Vishnevo Guestbook Archive
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I SHOULD LIKE TO ADD A POSTSCRPT
TO MY TWO ENTRIES; THE WOMAN I SEEK WHO USED THE NAME OLGA SOMMERS/SMITKIN GAVE
MY TWO BROTHERS AND I UP FOR ADOPTION. I SEEK THIS WOMAN IN THE HOPE I CAN FIND
OUT OUR HISTORY AND HERITAGE AND ANY MEDICAL INFORMATION SHE CAN PROVIDE. I
DO NOT WISH TO BOTHER ANYONE NOR INTRUDE ON ONES LIFE. BUT MY BROTHER IS VERY
SICK AND I SHANT REST. TO THE WOMAN I SEEK OR ANYONE WHO KNOWS OF THIS, I PRAY
THAT YOU WILL FEEL COMPASSION AND REALIZE THAT A LONG TIME HAS PASSED. TO THIS
WOMAN, I THANK YOU FOR MY LIFE AND TRUST YOU WILL UNDERSTAND I NEED A BIT MORE.
SO AGAIN I PLEAD, IF IN 1945 YOU GAVE UP A SET OF TWIN BOYS IN JERSEY CITY,
AND AGAIN A BOY IN 1946, PLEASE FIND IT IN YOUR HEART TO CONTACT ME.
EDWARD, CHARLES, AND RONALD
donal elmogom@aol.com
nm USA -
VISHNIVE CEMETERY RENOVATION PROJECT
Dear Vishnive descendants, Shalom ,
List of Donors for the Vishnive Project
Zvi Abramson Israel
Rivka Belatruski Israel
Zane Buzby U.S.A
Ellen Bell-Gelt & Murray H. Gelt U.S.A
Ester Bogomilski Israel
Etta Eherlich Israel
Nathan & Galia Drori Israel
Lisa Dudman Israel
Matti Gal Israel
Dvora Rogovin Helberg & Uri Helberg Israel
Donna Goldberg U.S.A
Sima Lewin Israel
Eilat Gordin Levitan U.S.A
Rachel Miller Israel
Shimon Peres (Foreign Minister of Israel, Former Israeli Prime Minister )
Arlene Poglowitz U.S.A
Moshe Porat Israel
Geula Rabinowitz (Widow of Yehoshua Rabinowitz, of blessed memory, Former Israeli
Finance Minister, Former Mayor of Tel Aviv)
Zvi & Judy Rogovin U.S.A
Fanni Sokolick Israel
Mina Steiner Israel
Beatrice Schuster Saphra U.S.A
Charles Straczynski U.S.A
This is only the beginning.
Your donation is requested. Any amount will be thankfully accepted.
Please join us .
The address for donations is :
Ms. Zane Buzby
3446 Troy Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90068
Tel: (323) 876-5566
cbmail@earthlink.net
Sincerely yours ,
Dvora & Uri Helberg
.
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I WANTED TO ADD THAT IF ANYBODY KNOWS
ANY SMITKIN IN ISREAL OR ANYWHERE ELSE. I AM TRYING TO KEEP A PROMISE TO MY
BROTHER WHO HAS CANCER. I WAS BORN IN 1946 HE 1945. PERHAPS SOMEONE KNOWS OF
A SMITKIN-SOMMERS CONNECTION (SUMMERS) OR SMITH. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. EVEN
THE HISTORY OF THE NAME MIGHT HELP. I WOULD APPRECIATE ANYTHING. PLEASE
Donal Elmogom@aol.com
nm USA -
I am trying to locate anybody who
knows of the smitkins who resided in new york. Possible names; Jacob, Jennie,
Minnie.
samuel..........This is very important. even if those names dont match. Please
contact me
Thank you
Donal Elmogom@aol.com
nm USA -
Subj: Fw: Vishnive Project
Date: 1/20/02 10:01:28 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: helberg@netvision.net.il (helberg)
To: eilatgordn@aol.com (Eilat & Danni Levitan), cbmail@earthlink.net (Zane
Buzby)
VISHNIVE CEMETERY RENOVATION PROJECT
Dear Vishnive descendants, Shalom ,
List of Donors for the Vishnive Project
Zvi Abramson Israel
Zane Buzby U.S.A
Ellen Bell-Gelt U.S.A
Ester Bogomilski Israel
Nathan & Galia Drori Israel
Lisa Dudman Israel
Matti Gal Israel
Dvora Rogovin Helberg & Uri Helberg Israel
Eilat Gordin Levitan U.S.A
Shimon Peres (Foreign Minister of Israel, Former Israeli Prime Minister )
Moshe Porat Israel
Geula Rabinowitz (Widow of Yehoshua Rabinowitz, of blessed memory, Former Israeli
Finance Minister, Former Mayor of Tel Aviv)
Zvi & Judy Rogovin U.S.A
Mina Steiner Israel
Charles Straczynski U.S.A
This is only the beginning.
Your donation is requested. Any amount will be thankfully accepted.
Please join us.
The address for donations is :
Ms. Zane Buzby
3446 Troy Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90068
Tel: (323) 876-5566
Sincerely yours ,
Dvora & Uri Helberg
------------------------------------------
The shtetl Dolhinov also had a cemetery renovation project in 2001. More then
a hundred natives and descendants of Dolhinov around the world gave donations
http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/dolhinov/d_pages/d_cemetary2001.html
pictures
of the cemetery renovation project in Dolhinov
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Davidson, Isidore born; 25 Dec 1888
W in Vishnevo, Russia. was in the U. S in 1917
.
USA -
Harry RABINOWITZ
[948]
1894 - 1961
BIRTH: 1894, Vishnevo, Vilna, Russia
DEATH: 1961, New York
Family 1 : Ida JERUSALEM
Edward RABSON
Roslyn RABINOWITZ
.
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BELARUSIAN STATE ARCHIVES-MUSEUM
OF LITERATURE AND ARTS
Address: 4?, Kirilla and Mefodiya St., Minsk, 220030, Republic of Belarus
Tel: (375-17) 227-47-81, 227-25-83, 227-11-88
Director: Anna V. Zapartyko
Previous names:
State Archives of Literature and Arts (1960-1976),
Central Archives-Museum of Literature and Arts of Belarus (1976-1993)
Amount of holdings: 407 fonds (310 of which are personal collections of prominent
figures of literature and arts), 77,961 items
Chronological period: from 1820 to the present
Brief holdings description: The automated retrieval systems "Name index" and
"Personal archives " are working in the archives.
For researches of cultural and national renaissance and liberation movement
in Belarus of the end of the 19th-the beginning of the 20th century, the following
fonds and collections are of the greatest interest:
the collection of documents of the manuscripts' department of the Belarusian
Museum named after I. Lutskevich in Vilno (1835-1943), which contains materials
of the Belarusian Association on rendering help to the victims of the war; Belarusian
Socialist Gramada; Belarusian Party of socialist-revolutionaries; Belarusian
Social-Democratic party; the documents of the Belarusian People's Republic,
Ministry of Belarusian affairs under the Lithuanian government; materials of
the Central Belarusian Council of Vilno and Grodno regions, Belarusian Army
Committee, Youth League "Belarusian falcon" in Prague;
materials of the Belarusian cultural and educational organizations (Belarusian
Scientific Association, etc.), publishing house ("Zaglyane sontsa i u nasha
vacontsa"), journals ("Belarusky Letapis", "Kryvich", "Malanka", "Sakha"), newspapers
("Belarusky zvon", "Goman", "Nasha Niva", etc.);
personal documents of L. Dubeikovsky, K. Duzh-Dushevsky, P. Zhavrid, V. Lastowsky,
I. and A. Lutskevich, A. Smolich, A. Stankevich, B. Tarashkevich, A. Tsvikevich,
etc.;
the collection of photos on the history of Belarusian cultural and political
movement, collected by Y.Shnarkevich (1910-1940);
documentary collection of the critic and literary scholar L.A. Bende (1953-1960).
It contains creative and personal materials of the Belarusian poets, writers,
scientists, who were subjected to repression;
documents of Belarusian republican department of the All-Union Administration
on copyright protection (1917-1935);
documents of All-Belarusian association of poets and writers "Maladnyak" (1924-1927);
collection of materials of the Bogdanoviches family (1883-1975);
private collections of the writer Z. Veras (1908-1969), the musical critic,
publicist and translator Y.N. Dreizin (1879-1942), the writer and public figure
Y.L. Dyla (1899-1961), the memorialist P.V. Myadzielka (1913-1973).
Belarusian modern culture is reflected in private collections of the most prominent
figures of literature and arts: the writers – A. Adamovich, V. Bykov, Y.
Kolas, Y. Kupala, V. Korotkevich, I. Melezh, M. Tank, I.Shamyakin, etc.; the
actors and film directors – L. Alexandrovskaya, A. Kistov, A. Klimova,
P. Molchanov, E. Mirovich, B. Platonov, S. Stanyuta, V. Vladomirsky, etc; the
composers – A. Bogatyrev, G. Vagner, E. Glebov, I. Tykotsky, A. Turenkov,
N. Churkin; the ethnomusicologist L. Mukharinskaya, etc; the painters and sculptors
– A. Kashkurevich, A. Mariks, M. Tychyna.
For researchers interested in the history of the jewish culture in Belarus in
the 20th century, the interesting information is contained in the following
fonds and collections:
the fonds of the Belarusian State Jewish Theatre (1924, 1941-1949);
private collections of the actors K. Kulakov (Rutshtein), Yu. Aronchik and M.
Moin; the film directors L. Litvinov and M. Rafalsky; the writers L. Katsovich,
M. Kulbak, I. Platner, G. Reles and L. Shapira; the art critic S. Palees, etc.
The subject "Belarusian emigration" is exemplified in collections of the writer
M. Sednev (1934-1992), the singers M. Zabeida-Sumitsky (1892-1990) and Danchik
(B. Andrusishyn, 1958), the writer and public figure S. Yanovich (1944-1994).
A peculiar interest will be evoked by the Bernard Show's photos collection (1929-1930),
most of which are the original ones.
The collection of ethnographer and historian A.K. Elsky (1839-1885), and the
collection of I.I. and N.I. Grigoroviches (the 14th-19th centuries) can be useful
for researchers of Russian social, scientific and religious life of the19th
century.
http://www.president.gov.by/gosarchives/EArh/E_lit_isk.htm
click here
for the site
-
Today I called Shalom Norman in Israel.
He told me that every year he attends the memorial meetings for the Jews who
perished in Vileyka. The meetings are held during Purim since most of the residents
of Vileyka and other Jews who worked there from near by shtetls, were killed
during Purim of 1942. In 2002 the meeting will be held on the 28 of February.
Most of Shaloms' family was able to escape from Vileyka by train to Russia during
the first days of the German occupation. Shalom thinks that hundreds of people
from Vileyka were able to escape by trains, and most of the towns’ Jews
survived.
From reading the Yizkor books of other communities in the area and talking to
people I know that it is not so in other communities. At the most about 10%
of the Jews survived and very few of them were able to escape during the first
days. Most who tried were turned back when they reached the old Polish-Russian
border. Many did not try because they had no idea of the coming horrors.
In 1939 when the Russian invaded they sent people to Siberia but did not kill
any.
So most people in other communities were then under the impression that only
the communist Jews would be in danger from the Germans and others, especially
women and children would be safe.
Later I called Reuven Norman in Israel. Reuven was about sixteen in 1941. I
asked him if he knew if most of the Jews of Vileyka were saved. He said that
hundreds escaped by taking trains and others (like him) later on, but more Jews
from Vileyka perished then escaped. He said that he would try to find the numbers.
He told me that hundreds escaped because Vileyka had a train station and two
trains were able to go deep in to Russia during the first days of the occupation
by Germany. I asked Reuven why his family did not try to escape. He told me
that his father was a guard at the palace in St. Petersburg in 1914. At the
start of World War I he was sent to the front and was captured by the Germans.
He was a P.O.W for four years and felt that the Germans treated him very fairly
during that time. He truly disliked the communists- and said "The Germans
are very civilized people as far as my experience goes- why would they be different
now?"
The family did not question his decision. At that time the father ruled.
A few weeks later, some time in July of 1941 he immediately volunteered to work
when the Germans gave an order to all the Jewish man to come.
With another about fifty Jewish men from Vileyka he was a taken to work. All
day they dug holes in the ground and at the end of the day they were shot and
fell in the holes they dug. Some local Christians, who watched it, later told
their families about it.
Reuven told me that he was hiding in Kurenets with his grandfather’s family
during the first months of the war.
His mother was the daughter of Meir Aharon Alperovitz of Kurenitz. She was a
sister to Yermiyau, herzel, Shlomo and Feyga Michla Shmukler. Meir Aharon had
a sister who married an Eidelman in Krivichi and had a son Michael who now lives
in Florida. Yermiyahu and Hertzel Alperovitz died in the Vileyka camp. Both
were very helpful to the other people in the camp and hertzel was one of the
organizers of the escape. Hertzels’ wife Leyka survived the escape, Her
sister Liba was killed and her husband Mordechai and the two children survived.
After the war Leyka married Mordechai Alperowitz (the father of Yeoash). The
youngest brother Shlomo was a prisoner of war since 1939. (He was in the Polish
army). The family received letters from him for two years until the Germans
started the war with Russia. They do not know where he perished.
.
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from; http://www.angelfire.com/ms2/belaroots/foster2.htm#rawicz
MINSK, WITHIN THE PALE OF THE JEWISH SETTLEMENT
From the report of Commissioners Weber and Kempster, August 30, 1891.
The information was extracted from a report commissioned by Charles Foster,
U.S. Treasury Secretary, in 1891. At the time, U.S. immigration was administered
by the Treasury Department. The purpose of the Commission was to determine "the
principal causes that incite emigration to the United States", as well as whether
current immigration laws were being followed or abused by the steamship companies
and others. The Commission members, separately and together, spent months traveling
throughout Europe and Russia, within the Pale of Settlement and outside it.
With the assistance of virtually every U.S. Consul in Europe, the commission
members had little trouble accumulating the information they wanted and interviewing
whomever they wished. To their credit, they not only met with the major players,
steamship executives, immigrant aid groups, etc., but also spent considerable
time interviewing ordinary Jews. Their (fully indexed) report runs hundreds
of pages, containing observations and an eclectic mix of raw research. The report
provides insight on the mechanics of Jewish emigration from Russia, as well
as laws regarding Jews. Among the material included is:
Various transcriptions of passport documents, steamship circulars and regulations,
and interview notes
laws of various countries, primarily those regarding immigration/emigration
and steamship operation
Source: House of Representatives Executive Document No. 235, 52nd Congress,
1st Session, Serial Set 2957
... We then visited a quarter of the city where the Jews congregate for the
purpose of obtaining employment, a sort of market square. There were hundreds
of men, women, and children of all ages and in every condition of poverty and
wretchedness; young, stalwart fellows, and people bent with age, all anxious
and many grouped and in earnest and anxious conversation. Some were in rooms
with doors open, and as the houses are built close to the very narrow walks,
the whole interior could be plainly seen. It was toward the close of the day,
and we could see the evening meal spread upon the tables, consisting generally
of black rye bread and water. Most of these were people who had formerly lived
in the interior and had been driven into the Pale. The important question with
them is how to obtain even this bitter, black bread, which constitutes their
main sustenance. Many of them were brought here by étapé, and
therefore had no clothing except that which they carried on their backs, and
most of them without money to buy clothing. Most of the children had but a single
garment, and all of them were in a condition of depression and apparent homelessness.
There was an entire absence of intoxication, and we may say here that the Jew
is singularly free from this vice; not a single case of intoxication among Jews
was noticed anywhere in Russia. Conversation with some of them disclosed the
fact that the principal questions discussed are "What shall we do, and where
shall we go to get bread?" for anticipation of the terrors of approaching winter
and the certainty of starvation, which they see no means of averting, aggravate
the present misery. Willing and able to work, they are unable to obtain it;
forbidden to work outside the city, forbidden to trade in the country, unable
to leave the precincts where they now are, excluded from governmental work,
it is no wonder they wish to fly somewhere where they can breathe and have an
equal chance in the struggle for existence. The only thing which prevents them
from going en masse to other countries is their poverty.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sworn testimony taken before the Select Committee on Emigration and Immigration
(foreigners); House of Commons. Exhibit A. I. Extract, page 117
Examination of HERMANN LANDAU, member of the Jewish board of guardians, vice-president
of the Poor Jew's Temporary Shelter; and one who takes a general interest in
the welfare of poor Jewish inhabitants of London.
Q: Does not the arrival of these poor foreigners (meaning Hebrews) tend to overcrowd
the labor market and make it more difficult for those who are living in the
east-end of London to get full employment?
A: In my opinion it does not affect the trade at all, or to a very slight extent
at all events.
Q: But if there is such a difficulty in getting full employment one would conclude
that the greater number that come into London from abroad would make it more
difficult to get full employment?
A: I do not think so, because the people that are here already do not and can
not get full employment, and a great many of those are sent to America for the
purpose of bettering themselves.
Q: Do you mean that they are sent after they have been some time in this country?
A: Yes; the board of guardians send a good many families away to America.
Q: After being two or three years in England?
A: Yes, and longer.
Q: Is there no objection made in America to receiving them?
A: No; it is only this morning that I have received the report of the United
Hebrew Charities of New York, in which I find that they do not complain on that
score, and there seems to be no difficulty, because they say: "We should be
wanting in our duty were we to omit to state the difficulties we encounter through
the immigration of persons incapable of work." Then they say: "With all the
sympathy for their position, we can not find the means to permanently help these
helpless people in a community that has no care for thousands of impoverished,
aged, and weakly persons. People unable to work should be warned against immigration
which must result in bitter disappointment in a foreign land, and in most cases
making their position worse instead of better from a material point of view."
But they never complain of people who are able to work.
Q: Is it correct to say that the majority of the moneyed class have from £ 2
to £ 3 in their pockets?
A: Yes.
Q: You do not suppose that that is sufficient to carry a man to America and
maintain him there until he gets work?
A: No. They originally start with an amount sufficient to carry them on to their
destination.
Q: What do you call that amount?
A: Six or seven pounds; but they first of all have to run the gauntlet of the
frontier guard in Russia. A man is obliged to have a particular passport and
he is not allowed to leave the country without it. It has happened that sometimes
there is a very good-natured (as I might call him) frontier guard who will accept
a rouble for the privilege of letting him go, whereas another will insist upon
receiving twenty roubles, and of course, if you take twenty roubles out of fifty
it makes a very large hole in it.
Q: Still you do not mean to tell the committee that men with £ 3 in their pockets
are in a position to go on to America and make their way there?
A: When they start for America they generally have a letter from America, from
relatives or friends inviting them to come.
Q: And they are provided for when they get there?
A: Yes.
Q: You have brought the report of the Shelter; will you kindly read the first
few lines in the "Constitution of the Poor Jew's Temporary Shelter" for 1875-76
and tell me whether you agree with it or not?
A: I have not brought that with me.
Q: I will read it to you and ask you in connection with the Shelter, whether
you agree with it: "The influx of homeless and helpless foreign Jews, driven
by force of circumstances to seek a livelihood in England, being sadly on the
increase and unduly pressing on their struggling brethren already here, this
society is formed with a view to prevent newcomers from either being driven
to the mission house or lapsing into pauperism and becoming a burden upon the
community;" do you agree with that?
A: Yes; but I wish to qualify this, with your permission. I think we all know
that charities are allowed a certain amount of exaggeration, by which they appeal
to the charitable. We know that the hospitals generally appeal for funds and
say that they are in a bankrupt state, and so we have to appeal to charity.
We could not enter into all the details of the work done in the institution
for the purpose of relieving England of a large number of people who would otherwise
stay here, and so we put it on the ground of charity in order to get some funds.
Q: What is the meaning of this passage in speaking of the Shelter? You are asked
"What is the exact object of the Shelter for the immigrants to this country?"
and you answered "To forward them and protect them in this way: We have often
a Belgian, or a German, or a Hungarian, or an Austrian coming to the Shelter
for a similar position, but those we send either to the consulate or certain
charitable societies of those countries, and in almost all cases, excepting
where a man is known to be an impostor (and there are some, though very few),
they are taken in hand and dispatched by those societies either to their homes
or to some destination whither they are anxious to go." You are the medium,
then, between the immigrants and those various charitable societies?
A: Yes.
Q: And those societies you mention in the conclusion of your answer do practically
the work of sending them either back to their own country, or forward them to
the United States?
A: Yes; exactly so.
click to
read more
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Shimon Says
Introduction and Compilation
by Roger A. Gerber and Rael Jean Isaac
Roger A. Gerber, an attorney and consultant, serves on several boards, including
the Middle East Forum's New York Advisory Board. Rael Jean Isaac is the author
of Israel Divided (Johns Hopkins University Press) and Parties and Politics
of Israel (Longman).
Shimon Peres (né Persky) was born in Vishneva, Poland in 1923, and emigrated
with his family in 1934 to Palestine, where he graduated from the Ben-Shemen
agricultural youth village. During the past half century, Peres has been at
the center of Israeli Labor Party politics and also served in a wide range of
government and party posts. He was director-general of the Defense Ministry
during 1953-59, and has been a member of the Knesset since 1959, during which
period he has held many ministerial, subministerial, and party positions. He
has been prime minister of Israel and leader of the Labor Party since the assassination
of Yitzhak Rabin in November 1995. He served for many years as vice president
of the Socialist International (which he describes as "probably the most important
nongovernmental political organization in Europe, if not in the world").1
Peres views himself as a visionary (he has stated, "I got a license to become
a dreamer")2 and is someone who speaks him mind openly. In view of his central
position in Israeli political life, and in the Oslo process especially, we offer
a sampling of some characteristically idiosyncratic utterances in recent years.
PEACE PROCESS
This is not a negotiation of give and take because Israel has something to give
but has nothing to take.3
I don't think we should judge the process by the performance of Yasir Arafat.
We're not negotiating with Yasir Arafat. We're negotiating with ourselves.4
Papers are papers and realities are realities. We cannot judge the PLO and its
leader just by what he is saying. Would we do so, we would be completely wrong
and we would be in troubles.5
[Responding to an interviewer who asked "Are you saying that what Arafat told
you in Oslo is sufficient, that he does not have to sign any new commitments?"]
I am not a notary who writes affidavits.6
[Asked about Arab statements that there would be no peace without an Arab Jerusalem]:
These are only words. Let them talk.7
[Reacting to an Arab song, "Zionist, your death is in my hands"]: There are
those who sing and those who shoot. I'm checking out those who shoot.8
THE NEW MIDDLE EAST
We are going to copy a European example which is called Benelux. I hope the
relations between the Jordanians, the Palestinians, and us will be very much
of the same nature that exists in Benelux.9
A Middle East where holiness will overcome oiliness . . .10
[In Gaza] a dynamic reconstruction has started. . . . Women are throwing away
their veils and are going swimming in the sea.11
STRATEGY
I have always tended to be overly optimistic.12
An army that can occupy knowledge has yet to be built. And that is why armies
of occupation are passé.13
It is no wonder that war, as a matter of conducting human affairs, is in its
death throes and that the time has come to bury it.14
Anyone who wants peace and security will get neither.15
It was a mistake to bomb the nuclear reactor in Iraq.16
Between ten bunkers and ten hotels, ten hotels are also defense.17
ECONOMICS
We claim that the United States and Europe became so productive that the only
thing you can really produce is unemployment. The more productive you are becoming,
the more unemployed people you are having. The time has come to export your
unemployment.18
In technology, we have an advantage over the former Soviet Union, because our
technology is more advanced. We have an advantage over the United States, because
our prices are less capitalistic.19
DEMOCRACY
As a protégé of David Ben-Gurion, I subscribe to his philosophy
that "I may not know what the people want; I do know what is good for the people."20
ZIONISM
We are discovering that all the things we are fighting for are not so important.21
The more we give up land, we discover we have more Ph.D.s per kilometer -- so
we are going to make a living on the Ph.D.s and not on the mileage.22
We live in a world where markets are more important than countries.23
POLITICS
[To those who disagree with his vision]: It's a changed world and . . . you
are out of date.24
[In the Knesset, to Benjamin Netanyahu]: You were in America and you are still
in a daze. You have just come back and, believe you me, you have not got a clue
what we are talking about.25
THE FUTURE
We are in transition from a world of identifiable enemies to one of unidentifiable
problems.26
What we have to do is to economize our policies, and not to politicize our economies,
which is so costly and so expensive. Dictatorship, nowadays, is so expensive
that only rich countries can afford it. Poor countries can hardly suffer it
-- with an outsized secret service, the censorship, the permanent control, the
worries, the suspicion, the narrowness, the closeness, the ignorance.27
I have become totally tired of history, because I feel history is a long misunderstanding.28
SHIMON PERES
I feel in some ways the most independent political figure in Israel. Nobody
can add to what I have done, and nobody can take away from what I did.29
[Describing his courtship]: Her name was Sonia, and she was eventually to become
my wife. I sought to impress her by reading to her, sometimes by the light of
the moon, selected passages from Marx's Das Kapital.30
1 Shimon Peres, Battling for Peace (New York: Random House, 1995), p. 170.
2 Pennsylvania Gazette, Nov. 1994.
3 Statement before the 50th Session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights,
Geneva, Feb. 10, 1994.
4 Jewish Week (New York), June 2, 1994.
5 Heritage (Los Angeles), June 3, 1994.
6 Israel Radio, May 23, 1994.
7 Speech in New York City, May 23, 1994.
8 The Jerusalem Post International Edition, Feb. 3, 1996.
9 Address to Council of the Socialist International, Oct. 6, 1993.
10 Remarks to Fourth Business Forum Conference, Jerusalem, Feb. 28, 1994.
11 Die Welt, July 14, 1995.
12 Shimon Peres, The New Middle East (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1993),
p. 18.
13 Remarks on acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize, Oslo, Dec. 10, 1994.
14 Ibid.
15 The Jerusalem Post, May 7, 1995.
16 Ha'aretz, Dec. 24, 1995.
17 Ha'aretz, Jan. 29, 1996.
18 Speech to The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Feb. 2, 1994.
19 Remarks before the Knesset Economic Committee on the Arab Boycott, Feb. 21,
1994.
20 The Jerusalem Post International Edition, Dec. 23, 1995.
21 Jewish Week, June 2, 1994.
22 Pennsylvania Gazette, Nov. 1994.
23 Ibid.
24 Speech in New York City, May 23, 1994.
25 IBA television, Jerusalem, Aug. 30, 1995.
26 The New Middle East, p. 82.
27 Remarks to Fourth Business Forum Conference, Jerusalem, Feb. 28, 1994.
28 The Wall Street Journal, Sept. 30, 1994.
29 The Jerusalem Post International Edition, July 16, 1994.
30 Battling for Peace, p. 25.
.
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Dear Mrs Helberg,
I do have some pictures from the time of the war, but they were given to me
by the Germans that ran the station and mostly they are of them and around the
train station in Bogdanowo where we lived.
In regards to during the war and after the war pictures; that was not possible
for us to take since we did not have our camera which got lost with the baggage
on the way to the ship at the start of the war through the end.
Not only did we not have a camera, we had no clock,
radio or calender. We got up when the rooster crowed and went to bed when it
got dark. We told time by the sun and when you marked the
shadow of your head against a stone and if it took one step that was
noon.
Regarding the Jewish cemetery; you asked me if it had trees or a
fence.
Regarding the trees, if you traveled from Minsk to Wiszniewo, which you
did, you saw for yourself that there were nothing but trees in the villages
and all over.
If there was a fence or trees at the Jewish cemetery; I don't remember
what the enclosures were. it could have been a small stone wall because it was
easy to get into it. or it could have been a fence. My interest in the Jewish
cemetery was mostly that it was different from the three catholic cemetery's
in the area. It was a lot neater than the others and what mystified me were
the grave stones. Which some looked like mini crypts which I couldn't figure
out if the person was
buried in the ground or folded over and stuck into it. I remember it was red
in
color. it could have been made out of brick.
Then there were long flat slabs as well as regular grave stones. I prowled
around all of the cemetery's in the area including the one which members
of my family was buried. I had nothing else to do. The scenery was not
important to me. it was 56 years ago that I left there and it's really hard
to
remember after so many years.
What I do remember and it's stuck in my mind and will be there for ever
of people being butchered at the cemetery while I watched it from the
ww1 German bunker across from the cemetery. There was no machine gun
on top of the bunker, only wide eyed me.
As I sent Eilat my manuscript that was written in 1949. there was no Internet,
No Wisniewo Sight on the Internet and the reason for the manuscript was
that I was afraid that,what happened in such a small town like Wiszniewo
would be forgotten and no one would know what went on. I felt that no one
cared and any way that was written for my children so they would know what type
life their father(me) went through. I wrote what I saw from that bunker
and that was it.
Thank God for people like your cousin Eilat Levitan and you that Wisniewo
was not forgotten after all and will be remembered forever.
I am glad you met the priest in Wiszniewo. Did you meet him at the
rectory by the church or his home on Krave St.? He sure let's loose with the
vodka.
He is afraid to live at the rectory because of bandits.
It was nice hearing from you, I would have answered sooner but I had to
take care of my customers. At my age, sometimes it get's hard to do.
Sincerely
Charles Straczynski
.
-
Nancy Holdan wrote;
My Svir website is up. It is just for a preview until I get more
information.
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Svir
nholden@interserv.com
I am pasting here some information from the site;
Our Small Town - Swir
Extracts from a book from the Yivo Institute in New York written in Yiddish.
The extracts (ca. 8 pages on the description and history of the town Swir) were
sent to Belarus SIG by Arnold H. Wolfe, who had them translated into English
by a friend.
The town of Swir, where we saw for the first time in our lives the rays of the
sun: the town that first heard our childish delight; the town where our first
tears dropped: the town in which we played and joked throughout our childhood;
this was the town that became a part of ourselves like our own flesh and blood.
A long street with two squares and a few small alleys actually made up the whole
of Swir, and despite the description it was, in our eyes, the children of Swir,
nicer than any other town. Truthfully speaking there were no brick houses in
Swir. It was only one side wall and all the other parts of the house were built
of wood. The roofs were covered either with shingles, metal or plain straw.
Throughout our lifetime many houses grew old. There were houses which were practically
sunken in the earth up to the windows. Some homes did not even have wooden floors.
It was a rarity to have plumbing in the town of Swir. Most of the water was
derived from a well quite far away, and yet it seemed a wonder that no one hated
this place. On the contrary, everyone was tied to this town with their very
lives.
Anywhere a person of Swir was to be found, be it in New York or Los Angeles,
in Buenes Aires or in Cuba, in Paris or in Brazil, in London or Tel-Aviv, in
that place the one same heart was beating. All of them are bound like brothers
and sisters, their lives like one, and all this because of the forlorn little
town in a section of Vilna.
The town was very friendly. Even the nature around us was a witness that our
grandparents knew where to build their homes. From one side a stream, and from
the other side a lake, and the stream actually flows out of the lake near the
houses of the town. Around and around were forests, fields and small towns.
The town was not dipped in milk and honey, rather in green fields and flowers
and as far as the eye could see were various fruit trees. There were apple and
pear trees, plum and cherry trees, and blueberries without end.
During the summer the town was surrounded by ears of corn and stalks of wheat.
In the winter is was covered with a big white blanket of snow. The Jews of Swir
, therefore, lived a very contented life. In the old huts there lived good people
and devoted friends. Everyone felt secure in their homes, like a bird in its
nest, that is, until the wild barber came and the nest together with is birds
was broken and destroyed. Woe! Woe unto the faithful and devoted birds of Swir!
Woe! Woe unto their burned and destroyed nest.
Highlights of the History of Swir
Unfortunately, a lot of historical material and documentation is missing, thus
making it difficult to relate the exact history of Swir. Not only was our whole
city destroyed, but also our cultural and social life was uprooted. We were
physically uprooted from our very origin, as well as geographically lost. The
sources for further basic knowledge are lost to us today. Unfortunately, the
generation that could have enriched us with its knowledge has perished. Yet
we made an effort to relate the history of this town in a concise form.
It is clear that the town carries the name of the great Duke Swerski. His dynasty
ruled for hundreds of years over all the surrounding areas. It is also said
that on the peak of the mountain there stood a beautiful castle. In his honor
not only was the town named after him, but also tens of families named themselves
after the great Duke. It was extremely difficult for us to confirm with certainty
if the families today named Swirski spread throughout the world originated from
Swir.
According to all estimations the Jewish community was is existence for hundreds
of years. The old cemetery can be a witness to this as most graves are sunken
in the earth. The few monuments whose engraving was still legible dated back
one hundred and fifty years. The ledger that had all the deaths recorded on
it, and their place of burial was passed from one generation to the next, and
was an important historical document.
Most Jews of the town wandered in from surrounding towns or close cities. It
is difficult to know today whether they came of ther own free will or because
of the decree from the Czarist regime that Jews must leave the towns. Therefore,
many families who were forced to leave carried the name of their town. The Fuzileher,
Shpialer, Dubnikirer according to the origin of their town, for example, the
Kurgatkes originated from the town of Kureniaz, Miadler and Shuentzianer. The
big fire that broke out at the end of the century practically wiped out the
city. Therefore there are no old historical buildings or antiques left. The
synagogue was rebuilt after the fire in a modern style.
The town endured many wars. Napoleon and his army reached there. There is a
legend that the Swirer hills thinned out through him. Through the First World
War the town practically remained unharmed because the fighting front was further
away by several kilometers. Later however, by the Polish-Bolshevik War in 1920
there was a battle before the town was captured.
The stronghold of the Polish Army was on the hill of Swir, while the yet stronger
Bolshevik Red Army was located at the other side of the river. During the fierce
battle between the two armies which heavily destroyed many homes, the Jews escaped
to the cemetery. The cemetery was in close proximity to the city. The day after
the surrender of the Polish Army the Jews returned to their homes.
They later found out that it was a coincidence that they were saved because
they all hid behind the trees of the cemetery. The Russian Army saw that there
were large groups of people hiding there and mistook them for the Polish. They
were prepared to fire with their artillery when they heard the cry of a child
and the sound of animals. They realized then that they were only civilians.
In that war an eleven year old boy was wounded. He was Velvel, the son of the
Chassid.
The people who remained alive claimed that after the Second World War the greatest
majority of the town was destroyed. The synagogue became level with the earth.
The whole area was virtually uprooted. The Christian neighbors made the area
into gardens. No vestige of Jewish life, as it was, remained. Most tragic of
all, was that from approximately 200 families who lived there, remained only
100 survivors. These people were scattered all over the world, but the majority
of them are in Israel.
Geographical and Economic Situation
Even from a distance of 5 to 6 kilometers the contours of the town are visible
in the blue sky and extend long and narrow. Especially visible is the hill,
the Swir Everest in the middle of the market place, and the Swirer skyscraper
the Yedes wall.
The German occupation of the First World War extended the railroad to Constantine.
Swir is geographically located in west White Russia. The neighboring towns and
distances are as follows:
Kabilnik - 20 Kilometers
Michlisbak - 21 Kilometers
Sventzion - 37 Kilometers
Kurenetz - 49 Kilometers
Smargon - 42 Kilometers
Aside from the fact that the town was above sea level and the paths were cemented,
it was still very muddy on rainy days.
In back of the town there were lots of mud puddles. The farmers used to go to
town through the mud as a short cut. In a dry summer they picked up their pants
to their knees and splashed through the mud. During the fall and Spring it was
impossible to pass through the mud.
On the other side of town the ground was normal.
There were 1900 people in the town of Swir - 1100 Jews and 800 non Jews. Among
the gentiles there were White Russians and Poles. It was difficult to differentiate
who belonged to which nationality, because many rich people found it below their
dignity to admit they belonged to the White Russian nationality. They broke
their teeth in order to speak like Poles and claimed they belonged to the Polish
nationality. They let these people have their way, in letting them think they
were Polish.
The Jews lived in "The Street of the Third of May", which starts at the cloister
and goes till the horse market, a length of about one kilometer. That marked
the boundaries of the town. Many Jews also lived in smaller streets.
The people called Staravieren and tens of families built a village at the side
of the river and called Sloboda.
Most of the Jewish people in Swir were merchants. In front of every house on
the main street where goods were sold, there were many different types of stands.
There were textile, dry goods, hardware, building materials, bakeries, butcher
and other stands as well. For many people these stands were not their only means
of sustenance. In many families it was the job of the wives and daughters to
take care of these stands.
The men were the dealers, and dealt in many different trades. Some dealt with
wheat in large scale production. They used to purchase the wheat at the market
and exported large quantities to Vilna. Another dealt in the same manner with
potatoes, with fruit, with poultry, with eggs, with leather skins, with pig
hair and many others. There were many merchants who were occupied only during
certain seasons of the year, like fruit gardeners. Besides this, there were
many peddlers, and those who worked with their hands like shoemakers and tailors.
The Jews of Swir received the main financial help from the bank and the town's
Jewish Charity Organization. According to a report from Vilna, there were a
total of 140 members who belonged to the Jewish Charity Organization.
The greatest majority of the Jewish congregation lived very modestly, and yet
they were very satisfied and happy. Unfortunately, when the Second World War
broke out this contented life was utterly destroyed.
for beautiful moving pictures
of Svir click here;
-
Rachel and Reuven Rogovin were born
in Volozhin, Rachel in 1906, Reuven in 1904. Their days of youth, falling in
love, getting married and having babies all took place in Volozhin.(near Vishnevo)
They were successful in their escape in July of 1941 from the area that just
passed to Nazi hands. They escaped with their two young children passed the
Russian border to faraway Tadzhikistan. At the end of the war the family came
to Riga, from where they went to Israel in the early fifties. Reuven Rogovin
was devoted to the memory of the people of Volozhin. He expressed his love in
many stories about the shtetl's colorful "folksy types" Jews. Some of his stories
were published in the Volozhin Yizkor Book. See: Reb Itshe der Balegole (coachman),
Reb Hayim der Shnayder (the tailor), Reb Eyzer Der Raznoshtshik (postman) etc.
Here is some of the family story (I will post the entire story in a few days
in "Volozhin stories").
Four days after the Germans invaded the Soviet Union we made our mind to escape.
We fled Volozhin at night. We left most of our valuable possessions with our
neighbor, Sholom Leyb Rubinstein, for safe keeping in his cave. We left the
town almost empty handed. Our son Grisha took his bicycle. Reuven left for the
journey wearing only his slippers. Good friends persuaded him that in soft slippers
the walking would be easier. After walking many kilometers of a rocky road his
slippers became torn exposing to the elements the bare flesh of his feet.
Our spirits lifted when we arrived to Mizheyk. Here we met with many Jews and
multiple horse-harnessed carts. Some of them transported Volozhin families who
escaped a few days before us: the Semernitski brothers, Berl Spector, Avrom
Mlot, Khatskl der Olshaner, Hershl Sheyniuk with his wife and others. Since
they left the town before us they were eager to hear the latest news from Volozhin.
We told them that although it seems quiet now, the relative calmness should
not be taken as an indication of the forthcoming days. We invited them to cross
the Russian border as one big group. However they decided to return home. Avrom
Mlot told us; "We fled, because we feared the bombings. Now that Volozhin is
in German hands and the bombing stopped, we want to go back". The entire group
went back directly into the lion's muzzle. They perished by the Nazi hands.
All of them were later murdered.
We continued to walk and arrived in Rakov. There we met some acquaintances,
who received us very cordially. Khayke Rubentshik (Guetsl Perski's sister) invited
us to leave the children with her family. She promised to guard them. "The Germans",
she said,"They are after Communists and their assistants only; they will not
do any harm to innocent Jews and especially not to Jewish children." We did
not trust the kind woman's "German proficiency"; we left Rakov taking our children
with us.
At night we arrived to the 1939 border with Russia. We found there a big crowd
of refugees on the Polish side of the border prior to 1939. (In 1939 during
the partition of Poland the area became Soviet until the German invasion of
July 1941) But the Soviet military guards closed the passageway to all former
Polish citizens and forbade us from passing.
Having no other choice we returned to Rakov. On the way we met Leybke Hayim
der Slovensker's son. He was wearing a soviet military coat; he told us that
he carried in his cart women and children of Soviet Officers across the border.
He advised us to try the border line passing in Volma, 15 Km from Rakov. We
joined himt in this direction. To our sorrow we found that also this passage
blocked for us. At noon we heard firing and saw people advancing on carts eastward.
Leybke harnessed his horse and we succeeded to pass the Russian front.
We arrived in the town of Derzhinsk. To our disappointment Leybke announced
that he's returning home. All our arguments did not help to change his mind.
He left with us his horse-harnessed cart and returned into the lion's muzzle,
where he perished with all of our shtetl's inhabitants.
After some days of travel Leybke's horse ran out his vigor and was not able
to advance any more. We stood there perplex not knowing where from whom we could
be helped. After a short time help appeared in the form of a gentile boy riding
on a horse. He was ready to exchange his horse for Grisha's bicycle. Grisha
agreed.
We harnessed the new horse and arrived swiftly to Mstsislav (near Mohilev),
where a Soviet mobilization office was active. It was announced that all men
under the age of 50 should report to military service. I (Reuven) reported myself
and was at once nominated as Politrook (Political Supervisor) of the third battalion
in the Soviet Red Army.
I obtained two hours leave to separate from my family. We did not know where
our fate would takee us. We agreed that if we survive we should search each
other at my aunt's home in Stalinabad, now Dooshambe in Tadzhikistan.
Rachel with the children Etele and Grisha did arrive to Stalinabad after a long
jorney. In Stalinabad they were provided with an apartment. Rachel obtained
a job and the children went to school.
I participated in many battles that took place in Crimea: in Perekop, Simferopol,
Feodesia and Sebastopol. In the last town I was wounded and sent to a hospital
in Uzbekistan. Major Dumin, a wounded officer, who was hospitalized with me,
helped me to find my aunt and through her my family. My wife and children visited
me. Two months later I was strong enough to leave the hospital and join the
family.
My son Grisha volunteered into the Red Army at the age of fifteen. At the end
of 1942 he was heavily wounded in the Stalingrad battle.
.
-
A post war visit to Volozhin
By Rachel & Reuven Rogovin
Translated from Hebrew; from the Volozhin yizkor book.
We left Tadzhikistan and came to live in Riga in 1946. One day we decided to
visit Volozhin. As soon as we arrived there we found out that we had nothing,
but completely nothing to see of our life prior to the war. Volozhin, the Jewish
shtetl did not exist. I recalled the words of our poet Bialik (a student of
the Volozhin Yeshiva) "Look around, my friend. On your heart are ruins,
only ruins".
On the first day we met our Christian friend; Roman Horbatshevski. With tears
in his eyes, he told us that he hid behind a fence and watched the shtetl’s
Jews marching to their death. "They walked silently, as if ignoring the
faith awaiting for them" he said. "Tell me Mr. Rogovin, why did they
accept the verdict, why did they not resist?" I left the question without
an answer.
After some days we met an old friend Mr. Katovitz the orthodox priest from Losk.
He was really glad to see us and could not hide the joy that he was ‘blessed"
to see us alive. He invited us to visit our mutual friend the priest Salizh,
who asked for the second time the faithful question: "Why did they not
resist?"
This time I could not restrain myself and answered his question with a question:
"You don’t understand why the Jews did not resist? And the fact that
from four millions Red Army captives only 3% had survived? And why did not they
show any resistance? The Soviet Communists and Commissars that were taken prisoners
by the Nazis, they knew that they would be exterminated, why did they not fight
for their lives? And the thousands of Polish Officers that were murdered by
the Soviet NKVD in the Katyn forest, - why did they not resist? Do you understand
it? The answer, your holiness you might receive only from the holy martyrs that
were terrorized, humiliated, famished by the Nazis and not only abandoned but
commonly haunted by their gentile neighbors.
The conversation farther spoiled our gloomy state of mind. We decided to go
to the Jewish Grave Yard, in which our dearests were buried. We looked at the
vast area of the common graves. They looked like small grass covered hills.
A committee inquiring about the Nazi crimes was active in Volozhin at the time
of our visit there. A grave was opened. Woe to the eyes that saw it. We looked
at the murdered. Despite the flesh that was shed from the bodies we could recognize
some of our friends. We have no words to describe it. For this reason it would
be better not to scrub the wounds and not add pain to our unbearable pain. We
mentioned here a drop of the hell we have seen and we leave the reader to imagine
it. But as horrible as it would be to imagine it, it would never resemble the
dreadful reality of what our eyes have seen while looking at the remains of
the Volozhin Jews.
We visited Volozhin again prior to our Aliya to Israel in 1958. We went again
to look at our Brothers common grave. The years diminished the tomb. The hill
sank as though it had been swallowed by the enormity of the crime committed
here. Our brothers’ blood had leaked into the very depth of the earth.
But to our sorrow it did not leave any sign and did not overthrew the world’s
foundations. Life went on like nothing had occurred here. Pigs were burrowing
inside the graves of the last of the Volozhin congregation members, the congregation
that lived there for five hundred years. I conclude with a wish that the mourning
for our fallen community will never end.
.
-
Dear Ms Eilat
I would like to donate a $100.00 towards the restoration
of the cemetery and monument on Krave, In Wiszniewo. I hope
that it is the nicest restoration in Belarus. These martyrs
deserve the best and may they rest in peace.
Please advise by E-mail: where do I send the check
Thanks
plastic6@juno.com
Charles Straczynski
cHARLES STRACZYNSKI plastic6@juno.com
BONITA, CA USA -
Dear Eilat , Shalom ,
We are sending you the letter we are going to send to the American descendants
of Vishnive ,
Thank you for your nice donation . We collected until now 550$ . We are in contact
with Ms. Zane Busby .
She will collect the donations In the US. At the end we think about adding the
list of donations to your guestbook of Vishnive . We hope wi`ll have enough
money for the project .
yours ,
Dvora & Uri
To: All Vishnive Families and Descendants
From: Dvora Rogovin Helberg and Uri Helberg, Modi'in, Israel
Date: December 24th , 2001
Renovation of the Jewish Cemetery in Vishnive and Additional Projects
Dear Friends,
My parents, Mordechai and Chaia Elishkevich Rogovin, of blessed memory, left
Vishnive for Eretz Israel in the 1930's. Most of our family perished in the
Holocaust.
In May,1996 we visited Vishnive. This is what we found:
The Jewish Cemetery is totally neglected. It is almost inaccessible due to very
thick, wild growth of trees, thorny bushes and grass. The stones are toppled,
partially covered with dirt, and in very poor shape.
The Mass Grave, near the Jewish Cemetery, where the first group of 38 Jewish
victims was gunned down and buried in August, 1941, is not even marked with
a Stone.
On Krave Street, where the Jewish population of the shtetl was slaughtered and
burned on August 30th, 1942 there is a memorial which states, only in Russian,
the death of "2000 Soviet Citizens" totally ignoring the fact that all of the
victims were Jews.
During our visit we discussed with our guide, Ms. Regina Kopilevich, the following
needs: I. Renovation of the Jewish Cemetery II. Erection of a Stone at the site
of the 1941 Mass Grave and III. Addition to the Krave Street Memorial stating
clearly in English, Hebrew and Russian that all of the victims were Jews and
were murdered by the Nazis and their local collaborators.
At the time of our visit we also saw other shtetls in this region and found
many new Jewish Memorials erected by families and descendants who mainly live
in the US and Israel.
Recently Regina told us that she took Ms. Zane Buzby (a descendant of the Podbereski
Family) on a tour of Vishnive. At that time they talked with the Director of
Culture in Vishnive. She told them that she could organize a cleaning and maintenance
project for the Jewish Cemetery. In exchange for this project she asked for
a $1000 contribution for the heating and renovation of the local kindergarten.
We volunteered to help in this important project by trying to collect donations
from Visnive families and descendants who live in Israel. Ms. Zane Buzby volunteered
to collect donations in America. If we succeed in collecting more than $1000,
we will pursue the Krave Street Memorial Addition and the 1941 Mass Grave Stone.
Regina is a Jewish resident of Vilna. She speaks the local languages in addition
to English and Hebrew. She frequently guides Israeli and American visitors to
Vishnive. She volunteered to be the contact person between us, Ms. Buzby and
the Director of Culture in Vishnive, and to oversee the execution of the project.
So far several hundred dollars have been collected. Your donation is requested.
We ourselves have donated $100. Any amount contributed will be thankfully accepted.
LET'S ACT NOW! LET'S NOT PROCRASTINATE BECAUSE THIS OPPORTUNITY MAY BE LOST!
We will inform you of the progress of our mission.
If you know other Vishnive descendants, please let them know what we mean to
accomplish.
For your information, we have set up an Internet Memorial Site for Vishnive
and our family. The site address is:
www.geocities.com/vishnive
This site has links to other sites concerning Vishnive.
Ms. Buzby's e-mail:
cbmail@earthlink.net
***
Dvora & Uri Helberg`s address in Israel :
Helberg
3/3 Savion St.
Modi`in , 71700
Israel
Tel: 08-0720407
helberg@netvision.net.il
***
.
-
Dear Vishnievo Landslayt,
In the name of Volozhin descendants in Israel I would be glad to join Devora’s
effort to preserve and to rewrite in Hebrew & English the memorials of the
Jewish life and genocide in Vishnievo. I asked Mme Devora to receive our humble
contribution of 250 Israeli Shekels to help accomplish her blessed project.
I’m familiar with the sensation when coming to the annihilated birthplace
you find out that even the memorials do not recall the Jewish life that lasted
there for centuries.
Three years ago visiting Volozhin we have met the same phenomenon. I have done
all possible to erect a memorial to our dearest martyrs. We wrote the text in
Hebrew, English and Russian. The photos are placed in the jewishgen site:
http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/volozhin/volozhin.html
Moshe PORAT poratm@netvision.net.il
Tel Aviv, Israel -
Date: 12/23/01 6:27:07 AM Pacific
Standard Time
From: helberg@netvision.net.il helberg
To:eilatgordn@aol.com (Eilat & Danni Levitan)
Dear Eilat ,
We are sending a letter (in Hebrew ) to the descendants of Vishnive in Israel
to join us in raising money for the clearing and maintaining of the Jewish cemetery
in Vishnive. If we can get enough money we will add a gravestone mentioning
that the victims were Jews ( As it is mentioned on many stones in cemeteries
near Vishnive - In Hebrew and English ) .
To Zane Buzby
Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2001 3:47 PM
In 1997 we visited Poland. During our visit we found out that the Goverment
of The U.S is supporting the preservation of heritage if there are American
citizens who are descendants of people who came to the U.S from the area.
The address is :
The United Sates Comission for the Preservation of America`s Heritage Abroad
.
1101 15th. st. NW
Washington D.C. 20005
Fax: (202) 254 3934
Tel; (202) 254 3824Date: 12/23/01 6:27:07 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: helberg@netvision.net.il helberg
To:eilatgordn@aol.com (Eilat & Danni Levitan)
We decided to join your efforts to collect money for clearing and maintaining
the Jewish cemetery of Vishnive . We shall send a letter to Vishnive natives
and their descendants in Israel to raise money here. We shall give Regina 200$
for us and for Dvora`s brother Zvi & Judy Rogovin from St.-Paul Minn.
yours , Dvora & Uri
I also gave $150 to Zane for the the Jewish cemetery project in Vishnive. Eilat
.
-
from http://www.geocities.com/biography1915/e_mail.html
Avraham-Binyamin Elishkevich was killed with his father Yaacov-Hirsh during
the first months when the Germans invaded Vishnevo (with the 39 http://eilatgordinlevitan.com/vishnevo/v_pages/vstories_forget.html).
here are some Letters he wrote from Vishnive to his aunt in Israel prior to
the German invasion
A Letter from Avraham-Binyamin, My Nephew, January 1st, 1939
(Originally written in Hebrew)
To my dear aunt, Shalom!
I read your letter. I am at home now, on winter break from school. We, thank
God, are healthy. Uncle Leibl is healthy and working. Grandmother, as you know,
is bedridden. Nothing new in your home. Also, nothing new in Vishnive. It is
the middle of winter. Snow is falling, but our youth have begun organizing.
Graduates of the school formed a group called "Graduate Organization". They
meet every Friday evening at the school. There are lectures in Hebrew, and the
teachers are participating. They talk about news from Eretz Israel, such as
about "Chanita"(a new settlement). They sing and dance and hope to make "Aliyah".
That is how we are spending the long winter nights, here in the "Exile", hoping
for a more glorious future.
My life at the Gymnasia (senior high school) is similar to your life in Eretz
Israel. When we are in the Gymnasia speaking Hebrew, we forget about being in
the "Exile" and imagine that we are in Eretz Israel.
Regards to all the Vishniveans in Eretz Israel, to my friend Shimon Persky*,
to Zvi Abramson, to all the relatives, to Henech and his family, to Chaim and
his family, to Aharon Zvi and his family, to Chaia Rivka, to Mordechai.
Regards from Grandmother, from Rivka, from Leibl, from Uncle Yosef, from Aunt
Mari, from all the family, from Father, from Mother, from Chaimke.
Shalom and Le'hitraot (Good bye and see you) in Eretz Israel
Chazak Ve'ematz! (Be firm and of good courage!)
* Shimon Peres
http://www.geocities.com/biography1915/e_m1.html
A Postcard from Avraham-Binyamin and Chaim Elishkevich, April 15th, 1941
(Written in Moskover Yiddish)
Dear Aunt and Uncle,
We received your postcard. We are glad to hear about your health. We are healthy
and satisfied with our lives. I'm finishing my third year of Senior High School
in the Russian School here in Vishnive. Studies in the Soviet school are free
of charge. Anybody can study whatever he wishes and can become the most educated
person. Comrade Lenin said: Study, study, and study again. This is the message
from the Soviet youth.
Be healthy and strong, from your nephew who is wishing you good life, A.B. Elishkevich.
Regards from Everybody.
Dear Aunt and Uncle, How are you? We are healthy. I study in 5th Grade (elementary
school) in the Public Yiddish School in Vihnive. I study very well. Regards
to all, from your nephew, Chaim Elishkevich.
Dear Sister and Brother-in-Law, We thank you for your postcard. We are healthy,
working and living. We are very worried about your security in Eretz Israel
with regard to the current war…..(written by Yaacov-Hirsh
To the original postcard http://www.geocities.com/biography1915/e_m2.html
Avraham Binyamin Elishkevich, July 10th, 1940
(Written in Moskover Yiddish)
Dear Aunt Chaia,
We received your postcard. I can write to you that all of us are healthy. Father
is working as the principal of the Public Yiddish School in Vishnive. I am already
in my third year of Senior High School in the Russian School. Chaim is in 5th
Grade (elementary school) in the Public Yiddish School. Otherwise nothing is
new with us. We are living and very satisfied with our lives under the leadership
of Comrade Stalin*. We are thanking him daily for freeing us from the ugly capitalistic
Polish rule.
Regards from Father, Mother and Chaim, Grandmother, Leibl, Rivka, Gitke, Uncle
Yosef, Grandfather, the aunts and their children. Regards to all the Vishniveans.
From me, your nephew, Avraham-Binyamin Elishkevich.
* Note: All letters from the Soviet period contained at least one Thank You
sentence to Comrade Stalin.
http://www.geocities.com/biography1915/e_m4.html
VISHNIVE Yakov-Hirsh Elishkevitch
http://www.geocities.com/vishnive/hirsh.html
click here for the Elishkevitch
memorial
-
On October 2001 Dvora and I went
to Kibbutz Eilon to meet
Shimon Podboreski who lives there . We all were very excited of our meeting.
He is 87 years old, he remembered Dvoras parents from Vishnive and also met
them
in Israel many years ago. Shimon`s daughter, Talma, is married to Yossi
who`s mother is also from Vishnive - her name is Batya Yachas-Rabinovich ,
We met Batya and she were also very excited to see Dvora because she knew
her parents ever since they were children.
We also met Regina Kopilevich who was our guide on our tour of Vilnius and
Vishnive 1996 . She was amazing. Regina made the connection to Zane Buzby-
they are trying to collect money for the recovery of the Jewish cemetery in
Vishnive .
I`m sending you 3 photos , one is with Regina and the others are the Helbrg
family and Dvora , Talma and Shimon Podboreski (from Vishnive, Kibbutz Eilon
) .
Regards ,
Uri and Dvora.
"THE SHTETL AND I" by Dvora Rogovin Helberg
Translation from Hebrew by Dvoras' brother; Zvi Rogovin
Contents
First Volume: World War I Memories
Olshani:
The Shtetl is Burning
First Stop - Olshani
The Adventures of Leibl & Yaacov-Hirsh, When We Were in Olshani
Cease Fire
Grodno District
Traveling to Grodno District - Volkovisk
Vichodnitza - The Picturesque Village
Orphanhood
Second Volume: Vishnive After World War I
Back to Vishnive
Back to Vishnive
A Wedding in the Shtetl
"Tarbut" School in Vishnive
The Wedding of My Sister Rachel-Lea
What Will I be When I'm a Grown-Up?
Sewing
Studies in Vilna
Vilna - The "Jerusalem of Lithuania" in my Time
The 1930's
Back to Vishnive - 1929
Gitke on "Hachshara"
How I Made "Aliyah" - Part A
How I Made "Aliyah" - Part B
Third Volume: Vishnive After my "Aliyah"
The Destruction
Letters from Vishnive
The Destruction of the Jewish Community by the Nazis
Vishnive After the War
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Post a message in our guestbook
(Note: English and Hebrew-font enabled)
http://www.geocities.com/biography1915/e_index.html
Read guestbook entries
(Note: English and Hebrew-font enabled)
Send e-mail to the author
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appendix
VISHNIVE "TARBUT" SCHOOL - 1923 Annual picture, including the names of students
and teachers
Rivka Rogovin Bekman’s Memories — Written in 1934
Link to Vishnevo homepage, edited by Eilat Gordin Levitan.
Link to Rogovin and Elishkevich memorial site, edited by Yuval Helberg
click here to
read "THE SHTETL AND I" by Dvora Rogovin Helberg
-
Dear Vishnievo Landsleyt,
Our family visited Volozhin on autumn 1998. The Volozhin authorities received
us very friendly. They offered each one of us the memory book of the Volozhin
region. It is written in Belarus. I found it interesting data about Volozhin,
VISHNIEVO, Rakov, Ivianits, and Zabrezhe, about those Shtetlah and the Jews
that lived there and were exterminated. We translated some chapters and placed
in the JewishGen site by the Volozhin region Mayor’s permission. I recommend
to read it in order to have some understanding how the gentiles see us.
M. Porat (Perlman)
The address: http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/volozhin1/volozhin1.html
Memory to Volozhin Region (Volozhin, Belarus)
54°05' / 26°32'
Translation of Pamiat-Volozhinski Rayon
Published in Minsk, 1996
Our sincere appreciation to V. I. Malishevski, Regional Executive Committee
Chairman and the Region Editorial Commission for the creation of the History-Documental
"Pamiat" Book Chairman, for permission to put this material on the JewishGen
web site.
.
This is a translation from: Pamiat-Volozhinski Rayon (Memory to Volozhin Region).
Minsk "Mastatskaya Literatura," 1996. Litsenzia LV No 3, 220600 Republique Belarus,
Minsk, 11 Masherov Avenue
Table of Contents
(partial)
Article Author Page
Introduction
The Volozhin Region area
Islotsh (Brook of the Berezina River)
New order in Vishnievo K. Pobal TD  td164
The destruction of Volozhin's Jews M. Batvinnik 164
The destruction of Rakov Jews 165
Memories from Vishnievo Ghetto Ema Mikhaylovna Murtshanka 166
Vishnievo Slaughter Witnesses Gelanovo & vicinity peasants 167
The Town Volozhin Martyrs of Hitler's terror 253
Zabrezhe - Jewish Martyrs 261
Moshe Porat poratm@netvision.net.il
Tel Aviv, Israel -
I would like to congratulate Nancy
Collier Holden nholden@interserv.com and Chaya Lupinsky mailto:lupinsky@netvision.net.il
for the most beautiful and informative job they have done in creating a site
for Myadel
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/myadel/index.htm
From the site map;
Myadel ~ Stary Myadel ~ Miadel ~ Miadelai ~ Miadziol ~ Miadziel ~ Stary Miadziol
~ Nowy Miadziol
in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ~ Poland ~ Russia ~ United Soviet Socialist
Republics ~ Belarus
The Myadel Region: Myadel ~ Stary Myadel
1. Region of Calm and Dreaming Lakes Part I (Three part article from a biography
of Rabbi Eliahu Gordon)
The Myadel Region (links to maps and locators, geology, geography, industry,
architecture and travel)
Aerial Map of Myadel Landscape
Print enlarged Aerial Map
2. How Miadziol adopted Family Names Part II
Surnames in Myadel
1923 Myadel Business Directory
Households in Myadel
Printable Map
Lithuanian State Historical Archives
Supplemental Lists
Miadziol 1765
Miadziol 1784
Stary Miadziol 1765
3. Jews and Lithuanians Part III
History of the Jews in the Myadel Region (links to history, timelines, Jews
in the Pale of Settlement)
Life in Myadel by Arye Geskin
Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Kosczevsky of Myadel
Pandemics 1800-1900 in Myadel Region
Deaths in Myadel 1811-1831
The cemetery in Myadel 30th of August, 1941
Memorial 1993
To my dear friends Miadler (An open letter from Sarah and John Alper of Canada)
Memorial and names from the murder site, September 21 1942
Deaths in Myadel 1941-1944
4. Photographic Portraits of the Myadel Region
5. Contacts
From the Visitors Journal;
I have always tried to form a picture of the towns in the Myadel Region, especially
Myadel and Kobylnik.
I wanted to walk on the streets of our past. I longed to see the stream where
the fish were caught; the river where my great great grandfather set the cut
trees adrift; the lake when the sun set; the dusty roads that led to Vilna and
the forests where the wolves howled. My grandmother was born there. My great
grandfather ran the mill nearby. My great great grandmother had a store on the
Jewish Street. My great great great grandfather was the box tax collector. My
family lived in Myadel for at least seven generations before coming to America
in 1894.
This site is my patchwork. It longs for your stories and your family names.
It will be richer for the memories of all our ancestors. In hopes that I have
been able to bring you some of what I longed for, please contribute your comments.
What kind of comment would you like to send?
http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/myadel/Journal.htm
Please visit
the site at http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/myadel/index.htm and click here
to write a note to Nancy.
-
Rivka nee Rogovin Bekman's Memories
- Written in 1934
http://www.geocities.com/biography1915/e_rivka.html
Rivka Rogovin Bekman (1912-1981) was born and raised in Vishnive and lived there
until 1935 when she made "Aliyah" to Eretz Israel. Two of her brothers, Gershon
Rogovin (1906-1992) and Mordechai Rogovin (1910-1982) had immigrated earlier.
Gershon came first in 1926, followed by Mordechai in 1932.
The following are selected parts of Rivka's memories dated January 10th, 1934.
She described what happened to the Rogovin family during the period when they
returned to Vishnive in 1917 (having fled the War) only to find that the war
was still going on between the Russians and the Poles.
...In this bad time (WWI) when we were refugees in Vilna, Mother gave birth
to a son. I got additional work rocking him. It would not be that difficult
if I were not alone in the house and if there were no mice. When I was alone
in the house with the baby, mice would come out from all corners. They were
as big as cats and were crawling all over the floor....
.....We returned home to our shtetl, Vishnive, after WWI. We found our house
was occupied by German soldiers and there was no room for us. We looked for
another residence but this was very difficult because most of the shtetl was
burned. With blessed God's help, we found a king's palace in the shape of a
small apartment with tiny windows. The windows were made of German glass, criss-crossed
with iron wires, which added to the darkness inside the house. The house belonged
to my cousin, Aharon Leib. This was an old ruin from the time of King Sobietzki.
We felt as if the roof was going to collapse over our heads any minute. We lived
there for a year with other neighbors. Although they lived there before us,
they allowed us to join them because we were relatives of the owner....
....Because of Vishnive's proximity to the border, it was a target for frequent
military attacks. I remember large legions of soldiers invading and demanding
food. They used to search in every corner of the house. It looked terrible when
they turned the beds upside down and the feathers would fly out of the pillows.
After such an intrusion, we had no desire to fix the beds knowing that another
group would be coming soon and creating similar upheaval....
...Time and again we were sure the soldiers would kill us when we did not have
any food to give them. They were threatening us, waving their pistols. Finally
Mother knew what to do. During each attack she would immediately prepare food
for the hungry soldiers, even if she had to use the last supplies which were
intended for feeding her own hungry children.....
....One day after a mild attack was over my cousin, who was also our neighbor,
wanted my brother Mordechai to go to the pharmacy downtown and buy some medicine
for his sick cow. As soon as Mordechai left, a heavy attack began. We hid in
our Christian neighbor's basement. I remember some soldiers who were probably
Jew-haters, looking down into the basement and asking if there were any Jews
down there. Our neighbor was standing at the entry while we, the little children,
were playing. Our parents were hiding behind us. The answer was negative of
course, but one can imagine our fear. We could not forgive ourselves for sending
Mordechai out during such dangerous shooting. We waited anxiously until the
shooting stopped. As soon as we left our hiding place, Modechai showed up. One
cannot describe our joy. He told us that when the shooting began he was near
the pharmacy. He could not run back home. He and a soldier were taking cover
behind house corners and behind fences. They moved from one hiding place to
another until a bullet killed the soldier. Mordechai continued hiding and moving
until he reached the home of our relative. He knocked on the door and yelled
for help. After calling out his name, he was allowed in. He joined them lying
on the floor until the shooting was over....
A memorable event that I must write about happened as follows: Russian soldiers
were eating inside our house. Suddenly my brother Shlomo came in through the
back door with a Polish Jewish soldier from Sokolke. This soldier was escaping
from a Russian POW camp. The soldier begged to change his clothing so he could
continue escaping. When Mother saw him and heard his Polish accent she was very
scared. The Russians were only several steps away eating in the other room.
If they found him hiding at our home all of us would be killed. But if she gave
him away, he would not survive. Her pity was stronger than her fear. She gave
him some old clothing and sent him to hide in the cattle pasture during the
daytime. She also gave him some food so he would not starve. At night he slept
in our house. Every night we were very scared until the Russians left the area
several weeks later. When Polish soldiers finally entered our area he joined
them and left us.
click for the
rest and for pictures of Rivka and her family.
-
BOOK BY PROFESSOR IOFFE TELLS ABOUT
CONTRIBUTIONS OF BELARUS JEWS TO DEVELOPMENT OF ISRAELI STATEHOOD
Elizer Ben-Ieguda is called the "father of modern Hebrew". He comes from village
Luzhki of Sharkovshchina region of Vitebsk oblast. Owing to him once dead language
was restored, became a spoken language and the state one in Israel. The first
President of Israel Khaim Veitzman was born in the village of Motyl of Ivanovo
region of Brest oblast. These and many other interesting facts concerning the
contributions of the Jews of Belarus to the development of the Jewish statehood
are contained in the new book by famous historian, political scientist and sociologist
professor Emanuil Ioffe. The book's title is "The Belarusian Jews in Israel".
It was published in the Minsk publishing house "Kovcheg".
One of the first settlers in the territory where the state of Israel appeared
in 1948 were the natives of the Great Duchy of Litwa, Rzecz Pospolita and the
Belarusian lands of the Russian Empire. Now more than 100 thousand natives of
Belarus live in Israel. They founded new towns and settlements, plants and educational
establishments.
It is difficult to imagine the science, health care system and culture of Israel
without the names of gifted Belarusians. The third President of the country
Zalman Shazar was born in the village of Mir, Korelichy region, ex-prime ministers
Itshak Shamir comes from the town of Ruzhany, Pruzhany region of Brest area,
Menahem Begin - from Brest, Shimon Peres - from the village of Vishnevo, Volozhinsky
region of Grodno area. During ten years, the Israeli Parliament was headed by
Caddish Luz from Bobruisk. Brakhot from the town of Chaussy in Mogilev area
was the first Yiddish writer in Palestine. Mia Arbatova from the Belarusian
town of Dribin of Mogilev area became a prima ballerina and a choreographer
of the Tel Aviv Opera-Amamit.
.
-
Ruben, Harry 10 Apr born; 1894 in
Wishnevo Vilno Russia Sunflower MS
Ruben, Joe 9 Aug born; 1887 W in Wishnueo Russia
.
USA -
The history of naturalization in
the United States is somewhat
complex. The complexity is aggravated for women by the fact that the
laws regarding naturalization and females were ambiguous, especially
before 1907. For a significant portion of American history, a woman's
citizenship status was derived from the status of her husband. In
many cases immigrant women were naturalized "by default" upon their
marriage to a citizen or upon their foreign-born husband obtaining
citizenship. This derivative type of citizenship is the reason there
are few naturalization records for immigrant women for most of
American history. For those who were "naturalized by marriage" there
generally is no mention of them in any records before 27 September
1906, when Congress standardized the naturalization process and
required names of spouse and children on naturalization paperwork.
Also, until women received the right to vote, there was little reason
for many to bother with the expense and procedure of naturalization.
However, there are occasionally naturalization records for women in
the 1880s, 1890s and later. Many of the children "naturalized by
default" via their father's naturalization, but not listed
specifically, later went through the naturalization process
themselves.
To reduce confusion, here is a brief chronology relevant to the
problem at hand:
1906
The Basic Naturalization Act was passed on 27 September 1906, which
standardized the naturalization process throughout the United States.
Records after this date are more consistent than those before. No
longer could just any court perform a naturalization.
1907
On 2 March 1907 an act was passed wherein a wife's citizenship status
was determined by the status of her husband. Here is where the
confusion begins to get worse. For women who immigrated after this
act (and before later changes were enacted), there was no real change
from before (unless their husband was already a U.S. citizen).
However, it was different for U.S.-born citizen females who married
an alien after this date. These women would lose their citizenship
status upon marriage to an alien. Many of these women would later
become citizens again upon their husband's naturalization. Women who
married men who were racially ineligible to naturalize lost their
ability to revert back to their pre-marriage citizenship status.
1922
On 22 September 1922, Congress passed the Married Women's Act, also
known as the Cable Act. Now the citizenship status of a woman and a
man were separate. This law gave each woman her own citizenship
status. This act was partially drawn in response to issues regarding
women's citizenship that occurred after women were given the right to
vote. From this date, no marriage to an alien has taken citizenship
from any U.S.-born woman. Females who had lost their citizenship
status via marriage to an alien could initiate their own
naturalization proceedings.
1936
This act effected U.S. citizen women whose marriage to an alien
between the acts of 1907 and 1922 had caused them to lose their
citizenship status. These women, if the marriage to the alien had
ended in death or divorce, could regain their citizenship by filing
an application with the local naturalization court and taking an oath
of allegiance. Those women still married to their husband were not
covered under the act and these individuals would have to go through
the complete naturalization process.
1940
In 1940, Congress allowed all women who lost their citizenship status
between 1907 and 1922 to repatriate by filling an application with
the local naturalization court and taking an oath. The complete
naturalization process was no longer necessary for any woman whose
marriage between 1907 and 1922 caused her to lose her citizenship
status.
.
USA -
he history of naturalization in the
United States is somewhat
complex. The complexity is aggravated for women by the fact that the
laws regarding naturalization and females were ambiguous, especially
before 1907. For a significant portion of American history, a woman's
citizenship status was derived from the status of her husband. In
many cases immigrant women were naturalized "by default" upon their
marriage to a citizen or upon their foreign-born husband obtaining
citizenship. This derivative type of citizenship is the reason there
are few naturalization records for immigrant women for most of
American history. For those who were "naturalized by marriage" there
generally is no mention of them in any records before 27 September
1906, when Congress standardized the naturalization process and
required names of spouse and children on naturalization paperwork.
Also, until women received the right to vote, there was little reason
for many to bother with the expense and procedure of naturalization.
However, there are occasionally naturalization records for women in
the 1880s, 1890s and later. Many of the children "naturalized by
default" via their father's naturalization, but not listed
specifically, later went through the naturalization process
themselves.
To reduce confusion, here is a brief chronology relevant to the
problem at hand:
1906
The Basic Naturalization Act was passed on 27 September 1906, which
standardized the naturalization process throughout the United States.
Records after this date are more consistent than those before. No
longer could just any court perform a naturalization.
1907
On 2 March 1907 an act was passed wherein a wife's citizenship status
was determined by the status of her husband. Here is where the
confusion begins to get worse. For women who immigrated after this
act (and before later changes were enacted), there was no real change
from before (unless their husband was already a U.S. citizen).
However, it was different for U.S.-born citizen females who married
an alien after this date. These women would lose their citizenship
status upon marriage to an alien. Many of these women would later
become citizens again upon their husband's naturalization. Women who
married men who were racially ineligible to naturalize lost their
ability to revert back to their pre-marriage citizenship status.
1922
On 22 September 1922, Congress passed the Married Women's Act, also
known as the Cable Act. Now the citizenship status of a woman and a
man were separate. This law gave each woman her own citizenship
status. This act was partially drawn in response to issues regarding
women's citizenship that occurred after women were given the right to
vote. From this date, no marriage to an alien has taken citizenship
from any U.S.-born woman. Females who had lost their citizenship
status via marriage to an alien could initiate their own
naturalization proceedings.
1936
This act effected U.S. citizen women whose marriage to an alien
between the acts of 1907 and 1922 had caused them to lose their
citizenship status. These women, if the marriage to the alien had
ended in death or divorce, could regain their citizenship by filing
an application with the local naturalization court and taking an oath
of allegiance. Those women still married to their husband were not
covered under the act and these individuals would have to go through
the complete naturalization process.
1940
In 1940, Congress allowed all women who lost their citizenship status
between 1907 and 1922 to repatriate by filling an application with
the local naturalization court and taking an oath. The complete
naturalization process was no longer necessary for any woman whose
marriage between 1907 and 1922 caused her to lose her citizenship
status.
.
USA -
Jewish Revision Lists in Lithuanian
Archives
http://users.erols.com/hrhode/How_to/Article_4/body_article_4.htm
by Harold Rhode*
On my visit to Lithuania in July 1997, Galina Baranova, chief archivist of the
State Historical Archives in Vilnius and Vitalija Girschte, chief archivist
of the Kaunas archives, gave me the lists of Jewish reviski skazki (revision
lists) held in their archives. Most of the lists in Vilnius are not cited in
Jewish Vital Records, Revision Lists and Other Jewish Holdings in the Lithuanian
Archives, by Harold Rhode and Sallyann Amdur Sack. (Teaneck, New Jersey: Avotaynu,
1996).
Revision lists for the four northwestern districts (uezds) of Belarus–Disna,
Lida, Oshmian and Vileika–also are held in Vilnius (and not in Belarus).
Prior to the Russian Revolution, these districts belonged to Vilna guberniya
(province), which was then divided among Lithuania, Poland and Soviet Byelorussia.
After World War II, the area that had been Vilna guberniya before World War
I was again divided, this time between Lithuania and Soviet Byelorussia. Soviet
rules for archives mandated that fonds of the governor general's office and
those of the treasury remain in the capital city of the old guberniya in which
they were created. Other fonds, such as those holding metrical (e.g., birth,
marriage and death) records were transfered to regional archives.
Oshmiany Uyezd
Some General Revision Lists for 1816. General Revision Lists for 1834 and 1858.
Some Additional Revision Lists for the periods 1859-64, 1868-69, 1870-71, 1872-77,
1874-84; lists of Changed Registrations for 1883-84; some Additional Revision
Lists for 1892-95 and 1905-08
Towns in first uchastok: Devenishki, Golshany, Lipnishki, Oshmiany, Traby, Zhuprany
Towns in second uchastok: Dereviany, Krevo, Nalibokoye, Smorgon, Solsk, Vishnevo,
Volozhin, Zaskeviche
Vileika uezd
Jewish Revision Lists for 1834 and 1850
Towns in first uchastok: Budy, Gorodok, Grudetz, Ida, Kraisk, Kurenec, Lebedevo,
Molodechno, Radoshkov, Rzhetzkoye
Towns in second uchastok: Bubslavy, Burzlavka, Dolginovo, Duniloviche, Ilya,
Krivichi, Miadeli, Vileika
*Harold Rhode is past president of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington
and writes frequently for AVOTAYNU.
click
here for the entire article by Harold Rhode
-
Brest BELARUS Brest
Baranovichi BELARUS Brest
Kobrin BELARUS Brest
Luninec BELARUS Brest
Pinsk BELARUS Brest
Gorodishe BELARUS Brest
Bereza BELARUS Brest
Beloozersk BELARUS Brest
Domachevo BELARUS Brest
Gancevichi BELARUS Brest
Drogichin BELARUS Brest
7 Antopol BELARUS Brest
Gabinka BELARUS Brest
Ivanovo BELARUS Brest
5 Ivacevichi BELARUS Brest
65 Kossovo BELARUS Brest
77 Telehany BELARUS Brest
8 Kamenec BELARUS Brest
95 Vysokoe BELARUS Brest
7 Mikashevichi BELARUS Brest
Lyahovichi BELARUS Brest
Malorita BELARUS Brest
7 Logishin BELARUS Brest
Prugany BELARUS Brest
57 Rugany BELARUS Brest
67 Shereshevo BELARUS Brest
7 Stolin BELARUS Brest
85 David-Gorodok BELARUS Brest
97 Rechica BELARUS Brest
7 ,Vitbesk BELARUS ,Vitbesk
7 Ruba BELARUS ,Vitbesk
5 Lepel BELARUS ,Vitbesk
55 Novopolock BELARUS ,Vitbesk
56 Orsha BELARUS ,Vitbesk
65 Baran BELARUS ,Vitbesk
755 Polock BELARUS ,Vitbesk
86 Beshenkovichi BELARUS ,Vitbesk
97 Ulla BELARUS ,Vitbesk
Braslav BELARUS ,Vitbesk
7 Vidzy BELARUS ,Vitbesk
7 Druya BELARUS ,Vitbesk
Verhnedvinsk BELARUS ,Vitbesk
7 Osveya BELARUS ,Vitbesk
57 Surag BELARUS ,Vitbesk
67 Yanovichi BELARUS ,Vitbesk
7 Glubokoe BELARUS ,Vitbesk
87 Podsvile BELARUS ,Vitbesk
9 Gorodok BELARUS ,Vitbesk
7 Ezerishe BELARUS ,Vitbesk
Dokshicy BELARUS ,Vitbesk
7 Begoml BELARUS ,Vitbesk
Dubrovno BELARUS ,Vitbesk
7 Osintorf BELARUS ,Vitbesk
56 Liozno BELARUS ,Vitbesk
6 Miory BELARUS ,Vitbesk
75 Disna BELARUS ,Vitbesk
87 Kopys BELARUS ,Vitbesk
97 Orehovsk BELARUS ,Vitbesk
7 Vetrino BELARUS ,Vitbesk
Postavy BELARUS ,Vitbesk
7 Voropaevo BELARUS ,Vitbesk
7 Lyntupy BELARUS ,Vitbesk
6 Rossony BELARUS ,Vitbesk
5 Senno BELARUS ,Vitbesk
67 Bogushevsk BELARUS ,Vitbesk
7 Tolochin BELARUS ,Vitbesk
87 Kohanovo BELARUS ,Vitbesk
96 Ushachi BELARUS ,Vitbesk
Chashniki BELARUS ,Vitbesk
5 Novolukoml BELARUS ,Vitbesk
7 Oktyabrskij BELARUS ,Vitbesk
6 Sharkovshina BELARUS ,Vitbesk
6 Shumilino BELARUS ,Vitbesk
57 Obol BELARUS ,Vitbesk
8 Gomel BELARUS Gomel
7 Kostyukovka BELARUS Gomel
5 Dobrush BELARUS Gomel
5 Globin BELARUS Gomel
55 Kalinkovichi BELARUS Gomel
656 Mozyr BELARUS Gomel
75 Rechica BELARUS Gomel
85 Rogachev BELARUS Gomel
95 Svetlogorsk BELARUS Gomel
6 Bragin BELARUS Gomel
7 Komarin BELARUS Gomel
Buda-Koshelevo BELARUS Gomel
7 Uvarovichi BELARUS Gomel
Vetka BELARUS Gomel
57 Bolshevik BELARUS Gomel
67 Terehovka BELARUS Gomel
7 Elsk BELARUS Gomel
8 Gitkovichi BELARUS Gomel
97 Turov BELARUS Gomel
7 Streshin BELARUS Gomel
7 Ozarichi BELARUS Gomel
6 Korma BELARUS Gomel
6 Lelchicy BELARUS Gomel
6 Loev BELARUS Gomel
5 Narovlya BELARUS Gomel
66 Oktyabrskij BELARUS Gomel
7 Petrikov BELARUS Gomel
87 Kopatkevichi BELARUS Gomel
95 Vasilevichi BELARUS Gomel
7 Belick BELARUS Gomel
7 Parichi BELARUS Gomel
7 Sosnovyj Bor BELARUS Gomel
Hojniki BELARUS Gomel
Chechersk BELARUS Gomel
7 Grodno BELARUS , Grodno
5 Smorgon BELARUS , Grodno
5 Volkovysk BELARUS , Grodno
55 Lida BELARUS , Grodno
55 Novogrudok BELARUS , Grodno
65 Slonim BELARUS , Grodno
76 Bolshaya Berestovica BELARUS , Grodno
87 Pogranichnyj BELARUS , Grodno
97 Krasnoselskij BELARUS , Grodno
7 Ross BELARUS , Grodno
6 Voronovo BELARUS , Grodno
7 Radun BELARUS , Grodno
5 Skidel BELARUS , Grodno
7 Sopockin BELARUS , Grodno
56 Dyatlovo BELARUS , Grodno
67 Kozlovshina BELARUS , Grodno
77 Novoelnya BELARUS , Grodno
86 Zelva BELARUS , Grodno
96 Ive BELARUS , Grodno
7 Yuratishki BELARUS , Grodno
6 Korelichi BELARUS , Grodno
7 Mir BELARUS , Grodno
7 Berezovka BELARUS , Grodno
7 Pervomajskij BELARUS , Grodno
5 Mosty BELARUS , Grodno
67 Lyubcha BELARUS , Grodno
76 Ostrovec BELARUS , Grodno
8 Oshmyany BELARUS , Grodno
96 Svisloch BELARUS , Grodno
7 Porozovo BELARUS , Grodno
Shuchin BELARUS , Grodno
7 Geludok BELARUS , Grodno
7 Ostryna BELARUS , Grodno
5 , Minsksk BELARUS , Minsk
57 Vostochnyj BELARUS , Minsk
57 Sokol BELARUS , Minsk
57 Sosny BELARUS , Minsk
5556 Borisov BELARUS , Minsk
56 Vilejka BELARUS , Minsk
575 Dzerginsk BELARUS , Minsk
585 Godino BELARUS , Minsk
59 Zaslavl BELARUS , Minsk
555 Molodechno BELARUS , Minsk
55 Sluck BELARUS , Minsk
555 Soligorsk BELARUS , Minsk
5 Berezino BELARUS , Minsk
5 Vologin BELARUS , Minsk
557 Ivenec BELARUS , Minsk
567 Negoreloe BELARUS , Minsk
577 Fanipol BELARUS , Minsk
58 Kleck BELARUS , Minsk
59 Kopyl BELARUS , Minsk
56 Krupki BELARUS , Minsk
57 Bobr BELARUS , Minsk
57 Holopenichi BELARUS , Minsk
56 Logojsk BELARUS , Minsk
57 Pleshenicy BELARUS , Minsk
55 Lyuban BELARUS , Minsk
567 Ureche BELARUS , Minsk
577 Radoshkovichi BELARUS , Minsk
586 Myadel BELARUS , Minsk
597 Krivichi BELARUS , Minsk
57 Svir BELARUS , Minsk
5 Nesvig BELARUS , Minsk
57 Gorodeya BELARUS , Minsk
5 Marina Gorka BELARUS , Minsk
57 Pravdinskij BELARUS , Minsk
557 Rudensk BELARUS , Minsk
567 Svisloch BELARUS , Minsk
57 Smolevichi BELARUS , Minsk
587 Zelenyj Bor BELARUS , Minsk
597 Krasnaya Sloboda BELARUS , Minsk
57 Starobin BELARUS , Minsk
5 Starye Dorogi BELARUS , Minsk
5 Stolbcy BELARUS , Minsk
56 Uzda BELARUS , Minsk
5 Cherven BELARUS , Minsk
557 Smilovichi BELARUS , Minsk
67 Mogilev BELARUS Mogilev
656 Bobrujsk BELARUS Mogilev
65 Gorki BELARUS Mogilev
65 Krichev BELARUS Mogilev
655 Osipovichi BELARUS Mogilev
666 Belynichi BELARUS Mogilev
677 Glusha BELARUS Mogilev
68 Byhov BELARUS Mogilev
696 Glusk BELARUS Mogilev
66 Kirovsk BELARUS Mogilev
6 Klimovichi BELARUS Mogilev
66 Klichev BELARUS Mogilev
6 Kostyukovichi BELARUS Mogilev
66 Krasnopole BELARUS Mogilev
656 Krugloe BELARUS Mogilev
66 Mstislavl BELARUS Mogilev
677 Grodzyanka BELARUS Mogilev
687 Elizovo BELARUS Mogilev
697 Tatarka BELARUS Mogilev
6 Slavgorod BELARUS Mogilev
66 Hotimsk BELARUS Mogilev
6 Chausy BELARUS Mogilev
6 Cherikov BELARUS Mogilev
6 Shklov BELARUS Mogilev
.
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MOLODECHNO (the nearest city to Vishnevo
with population of near 100,000) Jewish Religious Community " Hevra Tegilim"
Head of the community: Gennady BASKIN Total number of Jews: 1,000 . The community
was formed in September 1998, registered in March 1999. Activities:"Kabbalat
Shabbat". There is 1 synagogue.
http://eejhp.tripod.ca/map.htm#write
click here to write to the community
-
Manifest for Lapland
Sailing from Antwerp July 20, 1913
Smitkin, Schmul Male 18 year old Single Russia, Hebrew born in Wiznewe, Russia
going to brother in Brooklyn
. Padwereski, Minke Female 17years old Single Russia, Hebrew Wiznewe, Russia
going to uncle Dobe Guris?in New York.
. Soifer, Urdie F 35y W Russia, Hebrew Kanunetz, Russia http://www.ellisisland.org/EIFile/popup_weif_5a.asp?src=%2Fcgi%2Dbin%2Ftif2gif%2Eexe%3FT%3DH%3A%5C%5CT715%2D2133%5C%5CT715%2D21330279%2ETIF%26S%3D%2E5&pID=104108070092&name=Schmul%26nbsp%3BSmitkin&doa=July++++++20%2C+1913&port=Antwerp&line=0002
click
for the original manifest
USA -
Life of Jewish Partisans and Jewish
Family Camps in the Forest, From a Diary by a Jewish Partisan, 1942-1943
August 12, 1942
...The idea of the forest returned and came to life. After the second mass-murder
all of us were certain that the Germans made no difference between one Jew and
another... They deceived the Judenrat and the Jewish Police when they promised
them that they would stay alive if they helped to carry out the slaughter, and
in the end they killed them too. Once more we began to search for ways of escape
outside the ghetto....
The first to escape were Jews from the neighborhood to Naliboki Forest. They
disappeared and nothing more was heard of them. The people from Zhetl also went,
to Lipiczanka Forest, and they were joined by some from Nowogrodek, who returned
after a while to take with them their relatives and friends. From them we heard
details of life in the forest. They have arms, they carry out attacks on Germans
traveling on the roads; the peasants are afraid of them and supply them with
food. There are Russian partisans in the forest who live on good terms with
the Jews and carry out joint attacks on the Germans with them.
Young boys of 15 to 17 snatch arms from the Germans and fix stocks to pistols
and rifles. A small group got together and moved out to the Belskis. Two of
them came back to the ghetto. They would have nothing to do with anyone there,
and refused to speak to their former friends weren't they partisans? They went
back to the forest and took with them their relatives, wives and acquaintances.
[1943]
As a result of our many attacks on the Germans in the area of our camp, a German
assault was to be expected any day. Information reached us that the Germans
knew where we were. The Staff decided to dissolve the separate groups and to
reestablish the Brigade.
At the beginning of April all the groups were ordered to leave their valleys
and move within 24 hours to Brozova Forest in Stara-Huta.
We packed our belongings, filled our knapsacks, and fastened our blankets on
top of them. The cooking gear and other things were loaded on carts and we moved
out. The night was cloudy and the sky full of rain. The damp penetrated into
the very marrow of our bones. The dry, bare branches of the young trees waved
and bent hither and thither. Our thoughts were black too. Many of us had been
lost in our wanderings from forest to forest, from base camp to base camp. They
had fallen, and who knew what awaited us at the next base?
by day the snow began to melt. Long pools of water stretched along the sandy
paths. We had many kilometers to go. Our feet sink in the mud as though it were
soft dough. You want to rest and there is no place to sit. Everything is wet
and damp. Now we have found a kind of hillock from which the water has run off.
The people sit down, rest, eat their fill and then continue on their way. In
this way we crossed forests, fields, and roads until we reached Brozova Forest,
in Stara-Huta.
There we found groups that had arrived before us -- the group of Yudel Belski,
who had lost 10 of his best men; he had few fighting men and their arms were
poor: the group could no longer survive on its own. Also the Dworecki group,
which had arrived early at the new base. The cold was not yet over and they
had built huts for themselves.
After a brief consultation we decided not to build huts. We found a dry hill,
stretched out on our knapsacks, rested and set about putting up a shelter of
branches.
In the course of a few days all the groups gathered in one place. We began to
live according to the plan that had applied before the winter. Every evening
the whole unit assembled. One platoon was selected for guard duty for the next
24 hours; several groups were sent out to get food; the people were divided
up according to kitchens, each group doing its own cooking. The groups received
their supplies from a central store, in accordance with the number of its members.
At the beginning of April a group of Jews and their families were sent to us
from the Iskra (spark) group. Their arms were taken from them and they were
told to join the Jewish company. These were the first Jewish refugees from Lida
Ghetto. The young and single people stayed with the Russians....
J. Jaffe, Partizanim ("Partisans"), Tel Aviv, 1951, pp. 24-25, 70-72.
.
-
Would like to know anybody who has
heard of the name SMITKIN
or perhaps new schmual Smitkin who arrived in 1913 from wisnewe (sic) forgive
the spelling
Donal Redish Elmogom@aol.Com
USA -
from belarus@lyris.jewishgen.org
(Belarus SIG)
MY TRIP TO BELARUS
By MARCIA LOEB
On September 5, my brother and I set out on what we thought would be a trip
to Belarus in search of the towns where our mother had once lived. We did
not expect to find very much, as the country was almost completely destroyed
by the Nazis during World War II.
Yes, the country was destroyed, but the heart and soul of the people were not.
After spending three days in Minsk, and visiting the memorials of the
atrocities, spell bound, under the tutelage of our knowledgeable guide,
Galina Schwartz, we departed for our shtetl schlepping odyssey.
Our first stop was the village of Tolochin, where our mother lived until the
age of 12. When she resided there, there were 1300 Jews and only 500
non-Jews. There were 160 wooden houses, of which 110 belonged to Jews, and
there were three synagogues. That is how it was in 1907, when our mother
left for America.
Cut to 2001, and we, her children, are Americans, searching for our roots.
We had written in advance to the chairman (the equivalent of a mayor) of
Tolochin, and informed him of our visit, the purpose of which was to
discover as much as we could about our mother's early years in what was then
a part of Russia, called White Russia, as well as the history of the
Jewish people in the areas in which she lived.
Upon our arrival, we went to his office. He gave us a book (written in
Russian) of the history of the town, and then he told us that they were
opening the museum for us, which displayed the history of Tolochin. It was
normally closed on a Monday, the day that we were there. When we arrived
there, a delegation met us on the steps to the entrance, handed us flowers,
and the mayor said many people have left our town, but you two are the only
ones who have ever returned.
With tears still in our eyes, we were escorted inside. There we learned
about the village, from prehistoric times, through World War II. During the
second World War, called by the Belarussians _The Great Patriotic War, nine
thousand people were killed in that small village called Tolochin, three
fourths of them Jewish. Today there are 17 Jewish people in residence
there. There are no synagogues. There is a section of the museum devoted to
the daily lives of the Jewish people who lived there during last century,
and it displays some of their occupations, such as boot makers, weavers,
dressmakers, grocers, and peddlers.
We went on to visit the wooden houses in the community, and tried to imagine
that we found the one that our mother lived in. That is probably not
possible, as most of the town had been leveled, but as the styles had not
changed in a hundred years, we let our imaginations run freely. Even our
van driver was caught up in our game. In Russian, he would say very
excitedly that might be the one!
Next came a Russian lunch, which we ate in the private dining room of the
only restaurant in the town. The table was set as though for a banquet. We
had many courses, from soup to pudding.
The toasts given by our host were very touching, as translated by our guide.
To paraphrase one of them, he said he envied us that we were able to come to
this place to walk in the footsteps of our ancestors.
From there we visited the Jewish cemetery. The markers were partly Hebrew
and partly Belarussian. We placed stones from our mothe's grave in
Massachusetts on an unknown marker here in Tolochin.
The graves ranged in a time span from well over a hundred years ago to the
present time.
A visit to Oboltsi, a few miles away, was next on our agenda. This is where
our mother was born, and lived before the family moved to the larger village
of Tolochin. Here, too, the town chairman greeted us. She was a lovely
young woman, rather old-fashioned, who outdid our first host with her gifts
of flowers, candy, and a set of dishes! We could feel her happiness in our
visit by the expression in her eyes! I still get a lump in my throat when I
think of her joy as she made her presentations.
Oboltsi is smaller than Tolochin. It still has the dirt roads, which our
mother had described as being a quagmire in the spring when the snow melted,
and in that respect, nothing has changed. There were few automobiles, and
still many horse drawn wagons. Children played in the streets, and followed
us on their bicycles as we toured the area. Our SUV was quite a novelty.
Even the local police halted us, and asked for identification. The women
came out of their houses to wave to us, and to talk to us when we stopped
the car.Our next stop was very special. We returned to Tolochin, where we were
invited to have tea in the home of the oldest Jewish couple in the town.
Their names were Reya and Mikhail Mirkin, and they made the occasion very
festive. Mrs. Mirkin baked a delicious cake in her tiny kitchen, and served
it with pride. Mr. Mirkin brought out the vodka, and we toasted each other,
in our language and theirs. Their children have moved to Israel, and they
reveled in the chance to have visitors. Before we left, Mr. Mirkin went to
his bedroom, and changed his jacket. He returned to the living room, his
face was beaming, as he proudly wore all of his Soviet medals for us to
admire. By the time we said our farewells, we felt as though they were new
relatives.And then another emotional stop! We found the cemetery where our
grandmother was buried in the town of Smalavici. Our grandmother died when
our mother was 12 years of age, in 1908, and she often repeated the wish
that she could visit the place where her mother was buried. This was not
possible, during her lifetime, as Belarus was not open to visitors until the
break up of the Soviet Union. We were her _stand ins_in 2001. The head
stones were there, though most of them were no longer legible. Time and
weather had taken its toll. But it was a beautiful spot, in the woods, and
protected from invaders by the environment.
Before I continue to the next chapter of our visit, I must mention that we
spent two wonderful evenings in Minsk, one at the ballet, every bit as
wonderful as the Russian Kirov, and the other one at the opera, "The Barber
of Seville" sung in Belarussian. The tickets were $3.50 cents each in
American money. This is so that the citizens can enjoy the culture of their
country, as the wages are very low. For example, a teacher earns $30.00 a
month, and a doctor earns $50.00.
Away we flew, on September 11, to continue our emotional see saw in St.
Petersburg. There we were met at the airport by three generations of our
family, whom we had located via help from the Internet. The grandfather of
the oldest member of this family was the brother of our grandmother, our
mother_s mother. Thus we are second cousins. With her were her son, and
granddaughter, who corresponded in ages with our own families. They drove
us to our hotel. It was love at first sight! When we checked into our room
we turned on CNN. It was about 5 o'clock in the evening in Russia, and we
saw the second plane hit the World Trade Center!
We enjoyed our new found family. We spent 4 days of quality time with them,
and repressed our fears and worries. But our see saw is down, and as I write
this, I am safely home at last in Los Angeles, and my brother is in Boston.
I wonder if the balance on our seesaw will ever go up again?
.
USA -
WHAT IS A LITVAK?
by Saul Issroff
The following was in reply to a question posed by one of the members of
the JGS of Great Britain:- " My father was born in Libau (Courland) but
called himself a Litvak - what is a Litvak?":
Libau was part of Courland and is now part of Latvia.[1] Courlanders
(Kurlanders) were considered Litvaks (at least culturally). Hertz[2]
defines Litwaks (sic) as Jews from the Pale of settlement, especially
from the Vilna and Minsk Gubernias, who settled in Congress Poland at
the end of the 19th century. Many were under the influence of Russian
culture and language.
The Schoenbergs[3] define a Litvak as a Lithuanian Jew but qualify this
by stating that Jews from outside Lithuania may also be considered
Litvaks..."sources identify a number of mundane characteristics
contrasting Litvaks from other Ashkenazi Jews including Yiddish dialect
differences, culinary tastes and varying methods of food preparation".
They cite the practice of Litvaks in reciting Friday night Kiddush
sitting, and point out that when a Litvak prays he stands rock still and
only moves his lips. "However, these are outward manifestations of a
divergence of customs within the larger Ashkenazi Jewish community. In a
more general sense Litvaks are characterised as being more rational,
dogmatic and authoritarian than other branches of Ashkenazi Jewry".
They describe the origins of the Jews in the Baltic States and the
conflict that developed between the followers of the Vilna Gaon , the
Mitnagdim, (later known as the orthodox), meaning the opposers (of the
new emotional, anti-rational Hassidim). In 1784 the Gaon ruled that the
Hassidim were heretical, prohibited ritual slaughter performed by them
and marriage with them. The animosity between the groups was intense. It
was during this period of severe conflict that the term Litvak came into
being to differentiate the Lithuanian Jews from the remaining,
predominately Hassidic Jewish world of Eastern Europe.
The antipathy lessened in the 19th century as the Hassidic movement
began to establish Yeshivot of their own and to stress Torah education.
The traditional way of Jewish communities was to turn inwards, immersed
in their studies and being closer to God, but still part of the economic
world of the surrounding gentile town. This practice was challenged by
the Haskalah, the movement of enlightenment, which came to Lithuania
from the West, initially in Italy and Holland, moving through Germany
and took hold especially in Vilna (Vilnius) and Minsk.
These emancipated Jews looked upon themselves as a mediator between the
old rigid orthodoxy and the radical assimilationists. In Lithuania (with
traditions of reason and study) it centred on language and the people
rather than manifestations of assimilation and disavowal. Poets,
artists, scholars and politicians rapidly developed their interests. The
Haskalah movement opened up Lithuanian Jewry to the other new movements,
Zionism and Jewish Socialism. The Jewish Bundists played a major part in
the Russian Revolution.
After the third partition of Poland in December 23, 1791 the decree
limiting Jewish habitation to White Russia (Byelorus) and the Ukraine
was extended to include the newly acquired territories along the Baltic
Sea.
Thus began the Pale of Settlement that stretched from the Baltic Sea to
the Black Sea. Of the areas then inhabited by Lithuanian Jewry , ethnic
Lithuania and Byelorussia became an integral part of Russia. The
southern part, around Grodno and Suwalk became part of the Duchy of
Warshaw (Poland). So, although Lithuania may have become divided, the
Jewish Litvak community remained integrated until World War 1. At the
time of partition about a quarter of all Jews in eastern Europe were
Litvak. By 1923 153,000 Jews lived in Lithuania and about 90,000 in
Latvia, mainly of Litvak origin.
As is well known, many Litvaks emigrated to North and South America,
Great Britain, Australia and South Africa. The majority of those left
were killed in the Shoah. There are now under 4,000 Jews left in
Lithuania and about 15,000 in Latvia.
For a more detailed description refer to these recently published
books:- Greenbaum [4] and Levin [5]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REFERENCES
[1] Jacobson, Shelley. SHEMOT:Vol 1,4 p28-30
[2] Hertz,Alexander. THE JEWS IN POLISH CULTURE 1987 Northwestern
University Press Evanston Illinois
[3] Schoenberg, Stuart and Nancy. LITHUANIAN JEWISH COMMUNITIES 1991
Garland Publishing Company NY& London
[4] Greenbaum, Masha. THE JEWS OF LITHUANIA 1316-1945. Gefen Publishing
Jerusalem and New York 1995
[5] Levin, Dov. BALTIC JEWS UNDER THE SOVIETS 1940-1946. The Hebrew
University, Jerusalem 1994
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dec 13, 1995
Source: Originally appeared in SHEMOT VOL3 NO 3.
Provider: Saul Issroff
.
-
God Bless
Christina
Aguilera
USA -
C00L !!!
Pokemon
USA -
There is no single definition of
the term Ecole de Paris, or School of Paris. It has varied with years in accordance
with the writers who used it. Everybody seems to agree, however, that in the
first decades of the 20th century, the name was used to describe a group of
young adepts of modern art, of various styles and beliefs, who came from all
over the world to live and work in Paris. A number of historians of art go further
and limit the group to a score of renowned figures such as Marc Chagall, Chaim
Soutine (married Rosa nee Bunimovich), Ossip Zadkine, Jacques Lipchitz, Modigliani,
all foreigners, all Jews, and all born between 1880 and 1900. But what strikes
us as Belarusians is the great number of members of the School of Paris who
came from Belarus.
http://www.belarus-misc.org/diaspora/yurevich/belarus/artists/main.html
click
to read the rest;
USA -
.
Lechovichers in the
Ellis Island Database
-
Our piece on 'Lechovichers in the
Ellis Island Database' has now been posted by the Belarus SIG, with an evaluation
which has been amplified by Neville Lamdan for the general reader. To go to
it, use the following link: http://www.jewishgen.org/belarus/lach_eidb.htm
Thanks again to Eilat Gordon and Neville Lamdan for their assistance in gathering
and reviewing the information.
Gary Palgon, Atlanta, GA
Lechovichers in the
Ellis Island Database click here
USA -
Davidson, Isidore born 25 Dec 1888
W in Vishnevo Russia (from draft list of WWI)
.
USA -
Manifest for Vaderland
Sailing from Antwerp June 21, 1909.
Zussmann, Schmuel M 18y S Russia, Hebrew Wisniew .
Manifest for Kroonland
Sailing from Antwerp April 03, 1907
Zubotkin, Jewel M 18y S Russia Hebrew Boisnow
Manifest for Vaderland
Sailing from Antwerp April 03, 1906.
Zigmann, Chaim M 9y S Russia, Hebrew Wischnewe
. Zigmann, Zipe F 55y M Russia, Hebrew Wischnewe
Manifest for Paris
Sailing from Le Havre October 20, 1923.
Zalb, Girsh M 17Y S Polish, Hebrew Wisniewe, Poland
Manifest for Mauretania
Sailing from Cherbourg February 02, 1923
. Zalb, Gerszon M 30y M Pinsk, Hebrew Wisnewo, Pinsk reg.
. Sznil, Ester F 19y S Pinsk, Hebrew Rakow, Pinsk Reg.
December 06, 1907
Manifest for Celtic
Sailing from Liverpool