|
|
|
|
Zionist Activists, 1929 |
||
|
|
|
Petition of the League for a Working Israel against closing immigration |
||
|
The Zionist Library |
In the period between the two World Wars many of our town's young people immigrated to Israel, and so ties were of a personal kind, too, by sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, with a general kind of awareness and interest in all that occurs there. Many lived vicariously, treating occurrences there as if they were close and personal to them. A letter that arrived from Israel would be shared, moving from hand to hand; Israeli newspapers would be read at different circles and meetings. When an Israeli emissary happened to come to town, he would be "wrung dry" by all means possible, taken to the top of Mt. Bona, to the Vidomka and treated to Kremenets' wondrous panoramic view; anything, so he would tell … The youngsters wanted to know about the Kibbutzim and the "conquest of labor", about the Arabs, the protecting and defending, etc.
[Translator's Note: "Conquest of labor" is a term used to describe the efforts of the early Jewish immigrants to Israel to reclaim the right of building and tilling the land by their own hands. At that time, physical work by the Diaspora's Jews was so unusual that it was not done by the early newcomers, but by hired Arabs. The pioneers who wished to fulfill the dream of rebuilding the country and working its land were not accepted as laborers by the previous immigrants who owned farms and orchards. They were not trusted as capable to endure hard physical work.]I particularly remember the tense waiting for news and the newspapers during the riots in Israel in the time of the British Mandate. Our concern for the future of the country stayed with us days and nights, and the young pioneers followed every detail of the events and searched for ways to join the defenders.
The youth of Kremenets stood out in their idealism and devotion, they lived and involved themselves in the nation's and the world's problems. Most of them were members of youth-movements. Many of them were among those who, in the era of Israel's "Locked Gates", penetrated them.
[Translator's Note: "Locked Gates" is a term used to describe the British Government's refusal to permit Jewish immigration to Israel. This was combatted by what was called an "illegal immigration."]But, there were also many who despaired, and at the hour of crisis had given up and joined other, non-Zionist, movements, and devoted their lives to fighting against the Polish government's policies. Tens were sentenced to long years in jail, and some lost their life in concentration camps and in jails; Some fell on the battlegrounds of Spain, in border smuggling, etc.
Unacceptance of the existing reality, and an aspiration for different kind of life, blazed in the young people, and pushed them to daring and hopeless deeds.
With the end of the First World War and the start of the third immigration wave, the youth of Kremenets burst out and joined the first of those immigrants. Pioneers had left even before the [Kremenets] branch of the movement was organized. In Israel they were found among those paving the roads, and those who established the "work- battalions", and members of the first Kibbutzim. As community life of the Jews in Poland started to get organized, branches of the national organizations were opened in our town also, the branches of the Zionist factions, the youth movements and "haKhaluts". Activity and membership in "haKhaluts", though, fluctuated in different time periods and according to the situation in Israel and in the immigration there.
As time for the first group to immigrate neared, an official branch of the
"haKhaluts" was formed, and a few years later also a branch of
"haKhaluts haTsair". (Special branches were organized in the Dubnover
suburb, and for years two parallel branches of the "haKhaluts" and
"haKhaluts haTsair" existed there). The branches had extensive and
structured cultural activities. The members learned Hebrew, the geography of
Israel, and, in special circles, Hebrew literature, the history of the workers
movement in Israel, the Kibbutz movement, the labor organization, and others. In
1926 the first central seminar of "haKhaluts" in Poland, was held,
and two members from Kremenets took part in it.
[Page 113]
In the years after the war, a group, whose members were from the
Zionist-Socialist "Dror" (Freedom) organization, moved from the
U.S.S.R. to Poland. In their opinion the most important task was to build up
the "haKhaluts" movement, and toward that goal they invested their
best efforts, establishing branches and Hakhsharot (training groups). They made
their way to Poland through Vohlin, where they stayed for some time, organized
the district's council, helped in strengthening the branches and establishing
the Hakhsharot.
At that time Kibbutz Klosova was established as a stonecutter's Kibbutz named
after Yosef Trumpeldor, which marked a turning point in forms and ways of the
pioneers training in Poland. The Kibbutz was situated in the north of Vohlin, in
the vicinity of Sarni. A large group of members from Kremenets went there, and
stayed for many years during the era of closed immigration. Since they already
had changed to a lifestyle of commune and work, they decided to stay there and
wait until immigration was available. When that time came and the gates were
opened, they were the first to go, among them a good number of members from
Kremenets. In Israel they joined Kibbutz Yagur and Kibbutz Givat-haShlosha.
|
The 1929 riots caused a great awakening; the movements called for volunteers to
register, and hundreds of young people answered, wishing to immigrate
immediately and join the ranks of the defenders.
[Page 114]
In the years that followed the riots, the years of the Pesfild decrees, came
days of heavy crises to the Zionist movement. It looked as if the hope for
immigration to Israel was being postponed for a long period, causing despair
and depression among the young. Many tens left and joined the non-Zionist
"Left" and severed their link with Zionism and the land of Israel.
Very few kept the faith.
In the spring of 1932, the first breach appeared in the "locked Gates". A "Maccabiah" was held in Israel, to which many youngsters came as tourists, but never left, and tens of people from Kremenets used the same method. In the fall of 1932 an authorization for 1,500 certificates was issued, and most of the "Hakhsharot" members immigrated. The path for pioneering immigrants was reopened!
[Translator's Note: A "Maccabiah" was a large sporting event, named for the national heroes of old, Macabees.]With the start of 1933, a turning point came about in the movement. Hundreds of young people joined and registered in the branches of the "haKhaluts", and Kibbutzim of Hakhshara sprang up in Poland's towns. From the Kibbutz-Hakhshara of nearby Verba, which numbered more the a hundred members who worked in the local sawmill, a "conquering-detachment" arrived in Kremenets, and settled in one of the houses of the Dubno suburb. The pioneers – men and women – would show up in town, carrying saws and axes, looking for jobs: chopping wood, supplying water, or doing any kind of unskilled labor. Kremenets' Jews received them well. The Zionist activists and members of "haKhaluts" made efforts to help them find living quarters and work. Later, as their Kibbutz enlarged and increased in numbers, they moved to a larger house in the north of town.
During the years of 1933 – 1934 the pioneering movement in Poland had grown to many thousands of members, and thousands were in Hakhsharot. Youth groups which were far removed from Zionism and pioneering had joined "haKhaluts". The movement included members of the middle classes, laborers and students, a very colorful mixture. "HaKhaluts" occupied a central spot in the Jewish community's life. "Certificate" came to be a magic word for the youth and the many-thousands of Jews. No more was there a war between parents and children – now both were coming together, asking to be sent to Kibbutz-Hakhshara. In their hearts hope was kindled, that in time the children would get the parents to immigrate, because here – here everything is getting undermined and falling apart –
Such was the situation in most Jewish settlements in Poland, and so it was in our city. In the years of 1933-34 the "haKhaluts" branch in town had about 300 members and the branch in the Dubno suburb numbered a few tens of members. Together with the youth groups and the league, they numbered about a thousand, and that showed up during elections to the congresses (the 17th in 1933 and the 16th in 1935), in conventions and in conferences. Many times was the city bustling with large conventions of pioneers, with public meetings, colonies and summer-camps – all of which brought much interest among the town's Jews.
In the years 1932-1938, many emigrated from Kremenets, and they are spread all
over the country: in Kibbutzim, villages, cities, etc. But a larger number are
those who were not lucky enough to emmigrate. At the start of the war, there
were tens, maybe hundreds, of pioneers from Kremenets, in the Kibbutzim for
Hakhshara, some of whom had been waiting their turn to immigrate for five and
more years. Some of them had wandered during the war, east to the U.S.S.R., and
with the repatriation at the end of the war, they returned and immigrated to
Israel. But many perished on the roads, were killed, annihilated and no one
knows about them.
[Page 115]
Most times the group's meetings took place in the Biberman family's large garden. The discussions centered on the future in Israel and on the practical preparations for immigration. In those days there were not yet separate Zionist factions in our town; we all belonged to the "Zionist youth" (Z.Y.), and in 1918 there was a regional convention of Z.Y. in our town, where Avraham Biberman was one of the active participants. Willingly and with enthusiasm we took upon our selves the fulfillment of the Zionist ideals, as an obvious thing for young and true Zionists – pioneers of the immigration. That is why we called ourselves Pioneers; we did not indulge much in ideological discussions, Zionism or socialism, though we were imbued with socialistic tendencies and looked forward to the workers life.
In Israel, most of us of the first group joined the kibbutz life style which
motivated and excited us, and in which we saw the pinnacle of Zionist
fulfillment. This is not to say that even in the Diaspora we aimed towards this
style of life, as at that time the "haKhaluts" just started to be
organized, and its emissaries had not yet arrived in Kremenets. Our group was
organized on our own initiative, and we did not even name it
"haKhaluts", but rather, a group of Khalutsim (pioneers).
[Page 116]
What was the composition of our group? We mentioned before the names of the 15
members. Most of them were sons of householders, received traditional
education, and so they knew Hebrew, but most of them had received a general
high school education too. At that time the Zionist organization included
circles of intellectuals and householders, and out of that came the members of
our group. We admired the laborers, the craftsmen; we aspired to form an
ordinary, basic class of people in Israel, and were anxious to have real
working people join us, but at that time those people were not in the area of
Zionist influence. When the driver Aharonov and his wife joined us, we were
very happy – we saw in him the right kind of person for immigration, and
were sorry that he was the only laborer among us.
At our meetings we spoke in Yiddish and Russian, but some of us were Hebrew zealots, and insisted on speaking Hebrew, which then took its place in our meetings and in our private conversations. We had much influence in that aspect from Yitskhak Idelman, "Hertseliya" high school student who returned to Kremenets for the summer vacation in 1914, and as the war had started, he did not return, but when we immigrated he joined with us. Our group included also most of the young activists that concentrated around the first Hebrew kindergarten in out town, and the other cultural undertakings. In Israel we did not meet with adjustment difficulties where the Hebrew language was concerned. There was a sort of selection, a discussion about every member's fitness to join the first group to immigrate, or to postpone his turn.
At that time, "Hakhshara's" operations were not yet organized, but in the summer of 1920, two of the group's members (Khanokh Rokhel and Yitskhak Biberman) went, on their own initiative, to get agricultural training at the farm of the Jewish farmer Itsi Kotichiner in a village about 30 kilometers from our city. They trained there for about three months. In the beginning it seemed peculiar to the farmer, that he should employ the grandchildren of Hirsh Mendel Rokhel on his farm, though, finally, he agreed to do it. They slept in the granary where the non-Jewish laborers also slept. They worked in harvesting, threshing, the cow barn, and did other work on the farm. At the end of the season they returned home full of self-assurance, happy and "trained".
Preparations for immigration were starting. At a distance of 50 km. from our
city is the town of Berestechko, famous as a Zionist town, from which some of
her people had immigrated before WW1 and as soon as the war was over, others
from there were the first in our area to immigrate. We sent our friend Yitskhak
Rokhel to find out what is the procedure for immigration, and he brought us
encouraging information. After that, in August of 1920, we sent two of our
members, Khanokh Rokhel and Pesakh Litvak, to Warsaw, to explore the
possibility of immigration. After a few weeks they returned and told us that
the Zionist directorate had announced the suspension of mass immigration, but
there is a chance that soon permits would be given to craftsmen. Immediately we
started to acquire documents certifying that we all are craftsmen: metalsmiths,
carpenters, farmers, etc. From different craftsmen we received letters of
verification, which we had notarized according to law. A second delegation,
Avraham Biberman and Khanokh Rokhel, was sent to Warsaw with the documents.
This made a big impression in the Israel-Office: a group of which all its
members are professional craftsmen! All our members were approved for
immigration, and we started the procedure for obtaining pasports.
[Page 117]
At that time this was a very complicated task, as our region was not considered
part of Poland yet, but a conquered area, so we had to obtain from the police,
special assurances of our proper political standing. The second hardship was in
obtaining permits; first a British one for entry to Israel, and then those for
border-crossings. A young person coming from the east was suspected of
Bolshevism… We divided the chores among us: Avraham Biberman returned to
Kremenets to obtain the needed permits, to organize the group, and see to the
financial means. Pesakh Litvak and Khanokh Rokhel continued their efforts in
Warsaw. We had to stay many months until we overcame all the difficulties.
While there, we met delegates of pioneer groups from different cities and towns. At that time "haKhaluts" and its headquarters got organized. Together with others we participated in establishing Khalutsim houses at #5 Dzika Street and #10 Tverda Street, whose tenants were arrested numerous times by the Polish police. Another serious worry was subsistence for the pioneers who were waiting there to immigrate. We also participated in the Israel-Office's work, and they demanded of us that we join their staff for a prolonged period and postpone our immigration. Pesakh Litvak gave in to the pressure, stayed in Warsaw and worked in that office until 1929, the other two refused, and when the documents were obtained they returned to Kremenets and immigrated to Israel with the whole group.
In connection with the first group to immigrate, a local Israel-Office was organized in Kremenets, headed by Azriel Gorengut with Yitskhak Rokhel as his secretary. There, requests for immigration by the town's people and others of the area were checked and given approval, which was used as sort of a recommendation by the Warsaw office.
Raising the financial means for immigrating caused quite a few problems, as the city was poor then, and families had a hard time raising the needed amount. Despite this, their parents helped most members: one had a few gold coins left, another took out of his savings a few dollars or pounds, and gave it to his immigrating son. Some of us had saved from our salaries, others sold some of their belongings, but all these were insufficient. Then, an emissary arrived from the New York "Kremenets relief", with money for community institutions. When he and the representatives of the institutions were in negotiations for the distribution of the funds, we joined the debate, and having no other way, demanded that they budget a portion for immigration necessities. As far as we remember, the result was that each one would receive 10 Dollars – with that the last of the obstacles for our immigration was removed.
The attitude of the authorities changed frequently. First we received papers clearing us politically. Then they started suspecting and provoking us. So we left town quietly, sneaking out one January night of 1921. We took the train to Lvov and stayed there one day, exchanged our money to dollars and continued our way to Vienna where we spent about 10 days until the ship's departure date from Trieste.
In Vienna we found out that our funds were insufficient for purchasing the tickets, but were helped by the local Israel-Office, and we, 70 pioneers, left on the freight ship "Avetsia". We arrived at the shore of Yafo after 17 days voyage by all the eastern Mediterranean shores. There was no food served and hygienic conditions were sordid, but morale was high and singing and dancing continued, and at the different stops on the way, local Jews have brought us food.
In Alexandria the ship stopped for two days. At that time Khayim Vaytsman and
Alfred Mond were there, and learning that they were to give a speech in one of
the Zionist clubs, all of us 70 pioneers came to listen. Mond spoke in English
and Vaytsman in Hebrew. He even blessed us! The Sefardic Jews of Alexandria
courted us, showed us the city, and supplied us with food.
[Page 118]
Then we truly arrived in Israel. On 8 February 1921 we disembarked on the shore
of Yafo. Nine group members and the Gorengut family were taken to the
immigrants-house in the Adgami section of Yafo, and from there we moved to the
immigrants-house in Tel-Aviv. We stayed in Yafo and Tel-Aviv for 10 days –
we were delirious.
The "Histadrut" was newly formed, and its impact not yet felt. Most of the influence was in the hands of the "haPoel haTsair" and "Akhdut Ha'Avoda" parties.
[Translator's Note: Histadrut was the united organization of the assorted "Labor" factions. HaPoel haTsair means "the Young Workers". Akhdut Ha'Avoda means "the United Workers"]The manager of the employment office for "haPoel haTsair" at that time was Tsvi Liberman from Nahalal, and he was the one to see that we got jobs, and also arranged for us to get meals in the restaurant of "haPoel haTsair" in Nakhlat-Benyamin Street, which was known as "Khana Mayzel's kitchen". By now we were out of money, and we needed some so we could buy stamps and laundry soap. We went to Yafo harbor under the guidance of Yakov Tsizin, to the place where lumber was unloaded, and after a long argument with the Arab porters who were strongly against us, we succeeded in "capturing" one boat loaded with lumber, unloaded it and earned 90 Grush hard cash. We were nine men, so each one's share was ten Grush. Joyfully we returned to the immigrant-house, bought stamps and soap, and quickly wrote letters home. This was our first money earned in Israel.
Soon after, Yehuda Koplevich and Yisrael Shokhet came to the Immigrant-house and told us about the "Gdud Avoda" (Work-Battalion") named for Yosef Trumpeldor, that had just now negotiated with the British authorities for building the railroad tracks on Rosh haAyin (Ras-el-eyn) – Petakh-Tikva line. For that purpose the "Battalion" formed a new detachment: "Railroad track building Detachment" They suggested that our group with the Shavli group that was also in the Immigrant-house, should form this new detachment of the Battalion. After a few discussions we agreed to do it. A few of our, and of the Shavli members, rode in fright cars by way of Lod to Rosh-haAyin, with a load of tents, beds, and work tools and upon their arrival they unloaded and erected the tents-camp of the detachment at the Antipatrus Castle near Rosh-haAyin. A few days later the rest of the members arrived in camp, and the paving work started. By day we worked and at night we danced. When the last three members of our group arrived (Khanokh Rokhel, Yakov Raykhman and Yitskhak Rokhel), they, too, joined the "Work Battalion". When we were still on the ship, Yeshayahu Fishman from Kremenets, who came from Horokhov where he lived in the past few years, joined us, and now with a couple of other members (Fayvishis and Tsvik) the Kremenets group – group 6 in the "Work-Battalion", counted 12 men. Daily, the detachment took in new members, singles and in groups, and soon we numbered 150. The impression made by the Kremenets group in the Rosh-haAyin detachment, was very noticeable; it was known to be a group of good and disciplined workers, and also assigned members on community tasks in the detachment: From our members, Avraham Biberman was chosen for work assignments, Khanokh Rokhel was a member of the detachment's board, and Yitskhak Rokhel founded the Battalion's bulletin "miKhayeynu" which is still running today as the bulletin of Kibbutz Tel-Yosef.
[Translator's Notes: The town of Horokhov now is known as Gorokhov. It is at 50 30 N /24 46 E, 50.2 miles NW of Kremenets. The phrase miKhaynu means "from our life".]Not our whole group joined the "Work Battalion"; Aharonov settled in Yafo and opened a metalsmith shop (after some time he left the country), and three settled in Tel-Aviv: Yitskhak Idelman, Dina Krivin, and Yakov Tsizin. The Gorengut family settled in Haifa and later moved and settled in Pardes-Khana as farmers.
Our absorption in into the country was easy and rapid, and so it was in the
work field and in the community's life. We made sure to speak only Hebrew and
were an example for the other groups in the "Gdud". We were happy in
our lot and in our new life in the country; it may have been the finest period
in our life.
[Page 119]
But the days of glory did not last. A few weeks after our arrival in the
country, the May 1921 riots started. Most of the detachment members went to
Tel-Aviv for the 1st of May celebration, and with the outbreak of the riots
they were attached to the "Hagana" troops in the Jewish neighborhoods
of Yafo, and the weapons they were given were pick handles. The wounded and
fallen were brought to "Hertseliya" high school, and some of our
members were given the task of taking care of them. It fell on Yitskhak
Biberman to receive the body of Y. Kh. Brener, and until today he cannot get
over the shock it gave him. A few of us, who stayed in Rosh-haAyin,
participated in the defense of Petakh-Tikva.
About six or seven months after we joined "Gdud-Avoda", the first split took place. The members of "haPoel haTsair" felt out and left, and with them went most of the Kremenets members. Some joined the "Binyan" group in Tel-Aviv, other went to Jenin, to work in the building trade for the British army, and later founded the builders group "Bazelet" in the city of Tverya (Tiberius). The members who stayed in Rosh-haAyin were, later, among the founders of Kibbutz Tel Yosef.
Within a short time, the group of the "Baal haBatishe Kinder" from Kremenets turned into good builders, plasterers, scaffolding erectors, farmers, road pavers and layers of train tracks. But the group as a united entity had disintegrated by then, and its members went their own separate ways.
[Translator's Note: Baal haBatishe Kinder means "householders' pampered children".]In the following years, beside the Aharonov family, three more of the first group left the country: Dina Krivin, Yakov Tsizin and Bunim Bakimer. All the rest are deeply rooted in the life of the country, and have prospered. They integrated and became involved completely in the busy life of the country, and did not take time to keep organized links with friends in the Diaspora. But, there is no doubt that the existence of an organized group, which put roots in the country, influenced the continued immigration of pioneers from our town. And indeed, immigration continued constantly, by singles and by groups, and their numbers were in the hundreds, and most of them integrated well.
Such was the beginning of the pioneering immigration from Kremenets.
|
|
JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material for verification. JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions. Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.
Kremenets, Ukraine
Yizkor Book Project
JewishGen Home Page
Copyright © 1999-2008 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 28 Feb 2004 by OR
![Click here to enlarge the picture - kre108s.jpg [4 KB]](images/kre108s.jpg)
![Click here to extend the picture - kre110a-s.jpg [4 KB]](images/kre110a-s.jpg)
![Click here to extend the picture - kre110b-s.jpg [4 KB]](images/kre110b-s.jpg)
![Please klick here to extend the picture - kre111a-s.jpg [4 KB]](images/kre111a-s.jpg)
![Please click here to extend the picture - kre111b-s.jpg [5 KB]](images/kre111b-s.jpg)
![Click here to enlarge the picture - kre113s.jpg [5 KB]](images/kre113s.jpg)