Organizations and Federations

On the following pages, I wish to recall some memories from my childhood, my youth and my young adulthood spent in Sanok. Sanok is where I was born, educated and where I participated in its communal life until the outbreak of World War II in September 1939.

The traditionalist-nationalist atmosphere which pervaded in my parental home influenced without doubt the direction on my studies, my national consciousness and my weltanschauung (perception of the world).

My first memories relate to my attendance at the public Hebrew school, the only one of its type in Sanok. This school was a “Safa Berura” school under the leadership of Mr. Adelbert (Avraham) Szenbach of blessed memory and my father Herman (Tzvi) Sobel of blessed memory. The teachers Marmorstein and Abt of blessed memory taught there. The former stopped teaching after some time and the latter continued until the day of his death. Images of the funeral of the teacher Abt of blessed memory remain etched in my mind. Almost all the Jews of Sanok attended the funeral: Zionists and non-Zionists, hundreds of his students from all eras and all of his friends and acquaintances. This funeral turned into a form of nationalist procession. Nationalist life in the city and the awakening and revival of the Hebrew language are attributable to him. Thanks to him, Hebrew became a spoken language in various circles in the city, particularly among the youth.

The school also served as a springboard for youth movements whose meetings took place in the classrooms. I participated in the Hashomer Hatzair movement, and at age 11 I was among the first of its members in the city. It was led by the members Eliahu Bin and David Lazar, today a well-known writer and editor, who visited us from Krakow from time to time. From early on we began to prepare for aliya to the Land. We worked in various Jewish workshops as well as in Amster's field. This work was not steady or orderly, for the government forbade activities of this nature in the Jewish youth movements, and especially in the Polish gymnasium. It should be noted that at this time, almost all of the members of Hashomer Hatzair were students of the gymnasium in Sanok. Our meetings and everything which involved preparation for the aliya had to be done in secret. In order to prevent being expelled from the gymnasium, we could not make our participation in Hashomer Hazair public knowledge as the movement's main objective was to maintain a national Hebrew culture and to prepare for a new and productive life in the Land.

We continued with the activities of the movement despite the various obstacles and difficulties. Initially I served as head of the group and later as head of the division. Together with other members, we directed the troupe and the chapter of Hashomer Hatzair in the city. The other members were Moshe Reis and Yaacov Appel, both of whom perished in the Holocaust. I left the movement as a student in the 6^th or the 7^th grade, and I believe the others that I mentioned also moved to other youth movements. At that time, the chapter began to include youth from other strata in the city, not only from the gymnasium students.

My period of academic life began with entrance to the university in Lwow. Since I was studying political jurisprudence, I was able to remain in Sanok for the bulk of my studies. I then founded


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a chapter of the Hashachar academic organization in Sanok, in which other academics such as me who spent most of their time in Sanok participated. This academic organization was most active during the vacation months when students returned from the universities. Of course this organization had a nationalist Zionist character. Its purpose was to disseminate Zionist culture and consciousness among its members, who at that time were active in the university cities.

At that time a spirit of assimilation spread among the majority of Jewish university students and the Jewish intelligentsia. During the census, they would identify themselves as Poles of the Mosaic persuasion. Therefore, the academic organizations had an important role and significant, if not decisive, influence on the intelligentsia who stood at the helm of social, communal and general life in the cities.

When I was the president of the Jewish academic organization in Sanok, among other things, I organized popular courses in the evenings for Jewish adults who did not have general knowledge, and who spoke the vernacular language with difficulty. The aim of these courses was to impart elementary knowledge in various areas of study. Among everything else, the curriculum included the study of the Hebrew language, taught by Mr. Eliahu Berger. The courses were conducted in the rooms of the Hebrew school during the evening hours. The teachers who volunteered for this purpose included Appel, Lazar and others, who each participated for two hours each week. One of the courses that was taught was human anatomy. For this purpose, I brought in a human skeleton, which was placed in one of the rooms.

When I completed my studies at university, I went to work in the legal and judicial profession as an apprentice with a lawyer, as well as in the courts. Later, I worked as an independent lawyer. I turned my communal activities to other horizons. I founded and organized a club for the Jewish intelligentsia of Sanok in a six-room rented premises in the home of Mr. Ripp. I directed this club along with a committee which included, among others, Shimon Reich, Eisenbach the pharmacist, the lawyer Dr. Nehmer, and others. This club had an exclusive character. It numbered 150 members. Cultural and social life was conducted there. Its tendency was nationalist-Zionist, even though it did not occupy itself with politics. The aforementioned meeting place existed until the outbreak of the war in 1939.

As I discuss communal life in Sanok, I must mention Dr. Nehmer as the chairman of the general Zionists. He was a dear and upright man, dedicated with all his heart to the Zionist movement, which was his daily bread until his final moment. There were few like him. His home and office were always opened to any local or general Zionist activity. His faithful wife Mrs. Fani Nehmer, the chairwoman of WIZO in the city, joined him in his activities. They perished during the Nazi occupation. Their memories will always be guarded in my heart. The Zionist committee was active in municipal life in the city, and its representatives always participated in the governing of the city, albeit they did not take the first place. Similarly, the Zionist faction participated in the communal council which was headed by Dr. Nehmer^[1] of blessed memory, and included among others Herman Sobel of blessed memory.

Dr. Nehmer [1] and my father acted as assessors in the city council for an extended period. Their influence on the conduct of affairs in the city was quite important and significant for the local Jews, most of whom were small-scale shopkeepers and tradesmen. The threat of denial of permits and issues of taxation were always significant for members of those trades. My father of blessed memory worked a great deal on behalf of these poor Jews. On Sabbaths after the synagogue services he always visited the local authorities in order to remove the threat of tax impropriety, etc. He never did so with the intent of receiving payment. In most cases, he succeeded in gaining some benefit for the tradesmen.


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The History of the activities of the Jewish National Fund in our City

We do not have full details and exact official dates about the history of the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael in Sanok and its first activities in our city. However, it is clear to us, and we heard this as well from the elders of our city, that there was such activity in our city even before the First World War. A committee conducted collections and organized publicity within the city and outside the bounds of our city. It seems that at that time, the activities on behalf of the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael stood at the head of the Zionist activity, and took a prime place in the nationalist activities of the Zionist youth in the city.

The Keren Kayemet LeYisrael was more loved by all strata of the Jewish community than all the other national funds and Zionist campaigns. The sublime goal of redeeming land spoke to the Jewish heart of all strata and factions in the city. It is known that even the most zealous of the Orthodox Jews, who were strong opponents of Jewish nationalism in general and Zionism in particular, did not express any strong opposition to the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael. It was a custom to collect money for charitable organizations on the Eve of Yom Kippur. All Jewish organizations as well as charities and benevolent institutions placed their collection plates on the tables of the synagogues, Beis ha Midrash and Kloizes prior to the Kol Nidre service. It was the plate of Keren Kayemet Le Yisrael that stood out from all the other collection plates through its decorative placards and publicity statements. Not only did the Jews of Sanok “tolerate” this, but they generously placed their coins in it as they did into the other plates. To further explain this phenomenon, we must recall that it was well known, and the members of Mizrachi helped disseminate, the fact that the money donated to the Jewish National Fund was not used to violate a commandment of the Torah, as was done with the monies of some of the other funds. As an example of this, the zealots opposed to Zionism knew that the money of the Keren HaYesod was used for non-religious or even anti-religious education in the Land, as well as to support the sins of desecrating the Sabbath and festivals.

It is no wonder then that the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael took root in the Jewish community of the city and penetrated all corners of communal and social life. At every festivity, celebration, party or joyous religious occasion, the blue box was displayed prominently, without being pushed to the side by anyone. There were houses in Jewish Sanok in which the box of the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael was placed alongside the box of Rabbi Meir Baal Haness^[2], without any separation or differentiation between the two. The Jewish community in Sanok, and the Jewish youth in particular, were imbued with enthusiastic appreciation and devotion to the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael – as is said today, they possessed a complete “consciousness” for the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael.

As we stated at the outset, we do not possess details and facts about the first activities of the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael in our city. However, there is no doubt at all about the essence of the activities of two generations in our city. We also have facts and testimony, both oral and written, from those people who acted and lived their Zionist-communal life, and also bequeathed this life to us.

We find documentary literature on this subject in the newspaper of the local committee of the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael in Sanok as a publicity organ for the activities of the organization. In Yom-Tov-Blatt issue 1, whose date is given on the front page as the eve of Rosh Hashanah 5680 – that is 1920 – each page includes publicity articles, declarations, announcements, and calls of support for the benefit of the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael. The general impression that is gleaned from the spirit and tone of the words


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indicates that the activities that are being discussed are known and accepted, that the movement itself is known, accepted, and well spread out in the community, with a tradition to its activities and seniority for its faithful and activists. For example, the announcement by the local committee of the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael in Sanok about emptying the boxes was stated in common terms and everyday language, as if this was the daily bread of the readers in general, and the activists of the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael in particular. These clear signs that point to the constant, longstanding and well-rooted existence of the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael movement in Sanok stand out even more clearly in the rest of the material of the newspaper, both textual and general documentary, such as the advertising of the places where one can purchase Keren Kayemet stamps, copies of Keren Kayemet telegrams, as well as personal announcements of mourning, comforting of mourners and participation in joyous occasions which were accompanied by the note: “trees were planted in the Herzl Forest”.

If, in addition to all that was said above, we look at the situation in a straightforward fashion and do not ignore the fact that all of the Zionist activities throughout the year in that era could not be conducted without raising money for the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael in various fashions; it is clear that the beginnings of the activity for the Keren Kayemet in Sanok is closely tied with the founding of the Zionist organization in Sanok. From this we can surmise that the beginning of the existence of the Keren Kayemet LeYisrael in Sanok was in 1894, the year of the founding of the first Zionist organization in Sanok. (See the article by Ozer Pipe on page 28 of this book.)

The Committee of the Zion Organization in Sanok in 5685 / 1925

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