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Echoes of the political happenings in Russia at the start of the 20th century had reached Kremenets. A few of the town's people were sent to the Far East, but did not reach their destination, as the hostilities had ceased. Only Dr. Litvak stayed at the front for a long time, and he returned with the rank of a high officer. He published a very interesting pamphlet about his life and adventures in the front. Dr. Litvak came up from a middle class background and kept allegiance to it all his days, which for many years were tied to the community life of Kremenets. The Christian population accepted him. He was an enlightened intellectual and a champion of the Russian language in town, a physician and lecturer of hygiene in the high schools. Despite all this he was an ardent Zionist, got together with the people in the synagogue, and in the funerals (he was very active in the "Khevra Kadisha"), and saw to education for the people and their health. He planned on erecting a memorial monument to R'YBL, and devoted much time to it. In 1914 he was conscripted to the army, and returned in 1917 with a rank of general. After his return, he devoted himself to public work with extra energy.
On the eve of the 1905 revolution, a strong "Bund" organization was formed, which functioned "underground" vigorously. Their meetings were conducted in the mountains. More than once, the police surprised them and punished some of the functionaries by beatings. Young people, from the best of the local Jewish intelligencia, joined the revolutionary movement. Some of them, who immigrated to America, had important places in the labor movement there.
At that time the organization "Poaley-Tsiyon" was established, attracting to its ranks some of those from the revolutionary movement. As functionaries in the "Bund" some of them joined the communist party after the October Revolution.
After the 1905 tribulations, life in town flowed peacefully; on the surface the country seemed to be in peace. Hopeful springs gave way to long summers, with a sleepy town and empty streets. The army regiments went on to their training, schools were out, and many of the town's citizens left for vacations. The farmers were busy in their fields, and only the grocer stayed, guarding his store, and yawning into the vacant street. In the tailors' street, in small, sparse rooms, seated by the sewing machines are young and old, alleviating their long and gloomy days with folksongs. The machines clicked in rapid cadence, producing thousands of fall-season warm coats for the farmers. In the fall season, with its days of markets and fairs, the Jewish citizens made their livelihood for the year.
Before the First World War Kremenets had "Kheders" and
"Talmud-Torah". Also, a "Yeshiva" was established in 1910;
most of its students came from far away. Many of the children studied in the
public Jewish-Russian elementary school. In 1906 a high school of commerce was
established mostly financed by the Jews. According to the school's charter,
liberal for its time, studies coould proceed as soon as the enrolment contains
60% non-Jews and 40% Jews. To achieve it, the Jews had to beg the non-Jewish
citizens, who were mostly poor craftsmen, to send their children to the school.
Now each Jew that wanted his child to be accepted had to bring a non-Jewish
child, give him a uniform, all needed school supplies, and make sure that he
continued to study. That chore had to be achieved by encouraging the child's
father, with the help of an occasional serious drink session.
[Page 51]
In 1907 the teachers Mr. Burshteyn and Mr. Sirayski opened a Hebrew school in
Kremenets, a "reformed Kheder" in which boys and girls could enroll.
Later, most of these students were among the active members in the local
Zionist movement.
In the years before the war, Zionist activity was quite slow – selling "shekelim", distributing shares in the bank, a "bowl" on "Yom Kipur" eve, etc. They had a Zionist library containing a few tens of books and pamphlets, and sometimes a Magid to lecture in the "Beyt ha'Midrash",
[Translation Editor's Note: "Shekelim" were membership certificates in the Zionist organization.]The "Bund" and "Poaley Tsiyon" organizations had a large cultural program at that time. Jewish literature penetrated into all strata of the population. The writer Anski toured the towns and villages of the borders collecting material and Jewish folklore, and stopped in Kremenets for an extended period. The best of the young students, who had not alienated themselves from their people and their language, gathered around him.
This was the calm before the storm … In 1913 a regiment of the artillery
corps came to town for maneuvers in the mountains, from which they later bombed
the Austrian positions. At that time the first casualty of the coming war fell:
one of the participants in the maneuvers, and his horse, rolled down the
mountainside and got killed.
From then on the streets were noisy day and night from the long convoys and
marching soldiers – the pride of the Russian army marching towards Brody
after its successful attack on Galicia. But, a year later the wheel had turned
and endless convoys of the retreating army galloped in panic in the opposite
direction. The large retreating forces stopped about two kilometers before our
town. For ten months this was the front. The cannons thundered above the heads
of the citizens and the machine guns rumbled. The government institutes and
schools abandoned the town, part of the population escaped, and those from
other towns that were destroyed took their place. Economic and civic life was
destroyed completely. Large amounts of money flowed into the pockets of those
who knew how to serve the army. Corruption and licentiousness spread. The town
was flooded with deserters from all of the Ukrainian towns, who escaped from
the hated Czar's army, in the hope of a rapid salvation by the Austrian army
that fought to conquer the town. But being guarded by mountains all around it,
the town was not conquered, nor was it damaged. On the second day of the
"Shavuot" holy day in 1916 the Austro-Germans were repelled, the
command headquarters of the famous 11th army corps moved into town,
and started living the life-in-the-rear.
When the October revolution started, they were the first to organize
demonstrations, which in our town took on a form of celebration. The soldier
council of the corps counted among themselves famous leaders from S.D. and S.R.
The veteran member of the communist party Lieutenant Krilenko, who organized
the Bolshevist propaganda in our town, represented the Bolsheviks. In the
fervor and excitement of the first days of the revolution, the pulse of civic
life in town started beating strongly again. The organizations of
"Bund", "Poaley-Tsiyon" and the Zionist organization were
reestablished – this time they were legal and free – and all counted
large membership. There was an election to the city council, to the Jewish
community council (that won with a labor majority, and was called "The Red
Community"), to the all-Russia Founding-Assembly, to the Ukrainian Jewish
Convention, etc.
[Page 52]
The Zionist leaders, those who raised the national flag and stayed true to it,
even in the darkest days of the period, worked with devotion and much energy.
Representing the Zionists with great success in the stormy discussions was Dr.
B. Landsberg, easy mannered logical lecturer, and honest public worker; Meir
Goldring, full of energy and a fearless fighter; Y. Shafir who is now in
Israel; Gorengut, the first head of the town's militia (now a resident of
Pardes-Khana, Israel), and others.
The intoxication of the victory and freedom had not dissipated yet, and the dark clouds of the civil war covered the sky. The army started to fall apart, wagons filled with weapons and ammunition appeared in the market, for sale to any one. In December of 1917 gangs from the army that was stationed in town started to riot, robbed stores and burned homes. Two Jews were killed. The next day, soldiers returning from the front with their weapons formed a Jewish self-defense platoon. The days of the defense troop did not last, though. The Germans, who had started to move into Ukraine, entered the town. The self-defense troop was dismembered, order was re-installed, and the Jews started to trade and speculate. At the beginning, the Germans' hand was not felt in town, but with pressure from the Bolsheviks at the border of Ukraine, a period of persecution and arrests started. Dr. Landsberg and others were arrested. They were released after a few months by the Ukrainian rebels – who stormed and conquered the town after street-fights with the Hetman officers platoon. At the head of these rebels were two local Jewish young men.
It was the start of the independent Ukraine period, which was soaked with Jewish blood. Kremenets suffered little from the slaughter, but the tension and dread of death did not leave it for many months. Once, during change of regimes, the city faced a large slaughter; This was in 1920, when the Bolsheviks retreated after killing a few tens of locals who previously were officers. The rebellious farmers, who burst into town like animals of prey, were ready to take out their anger on the Jews, but then they heard from one of the officers who miraculously had survived, that among the officers killed was also the Jewish officer Chachkis. The Cheka people wanted to release him, but he refused, choosing to share in his friends' fate. The rebels' commander used this information to calm the farmers, who, then, limited themselves to looting and robbing. With Dr. Litvak's initiative, a yearly memorial day for Chachkis was established in Kremenets.
[Translator's Note: The Cheka, which later became the NKVD, initially was a group to fight counter-Soviet activity. The acronym stands for Extraordinary Commission to Combat Counterrevolution, Sabotage, and Speculation. They were the "political police".]
[Translator's Note: The "Seym" was the Polish House of Representatives.]In the first decade of the country of Poland's governance, the town spread and got bigger, and commerce and industry flourished. New institutes were established and old ones were enlarged and improved. The Zionist organization with all its branches got bigger and was housed, with its library – the largest in town – in a nice building. Income of the national funds increased. A "Tarbut" school was opened and flourished. In 1926 the "ORT" school was built, and the building of the orphanage, which was the favorite charity of L. Rozental and Mrs. Kremenitski, was finished. The "Khevra Kadisha" which had much money, generously supported the charitable institutions.
[Translator's Note: The "Gmilut Khasadim" was a benevolent, philanthropic charity.]The days of revolution and freedom left a deep memory in our nation, and we would not accept the Polish tyrant who tried to break us with cruelty and maltreatment. Every try of their "darling sons" who came from far places to study in Kremenets, to abuse the Jews was thwarted.
During the thirties, the ruling party "Senacja" also started its corrupt policy, based on threats and oppression, in Kremenets. The government authorities started to intervene in the life of the Jewish community, supporting aggresive public workers of their choice and creating dissent among the Jewish population. All those who opposed this policy were doomed to persecution; loss of their livelihood, etc. With political oppression came economic oppression. The Jews collapsed under the weight of taxes, the sources of their livelihood were closed to them. The young men, forced to idleness, were in decline. Under the influence of the authorities an atmosphere of "pshitik" penetrated our area.
[Translation Editor's Note: The word pshitik refers to the township of Przytyk in the district of Radom, Poland. On 9 March 1936, there was a pogrom in the township but it met Jewish resistance. There were casualties on both sides but the Polish court found the Jews guilty of starting the so-called trouble. The one sided system of Polish justice was highly supported by the Polish government and became its declared policy towards the Jewish minority. The atmosphere created by the trial spread throughout Poland and was referred to as the "przytyk atmosphere." Thanks to Bill Leibner, and many others, for this explanation.]The life of a Jew, walking alone at night in a street far from center of town, was not safe anymore; a worry that Kremenets' Jews had not had for many generations. In spite of all this, Kremenets' Jewish functionaries and Zionist leaders persevered. The attorney, Dr. B. Landsberg, whose license to appear in court could have been revoked any moment, continued to fight in the community and the city council against the schemes of the authorities. Goldring, Zeydi Perlmuter and others fought relentlessly against the forceful members in the community who put their trust in, and reliance on the authorities.
At that time a new Yiddish weekly paper was started in Kremenets, with the main
participants being Zionist functionaries from all the branches. The paper
fought strongly against the forces of evil and encouraged community works in a
consistent Zionist attitude. The paper, put out by volunteers, was published
for few years and had great influence on the population.
The Nazi darkness descended. They made a ghetto, which existed for a year, and in 1942 started the annihilation of the tortured community. At the Nurnberg Trials, a German engineer testified to witnessing the great tragedy: 15,000 Kremenets' Jews were slaughtered within two days and buried in common grave across from the train station.
A small group under the leadership of Yonya Bernshtayn successfully escaped
into the forests, where together with others who joined them, they conducted a
partisan war. The Germans offered a large some of money for Yonya's head.
[Page 54]
After the Shoah, which befell us, I decided to write, in memoriam, a few lines
about life in our city during my childhood.
A large area of town was taken by the seminary for priests, its gigantic buildings and large grove climbed up to the foot of Mount Vidomka. This institute had, to a certain extent, vested the town with a Christian-religious quality. The second educational institute, which was also in a large grove at the foot of the mountain, was the school for commerce, where more than half the students were Jews.
The town itself was narrow and long, one long street dividing it from one edge to the other; from the Vishnevitsi suburb through the center of town and the Dubni suburb, all the way to the railroad station. Though the street was quite narrow, it was called "The Broad Street". From it were stretched side streets and allies that twisted and interwove all the way into and among the mountain. Mount Bona, the highest among the mountains that surrounded the town, afforded a panoramic view of the whole town. Its history was cloaked with assorted folk-tales about the castle that was built there and the deep pit at its summit. The Jews called it "The Pit of the Condemned to Death" where, according to traditional tales, castle soldiers who committed a crime and were sentenced to death were buried. During our time this mountain was used as a outlook for fires; on the turret at its peak, a scout walked day and night, and if a fire were spotted he would blow the trumpet alerting the Firemen.
The mountain was connected to the town by a paved road, which was used as a place for taking leisure walks during Shabbat and holidays. Across from it spread wide Mount Vidomka with its groves and vacation cottages built on its slopes and among the crevices. The Zionist youth used to assemble in those groves on Shabbat, and during the revolution it sheltered most of the illegal meetings. Other famous mountains were the "Mountain of the Cross" because of the cross at its peak, and "The Virgins' Mountain". This mountainous area had left its stamp on the life of the town and the character of the residents.
There was no river in town, but a narrow and turbid stream, which wound its way at the foot of Mount Bona, flowed full of water in winter and dried up in summer. The residents called it Potok and the Jews called it Potik. When a Get (1) was issued, they wrote "mata ditvey on the River Potik".
[Translator's Note: A "Get" is a divorce. The phrase "mata ditvey" is Aramaic, meaning the Get was issued in the place or town, in this case "in the town on the River Potik."[Page 55]
[Translation Editor's Note: Many of these "subdistricts" currently are known by other names. The following list conforms to the names approved for use by the US Board of Geographic Names (BGN). They are in the same order as the names given above: 1) Chernoarmeysk, 2) Berezets, 3) Belaya Krinitsa, 4) Pochayev, 5) Vishnevets, 6) Shumskoye, 7) Vyshgorodok, 8) Lanovtsy, 9) Belozerka 10) Yampol', 11) Katerinovka, 12) Staryy Aleksinets]
The area was mostly agricultural and had a market day (fair) every Sunday, when many of area's non-Jewish farmers would come to barter and shop with the town's people. Most of the business with all its stages (retail, wholesale, stores and peddlers) and all sorts of products: grain, lumber, iron, cloth, groceries, cattle, horses, etc. was in Jewish hands. About half of the city's Jews were involved in business, about 20% as professional craftsmen and laborers. They were in only certain kinds of crafts, and in others there were no Jews practicing; no builders, in stone or wood, not even plasterers. In contrast there were many tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, woodcarvers, tinsmiths, seamstresses and bakers, all the town's transportation for people and merchandise, and the porters.
Except for one large foundry, owned by Jews with non-Jewish laborers, industry in Kremenets was not modern. There was a factory for matches that lasted but a few years, and near town, by the village of Byalokrinitsi, one for making fired bricks, owned by Jews but the laborers were non-Jews; originally built to accommodate the building of the army barracks in the vicinity.
Ours was not a large business town. It served only the area within the
district, and its needs. We did not have people with great wealth in Kremenets,
but neither did we have extreme poverty. It was a town where people made a
living, and generally the Jews had an economic base in it. The district did not
have industrial plants either, except for those directly tied to agriculture,
like flourmills and distilleries, which were owned by the estates and leased to
Jews, as were the rivers for the fishing rights.
[Page 56]
A.) "Bikur-Kholim" (called also "Hekdesh") – a public hospital intended for the poor, containing about 30 beds. Physicians volunteered their services, and the needy were treated, having to pay a minimal fee, or none at all. In the last few years this institution had received a building of its own, and the two Jewish physicians in town, Drs. Landsberg and Litvak, worked there. Mikhel Shumski, Yisrael Margalit and others, were active for that institution for a very long time.
B.) "Talmud-Torah" – This orthodox school, intended for the children of the poor only, had its up and down periods. For a long time it was run by R' Duvid Leyb Segal, the son-in-law of the previous rabbi, R' Velveli. R' Moshe Rokhel, an orthodox, wealthy merchant, had invested much effort in this institution and succeeded in strengthening it from economically.
The atmosphere of volunteerism among the town's people, when it came to
community affairs and charities should be noted. A rebbi (a good Jew) who came
to town for a few days would never leave empty handed. He was given donations
generously.
The community's representatives chosen for dealing with the authorities were
mainly from among the assimilated circles, whose language was Russian, and they
were associated in every day life with Russian society and the governmental
offices staff. Among them stood out Michael Shumski and Yisrael Margalit, who
usually functioned together. So much so, that the town's people tended to
mention their name in one breath. Both were members of the city council, and
were generally considered the expert Jewish representatives for dealing with
the authorities, though no one could tell for sure if or when they were elected
for this task, or if circumstances had put them there. They were also among the
founders of the high school of commerce, and members of its supervising
committee for many years. Those connections took the character of intercession,
in personal matters and communal affairs, using personal influence and gifts.
From time to time, certain members of the religious circles whose personal
standing, strong character, and wealth, had trained them for it, would join in
the negotiation with the authorities.
[Translation Editor's Note: The town of Zvihil probably is Zvyagel which now is known as Novohrad-Volyns'kyy. It is at 50 36 N / 27 37 E, 90.5 miles ENE of Kremenets.][Page 57]
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"Zion Youth" group members, 1912 |
[Translator's Note: "Bikur Kholim" means attending or visiting the sick … a hospital]As long as R'Velveli was alive, the opposition was kept restrained, but the community's functionaries kept their resentment inside. After his death, a group of his close associates brought to town the Rabbi Sanderovich from Piotrkov. With this choice they intended to continue the Rabbi's influence on the town's affairs. Another group of influential functionaries, who were opposed to this choice, brought a rabbi of their own choice to town, the Rabbi Yitskhak Heler from the town of Korilovits. For about ten years the discord continued between the supporters of each Rabbi. With it came all the negative fringe effects: slandering the opposite Rabbi about his expertise in the Bible, and his authority, undermining, slander, causing delays at the reading on Shabbat, a split in synagogue membership, establishment of new synagogues, and even beating. But to their credit, it should be noted, that tale bearing and slander were never brought to the authorities, though in general our town's hands were not clean of this offence.
[Translation Editor's Note: The town of Piotrkov now is known as Petrikov. It is at 49 32 N / 25 35 E, 39.6 miles S of Kremenets. The town of Korilovits now is known as Korilovka. It is at 49 35 N / 26 18 E, 44.1 miles SE of Kremenets.]The discord chapter is a sorry one in the late period on our town's life. It brought on a deep division, and unwarranted hatred, resulting in detracting attention from the essential affairs of the community. It is fair to assume, that the ones to suffer most from the discord were the two Rabbis, and it is possible that they did not even get involved in it at all, even if they could not stop it.
Both were great scholars; one of them: the Rabbi Heler had authored few books of "questions and answers": "Viater Yitskhak"; "Minkhat Yitskhak", and others.
[Translator's Note: "Viater" means "and he acceded …"; "Minkhat" means "the offering of …", or "tribute" or "gift"]
At the head of the opposing factions were: Aba Tsukerman, supporter of the
Rabbi from Piotrkov, and Hirsh Mendel Rokhel, supporter of the Rabbi from
Korilovits. During the war years the discord dissipated. The Rabbi from
Korilovits left town with the flow of refugees and settled in Odessa.
[Translator's Note: Minkha refers to the afternoon prayer; Maariv refers to the evening prayer; Bet Midrash refers to religious houses of learning, colleges]Most of our people were religious and few were freethinkers. The general atmosphere in town was imbedded with devotion to tradition; during Shabbat all the stores were closed, work stopped and the synagogues were filled with praying people, and the effect of the holy days was very obvious. People did not drive during the Shabbat, and those that breached the rules did it out of sight, not daring to enter the town in a vehicle. Most old and middle-aged men wore Kapotas, especially during Shabbat and Holidays. Most of the young generation men shaved their beards, walked in public with their heads uncovered, and some spoke Russian. But as the saying goes: "even the sinners of Israel are full, like a pomegranate, with good deeds" for the truth is that those of the young generation were deeply imbedded in the Jewish traditions, and for "Honor thy Father" they would come to the synagogue on Shabbat and holidays, keep Kashrut and follow the other ways of Judaism. The High School of Commerce had a destructive influence on traditional ways, as its students profaned Shabbat since their youth, and instilled this habit in their parents' homes and all around them. A second reason for the breaking rules and traditions was the revolutionary movement that swept up a considerable number of the town's youth. The World War speeded up the process of secularity.
[Translator's Note: The Kapota is a long coat, generally black.]
The reciprocal contacts among the different ethnic groups were mainly for the
purpose of work and business, and only in small portion were they ties for
mutual cultural and public activities. The wealthy merchants and the
intelligencia circles, the Russian speakers, saw it as an honor to be members
of the public club called "The high society salon", where they
enjoyed their evenings playing cards and dominos in the company of the Russian
intelligencia and officials. There were other ways of cultural association and
close relation, but in general it has to be stated (that is for the period
before the First World War), that the Jewish congregation in Kremenets formed a
tightly knit, unified entity with independence – all its own way of life
with a pronounced national feeling with all its light and shadows. And they
were largely immune from assimilation with the other ethnic groups who were the
majority in the area. The fact is, mixed marriages or conversions were very
rare.
From time to time a Zionist Magid would visit our city (the Magid Berker, the father of Kiryati from Kiryat-Anavim, is remembered favorably) to preach for the public, in the beyt-midrash, between Minkha and Maariv. And it would seem that he awakened dormant sentiments to Zion and its new life. The leaders of the community be they religious or freethinkers, were not Zionist adherents. The religious ones opposed the basic idea because of Dkhikat haKets, some did not approve the meetings where men and women attended together, sat with uncovered heads and spoke Russian.
[Translator's Note: Dkhikat haKets refers to the concept of forcing the issue of the messiah's arrival, by returning and rebuilding the homeland of Israel before the arrival of the Messiah.]It is true that in the early period many of the talks during the Zionist meetings were in Russian, even though most of the Zionists were of the middle classes. In the eye of the religionists the Zionist movement was equal to being heretical. At a later time the situation changed, and in 1920 the Tsairey-Tsiyon and Poaley-Tsiyon organizations were active in Kremenets, in addition to the veteran Zionists, and a group of pioneers immigrated to Israel.
[Tranlator's Note: Tsairey-Tsiyon refers to the "Young Zionists" organization.]Early 1921 saw the Zionist organization fighting to gain leading positions in the city's public institutions. Gathered around them were young people, mostly children of the householders, some from different circles, and a few adults. At that time there was not a clear difference between the Zionist factions; in the Zionist organization was the Tsairey-Tsiyon, a fellowship without a clear program, as an active and lively part of the organization, a sort of young guardian section. As for the adults, though only few, they were deeply rooted with belief in Zionism and steadfast to their ideas. Each of them had an influencing personality, and was well known in the community: Dr. B. Landsberg, Yakov Shafir, Meir Goldring, Aharon-Shimon Shpal, Moshe Idelman, Getsi Klorfayn, Aharon Fridman, Munye Dobrimil, Meshulam Katz, and some other personalities-functionaries who paved the way to a wide-spread cultural and Zionist functions in the period between the two wars, and prepared a popular pioneering immigration on a large scale.
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