnick
Photo: The ghetto passport of Sarah Lev (daughter of Dvoshka Daraliner)
It is several day now that there are rumors that the At 6AM a transport truck neared our house. The
day of slaughter is imminently approaching. From Germans and their Byelorussian helpers began to
mouth to ear, the word is passed that in nearby urge us along with their rifle butts, getting us up into
towns the Jews have already been taken out to be the transport. It is impossible for me to describe my
killed, and despite this, people are unable to emotions at that moment, as the vehicle began to
conceive that suc h an awesome thing is likely to move, taking us to this cruel death.
happen. People wait for a miracle, there are
arguments and explanations, attempts first to At a pre-arranged moment, Mottel Beckenstein &
convince themselves, that it is inconceivable that the Velvel Kwiat jumped from the transport, followed
Germans would take out and kill innocent people, by Moshe Kwiat. After several days in the forest, I
who are prepared to do any an all sorts of diffic ult found out that the first two were killed by gunfire
work under any conditions. from the guards on the trucks.
Yet the awful day does arrive. To this day, tears I turned and looked for the last time at the faces of
well up in my eyes, as I recall after all these long my parents, my beloved brother and sister, and I
years, that most bitter of all days, the day after the jumped from the truck immediately after Moshe
fast of Tisha B’Av. Kwiat. Perhaps I didn’t think that I would save my
life, but my entire being was focused on assuring
With the coming of dawn, we were awakened by the that I would get myself away from the terrible fate
report of gunfire that we heard close to our house. of a mass killing. A hail of bullets rained down at
We lived, at the time, in an office building that had my heels. At one point, I was concerned that I had
at one time served as the post office. In the same been hit in the bac k, but it turned out to be a light
house with us were the Sinai & Beckenstein wound in the shoulder.
families, Moshe Kwiat, and other Jews from a
village near Dereczin.
258
My father kz, never even gave thought to running On my right ran the road, and at its side – a stand of
from the Germans and death. He was certain that all trees. Behind these trees, the pits had been dug, in
was lost. The Germans had reached the gates of which hundreds of Jews from my town lay at eternal
Moscow, all the Jews will be slaughtered, and rest, among them the members of my family.
therefore it was appropriate to go with the
community and share in the fate of the entirety of I continued along my way, heading for a nearby
our people. village. I trembled from the cold and the terrible
sights that came into my view. I reached the yard of
I ran with all my might, certain that any second I a farmer who knew my parents. A dog ran out of the
would be found by the bullet that would kill me. I yard and ran at me while barking, I then proceeded
reached the yard of Antonovich the gentile, and slowly towards him, until the dog quieted down. I
crawled into a dog house that stood in the yard. To reached the door, and I knocked – no one answered.
this day, the receding screams of all my loved ones Tired and exhausted from running, I collapsed on
echo in my ears, as the vehicles were taking them the doorstep. The dog lay down next to me, being
off to death. the first creature to show me any friendliness on that
night of terror.
A silence pervaded the area afterwards. I hadn’t
even gotten used to my circumstances, and to the When dawn broke, I left that place and went to the
idea that I had saved myself, when I see the woman village of Mikhovsk. There, I hid myself for the
of the house, the gentile’s wife, running straight to entire Saturday in a farmer’s silo. On Sunday, the
me in the dog house. As soon as she saw me, a farmer took me to the forest, ands showed me the
Jewess, she hastened to call a policeman to reveal path that would take me to the partisans.
my hiding place. The policeman raised the corner of
his jacket and displayed the booty he had looted On the way, I ran into a group of people, and as I got
from the houses of the Jews, and the woman near them, it became clear that these were the
admitted him to her house. The two of them were fortunate ones that had managed to escape from the
certain that I would not succeed in escaping their abattoir building. I entered the forest. It never
clutches. occurred to me that I would remain alive. Days
came afterwards, when we were certain that our
I fled the dog house and hid in the thorns and grass dead were better off than we were, to those
in Torovitz’s field. I lay there until I saw the wife of oppressed and pursued in the heavy growth of the
the field owner who was cutting down the thorns forest at war. But we lived, and it was given to us to
near me. To this day I cannot believe how I was exact retribution. And we took it.
saved, and why this woman with the scythe in her
hand didn’t spot me.
Suddenly shots rang out from the nearby abattoir,

where some Jews had hidden themselves and had
been discovered by the Germans. Once again silence
reigned about, and a light rain began to fall – and I
lay without moving. I remained in this field of
thorns until midnight. The rain stopped, and a bright
moon emerged from the clouds. I began to crawl on
all fours, until I reached the wheat fields. The wheat
was high, and I could ac c elerate my pace even
standing up at my full height.
259
Remaining the Only One
Avraham-Yitzhak Medvetzky
I am the sole survivor of my entire family in faith, from whom grew the strong partisan forces in
Dereczin. My wife was Dobeh of the Chernitsky the surrounding forests.
family, Beileh-Hannah’s daughter. I concealed
myself in a table that had belonged to Elya Every Jew in Dereczin had his own way of life, and
Wilenczyk from the market square stores, during the was recognized by his own special characteristic s
day of the terrifying slaughter. My wife and children and with his own manner of expression and way
were killed. with words.
It is therefore incumbent on me, as it is on all those Unfortunately it is not so easy to account for
from Dereczin who were spared and remain alive, to everybody, and since we should not in any way
assume the duty of remembering Dereczin, her well- discriminate against those who we lost whose names
mannered Jews, her youth, her religious and we cannot recall, we will also not record the names
community life, in order to leave this as a memorial of those that are deeply etched in our memory –
to everyone. balebatim, sons-in-law, young people; scholars,
rabbis, religious functionaries, people who engaged
Dereczin was small, but it was suffused with Torah in community work, intelligentsia, craftsmen,
scholarship, and it was full of diligent ans lively business people, mill owners, and grain merc hants,
young people. The Dereczin Jews earned their and melamdim and teachers – all together
livelihood through hard work and much expenditure [comprising] a beautiful Jewish community, that
of their energies. Now all of us know very well, that was cut down, and from which only a few tens of
Dereczin showed the Jewish world at large how to people survived.
exact retribution from a murderous enemy, who
carried out the slaughter of our brothers and sisters, Among all of these people from Dereczin, who
parent and children, in cold blood, in our town, and come to mind, were personalities of a stature that we
in hundreds of cities and towns of the Jewish Pale of don’t see anymore in our present generation.
Settlement, in Poland and other European countries.
Dereczin was surrounded by many forests, in whose From year to year, it becomes increasingly clearer
depths our young people carried out a bloody what the true extent was of what our people lost in
struggle against the German foe, a war that can be the Second World War, when that dark time of
likened to that ancient one carried out by Mattathais Hitler’s hegemony came upon us. Now the single-
and his sons [the Maccabees] in that story of old. minded objective of the young people from
Dereczin becomes so clear – they will to take
I am so strongly moved, with both love and respect revenge on the murderers.
to enumerate the tens of names of those fine
Derec zin heads of households – scholarly Jews,
replete with knowledge and wisdom, Yiddishkeit and
piety, goodness and friendliness. And I want so
much to enumerate an entire list of the sons-in-law,
who came from other places to Dereczin, who grew
into the Dereczin community, and contributed a
cosmopolitan and Jewish beauty. I also feel
compelled to tell of the hundreds of sons and
daughters of Dereczin, young people with ideals and
260
The End of Halinka
By Mina Liebreider
When the accursed Germans entered Halinka, the partisans proposed to him that he go with them,
immediately on the first day, they drove all the Jews but without the children. He did not want to leave
together in the church, and on the spot they shot the children alone.
anyone who showed any resistance. Many victims
fell that first day of the German occupation. After his death, the three little children were left
alone. Esther was 8 years old, Yosseleh – 10, and
When the ghettoes of the entire area were set up for Mikheleh 12. The two older children agreed with
the Jews and enclosed, the Jews of Halinka were one another to go into the forest. They left little
sent to the ghetto in Dereczin, and that is where they Esther with a Christian who lived not far from our
met their end. They lie in the large mass grave with mill. They believed that no harm would befall her.
their brothers. The gentile, with whom they left the little girl,
turned her over into German hands. The Germans
The bitter end of my family also came swiftly. questioned her, and then turned her over to a
When it became known that the Jews were going to Byelorussian gendarme, a former neighbor of ours,
be taken to their slaughter the following morning, to take her out and shoot her in the forest. The
many Jews hid themselves in bunkers. My mother, gentile took a rifle and a staff, led little Esther off
Liebeh, my sister Freydl, my brother-in-law into the forest, and from there to a distant village to
Jonathan and his three children – Mikheleh, a Christian of his acquaintance, warning him that no
Yosseleh, & Esther-Michal – went down into the harm should befall her, because in retaliation he will
bunker along with others. My sister Leah remained torch the entire village.
above, in the house, because she was caring for an
infant, and didn’t want to take him down into the The two little brothers, Yosseleh & Mikheleh were
bunker, in the event that he might begin to cry, and sought by their little sister, but she didn’t find them.
give away the hideout of a lot of Jews. In that same In the forest, they attempted to get near to the
bunker, a father choked his own child to death when Dereczin people, but there was no one to be found
it began to cry. My sister Freydl remained standing who could care for them and protect them.
on the ladder which led into the bunker, in order to
determine what would happen to Leah and the baby. Only that dear Jew, Shimon Lusky would from time-
It was then that she heard the last outcry... to-time bring them some food. Both brothers expired
on the same night from hunger and c old in the
My mother, brother-in-law and the children made forest.
their way to Slonim, thinking that somehow they
would be able to save themselves there. My mother Esther lived as a Christian in the home of the
gave every bite of food to the children and peasant, wore a crucifix, and went to church to pray.
grandchildren – “Eat children – she would say – you At that point she no longer wanted to even know
are still young, and perhaps you will be able to stay that there were Jews. As a child, she had already
alive.” She became swollen form hunger. When the walked over the bodies of her nearest and dearest,
children left the hideaway onc e, they did not find and those of other Jews, and she had become certain
their mother upon returning. The Germans took her that the fate of all Jews was – death.
away...
After the war, when Shimon Lusky learned that little
The Germans killed my brother-in-law Jonathan in Esther was alive and living amongst gentiles, he
Slonim. He possibly could have saved himself, since went there and wanted to take her to him. She didn’t
261
want to see him, or listen to him, arguing that she They showed her a card from me, in order that she
didn’t understand Yiddish. Shimon, the loyal Jew know that she still had an aunt who stands ready to
did not give up, and after a lengthy effort, he was do anything for her. She went with them.
permitted to take her out of the peasant’s shack. She
was given to the Sobol family. Not only one After an extended period of wandering all over
survivor from Halinka was given a warm reception Europe, after being in a youth halfway house for
in their home. But little Esther felt strange there, refugees, little Esther arrived in the Land of Israel.
and fled back to the Christian family. Today she has a happy family life, has a good
husband and two lovely daughters.
When Shimon and others of the surviving remnants
from Halinka and Dereczin were preparing to leave
Poland, they decided that at any price they would
take Esther with them.
Tribulation, Torture and Death

By Jekuthiel Khmelnitsky
Hitler’s anti-Semitic agitation hit us hard long of town, near Blizniansky’s grain operation, there
before his murderous soldiers arrived in our area. were ‘rustlers’ and they used to confiscate the
wagons and horses of the peasants by force, not
By the end of the thirties, anti-Semitism had waxed even asking the permission of the peasant, and take
in Poland, under the influence of Hitlerism, which it off to the cooperative.
also reached Dereczin. The Polish regime and
various Polish unions wanted to first hit the Jews in At that time, we already felt the Hitlerist hand at a
their livelihoods, commerce and sources of income. distance – the people were well acquainted with
There were already many instances where Christians anti-Semitic methods.
would take merchandise from Jews and refuse to
pay for it. I cannot forget the instance when my It was in this way that anti-Semitism impoverished
wife, Hadassah vg, came to me in the bakery with the Jewish masses, and robbed them of their
tears in her eyes to tell me that a Christian had come livelihood.
into the store, took three loaves of bread and refused
to pay. He even went so far as to joke about it and i
laugh, when my wife demanded payment for the
bread. When we refused to give him bread without Afterwards came September 1939 and the outbreak
money, the Christian went to the police and brought of the Second World War. I will not describe the
back a note from the police officer, Dombeck to the fear in those days, when Dereczin was left literally
effect that if we didn’t arrange things with the with no one in charge, the people fled, and the
Christian, he would come and inveigh against the Soviets had not yet arrived, and when groups of
Jews. young people together with a few Christians tried to
assert control in the town, and just plain started
This was not the only incident that occurred to us in trouble for no good reason, which nearly led to the
our business, and certainly not in the case of other outbreak of a pogrom in Dereczin. In the end, the
Dereczin people in their stores and places of Soviet ‘leadership’ finally arrived.
business. It was not only once that groups of young
Christians would stand about and deter peasants The truth of the matter is that we were all very
from coming into Jewish businesses. In the outskirts fortunate that the Soviets rescued us from the
262
Germans. For a little under two years, they liberated So once again we traveled to Zelva and lodged our
us from the clutches of the Nazi beast. complaint before the ‘Chairman.’ Once again he
argued that we had full freedom, and that we had
But as soon as the Soviet regime was installed, we been given licenses for independent bakeries. In the
immediately rec ognized that they also ‘liberated’ us end, he encouraged us to form a cooperative bakery
from our livelihood. The mills were confiscated on behalf of the Solkhoz, but regardless, we would
from the Dereczin millers. There was no flour for have to pay our license fees. Our cooperative, with
the bakeries. What was one to do? I went to a Berel Sacker at the head began to function, baking
second baker, to Shmuel Abelovich. He and his wife bread for the military – but the town residents would
Bashkeh, both intelligent people kz, comforted me, stay in line from 8 at night until daybreak and only
and said that the new regime would look after the part of them would get a little bit of bread. Unable
workers. Soon the trains schedules will be modified, to bear the sight of some many hungering in
and when the trains start to run again, grain will be Dereczin, I would set some bread to the side, putting
shipped into the mills. We, the bakers, will only my life in danger, and distribute pieces of it among
work for 7 hours a day, without night work, and we the hungry.
will have a fortunate existence...
I am telling here [what happened] from the
Days and weeks went by – and there was no flour. perspective of my own business under Soviet rule.
Until Shmuel told me one day that he had never met But this is the way they managed the business
such liars as these Soviets. The simply had no grain, affairs in every sector and enterprise. Businesses
and they were bringing nothing into Dereczin. were cleaned out, and people became impoverished
– and in this fashion, the Soviets brought down on
So all 12 bakers in Dereczin get together, and travel us the same troubles that had been dealt to us by the
to Zelva, to the Isvolkom120 where the chairman anti-Semitic Polish regime.
argues continuously that our land is now a country
of ñâîáîäà121 where every individual is free to do I will demonstrate in this way that these troubles
whatever work he pleases. He exhorts us to take out began well before the War. But it was the German
lic enses, and to start baking. Well, we took the regime that led us to our graves.
licenses – but this did not turn into flour. i
When a peasant would finally bring a little bit of We thought that at the beginning of the German-
corn or flour, I would offer to pay him with money Russian War, that the Russians were both strong and
– but, the peasant would argue that he has more heroic, and would not permit the Germans to
money than I do, and that what he wanted for his penetrate so deeply into Russia. But we were
flour was – salt, sugar... and from where could we quickly disappointed in this regard.
get him these products which had already long ago
vanished from the market? Two days after Hitler attacked Russia, Tuesday at
nightfall, two small German tanks had already
We practically did no baking, but two months didn’t entered Dereczin. A number of people came out of
go by, when we received a bill from the Isvolkom their houses, raised their arms and shouted: “Heil
for the licences that was so large, that we were Hitler!” On Wednesday there was still fighting
badly disappointed. between the Germans and the retreating Russians,
Friday, a substantial detachment of Germans entered
Dereczin.
120
App arently an administrative seat for When all the residents were driven together at the
the collective. Russian Orthodox Church, the Christians already
121
were separating themselves from the Jews, and even
The Russian word for freedom.
263
the most familiar of them no longer wanted to greet pleading: “Fellow Jews, save us! Please give us your
us, and instead turned their heads away from us. soap!” And when they returned with the soap, the
Germans thanked them with blows and whacks with
It was then that fires broke out in many of the their sticks. From my window I was able to see how
Jewish houses. My wife Hadassah, vg, began the Jews fled as they were receiving blows, falling
putting the fire out. She said” “I don’t know how to the ground, and picking themselves up again to
much longer we will live, but even if it is only continue fleeing. And the murderous Germans beat
overnight, I want to live in my own house.” We put them, shoot to the left and right – and laugh.
the fire out, and remained in our own home until the
annihilation of the Jewish community of Dereczin. In the wintertime, 8 Germans came, accompanied by
40 Byelorussian police, and took charge of running
A great deal has already been told of the terrifying Dereczin. At the head of them was “Der Meister;”
days and months under the yoke of the Germans and the second was called Poritz – a murderer from the
their allies. We know that our fate was – to go land of murderers; the third was a Polish
under. As early as the first days [of the occupation], Volksdeutsche and he stood at the head of the police.
a German citizen working in the field post office A routine of forced labor was initiated, with tight
(our house was right next to the post office) said to control over the number of the Jews [participating].
us: “Too bad that you are Jews. Our Fuhrer hates They began to divide the Jews into ‘needed’ and
the Jews, and his program is to root out all of you...” ‘unneeded’ [categories]. Bread was distributed only
on presentation of ration cards – literally hunger
The first months of the German occupation passed abaters.
in this manner. There were, in fact, no Germans in
Dereczin at that time. Their allies, the Byelorussians After shooting all the Gypsies that they found in our
ruled on their behalf. People did not work or engage area, the Germans set upon the Polish citizens and
in commerce, rather, they sold off their assets to the shot a large number of them. At the same time they
Christians – for a meager piece of bread. Nobody set upon former Soviet officers and soldiers, who
was secure about their lives, or more appropriately were to be found in the neighboring villages. A
said: everyone was quite certain about their portion of them, who had presented themselves to
impending death. the command in Slonim, were shot by them, while
the rest had already gone into the woods to form the
Children did not study, and didn’t even play. There initial partisan brigades. That is how the war began
were no simkhas celebrated in Jewish homes. between the partisans and the Germans. The
Germans attempted to launch raids on the partisans,
Around harvest time, orders began to arrive from but without success. Once even, the partisans
Slonim relative to providing the Germans with soap, prepared an ambush for the Germans and the
furs and gold. The Judenrat was created. And I will Byelorussian police, and surprised a lot of them.
never forget the picture that I saw through my Their horses fled, and they were forced to return to
window: on a rainy day, an auto with three German Dereczin in disgrace.
officers arrived, who commenced shooting birds in
the air while shouting: “Judenrat! Attention In town, legends began to spread about the partisans
Judenrat men!” The members of the Judenrat came and their heroic deeds.
running, and the Germans demanded that they i
immediately provide 300 bars of toilette soap, and
200 bars of c oarse soap – and commenced to beat “Der Meister” went on furlough to Germany and
them with their swagger sticks and threatened them arrived just at the time of an American air attack –
with death if the soap wasn’t produced at the so he returned to Dereczin before his leave time was
specified time. The Jews ran from house to house, up.
264
And in our area, the partisan groups grew in There were a number of Jews, who that night, with
strength, and they would carry out sorties that the help of Christians that crossed the Zelvianka
caused the Germans and the police trouble. [River] to save themselves by going to Zelva or
Volkovysk, which then belonged to the Third Reich.
The Germans took their anger out on the Jews. It was believed that slaughtering would not take
Poritz began to murderously beat and also shoot place there. I would have also attempted to get out
anyone he met on his way. Then that dark and with my dear family, but every day I was required to
dismal Sabbath came when they took away the provide the Germans with baked breadstuffs, and if
families of those young people who had returned they were not to receive this early in the morning,
from the labor camp, after partisans had attacked who knows how many Jews they would slaughter
that camp and freed the Jews that were there. All the for this. So I followed my own counsel, and
members of their families, fathers, mothers, brothers remained in Dereczin.
and sisters, were taken out of town and shot.
We were all up in the attic, with our packages by
Jews began to flee Dereczin and go into the forests our sides, ready to run in the event of danger.
to the partisans. The watch around the ghetto was
beefed up, and the ghetto was enclosed in barbed At exactly 9PM, the supervisor of the bakery
wire. As a baker, I still could move about freely, arrived, a Christian from Slizhi. He happened to be
from the bakery into the ghetto and back. I was still in Minsk during the time of the slaughter of the
able to bring a variety of things into town, which the Jews, and he came into possession of a lot of booty.
Christians would send to various people, with whom Now, her c ertainly was waiting for the slaughter in
they had bartered products for household articles. Dereczin...
Circumstances grew worse from day to day. The We prayed to God that he would go away, but he sat
police and the Germans beat us without rhyme or and sat. He argued that he was afraid of the
reason. It was so bad, that we all suddenly had partisans, and because of this he didn’t want to go
become very religious, praying whenever we could, home. It was only at 1AM in the morning that he
and fasting every Monday and Thursday. The Rabbi finally left.
comforted us, and c almed us, making a variety of
calc ulations in which he indicated that the war At 5AM, Chaim-Shia and Rachel came running and
would end in a short time. But, the war dragged on, began to shout that the town is surrounded by
and the day of slaughter arrived... police, who are shooting into the houses of the Jews.
i We all went down into the cellar and blocked the

entrance with a board. I went up to the attic, opened
We all fasted on Tisha B’Av. In the afternoon hours, a few of the roof shingles, and saw how they were
rumors began to spread through the ghetto, nobody driving the Jews to the vehicles, which had arrived
knew exactly what or when, but a great unrest from Slonim, being beaten with rifle butts to the
dominated everyone. The Germans had used point of death, and taking everyone out of town to
selected Jews to spread a rumor that a sortie against be shot at the side of the pits. After midday, when
the partisans was being organized... the vehicles had left, the Christian neighbors c ame
out of their houses to search for hidden Jews, in
But people stood watc h through the night, nobody order to turn them over to hands of the police.
took off their clothing. My family, along with a
number of other relatives remained with me in the I went down into the cellar. My wife vg, and I took
bakery outside the ghetto. up axes and positioned ourselves near the entrance
in order to be able to break open the heads of
265
anyone trying to break into the cellar. In the At about 7PM we emerged from the hiding place. I
meantime, the police began to chop at the floor and went into the cellar and found nobody there. I began
the walls with iron tools. One of them began to wail and cry over my terrible loss and couldn’t
shouting: “Get out of there!” – at which point move from the spot. Elik then came over to me and
Bashkeh Lifshovich ran over and began to convince began shouting: “If we ave managed to save
us that she recognized the voice of Vanka, her ourselves, then we have to do everything we can to
neighbor’s son, whom she helped bring up. We put take revenge from the murderers!” From the bakery,
down our axes. As Janek entered the cellar, Bashkeh we took bread and cleavers, and crawling literally
began to plead for mercy: “I brought you up and on our stomac hs, we went away across fields and
raised you, do you now wish to kill us?!!!” Janek through swamps, in the general direction of the
argued that he didn’t, God forbid, want to do anyone forest. Along the way we found Hella (today the
any harm, but he must obtain something of value in wife of Shmuel Bornstein) and Izza, the doctor’s
order that he can divide it up among his companions children. They were left alone after their parents had
outside. been murdered.
We gave him whatever we had in our pockets, he We wandered for a long time, until Dr. Atlas helped
grabbed it and ran out shouting: “Out of there, if not us be assimilated into a partisan brigade.
– I’ll shoot immediately!” We began to flee through
the windows and doors.
First me, and then after me Chaim-Shia, Elik, Taibl

& Gershon, managed to get out through a window
and hid themselves in a former shed that had later
been turned into an outhouse. We did not know
what happened to the rest. It appears that they didn’t
make an attempt to flee the cellar, and they were all
done away with.
Only I Remained from My Entire Family

By Chaya Einstein-Osterovitz
On that very Tisha B’Av, the eve of the day of Jews, we said to one another: there have been many
slaughter, people ran from hose to house, and in times that terrifying rumors were circulated about
every loc ation, spoke of the impending evil that impeding things that might happen to us, and until
could descend on us any day. Upsetting now, none of them have materialized. Let us try to
conversations like this had already taken plac e ten believe that this night and the day after will pass
times before this. Every time that a rumor began to uneventfully. The truth was that our hearts trembled,
circulate about the slaughter of the Jews in but we didn’t want to believe, and therefore we did
Dereczin, my father kz, would take us children to not believe. We went to bed.
the house of gentiles. My mother never went with
us. She would say: “You are young children, I will With the coming of dawn, we awoke to the sounds
stay here with my parents and brothers, their fate of auto engines running, and terrible screams.
will be my fate.”
We understood what was happening in the streets of
After the Tisha B’Av fast, when a fright seized the Dereczin and in its houses. All the time I thought
266
that if it was ordained that I must die, let it be on the I drew away and hid in the wheat field, lay down in
run, especially that I not have to witness the murder it, not raising my head until sunset.
of my nearest and dearest.
As it got dark, I stood up, and espied out house in
My parents and youngest brother, Velvel, went up to the distance. All the household goods were scattered
the higher reaches of the roof. My brothers, Moshe- about outside. I understood that I had no one to go
Peretz & Boruch stayed with me at the entrance to back to. My entire family was murdered by the
the house. At an appointed moment, we had decided Nazis – my father, Shmuel-Aryeh Einstein, my
– myself, my brother Moshe-Peretz, and with us, mother Esther from the Vlitsky family, my three
Moshe-Chaim Ogulnick to run towards the wheat brothers, Moshe-Peretz, Boruch and the youngest,
fields. Moshe-Chaim succeeded in escaping, but my Velvel.
brother and I were c aught by the police and the
police ordered us back to our house. As the darkness deepened, I went to the home of the
gentile that knew us, where our father would take us
As we entered our house, a policeman was standing into hiding. There was only one room in this house,
there holding a rifle, and he had just murdered in which the man, his wife and many children lived.
Yankel the carpenter, who lay dead across the He himself was with the partisans. At night we were
threshold into the house. The policeman turned to stuffed together, and during the day, I his in the
me and said: nearby wheat field.
– “You look very much like a gentile, why do you This is the way I passed some time at the home of
have to die?” my rescuer. I decided not to put their lives in any
further danger, and head for the forest, to the
To this, my brother Moshe-Peretz answered: “If you partisans. The woman of the house tried to detain
really care about her life, it is in your hands.” me, arguing that the partisans do not accept women
into their ranks. Nevertheless, I was stubborn. My
–“I will let her go at a time when the Nazis won’t generous hostess prepared provisions for my
see,” – the policeman answered him. He ordered me journey, brought me to the principal road, and
to take the yellow badge off. I stood dumbfounded, explained to me how to reach the partisan brigade.
because I didn’t believe what he said. I thought that
he would surely shoot me at the moment I tried to It was in this way that I was saved, the only one of
follow his orders. my family,. And I reached the forest.
My heart was torn when I saw my brother Boruch

attempt to sneak through a crack in the entranceway
door, something that was impossible to accomplish.
He tried to evade the bullets of the murderers like a
hunted animal.
The policeman ordered me to walk. For the last time

in my life I saw both of my brothers. I did not take
my leave of them, because not for one minute did I
believe that I would remain alive.
267
I Saw All This With My Own Eyes
My son, Yossel Petrukhovich was a Yeshivah husband fled to the forest with our 10 year-old son.
student. He studied at the Yeshivah in Slonim, but They had lain in the attic, underneath some boards,
when the Germans arrived, he returned home. [and when] they took everyone else down and shot
Afterwards, he was in the Puzovitsa [labor] camp, them to death, they remained alive. In the end our
together with all the other young people, and when son was lost in the forest.
the camp was dismantled, he remained at home.
Every day, along with all the other Jews, he was I did not know if my husband was alive, and he had
driven to dig pits. Occasionally I would pay off no knowledge of my circumstances. On the first day,
someone else with flour who then go in his place. everyone was driven to the pit. On Saturday, the
Afterwards, we paid with money, and with shoe second day, all the shooting was done at the
leather, to gain our son admittance to the carpentry cemetery, and [the dead] placed in the pits.
works. He worked in the Labzov yard, and every day
he would return home with everyone else. Sunday morning, town residents went to get water.
I saw this from my hiding place. Afterwards, at
On the last day, Tisha B’Av he fasted, he came about 10AM, they started shooting again.
home, bringing beets and cheese with him. He says
to me: “Mother dear, this Shabbat we will have They brought out Shapiro with his wife and son, and
something to eat already.” I also baked up a full a woman refugee, and Dobkeh Lifshovich’s two
array of breadstuffs.” sons, and Tzira Freidkeh’s husband, and Riva’s
husband, and Mendusheh Beckenstein’s son-in-law.
He was killed the next day. They were ordered to dig graves, but they could not,
and the policeman beat them with his rifle. After
I personally hid him, but they found him. And I this, the village gentiles began to dig.
personally heard how he pleaded with the Germans,
telling them he was a craftsman. They answered: It was in this manner that Jews were brought from
good, we need the likes of you. And they took him all locations and hideaways, and shot to death. I saw
to be put to death. And I was able to bear all this! this all with my own eyes!
My daughter Gisha was up in the attic. So they took I saw how Yankel Weinstein was brought, wearing
her, along with about another twenty people down a fur coat, and a brother of Shayneh-Reizl, an
from there. The policeman, that had at one time American. He was stripped naked as the day his
worked for Shelovsky in the mill, beat and pushed mother bore him, and the gentile Garvik from
them, shouting: “Move you worthless scum!” And Alekshitz took away all his possessions. I saw all of
pitiably, she cried for help: “Jews, Jews!” And as this.
her mother, I could live through all this, hearing this
but being unable to offer any help! Afterwards they brought a woman refugee carrying
an infant. They shot them and threw them into the
We sat in the bunker at the home of Finiya the pit. The head and forehead flew upward. They
metalworker. We lived in his barn, because [by this [then] did the same to a woman and child from
time] we had no other place to live. It is impossible Kolonia [Sinaiska]. I will never forget these two
to describe what we lived through in those days! sights until I die.
The following morning, after the first slaughter, my They then brought the wife of the wagoner and shot
268
her, and there was no more room in the grave for Elyeh Goldenberg began to speak: “Who will do all
her, so they crammed her body in. And many other your work for you?” – the deputy leader came over
Jews were brought and murdered in this way. And and indicated that they should be spared. They were
[through this] the head man stood and took then taken out of the pit.
photographs without stopping.
Beyond this point, I could no longer bear to watch.
Then they brought ten men out of detention. Yeshea
from Halinka was already wounded, and Leibkeh We sat crammed into our bunker, which had been a
Shulkovich walked beside him with a bowl to catch Sukkah with one wall facing the cemetery. Through
his blood, so it wouldn’t spill on the ground. As the cracks in the wall we saw everything, I and my
soon as they reac hed the pit, they were all stripped younger daughter Chaya Judovich.
naked, and they were all shot in the pit.
Sunday night we fled into the forest. We were shot
at. Along the way we saw many dead lying about,
unburied, shot in their attempt to flee from Hell.
To the Entire World

By Regina Rabinovich
(Written during the time of the Trial of Adolf Eichmann)
,vga gyebgCgd xhIt rgzbUt ltb yguu ignue – Our long-awaited hour will yet arrive,
Our tread will thunder – we are here!
! ts igbhhz rhn ytry rgzbUt ity ehIP t
yguux
We come from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Lithuania,

We come from cities and towns made Judenrein after the slaughter!
From ghettoes, bunkers, pits, barbed wire,
From every place we were extracted from;
From Auschwitz, Sobibor, Treblinka and Majdanek,
Where we countenanced thousands of deaths;
From ice and snow, from winds, rain, burning rays,
From stormy waves, from well springs boiling with blood.
We come now as the appointed judges

To write a new chapter in world history.
World, observe the death march,
Listen to the gruesome din –
We are the six million dead that are awakened,
To you, an entire world, with our fists stretched out.
We come from that far, distant byway,
From those bloody nights and terrifying days.
269
Take off those white gloves, which protect your hands
So they are not, forbid, dirtied with ashes or sprayed with blood.
A world, you that are so cynical, raise your head and look about,
Open your eyes – filled with trepidation shame and sadness,
Observe carefully you world, pay attention with some effort,
We are a flow of blood streaming in fury,
We are the hot ash from long burnt-out ovens,
We are the smoke from the chimneys of the crematoria;
On all the roads and ways, our bones are spread and sown,
Golden teeth were torn from our mouths,
Mixed into earth and loam, with brick and lime,
With scattered brains of children;
Shot to death and buried alive,
Poisoned to death by Zyklon-B gas;
Ravaged to death by angry dogs,
Dogs that the S.S. dignified with the appellation of “Human Being;”
We are a product – soap,
Our flesh and blood were transformed into salable products;
We are lampshades made from the skin of human beings,
Taken off us while still alive – or immediately after death.
O, ‘civilized’ world,
Self-deluded and misdirected!
How you were willing to go along with the Nazi sadism,
How casually you stood by and observed the Nazi cataclysm!
No help, no resistance, and no countermeasures.
Where was your cognizance at that time, your protest,
When full of fright and terror, small children,
Scrawny and pale, only skin and bones,
A blink from death
Did live: give us a piece of bread, a piece of bread!
And where then was your human responsibility
To rescue at least children from the wild Nazi beast?
A world of fathers and mothers! Children just like yours,

Little boys and girls, sweet and dear,
Dark-haired, blond, light-haired heads,
Some with short hair, others with long tresses,
With tentative dimples in their little cheeks,
Laughing eyes, as blue as the sea,
That shined with the light of the Garden of Eden.
They wore the same clothes your children wear,
Played and fought like your children do.
Did this disturb or upset the world,
That they took [the children] of others?
Was this a great sin
To be born and become a Jewish child?
270
Oh! This Devil’s Play ended only too soon,
The humanitarian feeling awakened too late,
A sigh and a tear went astray, much too late –
The regret expressed by the world no longer comforts.
Because the air above resounds with the sound of bullets,
Over the ground that swallowed up six million.
Brothers and sisters, as long as we live –

Never forget, never forgive!
Revenge will ignite your skin with flames,
Until the Nazi Mother will be punished with shame!
The sacred souls of little children command us: Remember Forever!
They demand: Revenge, Revenge, do not forgive, Not to Forgive!
271
In the Forests
272
Two Years in the Partisan Forces
By Masha & Abraham-Hirsch Kulakowski
Photos: Eliyahu (Elik) Lifshovich kz as a Polish soldier. (p. 320, Top)
Elik kz after coming out of the forest (p. 320, Bottom)
Chaim-Yehoshua Lifshovich kz (p. 321)
We spent the entire long day of the slaughter lying This was how our life among the partisans began.
in the high corn. As soon as it got dark, we left the Approximately 300 souls saved themselves from the
field and went off to the Lipov forest. We spent the slaughter in Dereczin, among them quite a number
night there, but before dawn we crawled back into of women and children. In order to procure weapons
the corn field, because the forest was very muddy, for those who were able to fight, we needed to do
and we could not [satisfactorily] c onceal ourselves. something. We appointed a committee of three
people to devise a plan one way or another to
Once again, we lay in the field for an entire day, procure weaponry. It was decided to make a raid on
giving sustenance to our famished hearts with a Dereczin, attack the Germans and the police, and in
couple of ears of corn. When the second night fell, this way obtain some amount of weaponry.
Abraham [-Hirsch Kulakowski] went to a Christian
whom we knew, and obtained a loaf of bread. It was After extensive discussions, we were impelled to
by this means that he learned that his brother-in-law present the plan to the Russian commander, in order
Isser Lev had remained alive. that he lend us the use of a little weaponry to be able
to carry out the attack on Dereczin.
We agreed among ourselves to enter the forest to
seek the partisans. The Assault on Dereczin
Where Do We Get Weaponry? In the meantime, we arranged a contact with a

number of young people from Dereczin who
We walked the entire night, and by morning, belonged to Dr. Atlas’s partisan group. After a
reached the village of Dubrovka. We ran into discussion with them, we decided that we would
several Jews from Dereczin in the Dubrovka forest carry out the assault on Dereczin together.
who had already been in a partisan group headed by
a Christian from Ostrovo, Bulak . He received us Much has already been told of Dr. Atlas and his
warmly and gave us several days in which to rest service on behalf of the Jewish partisan movement
and eat. Afterwards though, he said he was no in the forests of Byelorussia. One of his greatest
longer able to support us, and from now on we accomplishments was – procurement of weaponry
would have to fend for ourselves, and first of all for the Jewish partisans, for those who already were
procure some weaponry. in the forest, and in anticipation of those who would
yet arrive. As a doctor who was beloved by all in the
But how does one procure weapons with empty surrounding villages, with the help of the peasants,
hands and pockets? As the leader of the partisans, and a variety of different means, he was able to
this question did not concern him: “Go, buy uncover a variety of ammunition dumps and caches
weaponry with your money...” – and we didn’t have that had been left behind by the retreating Red
so much as a cent over and above our skin and our Army. Dr. Atlas provided arms to any Jew that came
lives, excepting the torn clothing that we wore. into the forest with the will and capability to exact
revenge from the Germans. For hundreds of young
273
Jews, [Dr.]Atlas served as a role model of an Atlas, remained as a Jewish unit.
energetic, serious and committed warrior.
In the forest, there remained a group of a couple of
Approximately 200 men, of which only a small hundred older men, women and children, who could
percentage were armed, and the majority with sticks not participate in fighting, who constructed a family
or just bare hands, attacked Dereczin less than two compound.
weeks after the slaughter.
Four weeks after the assault on the Dereczin
The attack caught the Germans unawares – and was garrison, a German division arrived and retook
a victory for the partisans! After a two-hour battle, control of Dereczin. This only slightly disturbed the
50 police and 2 Germans were killed. Thirteen partisans, who still, from time-to-time, would enter
police were taken prisoners. The content of all the Dereczin for the purpose of paying a short “visit”
powder magazines and ammunition dumps fell into and cause the occupying Germans much grief.
partisan hands.
German Counterattack
On our side, five fighters fell: David Dombrowsky,
who before his death, exhorted his brother to avenge It was only then that the Germans took to the forests
the spilling of Jewish blood; Chaim Shelkovich, where the partisans had free rein. The German
Hanan [Elkhanan ?] Kresnovsky, from Kolonia military apparatus had concentrated a formidable
[Sinaiska], and two refugees. force, which put the forests under siege, and after a
short skirmish enabled them to penetrate its interior.
We had control of the town and its entire environs
for four weeks. We burned almost all of the houses, The fight in the forest lasted an entire day. Many
and we shot all those who participated with the victims fell on our side. About 20 partisans and 70
Germans in the annihilation of our fathers, mothers residents of the family compound fell into German
and children. A terror fell upon all our enemies in hands, and it is easy to imagine the terrifying death
the Dereczin region. that they had. The Germans lost many more, they
literally filled their autos with the corpses of their
Partisan Activity Is Activated dead.
Partisan activity in our area was invigorated by the Just at the point when the partisans had run out of
assault on Dereczin. [At this point] a series of daring ammunition, they broke through a German wing,
exploits begin under the leadership of Dr. Atlas, and escaped into a second forest.
Bulak, and our own Dereczin resident, Eliyahu
Lifshovich. A c ouple of days later, we returned to our original
forest and took up our task as partisans with even
The circumstances of the Jewish partisans after the greater ardor. It was then that we began to “go at the
attac k on Dereczin eased a great deal. The trains,” meaning: we would lay charges under the
aggressive attack on the German garrison awakened rails, in order to blow up the German trains which
a respect on the part of the Christians, who began to largely carried soldiers and ammunition. The same
show a sense of cordiality and respect for the Jewish fate befell the larger factories, those manufacturing
partisans. facilities that produced materiel for the Germans.
We would not permit the Germans to extract any
The Jews perceived that it would be much better to tribute from the peasants, and the Germans never
disperse the Jewish fighters among several Russian got a single Mark from any of the villages that were
partisan units. It was in this way that several mixed close to the forests.
groups were formed. Only one group, the one of Dr.
274
Our Inventory of Munitions Grows single shot fired from our cannon was to be the
signal to open the attack.
One day, while going along the banks of the Shchara
River, our partisans came upon an armored vehicle At exactly 2AM, the first shot was fired. With
that had been abandoned by the retreating Soviet shouts of “Hurrah!” we fell on the enemy positions.
army. We examined this armored car carefully, and The battle lasted from 2AM in the middle of the
dec ided that we would repair it, so that it could be night, until 8AM in the morning. The enemy fought
used. And it was so. In a short time, the partisans bitterly. Despite this, the town remained in our
would go to battle accompanied by an armored hands, but not for long. The Germans rec eived
vehicle. The first test of this armored car was made considerable reinforcement, and the partisans were
in Halinka. There too, the partisans wiped out the forced to retire from the battlefield. In the retreat, a
Germans and the polic e force, burned the houses large cannon and a mortar remained with the enemy.
and settled the score with those who helped the A group of Jewish fighters decided to wrest this
Germans carry out their murderous agenda. precious weaponry from the enemy’s hands – and
they accomplished this. This cost the lives of three,
It was in this fashion that the partisan movement young 16-year-old Jewish partisans. The rest, who
grew in our area, and strengthened itself from day- remained alive, brought back the cannon and mortar
to-day. In time, Soviet prisoners [escaping] from from the battlefield. For their daring behavior, the
German prison camps came to us, and in increasing partisan leadership cited the fighters. These were the
numbers, more Byelorussians abandoned their Dereczin fighters, Gedalia Bosak and Chaim-
villages, leaving behind their meager assets, and Yehoshua Lif shovich kz, and the Warsaw refugee,
fleeing into the forests. Krimolovsky.
No more Jews came into the forests. There were no At this point we also need to recall the Jewish
more Jews left in our area. partisan from Kozlovshchina, Abraham Kozlovsky,
who personally shot 11 policemen, until he was
Our inventory of munitions grew, as a result of our brought down by a bullet from a twelfth.
planned attacks on German garrisons and police
stations. Jewish Feats of Valor
We Assault Kozlovshchina Winter is drawing close. A fright falls on the

partisans. They are already used to fighting against
We decided to attack Kozlovshchina on a spec ific the Germans, but against the frost!? Who can guess
day, where a large strongly armed German garrison at what difficult battles lie ahead of us? People
was stationed. engage in debate, bringing forth the various
alternatives: we should try to break through the
We really pulled out to go to Kozlovshchina. front, which at that time stretched somewhere from
Moscow to Stalingrad; and perhaps, to go in the
As it was worked out by our planners, the attac k direction of the west? The Jews, along with the
c ame out on the eve of Rosh Hashana 1942. We Christian partisans decide to winter in the forests.
concentrated our forces at a point about 10 km from We begin preparations for the winter. We create
the town. It was a cold, dark fall night. A cold rain dwellings, salt meat and fat, and prepare for the
wet us clear through to the bone. We initiated our battle with the winter.
march to the town.
But before this, we have the opportunity to fight the
We stopped a kilometer from Kozlovshchina, and Germans. In the very heart of our forests lies the
the commanders gave their final instructions. A village of Ruda Jaworska. In order to weaken our
275
forces, keep them fragmented, and deny us the Germans drew near to the village of Volya. The first
ability to make contact between our various partisan to greet the Germans with a hail of bullets was Dr.
groups, the Germans stationed a well-armed Atlas and his group.
garrison at Ruda at the beginning of November. The
garrison had barely arrived to arrange its new On the other side of the river, Dr. Atlas’s group
quarters, when the partisan command became aware stood alone, a detachment of only 30 men. The
of it, and already on the following morning before battle was, naturally, not evenly matched. This did
dawn, partisan forces stood waiting at the entrance not intimidate or deter the Atlas partisans. Atlas
to the village. divided his group in two, one he took under his own
command, and the second – under the command of
The attack caught the Germans by surprise. They Eliyahu Lifshovich. When part of the Germans
were almost all still asleep. The partisan victory was crossed the Shchara [River], the partisans opened
substantial: the Germans and Ukrainians fell in the their attack. The battle was fierce. The river ran red
battle. Magazines of clothing, food, and ammunition with blood. Hundreds of Germans and Ukrainians
fell into partisan hands. In this planned attack, the were shot.
Dereczin partisans excelled, at the head were the
brothers, Chaim-Yehoshua & Eliyahu Lifshovich, The Jewish partisans then received support from the
together with their sister, Taibl, kz. sec ond side of the Shchara, and it was in this
fashion that the Germans found themselves trapped
This took place on November 7, the anniversary of in a vise between two cross fires, their retreat was
the October [Russian] Revolution. Our partisans sat cut off, and many of them jumped into the river and
around on boards and thought as to what sort of were drowned.
present we could present to the Soviet Motherland
in honor of this holiday. Suddenly we hear a droning The partisans won the battle, but they lost the best
noise above us, and an airplane appears over our and most loyal heroic figure and organizer of the
heads, of c ourse, a German plane. How nice it Jewish partisan movement, Dr. Atlas. He was
would be if it was given to us to shoot that accursed wounded in the foot, and before the necessary help
airplane down – the partisans thought. But before could be administered, he lost too much blood, and
anything could be done, the plane vanished far over gave up the ghost.
the forest.
The death of Dr. Atlas elicited a tremendous
With lightning speed the news spread the following outpouring of sorrow among the partisans, but the
morning throughout the forest, that because of a loss was felt most strongly by the Jewish partisans
mechanical defect in its motor, the plane had gone fighters in the forest. After his death, a strong wave
down not far from the edge of the forest, into a bog. of anti-Semitism arose from the side of the Christian
Not thinking very long, Dr. Atlas send a group of partisan allies, which despite the heroic exploits of
Jewish partisans, led by our Eliyahu Lifshovich from Eliyahu Lifshovich, did not let up for a single day
Dereczin, in order to carry out this mission. After a and even grew stronger. The partisans threw
short engagement, the German fliers were killed, themselves into their diversionary work with even
and the plane was burned. Once again the Jewish greater fire and fierceness. All the train lines in our
partisans demonstrated their heroism. area were blown up, and not a single transport could
get through on those lines to the front. A fright
The Death of Dr. Atlas seized the German garrisons, and they began to alert
the higher military command to the need for help.
That same month, the Germans sent a punitive And the help was sent to them.
expedition against the peasantry of the forest
villages, who had not paid any taxes. About 300
276
Bitter Fighting in the Forests like shelter, so together, a couple of families would
dig out a bit of the frozen ground, and cover it with
On December 24, 1942, five divisions of German a scrap of lumber to provide some sort of roof. A lot
front line forces, armed with the latest technology, of people lay in this sort of beastly shelter, crowed,
drew near the forest villages. They surrounded the hungry and filthy. It is no wonder that their
forest. Our forces then numbered about 800 people. exhausted and starved bodies could not withstand
A life and death struggle began. For three the onslaught of various bacteria, and many perished
consecutive days and nights, we fought for every in various epidemics of disease. Not a few expired
patch of ground, for every tree. We threw ourselves from hunger and c old. A frozen potato was
on the Germans like wild animals, and literally considered a holiday meal. Very often, entire
demonstrated miraculous behavior. We blew families would expire together in one of these
German v\tanks and cars into the air. Hundreds of winter pits, and they would together be covered with
Germans were killed. But we could not long hold the earth in their common grave. As if to spite us,
out against so large an enemy force. So we decided that was an unusually severe winter, with
to retreat into a different forest. We broke through temperatures falling to 30 degrees below zero.122
the enemy lines, and went several tens of kilometers
away, into a second forest. Everything around them was working against these
unfortunate people, and only a small portion of them
The [fighting] partisans did not take heavy survived all these tribulations.
casualties, but the toll among the family groups and
the village population was high. The Germans sated In February 1943, when the news of the victory at
themselves on human blood, and retreated from the Stalingrad reached the forests, conditions changed
forest. a little, and once again, support for the Jews in the
forest was renewed. Notwithstanding that many had
A couple of weeks later, we returned to our former already departed to another world, and others were
forest location. And as usual, when Christians look permanently crippled with frozen feet and hands. It
for the reason misfortune befalls them, and find the was not only once that the partisan doctors had to
Jew, so it was the same thing in the forest. A strong perform an amputation of a foot in order to save the
anti-Semitic incitement was initiated, which caused individual in question from gangrene.
special suffering in the family camps. The Russian
command did not want to let them [sic: the Jews] We could really take pride in our partisan hospital.
remain with them, and drove them from one place to It was organized in a far-flung location deep in the
another. Because of this, the Jews had to bear much forest, with a secret entrance. Only a limited number
trouble from all sides. The partisan groups stopped of partisans knew the location of the hospital. In
supporting them, in part because after the bloody large earthen bunkers, the Jewish doctors Myasnik,
engagement with the German divisions, they Rockover & Rosenzweig worked with complete
themselves were critically short of supplies, and for commitment, and the nurses, Manya Manikov and
this reason, they didn’t want to permit the Jewish her mother kz, along with other medical workers.
partisans to assist their own family groups. The various medicaments were provided from the
attacks we made against various German garrisons.
Victims of the Winter and Hatred of Jews Only later, when we succeeded in establishing
contact with Moscow, the hospital began to receive
The first winter of life in the forest was a severe one medical supplies dropped from the air by
for the partisans, because they did not have adequate parachutes.
provisions yet. The non-combatant family groups
suffered especially badly from the cold. They dug
themselves shallow trenc hes, and spent the winter
122
days and nights lying in them, mostly naked and Confirmed in all WW II histories as
hungry. They had no means to dig any deeper cellar- one of the worst winters on record.
277
Patrols and Sorties It was in this manner that the second winter c ame
upon us. The partisans had made preparations from
We rarely had a quiet day in the forest. Almost the prior year. It was no longer necessary to dig
every day we went out on patrols, and very often we shallow holes, instead, large spacious earthen
would clash with German search patrols. But bunkers had been created, with windows and doors,
wherever there was a German garrison in the area, often with curtains for the windows, and also with
we went to attack it and to disrupt its operation. ovens. It was in this way that underground dwellings
were put in plac e in the forest, which ran on for
In the summer of 1943, the Germans carried out kilometers. A sports and dance hall was even put in
several sorties against us, but were met with strong place. This was how our quality of life rose.
resistance on our part. At the time the partisans
repaired and were able to deploy a large tank, which The fighting against the Germans continued. We
was left behind by the retreating Soviet forces in once again attacked Ruda and Ostrovo achieving a
1941, the Germans entered the forest with a large great victory. Once again, Jewish partisans
force of their own. distinguished themselves in the fighting, and once
again, the instigation of anti-Semitism intensified.
About September 3, 1943 the Germans clashed with A significantly large percentage of Jewish fighters
us in the forest. They were supported by airplanes from the mis-directed bullets of their Christian
that bombed the forests continuously for two days in colleagues. That is how life in the forest went, until
advance of the attack. The partisans did not —
surrender, they fought the Germans for a couple of
days, and then left the forest. Many Germans were The Great German Blockade
killed in the forest battles. In one of the battles, our
own Taibl Lifshovich from Dereczin was wounded. Entirely unexpectedly, we received news on June 4,
As it was not possible to provide her with the 1944 that large military forces of Germans were
needed help, she became seriously weakened, and drawing themselves into our area. This time, it
afterwards got blood poisoning, and died in our seems the Germans did not stint, and had pulled
forest hospital. She was brought with great honor about 85 thousand Cossacks off the front, armed
before the partisan brigade command, and interred with the latest and best and most powerful
in the partisan cemetery. weaponry, and turned them loose on the forest. It
took them several days before they reac hed the
In the meantime, an opportunity came along for us Shchara [River]. At the river, they were confronted
to establish contact with Moscow. The partisans by Bulak, the hero of the partisan forces in our area,
organized a radio station, and special radio operators and his fighters, among whom the Jewish Derec zin
transmitted details about everything that transpired partisans had distinguished themselves. For a couple
in the forests. Our partisan command received of days without letup, our partisan howitzers and
orders from Moscow. We would hear the news by mortars fired continuously. German artillery
radio. Our isolation in the forest came to an end, we responded from the other side. Many of the enemy
were connected to Moscow, and received news from fell in those battles, but this only incensed them
all over the world. Apart from this, we would often further. However, the partisan forces could not hold
be visited by Soviet aircraft in the night, who in out for very long against so large a force, which had
accordance with pre-arranged signals, would surrounded all our groups. No help arrived from any
parachute down to us ammunition, newspapers – quarter. Commander Bulak then decided to use his
and people. Special sabotage groups were brigade to pierce the German forces and traverse the
established in our ranks, who occupied themselves so-called “Vilna Tract.”
with diversionary actions.
During these couple of days of fighting, the
278
Germans dug themselves in very well, but having no well, because all the surrounding towns were
place to go, our forces fell upon the Germans. The occupied by German garrisons. All the passages
battle lasted for a couple of hours and it was the were cut off, and the forest was placed under a
most terrifying and bitterest fight of our entire heavy, onerous blockade so severe, that we had to
partisan era. It was a battle between thousands of eat horse flesh and suck on old bones [for
partisans and tens of thousands of the enemy. It nourishment] that we found in the forest. Our
became such a mish-mash of fighting, that it was outlook looked bleak.
impossible to use firepower. We fell back on
bayonets, and the Germans and Cossacks were Through the radio, we then received fresh,
stronger. heartening news from the front. Marshall
Rokossovsky had opened his victorious offensive on
Many partisans were killed in that merciless battle, the northern front. This raised the morale of the
and that many more on the side of the enemy. Along partisans: if we would only suffer a little more, we
the sides of the ‘Tract,’ the Germans had dug out will be relieved.
pits and hidden them by covering them with the
branches of trees, and many partisans fell into their Unmindful of all these difficulties, we had a chance
hands alive. to break through the German blockade, and to
confiscate 60 cows, and other foodstuffs. You need
Our own Chaim-Yehoshua Lifshovich was killed on to understand that this planned action immediately
that day. He was wounded in both legs, and not called out a reaction from the enemy’s side. The
wanting to fall into the hands of the murderers, shot Cossacks spread themselves throughout the forest.
himself with his own revolver. Sima Shelovsky also They were on all roads and paths, and they pursued
died a heroine’s death, who had worked as a nurse. the partisans through mud and water. Despite this,
Not willing to leave a wounded Soviet Major hope grew in our ranks from day to day.
behind, she was felled by the enemy’s bullets.
Moshe-Chaim Ogulnick also fell that day, who You can imagine our joy when we heard on the
during his entire time in the forest had distinguished radio that Baranovich had been liberated by the
himself as one of the most important of the Soviet military. We started to count the minutes. We
partisans. On that same day, Vitya Shelovsky was no longer paid attention to the continuous German
killed also, and also many others from Dereczin. cannonade – we listened for the more distant
thunder roll of Russian Katyushas. And the
Bitter Days & Good News Katyushas drew ever closer.
Despite the heavy losses, a very large portion broke The Day Has Arrived!
through and joined up with partisans on the other
side of the river. From Moscow an order came not to And suddenly – what happened? The sound of the
abandon the forest, and not to engage the Germans. German guns fell a bit, true the bombardment goes
The partisans then stopped shooting, and did not on day and night, but we sense that this is something
return the German fire. They circled around from different. The thunder of the Katyushas overpowers
one forest to another. Our silence only served to the German howitzers, shells and mortars.
provoke more unrest among the Germans. And then
began to enter the forest and occupy our campsites. The day has come! The Germans retreated from the
forest, and they set up a front line at the Shchara
In the meantime, the food situation got more severe. [River]. The Germans are now fighting directly with
It was impossible to get to the bases where food was the Russian Army, the Soviet soldiers are filling the
stored, because they had been occupied by the forest, and the entire area. The Germans retreat in an
Germans. It was not possible to exit the forest as unorganized panic, leaving behind thousands of
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their dead. Yes, the joy was great, but the grief was also deep.
We had been freed, but our nearest and dearest –
Finally, after a five-week blockade, we are liberated. where were they? To whom can we go back?
The Only Imperative – Take Revenge

By Jekuthiel Khmelnitsky
It is not so easy for me to convey in words all that I The peasant’s son was a member of the police force.
lived through with the partisans in the forest.
Consequently, I will only be able to relate a part of Elik immediately discharged his weapon into the air.
what I lived through. I know one thing: for the entire A commotion arose among the peasant and his
time that I was in the forests, I had one dream, one neighbors, and they immediately began bringing us
imperative – to take revenge! bread and c heese. Despite this, it was insufficient
for all of our comrades. And when we later related
Our initial time in the forest was very diffic ult. Dr. what had happened to us, Elender from Suwalk
Atlas did everything he could for us, supplying us began to carry on heatedly: “You are tying
with ammunition, giving us guidance on how to yourselves to these peasants, and they will betray us
conduct ourselves, where to obtain food, etc. We all and turn us over into the hands of the Germans!
were already at that time a group of 18 men. The I don’t want to die for a small piece of bread that
brothers ‘Nioma123 & Velvel Dombrowsky , Chaim doesn’t satisfy my hunger in any event!”
Shelkovich, Yisrolik Kwiat and others joined us.
So we sought an alternative. Alter, Moteleh Bosak
The Doctor [Atlas] told us that we would have to and I went off to a potato field and began to uproot
take foodstuffs from the neighboring farmsteads. potatoes, taking the root and putting the top of the
Five of us went off, myself, with Alter, Elik, Nioma, plant back into the ground. We baked the potatoes,
& Gedalia Bosak, to the farmsteads, and were able and managed to get by this way for a while.
to obtain a small amount of food. We had expressed
our gratitude everywhere. But we were c onstantly This condition prevailed until the Doctor came to us
pressed to bring more food, because our remaining one day with two partisan commanders. From that
comrades waited for us in the forests, hungry. time on he remained in the forest, and it is quite
difficult to desc ribe everything that he
Once we came to a peasant in Dobrovshchina. He accomplished, and how beloved he was, both by the
began to shout and ridicule us: “It is impossible to partisans and by the village peasantry. The latter
get rid of these Jews! No matter how many of them would kiss his hands, because he would heal them
we kill – there are still more of them, and they come when they were sick. They paid him not with money
demanding food from us!” And the peasant grabs or produce – but with ammunition! They had their
me by the collar, in order to throw me into his shed own ammunition, and knew who possessed it. Every
so that he can later turn me over to the Germans, night, one of us would accompany the Doctor, in
because the Germans paid well for having a partisan order to deliver firearms somewhere, machine guns
turned over to them, and a Jewish one on top of that. and ammunition.
123
The two Russian commanders, Kolka & Vanka,
Yiddish diminutive for Benjamin. immediately organized an expedition against
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Ozhorki, taking a horse and wagon there, and peasant who knew me ran into me, and brought me
bringing it into the forest along with a well fattened bread and milk. I searched for my group for so long
pig, bags of flour, and a variety of [other] products. that I eventually ran into two partisans from another
Slowly, the life of our partisan group fell into a base, and they took me back to their commander. He
routine. interrogated me, until it bec ame c lear to him that I
was one of the Doctor’s partisans. He asked me to
On the other side of the Shchara [River], there were wait, because the Doctor was expected there soon.
tens of survivors to be found, who had rescued
themselves from the slaughter in Dereczin. Along In the end, Doctor Atlas did arrive, took the letter
with Yisrael Kwiat & Elik we set out to make from me and told me that our group had abandoned
contact with our fellow townsfolk. There we heard our original location, because preparations were
wondrous tales about the commander, Batka Bulak, being made to attack the Derec zin military and
who zealously guarded the family compound. Bulak police garrisons.
was a peasant from Ostrovo, and during the time of
the Soviet regime, he was the [sic: communist] party i
secretary, and when the Germans arrived, he went
into the forest. He was a simple and decent Christian Much has already been told about the partisan attack
man, always cheerful, on horseback accompanied by on Derec zin. I also had a part in it with a machine
other riders, visiting the surrounding villages, gun. That night I was able to partially slake my
carrying on conversations with the peasants and thirst for vengeance.
their wives, obtaining news from them about the
Germans in the surrounding villages and towns. We brought back three severely wounded troops
Young people followed him both as a leader and a from Dereczin. The doctor, Bella, and Sima
friend. Shelovsky did everything they could to save them,
but they expired in the forest under the trees, and we
He was like a father to the Dereczin remnant. buried them with the oath to exact vengeance yet
again from the murderers.
i
We also brought out a lot of weaponry and
We returned to our base, and took three Dereczin ammunition, medical supplies and various products.
people with us from the family compound. As a
result of a conversation with the Doctor, Shmuel I also brought out a pair of good boots. I was no
Borenstein joined us at that time. Shmuel had left to longer a barefoot partisan.
join the partisans earlier, before the slaughter. He
wanted to join us, because Bella was with us, along i
with several other of his good friends.
The Germans wanted to even the score with the
And I cannot forget how I was sent to a second base partisans over the Dereczin incident, and they
camp in order to receive a letter from them to bring launched a sortie against the family c ompound,
back. I followed the commander who took me there because Batka Bulak, who commanded the groups
in bare feet. At nightfall, I began to return with the that had attacked Dereczin, had ordered us to
letter, and I couldn’t find the right way. I stopped disperse to other places in the neighboring forests.
off in some woods, and waited until dawn started to The Germans prosecuted a terrifying pogrom in the
break. But when I arrived at the plac e where our family compound.
group was staying, I found no one there. Like
someone bereft of his senses, I blundered around in The Doctor did not rest. He continued to plan even
the forest, looking for my partisan comrades. A more daring feats of attack against the Germans. It
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was in this fashion that the attack was carried out We attacked the German forc es immediately upon
that destroyed the train trestle across the Neman their arrival in Ruda, and before they had a chance
[River], at the precise time that a train full of to unpack their ammunition and materiel. I
German soldiers who were being taken from the remember that battle quite well, during which we
front back to hospitals in Germany was caused to wiped out the entire German force, and took all their
fall into the river. I took part in this action along assets back into the forest with us, as yet unpacked.
with the Doctor, Elik Lifshovich, Gedalia Bosak,
Kolka the commander, and a new partisan, Shubin, The saboteurs saw that we fought well, And
who came to us from the German sector, and did the showered us with all manner of equipment, such as
most important work in preparing the bridge to be rifles, revolvers and automatic weapons. The local
blown up. commanders began to quarrel over possession of the
captured booty – and it was we, the Jews, who
I cannot forget how we gathered all the necessary suffered from their quarreling, whom they singled
parts and materials for the mine and the battery out for every little matter.
materials that were needed to bring about the
explosion: and then when everything was i
assembled, we thoroughly analyzed the object of our
attack, the bridge across the Neman; we had a long Our attack on Kozlovshchina was not well planned,
and difficult way to go, until we reached the bridge; and we suffered a defeat, a lot of us were wounded,
once there, new difficulties surfaced – we needed to and several were killed in battle. I was hit in the left
mine the bridge in a way that the German patrols hand, and it took a long time for my wound to heal.
would not see the mine; and one brings to mind the
long hours of waiting for the military train, until it Meanwhile, we received word that not far from the
arrived, in order to bring it down with that mine, and village of Riniki, a German plane had put down, and
cause all of its cars to fall into the river; the wild remained stuck there. It appears that something
shrieking of the Germans rang in our ears at that mechanical had gone bad, but it was said that repairs
time like the music of revenge; the way back was had been effected, and it was to take off soon.
not any easier, but we were suffused with the elation
of victory. Our group volunteered to attack the plane. A
peasant, who had been thoroughly interrogated by
i Shmuel Borenstein & Monyek (Monyek looked like
a gentile, and spoke exactly like a gentile), guided
The Germans perceived that partisan might was us to the location of the airplane. We got to that
growing, and its feats were causing them trouble and place with the greatest of difficulty in pitch
costing them in material loss. They decided to darkness. We opened fire on it, and the Doctor
station a punitive garrison in Ruda [Jaworska], in demanded that anyone inside come out. No answer
the center of the forest, manned with 300-400 well- was forthcoming.
armed soldiers, in order to be able to fight the
partisans. We found out about this in good time. I volunteered to enter the airplane, to determine
[However] we were also well-armed by this time, what was going on inside and to appropriate the fuel
having even an armored vehicle, with artillery for use by our tanks. Just as I approached the
pieces of various calibers and machine guns. Several airplane, a man jumped down from it and vanished
of our partisan fighters were specialists in the use of into the darkness. I girded myself with courage, and
all sorts of machine guns. Dr. Atlas’s group was let myself inside. I looked for a long time, but found
already well known in our vicinity. We receive no fuel. In the end, the Doctor ordered the German
explosive materiel along with saboteurs who were flying machine to be put to the torch.
sent to us from the other side of the front.
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i So I am standing in the bakery one day, getting
Our group carried out many more ac ts of sabotage ready to knead dough for some baked goods, Bella
until the great German sortie was launched [against who was the c hief cook was in the bakery also,
us]. In the distance, we heard the sound of gunfire, when suddenly a tall, vigorous looking gentile enters
so we left, dividing ourselves up into small groups, the premises and asks for the way to the
to determine where the gunfire was coming from, commanding officers. He wants to tell them that the
and to respond if need be. I went with the Doctor’s partisan troops are not treating the village gentile
group. On the way, we spoke with optimism about girls with courtesy. There was something about him
our long-range fate and goal. When we drew near to that seemed put on. In the meantime, Herschel
the Shchara, we could already see the Germans Zlotagura arrived, and taking me aside, inquired as
firing at our positions. The Doctor took us out, even to who this unknown Christian might be. When I
though the danger was great, and the field between related what the gentile had said his business was,
us and the enemy was open and exposed. Suddenly Herschel advised us to keep our arms at the ready,
a hail of bullets rained down on us. We fall to the in the event that he attacks us, because we
ground, asking one another if anyone was hit. All anticipated a sortie against our camp by the
answer, except the Doctor. I ran to him with Bosak. Germans, and it was really unclear as to what this
The Doctor lay severely wounded. We tore open his unfamiliar person was doing here. Herschel
clothes and began to massage his heart, upon which personally transported some ammunition to the
he opened his eyes and said: “Take revenge!” We family compound, in order to give them the
both picked him up and carried him over to the capability to resist an attack during a sortie.
second side of a small hill and attempted to help
him, trying to do something, to stanch the streaming Herschel returned sometime later, and ordered the
blood. But I was called back almost immediately to stranger to leave and go into the forest with him.
my machine gun. The Doctor was taken back to the Bogdush waited for them already outside. Later, it
camp by a tank. We fought until nightfall. We, the was discovered that near the bakery, a white horse
Jews, gathered together at the time the gentiles sat had been tethered with a sign – apparently intended
down to eat. We buried our beloved Doctor Atlas as an indication to the Germans, who had sent this
and swore that after the war, we would see him vigorous peasant to act as a spy and to convey
properly interred in a Jewish cemetery. intelligence to the Germans.
In the meantime, the order came to abandon the Shouts were heard from all around: “The Germans
camp, and transit to another part of the forest. We are surrounding us!” We ran outside and began to
said our farewells at the grave of the great Jewish run. The Germans spotted me when I was about one
warrior Doctor Atlas with tears in our eyes. hundred meters from them, and they opened fire on
me. A bullet hit me in a finger on my left hand.
i Blood flowed from me and the pain was sharp. I ran
on further, but could not find the way to our camp,
Hard days arrived for the partisans. At this time I and met up with a second [partisan] group. They
began to work in the bakery, which had been bandaged my finger and I went off to my own camp.
established in the forest, in the center of the various On the way, I heard shooting coming from the
base camps. The demand for bread was filled during direction of the camp I had just left. It was later
those years in the forest, foodstuffs, both dairy and determined that the Germans had been following the
meat, were possible to procure from the peasants, trail of blood that had come from my wound, and
but they had no bread. The bakery produced good had in this manner stumbled into an ambush that had
bread, and we the Jewish partisans were able, with been set for them at that c amp. Several tens of
great danger, to supply the family compound with a Germans were shot as a result of that ambush.
little bit of bread.
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After spending one night, along with other wounded Minsk and had sent them as spies into the partisan
in the earthen bunkers, we were taken to a second brigades.
location that had already been prepared to receive
sick and wounded. The suspicion that was thrown upon us by the
Christian partisans created such pressure on us that
That night in the earthen bunker was a frosty one. we began to intensely watch and scrutinize one
Many of the sick had either their feet, hands or another. This continued up to the point that it was
fingers frostbitten. I made my way to the new field discovered that young gentile women, who were
hospital on foot, and on arrival in this new location consorting with the Christian commanders, had been
I was running a fever of 41.5 oC (106.7oF). Dr. sent as spies into the forest. These women were
Rosenzweig determined quickly that I had typhus. shot, but the distrust of the Jewish partisans lingered
He undertook to heal me, looked after me, and felt on for a long time, despite the fact that our Jewish
fortunate when I [successfully] got through the groups carried out difficult and important missions,
crisis. which other groups were not capable of handling.
When I regained my strength, and was preparing to
return to my camp, he asked me if he could have my I am reminded of the sabotage of the German train
boots, because he was practically barefoot. I gave that I carried our together with Monyek. The lines
him my boots gladly, even though I caught a and stations were heavily patrolled by the Germans,
scolding from Elik, our commander, for this. along with watchdogs and Byelorussians. It was
very difficult to get close to the train tracks. The
It didn’t take long before we enfiladed a German trains took a long time to come. When we finally
provisioning transport consisting of about twenty spotted the train, Elik was afraid that we would be
vehicles. I did a good job with my machine gun, we spotted from the locomotive, and they would open
took a lot of booty, and I got a new pair of boots. fire on us, but Monyek and I quickly placed the
charges and hid in a pit. A large part of the train was
i destroyed.
Around Passover of 1943, the Germans again I was called to the partisan command. There I met
launched a sortie against our forest. Our camp was Moshe Kwiat & Simkha Kresnovsky, and I was told
alerted in a timely fashion, and everyone removed that the Head of Command wanted to meet the
themselves very quickly to a second location. heroic partisan, Jekuthiel Khmelnitsky. After the
Everyone – except me and another couple of our war, I was in Minsk, received the partisan medal,
comrades who were on watch at the time, remained and I was promised that I would receive my official
in the forest. We hid ourselves for a couple of days, recognition from Moscow, but I didn’t want to wait
and having nothing to eat, we set out wandering for it.
about the area, and ran into a group of the Orlansky
Brigade. Other exploits of our Jewish partisans come to
mind, as for example, the ambush attack on a
A peasant from a nearby village brought us a group German transport, consisting of vehicles and
of Jews from the Lida ghetto, whom we hid in the armored cars, which we allowed to get between two
forest until the return of our [own] partisans. mined locations that were then discharged remotely,
and then we shot up the Germans and their allies for
i several hours. There were extensive swamps on
both sides. The Byelorussians and Ukrainians who
New troubles started for us, the Jewish partisans. attempted to escape through the swamps were
Rumors were spread throughout all the forests that apprehended and taken off to the forest. They fell to
the Germans had especially liberated Jews from our feet and begged for their lives. Resha screamed
284
at them: “When our mothers begged for your mercy, patrolling. So the three of us made our way
you killed them – now you beg us to have mercy backwards. There are dead and wounded all around
upon you?!” – and Bulak dispatched about twenty of us. The latter beg us to shoot them, and not let them
these traitors on the spot with his machine gun. suffer. We went off to a peasant, obtained bread and
milk, and headed for the great forest of
i Dobrovshchina, along with many other partisans.
Then, the last German sortie against the forest came. Then German airplanes began to bomb the forest.
It was in the month of March 1944. The enemy had We can hear shouts: The Germans are coming! And
decided to wipe us out, and had surrounded the then a political officer called us together and
forest. We couldn’t even find food for ourselves and directed us to conceal our weaponry and disperse
went out on missions. among the villages, to those families and
acquaintances, [to hide] until it quiets down, and
Once, on a Saturday, we were all gathered together then return to reclaim the weaponry...
in one location – many of us, entire camps of
partisans, all of the brigades from the surrounding This was good advice for the gentiles, but not for us
forests, hungry, thirsty, and exhausted. Jewish partisans who had remained alive. Under no
circumstance was I prepared to relinquish my
Commissar Ivalev gave a speech, telling us that we firearm, bec ause only with it can I fulfill my prime
are totally surrounded by the enemy, and our only objective – to exact vengeance from the German
way out is – to break through the German line and murderers. The political officer demanded, cajoled
enter the Pinsk swamps, or to the Red Army. He and then ordered – but to no avail, I did not
called upon us to hurl ourselves at the enemy with surrender my weapon, and eight other partisans
the Russian battle cry, “Hurrah,” that would then stood with us. We did not know to whic h area we
take us on to victory. should go, until Joseph Blizniansky began taking us
in the direction of a large bog, behind which there
Night fell, and the great mass of partisans made its was a wooded area. We spent the night there, and
move toward the line of the German encirclement the following day, without food, without drink, and
With a cry of “Hurrah!” we began to run at the line with no hope of reaching a safe place where we
– and immediately this attracted a hail of fire from c ould hide from the Germans and their tanks and
all sides; Those running fell like cut corn. German airplanes.
rockets illuminated everything around us. Where
was one to go? On the second night all eleven of us went to find out
what the status of this sortie was, and to find a little
I am lying with my firearm, and with me is Joseph food. In the surrounding farmsteads we are told that
Blizniansky & Gershon Lifshovich. They look to me there are no Germans in the area any longer. We
for my advice and help, because I am older than approach the German line, nearing the bunkers with
them. I shout to the commander, Abramov, that we their slit windows from which only a couple of days
have to stop shouting “Hurrah!” because we are before we were fired upon – now it is quiet all
giving away our positions to the Germans. It would around.
be better to quietly try and penetrate the line. But
Abramov no longer responds. He is in a sitting Henokh, the blacksmith from Kozlovshchina had
position, his body up against a tree – and is silent. Christian acquaintances somewhere in the area, so
we headed toward them to obtain bread and milk. A
I look about. To crawl out, it is necessary to ford a peasant tells us to show ourselves and to take us
small stream, and afterwards drop down a high where the other partisans are. Meanwhile, he took us
bank. And it is at this spot that the German tanks are to spend the day in a nearby wooded area. We can’t
285
stay there very long. Germans are patrolling the It was on a Saturday. We are lying in the forest,
area. suspecting that there are no more Germans – and we
wait.
So we returned again to the swamps, after having
found out that the Russians had broken through the And then a mine caught me. I woke up in a Russian
German front and are drawing near to our area. army hospital. My head was bandaged. I was told
that I was dug out of the debris. That is how I came
After additional searching, we finally were reunited to remain alive.
with our unit, from which not even half the people
survived. We know that any moment now, the
Russians will arrive and liberate us, but in the
meanwhile, the Germans continue to shoot. Until
they began to retreat.
Hunger and Death in the Forest

By Tsirel Kamenetsky-Friedman
There is nowhere to go – that was our first thought It is impossible to document what we suffered.
when we came out into the fresh air, which Those not capable of fighting, along with women
freshened our outlook and mind after the terrifying and children, found themselves in a family
two days in the bunker. compound. We were constantly hungry, sick, broken
and frightened. A terror would seize us at every
Slowly the light of day appeared, even if it was dark movement, from every rustle of a leaf. We
for all of us, black and lightless. From there we went immediately were struck with Pharaoh’s third
into the corn field and then on to the Lipover forest, plague: lice. The filth alone could have easily
and met many people at that place. consumed us.
With Small Children To Care For A month after we entered the forest, the Germans
decided to launch a terrifying reprisal against us for
The first question that was put to us was: you want the partisan attack on Dereczin. The Germans
to save yourselves with such small children? launc hed a sortie against the Ostrovo forest, and
about 80 innocent people were shot, many of them
That same night we went to the forest of Ostrovo. were taken alive, and one can only imagine what
My husband and I, and our small children were sort of terrifying death the German murderers
consistently the last ones. My dear sister was fearful arranged for them.
that we would be left alone in the forest. It was
Herschel Lobzovsky who led us, and waited for us, For every day that we managed to live through, I
and did not let us remain behind and God forbid, get thanked God: Blessed be God each and every day.
lost. And this is how we straggled along with our And so we made the time pass in a state of fright
three small c hildren: the oldest, Lizinkeh, a doll at and hunger. Not only once did I think that it would
age 6, our older son, Moteleh age 4, and the be better to be dead already, because often death
youngest, Yankeleh, 18 months old. Try to imagine often seemed a much easier and better alternative
the position of the parents, with three young ones, than our dreary existence.
when you are asked: do you really want to save
yourselves with such small children? During the c old season, we lay in shallow small
trenches, full of people, exhausted and starved, and
286
it was from this that a typhus epidemic broke out in To this day, I do not know what sort of a miracle
the c amp. Entire families would expire in the was wrought. My husband took me and the little
trenches, which constituted their [only] ‘residence,’ baby on his back, and with all his might, pulled us
and were transformed into their common graves. out of the muck, and brought us back into the forest.
Only a small portion of the Jews survived this entire We no longer saw any Jews around us, we only
ordeal. heard the sound of the racing German murderers.
They ran from the right side, and we hid ourselves
My two sons and I contracted typhus. It was in the to the left, digging ourselves into the ground, and
month of March, on the eve of Purim. There wasn’t literally not breathing.
even a thermometer with which to take temperature.
We had no form of food. The snow began to melt in It was not only this once that such miracles occurred
our trench, and we lay in the watery melt. My in the forest.
husband, Moshe-Zvi Kamenetsk y went off to a
nearby village to obtain a small amount of potatoes, The first winter in the forest was a hard and bitter
literally risking his life to do so. God helped him, one. We had no tools with which to try and dig
and he succeeded in getting some potatoes and a ourselves the deeper earthen shelter bunkers. We
little bit of salt. My children and I each received two fled even in this great cold, at the time of a great
potatoes to help stave off the hunger. sortie against us, naked and barefoot, in deep snow
from the Volya forest to a sec ond forest. I carried
After such a frightening illness, I was left without one of the children. The cold and the snow cut
strength, and I could not stand on my feet. I was through to the heart. Peasants and their womenfolk,
literally carried out of the trench by hand and who saw us fleeing this way from one forest to
brought to the fire. The fresh air revived me another, would cross themselves out of fear of what
somewhat. Sitting this way by the fire, I see a Jew we looked like.
who had just arrived from the village of Volya,
bearing bitter tidings: military forces had ridden in That was the occasion of the great sortie against us,
and surrounded us from all sides. I wept bitter tears when the partisans fought an heroic life-and-death
the entire night. What is going to happen now? Will struggle. Dr. Atlas fell in that bitter struggle, a dear
I never again see my husband and children? It was Jew and a friend to the family compound. Not only
necessary to run away from this place, and I did once did he protect us from the Christian partisans.
not have the strength to keep up with everyone else.
We survived this sortie as well. We returned to our
At daybreak, one could already hear the sound of old location in the Volya forest, and we encountered
shooting coming form all corners of the forest. It a veritable destruction. It was the family residents
was necessary to flee as quickly as possible from that suffered the most.
our current location, with its well-marked pathways.
I took my leave of my husband and children, begged On the 12th day of Shevat, the shooting broke out
their forgiveness, asking them to go with the others, again on all sides. People ran straight into the hands
while I would stay behind alone. We all knew that of the Germans. Not knowing that the Germans were
staying behind meant certain death. attacking the partisans, many of us ran to seek
protection from our partisan fighters, but instead of
In the middle of this, a howitzer shell whistled over protection, they ran into heavy German gunfire.
our heads, and I suddenly began to run. We were
literally almost in German hands. We ran through a Many of our Dereczin comrades were killed on that
large swamp, and I remained stuck in the muck. We day, and I will never forget that 12th day of Shevat:
even heard the voices of the enemy behind us, who my dear daughter Lizinkeh was killed, along with
raced through the forest searching for the innocent my sister, Hannah Friedman, along with the
victims. families of Shmuel Butinsky, with his wife and child,
287
Yochi Butinsk y with her son, Israel Salutsky with To my question as to what it was that brought them
three children, – the Yahrzeit for all of these people to look for us, one of them told the following to
falls on the 12th of Shevat. May their souls be bound everyone who was in the bunker with us, that his
up in the bond of life. wife Stepka had a dream in which long-bearded
Jews came to her with staves in their hands, and said
It is hard to describe everything that we lived to her that we are to be found in a birch-wood, and
through in the forest, until the onset of summer in that my c hildren are dying of hunger. If they
1944. personally would not bring food for our children,
then all of the Karenkos would be put to death. The
At this point new sorts of trouble materialized. The gentiles were terrified by this dream, and brought us
Russian commanders began to pick a bone with the a loaf of bread and a jug of milk, which you can
residents of the family compound, not wanting to understand, we divided up among al the Jews in the
support or protect us any longer. They literally earthen bunker.
abandoned us to God’s will.
From them we received the gladdening news that
That summer we were cut off and separated from our redemption was drawing closer, and that the
everything and everyone. We remained a group of Germans had suffered the most substantial of
22 souls, and so made ourselves a camouflaged downfalls, and are retreating through the forests.
earthen bunker, deeply dug into the ground. Hungry,
exhausted, without enough strength to even utter a The peasants took pity on us, and we went with
word, we sat all day in this pit, listening to the them to their barn. In the distance, we could already
shooting all around us. hear the Soviet Katyushas.
We had no idea of who was shooting or why. At this

point we no longer knew where the partisans were to
be found, and had no idea of where we ourselves
were. At night we would sneak outside, but we
could not permit ourselves to make a fire.
I personally was so weakened from hunger and

exertion that I barely could see with my own eyes.
We were sitting this way in the bunker, when

suddenly outside we heard a shout: “Kamenetsky!
Kamenetsky!” And the shouting did not stop,
repeating itself and echoing through the forest.
My husband did not answer, and also did not let me

answer. But I thought: there is nothing left to lose,
– and I responded. It then bec ame clear that these
were two peasants who knew us, the Karenko
brothers who were looking for us.
When they saw us, they made the sign of the cross
out of sheer fright. One can only imagine how wild
and disheveled we must have looked to them.
288
Dr. Yekhezkiel Atlas – The Partisan Doctor
By Dr. Y. Rockover
The ignorance pervading the chapter pertaining to the heroism of the Jews during the years of the
Holocaust is noteworthy. It embodies a combination of both a national and personal insult.
– B. Dinor
Few doctors in our country know that Dr. Ezekiel (Bandera), Byelorussians (Samokhova) and
Atlas, the young physician from Poland, was the unorganized bands of pro-Soviets. There were deep-
central figure behind the organization of the Jewish seated antagonisms that existed between them, but
partisan movement during the period of the among them they also had a general unwritten
Holocaust. agreement – the annihilation of the Jews.
The fury of Jewish resistance to the Nazi conquest Therefore, the organization of the partisan
consisted of two aspec ts: the stand in the ghettoes, movement was much more difficult for the Jews
and the war in the forests. Just as Mordechai than for any other people. The essential foundation
Anielewicz came to symbolize the movement of of effective partisan force was to operate in small
revolt in the ghettoes, so did Dr. Ezekiel Atlas come groups, and with surprise. In line with this, success
to symbolize the fighting on the part of the Jewish depended greatly on the luck of the individual and
partisans. In the ghettoes, the decrees and outright especially on the good luck of the leadership.
murder, uprooted the will to resist from most of the
Jews [so confined]. The recognition that it was Dr. Ezekiel Atlas was a fearless partisan. Everyone
impossible to defeat the Germans, and that there was who knew him was mesmerized by the persona of
no refuge to be sought from total annihilation, this Jewish leader, by his enormous dynamism, his
sapped the will to live among many. They saw no boundless commitment, modesty and simplicity. A
purpose to offering resistance whose only end thin man of medium height, with blue eyes that
seemed to be suffering and annihilation. The Jewish looked out beneficently and brightly, he first and
leadership in most centers of Jewish life were foremost gave the impression of being a physician,
immediately wiped out at the outset of the Nazi and not as the leader of the partisans, that for the
conquest, in the first actions against the Jewish most part required a cruel and arrogant demeanor.
intelligentsia, and afterwards there was no But when he was instructing his young men in the
leadership left in those centers. Despite this, understanding of the struggle, and the heat of
individual groups were formed, who attempted to vengeance, it was not possible to recognize him [as
preserve the one reaction left to a human being with the same man]. His voice was penetrating and his
any sense of self-worth and dignity, that also visage was calm. In battle, there were no bounds to
survived in the ghettoes – a great spiritual readiness his willingness to undertake personal sacrifice, or to
to fight. But these groups lacked weaponry, and the strength of his spirit. Among the substantial
especially a location, where they could organize ranks of the partisan movement, his unit was but one
themselves for battle. Each partisan unit was of many. But one must not forget, that before this
compelled to seek ties with the populace in the movement arose, there was no opposition to the
villages. The Jews, who were surrounded by enmity, mighty German war machine. The bottom line
lacked any standing with the populace, to the point assessment of the Germans was that the partisan
that it was not possible to sustain oneself in these movement weighed in as a heavy factor in their
hostile rural surroundings. Various groups pervaded eventual defeat.
the forest: Polish fascists (A. K.), Ukrainians
289
A Jewish Partisan Unit partisan unit to wage war and exact vengeance.
From the refugees of Dereczin that were able to bear
Dr. Ezekiel Atlas was born in 1913 in the town of arms, he formed a fighting brigade. He centralized
Rawa Mazowiecka in Poland. After completing his the old, women and children in a ‘family
medical studies in Milan (Italy), he returned to compound.’ The first three rifles that were brought
Poland and worked in a hospital in Lodz. With the by Dr. Atlas breathed life into the members of the
outbreak of the war in 1939, Dr. Atlas and his brigade. Armed with rifles, the Atlas troops went out
family fled to the east, and reached the town of with their leader to wage punitive actions against the
Kozlovshc hina in Byelorussia. With the nearby villages that were c ooperating with the
cooperation of the Soviet regime, he organized a Germans. The possessions of the families of the
hospital there, and served as its head. He became police were c onfiscated, and both utensils and
well known in the area as a skillful doctor. With the foodstuffs were brought to the family compound in
invasion of the Nazi army, he attempted to flee into ample quantity. The Doctor spent entire days in the
Russia with his family, but all avenues of exit were villages, and was able to obtain weapons from the
sealed off by the German army, which had farmers of the area. The loyalty that was shown to
accelerated its penetration like a deeply imbedded him in every quarter because of his role as a doctor,
spike. He remained as a doctor in Kozlovshchina, helped him greatly in obtaining weapons, and with
and increased his visits to the surrounding villages, the organization of an information network in the
establishing ties to the farmers, who admired him area. The youth of the villages, and the cattle
greatly for dedication to the sick under his care, and herders were valuable sources of weapons which
his willingness to help at all times, whether day or was terribly hard to find in that period. In 1941 the
night. Russian army left behind a great deal of weaponry,
during its disorganized retreat, that the farmers, and
In the beginning of the spring, all the Jews of especially their youth, had hidden in the ground.
Kozlovshchina were wiped out, and among them the Atlas would bring arms from them every day. The
family of Dr. Atlas – his parents and sister. The strength of the brigade continued to grow. Six light
Germans let the physicians live at that point in time, and two heavy machine guns were procured.
as ‘necessary’ Jews. The German wing was greatly Cannons also were procured that the Russians had
fearful of typhus – a disease that always left behind, and shells for them were also found.
accompanied armies in Eastern Europe. Among the young men in the Atlas brigade, there
were cannoneers who served in the Polish army, and
Because of this, Dr. Atlas was sent to a sanitarium also those who could repair an abandoned artillery
location in Wielka Wola to combat typhus. In piec e. Even the ‘family compound’ was allocated
Wielka Wola, which is in the Slonim area, Dr. Atlas several rifles in order to be able to defend itself.
continued to extend assistance to the rural populace
and also to the initial partisan units that had been The sustenance of a ‘family compound’ initially
formed, and with whom he formed fast created a burden for the partisan [fighting] group,
relationships. which had to be nimble and mobile, but with the
passage of time the compound was transformed into
On July 22, 1942, the Germans organized a a workplace for the partisans and a supply point,
slaughter in the town of Dereczin, that is near repair of clothing, white goods , shoes, etc.... During
Slonim. About two thousand five hundred Jews sieges, they would prepare subterranean hideouts
were killed, and only about 300 fled into the forest. which also contributed to saving many lives. The
The survivors blundered through the unfamiliar partisan district that Atlas was active in stretched
forest, without hope, hungry and without strength. from Slonim to Novogrudok. This area was covered
That day was picked by Dr. Atlas as the day to with heavy, thick forest, surrounded by natural
realize his desire: the establishment of a Jewish swamp, and served as a natural base for various
290
Jewish, Polish, Byelorussian and Soviet partisan nose...his shirt was torn, and he laughed a wild
units. Between the course of the Neman and Shchara hysterical laugh and shouted as if he were insane:
Rivers, can be found the great Lipiczany forest – “Hey, do you like this -- hah?!” And the police were
that served as the base for Dr. Atlas’s unit, and Jews shot down on the exact spot that two weeks earlier
from all the surrounding towns reached there: from the Jews were murdered. Beside the gendarmerie, a
Dereczin, Zheludok, Byelitsa, Kozlovshchina, hard battle was fought. Shelkovich the shoemaker
Novojelnia, Molchad, Dvorocz, Zhetl (Dyatlovo), who had gone to battle with just a stick in his hand,
Novogrudok, Lida, and others. When the first of the now had a new German submachine gun... the boys
Jews arrived in the forests, they ran into loaded the wagons with the wounded, the weaponry
unorganized units of Soviet partisans – the remnants and rest of the booty – and returned to the forest...
of the Red Army. These units had only robbery and the German army that arrived from Slonim found
plunder on their agenda. Under these circumstances, the town in flames”...
the groups of Jews stood in danger of being
annihilated. [Indeed], it was in this way that a small After Dereczin came the turn of Ruda Jaworska.
group of partisans under the leadership of Alter This village lay at the intersection of roads between
Dvorotsky of Zhetl was totally wiped out. The value the partisan forests. Substantial forces of Germans
placed on Dr. Atlas by the rural population, and the and Ukrainians captured this town, something that
regard for him among the unorganized units, helped caused the differences among the various partisan
to overcome the anti-Semitism that pervaded the groups to be set aside. Allied units of Jewish and
forests and c onfronted those who came out of the Russian partisans stormed the town. The resistance
ghettoes. of the enemy was unusually strong. Bogdush, one of
Atlas’s boys, heaved a grenade into the Ukrainian
Avenging Spilled Jewish Blood trenches and wiped out a heavy machine gun nest,
took control of it and turned it against the enemy.
On August 10, 1942, 16 days after the Dereczin The breaking of this guard’s nest by the Atlas unit
massacre, Dr. Atlas led a group of 120 partisans was a determining factor in the outcome of this
against the town to exact vengeance for the Jewish difficult conflict. The Nazis fled, leaving behind
blood that had been spilled. The operative plan was many dead and a lot of weaponry.
to surround the town and cut it off from Slonim and
Zelva, to neutralize the police station of 160 In the course of the following weeks, Atlas managed
policemen and 15 gendarmes that were in it, and to to drive the Germans out of his district. He attacked
divide up the weaponry among the refugees. the locally billeted enemy force in Halinka, and
Together with the unit of Dr. Atlas, the attack on Sankveshchina, and neutralized them. The attack on
Dereczin was joined by the Soviet unit of Boris xxx, Kozlovshchina was not carried out with complete
and the unit of the local farmer – Bulak. Shmuel success. The Germans entrenched themselves well
Borenstein, the author of the book, The Brigade of in the surrounding towns, and the partisans ran into
Dr. Atlas, who partic ipated in the battle, writes: “It strong resistance. A frontal attack was not
was exactly four o’clock. Dawn broke. Machine advisable, since it was fraught with the possibility of
guns began to bark and the ground shook from heavy losses. The most effective partisan tactic was
exploding grenades... we stormed ahead. From the the approach of ‘hit and run.’ Atlas attempted to
other side of the gendarmerie we were answered exploit every opportunity for surprise. In instances
with gunfire... The young men with the Atlas when he ran into superior enemy forces, he would
brigade ousted the frightened polic e from the attempt to refrain from direct confrontation.
station, and were led ashen-faced and shaken, with
their hands in the air. From the side, I saw Jekuthiel Continuous Sabotage
Khmelnitsky with a machine gun in his hands, his
head disheveled and blood running from his Within our district, the partisans operated without
291
constraint. Every village had a resident partisan The Germans [also] built bunkers along the rail
representative. His job was to secure food and lines, and manned them with continuous guard
lodging for those fighters that were asked to come patrols. Patrols, using mine detection equipment
into that area. In these villages, it was forbidden to constantly patrolled the length of the tracks. The
take supplies. The German forces, step by step, lost inc reased the number of trains during the day, and
their dominance the region, and in the end their cut down on the night runs. Responsibility was
control became limited to the major cities and towns allocated to the villages. Local residents were
only. After the enemy had been cleaned out of the designated to be responsible for the condition of the
area, Atlas committed himself entirely to the strip of track near their village. In the event of an act
acquisition of explosives for purposes of engaging of sabotage, these designated people were taken out
in sabotage. He began to send out sabotage units and shot. These acts of terror did not achieve their
beyond the forests to strike at critical military intended result, rather they intensified the hatred of
targets: railroad track, railroad stations, the enemy, and accelerated the rate of escape into
manufacturing facilities and warehouses. In a short the forests and adherence to the ranks of the
period of time, all the dairies ceased to operate that partisans. The Germans resorted to siege from time
supplied the Germans with butter and eggs. to time. On Dec ember 15, 1942, the Germans,
Similarly, a cement factory in the village of Rosh accompanied by Ukrainians from the Vlasov
was blown up. The destruction of the bridge across Battalion,124 a combined force of about a thousand
the Neman, which for a long time cut the connection men, launched a punitive expedition against the
between both sides of the river, brought him muc h partisans. Atlas seized a position and took a stand
praise from all wings of the partisan movement in beside the town of Vala-Zuta, which was beside the
the district. Every day, Atlas wound bring wagons Shchara River. A part of the enemy force decided to
filled with cannon shells that had been left in the cross the river. When the column, together with its
fields, or in the middle of the Shchara River, near vehicles found itself in the middle of the river, Atlas
Wielka Wola. He removed the explosive from these opened fire on it with a cannon and machine guns.
shells, created mines and deployed them for use. More than seventy Germans and Ukrainians were
killed in battle, and much booty and war spoils fell
The battlefront was far away on the banks of the into partisan hands. A short time afterwards, three
Volga, and away from the front we saw an unending thousand German and Lithuanian soldiers laid down
procession of German train transports taking a siege line in the forest. Acts of terror and torching
weaponry to their army. One of the well-known acts villages, mass murder – all these contributed again
of sabotage carried out by Dr. Atlas was the blowing to bolster the partisan movement. Dr. Atlas’s
up of the bridge at the Ruzianka railroad terminal, at brigade retreated, and broke up into smaller units.
the time that a train was crossing it, that led to many After two weeks, when the enemy left, the units
enemy dead and wounded. In another incident, he returned to the forest, reorganized themselves anew
had a German airplane destroyed at his command, and resumed their war against the enemy. The
on the occasion of its landing due to a mechanical December siege was especially difficult. Winter,
accident, about 30km from his base. The connection and falling snows made movement especially hard.
of the Brest-Baranovich-Moscow line was disrupted There were many victims in the family compound.
frequently by Atlas. All train lines were totally taken The German force numbered thirty thousand men.
out of service after an unending series of sabotage They had airplanes, tanks and heavy cannons with
attacks. The caravans that brought supplies to the which they ceaselessly shelled the Forest.
front were attacked by Atlas units. The Germans
ran out of ways to secure the rails. In order to make
an approach to the tracks more difficult, they 124
cleared about 300 meters on either side of the track. The notorious Ukrainian General, who
Any citizen seen in this stretch was shot on sight. defected to the Nazi Germans after the
June 1941 invasion.
292
The People Did Not Go Like Sheep to the The value of Dr. Atlas in the Lipiczany Forest was
Slaughter not only in the military sphere. He laid a foundation
for bringing together those Jews who fled the
The fate of the village residents was like that of the ghettoes that stood in flames, and strayed aimlessly
Jews. The Germans ordered them to dig deep pits, through the forests. He would bless them on their
then forced them into those pits and shot them there. arrival, comfort the bereaved, and above all, give
This slaughter was carried out indiscriminately, them the feeling that an armed Jewish presence was
whether one was a partisan sympathizer or their looking over them. Added to this he was a
opponents -- the Kulaks. The brigade of Dr. Atlas physician. The Angel Raphael to the ill and
continued with its routine, guarding the passage wounded.
over the Shc hara River near the town of Wielka
Wola. The Germans concentrated heavy automatic It is up to the historians to reflect the role of Dr.
weapon fire on the brigade. Only during the brief Atlas in the telling of the Holocaust period. The
lulls was it possible to crawl a couple of meters. The assault on Dereczin, in which those who fled death
battle continued in this location for two days. and escaped to the forest from the ghetto, attacking
Conditions grew increasingly dire. Atlas looked for the town two weeks later, and arranged their own
a way to break through the encirclement. In this slaughter of those who murdered their fathers and
battle Atlas was wounded in the leg. The bullet children – this story is worthy of inclusion in those
appeared to have pierced the femoral artery. Blood chapters that are chosen to be read in books about
ran from his wound without stop. Notwithstanding the Holocaust by young people. Those chapters of
the efforts that were expended to close the artery, Jewish heroism in the Holocaust years are worthy
the doctor could not save himself. enough to find their way into the hearts of our
young people, so that they know that the Jewish
He lasted long enough to pass command to Eliyahu people did not go like sheep to the slaughter, but
Lifshovich, and exhort him: Revenge!... and lost fought for its survival and honor.
consciousness. He died about a half hour after being
wounded.
Despite the sense of resignation that came with the

death of the leader, the brigade succeeded in
escaping the danger of the encirclement and regroup
at a new base. The year 1943 was a year of
diversionary actions done at Soviet direction, and a
reorganization of the partisan movement, with the
establishment of [new] units. From a practical
standpoint, there was no longer any need for Jewish
partisan units. The Atlas brigade passed under
Russian command, but it continued in the Jewish
tradition, and the name of Dr. Atlas continued to
serve as its symbol. In the Forest [forest] they
continued to call them ‘Atlasovtsii’ – the Atlas
Boys.
293
With the Dereczin Fighters in the Forest
By Shmuel Borenstein
July 24, 1942 there. It was hard for them to understand our pain.
I returned late at night. For a long time I couldn’t The following day, we discovered from the boys
fall asleep. The third anniversary of the war was returning from their post, that the remnant of the
drawing near. A period of great tribulation had gone Jews from Derec zin who had managed to save
by me. It is difficult for me to admit it, but I have themselves from the slaughter, were in [the]
finally accepted the idea that my parents and brother Boralom [Forest]. We received permission from our
were dead. At this moment, I speculated about the command to go look in on the refugees.
people I had left back in Dereczin, who were close
to my heart, who are oppressed by daily suffering. We left immediately for the Boralom Forest. We
And my reach is entirely too short to lend them were hurried in our pace. A terrible fright ate at us
a hand. regarding the fate of those close to our hearts. We
tried to imagine the morale of these refugees, who
At dawn, a noise wakens me from my sleep. fled into unfamiliar forests, leaving behind the dead
bodies of their fathers, mothers, brothers and
– Something is going on around us – the lads are up. children. We wanted to console these unfortunates
and offer them what encouragement we could.
And from the direction of Dereczin we hear the
c easeless rattle of machine gun fire. I glanced at We ran into the first group of Dereczin residents as
Herschel. Pale as white plaster, he listened to the we entered the forest. A little girl jumped out at us
echoes of the shooting. Everyone understood what from behind the trees. I recognized the daughter of
was going on in the heart of his neighbor. In my friend, the teacher, Landau. I hugged the nine-
Dereczin, Jews are being put to death. Our hearts year-old girl in my arms. Despite the fact that I was
were very heavy within us that day. Our food stuck wearing military garb, with a rifle on my shoulder,
in our throats, and everything fell from our hands. the little girl recognized me immediately. She
Our trepidation about the fate of the Jews of clutched me about the neck, because she sensed that
Dereczin oppressed us. I would protect her. Two big black eyes that gazed
out in terror, moved me emotionally.
That evening Misha returned, who had been sent to
reconnoiter the area. It became clear that our On that terrifying day, at the hour that the Germans
suspicions were proven correct. It became known to entered their home, little Manya was hiding behind
Misha from the words of the area farmers that from a wooden box. With her own eyes she saw how
early morning on, the Jews of Dereczin were being strange men took to beating her father, mother and
shot. grandfather. A sixth sense told the little girl to sit
behind the large box without making a sound. The
His notification to us hit us with the force of Germans took the weeping people outside by force.
hammer blows. At that precise moment, we sought Manya knew that something awesome was afoot,
to be by ourselves, and we waited impatiently for because those nearest to her were leaving and would
the silence of the night. not return. She had an immense desire to scream
I recollect the words of one of the Russian boys who out, to approach these evil people, and ask them to
saw me in my sorrow. In his desire to console me he stand down from her loved ones. But the scream
said: remained stuck in her throat. Afterwards, everything
was silent.
– Soldier! At another time, you were saved from
294
Quickly, shots pierced the silence. Manya refugees sit sullen and silent: they cannot take their
understood: now they are murdering [her] father, minds of the incidents of that terrifying day for even
mother and grandfather. Germans are entering the a moment. Every one of them left behind the people
house in an unending stream, searching for [more] that were most dear to them. And here – there are
people. A fat gendarme even glanced at the large parents without children, children without parents.
box, behind which she was hidden. She saw him, Family life that had been constructed over a period
and the look on his face, but he did not see her. At of many years was completely destroyed in one day.
night someone stealthily entered the house. It was And now: an unfamiliar forest; wide-open skies with
her uncle, who had come out of the bunker to see no roof over their heads.
what had transpired. Together they stole out of town
and went out to the forest. Yesterday, the commander of all the partisans of the
area came to this place, Boris Bulat. 125 He
The things that the refugees told us surpassed promised to absorb all those able-bodied men
anything and everything that one could imagine in capable of bearing arms into the partisan ranks. The
their terror and cruelty. At somewhat a distance, a remainder would constitute a ‘family camp’ as they
woman sits, with a dulled facial expression. Her were called: they would get a couple of rifles for
young face, ringed with graying hair, makes an eerie self-defense, and they would be provisioned by the
impression. partisan groups.
– I have sinned, I have sinned, – the woman repeats, A Successful Expedition

stubbornly, over and over again.
July 28, 1942
People sitting next to her told the following: at the
hour of slaughter in the town, this woman was with One evening we went out as a complete group to do
an infant in the bunker. In a matter of minutes, battle. The commander explained to us the purpose
police broke into the house looking for Jews. The of the expedition. In the village of Jaziorki Velika
infant did not stop crying, and those hidden [in the about four kilometers from Dereczin, there was to
bunker] feared that [the cries] would reveal their be a wedding of a police officer with the daughter of
hiding place. The mother suffocated the child with a farmer. We were to use this opportunity to kill as
her own hands. many Germans as possible. This was the first time
I participated in a mission of such danger.
And here is a young man sitting, saved from death
by a mirac le. With his own eyes, he saw his little At nine in the evening, we approached Jaziorki.
son pleading with the murderers: With us we had two machine guns, several
submachine guns, and two grenades apiece. First,
– Look, I am so young yet, and I haven’t lived very the commander sent Kolya, a veteran soldier, and
long in this world, let me live! myself to reconnoiter the area. Silently, and by
crawling, we drew near to the shed at the edge of the
These people told me that there were perhaps two village. From afar we heard the clang of cymbals,
hundred Jews in the depth of the forest: a part of the stamping of dancers’ feet and the sounds of
them had taken a path to the Shchara River. carousing drunkards.
The smoke billowing above the trees indicated to me I was boiling:

which direction to take me to the refugee camp. In
about a half hour I was at the place. How different
this camp was from the partisan camp! Here, no man 125
sang; there were no joyful, motivated people. The Not to be confused with Pavel Bulak.
Of Ostrovo.
295
– They have just barely erased the traces of Jewish learn a lesson, that they have no need to participate
blood from their hands, and already they are in celebrations of this kind, and the police will halt
celebrating! their night visits from this time on.
Kolya knocked on the door of the shed, and from the – Just a little longer, and the joy here will be
other side of the window a figure appeared, dressed unparalleled – Misha whispered to me.
in white.
Suddenly the shot was heard that stopped the sound
– Who’s there? – a frightened voice asked. of the merry polka. I saw that the lit cigarette in the
– Open up, partisans. – Kolya answered quietly. mouth of one of the men fell to the ground. The
light went out in the windows. We heard the sound
I remained outside. I flattened myself against the of screaming and c rying. Several people rushed
wooden wall of the shed, and I strained to hear outside. We opened with heavy fire. Tracer bullets
every sound coming from the street. whistled over the houses. We began to heave
grenades into the middle of the road. From the edge
Kolya returned in about a minute, and we went back of the town we began to hear the report of machine
to our waiting comrades, and conveyed to the gun fire.
commander what we had learned.
– They are ours! Misha called out gleefully. Also,
The commander organized the people. At the edge from the direction of Derec zin we heard the sound
of the village, near the shed where Kolya obtained of heavy machine gun fire.
his intelligence, two men were left with mac hine
guns. They were given responsibility to guard the In the end, silence pervaded the area. We entered the
road to Dereczin. We, who remained, drew closer to street forcefully. At the side of a corpse soaking in
the objective on the field grounds behind the sheds. its own blood stood Kolya, a black policeman’s cap
The dark of the night worked in our favor. At the on his head, and a brand new holstered German
end, we found ourselves about twenty meters from pistol in his belt.
the point where the wedding feast was being held.
Indoors there were many people, and the din was – Apparently he felt that he was safe from all harm,
loud. In front of the house, sat young boys and girls if he was smoking at his post – said Kolya.
who were enamored of each other. In the middle of
the street, the figure of a person became visible to us Vanya sent me to reconnoiter the second side of the
because of a lit cigarette. village. The lads took the new footwear off of the
corpses of the dead police.
– It appears that he is standing watch, and was
detailed to this place, – the commander whispered. – Well, it looks like we did it – Misha said to me. –
We don’t have to go to the quartermasters: they
We then had to resolve a difficult dilemma. It was have to come to us, – he continued, as he looked
impossible for us to randomly fire into the house, with raised spirits at the new boots, which the lads
since we were likely to kill innocent people. Kolya put on in plac e of the shoes that were falling apart
was therefore given the mission of sneaking up on and hurting their toes.
the sentry and shooting him, the sound of that shot
being a signal for us to start shooting into the air. I returned to my post. Light again appeared in the
The thinking of our commander was that the window. From the shed came the stern voice of the
surprised police would attempt to escape toward commander. In the street, the lads conversed
Dereczin, and fall into the trap of our machine guns regarding the battle that had lasted less than an hour.
hidden there. We reasoned that the farmers would After about a minute, Vanya appeared in the street.
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– And now lads, – he said, let’s go: reinforcements his arm. From the way he was dressed, I could tell
inevitably will come from Dereczin. he was a partisan.
In the hour since we exchanged fire with the sentries – Hey, comrade! – I called out.
on watch at the edge of the camp, dawn began to
break. The partisan turned his head to me. We each peered
into the other’s face, and immediately ran toward
A day after the Jaziorki mission, I received some one another. This was one of my buddies from
gladdening news from the mouths of two new Dereczin, a member of the underground, Chaim-
members of our brigade that were inducted from the Yehoshua Lifshovich, Chaim-Yehoshua had come to
Jewish refugee camp: A Jewish fighting brigade was town in a wagon. He was in charge of supplies for
being organized on the other side of the Shchara the brigade, and had brought flour to the peasants so
River. The head of the brigade was Dr. Atlas, and they could bake bread for the brigade. We
my friends Bella & Izzy are found there, who were immediately jumped up onto the wagon, and headed
saved from the slaughter, and other companions who for his camp which was about four kilometers from
were taken into the underground organization in the village. We traveled speedily along a forest
Dereczin. I immediately turned to my commander, pathway. The wagon bounced and was thrown about
and he granted me permission to leave camp for a going over large tree roots. This was a large forest,
number of days. the size of which I had never seen before. The old
tall trees were overwhelming, carrying themselves
The Brigade of Dr. Atlas up to majestic heights, giving off a mournful
August 1942 emanation from deep in the underbrush.
At the noon hour I was on the banks of the Shchara Finally we turned to the side. Under the branch of a
River. On the opposite side of the river, the great tree stood a sentry, with a machine gun beside him.
Ruda forests loomed, that served as the refuge of the Even this was an old familiar friend, the Dereczin
partisans. The town of Wielka Wola was there. I baker, Jekuthiel Khmelnitsky.
knew that the nearest occupying German army force
was billeted in Kozlovshchina. But the Germans and I covered several more tens of meters along the path,
the [local] police had learned a lesson not to infringe and found myself in the camp of the Brigade of Dr.
on “Red Territory.” Not inviting trouble, I asked the Atlas. All around us were tents. Next to the
ferryman who took me to the other side of the fireplace, beside the water pails, the young woman
Shchara, but the Germans are not visible here. cooks stood and labored; under the trees, men were
sitting, occupied with cleaning weapons.
– These dogs are frightened of us, enough to leave
– answered the farmer with pride. – Shmuel! Shmuel! – I heard cried to my side.
The little town looked like an impoverished I hugged Izzy & Bella to my breast; a group of my
settlement. The meager soil barely sustained the friends gathered around me. I felt at home.
resident populac e. The woven nets hanging on the
fenc es of the houses gave a sign that the local Bella told me her story. With a trembling voice, she
people engaged in fishing. From the way the spoke of “that” day.
citizenry looked at me, I could see that they were
accustomed to visitors of this kind. I found myself in – With daybreak the Germans arrived in town by
the middle of the town, and was weighing in my autos. The police surrounded the ghetto with a tight
mind which direction to head toward, and at that chain of sentries. She, Bella, hid herself at the last
moment a man stepped out of a hut with a rifle in minute, along with Izzy in the eaves of the roof.
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With a great effort, they drew up the access ladder off of a sill. They would then go gather potatoes
behind them, and from below, the shouts of the from the field and cook them in the large pot, and
Germans were already reaching them. Through the this was how they managed to sustain themselves.
c racks in the floorboards of the attic, they gritted
their teeth and watched what was going on below. A On the third day, the Doctor returned, bringing with
transport vehicle stood in front of the house. The him three additional people from Dereczin: the
Germans drove the residents into the street and brothers, ‘Nioma & David Dombrowsky, & Herschel
forced them up into the vehicle, accompanied by Zlotagura. They too, ran into Atlas as they fled the
curses and tumult. Bella’s mother cast a glance up at town.
the attic. This was her parting blessing to her
daughter. – Lads! – the Doctor cried from a distance – I bring
good tidings! The partisan group recognizes you as
Crying and wailing broke out on all sides. From the a fighting unit, [and] from this day forward I am
other side of the flour mill, shots were heard. On the your commander.
square that was in front of the mill, the Germans
were shooting Jews. Those who were hidden waited Dr. Atlas, a man of medium height, about 27 years
until nightfall. Then they descended on their ladder, old, was born in the town of Rawa Mazowiec ka.
now having only one alternative: to the forest. The war between Germany and Russia broke out
while he was in the city of Slonim. He served there
After many adventures, they reached the Boralom as a hospital physician. At the beginning of 1942,
Forest. Here they joined up with the Lifshovich the Germans organized a massac re of the Jews of
family, and Jekuthiel Khmelnitsky. They decided to Kozlovshchina, and it was at this time that the
set their course for the opposite side of the Shchara members of the Atlas family were killed – his
River. Along the way, they were joined by mother, younger sister 17 years-old. As a physician,
additional refugees. Finally, they reached the village the Germans spared his life, and sent him to a
of [Wielka] Wola. From the distance, farmers central point in the village of Wielka Wola. But he
working quietly appeared in view. The sun beat also tied up with the partisan command. He secretly
down on us. The children of the village scattered at carried arms, on the chance that perhaps the
the appearance of the strange visitors. From all Germans would make a move against him, and he
around, one could hear the scraping of doors as they stood ready at any moment to lay his life on the line
were being shut. From out of the windows the in order to esc ape into the forest. Now, he was
curious village women peered. placed in command of the partisan group that
consisted of Dereczin refugees.
Suddenly a voice speaking in Yiddish was heard:
From that point, Jekuthiel Khmelnitsky and the
– Jews, wait! Lifshovich brothers told us about the negotiations
that Dr. Atlas conducted with the Russians. He
An unfamiliar person approached them. He was Dr. sought to create a fighting unit from the Dereczin
Ezekiel Atlas. He led them into the forest, and gave refugees. The Russians were reluctant and evasive,
them directions as to what to do by the hour. After arguing that most of the refugees from Dereczin
this, he departed and was not seen for several days. coursing through the forest were women and
They were hungry, and they cast about here and children, and it would be better to find a single
there, searching for something to eat, so as to still general solution.
their hunger pangs. Jekuthiel Khmelnitsky who was
known to be a lover of food, went out one night to a In the end, Atlas returned with the first three rifles.
nearby village, and with a loud trumpeting of A new spirit started to pervade the hearts of the
victory, returned with a large tureen that he swiped people. They immediately set to work.
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Armed with tow rifles, the lads went out to “pay a – We are going to a new location – Herschel told
call” at the family of a specific policeman who had me.
demonstrated extra zeal during the Dereczin
massacre. They returned bearing needed vessels and It was known to me, that the practice of the partisans
foodstuffs. By schedule, the Doctor would spend was to periodically relocate its base camp.
entire days and nights in the villages. He was able to Consequently, I was not surprised. This was done
obtain arms from the farmers. Atlas derived special for security purposes. The tread of the walkers who
value from his relationship with the shepherd boys. came and went from the camp turned the pathways
In 1941 the retreating Red Army left a great deal of to the camp into marked conduits of passage. If the
war materiel behind, which the farmers, together Germans found them, they could come upon us
with their children, buried in the ground. A day suddenly. Even the farmers of the distric t were not
didn’t go by when the Doctor would not receive particularly loyal to us. There was no lack of
some of these arms. At this point, the Atlas Brigade informers who maintained contact with the
numbered about twenty people, and in short order, Germans.
all of them were armed. They even had a machine
gun. Consequently, it was difficult to conceal the
location of the camp from people in the nearby area,
Dr. Atlas was indefatigable. No one knew when he particularly the shepherd boys, who would bring
rested. He was constantly worrying and on the run, their flocks to graze in the tracts of the forest. Even
remembering everyone and everything. From the the farmers, who would come into the forest to cut
first moment on, he led his brigade with an iron wood, would periodically trip across a concealed
discipline. partisan sentry point. And even if up to now we
were attacking the Germans and causing them
– We are soldiers – he would say. – Soldiers taking damage out of proportion to our real numbers, and
revenge. On the day of the slaughter, on July 24, our they did not know our numerical strength and were
normal lives ceased. If we remained alive, its only filled with fright at the mere thought of entering the
purpose is to exact vengeance from the enemy. forests – we didn’t ease up for a minute regarding
our focus on the work we were doing, and why we
On the day I visited the camp, the Doctor vanished. found ourselves at the enemy’s neck. Danger lay in
I was told that he traveled to the Group to convinced wait for us frequently. But the camp served as a
the command that it was necessary to attack the point of tranquility, except for being there too long.
German position in Dereczin, and to take revenge It was for this reason that the lads were sent out to
for the spilling of Jewish blood. seek out a new location for us, and when they
returned, the order was given to move.
– This was the single thought, and the only thought
that filled our hearts, and what gave us the The new location was in the Boralom Forest. We
motivation to live on – said the partisans of the Atlas hurried to get there, with the thought of reaching the
Brigade. road that we needed to use in the dead of night. And
at night, we reached the place designated for the
Blood for Blood camp.
September 8, 1942 Tired from the journey, I was late in getting up the
next day. The camp was already alive with activity.
When I returned to my camp, I found that all the The lads put up the tents, the cook was making the
paraphernalia was packed and loaded on wagons. rounds of his pots according to his routine, and the
The group was ready to move out. food dump was set up in a shed made of tree
branches. Only the tall straight pines that I saw in
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place of the white birch proved to me that I was in thinning and tousled. His legs were somewhat long,
a new location. but his step was small. And I swear that his day-to-
day gait did not look steady (which was not the case
In this forest, at a different point, the ‘family during battle, as I would later discover). Frequently,
c ompound’ of the Jewish refugees from Dereczin a smile would appear at his lips, then his lips would
was also located. I walked off to visit them at my rise, revealing closely spaced white teeth. When not
first opportunity. in battle, he would not speak in a loud voice, but [in
a voice] that was ringing and compelling. When he
From the time of my first visit to their camp, many was puzzled about something, he would push up his
changes had oc curred. It could be felt that people glasses and arch his eyebrows.
had come to terms with their terrible misfortune.
Talk about the massacre had entirely ceased. He wore extremely modest military dress: high
boots on his feet, of too large a size, and at times the
This camp did not have a military air about it. The fabric would work its way out of the boot. In
huts, set up to serve as dwellings for the people, contrast to his dress which was not particularly
were spread out; the people were divided into elegant, he was armed from head to toe. He also
groups, with several families in a group. Each carried with him a submac hine gun with seventy
group, generally consisting of about ten people, rounds, which was at that time of the highest value
would cook its own food. Foodstuff was in very in the forests, an automatic pistol, a reserve clip for
short supply, not like at the [fighting units of the] the submachine gun, a leather military briefcase, and
partisans. I found old people and children too, who the tops of grenades stuck out of his jacket pockets.
had been saved from slaughter. Here and there, I
would see Jews standing in prayer. As was the case Atlas turned beneficently to the children that
in the Atlas Brigade, there were many here, old and gathered to see him. Afterward, he signaled with his
young alike, who yearned to take revenge on behalf hand to the adults that he wished to speak with
of those who were murdered. A number of people them: silence reigned.
had already procured arms. Most had bought them
from farmers with their last pennies, from the – Fellow Jews! – Atlas called out, and now his voice
pittance they managed to take with them as they and face changed. The benign, soft appearance
fled: a few rifles were also given to them by the disappeared, as if it had never existed. He brought
partisans. his eyebrows together and his voice became sharp:
– I can take twenty of your men into my brigade. I
At the time of my visit, I sensed a stirring of action have weapons for them. Thousands of our brothers,
in the camp. who have been murdered, burden us with a great
responsibility. The brigade that I command is a
– Dr. Atlas is coming! – my friend called out in a ‘Brigade of Despair.’ We, all the members of this
loud voice. brigade, see ourselves as ‘lost.’ We harbor no other
thought other than to take revenge. Which of you is
Finally, I had the opportunity to actually see this prepared to follow me?
Jewish commander, whose name had already
received high praise in the forests. It was only with diffic ulty that I squeezed myself
between other people and got close to Dr. Atlas,
I looked him over with care. The horn-rimmed who was surrounded by tens of volunteers. I
glasses perched on his nose bespoke a doctor more introduced myself, and implored him to turn to the
than a partisan commander. His visage was very central command to have me transferred to his
young, his carriage erect, the features of his face and brigade.
head matched: his eyes blue and friendly. His hair
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I returned to my camp, enchanted by the persona of empty. When the older people saw what was going
this Jewish commander carrying the hope in my on, an emotion welled up inside of them. And here,
heart that I would be able to join his camp. an elderly man came out, Shalkovich name, a
shoemaker from Dereczin, drew close with sprightly
Several days went by in which nothing noteworthy steps, a cane in his hand, and said:
happened. And suddenly on August 7, a young man
on horsebac k arrived at our camp, from the central – We know to where you are heading. Our place is
partisan command. Our commander read the letter also there. There, we should be able to exchange the
that he brought with interest. cane for a rifle.
We felt that something important was afoot. Vanya They began to ask of Vanya that he should take
ordered Herschel and myself to prepare for a them as well. The central command was nearby, and
journey. We were to accompany him to a task, and Vanya went there to consult on the issue. After he
immediately, the entire group was to leave in a returned, he formed an additional unit, armed with
couple of hours, fully armed, under the command of canes.
Kolya, to the designated rendezvous point.
The women took quiet leave of their husbands, and
After departure, Vanya told us that, with the parents of their sons. Once again, we went out on
concurrence of the central command, he was to our way. It was already late afternoon by the time
Assume temporary command of the groups of we reached the edge of the great forest. Next to the
Jewish refugees. Herschel and I were to be his fires, the various brigades stood. From afar, I could
deputies. see Dr. Atlas at the head of his brigade, preparing to
leave the place.
On the way we passed a partisan group that had
dispersed into the forest. The lads had a heavy I drew near to him. Dr. Atlas gave the first-aid kit to
machine gun. Bella and said:
– These are the partisans from the other side of the – You will be the field nurse. To his warriors he
Shchara River, – Vanya explained. said: – Know friends, we are going into battle!
Finally we reached our objective, the c amp of the The general commander, Boris Bulat came c lose to
Jewish refugees. us, riding on his horse escorted by members of the
central command.
At this point it is necessary for me to underscore a
specific detail regarding the way of life in the This Boris lost his right hand at the front; despite
forests: in the forest, important news moves with this, he was an excellent marksman. He gave us a
lightning speed. A great ferment was evident among short speech:
the Jews. An acquaintanc e of mine told me that
since morning, all the partisan groups were entering – Today, lads – he said, – an opportunity is given to
the Boralom [Forest]. It cannot be other than they you to exact vengeance from the Nazis. Before
were getting ready for a “most important” mission. dawn, our united group of partisans will arrange to
launch an attack on Dereczin.
Vanya ordered Herschel and me to immediately
organize a fighting unit out of those people that We walked in silence, each man sunk in his own
seemed capable of bearing arms, and commanded thoughts. Exactly two weeks had passed sinc e the
that we make ready to move out. Oh! – how few day of slaughter in Dereczin. Our feet rolled through
were the rifles; the hands of most of the men were the large expanse of the Ostrovo forest. At the head
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went our commander, Vanya Zaitsev and the window, a heavy machine gun sprayed its bullets all
compass is in his hand. around.
At 3AM, before dawn, we finally reached the I asked Vanya for permission to operate on my own.
church that was situated at the edge of the town. The In about a minute, I was at the side of the house, in
commander ordered us to lie down on the ground. which the Hilfs-Polizei was located. The lads from
From the side, on both the left and right flanks, one the Atlas brigade extracted the Byelorussian
could see the silhouettes of people, and the heavens policemen, the servants of the Germans, from the
with their attitudes toward the town. They also lay building. The police walked pale and trembling,
under them. with their hands in the air, and their eyes held the
look of the fear of death. From the side, I saw
– Those are the units of Dr. Atlas and our Kolya – Jekuthiel Khmelnitsky, a machine gun in his hand,
Vanya explained in hushed tones. – The Atlas his hair disheveled and blood dripping from his
brigade had the mission to silently take out the nose, his shirt torn, and trousers disarrayed, and he
German guard posts on this side of the town. The was laughing hysteric ally and yelling in
town is completely surrounded by our people. The Byelorussian:
telephone line has surely been cut by now. Apart
from this, large forces of ours lie in ambush, toward – Ho, it’s good for you, ha?
Zelva and Slonim.
I joined the Atlas men, and together with them took
– At 4AM the signal to begin fighting was to be the police out onto the plaza that was in front of the
given – a foot messenger advised us from c entral station.
command, who reached us by crawling on his belly.
They were shot, and fell on the spot where two
In the distance, we can see the outline of a station. weeks prior, they had murdered our loved ones.
There is a common grave there, where hundreds of
Jews were shot by the Nazis. I imagined that the Afterwards, we returned to the gendarme station.
sound of the screaming and wailing of the murdered There, heavy fighting continued. On the road, I saw
was reaching my ears. The sound of a shot ended my the two Baranovsky brothers from the refugee camp
reverie. The voice of Boris Bulat was heard: being carried wounded on stretchers. Shalkovich the
shoemaker who went out to battle with a cane, now
– Lads, to the battle! In the name of our motherland! had a brand new German submachine gun. With an
excited face he told me what had happened:
From the side, where the Atlas brigade lay, came the
sound of a different command: As soon as Yudel & Ephraim Baranovsky reached
the town, they immediately ran over to the residence
– Jews, forward! In the name of our beloved! of the German munitions officer. On the day of the
massacre, this murderer killed their only sister and
It was exactly 4AM. Dawn broke. Machine guns elderly parents right in front of their eyes. Now was
began to chatter, and the ground shook from the the hour to take vengeance. Even though they were
explosion of hand grenades. Rat-tat-tat-tat! – a unarmed, the brothers broke into his residence. The
heavy machine gun chattered away. We stormed German managed to wound both of them before he
ahead, firing ahead of us. From the other side of the fell from a partisan’s bullet.
building that served as the gendarmerie, we received
return gunfire. The sun was fully risen by the time We decided to put the town to the torch, in order to
we seized a position behind the houses, precisely prevent an occupying military force from being
opposite the station house. From a top floor billeted there. We threw incendiary grenades into
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the houses. They went up in flames. Those living in – These are our [men], open the doors to the jail, –
the houses came out crying to us, falling on their one of the partisans called to us.
knees and begging for their possessions to be
spared. But our people didn’t pay any attention to In the meantime, the young men loaded up the
their entreaties. And there were those who replied: wagons with the weaponry and other booty that had
we don’t have anything either. And you drank no fallen into our hands. Dr. Atlas & Bella were totally
little of our blood... occupied with caring for the wounded. After their
wounds were bound up with temporary bandages,
And the Jews among us, who owned houses in the they were loaded on wagons and taken out of the
town, sought to burn them as well with their own place. The doctor walked along side them, and even
hands. the grievously wounded did not utter a sound, they
did not groan – possibly because the heat of live
From all sides, policemen were brought out and battle was still upon them, or because of the faith
taken into captivity; there were those who were shot that they placed in their doctor, who did not move
on the plaza in front of the flour mill, as previously from their side.
described. All points of resistance were neutralized,
except for the one large building in which the In departing the town, I stayed behind for a moment
gendarmerie had barricaded itself. These Germans, on that plaza in front of the flour mill. On the
who had no other choice, fought for their lives, and ground lay tens of dead police: a fitting revenge...
gave battle with an outpouring of great ire.
On the road leading to the forest stood a legion of
Suddenly a group of the lads burst through the gates farmers, who came out to welcome us and wish us
of the gendarmerie. I recognized these as the Atlas well, to offer us hard liquor, white bread and
troops. I ran after them, shouting, ‘Hurrah!’ We pancakes. Even we were elated by the outc ome of
entered the foyer of the building, from which the the battle. We knew that we had put an end to the
gendarmes continued to fire at us. One German occupying German army in Dereczin.
appeared at the ground floor stairs. The sound of an
exploding grenade filled the air. On the ground, in The First Sortie
a pool of blood, a number of our men lay writhing.
Among them I recognized Herschel Zlotagura. We August 14, 1942
took the dead and wounded out to the street.
Several days afterwards, news began to reach the
The battle continued. The gendarmes continued to forest concerning the consequences of the victory.
hold their positions. This was a stone structure that The German army that came from Slonim to the
was well fortified, and we tried in vain to penetrate rescue of the gendarmes, found the town engulfed in
it from the outside. Boris Bulat stood beside the flames. The police had largely been killed; those
house, and next to him stood a Jewish partisan, who remained alive, emerged from their hiding
Abraham Koplovich. Abraham was continuously places after the partisans had gon e a distance, and
throwing incendiary grenades up above, into the dispersed in terror to the four corners of the wind.
room where the gendarmes were. At this time, our The Byelorussians and Poles who served as the
scouts arrived and told us that large forces of appointed members of the German [civil]
Germans were drawing close from Slonim and administration also fled. Apart from the police that
Zelva, to reinforce the gendarmes. The sound of a were put to death, five additional Germans were
trumpet was heard – giving the signal to retreat. It killed, and six others were heavily wounded. The
was 7AM. In the distance one could see people Germans put their wounded into their vehic les, and
fleeing. quickly left the town.
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After the occupying army in Dereczin was No man cried. But here and there, one could see
neutralized, the entire area became free [to us]. The clenched fists.
partisan victory spread for tens and hundreds of
kilometers around. The booty taken in the battle was At the end of two weeks after the battle in Dereczin,
of considerable value: a great deal of weaponry, and on the 24th of August, with the coming of dawn, our
the food stores of the Germans fell into our hands. entire camp assembled: our scouts that we had sent
out came back and advised that large forces of
Once again, I arranged a visit to the brigade of Dr. Germans had arrived in our area, and they are
Atlas, and I had a conversation with the lads. They preparing a sortie against the partisans. We set out
were particularly happy about the weapons that they immediately at a quick pace for the other side of the
had taken from the enemy. Jekuthiel Khmelnitsky Shchara River. Apparently, according to the plan of
was occupied at that moment with cleaning a our central command, we were to reach the other
submachine gun that had fallen into his possession side of the river and conceal ourselves there in the
during the battle. When he saw me, he called out to large Ruda forests. It was clear that there was no
me: purpose in trying to confront the superior German
forces directly with our meager resources, since they
– Shmuel, Shmuel, how do you like my new little outnumbered us by ten times, and were equipped
‘machine?’ Pretty? No? with tank and cannon.
During the battle, several of the lads who were The day was light by the time we reached the tall
members of the secret underground in Dereczin, and thick bulrushes by the banks of the river. From
succeeded in extracting weapons that were hidden in the shore, the voices of the Germans reached our
the ground, and understandably, this raised their ears. The throbbing rhythm of the tanks and the
spirits. With all of this, it was difficult to tell mobile armor proved to us that we were
whether the thirst for vengeance had run its course. uncomfortably close to the aggressor. We could hear
Consequently, together with his troops, Dr. Atlas heavy gunfire coming from the Boralom Forest.
organized a routine to continue the struggle.
We took a stand. It was clear to us that we were
That same evening our spirits were hurt because of surrounded by the enemy. The shots that were
the death of David Dombrowsky, who had been reaching us from the trees gave evidence that the
wounded in Dereczin. Before he died, he called his Germans had entered the forest perimeter. The place
younger brother to him, ‘Nioma. In a hushed voice, where we found ourselves was now dangerous, but
almost a whisper, he said to his brother: it had one redeeming feature: it was difficult for the
Nazis to conceive that partisans were hiding in the
– Nioma, I am going to die before my time; I have high growth.
not adequately taken revenge from them, those
murderers, having taken only little. Remember that Every minute, our scouts would come to us, tired
it is your responsibility to take revenge on my and exhausted from running, bringing reports that
behalf. were not encouraging. The Germans had established
control in all of the villages in the area, and had
The funeral was arranged the following day. In the exacted punishment from the farmers. Their core
forest, under a tall majestic oak, on a principal road, forces were in the forest. Pavel Bulak’s troops were
a grave was dug, and the deceased was brought to under siege, and the sound of the shots reaching us
rest there. We stuck a stake in the ground, with a were the sounds of the battle taking place there.
small board attached to it, with the following written
on it: “David Dombrowsky, born 1912, fell in battle We lay down and conc entrated from the heavy
fighting the Germans.” undergrowth. We saw steel-helmeted German troops
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walking behind a small tank at the river’s edge. The majority were annihilated, and were also
They could stumble upon us at any moment. tortured cruelly by the Nazis. And the Bulak brigade
extracted a victory. In this battle, one Jew, Joseph
However, we could see that the Germans were also Mayerov ich especially stood out, who had come to
possessed by fear: without stopping, they kept our environs as a refugee from Poznan. During the
shouting in a loud voice: battle, he climbed up a tall tree, and despite the fact
that the bullets did not cease to whistle past his ears,
– Hey, bandits, give yourselves up! he didn’t move from there, and relayed his
intelligenc e about the points from which the
Toward nightfall, the sounds of the tanks died down, enemy’s mac hine guns were operating, and from
and the shooting stopped. The Germans left the area. which side the Germans were approaching. The
At this point, lads from the Bulak unit c ame to us, Germans pulled back, carrying several tens of their
exhausted and sweaty. They had participated in an dead and wounded. In this battle, ten Jews who were
all-day battle, and had c rossed the river only with refugees from Dereczin, were killed, who had joined
great difficulty. Quickly, we also found ourselves on the Bulak brigade.
the second side of the Shchara River. Night fell
when the great Ruda forest offered us concealment.
(Excerpted from the Book, ‘The Brigade of Dr. Atlas)
The following day, I learned the details of the battle
of the day before. The Germans found the Jewish
[family] refugee camp. The farmers of the area had
revealed its location! Very few succeeded in
escaping.
The Whole Family Lost in the Forest

By Gutka Salutsky-Boyarsky
Photo: Killed in the Forests: Sima Shelovsky, Liba Miller, Mirel Ogulnick (p. 351)
The forest reeked with death, which surrounded us And that is what happened. Our settlement was
from the first day on. attacked by Latvians with large dogs. Out of terror,
we lay there, my mother, myself, and my younger
My father, together with me and my brother Moshe, brother and sister. With us was Nekha, [the daughter
went into the forest to a [fighting] partisan company. of] Yankel-Aryeh, and her little daughter. Peysha,
Our mother, together with the two smaller children, the husband and father, they had lost along the way,
Beileh & Abraham, remained in the ‘family and they were certain he was no longer alive. And
compound.’ We provisioned them. so, all of us are lying there until they come for us,
and they shout: ‘Hende Hoch!’ We rise to our knees,
After a month in the forest, we made it through the with our hands in the air. They start to shoot. The
first of the bloody German sorties. I happened on first bullet hits my mother. Out of terror, we all fall
that night, to be sleeping at my mother’s in the on one another. I am lying on my mother’s body. I
family compound. My mother woke up from her hear how the murderers say that we are all already
sleep and told me that her younger brother Herschel dead. They go away.
came to her in a dream, and said: ‘flee, or they will
kill you!’
305
In the Forest Without My Mother First-aid from Dr. Atlas
I remain lying for a while, and I feel that someone I run there, to the road. My elation is indescribable,
else nearby is still alive. I raise myself, and see my when I see Moshe-Chaim there with Dr. Atlas. I tell
little brother still alive, but his face is covered with them about my little sister. Dr. Atlas c omes to her
the blood of our mother. I gird myself, wipe off his and administers first-aid. He tells us: ‘Go quic kly,
face, and embrace him, being certain that he is the not far from here the partisans are camped, and they
only one else who remained alive. At that point I have a doctor with them who will know what to do
hear my younger sister’s weak voice: ‘I’m alive for your sister’s wound.’
too.’
I was so overwhelmed by this encounter that I forgot
All three of us sit around our mother’s dead body. to ask about my father and brother, but Moshe-
Nekha and her little girl are also lying dead near us. Chaim tells me that they are alive, and are at another
We don’t know what to do, or where to go. We point, together with the partisans. They tell us to go
know nothing of our father and older brother, but as quickly as possible to the area where the partisan
deep in our hearts we believe that they are alive. camp is, because as soon as it gets dark, the
partisans are making preparations to move off into
Night falls. Little sister has a bullet wound in the a second forest.
hand. We begin to go, not knowing where our
tearful eyes and tired feet are taking us. We go a We walk at a faster pace, content with the
piece and then sit to rest – only now to we knowledge that our father and older brother are
understand our bitter misfortune: we have lost our alive. It is not possible to describe our reunion with
mother. them. We all c ried out of pain for our mother, and
for the mirac le that somehow left us three children
The three of us sit there and weep. Suddenly we alive.
hear footfall, and someone is passing through the
forest. I say to the children: ‘Let us ask, who is My little sister was taken to the hospital. I, along
going there, in any case we have nothing to lose. with my younger brother, go to the ‘family
Maybe they are ours?’ I thought to myself, if they compound.’ Our older brother Moshe, provides us
are our people going there, perhaps we can fall in with some food. He often goes out on missions,
with them. And if they are Germans – at least it will fighting against the Germans, taking revenge for the
be an end to our suffering. blood that was spilled.
A miracle happened, and they were Jews, Shmeryl Periodically, when he has to go out on such a
and his two children. We ask him where he is going, mission, he comes to take his leave of us. Each time
and he says, to cross the Shchara, believing that the he comforts me: ‘Don’t cry, Gutka, I will return. I
partisans have gone there. We ask him to take us saw our mother in a dream, and she said to me, that
along, and he agrees. I must go take revenge on the German murderers,
and in addition she said to me, that I will come back.
We walk the entire night. In the morning, we remain Don’t cry, my sister.’
seated on the other side of the Shchara. It is hot, and
the sun is burning down on us. My little sister is I Lose Everyone
faint, and I have nothing to administer to her. We
send the small children to see if they can find some I cannot forget the last time I took leave of my
berries, in order that I can have something I can give brother. Before leaving on a particularly difficult
my little sister as refreshment in her mouth. They go mission, he came to say goodbye. He wept, saying
away, and return almost immediately to tell us that quietly to me: ‘Who knows if we will ever see each
partisans are moving on the [nearby] road. other again.’
306
I never saw my brother again. It was 1942. I run, run into the forest, and I hear that I am being
Immediately after this, a great sortie was launched chased. I see that it is a gentile fro Derec zin. He
by the enemy on our forest position. I, my father, catches up to me and grabs me – he is a German
and little brother were together. We know nothing policeman. I recognize him, having been together
concerning little Beileh, who was in the hospital. with him in a class.
We hear nothing about our brother Moshe.
I beg him to spare my life. He answers me that he
We run in the forest from place to place. When the cannot spare my life, and that all the Jews must die.
attack is over, we all come together. We ask about He orders me to lead him to the compound. As I
Moshe – everyone has seen him, but nobody knows begin to go, I think that I must not take him to the
where he is. Everyone says that the forest-hospital is compound, there are Jews there who are old and
OK, but we still know nothing about our little sister. weak, that did not have the strength to flee – and he
And so the days go by. will shoot them all.
One time at night, I have a dream that I am home, I decide to go no further. I fall down on the snow
and that I am going to the Schulhof. My and say: ‘Shoot me, I can’t go any further!’ He
grandmother approaches me and asks me why I am empties an entire cartridge of bullets around me. I
crying. She says to me: ‘You have lost your mother, lie still, not moving. He is certain that I am dead,
but you are not alone. There are thousands of Jews and he leaves with his comrades. I pick myself up,
in your situation. But, do not weep for your brother not knowing if I am dead or alive.
and sister, they are alive. You will see your sister
shortly, but you will not see your brother.’ Alone in a Forest of Corpses
The following morning, I relate this dream to Leah I stand alone in this huge snow-covered forest, full
Lozer’s,126 with whom we live together in the of the dead, Jews who have been shot, fathers,
earthen bunker. As we sit and talk, my father comes mothers and little children. Everything about me is
running and shouts from the outside: ‘Come quickly, dead. The night is lit up, but for me there is only
Beileh is here!’ darkness in my eyes, my head, and in my heart. This
was the darkest night of my entire life.
Imagine my happiness when I saw my little sister
returned to us with her hand healed! But along the I go, not knowing where my feet are dragging me. I
way, she had lost a foot to frostbite. go in sleet and snow, and I return to the [family]
compound. I find there, all the people who remained
But my joy did not last very long. A short while in their places and didn’t attempt to flee anywhere.
later, the Germans captured a little Jewish boy, and The Germans did not reach the compound. Only I,
forced him to lead them into the forest, to the and my dearest fled into the hands of the Angel of
partisans. We hear shooting, and we don’t know Death.
what to do. As usual, we run toward the [fighting]
partisan group – and fall into German hands. This is how I came to be the sole survivor of a large
family with many branches. Was ir perhaps ordained
I see the death of my brother and sister. I say to my that one member of this family would stay alive, in
father: ‘We don’t have the children any longer.’ My order to tell about the killing of the entire family?
father says to me: ‘Soon we won’t be here anymore Was it ordained perhaps that some memory of our
as well.’ A couple of minutes later, my father also family would be preserved?
falls from a bullet.
My husband and I, and our two beloved children
I see all my beloved ones lying dead before my eyes. hold onto the thread to faraway and beloved
Dereczin. We will never forget our little town and
126
its martyrs.
Yiddish diminutive for Elazar
307
I Saved Myself Along With My Children
By Kayla Azaf
I, Kayla Azaf 127which to describe for you the dark screaming by the womenfolk and their little children
tale of how I saved myself, along with both of my were indescribable in those days. From the outset,
children, may we all be well, from the terrifying the Germans began to bomb cities and towns, and
death that the German murderers had arranged for our Dereczin was also hit hard. During the day, we
us, may their names be forever erased. I write these would run into the fields, as far from town as
recollections in memory of my husband, Moshe Azaf possible, and return at night. Rosh Hashana came,
kz, who fell in the forests as a partisan hero, after and the men went to prayers, and also to Tashlikh128
he had exacted vengeance from the murderers. – at which point a squadron of airplanes suddenly
appeared, and a hail of bullets c ame down on our
The Dereczin [Yizkor] Book tells about many of the heads. People ran toward wherever their eyes
Jews of our town, and therefore I also wish to tell happened to be directed.
about my husband, may he rest in peace. He was a
worker his entire life, and came from a working- A couple of days later, fleeing Polish military
class family. We all took great pride in him. He personnel began to vandalize the Jewish houses, and
would be seen in the Alter Mauer [Synagogue], in only thanks to the commander, was this pogrom
which he prayed. That was the place, as you know, squelched, but not before several martyrs fell. We
where Rabbi Bakalchuk kmz also prayed. lay hidden away in the cellars – the women and
children – while the men stood watch, guarding the
My husband was very good at leading the prayer houses and valuables from the [marauding] Polish
service, on Rosh Hashana he led the Musaf service, soldiers, who for entire nights stretched in long
Yom Kippur – Kol Nidre. He was often invited to columns to the eastern Polish boundary.
other synagogues. More than one of our Dereczin
townsfolk can recall with what savor and with what It was the Soviet army that liberated us from this
a fine voice he would undertake to lead the Musaf fear of death. We welcomed them gladly, carrying
service, how the eyes of the worshipers would be flowers and fruit.
full of tears, as my husband intoned the Hineni
prayer. A new order gradually was established, with new
ways of doing things. Life was not so easy, but we
The Azaf family, to whom I was a daughter-in-law, got used to it a little bit at a time. The plight of the
was a well-branc hed family, and had resided in dispossessed refugees was worse, who had come to
Dereczin for three or four generations. We lived Derec zin from the cities occupied by the Germans.
over the marketplace. That is how life went on, until The Jews did everything they could to help them,
the Second World War broke out in September rooms were allocated to them in which to live, but
1939. nevertheless, they were like uprooted trees.
We all recall the last few weeks before the outbreak The Soviets decreed that anyone wishing to travel to
of the War, when the Poles called up a very large their hometown needed to register. Many of these
number of men into the military. The crying and refugees did indeed register. On one specific wintry
and frosty early morning Sabbath day, we heard
127
Although there is no ambiguity in the
128
spellin g, the Azaf & Azef Families The service of casting b read on the
would appear one and the same. water to expiate sins.
308
c rying and shouting – many wagons had been We barely survived until nightfall. We knew already
arrayed in the marketplace, packed with refugees that if we remained where we were, that we would
and partly with Christian landholders. The be discovered the following morning, therefore there
registered ones were being sent ‘home’ – to Siberia. was nothing to lose. We all crawled out of our
hiding place, and quietly crawled through the death-
We had great sympathy for the deportees, but it is filled plundered ghetto, where there was not a living
those who remained behind that needed to be soul, and went into the fields, through bogs and
mourned, those left behind in Dereczin. byways, laying still during the days in high corn,
and dragging ourselves along unfamiliar byways and
The German murderers arrived in the summer of paths – until, after three days of blundering around,
1941. Their first action was to drive all of the Jews we arrived at the Slizhi forests. Some additional
together in one place. They were definitely ready to time went by before we met up with Bulak’s
shoot all of us immediately, but at that precise partisan group.
moment, the Soviets launched a bombardment of
Dereczin, and the murderers fled, not even knowing Four of us arrived in the forest – my husband,
where to flee. myself and our two young children.
That is how we were saved from the first fire, but We came out of the forests as a threesome, without
from that time on, the German purgatory began. my husband kz. He had fallen in battle.
i When we came to the partisans, the commander,

Bulak offered us these words of comfort: “The cities
A whole litany of decrees began, each one worse are in German hands, but the forests are ours” – he
than the other. Other Dereczin residents, who said. The men were given guns, and they were
survived the ghetto, have already written about our drilled and taught the use of firearms. At night, they
somber existence under the German occupation. would travel to the surrounding villages in order to
bring back foodstuffs.
Who can forget the First of May, the day the
gendarmerie forcibly assembled the families of Once the men were told: “ This night we have to go
those men who returned from the work camp at to battle, but don’t tell your womenfolk, because
Puzovitsa! Fathers, mothers, children, were led they will cause a panic.” I knew why the men were
away outside of the town and were shot. This was being taken, and I said my farewells to my husband.
the first Dereczin massacre. He left with all the partisans who attacked the
Germans and their allies, the police, in Dereczin.
The gruesome incidents after this began coming one They killed a goodly number of the bandits, and
after another. Until the day of the Great Massac re, came back with much booty. My husband returned
the Tenth of Ab. About fifty of us crammed alive from the attack on Dereczin.
ourselves into a hideaway underneath the cellar. The
first day, the murderers were very occupied, and But a couple of weeks later, the Germans launched
didn’t search the cellars carefully. But living a sortie against the forest. Almost half of those who
through that day in our hideout, with the fear that had saved themselves from the Dereczin massacre
any minute we would be discovered and dragged were killed in this sortie. Among these was my dear
away to the mass graves; lying down this way, being husband, after having fought heroically and taken
afraid to even breathe, lest we be heard from above; revenge from the murderers.
not having anything to breathe in such close
quarters, dark cellars – this was an experience we I was left a widow with my two children, in the
lived through that is hard to forget to this day. forest, under a tree, naked and hungry. We suffered
309
once again, along with the entire family compound. was, and how I got there, he calmed me down,
telling me that he knew my husband and showed me
After the attack on Dereczin, the partisans came by the way into the forest. He accompanied me to a
a sizeable amount of provisions, which they brought small wooded area, told me to spend the day there,
back from the German magazines. We, in the family and to go out on the road at night, until I reach a
compound, were made to go forage in the potato certain village. I thanked him and blessed him,
fields, which the peasants planted on behalf of the because he had been sent to me by the Almighty like
Germans. We were given two armed partisans to an angel to rescue me and show me the way to my
stand guard over us, and we went off to fields of children.
Lobzov to dig potatoes. There I met with peasants
whom I knew, one of whom told me that his son, a In that village I met up with partisans. They took me
partisan, was sent to inter the fighters who were for about 10 km in their wagon, and I went another
killed during the attack on Dereczin, the son knew few kilometers on foot, until I reached the partisan
my husband and told that my husband was buried camp. A miracle happened, and the commander of
along with other partisans. But I never saw his final the partisans knew me and the entire family, and
resting place. Once again, I had a good cry, even only a day earlier he had been in the family
though I had not ceased weeping for the entire time, compound, and had heard from my children, that I
because the [emotional] wound was still too fresh. had been missing for a number of days, and it was
not known if I was still alive. He ordered that I be
The peasant and his wife comforted me, gave me a given food to eat, and to give me some time to rest.
loaf of bread, and a blanket with which to cover A couple of young Jewish girls took me off first
myself at night. As I was standing and talking to thing in the morning to our family compound, to my
them, several other peasants came running and told little children.
us that German forces had re-entered Dereczin, 3 km
from where I was standing, and they urged me to I don’t have to describe the joy of my children,
leave as quickly as possible. when they saw that I was still alive. They wept
constantly for four days, neither eating nor sleeping.
So I began to run. I was attacked and bitten by a People could not countenance their sense of grief.
dog, and blood flowed from me – and I ran with my Now they all celebrated with me – and I was
last reserves of strength. I came back to the field fortunate, holding my children in my arms.
where I had left the other peasants, – but there was
no one there any longer. That same night, all groups crossed the Shchara, and
took up quarters in the thick forests of Volya and
So I stand there in the field all alone, not knowing Dobrovshchina. Had I returned a day later, I would
the way back to camp. I think to myself that I will have found no one at our prior location in the forest.
surely meet my end here, the Germans will capture
me and shoot me on the spot. And then, what will In the new forest, the family compound was divided
happen to the children? into two, and we began preparations for the winter,
because it had already begun to rain. Everyone
So I ran from the field until I reached the Labzov exerted an effort to dig out an earthen bunker.
swamps. There, I lay under shrubs until nightfall. I
wandered aimlessly the entire night, and in the A couple of months later there was another attack
morning, I saw that I had returned to the same spot. upon us. It is hard to describe our trials and
The second night, again I went through fields and tribulations while being on the run for 7-8 days
bogs, being fearful of moving from my location. through the forests, following wagons and other
Before dawn, I ran into a gentile. I nearly fainted vehicles, in order not to lose the trail of the
from fright. The peasant questioned me as to who I partisans, eating nothing, drinking nothing, not
310
sleeping – only running, running, and running,
during freezing days and nights. When the shooting died down, we found out that the
Bitenskys were all killed except for little Moshe. I
When we finally returned to our earthen bunker, we could not believe that thanks to our disabled feet, we
saw that many of the residents in the family had remained alive.
compound had succumbed, among them whole
families. This is how we lost the Bitensky family, the sole
remaining [family], who were of my husband’s
With half-frozen hands and feet we lay for days in cousins. People fell like flies. Every attack cost a lot
our earthen bunker. Everyone around us was sick, in human lives.
exhausted, covered in scratches and lice. The
Bitenskys were with us, and they helped us, they And how many died in the forest from hunger and
cooked potatoes for us from their stores that they epidemics of typhus? My children also became ill,
had accumulated. bedridden with high fever and no doctor or
medicines, no food – sipping a bit of beet juice with
[This continued] until there was yet another attack their parched lips. And I looked after them, along
on the bakery, which was a couple of kilometers with other small children, and orphans who had
from us. The Bitenskys fled, me and the children, been left in the forest alone without anyone.
could not run on our frozen feet, – so we hid
ourselves in the snow, under a shrub, all three of us This was how we rescued ourselves from death,
sitting together and crying, expecting that our end which stalked us each and every day, on all the
was imminent. highways and byways, and in every nook and
c ranny. I cannot stop thanking the Almighty, who
rescued my children and myself, until we [finally]
arrived in our Land.
In the Partisan Camp

By Yehudit Yankelevich-Lantzevitzky
In the Volya Forest, where we arrived, we met a fortune, because we didn’t know whether or not he
group of Dereczin Jews, among which were Elya was still alive.
Lifshovich with the family. We had no weapons, and
the following morning we began to head for the A short time thereafter, along with other partisan
Shchara [River]. On the other side of the river, there groups, we carried out the great attack on Dereczin.
were partisans, whom initially we took for Much has been written about it already, and I do not
policemen. The partisans took us across the Shchara have anything further to add. During this attac k on
on a ferry. the murderers of our brothers and sisters of
Dereczin, several partisans fell in battle, and not a
We were taken into an unorganized group that did few were wounded. But this planned attack brought
possess weaponry. The group had an immediate significant results for the partisan movement and for
priority objective to obtain foodstuffs, clothing and our area. Organized detachments of partisans started
ammunition, and save themselves from the to be formed in our vicinity our area.129
Germans. We then became aware of a second
partisan group in the Slizhi [forest], and we went
over there. There, I found my brother, Tuvia
129
Lantzevitzky, and you can imagine my sense of good Îòðÿä in Russian, pronounced Otryad.
311
My brother and I went off to one such otryad first Dereczin residents met their end through such a
called Abramov’s otryad, and later – Kolk a’s. I terrifying death.
remained in this detachment until the end of the war.
I worked in the kitchen. My brother was killed as a At the beginning of 1944, Soviet paratroopers began
partisan of the detachment, in the battle of the Ruda to appear in our area, and we were able to feel a
Forest, after which that location was taken over, and little more secure about our lives.
about 250 police were captured, a large part of
whom were shot by us. My brother returned to the Anti-Semitism practic ally vanished, which had
camp wounded after this battle. He lived another spread with vigor throughout the partisan
two days and then expired, not receiving any detachments, and had caused us no little pain, terror
medical help. and martyrdom.
Our detachment would base itself in the vicinity of On one summer day in 1944,on a bright early
the Lipiczany Forest, operating out of its bases morning, we saw a regular detachment of Soviet
against objectives in the neighborhood. My bother military troops, who liberated us.
Tuvia, who was active for two years in a partisan
fighting brigade, and distinguished himself in a Along with another few women (among them Leah
variety of battles, and in derailing many enemy Shprintza’s, who was close to me during all this
trains, lost his life three months prior to the time in the forest) we came out of the forest. I
liberation, and did not live to see the German returned to Dereczin to our house. The men were
downfall. immediately taken into the [regular] military, and a
large portion of them fell in the battle for
There were other detachments of partisans in the Bialystock, near the town of Svislutz.
vicinity with whom we cooperated. The Germans
frequently carried out sorties against the partisan I slowly began to do work in Dereczin, after I had
forces in the forest, and bitter fighting took place reclaimed my sewing machine from a peasant who
between us and the enemy, who would surround our had hidden it. In December 1944 I left our town and
forests, in order to kill us. It was in this manner that traveled to Slonim. Only a few families remained
in the fall of 1943, our camp was surrounded by the behind in Dereczin.
Germans on all sides. The enemy attacked us with
strong forces and with heavy fire from their artillery. After working in Slonim for lest than a half year,
The situation became very critical. We had to where about 30 Jews were located, together with my
abandon our camp. The men left first, and the husband, Moshe Yankelevich, I left Russia, traveled
women remained alone, until two partisans arrived to Poland, from there – to Germany, from whence I
from the Komarov command. We followed them, came to America in 1949.
and attached ourselves to their group. We headed
toward the vicinity of Baranovich, and in the end,
we managed to escape the enemy’s encirclement.
We would move at night, unseen by the Germans
and their local allies.
In a prior sortie, the Germans had surrounded the

Slizhi Forests, and many Dereczin residents in the
family compound fell into the hands of the
murderers alive. The Germans dragged them off to
Dereczin, tied them up using barbed wire, and
murdered them all in a bestial fashion. Many
312
Two Out of the Entire Family
By Moshe Kwiat
In Dereczin there was a ghetto and a labor The Byelorussians began driving us to the transport
detachment. I and my family – my wife, three sons and hit us with their rifle butts. Seeing that our end
and a little daughter – lived in the barracks, in one was near, together with my eldest son, and with
room with three other families. On the other side of another couple of the men from the other families,
the wall three other Jewish families resided, but in I began to run from the transport to the fields. The
the same building there were also non-Jews, and Germans began to shoot after us, and to my great
because of this we could not prepare hiding plac es misfortune their bullets struck my son and he fell
for ourselves, which we could have used to conceal dead in front of my own eyes. I ran on, not knowing
ourselves during that bitter hour, which could arrive where to go. That is how I ran into the potato field
any day. of one peasant, and I lay there 6AM to 10PM.
Prior to the time that we were in the barracks, I once At night, I emerged from my hiding place and began
went up into the attic, and discovered that there was to flee to the forests. I was confused and disoriented
a double floor up there, between which there was an from the great tragedy that befell my son, and from
empty crawl space. I decided then, that in case of a thoughts about the fate of my wife and the two
misfortune, I will send the two older children there children, and of my son who was hidden in the attic
to give them the chance to hide themselves. crawl space of the barracks. So I wandered
aimlessly a night through the fields, and during the
Only few people had the ability to escape into the day I hid myself in a field of corn. I was certain, at
forests, those without families, because the Germans that point, that my wife and the two children had
would kill the entire families of those people who been killed.
went over to the partisans. Now, when the terrible After they led the Jews away to the pits, my second
day of the massacre came, all the Dereczin residents son came out of his hiding place and went off to the
who saved themselves, about 300 people, went into Volya Forest. There he was taken in by the group of
the forest. About 60 Jews [ultimately] came out Dr. Atlas. But I didn’t know about this until the
alive from the forest, who were from our town. partisan attack on the enemy in Dereczin.
All of us were beaten and oppressed. From time to After blundering for three days and nights, I came to
time, non-Jews whom we knew would tell us that in the Ozhorki Forest. I ran into many of our
this and that neighboring city or town, all the Jews Derecziners there, until Russian partisans found us,
had been killed. So we sat, and awaited our bitter gave us two revolvers with which to protect
fate. ourselves, and more importantly, to allow us each
evening, to leave the forest and go into the
And that sad day did arrive, from before dawn, the surrounding villages and farmhouses, and obtain
shooting reached us. And I immediately saw through food from the peasants for the Jews that had saved
every window of our building that there were themselves in the forest. Then a number of partisans
Byelorussian police standing there. I immediately on horsebac k arrived, and they indicated that men
dispatched my two older children to conceal without families could come and join their
themselves in the attic, but the older boy came back detachment, older people and families had to go to
down – he could not crawl into the space between a family compound. I was alone, and I went away
the double floors. The second son remained with many other men from Dereczin into the
concealed there. partisan brigade. There we obtained firearms, and
went out on “ missions.”
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God helped us, and we lived through the battle. The
Our detachment, with me in it, took part in the following morning my son came to me, and I went
famous attack on Dereczin. to the Atlas brigade. And we survived – two out of
the entire family.
In the heat of battle, someone ran by me who was
together with my son in the brigade of Dr. Atlas, and
he shouted out to me: “Moshe, your Israel is with us
in Atlas’s brigade!” I shouted back at him: “I am in
the Ozhorki Forest! If we live through this battle,
have him come to me!”
We Were Saved from a Terrifying Trap

By Masha Kulakowski
Photo: Gala Sheplan, killed in the forest (p. 360)
It is the end of December 1942. About five months couple of hundred men. The Germans reached the
have passed while we were in the forests. Slowly, forests with their vast host, and closed off all the
we began to accustom ourselves to the idea that this entry points. A life and death battle ensued. The
was our life now, and that we would never again see partisans deployed all their force against the
our dear ones. These forests that surround us, Germans, but after a while, were unable to sustain
constitute our new home. their attack, and after several days it was decided to
abandon the bases in the forest and move to the east.
As strange at it seems, I recall the fact that every
time the Russian partisans would raise the subject of I recollect the retreat very well. Exhausted after
their distant homes in conversation, and impatiently several days of bitter fighting, the partisans set out
wait for that fortunate moment when they could along the narrow paths. A darkness pervaded the
return to their birthplace, I was shaken to my roots forest, and only occasionally would light break
by that very same thought, that perhaps we also through the dark. The roads were covered with ice.
would also do the same on that day of all days, to I was then in my later months of pregnancy, and
return to Dereczin to live among the graves of our after a number of days of exhausting travel, I felt my
brethren and among islands of ruin. strength taking leave of me, and that I didn’t have
the wherewithal to keep up with everyone else. I
The winter was slow in coming. Until December, we beseeched my husband to leave me behind, and to
got hardly any snow. Heavy rains, accompanied by continue with the others retreating eastward. My
cold winds pelted us continuously. During the husband refused to consent to my plea. Our
freezing nights, the byways of the forest would commander, a wise and loving man, a Russian from
become covered with thin sheets of slick ice that the Soviet Union that had already managed to
would impede all movement. befriend us, saw my condition, and strongly urged
my husband to stay behind with me. He provided us
On Dec ember 12, news reached us that all the with extra ammunition, giving us an additional 120
villages in the area had been seized by the Germans rounds of Sten gun cartridges, that were then of the
and Ukrainians, and they were preparing to launch highest value, and demanded of my husband that he
a large scale manhunt against us. It was not long stand guard over me, and then parted from us. In
thereafter that the cannons of the soldiers and their that same circumstance, suffused with futility, I was
allies began to thunder away. The partisan forced to part with my good childhood friend, the
movement at that time had not yet reached great marvelous partisan, Taibl Lifshovich.
numerical strength, and in our forests consisted of a
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The two of us, my husband and me, remained alone caravan pass already? I hid myself in the hole,
in the vast forest. The last of the company passed us which was no deeper than 30 cm. The seconds
by. A silence pervaded the area around us, disturbed passed by excruciatingly slowly.
only by the sounds of the plentiful wildlife around Here comes the first of the winter wagons. And now
us. My heart grew tight inside me: would we ever the second, the third. Suddenly – what has
have the privilege of again seeing the partisans happened? They are not moving ahead! The location
when they returned to our forest? Will the two of us appealed to them, and they had decided to camp
succeed in surviving the difficult days that awaited here for the night!
me, or, God forbid, would we fall at the hands of the
murderers, and on my account would my husband be At a distance of less than a meter from where we
killed? It was these kinds of disturbing thoughts that lay, they began to set up their temporary camp.
beset me after we were left alone in the vicinity of Details are flying around on all sides. Bushes and
the camp in the forest. branches were cut, and a giant campfire was lit.
After several hours had passed, we decided to leave Meanwhile, night fell. It was clear to me that these
the plac e, because we felt that the location of the must be the last minutes of our lives. Quietly, I beg
camp must certainly be known to the Germans. And my husband not to allow my agony to be prolonged,
this suspicion came to be. We covered a substantial and that he should shoot me, but he postpones this
distance, whatever was in my power to do, and sat from minute to minute. Does he still expect
down at a side road in the forest. My husband somehow to emerge from this terrifying trap?
picked out a point from which he could stand watch,
and I sat myself in a hole in the ground by a post Images of atrocities that I had seen and heard about
that was a road marker. For further security, my pass before my eyes. I had heard that the way the
husband concealed the hole by putting dried out tree Germans inflict themselves on captured partisans
branches over it. With kisses on the hand, we sat exceeds even all the satanic bounds of imagination.
awaiting what would come. It was well known that with pregnant women, they
would cut open their bellies and rip out the unborn
The short winter day began to reach its end. The child.
cold penetrated to the bones. Suddenly, we heard the
sound of horses’ hooves. My husband was certain I see a shadow. Once again I beg Abraham to shoot
that the riders were men from the surrounding me, and once again he denies me that shot which
villages, who also were victims of the current would liberate me.
tribulations, and had fled to the forest to escape the
murderers. Because of this [certainty], my husband Suddenly someone walked over to our hole, and
went out onto the road, to find out from these picked up some of the dried branches that c overed
villagers what the condition was around in the it. It was a German who nearly stepped on me as he
forest. After several seconds, he returned gathered branches for the campfire. A sharp pain
disconcerted and upset: a caravan of about 20 pierced my heart. My death would come, somehow
sleighs was wending its way slowly along the road, at the hands of these murderers, and who is to know
surrounded by several tens of Germans. how long they will torture me before death would
provide me with release. This is the end. Abraham
I must admit that my spirit fell at that moment. How did not succeed in saving me with his revolver from
c ould it happen that along this way, in the heart of the hands of these evildoers...
the forest, the Germans could move around with
such impunity? Apparently they had not run into the A blackness surrounded us. We can hear the shouts
partisans, and their brazenness was heightened. My of the Germans well, and their conversation with the
heart stopped beating. When would this accursed Byelorussians – but our end is imminent. A giant
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c ampfire is lit, and they are all sitting around it, It was the third day in which even a crumb of food
preparing coffee, apparently. And we two are sitting had not passed our lips. Soaked to the very marrow
in the middle of this deathtrap! We do have of our bones, frozen and shivering, with no change
weapons, but what can two do against a force of of clothing, without a match to light a fire to create
several tens [of men]? a campfire with which to warm ourselves – we were
in a condition beyond hopelessness.
The minutes pass by with mounting tension. It is
totally dark around the campfire. Abraham had We went to look for people and food. We reached a
decided to try and escape from the trap. He begins to shack in which farmers had quartered themselves
crawl, telling me to follow after him. Abraham has during the hostilities. We entered and found –warm
already gotten out of the hole, and after a couple of ashes, but without so much as a single spark. People
minutes, I try my luck – but suddenly, I see at a had left the shack less than a half hour ago. We did
distance of a meter or so, a German whose face is not know who the visitors were that had warmed
turned toward the fire. The strong light [from the themselves by their little fire. Were they perhaps
fire] blinds him, and makes the surroundings that Germans? There was no time to tarry. We continued
much more dark, to the point that he cannot see on our way, hungry, wet, frozen and hopeless.
what is happening literally at his hands. My hope of
leaving that accursed place dwindled to nothing. In the end, we ran into some partisans, who also
remained behind in the forest, and had hidden
Abraham had crawled several meters already, but themselves in an abandoned, decrepit old shack.
when he saw that I was not crawling at his heels, he
returned to me. We waited a couple of minutes, and Several embers were burning inside, and we dried
tried our luck again. This time we managed to get our clothing, and for the first time in what was a
several tens of meters away, but apparently the soft week, we warmed ourselves and ate something
scraping sounds aroused suspicion among the warm.
Germans, and flares began to illuminate the way
around us. How they didn’t see us – I cannot When we told the partisans what happened to us in
understand to this day. the forest, they crossed themselves, and urged us,
that when the war was over, we should go back to
When we got to a goodly distance from the our hiding place and put up some sort of memorial
Germans, we got up, and began to run with all our to our miraculous salvation.To this day I do not
might. We entered an unfamiliar part of the forest. understand how we managed to escape the talons of
It was almost entirely frozen, with long distances the murderers.
between trees. The place was not suitable to hide in.
Without intent, we managed to reach a large tree,

and were preparing to sit under it, when to our
surprise we espied a wild boar. It seemed to us at the
time that nature itself was pursuing us. We fled from
there, and eventually found sanctuary in the root
system of a tree that had fallen during one of the
storms, that dotted the forest since the days of fall.
We sat for a whole day there. All the time, we heard

the sound of shots, and from the direction of their
voices, we knew that the Germans were in our
campsite and were engaged in destroying it.
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My Life in the Forests
By Haya Beckenstein-Pilzer
The year 1942 was both a bad and gruesome one for ran into a garden behind a house, waited a while,
us. After the Germans came to Derec zin, we all and ran home, where my parents were mourning for
worked and did everything that was demanded of us, me. They didn’t believe their eyes when they saw
sweeping the streets, cleaning the roads and gardens. me.
This continued until I went to work in the kitchen of
the S.S. Together with several other girls, we We then all went to the house of the Polish family,
washed the floors, peeled potatoes and rinsed Klimashousky, which had agreed to conceal us. A
foodstuffs from 4AM until late at night – we had to day later, I went with one of their sons to look for
serve them and look into their murdering faces. At my brother, Moteleh, and in going several
that point we were prepared to do whatever they kilometers through fields and woods, we found him
asked of us, so long as they would let us live. At lying dead in a field. The Germans had shot him,
first, we did not know what they were doing to the and the local Christians had taken off his boots, they
Jews, that they were wiping out whole cities and left nothing behind that was of use to them. I asked
towns, sending thousands into camps, until the bitter local Christians in the area to bury him, and put a
truth did come out, and it became clear that we too, mark on his grave. I returned home with the news
would be wiped out. that I did not find him. It was only a day later, that
a Christian came by and told my mother that her son
Every night we expected a massacre to occur. was dead.
Hideouts were prepared in cellars, but this was of no
help to us, because we were evicted from our houses We decided that we would go to the forest no later
and sent to the barracks with several other families. than when it would calm down, and the streets
would be free of Germans, but our waiting didn’t
The day we were surrounded, many of the young last very long, because Sunday morning our house
children had begun to flee into the fields, and among was surrounded, and they wanted to take us all
them, my brother Mottel. I became disoriented, and away. I could not stand and look at death in eye yet
in a second, found myself on a transport truck with again. I jumped out of a window, and ran to the
my parents and younger brother, Yankeleh. They fields. I could feel and hear the bullets flying by me,
ordered us to lie down in order that the people in the and I ran and fell, and ran again. A couple of miles
town should not know what they were doing. A from town, I met up with the two sons of the
German who lived in town recognized my father, Christian family where we were hidden; they also
and ordered him, my mother, and little brother to ran out of fear, and from then on we went together.
disembark from the transport. I was not allowed to We came to a village where one of them had
disembark, saying that I was old enough to fend for worked, and it was easy for him to approac h a
myself. Tears did not help, and my mother was peasant to obtain food, and also to obtain a pair of
chased away from the vehicle, and we drove away. trousers for me, because my legs were completely
Not far from the house, I worked up enough nerve scratched up by thorns, and my dress was full of
to push a policeman off the transport who was bullet holes. There sister came running almost
sitting on the car trunk, and jumped off after him, immediately to call them home, because if they
hoping to be shot from behind. The Germans, leave their home, their mother would be shot.
however, didn’t want to create a tumult and
discharge guns in the middle of town, and I remained alone in the forest.
deliberately took no note of the incident, c ontinuing
to drive onward. That was my good fortune, and I It became dark, and I was seized with a fright. At
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every rustle of the leaves I thought that here they we went to take revenge on those bandits. The town
were, coming for me. burned, and the sound of gunfire carried all over the
area. We had our losses, who fell heroically in battle
I had a small length of rope that I was using [as a against the murderers. Dereczin remained without
belt] to hold up my pants, and I wanted to throw it rule for a long time. The Germans were afraid to
over a branch and hang myself, but something held come into the town, because the word had been
me back, and I recalled the words of a Russian spread throughout the entire area that heroic
officer, who said that dying was easy, staying alive partisans were to be found in the area round the
was much harder. And remembering this gave me town.
the courage to live, and I drew strength from the
thought of taking revenge from those murderers of My life among the Dereczin partisans didn’t last
my family and of all Jews. I crawled to the edge of very long. When the Germans surrounded us on all
a small village, and saw a fire burning at a forge, so sides, and launched a sortie against us, we decided
I entered and lay down on the ground and fell to break ourselves up into small groups and to go
asleep, until voices woke me up. I spied Itcheh through the forests independently. I was with four
Shelovsky along with a couple of other Jews from men, among them two Jews, Chaim Grachuk and
town. Imagine how pleased I was to see that Nahum, a refugee from a town in Poland. We circled
someone else was still alive, and that I was not the in the forest, getting further away from our
only one left alive from town. neighborhood, and after a week of wandering, met
up with another group of partisans who didn’t
We began to wend our way together, until we met believe us, and we had no trust with them. After a
up with other residents of Dereczin, and in a couple while, it became clear that this was a group that had
of days, those that had survived were together. We come from the area around Lida in order to search
heard about the Russian soldiers, escaped prisoners for firearms in the Shchara region. These were the
of war, who had formed partisan units, and we Zolotov troops (that’s what they were called), all
wanted very much to join them, but they didn’t want young Russian men, excepting one Byelorussian,
to take any women and children, and in addition we who served as a scout. Our quintet made quite an
had no firearms. We promised them that we would impression on them, not with how we looked, but
procure firearms so with one gun and mostly sticks, with the amount of firearms in our possession. In a
we went to the Christians in the villages and group of five we had a machine gun and everyone
demanded weapons. Slowly, we acquired weapons, had a rifle, a gun and grenades. They asked us to
and the Russians agreed to organize us. The women accompany them, and we agreed to do so. It didn’t
and children as well as the older men were put to the matter from where we would hit the Germans – our
side, forming a family compound, the men they took intent ran in the same direction.
to them, and us young girls, organized ourselves in
a group, under my direction, and we learned to shoot Being young and small, I felt a little lost among all
and march like soldiers. these young men, but I immediately let them know
that I hadn’t come looking for a groom, that I had
It didn’t take long before the youth from Dereczin come for the same purpose as they had – to exact
put forth to the group commander that Dereczin vengeance from the Germans, and therefore, they
should be attacked and the Germans wiped out in didn’t have to treat me like a girl, but rather as one
the attack, along with all those who had ruined our of them. Indeed, that is what they did. Chaim
homes. A plan was worked out. They decided to Grachuk really protected me as if I were his own
take me along with one other young woman. I was c hild. All the boys immediately befriended me and
in a position on the Zelva road, in order to fire on treated me with great respect. In the group there was
those Germans that sought to escape [in that a concertina, and we would sit around the fire, play
direction]. It was a difficult night, but without fear and sing. Having spent two years with the Russians,
318
I had already learned Russian songs quite well, and constructed earthen bunkers, a bathhouse, a bakery,
also their language, and I felt very much at home. and a variety of utilities to service the needs of the
partisans. There we could rest at ease, and get
It didn’t take long before our group attacked a police undressed when we went to sleep. This was the
station, and our commander was killed. His deputy meeting place of the fighters after all the battles and
and two others were wounded. Having no medical missions. From there, we also had radio contact with
help, the partisans, understandably, turned to me for the base of the army in Russia.
help. To tell the truth, I could not stand the sight of
blood, but in this case, I had no alternative, and I The Byelorussian populace in our area was of
had to tend the wounded, who looked to me with the mixed allegianc e; some villages were against us,
hope that I would be able to help them. So I screwed while others were for us. The latter helped us
up my courage, washed them, and bandaged them greatly, and thanks to them we had c onnections to
with what I was able to find in our medical kit, and pharmacies in the larger cities, where we also were
hoped to God that everything would turn out all able to get information for our saboteurs about
right. newly established outposts of German soldiers and
other military targets. When we obtained the
The cold and wet days and nights in the forest had necessary information, it was relayed to Moscow,
a bad impact on the wounded, and their wounds did and the following morning we could see how the
not heal. For this reason, we left the commander of German military points were being bombed.
the unit in the care of a Christian at a farmhouse, as
if he were a member of the family, and that night, I An interesting event occurred in 1943, at the time
rode to him on horseback to change the bandages on the Germans sent a great deal of ammunition and
his wounds. His wounds healed well, and in time, so soldiers into Russia. An order came from Moscow
did the others. to blow up the train tracks for the line from Lida-
Baranovich to Minsk. The operation was code-
We sustained killed and wounded in every named ‘Concert,’ and none of the partisans knew
encounter with the Germans. I was their companion about it, until they reached the train line. Each of us
in battle, and did not abandon them if they needed was given dynamite that looked like bars of soap
my help. I became a ‘professor’ to them, to the point with which to wash ourselves. In each, a waterproof
that even when a doctor joined the unit, they didn’t fuse had been set. To the end of the fuse, a cotton
trust him until I asked that they permit him to assist fuse that was long-burning had been attac hed, to
me. afford us the opportunity to run away [before the
explosion]. We pack the dynamite in, because the
When our group, Zolotov came back to its region, rails were laid on wooden ties, around which was
we met up with a smaller group , Grozny, and we bare earth, to see if there wasn’t a mine there. The
decided to ally ourselves with it, and carry out dynamite was laid in a zigzag pattern under the rails.
actions together. Once again, I tended the wounded Lying still near the rails, we were able to see a far
in both units. I did not sit in one place to wait for the distance to the horizon. When the leader of the
wounded [to come to me], but accompanied the men group gave a signal with his hat we were to light the
in every battle and mission. My personal life at that fuses with a cigarette, which was kept in the sleeve
time didn’t play a great role. We knew we were of a jacket. As soon as the fuse began to burn, we
fighting with the enemy, and that he feared us as were to run into the forest and wait for the
much as we feared him. explosion. We barely made it to the trees when the
‘concert’ began. We heard the report from all sides,
In 1943, the partisans began to organize themselves and the rails flew into the air. The order was that
into larger groups – brigades, and their base was after the explosion, we were to return to the rails
established in the Nalibocki Forest. There, we and reclaim all those pieces of dynamite that had not
319
exploded, in order that they be used again, and if machine gun from me to lighten me [for running]. I
that were not possible, to take them away, so the couldn’t run much more quickly, and the greatcoat
Germans would not be able to figure out who was long and dragged along between my feet. It
perpetrated the ‘concert’ and how it was done. The became still around me. My comrades were far
following day we heard the news, that the Germans ahead of me already, and when I turned my head, I
ran from all points, without their pants on, looked to could see a couple of Germans pursuing me. They
the skies believing they would see airplanes or were quite close to me and believed they could
finding a whole army of soldiers around them. capture me alive. Knowing what awaited me if they
Seeing no one and nothing around them, they were took me alive, I took out a revolver from my belt
totally c onfused and frightened from the event, not and wanted to shoot myself. I don’t know what
understanding how all this had happened. When instinct restrained me from pulling the trigger, but a
they attempted to repair the rail lines, another small spark of hope gave me courage not to do this, and to
group went out the following morning and blew try and run. I could not understand why the few men
them up again. This went on for a long time, and it who were together with me and were already far
prevented them from sending soldiers and ahead of me, didn’t turn around and shoot. But it
ammunition to the front. didn’t take long for me to hear shots from the
vicinity that I had run from. My comrades had gone
And [here is] another episode from my life in the to a place from which they could open fire on the
forests, which I will call ‘the will to live is very, Germans. I also fell in the snow, and I don’t know
very strong.’ In the gruesome winter months, when where I got the energy to reach my comrades, who
life in the forests and fields was especially harsh, did not believe their own eyes that I had remained
when the partisans wandered from village to village, alive.
from one mission to the second operation, and the
snows were deep, we had to wear white-colored That same winter, taking part in a mission with a
clothing, to remain camouflaged from the enemy, so group of men, I myself was wounded. The men
he couldn’t distinguish us from the snow. Our dragged me through the snow on a leather strip, and
objective was to surround a village, which held a brought me to a farm house. None of them had the
large concentration of German military forces. We wherewithal to attend to me, and I myself, after
were also a large group divided into three parts, downing a glass of whiskey, cut open my boot and
needing to surround the village from all sides. We my pants leg, and bandaged myself. When I couldn’t
went at night, and the attack was set prior to dawn. stand on my leg, I understood that something must
Everything went according to plan. Our group have happened to the [leg] bone. I was dragged from
divided itself into two parts. One went closer to the one place to another in the hopes that we would find
village, while the second c overed the first. I was a doctor. A week later, a doctor was brought, who
with those who were closer to the village. It became had fled from Baranovich, and he concluded that he
evident that the German forces were much more had to properly set my leg, otherwise I would
extensive than we had anticipated. They also remain crippled.
appeared ready to call for reinforcements from a
nearby base. The group that had attacked from the I had a good laugh over this, as if it would be a big
other side of the village fought valiantly, and after difference for them to shoot me as a cripple or with
sustaining heavy losses began to withdraw. normal legs. The doctor carried out his cure and set
Meanwhile, we had come very close to the town, the bone. I lay immobilized with wooden braces
and it didn’t take long before we were cut off from around my leg. Unable to sit still any longer, after a
our second unit, that was supposed to guard us and couple of weeks I sprang down from bed and let
give us cover. We were shot at from all sides. I myself out free. If your destiny is to live, then the
remember how I ran and fell in the snow, and then devil himself cannot change this.
began to run again. One of the partisans took my
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My life among the partisans was full of the Their love and respect for me gave me the courage
satisfaction of taking revenge on the enemy, with and energy to carry out my work.
affection for my comrades in battle, and with the
feeling that I could help them when they needed me. In the hardest times, after a long night’s marc h,
when we approached a house, without paying
attention to the exhaustion of the people, the
concertina began to play, and the Russian songs
filled the house by the small flame of a kerosene
lamp and the heart yearned, forgetting the hard
hours that had gone by, and not thinking about what
tomorrow would bring.
In the Forest With My Brother

By Musha Grachuk-Novitsky
In the forest I met up with partisans and also old worked. Without ammunition, it was not that easy to
people and children from Kosovo. Whoever in join a partisan group, that is how important the role
Kosovo was able to, fled into the forests. of a piece of firearms was.
How great was my emotional reaction when in the When the commander heard from my brother that he
midst of this vast confusion and upset, I ran into my wanted to keep me with him, he gave an order to
brother, Itcheh! We fell into each other’s embrace, take away my brother’s weaponry. They left him
stood that way motionless in pain and joy, without with one rifle and two bullets.
a tear in our eyes.
There were several other men with their wives in
My brother says to me that we must decide what to this group. We nine people – 4 women and 5 men –
do, and do it swiftly. He personally is not part of the who were committed to one another, decided to
Kosovo contingent, but to the mixed 51st brigade. He leave the 51st brigade and go to a second partisan
says that the commander of the brigade is Jewish, brigade. But before we left, it happened that we
Feodorov ich. My brother takes me with him, and took part in a hard battle with the enemy. This was
instructs me to say that I am unmarried, and that my the battle of the tenth brigade near a large bridge
name is Grachuk. surrounded by a lot of water. The commander
Feodorovich fell in this battle.
Women Are Not Accepted
We Seek Another Brigade
When we arrived at the camp of the 51st brigade, the
commander advised that they could not keep women After this, our group of nine left the 51st brigade and
with them. It was then that my brother told the began to search for contac t with other partisans.
commander that wherever he would be -- his sister Going through the forest in this manner, we
would also be. We are both ready to fight side-by- encountered a peasant woman. She told us that not
side, and if it was necessary to die, then to die far from where we were. There is a farm house, and
together. that partisans were expected there that evening. We
decide that two of the men will go that night to meet
It is necessary to note that my brother came to the the partisans, and discuss with them the possibility
brigade with a lot of firearms, which he got out of joining their group.
secretly from the ammunition dump where he
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But who is to go? Perhaps the peasant woman is and crawled in the muck up to my nec k. Almost
deceiving us, and Germans will be waiting for us every day I stared at death in the face. I spent both
there? The risk is great, and death lies in wait for us summer and winter in the forests – until the Soviet
in every corner. So lots were cast, and my brother army liberated us and brought us to Pinsk.
and one of the others were selected to go to the
meeting. I Find My Second Brother
With tears in our eyes, we took leave of them, and My brother Itcheh was mobilized into the army, and
escorted them along to for the risky mission that had I worked in a c ollective. I was the only Jewish
fallen on them to carry out. As they went off toward woman among 28 workers in the collective. In the
the vicinity of the farm house, we were left waiting collective, we sewed [clothing] for the partisans.
with our hearts beating, and every minute that went
by seemed like a year. On a certain day, I became aware of the fact that my
brother Chaim was alive and in Minsk. I traveled
They came back pleased – indeed, and they had there immediately – and my reunion with him is not
conversed with partisans. But those others didn’t to be described.
believe them, and demanded that all nine should
come to them, so they could talk with everyone. Also, he had lost his wife and children. So we both
When we arrived there, they subjected us to an allowed ourselves to travel to Zhetl, where our
intense interrogation. The partisans wanted to assure brother Itcheh was stationed. We didn’t come by the
themselves that we were not some kind of spy for trip to Zhetl so easily, but in the end we got there,
the Germans... and spent an [all too] short couple of days when all
three of us were together.
Late at night, they ordered us to go to sleep in the
barn, and they went up and slept in the loft. Chaim had to travel back to work in Minsk. Itcheh
remained in the army. What am I to do? Where shall
We held our guns at our sides the entire night, and I travel to? To my mother, to my husband, to my
didn’t sleep out of fear that even this little amount uncles and aunts who are no longer alive? I am
of arms would be taken from us. nevertheless drawn to Dereczin. So I travel from
Zhetl to Slonim, from there to Zelva, where I arrive
An Oath and A Grenade on a dark and rainy evening. I drag myself through
the streets – until I meet Foyka Gelman. He tells me
Early the next morning, when we got up, they told to spend the night and very early in the morning, we
us where to go and stand. When we came to the will both go to Dereczin.
spot, the commander came to meet us. He swore us
to the partisan oath, and took us into the partisan In the Ruins of My Hometown
camp. There, each of us was given food and a hand
grenade, with the instruction that the grenade was First we went to the cemetery – there is not a trace
first to be thrown at the Germans, and if it becomes of any headstones. Cattle are grazing there. We
too late to use it on the enemy, we are to blow arrive in the town – almost everything is burned
ourselves up with it, in order not to fall into the down, broken. Here and there a house is still
hands of the Germans alive. standing. We go to the mass grave in the fields
behind Mesheleh’s house.
It was in this manner that I spent more than two
years in the partisan brigade, and served as a soldier I couldn’t spend even another minute in Dereczin, or
at the front. I fought with the enemy, was wounded walk on the ground that had absorbed so muc h of
in my side, took part in battles in the Pinsk swamps, the blood of our dearest.
322
With the Memories of the Past That is why I was drawn to relatives, to my own
flesh and blood – and since 1948, I live here in
I travel back to Pinsk and stay there to the end of the America with my sad memories of a terrifying past.
war. Then I went to Lodz, and was together with
other refugees. From Lodz we traveled to Italy, and
from there, relatives brought us to America.
In this way, I lost nearly everyone.
Anti-Semitism in the Forest

By Moshe Kwiat
There is much to tell about life among the partisans, The anti-Semitic sentiments in the forest,
and of everything that we, the Jewish partisans went particularly among the officers, would rise during
through in the forests, but I believe that others from difficult periods in the forest, during the times of
Dereczin have already written about this. I wish German sorties against our compounds.
only to add several recollections that give me no
peace since I lived through them. The head officer of the Brisk brigade shot two
Dereczin girls, Beileh Beck er, and Sima Shelovsky,
I was a good, committed partisan, even though I was for losing their firearms when they fled a
not as young as the larger portion of our fighters. I particularly intense German attack. When such or
was appointed as the overseer of the transport equivalent incidents would happen to the Christian
detachment. Among the partisans, there were Jewish partisans, it was wiped out and c overed up, and
‘wagoners’ with horses and wagons, among them, only for the most serious infractions were they
Simkha Kresnovsky from Kolonia Sinaiska (he sentenced to death.
arrived a week before the liberation), Yankel
Dzhentzelsky, a former shoemaker (today in Israel), And I cannot forget the instance, when two brothers,
etc. We were three Jews in the base, in which Boris young Jewish men, were shot because they were
‘without the hand’ [Bulat] was the head officer . accused of falling asleep while on watch duty. Even
for such infractions, it was rare to see a Christian
Being a flour miller, I was often sent to various partisan sentenced to death.
locations to set up ovens for baking bread and
cooking food. It was not only once that we thought we had run
from water right into the fire, by fleeing Dereczin
For my commitment to the partisans, I received a and entering the forest. But we had a sacred mission
medal. It is necessary to remember and constantly – to exact vengeance from the Germans, and this
remind [everyone], that the Jewish partisans were helped to sustain us in the partisan movement, even
among the best fighters in the forest and carried out in those times when anti-Semitism flourished. Our
the most difficult missions. Within these, the thirst for revenge drove us to daring exploits against
Dereczin partisans stood out the most. the Germans, doing our best to fulfil our obligations
to the partisan movement.
Despite this, we were often victims of anti-
Semitism, that also dominated the forest. It was not
only once that it happened for us to hear such
comments about our origins that our blood would
boil.
323
With the Partisans
By Abraham-Yitzhak Medvetsky
The morning after the great massacre, an echelons more than once; and I am reminded of all
opportunity presented itself for those Jews who those battles, in which our daring comrades were
were hidden and managed to stay alive, women and killed or wounded and those known to us from the
children, to break out of the ghetto from their partisan ranks. One wan partisans, of the leading
bunkers and hideouts and using all sorts of ways, role that a few of them had in the forests ts to relate
reach the forests near Ostrovo, Slizhi and Volya. the heroic deeds of the Dereczin , and of the good
Several weeks after this, the Germans surrounded name of those valiant fighters, that were renown
our camp and subjected it to heavy fire. Then about throughout all the forests of the area: Taibl
120 Jews were killed, among them my brother-in- Lifshovich, who in every mission, crawled into the
law, Elya Shulkovich. Then came the great partisan face of the heaviest fire, together with the valiant
attack on the Dereczin police and gendarmerie. partisans, until she fell in a bitter battle against the
Before dawn after an intense encirclement, a heavy Germans; Chaim-Shia Lifshovich, who just like
partisan fire was opened up on the enemy. The Joseph in Egypt, provided all the partisans with
police who were captured alive were shot on the food, – he took his own life in order not to fall into
burial mound. The German gendarmerie was also the hands of the German oppressors, about a month
shot apart. We brought back much ammunition from before our liberation;
the action against Dereczin, also from materials that
our young people had secretly concealed in the The generally known and loved Elya Lifshovich,
ghetto-factory in the Blizniansky house. who met his end in already liberated Poland;
Yosefkeh Blizniansky, who lives in Boston today;
A short time afterward, the partisan forces attacked Sima Shelovsky, Motkeh the tailor’s son, Yankel
Kozlovshchina. A heavy battle took place there. Dykhess, our best saboteur, our Moshe-Chaim
Ogulnick and more dear sons and daughters of
Around Hanukkah time, we were onc e again Dereczin, who did not rest by day or night in the
surrounded, by about 35 thousand Germans, who forests, not in the summer’s heat nor in the winter’s
were on their way to the eastern front. We fought cold, derailing trains, cutting telephone lines,
with them for two days near Volya. Many partisans attacking enemy c olumns, and provisioning the
fell then in battle, among them their beloved fighting forest with ammunition and food.
commander, Dr. Atlas. In the end, we were forced to
leave our forest and transit to other forests, in order And when we were finally liberated by the Soviet
to save ourselves from the German fire. When we military, the young, able partisans were sent
returned to our forest, we found our camp burned immediately to the front in Bialystoc k and many of
and destroyed. For a couple of weeks, in that cold them were killed and wounded.
winter, we lay day and night on the snow-covered
ground. That is the sum of Jewish Dereczin. May the names
of our good Jewish people and daring fighters never
Many ‘missions’ come to mind, which we had to be forgotten, and may their memory be a blessing
carry out, and how our strength grew, [with] the for the Jews in general.
acquisition of new weaponry, mostly confiscated
from the Germans and their allies; I recall the acts of
revenge that we took against those peasants who
informed the location of our camps to the Germans;
the mortal blows we inflicted on the German
324
My Sister Ruzha Falls in the Forest
By Katya Khlebnik-Bialosotsky
Photo: Nekha & Mikhal Petrukhovich, emerged alive from the forest. (p. 372)
The month is May 1943, and it is prior to the At 12:00 midnight, the fire finally goes out, only the
German sortie against the village of Krupitzi and its smoke curls skyward, just as if the Lord were
environs. My sister Ruzha and I find ourselves at accepting a sacrifice... We say, ‘good night,’ to one
this time in the Lipiczansker Forest, among people another and retire to the earthen bunkers to sleep.
from Zhetl. The part of the forest where the family
compound was located was called ‘Mayak’ because It is 7AM on the morning of May 23. I crawl out of
not far from there stood a tall tower from Polish the earthen bunker, and from the top rung of the
times. ladder I look about the still forest. The day looks
like it will be nice and sunny, but c hilly. I go out
We gird ourselves patiently and wait, [hoping] that and prepare to light a fire, in order to brew some
the circumstances of the partisans will improve, and coffee. Ruzha is already also awake. She says she
that everything will return to the status quo ante. has a headache. In the earthen bunker, a woman lies
May 22 in the evening. Everyone is in improved ill with blotches of typhus.
spirits, even though we know that the danger that
had stalked us a few days ago had not entirely Around 8AM a shot from a gun is heard in the far
passed. It is still risky to go out on the roads. Word distance. I descend to Ruzha and tell her about it.
reaches us that the following morning, May 23, the ‘It’s nothing’ – she says, ‘c ertainly a shot by a
partisans are preparing to attack the German partisan.’ All agree with her and are sure that no
fortification in Nakrishok, a village near Zhetl. danger lurks in this place. I return to the fire,
News of this nature always raised our morale and bec ause I felt a chill in my extremities. Twenty
cheered us, despite the number of casualties we minutes go by – and a second shot is heard, this time
knew we would have to take in such a battle. closer already. I go down to Ruzha and tell her that
it is necessary to come out of the bunker. ‘Those are
The young people around the fire ask Ruzha to sing the sounds of partisan attacks on Nakrishok,’ –
a song. Ruzha immediately fills the request, and the Ruzha decides with certainty, and adds: ‘I’ll come
dark still forest rings with the sound of her sweet up in a half hour.’ I go out again, and in 15-20
voice rendering the song “Heimland.” I feel a minutes we are beset with gunfire, with bullets
sudden pounding of my heart, and a shiver runs flying from all directions. I run to the earthen
through me like a spasm through all my limbs. bunker and shout: “Ruzha, save yourself!” And I am
driven from the place by a strong instinctive force.
– Ruzha – I say, – It is not yet the time for singing.
The wound is still fresh, and who is to know what I run, the bullets flying over my head. I run with all
the coming day will bring us... my might in an unknown direction, avoiding all the
ways and well-trodden paths, over bogs and waters.
– Don’t think so much, Katya – Ruzha answers me, After running for several kilometers, I met up with
– you are a pessimist. You’ll see, tomorrow we will several others who had saved themselves. I ask them
hit Nakrishok, and things will return to what they about Ruzha but they don’t know, they hadn’t run
were. into her while fleeing. An ominous feeling gnaws at
me. We seat ourselves in a swamp in a damp
I answer nothing, let down my head and sink my wooded area, being certain that in that location we
eyes into the dying fire. would not be hit by a bullet.
325
And so we sat, each of us sunken in our own That is the way Ruzha lost her life, not knowing that
memories, for more than half a day. When it quieted her song of the prior night would be her last. And
down around us in the forest, we slowly returned to she was just last night so full of life and energy!
our former loc ation. Along the way, we stumbled
across people that had been shot. My heart beat like Poor sister, you parted from life with a song. With
a trip-hammer. When we got closer to the earthen your death, you opened a permanent wound in my
bunkers, a tragic picture unfolded before my eyes. heart, a painful memory, a mourning for my dear
Ruzha lay dead, she had just emerged from the sister, who fell on a spring morning in a faraway
bunker and gone about 30 steps and fell. alien land.
The Zionist Dream in the Thickness of the Forest

By Masha Kulakowski
In the evenings when there was respite, around the resided, where even the wilderness would not offer
fire in the forest, when spirits were up, at times for them its harsh face – to the point where a physical
no rhyme or reason, not only once was heard ‘The pain would eat at them at the thought of the Land of
Land of Israel,’ from the lips of the partisans, and Israel.
surprisingly the singing stopped, and conversations
were stilled. And only in the eyes of the participants When the ache intensified, and the free-flowing
a bolt like a special lightning shone: God, is it conversation didn’t mollify it, someone would very,
conceivable that we could get out of this very quietly begin to sing an Israeli song. His
predicament alive and reach Our Land? Are we even fellows sitting around the fire would immediately
permitted to think something ‘impossible’ such as join in, and periodically the song would lighten the
this? ache of longing.
And this aspiration grew strong in our hearts even as In June 1944, the intensity of the pressure of the
all our [other] hope waned. The silence enveloped Germans on the partisans in our forest increased.
all of us on nights like this by the fire, until one of Knowing that their downfall was at had, the German
the company would open up with fragmented troops and their loyal allies, the Poles,
sentences about the years of preparation, about his Byelorussians and Ukrainians, began to penetrate
desired over the years to go up to the Holy Land. the forests, pursuing the partisans without stop, and
Little by little, the atmosphere warmed up, a wave inflicting heavy losses on them.
of memories and experiences, hopes, expectations
and dreams would well up and rise in the heart, and Even when the sounds of cannon from the
the conversation would flow with vigor, and approaching front began to reach us, and when the
everyone was anxious to add and tell on his deep sound of the Soviet Katyusha rockets were reaching
ties to the liberation movement of our people, of the our ears, even in those days of the disorganized
expectations for a new life in the Land of our retreat of the Germans, many victims still fell
Fathers, and about all that was dreamed – until the among the partisan ranks. Many fell, with the
Holocaust came and severed that skein of dreams. yearning for the Land of Israel in the final beats of
their hearts.
A group of Jews sat in the thick of the Byelorussian
forest, who had no place in the land where they
326
We were liberated. On July 14, 1944 the forest The dream of three years came to being after our
ceased being our home, and the fortress that was liberation from the Nazis. Will our dream for a life
created by the enemy. We went out onto the roads, in the Land of Israel come to be as well? Will we
the humming highways – to the desolated cities and continue to live on the ruins of our towns, or will we
towns. reach the shores of the Designated Land?
They Fell With Their Guns In Their Hands

Note 1: The order in which these names appear has been made to conform to English alphabetization, and
therefore does not follow the same order as they appear in the original Hebrew text.
Note 2: There are multiple references this text to the Pobeda Partisan Brigade. ‘Pobeda’ is the Russian word
for ‘Victory,’ and this unit was under the command of Pavel Bulak. Further background concerning
the exploits of this unit may be found in the memoir of Moshe Salutsky in the Zelva Memorial Book
and in the Shapiro Family Book of Remembrances.
Agulnick - (see Ogulnick) afterwards joined the Kozeyev Brigade. In one of the
German sorties, she was captured alive and tortured
Alyovich, Chaim - Born in 1912 in a village to death.
adjacent to Dereczin. Fled from Dereczin with his
brother Leib, and his sister Leah. He was a partisan Barnovsky, Berel - Born in Suwalk in 1920. He was
in the Farkof unit. Shot after a trial on the grounds in Dereczin during the time of the Nazi conquest.
of falling asleep while on watch. This was almost at After the great massacre, he fled to the forest and
the point of liberation, a few months after his was taken in by the Atlas unit. He participated in the
brother, Leib was shot on the same grounds. attack on the Dereczin military garrison. He was the
first to break into the quarters of the Sonderfuhrer.
Alyovich, Leib - Born in a village adjacent to The German shot and wounded him. He was brought
Dereczin. Before the war, his family moved to back to the forest where he died from his wounds.
Dereczin. Fled the ghetto with his brother Chaim,
and his sister Leah. He was a partisan in the Farkof Beckenstein, Eliyahu - Born in Dereczin in 1926.
unit. At the beginning of 1944 he was sentenced to His father was a tailor.
death under suspicion that he had fallen asleep on
watch. Shot by a partisan firing squad. At the time he was being taken together with other
Jews to be killed outside of the town, he jumped
Azaf, Moshe - A scion of a venerable Dereczin from the vehicle, and reached the Lipiczany forests
family. Fled with his family from the massacre into on June 22, 1942. He joined the unit of Dr. Atlas in
the forest. Fell in the forest battles under the the Pobeda Brigade, under the command of Bulak.
command of Bulak. Despite his youth, he was given a mortar to operate.
He participated in every single battle, and always
Bardakh, Cherneh - Daughter of Reuven & Masha. stood out for his bravery, and readiness to put his
Her parents owned a woven goods store. At the time life on the line. He provided assistance to the family
of the Soviet occupation, she was a teacher at the compound that was set up in the vic inity of the
Russian school. She reached the forests at the end of Brigade.
July 1942, originally in the Bulak Brigade, and
327
In the battle beside the village of Sliza-Podgrovolna, Becker, Sonya - Born in 1923 in Kolonia [Sinaiska],
he fought fearlessly, ceaselessly raining fire down beside Dereczin to a family of Jewish farmers.
on the enemy forces; When a small tank drew near Worked as a cook in the camp of the Pobeda
to the partisan positions, he stopped it with his Brigade. Fell in the fierce fighting of the great sortie
mortar fire, and forced it to retreat. As a memento of of the Vlasov troops against the partisan forests,
his exploits, he was given a watc h from the booty days before the liberation came.
taken from the Germans.
Bernicker, Herschel - Son of Shmuel, killed by
On October 25, 1943, he participated and enemy bullets at the time he was shepherding the
distinguished himself in the sabotage of a German partisan cattle flock.
train near the Ozernitza train station. It was a train
fully loaded with troops and supplies. The train was Bialosotsky, Ruzha - Daughter of a large family
totally wrecked with many Germans buried under from Dereczin. She was in the Zhetl forests together
the debris. For this feat, he received a medal citing with her sister.130 Was felled by an enemy bullet
him ‘For Courage.’ during a sortie against the compound in the forest.
In February 1944, he went out with 8 other partisans Bitensky, Shmuel - Son of Herschel Bitensky, fell in
to lay an ambush for the Germans, who were the forests of Ruda Velikaya.
scheduled to pass the village of Ostrovo, near
Dereczin. Their number was estimated to be about Bogdanovsky, Aharon - From Dereczin. A partisan
150 troops. A bitter and heavy battle ensure for an in Bulak’s Pobeda Brigade, in the Ruda
hour and a half. The partisans could not maintain Dobrovshchina forests. Fell in one of the battles.
their position in the fac e of superior forces, and
were forced to retreat. By firing his mortar, Boyarsky, Shmuel - Born in the town of Piesk, near
Beckenstein covered the pullback of his comrades, Volkovysk in 1916. A carpenter by trade.
but he himself fell, along with the head of his unit.
He was in the Dereczin ghetto. At the end of July
A few hours after the end of the hostilities, several 1942, he fled to the forest. He was in the partisan
partisans went and retrieved the bodies of those who unit that was ac tive on the left side of the Shchara
were killed, and they were buried with full military [River], and from there went over to Bulak’s Pobeda
honors. Beckenstein was awarded the Red Flag Brigade. When the Krasnoyarmisk Brigade was
posthumously. organized, he joined it along with other Jews. He
participated in all the battles in which the brigade
Beckenstein, Shmeryl - Born in Dereczin, a engaged. He was cited for distinction several times
shoemaker. Married and the father of two children. by the command of the Brigade. He offered
A partisan in the Pobeda Brigade. Fell with gun in considerable assistance to the family compound that
hand during the first great sortie in January 1943. was situated beside his unit.
Becker, Eliyahu - From Dereczin. A partisan in the On September 25, 1943 he was sent along with
Pobeda Brigade. After the liberation, he was drafted several other non-Jewish partisans to mine the rails
into the Red Army and died at the front. of the Lida-Mosty’ link. The group stopped to rest
in a grove of trees beside the Sakribuba train station.
Becker, Bella - Was shot in carrying out her duties The guide, who was a Pole, informed the White
in the forest, along with one of Shelovsky’s Poles who c ontrolled the area, and they surrounded
daughters, because they did not return with their the group and took them as prisoners. The Polish
arms after fleeing the Germans, which they had
hidden in a secret place.
130
See the memoir of Katya Khlebnik-
Bialosotsky.
328
partisans joined the Polish unit, and these in turn Russians engaged him in military provisioning.
murdered Boyarsky in the most gruesome fashion. During the time of the German occupation, he
He was awarded the Red Flag posthumously. worked at forced labor in factories.
Busak, Motkeh - Worn in Dereczin in 1908 to He fled to the Lipiczany forests (Nov42), and joined
parents who were laborers. A tailor by trade. the Burba Unit (Orliansky). There was a decidedly
unsympathetic atmosphere toward Jews that
A partisan in the Bulak Brigade. Distinguished pervaded the Burba unit. Rumors spread about how
himself in the battle of Ruda-Jaworska on June 30, Jews were relieved of their arms. Feldman fled with
1942. He was beloved by all the partisans for his 22 well-armed combatants to Nalibock. They joined
caring after all the needs of the unit, and especially the Kalinin Brigade (under the command of Belsky).
– food. Everyone nicknamed him, ‘Mother of the
Brigade.’ When the Ordzhonik idze Brigade was established,
the young fighters from the Belsky Brigade were
He was cited for bravery four times for his valor in drawn to it, along with some of the better
combat. After the liberation, he was drafted into the combatants, especially those who had fled from
Red Army and fell at the front. Lipiczany. Feldman was put in charge of the good
minelayers in the sabotage unit. The combatants of
Dombrowsky, David - Born in 1915 in Dereczin. A his uni t and of the Oktyabr unit laid an ambush for
cabinetmaker. a mechanized caravan of German vehicles that was
moving along the Koshlovo Road. The first shot was
During the years of the occupation, he took fired by the partisans, much too early, and the
advantage of his work in the warehouse of the Germans [were able to] arrange themselves for
gendarmerie, and by many means, brought over battle, and the partisans who were wary of a
parts of firearms and weapons into the ghetto. On possible encirclement, elected to fall back in the
the day of the massacre, he fled to the Ruda- middle of battle. Feldman, who had stormed the
Dobrovshchina forests, joining his brother, ‘Nioma Germans, was killed (26Nov43 or 23Dec43).
in the Pobeda partisan Brigade, under the leadership
of Bulak & Bulat. Garzhevsky, Shmuel - Was born in Dereczin in
1920 to a family of merchants.
He was badly wounded in the attack on the military
garrison in Dereczin. He was brought back to the In 1942, he escaped from the ghetto in Dereczin, to
forest where he passed away after much painful the Dobrovshchina forests. Her was a partisan in the
suffering. Before he died, he called over his younger Pobeda Brigade of Bulak.
brother, ‘Nioma and said to him: ‘I am going to die
shortly. I have only managed to take a small amount He fell in 1944 in the last of the sorties, a Ukrainian
of revenge from our oppressors. Remember, it is who had deserted the partisans revealed a signal to
your duty and it is the responsibility of all the Jews the Germans and that was how about 200 partisans
to exact vengeance for the blood of our family and fell into a trap.
our people.’
Glick(s)feld, Mina - Daughter of Yaakov & Chaya.
Einstein, Moshe Peretz - Born in Dereczin. Fell in Born in Dereczin in March 1926. Studied at the high
the forests of Vilcha Nury. school.
Feldman, Hirsch - Born in 1910 in Dereczin. After During the great massacre in Dereczin, she hid
marriage, he moved to Lida, where he owned and herself, along with her family and tens of other
ran a food store market. He was active in all Zionist people in a bunker that they had been prepared in
movements, and in the Poalei Tzion branc h. The the cellar of their house. From there, she fled to the
329
forests of Dobrovshchina, the place where the Bulak honors. His companion was wounded.
Brigade began getting organized – Pobeda. Despite
being only 16 years old, she was given a rifle, and Grinkovsky, Naftali - Born and resided in Dereczin.
was an effective combatant. She would also help out Fled from the ghetto on the day of the massacre to
her mother, who worked as a cook in the Brigade. the forests, and taken into the Pobeda Brigade. After
the liberation, he joined the Red Army, and fell in
She would secretly bring food to the family the battles to liberate Bialystock.
compound of the Dereczin Jews, which was near the
Brigade camp. Huberman - A refugee from Lomza, who c ame to
Dereczin at the beginning of the war. He was a
During the large German sortie of 1944, two days fighting partisan. He fell in battle.
before the arrival of the Red Army, she was among
the attackers on the ‘Vilna Tract,’ and fell in battle. Kresnovsky, Honna - Born in Dereczin in 1921.
Goldin, Yudel - Son of Shmuel-Leib, killed upon Fled the ghetto on the day of the great massacre
arrival in the forest at the beginning of the first along with many other Jews, and reached the Ruda-
[enemy] sortie. Dobrovshchina forests, the base of the Bulak
partisan Brigade. The command did not agree to
Grachuk, Yaakov - Born in Dereczin in 1925. accept him at that time because of the acute lack of
weapons that was then prevalent throughout the
On June 22, 1942 with the destruction of the ghetto, area.
he fled to the forest, and was ac cepted into the
Abramov unit of Bulak’s, Brigade, in the Lipiczany At the encouragement of the Jewish combatants, the
forests. Even though he was young, he was given a command decided to attack the German military
mortar, and he participated in all the engagements of garrison in their hometown. The battle resulted in a
the Brigade. He was a role model to others in his complete victory for the partisans. Approximately
dedication and courage, and was beloved by 50 [local] police and Germans were captured and
everyone in the Brigade. taken out to be shot on the market plaza. The rest
fled for their lives. For a long time, the town stayed
In August 1943, he went out with a group of ten under partisan control, and the Germans did not dare
partisans to derail a train on the Maycht rail line. He to return. In that battle the Jewish partisans that
was sent by the leader of the group to reconnoiter were killed were David Dombrowsky, Chaim
the area. He found the exact location of the German Shelkovich & Berel Barnovsky. Honna was
watch post, and shot and killed the German guard on wounded during the course of battle, and was taken
duty. The remaining Germans panicked and fled. back to the Brigade base in the forest, and he died
The group continued with its mission and derailed a there of his wounds.
train. After this feat, he earned the decoration
‘Battle of the Homeland.’ Kresnovsky, Simkha - Born in Dereczin. A partisan
of the Pobeda Brigade, he worked in the unit that
In November 1943, he was standing watch with his felled trees in the Ruda forests.
comrade, Berel Becker in one of the sections of the
Ruda-Jaworska forest, dressed in the insignias of He distinguished himself in the battle of Dereczin.
German police that they had taken as booty in a He succeeded in capturing Ukrainian policemen,
mission. The commander of the detail, Shubin was frisked them and disarmed them.
then in the area where the two were standing guard.
Their dress caused their identities to be mistaken, He fell after the liberation in the mop up action of
and they were taken for Germans and shot. clearing out the isolated pockets of Germans that
were scattered through the forests.
Grachuk fell dead, and was buried with full military
330
Krieger, Abraham-Mordechai - Born in 1927 in all aspects of provisioning.
Mishintz. A Yeshivah student. When the war broke
out, he moved with his family to Dereczin. During the time of the sortie against the
Dobrovshchina forests, when the Brigade retreated
He fled to the Ruda forests. In the forest he met his to the Grabski forests, Shmeryl remained behind
friend, Meir Steinberg, and the two of them joined with his family in the bunker. When the people of
the Pobeda Brigade. They were given responsibility the compound eventually returned, they found only
to obtain food provisions for the partisan hospital. his two children, who related that their father had
been killed in an exchange of gunfire with the
He partic ipated in the battle of Dereczin. In going Germans.
out with Meir to bring food from Dereczin, the two
of them fell into an ambush set by the police, and in Lantzevitzky, Tuvia - Born in 1911 in Dereczin. A
the ensuing exchange of gunfire the two friends furrier.
were killed.
Joined the Pobeda Brigade in the Lipiczany forests.
Kushnir, Shlomo - Born in Dereczin. Went to his He was a quartermaster, but at his own wish he
brother-in-law in Baranovich. A talented locksmith. participated in combat missions. After the battle of
Was taken to the labor camp at Koldichvo. In this Kozlovshc hina (3Mar43) he was given
camp, expert workmen were concentrated, both responsibility for the liberation of the town, and the
Jewish and non-Jewish, after all the ghettoes in the burning of three tallow factories that supplied their
area had been emptied. Jews were killed in this output to the Germans. He took five partisans with
camp on a daily basis. him and carried out the mission.
As a result of his effort, a ‘Rescue Committee’ was In the attac k that a group of partisans staged on a
set up with him as its head. According to his plan, a police point in the Rudan forest, he was the first to
hole was punched out in the wall of a fac tory that break through the police barricades, and he fell from
was beside a pond, the watchdogs were poisoned, a bullet shot by a German tank soldier.
and on a night of falling snow, all 93 Jews escaped
through the hole broken into the wall, across the Lev, Israel - Reached the forests from Dereczin, and
frozen pond and from there to the forests. The fought in the ranks of the Pobeda Brigade. He was
Germans organized a sortie, and exposed the bunker wounded in one of the engagements, and died of his
in which Kushnir was hidden with 20 Jews. Kushnir wounds.
killed himself, the twenty were murdered, and the
others joined the Belsky Brigade. Lifshovich, Eliyahu - Son of Nahum-Yaakov &
Batia. Born in 1914 in Dereczin. He studied at the
Lantzevitzky, Moshe - Born in 1915 in Dereczin. A Tarbut School, and was a member of Betar. Assisted
tailor. Fled to the forests and was taken in by the his father with work in the bakery. He was a soldier
Pobeda Brigade. In the beginning he dealt with in the Polish army.
supply, and afterward transferred to a combat unit.
He participated in all the missions of that unit. He He was one of the first of the Jewish partisans in the
received three citations by the c ommand. He fell in Dobrovshchina forests. He ran the second battalion
the battle for the Vilna Road. in the Brigade of Dr. Atlas, and was a unit
commander in the Pobeda Brigade.
Lantzevitzky, Shmeryl - Born in Dereczin. Fled to
the forest with his wife and two children. He was In the campaign against Dereczin (08Oct42), he
appointed the lead of the family compound that was stormed the gendarme headquarters building with
adjac ent to the Pobeda Brigade. He participated in other Jewish partisans and captured it. With five
331
other partisans (among them Dr. Atlas), they seized exchange of fire, several of the partisans were hit,
a German airplane that had made an accidental including the sister of the commander.
landing in the village of Lantzevitz (Oct42).
Eighty Soviet paratroopers reached the partisans in
When the partisans attacked Ruda-Jaworska (in the the Lipiczany forests, including one person who was
Lipiczany forest), a place where the Germans appointed to develop contact among all the units
attempted to establish a garrison to fight the that were fighting in the Byelorussian and Pulasian
partisans, Eliyahu Lifshovich penetrated into the forests. This person selected Eliyahu Lif shovich to
village first with his detachment, and subjugated the the responsible position of connecting all the
Germans. There was nothing left for the other units fighting units. Together with six of his hand-picked
to do except gather up the spoils. soldiers, he visited the leadership of the Brigades
and divisions, while cutting train lines and
He participated in derailing a 20-car train on the dangerous roads. When he returned, he was given
Volkovysk-Baranovich line. the ‘Battle of the Homeland’ Medal, Grade A.
During the great siege of the forest (Dec42), he was To the end of the war, he participated in 22 train
beside Dr. Atlas, and when he [Dr. Atlas] was derailments.
mortally wounded, he appointed him leader of the
division. With a cry of vengeance for the death of After the liberation, he volunteered for the Red
their outstanding leader, he stormed the German Army. Afterwards he joined a settlement in Legnitz
columns with his soldiers, and those columns fled. (Lower Silesia), and was killed in an attack by
Polish fascists while on guard duty at the settlement
Following an order from Moscow, he and his (Mar46).
soldiers blew up a cement factory (beside
Volkovysk), and cement production was interrupted Lifshovich, Chaim -Yehoshua - Son of Nahum-
for six months at the factory. Yaakov & Batia. Born in 1910 in Dereczin. A junior
officer in the Polish army.
In their attempt to neutralize partisan activities, the
Germans transported a large army to the Dereczin A member of the fighting Jewish underground in the
area. Eliyahu Lifshovich went out with his soldiers Dereczin ghetto. Fled with his brother and sister into
to lay an ambush at the village of Sliza Podgrovalna, the forests of Ruda-Dobrovshchina. Appointed as
with the mission of reinforcing the partisan forces one of the organizers of the Atlas Brigade. Joined
that were hidden near a wrecked bridge at the the Pobeda Brigade. In addition to operating a
entrance to the forests near Dereczin. The mortar, he had the special position of being in
combatants found themselves in an exposed place, c harge of supplies in the Atlas Brigade. He
they concealed themselves, Eliyahu Lifshovich held participated in every one of his unit’s battles. When
a lanyard that was attached to a mine that had been the partisans were compelled to retreat after the
hidden under the beams of a small bridge, that the battle of Kozlovshchina, he covered them with
Germans needed to cross. The German tank could machine gun fire together with Dr. Atlas. He
not cross the rickety bridge, and officers and received a citation for this.
soldiers attempted to get it through the riverbed.
Elik pulled on the lanyard, and the mine exploded at Together with his brother Eliyahu, he stormed the
the point where the Germans had gathered, and 12 military headquarters building in Dereczin. He
mortars began to rain down fire on them. Thirty participated in all the missions led by his brother in
Germans and Ukrainians were killed. The Germans the unit.
at first retreated, and afterwards opened heavy fire
from a distance of hundreds of meters. In the He was heavily wounded during the sortie staged by
332
the Vlasov troops on the forest (2Apr44). When he the Burba Brigade in the Lipiczany forests. She fell
could not find a way to esc ape, he shot himself to in a sortie.
avoid falling into enemy hands.
Litmanovich, Yitzhak - Born in Sinai [sic: Kolonia
Lifshovich, Taiba - (‘Tanya’), Daughter of Nahum- Sinaiska], and wit the Nazi occupation, attempted to
Yaakov & Batia. Born in 1919 in Dereczin. She cross the Russian border with his family, and after
studied in a Polish school. She was an ac tive a variety of tribulations, he reached Dereczin.
member of Betar. During the Soviet occupation, she
joined a sewing cooperative. The morning after the massacre, he fled with his
family into the forests. He joined Bulak’s unit. He
With the onset of the German occupation, she was fell in the attack on Dereczin.
sent into forced labor. She fled with her three
brothers into the forests of Ruda-Dobrovshchina, Lobzovsky, Abraham - (‘Levdrik’), was born in
and joined the Dr. Atlas Brigade. She participated 1924 in Dereczin. He was the sone of a wagon-
along with her brothers in all the battles as both a driver and spoke Byelorussian. He did not look like
combatant and a field nurse. Afterwards, she joined a Jew.
the Pobeda Brigade (Bulak’s command).
He served in the Pobeda Brigade in the Lipiczany
She distinguished herself in the attack against the forests. He was an outstanding mortar operator,
military garrison in Dereczin. In the battle of participating in all the group battles, and
Kozlovshchina, she captured a German heavy demonstrated unusual courage. He was eager to take
machine gun, before which she was using a ‘Maxim revenge from the Germans and those who assisted
No. 2' that her brother Chaim-Yehoshua used to fire. them.
She received a citation from the command of the
unit of the day. He was captured by the Germans in the house of a
farmer, where he was recovering from an operation.
In the battle beside the village of Silza (15 He died after a short struggle. He rec eived
kilometers from Dereczin), she served as a machine commendations several times, and received the
gunner. She was hit by shrapnel, and taken to the ‘Battle of the Homeland’ medal.
partisan hospital. Despite the dedicated care she
received, she came down with blood poisoning and Manikov, Nekhama - Daughter of Meshl &
died. Genendel Blizniansky. Born in 1886 in Dereczin. A
midwife. She fled the ghetto after the great
In a letter she wrote in pain from her sickbed, she massacre. She served as a nurse in the Pobeda
urged the combatants onward. Brigade. From there, she went over to the Kozeyev
Brigade. She was given responsibility for the
Lipmanovich, Chaim - Born in a village adjacent to establishment of the partisan hospitals in the
Suwalk. He lived in Dereczin during the war years. Lipiczany forests. She died of blood poisoning.
He went into the forests with his sister, and joined
the Pobeda Brigade in the Ruda forests. He was Miller, Nissan - Born in 1921 in Dereczin. Son of
responsible for provisioning in the Brigade, and Koppel Miller. An elec tric ian and locksmith. The
participated in the acquisition of foodstuffs, and in Germans used his skills outside the ghetto. On the
battles. He and his sister were killed at day of the slaughter, he fled to the forest, and
Kozlovshchina. reached the unit of Dr. Atlas. He was active in all
the missions of sabotage against the German train
Lisovsky, Dvora - Born in Mosty’, she was in transports, and excelled at mining with explosives.
Dereczin at the time of the Nazi conquest, and He participated in all of the missions of Dr. Atlas’s
escaped to the forest from the ghetto. She fought in unit.
333
Ogulnick, Shmeryl - a native and resident of
In the battle against the German military garrison in Dereczin. Escaped from the ghetto during the day of
Ruda, he was given the guard position at the edge of the massacre to the forests of Ruda Dobrovshchina.
the forest. After the successful conclusion of this He joined the unit of Dr. Atlas. He fell in the battle
mission, Moshe Ogulnick came to relieve him, and that took place between the Bulak Brigade and the
found him dead. He was apparently killed by a stray Germans and Lithuanians who c ame to retake
bullet. Dereczin after the partisan attack on the military
garrison in the town.
According to another version, he fell during the
great sortie while mining the entrance to the forest. Osherovich, Chaim 131 - 15 years old. Was in the
Pobeda unit. After the liberation, he volunteered for
Ogulnick, Moshe-Chaim - son of Reuven & Beileh. the Red Army and did not want to return to his
Born in Dereczin in 1924. His father was a glazier. birthplace in Dereczin. He fell in the battle to
liberate Bialystock.
He reached the forest in November 1942, and joined
the unit of Dr. Atlas in the Bulak Brigade, which Pintelevsky, Shlomo - Reached Byelorussia from
operated in the forests of Lipic zany (the Poland and fled into the forests, joining the 51st
Novogrudok district). He began as a rifleman, and Brigade, and from there to Bulak’s Brigade. There
afterwards operated a mortar, and was assigned to are two versions of how he died: A: He was shot in
the scouting patrol. Ramrod straight, he was an Dereczin after Lithuanian units were able to
outstanding horseman, sang, rode, and played the establish control there after the partisans captured it;
mandolin, and instilled a good morale among the B: He fell at the time his unit was guarding the entry
group; possessed of an unusually outgoing sense, way to the Dobrova forest. He excelled in the very
which stood him in good stead in his contact with battle in which he fell.
the farmers.
Pinus, Pinkhas - Born in Suwalk. A shoemaker.
In 1943, the partisans laid an ambush for the When the war broke out, he came to Dereczin,
Germans who transported foodstuffs on a daily basis where the Soviets were in control. He fled the
on the Dereczin - Ruda Jaworska road. Ogulnick Dereczin ghetto to the forests, and joined the Atlas
was exceptional in this action. He let the transport Brigade, and proved to be c ourageous in the very
vehicle of the police get within 20 meters, and from first battle – in the partisan attack on the military
the conc ealment of low grass, rained fire on them garrison in Dereczin. Pinus was wounded and was
from his mortar. He killed about 30 of the police. bedridden in the partisan hospital for a half year.
When he was healed, he demanded to be included in
As a reward for his performance, the leadership missions. He participated in may battles, and
awarded him a gold watch. excelled in the destruction of bridges that spanned
the Shchara River. After derailing four German
In April 1944, a short time before the liberation, trains, he was awarded a high level medal.
large German forces encircled the area forests. In
the battle that then took place in Kozlovshchina, After the liberation, he was drafted into the Red
Ogulnick was killed, along with his horse, that had Army and was killed at the front.
accompanied him into battle and danger over a
period of two years. Reich, Grunya (Salya) - Born in (c. 1920) Warsaw.
A nurse. After the capture of Warsaw by the
Ogulnick was decorated with the Red Star and the
Red Flag.
131
A cousin to Alta Osherovich , wife of
Foyka Gelman.
334
Germans, she fled with her husband and infant child Rosenzweig, Dr. Israel - Born in 1911 in Kielce.
to Dereczin. She worked there in the munic ipal Studied medicine in Czechoslovakia.
hospital.
With the German occupation, he moved to the area
On the day of the massacre, her infant c hild was under Soviet occupation, and worked in the hospital
killed. She and her husband fled into the forest, and in Dereczin. From Soviet prisoners on whom he
joined the Brigade of Boris Bulat, who eventually operated, he learned the location of the partisan base
came to lead the Pobeda Brigade.132 She in the forests of Ruda-Dobrovshchina. He
accompanied those that went into battle as a nurse. deliberately extended the stay of the prisoners in the
hospital with the idea of the possibility that they
During the siege, Grunya Reich stumbled upon a would be able to flee into the forest ( among those
group of 7 Jews, led by Joseph Wegmeister, who remaining, was Bulak himself).
had fled from Slonim, and he was wounded in the
chest. She nursed him, and joined his group. When the ghetto was liquidated, his wife and
Together, they reached the Lipiczany forests, and children were killed. During the massacre, he was in
joined the Kaplinski unit, in the Burba Brigade. She the hospital, and until the Germans got to him, he
served as a nurse in this unit as well, and hid himself, and then fled to the forest. After several
accompanied the combatants on their missions. days, he participated in the attack by the Bulak
Brigade against the military garrison in Dereczin.
During the siege of the Lipiczany forests, she During that same attack, the medical supplies of the
clashed with a German guard post. In the process of hospital were confiscated, and this formed the basis
falling back, she shot over the heads of the Germans of the supplies for the partisan hospital in the
who attacked her, was wounded, and died with her Lipiczany forests. Dr. Rosenzweig for a while was
rifle in her hand. the only physician serving there, until additional
doctors came, and helped relieve the great burden
Rosenthal, Yitzhak - Born in the Suwalk district, that had been placed on him.
moved with his parents to Dereczin, where his father
was a physician. He was recognized to have musical He was sent to the Voroshilov Brigade that was
talent even from his early childhood years. composed primarily of inmates of the jail who
esc aped after the German occupation. He served as
During the time of the [German] action in Dereczin, the Brigade doctor. Because he was liked so muc h
he hid in the eaves and saw how they were by his c ommander, he succeeded in blunting the
liquidating the ghetto from there. That same night, sharpness of the anti-Semitism of the partisans,
he fled into the forest and joined the Atlas Brigade. which was not insignificant.
He was given responsibility as the liaison between
the Brigade and the central command. He After the liberation, he was the head of the hospital
participated in all the missions of the Brigade. at Zheludok. He [then] left Russia. He lived for a
while in Poland, and from there went to Italy and
He was killed in the battle of Kozlovshchina, while made aliyah to the Holy Land (1948). He served as
handing a shell to his comrade who operated the a military physician in the neighborhoods of the
cannon. Haifa district. He died after a severe illness
(7May54).
132
It is not clear that the writer(s) properly Sakar, Melekh - Born in Dereczin, the son of
d is tin g u is h b etween th e two Sholom & Tzivya. With the invasion of the Germans,
commanders, Boris Bulat & Pavel
he went to Zhetl. When the head of the Judenrat,
Bulak, although joint leadership is
ascribed to both men in the testimony
Alter Dobritsky made the effort to establish an
to David Dombrowsky. ‘underground partisan branch’ he joined the branch.
335
An uprising by Soviet prisoners of war, and the and three daughters to the Lipiczany forests, and
arrest of Sholom Piulin during the acquisition of joined his friend Bulak who was just beginning to
arms, precipitated a wholesale exodus of the entire organize the Pobeda Brigade.
branch to the Lipiczany forests.
He headed the provisioning activities for military
After Alter Dobritsky & Moshe Pozdansky were necessities. He fell after the Battle of Dereczin.
murdered by the partisans, he and four of his
comrades went over to the Nalibocki forests Shelovsky, Avigdor - (Vita), son of Yitzhak &
(5Dec42), and joined a Jewish unit in the Stalin Rachel. Born in Dereczin. An accountant. Fled with
Brigade. the members of his family to the Lipiczany forests,
and joined the Pobeda Brigade (under the command
The Stalin Brigade attacked the German garrison in of Bulak).
Nalibock. The Jewish unit was designated to open
the attack from one flank, and the Russians were His brother Shlomo was killed in battle, and he
supposed to join in from another flank. Because of sought opportunities to avenge his spilled blood. He
the arrival of German reinforcements, it was decided took part in the derailment of three trains near
to postpone the attack. A signaling error caused the Zelva, and participated in fighting campaigns until
Jews to open the attack with no support from the he fell ill with typhus, and his legs gave froze. After
rest of the partisans. Of the 39 combatants in the spending nearly a year in the partisan hospital, he
unit, only a remnant survived alive. Melekh Sak ar became disabled, and was forced to content himself
was killed in this battle. with duties around the base.
Shaplan, Yitzhak - (Issak) Fell in the forest a short Despite his disabilities, he participated in the final
time before the liberation. His son, Moshe, became battle against the Germans and he fell on the Drovna
ill in the forest and died. Road.
Shelkovich, Chaim - Born in 1923 in Dereczin. His parents, two sisters and his brother also fell in
Studied to be a locksmith. Was employed by the the ranks of the partisans.
Germans as a quartermaster for munitions outside
the ghetto, fleeing on the day of the great massacre Shelovsky, Feiga - (Fanya), Daughter of Yitzhak &
along with those who went to the Ruda forests, and Rachel. Born in Dereczin. Fled with her family into
joined the Dr. Atlas unit in the Pobeda Brigade. the Lipiczany forests, and joined the Pobeda
Brigade.
He fell during the attack on the military garrison in
Dereczin. During the sortie, she participated in all battles.
When the pressured partisans were surrounded,
Shelkovich, Chaya - Daughter of Eliyahu & Bluma. many hid their weapons, lest they fall into German
Born in 1925 in Dereczin. Studied at a Russian high hands. When her unit returned to its base, she was
school. Fled to the Lipiczany forests with her asked for her weapon, and she explained where she
family, joining the Pobeda Brigade. had hidden it. The commander, Bulak sentenced her
and her companion, Bella Becker to death, while
She was captured together with her mother and two other non-Jewish partisans, who had left their
sisters during the great sortie, and they were taken to weapons behind, were held free from harm.
Kozlovshchina where they were tortured to death.
Shelovsky, Shlomo - Born in 1912 in Dereczin.
Shelkovich, Eliyahu - Born in 1900 in Dereczin. Studied medicine. Was active in Betar in his town.
Owner of a shop for wheel repair. Fled with his wife
336
Fled to the Lipiczany forests along with the joined the Jewish unit of Kaplinsky and afterward he
members of his family, and joined the Pobeda was a partisan in the Burba Brigade (Lenin Section).
Brigade. Participated in the attack on Dereczin. He
was appointed to replace the commander of his unit, After several days, along with his townsman, Moshe
Kozeyev. Participated in battles, sabotage, and train Malkevitsky and three other members of the Burba
derailments along the Slonim-Zelva line. Brigade, they went to the outskirts of the town of
Piesk, in order to obtain clothing for the Brigade,
Performed outstandingly in the attack of the police which was suffering from freezing and dampness.
station in Mycht, where 12 police were killed. They never returned to the base camp of the
Brigade. The circumstances surrounding their death
He fell during the great sortie beside the cannon are unknown.
from which he was shelling the Germans.
Zarnitsky, Chaim Hersh - Fell together with his
Shelovsky, Sima - Daughter of Yitzhak & Rachel. wife, Rachel, during a sortie against the forests.
Born in 1922 in Dereczin. A dental technician.
Zarnitsky, David-Hirsch - Son of a poor Dereczin
Fled to the Lipiczany forests with the members of family, who was forced to work from early youth as
her family. Joined the Pobeda Brigade. Served as a an apprentice to a shoemaker.
nurse, and joined all the battles of the unit. She
earned citations of valor. On the day of the massacre, he fled to the Ruda
forests, and was taken in by Bulak’s unit, and even
When the partisans attempted to break the final in the forest he worked as a shoemaker for the
German encirclement (Jun44) Sima Shelovsk y partisans. He partic ipated in the attack on the
attached herself to a Soviet captain that had been military garrison in Dereczin.
wounded in battle. Even after the battle, it fell to her
to care for him under cover in a camouflaged hiding He was killed on the day of the first German sortie
place. A few days before the liberation, they were in December 1942.
discovered by Vlasov troopers and both were shot
on the spot (28Jun44). Zolotnitsky, Eliyahu - From Dereczin, the son of
Israel the shoemaker. A partisan in Bulak’s Pobeda
Steinberg, Meir - Born in Mishinitz. Fled to the Brigade, in the Ruda-Dobrovshchina forests. He was
forests in the Dereczin surroundings, and joined the killed in the forests. His father, mother Sarah, sister
Bulak Brigade along with his friend, Abraham- Beileh and brothers also died the same way.
Mottel Krieger. They were given the responsibility
to obtain food provisions for the partisan hospital. Zlotagura, Herschel - Born in 1908 in Dereczin.
Despite their youth, they both participated in the Ran an ironmonger’s store. Head of Tzahar in
attack on Dereczin. Returning one day from the Dereczin. On the day of the massacre, he fled with
collection of foodstuffs, they walked into a German tens of other Jews, and reached the Ruda forests. He
ambush. In the exchange of fire, they killed 3 joined Bulak ’s Brigade, in the Dr. Atlas unit. He
Germans, and afterwards were shot and killed. distinguished himself as a fighting partisan.
Walitsky, Israel - From Dereczin, a partisan in the On the day of the attack on Dereczin, he was among
Vanka Levdyanka Brigade. Fell in the forest during the first to penetrate the German garrison building,
a sortie, after two years of active fighting service. and was severely wounded. After his wounds healed
in the forest, he returned to combat duty.
Wallmark, Migdal - Born in Ostrov-Mazowiecka.
With the invasion of the Germans into Poland in He fell in 1945 in the ranks of the Red Army, a short
September 1939, he fled to Dereczin. On the day of time before the end of the war.
the massacre, he fled to the Lipiczany forests. He
337
This list of the partisans who fell in battle has been
prepared using two volumes of an anthology published
by Yad VaShem, supplemented by the oral testimony of
those whose origins were from Dereczin and who were
in the forests and survived.
Let us memorialize the names of the fallen in this list,

and in this way also all of those, to our great sorrow,
whose names it was not possible for us to include in this
list.
May God himself avenge their spilled blood!
338
Wandering
339
Uprooted with the Maelstrom
By Meir Bakalchuk
I c annot get the morning of March23, 1939 out of That is why the news that Germany had seized the
my mind. At that time, I was living in Baranovich. Lithuanian port of Memel, fell on the Jewish street
The morning hours looked to me, as it did to others that day of March 23, 1939 like a clap of thunder
around me, as being carefree and bright. Jews out of a clear sky.
returned home from their morning prayers, ate their
mouthfuls quickly, and then took their keys n order Only a few hours afterwards, the Polish regime
to unlock either a store, a business or a shop. ordered an immediate mobilization of all eligible
men for military service. I was also mobilized on
It was a normal day, exactly as if someone wanted that same day.
to portray us. March in the old country was still the
end of winter, when the soul is till somewhat heavy, And so, the carefree morning hours were instantly
but every day was sunny and warm. On days like transformed into a bitter nightmare. Businesses and
this, Jews loved to stand outside, snatch a bit of shops were closed up, everyone running home. Men
conversation, talk politics – Jews were experts at with packs in hand, took tearful leave of their wives
this. and children, with heartbreaking blessings from
parents, and went off to the assembly points.
A Clap of Thunder out of a Clear Sky
After such a tumultuous and frightening day, came
Nobody even contemplated war. The Polish regime a mournful evening. Listlessness gripped everyone,
constantly assures everyone that Poland is houses were locked up, hearts trembled. Nobody
[militarily] strong, and that no one would want to knew or understood what all of this portended, and
engage the country. Jews believed this – because it what would come of this – but fear of the unknown
was comforting for them to believe this. Despite the was even greater.
fact that the rise of Hitlerism in Germany instilled a
fright in everyone and anti-Semitism in Poland had It is now clear to me that day was the first warning
already filled up rather well, various corners of of the coming of the Second World War, of the
economic and social life – the Jews of Poland saddest period in the history of our people,
somehow managed to endure it, believing that things especially of the Jews in all of Europe.
would work out, and that life would once again
return to being stable as it had been up till now. We Torn out of My Home
must not forget that the Jews were very well rooted
in the Polish cities and towns, with extensive I had just arrived in Baranovich a couple of weeks
families, livelihoods of long-standing, shops and prior, from my hometown of Dereczin. I took up
businesses. It was more convenient for them to have residence in my new home and began to build a new
faith in the Polish constitution, and according to life.
their Jewish way of thinking – in God. Jewish life
was organized, and it was carried on with parties On the 23rd of March, I was torn out of my new
and organizations, cultural societies, synagogues, home. I could not even visit my father’s home
libraries, banks, aid societies, and foundations. Jews before presenting myself for military duty. Riding
literally did not want to permit bad news to enter through Zelva on the train, I sent a soulful greeting
their consciousness and thoughts, which was likely from the depths of my heart to the home of my
to undermine their belief in better times. parents, and asked them for their blessing.
340
From that day until September 1, were days of much as smelled of private initiative, was slapped
tension and uncertainty. Now I see, that in those with heavy taxes.
months there was still a possibility to rescue the
greater part of Polish Jewry – but who could then Then the series of arrests and deportations began.
foresee the terrifying outcome that was in fact so First, the more prosperous families were sent to
near? And where was there a Jewish leadership that smaller towns, the further from the boundary the
would be strong enough, and has enough prescience better. Then they turned to former manufacturers,
to undertake such a risky rescue operation? entrepreneurs, intelligentsia, Zionists, Bundists, and
even loyal communists were tried and sentenced to
In the last dying months of Polish rule, I was be sent somewhere deep into Russia. The smile
stationed, along with a goodly part of the Polish vanished from Jewish homes.
military, on the Polish-German border. During the
last days of August, I obtained a 14-day furlough, in In that time, I returned to Baranovich from Soviet
order to participate in a festive family occasion, imprisonment, and immediately thereafter traveled
marking the birth of my baby daughter. But I was home to Dereczin. Oh, what Dereczin looked like at
able to visit with my family for only one day – I was the time! The tradition of tens of generations
immediately called back to the military, and fell into suddenly had vanished. My father, the Rabbi of
the outbreak of the war, which broke out on the 1st Dereczin looked on with sorrow and pain as things
of September. sacred to Jews were transformed into objec ts of
derision. Young people no longer show themselves
It is difficult to describe those 2-3 weeks of in the Bet HaMidsrash. One can do anything one
September 1939. This was not a battle, not desires, and it has become the vogue to speak in
resistance, but a continuous, daily retreat from the Russian, and to assimilate oneself into the new
enemy. The entire strategy of the Polish military in Russian environment. Everyone was dominated by
those weeks was to find the easiest and nearest ways the thought that the Russians will remain firmly
of reaching the Russian border. It was hoped that the planted in our area on a permanent basis. Jews
Russian army would come to our assistance, but began to accustom themselves to the idea of living
Russia had by then already allied itself with Hitler’s under a Soviet regime. The new way of life began to
Germany, through the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact. pervade the Jewish streets.
The Red Army, in ac cordance with the agreement
with Germany, occupied the western regions of the But no sooner had we accustomed ourselves a little
Ukraine and Byelorussia. to the new circumstances and governance, when the
older Jews went back to their old way of life, going
At Sukkot time that year, I found myself a captive of to synagogue, studying a page of Gemara, praying.
the Red Army. A portion of the Jewish children began once again
to go to Heder. At that time, the Soviet rule didn’t
Under Soviet Rule pay any attention to all of these things.
Dereczin then had an entirely different look to it,
My hometown of Dereczin, and my new home when compared to the pre-War years. Many
Baranovich, were already occupied by the Red refugees streamed in from the cities and towns of
Army (the Russians referred to this as: being Poland, which were under German rule. The Jews of
liberated). The new regime put fear into the Jews. Dereczin took these refugees in with warmth,
No one knows what sort of new order tomorrow will helping them in whatever way was possible.
bring. Initially, private businesses, stores and shops
were permitted, and even ordered to be opened. Dereczin in Those Days
Afterwards, the larger stores, and all the important
enterprises were nationalized. Anything that so During those months, I visited my parents
341
frequently. From my father and friends, I came to front of our house, they asked what was going on.
learn what Dereczin went through in those last days When they found out about the issue with the priest,
of Polish rule, and in the transition period until the one of the Soviet officials asked my mother for a
Soviets arrived. A group of young people, small table. He stood on the table and declared to
responsible to no one, but intoxicated with the crowd that ‘the Soviet regime does everything
communist doctrine, attempted to ‘seize c ontrol’ in according to the rule of law, and nobody has a right
Dereczin before the arrival of the Soviet army. They to try and sentence anyone out of this process.’ The
detained several Polish officers who were retreating. young people were disarmed, and the Soviet military
Following these officers, who were a vanguard for expressed their thanks to my father for his proper
a much larger retreating Polish force, the Polish and sober position.
soldiers arrived and it almost came to a pogrom. My
father put his life on the line, and went out to the In this way, yet another tragedy was avoided, which
inflamed Polish soldiers, and promised them to could have brought frightful consequences to the
locate their officers. By exerting great energy, he Dereczin Jews.
was able to persuade these young people to release
these Polish officers. The retreating Poles were in a I knew my father as a sc holar, who always had
hurry to flee as fast as possible from the enemy, and learning on his mind. I never saw a hero in him.
it was for this reason a bloodbath was avoided in Every disturbance filled him with fear. It was
Dereczin. therefore a wonderment to me, as to where he got so
much courage in those difficult months of the
During those frightful days without a regime in Dereczin community.
place in Dereczin, another incident occurred: a
notification went out all over town that the left wing Parting Forever
youth, both Jews and Christians alike, were planning
to shoot the local Catholic priest, who was known to Two weeks before the outbreak of the war between
be a liberal-minded individual, and who also had Germany and Russia, I visited Dereczin for the last
friendly relations with the Jews. On the prior day, time. I found my father sitting in the same place,
the local priest in Zelva had indeed been hung, reviewing his insights concerning the Torah. It was
whom the inflamed young people had accused of as if everything going on around him wasn’t really
being sharply anti-communist. happening.
When my father learned of the danger that awaited My father showed me a letter from my brother, Ben-
the priest of Dereczin, he resolved to do something Zion , which he had received that same day. A
to defuse the murder plot, for which the Jews would couple of months before, my brother had been taken
ultimately, God forbid, pay dearly. My father went into the Soviet army, and his letter had arrived from
to the priest in the middle of the night, deep in Russia. My father read to me from the letter,
and surreptitiously brought him to our house, where and shook his head, full of pain and sorrow. My
he hid him in the bedroom. The following morning, father, the scholar foresaw that he would,
large groups of young people surrounded our house, apparently, never see my brother again, and it was
demanding that the priest be handed over to them. possible that he would never see me again as well.
My father stood himself in the doorway and told
them that only over his dead body would they be A dark fear lay over the home of my parents. In a
able to break into our house. tortured agreement with their assessment, I took
leave of my family. It was a parting forever.
In the middle of this conversation between my father
and this gathered crowd, the first vanguard of Soviet
officials arrived in town. Seeing a large crowd in
342
A Way to Escape is Sought we wanted to believe that this was the truth. Nobody
could then conceive that in a matter of days the
In the spring months before the outbreak of the Germans would reach Minsk and Slutsk. Everyone
German-Russian war it a g a in bec ame hoped that the former Russian boundary was well
uncomfortable. Some sort of an unrest hung in the fortified and it would be there that the Germans
atmosphere, a premonition of angry winds that are would have their dark downfall.
to come. My wife and little girl Friedeleh, were also
full of fear and unease. Jews around us began to I Am Caught Up with the Flow
flee, leaving behind their possessions. They were
fleeing to Vilna, the capitol of Lithuania, granted by But the brutal marc h of the Germans surged ahead
the Soviet regime to the Lithuanian people. without stopping. People fled to ‘temporarily’ get
Lithuania was yet free at the time, not occupied, but further away from the German soldiers, who most
under the influence of the [Soviet] command, and certainly wouldn’t take women and children in to
had its own Lithuanian government. That is why forced labor. And this is how I was caught up in the
many Jews and also many Poles fled to Vilna, and flow, being certain that in a short while, when the
from there, a portion of them went to Japan, China, Germans will very shortly be thrown back, I will be
and even the Holy Land. The way to Vilna was able to be back with my dearest, with my wife and
fraught with danger, especially for a family with little daughter.
small children.
Who would have then thought that I was taking
Panic rose from day to day, especially as every leave of them forever, and they will survive the
morning we found out that one or another person of purgatory of the ghetto, of suffering, hunger and
our acquaintance had left for Vilna. death? Later I heard of their suffering in the ghetto
from Baranovich survivors. They told me that my
The Soviet authority in Baranovich had become little daughter would say to her mother: ‘Yes, father
unnerved, and dropped all of its plans to fortify promised us that he would return, and he will come,
itself in place. but we will no longer be here.’ And it is in this
fashion that I carry the memory of my dearest in my
On June 22, 1941 German airplanes appeared over heart, and [the memory of] their suffering, the
the city, the harbinger of death and liquidation. The memory of the martyrs which I will not forget until
city was heavily bombed and transformed into ruins. my last minute.
The authorities didn’t know what to do. Initially,
thousands of young people were mobilized into the On the roads from cities and towns, waves of people
military, but nobody had any idea of what they were streamed, numbering in the tens of thousands from
going to do. We saw that in the Soviet offices the furthest locations. Single people, families,
documents and papers were being burned, and that mostly the young. People ran for hundreds of
the families of the higher ranking officials were kilometers, an unnatural strength drove us all
leaving the city in the greatest state of panic. The forward. Children stood by the way sides. At every
mobilized forces had no orders as to where they turn – German actions. Peasants awaited the
should present themselves, and thousands of them German arrival, even going out with bread and salt
could be seen blocking up all the roads around us. with which to greet them, having no fear of the
retreating Soviet military. To the peasants, the
People were running without any purpose all over Germans represented a force that would liberate
the highways. The Soviet radio continuously them from the Bolsheviks, and from the Jews. Once
declared that the Germans had broken through we stumbled upon a group of Russian soldiers, well
several front line positions, but very shortly they armed, who didn’t know what to do with their
will be thrown back. We believed the radio because weapons. Until one of them started to shout: ‘
343
Brothers! For whom are we going to spill our blood? In Faraway Bukhara
It isn’t worth waging war! Let us surrender, find a
way to go home!’ – And indeed, they scattered, It is hard to describe the life of the refugees,
leaving their guns and ammunition in the field. Then families and single people, old and young, in those
I saw that for the time being, there was no force that far-flung places in faraway Russia. Our concern for
will hold off the Germans in their march deep into our dearest, for the families who had remained
Russia. behind in the ‘old home’ in the confinement of
ghettoes, as slaves to the accursed German
And so we dragged ourselves over fields and murderers, never left our minds. How many restless
through forests, woods and swamps. Not once was days and nightmare-filled nights all of use endured
I tempted to stop somewhere in a wooded area, and during those years!
no longer drag my bloodied feet with their torn
shoes. I had a good friend Chaim Schwartz with me, The Soviet authorities related to us in the same way
a teacher from Baranovich, who pulled me along, it did to its own citizenry, and often with even
comforted me and perked me up, constantly saying: greater tact and concern. But times were hard for
‘Better that we expire from lack of strength than to everyone. Not everyone could adapt to the Soviet
remain not alive.’ I don’t know where he is today, way of life. No one had a stable place to live, and no
that Chaim Schwatrz. But if he is alive somewhere, one had enough to eat. Those who worked got
perhaps he will read these lines. I would like him to between 400-600 grams of bread a day, and this also
know how grateful I am my whole life for his help not regularly. Whoever didn’t work needed to find
during those days of wandering. sustenance and his own piece of bread by illegal
means, and was always exposed to the danger of
I cannot even remember how long we wandered like severe punishment.
that on foot, until we found ourselves on a train,
which took us into Russia. Almost everyone went hungry, both local citizens
and refugees. One rarely encountered someone who
Our transport was one of thousands, full of refugees, had eaten to satisfaction. And then a typhus
who arrived deep inside Russia, far from the war. epidemic broke out there, and an attack of dysentery
The front was already far from us. A couple of also laid out many of the refugees. But the most
weeks later, the sun in Central-Asian Bukhara was severe illness that sapped everyone’s strength in
warming us. those years, was malnutrition, the insufficient intake
of food. Many of the starving refugees were taken to
I brought a child from Dereczin to Bukhara that I the hospital, but the meager ration of bread there
happened to find in Tashkent among thousands of was too late to save them from death by starvation.
refugees that had fled. A little boy was running
around in that dangerous crowd, and at the top of his Yiddishkeit During Days of Hunger
lungs was asking if there was anyone there from the
Slonim area. I rec ognized him, it was Herschel It is practically unbelievable, how under such
Dworetsky’s son. terrible conditions, a Jewish life pulsated through
those areas, or better said: a mere shadow of a
Our mutual joy was indescribable. I took him with Jewish life.
me and he remained with me until he went into the
Soviet military. He remained in Russia after the war, I remember how a Jew from Brisk, a scholar,
one of the bewildered and lost children of Jewish apparently one of the more important balebatim in
parents, who through the storm of those years were his city, Reb Zelik was his name, invited me once to
uprooted from their place. his home to see something that he was certain would
please me. He brought me to an impoverished
344
Bukharan shack. On the ground, sat an old Jew with such a large gathering, since we were neither
a long beard. Around him sat many young people singing nor were we dancing – only sitting and
and children. With his last ounce of strength, the talking. Not having any option, I told him we were
Rabbi was giving a lesson in the Gemara. This was discussing the bitter c ondition of the refugees who
a Yeshivah, with all of the details, just like it was are unable to work. He told us to leave the place
back in our old home in years gone by. immediately, and to never assemble again in such
large groups.
This was the Kenner Gaon, whom the war had cast
into Bukhara. He had decided to preserve the Jewish A few days after this, at a late evening hour,
spirit among the younger generation, so that he someone came knocking at my door. I opened it, and
should not, God forbid, pass away among strangers saw that stern party member. He asked me to come
during the war years. outside with him. I was very scared, and was
prepared to bid my freedom a farewell. I became
Later, the Gaon did pass away in Bukhara, and all of very moved, when the man showed me a large
his students escorted him to his final resting place. package, and said to me: ‘Here see, take this for the
poor refugees.’ The package contained things,
It is thanks to the stubbornness and commitment of clothing, which indeed the next morning were
such precious and faithful Jews, that our people distributed among the needy. From that time on,
were able to survive their lengthy existence in the that man was a reliable source of help for the
Diaspora. We all understood it this way, and refugees. When he would hear from us about the
therefore looked after the Yeshivah. Not one of us plight of the Jews, tears would come to his eyes.
stood down from the need to help. We were people Later on, he would listen with interest to the debates
there from many walks of life, raised in many between the members of Betar and HaShomer
different kinds of youth organizations, and belonged Hatza’ir. And he was sympathetic to the followers
to many [different] parties, – but out there we were of Jabotinsky.133
all united, and did everything to uphold the Jewish
spirit, regardless of the form in which it was Among the Russian Jews there were many who
expressed. Every little thing that had so any sort of deeply longed for the Land of Israel.
Jewish content to it, received protection from all of
us. It was the Zionist ideal that tied us all together. When I was arrested by the N.K.V.D. in 1942, for
wanting to enlist in General Anders Polish Army, I
In the largest common undertaking, we started to was questioned for a couple of hours by an
study a little Yiddishkeit, and especially Jewish interrogator. Suddenly he let me go, asking me why
history, the Russian Jewish youth itself. These I did not want to remain in Russia, but rather was
young Jews, who for many years had been uprooted preparing myself to go to Israel. When I explained
out of their people, were literally drawn to know to him that I was not thinking at all about going to
something about the history of Jewry. We literally Israel, but rather to go and fight against Hitler in the
c ould see, how a spark of Jewish patriotism was ranks of the Polish army, in which I had served
ignited in their hearts. before, he answered me with a smile, that all this
was for the formality, but he knew the truth well.
On one such evening, when we sat with a larger
group of young people, and talked about Jewish My release brought great relief to my acquaintances.
matters, an uninvited guest suddenly appeared at the I was liable for a severe punishment, because two
door, that everyone feared. This was a party passports were found on my person, in two different
member, and understand, it was the communist
party, an appointee with much responsibility. 133
Angrily he asked what we were all doing here in Vladimir Ze’ev Jabotinsky was the
founder of the Betar movement.
345
names. The matter became clear to me in 1945, Polish regiments of the Soviet military, organized by
when I met the N.K.V.D. interrogator in Vienna, in the left-wing author Wanda Wasilewska. The first,
the well-known Rothschild Hospital, which served those who went with Anders, came to the Land of
as a transit center for refugees. We embraced and our Hope and often placed themselves at the service
kissed each other with joy. He said to me: ‘Then you of the leadership of our country. The others joined
didn’t want to tell me, so I found my own way to the the bloody march to Berlin, and along the way found
Land of Israel...’ cities and town in ruins, without any Jews, and
without their nearest and dearest.
I don’t know where he is now, but wherever he
might be, may my blessings go with him. After Stalingrad, the front was broken and reversed,
and the reverse march of the Germans began. By
Russia was a good school for communists, where the summer of 1944, our areas had been liberated,
they could educate themselves to the truth about the but I didn’t reach Baranovich and Dereczin until
Bolshevik regime. I must recall Shmuel the youth January 1945. A mild snow was falling, and lightly
from Derec zin, a hard-bitten communist. It was he covered the emptied and destroyed c ity of
who demanded of my father in Dereczin that he turn Baranovich. There were no Jews, and in general it
over the priest, who had hidden himself with us. He was empty all around. It is difficult to describe my
served the Soviet authorities faithfully in Dereczin, sorrowful state of mind in those days, when I could
and when the Russians retreated, they took Shmuel find no trace of my little family and of my home.
with them.
I traveled to Dereczin with a tremor in my heart.
In 1943, Zacharevich the photographer came to me Once, once I think, with eons ago, but it is 4-5 years
and told me that he had met a young man from in total that have passed since that time, I would
Dereczin in a terrifying condition. It was Shmuel. He come home for vacations and find a warm family.
had escaped from a labor camp from which he was Now, after years of being tossed about in faraway,
supposed to be ‘made over’... strange regions, I found no one in Dereczin and I
wandered about like an orphan over the streets of
We took him to us settled him down, dressed him my youth. Every gentile whom I met looked at me
and made him back into a human being. He became wondering: How is that a Jew survived?
a good and faithful Jew, and helped everyone with
whatever means were at his disposal. Until he was I found a small bit of comfort in Dereczin: two small
again arrested and accused of espionage... he was children of my sister Malka, together with her
forcibly taken from us, and no one knows where he husband, ‘Nioma Weinstein, were saved from the
is now. massacre and remained alive after so many years of
torture, hunger and death. My sister Malk a wanted
The local Bukharan Jews accepted us as brothers, to flee with them together, But literally at the last
even though we didn’t share a common language minute, she ran back into the house, to take
with them. They were faithful Jews, observing the something for her two small children – the
religious customs, longing for Zion and Jerusalem. murderers seized her, questioned her under torture
until she died of the torture.
Back to Our Ruined Home
I did not recognize the home of my parents.
No one knew how long the war would last, and Everything around it was burned, streets, alleys, and
when an end would come to our being tossed around roads in general were sort of spilled together as if in
from plac e to place. Part of the Jewish refugees one big area of ruin.
went into Anders’s Polish military group, in order to
reach the Holy Land through Iran. Others joined the
346
Together with a few other surviving Dereczin Jews,
we would go every morning to the mass graves in But her heart could not long bear such a sorrow and
Blizniansky’s fields, recite the Kaddish, cry loneliness in which she lived. She left us, here in
ourselves out, and again go stumbling back over the Israel while still very young.
ruins in Dereczin.
Since I again found my brother Ben Zion, we are
I worked in Baranovich, but every few days I would together all these years, and we c arry with us the
travel ‘home’ to Dereczin, in order to be close to the sorrow of the annihilation of our family and of our
spirit of my kinfolk, that hovered over the ruins, and town, Dereczin.
to relive the memories of my youth in our town.
I c ontinued to wander for a little time longer, in
Before leaving Dereczin, I fulfilled a mission – I Poland, Austria, until I came to Israel in 1949, the
helped Jews smuggle themselves out of Russia into only country which is the home of our exhausted
Poland. Until suspicion fell on me, and on May 9, people.
1945 I left our hometown and went away to Poland.
I found my brother Ben-Zion thanks to Chaykeh

Rudenstein. She found him among those newly co-
opted into Poland. She searched for me, and
prepared me to meet my brother. She did this with
motherly decency, and tenderness, as only she was
capable of doing – she, Chaykeh, who had to watch
how her husband and children were killed, left
alone, and found after those terrifying years, a
comfort in helping others. It was in this fashion,
motherlike and without jealousy, that she protected
and raised my sister’s children.
From The Foreign Land to the Homeland

By Rivkah Becker
Translation by Martin Liebman as a kindness to Nancy Phillips
and the family of Ida Becker Phillips
Until the outbreak of the war between Germany and officer, a Jew who had married Dvorah Shelkovich,
Russia, I was in Dereczin together with my parents turned to us and said: whoever wanted to save
and the rest of my family. I worked in the dental themselves should run away with us. We followed
office of Yudl Shelovsky. The day after the outbreak him, c rossed the Shchara River on foot, got guns
of the war, the Russians retreated and they sent their from the Russians, and arrived at the pre-war Polish-
families to Russia. All day long the German Russian border – Stolbsty. Part of those fleeing,
airplanes circled above our heads. among them my sister, returned to Dereczin, and we
remained at the battlefront together with the Russian
My mother turned to me and to my sister, and army. From there I was sent to a Russian hospital at
suggested that we gather a few items of clothing, the rear. For four years, I worked at this hospital in
and run into the fields. The next morning, a Russian the city of Kaluga, near Moscow. When the
347
Germans got close, I moved with the hospital to the grave sites, recited Kaddish and El Moleh
Kazakhstan. We were in transit for about two Rakhamim, crying with torn hearts. That is how we
months with the hospital, until we arrived at Penza. took leave of our parents, brothers and sisters, sons
With the onset of the German retreat, the hospital and daughters, holy and pure.
was closed down there, and we moved to Vitebsk,
and I along with the other personnel worked there After the pogrom in Kielce, we decided to leave
until 1944. Lodz and move to Varotslav, and from there we
smuggled ourselves across the border to
In 1945 I was discharged from the army and they Czechoslovakia. The Czech border guards caught
sent me back to Dereczin. us, and wanted to send us back to Poland. After
crying and pleading, they agreed to send us to
While still in Penza, I sent letters to liberated Prague. We moved to a refugee camp in
Dereczin, but did not receive a response for a long Czechoslovakia, and from there to Germany. Here
time. Only in 1945, did a letter arrive from the head we met other natives of Dereczin. In Germany, my
of municipal administration of Dereczin, and in it he husband and I spent three years in the refugee camp.
wrote that no Jews were left in town, since all of In the camp, my husband opened a bakery, and in it
them had been wiped out by the Germans. baked Challah for the Sabbath, and used it to keep
food warm for the Sabbath.
Upon my arrival in Slonim from Vitebsk in 1945, I
found only Yehuda Lantzevitzky and Yankelevich, in In 1949 we arrived in Israel.
addition to one other family.
I reached Dereczin by way of Zelva. In Dereczin, I

found five pits in which our martyrs, who were
murdered by the Nazis, had been buried, three pits
in the fields behind Blizniansky, and two in the old
cemetery.
In Dereczin, I found only three Jewish families:

Lozha (Eliezer), the hairdresser’s (son?), Zeydl
Ferder, and Alter Becker, now my husband.
I lived in Dereczin for about a year. The appearance

of the town when I arrived was horrible: The market
and the Deutsche Gasse were burned, the courtyard
of the synagogue stood on its desolation – burned.
Everything had gone up in flames. The only houses
on the market street that survived were: the house of
Yehuda Wolfowitz, and behind it the house of Feitl
Busak, and of Buma Grachuk, whereas the Zelva
Gasse had remained intact. The families that had
survived lived together in the Kwiat house on the
Zelva Gasse.
When the Russians permitted the Poles to leave

Dereczin, we went with them to Lodz. Before
leaving Dereczin, we all gathered, the survivors, at
348
Torn Out of the Pulpit at Sinaiska
By Rabbi Israel ben Ch. M. Kaplinsky
On Lag B’Omer of 5694 (1933), I came to occupy help of the farmers union in the Holy Land, whose
the pulpit in the settlement of (Kolonia) Sinaiska, special emissary was Mr. Sitkov, kz. The departure
one of the rare settlements of Jewish farmers, that of these families was felt very deeply in the
had been founded more than a century before. I had settlement, because they represented about a third of
been invited to serve as the Rabbi at the all residents.
recommendation of Rabbi Moshe of Zelva, a
reputable Jewish scholar. My memory of the things There was a Heder in the settlement, where boys
that were agreed to and signed by me and the heads and girls were taught together, and their combined
of the Sinaiska community inc luded these number was about 13-15, taught by a Rebbe who
conditions: The heads of the community undertook was invited each ‘season.’
to provide for me and my family from their
agricultural produce, such as vegetables and fruits, With the outbreak of the Second World War, Jews
milk and dairy products, and also to provide for a that fled Poland passed through the settlement. The
financ ial income through the sale of candles, and a entire community welcomed them with open arms,
portion of the tax on meat; and on my side, I and provided them with all assistance possible. With
undertook to deal with all questions and answers the Russian occupation of the eastern part of Poland,
pertaining to religious law; to deliver a sermon on the Sinaiska colony passed under Soviet rule.
the Sabbath prior to all holidays; to direct a lesson Conditions c hanged for the worse, in particular my
for the Shas study group, and Mishnah; to oversee own circumstances. In my capacity as a Rabbi, I was
the education of the younger generation and to like thorns in the eyes of the regime, those pursuers
facilitate the admission of those deemed qualified, of ‘justice and equality,’ and the gentiles who before
to the Yeshivah in Slonim. Apart from me there was had treated me with respect, changed their tune, and
a ritual slaughterer in the colony, an observant and began to spout the Soviet line known for its
scholarly Jew. sarcasm. My position was entirely bad, and I
concluded that I had no future in this place, and I
Over time, the bond between me and the settlers of even was at risk to being sent to the land to exile,
Sinaiska grew strong, and became a bond of strong Siberia, as they had done to other Rabbis already. It
friendship. The Jews of Sinaiska, almost all of was then that I decided to endanger my life and that
whom were tillers of the soil, both straight and of my family, and flee in a short while from the
diligent, extracted their sustenance from the earth talons of these beasts of prey. Fearful that they
and were observant Jews. They related to me with would deny me the permission to leave, I told the
the respect due a Rabbi, and always showed concern authorities that I had been invited to take a pulpit in
that my family and I should not lack for anything. I, another city, and secretly fled with my family. After
on my part also tried to satisfy their desires. At wandering along the way, and many tribulations, I
every happy oc c asion of a family event, my house reached Vilna, which at that time was [still] in the
was always open to each and every one. hands of the Lithuanians. In one of our wanderings,
Occasionally they would come to ask me for as we sneaked ac ross the Lithuanian border, I was
personal or family advice; even the gentiles in the apprehended by the Lithuanian border guards, I was
area were friendly in their relationship to me, and taken a prisoner, and I was brought to a police
always received me with favor. station in a small town beside the border, my wife
and children had not succeeded in crossing the
In 1934, approximately 13 families from the border, and I didn’t know their fate. The head of the
settlement made aliyah to the Holy Land, with the police station, an anti-Semite, was delighted in
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having a Jewish Rabbi fall into his hands, an illegal At the end of 1941, two weeks before the Japanese
alien, and I didn’t know what awaited me. And the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese authorities did
Good Lord gave me an idea and advice, and I not want to extend our stay, and they exiled us to
succeeded in getting away from the tyrant. There Shanghai, which at that time was a free city
were two rooms in the police station, the chief sat in captured by the Japanese. Our circumstances
one, and I was sat down in the second, until suc h became very difficult. We lived in substantial
time that a polic eman would come to put me into a deprivation from lack of any assistance. For 28
jail cell. The door to the room was open, and months we were concentrated in a special ghetto,
trusting in God, I quietly slipped out and ran. On the until the end of the world war. In Elul of 1946, we
bench I left a small package, and I said to myself succeeded in reaching the United States, with the
that if God forbid they should seize me, I will justify help of my family that had sent me an invitation and
my absence by saying that I had gone to buy funds for the journey.
cigarettes and food. In leaving the police station, I
ran to a Jewish home and called out loudly: Here, in the United States we began to feel the great
‘Merciful Jews, please rescue me!’ And the freedom. Despite the great distance, I remain in
members of the household indeed did rescue me, touch with the people of Sinaisk who are found in
opening up their cellar that was beneath the floor, the Holy Land, and I ‘c ome together’ with them in
and putting me inside, while placing a piece of the exchange of letters, and with God’s help, I was
furniture on top of the cellar door. And that is how privileged to visit our Holy Land twice together
I spent a full day and night in the cellar, the polic e with my family, and met with the people of Sinaisk
meanwhile turned the town upside down in its who welcomed me with joy and sincerity. With all
search for me, but with God’s help, they didn’t find the pain and enervation over the destruction of the
me. The Jews decided to save me from this danger, Sinaisk settlement, along with the entire sacred
and they cut off my beard, and I took on the [Jewish] communities at the hands of the Nazis ah,
appearance of a younger man without facial hair. I was gladdened to find a portion of the residents of
They dressed me as a wagon driver, sat me on a Sinaisk that were privileged to make aliyah, and put
wagon along with another wagon driver, and got me down roots in our Land, and all of us, with God’s
out of the town, and that’s how I got to Vilna. After help, were privileged to witness the establishment of
a little while, my wife and children also arrived in Israel and the miracles and wonders done by the
Vilna. Holy One, Blessed Be He, who caused all our
enemies to be brought low by our own soldiers,
In time, many students of the Mirrer Yeshivah heroes of Israel. And my prayer to the God of Israel
gathered and were concentrated there, and we is that we be privileged to see the coming of the
succeeded, by means of a variety of subterfuges and Messiah, our righteous one, quickly in our day,
with the help of intermediaries, in getting a transit Amen.
visa to Japan. An entire group of students from the
Mirrer Yeshivah reached the Japanese city of Kobe
by airplane, and we remained there with the people
from the Yeshivah and studied together, with
support from the ‘Joint’ and the Aid Society of the
Organization of American Rabbis in America, and
the Jews of the Kobe community. Our circumstances
were good, we were able to sit and study Torah.
350
On the Ruins
351
352
Back in Dereczin
By Sarah Wachler-Ogulnick
On July 13, 1944, a two-year period of my service in murder of our loved ones, and the hundreds of
the partisan movement came to an end. On that day, Jewish communities.
the female partisans received a document attesting
to the fact that they took part in the war against the With these sorrowful thoughts and burning hatred,
German occupation forces. The men were sent to the I listlessly dragged myself around Dereczin for a
front with the Soviet army. Those few Jews who long time, aimlessly wandering about her burned out
managed to remain alive after those hard years in and destroyed streets. Everything had been burned,
the partisans, ended up in different campaigns, as and was already overgrown with grass. Everything
members of the army that fought with the Germans had been wrecked, flattened to the ground. It is
until Berlin fell. They exacted revenge for all the desolate, and no living thing can be seen. There is a
things that the Germans did to us. Only very few deathly silence on the streets and byways. Only on
remained alive after that terrifying Hell, that they the other side of town, near Beckenstein’s mill,
had to survive, and whose story could not be told to several peasant wagons are standing. Like a needle
date. to the heart and brain, a thought stabs me that in this
very spot, three to four years ago, there was a life,
The few women from Dereczin began to go home to with streets and houses, with stores and synagogues,
Dereczin from the forest – back to that home which with young people, with dreams, ideals, and with all
no longer existed. I am drawing close to the mass the good and hard times of a pulsating Jewish
graves, where our dear ones and kinfolk lay – the existence. Why right here was the Schulhof, and
innocent, the tortured, the murdered, torn from life here – the market square with the pretty little
by the German murderers. For what reason?! For gardens in front of the houses, and there – the
what purpose?! Tears choked me. But to what barracks. Only the church and its chapel are still
purpose will crying help at this point? To this day, standing, as if to add insult to injury, with their
I wish the entire German nation and its children the crosses high in the sky.
taste of the feeling experienced by all Jews, that
suffered under the Nazi rule, waiting day by day for Now I am coming to the place where only a few
death – till the day of the massacre, and the cruelty, years ago, Shmuel Abelovich and his wife Basha
the indescribable scenes of that terrifying day of lived with their two daughters, Tzippeh &
slaughter. They sentenced our brothers and sisters Shayndeleh. Tzippeh was my childhood friend. We
without c ause for blame, except for the ‘sin’ of used to do our homework together. What a warm
being a Jew. But they, the German nation, of Jewish household this was! I felt such dedication
Hitler’s herd of wolves, the nation of systematized and love between the walls of their house. Now
brutality – they deserve an end like the one we got! there is no one here, who can tell of the suffering
They wipe out the larger part of European Jewry – and agony, the feelings and thoughts of the family in
they, both the bad and the ‘good’ Germans. the last minutes of their lives...
Whoever didn’t observe them during their actions,
cannot imagine what a nation of murderers looks Past their house is the burned and wrecked
like, with murder in their eyes, with destructive Schulhof. I used to be there so often, at the house of
methods, with completely developed plans for the the Rabbi, where my two friends lived, Malka &
extermination of a people. But even vengeance, the Zina Dubinchik kz. The murderers didn’t let anyone
greatest possible revenge, cannot still the pain and go. The brutality of the German actions becomes
will not heal the wound that was inflicted on every even sharper when one walks the ruins of the streets
one of us, and the general Jewish population, by the of a life that once was.
353
Here, among the overgrown ruins was the house of summertime, being there was like being in a Dacha.
my friend, Elkeh Lifshovich, Noah’s daughter. Here We would go out for a walk in the field very early in
she grew up in a well-to-do family with such fine the morning, picking flowers, singing, telling each
children. Dora Ogulnick lived here as well. We other different things, serious and joking, and our
were in the same class and studied together, song and laughter carried far over the green fields.
dreamed together, strove – and now I stand here In the Nozhnitsky house itself, was suffused with
alone, with my memories and with an ache in my such a warmth and love between the parents,
heart for those young lives that were prematurely Rachel’s two sisters, Yehuditkeh & Miniyeh, and the
cut off. two little brothers kz. We would gather at their
home in the winter, during the intense cold as well.
I am finally coming to Slonim Gasse. Our house It was always warm and cozy there. Rachel’s parents
once stood here. O, woe, woe is me, what is left of never made a remark to the effect that we might be
it! A desolation, one sees only a pit, where the disturbing anyone with our joyful conversation and
cellar of our house was. There are fused pieces of singing. I remember the mother, Tamar, so well, and
glass lying about in that corner where in the attic the the grandmother, Rivkah, like two quiet doves in the
Passover paraphernalia was stored... warm house of this loving family. The father of the
family would come home late from work, but even
My family had been here, people lived, worked, then he was loving, good and still, and this made
suffered and hoped, they made themselves happy such a strong impression on all of us, that we went
and always waited for something better to come home with great pleasure.
along. Here, in the house that used to stand in this
plac e, children laughed and sang, they played, And now, I stand beside the grave of such a warm
jumped, now they, together with their parents, with family life, that will never return. What dear people,
friends and comrades, all, all in the graves about, – so ideal, community oriented a Jewish life –
and I am still alive. To this day I do not know by everything, everything was cut down, together with
what Providence I came to remain alive out of all all the dear people of Dereczin and from hundreds
my relatives and loved ones. of cities and towns...
I stand in front of my burned out house, and before Apart from the pain in my heart, my visit to
my teary eyes, the memories of our recent past go Dereczin only served to strengthen my enmity
by. Friday nights at home, the candles flickering toward those who – for no purpose of their own, or
happily with their Sabbath light streaming through for the world – murdered a Jewish civilization. I
all the windows, the bright table with all the observed a small revenge taken on the Germans, but
delicacies on the white tablecloth, my father making this is like a drop in the water.
Kiddush, and our choral response of ‘Amen...’ It
was so Sabbath-like and festive, a form of sanctity What have I got left to do in desolate Dereczin? To
descended on our heads, a holiness that can no look at the put up faces of the Christians, who speak
longer be found today. as if with pity on us, and who in their hearts gloat
over taking our booty, with the houses that did
I take leave of my former home with sorrowful remain intact, in which they conc eal stolen
steps. I am now on the Sovicher Gasse. There, all valuables from our families? To feel sorry for those
my girlfriends would gather at the house of Rachel Christian families that remained without a way to
Nozhnitsky, who was one of the best students in the make a living, because without Jews there was no
class. In their house we felt the best of all the places one to whom to sell and for whom to work, from
we went. Around their house they had a beautiful whom to buy and have a garment altered?
orchard with fruits and beanstalks. One could
breathe so freely there, the trees and fields always I don’t want any of their pity. I feel no pity for them.
created a good mood in us. In the spring and
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My hometown was still and sad. I left her ruins
quietly and sadly.
But I will remember our Dereczin to my last day,

where I was raised, went to school, dreamed, and in
whose soil the bones of our martyrs lie. Here, they
were driven across the streets and byways, with
little children in their arms, overcome to their hearts,
on their last gray walk – the men, who might
perhaps have been able to save themselves, but
chose rather to die with their wives, the parents,
who together with their little children, went to the
death pits...
Our martyrs, fathers, and mothers, brothers and

sisters! May your souls be bound up in the bond of
life!
No Where to Return
By Chaya Beckenstein-Pilzer
The tragedy became clear to me when the war and who might have remained. The very thought
ended, and I found out that there was no place to frightened me, but I screwed up my courage, and
which to return. We met up with the Russian army went on my way. There were no regular means of
that was advancing to the front, and they liberated communication, so I had to stand by the side of the
all the partisans, to permit them to return home and road and hitch a ride with army transport vehicles
be reunited with their families. I knew the bitter going in that direction. I traveled to Baranovich,
truth, that there was nobody waiting for me, and I later to Slonim, Zelva, and in this way, to Dereczin.
had no one to go to. I requested that they take me to When I rode into town, and the soldiers asked me
the front, but this didn’t help. I had to go wherever where I wanted to be let off, I didn’t know what to
they sent me. And I arrived in Horodishch, a small say. Everything that I saw was in ruins, with the sky
town between Baranovich and Novogrudok. I around us. Until I spotted the Catholic church,
worked there for the procurator, and I was promised which was when I realized that I was on the
that as soon as the war was over, I would be sent to outskirts of the town. So I alighted, thanked the
school (this is what I wanted). My life there was soldiers, and went in the general direction of the
very gray. I made the acquaintance of the few Jews houses near the church. With tears in my eyes and
that remained alive in town – the four Mirsky sisters. my heart beating wildly, I went into a house, and the
I used to run into them on Yom Kippur to ask how woman recognized me, saying that I must be one of
much longer I needed to fast, and when Christians the Beckensteins. When I calmed down from crying,
would bring me chickens, eggs and butter to pay for I discovered that there were a few Jews in town. She
me for preparing a document for them to the told me where I could find them, and I went away.
authorities, I would show them by hand, that they In what had been a whiskey distillery, I found
should take it across the way (to where the sisters ‘Nioma Weinstein and his children, and Chaykeh
lived). from the mill. I became aware that a number of other
families were to be found in Dereczin. I became
One time, I decided to travel to Dereczin to see what extremely discouraged, seeing how they had to live
355
among the ruins. I could not comprehend how they Angered and embittered, I forsook my dear little
were able to live among the gentiles, and the graves town of Dereczin, never to return to its ruins.
of their beloved and dear ones. They all told me that
they would not remain in Dereczin for much longer.
On the Ruins of the Dreams of My Youth

By Masha Kulakowski
Mournful and bareheaded, we emerge from the We began to work, because according to the Soviet
forest and turn our faces – to Dereczin, our regulations, whoever doesn’t work – doesn’t eat.
birthplace, the place of our childhood dreams. Surprisingly, units sprang up from the organizers
We travel by wagon, with thousands of soldiers that sent emissaries from Soviet Russia to do both
passing us by. We have already been liberated, but farming or selling. They did not consider the fact
the missions are not yet over. They surge westward, that the Jews emerged from the forests weakened
to the front that has moved past Volkovysk. They and exhausted. It was these in particular that they
are pursuing the Nazi Monster, in order to wipe it wanted to enlist in this sort of work in faraway
out entirely. lands.
We reached Dereczin the day after we c ame out of It didn’t take long before my husband, Abraham
the forest. A small group of Jews gathered in the crossed the border to Poland. Several months later,
town. We were greeted by the graves of the Jews, of I also reached Bialystock.
brothers and sisters. Our hearts stopped. A few
Poles come out in the streets, astonished to see those At first, I saw organized Jewish life in Bialystock,
who were able to overcome the enemy and to return after the great destruction that overtook us. Yet,
to their homes. there were very few Jews there as well, and even
these were a source of irritation in the eyes of the
But there is no ‘home.’ The lion’s share of the town Christians. But there was a kitchen set up for those
had been transformed into a pile of rubble. Only a returning, and we would get one free meal there a
few of the houses of the Jews remained [standing], day. But our living conditions, partic ularly the place
and we head for them. where we lived was very hard to bear. But even
more difficult were the relationships between the
What shall we do? How can we settle in these Christians and Jews. Several murders of Jews that
houses, when we can see the graves across the way, had survived the Holocaust, occurred, and naturally,
when we have to live next to the Christians – and we none of the murderers were ever found.
remember the depredations during the days of the
Nazi occupation, their behavior on the day of the
massacre. Lo, we don’t even have a common
language of discourse, and their attempt to ingratiate
themselves arouses heartburn in us.
On the first day, it was already apparent to us that

we could not stay here much longer. The aspiration
of our youth, to make aliyah to the Holy Land, was
rekindled within us with intensity.
356
At the same time, when it was nearly impossible to We visited the death camps at Majdanek, and we
find food, it was possible to buy soap, which on its heard of the judgement meted out to the Germans
wrapper were stamped the three German letters, who had been captured in this camp, about their
R.J.F. – Reine Jüdische Fett – Pure Jewish Fat. execution – yet anti-Semitism continued to roil
around us wherever we went. We decided to leave
We celebrated the Sukkot festival in the city, and a Poland. We wandered from city to city in the area of
number of minyans were organized, but services the Czech border. The Polish winter left its mark on
were conducted with bitter weeping. us, we were dressed thinly and the cold was
unbearable.
Very quickly, my illusions from the forest, that
relations between Jews and Christians would get And in this fashion, we crossed the Czech border by
better, were shattered on the hard rock of reality. way of an unmarked road. From there, we made our
way to Germany – and we went through many more
We decided to leave Bialystock, arranged for the wandering before we reac hed the Land of our
necessary permits, and continued on to Lublin. Forefathers.
There were more Jews there, but our contact with
them left us depressed. There were many among
them who had very recently come out of hiding, and
were of a mind that they were saved from death by
a miracle. There was one whom the Germans had
attempted to slaughter – and he came out with his
throat slit, and walked among us with a
mechanically-aided breathing apparatus. And there
were children there, offspring of Czech Jews, that
the Germans drove to slaughter literally in the final
days, but a Soviet tank blocked their way to the Nazi
lines -- the Germans were killed and the children
were given into the hands of Jews. They, along with
others who were rescued walked among us silently,
turned inward, because one could still see the terror
in their eyes.
From Forest Bunkers to Mass Graves

By Malka Bulkovstein
The Germans retreat. We still remain concealed in answered: ‘No, don’t go yet, stay here for another
bunkers – until the day came that we emerged from week. You have survived so much, and waited so
hiding. long to be liberated, wait a little longer before you
go back home...’
The family compound received an order to assemble
in the partisan camp. We had a long way to go, and Exactly a week later, on the anniversary of the great
far to travel. In the Dobrovshchina [forest] we met massacre in Dereczin, we arrived ‘home’ on a
with high-ranking officers of the Soviet army. We Friday night. We ran the last few kilometers, we
asked them if we could go home, to which they didn’t walk. We were shot at from the corn fields,
357
but we arrived in Dereczin. Among all the burned Sunday we went to the mass graves. You can
houses, our house stood intact. Two Christian imagine how we felt, as we stood by the mounds of
families were living in it, from the worst sort in earth, adjacent to Shelovsky’s mill, where the bones
town, Mikhash Kachuk and Aganowski. The latter of our nearest and dearest lay. Later we found
immediately vacated the premises the morning after scattered bones of hands and feet, which we buried,
our arrival, but Kachuk stayed with us for about and we put a fence around the grave. As long as we
another month. were in Dereczin that location was guarded. Now, I
have no idea what remains of the mass grave.
Orphaned, Abandoned, and Hopeless

By Moshe & Israel Kwiat
...Like a vessel filled with shame, so does a Jew feel the hope of reaching a more hospitable land? But
in his own town. Few among many, abandoned, how could we abandon the graves of the dead? It
strangers. Like a thief, he steals across the plaza of seemed to us that they were looking at us with
the desolated city. Even the farmers are not anxious reproving eyes: don’t leave us!
to c ome to town: there is no one to sell to, and
nothing to buy. They come into town at the Before Rosh Hashanah 5706 (1945), we left
beginning of the week, or on holidays, near the Dereczin. The few Gentiles who knew about our
church, and upon seeing a Jewish resident of the departure promised: we will tell our children who
town, proclaim in loud wonderment: – How did you will come after us that [here] there once was a
stay alive? Jewish people that Hitler exterminated, and Jews
lived even in our town...
The Jews live crowded together out of necessity, in
order to mitigate the feeling of pain, the sense of Maybe they will fulfil their promise, but how will
fright and desolation brought on by the echoes of coming generations of these Gentiles understand
their kin that were exterminated. these tales? For the town lies in ruins, and there is
no one to rebuild it from its wreckage. The few
The conversations? Words of mourning for the Jews scattered to the four corners of the globe – and
dead. they are the only ones who mourn the destruction of
their town and their community.
Young men were required to enlist immediately
after the liberation, and only few of the young
people remained in town usually because of
assuming a responsible position in a place of work.
The value of a life was frightening, and pay was
low. Various necessities could be procured, but only
on the black market.
We had many troubles before we left Dereczin:

could one continue to live a miserable life near the
graves of our dead, without being able to look the
Gentiles in the eye, who conveyed such
astonishment that you remained alive? Or to leave
the Valley of Death, and set out on a journey with
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A Kosher Passover Among the Ruins
By Nekhama Petrukhovich
When we were in the forest, partisans told us that We also obtained boards. Everything was ready to
our house had not been burned down, and stood begin baking – but we were missing our dearest
intact – as if it were awaiting our return. So I ones, and there was no holiday joy among us.
thought to myself, if the ever-loving God would
bring us out of this alive and well to home, I would Everyone got together, though, and began to bake
make my house open to everyone. the matzoh. We had enough matzoh for everyone –
and how many of us were there anyway? We even
And when we finally arrived in Dereczin, bread was baked for Isser Mekhess and sent him the matzoh to
indeed baked in my home, often two bakings a day, Zelva, and for Noah Goldberg and for the
and this was not a burden to me. This was after our Shelkoviches, who also came to participate in our
arrival from the forest. Seders. All the [remaining] Jews of Dereczin came
to the Seders in our house. We also made mead
In the meantime, winter passed, and as the Passover from honey, put seasonal beets on the table – it was
season drew near, my husband and I began to a Seder with all the details attended to...
prepare us to make an effort to bake matzoh for the
survivors. We found rolling pins and wheels in the It was a kosher Passover, but without our nearest
attic, baking materials we obtained from the and dearest, a kosher but sad Passover among the
gentiles, and we koshered everything scrupulously. ruins of Dereczin.
Among Ruined Streets and Lanes

By Meir Bakalchuk
No one knew or could anticipate when the war joined the Polish regiments of the Red Army,
would end. When we were living far and deep in organized by the Polish leftist writer, Wanda
[the heart of] vast Russia, with an open wound in Wasilewska.
our hearts after being uprooted from our cities and
families, no one could know when he would again The number of Jews in the Polish regiments was not
be ‘at home,’ and whom he would find there. No large, and many of them fell in the terrible battles
one knew whether we would ever find anyone "in against the German army. But they had the
this life" or who it would be. In our worst privilege of bringing the first assistance to those
nightmares, no one could imagine the terrifying Jews who had managed to survive miraculously,
destruction that had befallen everyone and through pain and hunger, the terrible ordeals of the
everything we held dear. German occupation. And they lived to exact
vengeance from those Germans and their allies
After the defeat of the German army in Stalingrad a whom they encountered in the liberated areas. But
spark of hope ignited our hearts: soon we might be they were also the first to witness the scene of the
able to return to our homes. The first witnesses to destruction of our cities and our families.
the tragedy and destruction of the Jews during the
German occupation were those who voluntarily The news of the great tragedy reached us from
359
various sources, and still there remained in our The souls of my family, friends, and acquaintances
hearts a remnant of hope that our nearest and dearest floated around me in my imagination.
had succeeded in saving themselves.
I think that these holy souls demand from me that I
Each one of us was yearning to go home hoping to tell the world their story, so that the memory of the
find someone. On January 2, 1945, I arrived by destruction of the homes and families remains alive.
train in Baranovich. A gentle, white snow fell on Each house had its own story; each family had their
the city, but in my heart there was black darkness. own life.
All around me, there was darkness, as soon as I
found out that there were no more Jews and there I wander around the ruins and suddenly my ears ring
was no trace of my wife, children, relatives, and with the melody of the voice of Cantor Beshkin of
acquaintances. Together with a few other Jews, we Dereczin. I see his imposing presence in front of me,
wandered through the streets, ashamed and guilty: wrapped in his prayer shawl, as he stands in the
we saved ourselves, and our dear ones had perished. Great Synagogue on Rosh Hashanah singing
The brutal images of anguish that my dearest ones Nesane Tokef. With his strong voice, his sings out
suffered in the last days of their existence would not the words "..and as in a dream, he will fly off..."
let me rest. and "Is not Ephraim dear to me as a son...." He was
lucky to have departed this earth before the war and
From Baranovich I went to Dereczin. In place of did not have to live through the tragedy and the
that warmth with which I was usually received every years of the Nazi Hell.
time I came home, this time I was greeted by a
destroyed house. I fell into a total void. No one And here was the home of the pharmacist, which for
welcomed me, no one extended his hand to me. A us was always a symbol of culture, knowledge, and
gentile would pass by and wonder why I, a Jew, was ideals.
still among the living.
And here was the home of Berl Kirschner, who was
One spark of good fortune dominated my mood always an integral part of Dereczin. And here lived
during those desolate days: my sister Malka's two Shalom Sakar. And suddenly, I remember the
little children, Mosheleh and Feigeleh, and her constant smile of Bomeh Grachuk, whose children
husband ‘Nioma Weinstein, managed to remain in were the leaders of the Dereczin youth, proud and
hiding through the occupation, and they survived. intelligent. Leibeh Bialosotsky who never had an
My sister Malka perished. She was supposed to go argument with anyone and led a very quiet existence
into hiding together with her husband and children, without complaints or demands. And the extensive
but at the last moment she went back to her home to family of the Beckensteins. The home of Shelovsky,
pick some things up for her children. The police with their decency, culture and calm. And there was
caught her, tortured her, and wanted to extract the the house of Feiveh Blizniansky with his stormy life,
hiding place of her children and husband – and she the permanent leader of prayer in the Rabbi’s Bet
died of the torture she received at their murderous HaMidrash. We will never again hear his chants on
hands. Today, the children with their father are the eve of the Day of Atonement : ‘Hineni....’
living in America. Do they remember how their
loyal mother paid with her life in order to save All, all those Jews of Dereczin passed through my
them? memory in those days of my wandering around the
ruins. I hope they will forgive me if I find it perhaps
I did not recognize the home of my parents in hard to remember them all now, but they are all very
Dereczin. Everything around was in cinders. I dear to me today, just as they were then as I
walked around to all the places where onc e we wandered among the ruins of Dereczin. They were
played as children, but it all looked like a cemetery. dear to me as I remembered the large Neuer Gasse
360
of the hard-working Jewish tradesmen and the Everyone knows how proudly he acquitted himself
alley, where the shoemakers' synagogue and the in responding to the German murderers – they did
tailors' synagogue always stood open, with their not kill him, he took his life when he saw that
worshipers, all those Jews, who with the sweat of everything was lost and that the fate of the Jews was
their brows tried to eke out a living. doomed. The Germans did not succeed in breaking
his Jewish pride. To the last moment, he retained
Not I, but those who lived through the hell of Nazi his godly image.
occupation, and the heroically fought partisan war
will tell of instances of Jewish self-worth and pride i
that emerged even during those years of suffering
and denigration. But with all that, I must mention For several months, when I would come to Dereczin
the name of Mendel Feldman, who by his death, after work in Baranovich, I would wander from time
ennobled the name of all worthy Jews. to time in the ruins of my hometown, and the entire
Jewish community would pass before my eyes, from
The Feldman family did not belong to the traditional rich to poor, from great to small - all, all of them to
Dereczin generation, but it was a Jewish family, this day, after their destruction, who are even dearer
whose family head would come with everybody else and more beloved than ever.
into the synagogue during the High Holydays and on
a Sabbath. Mendel Feldman was always well-
dressed, friendly and correct in his relationships and
conversation with each and every person. At the
same time, he was helpful and approachable to all
those who would come to him as the Chairman of
the Jewish community and the head of the Zionist
movement in Dereczin.
361
Derecziners in America
362
The Founding of the “Derecziner Society”
By Joe (Jonah) Silkovich
Photos: Joe (Jonah) Silkovich & his wife vg (p. 412)
The Committee of the Dereczin Society of America (p. 413)
(Individuals not identified)
Our society was founded by the first Derecziners and has no income during the period of his illness.
who had arrived in America over sixty years ago.
Immigration was substantial at that time, and the Our society was very active from the time it was
admission to America was – unrestricted. Whoever first founded. We had frequent meetings, and met
had the money to buy passage on a ship could come with great feeling, as if we were all still in the old
to America. country, in Dereczin. We all kept close to one
another. When new arrivals came from Dereczin,
Who emigrated then? People who found it difficult they immediately joined the society. In this manner
to make a living in the old country, in the cities and we grew to between 150 -160 members.
towns of the Pale of Settlement in the large expanse
of Czarist Russia. The emigration from Dereczin When we younger people c ame to America and
was of this kind also. Also, Jews who were blessed joined our society, it became somewhat more
by God with five and six daughters, voyaged to enlivened, – the leadership [became] more liberal
America to make a little bit of money for dowries and free. When one came to a meeting, one felt like
for their daughters. Many Jews in those years came one was among his own kind.
actually only for a few years, and then went back to
their homes and families. The society did many good things for its members,
helped them in their time of need, took care of their
Those who had decided to remain in America and families that were distant – and when it happened
later send for their families were lonely individuals, that one of the members managed to work his way
full of yearning for their old home, where they had up and begin to earn a little more, forgetting his wife
left behind a peaceful small-town way of life, and to and children in Dereczin, falling in love with
a traditional life style. Being so alone, without their another woman, without a kerchief and wig on her
kin or a common language, landsleit from various head – the society would send for the wife and
c ities began to meet periodically, and it was in this children, bring them to their husband and father in
fashion that the various “Societies” were founded, America, and made him a “surprise.”
in which people found a solace for their loneliness.
In those years it was fashionable to arrange an
Our Dereczin Society was founded this way as well. annual ball with music. The young people would
First of all, the founders learned how such a society come to spend time and dance away the whole night.
had to be run. It is necessary to put together and Many who didn’t live in New York, would journey
write down a constitution of the society, elect a to attend these balls. We knew, that at these balls,
president, a vice-president, a secretary, finance banquets and meetings, we would be able to meet all
secretary and hospitaler. The president runs the the Derecziners.
meetings, the secretary records the minutes in the
folio, the finance secretary handles money matters, Not all of our landsleit joined the society. There
the hospitaler concerns himself with members who were instances where a Derecziner would fall in
have fallen ill, visiting them and bringing them their love with a girl from a different city or country, as
sick benefits, a small sum of money which the sick for example, a Galitzianer girl, and he left to
person is able to use to support themselves for a become a member in the society of the bride’s father
significant period of time, while he is not working – even though he felt like a stranger there, and even
363
didn’t understand their speech. The following were ac tive: Berkowitz, Minkowitz,
Nathan Bliss vg, Mr. & Mrs. Silkovich, Rachel
When the stream of emigration fell off, the activities Feldman, Mr. & Mrs. Abramovich. Our trustworthy
of the society fell off as well. But during the years Kadish Feder put in a lot of work along with his
of the First World War and immediately thereafter, wife and two sisters. They would personally pack
we formed an aid committee, that initially was the packages, after the ladies would buy the various
established by natives who were Bundists, and to products and clothing, all of this being done like a
which other Derecziners were subsequently sacred duty, in the evening hours after a full day’s
attracted. All the Derecziners would c ome to its work. This was done in Feder’s store, and he would
meetings, we gathered funds, helped set up a credit then take care of expediting their delivery.
union in Dereczin, and opened a modern school for
the children. Many of those, who helped out with this important
and difficult work, are to our sadness, no longer
The years went by again, and the Second World with us today. Let us remember them and honor
War came upon us like a storm, with its terrible their memory.
tragedies. We became active once again, Bundists
and Zionists together, even those who were not Now the soc iety is small, but it is much like it was
members in our society. We called meetings in before. Everything that involves the memory of
private homes, raised money to send relief packages Dereczin is dear to us, precious and holy.
to the surviving refugees, who were at that time still
in camps in Germany, Italy. We sent help to those We are all impatiently waiting for the Dereczin
who arrived in the Holy Land after long years of Yizkor Book, for which we have done as much as we
wandering, and to us in America. Our wives could. The Book will serve as a memorial to our
organized a special ‘Ladies Auxiliary’ – a women’s brothers and sisters who were wiped out, and as a
aid society, and did significant and important work. link that will tie us all together, the Derecziners who
More that 700 packages were sent to our brothers live in Israel, in America, and the world at large.
and sisters, the refugees that survived alive after the
exterminations, in the camps.
This work was accomplished through the members

of the c ommittee and by the society, together with
other volunteer Dereczin landsleit, and even non-
Derecziners.
The Work of the Dereczin Relief Committee in New York

By Abraham Kadish Feder
Secretary, Relief Committee
Photos: Fanny Berman-Feder (p. 415)
Ida Sarnatsky-Feder (p. 416)
Facsimile of thank-you note to Fanny Berman for $100 donation (p. 419)
I wish to tell everything that I remember about the It is true that the complete material for the entire
Dereczin Relief Committee, from when it was period had been in my possession, concerning our
founded to its last days. If various dates, names and relief work done in New York: all the
numbers don’t jibe exactly, then I ask your c orrespondence from Derecziners who survived,
forgiveness, because I am writing from memory. sent from the various camps, all together a couple of
hundred letters; all the minutes of our meetings;
364
letters from our landsleit in Americ a, letters from Morris Minkowitz - Treasurer.
Israel, correspondence with agencies; copies of all
letters we sent out; newspaper ads; Lists of the At the outset of its work, the committee set out the
funds we allocated and sent to Israel. I kept all of objective to collect all the addresses of landsleit in
this material up to a couple of years ago, and I am New York and out of New York, across the entire
terribly frustrated now that I no longer have it. We country, and to establish contact with all
could have used a part of this relief material for the Derec ziners. To the extent possible, an effort was
Yizkor Book. made to do so out of the country. At the time, this
was not among the simplest of things to do, but after
I am therefore writing this from memory, but I do a time, we were able to get in contact with landsleit
believe that I am telling the essentials. in the larger cities, such as Chic ago, California,
Washington, and especially in Boston, from which
During the war years, starting in 1941 or 1942, the we got financial assistance.
Dereczin Society in New York called a meeting of
all Derecziner landsleit that lived in New York. The Our meetings were held every Sunday in the home
purpose of the meeting was – to start doing of our chairman, Berkowitz, and this helped us a lot,
something for our beloved town of Dereczin. because his residence was centrally located in New
York. His doors were always open to us, and despite
This was in the midst of the heat of war, at a time his advanc ed age, he did for the work of the relief
when dark clouds were hanging over the world, and committee as much as his energies permitted.
Jews in Europe were engulfed by the flames of war.
The Nazi armies marched from one c ountry to the Slowly, through letters, telephone calls and
next and from city to city at lightning speed. newspaper ads, we assembled a number of addresses
As soon as they occupied a city, their first awful of Dereczin landsleit, and also of some who were
objective was to torture or exterminate the Jewish not born in Dereczin, but still had kin in Dereczin.
populace using all manner of terrifying means. We made contact with Canada very quickly,
Thousands upon thousands of Jews, our brethren in Argentina, and especially Israel.
Israel, had already been wiped out by then. We, in
America did not yet fully comprehend the extent of The first letter we received from Israel reached us a
the catastrophe, the monumental tragedy that befell short while after we initiated activity in New York.
our nearest and dearest in our ancestral home Malka Alper had written the letter. From her letter,
Dereczin, along with the entire Jewish population in we learned that the Derecziners in Israel were also
the lands occupied by the Nazis. Reports concerning organized, and were readying an aid activity. This
these matters in the newspapers were short and boosted morale for our own work.
meager, but enough to alarm all of us.
Through letters and the press, we reached out to our
At the time of our meeting to which the members of kinfolk across the land, to inform them of the
the Dereczin society were called, a sum of money existence of our committee, and of its objectives. A
was raised, and immediately a committee was large portion of our landsleit were responsive, some
formed that was called the ‘Dereczin Relief with more and some with lesser contributions. Many
Committee.’ The following landsleit joined the of them also wrote us letters, in which they
committee: Jonah Silkowitz, Seelah Silkowitz, communicated more or less the same sentiment: It is
Nathan Bliss, Shifra Bliss, Yitzhak Berkowitz, Fanny a shame that we are so far from you, but we are with
Berman, Hirschel Feder, Ida Sarnatsky, Rosa you in your important effort, and we will be here for
Siskind, Itzl Weissberg, Rachel Efras, Joe you every time you need to turn to us. God should
Abramowitz, Moshe Goldfarb, Moshe Bliss, Beck y only give you the strength and the time to do this
Mikatsky. All who were nominated for the sacred duty. Such correspondence only served to
committee were elected: Yitzhak Berkowitz - revitalize us even further, and bolstered our energies
President; Abraham Kadish Feder - Secretary; to carry out the relief work.
365
When the war ended, we got the chance to get in addressing the packages, and then posting them. I
contact with a group of surviving Derecziners, who was involved with the entire work of the committee,
were wandering through the camps in Germany and being the central address for all the [incoming]
Austria, Italy and Shanghai. As quickly as the news correspondence from Dereczin survivors, who wrote
would arrive of someone who was a Derecziner in a to us with blood and tears about their wartime
camp, we would immediately send out pac kages of experiences. I took on the important task of
food and clothing. responding to them, finding some words of comfort
to offer each of them. I turned over all
It took us a long time to send the pac kages. The correspondence and accounting to the c ommittee,
hours and days stretched into weeks and months, for everything that was done during those years for
which with dedication and energy, we donated to the the Dereczin survivors. It was my task to stay in
first of the aid ac tivities for the needy. We touc h with all the Dereczin landsleit, in New York
personally packed the food parcels, even though it and ac ross the country, and with the
would have been easier to send them through certain Landsmanschaft organizations in other c ountries. I
companies. We c alc ulated that if we personally wrote the ads for the newspapers, and was in very
bought the food, and packed it ourselves, and then close contact with our Dereczin kinfolk in Israel.
sent it by post, it would cost us much less, thanks to
the fact that we had several stubborn women on our I did this work during all the years in which the
committee, who went so far as to neglect their own committee existed. This took a very great deal of
housework, and came to participate in organizing time. I did this with heart, love and soul.
the packages, and through this saved a goodly sum
of money, and gave the committee a characteristic During those years, we thought about publishing a
of hearty friendship. The women, as we said, bought Yizkor Book, and also about erecting a monument to
the food themselves, and we packed it in my store. those of our kin exterminated in Dereczin. We
So now I want to thank those women from the approached the ‘Dereczin Society,’ requesting space
bottom of my heart who did this holy work in those on their cemetery plot to put up the monument. At a
days with commitment, and a special thanks to the meeting of the Society, it was agreed to allocate
ladies, Fanny Berman, Ida Sarnatsky, Falla enough space for us to erect such a monument to our
Jacobson; And may the memory of Becky Sikotsky martyrs. To our great sorrow, nothing ever came of
kz, and of Seelah Silkowitz kz shine brightly in our this plan because of financial difficulties.
eyes, who were among the most active of the ladies,
in regard to the parcels. Now the Yizkor Book is finally appearing. Let us
hope that in time, we will yet put up a monument to
In those years, Jonah Silkowitz took a major part in those Derecziners who were exterminated.
the work c onc erning the packages, and in general
regarding the relief committee. With a heavy heart, A certain time after the establishment of the help
I recall our active committee member, Nathan Bliss committee for the refugees, a number of our
(Blizniansky) kz, who was always first to come to survivors managed to reac h the shores of America.
work, demanded of everyone that they do their part, We gave them a little financial help. On a number of
gave direction, and then personally did more than he occasions we also sent funds to Israel, to assist those
was able to. He also participated in the work on this Derecziners who made aliyah and needed help from
Yizk or Book. To all of our great sadness, he is no a different quarter.
longer with us, and did not live to see the Dereczin
Yizkor Book published. At the end of October 1946, a six-chapter account of
the demise of the Dereczin Jewish community was
A difficult and stressful burden was also assumed published in Der Tag (Today Der Tag-Morgen-
no less by the writer of these lines. My work Journal) written by the Kulakowskis. It was titled:
consisted not only of doing the packing itself, “How Jews Suffered and Fought in Derec zin.” We
received the manuscript from Israel. Independently,
366
at the same time, a digest of the experiences of the We were in contact with Israel through all the years
Dereczin Jewish community during the war years of relief work. The work of the Israeli
and the German occupation, was also published in Landsmanschaft will be told by them in the Yizkor
the Forverts (i.e. The Jewish Daily Forward). A list Book, I only wish to recall with a few words the
of the surviving Derecziners was published in Der active role of Malka Alper in all Dereczin issues.
Tag, Der Forverts, & Der Freiheit. We, here in America, were constantly under the
influence of her letters, reminders, requests and
To everyone’s great sorrow, several active members appeals – and she did all of this with a gentle
of the relief committee are no longer with us today. wisdom and friendly patience.
We will always remember our dear friends, Seela
Silkowitz, Nathan Bliss, Yitzhak Berkowitz, Itzl May this Yizkor Book only serve to etch, even more
Weissenberg, Joe Abramowitz, Moshe Goldfarb, deeply into our hearts, the last will and testament of
Moshe Bliss, Becky Tikatsky – kz. that Jewish community so abruptly cut from us in
our hometown of Dereczin, wiped off the face of the
earth, and may its memory remain forever in our
minds and in our hearts.
New York, 12 Kislev 5727, November 1966
In Memory of Our Friend, Nathan Bliss

By Jonah Silkovich
Photo: Nahum-Nathan Bliss, vg (p. 419)
On a beautiful summer day, a handsome young man Those were his parents.
appeared in Dereczin, dressed in the latest fashion,
with a white collar, ironed shirt, carrying a cane in It didn’t take long, and it was told around town that
his hand. ‘That is Nahum Meshl’s’ – people said. He Nahum Meshl’s was encountered during the
came here to Dereczin from Warsaw. Everyone in evenings in the garden associating with – working
Dereczin talked about him, especially – the girls. class people! You can imagine how his parents
‘What a handsome young man!’ – was bruited about reacted to this when the news finally reached them.
in all corners. No small thing: a scion of the Deutsche Gasse
consorting with the young people from the Slonim or
His parents were well known in town. His father – Zelva Gasse, or even worse, from the Neuer Gasse!
a handsome Jewish man with a proud bearing, and It appears that he brought back the new ideas of the
additionally the owner of a house on the Deutsche labor movement from Warsaw. At that time there
Gasse. His mother – also a pretty lady, a ‘woman of already existed circles among the intelligentsia who
valor,’ managing a substantial business and raising behind their backs would be called tzitzialisten (i.e.
a large family. The father was among the honored socialists). For a long time they were circles that
members of the synagogue. I can remember even kept to themselves, but now they began to mix with
now: when the young lads would exit the synagogue the working class young boys and girls. A sharp
during the reading of the Torah and engage in conflict was initiated between the traditionally-
vociferous conversation and noisy play, – Nahum’s minded parents and their revolutionary-minded
father would go outside and give a shout: ‘Quiet children.
down you shkatzim!’ – and you could hear his shout
reverberate from one end of the Schulhof to the It also had to be that Nahum fell in love with a
other. working class girl, a seamstress, a uniquely beautiful
367
girl from a fine, but very poor family from the Zelva ‘Joe, you’re going to Boston, and no excuses!’ At
Gasse. It was here that Nahum displayed his strong that moment, I was reminded of his father and his
c haracter. His mother literally turned the world strong, commanding tone of voice. Nathan knew
upside down to avoid making the match. Not only only too well that I was deeply enmeshed in a new
once, did she insult Nahum’s beloved girlfriend in business. He would often visit me concerning the
the middle of the street. Nothing helped – they got work of our Society – but no excuses would help
married, and their love lasted to the last day, until he now. I took along Ephraim (Foycha) Berkowitz’s
lost her. They raised three fine children, two sons wife, and we traveled to Boston. We traveled to
and a daughter. Moshe, Beileh-Rasheh’s, a shoemaker from the
Shoemaker’s Synagogue, a Jew well-versed in
Years passed, and I was already in America when I leading prayer and reading Torah, a dear man, who
became aware that Nahum and his family were in received us very warmly.
Argentina, and was unable to get themselves settled.
He then c ame to America and went to work. I met He and his wife went out to the Dereczin landsleit
him at our Dereczin Society, which at that time and we returned to New York with a pretty sum of
numbers over 150 members. We became friends, a couple of hundred dollars.
and I was impressed by what a liberal individual
Nahum was. Another couple of decades went by, and the Second
World War completely destroyed our old home and
In those years in the Dereczin Society, just as was the German murderers killed out nearly all of the
the case in all of the societies of this kind in Jews of our town. It was necessary to help those
America, the leadership c ame from the refugees who remained alive – and once again a
traditionally-minded Jews who had been here for a committee was established, with Nathan Bliss as its
long time. Nahum-Nathan Blizniansky-Bliss was a head. As was his custom, he threw himself into the
free-thinking Jew, and he strove to transform the relief work with his life and being, coming to the
society into a modern, liberal organization. It didn’t meetings in rain and snow. To our sorrow, many of
take long before the active Nathan Bliss was elected the members of our Society were no longer with us,
as President of our Society. but among the younger ones, the Feder family was
very active. In the middle of his vigorous activity,
Then the First World War broke out. We the greatest of all his tragedies befell Nathan – after
immediately formed a committee and began to a long period of illness, his beloved wife passed
collect funds, in order to be able to send aid to away. He was broken, but he did everything he
Dereczin, for a credit union, for the school and the could to remain involved. He even made a visit to
Heders. The Derecziners in New York responded Israel, and it was from there that he came back with
warmly, but the accumulated funds were insufficient the idea of doing the Yizkor Book.
to support our brethren in the old country. There
were also Dereczin kinfolk in Boston, but they were He did not live to see this memorial book for his
not organized. They wanted our c ommittee to have beloved, old home – He had a terrible misfortune –
a meeting with them. being run over by an automobile. He suffered along
for two ye4ars before he expired.
We decided that two of our New York landsleit
would travel to Boston, and conduct a fund-raising A good friend, a partner, a beloved Dereczin
campaign. But the larger part of the Derecziners landsman, who always stood at the head of all
were workers, who could not leave their jobs for activities, had taken leave of us. Let us revere his
even one day. memory!
Until one day, Nathan comes into me with an order:
368
Derecziners in America
By David Rabinovich
I remember to this day, how back in Dereczin we the Society, [Abraham] Kadish Feder and his wife,
used to tell literally legends about that Golden Land the Secretary Khomeh Abelovich,(who had already
across the sea – about America. It is no wonder visited Israel a couple of times), the Treasurer, Mrs.
then, that a large number of our young people Zlotnik.
emigrated to that faraway promising country. There
were those who fled the military draft, and others I studied together with President Kadish Feder in
who sought to escape arrest for their revolutionary the Heder of Izaakovich (Der Mikhoisker). Feder
activities. The largest portion, however, were men emigrated to America in 1918. At that time he went
who on no account could find gainful employment to his father, who had already been there for a
from which they could derive a living with which to couple of years. It is difficult to find such a warm
support themselves and their families. In those person, a Jew and a friend, such a loving
years, the Holy Land was not yet recognized as a Derec ziner, as was Kadish Feder. He works hard,
place that could take in immigrants. from 7AM to 10PM in order to make a living. He
has been a member of the Poalei Zion organization
Fate had brought me to America two years prior on for his entire life, and to this day he has been unable
a visit of a couple of months. It was especially to permit himself to make a trip to Israel, the land
interesting for me to link up with our landsleit, about which he dreams, and for which he has been
observe their way-of-life and see, what they had active for his entire life. In 1945, immediately after
ac hieved, and what they had attained after so many the war, when the first news started to arrive from
years in one of the greatest, richest, and most highly the Dereczin survivors from Lodz, from Austria,
developed c ountries in the world – in the United Germany and Italy, Feder organized and led an
States of North America. activity to send packages to all those who had
survived. Seeing that his days were completely
The largest portion of our landsleit have been in oc c upied at work, he would get up at 3AM and
America for about 50-60 years, and also longer. An begin the work of pac king packages, and get them
added small percentage came there in the first years ready to be mailed via post. When a part of the
after the Second World War. surviving Derecziners came to America, he
concerned himself with supporting everyone, so that
Our first meeting took place immediately on the first they would have some initial sustenance upon
day of our arrival, with Rachel Feldman-Efrat, who arrival. It was other landsleit who told me this, since
is, in spite of my understatement, the one well- he himself was reticent about his own endeavors.
situated person of all of our landsleit in America.
She lives in a large beautiful apartment in the very Feder’s wife was a Rabbi’s daughter, and their
center of New York, in Central Park, in the section home was strictly kosher. His wife participated in
of diplomatic residences, artists or just simply all organizational obligations which Feder took
wealthy people. Together with members of her upon himself. This is an open, Jewish home, which
family, we visited her summer home, furnished with receives everyone in a warmhearted, Jewish fashion.
all the latest and most beautiful appointments, and
constructed in a highly desirable loc ale. Rachel When I visited them, Feder’s thoughts were
Feldman immediately telephoned the committee of dominated by only one single objective – raising the
the Dereczin Society in order to alert them to our money to publish the Dereczin Yizkor Book. The
arrival. At about 10PM, a delegation of the process of raising money is not easy in America.
Society’s committee, among them the President of Our Dereczin kinfolk are spread out and scattered
369
throughout the land, and there are no really wealthy were no young people at the banquet – similar to the
people among them. For a large portion of our case with us in Israel. The single younger couple
landsleit, even dollars is a lot of money. Thanks to were the brother of Kalman Abramovich and his
the loyal dedication of Kadish Feder, Khoma wife – And he was already in his fifties.
Abelovich, and Mrs. Zlotnik, the daughter of the
Zelva Rabbi, it was possible to assemble a The children of our landsleit, the American-born,
meaningful sum of money, and to send it to Israel in are entirely different, and not at all like their
order to enable publication of the Book. parents. All are studying, and some already are
engineers, lawyers, such as the sons of Khoma
We became acquainted with Mrs. Zlotnik a couple Ziskind of the Feders.
of years earlier in Israel, when she had made a visit
there. Her family lived through a gruesome tragedy: My visit to America came a short time after the Six-
one of her sons was a well-known chemist and Day War, and the interest in hearing about and
inventor; he had been a co-worker with the world knowing what was going on in Israel and its brilliant
famous atomic researcher Prof. [J. Robert] victory over its enemies, who were prepared to
Oppenheim[er]. Her son’s name was well known in annihilate her, was very high.
scientific circles in America, after he had published
a series of articles in the scientific research journals Every news item from Israel was literally swallowed
and the general American press covered him and down. This on the part of Jews, largely removed
his discoveries. On one day, he went out for ride from Zionism, but our victory and Israel’s strong
with a friend in a small boat. An accident oc curred will to survive, and to develop itself despite the
– he was drowned. His friend survived. A short time Arab enemies and their strong allies and protectors,
afterwards, his friend published an important so inspired the Jews in America, that many of them
scientific article under his own name, which the would come here, if their economic circumstances
family was informed that it was really the work of would permit it. A large portion of the older
their son. A dark cloud of suspicion fell on his Dereczin landsleit in America has passed away.
friend that he had murdered their son, in order to They have left a legacy behind – The Dereczin
steal his scientific results. The Zlotnik family was Society, with a small membership, who concern
literally broken. The wife of the family seeks solace themselves with the burial plots for the Derecziners.
in her work on the Dereczin Yizkor Book. The younger people are leaving the Society, and
concern themselves with matters that are more
About 80 Dereczin landsleit took part in the banquet important than burial plots. There often arise
that was organized in our honor, the guests from conflicts over this in the Derec zin community in
Israel. A portion of them had been in the country for America.
many years already, since before the First World
War, such as Feiga-Leah Abramovich, a unique We owe a debt of gratitude to our American
woman, Yehuda Shmuel’s daughter, Shelkovich – a landsleit from the bottom of our hearts for their
sympathetic Jew, full of humor and life, and yet affection towards our homey [town] of Dereczin, for
others, whose names I cannot remember; a certain their energy in being willing to help everyone, and
part of the participants had arrived in America after for their commitment to erect a monument to our
the Second World War already, such as Moshe Dereczin community – in the publication of our
Ferder, Tsirel Friedman-Kamenetsy, etc. Mostly Yizkor Book.
they were working class people, worn out from long,
hard years and long, hard days of work. They found
no great good fortune in their labors. When I looked
closely at them, I thought that the life of workers in
Israel is both lighter, and more interesting. There
370
Sarah Slotnick-Yanofsky, kz
By Malka Alper
Photo: Sarah Slotnick & Her Husband, vg (p.423). This is the ‘Mrs. Zlotnik’ in the prior David
Rabinovich memoir.
Sarah was born in Dereczin, was a daughter of Reb She was strongly interested in seeing the Dereczin
Meir Yanovsky – a teac her, whom all of his pupils Yizk or Book appear as quickly and as elegantly as
remember very positively for his heartfelt possibly. She began to talk about it and work on it
relationship to them (also, my brother, David as soon as she returned from Israel, but it didn’t
[Alper] kz, would often recall him). proceed so quic kly, and this cost her quite a bit of
health.
The good teacher Reb Meir, apparently had a strong
influence on his own little Sarah: she would listen When I visited New York in 1964, we met a couple
in [on his lessons], and absorb the chapters of the of times, and it was at that time that the ‘Book
Pentateuch along with the pupils, and this became Committee’ was selec ted, in which she took an
deeply etched into her memory, and also into her active role. We exchanged correspondence
feelings. frequently, until it was abruptly terminated by her
untimely death.
When she visited Israel a short time after our Jewish
State was proclaimed, she thought that all the Her memory will permeate the pages of our Yizkor
teachings of her father from the Pentateuch had Book!
come to life , and that everything that she had
learned and remembered from his mouth, had taken
on a substantial form in every corner of Our Land.
Her Son, Meir, vg

Photo: Meir-Murray Slotnick, Her Son, vg (p. 423)
The teacher, Meir Yanovsky, father of Sarah Slotnick (First on the left), with his family.
(p.424).
On October 6, 1951, the 24 year-old assistant Meir Slotnick at the age of 20, was one of the
professor of physics, at the University of Michigan youngest students to earn a PhD at Columbia
Meir-Murray Slotnick was drowned in the large University, and before he went to Mic higan as an
Barton Pond in Ann Arbor Michigan, when his boat, assistant professor, he studied nuclear physics at the
in which he was with a student colleague, capsized, Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton, under
and both oars fell into the water. the direction of Albert Einstein and J. Robert
Oppenheimer.
A strong wind began to blow up waves in the water,
and capsized the boat with the two young people in Slotnick was born in Brooklyn, as the son of Leo &
it. The student immediately swam for shore to get Sarah Slotnick and was graduated from Stuyvesant
help, and assistant professor Slotnick who was not a High School in Manhattan in 1944, when he was
good swimmer, clung to the hull of the capsized barely 15 years old. He was appointed an assistant
boat. When the help arrived, Slotnick was no longer professor three weeks before his tragic death.
to be found. It was only on the following morning
that his body was pulled from the water.
371
Postscript in Translation
An obituary for Murray Slotnick appeared in The New York Times on Sunday, October 7, 1951. The text in
the Dereczin Yizkor Book seems to have been taken largely f rom the obituary. He was buried on Tuesday,
October 9, 1951, which was Yom Kippur Eve. The obituary identifies his student-companion during the
accident as Donald A. Glaser.
The obituary goes on to identify his sister, Mrs. Roslin Kurtz, and a brother, Daniel Slotnick (then age 19)
an assistant instructor of mathematics at Columbia.
Daniel L. Slotnick would go on to achieve prominence on his own in the field of computer science. The bulk
of his career was spent at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, where he arriv ed in 1963from
the von Neumann computer project at the institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. He was head of the
ILLIAC IV project (1965), a machine which pioneered the new concept of parallel computation. ILLIAC IV
was a SIMD computer built at Illinois, which was the first to use circuit card design automation outside IBM
and the first to use ECL integrated circuits and multilayer circuit boards on a large scale. It had
semiconductor memory and was the fastest computer in the world. Slotnick was a professor until his death
in 1985.
The Daniel L. Slotnick Award was established for undergraduate students based on academic merit,
exceptional leadership qualities, and good citizenship.
372
Dereczin Kinfolk in Israel
373
374
Relief-Work of the Dereczin Kinfolk in Israel
By Malka Alper
Photo: From the original Aliyah of Halutzim from Dereczin

LtoR (seated): Dov Gorinovsky, Esther Gorinovsky kz, Rachel Polchik kz, Yidl Bernicker;
Standing: David Rabinovich kz, Malka Alper, Shimon Abramovich. (p.427)
Photo: A Dereczin Party in honor of Rabbi Chaim Zvi Sinai-Miller (Individuals not identified)
(p.428).
Photo: Frontispiece of the Bulletin, ‘Yediot’ (February 1947 issue), published by the Organization
of the Dereczin Olim in Israel. (P. 429)
Until after the war, we Derecziners were small in It was as early as 1946 when we published the first
numbers in the Land of Israel. We were not bulletin about the organization, and in it were
particularly connected one to another; we took an printed the correspondence, rules and regulations
interest one in another, and offered advice – only if and an accounting of the activities of the committee
asked. Our meetings were oc casional, until – the (it is incumbent upon us to take note of two active
first news started to reach us from our survivors, members of the organization, who are no longer
who had been tossed into displaced persons camps with us: Elk eh Lichtenstein, & Yerachmiel
in Italy. Now, we organized ourselves, and began to Edelstein, kz), the bulletins being printed partly in
seek ways and means to help them and bring them Yiddish for those overseas, and partly in Hebrew for
here. With the arrival of news from the survivors, the locals.
we immediately sent a list to the Forverts and then
our brethren in America joined with us in a united It is important to take note of the fact that in the
assistance activity. national library on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem,
where we would send every issue, there was a good
In the [Holy] Land we operated through the extant reaction to our bulletin. Four bulletins were printed
dangers. before the outbreak of hostilities in November 1947.
The bulletin then ceased publication.
Thanks to the American relief, with Nahum Bliss
vg, at its head, and our colleague Abraham Kadish With the proclamation of the State of Israel, the
Feder, may he live to a ripe old age, we were able to organization became defunct, but we Derecziners
provide assistance to those who were in the DP remained strongly connected and united. It should
Camps in Italy, Germany and Austria, as well as be clear that we observe the Yahrzeit of our
offering the first financial assistance, a modest help community, the Tenth of Ab, take part in the
but yet some help, to those coming to The Land. celebrations of our friends, receive all tourists of
Dereczin origin who visit Israel, – we only wish
they would come as permanent immigrants! – and
with the publication of the Dereczin Yizkor Book, an
obligation lies on us to raise the new generation of
Dereczin children to assume the obligation to
remember and not to forget!
375
From Sinaiska – To the Land of Israel
By Esther Dlugolansky (Petakh-Tikvah)
Photo: One of the Dereczin Meetings (Individuals not identified). (p. 430).
Simkha, son of Yaakov & Chaya Dlugolansky was Simcha, a tall broad-shouldered man, with a broad
born in Kolonia Sinaiska, married his wife, Chaya- beard, would sit at the head of a table like a judge or
Basha from the c ity of Zheludok. They established magistrate, dispensing advice, because he was
their family in this Jewish settlement. They had six familiar with the issues that each and every person
sons: Leibkeh, Moshe, Menasheh, Yoshkeh, Natan- brought to him, and if someone was short of funds,
Netah, & Sholom. The sons matured. The place was they knew that at Simcha’s they would be able to
c rowded for them, and in the great flood of touch him for some. But when Hitler acceded to
immigration prior to the First World War, they power in Germany, and the hatred of the Jews
turned their eyes to faraway places. Moshe was the spread quickly through Poland, one couldn’t
first to emigrate to America, was drafted into the recognize these selfsame farmers. They changed
army and afterwards was killed in battle. The second from top to bottom in their speech, in their attitude
to leave the plac e was Leibkeh and his family, and and in all their behavior, at which time Simcha arose
after him, Menasheh, and Sholom also did not want with his wife, then in their seventies, and left the
to remain and live off farming. After not succeeding place, with their sights on Jerusalem, the Holy City.
in reaching the United States, he went to Argentina, These were observant people for their entire lives,
where he established his family. Only two sons were and that which they prayed for daily, regarding the
left in the settlement: Yoshkeh, his wife Leah from Land of Israel and Jerusalem, they realized in their
the Nozhnitsky family of Dereczin, with their old age. In Jerusalem, in the Old Jewish Quarter,
children, Shayna-Esther, Shlomo, Moshe & Rivkah, they established their residence. Days were
– this entire family was wiped out by the Nazi dedicated to prayer, and the synagogue provided
marauders; Natan is my husband. them with all they required for their spiritual lives.
I married their son in 1933. We lived with his Chaya-Basha passed away on 14 Heshvan 5704
parents in Kolonia until 1935, when the poisonous (1943), and was interred on the Mount of Olives.
winds of anti-Semitism began to blow up, and The Arabs denied access to the holy places in
Hitler’s name was being uttered with praise from the Jerusalem for twenty years, and a part of the Mount
mouths of our gentile neighbors and the residents of of Olives [cemetery] was torn down. During the Six
the nearby villages. Simcha, and his wife Chaya- Day War, Jerusalem was liberated by the IDF, and
Basha, decided that this was no place for them, we were privileged again to visit our mother’s
despite the fact that he was well known as a grave. Her fortune stood her in a good stead, and her
prosperous man. grave had remained intact.
He was a wise man, and understood the local Simcha managed during the War of Independence
farmers very well, and all respected him. to come from Jerusalem to us in Petakh-Tikvah.
Even here, he passed his days with the recitation of
I will never forget the winter days, in which there Psalms, and deeds of charity. He passed away at a n
are many empty days for farmers. Many would advanced age on 15 Adar I 5711 (1950) in Petakh-
come to our house, some to ask for advice, others to Tikvah.
simply unburden themselves.
376
Yaakov Izaakovich, A Chess Fanatic Among the Blind
By Moshe Guter
Photo: Untitled, but presumably of Yaakov Izaakovich. (P. 432)
On May 1, 1966 at the city club in Haifa, the Israeli When he undertook his initiative three years ago,
Youth Chess Champion Yitzhak Bleiman stood and which seemed too insane to even talk about, he had
played simultaneously against twenty young people to contend on two fronts: first to convince the blind
– all of them blind. It was enough to watc h only a [themselves] that they are capable of playing chess
bit on the play to become convinced of how well the like any other person, and that play will lead to
sightless players demonstrated mastery of the satisfaction, and second, to convince various
secrets of the ‘royal game,’ and how confidently organizations that the initiative was worth the effort
they moved kings, queens, knights and bishops on demanded. Izaakovich succeeded on both counts.
the board. Five years ago there were only six blind chess
players – today they number about fifty. Today,
And as you can guess, this was the very same board Izaakovich has support from the Youth Sports of
used by people with sight, except that there were Haifa, the Organization for the Blind in Haifa, and
holes in each square, into which the player would the Israel Chess Federation; from them he receives
insert the base of the pieces. The ‘colors’ of the the support he needs to procure playing sets, and
pieces were distinguished by the fact that the white material in Braille, and so forth.
pieces had a molding on the top, while the black
pieces were smooth. Most, if not all of the work, was done by Izaakovich
himself. In order to be able to work with the blind,
The blind in Israel began to play chess because of he learned Braille, published chess lessons in Lapid,
the ‘fault’ of one person, and that was the 67-year- the periodical of the blind in Israel that is published
old Haifa retiree, Yaak ov Izaakovich, the in Netanya. He published ten lessons for beginners,
grandfather of three. added a periodical for advancing players, in which
he included puzzles and their solutions, riddles,
Izaak ovich had been involved with his pet project examples and games of 25 moves and more. In
for three years – the dissemination of chess-playing 1964, Izaakovich published three volumes of
skills among the blind – and as usual in his case, he puzzles for beginners, and in 1965 (according to the
came upon this by happenstance. On one occasion testimony of the Israeli problem solving
he was invited to a lecture about the blind, and there organization) – additional volumes with simpler
he heard that there is virtually no activity that a puzzles for beginners and their solutions.
sightless person cannot do, with the condition that a
more fortunate individual who can see, assists him. To Izaakovich’s credit goes the staging of several
And since Izaakovich had been dedicating all his c ompetitions for the blind, including championship
spare time to chess for many years, he decided to matches and matches involving simultaneous play.
become an aid to the blind in the development of the In the simultaneous play, the Portuguese
skill for this noble game. Grandmaster Y. Dorow and three Israeli champions
– Moshe Charnik, Yitzhak Aloni, & Yosef Porat
He quickly came to realize what great utility his participated.
involvement in this hobby brought to the blind.
From his very nature, a blind person develops a Thanks to the efforts of Izaakovich there are today
strong sense of focus, and playing chess sharpens chess clubs for the blind in addition to Haifa, in
that sense. He learns patience, consistency, and Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv, Ashkelon, Beersheba, Qiryat
ordered thought, and mastery sharpens this, and Chaim, Petakh Tikvah, and Ramat-Gan.
mental powers are exercised by it.
377
Izaakovich’s ambition is to double the number of
blind chess players in a short time. There are 700
blind people in Israel, and it does not strike him as
unrealistic to expect that one out of seven should be
a chess player.
(Davar, 21Jun66)
What I Learned from the Mouth of My Mother

By Yitzhak Wachler
From time to time, when friends of my parents come My mother, along with three men, succeeded in
to my home, and the conversation rolls around from jumping of the transport and reach the forests, and
one subjec t to the next, it inevitably comes back to there, they joined the partisans.
the subject of the Holocaust. My mother begins to
reach into her memories for the unpleasant years of In the wake of the stories that I heard, I began to
her youth, the sleepless nights, the unending take an interest in Holocaust literature, and the
wanderings in the thick of the forests, where it rebellion, and among others, I read the folio about
became necessary for her and her friends to hide the ‘Dr. Atlas Brigade,’ the Jewish partisan
themselves like hunted animals from the Nazis and commander, whom my mother knew personally.
their allies. Again and again, I hear the stories about Likewise, I read a great deal about the uprising in
helplessness, sickness and hunger, that was largely the Warsaw Ghetto.
the lot of the Jews in the ghettoes and forests.
I believe, that if I were there, I too would have
Mother tells: before dawn on a summer day in 1942, joined the partisans or the ghetto fighters, in order to
the murderers broke into every Jewish dwelling in exact vengeance for the blood of our dear ones. I am
town, forced everyone out of bed with blows, suffused entirely with feelings of fury and revenge
shouting and imprecations of: ‘quickly, quickly!’, toward the Germans who butchered a third of our
put them onto transports that were waiting at the people. We must never forget what they did to our
side of the houses, and when they were filled with parents and to all the children of Israel in those
men, children, and the old, the transport moved to times.
the edge of the pits that had been dug before hand
by the Jews. There, they took out all the Jews, and
stood them at the edge of the pits, and then gunfire
opened up on them from all sides, that cut through
them merc ilessly. The dead fell into the pits, and
much blood was spilled that day.
378
In Memory of Deceased Dereczin Landsleit
Remarks in Memory of David Rabinovich kz
By Kalman Lichtenstein
Photo: Untitled, presumably of David Rabinovich. (P. 433)
A thread of a smile to captivate the heart always was was well known to us from Dereczin and Slonim,
impressed on his face. A heart-warming the tradition of the ‘c onciliator,’ who clarifies not
countenance, and warm at the same time – that is the only to achieve what is just, but also taking into
expression that best suits his external appearance, account compassion and understanding for the
whic h appeared as an integral part of his entire welfare of all. In his eyes, ‘everything bent could be
being. put straight.’
This good expression, optimistic and harmonious to He, who knew about and suffered from the slings
the outside, also was compatible with his inner self, and arrows of fortune, knew how to rely with
which radiated goodness of heart, and influenced his familiarity on the common sense of life, and
surroundings in this way. He wished only the best patience, two character attributes that are either
for all those who sought him. The light of his fac e intrinsic to the individual from birth, or acquired
was witness to his good heart. He saw, in over a period of time as a person reaches the fulness
accordance with his own inclination, that which was of old age.
good in people, and would turn a blind eye to the
‘evil inclination’ that people inherit from their Despite his age – and he was far from being old – he
youth. He was liberal in the sense of the House of learned that ‘time can accomplish what common
Hillel, and purposely distanced himself from the sense cannot.’ We were to learn that these
thinking of the House of Shammai. 134 He always tendencies were integral to his being that exuded
sought to straighten out twisted paths, round sharp tolerance and patience, and ‘doing the right thing.’
corners, to compromise and facilitate compromise.
For every difficult issue, he always saw what was Added to this was his hearty popularity, his simple
required to devise a solution that would be approach to everyone, the non-self-centered
acceptable to everyone. It was for this reason that so approach of a man of the people, free of those
many people, who were prone to dispute, would turn barriers that would otherwise come between him
to him, with complicated affairs, and difficult issues, and the masses.
because he - he himself would assume the burden to
clarify the matter, to clarify, and offer solutions to And if I used the term, ‘masses,’ I had the special
questions, to reac h a compromise. And it was intent to specially characterize those emigrants who
because of this that he continued the tradition that were born in that same western part of Byelorussia
bounded by Novogrudok – Slonim – Volkovysk. To
those who came out of the cities and towns, many
134
Hillel & Shammai were two scholars of ancient communities – from Dereczin, in whose
the Mishnaic era who embodied bosom he was born and raised, to Slonim, to which
differing philoso p hies, wherein Hillel
he tied the continuation of his life.
es p o u s ed th e lib eral, flexib le
interpretation of Law, while S h ammai
es p o u s ed lit e r a l a n d s t rict For many people, among them his friends, people
interpretation. who knew him and admired him, and similarly for
379
all those who came from those lands – his loss was
a difficult one. Everyone will recall him only in the
best light, from a sense of longing and respect, and
everyone will miss this good man, who did so much
good, possessed of a radiant face and radiant heart,
straight in his dealings and true in his path, David
Rabinovich, may his memory be a blessing.
My Father, of Blessed Memory

By Ilan Rabinovich
I cannot find the words to convey my bitter pain and Our home was always full of different kind of
feelings at the time of my father’s death. The wound people, from different places and various walks of
is still fresh, and the memories are so clear and life, and what they had in common was their need to
alive. seek an anchor of security, help, support and good
advice from my father. And he didn’t disappoint
From my perspective, he was not only a loving and them. Not once would he lead them from the house
committed father without a peer, but also a friend in the afternoon, only to return during the late night
and companion. Despite the age gap between us, we hours, tired and harassed. The reason for the effort
developed a common language, the language of was always the same – help for friends. Once it
friends who love one another, that made wondrous might be on behalf of people from Dereczin, another
the formal family relationship by transforming it time on behalf of my mother’s townsfolk, Slonim,
into a deep loving friendship of friends. Literally, I and another time on behalf of relatives and yet
never took any important step in my life without another time for just plain friends.
prior consultation with my father. And his thoughts
were always enlightening, realistic and sympathetic. About a week before he entered the hospital, he ran
We corresponded often when I was living in the to find one of his townsfolk in some far corner of
USA, exchanging advice with one another on a the land, who was in need of financial aid. My
variety of issues from different areas, literally as if father traveled to him to convey a check that had
we were two friends that were contemporaries. come to us from the USA for him. The Angel of
Death was already at his heels, and he was forced to
He was always proud of me, and how great was his return home because he simply could not find the
desire that I advance and succeed. place.
Everyone loved him and everyone respected him,

Many of my friends met my father, partly at my and he never ever had any enemies. When I took
invitation, and partly on the occasion of bringing him to his office, or to relieve him at work, everyone
regards, or just plain visits. Most of them, like who came to see him, regardless of occupation, age
everyone else, were amazed by my father, and told or station in life, would praise my father’s character
me of their impressions of his personality. He was to me directly, and add: ‘You should be proud to be
always full of life and spirit, with a smile imprinted the son of such a father.’ But I felt that way all the
on his face, the smile of a good-hearted person, with time, in any event.
a humorous and good-hearted look. He was in the
habit of joking with my friends, and frequently After his death, I ran into any number of people
would give some of them a funny nickname. whom I didn’t know, those who worked with my
father, and there was not one among them who
380
didn’t speak at great length about his endearing welfare of others always took precedence in his
personality, and the good-heartedness and vitality of eyes. He was a grandfather totally dedicated to his
my father, which no one could confront without grandchildren. He considered himself incredibly
being deeply moved. fortunate to walk with his grandchildren and find
some common ground of communication with them,
I remember the meeting with my father’s lawyer, as if with people his own age. He would buy all
Max Kritzman, who worked with him for years. manner of things for them, play with them like a
Although I saw him at the funeral, standing to the child himself, and speak to them on their terms. His
side with his head bowed, I never understood both death was a calamity of enormous proportions that
the affection and c ommitment he had to my father, marks them even today.
and now to the entire family. When I sat in his
office, he presented untold stories in order that I His visit to the USA with my mother, was an
understand my father’s deeds, that I was not aware immense experience. Even there, he tried to find the
of, that passed through his office. “Even you don’t family and friends, met with and received members
know what kind of a father you had, and what he did of the family that he had never seen before, and met
for others” – Kritzman said. And I didn’t know that with the Dereczin organization, which had arranged
neighbors, who had lived with us in our former a very emotional reception in his honor. Again, I
house, and in our current home, knew my father heard stories about my father, about his good-
very well. When they met him in the street, on the heartedness, his dedication and friendship to
stairs, on the bus or in committee meetings of the everyone. Once again, I saw the evidence of his skill
tenants were sufficient for them to greet him, to in weaving deeply-seated relationships of friendship
communicate their affection and even to praise him. with all.
Their enormous dedication during the time of his
illness and afterwards proved yet again to me that In Israel he was the living spirit of the Dereczin
my father was no ordinary man. organization, but he was especially the pillar of
concrete for the entire family. At all family
He was a man of especially emotional character. He gatherings, he was the Head, and the Chief Advisor,
was an ideal grandfather to his grandchildren, a whether the occasion was happy or sad. Even on the
father who was proud of his children, and a devoted occasion of the last family gathering, on Purim
husband to his wife. He could never take his leave (when the extra Megillah is read), he arranged and
of me for long periods of time with out weeping and looked after its arrangements. He always looked
tears. Occasionally, when I would telephone home after his family connections with relatives and
from New York, I was unable to carry on a friends, both in and out of Israel, and it is incumbent
conversation with him, because he would burst out upon me to say that I learned this from my father as
crying, because his feelings would interfere with his well as many other things.
ability to speak. When I arrived from the USA and
reached his bedside at the hospital, he burst into My father was a man of action, and focused on
tears, and it was only with great difficulty that I essentials. His considerable energy drove him ever
persuaded him to rein in his emotions. ahead, to new ideas, varied enterprises, and other
things. But he always kept an eye on his own
Even during the later stages of his illness, when his interests. Through persuasion and good-heartedness,
condition became worse, he continued to show even those who might have set obstacles in his path,
concern about my future. Would repeat his demand were won over, and became his friends and partners
of me not to ‘waste valuable time’ at his bedside, to this day.
and to take advantage of my free time to attend to
more practical objectives. He never thought about Death took him while he was still at the zenith of his
himself, and never showed any fear of death. The powers. Neither written nor spoken words will serve
381
to comfort his family or me. This is so, on our
behalf, and I am certain on behalf of those many
relatives and friends whom my father served as a
symbol of pleasantness, good-heartedness, concern
for the general good, righteousness, simplicity and
the joy of life. The noble figure of my father will
always stand before me, which I will try to emulate
for my entire life.
May his memory be a blessing.
Elkeh Lichtenstein
By Malka Alper
A dedicated mother and outstanding housekeeper, At a young age in the twenties, she made aliyah to
possessed of a radiant face, whose house was open the Holy Land, and much happened to her: but her
to everyone near and far – to a townsman or a brightness and the optimism in her did not depart
traveler, to a new arrival or someone with a bitter until she passed on: her children grew up, and
heart. She was a member of the Organization of families came from them, and she was the dedicated
Dereczin Townsfolk, committed to the affairs of the mother and grandmother. On top of this, she was
organization, and did not stint on her time and gifted with wisdom, and it was useful to ask her
energy in order to work and facilitate. advice. There are no words with which to comfort
the bereaved family.
She was born into a working-class family, and
established her family in the Land of Israel on the
efforts and the plans for the homeland.
At the End of the First Year

By Miriam Musikant
Photo: Elkeh Lichtenstein (untitled) (p.436)
A year has gone by, and here already is the Yahrzeit. benefit from her advice and guidanc e. She did
It is difficult to convey the feelings in my heart and everything happily and with a smile, and with warm
the great sadness at the passing of that dear lady, my words which imbued me with a lively spirit and
good-hearted neighbor, that woman of wonderful focused me on realizing myself through matters of
deeds, my unforgettable neighbor, Elkeh life, solving little problems that seemed awesome
Lichtenstein. I always saw her with a bright face, from the perspective of a young mother, difficult
with a hearty relationship to everyone. Her beyond measure. She distinguished herself
commitment to the general welfare was without especially with her hospitality. In her demeanor and
bound. with her eager soul, I saw in her a commitment to all
things good.
She was happy to extend her help through work,
with advice and direction. When I was a young The years pass, and we have barely gotten used to
mother, I was privileged over a period of years, the idea that she is no longer here and will not
during which we lived in the same building, to return. We miss her very much.
382
She was a dear soul among us, and in the middle of
her best years, she was taken from us. To this day
we feel the pain and anguish as if it was that bitter
day when she was taken from us.
May her soul be bound up in the bond of life.
Elkeh Lichtenstein of the Dykhovsky Family kz

By David Rabinovich
Elkeh was taken from us prematurely. She was born After many years of hard work, the Lichtensteins
to a working-class family in Dereczin, and reached succeeded in saving enough money to move to a
the Holy Land at an early age in 1925. She met her larger house in the north of Tel-Aviv.
husband, Yitzhak, to whom we wish a long life, and
they established their domicile in one of the Even in her new home, Elkeh continued to deal with
Caucasus neighborhoods. She found a fulfilment of dedication and motherly concern, with the needs of
her life in the commitment and concern for her the Holocaust survivors. She never complained
townsfolk. When we, the first of the pioneers from during the time of her serious illness, and she
Dereczin, learned of the existence of this received all her visitors at the hospital with a
warmhearted family, we became regular visitors to pleasant countenance and a smile. Right up until
this neighborhood. We always found a warm house death came
there, and not only once were we treated to a meal,
which we desperately needed during those years She left behind a husband, who always participated
when there was no work to be had in the Holy Land. with her in providing help to the needy of her town,
a daughter and two sons who are married, and
Elkeh was a straightforward and good-hearted lady, grandchildren. Her good-hearted image will remain
and every hand extended to her for assistance was etched in the hearts of all who knew her and loved
not turned away empty. She never complained about her, and her memory will be a blessing in our midst.
her situation. With the end of the [Second World]
War, she was among the committee workers of our
townsfolk, and not only one of the new immigrants
found in her small house in the Cauc asus
neighborhood a refuge filled with sympathy until he
succeeded in establishing himself.
A Portrait of the Late Chava Sharar kz of the Salutsky Family

By Menahem Rahat
Photo: Chava Sharar (untitled) (p. 437)
I knew Chava for forty years. We were privileged virtues, her big-heartedness, and the purity of her
during this extended period to know her close up, soul – her heart-warming relationship not only to
and to appreciate her many generous and selfless her kin, but to the community at large, and to every
383
person, because he was a human being. absorption and settlement – in the testing of
suffering, that there is hope for the sons of those
Her home – which she established in a Hasidic returning to their land to rebuild its ruins and be
community, with her husband, Eliezer, may he be received with love.
granted a long life – was always wide open. No one
was turned away empty-handed. She did everything First, she and her husband, may he live long years,
that she could, and then some, for the c ommon settled among the broken walls and falling beams of
good. She was a faithful partner to the community in a ramshackle wooden house. The circumstances
good times and bad – happiness in its time, and were very hard, but they were overcome with the joy
mourning, when necessary, in its time. of creation. And even in those distant times,
everyone knew – and especially those families who
For decades she faithfully and honestly served the opted to make aliyah – that first of all they had to
socialist aid society in her settlement. In times when form a community and provide for some common
the society ran out of funds, and it became clear that security. She received all of them graciously, and
an urgent need of one sort of another existed, she even when she began to lose her strength she didn’t
did not hesitate to extend those funds from her own make any complaints.
money to the hard-pressed society, in order that they
not be unresponsive to the needy person requesting She was always happy to hear about the
aid.[She did this] to prevent disappointment, development of our country, its advancement, its
suffering and embarrassment for the needy. momentum, and initiatives. She followed all
advancements in the country with a trembling heart
These instincts for providing general assistance, she and a loving spirit, and saw in each of these the
inherited from her parents kz. Even while they were coming of the Final Redemption.
still outside the Holy Land – and their economic
circumstances were not particularly good – she was And then – when finally, in her advancing years,
drafted into supporting her family, since it became when she could enjoy the nachas for the family that
inc umbent on her father to leave his home for a she raised, from the country that had matured, from
period of time, to find a way to make a living in the conditions that had gotten immeasurably better
distant America. The mother and children remained – she was taken from us at age 64.
in Derec zin – and the burden of support for the
family fell on her shoulders. Nevertheless, despite And we can only hope that all her many well-earned
these difficulties, the house remained open to the rewards will come to the family that she left behind
poor, as before, who find within it, an open heart – her husband, her daughters and grandchildren, and
and a willingness to help them. on the entire people of Israel.
When their father returned to his hometown and May her memory be for a blessing!
family, and it was decided to emigrate from Poland,
the daughters decided to make aliyah to the Land of
Israel. They clearly did not seek an easy life,
preferring the life of the pioneer in the face of those
turbulent times. The conditions facing the settler in
those times were unusually difficult, and the work
they had to do was hard and exhausting, and
seemingly endless. Despite this, Chav a’s spirit did
not flag, and she c ontinued to bear her burden and
took comfort in the hope that things would get better
in the future, in which she saw the trials of
384
A Portrait of My Mother, Bluma , kz
By Khemda Artzi, of the Sinai-Miller Family
Photo: Of Subject (untitled) (p. 438)
My mother, of blessed memory, walked beside my She knew how to fix things with words that defy
father kz, along all the hard roads of life that fate alteration. I recall that in the final weeks before our
dealt them. The tribulations of building the Holy aliyah to the Holy Land, our father kz, would
Land were dear to her, and she accepted them with lecture us in the afternoons, that in the Holy Land
love. She would rise at dawn and do her work until we would eat of the ‘Bread of Afflic tion.’ She
the stars came out. She detested the gossip of accepted these words as axiomatic and did not
neighbors, and distanced herself from all worry about them.
argumentative discussions. The words of our Sages
were easy on her tongue: ‘Don’t judge your Father expressed her qualities after she passed
neighbor until you have stood in his place.’ away: ‘I remember for you the devotion of your
youth, your bridal love, following me into the
She was among the seekers and pursuers of peace. desert, into a land unsown.135’
I remember these words of hers to us girls: ‘Do not
deride the needy public, bec ause every person is Even in her final years, she bore her suffering
made in God’s image, and there is no doubt that heroically (she suffered from a wasting disease), and
every person who is poor, or down on his luck, the day before she died, she summoned my father
would like to be successful and lucky.’ Her quiet and thanked him for the partnership they had in life,
words stuck in our minds and had a great influence and the harmony that existed between them. We will
on us. never forget her strength of spirit and selfless
qualities.
135
Quote taken from Jeremiah 2:2
385
In Memory of my Mother Shoshana Gutman kz
By Israel Gil-Or (Gutman)
My mother was raised in a home that had deep She was a member of the Haganah for her entire
religious and Zionist roots. Her father, Rabbi Chaim life. In her capac ity, she filled the position of
Zvi Sinai (Miller) kz, championed the fulfilment of providing courses for instruc tion in the
the life of a pioneer in the land of our forefathers. administration of first aid. She never stinted on
He was not deterred by the prospect of great giving her time in order to fulfill any order that she
difficulties, and in the mid-twenties, made aliyah was asked to carry out.
with his entire family. Mother was then a young
woman, and lived in Kfar Uriah, a small village in Together with this, she was extremely devoted to
the Jerusalem hills, in which there were a number of her family. She always thought about the future. She
farming families who made aliyah without the therefore understood that very soon, the agricultural
benefit of protection, and it was not easy on them at enterprise would not be able to provide adequate
all. She quickly adapted to the hard life of a small sustenanc e. On the hells of this, my father
Jewish settlement, cut off from the center of the abandoned agriculture and went over to work for the
land. It was there that she met her future husband. local administration.
During the period of the incidents in 1929, the
family was saved by a miracle from the depredations She always hoped that her sons would receive a
of rampaging arabs, and went down to the valley broad education. I will forever remember how she
c ountry. After a while, they joined the founders of would begin laboring early in the morning during
the settlement of Ramat HaSharon. There, they set harvest seasons on her small plot near the house.
up an agricultural enterprise for themselves. From the proceeds of that crop sale, they paid for
my first year of study at the university.
Mother was blessed with good sense. As a young
woman in her hometown in the old country, she had However, her circumstances deteriorated. A few
studied the violin for many years. She seemed to short years afterwards, she fell sick with a
have a great future in this area. But under the malignancy. When she got relief from her suffering,
conditions of the pioneers in the early thirties, she she would translate books into Braille for the
had to forego any development of musical skills. Library for the Blind in Netanya.
She dedicated herself with her full commitment to
the building of the land. She was a lover of life, a lover of humanity with a
desire to help the downtrodden. She was taken from
us much too young, leaving her family and friends
bereaved.
May her memory be a blessing!
386
A Portrait of My Mother Dina Levitin of the Sinai Family
By Naomi Mizrahi
My mother, born in Shivli, came to the Holy Land She always contributed to the public good. Her
with her family at a young age. Her first domicile in dedication to her family and the members of her
the Holy Land was in Kfar Uriah, but after the 1929 household knew no bounds.
incidents, her family left that place after it was
destroyed, and went to Ramat HaSharon. The family She was the librarian of the settlement. Her love of
was one of the founders of that place. books was immense. I saw her always with a book
in her hands, giving advice and providing instruction
Mother was active in the Haganah, and assisted in in the reading of books. Readers loved her
receiving new arrivals at the Apologia beach beside enormously. Of her it was said: ‘those who die
Herzliya, and was also active in the community life before their time are truly beloved by the Gods.’
of the settlement. I recall my mother as modest in
her ways and requiring little in the way of material Her memory will be guarded by me wherever I shall
things. She never showed any pride in what she did, turn. May her memory be for a blessing, and her
and kept such good feelings to herself. I saw her as soul bound up in the bond of life.
someone dedicated to her family, and in her care for
a failing mother.
With what love she took care of her mother! In my

whole life I never saw such a fulfilment of the
commandment to honor a mother.
Israel Dror-Dereczinsky kz, – The Man of Shfai’im

Photo: Of subject, untitled (p. 440)
Israel was born on June 16, 1910 in Dereczin, to his that smile never left his face from that time on.
parents, Liba & Moshe, traditional Jewish people.
He received a Hebrew education, which was not a The work was hard for him. He went through the
common thing in those days, and during his youth tribulations of absorption and settlement, and of
he was already taken with the ‘Freiheit’ movement, getting used to the work, but bore all of it silently.
Poalei Tzion and HeHalutz, in which he was a
member for five years, of which he spent one year in When we moved to Shfai’im, he worked in packing
a training camp at kibbutz ‘Shkharia’ in Lida. While in the Litvinsky orchard, with all the battled facing
outside of the Land, he worked as a tailor. the Jewish worker in the mastery of the labor of the
times.
He made aliyah on August 14, 1934 and turned to us
immediately, to the kibbutz, which at the time was He was a marvelous family man, who loved family
on the top of the hill in Section 3 of Herzliya. He life.
arrived with a smile on his face, and it seemed as if
387
He filled many positions at his work: in the I recollect Israel during three periods of his life: the
organization of the work, as a secretary, a committee first is the one I have just described, and the second
member, and on top of this he was the cultural is in the Tarbut School in our town, in which I took
leader of the kibbutz. my first steps as a teacher, and was an instructor in
his class. I can still recall his place in the class. I
On February 1, 1950, he began his work as the taught in the school only for one year, but I would
secretary of the community advisory board of Khof meet him during the extended vacation, when I
Sharon. He began to organize cultural ac tivities would return to my town from those other places
within the ambit of the community. And all of his where I lived.
inspired undertakings were abruptly brought to an
end. We lost him. Those were stormy years in the Jewish streets of the
towns, the budding of the movement of a working
He was age 57 when he passed away. Land of Israel, the rebirth of the Hebrew language,
the erection of a defense against the pressure of
His Home – In His Hometown Polish culture and the Yiddishist movement.
Israel was the son of a town, a small town in the Israel was both beloved and well received by his
Pale of Settlement, far from the main roads, but comrades, not only then, but for all the years in
vibrant, with an ear attuned to what was going on in which he lived in his hometown, drinking in with
the greater world and in the Jewish communities thirst all the words of his teachers, even as a glint of
worldwide, participating in charitable activities, mischief would flash in his eyes. He was introverted
especially in the revival of the people in their and shy because of his small stature, and it appeared
homeland. to me that even in the Holy Land, despite that he
was accorded the most respected place in his own
There were schools in that town, Heders, and also a home – in the kibbutz and its surroundings, it was
Talmud Torah, in which Israel’s father was a possible to detect elements of introversion in his
teacher of the young children, and disciplined his soul that were remnants of those days gone by.
students in a pleasant way, because objectively
speaking, you might have expected him to be a man The third period was when he was in the Holy Land.
of bitter soul because he was disabled, having a It was only in 1940 that I became aware of the fact
paralyzed arm, and a limp on one side. that he was in the Land, and a member of Kibbutz
Shfai’im. We met immediately after the Second
How nobly this man carried the burdens of his hard World War.
life and its distress, even when his longed-for child Israel came by his common sense and openness
was born, and the mother of the child remained from within himself, from a stubborn battle waged
bedridden. with life and his surroundings. In unplanned
meetings, when members of the city would gather
Israel’s nobility of spirit – he inherited from his with survivors of the Holocaust, Israel would invite
father: no complaints, and no criticism against the me to be his guest: come see how I have settled,
healthy and normal members of the town. With what come to know my family, my home – my kibbutz,
love he would carry Israel in his healthy arm when come!
the little boy would grab for his father’s throat with
his tiny hands, or walk with him, hand in hand, with And so, a few years ago during summer vacation, I
the little one dressed in his very long jacket, because responded to his invitation and was a guest in his
that is the way they tailored in those days: the jacket home for a number of days. I came to know his
would have to serve as his garment for many years, family, and became tied to them with bonds of
even when he would grow up to be a boy. friendship and love. He constructed with his wife
388
Tzila, she should have a long life, a family nest that these, he was among the first in line to go.
radiated warmth and love, interesting himself in
each and every detail of the lives of his children, Despite all this, there were days of happiness and
even when they went out on their own. And what hope. Who will be able to portray our emotions of
dedication he exhibited every time I visited them! joy and the trepidation that we felt when we took to
the land. The dream of settling the land hovered
With the passing of Israel, a man was torn from the before us like a mirage. By turns, it would draw
bosom of his family and from among his friends in close and then recede, and then the appointed day
his movement and workplace, whose heart was full c ame, and we went out into the open, but the way
of love for the common welfare, ready to work and still lies before us; or the happiness of drawing our
do things in order to bring learning and knowledge water from the first well. And as a result of this a
to those who seek it. log house, supplies. And suddenly the group begins
to prosper, a school; a group of children, the first of
I miss the modest and warmhearted countenance our sons going off to the army. Through all of this
that, when you crossed his threshold, would shower we were together with Israel.
you with warmth and an urging to tarry a while in
his home. His hand was in all new undertakings and at the
center of the communal life we shared. As a
His family will carry his blessed memory in their secretary for many years, as the organizer of the
hearts, and so will I. daily work schedule, and the leader of many other
activities. Our neighbor Israel was one of those
By Malka Alper people who really cared. He was a man who didn’t
step to the side in matters pertaining to the kibbutz,
In Honor of His Person and its common and personal issues. He adopted the
life of the pioneer back in the days of his joining the
I sit and think about Israel, and as if a vapor rising youth movement, and his belief in this ideal he
from a dark cloud, pictures begin to rise from the sought to fulfill through the work of his own hands,
past: images, events and meetings. We spent a long by living the life of a kibbutznik to a high degree,
part of our lives together in the kibbutz from the and through a communal way of life. He was no
time we first met on the hill overlooking the sea in stranger to every personal and communal matter,
the Herzliya sector, until we accompanied him on seeing it as an issue for himself, and doing
the journey to his final resting place in a grove of everything he could, and more, in order to advance
eucalyptuses in Shfai’im. a matter or resolve it.
Milestones, life’s milestones pass by; from them, i

enveloped in worry and lack of sustenance, from
them the satisfac tion of accomplishment, and the No small number of diffic ulties sneaked up on him
spark of hope. in this endeavor. When it became overwhelming –
he intensified his effort. And he would not let go,
All of us went through this tribulation of absorption, and when it was allowed him, he would return and
and Israel, even though he was a laborer out of the continue at it. Even in his final days he never said “I
Holy Land (a tailor), was subject to this trial like the give up.” He believed he would overcome his illness
rest of us. By stubbornly overcoming his physical and return to work. But his weak heart could not
weakness, even attained advanced positions (the withstand the pressure, and gave out.
lead packer in his line of work). Attacks and
defense. A strike over the right to work opposite the Let us preserve his memory with honor.
gates of a hostile orchard owner. Going to work on
foot, or riding on a donkey, while mines and snipers By David Gutsfurkht
lie in ambush along the sides of the road. For all of
389
Hanan Abelovich kz
By Malka Alper
Photo: Of subject, untitled (p.442)
He was the youngest son of a large family, and early In the end, he obtained steady employment, had
on tasted deprivation and the burdens of life. good fortune with his little son, and radiated
Despite this he was a cheerful person with a light satisfaction. He strived for a better way of life, to a
face, warmhearted, and a lover of his fellow man, bigger house, because he lived in cramped quarters
always ready to help someone even beyond his on a noisy street.
capacity – this is how he is etched in my memory.
He had already made a commitment to a building
In Derec zin, he was a member of the Betar company for a small private home, but an accident
organization, he went away for training, and entered took him, young and handsome at an age of vigor,
the Holy Land illegally before the Second World from his family, comrades and friends.
War. He established a family, and together with his
wife navigated the trials of absorption and the May his memory be for a blessing!
difficulties of putting down roots in a new country.
To the Memory of Yerakhmiel Edelstein, kz

By Dov Gorinovsky
I left him [behind] in our town when he was still a environment among Arabs and the English.
boy of elementary school age. After he finished his
elementary schooling in Dereczin, he continued his Yerakhmiel came to Tel-Aviv and started all over
studies at the high school in Slonim. again. It was very difficult for him to get settled, and
he went through all sorts of experiences, until he
At the beginning of 1936, on the eve of the outbreak was accepted for a position with the Tel-Aviv
of the bloody incidents in the Holy Land, he came as municipal government, in the finance department.
a student at the University of Jerusalem, and studied He succeeded in his work and earned a stable
psychology. The conditions for study at that time position. He established a family among his people,
were very difficult. and a daughter was born to him. This period of good
fortune did not last long. He took sick suddenly, and
Like every other young man of that era, Yerakhmiel was sidelined. After recovering from the first
joined the Haganah, And he was very active. He episode of illness, he attempted to return to work,
became attached to the Jerusalem brigade, and was but his condition prevented him from doing so. He
ac tive in the vicinity of Atarot, and Gush Etzion always hoped that he would return to good health
where he was when he got started. Afterwards he and resume a normal life. He was always concerned
was sent to Beit Zayid. Understandably, his servic e about the welfare of his wife and tender daughter,
in the Haganah caused him to stop his studies at the and their fate.
university. After a period, he was sent by the
Haganah leadership to serve in the [British] For a little more than four years he struggled against
Mandate police force, and afterwards served in the his illness, until he succumbed after much difficult
areas of Beit She’an and Gesher. suffering. He turned forty very shortly before he
passed away.
His life was difficult during that period, because he
had to spend quite some time in a hostile May his memory be for a blessing.
390
Yerakhmiel Edelstein, kz
By Malka Alper
Photo: Of subject, untitled (p. 443)
He was born in 1914 to his parents, Sarah’keh & From his meager stipend, he was yet able to send
Isaac Edelstein, in Dereczin, Yerakhmiel was the back money to his parents quite frequently, more to
oldest son in the family. give them satisfaction, because they really did not
need his help.
He completed the Tarbut School in Dereczin, and
then he went to Slonim to study at the Polish-Jewish Only at the end of the Second World War did he
gymnasium, which he completed with distinction. first get release from the British police force and
obtained employment in the Tel-Aviv municipal
Apart from this, he was well raised, very shy, and government. He made a very nice family life for
introverted, but full of spirit and a very interesting himself. He committed heart and soul to the work of
conversation partner. It was in this manner that I the relief committee, which the people from
renewed my acquaintance with him when in the Dereczin established to help surviving Jews from
middle of the thirties he came to the Holy Land on our hometown. He wrote letters to the wandering
a visa to study at the University of Jerusalem. Derec ziners in war-torn Europe, help with the
publication of the Bulletin, sending packages to the
When the bloody incidents broke out in 1936, refugees, and maintained the books of the credit
Yerakhmiel, as a member of the Haganah went off as union – and all without a fanfare, quietly, special
a watchman in the police force. Was compelled to and in a heartfelt way.
give up his studies at the university, because Poland
did not permit his visa to be renewed. A serious illness tore him away from his family and
from our ranks.
As a police aide, he was compelled to serve in a
variety of places, often among Arabs and English. May his memory be for a blessing.
He saw, however, that his service comprised a
mission placed upon him by the Haganah leadership.
Isser Lev, kz

By Meir Bakalchuk
Photo of Subject (untitled) (p. 444)
Among the few surviving Jews after the war in intensely, and began to recite Torah in his sweet
1945, I also met Isser Lev, my friend and companion voice, using my father’s melodies that he used while
from my earliest youth onwards. studying the Gemara. – ‘I will never forget the
tunes of the Rabbi of Dereczin, your father, out
Isser was my father’s kz student for the study of teacher.’ – he said to me then.
Gemara, and he absorbed large portions of the
Torah and commentaries at every opportunity. Isser Isser was born in Dereczin in 1909 or 1910. We
was a diligent student and he was valued highly by both studied with my father, and we both went to
everyone. Grodno to [study at] the Teacher’s Seminary. Isser
always excelled in his studies with his stubborn
When Isser came to me somewhere in Austria to bid diligence.
me farewell prior to his going to Argentina, he wept
391
After the war, as I said, we met in Dereczin. Isser responsibility of finding provisions. He constantly
survived the German occupation in the ghetto, and slipped extra food surreptitiously to the children and
then as a partisan in the forest. We met again in the women in the family compound.
Lodz, and then in Austria. Isser was a teacher in the
DP camps. In Argentina, he was also a Hebrew Afterward, he came to Israel, and from the ground
teacher. His students will remember him, along with up, rebuilt his family life, but he became seriously
us, his friends and companions. ill, from which he did not recover.
Respect his shining memory.

Rachel Eichenbaum-Walansky kz
By A.
(Original Language: Yiddish) In Memory of
Reb Mordechai Zolotkovsky
Photo of Subject (untitled) (p. 444)
By Abraham Baysman
Rachel Eichenbaum was the daughter of Moshe & (Original Language: Hebrew)
Shayndl Walansk y (Gershon the Dyer’s
I met Reb Mordechai ben Yosef Zolotkov sk y in
granddaughter).
1936, and I wish to tell about this straight man, who
After the great massacre, Rokheleh fled to the forest, lived out his final years in the home of his family,
after managing to get them out in time and rescuing
was an active partisan, and distinguished herself
more than once with her heroic exploits. them from the terrifying Holocaust that overtook the
Jews of Poland.
She lived to come to the Land of Israel, and
He was a man of pleasant disposition, supporting
established a family, but rather soon she became
seriously ill and was taken from us at an early age. himself by the labor of his own hands, without, God
forbid, finding it necessary to appeal for sustenance
to his children. He worked hard his entire life. He
Offer respect for her memory!
was dedicated to his children, and helped them
establish their homes and families. Because of this,
they knew of his practice of providing charitable
Shimon Lusky kz assistance anonymously. He was a believer and an
observer of mitzvot, and was similarly inclined in
By M. A. his believe that the redemption of Israel would come
(Original Language: Yiddish) in its own land.
Photo of Subject (untitled) (p. 445) Even in the time when he was in the town of
Halinka, he served as the appointed liaison between
[He] was born in Slonim, and lived with his family the Jewish community and the ruling authorities.
in Halinka. He was a general benefactor, More than once he lent assistance to his fellow Jews
anonymously helping those who were in need. in matters connected to the local governmental
institutions. Except, with the passage of time, he
A good and special man. His wife and daughter saw that his efforts and all his work for his
were slain at the hands of the murdering Nazis in community were being done in a hostile diaspora,
Halinka. He then fled into the forest. and as an ardent Zionist he decided that one of these
days to make aliyah.
In the partisan ranks, he was given the heavy
392
His aliyah did not come easily. The Polish regime A good friend, who had an open heart, always at the
took issue with him and began to search for him, ready to help and offer encouragement. His house
and only thanks to friends that he had among was always open to friends, and it was always a
Christian neighbors who hid him until the official pleasure to find oneself in the company of his
concern passed, was he able to successfully flee, to family, his wife Henya, and daughter Esther, may
reach Egypt and from there – to the Holy Land. they have a long life.
In the Holy Land, he started a new life. He rented a He was taken from this life prematurely. His wife
parcel of land from an arab in order to put up a and daughter will take some comfort in his good
house, and began to deal with the process of name that he left behind him, as an honest man of
extracting his family to join him. After not too long pure heart.
as time, this desire of his also came to fruition – his
wife, three daughters and son reached the Holy We mourn our loss.
Land, joined him and became a help to him in his
work. Only, he did not succeed in bringing out all
the other members of his family, and these remained
Moshe Izaakovich kz
behind and were killed in the Holocaust. (Original Language: Hebrew)
Because of the strenuous work of putting down Photo of Subject (untitled) (p. 446)
roots in the homeland, he lost his wife. But even as
a widower, he knew how to arrange his life in a way Moshe was born in Dereczin in 1902. In his earliest
that enabled him to successfully live close by his years, he absorbed Jewish culture into his soul, and
son and daughters. as he matured, he studied with both speed and
dedication in the Yeshivas.
He was a modest man, beloved by one and all, and He reached the homeland in 1932 and after enduring
he had the capacity to communicate to all who came the tribulations of getting settled, he went to work in
in contact with him, his love of the land and the a central supply organization. He worked at this
family of man. organization for more than twenty years, until he
came down with an incurable disease, and he was
As his son-in-law, the husband of his daughter, bedridden for more than five years.
Leah, I wanted to put down these few lines in
memory of Reb Mordechai Zolotkovsky. He died – released from his agonies – on 15 Shevat
5728 (1966).
Ze’ev Ogulnick kz He was a modest man, self-effacing. He was always
By M.B. ready to help a friend. He was dedicated with heart
(Original Language: Hebrew) and soul to whatever he undertook. He was a dear
friend, content with his lot, modest and self-
Photo of Subject (untitled) (p. 446) effacing. He was respected and loved by all who
knew him.
Born in Dereczin in 1915.
Her was active in the liberation of Haifa during the
During the Second World War he was a partisan and War of Independence.
distinguished himself as a scout. He was [then]
drafted into the Red Army. After the liberation, he His memory will remain forever in the hearts of his
came to the Holy Land on the refugee ship, ‘Latrun,’ family, those who knew him, his friends and all
which was seized by the British authorities, and its those who came in contact with him.
passengers were taken to Cyprus, on January 11,
1946. He reached the Holy Land in May 1947. May his memory be for a blessing.
393
the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
My Sister Shoshana kz
By Y. Izaakovich She enjoyed the pleasures of the land for eight
(Original Language: Hebrew) years. And if these were difficult years for her – she
did not complain, and during the time of the
She was an active member of her chapter of incidents, she would write back to her family in
HaShomer HaTza’ir. She came to the homeland as Poland: ‘There is no problem, we will stand up to
a pioneer, originally in Kibbutz HaArtzi beside the Arab contingents.
Petakh-Tikvah, and afterwards the nucleus moved to
Kibbutz Ayn HaKhoresh, near Hadra. She passed away on 6 Elul 5703 (1942).
In this kibbutz, she was active in cultural affairs and May her soul be bound up in the bond of life.
absorption of new immigrants.
After a serious illness, she died while still young,

Eliyahu, son of Reb Yoshe
leaving behind a husband and two young sons. (Joseph) Rabinovich kz
She was interred at the Ayn HaKhoresh cemetery on
March 1, 1953. Even back in 1935 he came to the homeland in order
to settle down, but it was not to be. It was not for
May her soul be bound up in the bond of life. any reason to do with him, but he was compelled to
return to Poland. In 1939 he was exiled to Siberia
from his hometown of Slonim.
After the war, he spent some time in Germany, and

[E]lazar Rosenberg kz learned the printing business there. He made aliyah,
(Original Language: Yiddish) drained by his experience in the camps. He worked
here exclusively for the [newspaper] HaAretz,
‘Lozer Rosenberg came to Israel in the year 1949 printed by Mapai. He led a quiet life, but the years
with his family from the camps in Germany. In of suffering in Russian exile left their mark upon
1950, he was bitten by a venomous snake, from him. He died at an early age on 8 Shevat 5723
which he died. (1962).
May his soul be bound up in the bond of life. May his soul be bound up in the bond of life.
Beba, (Nekhama) Ethel (Esther) daughter of

Wife of Reb Yoshe Rabinovich kz Joseph & Beba Herenson-
(Original Language: Hebrew) Rabinovich kz
A ‘Woman of Valor,’ who ran her business with a
firm hand and wisely. The matriarch of an Photo: Ethel together with Y. M. Plotkin kz and F.
intelligent family. In her eighties, she come to her Einstein. (P. 447)
daughter Ethel and her family, and make aliyah.
Upon the establishment of the Tze’irei Zion in
Her father, Reb Eliyahu kz of Dereczin, made aliyah Dereczin, she took an active role in the chapter
in the 19th century as an old man, and is buried on activities, as well as in KKL”L, and was a member
394
of the culture committee of the library. She also After the war, she graduated as the top student at the
would participate in the drama club presentations, Real-Gymnasium in Slonim, while assisting many of
which was in existence in those days, and would her young city friends with their work. The teachers
take leading roles in the plays of Yaakov Gordon. and the director took into account her involvement
for the welfare of the students.
She yearned to make aliyah even as a young girl, but
she was the youngest in the family, and was denied From there, she went to Warsaw, where she
the fulfilment of her wishes, because her lot was to received her pedagogic training in the Tarbut
live with her parents. institutions, and the public ones as well.
At the beginning of the thirties, she married Eliyahu Her first position as a teac her was in Pinsk, in the
Herenson, and as a mother of two sons she made ‘Tarbut-Medrasha.’ Her former students kept
aliyah with her entire family. contact with her up until her last day.
The process of absorption in that period, in the days On the eve of Passover in 1935, Rachel, along with
of the wars and bloodletting in the Holy Land, were our mother kz, came to the homeland, and
not easy, yet she bore all these difficulties in good immediately after Passover obtained work as
spirit. governesses in an institution for indigent children,
established by the city administration of Tel-Aviv.
Wishing well to others, delicate in nature, dedicated The head of the child care institution, Mrs.
not only to her immediate family, she – was also Shoshana Persitz saw her at work, and at the end of
dedicated to her more extended family. She was the summer, at the beginning of the new school
taken from us before her time: she passed away on year, 1935-36, she transferred her to the Balfour
2 Tevet 5721 (1960) in Tel-Aviv. School, which had just moved into a new building.
May her soul be bound up in the bond of life. Rachel worked at the Balfour School until 1947,
when she was sent by the Sokhnut to the DP camps
in Austria. All those with whom she cam in contact
Our Sister Rachel Alper kz during her work in the camps, always remembered
her and reminded themselves of her, and came to see
By Malka Alper her on her final departure.
Photo of Subject (untitled) (p. 448) In 1952-53, at her own expense, she traveled to
America, io order to broaden her knowledge in
The youngest of a family of six children, Rachel raising children and teaching, and in particular to
was pretty, intelligent and full of graciousness – observe schoolwork in the established parts of New
everyone loved her. York.
She learned to read and write Russian and Hebrew After she returned, in the years 1953-55, she
at an early age, listening to those who were older directed the elementary school classes at the
than her preparing their lessons at home. Herzliya Gymnasium, and afterwards until the 1960-
61 school year at the Bar-Giora school in Yad
Her prime childhood years coincided with the period Eliyahu, Tel-Aviv. From 1961 to her last Day, she
of the First World War, when the issue of food to was the head of the ‘Muster Schul’ named for
eat was no trivial matter. This had a very strong Henrietta Szold in Tel-Aviv.
impact on her physical constitution. She even
investigated the possibility of studying in a German
school.
395
her work – they are the essenc e of the educational
Rachel had Many Facets ideal and honesty.
By Amiram
(Original Language: Hebrew) If she had any fear – it was only for justice, and the
protection of the dignity of the individual.
To make a ‘list’ about Rachel ?...
In her tiny worn body lived a great soul, strong-
What to start with ?... willed and of steadfast character, who demanded of
herself the ultimate in austerity, to the point of
What is worth mentioning? – (And what is not? Is bodily harm.
there even something that ‘isn’t worth
mentioning’?....) It was almost thought that she did this as a matter of
putting up a front. Nevertheless, those who were
To portray characteristics? – (She was generous...). c lose to her knew this was not a matter of
appearances – and not all to everyone...
How did I see her, me?
The relationship of her friends to work served as a
Then to my friends she was the ‘very essence of source of pride to her: because through this she saw
what a school meant.’ The ideal of the concept of ‘a the blessings of doing in her work, and took
school’ ... satisfaction from the condition of the school with
which she was bound to with all the strands of her
She was a marvel of an educator for whom the soul. But her concerns were – never! – bounded by
twenty four hours of her day was totally given over this institution only: all the children in Israel were
to the ‘children of Israel’... dear to her, and her desire to see them all develop
properly, grow up and prosper, was awesome...
She did her work with consummate dedication, like
the High Priest in the Holy of Holies: from when Even on her sickbed, during her most critical days,
she arose – and immediately threw herself into the her interest in all aspects of the school never let up,
issues of the school: and when [regular] hours were even if she was denied out of tact from involving
over – lessons: herself with the work of her successor.
‘Go home! You’re tired’ ... ‘they’re waiting for you During the period of her incapac ity, we came to
at home’... Me – I have a few more paragraphs to learn what Rachel meant to the school, and what she
do’... It wasn’t easy to convince her that the ‘few had bequeathed to us through her character.
paragraphs’ could wait until tomorrow...
A long time will pass and we will c ontinue to feel
Despite this – her presence between the walls of the institution...
We carried on many discussions between us, and These are only sketches of remembrance: floating,
many times we ‘closed’ the school, and we walked rising, and taking a place in the constellation of
together – as we went to our homes. memories...
Those occasions were ‘my university:’ This was my Rachel had many facets to her...
privilege, ‘to draw from the well [of wisdom] at her
hand’ – to be able to snatch up the strands of her
thought process, and apprehend her line of
reasoning: to learn and prove for who knows which
time, that the directors and the ones who evaluate
396
With the Memory of Rachel Alper kz such a faculty.
By Meir Bakalchuk
Rachel lent a firm and directing hand to those in
challenged circumstances, to blind children. She did
everything within her power to make these children
With the completion of the Dereczin Yizkor Book ,
feel like all the other children around them, and
the daughter of our town, Rachel Alper has departed
therefore the spent all their time in the company of
from us, during the very days when we have
the other pupils, mixing with them, participating in
completed the monument to the world that was and
their games, and it was through the play that they
is no longer, by that small remnant of survivors from
felt the closeness of Rachel their teacher in their
the slaughter that took place in so many different
circle, and ran to her to give her a loving hug.
and surreal ways, while we are still in the midst of
doing the best we can to assure the commemoration
Rachel was a stern disciplinarian, and she demanded
of our community, of our kin and members of our
no less from others. The work in her area was
families who were annihilated by a murdering hand,
burdened with unique requirements, because she
while our hearts are still filled with bitterness and
gave more of herself than was asked to the
sorrow over everything that the cruel enemy of our
education of children, and she demanded the same
people perpetrated on us, while we are in the midst
from her teaching and educating colleagues.
of praying that not one of our minuscule ranks of
survivors be taken from us – in those days, the
She earned a reputation as an outstanding educator,
persona full of glory and majesty was taken from us,
and in the higher educational institutions, her
Rachel, the daughter of the Alper family.
opinions were valued.
We were stunned to hear of this terrible loss, along
Rachel did not have personal demands, in view of
with the many hundreds of her students, and her
the fact that she saw in the education of the children
friends in the education arena. The pain is especially
in Israel the sum total of everything, the purpose of
great for those who come from Dereczin, for the
her life, and she never stinted on her time, her work
Alper family was like a bejewelled crown in the life
or her health, so long as the work got completely
of Dereczin, and Rachel was the glistening diamond
done.
in that crown.
In detailed conversations she was open-hearted,
I do not know if I will succeed in describing the
sometimes contentious, she didn’t care for empty
greatness of spirit in this skilled educator, gifted
talk, or conversations that had no purpose. She
administrator, whom thousands of her students
would respond with sharp thinking, explaining her
bitterly mourn at her passing. Rachel was not just an
thinking on the subject at hand, to the point that
ordinary teacher, who discharged her duties
often despite your own will, she would change your
according to the rules. She saw the profession of
mind – because who could stand up to the reasoning
teaching as the essence of her life, teaching not only
and enlightenment in her words? We would listen to
the children, but also the teachers who instructed
her utterances and her explanations would be
them. Rachel took note of her c hildren not only
accepted as if they were the teachings of the living
within the four walls of the school – but even in
God.
their own homes, in the context of their families, in
order that she would understand the right approach
May her memory be for a blessing!
to the child and its education. She loved her children
and knew everything about them. It is from this that
the children and their parents came to admire Rachel
and her dedic ated work. Very few are blessed with
this type of insight, and few are privileged to have
397
Rachel Daughter of Dereczin youth, to every person born in the town – because it
was as if she sought something of the deep rich,
By Y. Raban homey feeling of Dereczin.
As a daughter of her town, she was not inclined to
Rachel was a daughter of Dereczin form the public disclosures and talk about her weaknesses,
beginning of her life to the day she died. about the past, and the residue of memories that
were deeply etched into her heart. She end her
She was a daughter of her town – in the larger part introduc tory remarks on this type of subject with a
of her recollections for the larger part of her life. joke or something a little sarcastic, but in the gist of
She was quite a distance from her town, but when a her discourse she would bedeck her listeners with a
gathering would take place in the home of a veritable treasury of nostalgia.
Dereczin landsman, and the recollections would
begin to flow, recalling the jokes that circulated in Countless times, we implored her to put her
its streets ans houses over the years – Rachel would memories down on paper, but even these requests
stand as if aside, as if carrying on a conversation were disposed of with the wave of a hand and a firm
with herself: ‘Look, look what they are busying and adamant refusal. And on one day we got the
themselves with, with the very town that we have memory of her meeting with her teacher, in one of
come far from, even more than it has distanced itself the cities of the USA, who first taught her to read
from us...’ – and suddenly she would open with a and write.136
multi faceted theory, with ordered and clipped
sentences, all in vivid and moving colors, and As she spoke – so did she write. Every word
purposely in a Dereczin dialect, a vibrant flowing carefully shaped, every sentence clear from its
Yiddish, homey, ornate with expression, to the point beginning to its end, and the story as if cast as one
that from story to story, her speech would soften and piece. And it is only after reading it that you
the cast of her face became smilingly dreamy, and apprehend the very special affection that Rachel
all the longing that a person of our age can have for attributed to every corner of her town Dereczin, to
his childhood and youth, was revealed in her every person whose memory was in her mind, to the
flowing discourse, in which every word was like a few that remained alive, and the countless who died.
minted coin, to which nothing need be added, and
nothing be removed. Each and every person became idealized in her
memory, cleansed of their pettiness and the
She was an observer – and it seemed: a silent harshness of day-to-day life in the tiny town, but she
observer – to the work of creating the Dereczin also did not necessarily laud them with
Yizkor Book, which is the fruit of the writing of unconditional praise and glorious words – they
many, and the fruit of the labor of a few. It seemed appeared in her words as very real, earthy people,
that she was listening with half an ear to the people who did have weaknesses, and these were
dialogue between the ones who were organizing the her townsfolk, the Derecziners.
contents of the Book. Yet almost at every one of the
early meetings, she would provide some short Rachel was a daughter of the Alper family, a
insight – not even a proposal or critique – but there daughter of the very house that stood at the heart of
would be something in her insight about the Dereczin, and shone a love of Zion on it and
fundamentals of the town of her youth, from her everything that surrounded it. It appears that this
core, from the essence of her being. house and its family came into the world with a
clear and distinguished mission.
She was a daughter of Dereczin, and everywhere
that she worked and gave of herself, learning and
teaching, she drawn to the legacy of her little vibrant
136
hometown, to her first teacher, to the friends of her Found earlier in this book.
398
Along with the other members of her family, Rachel made aliyah he passed away from a heart attack.
took part of this mission upon herself – the
education of young Jewish children, regardless of May his soul be bound up in the bond of life.
where they were: in the cities of the diaspora, in the
DP camps, and in their new land. And together with
the members of her family, she carried out her
Alter Lobzovsky kz
mission as a sacred duty, full of faith, with a (Original Language: Yiddish)
completely c ommitted heart, giving all of her He was a partisan in the forest along with those
energy, all of her love, with everything she c ould from Dereczin.
give to education and her colleagues in the
educational field, until she passed away. He came to the homeland and worked hard driving
a horse-drawn wagon to earn a living. Because of
his tribulations in the forest, he required surgery on
a leg. A short time after the operation, Alter passed
Liova (Aryeh) Greenwald kz away.
May his soul be bound up in the bond of life.
In 1939, when the [Russian] army entered Dereczin,
Liova Greenwald was exiled to Siberia.
After the war, following a period of wandering

through Europe, he came to Israel, and worked as a
pharmacist in a clinic.
He died of a heart attack at an early age.
May his soul be bound up in the bond of life.
Nachman (Nakheh) Goldenberg kz

Literally during the final minutes of the massacre in

the Dereczin ghetto, Goldenberg found a way to get
out of the hands of the hangmen, and fled to the
forest.
His entire family, consisting of his wife and

children, brothers and sisters, were annihilated
along with the Dereczin community.
After the war, Nakheh joined up with the Aliyah-Bet

to enter Israel. Along with thousands of other
refugees, he was sent by the British authorities to
Cyprus, and later did come to the homeland where
he began to reconstruct his life anew. However, the
years in the forest and the wanderings appear to
have taken a toll of his health. A few years after he
399
400
Memorial Pages
Reduced KK”L Facsimile Page
401
QUOTE PAGE
From Jeremiah
402
Page 455:
iyav trC tk sIg iye skh os ,neb

ehkthC / b / j
– The Devil himself has not yet devised the vengeance for
the blood of a small child –
C. N. Bialik
In Memoriam
To All the Slain Jewish Children
of
Dereczin and Its Surroundings
Photo: Untitled group picture of schoolchildren, with teachers at the rear.
Page 456:
Their Memory Will Never Leave Our Hearts

Their Son & Brother, Meir & Ben-Zion Bakalchuk
Photos (Top to Bottom, L to R):
Rabbi Zvi-Hirsch Bakalchuk kz The Rebbitzen Chaya Miriam kz
The Rabbi’s Daughter, Second from Left The Rabbi’s Daughter,

Malka Weinstein kz The Rabbi’s Son, Sima kz
Moshe-Aharon kz
Page 457:
Our Brother David Alper, His Wife Shoshana,

Their Son Emanuel, Their Daughter Avia – Killed in Pinsk.
Our Sister Masha, & Her Husband Isser Lamprat,
Together With Their Son Nahum – Killed in Klutsk.
May Their Memory Be for a Blessing
Their Sisters Malka, Bella & Duba Alper
Let Us Guard Their Memory Forever –
Shimon Abramovich & Family
Photo: Eliyahu Abramovich & His Family
403
Page 458:
The Ogulnick Families in Israel

And the Levs in South Africa
Perpetuate the Memory of Their
Parents, Shmeryl & Masha Ogulnick,
Their Brothers Shmuel-Leizer & Leibl,
And Their Sisters, Goldkeh & Miriam.
Photos: Five untitled photos are included, in which the photos of the parents are obv ious. The
identities of the three siblings is less clear.
I Perpetuate the Memory

Of My Husband, Moshe vg
Kaylah Azov & Daughter
Photo: Moshe Azov, Son of Abraham & Pearl kz
Page 459:
Their Memory Remains Perpetual and Sacred in Our Hearts –
The Family of Rukhamah & Meir Siskind
Photos:
Above: My father Yitzhak-Abraham Abelovich vg as a young man.
Below: The Abelovich Family:

The mother, Zelda, Brothers Shmuel & Bashkeh, Issachar
Hannan – kz
Page 460:
To the Perpetual Memory

Of Our Beloved Parents,
Brothers, Sisters and
Their Children –
404
The Families of:
Dvosha Beckenstein,
Chaya Pilzer-Beckenstein
Photos: 1) Shmuel & Nekhama Beckenstein

2) Reizl & Sini Beckenstein, Cherneh, Hannah Beckenstein & Their Children
The Lord Will Avenge Their Blood !
Page 461:
To the Beneficent Memory of:
Dobeh & Mordechai Ogulnick,

Moshe-Peretz Einstein,
Itkeh & Itcheh-David Ogulnick –
Commemorated By:
Penina & Liebeh, of the Ogulnick Household

(In Israel)
Photo: An untitled family portrait.
Photo: (Seven people in photo, not specifically identified)
Esther Nussbaum-Bricker perpetuates the memory of her parents, Itcheh-Yaakov & Hannah-Rachel
Bricker, brother Yosheh and Sister Badaneh
Page 462:
To the Eternal Memory

Of the Souls of My Parents and
The Members of My Family Who Perished.
Aryeh Beckenstein
405
Photos: My Sister Miriam, Was
Top: My Parents
Killed In the Prime of Her
Masha & Mordechai (Motkeh)Beckenstein Life.
Below Left: My Brothers
Yehoshua, Eliyahu & Yerachmiel;
My Sister Bella
Below Right: Untitled Family Portrait
Page 463:
We Perpetuate the
Memory of an Annihilated
Family
Aryeh & Noah Beckenstein
Photos:
Top (Left to Right): Zina & Shayna at the grave of their father Noah Lunsky.
Zina Lunsky-Beckenstein
Below (Left to Right):
Shayna Lunsky and her Husband, Yaakov Sakar

The Mother of the Family, Nekhama
Page 464:
I, Dr. Michal Ber (Birnbaum) perpetuate the memory of my dear

family that was annihilated by the Nazis:
Photos (Left to Right): My Father Leon Birnbaum from Warsaw
My Brother Moshe (Mytek)
My Mother Penina (Pearl) of the Blizniansky Family
May Their Memory Be for a Blessing!
Miriam, Liza & Katya of the Blizniansky Family Perpetuate the

Memory of:
Photo: Their sister Ruzha and her family, who were annihilated.
406
Page 465:
I, Musha Novitsky-Grachuk Perpetuate the Memory of My

Annihilated Family
Photos: Top – a family picture with the legend: My Mother Sarah Grachuk vg, and her crown of f amily
members.
Bottom (Left to Right): Five people with the legend: With my family members in Russia, 1961
Musha Grachuk-Basak and child. Killed in the Dereczin ghetto.
Page 466:
To the Shining Memory of
Two photos:
My Grandmother Paya-Sulya
And of My Grandfather
Itcheh-Berel Itzkowitz,
The Soltis, Who For His Entire Life
Stood Watch on Behalf of the
Jewish Community of Dereczin
Kalman Abramovich
In Memory of Our Parents
Rachel-Leah & Menahem-Mendel Dykhovsky
And Our Brothers Joseph & Jacob
Photo of four (untitled)
The Families of
Rivkah Seglovitz & Esther Globus Of the Dykhovsky Family
Page 467:
Miriam Pechersky & Sarah Baswitz Perpetuate the Memory of

Their Loved Ones in the Slonimsky Family
Photos (Left to Right): The Sisters Hannah-Esther & Zelda Slonimsky
On the right – the Mother, Chaya kz
The Father Aaron (Zaydl) Slonimsky (Der Hasid) kz
407
Dov, Saul & Sarah Gorinovsky
Perpetuate the Memory of the Family:
Photos (Left to Right): The Parents, Sisters and Brother
Dov-Berel Epstein
David-Zelig Epstein
Page 468:
Shoshana Shapiro Perpetuates the Memory of the Nozhnitsky

Family:
Photo: A Family Portrait bearing the legend: Her Parents, Hanan-Yaakov & Hannah, The Grandmother
Chaya-Beileh, Her Brothers & Sisters: Marisa, Liba, Natan, Abraham, Leah & Sarah
I, Natan Dlugolansky Perpetuate the Memory of My Family,

Residents of Kolonia-Sinaiska:
Photos (Left to Right): Leah & Yoshka Dlugolansky and their children, Shlomo, Moshe & Rivkah
Aaron, the son of Yehuda & Hannah Dlugolansky
My Parents, Simkha & Chaya-Basheh Dlugolansky
Page 469:
Moshe Kwiat & Son, Israel Perpetuate the Memory of Their Dearest:
Photos: Top – Families: Leib & Gisha Walitsky, Shmuel-Aryeh Einstein, Esther, Chayeleh & Moshe-
Peretz, Itkeh Kwiat & Son, Velvel
Right – Son & Brother, Velvel

Cherneh Kwiat & Husband
To the Memory
Of My Father
Photo: Eliyahu-Chaim Walitsky
Sarah Bergman-Walitsky
(South-Africa)
408
Page 470:
Their Memory Will Be Eternal –
Sarah Teichman-Levinger
Photos: (Top Right): Grandmother Chaya-Beileh Zoger

(Mid-Left): Uncle Sholom Zhak
In Memory of My Grandfather
R’ Kalman-David Levinger
Bottom (Left to Right): The Father, David Levinger

Brother, Moshe Levinger (Killed in Volkovysk)
The Mother Mashka Levinger
Page 471:
Yehudit Yankelewick-Lantzevitzky
Perpetuates the Memory of Her Annihilated Family:
Photos: (Top Right): Chaya-Hoddel & Chaim-Itcheh Gelman
Bottom (Left to Right): The Parents: Chaim & Guteh-Leah, Yehudit (in America), Chaya-Hoddel, Zlateh,
Tuvia, Dobeh & Sarah
Tuvia & Bella Lantzevitzky
Page 472:
Jacob Mishkin & Wife Perpetuate the Memory of Their Families In

Dereczin and Slonim:
Photos: (Top Left): Sister Chaya at the grave of the mother
Bottom: From the right: Moshkeh, Meir, Yenteh (in Chile), Sheryl, Masha (in Chile), Shmuel, Dina
(In Peru); Sitting: Sonia with her son, Mottel, The Mother, Itteh-Rachel, The Father Yosef,
Chayekeh
Page 473:
409
The Lovovsky Family, In-Laws of Jacob Mishkin:
Photos: Top Right is Untitled, but seems to be the elder Lovovskys.
Top Left: Hannah, wife of the Rabbi R’ Mordechai Knorazavsky, and their children
.
Children of R’ Mordechai:
Yudel, Shmuel, Berel,
Leibeh, Abraham, Aaron,
Israel & David
Bottom (Left to Right): The Rabbi, R’ Yek hiel Brother of

Sophia
Wife of the Rabbi
The Child of the Rabbi & His Wife

Was Killed At The Age of 13 Months
Page 474:
A Perpetual Memorial to
The Lifshovich Family
Photos: (Top Left) – Dobka Lifshovich and Her Children
(Top Right) – Motteh & Dobeh Lifshovich
Bottom: The Lifshovich Family

From the Right: Standing: David, Chava, Chaim-Yehoshua & Eliyahu
Sitting: Gershon (Living in America), The Parents Hena-Yankel & Bashkeh, The Daughter Taibl
Page 475:
Mina Liebreider-Stupak
Perpetuates the Memory of
Her Family from Halinka:
Photos: (Top Right) – Her Father, R’ Shlomo Stupak
(Bottom) – First Row: Sonya, Jonathan & Leah Klimovitsky;

Second Row: The Parents and Children of Sonya. Esther,
Daughter of Sonya survived.
410
Page 476:
The Streit Family Perpetuates the Memory of the Families:

Photos: Top – Sitting: Fruma-Risheh Rakhilevsky;
Standing: Pinya & His Wife, Paya with her son
Bottom – Abraham Chaim & Faygel Polonsky with their Children, Tevl & Taibl
Page 477:
Rachel Efras-Feldman
Perpetuates the Memory of the Families:
Feldman, Stukalsky, Weinstein
Photos: Top Left – Brother, Hirschel Feldman
Mid- Left – The Weinstein-Bardakh Family
Mid-Right – Riva Viniatsky-Feldman
Bottom – The Feldman & Stukalsky Families (Group Portrait, otherwise untitled)
Page 478:
[ Abraham] Kadish Feder, of New York, Perpetuates the Memory of

His Relatives:
Photos (Top to Bottom, Left to Right):
Fruma Luria Killed in Bialystock

Rabbi Meir Luria Killed in Bialystock
Abraham & Musha Lifshovich with their children; killed in the Dereczin Ghetto
Chaim Ferder, killed in the Dereczin Ghetto
Page 479:
Photos:
Top Left: Yehoshua Shelkovich, Killed in the Dereczin Ghetto
Top Right: Hirschel Shelkovich, Killed in the Dereczin Ghetto
Bottom Right: Moshkeh Ferder and his wife
Sarah Pintchevsky Perpetuates the

Memory of:
Photo: Hannah-Itkeh Ferder
411
Page 480:
To Their Eternal Memory – The Kulakowski Family

Photos: Left – Rivkah Weissenberg, Itzl, Ethel, Mosheleh; Tamara Nozhnitsky,
Chaim, Yehudit, Rachel, Mina, Zeydl & Henoch
Right– Resha Lev-Kulakowski kz
To the Eternal Memory of My Family –
Dora Birnbaum-Rothstein
Photo: My Father, Director Samson Rothstein, My Mother Eydeleh,

Brother Yosheh, and Little Sister Masheleh
Page 481:
Photos: (Top, Right): R’ Chaim-Yehoshua Petrukhovich

(Top Center): His Wife
(Top Left): Hannah (left), their daughter
Bottom: Left – Hannah Bernicker-Petrukhovich with her Husband & Children

Right – Faygel Lev-Petrukhovich, with her Husband & Children
Their Memory is Perpetuated by Nekhama & Michal Petrukhovich,

the Daughters, and their Families
Page 482:
Photo: Faygel Quint, vg

To the Shining Memory of Yekhiel Killed in the Dereczin Ghetto
Khonyak & Chaya, and the Sisters,
Bella & Feiga
(Refugees from Ostrolenka)
Perpetuated
Esther Michelson
412
Sarah Slotnick, of New York,
Perpetuates the Memory of Her Relatives
Photo: The Dykhovsky Family of Slonim
Page 483:
Dvora Smith – Shelkovich (New York)

Perpetuates the Memory of Her Dearest
Photos: Top Left: Brother Eliyahu and his wife, Bluma
Top Right: Sister Esther
Gutka Boyarsky-Salutsky Perpetuates the Memory

of Her Murdered Family
Photos: Left – Her Parents, Bothers and Sisters
The Salutsky Family
Right – Golda, Moshe-David’s
Page 484:
Photos: Top (Left): Rachel-Leah Dworetsky, Mother of Regina Rabinovich

(Center & Right): The Parents of Chaim Rabinovich: R’ Aryeh-Leib & Breineh
Their Memory is Perpetuated By Chaim & Regina Rabinovich
Bottom: The families of R’ Yossef, Chaim & Eliyahu Rabinovich, Herenson & Stein
Page 485:
Yaakov Rabinovich, His wife Fanya Rabinovich, and Members of His

Family, Perpetuate the Memory of their Relatives
Photos: Top – The Parents, Ze’ev & Hannah-Sarah Rabinovich
Brother Joseph, his Wife and son Shlomo, and sister Ethel
Bottom (Left to Right): Brother, Moshe Rabinovich

The Mother, Hannah-Sarah & her grandchild, Shlomo son of Joseph
413
Page 486:
Chaya Blauss Perpetuates the Tzivya Dykhovsky-Rakhilevsky & Her

Memory of Her Sister Family, Perpetuate the Memory of:
Photo: Liba, and Her Husband Moshe Walansky Photo: Mother, Brothers & Sisters
To the Memory of
Zelig Lobzovsky,
His Daughter, Paya & Her Family
Perpetuated
Daniel Kedess
Photo (untitled)
Page 487:
Young Lives Cut Off Photo: Mirel Ogulnick, Liba Miller, Sima Shelovsky
At the Hands of the
Nazi Oppressors
Photo: Chaim-Shia Lifshovich, Batya Glinkovasky

Hannan Abelovich, Chaya Glinkovsky God Will Avenge Their Blood!
Shmuel Korn
Page 488:
Photos: Top – (Left): Basha Glinkovsky kz

(Right): Beileh Lev kz
Photo: Mendel Narchuk kz

To the Memory of the Partisans,
Chaim Elyovitz and His Brother, Leibeh

(accompanied by photo), who fell in the
forests.
Perpetuated by their Sister, Leah
414
Necrology
Martyrs of the Community of
Dereczin
Note: The order in which these names appear has been made to conform to English alphabetization, and
therefore does not follow the same order as they appear in the original Hebrew text.
A children: Sima & Moshe-Aharon.

Bardakh, Joseph, his wife, Menukha and their
Abelovich, Abraham-Elya, his wife Chaya, sons: Moshe’l, Meir, Chaim.
Daughter & Son Bardakh, Reuven, his wife, Mashkeh, and
Abelovich, Issachar, & Wife their daughters, Cherneh & Ethel.
Abelovich, Shmuel, wife Bashkeh and their Baranovsky, Itcheh-Yudkeh, his wife Sonia
daughters Tzippeh & Shayndl (Walansky’s daughter), His Brothers & Sisters.
Abramovich, Eliyahu (Elyeh Ahareh’s), his wife Baruch the Homeless One and his family.
Itkeh, & their children: Menahem Mendel, Genya, Basak, Abraham-Moshe, His Wife & Children
Esther, Leah and her Husband, Moshe & Basheh Basak, Feitl, his wife, Golda-Leah & their children,
Abramovich, – Husband, wife & daughter Sonia. Rachel, Sarah & Motya.
Aharon Leib & Family Basak, Feitl’s brother and his Family.
Abramovich, Kunya and her Sister Beckenstein, Dvora with 2 Daughters.
Alper, David, his wife Shoshana,& children: Beckenstein, Hirschel & Wife
Emanuel & Avia (Killed in Pinsk). Beckenstein, Leibl his wife Friedeh and their
Alper, Moshe, the Watchmaker, His Wife & Their Children.
Children. Beckenstein, Mendicheh, his wife & daughter
Asak, Chaim, his wife Bashkeh, their son Moshe Tzippeh.
and daughter Leah. Beckenstein, Motkeh, his wife, Mashkeh, their
Astrakhan-Poupko, Sarah and her daughters: children: Eliyahu (killed as a partisan), Yehoshua,
Yehudit & Tzippeh Bela & Yerachmiel.
Azef, Elkeh Beckenstein, Shmuel, his wife Nekhama, their
Azef, Hannah-Itkeh & Her Child. daughter Hannah, Her Husband and Children.
Azef, Moshe ben Abraham & Pearl, fell in the Beckenstein, Shmuel-Yossel, and Children.
forest. Beckenstein, Sini, his wife Reizl, and their son
Azef, Nekhama, her Husband Aryeh and their Mottel.
children: Gittel, Pearl, Avreml, Chaim & Tzivya. Beckenstein Yaakov-Chaim, his wife Shayncheh
Azef, Nella (Gella?), and son, Mordechai and children (Killed in Zelva).
Azef, Rachel, Her Husband & Child Becker, Chaya and her sons: Yankel &
Azef, Yankel & Mottel. Khatzkel (Kolonia).
Becker, Moshe, His wife Sula, and children
B Shmuel, Chaycheh, and Myteh (from Kolonia).
Becker, Shmuel, His Wife, and children,
Bakalchuk, Zvi-Hirsch, The Rabbi of Dereczin. Aryeh & Beileh.
His wife, the Rebbetzin, Chaya Miriam, and their Becker, Tuvia, His Wife & Two Daughters
(Lived in the Hayatim Bet HaMidrash).
415
Belkovich, Aryeh a refugee (overseer of the Cohen, Chaim-Velvel (Kolonia) His Wife,
women’s labor in the ghetto). & children Sholom-Yankel & Moshe.
Berel the wagon leather worker his Wife & Cohen, Nissan (Kolonia), his wife Masha,
Children. his sons Isaac & Aharon, and 2 Daughters.
Berkovich, Michal (from Warsaw), his Sons &
Daughters. D
Berkovich, Izia (Yitzhak) A teacher in the
Pavshekhner School. The Deaf coach leather worker & his wife
Berkovich, Yitzhak his wife Cherneh and 4 Davidovich, Gittel.
Children, a Sister of Yitzhak and her family. Dereczinsky the Teacher, Wife & Children.
Dombrowsky, Shlomo-Mordec hai, his wife
Bernicker, Esther-Elkeh, her husband Motya Badaneh and their sons David (fell in the attack on
and 7 children. Dereczin), Yehudah & Shimon.
Bernicker, Marek Dlugolansky, Aharon, (Kolonia) his wife Itkeh,
Bernicker, Shmuel his wife Sarah, with their 2 & 2 Children.
Children. Dlugolansky, Feivel from Kolonia (Sirota’s son-
Bernicker, Velvel his Wife, his daughter in-law) and his wife.
Mereh and Son. Dlugolansky, Joel his wife Sarah-Beileh &
Beshkin, Avromkeh, his wife Malka and son Daughter
Israel. Dlugolansky, Joseph (Kolonia) his wife Leah-
Beshkin, Leibkeh, his wife Bobitcheh and cheh, & their children Shayneh, Esther, Shlomo,
their daughters: Masheh & Friedeh. Moshe, & Rivkah.
Beshkin, Mattityahu, his wife Merah and Dubinchik, the Mother, and her daughters
their son. Malka & Zina.
Bialosotsky, Leib, his wife Fruma, their Dubovsky, Abraham, his wife Hannah & their
daughter Ruzha, her Husband & children Sarah & Sheyma.
Child. Dworetsky, Hirschel his wife Chaya (from the
Bitensky, Hirschel, and his wife, Nekhama. Feldman family) and their Child.
Bitensky, Shlomo, his wife Yocheh, and their Dworetsky, Yankel, Wife & Children.
son, Velvel. Dykhovsky, Abraham his wife Shayneh &
Bitensky, Shmuel, Wife & Children. Children. Shayneh’s mother, Temeh Sarah.
Blizniansky, Eliyahu & his wife, Zina. Dykhovsky, Joseph ben Dov, his wife Rachel &
Blizniansky, Feivel, his wife Minieh, & their Children.
children: Meshel, Sioma & Nahum. Dykhovsky, Joseph and his daughters Mikhleh,
Bogdanovsky, Aryeh – (fell in the forest) Beileh & Chaya.
Bogdanovsky, Yehoshua & Family. Dykhovsky, Menahem-Mendel, his wife
Bricker, Barankeh Rachel-Leah.
Bricker, Yosheh, his wife Chava, and their Dykhovsky, Yankel, Wife & Daughter
Son.
C E
Chernitsky, Beileh-Hannah Einstein, Chaim-Leib, His Wife & Children.

Chernitsky, Beileh-Hannah’s sister in-law & Einstein, Itcheh, his wife Berakha, and their
her children Shimon, Hirschel, 6 Children.
Shlomo. Einstein, Moshe-Peretz, fell as a partisan.
Chernitsky, Shimon his wife Es t her Einstein, Sarah
(Shelkovich) and their children Hasia and Paya. Einstein, Shmuel-Aryeh, His Wife & 3
416
Children. Velvel, Aharon, and Yocheh.
Einstein, Sholom, his Wife & Children. Glick(s)feld (son-in-law of Rudenstein) & Children.
Ellerstein, Gedaliah his wife Cherneh (Kwiat’s Glick(s)feld, Mina (fell as a partisan) & her Sister.
Sister). Glinkovsky, Barukh-Notteh his wife Dvoshka
Ellerstein, Isaac his children Shayndl, Rivkah, and their children, Velvel & Itzl.
Chaim. Goldenberg, Eliyahu, Yudel & Dinkeh.
Elovich, Shprinza, her children Chaim, Goldenberg, Fradl
Elk e h , L e i b - Ar y e h a n d Goldenberg, Motya , his wife Faygel.
grandchildren Sholom & Rachel. Goldenberg, Pessia and 3 Children.
Epstein, Sholom, his wife Sarah & 6 Goldenberg, Shlomo, his wife Betty and
Children. daughter Alia.
Grachuk, Berel.
F Grachuk, Mendel and his wife Gizeh
Grachuk, Moshe his wife Sarah and children:
Feder, Hindeh. Meir & Hirschel. Musha Grachuk’s husband Shmuel
Feder, Yaakov-Meir. and their children: Esther, Mereh & Moshe.
Feldman, Hirschel & Children. Grachuk, Rykheh and her children, Sonia,
Shimon and Yankel (fell as a partisan).
Feldman, Menahem-Mendel (committed Grachuk, Shayneh & Her Sons.
suicide), his wife Pessia. Grachuk, Tolya and his wife (killed in
Ferder, Avreml (fell in the forest). Kletsk).
Ferder, Hannah-Itkeh (Azaf)
Ferder, Mosh’keh his wife Faygel, & children Grazhevsky, Velvel, Zlateh, Shmuel (fell in the
Genesheh (Genendel), Abraham, David, Zelig. forest) & Hannah.
Fink, Chaya & Nathan. Grinkovsky, Berel & His Family.
Friedman, Zelig his wife Rac hel, & daughter Grinkovsky, Felteh and her Children.
Hannah-Chaya.
Fuchs, his wife Manya & Children.
H
G Hananiah the Tailor his wife Malka & Daughter

Harkavy, Getzel the Farmer & His Family.
Hurvich, Alter and his wife Hasia
Gorinovsky, Esther, her husband Meir-Abba and Hurvich, Simkha his wife Hindeh &
Children. Children
Gorinovsky, Mani his wife Chaya and children
Meir, Munia & Liezeh
Gorinovsky, Moshe, Wife & Children. K
Gorinovsky, Shifra and her husband Blumel’s
(son?) Karalitsky, Ephraim, wife Bluma children
Gorinovsky, Yankel, Wife & Children. Melekh & 2 others.
Gorinovsky, Yankel-David his wife Sulkeh and Karakatsky, Rivsheh.
son Leibl. Khanyak, Yekhiel, Chaya, Bella & Feiga
Gelman, Hasia (Sonia’s) (from Ostrolenka).
Gelman, Katriel his wife and their c hildren Khatzek – The entire Family (refugees)
Feivel, Dvorah & Shmuel. Kobrinsky, R’ Leib, his wife Rivkah, Daughter
Gelman, Moshe His Son & Daughter & son, Israel.
Gershon the Butcher, His Wife & children Berel, Kostellansky, Borukh & Family
417
Kostellansky, Hannah-Pessia & Her Husband. son Nahum.
Kostellansky, Henokh & His Family. Lampert, Yehoshua & Leizer.
Korin, Basha (Glinkovsky) & Child. Landau, his wife form the Weinstein family,
Korin, Yankel his wife Hannah, daughter Cherneh, & Daughter Masha.
& son Isaac. Lantzevitzky, Chaim & Family.
Kornblum the Feldscher, His Wife, his Lantzevitzky, Hillel, Son & Daughter.
daughter Bobitcheh & her husband Abraham. Lantzevitzky, Hindeh.
Kotlarsky, Riva & Her Children (Halinka). Lantzevitzky, Itcheh, Wife & 8 Children.
Kreslansky, Chaya & Tzemakh. Lantzevitzky, Koppel 2 Daughters & A Son.
Kreslansky, Gershon & Liba Lantzevitzky, Leizer & Family.
Kreslansky, Yudl & Bluma Lantzevitzky, Moshe, Mirel, Gershon, Tuvia
Krimolovsky’s Family. Lantzevitzky, Shmeryl & Family.
Kolakowsky, Naftali his wife Hannah-Golda, Lantzevitzky, Velvel & Family.
daughters Raiyeh & Resheh, & son Yitzhak. R’ Leib a refugee.
Kulakowski, Shlomo, wife Peninah & Child. Leizer the coach leather worker & Family.
Kustin, Abraham-Chaim his wife Leah & daughter Lev, Abraham-Shmuel, his wife Sarah-Hindeh
Esther. Lev, Aharon his wife Matleh & 3 Children. Their
Kustin, Moshe’l & Wife. daughter Frieda & her husband Michal.
Kvintovsky, Sheyma, Wife & Son. Lev, Chaim & Family
Kwiat, Itkeh & Velvel. Lev, Jonah, his wife Feiga-Chaya, the children,
Kwiat, Reuven & Rivkah. Son & daughters: Shayndl, Yehudit, Breineh.
Lev, Karpel his wife Khishkeh, & children Israel
(fell as a partisan), Bobbel, Basheh.
Lev, Leizer, Wife & Daughter.
Lev, Mereh
Jews from Kolonia Lev, Mindl & daughter Beileh.
Lev, Zalman, Wife & Child.
Kaninovich, Joseph, his wife Masheh & Lev, Yaakov-Leib, his wife Faygel & 5 Children.
children Nissan, Zalman, Sima & Lev, Yankel & Family.
Pearl. Levin, Leibeh, his wife Tamara, &
Karakatsky, Yaakov, His Wife & Children. children Zalman & Hannah.
Kazhvitsky, Lippeh, wife Sonia, children Genya Levitt (Wananchik)
& Others. Lifshovich, Avreml.
Klimovitsky, Janusz his wife Leah, & children Lifshovich, Bashkeh & her daughters, Chava,
Yosseleh & Michal. Taibl (fell in the forest), Chaim-Yehoshua (also fell
Kresnovsky, Aryeh his wife Shayneh, & in the forest), Eliyahu-Elik – murdered by the Poles
children Aharon & Leah. after the War.
Kresnovsky, Beileh, Sarah, Riva. Lifshovich, David & his wife, Hannah (Khankeh)
Kresnovsky, Bunya, Sula, Khatzkel, Itcheh & Lifshovich, Dobkeh & her 5 Children.
Itkeh Lifshovich, Motya & Family.
Kresnovsky, David, Sarah, Cherneh. Lifshovich, Musheh, Husband & Children.
Kresnovsky, Hanan, wife Pearl & 2 Sons. Lifshovich, Noah His Wife & Children.
Kresnovsky, Simkha (fell as a partisan). Lirkovsky, Kalman, his wife Breineh & Little Girl.
Kresnovsky, Simkha, wife Taibl & Young Lobzovsky, Chaya, her daughters, Hasia & Sonia.
Daughter. Lobzovsky, Gershon & 2 Daughters.
Lobzovsky, Hindeh.
L Lobzovsky, Leizer, his wife Rachel-Beileh, his
sister, Sima.
Lampert, Isser his wife Masheh (Alper), their Lobzovsky, Mirel and her Parents.
418
Lobzovsky, Shmuel (Lobedrig?? – executed??) Ogulnick, Chaim-Hirschel, wife & Children.
Lobzovsky, Zelig The Butcher, His Son & Ogulnick, David & His wife, Bobitcheh.
Daughter-in-law Ogulnick, Hasia, her husband and children
Lvovich, Karpel his wife Mashkeh, their Ogulnick, Itcheh-David, wife and 2 children
children Esther, Itteh-Leah, Liebeh, David, Kalman, Ogulnick, Itcheh-Yankel & his Wife
Sholom, Resheh, and Basheh-Minkeh. Ogulnick, Moshe-Chaim, fell as a partisan
Lunsky, Nekhama. Ogulnick, Motkeh & His Wife
Lusky Sarah, Her Child (Halinka). Ogulnick, Reuven & Wife
Ogulnick, Sarah-Minkeh her son Peretz and 3
other Children.
M Ogulnick, Shimon, Wife & Children
Ogulnick, Shmeryl, his daughters, Goldkeh
Malcharsky, Sholom his wife Esther, & children and her Husband Broydah, Mirel and her Husband
Mindl (Mincheh), Shmuel & Tzemakh. Kopitkeh, and their son, Leibl.
Manikov, Nekhama (fell in the forest). Ogulnick, Shushka, Meir’s wife, and children.
Manikov, Sasha his wife Frieda & Children. Orlansky, Michal, his wife Shayneh and her
Mervetsky, Dobeh & Her Children. sister and family.
Miller, Isaac (Kolonia) his wife Hannah, their Osherovich, Moshe, His wife, Felteh, and their
children Jekuthiel, Shmuel, Tzirel, Chaya- Children.
Sarah, Gutkeh, & Sulkeh. Osherovich, Motya His wife Golda, and their
Miller, Koppel, His Wife & Children. Children.
Miller, Nissl fell as a partisan. Osherovich, Nahum, his wife Hannah and their
Miller, Mosh’keh Wife & Children. children: Genendel, Chaim & Zelda
Mishkin, Joseph & his daughter Chaya.
Mishkin, Moshe his wife Sonia & their Children. P
Mishkin, Shmuel, his wife Esther & 3 Children.
Monkevicher with her 3 Sons & 2 Daughters. Pintelevich, Itcheh his wife Cherneh and
Moshe Issachar’s & Family. children Esther & Mirel.
Petrukhovich, Abraham, his wife Paya & 3
N Children.
Petrukhovich, Joseph Ephraim & Gisheh (children
Nozhnitsky, Baraneh. of Nekha & Michal, long life to them).
Nozhnitsky, Hanan-Yankel his wife Hannah, & Petrukhovich, Leibeh his wife Sarah, & children
daughters Masheh & Leah Cherneh & Abraham. Cherneh’s children: Karpel,
Nozhnitsky, Herschel-Chaim, his wife Tamara Basheh, Shayneh.
and children Yehudit, Rachel, Petrukhovich, Moshe-David.
Minia, Moshe (Zeydl), Henokh. Petrukhovich, Pessia-Tzirel, Husband & Children.
Nozhnitsky, Sarah & Her Husband. Platt, Chaim his wife Tamara & son Feivel.
Nozhnitsky, Shepeh his wife Chaya-Sarah, the Plitnick, Avreml & His Family.
daughters: Yehudit, Ethel & Her Polachuk, Dov-Ber & Wife.
Husband, Beileh, & their son Yudl. Polonsky & Family (Halinka).
Nyegnievetsky, Shmuel & wife Elkeh. Poretsky, Shmuel (From Lobzov).
Nyegnievetsky, Yehoshua. Poupko, Masheh, Husband & Children.
O
Q
Ogulnick, Alter, Wife & Children.
419
Quint, Gisha her children Faygel, Rishkeh & Schneider, Michal, Wife & daughter Rishkeh.
Hirschel. Sedletsky, Leizer, his wife Leah, son Avreml,
and other Children.
R Sedletsky, Yehoshua & his wife Raiyeh.
Shapiro, Joseph, wife Rachel, c hildren
Rabinovich, Esther her husband Gelman & Israel, Sonia, Liba.
daughter Hannah-Sarah. Shapiro, Shlomo & The Family.
Rabinovich, Joseph his wife Miriam & children: Shcheransky, Chava, daughter Genya & Family,
Shlomo, Hannah-Sarah. daughter Cherneh & Family, son Shimon.
Rabinovich, Moshe. Shcheransky, Yaakov, wife Chava & the children
Rabinovich, Yocheh (Chaim’s wife) & children Naftali, Pessia, Zelig, Sonia, Esther, Liba.
Ethel, Moshe & Eliyahu. Shelkovich, Alter, wife Malka & 3 Children.
Rabinovich, Ze’ev, Felya Shelkovich, Berel, Velvel, Yocheh & Aharon.
Radenstein, 137
Shlomo his sons, Eli-Chaim & Shelkovich, Eliyahu, wife Bluma & daughters:
Shmuel. Chaya, Paya, & Ethel.
Radenstein, Yehudit. Shelkovich, Israel, his wife Sarah, & 2
Radenstein, (Rivcheh’s son-in-law), Wife & Children.
Children. Shelkovich, Leibkeh, wife Golda-Beileh &
Rakhilevsky, Khatzkel & wife. children Ethel, Malka, Velvel, Chaim (fell in the
Ratner, Avigdor & Wife. attack on Dereczin).
Ratner, Zalman, his wife Cherneh, their children Shelkovich, Musheh & Yocheh.
Rivkah & Leibl. Shelkovich, Rachel-Liebeh.
Ravilievsky, Pinieh (Pinkhas?) & Family. Shelkovich, Shmuel, his wife Hannah, &
Reznick, Israel. children Leibl, Zlateh, Ben-Zion.
Rizikov, Chaim wife Esther & Children. Shelkovich, Shmuel The Barber, wife
Rizikov, Leibeh, Wife & 3 Children. Rokheh(Rachel)-Beileh, & Children.
Rosenberg, Mirel (Lazar’s Mother). Shelkovich, Yehoshua & Family.
Rosenberg, Pinieh (The Metalworker) & Wife. Shelovsky, Itcheh, wife Rachel, children
Rothstein, Samson (Shimon), wife Eydeleh, Shlomo (Siuma), Avigdor (Vitta), Sima & Faygel.
children Yosheh & Masheh. Shelovsky, Yudl, wife Matilda.
Rudovsky, Malka, Her Husband & Children. Sheplan, Yitzhak, wife Riva & children
Masheh, Emma & Gola.
Shepshelevich, Shmuel, wife Paya & Children.
S Shepshelevich, Yehoshua & Family.
Shmilevich, Beilkeh & daughter Paya.
Sakar, wife of Berel & 2 Children. Alteh Shomers, a single woman.
Sakar, Leah. Sirota, Aharon his wife Tzippeh.
Sakar, Melekh, Wife & Child. Sirota, Israel his wife Yenta
Sakar, Yankel, his wife Shayneh (from the house Sirota, Nahum, his wife Leah.
of Lunsky).
Salutsky, Israel, Wife & Children. Skrabun, Alter his wife Esther & son Asher.
Sarah the Grain Worker. (From Kolonia)
Savitsky, Elkeh, her daughters Leah & Resheh. Slonimsky, Aharon, Zeydl der Hassid, his wife
Savitsky, Sarah a single woman (“Aunt” Sarah). Chaya & daughters Hannah-Esther & Zelda.
Sobol, Yehoshua, his wife Tsirel & 3 Children.
Spector, Chaya (Miller’s wife).
137
Also spelled Rudenstein Spector, Zalman & Wife.
420
Stein-Rabinovich, Rivkah, & children Aryeh, Winikov, Hindeh & Mereh
Kayla, Etya (killed in Slonim). Wolfowitz, Borukh, Beilkeh, Hirschel.
Stukalsky, Cherneh (Nadel). Wollman & his wife Hasia (Khashkeh)
Stukalsky, Leizer, his wife Chaya.
Stupak, Shlomo, his wife Liba, a daughter Freydl Y
(Halinka).
Sukenik from Semyatich the whole family – Yalovsky, Liova, his wife Henikeh & their
parents, children: Chaya (Kolonia), Minia, Children.
Genesheh (Genendel), Feigeleh. Yellin, David, Wife & Children.
Z
T
Zakharevich, Golda-Faygel.
Tobolsky, Moshe The Cantor, his wife Rivkah Zakharevich, Leibeh and His Daughter
(Beshkin) & their Children. Zelikovich, Musha, her Husband & 2 Children.
Zelkin, the Father, Riva & 2 Children.
V Zelkin, Hindeh & Husband.
Zhernitsky, David-Hirsch, his wife Rachel.
Viniatsky, Leib his wife Riva and son Chaim. Zhernitsky, Yaakov his wife Itkeh.
Zhernitsky, Yossel his wife Shayneh, & His
W Children.
Zhimelevich, Meir, Alta & the daughters, Dobeh,
Walansky, Moshe his wife Liebeh & daughter Esther, Liebeh.
Faygel. Zilberman, Isaac, & wife Hoddel.
Walitsky, David. Zlotagura, Abraham His Wife & Children
Walitsky, Dov and his wife Rakheh (Rachel?) Zlotagura, Herschel, His Wife & Children
Walitsky, Eli-Chaim his wife Tamara & Zolotnitsky, Alter & 2 Sons.
Children. Zolotnitsky, Henokh, Mirkeh (in Israel).
Walitsky, Hillel. Zolotnitsky, Itzl, his wife, Yenta, & children
Walitsky, Leibeh & his wife Gisheh Velvel & Chaya-Sarah.
Wantawer, His Wife & Children Zolotnitsky, Reuven
Weinstein, Chaim, his wife Elkeh, & their
Children.
Weinstein, Malka (Rabbi Bakalchuk’s daughter).
Weinstein, Shmuel.
Weinstein, Yankel his wife Genesheh (Genendel),
& children Moshe’l, Itkeh & Leibl.
Weinstein, Zelig his wife Cherneh, & their Children
Weissenberg, Ethel, Itzl’s wife, and child, Masheleh
Weissenberg, Rivkah.
Wilenczyk, Avreml.
Wilenczyk, Moshe Ben Benjamin-Chaim
Wilenczyk, Motya and his wife Bobcheh
Winikov, Dina, Her Husband & Children.

Winikov, Hasia & Her Children.
421
This list is missing hundreds of names of
those killed who were from Dereczin, Halinka
and Kolonia [Sinaiska] as well as those who
attempted to flee but were murdered in a
bestial manner by the Nazi beasts and their
[willing] helpers, their names having already
been forgotten through the passage of time,
but their images stand before our eyes.
422
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ihmrs rpx

The Dereczin Memorial Book

English Translation Prepared and Published By

Mahwah, New Jersey, USA

All rights reserved. No part of this

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 99-80145

Other Books by Jacob Solomon Berger

The Zelva Memorial Book

Printed in the United States of America

Poem: Binem Heller (1906 - 1998)

The Translator’s Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Jacob Solomon Berger iv

A Silent Kaddish for Our Dearest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . by Abraham-Kadish Feder vi

On the Occasion of the Publication of the Book.. . by David Rabinovich (kz) ix

Once there was a Town.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

At the Dawn of the Twentieth Century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

In the First World War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

The Last Generation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

The Destruction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

In the Forests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

They Fell With Their Guns In Their Hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

On the Ruins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Derecziners in America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

In Memory of Deceased Dereczin Landsleit .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Memorial Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Necrology: Martyrs of the Community of Dereczin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Yekhezkiel Raban, Editor

Deretchiner Yizkor Book Committee

Please do not delay – We expect to hear from you in a few days.

ABRAHAM FEDER, Chairman SARA SLOTNICK, Treasurer ROSE SISKIND, Secretary

Picture of Deretchiner Yizkor Book Committee in the U.S.

Sam Bernicker, David Yanofsky,2 Ida Sarnotsky-Feder, Mrs. Bernicker,

Guta Boyarsky, Rachel Efros-Feldman, Rukhamah Siskind-Abelovitch

The Rabbis of Dereczin 9

Needless to say, this gave rise to many injustices.

The Jewish craftsmen would lay out their products Settlers

This is the way Jews in Dereczin derived sustenance

It was in this manner that the settler was connected

But these new influxes of learning, the Haskalah,

One has to recall, that in those years in Dereczin, as

My Grandfather Occupying the Rabbinical Seat of Dereczin

The Dereczin of My Youth

ii And it is hardly any wonder that Dereczin served an

In general though, the Jewish community of

I was, however, quite mistaken. Entering the large

The result was that the speed of my work doubled

[Biographical Note: Shlomo Yudson, born in Dereczin, emigrated to America early in

2. An Eclipse of the Sun

A little bit at a time, the strip of light became wider

It is a custom in town that on the eve of Simkhat ii

A general conversation started up between us

Dedicated to my gentle daughter, Dina, of blessed memory, chaste in

Introduction from my father, of blessed memory, from my

In those days, when I was on the threshold of

A short time back, I became interested in

Rabbis, Scholars and Teachers

Photos: The Melamed, R’ Yosheh Abelovich (p.77 Top)

It was in this way that the modern Yeshiva students

Reb Abraham Izaakovich was an intellec tually

His classroom took on a much improved appearance

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On the Occasion of the Publication of the Book.. . by David Rabinovich (kz) ix