Book of Lida
(Lida, Belarus)

53°53' / 25°18'

Translation of Sefer Lida

Edited by: Alexander Manor, Itzchak Ganusovitch, Aba Lando
Member of the Editorial Board: Eliyahu Damesek

Published in Tel Aviv, 1970


Acknowledgments

Project Coordinator

Irene Newhouse

Our sincere appreciation to Chaim Basist, of the Lida Society of Israel,
for permission to put this material on the JewishGen web site.

This is a translation from: Sefer Lida (Book of Lida),
editors: Alexander Manor, Itzchak Ganusovitch, Aba Lando, Tel-Aviv,
Former residents of Lida in Israel and the Committee of Lida Jews in USA, 1970.
(438 pages, Hebrew, Yiddish, English)


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Note: Letters in parenthesis indicate language each chapter was written in, as follows:
(E) - English     (H) - Hebrew     (Y) - Yiddish

Introduction (E) IV
My Lida Heritage (E) - Sol Feinstone V
The German Occupation (E) - E. Damesek VIII
 
Lida and its environs
Map of the District 3
Map of the City 4-5
At the Gate of the Book (H) 8
At the Gate of the Book (Y) 9
Introduction (H) 10
Introduction (Y) 11
 
Lida for Her Generations
The History of the City and Its Jewish Community - Aba Lando 15
To the history of Jewish Lida during the period of restored Poland (H) - J. Ganazowitch 56
Lida and Its Surroundings (H) - Zalman S. Vinogradov 73
Jewish Family Names of Residents of Lida and Its Neighborhood (H) - Itchak Ganuz (Ganuzowitsch) 75
Economic life of Jewish Lida before World War I (Y) - A. Gelman 83
In the days of World War I (H) - Mrs. Y. Guinzburg (Boyarsky) 86
Memories of the First World War (Y) - Moshe Ganuzowitsch 86
Remembrances from the First World War (Y) - Moshe Ganuzowitsch 86
 
Center of Learning  
Rabbis and Religious Teachers (H) - A. Lando 89
Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Reines, May His Memory Be For a Blessing (H) - Aba Lando 94
Rabbi Aaron Rabinovitz of Blessed Memory (H) - R. Avigdor Tzipershtine 98
R. Aron Rabinovitch - Rabbi of Lida (Y) - Mrs. Henia Rabinovitch 100
The History of the Lida Yeshivah (H) - M. Tzinovitz 104
The Lida Yeshiva (H) - Shimon Zak 106
One of the Leaders of the Nation (H) - Dr. H. L. Gordon 111
The Ilui Reb Shlomo Poliatzik, May the Memory of the Righteous Be For a Blessing (H) - H.L. Gordon 113
Innovator and Activist (H) - Rabbi Meir Berlin 115
The Little Horoditzche (H) - Rabbi Aharon Rabinovitz 116
Rabbi Yitzchak Yaakov Reines – Founder of the Mizrachi (H) - Rabbi Y.L. Cohen (Fishman) 117
The Great Yeshiva (H) - Pinchas Shifman (Ben-Sira) 117
The Restless Man - Moshe Cohen 118
The Sayings of R' Yitzchak Yaakov Reines (H) - Nachum Chinitz 119
The History of the Ilui from Meitzt (H) - Moshe Goldberg 122
The Night of the Ninth of Av in the House of the Yeshiva's Founder (H) - Daniel Vinogradov 125
In the Presence of Rabbi Reines (H) - Dov Aloni  126
The Influence of the Yeshiva on the Life of the City (H) - Yaakov Ben-Sira 128
Reminiscences of former students of the Yeshibah (H) - L.-G. 130
The Lida Yeshiva (Y) - Nakhum Khinutz 131
R. Mordechai Shmukler (H) - Avram Hakoben Eliav 134
 
Folklore, Mode of Living
Memories (Y) - Yakov Ilutovitch 137
Lida at the beginning of the 20th century (H) - J. Youdelvitch 145
Common people (H) - M. Evensky 149
Everday life and holidays in Lida (H) - H. J. Argov 153
In an atmosphere of learning and enlightenment (H) - H. Amitay 156
Hebrew in Lida (H) - A. Lando 157
The Hebrew school (H) - workshop of the nation's soul - L. Ettinger 165
My Teachers, Rabbis and Schoolmates in the Tarbut school (H) - Itzhak Genozovitch (Ganoz) 166
Singing, theatrical performances etc. (Y) - A. Lando 170
Sights of the town (H) - I. Ganuzovitch 179
Charitable institutions (H) - A. Lando 182
“Beth Lehem: (Y) - J. Levine 185
T.O.Z. (O.Z.E.) Institutions (Y) - J. Ganuzovitch 186
TOZ in Lida (Y) - H. Jijemsky 187
Fires and firemen (Y) - A. Lando 189
The fire brigade (Y) - A. Guelman 192
The butchers' synagogue (Y) - T. Tsigelnitsky 193
Reb Eliyoe the carpenter (“Tsheshler”) (H) - J. Ganuzovitch 194
“Tyf'ereth Bahourim” association and synagogue (H) - I. Ganuzovitch 195
Common folk (H) - M. Amitay 197
Moshke the orphan (H) - I. Iloutovitch 199
Melameds and Kheders (Y) - Yehudit Ganuzovitsch 200
Tuvia the Teacher - Tuvia Tzigelnitsky 200
Moshke - the “Pourim Player” (H) - I. Ganuzovitch 201
Lida Drunkards (Y) - A. L. 202
 
Folklore and Language
Games of Jewish children in Lida (H) - I. Ganuzovitch 203
Regional Expressions from Lida and the Surrounding Vicinity (H) - Yitzkhak Ganuzovitch (Ganuz) 211
Odd bits of Lida folklore and humour (Y) - A. Lando 216
Means and ways of “expelling fright” and an evil eye (H) - I. Ganuzovitch 219
 
On the Way to Zion and Zion as a Way
“Aliyah” to Eretz-Israel from Lida (H) - A. Lando 221
To the history of youth movements in Lida (H) - A. Polatchek 229
The cell of “Hashomer Hatzair” (H) - L. S. Vinogradov 234
Jewish Youth in Lida (H) - B.Z. Volah 239
League for the “Working Eretz-Israel” (H) - A. Guelman 240
The “Betar” movement (H) - M. Aronovitch 242
The cell of “Betar” in Lida (H) - S. Mikoulitzki 242
Mr. father (H) - Z. Shiff 245
“Hehalutz” in Lida (H) - J. Bankover 246
“Hakhshara” Kibbutz in Lida (H) - A. Gelman 247
“Hehalutz” movement in Lida (H) - M. Orzechovski 249
“Hehalutz Hatzair” (H) - A. Bassist 252
In the ranks of “Hehalutz Hatzair” - Z. Berezovsky 252
 
Dying of a City
The Soviet Occupation (H) - Eliahu Damessek 255
First underground (H) - Z. Evienski 256
At the Time of Soviet Occupation (H) - Miriam Yooungman (Slonimtchek) 258
We did not give up (H) - J. Pupko 259
The spoiled hymn (H) - I. Ganutzovitch 261
Lida, there was such a town (song) (Y) - Th. Pupko 263
In the Birkha (Flight) Routes - I. Solovietchik 264
The Russian occupation (Y) - S. Shiff (Rubinsvitch) 265
Pages of an exile (H) - I. Ganuzovitch 270
From Lida to Vilna (Y) - Z. Bielig 276
First Flames (H) - A. Movshovitch  279
The German occupation (H) - E. Damesek 281
Life in the Lida ghetto (H) - D. S. Amarant 288
In the Lida Ghetto (Y) - I. Rubinsvitch 301
How We Saved Ourselves and Remained Alive (Y) - H. Movshovitch (Zafran) 302
Between life and death (H) - F. Bialobroda 303
In the flames of destruction (H) - N. Kamienietzky 304
To the events of March 1, 1942 (H) - M. Youngman (Slonimtchik) 306
The murderer of Jews, Leopold Windisch (H) - Dr. S. Remigulsky 306
Reminiscences from the Lida Ghetto (Y) - N. Mudrick 307
Destinies of a Jewish boy (H) - E. M. Pupko 309
The story told by Sioma and Mrs. Pupko 311
In the Face of Death (H) - A. Bassist 313
The last way (Y) - R. Ozzechovsky (Orcher) 314
 
The Last Fight
The struggle for life (Y) - I. Kaplan 317
My Sad Journey [My Tragic Journey?] (Y) - M. Reznik 320
From the Ghetto to the partisans in the woods (Y) - L. Engelstern 325
The Battle of the Partisan Reuben Rubenstein (Y) - Yakov Druck 343
My way to the forest - Miriam Yungman-Slonimtshik 345
The wanderings of a Jewish partisan (H) - David Lipa Berkowitz 347
In the ranks of the partisans (Y) - B. Baran 348
“I will bring vengeance upon My adversaries” (H) - Fishel Bialobroda 351
A printing house in the forest (H) - Eliyahu Damesek 354
David Boyarsky z”l (H) - Yitzchak Ganuzovitch 357
From the partisans' war to the War of Independence (H) - David Boyarsky z”l 357
The partisan Leib Orzechowsky (H) - M. A. Guer 362
My Road To The Partisans (Y) - Yocheved Resnick 363
Battle and Revenge (Y) - Menakhem Resnick 367
At the Front (Y) - Yitskhok Rubinowitz 373
Lida in the literary works of J. Goldo (B. Gorin) (H) - J. Ganuzowitch 374
 
On the Ruins of the City
A visit to Lida after the destruction (Y) - M. Youngman (Slonimtchik) 374
My arrival after the destruction (Y) - E. Damessek 375
Back in my birth town (Y) - K. Sopotnicky (Kreyer) 377
After the destruction (Y) - S. Shiff (Rubinovitch) 379
Liquidation of the Jewish cemetery (H) - I. Rubinovitch 381
The monument on the mass grave of Lida's martyrs (H) - Yitzchak Rubinovitch 382
 
The Trial
The murderers before the tribunal twenty-five years after the murderl (H) - A. Lando 383
The trial of the German murderers (Y) - Z. Arlouk 384
 
Organizations of Former Residents of Lida
The Organization of Former Residents of Lida in the United States (H) - Kalman Orzechovsky 386
On the emigration of Jews from Lida to the United States (H) - Abba Lando 387
Michael Iviansky (H) - Ze'ev Iviansky 389
Yakov Dvoretzky (H) - Abba Lando 389
In days of anxiety and grief (H) - Abba Lando 391
The Organization of Former Residents of Lida in Israel (H) - A. Lando 392
 
Men of Mark - In Memory of Personalities
Shmuel Leib Gordon (Shalag) (H) 398
Pinchas Schiffman (Ben-Sira) z”l (H) - Yitzchak Ganuzovitch (Ganuz) 398
David Kopelovich (H) - A. Lando 399
Moshe Gelman z"l 399
R' Yitzhak Yeroukhmanov (H) - A. Lando 399
My teacher, R. Joseph Epstein (“Trikeler”) (H) - A. Bassist 401
Lichtman the teacher (Y) - Paves 401
R. Israel Aron Shelubsky (H) - A. Lando 402
R' Shlomo Podolsky z”l (H) - A. Lando 404
Yosef Darshan z”l (H) - A. Lando 404
Shmuel and Edith Bernholtz z”l (H) - A. Lando 405
Mordecai Dov Yudlevitz of blessed memory (H) - A. Lando 406
Avraham (Abrasha) Steinberg of blessed memory (Y) - A. Guelman 406
 
In Memory of the Fallen
Reuven Kopelovitch z”l (Y) 407
Help this Person (poem) (Y) - Reuven Kopelovitch z”l 407
Aryeh Tchertok z”l (H) 407
Yitzhak Spokoiny z”l (H) 408
Aryeh Duvkovsky z”l (H) 408
With Shaul Forman z”l (“Galili”- “Arnon”) (H) - Zeev Ivansky 408
Shaul Forman (The Galilean) z”l (H) - Sh. Mikulitzky 409
Omri Ariav z”l (H) - A. Lando 411
Shaul Zahavi z”l (H) - Sara Snovsky-Zahavi 411
Dr. Moshe-Yerahmiel Ben-Sira z”l (H) 412
Moshe Rosenhaus (“Rosa”) (H) - Eli 413
Dubi Eilat z”l - Leah Eilath 413
List of the perished 414
List of former residents who died in Israel 434
List of former residents who died overseas 434
List of Lida residents in Israel 435
   
List of Photographs  

 


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