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History of Jewish Settlement in Kremenets

by Sh. Otinger & Kh. Shmeruk (Jerusalem)

Translated by Thia Persoff


A. The town of Kremenets and the beginning of its Jewish settlement

Kremenets is one of the ancient towns in Volin (Volhynia). Being on the highway between “red Russia”, Galicia, and Lithuania made it an important geographical crossroad. In addition, the mountains that surround the town provided a favorable environment for erecting a fortress, around which the town developed. Some say that the town existed since the 11th century and before, but documents show it to be the 12th century. In a Russian chronicle from the year 1226, the town is mentioned in connection with a Hungarian King's war against the principalities of Halych and Volin: “... and the king went to Tarbovla and conquered Tarbovla. Then he went to Tikhomel, from there he went to Kremenets and fought near Kremenets. (The Russian prince Mstislav the Brave) killed and wounded many Hungarians” [1].
[Translation Editor's Note: Note 1 is in Russian, at the bottom of p. 9. The translation of this and other numbered notes appear in the Endnotes section just before the Name Index at the end of this Book.]
In the early 1240s, the armies of the Tatar commander Batu-Khan fought, but failed to conquer, the strong fortress of Kremenets. Neither did they succeed during their next try in the fifties. In the sixties of that century, under the demands of the Tatars, the princes of Halych managed to destroy the fortifications of the town. In spite of the Tatars invasion, the principalities of Halych-Volin continued to self-rule throughout the 13th and into the first half of the 14th century. Accelerating pressure by the Lithuanian princes began having effects in the middle of the 14th century. The Polish king, Kasimir the Great, took advantage of the weakening principalities and tried to conquer parts of them. He succeeded in annexing only the lands of Halych to his domain. The lands of Volin he had to give to the Lithuanian Princes. In 1366, Prince Alexander Koriatovitch, being a vassal of Kasimir the Great [2], received the towns of Ludmir and Kremenets. After his death the Hungarians took Kremenets, but by the year 1382 the town was back in the hands of the Lithuanian prince Liubart, and was included in the Lithuanian principality.

At the end of the 14th, and the beginning of the 15th, century the lands of Volin were divided between three principalities: Lutsk, Kremenets and Ludmir. After the Lithuanian Archduke Vitold (Vitovt) dissolved the principalities, the town of Kremenets and its district were governed by the Archduke's appointee [3].

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Internal struggles and constant pressure by the Teutonic order prepared the ground for strengthening relations between Lithuania and Poland at the close of the 14th century. The difficult problems in solving the question of the Polish royal crown, contributed to a process that was concluded with a treaty in the year 1385, though a large segment of the Lithuanian aristocracy was opposed to it. The struggle surrounding the treaty greatly influenced the fate of all the Lithuanian archdukedoms. In 1430, after the death of Vitold, tension reached a peak. The princes, together with the Russian Boyars who always were against a Polish-Lithuanian treaty, supported Svidrigaillo for Archduke. A struggle for dominion ensued between Svidrigaillo and Prince Sigismund, who was supported by Polish King Jagiello, ended with a crushing defeat for Svidrigaillo at the hands of his opponents. All the Lithuanian archduchies were now under the rule of Sigismund, except for Kremenets (thanks to its special geographical situation) and the eastern part of Podolia, which stayed in the hands of Svidrigaillo until the mid-forties. During his rule over those small areas, Svidrigaillo wanted to make Kremenets his capitol. This may explain the privileges, similar to those of the Magdeburg constitution, which were granted to the citizens of Kremenets in 1438 (e.g. approval of self-organization by the citizens in the manner of German cities). These privileges gave the German Voyt (city mayor) Yorka, the right to judge the “Russian, German, Volokhy, Armenian, Jew, and Tatar” [4]. However, this does not prove that there was a permanent Jewish settlement in the town of Kremenets at that time. The wording of the document apparently is to attract new settlers to the town, which was destined to be Svidrigaillo's capitol, by giving them favorable conditions. Jews, who were well known as an important factor in the economy, would be among these settlers. Until the Jews were expelled from Lithuania in 1495, we have no document that, in any way mentions the presence of Jews in Kremenets [5].

One can assume that development of the Jewish settlement in Kremenets started with their return in 1503. Still, although the documents of special privileges decreed by Sigismund the First in 1514 state that Jews are exempt from military service, Kremenets is not mentioned as one of Lithuania's main congregations [6]. However, by 1536 a significant Jewish settlement did exist there. At that time, King Sigismund gave Kremenets district to Queen Bona (Bona Sporza), and on that occasion he gave them (the district) the privileges of the Magdeburg constitution, and freed them from customs. Still, the same document says, “…but the Jews that live in the town of Kremenets will not benefit from the privileges, and they are not allowed in any way to disturb or harm commerce, by way of opposition to the privileges (of the other citizens).” [7]

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In general, at that period, the kings of Poland-Lithuania valued the economic activity of the Jews, even encouraged it, and it is clear that this paragraph was inserted in the document of privileges, on the demand of the [non-Jewish] citizens. The fact that they demanded to include a paragraph that is clearly directed against the Jews shows that the effect of the Jews was already felt in the life of the town, and there was concern about competition from them. It is characteristic that this document, the first to deal clearly with the Jews in the town of Kremenets, is a document revealing a hint of the struggle of the citizens against the Jews. This struggle will be like a cord woven through the history of the Jewish settlement in this town for hundreds of years.

The Jewish settlement in Kremenets is mentioned among other Jewish settlements in Lithuania for the first time in the year 1551 [8].



B. The Thriving Period
(from the middle of the 16th to the middle of the 17th century)


The period of one hundred years between the middle of the 16th century and the persecution decrees of the mid-17th century is a period of constant development and thriving of the Jewish settlement in the town of Kremenets.

How many Jews were in Kremenets in that period, and what were the goals of the development, quantitatively?

One of the most important sources to help us try to answer this question, are the royal Lithuanian documents. In an effort to organize the administration of the Lithuanian archdukedom, during the reign of Sigismund Augustus the Second, a system of registration was established for the royal lands. The resulting lists were called “lustrations”.
[Translation Editor's Note: A lustration is an act of purification by means of certain ceremonies. The word derives from lustrum, which in ancient Rome was a purification of the people by means of ceremonies held every five years, after the census. Hence lustrations, in the sense used here, has to do with a periodic census or registration.]
According to the 1552 “lustration”, there were 48 Jewish houses in the town of Kremenets [9]. In the 1563 “lustration”, the number of Jewish houses went up to at least 63 [10]. The next “lustration” is from the year 1629, when there were 169 Jewish “smoke” (houses) [11]. Besides these, it is possible to get an idea about the number of Jews who lived in Kremenets from the taxes they paid, particularly since a “tax per head” for the Jews was established in the year 1578. According to the list of taxpaying Jewish communities (kehilot) of that year, 100 gold coins were received from Kremenets [12]. Figuring one gold coin per head (head of household), the Jewish population was about 100 households in 1578 [13]. Relying on all the information given in the “lustrations” and the head-tax lists, [and assuming five people per household],it is possible to estimate the number of Jews in the town:


Year No. of Units No. of Jews % Increase since 1552
       
1552   48 houses 240 – – –
1563   63 houses 315   52 %
1578 100 “head” 500 102 %
1629 169 “smoke” 845 252 %


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It is assumed that until the persecution decrees of the mid-17th century, the town's population continued expanding.

What was the percentage of Jews in the total population of the town?

In the year 1552 the number of all the houses in the town of Kremenets was about 450. In the year 1629 the number was 1,119. From this we calculate that the percentage of Jews in 1552 was only 10.6%, and in 1629 it was about 15%.

The increased importance of the economic-social status of the [Kremenets] Jewish community among the Jewish communities of Volin should be mentioned too. According to the tax breakdown, the percentage from Kremenets of the overall tax from Volin was as follows:
Year

Percentage

 
1563   7.8 [14]
1566 10.3 [15]
1578 17.0 [16]


The overall numbers [the total of taxes collected], we believe, tend to decrease. But, the increases in Kremenets' Jewish population, and its community's importance in Volin, are very apparent. The numbers above demonstrate that this was a flourishing period for the Kremenets community.

The main livelihood of the Jews in Kremenets in that period was from business and assorted leases. As we mentioned before, Kremenets was situated on an ancient crossroad of commerce; of special importance was commerce from south to north. It is mentioned as a passageway for salt commerce. The privilege document of Sigismund the First releases all the citizens of the Ostra prince from paying taxes, no matter their origins, nationalities, or religion [17]. From the 1430s onward, we have proof of business contacts between the Jews of Kremenets and “Great Poland”. This we can see in the council books of the city of Pozna [18]. In 1544 three Jews, the brothers Yitskhak, Yosef, and Avigdor, received a two-year certificate of protection [19]. There is information about Jews from Kremenets who dealt on large scale in fattening and selling of oxen [20]. Increasing complaints by the [non-Jewish] citizens and the increasing number of royal orders forbidding Jews to disrupt [other] citizens' businesses indicates the expansion of Jewish businesses.


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The information that we have about the assorted tenancies is greater than what we have about commerce; Jews from Kremenets rented taverns in 1554 – 1557, and the development of Kremenets attracted Jews from other communities. Thus, in 1559 a Jew from Brisk, took over the tenancies of the taverns, mills, and distilleries in Kremenets. In 1560 it went to a Jew from Vilna, the son of Feliks, the one in charge of the coin foundry in Vilna [21]. In 1561, this same Yaakov, the son of Feliks, succeeded in obtaining a special privilege from the king, a permit to build distilleries in Kremenets [22]. The lustration from 1563 notes that this Jew paid to the king's treasury the sum of 750 large groszy for all of his tenancies, a very large sum for those days. Also, Jews from Kremenets, in partnership with a Jew from Ludmir, rented the job of collecting payments and taxes for the upkeep of the castle, the moat, business tax, store tax, horses and other live stock, [as well as taxes] from the taverns in the neighboring villages [23]. It seems, also, that there were some Jews in charge of Kremenets' customhouse [24]. In addition, we have some information about Jews from Kremenets who rented flourmills and water reservoirs in different villages, and some even owned them [25].

Little information was saved about the kind of work that the Jews did in that period. Though we do have information about the struggle of the Jewish butchers in Kremenets against the Christian butchers Guild According to [the Christian Guild], the Jewish butchers refused to join their Guild, and so, they had to pay directly to the Castle's treasury [26]. The Jews, like the Christian citizens, cultivated the land and had vegetable gardens and fruit orchards in town and in the suburbs [27]. According to the lustration of 1563, a Jew named Sarah had more than 10 frants of land (1 frant = 56 square yards) in different areas of the town, as well as 6 f. of vegetable gardens, and 16 f. of fruit orchards. A Jew named Avraham, had 8 f. in different areas of the town, and 9 f. of vegetable gardens.

Additional evidence of the stable economic condition of Kremenets' Jews is the fact of employment of Christians by Jews, in spite of the high taxes that this incurred.

Direct information about the economic activities of Kremenets' Jews in that period is very limited, but the information we have corroborates the conclusions we derived from reviewing the numerical growth of the community… the economic worth of the Jews increased. The community became more and more established in different economic fields. Competition from non-Jewish citizens was unsuccessful in blocking Jewish business growth, and Jews from other towns were attracted to Kremenets. And so it is that Kremenets turned out to be an important town for the Jews, one of the leading communities in Volin province, and in all of eastern Poland.

Until 1569 Volin belonged to the Lithuanian archdukedom, and its Jewish citizens were bound to the Lithuanian rulers in all that had to do with laws and the burden of taxes. The basis for their legal standing in Lithuania was the privilege given by Lithuanian Archduke Vitold, in 1388 to the Jews of Brisk. According to it, the Jews were under his rule, and the rule of his representative, the Starosta. Eventually, Jewish self-rule was established in Lithuania, as it was in Poland, and the authorities recognized this self-rule.

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The Lithuanian Jews, returning after the expulsion in 1503, were forced to recruit, and pay for, a thousand horsemen for guarding the country. Shortly after, this obligation was changed to be a regular monetary payment. In the mid 16th century (1563), Lithuanian Jews were compelled to pay 4000 large shok (groszy). Out of this amount, Kremenets' Jews had to pay 150 large shok [28]. In addition to the special Jewish taxes, they had to contribute, with non-Jews, payments for the upkeep of the Castle (its walls, towers, a cannoneer and his helpers), and for other civic works (like the upkeep of the bridge over the river). For this purpose, a 2.5 percent tax increase was collected from all inhabitants of the town, Jews and Christians, from each house, and also payments were extracted from people who were in the area. Added to those, there were special taxes for stores and parcels of land, as well as other taxes [29]. Until 1556 the citizens had to work [for the King], but that year the King, Sigismund August II, released them from most work and substituted special payments instead of work. Beside this, Jews and non-Jewish citizens had to pay servashchizna (money tax), which was levied from time to time as an irregular tax, for defense purposes.

The Lublin Confederation of 1569 severed the land of Volin from Lithuania, and added it to the Polish crown. The principles of Polish law started to penetrate into Volin. Immediately after the declaration of unification, Volin's Voyevoda [Military Governor] Alexander Chartoriski requested from King Sigismund II the rights for jurisdiction over the Jews, as it was in Poland. The King granted his request, and on Aug. 9, 1569 gave him jurisdiction over the Jews of Lutsk, Ludmir, and Kremenets, adding that no one is to dare contest this privilege [30]. The annexing of Volin to Poland created many frictions, as royal bureaucrats tried to take advantage of the unclear status of those territories, and particularly those of Volin's Jews. In 1576 this resulted in the direct appeal of the Rabbis and the general Jewish citizens, to King Stephen Batory, requesting a clear declaration that Volin Jews have rights equal to those of Polish Jews, and the abolishment of Lithuanian jurisdiction over them. On December 1, 1576, the King granted [their petition], and added the sentence, “in the future, the deputies of the voyevodas are not to judge [the Jews of Volin] differently or in different places, but together with two of the leading Jewish citizens, in their house of worship [30a]. This paragraph was a first for Volin's Jews, as there was nothing like it in the privileges given to Lithuania's Jews.

In the new system for levying tax, [imposed] by Polish King Batory, a special head tax for the Jews was established.
[Translation Editor's Note: There is a Polish phrase in parentheses here. It has not yet been translated].
In 1578, the Volin Jews paid 587 gold coins, out of which 100 gold coins [31] was the portion from Kremenets. The special tax was to be paid by Jews who employed non-Jews (as mentioned above). In 1583 [the tax] was raised to 15 gold coins for the Jews of Kremenets only [32].

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What was the form of the Jewish community in Kremenets at this period?

We have no information about the organization of the inner life of Kremenets' Jewish community for the first half of the 16th century. In the Lustration of 1563 that was mentioned previously, we glimpsed the Kremenets Jewish community with all its assets and institutions. The lustration has registrations for two lots as lots for the house of worship. These may be a house of worship (Bet Kneset) and a house of learning (Bet Midrash), a hostel for the poor (hekdesh – szpital zydovsky) and a Jewish cemetery. In the city, there also is a Rabbi, or a head of the house of learning (r”m), by the name of Shmuel, a beadle (shamash) named Yosko (Yosef), and a Jewish physician also is mentioned.

In the year of 1573 (“shl”g), during the life of the MHRSh”L (moreynu ha'rav rabbi Shlomo Luria), the head of the Kremenets Yeshiva, R'Yitskhak HaCohen, was teaching Torah. He is the R'Yitskhak, son of R'David Shapira, who later was a rabbi in Krakow, and was the son-in-law of the MHR”M of Lublin. The latter was very proud of his son-in-law, and used to sign most of his answers “the in-law of the royal genius MHRY”Ts K”Ts (moreynu ha'rav Rabbi Yitskhak, Cohen Tsedek).” The answer of R'Yitskhak Shapira, is quoted among others of the generation's greats, the supporters of the MHRSh”L in the famous case of wedding vows release, for a woman whose husband was killed by Muscovites during the 1563 war on the city of Polotsk [33].

Before 1587 (shm”z), R'Mordekhai Yafe “ba'al ha'levushim” held the Kremenets rabbinical chair, and was the head of its Yeshiva. “He is the distinguished scholarly rabbi, the notable elder who carries the flag of the Jewish nation, etc., already was a rabbi and head of Yeshiva a long time ago, like twenty years, in the k”k (kehilat kodesh = holy community) Horodna, k”k Lublin, and k”k Kremenets. He educated many students and he is a leader among the great yeshiva heads and the judges of the three lands” [34].

In 1587 (shm”z), the (a.b.d.) president of the Bet-Din (the presiding judge) in Kremenets was R'Shimshon, son of R'Betselel, the brother of the MHR”L (moreynu ha'rav Liva) from Prague. That year his signature was on a document signed by the thirty rabbis, prohibiting and banning the purchase of rabbinical degrees. In the year 1597 (shn”z), at the Yaroslav fair, these decrees were renewed, and the first signature on it again is that of R'Shimshon son of R'Betselel from Kremenets. Apparently he was its rabbi until the end of the 16th century [35].

From this list of the rabbis, we can see that in the 16th century, Kremenets was already one of the leading Jewish communities in Volin province, and an honored one in Poland. This we learn from the personalities of their rabbis, and from the place that R'Shimshon, son of R'Betselel, had in the reformation of the regulations by the Council of Four Lands. In the year 1596 (shn”v) too, one of the two judges of the “land of Volin” was R'Avraham from Kremenets [36].

In the early years of the 17th century, the head of the Bet-Din in Kremenets was R'Yehuda, son of R'Naftali [37].

The last presiding judge before the decrees of 1648 (t”kh) was R'Khayim, son of R'Shmuel Ashkhenazi, a man of glory. It appears that he represented Kremenets in conventions of Volin's communities, which were initiated by R'Yom Tov Lipman Heller, as he writes in his “Megilat Eyva”:

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“and lowly me, in k”k (kehilat kodesh) Ludmir, with principals and leaders of that region, we confirmed my original words and added to them, as those were only about those that receive money; but I and these leaders have added prohibitions and ostracisms on top of the accepted ones. Because of this I acquired enemies and much hostility, without good reason, and they spread fiendish accusations about me. In spite of all that, I did not retreat. I joined the convention in k”k Vishnevets (Wisniowiec, near Kremenets) in the region of Lutsk, where the leaders of the four holy communities of Volin district – Ludmir, Ostra, Kremenets, and Lutsk – got toghether. On the 18th of The month of Adar, all of us – the heads of the four kehilot's Yeshivot, together with the emissaries of heads of other lands, as is the custom – have reconfirmed the prohibitions and the ostracisms. In addition, we announced those decisions in a most efficient way, by doing so in a large public meeting” [38].

This was in reference to the ban against buying a rabbinical degree.
[Translation Editor's Note: The town of Vishnevets mentioned in the above quote and in the next paragraph is at 49° 54' N, 25° 45' E, and is 13.9 miles south of Kremenets.]
About half a year after the Vishnevets convention, a major dispute broke out between the leading communities of Volin and the writer of the “Yom Tov additions”, in the matter of the Lukach community's rabbinat. The Ostra community approached the community leaders of Ludmir (where Yom Tov Lipman Heller lived), with a request to restrain their Rabbi regarding his extreme opposition to R'Yozl of Lukach. A similar letter, signed by the rabbi and the leaders of the Kremenets community asked the same [39].

Rabbi Khayim (hg”l) kept his rabbinical chair until the 1648 decrees, and was witness to the demise of his community. He passed away in 1649, and was eulogized by R'Avraham, son of Yisrael Yekhiel Rapaport, the Rabbi of Lvov, who called him “my in-law” (mekhutani) [40].

In 1644, as the representative of Kremenets at the Four Lands convention, during the Yaroslav fair, R'Yaakov from Kremenets signed an agreement on book publishing [41].

The importance of Kremenets as a center for Jewish learning was established not only because some of the generation's greatest rabbis sat on the rabbinical chair there, but also because sages from outside the town settled there. In the beginning of the 17th century we find among Kremenets' community, important scholars whose writings are read widely. R'Yosef, son of the holy R'Moshe' from Kremenets, wrote a commentary on a very large book of commands (sm”g) by R'Moshe' from Kotsi, and received on it “acceptance of the sages and heads of Poland and Volin's Yeshivot”. Among them was R'Mordekhai Yafe (“of the clothing”), and R'Shmuel Eliezer son, of R'Yehuda [42]. That same R'Yosef also was the author of other books [43].

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Also out of Kremenets' kehila, was R'Aharon Shmuel, son of R'Moshe Shalom, the author of the book “man's soul”, that was published in the year 1617 in Hanau, with the approval of R'Yisha'ayahu Horovits, author of the “shl”h.” (“Shney Lukhot Ha'brit”: Two Tablets, book of morals). The reasons for R'Aharon Shmuel's leaving Kremenets had to do with some unexplained persecution [44]. After long wanderings, he accepted the rabbinical chair in the town of Polda, Germany [45].

Another proof that Kremenets was an important religious center, can be found in the fact that R'Shimshon, presiding judge (ab”d. = Av Beit Din) of the k”k (Kehilat Kodesh = holy community) in the town of Brisk, had copied an “extremely old” book that was found in Kremenets [46].

We know, also, that the Kremenets community had ties to Israel. It is well known that emissaries from Israel visited the Jewish communities in Poland, with the purpose of collecting donations to help the resettlement of Israel. In the years 1645 and 1646 (t”h & t”v), R'Yitskhak Binga Ashkenazi from Jerusalem toured Poland's main communities, and in his list of the visited towns, he mentioned Kremenets [47].

And so, the general picture of the social and religious life of Kremenets' Jewish community parallels some of the lovely description in R'Natan Neta Hanover's book “Deep Mire”; describing the life of Polish Jewry before the grand destruction. In spite of all the exaggerations in the mourner's words, we can definitely agree with him: “the famous ones do not require proof that there was not so much learning in the Diaspora as in the land of Poland” – and among the important communities in Poland is the k”k of Kremenets.



C. 1648 & 1649 Decrees


The great events that shook Poland in the middle of the 17th century resulted in widespread disaster for all its Jewish citizens, and particularly for those in the eastern districts. There were many reasons for the uprising of the Kozaks, under the leadership of Bogdan Khmelnitski (“Khmil the evil”, as he was called by our people), which most of the Ukrainian people joined within a short time. There was a sharp contrast, economic and social, between the oppressed Ukrainians and the ruling Polish nation, between the serf and the landowner, and between the Ukrainian pravoslav farmers and the Polish Catholic nobility. At the core of the enormous force of the eruption, was the fact that Ukrainians were mostly pravoslavic farmers, while the Polish were mainly Catholic nobles. The Jews in the Ukraine were tied economically to the Polish nobility, but this did not make them an independent factor in this struggle.

The rebellion started on the Dnieper River. But before Khmelnitski had the chance to organize the Kozaks into an army, the indentured farmers rose up in all the areas east of the San. Banding together in gangs, they attacked farms and towns, murdering and pillaging. The gangs, led by Maksim Kribunos, acted in frenzied violence, especially in the areas of Volin and Podolia, until the arrival of Khmel and his army. They were excessive in their brutal cruelties.

The surge of riots arrived in Volin with dizzying speed. The Polish army was defeated on May 26,…
[Translation Editor's Note: The remainder of this section has not yet been translated.]

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Addendum 2

The Trial for Blood Libel in Kremenets

Translated by Thia Persoff


[Translator Editor's Note: A footnote in Hebrew indicates that this section is from the Polish-Russian document collection at the Vatican. The footnote has not yet been translated in its entirety.]

[Translator's Note: This section was translated from Latin. The preceding section, pp. 39-40, in Hebrew, discusses an attack on the fortress of Kremenets in which some of the books of records were broken into and destroyed. The author notes that the priest wanted to make sure that the account of this case was preserved and stood as a warning by being included in the current book. The Latin in this excerpt is very strange for an ex-classicist like me; I'm not used to the 18th century language of the Church and the law, and there were some expressions I wasn't sure of. There also seemed to be some things left unsaid that could have clarified the narrative. I'm hoping that the Hebrew section above may shed more light on this excerpt. AB]

Summary No. 3. Extract from the books of the fortress of Kremenets in the Year of Our Lord 1753, the 16th day in the month of April.

In my official presence under the currently constituted Acts (Laws) of the fortress of Kremenets, and with Antonio Michael Ceceniowski, the hunter and tenant of Ciechanovie Burgrabiatus of Kremenets, appearing in person in front of me: the well-known Joannes Pawlowicz, Pro-Consul, and Michael Jurkiewicz as witnesses for themselves and for the whole court of Magdeburg and court of justice of Kremenets, and also the Hebrew infidel Volf Leybovicz Cantor as witness for himself and in the name of the whole Synagogue of Kremenets, for the sake of taking note of an undeserved trouble, an unlawful attack, and an abuse against this state, in the presence of the defendant named by the Noble Court of Justice mentioned above, in which for the sake of winning a conviction and obtaining complete official exoneration, they are diligently making a complaint against the noble Borscowski of whatever name he may have and are bringing to bear evidence against him.

They claim that this noble Borscowski, wanting to make constant trouble for the above-said State, and even more wanting to bring final destruction to the Jews, in order to cause great harm, in the depth of night, while outside of the villa Piszczatyniec, falling upon his own baby, a girl called Mariamanna, he attacked her, thrusting a knife once under her eye and twice in both feet, wounding her. Then, wanting to hide this baby daughter, so that the infidel head of the household Leyzerowicz not see her dead, he tied her in a sack, put her into [Leyzerowicz's?] stable, and left. The wounded girl, making no sound throughout the night, spent the whole night in the stable. But her father, when he got up at the height of the morning, wanting to kill this baby girl of his with hunger, took her from the stable and placed her under the Xenodochum Religious Fathers' Reformatory and then immediately left Kremenets.

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The well-known Wasgh Kochan, citizen of Teofilpolis, will testify about this. With his own eyes he saw this baby lying like this in the stable, and saw the same father, taking his own baby daughter from there, carrying her, and saying in the presence of this citizen, “I am carrying her to the doctor,” but, in fact, taking her out of the aforementioned stable, put her under the Xenodochum Religious Fathers' Reformatory.
[Translator's Note: Evidently the intent was to put the blame for the girl's injury and eventual death on the Jewish family who owned the stable? But then why take her to the reformatory? AB]
Wanting to counter such a troubling insult and deceit, the whole synagogue of Kremenets presented this daughter in the court of Magdeburg, and in court in the fortress of Kremenets, accusing this man of unlawful and abusive actions and strongly urging that this discovery be made public, which was granted.

Joannes Pawlowiecz, Pro-Consul; Michael Jurkiewitz, the lawyer, stamped the seal of the holy cross; Wolf Laybowicz.
[Translator's Note: I think these represent signatures. AB]
And in a restrained manner Palatinus Woshynik agreed personally for the Minister General and of the others, the prudent Stephanus Papayuck, who firmly acknowledged his true and faithful report openly, publicly, and freely; that he himself in the present year 1753 on the 16th day of April, in judicial examination of the well-known citizens of Kremenets, and of the whole court, and of the court of Magdeburg, and of the whole Synagogue of Hebrew infidel citizens and of Kremenets inhabitants standing by [in defense?] the faith of the worthy noble persons, Franciscus Kobeckus and Jacob Piotrowski, thanks to good and clear testimony, these people brought up to him as witnesses to this act in the civic praetorship of Magdeburg, and there prominently with the above-mentioned nobles, he saw and observed the baby, clearly laid out and placed by the hands of this very father himself under the Xenodochum Religious Fathers' Reformatory. This baby called Mariamanna, more than three years old, wounded by her own father once beneath her left eye with a small knife, and also in her feet, which the girl testified about against her own father, that she had this scar from him, speaking in her own infant voice and showing how miserable she was, with terrible consumption. I saw this and explained it clearly to the abovementioned nobles participating in the trial. Returning from there, in my official presence he [Stephanus Papayuck] gave his true eye-witness account about this matter and authenticated it.

With the same Minister General presiding, he [the witness], not knowing how to write, stamped the seal of the cross on this report, and from these books and Acts that extract was narrated and written under the seal of the fortress of Kremenets.

[The place of the seal]

Authority having been granted to me in the fortress of Kremenets as Apostolic Notary Public, I hereby witness that the whole original document, safe and undamaged, with no suspicious sign, has been presented to me, and it agrees word for word. Leopol Day 22 in the month of January in AD 1754. So witnessed, Joseph Augustinowicz, Doctor of both Law and Philosophy, Public Notary with holy Apostolic authority.



[Page 42]

Translation of the document
From the Kremenets Castle books of April 16, 1753

Translated to English by Thia Persoff


[Translation Editor's Note: This section in the Yizkor Book is in Hebrew. It is a translation of the Latin section that appears on pp. 40-41 of the Yizkor Book. There appear to be minor differences, especially in names.]
Appearing before me in the presence of the hunter Antonius Michael Checheniovski of Chekhnov, who is substituting for the one in charge of the Kremenets Castle, and the current Kremenets Castle office and its record books, are: the well-known Yohanes Pavlovits, the vice president of the council, and Mikhel Yorkevits, the city mayor, representing themselves and all the Magdeburg council members of Kremenets and its judges, and the non-believer, the Jew Volf ben Leyb Khazan representing himself and all the members of the Kremenets Jewish community.
[Translator's Note: Magdeburg council was an autonomic city council.]
They came to protest the unseemly, and false, accusation, and the unlawful, vilifying slander, which was cast upon the town by the accused honorable monastery, to be mentioned here; they removed themselves from it, and declared themselves pure of heart, and accusing, instead, the aristocrat Borshkovski. They declared that this nobleman, Borshkovski, wanted to deliver a final blow on the town and cause the complete destruction of the Jews. In the village of Pishchatyntse, when the night was its darkest he grabbed his daughter, Maria Anna, diapered and wrapped in a cloth, then stabbed her with a knife, once under her eye and twice in her two legs.
[Translation Editor's Note: Pishchatyntse is at 48 47 N / 25 59 E, 91.7 miles south of Kremenets.]
He hid her – this girl who is his own daughter – in the stable so that the owner Leyzerovits the non-believer, would not see her dead, and left her there tied in a sack. But the injured child did not make a sound, and slept throughout the rest of the night. In the morning, this father who wanted to kill his daughter by starvation, took her from the stable and laid her on the doorstep of the Reformed monks monastery, and proceeded to go to the town of Kremenets. There, the man Vasek Kukhen, a known resident of Teofipol, will witness that he had seen the girl lying in the stable, and the father taking her, telling that man that he is taking her to the doctor. But what he did was to take her out of her sleeping place in the stable and throw her on the monastery's steps.

To contradict and demolish such a libel, the defamation and the fraud, the community of Kremenets had presented the said daughter to the city council, the court of the Magdenburgiya, and the Kremenets castle. They repeated their rational arguments against him and his unlawful defaming accusation and in declaration had requested that their statements should be accepted. This was granted.

It was signed by the vice council, Yohanes Pavlovits, the mayor Mikhel Yorkevits who signed with the sign of the cross, and Volf Leybovits.

After those words, the Voyevoda Voznik agreed personally on behalf of the Minister General, and Stefan Papayuk, the sexton of the communities in charge of checking complaints, appeared to testify – In public, by his free will, declaring truly and honestly: He was personally present in April 16, 1753 during the court's inquiry and investigation of the known Kremenets citizens and all the members of the Magdenburgiya and its judges, and all the community and also the non-believing Jewish citizens of Kremenets and its residents. In the presence of noble personage who are trustworthy, the noble Frantsiskus Kuvetski and Yakov Piotrovski, who were added to the town's court of the Magdenburgiya at this trial, for the purpose of strengthening the evidence.

When he was there, together with the added noblemen mentioned above, he saw the girl that was thrown, then put by the hands of her very own father, on the steps of the reformed monks' monastery. The girl's name is Maria Anna, and she is just more than three years old. She was injured by the hands of her father who used a small knife, once under her left eye and also on her legs. That girl testified in a childish voice against her father, and explained that the wounds were made by him. I saw that poor child was in a very weak condition and sick. I, together with the said attending noblemen, examined her and affirmed it. Then he, the clerk, after returning, testified in front of me to what he truly saw and examined, and the current general sexton affixed the sign of the cross to this document, because he does not know how to write.


[Page 43]


This section, taken from the books and documents, was with the seal of Kremenets Castle, and was written in Kremenets. [Here is place of the seal]

This copy of the declaration that was made in Kremenets Castle was compared by the Apostolic Notary Public whose signature is at the bottom, to the true and correct, complete and unfragmented, original that was presented and given to me. There is no reason for worry or suspicion, as it is equal to the original word by word, and to this I testify. In Lvov, the 22nd of January, 1754

So it is. Yosef Avgustinovits, Doctor of both Law and Philosophy, public notary under the authority of the Holy Apostolic, in his own hand.


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Endnotes:
  1. The bottom of p.9, is in Russian. It begins, "[Epat’evskaya] Chronicles, Year 1226;…" Return


  2. Lyubavski, M., Historical essay on the Lithuanian-Russian state system to the Lithuanian-Russian union. Return


  3. Note 3 on p. 9 reads: pp. 166-167: The governor of Kremenets carried the title Dyerzhavtsa [the Great?]. In the 1420s, the title was changed to Starosta (Head Man). Return


  4. Archive of southwestern Russia, part 5, volume 1, p.3, as below. Return


  5. Relying on Svidrigaillo’s privilege-document, it was thought to date the beginning of the Jewish setlement in Kremenets to the year 1438 (see, E. Ringelblum), "The Jews in Kremenets before the end of the 18th century", Know the Country [landkentenish], 1934, p.68; And also reprinted in a Yiddish collection named "Kapitalen Geshikhte" (Funds History), Buenos Aires, 1952. p.146; Also see Shatski, "The decrees of Tav’ Khet, the Khmelnitski pogroms in 1648-1649", printed in Vilna in 1938, p.159.) A thorough study of the documents from that period does not justify this assumption. Return


  6. In this document, Acts of western Russia, volume 3, pp. 111-112, only the Jews of Truk, Hororna, Brisk, Levitsk, Ludmir, Pinsk and Gubrin are mentioned. Return


  7. Note 7, at the bottom of p. 10, is in Polish. It reads, " …the Jews living in the city of Krzemieniec partake of these freedoms, but in spite of these freedoms, should not and will not disturb or interrupt commerce or trade by whatever means.", Archiwum XX Lubartowiczów, vol. IV, str. 26, Źródła dziejowe: vol. V, str. 172. Also, As below, Part 5, vol. I, p.42. Return


  8. Acts of southern and western Russia, v.1, pp. 133-134; Reading v, Social history in ancient Russia from Moscow University, v.199, p.46. Return


  9. As below, part 7, v.2, p.30. Return


  10. Op cit., pp. 42-63 Return


  11. Kiyev Central Archive of Ancient Acts, Book 1516. Return


  12. Baranovich, O., [Zalyudnyeniya] Ukraine, Kiyev 1930, before p.36, Źródła dziejowe, vol. XIX, str. 64. Return


  13. According to the Polish historian Yablonovsky, the estimate for a "house" or a "head" is at least five persons. pp. 67. Return


  14. According to (P.E.A.) Russian-Jewish Acts, op cit., v.2, p.119. Return


  15. Op. cit. pp. 184-185 Return


  16. At the bottom of p. 12, is in Polish. It reads, Źródła dziejowe, vol. XIX, str. 64-67. Return


  17. At the bottom of p. 12 is in Latin. It reads, "… we have pronounced that all – subjects of whatever origin, nation, or religion, who are taking white Ruthenian salt by the ancient and customary routes through our military camp of Krzemyenyecz – will be free and exempt from all tax payments…". Archiwum XX Lubartowiczów-Sahguszków, vol. III, p.312. Return


  18. Litterae a dominis consulibus civitatis Posnaniae scriptae, 1535-1545, 40. L. Koczy – Handel Poznania do połowy wieku XVI, Poznań 1930, str. 274. Return
   18a   Wierzbowski – Matriculum Regni Poloniae Summaria. Warszawa, 1905, IV 3, 225.  Return
  1. Note 19 is in Polish, translated as,
    ".T. Korzon –Internal Events of Poland – Warsaw 1897, Vol. I, p. 221 ".X. The city elders are not allowing the execution of decrees drawn in soviet or communal courts, specifically preventing Jews from executing such decrees by military force, etc. The Jews are not willing to forgive the contractual obligations; are resisting feeding the soldiers; are engaged in trade of prohibited goods and commerce without authorization from the city; are refusing to pay taxes to the city coffers; are not paying taxes for the repair of roads and bridges; are obstructing city streets with their buildings and build in prohibited areas; are not paying taxes for city workers and students sent to Krakow schools.". P.E.A., vol. II, pp.58-61 Return


  2. At the bottom of p. 12, is in Hebrew followed by Polish. The Hebrew part reads: Since the year 1542 we know of Qween Bona’s edict that forbade the Jews and the people in the suburbs to manufecture alcoholic beverages. (see Ringelblum); similar forbidding edicts were given by Sigismund August II in the year 1564, (Balinski-Lipinski: Starożytna Polska, v.II, p. 897; Źródła dziejowe, vol.V, p. 180), (Źródła p.173, 1572), (Balinski-Lipinski… op cit., 1571), (Źródła …op cit., 1569). Return


  3. P.E.A., vol. II, pp. 62, 69, 79, 156. Return


  4. Kiev Central Archive, Book 1479, Act 56. Return


  5. P.E.A., pp. II, 79-80. Return


  6. Bersohn – Dyplomataryusz, No. 544, pp. 138-139. Return


  7. Op cit., p.133. Return


  8. As below, part 7, vol. II, p.74. Return


  9. Op cit., pp.51-55. Return


  10. Bersohn, Dyplomataryusz, No. 120 P.E.A. vol. II, pp.119, 184. Return


  11. As below, part 7, vol. II, p.71. Return


  12. P.E.A., vol. II, p.259. Return
    30a    Bersohn, op cit., p.152. Return
  1. Note 31 begins with a bibliographic citation in Polish: Źródła dziejowe, vol. XIX, str. 64. It then continues with the following: "Even before that, there is information (Archiwum Skarbowe, Dz. I pobocowy, 112) that 106 gold coins was received from Kremenets’ Jews as a tax. We thank Mr. A. Feldman who gave us a copy of this information as well as the information in Note 18a. It is interesting to point that in 1576 King Stephan Batory had released the Rabbi, Cantor, house of worship, and the Kremenets cemetery from the protowszczyzna tax (Bersohn p.149). According to Shipper this tax was collected from all the jewish communities for the privilege of having a house of worship and a cemetery, and from all the magnificent holy places, because of the bureaucrats in the community." See "World History of the Jewish People", volume 9, p.307. Return


  2. At the bottom of p. 15, is in Polish. It reads, Źródła dziejowe, op cit., p.148. Return


  3. "Tsemakh David" – year of 1573 (shl”g.): Fridberg, "Memorial tablets", p. 9. His answer is brought in [bshu”t k”kh ] the news a sign [e”g]. [Translation Editor’s Note: These abbreviations have not yet been translated.] Return


  4. "Tsemakh David" – year of 1592 (shn”b); Fridberg, "The history of the Hebrew printing in Poland", Tel-Aviv, R’Mordechai Yafe was called "ba’al ha’ lvushim" ("the owner of clothings"), after his articles, tens of books about clothing, about Halakha (traditional rules), the philosophy of the Rambam, the kabala. He was admired by rabbis, but had opposition too. See, for example, "Mas’at Binyamin" and others. Return


  5. Y. Heylprin, "Pinkas va’ad 4 aratzot" (Register of the Council of the Four Nations); "Memorial Tablets" p.16. Return


  6. Heylprin. Return


  7. Fridberg, "Hebrew printing". Return


  8. "The scroll of Eyvah" by R’Yom Tov Lipman Heller, Breslau, (year: tav, kof, ayin, khet) Return


  9. M. Brann, Additions a l’autobiographie de Lipman Heller, Revue des Etudes Juives (Review of the Jewish Studies), vol. 21, p.274.
    The signatures on the letter are:
    "Khayim, bla”a, our teacher Shmuel ish Tsvi
    Eliezer, son of la”a our teacher Barukh z”l h”h
    Shlomo son of la”a ha’rav R’Yisrael Isarel yts”v.
    Yosef ba”a ha’rav R’Aharon
    Moshe –  Yitzkhak bla”a   – our teacher Shmuel shlit”a.
    Avraham bla”a  – Tsvi Hirsh K”ts shlit”a. "
    It is possible that R’Yitzkhak, son of Shmuel, whose signature is on this letter, is the same R’Yitzkhak from k”k Kremenets who was eulogized in the year t”g by the one of the “citizen Eytan” 2 see shv”t "Eytan ha’Ezrakhi" (citizen Eytan) last pamphlet, Nitzavim portion, p.58. Return


  10. Yetro portion, p.48. Return


  11. Y. Heylprin, pd”a, si” 198. Return


  12. Y. Heylprin, p. –  Return


  13. Ben-Yaakov, Otsar ha’Sfarim (the book treasury), p.63, #121-2. Return


  14. "and me… the small Aharon Shmuel, blam”v, the khasid MVHR”R (morenu ha’rav Moshe) shlv’ ztsk”l (zikhron tzadik kadosh l’brakha = the holy righteous of blessed memory) from holy community of Kremenets, in the country of Russia, may God keep it forever, as God had lead me astray from the home of my father, my teacher, of blessed memory (zts”l = zikhron tzadik le’brakha), and from my native land, my country. From diaspora to diaspora I was expelled, from vessel to vessel emptied. Insecure, no rest, nor peace did I have, because of certain bad things that were visited upon me…". "Men’s Soul", Introduction. Return


  15. Epilogue – by Olma Zelikman. Return


  16. "Eytan ha’Ezrakhi", last pamphlet, "Vayeshev" portion, p.42, side A. Return


  17. A. Ya’ari, Israel’s emissaries, p. 271. Return


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