Within the Book (Introduction)

by the editors (Tel Aviv)

Translated by Thia Persoff

So was destroyed and exterminated a magnificent community, capable and devoted, that wove the thread of existence for five hundred years, in an area that was a land of contention among Tatars, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Poles, and Russians. Amid all the political perversities, the Jewish community persevered, shaped and strengthened its way of life, lived through times of highs and lows, wrote brilliant pages in the history of Jewish Volhyn, raised leaders and Torah greats, writers and intellectuals.

But maybe its main greatness and value is in the spirited, folksy life, in the character of the laboring Jew who is content in spirit and soul, and is full with the joy of life; who is emotionally tied deeply to Judaism, and all its vivid creative forces, the campaigners and builders among them: Khasidim and Mitnagdim , orthodox and intellectuals, pioneers of Khibet-Tzion, and Zionism, advocates of the Hebrew culture and those of Yiddish culture, Socialism and the movement of the land workers of Israel , pioneering and immigration – in all of those, the Jews of Kremenets took active part, in body and sole, and devotion.

[Translator's Note: "Khibat-Tzion" means "fondness of Zion". It was a 19^th century Zionist movement to rebuild the homeland of Israel.]

One day, this kind of life was cut down.

Fate had left a remnant of fugitives from the town – people who left it at different times – in Israel and the USA, in Argentina, and small communities in other lands. In their hearts they carry the memories of their birthplace and their youth. These people have come together to commemorate it. Though the community was cut down, its name and remembrance will be perpetuated in a book. The difficult mission of publishing "Pinkas Kremenets" was taken up by the people who left Kremenets and now are living in Israel, with help and contributions from those who are living in other countries. After four years of labor, we present this book as a small contribution to the Shoah's literature and to Jewish histography in general.

Some of the articles were dictated to members of the editorial board. Some material was translated. We also used important material about times past, out of the newspaper "Kremenitser Shtime", to memorialize those who have passed away. Blessed be the young scientists, Sh. Etinger and Kh. Shamruk from the University in Jerusalem, who wrote the historical monograph of the generations of the Kremenets Jewish community – a work based on original sources.


[Page 8]


Valuable material about Jewish daily life was included in the tales of our comrades in America, particularly Khanokh Gilernt and others. Two of the Shoah survivors, Betsalel Shvarts and Tova Teper, recounted in the book, a chapter on the annihilation. Our thankful acknowledgment is given to all of them.

A son of our town living in the USA, Mr. Yitskhak Vakman, helped us, in material and spirit. Our thanks are given him here.

The collection of the material was done according to a plan prepared in advance. We requested that the book should reflect and encompass the town's daily life, and all its colorful variety, the public, social, and intellectual activities. To our disappointment we did not fully achieve our goal. And the book may be lacking. For example: surveys of the Jewish merchants associations, the activities of the "Joint", the cooperative movement, the cemeteries and its ancient gravestones, even the Zionist movement with all it factions was not described properly (missing is the informative description on the Mizrakhi, Beyt"r, and others)

But, we did not want to delay the publishing of the book for another year, in an effort to complete all of it, and made a decision – under pressure of our many members – to publish it without any more postponements, and not endanger its appearance.

Also, it was decided to publish the book in Yiddish too, for our brethren in foreign countries and the new immigrants in Israel. This has spread its readership, but damaged a bit its completeness, increasing the hardship on our budget. For this reason, except for the opening historical chapter, the book was not translated from the Hebrew to the Yiddish, and vice versa. The reader who reads both parts of the book will get a full and encompassing picture of Jewish Kremenets and all its life. Much effort was invested in collecting the photographs, some of which have historical and artistic value.

Finally, we give our thanks to the editor, the writer A. Sh. Stein, who helped, led, directed our work, and designed the image of the book.

In the 12^th year since the annihilation of the Kremenets community – the first in the month of Elul, the year 5714 (1953/1954), – we present to you, the reader, "Pinkas Kremenets" as a memorial to the last generation.

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