Our Town Stepan
(Ukraine)

51°08' / 26°18'

Translation of Ayaratenu Stepan

Edited by: Yitzchak Ganuz

Published in Tel Aviv, Stepan Society, 1977


Acknowledgments

Project Coordinator

Daniel G. Shimshak

Our sincere appreciation to Mr.Yesheyahu Pery, of the Stepan Society in Israel,
for permission to publish this material.

This is a translation from: Ayaratenu Stepan (Our town Stepan),
Editors: Yitzchak Ganuz, Tel Aviv, Stepan Society, 1977 (H,E, 368 pages).


This material is made available by JewishGen, Inc. and the Yizkor Book Project for the purpose of
fulfilling our mission of disseminating information about the Holocaust and destroyed Jewish communities.
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1 Preface Editorial Board7
 
2The Generations of Stepan
 a) The History of Stepan and its Jewish PopulationI. Ganuz and J. Peri9
 b)The Jews of WolynY.L. Yonatan14
 c)Jewishness in the HeartI. Lamdan21
 d)Education in Polish WolynS. Roznak22
 e)Stepan: World War IH. Zoller28
 f)Stepan: 1910-1920M. Woschina44
 g)Town Life in the New PolandS. Mann48
 h)The SynagoguesJ. Peri53
 i)My Town - My HomeG. Krukover56
 j)The Home of the Late Rabbi TverskyJ. Peri64
 k)"The Sage, the Late Rabbi Tversky, Magid" of StepanM.S. Geshori69
 
3The Way of Life
 a)My Father's HomeJ. Peri72
 b)What Was But No Longer IsZ. Gorinstein89
 c)Vocations of Stepan JewryJ. Peri94
 d)Stepan: Looking BackI. Weismann98
 e)MemoriesJ. Shpritz100
 f)Youth ActivitiesZ. Zilberman102
 g)The Summer HomeJ. Peri104
 h)Memories E. Shimshak105
 i)Our Home in Kosmochov. L.Hashavia (Rudnik)106
 j)The Miserable Ones and Transient GuestsJ. Peri108
 
4The Way to Zion
 a)Founding of the Tarbut SchoolS. Sheinboim109
 b)The Beginning of Zionist ActivitiesS. Sheinboim111
 c)Reflections of the Wolyn Press on Public ActivitiesB. Shpritz116
 d)Illegals to Israel: Stepan 1939J. Peri119
 
5Our Fathers' Homes: Where They Were in StepanEditorial Board123
 
6Memories: Images and Families
 a)Some Images and FamiliesI. Weismann166-196
 b)The Home of the Genius Ben-Zion Volinsky, the Righteous Man of Blessed MemoryB. Shpritz200
 c)My Father, Reb Azriel-Yaacov Kaufman (Zunieh) of Blessed MemoryI. Koifman201
 d)The Teacher, Moshe Kalat, of Blessed MemoryJ. Peri204
 e)My Father, Reb Yoel Baruch Ben Yehoshua Halevi Becker of Blessed MemoryA. Tahor Becker)205
 f)The House of Reb Pesach Bebtchuk and His Wife Esther Leah, of Blessed MemoryB. Shpritz209
 g)The Family of Yechiel VildgoizN. Gordon211
 
7The Holocaust
 a)Death and SorrowJ. Peri213
 b)Destruction of Stepan's Jewish CommunityA. Tchor(Musik)274
 c)Memories 1939-1946Benzion Bebchuk278
 d)German Bombings -Beginning at the GhettoJ. Peri280
 e)How Could it Happen to My Town StepanI.Gonik282
 f)Amongst the GentilesA. Grossman283
 g)Sea of HateJ. Peri285
 h)Between Life and DeathI. Wachs286
 i)Forced Work CampY. Rassis288
 j)Escape from the Beast's ClawsY. Rassis290
 k)Stories of EscapeesJ. Peri292
 l)Escape from the MurderersB. Scheinboim (Becker)294
 m)The Story of Sonia Wiener - EscapeeJ. Peri296
 n)The Struggle for LifeF. Maggid297
 o)The End of StepanM. Grinshpan299
 p)The Image of the Judenratt ChairmanThe Editors300
 
8The Ruins of My Town
 a)A Visit to Destroyed Stepan.J. Peri302
 b)Revenge of Stepan's SurvivorsJ. Peri315
 c)A Meeting of Stepan's Jewish Red Army VeteransJ. Peri316
 
9In Memorium: Stepan and Surrounding Citizens who Died in IsraelThe Editors
 a)Image of the late Itzhak WeismanD. Weisman319
 
10EPILOGUE
 a)Gathering Information about StepanJ. Peri321
 b)EditorialI. Ganuz322
 c)Translation of Local Terminology and SlangJ. Peri324
 
11Family Photographs327
 
12Public Photographs343
 
 English Editors' Notes362
 English Preface363
 English Table of Contents364


Some Facts About Stepan

Germans invade the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.

Stepan Ghetto was erected on Chol Hamoed Sukkot, October 5, 1941.

Stepan Jews were exterminated and ghetto liquidated on 11th of Elul, 5702 or August 24, 1942.

Stepan was liberated by the Russians on January 12, 1944.

Number of Jewish survivors from Stepan – 44 (as reported by Shmuel Spector, see below).


References to the Holocaust in Volhynia

The Holocaust of Volhynian Jews, 1941-1944, by Shmuel Spector, Yad Vashem, The Federation of Volhynian Jews, P.O. Box 3477, Jerusalem 91043, 1990.

The Moses of Rovno, by Douglas K. Huneke and Herman F. Graebe, Compassion House, 240 Tiburon Blvd., Tiburon, CA 94920, 1985.

The Stepan Yizkor Book, edited by I. Ganuz, collected by J. Peri, 1977, 364 pages.


 Yizkor Book Project    JewishGen Home Page     Stepan, at Shtetlinks


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