Ruzhany, Belarus

.
Rozana; a Memorial Book to the Jewish Community
(Ruzhany, Belarus)

52°52'/ 24°53'

Rozhinoy; sefer zikaron le-kehilat Rozhinoy ve-ha-seviva

Edited by: M. Sokolowsky

Published in Tel Aviv, 1957

Click here to see how to add a Memorial Plaque to this Yizkor Book

Acknowledgments

Project Coordinators

Edith Taylor

and

This is a translation of: *Rozhinoy; sefer zikaron le-kehilat Rozhinoy ve-ha-seviva;
Rozana; a memorial book to the Jewish community. Ed. M. Sokolowsky.
Tel Aviv, Former residents of Rozhinoy in Israel, 1957 (232 pages H,Y).
With a supplementary chapter in Yiddish by Joseph Abramovitsch
"Once there was a shtetl."

*Ruzhinoy = Rozana (Polish pronunciation), now Ruzhany in Belarus.

My copy has a handwritten dedication to my father: "Abraham Vegotsky, fellow citizen of Ruzhnoy, as a sign of respect and thanks from the committee of Ruzhnoyan landsmen. Tel Aviv, May 7, 1958."

Translation by Nurith Brier and Edith Vegotsky Taylor.

JewishGen's Translation Fund Donation Form provides a secure way to make donations,
either on-line or by mail, to help continue this project. Donations to JewishGen are tax-deductible.

This material is made available by JewishGen, Inc. and the Yizkor Book Project for the purpose of fulfilling our mission of disseminating information about the Holocaust and destroyed Jewish communities. This material may not be copied, sold or bartered without JewishGen, Inc.'s permission. Rights may be reserved by the copyright holder.

JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material for verification. JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions. Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.

TITLE PAGE

RUZHINOY

Commemoration Book to the Ruzhinoy Community and Environs

A Memorial to the Jewish Community

Collected and Edited by Mayer Sokolowsky

Published on the 15th year to the Shoah

5717

Published by the organization of Ruzhinoy Landsleit

in Israel on the 300th year of the Blood Libel

Subject	Page

Introduction by the Editor	5
Schematic map of Ruzhany	6
History:
History of the Town of Ruzhany	7
Ruzhany according to the ledgers of the council of principal communities in the State of Lithuania	8
Ruzhany according to the General Encyclopedia Orglobarnada from 1884*	8
Ruzhany according to the Jewish Encyclopedia	8
Martyrs:
The Martyrs of Ruzhany	10
The Selicha for the Martyrs	12
Martyrs tomb	17
Descendents of the Martyrs	17
The Martyrs of Ruzhany	18
Torah:
Cheders	21
The Teacher's Union	22
A Cheder for Girls	23
Tiferet Bachurim	23
The Yeshiva in Ruzhany	24
Various study organizations	26
Rabbis in Ruzhany	29
“Shaatnez”	41
Labor:
The economic situation of the town	47
Lives of the weavers in Ruzhany during the 19^th century	48
Families of workers in the town	49
The Labor Movement in Ruzhany in the 19^th century	50
The founding of Pavlova and Konstantinova	51
G'milut Chassadim (Benevolent Societies):
Popular idealists	52
Hadaska	54
Leib Wasz and other members of the Pines family	56
Yona the shoemaker	58
Nimele the butcher Bulgatz	59
Shabtai Shefem of Pavlova	59
Our Town:
Our town Ruzhinoy	60
The synagogues of Ruzhany	62
Public life in Ruzhany	64
The “Takseh” (meat tax, “Korovka”)	65
From the days of my childhood in Ruzhany	66
The Fires:
The plague of fires	68
Leib “Yachid” [the only one]	71
How the fire brigade in Ruzhany was set up	72
The voluntary fire brigade in Ruzhany	72
The drills of the firefighters brigade	73
Fear of pogroms in the town in 1904	75
The beginnings of Zionism:
“Hurry up Brethren,” written by Yechiel Michal	77
Pines (song still sung in Israel)
Beginnings of Zionism in Ruzhinoy	78
Yechiel Michael Pines	78
More about Y. M. Pines	80
Passages from "The Children of My Spirit" by Y. M. Pines	81
Itta Yellin	82
Rabbi Ze’ev Wolf Shachor (black)	82
The founding of Akron (agricultural settlement south of Tel Aviv)	83
Yearning of redemption	85
The years of agitation:
The year 1905--the political parties	87
The struggle for 12-hour work day	87
The big strike of 1910	88
Public figures and personalities:
Lullaby	90
Aron Lieboshitsky, Mayer Krinsky, Zelig Sher, Melech Epshtein, Dov Lobsovsky, Avigdor Michal, Goldberg, Dr. Mayer Pines, Moshe Limon	91-95
First World War:
World War I	97
Rule of the German Occupation	98
About the German Occupation	99
The Forest People	100
The Big Fire	101
The Kinder Heim (Children’s Home)	102
The Choir	103
Hazamir "and Hertzliah" (gymnasium)	104
Consume verein (consumers’ organization)	107
In between powers--the German occupation and the Russian revolution	108
Pogroms in Ruzhinoy	108
Way of Life in the Shetl:
The libraries of Ruzhinoy	110
The library in Pavlova	110
Memories of childhood	111
Longing for the land of Israel	114
Ma’ot Chitim (food fund for needy)	115
Passover eve in our shetl	115
Economic Situation:
After World War I	119
In Ruzhinoy	119
The bank in Ruzhinoy	120
Zionist Movements:
Hechalutz Movement in Ruzhinoy	122
Actions in behalf of the Jewish National Fund	126
The Zionist Organization	129
Hashomer Hatza’ir	131
Hashomer Hatzi’r renews its activities	132
Betar (Jabotinsky’s youth movement)	136
My birth place	137
Educational Institutions:
Educational institutions in the stetl	138
The Tarbut School	139
The Talmud Torah Institution	143
Dovid Miller	144
Charitable Institutions:
In the 19th century	145
In the 20th century	146
Second World War and the Holocaust:
19 days of German-Polish war & Russian jurisdiction	150
Echoes of the times in writings	151
Under the Nazis in Ruzhinoy	153
Passing through Ruzhinoy	162
Echoes	167
Poem: "Everything Precious to Me"	170
In German Captivity	170
On what had passed on my return	171
Jacov Mayer Maruchnik	172
In Memory of Ruzhinoy’s Martyrs	174
Beloved	175
In Memory of Those Who Made Aliyah:
A.Y. Haboynik and Wife	177
Rabbi Ze’ev Wolf	178
Leibl Ziskind	178
Nachum Alperstein Committee ofLandsmen’s Organizations	181
Our Families:
A listing & photos of some of the families	184
The Fallen in the War of Independence: (Israel)
Listing of many names & photos	190
Poem: The Jewish Body	192
More names listed	193
Another poem: Liberty	197
"Amal is Geven a Stetl"- Ruzhinoy as I Remember:
Survey in Yiddish	199
In Memory of our Martyrs	212
Ruzhinoy and Environs	213
Lists of Ruzhinoyer in Israel	229
Lists of Liskovers in Israel	232
Once There Was A Shtetl - Supplementary chapter

Yizkor Book Project JewishGen Home Page Ruzhany, at Shtetlinks

Yizkor Book Project Manager, Lance Ackerfeld
Emerita Yizkor Book Project Manager, Joyce Field
Contact person for this translation Edith Taylor
This web page created by Elsa Drezner