Third part of Ilya [Translation]

TABLE OF CONTENTS*

Preface\The Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Dedicated to Her Image and Remembrance\Aryeh Koplovitz. . . . .15

Part One:

The Historical Ilya

The Town's Origins\A. Avi Avihud. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

The "Hagar-Tzedek" Affair\A. Avi Aviva. . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Rabbi Menashe of Ilya\The late Tuvia Ben Chefetz. . . . . . . .35

Ben Porath\Aryeh Ben-Abba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

Ilya as a "Hostel" for Torah\A.B.A.K. . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

The Great Yeshiva in Ilya\-"-. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

The Scholar Rabbi Reuven of Dinburg\-"-. . . . . . . . . .73

The Scholar Rabbi Moshe Shlomo Khari\-"- . . . . . . . . .74

The Scholar Rabbi Shmuel Zelig\M.TZ. . . . . . . . . . . .77

The Scholar Rabbi Wolf Broide\-"-. . . . . . . . . . . . .78

The Scholar Rabbi Moshe Yisrael Shapira\from

Sefer Ha'Yovel. . .79

Rabbi Ya'akov Efraim Nachmin\Chaim Levin . . . . . . . . .81

The Scholar Rabbi Avraham Eli Remez\Moshe Shlomo Balaks. .82

Part Two:

Between the Two World Wars

Arainfir[i]\Yossef Vinetski - Mexico. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

Mein Heim-Shtatele Ilya[ii]\Eliezer Shapira - Mexico . . . . . . .91

The Ties between Ilya and Eretz Yisrael[iii]\Aryeh Koplovitz. . . .145

The Zionist Movement, its Actions and Courses\Aryeh Bar Droma

and Ahuvah Teitelbaum 211

[8] From his Legacy\ Tuvia Ben Chefetz, blessed be his memory . . 233

My Ilya\Devorah Sherman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

My Ilya (a poem)\A., Miriam's husband . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

From the Remembrance Notebook\Eliezer Dinerstein U.S.A. . . . 269

With the Hebrew Brigades\A., brother of Malkah K.. . . . . . .271

Gashtalten On Anshtalten[iv]\Leibe Gitles. . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Part Three:

The Holocaust

Der Untergang von Ilya\Die Radactie[v]. . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Yizkor[vi] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

The Names of the Martyrs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

The Tale of the Wandering and the Tears\David Rubin . . . . . 317

At the Place of Slaughter, in the Ghetto, and in the Forests\

Bat Sheva Riar (Bronstein). . . 339

The Struggle for Life\Shraga Solominski . . . . . . . . . . . 373

Ein Die Finzere Taag[vii]\Zoshka Gitliez - America. . . . . . . . 403

The Holocaust\Yonah Riar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

A Hand to Friends,to a Sister,and to Parents\Aryeh Koplovitz. 441

Ya'akov Lapidoth (Yankole) " " . . . . 442

Ya'akov Bronstein " " . . . . 443

Reuven Koplovitz and his Mother " " . . . . 444

Mordechai Rogozinski " " . . . . 445

Shlomo Zalman Sherman " " . . . . 446

Eliyahu Avriel " " . . . . 447

My Sister Malkah " " . . . . 448

My Parents " " . . . . 450

Part Four:

The Sons of Ilya in the Diaspora

Die Amigratzia in America[viii]\Fon Ilyer Zamlong - New York . . . 455

Die Amigratzia in Argentina\Dar Radacter. . . . . . . . . . . 459

Ilyer Ein Argentina\Salaman Koplovitz . . . . . . . . . . . . 462

Undazara Landslite In Mexico\Dar Radacter . . . . . . . . . . 464

Yazt Axistiranda Ilyer in America\Dar Radacter. . . . . . . . 465

[9]

Introduction

With excitement and awe, stooping under the burden of our sorrow, loss, orphanhood and helplessness, we present to the reader The Book of Ilya. This is our modest contribution to the communal tombstone, erected to immortalize the memory of tens of thousands of the communities of Israel, and millions of brothers, who perished in the hands of the Nazi enemy and his helpers: who were tortured, starved, murdered, burned, and killed in strange ways - during the days of the horrendous Holocaust, the like of which never occurred in the history of our people and of the world.

We have no words to describe even the minutest part of the vivid life of our town and the dimensions of the tragedy of its destruction, a tragedy that took place before the very eyes of the indifferent and uncaring people of the world. The Holocaust - that cut down a third of our people - cannot be measured by its astounding results only, without considering the quality of those who perished. We lost our best creative talents, who would have been able, perhaps, to provide a more fitting and appropriate description of the town's life and the dimensions of its tragedy.

And although we are not worthy, fate has assigned this mission to us.

* *

After much effort, the collection of material for the Book of Ilya is completed. We can now bless the effort and say that the job was not an easy one, for many reasons; because of the scarce numbers of our town's residents in the world who survived its destruction; since the community's records, where the main events of the town since its establishment were probably written - were destroyed; for lack of reliable sources from which we could glean information on the ancient town and its history; due to the fact that most of the survivors, who live in Israel, are relatively young, and did not have time to absorb within them the town's culture and history, and the few that did, lost it during their many travels and struggle for survival. All of the above prevented us from presenting a correct and full picture of the glorious past of the town and its effervescent life in the period between the two wars. In addition: we should consider the objective fact that the main burden of writing this book was assigned to only few people [10] and that flawed the description. Despite all, we tried to summarize what was available under the present conditions and to include it in the book.

It is our duty to gratefully mention all those who gave of their time, energy and abilities, material or literary, to the writing of this project. First and foremost, let us bow our heads before the grave of our town's resident Tuvia Chefetz, rest his soul, who initiated the idea and forced us to materialize it, taking the editorial task in his own hands. But how strange sometimes are the ways of fate. The man who longed to commemorate the town did not manage to do so, and died before the project began. May his memory be blessed and retained forever in our hearts.

With gratefulness we mention our town's members, the sons of Tzemach Shapira, rest his soul, from Mexico and the U.S., that thanks to their moral support, their crucial financial contribution, and their constant personal involvement - our tiny birth town, Ilya, gained this eternal tombstone.

We are proud of the respectable appreciation letter to our friends the brothers Shapira, written by Mr. Yossef Vintzki from Mexico, and hereby publish it verbatim with much pleasure:

" [in Yiddish] ......."

[11]

* *

A heartfelt thanks also to Mr. Chaim Levin from the Kibbutz of Ramat Hakovesh. Despite the fact that the man is past his prime, he did not worry about his health and came to see us in the evenings, to tell of his memories of the town's events. Let us wish that we will all have the privilege of blessing him on his 120th birthday.

[12] Hearty blessings to all of Ilya's sons in Israel and in the diaspora: in the United States, Argentina and Mexico. Especially to Zusman Geitlitz, Shlomo Koplovitz and Eliezer Dinerstein and to the members of the committee for the union of Ilya's descendants in Israel. To all the friends who contributed their writing, money, pictures and time to the publication of this memorial book - our deep thanks. All have a considerable part in the project of commemorating the town and its martyrs.

To my friend and work mate, Matityahu Bar Ratzon, for his advice on editorial matters and his interest in the progress of this work - my warm blessing.

* *

To my dear and loyal wife Miriam, who encouraged me to continue work despite the many difficulties and unpleasant obstacles I faced - I send the blessing of a loving and admiring husband.

This book enfolds a long history of the life of a tiny, ancient and lively Jewish community, and the details of its final destruction are at your disposal. Let it serve as an eternal tombstone, to bring together the generations of the past, the present and the future.