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Abraham son of Shmuel Meldung in the year 1932

A community leader who was honest, and innocent of any bias, an activist, man of conscience and responsible. A continuously serving officer in the office of taxation. He was a loyal representative of his constituents there, where he conducted a difficult and unceasing battle against the predations visited upon the Jews. He fought against the raising of taxes at the expense of Jewish merchants, and in general, he looked out for the interests of the Jewish populace. He served the community with wisdom and loyalty. And was beloved and respected by everyone.

He fled to Kulikow next to Lwow, and afterwards in the city of Ozerna near Tarnopol, where he met his end together with his family. Of his sons, Joseph remains, who emigrated to Argentina, and Shammai, who presently is in New York, and he is one of those working among the new arrivals, and he has an important part in the production of this Yizkor Book.

He was a Torah scholar, and a follower of the Radzyn Hasidim, an aggressive man who was action oriented, one of the founders of the Agudah Heder, ‘Yosdei HaTorah,’ about which he was concerned for all the days of its existence. He was also one of the founders of the Bet Jacob School for Girls, and looked after its expansion. He worshiped in the Radzyn shtibl, but he sent me and my little brother Mordechai הי”ד to study at the Sanz-Cieszanow shtibl which was the center of Torah and Hasidism in our city.

He was a member of the Agudat Israel our city for fifteen years. He was accepted by everyone, because not only was the welfare of his group always before his eyes, but so were all of the needs of the city, in general, and that of the Jews in particular. It was not only once that it happened after he spoke on community issues, or a need for support, that everyone followed his lead, even the Bundists.

He was also a member of the Assistance Committee in the city. In his hands rested the twice-yearly distribution of heating wood, and potatoes to the poor. As a result, we didn't lack for outrages in our house. He would stand by his views firmly, that assistance was due only to the neediest, and he was prepared to take a great deal. And those who did not receive anything caused a riot in our house. My mother, ע”ה begged him all of these years to stop doing this, however, the involvement was like a nourishment in his blood, and he continued doing it all of the years. He was an alert and understanding person, to whom people would come for advice.

At the outbreak of The Second World War, he did not want to leave the city, giving the excuse that he knows

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the Russian from the First World War yet. On Yom Kippur of 5704 (?) [1944] he and his son Mordechai were taken out in the middle of praying, and killed by rifle fire in the Baretsky Forest הי”ד. May their memory be for a blessing.

He was born in 1901 and educated in a rigorously observant Belz Hasidic home. I do not recall his childhood. In the year 1920, when the HaShomer HaTza'ir movement was established in our city, he was one of the founders. He met and then married the member Esther Stahl, had they had a lovely son and daughter.

He also applied his hand to matters of community activity. He was elected as a Dozor of the municipal council. When the Zionist Histadrut in Poland split into ‘Al HaMishmar’ and ‘Ayt Livnot’ he was one of the spokespersons for ‘Ayt Livnot.’

When the awful war broke out, he and his family went over to the Soviet side, meaning Rawa Ruska, and it was their that he was killed along with his wife Esther, and their children.

‘Woe to those we lost, and we will not forget them.’

Moshe Kawenczuk

The Nazis demanded that he provide them with 300 Jews for deportation to Belzec, and when he found out what was being done to the Jews that were sent there, he lost his mind, and ran about like a man gone insane.

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And when the Nazis came back, again, and demanded an additional 300 Jews, he replied by saying that you return the first Jews we gave you, then we will give you new ones. I am able to give you only three souls - myself, my wife and my son. It was in this fashion that the Nazis shot them right on the spot. After that, they executed all of the people of Tomaszow together with the community, among them my beloved son, Moshe. The thread of his life was abruptly stopped in his prime.

My son, my son Moshe!
How you were cut off from your family
Even a grave in the earth
Did not remain for you
With your body a sacrificial offering
You were sacrificed and martyred to heaven,
Your pure and sacred soul,
Flew off to the Garden of Eden,
May your soul rest, bound up
In the bond of life, there.

Tearfully written by your bereaved parents.

A scion of Zamość, the son of a respected family, he was greatly influenced by the Enlightenment in Zamość, and he traveled to study at the Yeshiva of Rabbi Reines in Lida. He was a creative man, alert and wise. He excelled especially with his pointed speaking, and drew on many sayings, aphorisms and proverbs from the Torah, with which he was able to persuade the masses who heard him. He was an Enlightened Zionist, and was devoted to the movement with all the ardor of his soul. His outstanding oratory, and his powers of persuasion was very great, and is on his account that we were able to raise the level of the Zionist ideal to where it was, in our town. He was a community activist, and participated in all walks of life. He participated in every meeting and gathering of the important people in the city, and worked towards national revival. He was the leader of the Zionists in the city for a long time. And he served as the Head of the community for many years. He was a folksy speaker, well prepared, and there hardly was a public function of a party in which he did not participate. However, this did not diminish or compromise his character. His son, Moshe, was one of the heads and leaders of the revisionist Zionists and one of the heads of Betar. His entire family was wipe out in the Holocaust. May the Lord Avenge Their Spilled Blood.

An Enlightened Torah scholar of dignified appearance, with the appearance of an intelligent Jewish man who had already absorbed the teachings of the Haskalah. He worshiped in the Husyatin shtibl, but the Hasidim harmonized after him, who had been caught up in his ideas....he loved to offer a word of Torah, explaining it first literally and simply, then with the Ibn Ezra commentary, in a more difficult manner. He

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possessed the power of being able to explain something, and had a practiced tongue. Everything that he did was done pleasantly and with dedication. He was a footwear merchant, and was considered to be among the revered of the community. Some time back, he was the Chair of the Merchants Guild in our town.

The Leadership of the Zionists in Tomaszow From the right: Hirsch Zilberberg, Yitzhak Levenfus, Moshe Reichenberg

A Chelm Hasid who was a venerable Mohel, respected, who performed his service without pay. He was a modest man, that did not mix into political matters, and was beloved by all. His son and grandchildren escaped to Russia, and there are some of them that are today found in Israel.

Gershon ben R' Sholom Zalman Brand Photo taken in the year 5694 [1934]

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From early childhood, Gershon was endowed with exceptional intellectual skills. He was sharp-minded in his studies, and was excellent in his capacity to grasp material both quickly and in depth. On top of all this, he was blessed with a phenomenal memory, and an enormous diligence. When he finished Heder, he entered the Cieszanow shtibl, and there, completed his studies in Torah and the precepts of Hasidism. He was raised and educated with the sons of the Rabbi, and when they traveled to Yeshivas, he also traveled to Tarnopol where his uncle the Rabbi Tzaddik R' Meir Rokeach lived, who was the Bet Din Senior of Kozlow. There, he studied with the Bet Din Senior of that place, the Gaon Rabbi David Menachem Manish Babad ז”ל the author of the Responsa, ‘Havatselet HaSharon,’ and he was one of his outstanding students. Analytical, and a master of Talmudic casuistry, when he returned to Tomaszow, he was one of the shining lights of the Cieszanow shtibl, and the Cieszanow Hasidim. Before the war, he married a woman from Izbica, and he was killed there together with his family, may their memory be to the good. Also, his younger brother, Yud'li, who was a wonder at Torah study, and a stutterer, and also one of the Hasidim of the shtibl, and the entire family of his father, the dear ones, and the unblemished, were all lost. May the Lord Avenge Their Spilled Blood.

[He] was one of the wondrous and gifted personalities of our generation, in whom Torah scholarship and greatness were united in one place. He was born in the city of Frampol, to his father, the Rabbi and Gaon, the Hasid R' Yeshaya Zvi Heller, one of the most important Rabbis of his generation, a scholar, an intelligent man, and having a distinguished pedigree, being the grandson of the author of ‘Baruch Ta'am,’ and ‘Zikhron Shmuel,’ of Przemysl, continuing back to the Tosafot Yom Tov, and the author of ‘Megaleh Amukot.’ He married a woman from Tomaszow, Mrs. Chana Sarah, who was a Woman of Valor in the full sense of the word (daughter of the wealthy man, and Hasid, R' David HaKohen Goldstein, who was called Reb Dud'l Chay'tcheh's, of the Husyatin Hasidim, who took him on as an outstanding young man). As was the custom in those years, he was supported at his father-in-law's table, he whose roots were from the Sanz-Gorlice Hasidim, and attached himself to the Rabbi Tzaddik R' Yehoshua'leh ז”ל, and studied and worshiped in his Bet HaMedrash. Afterwards, he opened an ironmonger shop, succeeded at it, and rose higher and higher. His wife, Chana Sarah was renown as a very capable woman, and helped him a great deal. He had the capacity to set aside study periods during the day, on a regular basis, morning, afternoon and evening. He had thirteen sons and daughters, and ever time an addition came to the family, his wealth increased. He educated them all strictly according to the Torah, and Hasidism, without compromise. All of his sons and daughters were outstanding in their adherence to tradition, not touching their beards, and [the daughters] shaving off their hair after they married. In the year 5683 [1923] he was one of those who brought the Rabbi Gaon and Tzaddik, R' Ary' Leibusz, the Rabbi of Cieszanow זצ”ל to Tomaszow, and was one of his supporters and ardent Hasidim. He, and his sons, did not miss a single Tisch on Sabbaths and Festivals. He was one of the leaders of the Agudat Yisrael movement, and helped establish Yesodei HaTorah, and Beth Jacob. He married off his sons to the families of important Rabbis and balebatim, and to families with good pedigree throughout the length and breadth of Poland, and all of them became prominent people. His house was always wide open, and if he was a member of the leadership of the Jewish community, as well as the town itself, and one of the heads of the Agudah, nonetheless he strove to maintain a modest profile, and fled from fame. When the war broke out, he and some of his sons fled to Lwow, to his son, the Rabbi and Sage R' Moshe הי”ד the son-in-law of the Rabbi Tzaddik R' Yaakov Yitzhak, son of the Rabbi Tzaddik Ber'eli זצ”ל, the Chief Rabbi

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of Tsaritsyn^[1]. From there, the Russians exiled him to Siberia, and he died there in 5703 [1943] in Kazakhstan. Of his sons, R' Isaac, R' Baruch, and R' Yekhezkiel Schraga Heller survived, and his daughter Hadassah with her husband Henoch Adlervogel, and his son-in-law Nathan Goldstein, with his son, and son-in-law R' Aharon Kalter.

He was one of the respected nobility of the city. He was the son of an illustrious family, that was one of the most ancient in our city, a Torah scholar and a Husyatin Hasid, wealthy and philanthropic. He received all people in a most cordial manner, was of good heart, and alert to all matters of philanthropy, radiant in his Zionist posture, an activist in community affairs, and earned a respected position in the entire city. He was at one with his world, and was gifted in establishing good relationships even with his opponents, and also to guard his position of prestige. He was one of the very few who traveled outside of the country, and everyone related to him with eagerness. His home was wide open, and he participated in all charitable initiatives, generously and with a philanthropic spirit. Of great help was his wonderful help meet and wife, Mrs. Esther הי”ד who was genteel and of a good heart, and to whom everyone related with a sense of endearment. He, his wife, and his issue, were killed in the Holocaust. Of his sons, only Mr. Yitzhak survives, may he live and be well.

He was one of the balebatim, a Torah scholar and a Radzyn Hasid, and was considered among the educated because he spoke the language of the country. He was born in Tarnogrod in 5631 [1871] and was one of the important members of the Bet HaMedrash, and studied with the Rabbi Gaon R' Bunim Sofer, the son of the Gaon Rabbi Shimon Sofer of Cracow. He married a woman from Tomaszow, and was a respected merchant, and was selected from among the strictly observant Jews of the city for the municipal council.

He married off his daughter, Shoshana, to R' Bezalel Bizinsky of Wloclawek, one of the leaders of Mizrahi in Poland, who later made aliyah. There [sic: in Israel] he is one of the leaders of the Worldwide Mizrahi. He was taken to Israel before the war.

In the last twenty-four years of his life, he lived in Jerusalem, in the home of his daughter and son-in-law. There, he continued his study of the Torah, as he did in his youth, because he was not busy with commerce, and he was able to study swiftly. The Daf Yomi was his daily bread and butter. He was a man shot through and through with Torah and courtesy, and a man of pleasant discourse. It was a pleasure to be in his presence, because on every occasion, he would bring up pearls from the treasure chest of Torah, and would tell stories from his memory of life in Poland. He died at a venerable old age in the month of Iyyar 5719 [1959].

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He was born in Grabowiec, who lived in the village of Rachanie close to Tomaszow, and took up residence in Tomaszow in the year 5691 [1931]. A phenomenal Torah scholar, Hasid, and God-fearing man, who also possessed gentility of spirit. He embodied in his personality the form of a genius that almost had no equal. He owned a flour mill and dealt in flour, and because of his business, spend almost the entire week traveling to Lwow and Drohobyc. Despite this, he set aside time for Torah study, and never missed a day of prayer with a minyan. He took no compensation for community service work, because he considered the time set aside by for this as sacred. He was laconic, and avoided controversy, yet he was wondrously philanthropic, and in receiving guests into his home His home was open to anyone in need, or who required a consideration, whether for a loan or for a favor, or for charity. He never sat down to a meal, in which he was not accompanied by the floating jetsam of paupers of which there was no shortage throughout all of Poland. He made a special point of taking in those who because of their poverty and wanderings were not welcome by anyone else, and he gathered them all into his home, and would host them every Sabbath and on Festivals together with the members of his household at one table.

He gave his soul to the education of his sons and grandsons, and it was because of them that he left the city, where he was set up with a steady income that bestowed wealth on him. Yet no work, or money was sufficiently valuable to him, if it stood in the way of educating his sons in Torah and Hasidism. With this in mind, he selected the Cieszanow-Sanz shtibl as his house of worship. This was despite the fact that he was subjected to great pressure on the part of the Hasidim he belonged to from his dwelling place, who wanted him to join them. But he did not pay attention to anything, and he said to them, ‘I had the gumption to abandon my livelihood, and to take up residence in Tomaszow, in order to give my sons the appropriate education. I see no other place for me except to spiritually affiliate with, and pray with the Chief Rabbi of Cieszanow, whose place is a place of Torah and Hasidism, which makes me certain that my sons will be set on the right path.’ His sons were outstanding in Torah study and their fear of God, and among the more important members of the Bet HaMedrash of the Sanz Hasidim.

He, his wife, and sons, Jonah and Peretz, and daughters Malka and Bal'tcheh, and son-in-law R' Yerakhmiel Steinberg from Chelm, all were killed and died in Sanctification of the Name, הי”ד. Only his son, Abraham Zvi survived, by a sheer miracle, and is found in the Land of Israel.

A Torah scholar as a young man, and a Kuznitz Hasid, full of energy and a man of action, vibrant and full of life. He was constantly on the move, doing things, and pursued those deeds that would strengthen and disseminate faith and Torah study.

He was not a scion of Tomaszow, and did not even take a wife from the daughters of Tomaszow. Only his father-in-law, R' Mordechai Samit from Chelm, and one of the elders of the Radzyn Hasidim, took up residence in Tomaszow, to conduct his business. He had received permission to open a tobacco store, and immediately integrated himself into the coterie of the spiritual nobility and Hasidism in the Sanz shtibl. With

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every fiber of his soul, he cleaved to the Chief Rabbi from Cieszanow ז”ל, at whose place was the focal point for the raising of the cause of the Torah, and the improvement of the conditions of the strictly observant in the city. He entered the field of education of the Agudah, and helped a great deal with the establishment of the Beth Jacob School for Girls, and he directed the young men, assuring that there should not be any difficulty for them to approach an objective that was elevated and sacred. He was a model for them, in this regard.

He was quick and light in his touch, but deep in his thinking, and quick to act. All these traits served him immediately in the first rank of those who were pioneers in the brigade of Torah study. He was one of the pillars of strength of the Agudah, and the young people, and he helped a great deal in strengthening and girding the strictly observant in the city. Community issues, and the considerations of the Bet HaMedrash were more important to him than the needs of his own simple home.

When the war broke out, he left our city, along with his father-in-law, and took up residence in Ludomir, in Wolhynia, and there, they were killed in the Holocaust. הי”ד

He was a scion of Tarnogrod who married a Tomaszow woman, Dobra bat Odel. From early youth, he circled in the shadow of the Holy Rabbi, the author of ‘Divrei Yekhezkiel’ of Sieniawa, and afterwards, in the shadow of his son, the Holy Rabbi, author of ‘Divrei Simcha,’ of Cieszanow. He was one of those who brought the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Ary' Leibusz זצ”ל the son-in-law to the Head of community from Cieszanow, to take up residence in Tomaszow, and was one of his very ardent disciples and worshipers at his Bet HaMedrash.

R' Shlomo Akst was an honest, God-fearing man, and his integrity and fear of God were a wonder. He was privileged to have sons who became great Torah Sages, all of them beloved, Hasidim, and men of action. It is worth recollecting his son-in-law, R' Yekhezkiel Schraga Putter who was called Yekhezkiel Zikhri's. Who was a young married man, and a formidable Torah Scholar and a genuine God-fearing individual, one of the most important in our city. Also, his sons, Rabbi Moshe the son-in-law of the Rabbi R' Yoss'leh Ratenberg of Sikali, Yehoshua, Yekhezkiel Schraga, Baruch, he was a formidable and very profound Torah Scholar. He studied with the young men in the Sanz Bet HaMedrash, without financial compensation, and his youngest son, Nathan David, and another daughter all were killed in the Holocaust. Only the eldest son, R' Joseph Akst remained as a survivor, and is located in Israel.

He was a success in his business, building a flour mill, and he also had a butter factory. His home was wide open to the doing of good deeds and charitable undertakings. After R' Nahum Shames was killed, the only remaining minyan in the city was held at his house, up to the point that the Jewish community was entirely destroyed in Tomaszow. Part of his family hid in a bunker that was revealed by their Polish neighbors [sic: to the Nazis] a scant few days before the liberation, and all of them were killed right there, on the spot. הי”ד

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He was born in the year 5615 [1855] and from childhood on, he was a master of excellent acuity and a very great learner. He was born into a Hasidic family, and traveled to the Holy Rabbi in Izbica, the author of ‘Bet Yaakov,’ ז”ל, and waited to become one of those who brought back the lore he had learned at his table. The venerable Hasidim would ask of him to repeat the sayings of the Rebbe for them, because he had a wondrous memory, and he retained every word in his mind, forgetting nothing. (It is worth recollecting at this opportunity, what was said by the last Chief Rabbi of Radzyn, the martyr, Rebbe Shmuel Shlomo Leiner הי”ד who wrote these passages on his last visit to Tomaszow in 5699 [1939]: Oh, we know that David has not forgotten a thing of what he learned, even the innovative things from his earliest years he has not forgotten, all of which are etched into the folds of his awesome memory). As the Chief Rabbi of Radzyn שליט”א once told me, the texts of the portion of Noah in the book, Bet Yaakov were published from his writings. In the time that he studies with his son, the Gaon, Rabbi Gershon Henokh זצ”ל, the author of ‘Arukhot Chaim,’ he studied with such regularity and was considered to be his student, and was devoted to him with all the attributes of his soul, and he recorded all his issues and deeds in detail as clear as the blue sky, as if it were a diary (lost during the Holocaust period).

He married a woman, Chava Weitzman of our city, and for a number of years, he was supported for his meals and was completely dedicated to Torah study, which he learned with great love. When he departed from his father-in-law's table, he opened a store as a market, succeeded, and became one of the big merchants. Yet, he did not stand in the store and sell merchandise. He turned over the management of the store to his wife, a Woman of Valor, and he did not cease his studying. It was only once in two weeks that he would travel to Lublin to buy merchandise, and that was all. (He told me, that at the beginning of his business, when there were many buyers, his wife wanted to get him involved in the store, because the home and the store were in the same, one, building, with one room on the inside, and one out. When he saw that this was interrupting his studies, and lessons, he would take a bottle of oil to pour a small container, and it fell from his hand, from that day forward she no longer utilized him to sell in the store, and he was free to engage in Torah study).

He was a formidable Gaon, and he was especially expert in the order of Taharot [sic: ritual purity] and he assisted a great deal in the organizing the writings of the books on the order of Taharot for publication by his great teacher, the Rebbe of Radzyn. In his old age, before the war broke out, he completed the arrangement of the tractate of Mikvaot [sic: the ritual bath] that the last Chief Rabbi of Radzyn began to publish. He was a fastidious linguist and he had a grasp of the rules of grammar regarding every syllable, its root and origin, which he would derive from just two letters, and he had put together a substantial piece in writing about this. He was a master of mathematics, and as a young man had developed a formula for calculation for which he received a commendation. Also, Chaim Zelig Slonimsky^[1] wrote in praise of this piece of work. All his writings went up in flames in the fire of 5678 [1918], and from that time, he declined, God spare us, and he had many family troubles. At the end of his life he lived in a small house, plagued by troubles. He was confined to bed, and despite this he did not cease from his routine of daily and nightly study, and did not put down the pen from his hand, and wrote in an innovative manner on all subjects in the Torah, insights, and disquisitions on the Zohar, which he sent to Rabbi Reuven Margaliot of Lwow, and he publicized them. Also one responsa by him was published in the writings of ‘Khazon Nahum,’ to the Gaon

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R' Nahum Wiedenfeld of Dabrowa. When The Second World War broke out, he was transported, with a chest of his manuscripts to the home of the Hasidim in Radzyn, and he lived there for some months, and died approximately in the month of Kislev of the year 5700 [1940].

He was born in 5669[1909] in Rodziele Gorna, in the Limanowa area, and was raised in New Sanz. There, he studied at the Hasidic Bet HaMedrash. He was blessed with exceptional intellectual faculties, which he dedicated to learning. Being a great student, he grew up to be a great Torah Sage, and a God-fearing man. When the Rabbi of Lublin, Rabbi Meir Shapiro זצ”ל visited Sanz, and had a conversation with individual scholars about study, he especially was impressed by Ben Zion's deep-seated understanding and grasp of the process of study.

The Rebbe of Glusk played a very important part in his intellectual development, as did the Sanz Rebbe, Rabbi Naphtali Zvi Halberstam ז”ל.

He got married in Tomaszow, to Mal'ya, the daughter of Yoss'leh and Tobeh'leh Friedlander.

Being a brilliant man, with a warm Jewish heart, and also well schooled in secular knowledge, he was greatly beloved in the city.

In 1940, along with many other Polish Jews, he was sent off to Siberia to do forced labor. Under the most difficult circumstances, he made strenuous efforts to live in accordance with the precepts of the Shulkhan Arukh. On the Sabbath, when he was forced to go to work, he carried no food with him, in order that he not carry on the Sabbath. Also, at the most difficult work in the forests, he also distinguished himself with his skills. On time, a thick and really ancient old tree swayed in the wrong direction while being cut down, and it fell on him and killed him on the spot.

R' Alter Ben Zion son of R' Ze'ev Faber was thus killed at an early age in the Altaic regions of Siberia of the Krai Tobolsk Region, on 11 Shevat 5701 [Saturday, February 8, 1941, Shabbat Shira].

His wife, Malya'leh and her two children later made aliyah to Israel.

R' Benjamin Weinberg

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Intellectual – an aristocratic Hasid, with a one hundred percent traditional dress from his little cap and fine black woolen little jacket, but kept his beard trimmed, and kempt, and had a knowledge of worldly matters.

He came to be in Tomaszow as a contractor for an entire Russian division that was stationed in the city of Tomaszow, Janów and Bilgoraj. Apart from this, he conducted a large scale business in Forests and land, and he had connections to the larger firms, which helped him a great deal in achieving his success.

His house was a noble, Hasidic house, open to any and everyone who was needy. His noted wife Sarah, was special in giving it color, because of her charitable nature, which she showed with a generous hand, but who tragically died at an early age, and was replaced by their eldest daughter Rivka'leh.

R' Benjamin was the President of the Kopiecka Bank, which was of great help to the smaller merchants in sustaining and growing their stores and places of work.

He was drawn into general community life in the First World War, at the time of the occupation by the German-Austrian military.

When the first fighting erupted, he went off, with his family, to Zamość. His residence (which was one of the most beautiful in Tomaszow) at Mr. Markowsky on the Szkola Piekarska Gasse, or as it was called in Poland: 11 Listopada Gasse, was requisitioned for use by the military officers, and von Papen stationed himself there.^[1]

On one occasion, his daughter, Rivka'leh, came to Tomaszow to dispose of something. At that time, hunger and pestilence reigned, the death rate was increasing at a frightening rate, especially among the younger children, and when Rivka'leh was at the Markowsky's she cried very intensely out of her aggravation regarding the great troubles that she saw. Von Papen then asked: ‘Was ist ihr geschehen?’ Accordingly, they presented Fraulein Weinberg to him, and communicated to him what the situation was like in the city. Von Papen then expressed himself as follows: If I had a knowledgeable and upstanding man, who can engage in managing an operation, I would organize relief through him, for the poorer elements of the population.

Mr. Markowsky then replied: You will not be able to find any better or more skilled man that Herr Weinberg. Accordingly, he immediately sent her back directly to Zamość with a military escort, with an order to Mr. Benjamin Weinberg to come, and take over the position of chief of operations. Thanks to this, much of the need among the populace was alleviated, that was under the occupying forces. This, also, led him into public life. He became a Dozor and also a councilman.

In his later years, he felt physically weak, and drew back from community affairs. Despite this, Jewish people would still come to him for advice.

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Shmuel Putter, his wife, Chaya, their son Yehoshua, and his wife

His energetic character, his force, propelled him to the highest levels of the social ladder, in the Jewish as well as the non-Jewish street.

At the time when Tomaszow bore all of the signs of a small, out-of-the-way town, with its unpaved, muddy streets, and poor residents, R' Shmuel Putter moved to open a modern business with shining gas lighting on the Kiri Highway, which one would normally encounter only in a large city. At that time, people came to stare at it out of wonder at the various appointments of this place of business. And it was possible to buy anything there that the mouth would only utter. His customers consisted mostly of the wealthy class of Christians and [sic: military] officers. He treated everyone with integrity and with helpfulness. It is possible that the officers, being satisfied with the way they were treated, led him to become a provisioner of products for their division of Cossacks which was stationed in town. This raised him in his career, because apart from wealth, this afforded him visibility among the Christian intelligentsia, as a very intelligent, honest, wealthy Jew. It is interesting that he had a ‘Perveh Geldeh;’ and for his honest punctilious conduct as a contractor, he received a medal for outstanding service from the Czar. But his energy was not depleted by this. He opened up a mill and afterwards an agency for Singer's new sewing machines in Tomaszow and in Zamość, which made the work of tailoring in the area much easier.

And he did not stop with this. He begins to import agricultural machinery from outside the country, for the nobles to work their extensive land estates. This literally introduces a revolution in the practice of agriculture in the entire region. He also does not forget the poor peasant who owned a rather limited tract of land. He brings smaller implements and threshing machines and sells them to the peasants on a credit plan that permits them to pay off the purchase over two years. The name, Putter, becomes the symbol of the solution of problems in all of the villages far around Tomaszow.

Also, in Jewish Tomaszow, R' Shmuel Putter is a very popular person. Following in the tradition of his grandfather, R' Sinai Putter ז”ל, he is one of the leadership figures of the Jewish settlement. Namely, he is one of the three Dozors, that lead in connection with Jewish community life in the city. And in the event that a effort has to be made, in presenting a case to the government, it is he, naturally, who is trusted with the charge to do so.

He has a human and friendly relationship to his employees, the commanding tone being alien to him. He gives them increases to their wages even before they ask for them. His point of principle was, that one cannot ask for more from a satisfied worker. And he would say that this principle never betrayed him.

In his own home, he was indeed strict with the children, giving them a worldly and religious upbringing. For

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a period of time, his oldest son Hirsch'l studied with the Cieszanow Rebbe, who felt himself to be close to them.

His wife, Chaya, a good-hearted genteel soul, conducted her home with a generous hand, as befitted a wealthy Hasidic home with a pedigree. Her father was the brother-in-law of Rabbi of Chrzanow, Rabbi David Halberstam, who was a son of R' Chaim of Sanz זצ”ל. They entertained guests of a variety of character, who came and went, including those who came to still their hunger, with a meal taken in the home of a wealthy family. Their house obtained a reputation in the city. People from near and far come for help, for donations, charity, some with – and some without – pledging security. It was then that R' Shmuel surveyed his whereabouts and observed that something needs to be done for those suffering deprivation. He opens a bank, which disburses loans of up to 200 rubles for very little interest. Jews, poor storekeepers and tradespeople, were literally put back on their feet. ‘Shmuel Putter's Bank,’ that is what it was called, while officially its name was ‘Sudazbieragatalniya Tovarichestvo,’ became the most popular institution in the city, which helps out the poorest part of the populace in a dignified manner. The bank existed up till the outbreak of The First World War.

With the outbreak of the war, Shmuel Putter and his family leave the city, and take up residence in Russia. After the end of the war, he returns to Tomaszow, where he expands his machinery business with branches in Zamość, Chelm, and in Lipsk. He then moves his central business to Lemberg, where from a large beautiful building, the sign ‘S. Putter i Synowie’ shined down on Grudetska 95.

He takes up residence there, in Lemberg, with his family, where he lives to the end. In that large city, as well, his name becomes popular as a big businessman, and at one of the large fair exhibitions, known as eastern fairs (in Polish: Tragi-Wschodni) that took place in Lemberg, he is awarded the title, ‘King of the Machines.’ He is active in Jewish community life in Lemberg. He, and his sons, are very active in the Zionist movement. His oldest son, Hirsch'l ע”ה settles with his family in Israel with the purpose to transfer his businesses to the Land of Israel; however, Hitler's satanic assault on Poland disrupts all their plans.

Living in Lemberg, he does not forget the Tomaszow community. When he hears that the Righteous Teacher, Rabbi R' Nachman Neuhaus ז”ל is critically ill, he brings him to Lemberg, and has him attended by prominent doctors and specialists. After all these give up all hope, he sends him back home, accompanied by a doctor. Do understand that this entails great expense, which was entirely covered by him.

R' Shmuel was of above average height, nicely built, and always well groomed with a nice well kempt beard and smiling blue eyes. His dignified mien, and high position, elicited a loving respect towards him from everyone. He was also accorded a special respect in the Husyatin shtibl, where he worshiped.

So much for the persona of R' Shmuel Putter as we see him. However, what is the origin of this noteworthy personality? Or, from which family did he come?

As far as we know, the Putter family was widely branched in and around Tomaszow. It is interesting that, in the city, there were two other families with the same name that did not have any connection with this Putter family. Little is known about R' Shmuel's father, but by contrast, his father's father, R' Sinai was known by everyone. It was known that this R' Sinai was at one time the leader of the community of the city,

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who engaged in community life with a firm and strong hand. He constantly stood to protect the poor at every opportunity. He never permitted any indirect taxation for a variety of community needs that the wealthy aspired to, despite the fact that he, personally, was wealthy. He kept the butchers under strict surveillance, to assure that they would not raise their prices for meat, in order that a poor person may have the pleasure of enjoying a small piece of meat, especially for the Sabbath. Many stories and anecdotes are told about him. [It is told that] the Rabbi was on his side regarding any number of community issues against the will of other balebatim, and the Rabbi, in his time, was Rabbi R' Moshe Rogenfish ז”ל, the father-in-law of R' Yisroel'i Garzytzensky, of whom it was said, ‘Moshe received the Law from Sinai.^[1]’ He had a very strong opposition in the city, but it was his word that was always the deciding one. What we also know, is that the Rebbe of Kotzk, R' Mendl'eh Morgenstern זצ”ל was an uncle of his, and that the Rebbe of Belz would always sit him next to himself at his Tisch, on those occasions when he came to visit Belz.

He, R' Sinai, had a surfeit of sons and daughters, who took up residence in a variety of cities and raised the most respected families there. His youngest son, R' Mendl הי”ד lived in Tarnogrod. He was a great scholar, and a very respected Jew in that town. It was ordained that he would take part in the dark fate of the remaining European Jews in the Hell of Hitler. R' Shmuel's father, R' Yoss'l was one of R' Sinai's sons, who left seven sons and a daughter, Baylah Shapiro הי”ד, who was called Baylah Putter in town. Her only son, Yoss'l, came to Lemberg with his entire family. The oldest of her sons-in-law was R' Sholom Zilberman הי”ד. He was a grandson of the Rabbi of Bilgoraj, the Genius of Tomaszow, Rabbi Yaakov Mordechai ז”ל. He was a great Torah scholar, and a doer of good deeds. He, his wife Mal'ya Mindl, and several children were executed by the Nazis ימ”ש. One of her sons-in-law, R' Yekhezkiel Hochman was the Dayan of Bilgoraj. He was also executed with his family. Another son-in-law Rabbi Sholom Joseph Engelsberg, is today a Rabbi in Hadar Yosef in Israel.

One of R' Sinai's daughters, Leah, was the mother of my father ע”ה.

We can assess the importance of R' Sinai from the fact that there were many people in Tomaszow with the name, ‘Sinai,’ which came from one source, this very R' Sinai Putter, because after he died, many families, who were not even related, gave their newborn boys this name in his memory.

A character trait that runs like a red thread through the weave of this family to this day, is the inclination and involvement in community affairs.

Here, in America, you encounter it in my husband, Yoss'l, in Shmuel Putter's daughter Balt'cheh, who lives in Lakewood with her husband. She takes an extraordinarily active part in community life, in many areas, in New York and in New Jersey. Also, the brothers Moshe, Sinai and Pinia, the sons of R' Mendl Putter from Tyszowce occupy a visible place in the Zionist Organization in New York.

The great Holocaust perpetrated by Hitler which devastated and eradicated the large and small Jewish settlements, along with their people, from the face of God's earth, also did not spare the well-connected and wealthy Putter family. R' Shmuel, his wife Chaya, their son Yehoshua with his wife and child, their son Joseph, were executed by the German murderers. R' Shmuel's brother, Sinai, who, at the last also lived in Lemberg, was able to kill one member of the Gestapo before he, his wife Sarah'leh, with their two children were shot. May their memory be sanctified.

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Yekhezkiel Lehrer and his wife, Itta'leh

R' Yekhezkiel was a very well-known person. He was a prominent forest products merchant, and a councilman at the municipal council, the Chair of the Education Committee of the Yesodei HaTorah Heder, and directed the construction of the city Bet HaMedrash, which had been burned down during the First World War. For a period of time, he was the only Mohel in Tomaszow, and most of the boys in the shtetl entered the Covenant of Abraham at his pristine hands.

R' Yekhezkiel, his wife Itta ז”ל, their four sons and five daughters and their family members, lived a dignified middle-class life. They helped poor people. R' Yekhezkiel conducted Torah courts in instances when the two sides could not effect a compromise on their own, and was in general highly regarded in the town.

Life proceeded normally up to September 1, 1939 when the great Jewish Holocaust began, with the beginning of The Second World War.

This very house was destroyed and burned in the middle of a clear Thursday, September 7, 1939, by German bombers, along with hundreds of other houses, and also several hundred people were killed.

As a consequence, Yekhezkiel Lehrer and along with his family wandered from village to village, hiding themselves from the German murderers. At the end, they were in the ghetto in Hrubieszow until the bitter decree of Judenfrei came on October 21, 1942, at which point half of his family had already been killed by the Nazis. His son, Yeshaya was the first victim on 7 Tishri [September 20] 1939, at the time that the German Army marched into Tomaszow-Lubelski. A daughter, Jocheved, and family, a son, Shlomo and family, fled over the border into Russia at the end of 1939, however, in 1942 they were killed by the Germans at the time that they captured the Russian-occupied Polish territories. A daughter, Chana, and her family, a son Leib'l, his wife and two children, fell victim to the Nazi murderers in 1942.

I had the opportunity, to grab and bring to Tomaszow, the youngest son, Eli' Lehrer, who remained with my father and mother ע”ה, up to the last minute of the ‘Judenfrei,’ in Hrubieszow. This was the summer of 1941, and the time to see the ‘destruction of Tomaszow-Lubelski.’

The town was half burned down, and the huge walls of the burned out synagogue stood in destruction, and almost all the other walls had been taken down and used for paving stones by the few remaining Jews who were pressed into forced labor by the SS Police to do so.

After several days of being in Tomaszow, I took a glance at the cemetery, the torn up pile of books, and half

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-torn Torah scrolls, which were scattered around on the ground at the entry gate to the cemetery.

I was seized with a shudder, and immediately went away. On my way to the Judenrat, which was located on the Zamosc Gasse, I met Nahum Shames, Abba Bergenbaum, as the Chair of the Judenrat, Neta Heller, Secretary, and a few other Jews. We talked about the explosions that we heard in the city. These were dynamite explosions, implemented by the Poles, under the oversight of the SS, to blow up the burned out synagogue. It didn't fall to their hands easily. It took days, and weeks, until they were able to bring down the thick walls with the very thin soffit which was one brick thick. It was then discussed with the Judenrat that the soffit of the synagogue had been glued with egg white, and that is why it was so strong, causing the Germans to use their most potent dynamite. The stones of the synagogue were used to pave the muddy [streets] of Tomaszow.

I traveled back to Hrubieszow, and remained there with my parents in te ghetto until October 21, 1941, up to the Judenfrei edict. I hid myself in the cellar of a Polish policeman. My parents hid themselves in an attic in the ghetto, however, tragically, the Nazi murderers found them only after a few days, and led them in licked chains to the Hrubieszow cemetery, and with the words ‘Shema Yisrael’ on their lips, Yekhezkiel Lehrer and his wife Itta fell in Sanctification of the Name,

at the hands of the Nazi murderers, may their name and memory be erased for all time.

By a sheer miracle, I was fated to be saved from their murderous hands. At night, I fled to Sokol, and I remained there until February 13, 1943. At that time, when the Sokol ghetto was on the verge of being exterminated, I fled at night, on foot, back to Hrubieszow, because I had notification that in Hrubieszow, a forced labor camp of 60 Jewish men and women had been created there. And, indeed, it was at this forced labor camp that I was, until September 12, 1943, until we were taken to the larger camp in Budzyn near Lublin.

In February 1944, a group of us, with me among them, were transferred to the concentration camp at Mielec near Cracow.

When the Russian Army drew near to Polish territory, on June 12, 1944, we were taken away from the work, and all of us were taken to Wieliczka near Cracow. Remaining there for a few days, until July 20, 1944, a group of us, with me amongst them, were taken to Flossenberg in Germany. Two weeks later, my eyes red from the smoke of the day-in and day-out cremation of hundreds of Jews, who were no longer able to perform labor, I was taken to a stone quarry in Hersbruck in Germany.

On January 3, 1945 the entire Hersbruck camp , and again, me among them, was vacated to Kochendorf. Several weeks later, from Kochendorf to Flossenberg, and from Flossenberg, on March 2, 1945 again, a group of us were taken to Zwickau near Leipzig where we worked in underground halls where missiles were manufactures. In the middle of a clear day of work, all of us, escorted by SS camp guard police, were driven for 2 weeks during the day and night, without food or water, through fields and forests, until out of more than 800 of us, only fifty percent remained. The rest of us [either] expired, or were shot. I was barely able to drag my feet along, and decided at that time to attempt to flee into the forest. I hid myself in the forest for over two weeks, reviving myself with a little bit of snow, and leaves from trees. Up to a certain day, May 10, 1945,

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coming out of the forest, I went into a Christian to plead for food, and he explained to me that the war had ended with the German defeat.

In the street, I saw how the German military was discarding its arms into a yard, dousing them with benzine and igniting it, and hanging out white flags.

A few minutes later, I observed the American troops marching in.

I ran over to a freight truck loaded with food. Who is it that can imagine my appetite. In short, I paid no attention to my digestion, and via the Red Cross, I was taken to a hospital in Carlsbad. I was there for four months, and underwent an operation.

My new life began again on October 2, 1947 when I came to America.

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R' Shabtai Friedlander and his wife, Malka

After his boyhood years. My father was very much beloved by R' Yehoshua'leh זצ”ל, who most times took him along on his trips to various cities. In his younger years, my father would travel to the Rebbe of Sieniawa זצ”ל, the author of ‘Divrei Yekhezkiel,’ and also to his brother, the Gorlicer, the son of the Rabbi & Tzaddik R' Chaim Sanzer זצ”ל, and later on, he was a very ardent disciple of the Rebbe of Cieszanow, the author of ‘Divrei Simcha,’ זצ”ל. As with his pedigree, so it was with his Hasidism, he did not aggrandize himself before other people, rather, he carried it within himself like a secret talisman.

Despite the fact that he was not wealthy, or meddlesome in community affairs, he nevertheless contributed his part to public affairs in his own unique and modest way. Apart from the Hevra Kadisha, where he was active for so long, as all of us remember him, he didn't like to mix into municipal affairs. Despite this, deep inside him, he carried a feeling of responsibility for all matters that related to Jewish life in the city. Only in rare instances, when he felt that his intervention was absolutely necessary, did he accept a position. It was in this manner that, after The First World War, he saw that the Talmud Torah in the city had become neglected in the city, and that the poorer children were not receiving any education, that intervened with R' Yisroel'i the Rebbe's, the president of the Talmud Torah. The latter answered him: On the contrary, do something about it, and I will definitely give you my consent. My father ע”ה, then took the initiative, and in a matter of a few weeks, the Talmud Torah, again, began to function. For a stretch of years, my father ע”ה was its loyal supporter, and he would provide the Kiddush for the Gabbaim of the Talmud Torah, in his house, on the Sabbaths from the portion of Yitro and VaEtkhanan, when the story of the receiving of the Torah is read, and also the Melaveh Malka of the Sabbath eve of the portion of Yitro.

A similar plight existed immediately after the War. At that time, a children's kitchen , with American products, functioned in the city. Such products, also unprepared, were distributed to the poorer part of the populace. At that time, the Jews of the town utilized small containers of American milk as if they were parve

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and as a result, mixed them with meat products. At that time, my father ע”ה intervened with the Rabbi, but he, the Rabbi, took it on as a vegetarian milk. At that time, my father asked in a letter to his brother Leibusz ע”ה in New York, and the latter replied with an enclosed letter from an American Rabbi, indicating that the milk is the milk of a cow. Then, the Rabbi permitted an announcement to be made in the Batei Medrashim, that the milk is a natural product, and those that had mixed it with meat comestibles should make an inquiry regarding the preparations. My father did not take any public pride in this, and very few people knew that he had a hand in disclosing this matter.

My father, himself, was a good-hearted and well-tempered individual, and when it came to him to do a good deed, nothing could restrain him. Not even a Thursday market day, when he would have to stand in his place of business, or even in the middle of the night. He felt an inner satisfaction in helping someone out, with whatever he was able to do, an achievement of a sort of inner tranquility in his own life, which was full of troubles. Yet, in his own house, he was very strict, especially in questions of ritual conduct and in raising children. In these areas, he did not relent so much as an iota. One could not discern any attempt on his part to strive for riches; his ambitions were pointed in another direction, namely: to raise his children in the spirit of his ancestors. Regrettably, he achieved few of his goals. Only his older son, Sinai ע”ה (who died in Russia) satisfied him fully in an spiritual sense, being a Torah sage, a Hasid, and a God-fearing man. By contrast, his younger son, Yoss'l, on whom he had placed even greater hopes, disappointed him painfully, when in a dramatic fashion, he broke with his traditional past.

My father did not have much nachas in his life. On Shabbat HaGadol 5 Nissan 5676 [April 8, 1916],^[3] his oldest unmarried daughter Mal'ya Mindl died at the age of twenty-one. In the summer of 1918 he is burned in the great fire of the city [of that year], after which, it becomes difficult for him to get back on his feet. And, in the middle of the decade of the thirties, he becomes completely ruined by the fantastically high taxes that the government finance department imposed on him.

The outbreak of the war in 1939 finds my parents in a very difficult material circumstance. The Germans occupy the city, and robberies and murders are committed against the Jewish population. Our house is burned down in the arson fire perpetrated by the Germans. My parents move to the house of my sister Frieda הי”ד, who was located in the house of Yehoshua Blonder. Young people, especially women, hide themselves with the appearance of any German. Suddenly, such an individual appears in the house, and demands of my impoverished parents that he should be provided with a ‘woman.’

Seeing my sister Rachel's underage girl, he accosts her. No outcry, that she is only a child, helps. He threatens her by pointing his revolver at her. My father then interposes himself between the child and the revolver, and says to the German: Shoot me, but you may not have the child. In that instant, the little girl vanished, and the German ימ”ש, was then promised that a woman would be found for him, in the span of less than one hour, under the threat of having the house burned down. All those who were present then abandoned the house, and never again returned.

Before the second occupation by the Germans, many Jewish families abandoned the city, together with the Russian Army, to Rawa Ruska. My parents, Frieda, her husband and two children remained in Tomaszow; The remainder of our family fled to Rawa [Ruska]. Remaining behind in Tomaszow, my father gave his

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poverty as an excuse, and like many others, he did not correctly assess the depravity of the Germans. It is also possible that another hidden motive indirectly motivated him to this, namely: in his deep subconscious, with support from a feeling that the spirit of his great-grandfather will serve to shield him in a time of trouble. And also…possibly, this feeling did not deceive him completely, and as a result, he managed to get through the dragnet of the selektions, and the crematoria, and not to have The Unclean Ones to look upon in his final minutes.

The last time I saw my parents, was on a Hanukkah day, in Bayrakh'eh's mill in Belzec. It was as follows: At the beginning of October 1939 I, and my brother Yoss'l, arrived from Warsaw to Rawa [Ruska]. Many refugees from Tomaszow congregated there, whose plight was very extreme, because Rawa [Ruska] was not capable of absorbing such a large number of refugees, and the Rawa [Ruska] residents were not psychologically prepared for these new circumstances, and did not manifest any special hospitality to their fleeing neighbors. A desire began to develop among those who fled, to return home: here, people are illegally crossing the border back and forth, on a continuous basis, bringing soothing news from Tomaszow ‘seemingly, we are not being touched,’ ‘seemingly things are a bit easier,’ etc.

Suddenly, we hear that on the eve of the prior Sabbath the Tomaszow Jews were summoned to a gathering in the Ludowy, and there, they were beaten murderously, accompanied by a variety of abuses and sadistic acts, which made one's hair and nails stand on end. After this, they received an order to leave the city, and to go to Russia. The Jews obeyed the order, and headed for the Russian border which was located on the other side of Belzec. However, the Russians did not permit the Jews across. At that point, the Jews wandered about under the open, rainy sky. In accordance with an order from Hitler, the peasants in the surrounding area were not permitted to let them into their homes, and also not permitted to sell them any food. After several days of getting soaked in the rain, they were quartered in Bayrakh'eh's mill (this was how the mill was called, which belonged to R' Bayrakh Kessler הי”ד). A delegation from the Tomaszow refugees intervened with the commandant of the Russian border guards, but without success: by contrast, the officers of the border guard kept assuring that the border would be open in a few days, for the expelled Tomaszow Jews.

At that time, I crossed the border illegally, to be able to visit with my parents. A frightening sight assaulted my eyes when I arrived at Bayrakh'eh's mill. The people there went about as if enveloped in a living mass of lice. I could not understand how these people were still alive, how they eat, and how they are not embarrassed in front of each other. Several families lived in one small room. They counted out sixteen people for me that sleep on the bare floor, pressed one against the other, and even in this way, I could not comprehend how sixteen people could fit into such a small room. My father slept on the cold, bare, and open attic. I talked to them about crossing the border illegally, but they received this plan apathetically: what is the point of stealing off in the night empty-handed, when in a day, or another day, we will be able to cross freely, with at least a bit of our belongings. Yes, the liberators promised and we believed. Tragically, their hope was in vain. For the unfortunate, homeless Jews, the border was not opened, and after a while, they returned to Tomaszow, where inhuman torture awaited them, and suffering which in the end led to gas chambers in that very same Belzec.

My father fell ill in Bayrakh'eh's mill and struggled this way, with suffering and hunger, until he surrendered his holy soul on 18 Adar II 5700 [March 28, 1940 ] in the presence of my mother and my sister Frieda הי”ד, in Tomaszow. And even though his death appeared to be natural, it was brought about as a direct result of the murderous handling of the Germans. In other words: they murdered him with a lingering death.

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Writing these lines, about my father ז”ל, I am not attempting to portray him as an exceptional figure in his milieu: on the contrary, in these lines there will be found yet other people, who like my father, carried on a self-effacing, decent life. People, who like him, bloodied themselves for their livelihood, and literally breathed their love of Israel. Who, like him, shared their sustenance wit the poor: there were times, when properly preparing for the Sabbath became equivalent to parting the Red Sea, but despite this, a guest would often grace his table. He would set aside specific time for Torah study, and he would study for an hour before dawn, every morning. Nothing could take him away from that, and also on the Sabbath, after noon.

May the memory of such shining personalities be a Pillar of Fire in our ongoing saga of life, for the continuation of Jewish identity and spiritual inspiration. Let these very memorial stones awaken in us the feelings of vengeance against the German murderers and their Polish accomplices, for the inhuman torture, for the spilling of innocent blood of such genteel good-hearted people who were the essence of innocence themselves.

My mother, Malka, my sister Frieda Yehudit with her two little children, Shlomo Elazar and Zlata'leh הי”ד, were, in due course, executed in the ovens of Belzec.

It is worth recalling the exceptional good deeds of my mother, הי”ד. In her entire embittered life, he never had any complaint, not to God, and not to humanity. Since the death of her daughter Mal'ya, she never evinced a smile on her face. Silently, and tearfully, she showed a superhuman tolerance for all of her many troubles. She would be the first to arise, very early, and without making noise, opened the store, managed to fit in the recitation of a day's worth of Psalms, between one customer and the next. In this way, she would sneak in one fast day after another, and in the evening, never took anything to eat. She never was cross with my father, despite the fact that he let the soda stand stay unattended on a hot summer day, and had to go off with the Hevra [Kadisha] to attend to a deceased person. One could barely discern a hidden form of protest when my mother would, once in a while, hit one of the children. This, it appears, was very difficult for her to do.

For her entire life, she dedicated herself to her children, leaving herself out of the reckoning. This was also the fashion in which she approached dealing with an unexpected guest at a meal, giving away her portion, and allocating an empty plate to herself, so that no one would take note that she had skipped herself. How is it possible that a hand could be found that would raise itself against such a pure human life?

In writing these lines, her persona lives before my eyes. I see her in her shining Sabbaths, as she is serving the table, or in the reading of the portion of the week with a tasteful, resonant intonation, from her ‘Teitch Chumash.’^[4] and also in her sorrowful middle of the week days. I see her in her fallen condition in Bayrakh'eh's mill, her question at that time: "Children, with whom have you left me?” This question flays strips of skin off my flesh to this day. In my imagination, I see her in her starved, exhausted condition, tending my sick father ע”ה and escorting him to his final resting place, with envy that he had already achieved an expiation and was freed from the unclean cannibals. I see her on her last death march to Belzec. I see and hear her imprecations and curses at the murderers, her prayers for the children who might possibly still be alive. Her behest, never to forgive the bestial dogs that have the chutzpah to call themselves ‘human beings.’

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The recollection of this pure persona, who was my mother, fans the sparks of fiery vengeance against that nation that spawned such unspeakable evil, who in such a gruesome manner, tortured, abused, and robbed millions of innocent and pure mothers of their lives, along with their graceful little children. May the fire of vengeance burn for all eternity in our hearts, and in the hearts of our children, and children's children, so long as even one member of this unworthy people walks on God's [green] earth.

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Gut'sheh Schwartz

Gut'sheh had a big house with three windows. A ‘Spanish Wall’ divided off a bit of space where the kitchen was. The kitchen was near the door. It was through this little kitchen that one entered her living quarters. That is where we lived.

My father, Getz'l Pinia's ע”ה was then in America. My mother Chay' Nekha ע”ה had passed away the year before. Three children remained: Myself, Moshe, and the youngest, Eliyahu Ben Zion, five years old. The little brother was very sick. In Gut'sheh's small kitchen, I saved the life of my little brother.

Gut'sheh was at that time a young woman of thirty-seven years of age. Out of piety, she always wore a kerchief. None of the hair on her head showed through. On her face, a feeling of empathy was manifest for the poor.

Gut'sheh's husband, Meir, was lost in The First World War, and so she had to support herself, and her four small children. Despite this, she found the time to help the needy.

In Gut'sheh's house, under her motherly oversight, we felt like we were in our own home. Despite the fact that it was crowded, we didn't feel it, because of her devotion.

Gut'sheh's goodness garnered her a reputation: she helped the poor, sick and the solitary. Not only did she share her meager food with the poor, but also would share with a shirt, with a garment to cover one's skin.

She would provide assistance clandestinely. If one found out about it, it was through happenstance, because she did not publicize it. By the time something was conveyed, she had already done quite a bit of good. She already knew which people could assist her , in order that she could then help the needy. Not only did she help Jewish people, but she even helped the gentile poor, who were in need.

We children lived with Gut'sheh for two years, until we emigrated to America in 1920. In the course of those two years, I marveled at her refinement and good character.

Years later, I remembered Gut'sheh, and hoped that, once again, I might see her and her children. But, just then, The Second World War came upon us. Gut'sheh lost her daughter Mireh'leh, Mireh'leh's husband, and a child.

Along with the other children, she was flung far into various places, until, finally, along with the children, she arrived in Israel.

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When we inquired, we discovered that wherever and everywhere that she went, she manifested her humane character. In Israel, just as in Tomaszow, she helped poor people, and assuaged the pain of the sick.

Esther Gut'sheh Schwartz daughter of R' Yitzhak Hubar passed away in Israel 15 Nissan 5717 [April 16, 1957]. Honor her memory.

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When the name, R' Tevel was mentioned, among us in town, everyone knew that this was Tevel the Pious, who sits day-and-night, studying Torah in God's service, in the shtibl of R' Yehoshua'leh, or afterwards, in the Hasidic Bet HaMedrash.

There were many men named ‘Tevel’ in the shtetl, but if one spoke of R' Tevel, this was the pious R' Tevel, the ascetic. This was how popular this person was, without exception.

To tell the truth, R' Tevel was the complete antithesis of popularity. His entire appearance was one of self-effacement, modesty, retiring, and distancing himself from acclamation as if it were fire. He most certainly would have been happier if he were completely unknown, constantly shrinking himself, and hiding in a corner. He was lower than grass, and weaker than a fly, satisfying himself with a dry piece of bread and water, which were provided to him by good people. He slept his brief slumber next to the stove in R' Yehoshua'leh's shtibl.

R' Tevel's origins were from the simple folk, lacking any family tree of pedigree from Rabbinical families or from Rebbes. Rather, he was a scion of a family of tradespeople from the very impoverished little shtetl of Jarczow. Also, he assumed his ascetic way of life when he was already the father of several children.

The motivation behind R' Tevel's radical approach was not known, because not every day does it occur that someone abandons one's family, wife and children, and goes off to an unfamiliar city, and assume the life of an ascetic. R' Tevel himself rarely talked about his own person, and in general, spoke very little. This is not to say that he was mean-spirited. Rather, if he were asked, he would answer in a friendly way, and express himself affably. However, he regarded this as lost time: ‘The day is short, and there is much work to be done,’ and the Gemara awaits, as do the books of tradition, and other sacred writings, and it is necessary to catch up to that which was missed in past years….

Very little is known about R' Tevel's family circumstances, but one thing is certain: that is not the place to search for R' Tevel's fateful decision to vacate his old way of life, and to begin a new one, a rather difficult one, according to our grasp. Of primary importance, he had concluded that everything is, as the Sage of Ecclesiastes said, ‘Vanity of Vanities, all is Vanity.’ The sole thing that a man can – and must – do in this world, is only to serve the Master of the Universe and bee concerned with the World to Come.

With is strong will, R' Tevel makes everything possible, to one hundred percent. And once having crossed the threshold int the shtibl of R' Yehoshua'leh, he no longer saw Jarczow again. His wife, it would seem, was a Woman of Valor, since she then demonstrated that by herself, she could support and raise the children.

But it was not only in Jarczow. It was also in Tomaszow that R' Tevel was not seen outside the walls of R' Yehoshua'leh's courtyard. R' Yehoshua'leh's courtyard, which consisted of a block, containing a number of dwellings for the family members, a shtibl for prayer and study, and also a Bet HaMedrash, which was called the Hasidic Bet HaMedrash, in order to differentiate it from the large, general Bet HaMedrash. The block was surrounded by thick walls made of stones, sunk in, and low, with a dark corridor of sorrowful appearance. In general, it looked like an ossified medieval sanctuary. Such synagogues have been written up

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in Sholom Asch's ‘Kiddush HaShem’. Peretz's ‘Bei Nacht oyfn Altn Mark,’ or in I. J. Singer's ‘Yoshe Kalb.’

The accommodations exactly suited to the residents. In this shtibl, where the walls were covered from ceiling to floor with sacred texts, R' Tevel was the greatest of all the constant studiers, the last to retire, and the first to arise. R' Tevel divided up the hours of the day for the purpose of Torah study, and for prayer. And R' Tevel learned in all of the books, including Kabbalah, which the Hasidim hold greater, and the Gemara, to which the Mitnagdim give preference.

R' Tevel did not exhibit any special great intellectual talents. He was not know as such, and did not leave behind any writings. He also did not carry on any discourse with other people who were learning in the shtibl, as others were wont to do, this was not his objective. He was not interested in presenting his knowledge, he studied [solely] because the Torah was to be studied, but not for the purpose of becoming a scholar. By contrast, however, he was known as someone who was formidably well-versed, meaning that he recollected a great deal.

On the outside, R' Tevel was an entirely sympathetic man. Of medium height, with a finely formed Greek nose, dark brown eyes, an ashen-white complexion as if he didn't have a drop of blood in him, a unkempt beard, full of tangles. His back was slightly bent from always being seated. He wore a long gray overcoat, which had long ago lost its color, tied around with a sash. He wore a pair of high boots both in summer and winter, and also warm clothing under his overcoat. His head was covered by a velvet Jewish cap, but the velvet was no longer visible. To the extent that I can remember, he never changed his clothing.

As for the women in our city, R' Tevel was the symbol of idleness and uselessness, someone who lacks success, etc. It is possible that this assessment was influenced by the fact that he had abandoned his wife and children, and left them, as they say, on the water, and did not mind. However, I believe, that we, who are born of woman, are not mature enough to completely understand this matter, and we should leave this to The Master of the Universe. Despite the fact that when these very women, when their husbands did not succeed in making a living, or in other aspects of life, they would give him the nickname ‘Pious Tevel'eh,’ R' Tevel nevertheless remained a noteworthy personality. There is yet much more to write about him. I recall, that about twenty years or so ago, when I had just arrived in the Land of Israel, and visited the Holy City of the Kabbalists, Tzfat. I wandered through the side streets looking for Kabbalists, and my first impression was that Jews like R' Tevel would be hard to find, even in a city of Kabbalists like Tzfat. And that is what I wrote to my parents and others.

And I mean to say that we can be proud of our city which had such a R' Tevel'eh, and also the many, many other personalities that were produced.

[Page 326]

Rabbi Dov Ber'l HaKohen Fershtman

The Frontispiece of the Monthly Journal, ‘Unzer Gajst’

He had also prepared for printing, the book called ‘Otzar Hadaranim,’ which contained the summations of the most important rabbis in all of the dispersed communities of World Jewry, that were presented at the first round of completion of the portion in a Daf Yomi class.^[2]

He was very well known because of his considerable talents. He married the daughter of the Rabbi of Grodzinski in Tarnow, the Holy Man Rabbi Elazar Hurwitz, from the Ropszic family root.

Tragically, his young life was cut short by the German murderers, הי”ד.

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