Forward

“YIZKOR”. Remember.

In 1960 a group of Borchovers living in Israel published a Yizkor Book, “Sefer Borszczow,” written in Yiddish and Hebrew. Since I am not able to read either language I was not able to read the text, but wanted to have a copy anyway, as pictures of both my father and grandfather were included in the book.

“Sefer Borszczow” languished on the bookshelf, its story hidden from me. But I was curious about its contents. Finally, in January, 2001 I began to have its secrets revealed by enlisting Miriam Beckerman to translate sections of it. For weeks I would go to her apartment with book, tape recorder and notepad in hand.

After each session I would return home and transcribe the tapes onto the computer. But Miriam did more than merely translate words. Her background knowledge of Yiddish literature and the life and customs of eastern European Jewry greatly expanded and enriched my understanding of the text.

Once the “raw” translation of each section was completed, I edited the text, sometimes rearranging the order of the narrative so that it would read smoothly, with greater clarity and cohesion. I am grateful for the assistance and red pencil my husband, Ed Levy, brought to the project. I did not have the entire book translated however, because of time and monetary constraints.

This would never have appeared in book form without the help of my dear friend Judy Berkun who volunteered to do the layout, graphic design and printing.

The original book was written by different contributors and edited by Nachman BlumenthaI. I tried to keep to the individual writing styles as much as possible; some of the contributors'comments are poetic and poignant and I have attempted to maintain this. I take full responsibility for any inaccuracies and distortions that may have occurred as a result of this process.

There are variant spellings of Borschov, depending upon the period under discussion and who was governing the area at that time. Thus “Borszczow,” “Borshchov,” “Borchoff,” or “Borchov.” I've chosen the last spelling for simplicity both in spelling and pronunciation.

Where there are parentheses ( ), these were in the original Yiddish or Hebrew text. However, I've occasionally added information to clarify or expand understanding and have placed this between brackets [ ].

This translation was initially done to satisfy my own curiosity, but it's also for my children, grandchildren, extended family and all those interested in the life and times of this community.

Myrna Neuringer Levy,
May, 2005

[Pages 11 - 17]

Political History

by Nachman Blumenthal, editor

Translated by Miriam Beckerman

Edited by Myrna Neuringer Levy

(Sources are lacking that would help determine when this city was established, but from its name we can assume that it was established in medieval times because “Bora” means forests. The reason why it was called Borchov was that trees had to be cut down before the city was established.)

There are no documents that make it possible to resurrect the history of the Jews in Borchov from the very beginning......, but it is believed that Jews had already settled there at the end of the 16th century. They occupied themselves with trade. There was a trade route that went through the village, from Tarnopol to Chortkov to Okip. In our day Okip was a very neglected place on the border of Poland, Russia and Romania. In former times it was a fortress and trading center. The trade route continued to Hatin and Yaz, in Turkey. There was another trade route that led to Kiev.

In 1629, the city belonged to the Polish kingdom. The Polish King, Zigmund III gave permission to hold markets four times a year. The Jews had their market [“yarid”] in Borchov every Thursday. This allowed the city to develop as a market town. They used to deal with horses, cows, and agricultural products. The hand weavers would also bring their products made of coarse material, which were known all around the area for their quality.

The city belonged to the Polish kingdom, under Podolya jurisdiction.

In 1648/49 there were terrible pogroms during the Chmielnitski revolt. The city was robbed and destroyed by the Cossacks. After this great destruction, the Vaad Arba Atzod [Hebrew: “Council for Four Lands”] was founded in Lublin in 1651. This was a very important council. In a book “Hayivon” [The Greek] that came out in 1655, it is claimed that 742 Kehillas [communities where Jews lived] were destroyed and more than 600,000 souls were killed. “The writer actually names the communities which were liquidated.”

The writer also names places close to Borchov which were destroyed.

In addition to other rulings, the Vaad prohibited anyone from living in Poldolya and the Ukraine because of the pogroms that took place. It seems that this herem [ruling] was not completely observed. In other words, in spite of the fact that Jews were not supposed to live there, some went back. A few years later, in 1655, Cossacks and Russians destroyed the city of Lublin in another pogrom. So after that there was no point in prohibiting Jews from living in Podolya because Lublin had been destroyed. The poverty of the Jews was unimaginable.

All of Poland was ultimately destroyed by the Cossacks, the Tartars and the Russians. Even the Swedes participated in the destruction. After all this destruction the noblemen were interested in rebuilding the land, so they invited the Jews back. [This is repeated over and over again in European history.]

From 1672 to 1699 Turkey ruled Podolya and the Sultan Mohammed IV showed a good attitude towards Jews; he let them settle wherever they wanted and abandoned all the former restrictions. In 1699 Poldolya, including Borchov, was returned to Polish rule.

During the first split of Poland in 1772, Galicia, with a large part of Podolya including Borchov was ceded to Austria. In 1780 the city fell into different hands. In 1809, during the Napoleonic Wars, the Russians took it over and they did not show any hatred to the Jews. In fact, Theils, who was the governor of Tarnopol, actually took an interest in establishing synagogues for Jews.

According to the decision of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the Tarnopol county is returned to Austria and the River “Zbruch” becomes the border between the Austro - Hungarian Empire and Czarist Russia. That's how the situation existed until 1914 when the Russians entered Galicia and remained there for approximately three years. The shtetl Borchov is part of this area.

After the Russians were chased out, the Austro - German soldiers took over not only the former part of Galicia but they went further and captured the Ukraine, including the capital, Kiev. When the Austro - Hungarian Empire fell apart in November,1918, there arose for a short time in eastern Galicia the independent Western Ukrainian Republic, which after approximately a year's time, was liquidated by the Polish army. (November,1919)

In the Polish - Soviet War, 1919/20, a portion of eastern Galicia was settled by the Red Army. But after the Poles won the war on the outskirts of Warsaw, which was called “The Miracle by the Vistula', the Soviets left Galicia.

According to the peace agreement reached between Poland and the Red Army in Riga in 1921, Galicia was divided and the “Zbruch” River was the dividing line between Poland and the Soviet Republic. Between the years 1920 - 1939 there were two nations governing this area, Poland and the Soviet Republic.

It was only after WW II, in 1944, that both sides of the river were taken over by the Soviets and this united the two parts of Galicia again. Eastern Galicia had become a part of the Soviet Union during the October Revolution in 1917.

For generations, the area of which Borchov is a part, went from one nation to another and until WW I there was no tradition of loyalty regarding the one time “friends” who ruled. The people, especially the Jews, assumed that the city was always an Austrian city and they were convinced that “our Caesar” was in Vienna, neither Warsaw, nor in Kiev. They were very proud of this.

If, here or there, somebody recalled that in distant times the Poles, the Russians and the Turks ruled, they considered these as incidental happenings, temporary situations that passed and will never return. As far as my memory serves me, even the Poles and the Ukrainians living in this area looked to Vienna. A recognizable change [in this attitude] occurred during WW I.

Trade and Taxes

The only thing that changed over the years was the form of trade. In order to get around all these different borders people started to smuggle. This was undertaken with great difficulty, because officially they had to get permission from both sides to trade and they had to pay huge taxes. There were certain smugglers who were very well known. They smuggled whiskey, manufactured goods, and metal objects. From the other side they would smuggle horses, cows and so on.

In this same way the Jews smuggled themselves in from places where there pogroms in Czarist Russia, to Galicia. Jewish boys, who wanted to avoid the Czarist military, smuggled themselves out. In nearly every shtetl there was the son of a Russian Jew who stood out because of his Russian clothing. The Russians wore a hat with a stiff brim. The local people in the shtetl, who were Chassidim, put on a different hat [made of velvet] in winter when they had to go out.

The locals called these Russian Jews different names: “gonif” [thief] “Cossack”, etc.

This smuggling at the border carried on according to the political situation that arose between the bordering states, whether they were getting stronger or weaker. The economic situation of the Jews was also affected by all this. Borchov was 15 kilometers from the Polish/Soviet border and a little further from the Polish/Roumanian border.

It is worthwhile in this connection to mention that the Jewish population kept growing until the First World War while in all the other places in that area it kept dropping. It can be concluded that this occurred because of the smuggling that was flourishing in Borchov. There was no other source of income that would have allowed the population to grow.

It is understandable that because of the smuggling, new sources of income arose, for instance, “those who pointed the way,” (guides) and porters. Everyone's earnings were based upon the smuggling, and that is how it was during the period of the Austro - Hungarian Empire and later during the shorter period of Poland's independence. The nations where all this smuggling was going on, either did not want to stop the smuggling, or they could not stop it. They did not care about it, in that everyone had to make a living, even the Austrian tax collectors.

In 1764 Poland decided to annul the autonomy of Jewish institutions.That's when the Council of the Four Nations was organized as well as autonomous provinces.

[The Jewish community] had to pay the priests. By 1765 they owed them 3000 gulden. They paid 7% a year interest. Until 1765 the number they paid out was 924 gulden. That money must have been borrowed in the year 1758. This fact tells us a lot. The fact that they collected such a large sum in Borchov and not in other communities that belonged to Podolya also shows that, in the middle of the 18th century, Borchov was quite a large organized community where contacts to the gentile world already existed.

In 1767 they actually came out with a liquidation commission to establish debt collection. Borchev does not exist as a separate community in this. This goes until 1811 or 1812.

The age of the settlement can [also] be determined from the Jewish cemeteries. Everybody knew two of the cemeteries. The “New “one, dated from the end of the 19th century. There was a family that owned the land. In the 1930's the more recent one was established. The older cemetery was in the midst of an area that was heavily populated by Poles and this was quite a large cemetery, surrounded by a brick wall. It was quite a distance from the quarter where the Jews lived. A few monuments are still there. This cemetery lasted about 200 years. Another cemetery that is [350 - 400 years] older and overgrown was also found. It was discovered behind the Zamkove Forest. The Poles actually respected the area and didn't touch it.

[Pages 31 - 34]

Statistics

Translated by Miriam Beckerman

Edited by Myrna Neuringer Levy

1921

Table 1. Identification by religion

Table 2. Identification by nationality

According to the results of this same census in the City of Borchov there were 5,011 souls and 1,637 Jews according to religion. [Therefore it is assumed that the number above must be for the region, not the city]

Year	% Jews	Christians
1826	4.6%
1827	4.4%	181,131
1889	16.5%

Jews, especially those who worked for the government or who were teachers, were not even asked what their mother language was. Those who conducted the survey would write “Polish” Many of the Jews tried to avoid being counted. The Polish registrars did not want to crawl into the Jewish streets and grab Jewish families. People used to give false information. If they had a son they wouldn't include him, especially if the son was a member of a Communist group. There were Polish Jews who did not have any citizenship, they wanted to keep a low profile. They were afraid of every registration; i.e. that they would be discovered and sent away.

After WW II

Ethnicity	Men	Women	Total
Jews	62	99	161
Poles	801	1026	1827
Ukrainians	672	742	1415

In comparison with 1931 there were 54.6% fewer Jews in Borchov. Some came from outside; Czortkov, Buhkivina, Warsaw, etc.

After the war the original Borchov Jews were a minority amongst the Jews living in the village. There were tiny pockets of Jews living in the region. In the whole region there were only 188 Jews.

In the year 1954 there were only 3 Jews of the total population who had lived there when WW II broke out in 1939. Those Jews [who left] went to Israel from Poland and one or two went to other lands.

[Pages 56 - 58]

Food

Translated by Miriam Beckerman

Edited by Myrna Neuringer Levy

[A dish was made] from grated potatoes and flour that would be baked in the oven and taken out before the challahs [were put in.] This was another dish people would eat on Friday morning. Since it took long for these dishes to bake, in the meantime, while the wood was burning, women would make little rolls from dough that was called “kolitchen” [small challah rolls.] It was only after the wood was burnt out that the coal was put aside, a place in the oven would be cleaned and then the challahs were put into the hot oven.

There were different styles of Sabbath challahs. One was called a “shtremel kolitch” because it was large and round. It was formed with side rolls, thirteen in number.

The challahs that were baked for the Days of Awe were round rolls with folds in them. At Purim there was a long Purim kolitch with saffron and “moon” [poppy seed] on top.

There was a large variety of kugels for Shabbos. For an ordinary Shabbos people had at least one kugel. But when it was Rosh Hodesh or Yom Tov on that particular Shabbos, women used to make two kugels.

The ordinary ones were “lockshen” [noodle] kugel, which was sweet (with cinnamon and sugar) or with fat. Sometimes they made a rice kugel with apples, sometimes one with coconut oil. The common thing that all these kugels had was that they would be wide on the bottom and narrower on top! The lockshen pan was of such a shape that it would come out like that. They baked it in the oven with the cholent.

At Passover they called the kugel a “kaisel” and it was made from potato.

To prevent the kugel from burning from the great heat in the oven when it was put in, the top would be covered with bits of bread or challah. So naturally at these times, the crumbs would come out completely burnt and the “lockshen teppel” [noodle pan] would be black as coal. Because of this [protection] the kugel itself was delicious! If there was a guest for the meal, they used to say that the kugel was a compliment for the guest.

The kugel played a great role in the life of the Jews. No wonder that there are so many proverbs about the kugel.

When the kugel was not so successful it was said that, “We rejoiced with him like a [bad] kugel.”

Another expression, “If you do not eat kugel for Shabbos, you will go hungry all week.” Every story that was told had to have the following epilogue: Though they have it good, we have it even better. They eat kugel with their hands, we eat kugel with the tip of the knife.

Kugel was the expression of the greatest well - being. If you said of someone that he eats kugel in the middle of the week, you are saying that things could not be better for him.

Kugel was eaten for the mid-day meal on Shabbos, but on Friday evening, tzimmis was eaten, which also came in many varieties: there was one that the intelligentsia called “compote.” For instance during the winter it was made out of dried plums. There was even a tzimmis that was called the Baal Shem Tov Tzimmis. It was made of farfel with fried onions, salt and pepper.

There were different baked goods for every holiday. On Purim they had something called “Purim – grate.” For Shavouth there was cheese kuchen and all kinds of knishes. They had special baked goods associated with family celebrations. At a wedding, for example, they would have sugary sweet cake (for the general crowd) and for special guests, there was a fruit layered cake.

After the morning prayers for a woman giving birth, there would be honey cake. For the children who came to recite a special prayer there was honey cake cut in thick pieces. They also served that for the minyan after the bris and at the naming of a girl.

Men would give a glass of whiskey (the stronger the better) [to everyone] in shul when they had a Yahrzeit. There would be a piece of “eyr kichel” [a plain cookie sometimes called “nothings.”] to have with it.

It is interesting that as small as the shtetls were, in every one there were different kinds of baked goods. In Borchov, for example, there were no bagels. On the other hand, the Jewish bakery there sold pretzels while in Skala that kind was sold in the street. They also had egg bagels that were baked in deep dishes. And of course, there were all kinds of rolls and buns!

[Pages 79 - 89]

How They Spent Leisure Time

By Shlomo Reibel

Translated by Miriam Beckerman

Edited by Myrna Neuringer Levy

Sometimes such a cantor would daven in one place Friday evening and on Shabbos morning at another place! In that way he would attract an even larger audience. Why was he interested in doing this? On Sunday morning he would go around from house to house looking for a contribution. The cantor would get a larger amount of money, if he davened twice, especially if his davening was really great. The cantor would never go alone, but would be accompanied by the Shammas to collect money. The Shammas would act as his spokesman and advertise the cantor. When the cantor came in the middle of the week, he would give a concert after maariv [evening service.] He sang prayers and immediately after the concert would circulate among the crowd to collect money. Sometimes the Shammas would do it for him. The local people would sing his melodies long after his departure. The local cantor would often pick up one of these “nigunim” [melodies] and use it in the High Holiday prayers. Sometimes the cantor would bring in another singer and that was certainly memorable. There was one cantor who came with his son who was five or six years old and the boy was placed on a step stool near where his father davened and he would accompany his father with a “bim bam” and with other techniques, such as repeating words. A modern cantor would wear a taller yarmulke.

Another pleasure was when someone would come to deliver a sermon. He would speak Saturday afternoon in the large shul. After eating the mid-day meal (the kugel) and after a nap, everyone, including women, would go to hear the special speaker. This man would be expert at really touching the people, especially if he spoke during the ten Days of Awe that were between Rosh Hashonah and Yom Kippur. He also would go around to the houses on Sunday morning to collect money. The Shammas would accompany him.

Another kind of pleasure, a secular one, was when a performer came to a home and a lot of neighbors would gather. This man could speak using several voices. Sometimes he would cry like a child and sometimes shout like a father, sometimes he would cry like a mother. He would perform whole skits all by himself. He would not stand in one place, but moved around the house where the people were.

From time to time gypsies would come [to the market] with a bear that danced. The gypsies would have a flute and drum and they would accompany the bear that actually danced to the melody. In more recent years, the gypsies used to travel with a monkey instead of a bear.

Occasionally, someone with an accordion would come and stand in the middle of the shtetl and all the youngsters would gather around. He would sometimes have a parrot. If people wanted to know what the future held in store for them they paid a few

“groshen” [pennies] and this parrot would give them little notes. Mostly non-Jewish women and Jewish housemaids used to come to get one of these. They could not read, so they would run home and ask someone to read what was written.

There was a blind man, Mechele, who traveled around with a musical box. He was very popular. He sat on a crate in the market and would beat the rhythm of the music with his feet. He would accompany the music box by playing a little flute. He always attracted a large crowd. The people would learn songs from him. He sang a sentence and the audience had to respond. These songs were not particularly spiritually rich. They had a mixture of Yiddish, Polish, and Ukrainian words. It was said that he had been a soldier stationed in the Peshimishl Fortress and was blinded during an explosion of ammunition.

Before the outbreak of the First World War, after the news arrived that our “tronfolger” had been killed, there was great mourning in the shtetl. Goyim [non-Jews] paid Mechale to play something sad. And Mechale did this by playing the “nigun” [melody] of the “Tanach Lamentation.”

Visiting performers were another source of recreation. There were all kinds of them. They would come with a special caravan pulled by two or sometimes three horses and they would park in the middle of the shtetl and set up a platform where they would perform. Among them were those who walked on wires. Another one swallowed fire: another stuck a long sword down his throat and remained alive. Yet another broke chains and threw pieces of it to the crowd.

In previous years - I myself did not see this - runners would come. They would run, half – naked, with bells, through the streets with such great speed, that the eyes could barely follow them. People paid a few groschen for this spectacle.

Another attraction was a display that was erected on a side street not far from the market. It was just a temporary thing with linen sheeting strung up on wires making partitions. You actually needed to buy a ticket to get in to see this panorama and by looking through special glasses you would see pictures of the Kaiser's family and how the mayor in Lvov [Lemberg] was killed. In such a venue there were sometimes non-Jewish fellows who would dress up and play various parts. In order to attract the crowd a gramophone played at the entrance and each time it was played, one of the performers would come out and invite the crowd that was standing around [to come in]. On market days when the crowd was quite numerous, the performers [assured people] that it would be worth their money. In front there stood a table with numbers that was somewhat like a dartboard and behind the table there were all kinds of objects that were the prizes.

Also in order to tempt the audience to come in, clowns were stationed at the entrance and people danced with them, kissed them and spoke with them.

Another time, a menagerie came to the shtetl. You could see an actual wolf, sometimes even a lion, as well as smaller animals. Sometimes there was even someone performing tricks with them.

When the circus came, that drew a lot of interest. Half the population of the shtetl would come to watch them erect the round performance tent. There were many tricks [to be seen.] You can imagine what one saw there! Unbelievable! The only drawback of a circus was that the admission tickets were very expensive. If it were not for that people just would not leave the circus.

In the year 1912, for the first time, boxers came to the city. They would perform in the “Sokol.” [Polish organization]. Every day new placards would appear in town announcing who would be fighting that day. No sooner did one fight end, than another one would follow in the evening. The people had to come a second time, a third time [until there was a winner.]

Among the group who came there was a black man, as black as night. There was a Serb. (He even wore a red hat in the streets.) There was a Pole, a Hungarian and a Jew (Finkleshtein). Naturally, on the placards, the nationality of the boxers would be stated and there would be added a question of this nature: “Who will win, the Jew or the Hungarian?” And the crowd ran to see how the Jew would fight.

I recall when the Jew won over the Serb by throwing him over his head everybody clapped bravo and shouted, “Vivat! [Long may you live!] But when the defeated Serb got up and bowed to the public they shouted, “Phew, phoof! Not only is he a Serb, he let himself be defeated.”

A cheap type of recreation was to listen to a street singer. Usually he was a blind Jew who was led by somebody else. He would sing songs about Kishenev or Dreyfuss with the popular refrain that expresses the quintessence of the Dreyfuss Affair: Because you are a Yiddele [a Jew].”

Naturally the crowd lapped it all up and after that the songs became very popular throughout the shtetl.

But all these forms of recreation above mentioned were occasional and fleeting. Not all the Jews wanted to take advantage of and participate in all of these. A Jew with a beard and “peyes” [forelocks] was very seldom seen at such recreational activities. A Jew who was a Talmud “chochem” [scholar] would also brush them aside and considered them the equivalent of worshiping idols. According to them, there was nothing to hear and nothing to see. They simply regarded these activities as people making fools of themselves or just deceiving the crowd.

On the other hand there was a more stable kind of recreation that was more “hamish” [pleasing] and it did not cost any money; it was free. Nobody refused this. This was getting together to talk, to chat, Sometimes you would go to a neighbor, or the neighbor would come to you during the long winter evenings, or Friday nights, or after Shabbos ended on Saturday night. When people were free from work, they would gather in a home, usually the nearest neighbors, and they would have very interesting conversations. They would chat until well into the night. They did not even notice that it was getting late and they should go to bed.

There was usually one who could lead the conversation Others listened with open mouths and seldom said a word.And what did they not talk about! World events, personal stories, they would talk about Jews and also about goyim [non-Jews]. But mainly they were interested in life in Borchov itself. This was an endless source of all kinds of news, both good and bad, but in a time of great political events news from the newspapers would be discussed and commented upon.

Everybody was interested in the life of the Kaiser's family. Every particular would be talked about. Old ladies showed a rare familiarity with all the members of the Kaiser's family and cried with bitter tears at the fate of the Kaiser who, sadly, had no luck with his family.

In the later years before World War I the favorite theme of the evening was often “Kebeh.” I do not know if that was his real name or a nickname; people talked about him no end, both Jews and non-Jews. Apparently he was a murderer from a nearby village whom everyone feared. But he would not bother just anyone. People used to see him. He would appear; people would talk to him, but they could not catch him, even though there was a price on his head.

I, myself, even heard [an old woman] explain why they could not catch Kebeh. “He is like a magician. When he wishes to do so, he becomes a wolf or a dog or a cat, so how will you recognize him, how will you catch him?” People actually believed this until finally one policeman did catch him and shot him on the spot. Because of this people looked upon this policeman with wonder and they called him “Kebeh.”

So what is the true story about Kebeh? I do not know, but it is a fact that on the way to Pishtetinitz, behind the mill, there was a large wooden cross on which was inscribed in Ukrainian that on this spot Kebeh was killed. Why?

In his book, “My Grandfather's Fields,” the author, Yitzchak Metzker, who was born in Lanavitz, a village five kilometers from Borchov, tells the following particulars about our hero:

“That summer somewhere in the hilly forest around Lanavitz there was a young robber with the name of Kebbesh who the police were constantly looking for. The robber would attack Jewish merchants on the way and at night he would also attack village houses. More than once dressed as an animal he came to non-        Jewish weddings, danced with the non--Jewish girls and late at night would disappear with the most beautiful of them. Sometimes it would happen that in the middle of the day [coming] from the field or from the Dalina River, he would take a non- Jewish girl, blindfold her eyes and take her away to his hiding place somewhere in a cave among the hills. He kept the girl there on his bed overnight and at daybreak he cut off one of her braids, again blindfolded her and freed her into the field.

Kebbesh chose the most beautiful and the youngest one and every young woman in the village was full of fright when she was alone in the field. The robber made them very fearful but during the nights they thought of him and they actually waited for him to come take them with force.

That summer a few of the non-Jewish girls from the village became pregnant. Though among these pregnant ones there were such that had never even seen Kebbesh, he was accused by all of them. The villagers were very upset with the police for not being able to catch this forest bandit who always seemed to escape from them. People wished to see him hung and more than once the non-Jews set out with ropes and axes to look for him but they could not find him.

Many stories circulated in the villages about Kebbesh and there were even songs written about him. It was said that in his cave there lies buried much gold and silver that he had robbed from the Jews and that he also had a lot of skulls of people. Songs were sung about him; how he comes at night to poor villagers and he throws them sheep and calves and also how young beautiful girls succumb to him: how they quietly relinquished their virginity to him. Afterwards they would go home with a hot love for him.” (p. 239 - 40)

It was a great event when a rebbe came to the shtetl. Boys, (strong and hefty like Cossacks) went to meet him riding on horses and they were dressed up. They had red bands and bells on the horses. The rebbe would be met at the outskirts of the shtetl where the riders from the city that he had left would drop him off.

Chassidim used to hire a horse and wagon and ride out to meet him and then accompany him to the house where he was to stay. Immediately, crowds of people started to stream to that house, Chassidim and others. One would come to ask for a special prayer for a sick relative, another one would ask for work and they would give the rabbi something [i.e. money] and he in return would give them a prayer and a promise.... Very rare was it that anyone in the shtetl, while the rebbe was there, had the courage to be a non-believer.

Among the rebbes, there were all kinds: greater ones and minor ones. The greater ones would come very rarely and naturally the minor ones used to come more often. And so during recent years their attraction diminished greatly. In fact, people used to remark: “Just take a look. I did not have any idea that a rebbe was here in town.”

An ordinary Jew would house such a minor “rebbele” and nobody made a fuss over him the way they did when a true rabbi came. When a true rabbi visited people would stream in from [around] the province. Everyone came to see how the rabbi gathers the people around him and fortunate was the one who would get a little piece of what the rabbi left over from his food.

In the shtetl there also existed unofficial “coffee houses.” On a Friday evening or on a Yom Tov young adults would come, not from the “cream” of the community. Here they would chew on sunflower seeds that they bought or took on credit. They would pay the coffee house boss after Shabbos. Usually the owner of this coffeehouse was an old woman, a widow, and it was these sunflower seeds that were the attraction of the coffeehouse. Her residence was the place where they would gather. Often they would stay there until late into the night.

A Jew, whose name was Tatar, operated a more modern cafe that served tea and refreshments before World War I. He operated from Mordechai Fachman's inn. It was here that Tatar organized the “Yiddish theatre” with imported performers [and] artists. Later on, the theatre was established in one of the two large inns that were located in the middle of the market. The long houses had entrance gates from both sides and you could enter with horse drawn wagons. [There is a picture of one of these houses on the market street p. 86.] The rooms were on one side of the house (in the first room, the largest room, was the bar) where they sold liquor and on the other side, the empty side, the horses of the guests would be stabled. So many guests in Borchov were a rarity, so in the empty, sufficiently large, dark yard, a great crowd could be accommodated. Large benches would be set up as well as a stage, with a few kerosene lamps. Plays would be performed in which two to three artists participated. If they needed extras they would take people from the community and dress them up so that nobody would recognize them.

In the years before World War I young people started to perform. Around the year 1910, the first play was put on and it was Moshe Richter's comedy, “Moshe the Tailor.” This was performed with great success. The boys and girls acted no worse than the professional actors who used to come to Borchov. For many years, there was talk about how so-and- so performed. People would sing the melodies that were heard on the stage.

The admission monies from such plays were given to a “worthy cause.” In order to increase the income they would arrange a dance evening with surprises where boys and girls used to dance well into the dawn.

Orthodox Jews, very observant Jews, were not particularly inspired by this new activity. Nevertheless, the forward - looking ladies used to go to these performances and dance evenings, as “guards” for their growing daughters.

Up to that time girls would dance only among themselves. For instance [they would dance] a quadrille where one woman led the dance and gave the calls. “One lady forward,” etc. They would dance only at weddings.

Because of the new behavior they hired a dance teacher and every mother considered it her duty that her daughter learn the new dances because shortly there would be a new [dance] evening and the daughter might, God forbid, remain at home. The small shtetls around Borchov did not lag behind: Coralivka, Skala, Aszieron. Drama groups were established in these places and they used to organize “literary evenings” or perform complete plays. Boys who had been away from home for sometime and saw actual theatre performances usually organized such groups. (For instance: in 1913 in Coralivka they performed Jacob Gordon's “The Idiot” which was a great success.)

During the last years before World War I professional Yiddish troupes would come and they would perform for a packed audience. But naturally it was a small hall.

Years later the arias from the plays: “Oh the Cat” or “I'm called Nathan the Cohen” and so on [would be sung.]

Those who traveled outside of the shtetl had great emotional experiences and afterwards those who heard them tell about these wonderful experiences really appreciated hearing these reports. These people who returned from seeing such performances were invited to the house and people listened, sometimes hearing the same reports about what was going on in the world at large [more than once].

They, the reporters, suddenly felt themselves to be very important and when their rising star vanished, they would again set out so that they could come back and tell stories again.

From our area, [Borchov] in days gone by, people would travel to purchase goods. The would travel any way they could, by ox-cart until the railroad was built which changed their lives completely. With the train it took longer; in addition it cost money to bring the goods from the train and to the train. [They would bring goods] from Chortkiev which was 35 kilometers away or even further from Tarnopol which was 135 kilometers away.

A trip to Tarnopol there and back took a week - understandably there was lot to tell...

Later on, once the railway line was in operation they started to travel to Lemberg and of course that was a beloved theme for story - telling.

They also traveled to Chortkiev when they had a case in court and at the same time go to the Chortkiver rebbe.

An interesting recreational trip was to Vishnitz (to the rebbe) or to Chernovitz (to study.) They had to cross the Dniester with horse and wagon on a raft [ferry] and you can not compare the Dniester with the Natchlava....

It was quite an event when a manufacturing agent came to town to get orders for goods. After all, he had traveled throughout the world. Usually these were interesting individuals and they knew how to tell stories...for this alone it was worthwhile ordering goods from them.

The only one who could compete with such a merchant was a Jew who came from Eretz Yisroel “to empty the pushkas” [charity boxes], or an American Jew who came back from America with a fedora on his head and coins in his pocket.

Another kind of attraction was going to Loshkovitz. In the month of July every year a great market took place there for the duration of a few weeks. Not only merchants went there, but also ordinary Jews, mainly women, went to shop for things that they could not get in Borchov. It was just an excuse [they gave] to their husbands. People would spend weeks preparing for this trip. Why? Because they would have to get together with a few other friends to hire a wagon, decide on the terms, correspond with relatives in other shtetls to meet in Loshkovitz. More than once an agreement between candidates for a wedding would be arranged there. More than once a “shiddach” would result from this trip to Loshkovitz. For months people would talk about what they saw and heard there.

There were not only merchants there: handlers, agents, matchmakers, rabbis, scribes, and so on, but all kinds of magicians: “theatres, charletons, and quacks,” who knew how to cheat a few pennies. Not only were there all kinds of swindlers, but the guy who was swindled actually felt great for being gypped.

Bargains that were purchased there would afterwards be shown to guests, put out for display. “[Look at] a bargain from the thief” [I] brought from the market.

A young man stands and calls out a price for a [certain kind of] hat. Young fellows push and shout for a one and only “stiff hat” or a stiff vest, which they wore over their shirts. Or a stiff collar, a tie, or a pair of spats and the minute they put on these garments they would feel like a prince. The cost was a kroner.

During the Days of Awe one could afterwards see which of the boys had been in Loshkovitz and became a prince....

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