[Page 59]

Morris Awerbuch (New York). – Dora Brandt (New York). – Arthur Fox (Sea Bright, N.J.). – Esther Fox (Sea Bright, N.J.). – Frume Galanter-Louis (Philadelphia Pa.). – Jacob Galanter (Philadelphia, Pa.). – Frieda Gaynor (New York). – Jonah Goodman (New York). – Gitel Greenberg (New York). – Berl Langer (New York). – Louis Lanster (New York). – Isaac Rosenberg (Philadelphia, Pa). – Lisa Rosenberg-Bandler (New York). – Polly Schwartsberg (New York).

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[Page 61]

It ought to be noted that, of all the cities and towns in Kamenetz-Podolier province, our hometown had the smallest number of inhabitants.

Here too, in America, the Husiatiner are a minority, as compared to the number of landsleit from the towns in Husiatin's vicinity, who now are members of their respective societies in the U.S. and Canada.

Pertinent thereto, it is worthy of mention that, thus far, our landsmanshaft is the only organization which – through this Memorial Volume – has created a perpetual Monument – in both languages, in Yiddish and in English – in tribute to our townsfolk who died a martyr's death and whose lives had been brutally snuffed out by the Nazi.

I should like here to record my reminiscences, from my youth until now, including what I remember pertinent to life in the hometown.

[Page 62]

As our landsleit recall, all of Husiatin's activities had emanated from the town's customs operations.

My father, Samuel, of blessed memory, had been, in his era, a forward-looking personality, endowed with intense vitality. He enjoyed an enviable reputation among Husiatin's Jewish and non-Jewish inhabitants alike.

As a customs broker of highest esteem, he forged wide scale links with other communities, also with other lands (Austro-Hungary, Germany, etc).

Too, he served as a business representative of the sugar refineries in Vishnivchek, owned by Zharovsky, man of means. Also, he was the liaison for the Levader and Gradunger sugar firms controlled by the millionaire Zeitzef family of Kiev, far-flung entrepreneurs in the Ukraine, part of Czarist Russia.

Our dwelling was equipped with offices wherefrom was conducted a huge export-import concern, staffed by personnel of four or five, to fulfil correspondence and bookkeeping tasks.

Our town had then, some six decades ago, made unique forward strides on all fronts.

As time passed, father set up a print shop and photo concern, infusing new life into, and giving economic impetus to our small community. Due to the high regard in which father had been held, he carved a niche for himself as one of the community's topflight businessman.

He was the main link between Husiatin's Jewish populace and the town administration which, as will later be noted, brought him great calamity.

As did every father of Jewish faith, he had sought to give his youngsters both a Jewish and secular education by engaging private tutors in both fields, whether we studied on Husiatin's Austrian side (Galicia) or in Kamenetz-Podolsk.

In 1914, World War I started.

It hit our area with greatest intensity in consequence of the Russian-Austrian military's breakthrough.

By means of a horse-drawn wagon, dispatched to us by Vishnivchicker plant's management, we made our way to an area further from the border, where we temporarily settled.

Following withdrawal of the Austrian soldiers and widening of the border, we return to Husiatin.

[Page 63]

Subsequently, dad, along with the priest and, I believe, another inhabitant, were seized as hostages by the last remnants of the Austrian forces and their officers and forcibly taken along. The idea behind this move was to hold the hostages responsible in the event any Austrian soldier was shot or harmed by the Russian populace.

Following the quick flight of the Austrian military as a result of a Russian assault, father and the other two apprehended men, hung aloft a white flag, mounted on a wooden rod and then were able to return home safely.

In 1915, all the border-zone Jewish inhabitants were driven out on grounds of their faith. The reasoning was that we were neither definitely citizens nor patriotic; that by our being driven out, we would be unable to harm the Russian army, which had begun to return from the Galician front following a few defeats.

The effect on our hometown of the depressing news may well be imagined.

When the Police Chief brought word of the decree, pertinent to the Jewish inhabitants' evacuation to be completed within three days, he simultaneously informed father than an order issued by high Kamenetz-Podolsk officials stated that dad be apprehended and transported to Kamenetz-Podolsk.

In view of the friendly relations which the mentioned Police Chief had maintained with father, the former decided that he would bypass the order and refrain from making the arrest provided that dad leave the area at once.

We then proceeded to Zinkov where we had relatives. Shortly thereafter, we made our way to Bar where cousin Sholem Perlmutter had resided.

A few months later, Bar was visited by a gendarme, member of the Husiatin political Police Department. As an old friend, he came to our home and had a chat with father.

Following the gendarme's departure, dad was advised by mother and Perlmutter to quit Bar and go elsewhere, inasmuch as the Police Bureau could be little trusted. Father did not agree with this view, maintaining that he had committed neither an ordinary nor political crime. A few days later, however, he was apprehended by Bar police and hauled off to the Mogilov-Podolsk jail.

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This marked the start of a new and tragic chapter in our lives. Apparently, dad was regarded by the Austrian regime as a Russian patriot, and by the Russian police as an Austrian spy. Of course, he had never been a spy nor participated in any illegal enterprises. Our family was of the opinion that he had been falsely accused.

Father was provided by the Kiev General Governor with an administrative deportation to Siberia. No trial was held; nothing was proven of dad having committed any wrong.

In those days, any autocratic Government official, particularly the Governor, had the right to exile anyone to the wilderness, thousands of miles from home, wherefrom most of the exiles never returned.

Mother and Sholem Perlmutter followed dad to Mogilov-Podolsk, winning consent of city officials there, that dad not go from one prison to another along the long, hard and in severe cold. Accordingly, he proceeded by train accompanied by a special guard.

Prior to father's departure, he told mother that if the woes which had beset him, and the entire family, were the consequence of his participation in Jewish communal activity, he would regard this as a badge of pride.

Exiled to Perm, a remote Ural city along the Siberian border, father was subsequently hauled away to the town of Asah. In the newspaper over there, his poems appeared.

From Asah, he was taken, at his request, to Viatke, a Province capital where a Dr. Streiter, who resided there, aided him in establishing himself in a position with a petroleum firm.

Then we were struck by a new calamity which ended tragically.

Sister Rose, who until that time had studied in Kamenetz-Podolsk, sought to secure officials' aid in averting father's exile. To this end, she struck up acquaintance and established contact with a number of them. En route home, she became ill with dysentery.

In Minkowitz, Rose was taken into the home of friends – Samuel Moses Wacks, uncle of Isaac David Shmuel Wacks and his family. There, every medical means was employed to save her but to no avail.

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On Friday, September 17, (the day before Yom Kippur), 1915, she passed away in her 22^nd year.

Those amongst our landsleit who remember her will recall that she was of keen mind, well educated, reared in fine tradition and of admirable beauty. She had endeared herself to our entire family.

She passed away on soil remote from her hometown having implemented the Biblical decree: “Honour thy father and mother”, and having laboured in an attempt to save dad from what had befallen him.

May her soul rest in peace.

Following this tragedy, my sister Fay-Gussie, of blessed memory and cousin Sholem Perlmutter, went to Perm to inform dad thereof. Father was deeply depressed by the sad news.

From Perm, Fay-Gussie and Perlmuter made their way to Petrograd, the Russian capital, to continue endeavours for permission for father's return to his family.

In Petrograd, at the time, resided Baron David Ginzburg, renowned millionaire and spokesman of Russian Jewry, who had been a personal friend of dad.

Making his home in the capital too was Jonah Ginsburg of Husiatin who had occupied an honorary post and served as a university professor.

Because of their contacts, both of these men indeed would have been able to persuade the respective Government officials to render a decision in dad's favour. However, following the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in February, 1917, all who had heretofore been ordered to quit their hometowns were automatically liberated.

Moving on to Viatke, I enrolled in a local school for the continuation of studies that had been interrupted by the war and other tragic events.

On March 14, 1917, father passed away in Viatke. He had been, I believe, deeply affected by Rose's passing, his family's woes and the loneliness experienced in the remote and cold area where he had been compelled to go.

Viatke could point, in its midst, to a small Jewish community, a synagogue and a cemetery. There father was laid to rest.

For various reasons, our family at the time had been unable to place a monument upon his burial ground. My, therefore, this

[Page 66]

Memorial Volume serve, among other purposes, as a symbol in tribute to his hallowed memory.

Following dad's passing, I paid a brief visit to Abraham Friedman and his family at their Perm home. From there, back to Viatke for a few months' vacation. To a few students whom I secured, I taught Yiddish and Hebrew.

Arriving home, I found war operations in full swing. Led by Kerensky, the Russian military following the start of the Revolution, made its way through the entire Austro-Hungarian front and also through Galicia, retreating in great disorder deep into Russia through Husiatin.

At our dwelling, I found none of the family members. I observed, however, that a robbery had been committed there. I had been informed by a Gentile neighbour that mother and the children were in hiding at his home.

For Husiatin's Jewish populace, woe followed woe. With discipline tossed to the winds, the soldiers pillaged everyone, particularly the Jews.

Soon my family and I returned to Chemrowitz, thence moving on to Bar. Through Kamenetz-Podolsk, I returned to Viatke to continue studies in the local School of Commerce.

Financial aid that was extended by Abraham Friedman of Perm in the amount of 30 rubbles per month enabled me to extend my education for another year. Indeed, Friedman believed in the trait inherent in Jewish tradition: a brother comes forward in time of trial.

Then erupted the Second (October) Revolution marked by Bolshevik power-seizure in Petrograd from the Provisional regime.

Ruling the Ukraine, at the time, was a Government body headed by a Hetman (leader). Travel through that country required special permission, for which I stopped off at Kursk. Overcoming a number of hurdles, I succeeded in securing the green light for crossover of the Russian-Ukrainian border.

Returning to Bar, I enrolled in the local High School for further study.

In 1919, my family and I returned to Husiatin, site of a neutral Russian-Polish zone. Within a short while, Husiatin was brought under the Bolshevik control.

[Page 67]

From the Cheka cellar, brother Vitche was miraculously rescued from being shot. In 1922 he settled in Mexico. Quitting Husiatin, I made my way to Cuba where I arrived in October, 1923.

In the New World, an arrival at the outset faced difficulties. With passage of time, however, I gradually became integrated as did other immigrants who had come to Cuban shores.

I was appointed an Eastman Kodak Company representative, affording me opportunity to set up a few photo-equipment concerns. In this field, I had had experience in Husiatin.

In 1926, with my aid, my mother and the children came to make their home in Havana. I did everything possible to assist my kinfolk in adjusting to the New World and in providing for their needs.

Only sister Gussie, of blessed memory and her family remained in Kupichenitz. Following the passing of her husband, Zuni Maimon (of blessed memory) I assisted her and her two youngsters, a boy and a girl, in immigrating to Havana.

I had reasoned that Gussie, of blessed memory, would join her entire family in the new World and rear her children here. Regrettably, however, she found adjustment difficult and returned with her children to Kupichenitz where, shortly thereafter, she passed away. For a while, both youngsters were cared for by the grandmother and aunt, (mother and sister of the orphans' deceased father).

When the Nazi holocaust enveloped Galicia, those done to death by the Hitler murderers included: grandmother (Mrs. Maimon), sister Mania and my sister's little daughter.

The sole survivor, a son, immigrated to Cuba with my aid and now resides with his family in Miami, Florida.

In Kupichenitz, I had become acquainted with Pearl (“Peppy”) Schwartz. I bid her to immigrate to Cuba so that we could be married. She agreed and in June, 1934, we were wed.

Mother Leike (of blessed memory) passed away in Havana, Cuba on January 16^th, 1955.

I was active in communal affairs in Cuba. Through the years I served as: Executive Board member, Cuban Zionist organization;

[Page 68]

Member of a number of philanthropic institutions including Havana's Jewish Religious Centre; Member of the Cuban Jewish Chamber of Commerce and Executive Board member of Centro Israelita of Cuba.

Following the outbreak of the Cuban Revolution and setup by Fidel Castro of the Bolshevik-Communist regime, my family and I decided to leave Cuba.

We are blessed with two wonderful daughters.

In later years, they and their sons-in-law and children, likewise, made their way to the U.S.A. They now also reside in New York. Thank God all goes well with them there.

[Page 69]

I was born in Husiatin at the Zbrutch River. A small, impoverished town, it was situated along the Austrian border.

Most of Husiatin's Jewish populace earned its livelihood through transport of wares from and into the town.

In the era during the early years of my life, one in Husiatin would not be called by one's first name but rather according to the nickname.

Dad's name was Duvid Shmuel, Chatzkil's. Mother, born in Minkowitz was called Rachtzi, Duvdi Shmuel's.

Her real name was Rachel-Leah. I was called Dobtzi, Duvid Shmuel's.

For many years, we resided at the home of Urtzi Walichowitzer (named for Village Walichowitz). In later years, he was to become my father-in-law. There passed my childhood years; there I fashioned my girlhood dreams. Then came 1914, when the murder of Austrian Crown Prince Ferdinand led to outbreak of World War I.

I had already been married then. A son, Chaskel was born to me.

According to a Czarist decree, all Jews residing in the border towns had to quit their homes and settle in areas at least five miles from the border.

We made our way to Frampol, Minkowitz and Proskurov, reaching Pavlove. There we settled, endured many trials and tribulations until the outbreak of the Russian Revolution.

In 1918, our kinfolk with us, my husband, Samuel and I and our two children, Charlie and Bettie, returned to Kamenetz-Podolsk, to our parents.

That city had been, at the time, under Bolshevik rule. Then came the onslaughts of the Petlura bands. I cannot describe here our horrible experiences then

[Page 70]

endured. One episode, however has inscribed itself in my memory: The time: between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Jews went about dejected, worried. Anguished reports had reached us pertinent to the atrocities committed in the towns by the Petlura hordes. The Jewish populace in the city queried continuously: how far are the Petlura legions from Kamenetz?

On Yom Kippur, Jews gathered in the city's synagogue to pray. Throughout the night, none slept. In the house of worship, all joined in chanting the Psalms and many wept.

In the morning, a large number of Jews wearing prayer shawls and “kittels” were deep in prayer. The glowing candles cast a pall of gloom. Like a bolt from the blue, came the frightening news: Petlura bands from the Galician border were en route to the Kamenetz vicinity.

In the synagogue, a hush prevailed. Then we heard the Rabbi's words:

“Brethren, let's all gather with our kinfolk, wives and children, old and young wearing prayer shawls and 'Kitlen'. Torah in hand, we will go forth to receive the foe. And if G-d forbid we are destined to perish, let us, in that event, make the supreme sacrifice and die as martyrs”.

Met by the Jewish inhabitants, the Petlura hordes, surprised, jumped off their horses. When the Rabbi explained to the oldest among them that the Jews had come to receive them, the latter ordered that none be assaulted. Whereupon the assembled Jews return to the Synagogue to voice gratitude to the Almighty for the miracle.

We survived the pogroms, immigrating safely to America where we made a new life for ourselves in the New World.

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In the 80's of the previous century, a great immigration tide surged to America from Eastern and Western Europe. One of the consequences was the founding of landsmanshaften.

In New York, the immigrants of Jewish faith who had left behind their families in the small towns overseas, felt lonely in the New World. There was a longing for those from the hometown.

Among the landsmanshaften initiated at the time was the Husiatiner Society, which, after a short while, disbanded.

In 1903, a similar organization was set up only to fold a year later. Husiatiner landsleit in America subsequently joined societies of landsleit from areas nearby Husiatin.

It was not until many years later, in February 1950, that the next organization move, on the part of our landsleit, was made. That month, eight Husiatiner-born women gathered at the home of Mania Alexander (of blessed memory); Mania Alexander, Sophie Resnick, Granitzky (of blessed memory), Mary Goodman and Eve Rubinstein.

Funds were raised among the assembled landsleit to get the new organization going.

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Eve Rubinstein was appointed Secretary and Sophie Resnick, Treasurer.

A meeting of those from Husiatin hometown was convoked at Rapoport's Restaurant in New York and attended by an assemblage of about 100.

At the meeting, a Committee was set up and comprised of the following members:

Dora Brandt, President; Jonah Goodman, Vice-President; Noah Resnick and Eli Dubrow (all of blessed memory), Treasurer, Financial Secretary and Recording Secretary, respectively. Also, Eve Rubinstein as Correspondence Secretary.

It was decided that the newly created organization be called: Husiatiner-Podolier Friendship Circle.

Members' dues were set a $3 annually, to cover expenses incurred. A constitution was formulated. A Cemetery was purchased by some members of our Circle so that they would provide with burial plots amongst deceased landsleit.

Every landsman, Circle member and non-member alike, may purchase a plot on the mentioned cemetery.

* * *

*Following the Nazi era, during which Jewish communities in various lands had been annihilated, a number of orphaned children, survivors of the Holocaust, were found to be under Gentile supervision. For a substantial sum, our Society adopted three of these children that were quartered in Paris. We dispatched them gifts, maintained contact with them until their immigration into Israel.

* * *

*Through our Circle's efforts, a Jerusalem trade school where orphans are trained in a trade, etc., to enable them to eventually earn a livelihood was provided with a vitally needed machine.

[Page 73]

*Too, we have extended substantial financial aid to two hospitals for incurables in the Brooklyn and Bronx area of New York, N.Y.

* * *

*Annually, through our “Moes Chitim” Fund, matzos and other Passover necessities are purchased by the Circle for the needy folk. Also our Circle dispatches, through CARE, food packages and other items to those in Israel of meagre means.

* * *

* Israel Bonds in the amount of $1,500 have been purchased by the Circle and forwarded to the Israel Government as a gift.

* * *

*During 1955-57, three urgently needed ambulances were provided to the Jewish State by our organization through the Red Mogen Dovid.

* * *

*Through United Jewish Appeal, our landsmanshaft has set up a kindergarten in Nahala, near Beersheba, Israel. A large number of Jews from African and Arab lands had settled there and Jews from Yemen and Morocco had laboured valiantly to develop this historic Negev region. To aid the Jewish inhabitants there, our Circle set up a children's home in Beersheba for the care and feeding of the children while their parents were at work in the fields. Four thousand dollars were allocated for this purpose.

* * *

Through Landsleit funds, a Bet Hatfutzot is now being built in Tel-Aviv, Israel by the U.J.A. for which $5,000 were allotted.

[Page 74]

Mention ought to be made here of our deceased and esteemed members (of blessed memory) who had been active in the Circle: Tzalel Grossman, Willie Schneier, Moshele Lantzeter, Mani Alexander, Rachel Shegrin and Minnie Gurnitzky.

Also, our beloved Secretary, Noah Resnick (of blessed memory) passed away. He had been a faithful, devoted friend of all our members; dynamic and zealous. He had devoted his energy for the welfare of our Circle, particularly in aid to the up building of Israel.

We note too, the passing of Max Wasserman and I. Goodman, Vice-President (of blessed memory).

May our small but fruitful organization continue its efforts in extending aid to the needy and to Israel in the same warm-hearted, fraternal and comradely spirit as heretofore.

[Page 75]

Indelibly inscribed in my memory are reminiscences pertinent to the start of World War I.

Husiatin had lost its glow; mercantile activity, prevalent for many years, ceased. Every day brought new peril, stemming from the soldiers ceaselessly marching through the border to Galicia. All were gripped by fear; none knew what tomorrow would bring.

In 1915, we were all, as is known, driven out of our hometown. Our first stop was Chemrowitz following which we settled in Smotritz. When the Jews, herded from the war borders, were permitted to return home, we too followed suit. As a result of the shootings, our home was demolished and we began building a dwelling anew.

In our town's environs were dugouts wherein the Russian soldiers were berthed during the war. Therefrom, we hauled wood-piles which served as walls for our new home. Added were other building materials designed to guard against the cold and rain. Soon construction was finished.

Shortly thereafter, revolution swept through the land. Our landsleit were again plagued by awesome problems. Hordes of Germans, followed by Polish and Ukrainian soldiers entered the town. Whether they managed to resist the Red Army is something else again. They did, however, pillage and beat the Jews who had hidden in cellars and other dens. Abraham Grossman Liptzes was, at the time, wounded by gunfire.

Coming to mind is one tragic episode: A neighbour, Aaron Bariboly, risked his life. In the Ukrainian army from Galicia was a Jewish soldier whom Bariboly had hid in a cellar. He barbed the soldier in civilian attire; stripped him

[Page 76]

of his gun, which was then buried under Bariboly's home; and transported the soldier to Chemrowitz. Had Bariboly been caught for this act, he would surely have been shot.

I recall that, following my arrival at the large Synagogue for prayers and accompanied by Dad, I saw neighbour Aaron there as sergeant-at-arms maintaining order. He sighed as he bid the Almighty alleviate the Jewish people's woes.

Following Aaron's rescue of Jewish soldiers whose lives had been imperilled, my esteem for him mounted. During the shootings, dad (of blessed memory) took off to Chemrowitz, prayer shawl and 'Tfilin' by his side. My later mother and the children remained behind. I was ill with typhoid fever. Understandably, our town's plight was sad indeed.

In 1920, I crossed the border. Seized by the Poles on the grounds that I was a Russian spy, I was hauled off to Kapitchenitz and turned over to the authorities as a Red. Galician Jews' intervention brought my release. They greatly aided their Russian Jewish brethren whose plight had also been sorrowful. Funds for the trip were provided by sister Mayka, an American resident even prior to World War I.

Two years later, we quit Argentina for New York. Mother, of blessed memory, later joined us. A year following her arrival in the New World, she passed away.

I married and live happily with my wife Esther and three children. Indeed, U.S.A. has proved to be a glorious haven for us.

Compilation of the Husiatiner Memorial Volume of reminiscences has been extensively aided by this writer. May the book serve as an everlasting tribute.

[Page 77]

Not too many years ago, newspaper headlines declared: 6 million Jews wiped out by Hitler's Nazis.

Those headlines still shout this and will do so for years to come.

Have we, since the newspapers carried those headlines, stopped to think just what message was being brought to us? 6 million Jews murdered! Realize, friends, these people. These were living, laughing, loving human beings.

They are gone now but can we ever forget them? Can we forget that one of the 6 million Jews may have been a husband or wife, a father or mother, a sister or brother? Can we forget that in this terrible destruction of humanity was lost someone near or dear to us?

If these 6 million could speak to us from the beyond, they would be heard pleading: “Do not allow our sacrifice be forgotten. Do not allow our descendants to be unaware of the fact that once we lived and that we now live on in them. Keep that legacy alive and we will not have died in vain”.

Now, these many years have passed but friends, we have not forgotten, nor can we forget. Small groups, such as ours, will certainly never forget that the Lord above us has been good to us as we thank Him eternally that we, too, did not perish as did the 6 million, massacred by Hitler.

[Page 78]

Some of those 6 million lived in a small town called Husiatin. Like so many other small villages, it no longer exists.

Now, we might ask: “Why is a tiny village like Husiatin so important?” Why, indeed? To those of us who lived there or whose relatives lived there, it was not tiny; it was not insignificant. It was our world, gigantic and beautiful. We were born and raised there as was our father or mother, grandmother or grandfather before us. We went to “cheder” there. We met our first boyfriend or girlfriend there. We grew up and became restless. Many of left our tiny village. However, we have never in our wildest dreams thought it would no longer be there when we wished to return. We never dreamed it would be gone forever.

But, like our loved ones, our village too is gone. This village which was our beautiful world is truly gone but it will always exist in our memory.

But, oh friends, memory is so very short. And how important it is to keep our birthplace and the memory of our dear ones alive?

In what better way, then, can this done than by the written word? It was the written word that has kept alive our ten Commandments for it was Moses who wrote God's words on tablets of stone, to be remembered by all who came after him.

It was the written word of all men, from the very beginnings of man himself, from the cave dwellers to modern gifted authors, that keep alive all of man's thoughts and deeds.

And so, with this in mind, two of our own gifted friends came to us and reminded us of the great need to put into words a history of our people and our town of Husiatin so they may never be forgotten.

And so began a long and arduous task of collecting data, true facts about all who lived in a not so tiny, not so insignificant town of Husiatin.

A committee was formed headed by our chairlady, Dora Brandt and assisted by Arthur Fox.

Today, we are honouring these two of our friends, ardent supporters of the book which is, in reality, a great Monument, as Arthur Fox calls it.

[Page 79]

But to truly honour the two, whose brain child the Book really is, we must honour our friends Benjamin Diamond and Morris Awerbuch, for without their research and perseverance, publication of this Book would be impossible.

* * *

The above are excerpts from a speech delivered by Esther Fox, May, 1966, at the first organizational Banquet of the Husiatiner-Podolier Memorial Book Committee.

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