[Pages V-VI]

Introduction

Passing before us, as if in a dream, is Jewish life along with the annihilated cities and towns in the Ukraine, Poland, Galicia, Rumania and other smaller and larger Jewish communities which developed, existed and met their doom in the course of almost a thousand years.

What had led to and what were the reasons for the long chain of slaughter, pogroms and exile which, in the course of time, have destroyed generations which boasted such a long history?

It ought to be remembered that, even when the surrounding world had already benefited from the so-called civilization and progress, the persecution of the Jews assumed at times an even more tragic aspect than was the case in the Middle Ages. We have reference here to the final epoch of Hitlerism.

Apparently, no conclusive answer thereto exists. The Jewish historians, in their chronologies, have recorded the awful occurrences of religious uprisings and other anti-Jewish outbreaks. Thereto ought to be added the Czars and various other autocratic leaders of those times who sought to detract attention from their own oppressed nations and point to the Jew as the guilty party in all of the world's woes.

As we observe now in the struggle of our brethren in Israel, the self-same occurrence is being repeated.

Russia, along with the Arab nations, which, all told, comprise a population of about three hundred million, have pounced upon the small Israel nation and are ready to annihilate a populace of two and one-half million.

We are sure that also in their attempt against the State of Israel, our enemies will suffer the same defeat as in their plot against the Jewish people throughout the ages.

Encompassing vast stretches of land, rich in natural resources, the mentioned nations have the greatest possibilities, collectively, to settle a million or more Arab refugees without any difficulty whatsoever.

This observation is made not merely because of historical fact; we believe also that the written and printed word – by means of this and other Memorial Volumes published by Jewish organizations

will aid future historians in shedding light upon the long road of martyrdom through which the heroic Jewish people have passed.

We have scanned the pages of the Memorial Volume being prepared for publication by the Husiatiner-Podlier Landsleit. We believe that all the episodes revealed in the book are of great import.

The Editors

Husiatin in Ukraine and Husiatin in Galicia. – The Husiatiner Rebbe. – A Vital Point. – Jewish Youth's Struggle. – Sabbath Rest. – Prior to World War I. – End of the Romanov Dynasty. – Return Home from Odessa. – Exile of Husiatin's Jews in 1915. – Hopelessness of the Jewish Populace. – Blood Pogroms. – The Jewish Self-Defence Groups.

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Our town was little known in the Jewish world. It was situated near the former Russian and Austro-Hungarian border in the Ukraine, far from any large Jewish centre.

Its only claim to fame was the fact that directly on the opposite side of the border there was another town with the identical name Husiatin (Galicia), which was famous because of the Rebbe, Rabbi Israel Friedman. He was a descendant of the Rujaner dynasty which, because of pressure from Czarist Russia, was obliged to flee from the Ukraine and settle in different cities and towns in Galicia. Galicia was, at that time, under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian government (The Hapsburg Dynasty). The Emperor was Franz Joseph. The capital city was Vienna. This ruler treated the Jews much more kindly than his Russian counterparts and his reign was exemplified by liberal laws which permitted the establishment of the Rabbinic Courts at Husiatin, Kupichinitz, Chortkov, Sadagora and other places to draw large crowds of Chassidic Jews from all the surrounding countries on their periodic pilgrimages during the holidays. The Chassidim would visit, especially during the High Holy days (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) as well as the other Jewish holidays, when they wished to be near their Rebbe and to sit at his table.

Husiatin (Russia) was a transit point from which many Chassidim would cross the border on their way to their Rebbe on the other side. We will have the opportunity later on to this matter and discuss it more fully.

It is hard to ascertain when the Jews actually settled in Husiatin because that region changed hands many times in the different wars and partitions between Poland and Russia. It seems also that there are no documents extant from which we can learn anything.

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The Jewish population was small, approximately 300 families. The town lies in a valley surrounded by three big mountains, which were settled by the Christian Ukrainians and a small number of Polish inhabitants. A small river, the Zbrutch, flows through the valley and divides both Husiatins. At the old cemetery near the town, the inscriptions on the monuments were hardly legible. One can assume almost with certainty that Jews lived there for about 500 years. The city of Satanov was located 18 miles further on the same border-line. According to the historic research of the society to perpetuate the memory of Ukrainian Jews (Vol.1, 1961, p. 29) there were 9 Jewish homes in Satanov between the years 1565 and 1570. We cite this fact because in Husiatin there were also a few Jewish families at the time since both towns began to develop at the same time.

From further research, we learn that between 1650-1660 there were 1208 Jewish souls there. We must assume that it was at the time when Poland owned the Ukraine and it would seem that both Husiatins on either bank of the Zbrutch River were one municipality under Polish rule. It was after the 2^nd and 3^rd partitions of Poland, following the uprising of Bogdan Chmelnitzky, that the city was divided into two Husiatins. The regions of Podolia, Volynia and Kiev went over to Czarist Russia and were united with the other Ukrainian regions on the other side of the Dnieper River. This comprised a unified Ukraine as we remember it until the World War of 1914.

With the partition of Poland, the Jewish population of Husiatin was also divided. The predominant number of Jews found themselves under the Russian yoke and the rest remained under Austro-Hungarian rule. It is important to mention a legend which was current in our town – that, at the old cemetery, there was a grave covered with a mound of earth and a monument from which the inscription was completely obliterated. This grave was opened for a deceased from our town. On the night that it was dug up, a wagon full of Jews from the Polish side, who were on their way to a wedding in another region, passed the grave site. By accident, the wagon overturned and the bridegroom and his relatives were killed and all were buried in this grave.

Husiatin was an important border point, therefore, the communal life acquired a distinctive character. A small number of its inhabitants, Jews as well as non-Jews, were involved in the illegal

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Transport of immigrants across the border. Between 1903 and 1906, many young Jews left Russian in order to avoid serving in the armed forces during the Russo-Japanese War in the Far East. Russia was in the process of losing that war and many soldiers fell on that battle front.

It is important to note that the Russian Jews had very little reason to support the Czarist forces since the Romanoffs were rabid anti-Semites.

There were approximately 2 million Jews crowded into the “Pale of Settlements” of the 15 Regions of the Ukraine, in which they were allowed to reside. They were forced to concentrate in the smaller cities and towns. For example, they were forbidden to reside in Kiev, Kharkov, Rostov and other big cities, although these cities formed part of the “Pale”. These restrictions, plus the inability to leave Russia legally, made the Jews resort to illegal crossings of the border.

The Kishenev Pogrom of 1903 really frightened the Jews who were crowded in the little towns of the “Pale”. Even the simple folk, hard-working elements who were struggling to eke out a meagre existence fled to North America.

The first to leave were the men. After they settled somewhat in the environment, they sent for their wives and families, their parents, sisters, brothers and other relatives. To flee from Russia was uppermost in the minds and on the lips of everyone. The fact that the news from the U.S. was somewhat disheartening, was the only factor that deterred everyone from leaving. The letters to Russia described the working conditions and noted the fact that one had to work on the Sabbath and the low state to which the observance of Kashruth had fallen.

The ruling class in Russia was constantly looking for a scapegoat for all its problems and misfortunes. The fact that the Jews had a prominent part in the first revolution of 1905, played into their hands. This forced the Jewish revolutionaries to flee Russia as well. They, thus, avoided being exiled to far-off, frozen Siberia.

It might be interesting to note that the border police as well as the soldiers stationed there, actively participated in the illegal emigration. They naturally were well paid for their work. Since we are on the subject, Lenin himself was smuggled across the border at Husiatin. This information was found in the Archives of the

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Political Police Bureau after the revolution of 1917-1918. Of course, the man who smuggled him across had no idea who he was. He himself had been on his way to Siberia, had escaped and crossed the same border. He died at an old age in Skola, Galicia where he used to go about asking for alms.

The border was also used for underground activity by the revolutionary movement. The border led to Austria which further led to Germany, France, England and America where many parties found a fertile soil for their political activity; where the press was liberal and where the laws of assembly were less stringent. This friendlier climate permitted the Russian revolutionaries to transport their political tracts, clandestine pamphlets and instructions to their comrades at home, who did not cease to press their fight against the Russian government. The Czarist regime was acutely aware of this activity and took counter-measures against it. The entire length of the border was heavily guarded and crowded with secret agents. Sporadic shots were heard from time-to-time as the militia attempted to block the illegal traffic of this incendiary literature which spread throughout Russia and incited the population to rebel. The tensions at the border left their imprint on our town and its inhabitants who were in constant fear as a result of the events at the border.

Concerning the economic situation of the Jewish population, it might be worthwhile to note that a brisk trade existed between the countries. The export of farm produces from the fruitful Ukraine as well as lumber from its forests and other products, where chiefly in Jewish hands.

The major part of the commerce was conducted by Jews from both towns of Husiatin. This trade was carried on legally and went on day and night. The town was constantly occupied with export and import, from more advanced countries. Austria and Germany were already quite advanced, technically, at that time and sold us machinery, manufactured goods and medicines. This served to elevate the standards of our inhabitants, as well as of those who lived even further in the interior. It ought also to be added that the Husiatin on the other bank of the river was more progressive and worldly than its Russian namesake.

The inhabitants of both towns could cross the border freely and the Jewish communities not only enjoyed business relations but also shared the same religious and national aspirations. The

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youthful elements particularly were linked with the Zionist movement through the Hebrew and Yiddish literature, which were propagated through the daily press, periodicals, books and the like. The older people met at the Rebbe's court which represented for them a way of life for their religious observances. They also believed in the Rebbe as a miracle worker.

The train of life of the Chassidic Rebbes was almost royal and their adherents were convinced of their total wisdom and erudition.

Many young as well as older men would live in the Rebbe's court and study Torah for its own sake. They had no financial worries because they were fed and clothed at the Rebbe's expense. Whenever any problems arose among any Chassidim, they immediately ran to their Rebbe, either for advice in the matter or for his miraculous intervention.

The court employed many servants, particularly the ten or more Gabbayem who were in charge of the entire programme and were responsible for controlling the visits of the multitudes who came knocking at the Rebbe's door.

The first thing to be done was to enumerate all the problems on a note. This note was handed together with a donation for the Rebbe as well as the Gabbai who was handling the matter. After the Rebbe perused the note, the supplicant would be permitted into his room where he would receive a coin as an amulet, as well as his advice and his blessing. Women could not gain entry themselves and had to send their notes in through the Gabbai who would return with the Rebbe's good wishes. On Saturdays and holidays, the Chassidim would join the Rebbe and the male members of his immediate family around his table. Frequently, there were as many as two to three hundred visitors from Galicia as well as Russia.

Chassidim from Odessa, Kiev, Vinitza, Kamenetz-Podolsk, not to mention those from the surrounding towns, would be seen walking through the streets, but especially the street leading to the Rebbe's court. Some were dressed in silk caftans and fur hats; others were dressed in tatters. On the New Year and the Day of Atonement, the city looked like a holy congregation of pilgrims who gathered to bask in the holy glow of their Rebbe. No other social movement could boast of that ecstasy and devotion which Chassidism fostered.

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On Chamisha Assar B'shvat (the New Year of the Trees), all the youngsters would visit the court where the celebration of the holiday assumed a national and religious character. The wife of the Rebbe, a woman of aristocratic bearing and dressed in the latest fashion, would serve us small packages of fruit from the Holy Land. This would link us to the land of our forefathers where the holiday was celebrated because the trees were already in bloom.

The Rebbe's court was not enthralled by the new national ideas, however. In the latter part of the 19^th century when the Haskallah movement as well as the Return to Zion Movement started to grow, most of our compatriots remained aloof from, and even hostile to, these progressive ideas which were appearing on the Jewish scene. The entire Chassidic Dynasty which wielded great influence on its adherents, was unalterably opposed to the Zionist idea since it was waiting for the Messiah to lead the Jews back to the land of Israel.

The Zionist youth of Husiatin, Galicia, was, therefore, forced to go underground. An interesting example of its clandestine activity was the attempt to send a Zionist Deputy, Dr. Waldman of Tarnapol to Vienna. The chances to elect him to the Austrian Parliament were very good since a large percentage of the non-Jewish population, particularly the Ukrainians, were ready to vote for the Jewish candidate.

The Rebbe and his followers, however, worked to elect the Polish estate owner, Count Gollochovski, who was not known for his philosemitism. They were instrumental in his defeat of Dr. Waldman. It would seem that the Rebbe supported the non-Jewish candidate because he thought it more prudent for the Jews not to be too active politically, nor to seek complete independence in that sensitive area. His concept was that the Polish Count and other of his ilk might be called upon to defend the Jewish interests. Another consideration was the fact that the Rebbe's court received certain legal and economic privileges from the rich landowners of the region.

The wife of the Rebbe was supplied with a coach from the stable of Count Gollochovski during the summer months and she was invited to take a drive several times each week through his private park, a privilege which was denied not only to the other Jews but even to the non-Jewish inhabitants.

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How times have changed! Alas, as a result of the pogroms, destruction and exiles, the immediate family of the Rebbe was also subject to the same fate as the rest of the Jewish population. The Rebbe and a few of his relatives managed to save themselves and are now living in Israel. (The elder Rebbe died in 1948 in Tel-Aviv, Israel).

In the aforementioned incident, the Jews on the Russian side were certainly interested that the Zionists should win. Since we were Russian subjects, we could not actively participate in this campaign, but we were all bound together by the same ideal and we share the same aspirations as our brethren on the other side of the border.

The saga of that period is truly remarkable. We had lived under the rule of the Czars for some 300 years; our language was Russian; the daily press as well as the rich creative literature with the literary giants of that sector of the world, was part and parcel of our culture; on the other hand, the youths on the Austrian side of the border were educated in the Polish and German languages and were subject to completely different sociological and environmental conditions. In spite of the vast differences in the two worlds, the Jews on both sides were linked by the same national aspirations and we formed a single people, with one Torah, one Talmud, one tradition and one modern literature which took as its source the older literature that fed our religious and national consciousness, that nurtured our dream of the return to Zion, that united us as one people despite our dispersion. The non-Jewish population on both sides was predominantly Ukrainian; it felt at home; was not subject to any oppression and was united by belonging to the same church.

Let us now return to the socio-economic life of our town. As already mentioned, most of the Jews drew their livelihood from the export of farm products as well as the import of machinery and manufactured goods. Willy-nilly, the Russian rulers had to fall back on the Jewish mercantile skill and industry. The non-Jewish population could only give them technical assistance in transporting the goods to either side.

According to the yardstick of the Ministry of Commerce at St. Petersburg, Husiatin was considered a first-class border point. We don't remember whether the government published any official figures on the trade at that centre, but it can be said with certainty

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That it amounted to many millions of rubbles and usually brought considerable profits to the merchants. Many of our co-religionists were wealthy, and there was practically no poverty stricken elements, as was the case in the other sectors of the “Pale”.

After the infamous pogrom of Kichenev in 1903, and after Russia lost the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, a wave of pogroms and lawlessness broke out in the Ukraine. The Czarist regime buttressed its support against the burgeoning revolutionary movement, and the innocent victims were the Jews whose property and very lives were jeopardized in this inner struggle.

The entire length of the border was heavily guarded by the police and the special border patrols. Law and order were maintained because the Russian government wished to continue its trade relations with the neighbouring countries and because it realized that this flourishing commerce could not continue without the Jews. We were thus spared the fate which befell our less fortunate brethren in other parts of Russia. When the Jews from the surrounding towns warned us of an impending attack, the police commander immediately sent police to warn the leaders of the groups not to dare any attacks in our town. The fact that our townsmen were well organized and sent a unified delegation to the police officer must have also helped to avert the expected attack.

Thus, at a slow measured pace, the day-to-day life of our town followed its course. During the week, everyone was preoccupied with matter of making a living. However, when Friday afternoon would arrive, and until Saturday evening, the very buildings would assume a different visage. All transportation would cease. Even the non-Jewish helpers, as well as the customs officials, would rest on the Sabbath. On Sundays, the border would open at 12 o'clock. This cycle repeated itself every week for many years.

Every Friday afternoon, the character of the town would be transformed. The older Jews would hurry to finish their weekday pursuits in order to welcome the Sabbath Queen. Some would go to the public baths; others would bathe at home. Everyone would change from the weekday clothes to the special Sabbath clothes. The Jews would all go to the synagogues of their choice to receive the Sabbath.

The way of life of that era with the full observance of the traditions that were passed from one generation to the other in a long unbroken chain, added a spirituality and Godliness which

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the emptiness of the surrounding workaday world could not destroy.

The Sabbath was observed as a total day of rest for the Jew, for his servant and even for his beast of burden. No one forced it upon us. It was a voluntary acceptance of God's commandment and it enriched and spiritualized our lives.

The younger people were not too observant themselves but, out of respect for their elders, they did not do anything to desecrate the holy Sabbath and the other holidays.

The entire chain of tradition and the observance of the commandments bound us together into one people. It enabled all of us to withstand all the obstacles in our way.

From time immemorial, children started their studies at the Cheder where they learned the rudiments of Jewish learning. The poorer children were forced to call a halt to their education at an early age because they had to begin earning their own way. When these children grew up, it was hard for them to return to the studies they had put aside and they remained unschooled in Jewish as well as worldly knowledge. The second language to Yiddish was Ukrainian which the Jew learned in the street. The official language was, of course, Russian, but it was not really necessary to learn it for everyday transactions. As long as one could communicate with the Ukrainian peasants in their language, it was quite sufficient. The important thing was to grow up as a good Jew, to observe the commandments and perhaps even to become a follower of the Chassidic Rebbe, if not at the court of the Husiatiner Rebbe then perchance at the Kupichinitzer of the Zinkover Rebbes.

During the week, many Jews could not take the time to go to synagogue but on Saturdays, everyone went to his own synagogue, small or large. On the afternoons of the Sabbath, everyone would take a short nap then go back to the synagogue to study or to read the psalms. Most likely, very few understood what they were reading, but everyone knew the traditional chants and recited the prayers with heart and with feeling. Thus uplifted, they could go back to face the weekdays with all their problems.

The more privileged few would send their children to study for a longer period with teachers of greater knowledge. They might even hire private teachers for the study of Hebrew, or the Russian language.

The youth of our town avidly read the newspapers and periodicals

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in Hebrew, Yiddish and Russian which were sent from St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Vilna and Odessa. There were no advertisements in the Jewish periodicals and every word that was printed was pregnant with meaning and full of Jewish creative talent and longing. The Russian writings also helped to keep us abreast of the up-to-date philosophic thoughts and literary accomplishments. Thus the “intelligentsia” managed to take its place in the forefront of our society. From time-to-time, they managed even to attract some of the more scholarly of the older generation.

On this fertile soil the idea of the return to Zion found a friendly climate and grew until it found its culmination in the rebuilt State of Israel of our day.

Life thus flowed on in a seemingly unchanging pattern. Children grew up, took their place as breadwinners, married and carried on the chain of Jewish tradition for themselves as well as the coming generation.

The emigration to America which was an important factor elsewhere, was unfelt here since very few left from our town and of those who did venture forth, some returned home after trying to find their fortune in other lands. The natural increase was not too great either. We have no official statistics, but one could see some growth, new houses were built, new business grew to accommodate the influx of population.

In the summer months of 1914, the atmosphere seemed somehow oppressive. The local Yiddish and Russian press which was heavily censored, did not report the tensions that were building up. The newspapers from abroad, however, mentioned that conditions in Austro-Hungary were alarming.

At the beginning of 1914, the Austrian banks started to limit their credit to the Russian merchants. The local credit organizations on the Galician side of our town, began to change their financial transactions with their export-import clients on our side of the border. No one could foresee that these small changes presaged a world war of cataclysmic proportions; a war that was to bring ruin to our town as well as all the other towns on both banks for the river Zbrutch.

In June, 1914, the entire border patrol was changed. The old guard was sent further inland and regular army units took over. However, in order not to create a panic among the inhabitants, the soldiers were operating at the small border crossings and a little

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removed from the actual border posts. On the other side, the Austrian garrisons were also strengthened, but traffic moved freely as before. No one thought that these preparations would lead to war. The only war that the people remembered was the Russo-Japanese War. With the exception of the few families who had lost sons in that war, this remote conflict hardly affected those who lived in the Ukraine or even in Central Russia.

One must remember that in 1914, there was no radio or television. The only means of fast communication was the telegraph which did not always arrive speedily. Motorized communication was hardly developed. The only source of information was the newspapers which arrived 5 or 6 days late. Another source was the rumours which would come from the neighbouring cities.

The war actually started because of an insignificant incident. The Austrian Prince Frantz Ferdinand and his wife, Princess Sophie, were on a visit to Sarajevo in the Balkans. Austria consisted of a number of countries and national cities, spread over a vast empire. Serbia, a small country which had strong nationalist aspirations, was trying to break away from the Austro-Hungarian monarchy which had predominantly Catholic population, whereas Serbia largely adhered to the Russian Orthodox church or the Moslem Mosque. The Austrian empire at that time was not able to rule the provinces firmly enough. The Serbian General Staff took the opportunity of the visit of the royal couple and decided to assassinate them. The task fell to Gavrillo Princip, a 19-year old Slav nationalist. On June 28, 1914, as the Prince and his wife were passing through Sarajevo, he shot and killed them.

As was shown later, at the inquest, there was a powerful underground movement in Serbia which hoped to wrest this country from the Austrian empire by means of terror and then to proclaim an independent sovereign state of the provinces Bosnia and Herzegovina. (This state is today known as Yugoslavia: its capital is Belgrade)?

The single shot caused the catastrophic crisis that has lasted from World War I through to World War II and down to this day. Only two weeks after the prince had been shot, many major European countries were already drawn into the fray. Austria held the local Serbian authorities responsible and declared war on Serbia. Germany declared by ultimatum that it would

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support Austria. Russia was prepared to defend Serbia as a Slav nation. France and England joined to defend Belgium and the war of 50 years ago, spread through 28 countries, five continents and killed more people than any other war of any epochs in history. Sixty-five million soldiers were mobilized and were ready to destroy one another.

The Russian Czar and his retinue were in an embarrassing situation. The generals and the entire military machine prevailed upon the Czar to declare a general mobilization of all the armed forces. Ultimatums were sent from one power to the other. One must remember that the Czar's wife had come from German royalty. It was, therefore difficult to declare war on her own people.

The two tri-partite alliances consisted of Austro-Hungary, Germany and Italy vs. Russia, England and France.

After the first Austrian attack against the Serbian capital of Belgrade, Russia was put in a position of having to declare war against the tri-partite powers led by Germany. In addition to the political considerations, this struggle also aroused strong Pan-Slavic feelings as well as territorial and economic claims and counter-claims which had been dormant during the era immediately preceding the war.

Germany, an industrialized country, found itself limited in space. It needed more room in which to expand. It also had to find more markets for her manufactured goods, such as machinery, chemicals, medicaments and electrical goods in order to be able to buy the raw materials from the agricultural countries surrounding it, particularly Russia.

England, Russia's ally, was also highly industrialized, with an empire of colonies to whom the mother country sold the manufactured goods and bought from them the raw materials at a low price. Germany could not gain a foothold in this area at all, while the vast Russian lands which were so accessible fed the territorial ambitions of Kaiser Wilhelm II and his “Junkers” to seek to annex this sorely needed “living space”. Germany also had territorial claims against France in the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine.

Thus the world war burst forth on a gigantic scale and neither the German Kaiser nor the Russian Czar could realize that this struggle would end their dynasties and write “finis” to their royal families.

Nicolai II was the last Czar of the Romanoff, a dynasty that

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lasted 300 years. In his place came the communist dictatorship which proved itself even worse than his regime.

During the revolution, millions of innocent Russian citizens were murdered in the struggle of the communists to gain dominion over the length and breadth of this giant territory. Germany, on the other hand, produced Adolph Hitler and Nazism, and Italy a Mussolini and the Fascist Movement.

These dictatorships frightened the entire world and were responsible for the death of six million Jews and countless others who lost their lives during World War II.

In World War I, the losses were equally staggering. Nine million soldiers lost their lives along with many more civilians. More than 20 million were maimed and ailing as a result of this war. The entire world order was shaken politically, economically and geographically. New nations arose and received their sovereign statehood: Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Finland and the Baltic lands. The outbreak of World War II put an end to this state of affairs very soon when the second act of the catastrophic drama played out its role on the world stage. This chapter, however, will be dealt with later.

Let us now return to our town which was on the borders of the war fronts.

The author found himself in Odessa to bathe in the Black Sea to alleviate his rheumatism. Together with him was Diomen, of Husiatin. We decided to leave Odessa at once and return home. The streets of Odessa were filled with thousands of people, many discharged soldiers, who were participating in patriotic rallies. All the military, para-military and police forces of the city were demonstrating their devotion and fidelity to the Czar and his family. Priests and monks were parading with icons which they had taken out of the local churches for the occasion. The Chief of Police of Odessa was astride a tall horse and leading his assistants at the head of a regiment of Cossacks. It was also rumoured that the chief Rabbi as well as other Rabbis and leading Jewish citizens went with the traditional salt and bread as a deputation to the city administration to assure it that the Jews of Odessa were ready to fight for Czar and Fatherland. Jewish veterans and old demobilized soldiers of Nicholas I's army marched in the parades.

The Jewish population was filled with dread at the possibility of pogroms breaking out as an aftermath of all this patriotic

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fervour. It was an accepted maxim that if anything went wrong, the Jews were the scapegoat. The reactionary government looked with great suspicion at the revolutionaries and intelligentsia and questioned their loyalty.

It was known that the Jews were well represented in both groups. The Jews also remembered the pogroms of 1905 which broke out after the Russian debacle in the Russo-Japanese War.

The mobilization as well as the transportation of the Russian forces was carried out in a strongly disciplined manner and in the best order. It is worth nothing that the front was to develop along the sectors of Kiev, Volynia and Podolia which were all adjacent to the border.

Most of the Jews in the Ukraine lived in the cities and towns where the terrible battles and field operations were to take place.

We purchased our tickets at the railroad station of Odessa to the town of Proskurov, since there was no direct line to Husiatin at that time. We could have also gone via Vytevetz, but we were not sure whether we could get someone to take us home the 50-mile distance from Vytevetz to Husiatin. Normally, this was the station where we would have gotten off.

It was easier to purchase a ticket than to get a train as we learned to our sorrow. All the facilities were requisitioned by the army. There were also many civilians who had been trapped in Odessa because of business dealings, and who were now desperately looking for a way to get home.

After a wait of two days, we decided to send a delegation to the station master to ask him to help us out. After much effort and after running from one commandant to another, we managed to squeeze into a fourth-class compartment, reserved for passengers and military horses. It took us two days to get to Zsmerinka. It was more stop-and-go as we were constantly shunted to make room for trains with soldiers and provisions destined for other fronts. At Zsmerinka, all the civilians were ordered off the train. We had to start looking for other means of transportation to our homes. The civilians were told to go into the city as the railroad station was crowded with soldiers who were sleeping on the floor of the station as well as outside. Huge cauldrons with boiling water were provided for the soldiers. Each one had a tin cup, some sugar, bread and crackers in a special

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knapsack. A wooden spoon was stuck in the boots. They also carried a duffle bag for clothing as well as a molitvinik for prayers. Thus, they were ready to march to the front to defend their country.

The Russians, who were in the majority, carried a cross on their green hats as well as an inscription “Za Tsarya, Very and Otechestwa” (for the Czar, religion and fatherland). The Jews, Moslems and members of other splinter religions wore the same uniforms as the Russians but the inscription on their hats omitted the word religion and spoke only of Czar and fatherland. The railroad station was already occupied by units of infantry, cavalry and light and heavy horse-drawn artillery.

Zmerinka was one of the most important railway stations in the Ukraine. It was a direct line to Odessa, Kiev, Moscow, Bar, Mogiliov-Podolsk, Proskurov, Volotchisk, Podvolchisk, Chepetovka and a transfer point for the sector of Volynia.

The station itself served as headquarters for the General Staff. The first and second-class waiting rooms were used as office for planning the military movements all along the Russo-Austrian theatre of operations which was about 600 miles long.

War operations of such magnitude were a rarity in Russia. The General Staff commanders and officers probably could follow the military moves on the map but actually had very little knowledge of the tactics of warfare. The Germans, who were in charge of the Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies, were more adequately trained and inculcated with the Junker spirit to dominate and appropriate other countries and their territories.

We arrived at Proskurov after much travail. The entire city looked like a giant military camp. Proskurov had an important Jewish centre and a progressive and advanced “intelligentsia”. As was the case elsewhere, commerce was in the hands of the Jews. There was also a Workers' Guild there with all the ramifications of a well-developed community. Husiatin always maintained close relations with Proskurov. We imported kerosene, salt and the like from this city which had many wholesalers of these commodities. (We shall have occasion to return again to this city in later accounts). We passed Yarmolynytz, Dinnivitz and Smotritch, and after great effort, finally arrived home on the second week of August, 1914.

[Page 16]

Our town looked like a cemetery with walking and frightened people. The streets were silently melancholy. Everyone tried to put his belongings such as bedding, clothing and utensils in the cellars of solidly built houses. These cellars were to serve a shelters in case of artillery attacks from the other side of the border. A few stores were still open and selling out the little that was left. The bridge was closed to all traffic and the iron gate was locked. No one was on guard on either side of the border. The border gendarmerie had been recalled along the entire length of the river Zbrutch; from the tiny village of Zbrish through Husiatin, Satanov, Volochisk and Shepetovka. We were completely cut off from the outside world. Most of the goods that had been exported for the previous 2 or 3 weeks to Germany, Austria and England had not reached their destination. Merchants on either side of the border shouted to one another and thus communicated the information that all the merchandise had been scattered in the fields and the cars requisitioned for military purposes. Thus the biggest exporters were impoverished overnight and the workers left destitute? The entire town was struck with this economic catastrophe.

The problem also faced us whether we should remain here once the war operations began in our sector and, if not, where to go. Cash was hard to come by. The people were also reluctant to abandon their homes and all their worldly goods. It was difficult to grasp that we were witnessing the end of countless generations of Jewish communal life here. Everyone came up with a different solution to the problem but the plans had to be changed constantly to accommodate the changing reality. Two days after we arrived, the peasants in the regions brought us the news that Austrian soldiers on horseback (Hungarian Uhlans) had crossed the river and had spread all over the sector. Other rumours were flying that between Husiatin and Chemrovitz and not far from Grading (a town approximately 30 miles away) there had been an exchange of shots between Cossacks and the Austrian cavalry.

In our town, there was hardly a sign of the war itself; except for the fact that we were cut off from the outside world and that one was afraid to venture forth beyond the limits of the town lest he get caught in the crossfire. The postal service had stopped

[Page 17]

functioning while the telegraph was reserved for strictly military use.

As we shall see from the later events, the major war operations started along the Russo-German border. The tiny Baltic states, which had received their independence after World War I, belonged to Russia at that time. It was at the border that the important strategic battles took place.

Russians launched a giant offensive in East Prussia with the view of capturing Konigsberg. The Russian forces managed to penetrate into Germany, but not for long.

The Germans counter-attacked and surrounded the Russians who lost about 125,000 dead as well as many wounded and prisoners of war. This was the first debacle of the Easter Front as the Russians were chased out of east Prussia.

The Austro-Hungarian army also began to deploy its men along a 200-mile front in order to relieve the pressure on the German forces. By September 1, 1914, the Russian army went into Galicia. This naturally involved our sector. Day and night, the Russian artillery would march along the river Zbrutch. The army was disciplined and did not cause us much damage. On the contrary, Jews immediately began to trade with the soldiers. The latter exchanged their bread, sugar and salt for different articles which were available in town.

The Cossacks managed to burn down the synagogue but the neighbours saved the Torah Scrolls. Zussi Modrick, Dovid Perel-Yosseles and Sanny Mailman covered themselves with wet sacks and rushed into the burning building to save the holy scrolls which were taken to the home of Zussi Modrick, where a temporary place of worship was set up. As soon as the Cossacks crossed into Galicia, they burned the Rebbe's court and destroyed much Jewish property. It should be noted that we had more rights since we were Russian subjects. We also spoke Russian and could bring our complaints to the General Headquarters which were at Grading, Yarmolinetz, etc. The Galician Jews, however, lived in enemy territory and wherever the Cossack cavalry passed, they showed what they were capable of doing.

The Rebbe, his family and his retinue retreated with the Austrian army and managed to get to Vienna where they found asylum. The rich Jews left their settlements and went farther

[Page 18]

inland away from the battlefields. The poor people of Husiatin and Galicia remained home and underwent great privation under the Russian military occupation.

The Austrian army did not offer any great resistance. The Russians, particularly the Cossacks, inspired great fear in the conscripts who were mostly nationals of the smaller nationalities. They were hard pressed by the advancing Russian hordes and suffered great losses. Approximately 350,000 men were lost on this front. After a few months, the Russian offensive reached the Carpathian Mountains and swept the Austrians out of Lwow and its environs until it was finally halted at the fortified city of Pshemishel.

Meanwhile, the Germans fought on two fronts: on the eastern front against the Russians and on the western front against England and France. When the Germans found it possible, they broke through Poland in the winter of 1915 and pushed the Russians out of Galicia. It is worth noting that the Russian army had suffered greatly after its lost battles. Transportation was in a sorry state. Food, clothing and ammunition were in short supply.

In Russia itself, conditions were deteriorating. Food was scarce; everything was going downhill. The military boots and clothing wore out. The horses fell from the cold and hunger. Naturally, the artillery could not move from place to place.

Let us now take a look at our town from the start of the war until the exile in July, 1915. After the Russians occupied Galicia, the military operations were largely quiet. Regiments would move to-and-fro and the Jews managed to trade with them. Everyone thought that the border no longer existed. Merchants travelled freely with merchandise destined for Galicia and returned with other goods from there. The Jews of the surrounding towns also took part in this barter trade.

The buildings were hardly touched because there had been no great battles in our vicinity.

The military forces tried to hinder the trading but the enterprising found a way to circumvent them. The fact that even in normal times the merchants had to resort to bribes and the like, to carry on their commerce, had prepared them well to cope with the problems they now faced. Corruption was an old fact of life on the Russian scene. The police had always been paid

[Page 19]

off whether the deal was legal or illegal and the same could be said of the military forces. For money, or scarce items, it was easy to get permission to conduct commerce with the Jews on the Galician side who were in an even more precarious position since they were enemy subjects under Russian occupation. The towns on the other side of the river had also suffered greater damage. Husiatin on the Galician side was practically destroyed. More distant towns like Butchach, Monastritch, Stanislav as well as Tarnapol, Lemberg, etc. were totally ruined. All these places had been old Jewish settlements with fine communities and a progressive, national and intelligent population. As mentioned above, we had the best relations with our Galician co-religionists and when the war broke out, we became one community. Commerce flourished. When it came to money matters, the Russians preferred to be paid off in rubbles while the Galician wanted Austrian kronen. Both governments were already shaky but the people on both sides, Jew and Gentile, tried to earn as much money as possible. The more astute demanded payment in gold but that was hard to come by.

The trade with the soldiers also brought some prosperity to our town. We traded tobacco for their bread and bought their coats and boots for cash. The soldiers were preoccupied with the same thoughts as we were; namely to return to their homes and to a normal life as soon as possible.

The historic events, however, were going their own way, completely contrary to what humanity thought and hoped for. It would seem that man's thought processes follow in ambivalent directions. On the one hand, man wants to live at peace, to progress, to carry on the work of eternity but, at the same time, however, there is hidden in man the desire to destroy everything that had been created and to build a new world with new inventions, philosophies, technological weapons to efface the present and to seek new means to build the future. What kind of future and how that future would crystalize, are, of course, unknown? Man has an idea that humanity should live at peace; with more freedom, security, with more comforts and justice; that there should be an end to poverty, a cure found for most ills and that the life-span should be prolonged. In short, all of us should live in an earthly paradise. Has this ideal ever been achieved during the thousands of

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years? Biologically, yes! There are many more people on earth than ever before. It seems that man will not be able to stand the pressure of the population explosion and maybe that is why the force to destroy, as well as to build, is part and parcel of man's nature.

Let us leave this to future historians and at the same time hope that God's world will never change and perhaps even improve. The vision of our prophets will finally have to be fulfilled: “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation”. The ideal of the prophets was aimed at building and not destroying; for peace and an end to war. We, therefore, believe that their teaching is eternal and we must find ways of achieving it.

Countries and governments sign agreements but they soon find loopholes to break these agreements. Human nature brings on these catastrophes upon itself, its lands and its people. The war of 1914-1918 terminated the golden era of the European nations and brought about a new order, which led to an even greater tragedy. The people of 1914 marched with the same tempo into World War II. Man himself has invented war and destruction. This is the story of mankind from time immemorial to this day.

When people became more intelligent and civilization developed, there also evolved a system of rules of different shadings: despotic, dictatorial, monarchical: emperors, princes and nobility. All these passed on to the following generations the rights of sovereignty. In time, mankind made the leap into more democratic forms. There developed a system of different parties and ideals, capitalists, social democrats, social revolutionaries and later, communists, fascists and other modern names like conservatives, democrats, liberals, special workers' groups, national movements and the like. All these parties with their ideologies lead a constant struggle with one another to seize power. The leaders with their philosophies on how to lead the world, feel that if it would only accept their ideas, all the world's problems would be solved and man would live in a paradise on earth. It is true that new discoveries are made from time-to-time that revolutionize the world. Unfortunately, if one looks beneath the surface, the discoveries are used for destructive ends. The race for space might be interesting, but raining bombs and destroying what has

[Page 21]

been built, and achieving the capacity for destroying all of mankind, is quite another thing.

Peter the Great was once asked why he waged wars on other nations. Russia was then, as now, a great nation with a large expanse of territory for development and didn't need the territory of its neighbours. His answer was that people are born but not the earth. Perhaps that was a wise reply? Europe was the cradle of culture and civilization for the last 200 years. America with its technological advancements, great resources and high standard of living, has not succeeded in bringing forth real leaders who would be able to steer the rudder of the world ship of state on an even keel of peace.

The tragic, untimely death of President John Kennedy has deprived us of a man of vision who might have been able to bring about a great change in the world panorama. Man was not fated, however, to enjoy all of his discoveries.

We have brought in the above thoughts because we have experienced the terrible trials of World War I, the pogroms that followed it, the death and destruction that visited millions of innocents. Nothing was gained by all the carnage. On the contrary, it was only a prologue to the larger tragedy that befell these same nations a few years later.

Now, back to our assignment to describe what happened to our town, which mirrors what happened to the other towns as well.

As we already noted, the Russian army was forced to retreat from the Galician front in the summer of 1915. The General Staff as well as the Czar's court felt that defeat was coming ever nearer. The reins were put in the hands of Nicolai Nicolaievitz, the czar's uncle, but he was unable to save the Romanoff dynasty which was corrupted by 300 years of autocratic rule. He looked for a scapegoat on whom to put the blame and found it in the Jews who lived in the border zones of the front.

All the old canards were used: The Jews were spies, they help the Germans and the Austrians by passing them secret military information, they were responsible for all the troubles which visited the Russian army.

In July of 1915, the General Staff ordered the Governors of the regions of Podolia, Volynia and Kiev to evacuate all the

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Jews within 3 days. This edict concerned the Russian Jews. If they did not leave voluntarily, they were to be packed off in military trains and shipped to Siberia. As for the Jews on the other side of the border, they were to be arrested and shipped to the frozen steppes of Siberia. This was the beginning of the end of our town.

The Police Commissioner put up a small notice and announced to a few of our citizens that the entire Jewish population, without exception, old and young, infants and even invalids, had to leave if they were to avoid arrest and deportation. He also announced that we were permitted to take with us whatever we could carry away. The question of transportation was the immediate one. There were hardly any horses or wagons, there was no rail or other means of transportation. The next problem was where to go if one had the means and to whom to go in the city or town one chose?

The order of evacuation hit all the towns on either side of the border. Many of them had been settled by Jews for hundreds of years. Everyone thought of his own family and how to save the little that he could take with him. The chase was on to find some helpful peasant who would transport us in his horse and wagon. Our non-Jewish neighbours were not particularly anti-Semitic. Some must have been impressed by this sudden exile and they could not grasp why they old neighbours had to be evacuated. Others probably thought that it was a good thing, and that they would be able to take all the belongings left in the abandoned dwellings and stores. Some wanted to help and earn some money for transporting the Jews but they were deterred by the soldiers marching to-and-fro, and were afraid that they would lose their horses and wagons to the military.

On the first day after the order, everyone was thunderstruck, hopeless and unable to concentrate on how to solve the problem. Time was running out and a way had to be found on how to get to another place of settlement even though we were practically without means and the outlook for the immediate future was rather hopeless. The Jewish population in the areas not in danger of being exiled, consisted mainly of poor people who lived under overcrowded conditions in small homes. The war had affected them too. They were in constant fear of the Russian authorities,

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and particularly of the soldiers marching through on their way to the front. The Jewish population in the Ukraine numbered some 3 million at that time, and everyone felt that the accusation that the Jews at the borders were spies was merely a cover-up for the defeats which the Russian forces were suffering, and to arouse the Ukrainians against the defenceless Jews living in their midst. The Jewish leaders of Kamenetz-Podolia tried to get the Vice-Governor of Podolia, Baron Von Lassdorf, to intercede on their behalf, but without results. When the Russian Revolution broke out later, it was learned that Von Lassdorf, himself of German origin, had been an agent of German Intelligence and it was in his interest to cause chaos and anarchy to facilitate the task of the German forces in defeating the Russians.

The Jews of Kiev pleaded with the Chief of Staff, Nicolai Nicolaievitz, to annul the exile decree, but without result. This was how the exile started and it was reminiscent of the Spanish exodus in the 1400's. Jewish refugees filled all the roads of the Ukraine. Most of the people were on foot, with children, with old people, wandering aimlessly and without a destination. There was no one to show them the way.

It is interesting to note that among the refugees from Husiatin at that time, Kalman had to carry his father, Yankel Alters, who had had his legs removed after an operation, on his shoulders all the way from Husiatin to Chemrovitz, a distance of over 12 miles. All the while, his older brother Aba, was fighting with the 47^th corps to defend the Czar and the fatherland. This was the justice of the Russian regime vis-à-vis our brethren.

Along with the Jews of our town, the Jews of Zbrich, Satanov, Volotchisk, Zvonitz and a string of towns and villages in the vicinity of Orinin, were likewise exiled from their homes. As soon as the Jews from more distant communities learned of our fate, they sent us wagons to bring us to their towns. Smotrich was particularly helpful as soon as it was apprised of the situation by telephone.

A Rescue Committee was formed which prevailed upon the peasants of that locality to fetch us in their wagons. They also tried to settle the new arrivals as best as possible. Many homes were opened to welcome us, and food was provided for the indigent without means to fend for themselves. Other towns like

[Page 24]

Zynkov, Frompol, Kipine and Dinovitz joined in this rescue work. The Old Jewish tradition of the “ransom of captives” was revived. Were it not for the help extended by them, we would certainly have fallen into the hands of the Russian command and we would have perished on the way to cold and distant Siberia.

We must also mention our Galician brethren who were arrested and carted off to Russia like criminals. The Jews of Husiatin were led through Proskurov into Russia. Proskurov had a large Jewish community and they showed the captives brotherly loyalty. The news of the tragic events in our sector had also reached the Jewish leadership of the capital of Russia, formerly St. Petersburg, now Leningrad. Under the chairmanship of Baron D. Ginsburg, the Great Russian Jewish Refugee's Committee was formed. Many of the members of this committee were not Jewish. The most prominent lawyers such as Gruzenberg, Slyasberg, Goldstein as well as Maklakov, Rodichev, Chernov, Milikov and others, who had always fought for Jewish rights before the Russian Tribunals, joined in the effort to stop the further evacuation of the Jewish masses. They succeeded in getting the higher Russian institutions, as well as the Senate, to start an inquiry into the illegality of the entire matter. They also managed to get financial help from the authorities to aid the refugees.

General Ivanov, commander of the Southern front, sent out a second directive to the Governors of the Ukraine that they should continue to chase the Jews who had settled in the above-mentioned towns and cities as well as other places in the Ukraine. His excuse for this order was that the refugees were penniless and would have to rely for their support on the local communities. He seemed to have forgotten that he himself had helped Nicolai Nicolaievich, chief commander in Kiev, to carry out the order of expulsion which rendered these people indigent. The energetic Petersburg committee did not allow the new excesses and the refugees remained where they were and sought to re-establish themselves and to start a new life.

One can imagine what sort of life that was. No matter how difficult things had been, everyone in Husiatin had his own home, small or large with all the utensils, and surrounded by one's family. Now, under the chaotic conditions of the war, families were separated, driven far from home, without any feeling of

[Page 25]

having sinned in the slightest against the Russian authorities. Many of us continued our travels inland and settled in the more distant towns and cities in order to make more room for the refugees in the above-mentioned towns.

It was hard to find a peaceful haven and the future looked bleak and even more tragic. The economic conditions became worse every day but strong determination and a belief in the Almighty, buttressed the human spirit and body to continue the struggle for existence.

While we were trying to establish ourselves away from home, we received the news that as the Russian forces retreated, they destroyed many homes in our town with their artillery attacks. We also heard that the Ukrainian population from the surrounding villages had looted and taken anything useful out of our houses.

After the many defeats on all fronts, the high command was changed. Nicolai Nicolaivich left the General Staff and his place was taken by General Alexei Brussilov, a more liberal person. He understood that the Jewish population had not acted as spies for the Germans and that the defeats were a result of the corrupt Czarist regime. The Russian people were imbued with a strong nationalist feeling and fought heroically for the fatherland, but it's impossible to win a war without food, clothing and ammunition.

In spite of all the problems, General Brussilov managed to reorganize the army in 1916, and started an offensive which pushed the Austro-German forces back in several sectors of the drawn-out front. This offensive was short lived however, and the gigantic multimillion army fell apart and retreated back to its own country. During this offensive, General Brussilov ordered the military as well as the civil authorities to abolish the order of expulsion and to notify the Jewish population that they could return to their former homes. The Jewish community of Kamenetz-Podolia, sent a telegram to the Kiev General Staff and General Brussilov himself notified the governors of Podolia, Volynia and Kiev about the remission of the order.

There are no exact statistics as to how many of the evacuees returned to Husiatin, but if memory serves, about ten or fifteen percent came back to our hometown. The others had somehow

[Page 26]

Managed to establish themselves elsewhere and remained where they were. We must remember that most of the buildings had been destroyed and the few that remained were like a monument to the destruction. The few people who lived there looked like castoffs on a desert island – the ovens demolished, the rains poured in and remained. To repair or rebuild was out of the question. No materials were available and even if there were, there was no money to pay for it. Everyone was preoccupied with the thought of holding out until the war ended and a brighter future beckoned.

While all this was going on in our immediate vicinity, the war was taking its heavy toll everywhere. Even the armies who thought they were on the threshold of victory began to be uneasy and this feeling spread to the civilian population as well. The loss of life was colossal. In addition to the dead off the battlefields, all the hospitals were filled to overflowing with millions of wounded. The field hospitals were also crowded with soldiers lying on the ground without any medical care whatsoever. Half of all the cities and villages were destroyed. In the cities, there was no food, heat, lighting not to speak of medical help. The civilian population suffered the terrible aftermath of the battles in which many of its loved ones fell.

In Russia, many contagious diseases such as TB and typhus spread causing countless fatalities. The resistance of the population was low and the populace could not withstand the onslaught of these illnesses. All this caused some local uprisings against the government, which was rather shaky after the defeats on the front.

In the village of Czarskoy Sielo, near St. Petersburg, where the Czar, his family and retinue were staying, an outbreak occurred against the Czar for leading his nation to the brink of disaster. The Russian revolutionaries were also preparing to throw off the yoke of the despotic dynasty and to liberate the land and its people.

In the beginning of 1917, the first demonstration on a gigantic scale broke out on the streets of Petrograd. It was of a patriotic nature, but the demonstrators carried banners reading: “Give us bread”. The Czarist regime managed to muster some Cossack units and sent them out to disperse the demonstrators and to arrest the ring leaders. In the mêlée that followed, many were killed. This aroused the anger of the populace still further, and similar

[Page 27]

demonstrations broke out in Moscow, Kharkov, Kiev, Odessa and other smaller cities along the length and breadth of Russia.

The waves of rising humanity brought forth revolutionary leaders. On the 18^th of March, 1917, the first revolution broke out led by a committee of Social Democrats and Social Revolutionary deputies of the third Russian Duma (Parliament), with Alexander Kerensky as leader. A provisional government was formed with the finest and noblest representatives of the Russian people who truly sought to form a democratic system of government. They wished to give the masses, as well as all the minorities, the wherewithal to rebuild their nation on the basis of freedom of conscience, a duly elected parliament and law and justice.

Kerensky, who was also minister of war, ran from one front to the other to try and persuade the soldiers to fight on against Germany in order to weaken the pressure on the western powers of France and England who were facing the German onslaught. His efforts were fruitless, however. The Russian army fell apart like a house of cards and abandoned all its positions. Complete anarchy reigned and hordes of soldiers occupied all the roads leading homeward to find a haven and to forget the war. Many of them took along their rifles for use against the civilians of the cities and villages to rob them of bread and whatever else they possessed.

The Jews in the Ukraine lived through terrible times. Many were victims of countless pogroms. As always in such cases, a guilty party had to be produced and the Jew was the scapegoat. In October, 1917, the Bolsheviks – Communists –wrested power from Kerensky with the help of the sailors from Kronstadt. This produced the second Bolshevik Revolution and dispersed the legally elected representatives of the people. A dictatorship took their place.

Lenin and Trotzky, who were on their way to Russia in sealed trains via Germany, declared themselves the leaders of the second revolution. The famous Trotzky formed the first Russian Red Guard which consisted of disparate elements of the former Russian army with the promise that the entire land and all it contained belonged to them. It is worth noting here that Kerensky had approached the British to give the Czar and his family asylum

[Page 28]

in England, since he was a cousin of the English King. The British refused this honour and the Czar and his entire family were shot by the Bolsheviks in a cellar in the city of Omsk, in Siberia, and cremated with their ashes dispersed so that no one could find them.

Lenin didn't wait long and turned to Germany to sue for peace. The Germans and the Bolsheviks gathered at Brest-Litovsk where, in March, 1918, the treaty named after that city was signed. The German army marched into the Ukraine “the bread basket of Europe” to find bread for its starving population, but Ukraine was ruined and could not sustain its uninvited guests. It could not even help herself. Another two years elapsed until the Red regime assumed the form of a strong dictatorship. During this time, many generals and admirals tried to unseat it in many regions of Russia. Denikin organized an army in Central Russia. Kolchack tried to do the same in Siberia. Lesser patriots like Petlura, aided by the Germans, tried to achieve the old dream of an independent Ukrainia, under the rule of a Hetman, with the capital city at Kharkov or Kiev. These plans did not materialize but what Petlura and Denikin did accomplish was the slaughter of countless Jews. The pogroms at Proskurov on the Sabbath of February 15, 1919 as well as the pogrom at Felstin, seven days later, serve as examples. The victims of the pogrom at Proskurov numbered 1500 killed, while at Felstin, out of 1500 Jewish inhabitants, 650 were killed. In the other Jewish settlements of Podolia, Volynia and Kiev, many of our co-religionists lost their lives in a tragic murderous manner. The Ukrainian population largely cooperated in the wanton acts of murder and robbery instituted by the visiting band of partisans.

The dormant anti-Jewish feelings were awakened in the hearts of the grandchildren of Bogdan Chmelnitzky, Ukrainian leader of the 17^th century, who was responsible for the decimation of entire Jewish communities.

We shall now bring some statistical figures here pertinent to the growth and destruction of Ukrainian Jewry, of which we formed a part, so that the people of our generation would become acquainted with the sad lot of our brethren. We also believe that the younger American generation will be interested in reading about its past and origins, in order to get some idea of what their

[Page 29]

parents went through, and what terrible tribulations accompanied them on their long exile of 2,000 years.

First, we were persecuted because of our religion to which we were bound by our Torah. Our moral standards were higher than that of the other nations; our traditions had a richer content. Throughout the centuries, our contributions to the world in the field of literature as well as other cultural endeavours was considerable. We were always in the forefront of any struggle for social justice. We are certain that the younger Jewish generation, as well as the coming generations, will find cause for pride because of our achievements.

Our aim in writing these memoirs is not to return to the far distant past when the Jews of Ukraine, Poland and Germany were shut up in Ghettos. Let us note that only in the year 1859 was the Ghetto abolished in Kamenetz-Podlosk and only in 1857 were the exiles of the Jews from the border towns halted. We could continue at greater length and quote historic documents to shed further light on these events, but we wish to return to the persecutions of the last era.

The mass Jewish emigration from Russia in the 30-40 years prior to World War I, has no equal in history. Between the years 1880-1916, the per capita distribution of immigrants to the U.S.A. per thousand was as follows: 112 Jews, 55 Poles, 49 Lithuanians, etc. The Jews not only predominated numerically; they also became integrated more readily. Whereas 32% of the general immigrants went back to their land of origin, only 8% of the Jewish immigrants returned. (Source: M. Kiper, Kharkov, 1929).

The growth of the Jewish population in the last one hundred years shows that, under these conditions, the biological energy of our people brought a rich harvest. Between 1825 and 1925, the Jewish population multiplied five-fold. This was five and a half times the growth of the rest of the population in Europe. This phenomenal increase was largely due to smaller mortality rather than higher birth rate. (Source: Statistics and Economics, Berlin, 1928).

We shall now bring some statistical figures here pertinent to 1921 as it concerns the pogroms and murders in the Ukraine. Much has been written, thousands of reports have been made, of

[Page 30]

the exploits of the bandits in the towns and cities of this region. No detailed description or evaluation of these tragic events has been made, however, until now.

These figures will cast a little more light on the situation. In the region of Kiev, there were 584 pogroms, 293 in the region of Podolia, 202 in Volynia, 82 in Kherson, 63 in Poltawa, 9 in central Russia: a total of 1233 pogroms.

The victims were as follows: in Kieve 16,569 killed: 8,111 in Podolia: 1952 in Volynia: 2,693 in Kherson: 523 in Chernigov: 366 in Poltawa: 564 in Yekaterinaslav: 20 in Tovrich: 24 in Kharkov: 249 in central Russia: a total of 31,071 killed in these pogroms. Taking these figures into account one may assume even conservatively that 40-50 thousand were killed in all of the Ukraine: 63% were between the ages of 17-50 yrs, three-fourths were male. (See N. Gergel: “The Pogroms in the Ukraine” 1918-1921 Berlin 1929).

A few words about the city of Proskurov. It is situated near a railroad station between Kiev and Volochisk on one side and Srepetovka and Kamenetz on the other side. Proskurov had always been an important trade centre. It had several factories. Jewish community life was also more developed here than in the other cities of Podolia. Proskurov boasted of a large “intelligentsia” as well as active community leaders of all shadings. The Ukrainian Directory under the leadership of Vinichenko, known later under the communists as “Bras”, was losing ground.

The Jewish population was facing dark days, indeed. At that time already, there occurred pogroms in Urutch, Zhitomir, Berdichev and other Jewish settlements.

From the discussions which went on among the leaders of the Ukrainian Directory, one can see that the Ukrainians held all the Jews responsible for the advent of communism and the Jewish communists. Among the bands of partisans, one was led by Hetman Simosenko who organized the pogrom at Proskurov. It lasted four hours and claimed 1500 Jewish victims.

The Ukraine, which is as big as Switzerland, had a population of 30 million. The Jews comprised 12% of the total population. In the cities, the proportion was 50-60% Jewish. The same murderer Simosenko led his band to Felstin, a town some 30 miles away,

[Page 31]

and killed practically the entire Jewish population. Out of 1500 Jews, over 700 lost their lives in this murderous attack.

To make a small tally of the results of these pogroms, it is worth noting that there were some 200,000 orphans and tens of thousands of widows and countless wounded and crippled as the aftermath of these attacks. Many of the victims, while they were not killed, were so crippled physically and psychologically that they could never resume their normal lives. Thus, Ukrainian Jewry was crushed by the juggernaut of history and the cataclysmic events that followed in the wake of the Russian revolution. The towns and cities were flooded by our blood and Jewish life ended there.

Now let us conclude with some personal episodes and adventures.

In the summer of 1918, after the Kerensky offensive collapsed and the Russian armies withdrew all along the Galician front, veritable chaos reigned militarily. Through the border crossing point at Husiatin, masses of soldiers wended their way day and night. Some were armed and some were not. Broken cannons, trucks, wagons pulled by woebegone and skinny horses. Commanders of the defeated army, some on horseback, some on foot with work uniforms and tattered clothing. There was absolutely no discipline. Everyone chose his own way. Soldiers would ask if they had already reached mother Russia and how much further it was to Kharkov (approximately 1000 miles), or how long it would take to walk to Kiev or other points more or less distant. There was a new panic to escape from the town. My father and mother as well as my sister and her two children decided to leave our town again, for the third time since 1914. My mother's sister Zipa (from Satanov) lived in Frompol. At that time, I was in Kamenetz-Podolsk and managed to get in touch with my aunt at Frompol some 45 miles inland from the border at Husiatin. There were very few soldiers in that sector. There were no paved highways and no railroad. Although even there, one lived in constant fear – still, it was easier to lull oneself into a feeling of comparative safety. Several days later, I received the news that my family had arrived safely in Frampol.

My mother's sister and her family are certainly no longer living. They lived through the events of World War I and its

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aftermath, but they shared the bitter fate of all their neighbours and perished at the hands of Hitler when he invaded Ukraine. I would like to mention, in their honour, with what devotion they welcomed my parents, sister and her children. They gave up their own home and slept in their neighbours' homes for six months. They didn't let them spend a single Kopeck and prepared the best of meals for them. Where can one find such devoted relatives nowadays? After some time, my parents found a place for themselves and I came to stay with them for a while. To my great joy, I leaved near Debora Brand. (The daughter of Urtzi of Villichovitz) as well as her own relative, Herschel Rosenberg Siegel, from Zbarach, Galicia. A common fate had cast them off also in this same place of asylum. They are married and live in Israel. They have visited the U.S.A. several times where they stayed with their daughter.

In a short time, the waves of fleeing soldiers reached our vicinity in search of bread and other victuals. There was no quartermaster to furnish them the necessities of life and every soldier had to fend for himself.

The non-Jewish population was not too enamoured with these uninvited guests but was forced to feed them. They also realized that since there was no civil authority to protect the Jews, they could join the soldiers in looting the Jewish stores and homes with immunity and carry the loot to their huts.

One night, there was a salvo of shots and in the morning, it was ascertained that the stores had been ransacked and several women had been raped during the attack. Frompol boasted of a courageous group of young Jews, and we called a meeting at the home of Abraham Brown who lived in the centre of town and owned a pharmacy. We decided to form a group of self-defence. We elected Brown as chairman and I was elected secretary and organizer of this group.

Everything was fine, but where would we get arms to protect ourselves? We found some rifles among our own men but we felt that this was hardly enough for the 25 youths who comprised our group. In the town of Kippin, some 20 miles away, was stationed the staff of the disintegrating army. During the reign of Kerensky, there were many Jewish officers in the ranks. We decided to drive into Kippin with the intention of securing arms from them. Three

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of us were sent to represent the group and after an interesting conversation, we received thirty rifles and one machine gun, with all accessories. We also received permission to use these arms for self-defence.

The officers and soldiers whom we met there, including some who were Jewish, were in a very depressed state. They had believed that the Revolution would take its normal course and that it would bring true freedom to the Russian people, as well as to the many minorities that Russia contained. We agreed with them and shared in the hopelessness they felt about the uncertain times that were facing us all in the immediate future. Dressed in the army uniforms which they kindly gave us and armed with the rifles, we returned to Frompol. Thus, the town was provided with a duly constituted self-defence group and was able to offer resistance to the lawless bands of murderers.

Almost every day, peasants from the surrounding villages would come to spy on us and try to learn what we were up to. All our preparations were done at night and in the highest of secrecy. Five of us would tour the town while the other 20 dispersed behind the walls of the houses. The machine gun was hidden and camouflaged and only those who knew how to use it knew of its hiding place.

We would change our means of communication every day. A lighted match would serve as a signal that the murderers had arrived. One moonless night, we fired from every corner; even the machine gun helped in this fray. The peasants and soldiers ran off in panic and left their wagons behind them. The attack was a complete surprise. In the morning, we found two of their soldiers lifeless on the ground.

We won the battle but lost the war. The Jewish population was up in arms against us. It claimed that our killing of the two soldiers would bring down the wrath of their comrades on the entire Jewish community. We though the direct opposite; that our attackers would be afraid to attack us since they saw that we were armed and ready to defend ourselves. The local Jewish citizens could not agree with us and claimed that our presence was a great threat to their very lives. The immediate problem, however, was how to dispose of the two bodies. We met secretly in a cellar and decided to stuff them into sacks and transport them

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to Kippin where we would deliver them to the military staff. We put on our uniforms and the next morning we started out. While the entire town slept or feigned that it was asleep, our convoy consisting of one group dressed in civilian clothes and another group with 5 of us in uniform, was on its way with the two lifeless bodies covered with straw. The first group was supposed to warn the military at Kippin what had happened and to find out how to deliver the bodies to a safe place.

There were so many wagons on the roads that no one noticed us. When we reached the outskirts of the village of our destination, we were met by our comrades who led us to a private house with a large gate. We deposited the bodies there until nightfall. The Jewish officers at Kippin were anxious to avoid an act of revenge against the entire Jewish population.

A Red Cross ambulance carted off the bodies at night and relieved us from the fear of discovery. That very night, we returned to Frompol.

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