HaKhaluts HaTsair, Kremenets, 1926

As the young ones matured, most of them, in groups of 40-50, would move to "haKhaluts". The parents did not object to their children joining "haKhaluts haTsair". On the contrary – they were glad to have them play, hike, sing, spend time in the fresh air, read and develop. But when they matured and their turn came to join "haKhaluts" and go to Kibbutz Hakhshara, they encountered a fierce objection from their parents. In particular the parents objected to the daughters going to hakhshara. Indeed, many of the sons and daughters could not withstand the parental Pressure, and their "Pioneering" ended in "haKhaluts haTsair", and they never arrived at "haKhaluts".

Now", with a "Matriculation Document" received from the youth group, our group have graduated to the "haKhaluts! The main concern of "haKhaluts" at that time was Hakhshara, where and how to get sufficient places for training.


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Many were sent to Kibbutz Klosova (About 20 members from Kremenets went there. When the Kibbutz in Verba was established, about 10 members from Kremenets were there). The members had gone through many hardships in those Kibbutzim; they knew deprivation and hunger, but overcame all those, and were strengthened and ready for immigration.

In the years 1932-1933 there was a Kibbutz-Hakhshara in Kremenets itself, which had about 30 – 40 people. Few of the members were local; most were from out of town. The Kibbutz in Kremenets enriched the pioneering look of the town. To start with, the members lived in the Dubno suburb, but later they moved close to the flourmill of Ovadis, where most of them worked. The others worked in woodcutting and any job they could get. The women worked also in housekeeping. Those who were locals had left their parents homes and refused to stay there even during the Sabbath. They severed their ties completely from that way of life, and immersed themselves in the life of the Kibbutz. More than once a town's woman would be seen standing by a young man, crying and lamenting, for him of a good family, who went to work in hard jobs befitting the "goyim".

In those years, the Zionist movements in our town were functioning in a mutual understanding. This was not the case with the "Brit-Trumpeldor" movement, which was established in our town in 1925. Quarrels and clashes broke out from time to time between them and the movements of "Land of Israel's workers". Some of the "haKhaluts" members were part of the "Hitakhdut", others were part of "Dror" party. The "haKhaluts" branch in Kremenets was one of the most active branches in Poland. Outstanding among the activists of the local pioneering movement in the last years were: A. Ditun (now living in Argentina) in "haKhaluts haTsair", Shayke Kapuzer and Hershel Bernshteyn (now living in Argentina) in "haKhaluts".

[Translator's Note: "Beytar" is an acronym for Brit Trumpeldor, a political movement of the "right".]

Members of HaKhaluts in Kremenets

Verba's members were known for being learned in Hebrew. And, the members were proud of that, for their knowledge of Hebrew was acquired after a hard day's labor in the Kibbutz. Any person who did not attend classes, and did not come to the reading room – the "mini-Temple of Verba" – was put to shame and disgrace.

Verba struggled with the angel-in-charge of making a living for five years, and did not give up. A few times it was abandoned, but then, was returned to the way it was. The members used to mark the years by the number of times the Kibbutz was abandoned. In good days veteran members would sit and leisurely recall and tell of the first time it was left.

Ownership of the factory changed hands, and the right to work of the members was challenged by various farmers of nearby villages. In spite of this, the Kibbutz continued to fight bravely and honorably for its right to work, and eventually it received even the most important jobs, to execute on its own responsibility. An economic crisis came to the country. It did not spare the Kibbutz in Verba. There were times without work and days of unemployment. Some types of work were completely cancelled. The Kibbutz membership grew smaller. It was a difficult time, but the members took it bravely, and devoted themselves to work in the garden, with the cows and chickens, and became attached to each green stalk. Alas, in the end they were forced to see things as they really were: on the one hand to disperse again, with the danger of losing the land because of eminent closure of the factory. On the other hand, new possibilities, new jobs… and the plain logic said: find places more secure, and life with better conditions. The result was a decision to merge Verba with Bendin.

Verba overcame its sadness and started with encouraged steps on the long way.

The walls were simply whitewashed. The two long tables made of unplaned lumber, with two long benches, like in the old "beyt-midrash" in the shtetl and there was a small dark area for washing and shaving. The kitchen was long dark and uncomfortable. The member working in the kitchen had to go frequently to the well in the yard for a pail of water, and in the summer she would stumble into a fellow washing his face or his hands by the well, drinking or reading a book. This was a true well with a bucket tied at the end of a long chain, ringing when used which brought on a bit of back-at-home feeling to the life in the Kibbutz.

Large pumpkins grew in the well-tended garden, peeping out from between the large leaves. The cows in the barn gave a sufficient amount of milk. The horses, their coats shining, their heads held high, were neither skinny from hunger nor exhausted from hard labor. At nine in the evening the members departed from the Kibbutz: the twelve groups leaving for their apartments, which were spread throughout the village, calling to each other a joyful "Shalom".

Between two large cities sits the city of Verba: between Dubno and Kremenets. But Verba does not attach itself to Dubno, nor to the Kibbutz in Kremenets, in spite of its elegant house with many rooms, its veranda and large balcony overlooking the mountains – all this Kibbutz in Kremenets was only a group whose administration and life came from Verba. Verba had a nice tradition, nice customs; and the self-distinction of a nice and true pioneering culture.

Kibbutz Hakshara in Verba, 1933

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