The Dereczin Memorial Book
A Book of Remembrance
Honoring the Communities of
Dereczin, Halinka, Kolonia-Sinaiska

(Derechin, Belarus)

53°15' / 24°55'

 

Translation of
Sefer Dereczyn

Edited by: Yekhezkiel Raban

Published in Tel Aviv, 1966

 

English Translation Prepared and Published By:

Jacob Solomon Berger

Published in Mahwah, New Jersey, 2000

 

Acknowledgments

 

Our sincere appreciation to Jacob Solomon Berger who has kindly donated
his original book to JewishGen for online presentation

 


This is a translation of: Sefer Dereczyn (The Dereczin Memorial Book),
Edited by Yekhezkiel Raban; English translation prepared by Jacob Solomon Berger.
Mahwah, New Jersey, 2000

Notes:


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.


 

 

Dedication
Foreword by Yekhezkiel Raban i
The Translator's Foreword Jacob Solomon Berger iv
A Silent Kaddish for Our Dearest Abraham-Kadish Feder vi
To Our Dereczin Brothers & Sisters in The U.S. Greetings & Blessings! Malka Alper viii
On the Occasion of the Publication of the Book David Rabinovich (ז”ל) ix
 
Once there was a Town 1
Dereczin of the Past Chaim Rabinovich 3
They Exalted the Name of Dereczin Chaim Zvi Miller-Sinai 20
My Grandfather Occupying the Rabbinical Seat of Dereczin Eliyahu Herenson 24
The Dereczin of My Youth Shlomo Yudson 26
Three Tales from Dereczin of Yore Shlomo Yudson 31
The Sinai Colony Chaim Zvi Miller-Sinai 40
From the Mouth of My Mother, of Blessed Memory Yaffa Prozbol 48
 
At the Dawn of the Twentieth Century 49
In the Days of Change and Transformation Jacob Kobrinsky 51
A Torah Scroll By Fanny Boyerman-Feder 53
Rabbis, Scholars and Teachers Malka Alper 56
Our Town at the Beginning of the [Twentieth] Century Naftali Ben-Dov (Dykhovsky) 58
Haskalah, the Bund, Self-Defense Chaim Rabinovich 59
Sent Off to Dereczin Ray Raskin 68
Stormy Years Joe Silkovich 67
Once Upon a Time… Feiga-Leah Abramovich 72
Memories from My Father's Tavern Dvora (Dvosha) Kress-Beckenstein 74
Bitter and Sweet Memories Nahum Bliss-Blizniansky 75
Jewish to the Last Breath Moshe Kwiat 75
Those Pious, Upstanding Jews Esther Nissenbaum-Bricker 78
A Night Ride on the Coach Malka Alper 79
A Teacher in Dereczin Hannah Novick 80
From the Last Will and Testament of Simkheh the Storekeeper   82
 
In the First World War 83
The Years of War & Occupation Chaim Rabinovich 85
In the Vise of the War Malka Alper 90
Under the Yoke of the German Occupation Jacob Rabinovich 92
The Food Committee Mattityahu (Mottel) Abelovich 94
A Charity Soup Kitchen for the Needy Malka Alper 95
War Chitchat Malka Alper 93
 
Personalities & Their Achievements 97
David Alper 99
    My Brother, David Malka Alper 99
    Our Unforgettable Teacher Liza Katz-Bialosotsky 99
    The Alper Family David Rabinovich 101
    David Alper, Our Teacher and Principal Asher Shofet (Negbah) 102
    He Who Is Not Forgotten Is Not Dead Naftali Ben-Dov (Dykhovsky) 104
Rabbi Chaim Zvi Sinai-Miller 105
    Our Father's Way Khemda & Israel Artzi 105
    A Figure of Shining Light Malka Alper 106
    My Mentor and Teacher Kalman Abramovich 107
    I Was Proud to Call Him ‘Uncle’ Gustav Sharon (Johannesburg) 108
Chaim Lansky 109
    A Difficult Childhood, A Hard Life Jacob Rabinovich 109
    Lansky In His Town Malka Alper 111
    A Poet Under Duress Joshua Gilboa 115
    My Friend Chaim, The Dreamer David Rabinovich 117
    The Role of Home in Lansky's Poetry Abraham Kariv 119
 
The Last Generation 121
I See Her, Dereczin M. Izaakovich 123
Our Synagogues Jacob Rabinovich 124
Dereczin In No-Man's Land Chaim Rabinovich 125
During the Stormy Days Malka Alper 126
Memories From Those Days Jacob Rabinovich 129
A Jewish-Polish Kitchen Malka Alper 131
Planting and the Harvest Schraga-Fyvel Einstein 130
Between Zion and Revolution Malka Alper 136
Following Upheavals and Pogroms Moshe Sedletsky 138
The Tarbut School As Told by a Group of Students 140
My Father, The Last Rabbi of Dereczin Meir Bakalchuk 143
The Holy Rabbi, Gaon of Dereczin, Bakalchuk זצ”ל Rabbi Chaim-Chaikel Grinberg 145
The Yavneh School Nekha Petrukhovich 146
Betar & Tzahar In Our Town M. Bakalchuk, A. Beckenstein, K. Abramovich 147
In the Service of the Dereczin Community Eliyahu Herenson 150
Visiting the Sick & Overnight Sick Watch Nekha Petrukhovich 154
Our Town in the Thirties Isser Lev 155
Hatred of the Jews on the Eve of Destruction Malka Alper 156
 
Memories 158
This Is How We Lived in Our Town Haya Kreslansky 160
My Grandfather, זצ”ל Tzirel Kamenetsky 163
Under the Bolsheviks Mattityahu Abelovich 165
The Budding of Zionist Socialism in Dereczin Naftali Ben-Dov 166
The Origins of the HeHalutz Branch David Rabinovich 167
My Grandfather & Grandmother, ז”ל Dov Gorinovsky 168
The Holy Sabbath In My Father's House Sarah Basevitz-Slonimsky 169
Festivals and the High Holy Days Malka Alper 170
How Could One Possibly Forget!? Dvora Smith-Shelkovich 173
My Birthplace, Dereczin Shayndl Wilenczyk 174
My Grandmother & Grandfather Sarah Teichman-Levinger 175
Festival Time in Town Chaya Beckenstein-Pilzer 176
My Husband's Family Nekhama Petrukhovich 177
My Scholarly and Enterprising Father Shimon Abramovich 178
How I Took Leave of My Home Miriam Pechersky-Slonimsky 179
And This Is How We Emigrated to The Holy Land Esther Dlugolansky 181
My Last Sabbath in Dereczin Saul Gorinovsky 182
My Little Town, Halinka Mina Liebreider 183
Enlivenment in Town - An Autobus Chaya Beckenstein-Piltzer 185
A Comical Event Shayndl Kamenitzer 185
A Master of the Tanach Meir Ziskind 187
A Fire in Town Leah Eliovich-Yatvitsky 189
I Met With My Very First Teacher Rachel Alper 190
My Family That Was Wiped Out Shoshana Shapiro-Nozhnitsky 192
Dereczin No Longer Exists Dora Birnbaum-Rothstein 193
A Visit to My Hometown Rukhamah Ziskind-Abelovich 195
I Was a Witness to a False Accusation Leah Shlechter-Shapiro 197
My Brother Leibeh Leah Elyovich-Yatwitsker 198
My Father's House on the Schulhof Liza Katz-Bialosotsky 199
The Pain of Memories Rivkah Saglowitz-Dykhovsky 200
 
The Destruction 201
My Town Dereczin Katya Klebnik-Bialosotsky 202
This Is How the Jewish Community of Dereczin Was Destroyed Masha & Abraham-Hirsch Kulakowski 203
The Fate of the Feldman Family Rachel Efrat-Feldman 212
The Germans Have Arrived Sara Wachler-Ogulnick 213
From the Hideaway into the Forest Yehudit Yankelevich-Lantzevitzky 214
Barely Escaping with Our Lives to the Forest Pesha Feinsilber 215
We Were Slaves... Y. Reich 221
How Tzippel Beckenstein Committed Suicide Pesha Feinsilber 222
I Was a Refugee in Oppressed Dereczin Shmuel Bernstein 223
Escaped from the Slaughter Gutka Boyarsky-Salutsky 243
Out of the Mass Grave Musha Novitsky-Grachuk 244
The Destruction of the Dereczin Jewish Community Sh. Nieger 247
The Bloody Tenth Day of Ab Tsirel Kaminetsky-Friedman 247
From the Memories of a Refugee Y. Krimolovsky 250
The Fate of My Family Chaya Levin-Glicksfeld 252
During the Days of Slaughter Katya Bialosotsky-Khlebnik 255
This Is How I Was Saved On the Day of Slaughter Sarah Wachler-Ogulnick 258
Remaining the Only One Avraham-Yitzhak Medvetzky 260
The End of Halinka Mina Liebreider 261
Tribulation, Torture and Death Jekuthiel Khmelnitsky 262
Only I Remained from My Entire Family Chaya Einstein-Osterovitz 266
I Saw All This With My Own Eyes Nekha Petrukhovich 268
To the Entire World Regina Rabinovich 269
 
In the Forests 272
Two Years in the Partisan Forces Masha & Abraham-Hirsch Kulakowski 273
The Only Imperative – Take Revenge Jekuthiel Khmelnitsky 280
Hunger and Death in the Forest Tsirel Kamenetsky-Friedman 286
Dr. Yekhezkiel Atlas – The Partisan Doctor Dr. Y. Rockover 289
With the Dereczin Fighters in the Forest Shmuel Borenstein 294
The Whole Family Lost in the Forest Gutka Salutsky-Boyarsky 305
I Saved Myself Along With My Children Kayla Azaf 308
In the Partisan Camp Yehudit Yankelevich-Lantzevitzky 311
Two Out of the Entire Family Moshe Kwiat 313
We Were Saved from a Terrifying Trap Masha Kulakowski 314
My Life in the Forests Haya Beckenstein-Pilzer 317
In the Forest With My Brother Musha Grachuk-Novitsky 321
Anti-Semitism in the Forest Moshe Kwiat 323
With the Partisans Abraham-Yitzhak Medvetsky 324
My Sister Ruzha Falls in the Forest Katya Khlebnik-Bialosotsky 325
The Zionist Dream in the Thickness of the Forest Masha Kulakowski 326
They Fell With Their Guns In Their Hands 327
 
Wandering 339
Uprooted with the Maelstrom Meir Bakalchuk 340
From The Foreign Land to the Homeland Rivkah Becker 347
Torn Out of the Pulpit at Sinaiska Rabbi Israel ben Ch. M. Kaplinsky 349
 
On the Ruins 351
Back in Dereczin Sarah Wachler-Ogulnick 352
No Where to Return Chaya Beckenstein-Pilzer 355
On the Ruins of the Dreams of My Youth Masha Kulakowski 356
From Forest Bunkers to Mass Graves Malka Bulkovstein 357
Orphaned, Abandoned, and Hopeless Moshe & Israel Kwiat 358
A Kosher Passover Among the Ruins Nekhama Petrukhovich 359
Among Ruined Streets and Lanes Meir Bakalchuk 359
 
Derecziners in America 343
The Founding of the “Derecziner Society” Joe (Jonah) Silkovich 363
The Work of the Dereczin Relief Committee in New York Abraham Kadish Feder 364
In Memory of Our Friend, Nathan Bliss Jonah Silkovich 367
Derecziners in America David Rabinovich 369
Sarah Slotnick-Yanofsky, ז”ל Malka Alper 371
Her Son, Meir, ע”ה 371
 
Dereczin Kinfolk in Israel 373
Relief-Work of the Dereczin Kinfolk in Israel Malka Alper 375
From Sinaiska – To the Land of Israel Esther Dlugolansky (Petakh-Tikvah) 376
Yaakov Izaakovich, A Chess Fanatic Among the Blind Moshe Guter 377
What I Learned from the Mouth of My Mother Yitzhak Wachler 378
 
In Memory of Deceased Dereczin Landsleit 379
Remarks in Memory of David Rabinovich ז”ל Kalman Lichtenstein 379
My Father, of Blessed Memory Ilan Rabinovich 380
Elkeh Lichtenstein Malka Alper 382
At the End of the First Year Miriam Musikant 382
Elkeh Lichtenstein of the Dykhovsky Family ז”ל David Rabinovich 383
A Portrait of the Late Chava Sharar ז”ל of the Salutsky Family Menahem Rahat 383
A Portrait of My Mother, Bluma, ז”ל Khemda Artzi, of the Sinai-Miller Family 366
In Memory of my Mother Shoshana Gutman ז”ל Israel Gil-Or (Gutman) 386
A Portrait of My Mother Dina Levitin of the Sinai Family Naomi Mizrahi 387
Israel Dror-Dereczinsky ז”ל, – The Man of Shfai'im 387
His Home – In His Hometown Malka Alper 388
In Honor of His Person David Gutsfurkht 389
Hanan Abelovich ז”ל Malka Alper 390
To the Memory of Yerakhmiel Edelstein, ז”ל Dov Gorinovsky 391
Yerakhmiel Edelstein, ז”ל Malka Alper 391
Isser Lev, ז”ל Meir Bakalchuk 391
Rachel Eichenbaum-Walansky ז”ל A 392
Shimon Lusky ז”ל M. A. 392
In Memory of Reb Mordechai Zolotkovsky Abraham Baysman 392
Ze'ev Ogulnick ז”ל M.B. 393
Moshe Izaakovich ז”ל 393
My Sister Shoshana ז”ל Y. Izaakovich 394
[E]lazar Rosenberg ז”ל 394
Beba, (Nekhama) Wife of Reb Yoshe Rabinovich ז”ל 394
Eliyahu, son of Reb Yoshe (Joseph) Rabinovich ז”ל 394
Ethel (Esther) daughter of Joseph & Beba Herenson-Rabinovich ז”ל 394
Our Sister Rachel Alper ז”ל Malka Alper 395
Rachel had Many Facets Amiram 396
With the Memory of Rachel Alper ז”ל Meir Bakalchuk 397
Rachel Daughter of Dereczin Y. Raban 398
Liova (Aryeh) Greenwald ז”ל 399
Nachman (Nakheh) Goldenberg ז”ל 399
Alter Lobzovsky ז”ל 399
 
Memorial Pages 401
 
Necrology: Martyrs of the Community of Dereczin 415

 


 Yizkor Book Project    JewishGen Home Page  


Yizkor Book Director, Lance Ackerfeld
Emerita Yizkor Book Project Manager, Joyce Field
This web page created by Lance Ackerfeld

Copyright © 1999-2024 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 7 Sep 2023 by LA