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1. The Eve of War

What will be? Will the efforts of the world's statesmen avert war? Will the great world powers such as England, the Soviet Union, America and France not succeed in curbing the Hitleristic appetite and will the world really be flung into a dreadful slaughter? These questions traveled from mouth-to-mouth in the early summer months of 1939. The tension grew from day-to-day. The situation became more strained from minute-to-minute. The air smelled of gunpowder. Here and there shines a ray of hope and everyone walks around with optimistic smiles on their faces; and just as suddenly, the sky clouds over and the people walk around worried and gloomy all over again.

What will be? So the David-Horodokers ask one another. They listen to the radio day and night, clasping at information from the entire world. They search for

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a ray of hope but the next day invariably demonstrates the increasing hopelessness of the situation.

Presently, there is a breakdown in the talks between the Soviet Union and the western powers and then comes the astounding information with regards the Ribbentrop-Molotov treaty.

A mobilization was declared in Poland. The question that occupied people's minds was not whether there would be a war, of that they were sure, but they asked only when it would break out! One waited with fear and dread of that unfortunate day. Who knows what that day would bring with it?

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2. The Polish-German War

Friday, September 1, 1939. The announcement came over the radio like thunder. At dawn, the Nazi military forces had crossed the German-Polish border and attacked Poland without a prior declaration of war.

David-Horodoker Jews could not sit still in their homes. Wherever one turned, there were groups of people with questioning looks and worried faces, talking about the great misfortune. Intuition predicted that the outcome would not be good. Who knows? Who knows how it will end?
The town was proclaimed on war status. At night, all windows were to be shaded so that no light could be seen from the outside. The electric street lamps were no longer lit. Darkness ruled the streets in the evenings, just like the darkness in Jewish hearts, both night and day.

Economic life in the town died down immediately. They soon began to have shortages of products, the first being salt and matches.

One day passed and then another. There was no pleasing news from the front. The Polish army was retreating. Entire armies were surrounded by the German military forces. Rumors spread of betrayal by Polish military leaders. There were reports of extraordinary espionage involving highly placed Polish personalities. Despite the boasting on the Polish radio, one felt that the decayed demoralized card-house was collapsing.

One sought a ray of hope, waiting impatiently for England and France to honor their pledges and come to the aid of the Polish army.

September 3, 1939. Everyone's face lightens. A ray of light and hope appears. England and France declare war against Germany. Everyone imagines that now the situation will change. From now on, the German military will suffer defeats. Unfortunately, these hopes vanish. The murderous Nazi hordes advance and the Polish military is crushed. Soon, Warsaw is surrounded; then the Germans are in Bialystok, Grodno and Brisk. Hundreds of Jewish refugees begin to arrive in town. They describe

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the horrors of the war. They fear the day when the Germans will enter David-Horodok. The heart portends evil.

What will be? From where will salvation come? How can we save ourselves?

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17 September 1939

Rumors begin circulating that the Red Army has crossed the Soviet-Polish border in order to free the western region of White Russia and Ukraine.

Is this really true or is it, perish the thought, only a rumor? Every Jew wants with his entire being for the news to be true. They were afraid to talk about it too loudly while the Polish authority was still in town. They waited impatiently for the day that the Red Army would march into David-Horodok.

No small matter. They would, at the same time, be rid of the hated anti-Semitic fascist Polish government as well as avert the great danger of a certain death under the rule of the Nazi murderers.

The Poles began leaving David-Horodok, retreating towards the west, certain that the Red Army was advancing from the east. On the night of September 10^th to the 19^th, the Polish military detachments that were stationed at the Polish-Soviet border began to withdraw.

The Jews of David-Horodok did not sleep the entire night. They were afraid of acts of vengeance by the Polish detachments on the Jewish population. Fortunately, the Poles retreated without causing any harm to the Jews.

At dawn on September 19^th, after all their detachments had crossed the Horyn River which divided the town in two, the Poles tore down the bridge and they set up barricades on the other side of the river. Right behind them came the assault forces of the Red Army. At the river there was a brief exchange of fire between the two sides. One Red Army man was shot to death and another wounded. The Poles quickly retreated. A Soviet sapper detachment quickly set up a pontoon bridge over the river and the Red Army troops continued on their way.

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3. Under Soviet Rule (September 1939 to June 1941)

Without question, September 19, 1939 was the happiest day in the lives of the David-Horodoker Jews in the course of the last several years. After the shooting between the Poles and the Red Army detachments had ended, the entire Jewish population (and not only the Jews) came out into the streets with happy smiling faces and they received the Red Army detachments that had unceasingly attacked from east to west.

Young and old, small and large, man and wife – all stood on the sidewalks of the main street through which the army troops passed. With smiling faces and waving hands, they greeted the Red Army men.

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The Red Army men, in turn, greeted the inhabitants in a friendly manner.

One is reminded of how a high officer, who was at the head of a detachment, noticed the elderly Velvel Raishke's who stood with the others on the sidewalk. He called to him with the following: “Nada zhit staritchak, nada zhit!” [We must live old man, we must live!]
What an enthusiastic response these few words brought. That day, everyone was simply intoxicated with joy and happiness.

In the afternoon, a meeting was held under the open sky and the representatives of the Red Army made speeches in which they pledged a free and blissful life for the inhabitants of the freed regions of West White Russia and Western Ukraine. “Oppression, people-hatred and poverty will no longer be the destiny of the freed brotherly people of Western Ukraine and West White Russia. Henceforth, they will work under freedom, brotherhood and love and they will work under the rays of the sun of the great leader of the people, Comrade Stalin.” That was the quintessence of the speeches which were given at that meeting.

Understandably, the chief celebrants who acted as if they were the hosts were the few Jewish Communists in town who were joined by several meshchane [town citizens] of David-Horodok.

All day and until late at night, everyone stayed in the streets conversing with the Red Army men about how the Poles had suppressed the national minorities and especially the Jews.

They were astonished at the approachability and simplicity of the Red Army men. They were impressed by their thoughtfulness and sympathetic expressions and they were thus even more encouraged by their promises and reassurances that from then on, the Jews would no longer know of such trouble.

On the night of September 19, 1939, the Jews of David-Horodok slept peacefully, blissfully and full of hope for a brighter future.

The first weeks of life under the Soviet authority began in David-Horodok. By edict, all the businesses were reopened and people began besieging them trying to stock up on clothing, footwear, produce, etc. Especially conspicuous was the attitude of the vostochniki which was the name given to the arriving Soviet citizens. They went from shop to shop buying everything they laid their eyes on, paying whatever price was asked. They would come away from the shops with large bundles.

At first, it was thought that they didn't bargain because they were accustomed to the fixed prices of the government stores. However, no one could understand why they bought so much. Gradually, it became apparent that they could not obtain these things at home. This brought on an even greater buying spree.

The Polish zloty became of equal value to the Soviet ruble

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so that the zloty was not annulled and remained as currency. The town authority was in the hands of local Communist activists. The Soviets allowed them to run things in the first few months. About 6-7 Jewish and 3-4 Christian Communist activists dominated the town during the course of the first few months.

These few Communist activists inscribed a sad chapter in the history of the town: on the one hand, because of their denunciation to the N.K.G.B. [Soviet security organization] and subsequent arrest of the majority of the Zionist workers in town, and on the other hand, because of their inciting the majority of the Horodtchukas [Christians of Tartar descent from David-Horodok] against the entire Jewish population.

In the meantime there were many meetings, entertainment evenings and theatre performances and the youth did not have a bad time. As a result of the large stream of refugees from greater Poland, the Jewish population of the town swelled, reaching some 7-8,000.

Slowly the holiday mood dissipated and people began to think about a livelihood especially since the reserve of supplies was depleted prematurely. There were no fixed Soviet undertakings or bureaus as yet and there were no jobs either. So people began bartering. Both Jews and Christians began trading. Everything was an item of trade: salt, cigarettes, matches, produce, clothing, shoes, etc.

There was a unique trade in Polish zloty. Inasmuch as the zloty was also currency in the part of Poland occupied by the Germans and was then worth more than the ruble, here they would exchange two or three rubles for each zloty on the black market and then, they would smuggle the zloty to the German side. The refugees from Greater Poland were particularly adept at this business. They would, themselves, smuggle back and forth across the Soviet-German border.

The situation of almost free trade existed until the end of 1939. In the meantime, the Soviets arrested and exiled several Polish families who had not escaped in time with the Polish army. A Jewish family from a border village was also exiled and one of the Communist businessmen who had been active until then was banned.

Over ten Jewish youngsters from town secretly left David-Horodok and reached Vilna which the Soviets had ceded to Lithuania. Their goal was to go from there to the Land of Israel.

In November 1939, there were two conferences in Bialystok and Lemberg [Lvov] attended by elected deputies of Western White Russia and Western Ukraine. They decided to turn to the “Supreme Soviet” – “the Soviet Upper House” with the request to officially annex the regions of Western Byelorussia and Western Ukraine to the Soviet Union.

They prepared for over a month to arrange these elections

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with meetings, assemblies and entertainment evenings. Special propagandists taught the people the Soviet constitution. The elections arrived with great pomp and a holiday atmosphere.

David-Horodok elected two deputies to the Bialystok (Byelorussia) conference, a Jew and a Christian. Understandably, they were Communist activists who were appointed by the Soviet authority. These were the first elections in David-Horodok during the Soviet reign. Already at these elections, one saw the enmity of the Horodtchukas for the Communist authorities and the wild and blind hatred for the Jewish populace of David-Horodok.

Counting the ballots later, they found notes with the following inscriptions: “Down with the Soviet rule,” “Death to the Bolsheviks and the Jews,” “Long live Hitler,” etc.

Gradually the Soviets began to arrange and organize a normal life in the Soviet manner. All the local Communist activists who had run the town until then were replaced by imported Soviet citizens.

The town president, the police chief, the leaders of the various economic, cultural and social institutions were all replaced by vostochniki. Also, the other, more or less, responsible posts were occupied by Soviet citizens.

The heretofore local Communist town leaders were then employed in second rank posts and they were used by the N.K.G.B. to give information about each and every inhabitant.

These local Communist activists willingly took on this “honorable” mission, transforming into simple informers, devising false accusations against their victims.

The first result of their calumny was the dismissal of certain people from their posts because of their social origin. Naturally, the Jews were the first in line to be affected along with a few rich Horodtchukas who were not overlooked. This action was called “nationalization.” The larger businesses and enterprises such as tanneries, the sawmill, flour mills, etc., were nationalized. The finat diel [financial department] took these over and the Jewish Communist activists managed the work with great zeal.

Understandably the nationalized Horodtchukas figured that the Jews were most to blame for this and hate for the Jews grew from day-to-day. They would say that a day would come when they would “pay back” the Jews in full.

However, life in town began to normalize. All three tanneries in town united and a single, large tannery was created employing over one hundred workers. Next to the tannery, a shoe factory was founded which employed over one hundred and fifty shoe workers.

The saw mill with its building enterprises which previously had belonged

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to Moche Rimar, was enlarged and employed over 400 workers. Various cooperatives were organized. All the various Soviet organizations and institutions began to function. A full-blooded and intensive life began to pulse in the economic domain.

There was also an intensification of work in the field of culture. The schools resumed their classes. Instead of the two previous Polish public schools, two intermediate schools were organized; one in the Byelorussian language and the other in Russian. The Hebrew Tarbut School was transformed into a Yiddish-speaking school.

All the existing libraries in David-Horodok were united following which, all objectionable books were confiscated and replaced solely by Soviet publications in Russian, Byelorussian and a few in the Yiddish language.

For the first time in the history of David-Horodok, a hospital was established with a special maternity ward. Women no longer had to give birth at home but instead, had a well-organized hospital with careful medical supervision.

For the first time in the history of David-Horodok, there was a permanent movie theater established in which the newest films were shown each evening. Needless to say, the theater was packed every night.

They were proceeding to build a large, modern-designed culture house with halls for lectures, performances, recreation, etc.

The majority of the David-Horodoker inhabitants settled down to work. A bare minimum took to speculation on the black market.

In order to frighten speculators, they arranged a show trial for the David-Horodoker, Herzl Zipin, who was caught speculating with wurst and he was sentenced to four years in prison. This sentence made a strong impression on the town's inhabitants.

However, life flowed on as the Jews began to adapt to the new regime, not looking at the shortages in produce, clothing and footwear. The situation was calm and more or less normal until summer of 1940 when there was a political arrest.

Yosef Yudovitz was arrested. He was the son of Betzel Yudovitz who was shot along with two Christian citizens at the time of the Bolshevik Revolution during the punishment expedition. This first political arrest shook up the Jewish population of David-Horodok and it forecast eventual further arrests.

Many people were then called up by the N.K.G.B. for “a talk.” Later, these people never said what the conversation was about. Shortly after the detention of Yosef Yudovitz, Lazer Ronkin was also arrested. He was the owner

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of a tannery that was nationalized by the Soviet government. Immediately after him, they arrested Yanye (Yosef) Baruchin, a revisionist worker.

The mood of the Jews was very depressed. They understood that the N.K.G.B. used not only the local Communist activists but also other disguised local agents and informants who gave them information concerning every single town inhabitant.

In reality, there were those in town, including also upstanding and elderly Jews, who worked along with the N.K.G.B., giving them information and carrying out their assignments.

In order to solicit these informants, the N.K.G.B. used the following device: They would call in someone who was above suspicion, who was subject to become an informer, reckon up his former sins and propose that he be rehabilitated by working with them for a period of time. In case of refusal, he was told that he must suffer for his sins and be arrested. Understandably, without thinking of the outcome of this conversation, the summoned individual would have to sign an oath that no one, not even his closest, must know about what the N.K.G.B. had discussed with him.

Unfortunately, there were those who surrendered to the threats and accepted the proposed “work.” Thus, there were amongst the informers, people of various ages, political hues and social strata. No one knew for sure who was working with the N.K.G.B. and, therefore, everyone was suspect at being a possible agent. This mutual suspicion resulted in the fear of speaking a word in front of others.

The culmination of these political arrests came on the night of February 10, 1941 when ten workers were arrested. They were: Chaim Branchuk, Yashe Yudovitz, Archik Moravchik, Berl Rimar and Shia Kantor, who were leaders of the General Zionists; Shmuel Zezik, Arke Lifshitz, Kopel Moravchik and Mendel Kravchik, who were Poalei Zion workers and Berl Kaftan, one of the most capable of the, till then, Communist activists who was charged with working for the Polish security organization.

These arrests had a shocking effect on the David-Horodoker Jews. No one was sure of his safety. The still-free Zionist workers anticipated further arrests and waited fearfully for their turn. There was a mood of panic in town. People would avoid passing the building containing the N.K.G.B. bureaus. This building cast terror on the inhabitants. Who knew how many more victims it would swallow up?
Gloom and dread befell everyone. Several Zionist workers left the town and moved to other places where no one knew them.

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People stopped attending organizations. Everyone spent the after-work time in the narrow circle of their family.

During this time, several Horodtchukas were also arrested.

The outcome of the political arrests of the thirteen David-Horodoker Jews is as follows: Five men: Shmuel Zezik, Yosef Yudovitz, Archik Moravchik, Mendel Kravchik and Kopel Moravchik (now Yaakov Mor) are now in Israel. Shia Kantor is in Poland and Kaftan is in America. Lazer Ronkin escaped from the prisoner transport deep in Russia. He returned to David-Horodok where he was killed with all the David-Horodoker Jews. Five men: Chaim Branchuk, Yanye Baruchin, Yashe Yudovitz, Arke Lifshitz and Berl Rimar starved to death in the various Soviet prison camps. Honor their memory!

Despite the fear and dread, there were no further political arrests or exiles until just before the German-Soviet war. As things began to quieten down, a new mood of alarm emerged, far more horrible than detention by the N.K.G.B. Rumors began to spread about the eventual possibility of war between Germany and the Soviet Union. The fear of this eventuality was unusually intense. The town's Christian population, the Horodtchukas, became self-confident and waited impatiently for the day when the Germans would march into town. It became apparent that they were preparing for vengeance.

Then there began the movement of large Red Army detachments from east to west, giving the impression that war was approaching at giant steps. Just before the outbreak of war, several Jewish families were arrested and exiled.

On June 22, 1941, Hitler's hordes treacherously attacked the Soviet Union without a declaration of war and thereby began the sad and horrible end of the Jews of David-Horodok.

The sawmill of Moche Rimar in David-Horodok - in the picture M. Rimar, his wife Bushke, daughter Rachel, and son Berl, as well as three foremen [Page 55]

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4. Destruction and Holocaust

There was great panic. The Jews were frightened to death. The Horodtchukas were confident. The Soviet authorities in town were agitated.

The town's youth were quickly mobilized. However, not everyone was taken into the army. Those who had unacceptable social status were later released.

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German airplanes appeared over the town and although they dropped no bombs, they created a terrible panic. The German troops continued onward with immense power. The Red Army retreated in disarray and confusion. The Soviet town leaders began evacuating.

Hundreds of Jewish youth and entire families fled to the previous Soviet-Polish border with the aim of evacuating to Russia in order to escape the murderous hands of the Nazis. Unfortunately, they encountered a strong Soviet guard at the old border that only let those with special permits to pass. The remainder were not allowed to cross over and they were forced to return to David-Horodok. The Soviet town authorities were also sent back with orders to remain until the last minute.

The Germans had already captured Pinsk, Luninets, Lakhva and Mikashevitz but they had not yet entered David-Horodok. The town was in fact without a government. David-Horodok was not captured because it was not near a railroad line or a highway. The Horodtchukas could not wait until the Germans came and on their own accord, they sent a delegation led by the feldsher [paramedic] Maraiko to the German military authority in Pinsk, requesting that the Germans speed up their arrival in the town. They thereby declared the willingness of the Horodtchukas to work alongside with the Germans. They wished to make a quick end to the Jewish population of David-Horodok.

The delegation returned pleased with the “positive” results which they had achieved. After the return of the delegation, the rumor was spread that the Red Army had begun assaulting and repelling the Germans. The delegation was terrified and they fled back to Pinsk. Unfortunately, in a couple of days, the news was proven false and the delegation returned to the town accompanied by the Germans.

That same day, the Horodtchukas, led by the above-mentioned Maraiko, the brothers Tania and Liava Kasarev, Kuloga, Yavplov and others, arranged a meeting under the open sky in honor of the “great historical day.” The Germans gave over the civil authority into the hands of the Horodtchukas, appointing Maraiko as town mayor and Liava Kasarev as commander of the civil police. The Jews were ordered to wear the Star of David.

On the 16^th of Av, 5701, an order was delivered that a six o'clock the next morning, all Jewish men over the age of 14 were to gather at the marketplace opposite the Catholic Church, taking shovels with them. It was implied that they would take them to work.

Early the next morning, the Jews began assembling at the marketplace which was surrounded by armed German SS troops and many Horodtchukas.

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After all had gathered, the Horodtchukas spread around town checking for holdouts.

The brothers Isser and Hershel Gurevitz, who were found in a hiding place, had their eyes gouged out while being taken to the marketplace.

All those gathered at the marketplace were led away on foot by a strongly armed SS detachment, accompanied by hundreds of Horodtchukas to Chinovsk, a village seven kilometers from David-Horodok. There, the graves had already been prepared.

Surrounded on all sides by artillery and machine guns, every single man was shot to death. The cries and the screams of the unfortunate victims carried through the air and reached as far as David-Horodok.

The gathered Horodtchukas had fulfilled a triple mission: they made sure that no one fled from the field; they removed the gold rings, watches, clothing, shoes, and boots and even tore out gold teeth. Finally, they carried out the job of throwing the victims into the graves, not looking to see if they were really dead or still half alive.

Only two children succeeded in escaping unnoticed from that frightful slaughter. Wandering through the fields, they joined a partisan group and thus survived.

In town, the second part of the frightful tragedy took place. After the men were led out of town to the slaughter, the women and small children were ordered to leave David-Horodok within an hour.

The few men who had succeeded in hiding out and did not go out to the “work,” among them Rabbi Moshele, Chaim Moravchik and others, changed into women's clothing and they went along with all the women and children. However, there were Horodtchukas at the bridge checking for disguised men among the women. All the disguised men were recognized by the Horodtchukas. They were brutally beaten and then thrown from the bridge into the river. Thus a group of several thousand women and children set out on a horrible path of wandering, not knowing where to go.

They wandered for two weeks over fields, roads and trails. Not one town would take them in despite the efforts of the local Jews. Only a few dozen women and children succeeded in getting accommodations with relatives in the surrounding towns of Lakhva, Stolin and Luninets. The remainder kept wandering for two weeks, suffering hunger, cold and the hatred of the peasants who would beat and rape them.

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During those two weeks, all the deserted Jewish homes with their possessions were pillaged. Many Jewish houses were dismantled by peasants from surrounding villages, bringing them back in pieces to their own villages. The Horodtchukas moved into many of the houses.

After two weeks of wandering, the women and children returned to the gates of David-Horodok which “deigned” to receive them. It was understood that they were no longer permitted in their own homes and a ghetto was created for them on a few streets where there were gentile hovels. This ghetto existed for a year. In the course of that year, more than half died from epidemics, “accidental homicides” and starvation. Officially the ghetto inhabitants received 100 grams of bread per person per day, but, in fact, no bread at all was distributed at least two days a week.

After a year of extraordinary suffering and frightful existence, all those women and children still alive, including three or four grown men such as Velvel Kushnir, whom the Germans spared from the slaughter of the men because he was an expert in the repair of new machines, were led out on a certain day (unfortunately the date is unknown) to the same place where the men had been murdered the previous year, and they too were shot to death.

Thus ended the close to 500-year existence of the Jewish community of David-Horodok.

During the three years of Nazi occupation of David-Horodok, a partisan group paid almost daily “visits” to David-Horodok causing much damage to the Germans and many headaches to the Horodtchukas.

The partisans burnt almost all the Jewish houses in town so that the Horodtchukas would not benefit from Jewish possessions. They blew up the town's power station. From time to time, they raided the town, killing both Germans and Horodtchukas. They kept the town under tension throughout the entire period.

In this partisan group, there was a Jewish girl (whose name and fate are unfortunately not known), who was distinguished by her extraordinary courage and daring. In every partisan raid, she was always the first to go in and the last to withdraw. With her heroic deeds, she threw terror into the Germans and the Horodtchukas and at the same time gave courage to her partisan comrades.

In 1944, the Red Army freed David-Horodok of the murderous Nazi occupation. Unfortunately, there was no longer a living Jew in the town.

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A few dozen leaders of the Horodtchukas fled along with the German army.

Several of the Jews were saved because they were in the Soviet Union during the war: Hershel Korman and his two sons, Neta and Matityahu (today in Israel); Itzel Nachmanovitz (now in the United States of America); Mendel Kravchik (now in Israel) and Litman Moravchik (in Israel) visited David-Horodok and encountered a ravaged and scorched town without one living Jew and an immense common grave where the tortured David-Horodok Jews rested.

In every Horodtchuka house, they found Jewish furniture and possessions. In the marketplace, the Horodtchukas sold Jewish clothing with kaftans. The Horodtchuka women wore kerchiefs made of Jewish prayer shawls.

However, they all had nothing to say. They laid the entire guilt on the Germans and the escaped leaders of the Horodtchukas. They themselves “know nothing,” “regretful,” “was not in the town at the time,” “also suffered from the Germans,” and in a word: “entirely innocent sheep – almost martyrs!”

Today, there is not one Jew in David-Horodok.

The saving remnant is mostly in Israel. Several remained in the Soviet Union, some in Poland and a few immigrated to America.

Member of our town Yitzchak (Itzel) Nachmanovitz (in army uniform) at the mass grave in David-Horodok in 1945, on the fourth anniversary of the tragic destruction [Page 59]

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