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[Page 273]

The Fallen

 

[Pages 273-274]

Shlomo Stoler

(Anonymous - Ben Ir)

Notes on the Hebrew text by Ann Belinsky

Most of the information appears in the Yiddish translation on Pages 274-275.

The following additional information appears in Hebrew:

He was born in 1926.
After the war he was in displaced persons camps in Italy for several years and came from Italy to Palestine [AB - on the ship "Dov Hoz" in 1946].
When the War of Independence broke out he came to Israel and lived in the house of his uncle Moshe Stoler, Shlomo fell in the battle near Latrun, on the 4th of Iyar, 5708. (13th May, 1948) [AB - his place of burial is unknown. His memory is marked by a plaque at the Mt Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem]


[Pages 274-275]

Shlomo Stoler (The Little “Keiderel”)

by Ben-Ir
[This is a pen name = “A son of the town” HS]

Translated from the Yiddish by Harvey Spitzer z”l

 

He was born in Korelitz. His father Zelig and his mother Toibe were quiet, calm parents. His father was always content with what he had.

Zelig worked in construction. When construction work was unavailable, however, he had a horse and would go around in the villages with all kinds of merchandise and sell his wares to the peasants or barter with old clothes.

His son Shlomo completed public school and helped his father feed the family. Together with his father, he would go around the villages all week long. They would come home for the Sabbath with their earnings: money and provisions of food.

This is what he did until the war. In 1942, the Korelitz Jews were transferred to the ghetto in Novogrudek. In August 1942, when the Korelitz Jews were murdered in a great massacre, a small number miraculously saved themselves, including Shlomo and his brother. For months they went around the villages around Korelitz along with other teenagers from Korelitz. Shlomo was familiar with the area from earlier times when he used to go around with his father. They went around like this until the winter. Some Christians would give them a small loaf of bread, a bottle of milk. Sometimes they slept in a barn or in a storage pit for potatoes. They spent the day in the woods or in the bushes.

There were no more Jews there. Christians were afraid to let a Jew into their houses on account of the Germans or were just unwilling to save any Jews. As he was wandering about like this, Shlomo found out that there was a group of partisans under the direction of the Jewish commander, Tuvia Bielski and his brothers.

With great effort, he reached the group led by Chaim Avramovitch, a young man from Korelitz. Chaim took him into his group. From the start, Shlomo's devotion and courage were in evidence.

His abilities were revealed when Bielski's group was sent to the Nalibok forest. The whole area was full of partisans. Bielski's unit alone numbered about 1,200 members. Food was naturally a problem. Shlomo was made a group leader by an order from Commander Bielski. They went to the area around Korelitz, into the villages which were under the nose of the Germans. “Bring back a lot of food: grain, meat, etc.“ The partisans who went with him were amazed how capable and proud he was. They liked him a lot. He was modest.

After the liberation, Shlomo left the forests and went to Italy and from Italy he came to Israel. He learned a trade and supported his family honorably. He often visited my family. He asked me, “How can I help you?” He asked if I needed any money, or if I wanted him to teach me his trade, which was a way to earn a lot of money.

He was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces and fell in battle near Latrun, defending the newly proclaimed State.

May his memory be honored!


[Page 275]

Yaacov Oberzhinsky

Translated from the Hebrew by Ann Belinsky

 

Yaacov ben Leibe Hirsh Oberzhinsky was born in Korelitz in 1908. He went to the heder, the yeshiva, and spent three years in the Hebrew Teachers Seminar “Tarbut” (1925-1928). He went to the training farm (hachshara) in Vilna and was head of the “kibbutz” there. He came to Eretz Israel in 1938 and joined Kibbutz Ramat Rachel. In 1939 he moved to Kibbutz Yagur. He was an excellent dairyman.

He participated in the War of Independence and fell in the Negev area, 1 Heshvan 5709 (1949). He was buried in the military cemetery in Jerusalem.


[Page 276]

Tzvi (Tzvika) Malchieli *

Translated from the Hebrew by Ann Belinsky

Moshe Haim Cohen

 

The son of Mordechai and Chassida. He was born on 27 Sivan 5706 (26.6.1946) in Raanana. After finishing his studies with distinction at the elementary school in Hod HaSharon, he studied and finished his high school studies in Kfar Saba, at the Berl Katznelson School. In his spare time he was devoted to collecting Israeli stamps solely and was interested in sport. In his childhood he won first prize in table-tennis at the “HaPoel” (Ramatayim ) Club. Afterwards he was a sports instructor for “Maccabi”. In his youth he also won first place in a champion competition of chess between youth from the Southern Sharon area that took place in the Amateur Chess Club in Kfar Saba. In August 1964 he was eligible to be drafted into the army but because he was an outstanding pupil, he was accepted into the academic reserve and studied at the Hebrew Technion in Haifa. In this framework he participated in a section commander's course for officers of the academic reserve and was about to finish his third year of studies in the Faculty of Mechanics. On finishing his studies at the Technion he would have gone on to do full military service. Because of his pleasant character traits, he attracted many friends. The love of life pulsated strongly within him. He did not offend anyone, nor did he insult any of his acquaintances.

Despite his success and excellence, he behaved with modesty and did not “show off”. He was about to marry in July 1967. But in the meanwhile the Six day War broke out, and on the second day of battle, 27 Iyar 5727 (6.6.1967) he fell in battle at Shveika in the Samaria area, displaying devotion and endurance. He was brought to eternal rest in the Kiryat Shaul Army Cemetery. In the courtyard of the Berl Katznelson School there is a marble memorial stone in his memory. Also on the way to Shechem (Nablus) by Kalkliya there is a memorial stone with his name engraved on it. In Raanana, a special room was opened in his memory. In the Hebrew Technion in Haifa, a prize of a memorial trophy cup in his name is given to the Chess Champion. His name is memorialized in the newspaper of the Raanana Local Council. His name appears in the pamphlet that was published by the municipality of Netanya in memory of the fallen. In the album “The Sharon Military Division in the 6 Day War” published by the headquarters of his brigade, his name is memorialized with his photograph. The book, containing chapters from the history of his life and his legacy was published by his parents.

* Yizkor…Gimel'. The Israel Government Publishers, edited by Reuven Avinoam, Page 228 Aleph.


[Page 277]

Two Who Fell

by Kalman Osherovitz

Translated from the Hebrew by Ann Belinsky

I wish to draw a picture of the memory of two Korelitzers, who fell in the War of Independence and were not privileged to arrive with us thus far and see our state become established and enlarged.

 

Yaacov Oberzhansky

I met Yaacov Oberzhansky at Kibbutz Yagur and the days were towards the end of World War Two. These were the days of the revolt against the British in Eretz–Israel, revolt against the hunters of the illegal immigrants, revolt against the closure of the gates of Eretz–Israel to the refugees from the Holocaust and who were knocking on our doors. The British announced from time to time on a curfew on the roads, and because of a curfew I was delayed at Yagur and thus spent a number of hours in a friendly conversation with Yaacov. Yaacov still didn't believe then that European Jewry had been annihilated and overpowered. He spoke of the Jews from Korelitz who would come to Eretz Israel. He was well absorbed into the kibbutz and satisfied with his work. He was a member of the Hagana and fell in the battles in the Negev.

 

Shlomo Stoller

Shlomo, son of Zelig Stoller from a family of craftsmen in Korelitz, went through the horrors of the Second World War in the battlefields of the Jewish youth in the Polish forests. He was in the town when the Germans took it over, escaped to the surrounding forests and joined the partisans, was annexed to the partisan regiment and was outstanding as a scout. He arrived to Eretz–Israel with the first illegal immigrants, was absorbed well and was well–liked by his friends and all his acquaintances. At the beginning of the War of Independence he volunteered to the Hagana and fell in the area of Jerusalem.

May his memory be remembered and engraved on our hearts together with the memories of the dear holy martyrs who were destroyed by the Nazis in the exile in Poland.


[Page 278]

The Poem of the Annihilated Jewish People
(Unrhymed translation)

by Yitzhak Katzenelson

Translated from the Yiddish by Harvey Spitzer z”l

“Sing, sing! Raise aloud your pained and broken voice,
Search! Search for Him up there, above, if He is still here 
And sing to Him…. Sing to Him the last song of the last Jews,
Lived, died, not buried and no more… ”

— How can I sing - since the world is desolate for me?
How can I play with broken hands?
Where are my dead ones? I'm looking for my dead ones, God, in every pile of rubbish,
In every mound of ashes: Oh! - Tell me where you are!

Shout out from every pile of sand, from every stone,
Shout out from the all the dust, flames, smoke 
It's your blood and sap, it's the marrow of your bone,
It's your body and life! Shout out, shout aloud!

Oh, show yourself to me my people, show yourself, extend your hand
Out of the pits, deep and miles long, thickly packed,
Layer under layer, poured over with lime and burned,
Up! Up! Rise up from the lowest, deepest layer!

Come all of you from Treblinka, from Sobibor, from Auschwitz,
From Bergen-Belsen, come from Ponary and from more, more and more!
With eyes torn open, a frozen shout, “Oh, Lord, enough already!” and voiceless!
Come from swamps, from mud deeply sunken, from decayed moss.

Come dried up, crushed, rubbed to pieces, come, present yourselves
In a round dance, a large circle around me, a large ring 
Grandfathers, grandmothers, mothers with little children on their laps 
Come, Jewish bones from powders, from pieces of soap.

Show yourselves to me, all of you show yourselves to me, come all, come.
I want to see you all, I want to look at you, I want
To have a look at my annihilated people, mute, silenced.
And I will sing… Yes…. Here the harp - I play.

[Page 279]

Yitzchak Katzenelson, Chana Katzenelson *
and their son Zvi Katzenelson **

To my Uncle Avraham Katzenelson

I, Zvi, that is to say: Zvi ben Yitzchak,
am sending you, Uncle, my picture.
A little boy cared for with love and devotion 
This is my signature:
Zvi Katzenelson

 

*Chana (Andzha) Katzenelson, wife of Yitzchak Katzenelson, sister of physician, Dr. Rosenberg from Lodz. She was born in 1900 and was murdered together with her two sons: Ben-Zion and Binyamin, summer 1942.
**Zvi Katzenelson, older son of Yitzchak Katzenelson.
In the first year of the German occupation, he was a student at the high school of the underground established by the “Dror” (freedom) movement; in the summer of 1942, he worked with his father in the factory of the German, A.G. Shultz. He came to Vital with his father and from here was sent back to Poland for annihilation at the age of 18.

(see Last Writings  Yitzchak Katzenelson)

[Page 280]

From right: Morris Effner, Meyer Rotkoff, Morris Kessler, Chaim Abrahams, Albert Patikoff, Hyman Itzkowitz, Max Zussman, Pollack

 

From right: Chiena Caspi, Malka Poluzhsky, Yaacov Abramowich, Michael Walzer-Fass (the editor), Fruma Berger-Gulkowitz, Guttel Simon, (guests from the USA), Leah Lubchansky-Kornfeld

 

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