Voice of Kremenets Emigrants in Israel and the Diaspora, Booklet 12

Mordekhay Chasid and His Wife, Shprintse	8
Zev Chasid	10
Dr. Yisrael Tsinberg	23
Yurik Pikhovits	28
Mountain of the Virgins	32
Pesach Litev (Litvak)	54
Arye Bedolach	57
David Katz	58
Mordekhay Goldenberg	60
Leyb Apelboym	61

Aleksandrov, Hilel	25
Ami (husband of Ilana Rayzman)	45
Apelboym, Leyb	61 (photo), 61
Apelboym*, Rachel	61
Apelboym, Sonya	61
Apelboym, Zina	61
Argaman, Avraham	ii, 35, 43
Averbakh, Dr.	62
Avidar, Dana	44
Avidar*, Yemima	44
Avidar, Yosef	44
Bakimer, Chayim	62
Bakimer, David	35
Bakimer, Shifra	62
Baleban*, Shifra (née Bakimer)	62
Baleban, Yisrael	62
Barshap, Avraham	44
Barshap*, Dara	45
Barshap*, Masha	44
Barshap, Mula	44
Barshap*, Yael	44
Barshap, Yakov	45
Barshap, Vovke	20
Bar-Ziv*, Leya (see also Fidel)	44
Bar-Ziv, Mikhal	44
Bar-Ziv, Moshe (see also Fidel)	44
Bar-Ziv, Yitschak	44
Bedolach, Arye (Leybel)	57 (photo), 57-58
Bedolach*, Sara	58
Berger	66
Berkovits-Teper, Chanokh (see also Teper-Berkovits)	62
Berkovits-Teper, Talya (see also Teper-Berkovits)	62
Berman	35
Berman*, Batya (née Tsukerman)	44
Berman, Shraga	44
Berman, Yuval	44
Bernshteyn	35
Bialik, Chayim Nachman	57
Biberman brothers	14
Biberman family	62
Biberman, Avraham	36
Biberman, Feyga	36
Biberman, Leyb	36
Biberman, Nachman	36
Biberman, Yitschak	36
Biberman-Bihem (husband of Nechama)	44
Biberman-Bihem, Chagit	44
Biberman-Bihem, Nechama	44
Blit, Sh.	14
Bronfeld, Emanuel	45
Bronfeld*, Manya (née Lerer)	45
Burshteyn, Yosef	9, 10
Chasid family	1, 3
Chasid, Avraham	8 (photo), 8, 9, 10, 37, 44
Chasid, Chanan	44
Chasid*, Eti	44
Chasid, Feyga	9
Chasid, Mordekhay	8-9
Chasid, Shiri	44
Chasid*, Shprintse	8 (photo), 8, 9
Chasid, Yakov	9
Chasid, Zev	9, 10 (photo), 10-11, 37, 66
Dayan, Mikhal	44
Dayan, Nechemya	44
Dayan*, Nira (née Vishniov)	44
Dayan, Tal	44
Desser, Max	ii
Desser, Nachman	20
Dubnov, Sh.	24
Dugim	35
Epshteyn, Yakov	43
Eshkol, Levi	56
Etinger, Shmuel	21
Fadve, Dr.	15
Fayer, Chayim	49
Feler, Ada	44
Feler*, Dana (née Avidar)	44
Feler, Mike	44
Fidel*, Leya (see also Bar-Ziv)	44
Fidel, Moshe (see also Bar-Ziv)	44
Fishman, Eliyahu	60
Fridel, Avraham	36
German*, Feyga (née Chasid)	9
German, Nechemya	9
Geva, Avraham	44
Geva, Ofer	44
Geva*, Tsipora (née Landsberg)	44
Gokun, Avraham (Avrasha)	35, 44
Gokun, Mira	44
Gokun*, Shoshana	44
Golberg, Yehoshue (Shayke)	ii, 35, 38, 48, 58
Goldenberg, Avraham	60
Goldenberg*, Chana	ii
Goldenberg, Etil	60
Goldenberg, Manus	ii, 3, 16, 28, 20, 35
Goldenberg, Mordekhay	60 (photo), 60
Goldenberg, Tsale	60
Goldfarb (school principal)	10
Goltsberg	35
Goltsberg*, Ada	44
Goltsberg, Mordekhay	44
Goltsberg, Rachel	44
Goltsberg, Yitschak (Kitsi)	44
Gorodetski brothers	62
Gorodetski, Rachel	62
Gun, Grishe	13
Gur, Yosef	11
Gutman, Rachel	62
Halperin brothers	14
Hofshteyn, Duvid	36
Kamendant, Zelik	20 (photo)
Kapuzer, Shayke	13
Kartman	10
Katsir, Efraim	12
Katsman	35
Katsnelson, Yitschak	20, 21
Katz, Adva	45
Katz, David (Dosya)	58 (photo), 58-60
Katz, Marcos	ii
Katz, Mark	66
Katz, Mordekhay	49
Katz, Munek	58
Katz, Reya	59, 60
Katz*, Rut	45
Katz, Shimon	59, 60
Katz*, Shlomit	45
Katz, Tamar	59, 60
Katz, Yosi	45
Kendel, Mr.	36
Kesler	35
Kindzior, Gedalyahu	35
Klorfayn, Leya (Leytsi)	62
Klug, Nachum	13, 14
Klug, Rachel	13
Klug*, Rut	13-15
Kneler, Aba	45
Kneler, Arye	45
Kneler*, Rachel	45
Kogan, William	ii
Koler*, Zina (née Apelboym)	61
Koler, Pesach	61
Kot	30
Kremenetski	35
Kristal (father of Arye Bedolach)	57
Landsberg, Avraham	44
Landsberg*, Chana	44
Landsberg, Tsipora	44
Langleyr, Rivka	44
Lerer, Manya	45
Levinzon, Yitschak Ber, R' (RYB”L)	24, 35
Levotshkin, Amichay	44
Levotshkin*, Chagit	44
Likht, Menucha	45
Likht, Nachman	45
Likht, Sara Batya	45
Limonchik*, Leya (Leytsi, née Klorfayn)	62
Limonchik, Shraga	62
Litev	35, 43
Litev, M.	66
Litev, Pesach (see also Litvak, Pesach)	36, 38, 54 (photo), 54-56
Litev*, Polya	54
Litvak, Binyamin, R'	56
Litvak, Pesach (see also Litev, Pesach)	36, 38, 54 (photo), 54-56
Lopatin-Tsirlevits, Leya	62
Maharshak, Beni	62
Maharshak*, Rachel (née Gutman)	62
Manusovits, Asher	11
Margalit, Yosef	66
Margolis	10
Margolis, Markushe	14
Meir, Yechiel	45
Milgrom*, Cherna	35
Montgomery, General	31
Montgomery, Mrs.	31
Mordish, Chayim	49
Nigar, Sh.	24
Nudel, Chayim	60
Otiker, Yisrael	1, 20-22
Pesman, Mr.	55
Pikhovits*, Tsipora	31, 33
Pikhovits, Yurik	28-33
Pinchuk, Meir	29, 30
Polonski, Mire	14
Portnoy	35, 36
Portnoy*, Chinya	29, 33
Portnoy, Izya	29, 33
Potilov	23
Ran (grandson of Meir and Chaya Zeyger)	44
Rapoport, David	1
Rayz brothers	60
Rayzman	35
Rayzman*, Alina	45
Rayzman, Fayvel	45
Rayzman, Ilana	45
Rokhel	35, 43
Rokhel family	62
Rokhel, Avraham	11
Rokhel, Ido	45
Rokhel, Moshe	36
Rokhel*, Ruchama	36
Rokhel*, Sarka	45
Rokhel, Yitschak	ii, 20, 23, 34, 36, 45, 54
Rokhel, Yuval	45
Rothschild, James (Baron)	11
Sada, Yitschak	32
Shafir	1
Shavit, Uzi	43
Shcheybal, Professor	38
Shcheybal, Vladek	38
Sher, Sonya	62
Shifman*, Sonya	62
Shifris	35
Shklovina, Dr.	14
Shklovina, Sheyne	14
Shmueli, Ami	44
Shmueli*, Rachel (née Goltsberg)	44
Shnayder	36
Shnayder, Moshe	62
Shnayder, Shmuel	67
Shnayder, Zev	66
Shpal, Aharon Shimon	11
Shtern	35, 36
Shumski, Zev (Velya)	58
Skolski, Shlome	34
Slutski, Yehuda	23, 25
Sofer, Avraham	49
Stern, Isaac	36
Tami (granddaughter of Meir and Chaya Zeyger)
Taytelman	35
Teper	35
Teresova	67
Tesler, Metet	33
Troshinski, Moshe (Munek)	62
Troshinski*, Rachel (née Gorodetski)	62
Tsinberg, Eliezer	8, 23
Tsinberg, Yisrael, Dr.	1, 8, 23 (photo), 23-25
Tsirlevits, Dvora	62
Tsirlevits, Hinda	62
Tsukerman	35
Tsukerman, Amir	44
Tsukerman, Batya	44
Tsukerman, David	44
Tsukerman*, Sima	44
Tsukerman*, Sonya	44
Tsukerman, Zev	44
Vakman, Yitschak	45
Vasil the shepherd	10
Vaynberg, Yakov	45
Vays, Arik	44
Vays, Avraham	44
Vays*, Chaya (née Zeyger)	44
Vays, Yitschak	44
Vilderman	35
Viner	35
Vishniov, Hertsel	44
Vishniov, Nira	44
Vishniov*, Shifra	44
Vorer, Bruria	62
Vorer, Shaya Shilem's (see Vorer, Yehoshue)	62
Vorer, Yehoshue	62
Yardenski-Shukhman, Avraham	49
Yukilis	35
Zalts, Yosef	60
Zats, Avraham	29
Zeyger*, Chaya	44
Zeyger, Dana	44
Zeyger, Giora	44
Zeyger, Meir	44
Zeyger*, Pnina	44
Zeyger*, Rivka (née Langleyr)	44
Ziger, Meir	35

We finished the Editors' Note for booklet 11 with the hope and expectation for a peaceful and stable era. Indeed, neither peace nor stability has come to us; we have been shaken by grave events here and abroad. Nevertheless, life goes on; creativity and productivity advance and develop in all areas, and we find strength in this. Our small world, the world of the Kremenets emigrants in Israel, joins the creative atmosphere and does its part in the assorted branches of occupation.

And here we present to you Voice of Kremenets Emigrants, booklet 12, which is a bit different from the previous ones. For one thing, the articles and the information are given in two languages – Hebrew and Yiddish – together. Secondly, and this is the main thing, the booklet is arranged by topic. We open with an extended section with articles about the Chasid family. The second section includes memories of the past: the ghetto, young Jewish men in the Polish army, and reviews of important books written by Kremenetsers Yisrael Otiker and Dr. Tsinberg. The third section is about events among Kremenets emigrants in Israel: Shafir, Yurik Pikhovits, Mosaic, the scholarship fund, and the review by David Rapoport. The fourth section mentions members who have passed away. The fifth section enumerates events among our townspeople and members of the organization. The sixth section is intended for our members in Argentina, and the last section is for financial reports.

If members accept this form and these changes in structure, we will continue with them, and we hope that from now on the booklets will arrive at the proper time.

Following an enormous rise in prices, we are forced to increase the booklet price to I£10 instead of I£6.We appeal to members to please send us – without delay – their subscription payment, and to those who owe for previous shipments, to add that sum so as to ensure the publication of the next booklet.

[Page 8]

Mordekhay Chasid and His Wife, Shprintse

[Page 9]

For such an event, the meeting was camouflaged as a birthday party, and the table was spread with refreshments and sweets. When Yosef Burshteyn's Hebrew students held their first party in his house on Purim, it was stopped by the police, who suspected that it was a political meeting. R' Mordekhay, who was held responsible for the party, was arrested, but thanks to the intervention of the town's politicians, he was released the next day.

In preparation for immigrating to the Land, he sent his son Zev to study at the agriculture school in Petach Tikva and entrusted him with the task of researching property suitable for agriculture that the whole family could work on. Alas, World War I contravened his plans, and the family remained in the Diaspora. He succeeded in immigrating with his wife, Shprintse, of blessed memory, but only in their old age in 1936, after their sons, Avraham and Yakov, and his daughter Feyga, with her husband, Nechemya German, and their children.

Even in Israel, he did not stay idle: Ramat Yitschak, the community he lived in, had no place for the public to pray, so he initiated a campaign to build a synagogue and remained with the project until it was finished. He worked to establish a benevolent fund to help the needy and to incorporate the suburb of Ramat Yitschak into the city of Ramat Gan in order to enable its development and an increase in services. When he visited his son Yakov in Kvutsat Kinneret, he was highly impressed with the technical improvements and modern systems employed in working the fields and was disappointed that he had immigrated too late to be able to work in agriculture. His wife, Shprintse, was his right hand in his activities for the public benefit. She passed away in 1942 after a heart attack she suffered when she learned the annihilation of Kremenets Jews, among them her two sons and her daughter with her children.

R' Mordekhay passed away in 1949 after being privileged to see the reestablishment of an independent Israel. He was also privileged to see his son Zev become a world-renowned scientist. He came from the United States to visit him at the end of World War II, by then being a professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

May his memory be blessed.

[Page 10]

I remember Zev at the age of 11. There were already a few children in the family who needed to be educated, and for that purpose, a teacher from town was hired. This was an educated young man who lived in our house and taught us Jewish studies, and he also taught the older children general studies. Zev did not show much desire to study; he was attracted to walking in the forest, climbing trees, catching birds, collecting plants, and especially drawing horses and colts. During the summer, he liked to spend most of his days in the cattle pasture, in the company of Vasil the shepherd. Father used to scold him for slipping away from his studies: “What will your future be? See, you will turn into a shepherd.”

When the children grew up and needed a formal education, the family moved to Kremenets. Our father would spend the weekdays on the farm and come home for the Sabbath. Zev entered the government primary school for Jewish boys under the administration of Goldfarb, where they were taught general studies but not Jewish studies. On weekday afternoons, he studied at Yosef Burshteyn's school. When public school ended, the problem arose of where he should continue his education; the only high school in our town was the School of Commerce. But there they studied on the Sabbath, too, and our father did not agree to have his son violate the Sabbath.

[Page 11]

So Zev continued to study with Asher Manusovits as an external student and to pursue Hebrew studies with the teacher Aharon Shimon Shpal. A year later, the decision was made to send Zev to the agricultural school in Petach Tikva, in the Land of Israel, where his friend Avraham Rokhel was studying. At the end of the first school year, he planned to go home for summer vacation, but he contracted typhus and could not leave. In the meantime, World War I had begun, communication with the Land of Israel was halted, and Zev, at 18 years old, was left in Petach Tikva, cut off from his family, weakened by his ailment, and with no financial support. Zev supported himself by working in the afternoons at local farms. At the time, the country was under the cruel Turkish regime. Sickness and dire shortages were prevalent, and Zev, like the other students who were cut off from their parents, suffered from hunger. When the British army conquered the southern part of the country in 1918, Zev volunteered to serve in the Jewish Brigade that began to form then, as did most of the young men in the country. Unfortunately, because he was weak and frail, the medical examination board rejected him. The head of the recruitment board at that time was Baron James Rothschild, who served as an officer in the British army. Zev approached him with an appeal, and he gave an order to enlist him. Indeed, after a few days of eating properly, he recovered his health and functioned as a regular soldier in every way. In the army, Zev rose to the rank of corporal, and his pay was increased above that of a private. He was thrifty and saved for the time after his discharge.

Following the advice of the agronomist Yosef Gur, a graduate of the University of California and also a member of the Brigade, Zev decided to go to California to study natural science. The money he saved was sufficient to get him to California, and with the diploma from the school in Petach Tikva, he was accepted at the university. His knowledge of English was insufficient to understand the lectures, so he had to supplement his knowledge with outside help. He met with sympathy from the university's administration and was helped by its staff, too, in his studies and with employment. A year later, Zev began studying at the University of California, Berkeley. Although he had a hard time economically, he advanced and received first and second degrees in chemistry, supporting himself with any job he could get.

His master's thesis showed suitable achievement, and he was appointed a teaching assistant at the University of California, Berkeley, where he continued to study until he received a doctoral degree in biochemistry. His work was successful, and he was appointed a tenured professor.

[Page 12]

While teaching at the university, he did research, too, making many discoveries in the field of biochemistry, and published close to 200 articles and books in this science. He achieved the rank of senior professor in the university and was elected to the American academy and international academies.

In the past 30 years, he has visited in Israel four times. He was a visiting lecturer in the science institutes here and was always received with pleasure. Many Israeli scientists who did postgraduate studies in the laboratories under his direction were greatly helped by him. His house was like a mini-embassy of Israel, where students were received with much warmth. But his private life was unlucky.

In his later years, he suffered from a heart ailment. His wife, who was his devoted helper, passed away three years ago after a long ailment, and he was left alone and sick without progeny in a foreign land far from his family.

In his last letter, he wrote to us that after the last treatment he had received at the hospital, his condition had improved, and he was continuing to work in his laboratory. We were hoping to see him again in Israel and enjoy his bright personality, pleasant demeanor, and simple ways. In spite of his distinguished achievements and fame in the world of science, he was no stranger to humility, nor did he feel above others.

On May 1, we received the bitter news that he had passed away from heart failure in the hospital.

We received letters from his university colleagues, the rector, the university chancellor, and his many friends expressing their condolences and sadness, noting the great loss they personally felt – the loss of a man with exceptional gifts and a distinguished scientist. Telegrams of notification of his death were received by the Weizmann Institute and Israel's president, Efraim Katsir, who was his friend and who did his graduate work in Zev's laboratories. In his replying telegram, the president wrote that with Zev's death, a great scientist and a noble soul had been lost.

May his memory be blessed.

[Page 20]

The life work of our distinguished member Yisrael Otiker, of blessed memory, extends not only over areas of various activities in the Land and abroad. It was accompanied by writing that contains much to educate the younger generation. This began with Kremenitser Shtime and the Pioneer booklets in Hebrew and Yiddish in the Diaspora and continued with his contributions to assorted periodicals in the Land and now with his phenomenal book, The Pioneer Movement in Poland, 1932-1935, with 230 pages, published by Ghetto Fighters' Publishers, named for Yitschak Katsnelson in December 1972. This book earned its author the title of graduate in arts and sciences from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

[Page 21]

Following are three sections: from the publisher's preface to the book, the foreword by Professor Shmuel Etinger, and the author's introduction.

Here is a summary of the contents:

(a) The Numerical Development of the Pioneer Federation up to 1935; (b) Pioneer's Humanitarian Theme; (c) The Formation of the Training Kibbutz; (d) The Spread of Training Kibbutzim during 1932/33; (e) The Demographic Composition of the Training Kibbutzim; (f) The Social Background of Training Kibbutz Members; (g) Addendum, Including the Klosova Anthem in Yiddish and Hebrew.

The book offered here to readers was written by Yisrael Otiker, a member of Kibbutz Naan and a lecturer and active member of the Efal Institute. Although the scope of the research presented here is limited in subject and period, it is complete in itself, the first of its kind. The Pioneer movement archives – housed in Ghetto Fighters' Publishers (named for Yitschak Katsnelson) – consider this work appropriate for the beginning of a series of research and commemorative volumes they will publish on the Pioneer movement.

From the beginning, the Jewish population in independent Poland was exposed to riots, assaults, and a policy of injustice – aiming toward expulsion of the “superfluous Jews” and the transfer of traditional branches of Jewish economic livelihood to the hands of government and citizens of the ruling nation… The Land of Israel turned out to be the only ray of hope for this Jewish community in strangulation. This was the main reason that Pioneer, at the beginning of the 1930s, developed into a mass movement, a movement of thousands. It seems that Otiker's main research is dedicated to a statistical and demographic description of the movement.

[Page 22]

But in fact, the collective's spirit is revealed, as well as sacrifice, cultural activities, and the learning of Hebrew, which were all necessary to maintain the existence of Pioneer members in Poland during the long period of waiting for immigration and preparing them for their future pioneering role in Israel… Only thanks to the active and energetic activity of the national current and Pioneer, which led the flow of those who fulfilled the dream and immigrated before the Holocaust, and those who heroically overcame the British blockade at the gates of Israel immediately after, was the long and glorious tradition of the Jewish community in Poland interwoven with the continual historical activity of the Jewish nation. In this chapter, with its historical succession of the nation and its self-awareness, Yisrael Otiker has made a considerable contribution, which could have been much greater if his life and activities had not ended.

From 1932 to 1935, the Pioneer movement saw a rapid increase and broad dissemination in Europe. In 1933, of 83,000 members worldwide, there were 41,000 in Poland (not including Galicia) and 17,800 in Galicia, which means that about 70% of the members were within the borders of the Polish nation. The movement in Poland had a considerable influence on the consolidation of the organization and was the model for training activities in other countries. The Pioneer federation in Poland excelled in many practical initiatives and clarification of ideas. Because of this, it carried a great weight among the world movement… We deal here only within the framework of the Pioneer federation in Poland, whose center was in Warsaw, the capital of central Poland, that is, Congress Poland, and the eastern regions, called Krasi. We do not deal here with the Pioneer movement in Galicia, which until World War I was included in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This chapter is a subject for a separate discussion.

In addition, we have to emphasize that there is no claim in these chapters to present an all-encompassing history of Pioneer in Poland. That history is still awaiting its time, and without a doubt, it is a subject for many research projects.

[Page 23]

Yisrael Tsinberg – famous mainly for his monumental work The History of Hebrew Literature, published and reprinted several times in Hebrew and Yiddish – was born in 1873 in Kozachuk village near the town of Lanovits^[2], Kremenets district. His father, Eliezer, who rented the local landowner's estate, was somewhat interested in the Enlightenment and took care to give his son a good education. He hired one of the best teachers from the rabbinical institute in and brought him to his home in Lanovits. When he grew up, Yisrael studied in a Russian high school, and after he graduated, he studied at the Polytechnion in Karlsruhe, Germany. He earned his doctorate in Basle and did postdoctoral work in a chemistry laboratory in Germany. In 1898, he returned to Russia, settled in Petersburg, and was appointed the administrator of Potilov's large factory, where he worked for about 40 years. He achieved a high rank in his profession, published scientific articles, and authored a textbook that had two printings. He received the honorable Soviet title Hero of Labor.

In 1938, he and a large group of Jewish scientists and writers were arrested and sent to a detention camp near Vladivostok. At the beginning of 1939, he fell ill and passed away in that city's hospital; no one knows where he is buried. Only after the 20th Communist Party Convention did his family receive a notice that his name had been cleared.

This, in short, is the biography and bitter end of Yisrael Tsinberg; his was a life path that many Jewish scientists and writers in Soviet Russia traversed, with their only transgression being that they were Jewish.

[Page 24]

But in the scientific field, and even more in literature, Tsinberg's life path was very glorious; the native of the remote village Kozachuk left a literary legacy that will never be forgotten.

Tsinberg saw his work in the chemistry laboratory of the factory as the mundane part of his life and saw the main essence of his life as his literary work. This had two parts: articles about politics and public affairs, of which he wrote many in the years until the October 1917 revolution, and research into the history of Jewish literature. In Petersburg, he joined the Russian-Jewish intelligentsia circles, which were centered on the Society for the Spread of the Enlightenment and the Jewish magazine in Russian, Voschod. Very soon, he was offered a regular column in Hebrew and Yiddish in the weekly Survey of Jewish Journals, a review that encompassed myriad problems caused by the times. Throughout the history of the Jewish nation in the Diaspora, Tsinberg saw two opposing factions: one of logic and the other of emotion: law against legend, the Rambam against Yehuda HaLevi, Mitnagdim against Hasidim. Tsinberg was on the side of the emotion faction, in whom he saw the embodiment of the folk instinct. Being a strong follower of the Narodniks, he saw the core of goodness in simple people, and from this came his positive attitude toward the Yiddish tongue as the language of the masses. At the same time, he was far from having the negative attitude developed in those years by many Yiddish devotees. His attitude toward the Zionist movement was one of respect and honor, but with criticism; he saw it as “an ideal for the distant future.” Due to those views, he supported the Folks Party, and in 1912, it started to publish the monthly Yiddishe Velt, edited by Sh. Nigar, for the purpose of making the Yiddish the language of the Jewish intelligentsia, too. With the establishment of the Soviet regime, Tsinberg was forced to write his column on civic matters.

From his first literary work, Tsinberg saw his main mission as scientific research on Jewish literature throughout the generations and in assorted languages. His first composition in this field was a monograph on Y. B. Levinzon (RYB”L). In 1900, he joined the staff of the Jewish Encyclopedia in the Russian language as editor of new Jewish literature in Hebrew and Yiddish, and published about 300 tractates. The historical collection of Sh. Dubnov's Yevreyskaya Starina^[3] contains Tsinberg's extensive research papers on RYB”L and other writers of the Enlightenment period.

[Page 25]

But the pinnacle of his research is the book History of Jewish Literature. He had two problems: time span and languages. After some consideration, he decided to limit his work to the European period – from its flourishing period in Spain up to the publication of his book – about 100 years. As for languages, the deciding point was his integral understanding that Jewish literature was a single unit no matter the language in which it was written (Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, Aramaic, German, Yiddish). Tsinberg had a rule: “I write only according to original sources. I will not write about any book that I do not have or that I have not read.” The other rule is that the book would encompass Jewish literary creativity in all its forms: Kabbalah and philosophy, folktales, religious poetry, and secular poetry. In all of them, he saw threads of the same cloth.

The book was begun in Russian, and in 1919, the first five chapters were published in Petersburg. The complete book, with eight chapters, was published in Yiddish in Vilna between 1929 and 1934. The book was more successful than expected, and while the volumes were out in stores, a second edition was printed. From 1964 to 1968, a third edition in Yiddish was published in Buenos Aires. In 1957, Hilel Aleksandrov, the well-known historian, discovered the handwritten, unfinished manuscript of the ninth volume, containing only eight chapters, in Leningrad. A photocopy of the manuscript arrived in America and was printed there in Yiddish in 1966.

Tsinberg did all his literary work after a full day's work in a factory, in the evenings and during vacations. He continued it diligently – during the war, hunger and cold, years of persecution, and Stalin's “cleansing” – for in that he saw his life's destiny.

From 1960 to 1965, six volumes of the book were published in Hebrew by Sifriat Hapoalim, and the seventh volume was published in 1971.

Yehuda Slutski concludes his preface to the seventh volume with these words:

“May this book be a memorial monument to a unique Jew, who remained loyal to his nation and its culture under conditions of loneliness and separation…”

[Page 28]

Starting in 1973, the name Yurik Pikhovits appears among the 400 names of Kremenets emigrants in Israel. Yurik was the son of a respected Catholic family in our town. He arrived in Israel in 1947, but we found this out only recently, and for the first time, he was invited to join us in the annual memorial to our town's martyrs. I introduced him to the assembled people along with the guests and newcomers, as is our custom every year.

[Page 29]

I saw Yurik for the second time shortly after the memorial, at a wedding given by one of our members. He was there with his wife, already a full member of our organization. I now had another opportunity to talk with him and see how similar our experiences were in relation to the surrounding landscape during our childhood and youth. How great is the nostalgia that floods us in equal measure at every meeting; it is the same for him. It was a quick talk but had enough in it to convey the feeling that his life experience encompasses the tragic and heroic period of the Holocaust and the rebirth of Israel and that he has forever bound up his fate with that of the nation of Israel. Therefore, I asked Yurik to tell us everything that had happened to him during the years before he settled in Israel. For that purpose, I made a date to meet him in his town, Haifa. In Chinya and Izya Portnoy's home – where a friendly, homey atmosphere always prevails whenever a person from our town visits them – Yurik's story flowed. Those who listened to him, now and then, felt like one of his heroes when he talked about events in Kremenets before the Holocaust.

Yurik was born in 1919 in Kiev. From there, his parents moved to Lodz, where they lived until 1926. This was the year of the great economic crisis in Poland, and his father lost his assets and became impoverished. The family moved to Kremenets, where his father got a job as an administrator in one of the Lyceum's estates in Smiga^[4]. Yurik studied at the Lyceum, where he made friends with the few Jewish students lucky enough to be accepted there. He also had a connection with Jewish youth in the sports fields and in the Lyceum's band under the direction of Avraham Zats.

After his graduation, he was inducted into the Border Protection Corps, and in 1939, he was to be sent to the air force. In that way, he would later able to continue his studies in the Technion, with the tuition paid by the government. But just then, the Germans invaded Poland, and with the disintegration of the Polish army, Yuri returned to Kremenets, which by then was under the Russians. With the help of the Polish teaching staff that remained there temporarily, he was accepted back into the Lyceum. Meir Pinchuk, whom the Russians appointed as the inspector of the Lyceum – a high-ranking position that in the past was given only to persons of high position in the upper echelons of the Polish government – took him under his protection, and he was permitted to live in the dormitory and eat his fill. His parents had escaped from Kremenets to the Vilna area as soon as the Red Army had taken it, and Yuri no longer had a home.

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Before long, worrisome rumors began to spread among the people about the Germans' plans. Pinchuk then advised Yurik to escape. While he was on the road, the German invasion of Russia began. In one of the trains, he met some young Poles, and they decided to cross into Poland and join the anti-Nazi underground. As they crossed the border, German soldiers opened fire on them, but they managed to escape and reach Warsaw. There they were accepted into the fighting organization Wolnost under the leadership of a Jew named Kot. This organization had caused great losses to the Germans, who advertised a large prize for whoever extradited Kot on large posters in town. Kot was caught in Lvov^[5] after the Russians had left, and he was killed, but the organization continued to function after his death. Yurik and his five friends were sent to a German army camp as glaziers, though only one of them was really a glazier. It was a very sought-after profession at that time, as most of the windows in town were shattered from bombardments and shelling. Their task was to remove from the camp all the material needed to manufacture bombs. The famous explosion in the Adria coffee shop, where dozens of German officers were killed on Sylvester night, was executed with the help of the materials they removed from there.

Yurik's group had also executed assignments such as this in other camps, but when two of them were caught, the organization ordered them to escape to Hungary and then to join the French underground. In Krakow, the center of the Polish underground, each of them was furnished with a bag of products so that, if caught, they could say they were dealing in the black market. In addition, they received some valuables to help support themselves.

During a heavy snowstorm, loaded down with heavy sacks, the group made its way in the darkness of night toward the Slovakian border. As they tried to cross, they were caught by Slovakian soldiers, who then handed them over to the Gestapo. In spite of being severely tortured, they continued to insist that they were dealing in the black market. The Gestapo had gathered about 150 people with the same goal as Yurik's group – to join the underground in France. Of them, only 25 men and 1 woman were left alive. Among them was Yurik's group. They were transferred to Tarnow; from there they were sent from one concentration camp to another. While in Zaksenhauzen, Yurik saw few hundred young Jews from Greece at the prisoners' assembly; these were, apparently, the young men whose heroic deeds were only now made known to the public. After they were transferred to Auschwitz, they were ordered by the SS to work at the crematorium, but they refused to do so, preferring to be incinerated instead.

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In Zaksenhauzen, they could feel that the end was near. After a heavy bombardment by the allied force's airplanes, the SS gathered the 500 prisoners, Yurik among them, guided them out of the camp, and under heavy guard started one of the famous marches towards Liubek, Germany. Of the 500 who started the march, only 70 reached Liubek. The rest perished on the way, some from thirst, some from hunger, and some from exhaustion – anyone who lagged was shot to death. Later, when he was free, Yurik met Tsipora, his future wife, in Liubek, Germany. She had arrived there with another death march.

In Liubek, Yuri worked in the British army kitchen. There he met a female officer with the rank of colonel, Mrs. Montgomery, the niece of General Montgomery, commander of the British armed forces. She was very interested in Yurik and Tsipora's fate, and when she heard of the formal difficulties imposed on them by their wish to have a civil marriage, she put pressure on the British authorities, and they performed the marriage. Mrs. Montgomery gave them gifts; the most valuable among them was assorted provisions so that, with her, they could celebrate the occasion in as grand a way as possible in those years of austerity.

Sometime later, Yurik and Tsipora joined Operation Escape. They moved from Germany, via Austria, to Italy. In Milan, Yurik was put in charge of a crossing point on the refugees' escape route to the Land of Israel.

He was given a 25-room villa, where he received transports from Trieste and Vienna. His job was to supply gasoline for their vehicles so that they could continue on their way, and gasoline, as is well known, was extremely hard to come by in those days.

Yurik did this from 1945 to 1947. He took part in all the meetings held by the heads of Operation Escape in Europe and was their confidant.

In 1947, while they were still in Europe, their son was born and was entered into the covenant of Avraham our father.

When he came to that point, Yurik said, “Concentration camps with all their atrocities on one hand, and the most beautiful human relationships under those horrifying conditions on the other, have made me indifferent to matters of religion and race. I am interested, mainly, in the humane side of people.”

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That year (1947), Yurik's small family arrived in the Land. After some struggles, they succeeded in getting established: his wife, a graduate of the Hebrew High School in Krakow and a nursing school, got a job in the hospital in Afula, where she still works. Yurik worked as construction worker in Haifa. After a few months, they moved to the hospital.

When the War of Independence began, Yurik worked at building fortifications at different places. When his activities in Europe became known, he was recruited to the Overseas Volunteers^[6]), and from there he was transferred to Armored Brigade 82 of the Palmach, Yitschak Sada's brigade. He took part in many battles, among them the battle on Falujah, which was under the command of Nasser. After the successful elimination of the Falujah pocket, Sada's brigade was sent to its base in Lod. On the way, the armored vehicle where Yurik sat had a lethal accident. Some of the passengers were killed, and Yurik's back was seriously injured. He had a series of surgeries and was in a cast for about four months, after which he developed some complications, and he suffered greatly.

After the War of Independence, Yurik worked as a foreman in Ein Harod's stainless steel factory.

Now the family lives in Haifa. Yurik works there in the military industry, but for obvious reasons does not talk about his job.

His wife continues to work in the Afula hospital. Their 27-year-old son, who returned from the Sinai just a few days before this interview and was one of the first to cross the Suez Canal, is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and works at the board of education as an IBM programmer. Their daughter, who was born in the Land, graduated from the Technion's trade school and serves in the standing army.

After his last surgery, Yurik visited his sister and brother-in-law in Poland. This brother-in-law was a longtime prisoner during the Stalin regime. Yurik says that during the Polish students' anti-Semitic riots in Vilna, before World War II, when the Jewish students were forced by the hoodlums to sit in special places designated for them, he moved to the Jewish side as a protest against this humiliation. For this act, the university expelled him.

During that visit to Poland, Yurik had a dramatic meeting at the Israeli embassy in Warsaw: Yurik went to the embassy to take care of some papers. When a formal difficulty arose, he was taken to the ambassador's office. Slowly Yurik approached the wide desk, behind which the ambassador sat, and when their eyes met, both retreated; like lightning the same thought came to them, and immediately they fell into each other's arms.

Mountain of the Virgins

The ambassador was none other than Metet (Tesler), his schoolmate from the Lyceum.

Yurik's mother, who fled to London during the war, visited him a few years ago, before the election of the previous Knesset. She read the daily Polish newspaper published in Israel and learned about the platforms of the competing political parties. Being a devoted Catholic, she demanded that he vote for the National Religious Party.

That evening, the hands on the clock moved with jet speed. It was very late when Yurik finished his story, and it was hard to leave that faraway world that is so very close to our hearts, in which all of us (Yurik, Chinya, Izya, and I) were immersed for few hours, joined in a great experience.

“I used to come with my wife to assorted meetings of people from Krakow, and now she will come with me to the meetings of Kremenetsers, whom I belong to,” said Yurik, standing on the threshold of the house.

Yurik brought me to the bus station. I parted from the man along with his family, who were now so close to my heart, and I think that I am to theirs.

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A few months ago, emigrants from the town of Pochayev^[7] near Kremenets joined our organization. Their representative, Mr. Shlome Skolski, has already participated in a meeting of the extended board. On the agenda was adding emigrants from Vishnevits and Shumsk, in the Kremenets district.

Our organization has proved its great abilities in many areas, so we hope that the merger with these people will be successful and that, with it, “new blood” will be added to the active members.

It is worth noting that our members in Argentina have preceded us in this, and their organization includes people from the surrounding towns as well; their official name is Organization of Emigrants from Kremenets and Vicinity.

This is not so in the United States, where the Society includes only Kremenetsers, and even they are New York residents only.

With the latest large increase in printing, paper, wrapping, and postage prices, we had to face the question of whether we would be able to continue publishing the booklet when the required sum is more then we have, even after raising the price for booklet 12 to I£10 (instead of I£6 for booklet 11).

The decision was made to continue even under these conditions. To lighten the expected deficit, we approached a few members who we knew had a warm attitude toward this project and the financial ability to donate a onetime sum to enable us to publish the booklet from now on. This letter was sent on March 20, 1975, and by the end of April, 30 (of 45) members had responded and donated about I£1,200 in amounts of I£25-I£100 each.

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We hope that the rest of them will respond. This fundraiser is open to members whom we did not approach individually, and their pitching in will be a sign that this project does not belong to the few but that the majority of our people are willing to carry the burden.

Here are the donors:

Tel Aviv

Argaman – 50, Bernshteyn – 25, Golberg – 25, Goldenberg Manus – 50, Goltsberg – 25, Vilderman – 25, Viner – 50, Zats – 25, Taytelman – 25, Shifris – 50, Litev – 50, Rokhel – 50, Shtern – 25, Teper – 25, Kesler – 25

Haifa

Portnoy – 100, Dugim – 50, Shtern – 50, Rayzman – 25, Berman – 25, Tsukerman – 25, Kremenetski – 10, Ziger Meir – 100, Gokun Avrasha – 50, Bakimer David – 50, Kindzior Gedalyahu – 50, Milgrom Cherna – 25

Ramat Gan

Katsman – 50.00

Hadera

Yukilis – 50.00

RYB”L Library

The branch (established by the Kremenets organization) at Tel Aviv University is progressing from month to month in volume, quality, contents, and appearance. During 1974 and until May 1975, more than 80 books were added – among them some very rare ones – for which over I£4,500 was paid. Half of this sum came from the organization's funds, and half from the university. Beside those, about 25 books were received as a gift. By now, the collection has 1,330 books and is used as a proper base for the study of Enlightenment literature.

As you know, there is a special club in the university for the study of Enlightenment literature, and its students are helped greatly by the RYB”L Library.

Cataloging the books had been postponed for a long time, as other book collections were ahead of us in line. Now our turn has arrived; the cataloging is progressing and is almost finished. Work on the books that needed to be rebound is completed. After all the books return from being catalogued, they will be sorted and shelved by the professional librarian. By then, the library will look quite nice inside, and the outside will have an artistic appearance, too. Preparations are being made to design a Kremenets Corner near the bookcase, and if it is agreed to, the bust of RYB”L will find its place here, too. By then, the library will be an instrument worthy of its name and purpose in content as well as looks.

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Kremenetsers among the Builders of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (April 4, 1925 – April 4, 1975), our member Avraham Fridel sent us a nice article containing reminiscences of the university's opening ceremony on Mount Scopus. At that time, he was working with a group of Kremenets emigrants – the Biberman brothers, Avraham, Yitschak, Leyb, and Nachman – as a mason. Moshe Rokhel worked in electrical installation; Yitschak Rokhel and his fiancée, Ruchama; Feyga Biberman and her husband, Duvid Hofshteyn; and other Kremenetsers that we could not identify were visiting. In his article, member Fridel mentions the most inspiring music of the fervent and devoted violinist Isaac Stern at the 50th anniversary concert in Jerusalem. Stern, as you know, was born in Kremenets.

Indeed, Kremenetsers have a hand in every pioneering project in the Land. Our blessings to the veterans among us – may they live a long, healthy, and contented life in our Land, may it exist in peace.

Printed in this booklet is our organization's financial report for 1972 and 1973, prepared by Mr. Kendel (for a fee), then edited and prepared for printing by member Rokhel. Also printed here is a separate financial report for the scholarship fund, prepared by member P. Litev. The organization's funds are kept in the Post Office Bank in Israel pounds and in Bank Hapoalim – separately – in Israel pounds and dollars.

The income comes partly from members in the Land and partly from members abroad (the United States, Argentina, Canada, and elsewhere). The main expenditures are for Voice of Kremenets Emigrants and welfare support.

The report was presented late because of the war (the accountant was on active reserve for a long time), so the review board was not free to go over the report. We appeal here to the review board members (Portnoy and Shnayder from Rechovot, Shtern from Holon) to proceed without additional delay; financial dealings of such volume demand review.

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The Legacy of Professor Zev Chasid, of Blessed Memory, Berkeley, United States

With the passing of our distinguished townsman, Zev Chasid, of blessed memory, we received, according to his will, a legacy of $3,000 for the benefit of the Organization of Kremenets Emigrants' projects in Israel.

We held a special discussion to decide on the intended use of the sum. We studied the wording of the will and listened to the opinion of his brother, Avraham Chasid. The conclusion was to use the money as follows:

For Voice of Kremenets Emigrants	$1,000
For the scholarship fund	$500
For the RYB”L Library and other, as yet undesignated projects	$1,500
	$ 3,000

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Visit by a Polish Guest from Kremenets Exiles in London – Yehoshue Golberg

Well-known movie actor Mr. Vladek Shcheybal, Kremenets emigrant and son of Professor Shcheybal, who taught at the Lyceum in Kremenets, visited the Land. Mr. Shcheybal, a permanent resident of London, now has a role in a film being made by an Anglo-American-Israeli production company. The story told in the movie takes place in our country. Mr. Shcheybal brought a book for our library – sent by our townspeople in London – titled “One Who Saves a Single Soul …”: Poles and Jews from 1939 to1945. The book's motto, “One who saves a single soul is as if he saved a whole world,” is from the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 37. The book has been translated into English and contains a great deal of factual material.

Mr. Shcheybal was very interested in meeting with our townspeople in our clubhouse. The plan had been to do some filming in the old city of Jaffa, but later the plans changed, and the filming was done only in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. As his schedule became very crowded, he managed to have only a quick look at our clubhouse and was very moved when he saw our town in miniature looking at us from the walls of our clubhouse.

In booklet 10, which was published at the end of 1972, we called on our members to establish a fund for the commemoration of the town of Kremenets and its martyrs. Today, after two and a quarter years, our organization deserves to feel proud for having completed this humane cultural project. At that time, we set ourselves a goal of raising I£60,000, and now we can be congratulated on a job well done.

The donations add up to I£47,432, a sum that is not far from the goal we set for ourselves. Of that sum, I£23,173 came from our members in the Land, and I£24,259 from the United States. Blessed be the donors. The reward for their observing this commandment is the commandment itself.

As we noted in booklet 11, all the money was given to the university, and it is attached to the cost-of-living index. By the end of January of this year, the differences in the attached funds came to I£29,974, and the total amount in the fund as of that date was I£71,356.

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According to our agreement with the university, the interest we receive is intended wholly for scholarships, and by the end of January, this sum was I£6,583. We estimate that by the end of May – the date for awarding the scholarships – the interest will come to about I£8,500, and with the addition of the university's equal share of the scholarship, the sum will double to I£17,000. Out of this, we will have to deduct I£2,500 for the scholarship we gave in 1974, leaving about I£14,500 for the scholarships in summer of 1975.

We have already had preliminary discussions with university personnel on researchers and topics for which we will approve scholarships. A decision on this will be made in our parity committee with university representatives.

I am very pleased to give members this short report and will repeat the words with which I concluded my article in booklet 11: We have brought a cultural and humanitarian project to fruition – a monument to the Kremenets community, a memorial to the martyrs and to the people of our town who fell in wars in Israel. If those results cause the coming generation also not to forget, that will be our reward.

In conclusion, a small group of visionaries is walking around with ideas for another project for our organization, this time directed toward and for the benefit of the children of emigrants from our town. The details have not crystallized as yet, and when the time comes, we will bring our thoughts to the members. May it be so.

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A few years have gone by since the library's first steps, and now we can wholeheartedly congratulate ourselves on this important and valuable cultural project that continues to grow and develop, and even it its present condition, it is very useful.

The RYB”L Library, donated by the Organization of Kremenets Emigrants to the Ben-Tsion Katz Institute for Research in Hebrew Literature, which functions within the framework of Tel Aviv University's School of Jewish Studies, is established now in the Museum of the Diaspora at the university and includes a serious collection of Hebrew books from the beginning of the Enlightenment period up to the resurrection period. Among the books are rare, priceless works are not found in the central library.

The library serves researchers in the institute and the Hebrew Literature Department, as well as the general university student body and those in the Hebrew Literature Department in particular. The library has a great cultural importance, particularly these days, when the sense of “searching for one's roots” is getting stronger among the youth and the general population, as well as the need to look deep and strengthen the base to the legacy of Hebrew culture. Indeed, the beginning of new Hebrew literature and the whole Zionist revival movement is in the Hebrew Enlightenment movement. Even more so, a true culture is made by multiperiod increments, out of a wide area and depth of time and out of a fruitful meeting between present and past, between the inside and the outside. Enlightenment literature was nourished by Jewish culture and Hebrew tradition on the one hand and European culture on the other, and the strength of this meeting laid the base for the new Hebrew culture.

The establishment of this special library dedicated to Enlightenment literature is an important aid in deepening research on and knowledge of this literature, and we should be thankful for its continual development in size and quality. For that, we owe our thanks, first and foremost, to the tireless efforts of Mr. Rokhel and his partners in the task, Mr. Argaman and Mr. Litev, of blessed memory

These days, the cataloging and organization of the library are being completed, which will make it easier for researchers and students to use it more efficiently. The aesthetic design of the library was improved after a lovely sign was created, and soon a bust of RYB”L, created by the sculptor Epshteyn, will be placed there, which will be a fitting monument to that important researcher and great fighter whom Kremenets brought forth.

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To Yosef and Yemima Avidar, of Jerusalem, on the birth of their granddaughter, Ada, daughter of Dana and Mike Feler of Bet Zayit.

To Masha Barshap of Holon, Avraham's widow, on the marriage of her son, Mula, to his fiancée, Yael.

To Nechama Biberman-Bihem and her husband, of Hadera, on the marriage of their daughter, Chagit, to her fiancé, Amichay Levotshkin.

To Leya and Moshe Bar-Ziv (Fidel), of Haifa, on the birth of their granddaughter, Mikhal, daughter of Yitschak.

To Yitschak (Kitsi) Goltsberg on the marriage of his granddaughter, Rachel, daughter of Mordekhay and Ada, of Mishmar Hashiva, to her fiancé, Ami Shmueli.

To Avraham and Shoshana Gokun, of Haifa, on the birth of their granddaughter, daughter of Mira.

To Shifra and Hertsel Vishniov, of Kibbutz Sarid, on the birth of their twin granddaughters, Tal and Mikhal, to their daughter, Nira, and Nechemya Dayan, of Nahalal.

To Chaya and Avraham Vays (Zeyger), of Haifa, on the marriage of their son, Yitschak, to Rivka Langleyr, and on the birth of their grandson, Arik, son of Yitschak and Rivka Vays.

To Meir and Chaya Zeyger, of Haifa, on the birth of their granddaughter, Tami; on their grandson Ran's bar mitzvah; and on the birth of their granddaughter, Dana, daughter of Giora and Pnina Zeyger.

To Eti and Avraham Chasid, of Herut, on the birth of their granddaughter, Shiri, daughter of their son, Chanan.

To Avraham and Chana Landsberg, of Tel Aviv, on the bar mitzvah of their grandson, Ofer, son of Tsipora and Avraham Geva.

To Leya Tsirlevits-Luftin, of Givat Hashlosha, on the marriage of her grandson, Omer, son of her son, Betsalel, and Aldema – to Osnat.

To David and Sonya Tsukerman, of Haifa, on the birth of their grandson, Yuval, son of Batya and Shraga Berman, and the birth of their grandson, Amir, son of Zev and Sima Tsukerman.

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To Rachel and Aba Kneler, on the bar mitzvah of their son, Arye.

To Fayvel and Alina Rayzman, of Kiryat Chayim, on the marriage of their daughter, Ilana, to Ami.

To Yitschak Rokhel, of Tel Aviv, on the birth of his grandson, Yuval, son of Ido and Sarka, of Eilat.

To Rut Katz, of Haifa, on the birth of her granddaughter, Adva, daughter of Yosi and Shlomit Katz.

Congratulations to Our Townspeople in the Diaspora

To Yitschak Vakman, of New York, and his family, best wishes on his 80th birthday.

To Menucha and Nachman Likht, of Washington, on the marriage of their daughter, Sara Batya, to Yechiel Meir.

[Page 54]

Among our organization's projects, we must credit him as being the initiator and a partner in making the collection for the organization's booklet more efficient through the Post Office Bank, the scholarship fund – named for RYB”L – at Tel Aviv University, the agreement with the university for the RYB”L Library, and the agreement concerning the scholarship fund, the quick fundraising event to benefit the booklet, and the idea of starting a special scholarship fund for the descendants of Kremenets emigrants. This idea has not as yet been acted on, but he made sure to pledge a certain amount of money in advance for this humanitarian project.

Litev's initiatives and activities were not limited to our organization's framework but were widespread outside as well. Pinkas Kremenets^[8], (published in 1954) includes the story of his early public work during the World War II: his concern that there be schools for the refugees who concentrated in Kremenets at that time, his involvement in the care of the Hebrew kindergarten, and his mission to Warsaw. While in Warsaw, the young Pesach stood out in his talent and devotion to his assignment. When the Pioneer Center and the Israel office demanded that he postpone his immigration for a time to help them with their work, he granted their request and immigrated only in 1929. By that time, he had already married Polya, who was at his side throughout his life. In Warsaw, he became involved in the activities of the Joint and continued with that work after he immigrated to Israel and settled in Jerusalem.

[Page 55]

Later, this activity took a different form, with the establishment of Organization for the Care of Handicapped Immigrants^[9], and Litev was taken on as the second to Mr. Pesman, the institution's administrator. There he functioned for a long time, and in reality was doing the organization administrator's job because of Mr. Pesman's frequent absences. This work opened up a broad range of activities for him in social work, a field that suited his character and abilities very well, as he was basically a person who truly loved his fellow men and seeks to improve their lot. On the other hand, this task put him in charge of a staff of 2,000 workers, whom he wished the best for, too. Naturally, from time to time, some conflicts arose between those two – to favor those needing support over satisfying the workers' demands. But Litev, with his natural tact and pleasant personality, usually found the middle way without friction, and he served as a guiding personality for the workers.

With the reduction in the organization's activities for budgetary reasons, Litev made sure that the aid institutions (homes for the aged, hospitals, etc.) were not shut down but were transferred to governmental authorities.

When Litev reached retirement age, he transferred to Yika – a company that mainly deals in establishing workers' settlements and helping them develop. There, too, he began under the guidance of Mr. Pesman, and later he took on the responsibility of the general directorship in London. Among other things, he initiated and developed few a joint economic ventures for the settlements and won their praises and affection. Just as Litev liked people, people also liked him.

While doing his regular jobs, he found time for other functions for the public benefit, particularly since the country's independence. For a time, he served as the treasurer of the National Security Department, where, among other things, he insisted on internal checks and inspections, which eventually saved this department from serious mishaps. His tasks at the Joint and the Organization for the Care of Handicapped Immigrants linked him to donors in the United States. From time to time, he made trips to the United States, to the benefit of a few public enterprises in Israel.

In that way, he set up the monetary base for the establishment of Shalom Aleichem House and the Sharet Fund, which had a total of $7 million-$8 million through his mediation, and established a health center for cancer patients in Jerusalem. Litev was a gregarious man, and his connections were useful in helping individuals and public enterprises. He joined B'nai Brith, and when he reached the age of 75, a celebration was arranged in his honor. I was present and witnessed the affection he received from the organization's members (called brothers).

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Late in his life, Litev discovered that in the area he lived in, the Tel Aviv suburb of Yad Eliyahu, was a club named for Mr. Eshkol under the auspices of Tel Aviv Workers' Council. It was almost abandoned, while a few hundred resident pensioners, some quite elderly, had no place to congregate. Litev established contact between the retirees' organization and the building's owners, and the clubhouse was leased as a meeting place for the elderly. At this time, it is in the first stages of development.

A few years ago, Pesach purchased a plot in the Afula cemetery, and according to his will, he was buried there.

He left a wife, three sisters, and two brothers-in-law, as well as a daughter and grandchildren.

This was the way of life of Pesach Litev, the Kremenetser son of R' Binyamin Litvak the candymaker, whose factory was near the Kazatski Study Hall.

In his last years, he suffered from a heart ailment but did not abandon his activities. In spite of his high standing at work and in society, he was humble in his ways and strived to better the lives of his fellow men.

At his funeral, it was said of him: Pesach was one of the 36 righteous people^[10].

Woe for the lost ones, who cannot be forgotten. Our condolences to his family.

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February 25, 1907-February 3, 1975 From Aley Dafna[11], no. 627 My lot be with you, life's oppressed, muted souls Leading their life in secret … modest thinkers and doers Hidden dreamers, sparing with words and full of glory.

Ch. N. Bialik

[Page 58]

Arye Bedolakh – Leybel – was blessed by nature with simplicity, honesty, and friendliness. He did not aspire to greatness. He immersed himself completely in his work and did his tasks with devotion and consistency. He was a person whose strength is in simplicity and self-fulfillment. He followed the path of labor without hesitation and musings, as an obvious thing; he lived the kibbutz life and loved it.

Leybel loved nature and experienced it keenly. One day, he brought a coffee plant from Kibbutz Givat Brener, planted it in the garden near his home, erected a frame around it, wrapped it up in sacks, and spared no effort to protect it. In spite of Dafna's northern climate, he succeeded in raising the coffee plant. His friend wrote, “I congratulated him on his success, and he lit up with happiness.”

In the last years of his life, his health deteriorated, and he suffered quietly. For few weeks, he stayed in his sickbed at the hospital in Safed until he gave up and died.

He leaves his wife, Sara, and three sons, who are living in Dafna and following in his path.

May his memory be blessed.

David Katz

Dosya received an electrical engineering degree in Germany and worked at a power station in Paris for three years, after which he was in charge of the electric system in Kremenets for 13 years. He was gregarious and well liked by his fellow citizens.

When World War II began, he escaped to Russia, where he met up with Zev (Velya) Shumski and Munek Katz. The Russians, who did not believe their claim that they were Kremenets citizens escaping from the Germans, thought the three were spies and stopped them under threat of death.

[Page 59]

Miraculously, they managed to persuade the Russians that they used to be citizens of Kremenets, and they were saved. After their release, they arrived in Tashkent, where Dosya got a job running the X-ray department of a large hospital.

Often in Russia, he faced the abyss of despair because of the human element with which he had to work, but he overcame it thanks to his firm belief and hope that eventually he would succeed in getting out of there. Dosya joined the Anders Army when it was organized in Russia, and with it, he went to Iran. Being proficient in English, he was recruited to the British air force and was sent to India. From there, he was transferred to England and took part in the invasion of Normandy. After the conquest, he was sent to France to help the Resistance fight the Nazi invaders and to help with the liberation of the concentration camps.

For those activities, he received the Nazi-fighter medal from the ministry of defense.

Dosya's parents were saved in Poland due to forged documents, his sister Tamar survived in France, and his sister Reya and her husband survived in Russia. This is almost the only family that survived in its totality among thousands of families annihilated in the Holocaust. His parents immigrated to Israel from France in 1946 and joined Dosya's brother, Shimon, who had been in Israel since 1934. Dosya did not get permission from the British to immigrate, in spite of serving in their air force, but he got a good job in Australia. When his brother Shimon passed away in 1951, Dosya immigrated to Israel and got a job at headquarters of the Workers' Health Fund^[13] in the same capacity that his brother had fulfilled. We note that the brothers Katz, first Shimon and then Dosya, established an electrical department for the Workers' Health Fund , which oversees all of its hospitals' electrical systems.

Dosya was a very responsible, organized person, so devoted to his job that when he was on vacation outside the country with his wife, he would go to different hospitals to see advances in the electric health field and, when he returned home, he would insist on adopting those improvements in the hospitals for the purpose of giving better health services to patients.

After going through all the tests in the hospital, and before the fateful surgery, he was at home for a few days. At that time, the people responsible for working in the field of electricity came to confer with him and receive instructions on what to do and how. He took care of each detail and remembered which plan was in which drawer.

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In spite of all his wife's pleas, he felt that it was his duty, even during his illness, to put everything in order.

Dosya was a great patriot for our country, standing firm against all temptations – job offers from important firms in Switzerland and the United States. Beside his expertise in electricity, he was proficient in seven or eight languages, which made him a desired employee by many world-renowned companies.

Dosya leaves a wife and two daughters in Israel and two sisters abroad.

May his memory be blessed.

He came from a poor family; his mother worked as a baker and cook for weddings; his sister, Etil, worked as a maid for Eliyahu Fishman in the Dubno^[14] suburb; and his brother, Tsale, who was tall and strong, worked in portage and other jobs.

Mordekhay – son of Avraham – was apprenticed to tailor Chayim Nudel in Kremenets. He was active in the Kremenets Communist Party, for which the Polish government arrested him, together with the Rayz brothers and others.

[Page 61]

With the start of World War II, when the Russian army entered Kremenets, he was released from prison. He spent the war years in Russia, arrived in the Land with the Anders Army, and stayed. He took part in the War of Independence and the fight for Jerusalem. After his discharge from the army, he went through many experiences and worked in different jobs. He was lonely, without a family or relatives.

As a result of a mental breakdown, he was hospitalized for over 20 years in Akko. In his frequent visits to my home in Akko during his hospitalization and in his talks with me, he exhibited an unusual memory and remembered many people from our town. He was interested in our people's welfare and felt sorry that he could not keep in touch with them personally.

During the past year, his physical and mental condition deteriorated.

He passed away before his time at the age of 58. He was buried in the Akko cemetery.

May his memory be blessed.

Besides his wife and daughters with their children, Leyb leaves two sisters and a brother in Argentina, his sister Sonya in the Soviet Union, and his sister Zina (Pesach Koler's wife) and her family in Petach Tikva.

We send our condolences to the relatives and friends of the departed.

[Page 62]

To Leya (Leytsi) Klorfayn-Limonchik, on the passing of her husband, Shraga. He leaves two sons, a daughter, and grandchildren.

To the Shifman family of Kfar Maas (near Petach Tikva) on the passing of loyal wife, devoted mother, and grandmother Sonya Sher, of our town.

She leaves a husband, four daughters, grandchildren, and a brother in Kishinev.

To Moshe (Munek) Troshinski on the passing of his wife, Rachel, from heart failure at the age of 62. She leaves a married daughter, two sons, grandchildren, two sisters, and four brothers Gorodetski, all living in Israel.

To Rachel Gutman-Maharshak of Givat Hashlosha on the passing of her husband, Beni Maharshak, of blessed memory.

To Leya Lopatin-Tsirlevits of Givat Hashlosha and her sister Hinda of Rishon LeTsion, on the passing of their sister Dvora after a long illness.

To Talya Berkovits-Teper of Rishon Letsion on the death of her husband, Chanokh, of blessed memory. He leaves his wife, Talya; a daughter; a son; and grandchildren.

To all the relatives and friends of Shifra Baleban – widow of Yisrael Baleban, of blessed memory, and daughter of Chayim Bakimer – who passed away in Tel Aviv at the age of 77. She leaves a son in New York, as well as a married daughter and grandchildren, living in the Land.

Brurya Vorer, of blessed memory, passed away on August 27, 1974, at the age of 62.

The daughter of Yehoshue Vorer, known as Shaya Shilem's, she immigrated to Israel in 1935 and worked most of her life in the Workers' Health Fund. Being loyal and industrious, she was well liked by the rest of the staff. She was devoted to the Organization of Kremenets Emigrants and came to the memorial every year. She was decent and modest in her ways, and maintained friendly relationships with her relatives and a small circle of friends. In the last years of her life, she suffered from depression, and was hospitalized in a mental institution in the town of Natanya. When she developed intestinal cancer, she was transferred to Meir Hospital for surgery, but it did not help.

She is buried in the cemetery in Holon. Condolences to the Rokhel family, the Biberman family, Dr. Averbakh's family, and her friends. May her memory be blessed.

To the extensive Shnayder family, in the Land and abroad, on the death of Moshe Shnayder (engineer), who was killed in a work-related accident in Haifa.

[Page 66]

At Tel Aviv University, for Research on Enlightenment Literature

As of May 1, 1975, the following donations had been received and handed over to university's finance office. According to the list published in Voice of Kremenets Emigrants, booklet 11, p. 17, as of March 20, 1974, we had received the following sums:

18 donors, individual and organizational, the total sum of	I£27,914
19. Margalit, Yosef, Haifa	1,000
20. Berger siblings, Givat Brener and Haifa	800
21. 12 donors in the Land, board members and others	620
22. Shnayder, Zev, Detroit, United States, $300 (plus $300 listed earlier = $600)	1,798
23. Professor Mark Katz, New York, $2,500 (plus $1,000 listed earlier = $3,500)	12,300
24. Bequest of Prof. Zev Chasid, Berkeley, United States, $500	3,000
Total	I£47, 432

Note: According to the contract with Tel Aviv University, to this sum were added funds for cost-of-living increases and interest, as explained in member P. Litev's article, “Toward the Completion of the Scholarship Fund,” on page 38 of this booklet.

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Income			1972		1973
Balance at the start of the year
Bank Hapoalim checking account			395		881
Post Office Bank			531		96
In $, in the Post Office account ($2,113.37 x I£4.20)			8,877	9,803	6,421	7,398
Income from members in the Land
Membership dues, paid on Memorial Day			1,144		962
For Voice of Kremenets Emigrants and necrologies			1.027		2.001
For the RYB”L Library			300		--
For welfare assistance – 136.00 and Teresova fund – 55.00			191		100
Loan repayments			60		170
Interest from Bank Hapoalim			6		15
Interest from a short-term loan			--	2,728	84	3,332
Income from other countries – in dollars	1972	1973
For Voice of Kremenets Emigrants	120	313
For the RYB”L library	75	--
For welfare assistance	150	100
For scholarships	300	--
For the organization's assorted activities	140	86
Interest on dollars in the post office account	52	70
	837	569		3,515		2,390
Income from other countries in Israel pounds
For Voice of Kremenets Emigrants			708		1,045
For the Teresova fund – Poland			--		215
Sums against parallel U.S. expenditures in 1972			--	708	1,785	3,045
For Voice of Kremenets Emigrants
	Total income			16, 754		16,165

[Page 68]

Expenditures	1972		1973
Voice of Kremenets Emigrants		2,476		2,737
RYB”L Library		1,540		145
Memorial for the martyrs of Kremenets		408		565
Welfare, support for the needy		494		1,146
Shmuel Shnayder scholarship for research on Enlightenment literature (see parallel income)		1,250		1,260
Receptions for out-of-country guests, board meetings		168		259
Organizational expenditures
Telephone	145		209
Post office	105		196
Travel	169		217
Office supplies	82	501	61	683
Assorted expenditures
Paid accountant	440		300
Fundraising expenses	187		301
Bank account	7		25
Sums against parallel income in 1973	1,785	2,149	--	626
Total expenses	9,356		7,421
Year-end balance
In Bank Hapoalim – checking account	881		4,719
In the Post Office Bank	96		36
In dollars, p.m.z. account:	$1,525	6,421
	$944	7,398	3,989	8,744
Total		16,754		16,165

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