Augustow, Poland

Memorial Book of the Community
of Augustow and Region
(Augustów, Poland)

53°51' / 23°00'

Translation of
Sefer Yizkor le-kehilat Augustow ve-ha-seviva

Edited by J. Aleksandroni

Published in Tel Aviv, 1966

Acknowledgments

Project Coordinator

Hebrew Translator and Translation Project Editor: Rabbi Molly Karp
Yiddish Translators: Daniel Kennedy and Oliver Elkus
Photographic Reproduction: Jonah Karp Hurst

Emeritus coordinator: Yigal Rechtman

This is a translation from: Sefer Yizkor le-kehilat Augustow ve-ha-seviva
(Memorial Book of the Community of Augustow and Region),
ed. J. Aleksandroni, Assoc. of Former Residents of Augustow and Region, Tel Aviv, 1966 (H, Y 549 pages)

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The Gateway to the Book – the editor	11

A City in Its Life
This is the story^[1]
The History of the Town and its Jewish Community by M.S. Geshori	17
Rabbis of Augustów by M. Tzinovitz	89
The Rabbi the Gaon Yitzchak Kosovski Yitzchak Kosovski	100
Rabbi Azriel Zelig Noach Koshelevski by Yitzchak Edelstein	101
Scholars in the City by M. Tzinovitz	104
The Rabbi the Gaon Reb Betzalel Ze'ev Gibstein by M. Tzinovitz	110
Learned Men That I Knew in the Days of My Childhood by Rabbi Yekutiel Azrieli	114
Lipsk by B. Efrati	115
Sztabin by Leah Sherman	116
From My Diary by Dr. Nechemiah Aloni	117
From Days Gone By by Eliezer Markus	119

Way of Life and Lifestyle
My City Augustów by Akiva Glikstein	130
In My Wanderings by Tz. Z. Weinberg	134
The Jews in Augustow by Yaakov Frenkel	149
My Memories by Reuven Levi	158
In Those Days by Noach Borovitz	165
There Was… by Leah Sherman	167
Fathers and Sons by Daniel Kaplan	170
From the Days of My Childhood by Chaim ben Abba Orimland	173
Between War and War by Yishayahu Livni (Bialovitzki)	175
Talmud Torah (1920-1940), “Tiferet Bachurim” and More by Elchanan Sarvianski	176
In the Mirror of the Press Compiled by M. Tzinovitz	179
Greeting by Khaye Kalinsk	185
The Past that Does Not Pass Away by Abba Gordin (Yiddish, DK)	189
Abba Gordin (Yiddish, DK)	217
On the Old Path by Eliezer Aronovski (Yiddish, DK)	218
Mottinke the Sweet; The Saccharin Man by El. Aronovski (Yiddish, DK)	222

Some Personalities of Our City
In the Company of Meir Meizler and Yaakov Frenkel by Tz. Z. Weinberg	232
A Penny by Tz. Z. Weinberg	241
The Keinan Family by Eliezer Markus	245
My Brother Sender; Lippe the Wagon-master by Akiva Glikstein	248
Abba Gordin by Chaim Dan	256
Maskilim and “Chovevei-Tzion” by M. Tzinovitz	257
Dovid Arieh Aleksandrovitz; Reuven Rotenberg by Zelda Edelstein	261
Fania Bergstein	264
My Parents' House by M. Ampel (Volmir)	266
The Name by Tz. Z. Weinberg	267
My Family by Feigl Rabinovitz (Meizler) (Yiddish)	280
Reuven Sini (Yiddish)	282
Dovid Goldstein (Yiddish)	283
Avraham Yaakov Nattar (Yiddish)	284
Liptzin Sam (Shepsel) (Yiddish)	284

Secular Life
The Daily Economics of Augustów's Jews by Dr. Moshe Markus and Eliezer Markus	285
The Status of Teachers by Meir Meizler	290

On the Way to Zion
The History of “Chibbat Tzion” and Zionism in Augustów by M. Tzinovitz	293
My Aliyah^[4] to the Land^[5] by A. Glikstein	294
The First Group of Those Who Went Up – B. Efrati	300
The History of “HeChalutz” in Augustów – Dr. N. Aloni	302
Friends Tell:	323
“HeChalutz HaTzair” in Augustów by Moshe Amit (Drozinski)	325
My Road to “HeChalutz HaTzair” by Yishayahu Shadmi (Blechertzik)	331
“Hashomer HaTzair” by Zenya Riftin (Yones)	333
“Beitar” and “HaTzohar” in Augustów by Dr. Moshe Markus	341
The “Mizrachi” Movement (Yiddish, DK)	342

Institutions (Religious, Charitable, Cultural and Educational)
Synagogues by Rabbi Yekutiel Azrieli; Elchanan Sarvianski	343
Hostel for the Poor (Yiddish pp. 353-355, DK, and Hebrew)	351
The Establishment of the Library	357
The Library by M. Meizler	357
Jewish Education in Augustów by Yaakov Bergstein	358
Our Other Social Institutions (Yiddish, DK)	366

A City in Its Destruction
In the Struggle
The Germany-Polish War; In the Second World War by Elchanan Sarvianski	373
Partisans: Noach Sarvianski; Shmuel Zupinski	403

How^[6] It Was Destroyed
The Town is Burning: (Yiddish) by M. Gevirtig; Hebrew Translation by Amitai.	406
The Destruction of the Jews of Augustów by A. Sarvianski	408
The Destruction of Augustów by Dr. Shor	416
From the Testimony of Amiel Shimon	416
From the Testimony of A. Karasik at the Trial of Adolph Eichmann	417
The Voice of the Forest by E. Aronovski (Yiddish, DK)	423

On the Ruins
A Visit to Augustów after the Holocaust by Attorney. Moshe Einat (Zborovski)	426
The Desecrated Gravestones by Aleksander Yosefberg	436
Poems by Fania Bergstein	438
The Martyrs of Our City by Zelda Edelstein	443
A Tear Shed for the Destruction of Our Town by Chaim Lazdeiski (Yiddish, DK)	443
From the Song “Face of a Massacred People” by Yitzchak Katznelson (Yiddish, DK)	449
A Letter from a Survivor (Yiddish, DK)	450
Testimonies of Z. Kalstein, Fendzuch, Fania Landau (Yiddish, DK)	459
Poems by Eliezer Aronovski (Yiddish, OE)	467
After the Nightmare by Shmuel-Eliezer Aplebaum (Yiddish, OE)	481
The Tear-filled Road by Yitzchak Bialovzetzki (Yiddish, DK)	485
A Letter to Mother by Esther Tuker (Glikstein) (Yiddish, DK)	489

Memorial Candle
Gad Zaklikovski by his wife Dina; (Yiddish, OE)	490
Gad Zaklikovski by Esther Eilender-Weinberg	491
Fania Bergstein by Sarah Berliner	492
Israel Zelia Bergstein by Chena Shraga (Bergstein)	494
Shlomo Plotzinski by Chena Shraga (Bergstein)	494
With Shlomkeh in Training by Rivka B.	494
Yisrael Levi	495
Tzila Bezant	495
Tuvia Rabinovitz by His brother Yisrael Rabinovitz	497
Barukh Chositzer by His Brother	497
Father by Esther Eiger (Ivriyah)	498
Father by Noach Varhaftig	499
My Father and My Brother by Esther Tuker (Glikstein)	499
My Father's House by Yitzchak Sherman	499
My Father, My Mother, My Brother, My Sister Leah, My Sister Vela by A. Sarvianski	500
Rivka Yaffa	501
Shabtai Kaplan by his Wife, Pesya daughter of Yoel	501
Kaplan Family by Daniel Kaplan	501
Shmuel and Golda Grinberg by Aminadav	502
Reuven Levi	502
Seven Martyrs by Binyamin Tzemach (Yiddish, OE)	503
My Father by Chana Orimland (Yiddish, OE)	506

Yizkor
On the Day of Remembrance by Daniel Kaplan	509
List of Holocaust Victims	511
List of the Deceased	524
The Organization of Survivors of Augustow and Its Surroundings in Israel by B. Efrati	526
Augustow Survivors in Israel	530
Augustow Survivors in the Diaspora	536
Appendix A: Memories of Shalom-Naftali Soloveitchik
Appendix B: Glossary of Hebrew, Yiddish, and Aramaic Terms

Index

Transaltor's Footnotes:

This is a biblical phrase, used to introduce a new story or section, as in Genesis 2:4, “This is the story of heaven and earth when they were created. When the LORD God made earth and heaven…” Return

“HaRav,” literally “the Rabbi,” is used for the title that in English is rendered simply as “Rabbi” Return

Literally, students of sages. Return

Immigrating to the land of Israel is always described by the word “ascent.” Return

“The Land” without any other qualifiers generally refers to the land of Israel. Return

Using the biblical form of the word “how” that is both the opening word and the name of the book of Lamentations, which laments the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. Return

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