Vileyka, Belarus

Memorial Book of the community of Vileyka
(Belarus)

54°30' / 26°55'

Translation of
Sefer zikaron kehilat Wilejka ha-mehozit,
pelekh Vilna

Edited by Kalman Farber and Joseph Se'evi

Published in Tel Aviv, 1972

Acknowledgments

Project Coordinator

Our sincere appreciation to Shaul Farber and Reuven Norman, of the Wilejka Society,
for permission to put this material on the JewishGen web site.

This is a translation from: Sefer zikaron kehilat Wilejka ha-mehozit, pelekh Vilna
(Memorial book of the community of Vileyka),
ed. Kalman Farber, Joseph Se'evi, Tel Aviv, Wilejka Society, 1972 (328 pages, H, Y, E)

Note: The original book can be seen online at the NY Public Library site: Vileika

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Translated by Eilat Gordin Levitan

Dates in the Life of the Town		ix
Words of the Editorial Committee		xi
Foreword		xii

Chapters from the History

Crown of Lament to the Nation of Israel (a poem)	Uri Tzvi Greenberg	xv
Vileyka, the Town	Shlomo Chaim Dubin	1
The Economic Structure	Chaim Shalom Kopelowitz	9
Industry and Commerce During the Polish Rule	Kalman Farber	12
Transportation a. Paved Roads b. Dirt Roads c. The Arrival of Trains in Vileyka d. The River Vilya and the Railroad Tracks	Kalman Farber Kalman Farber Chaim Shalom Kopelowitz Kalman Farber	14
Healthcare a. Health Conditions in Town b. The City Hospital c. The Regional Hospital d. Bathhouses	Kalman Farber Shlomo Chaim Dubin K. N. K. N.	15 15 16 16 16

Religious Institutions

Prayer Homes, Societies and Institutions	Kalman Farber	17
The Hasidic Movement	Kalman Farber	21
Visits by the Hasidic Rabbi from Koydanov	Chaim Shalom Kopelowitz	22

Public Institutions, Education and Culture

a. Cheders in the Shtetl	K. N.	25
b. Talmud Torah (the Melamed from Rakov)	Shmuel Epstein	25
c. Reb Israel Kopelowitz	Shmuel and Aron Epstein	25
d. The Melamed Reb Zalman Yosef Scherlett	Shlomo Chaim Dubin	26
e. The Cheder of Mordechai Eliezer Rabinovich – Reb Avraham ("der Terk")	Y. K.-Z.	26
g. Reb David Shlomo son of Meir Plavnik – Cheder for Girls	K. Norman	27
h. The Melamed Reb Yoel Kapilovich	K. Norman	27
i. The School for Girls	Chaim Shalom Kopelowitz	27
j. The Small Yeshiva – Cheder Metukan		28
k. The Last Cheders		28
l. The Secular Russian Schools – the Polish Gymnasium (High School)	K. N.	28
The Hebrew Schools "Herzelia"	Yosef Ze'evi	29
A Building for the Tarbut School	Shlomo Chaim Dubin	31
Our School Tarbut and its Destruction – The Last Principal a. My Teacher and Rabbi, Reb Shmuel Rodinski b. The Establishment of the first Library c. The Library named for Shalom Aleichem	Tuvya Norman Chaim Shalom Kopelowitz S. Dinnestein	32 33 33

Entertainment

Drama Club – The Boycott of German Movies	M. & L.	34

The Zionist Movement

Funds of Gmilat Chesed, Interest Free Loans – The Local Bank	K. R.	35
Gmilat Chesed During the 1920s	Menachem Adir (Rodnitsky)	36

Social Welfare and Relief Institutions

Movements and Parties	Chaim Shalom Kopelowitz	37
a. The Zionist Labor Party (Hitachdut)	Yosef Ze'evi	40
b. Brit Haz'haar – Ben Zion Norman	Moshe L.	41
c. He'chalutz	Y. Ben Shaul	42
d. Hashomer Ha Leumi	various members	42
e. Summer Training in Taklinopol	Moshe Shlovodsky	44
f. Beitar-Keren Tel Chai – The Last Inspection	Moshe L.	46
g. Hashomer Ha'zair Movement	Moshe Shulman	49
h. Religious Parties	K.-R.	50
i. Funds for the Keren Kayemet for Israel	Yakov Kopelowitz	51
j. The Hebrew Corner – The International Hebrew Brit	Ben Amram	52
k. From the Archives of a Veteran Zionist (Yakov Levin, Z"L)	K.-R.	54

Personalities and Characters – Rabbis and others

1. Rabbi Yitzhak Parlov, Z"TZL	Yakov Mashitz	55
2. Electing a Rabbi – Torah Lessons	A. S. Zusmann	56
3. The Last Rabbi of Vileyka (Machaneh Yehuda)	Yakov Mashitz, son of the Rabbi	57
4. The Genius Rabbi Yehuda Mashitz – Mara De Atra	Shlomo Chaim Dubin	58
5. Nachum Hillel Kopelowitz – The Book of the Congress		58
6. The House of My Grandfather		58
7. The Shochet, Reb Itzhak Itza Katzovitz		58
8. The Rabbi "mitaam"		58
9. The Mitnaged (Reb Shimon Mordechai Halevi Horovitz)	Avraham Shaul Zusmann	59
10. Reb Avraham Zalman Landau	Chaim Shalom Kopelowitz	60
11. My Father's Home	Chaim Shalom Kopelowitz	60
12. Reb Zalman Bar Fistonovich	Moshe Itza Shulman	60
13. Reb Mordechai Kopelowitz – Reb Yakov Kopelowitz (Hashil"s)	Chaim Shalom Kopelowitz	61
14. Aunt Yohevet Zagermister	Tz. Bat Shaul	62
15. One Big Family (Kolbak / Kebesh)	Batya Ben Ari	62
16. Reb Yehudah Predus	K. R.	63
17. Reb Yakov Levin	Yosef Ze'evi	63
18. Our Father, Reb Yakov Levin (Efron)	Esther Kopelowitz-Levi Levin	63
19. Reb Zacharia Kopelowitz	A. S. Zusman	67
20. Akiva Son of Zacharia Kopelowitz	Chaim Shalom Kopelowitz	67
21. Professor Paltiel Daikan née Dikstein	S. Dikstein	68
22. Yitzhak Mordechai Norman	Chaim Shalom Kopelowitz	69
23. Menachem Adir Rodnitshy	Ze'ev Igeret	69

Impressions and Remembrance

Vileyka during the Years Between the Wars	Aharon Meirovich	71
Memories from the First World War	Avraham Soloviechik	72
Elections for the Municipality – Shavuot Holiday, 1920	Chaim Shalom Kopelowitz	73
From my Memories	Hasia Greenhoy Gozovsky	74
From Platova in Ukraine via Vileyka to the Land of Israel	Yair El-Chanani	75
My Shtetl	Reuben Kogel	75
The Flood	Perez Shulman	75
The Big Fire – Dr. Dillon on Leave	Y. K-z	76
The Debate of the Hazan-Shochet	Schlomo Chaim Dubin	76
Drafting into the Russian Army	Chaim Shalom Kopelowitz	76
The Beylis Trial (1913)	Shlomo Chaim Dubin	76
Celebrations in Town – Bringing in the Torah Scroll	Tz. – Bat Shaul	77
Immigration and Wandering	Chaim Shalom Kapilovich	77
Vileyka natives in Israel		78
Baruch (Binyamin) Brunstein	Kalman Farber	79
A Letter in English by Moshe Dayan to a Vileyker		79
The Society of Vileykans and Surrounding Area in Israel, 1971 (pictures and names)	Head Committee	80

On The Eve Of The Holocaust

Vileyka under Soviet Rule, 1939-1941	M. Ben Shem and M. Landau	83
On the Eve of the Second World War	K. Reuveni	85
A Zionist Family in Siberia	Pesia Norman	88
In the Tundra of Siberia	Allen (Aharon) Eidelman (Cleveland, 1965)	89

The Holocaust

In the Jaws of the Nazi Beast, Memories of a Vileykan Partisan	Yosef Norman	93
Vileyka Natives in the Vilna Ghetto, a Diary	Kalman Farber	110
From Ghetto Kovno to the Dachau Concentration Camp	Yitzhak Kopelowitz	119
Memories from Warsaw Ghetto	Yehuda Kopelowitz	120
Besieged	Yehoash Alperovich	121
A Struggle for Life	Ze'ev Rabunski	123

The Martyrs of our Town

The Rabbi Reb Moshe Klein (Son in law of the Rabbi)	Kalman Farber	137
Reb Eliyau Leib Zugermeister	Tz. – Bat Shaul	137
Reb Aharon Lamphart – the Mother of the House (Nachama Burshtein-Levin)	Kalman Farber	138
Images in the Eyes of Passersby (Dr. Shimshelewitz, Niema Gutman, Mordechai Epstein, Shimon Kopelowitz, Baruch Swidler, Yitzhak Goldberg, Noach the shochet, Yeshaya Eidelman)	K. Reuveni	138
Our Home (Sara Reyzel and Binyamin Gutman)	daughter S. Avni (Kfar Menachem) and Yosef Ze'evi	139
Lipa Guttman	K. and R. Y.	139
Our Family, Moshe, son of Simcha Svirsky and Miryam, daughter of Yeachmiel Rodansky	daughter Chaia Svirsky El-Chanani	139
Meir, son of Avraham Zalman Landau	M. Achi Meir	141
Avraham and Genia Kopelowitz and their children, Mirale and Moshale		141
Avraham Norman	daughter in law, Pesia Norman	141
My Parents, Sara-Batia from Horodok and Ben Zion	Moshe Norman	141
A Religious Writer in Beitar Uniform, Shlomo Chaim Lewin	Moshe Landau	142
The Simple Folks	Batya Ben Ari	143
My Forefathers, the Kalka Family	Nachama née Kalka Melberger	144
Baruch Shulman, my brother	M. Shulman	145
"The Albino", Yosef Varnikovsky		145
Reuven Norman		145
Rafael "Falia" Norman		145
Nachum "Nyanka" Lapidot		145
Banka Alperovich, lost in Minsk…		146
Shmuel "Mulke" Levinson, lost in the Red Army…		146
Pesach Levinson, lost with family in Astonia camp…	M. Landau	146
Rachel née Dubin Bikiels daughter of Shlomo Chaim and Dora Dubin	her parents	146
The Three cousins from Vileyka – the Martyrs Siama Svirsky (son of Batia and Yehoshua), Avrasha Keves (son of Mina and Shlomo) and Avrasha Lifshitz (son of Rivka and Yitzhak)	Kalman Farber	148

Fallen as Heroes

Fallen as Heroes		150
The Holy Martyr, Moshe Berman	Kalman Farber	150
The Partisan Noah Dinnerstein	Z. G.	150
My Brother Noah	Chana née Dinnerstein Melberger	151
The Partisan Chaim Tzihok from the town Retzke	M. Landau	151
Riva née Ancelevich and her Husband Lunyah Schneirson		152
Berta Dimmenstein from the Village Kalafi	Kalman Farber	152

After the Holocaust

Vileyka in the Years 1946-1957	Ch. Shulman and M. Landau	153
On the Way to the Land of Israel	Yosef Norman	154

Vileykans who fell in Defense of the Jewish Land

Baruch Vurevich (son of Mala and Yitzhak Mendel)	Yosef Ze'evi and Yakov Levin	156
Ze'v, son of Reuven Finger	Mina, his mother	157
Yakov Hadari, son of Chaim and Batia Greenhaus	Isaac Ramba	158
Yitzhak Rolnick, son of Genia and Avraham	from the Memorial Bool to Reuven Avinoam	158
Binyamin Shulman	Simcha and Belah, his parents	158
Eternal Testament, the Commemoration Dates		159
Woe to You, a poem	Itzhak Katzenelson	160

Second Part [Yiddish]

	Kalman Farber	163
	Chaim Shalom Kapilovich	167
	Shlomo Chaim Dubin	177
Vileyka in the Geography Lexicon of Warsaw from 1893		187
Vileyka during the years 1930-1937		188
Synagogues and Religiuous Study Institutions	Kalman Farber	193
Rabbis in Vileyka	Kalman Farber	195
Yitzhak Parlov		196
Lipa Guttman		197

Zionist Movements and Institutions

Zionism	Chaim Shalom Kopelowitz	199
G'milat Chesed in Vileyka	Chanan Svirsky	201
Yakappa (Funds for Rebuilding)	Kalman Farber	202
Drama Club	Chaim Shalom Kopelowitz and Yakov Kreidel	203
Youth Movement Herut Ve'tchia	Nachemya Kur	204
Maccabee (a sports organization)	David Cherner	205
The Fire Brigade in 1918	C. S. Kopelowitz	207
The Firemen	Benjamin Bronstein, Massachusetts	208

Memories And Episodes

My Childhood	Baruch Zuckerman	209
Holy Days	Chaim S. Kopelowitz	212
Memories	Yeheszkel Greenhoys	213
My Home	Dov Taitz	215
My Shtetl	Enya Battus Eidelman	217
Yiddish	Chadel Abramovich	219
The Yiddish Mother	Sender L.	220

Characters

The Gabbai	Nachamya Kur	223
Reb Kalman Gutkin	Plimenik M.	223
The High School (?)	K. R.	224
Elie Yasha	B. Taitz	224
The Family Gurevich	Raia Gurevich	225
Shlomo Chaim, "the Tchavek"		226
Vileyka Societa in America	Kalman Farber	228

The Destruction

In Exile in Siberia	Shlomo Chaim Dubin	231
	Chaia Rashke	239
Near the Vilya	Kalman Farber	242

Gehennum Memories

The Partisan	Shmuel Muleh Norman	243
In the Stormy Years	David Kopelowitz	272
	Shimshon Siama Kaplan	277
Memories	Natan Kaznetz	280
The Blockade	Chana Titleman Kaplan	281
Letters	Nachum Alperovich	282
The "Akzia" in Vileyka	Boris Breiniman	285
Three Massacres in Vileyka	Rabbi Moshe Dreizen	286
In the Vilna Ghetto	Kalman Farber	289
	Chadel Avramovich	298
	Kalman Farber	300
In the Cemetery in Ponar	Kalman Farber	302
Yahrzeit Days		305
Poem	Yitzhak Katzenelson	306

Vileyka and her Daughters – Small Communities near Vilevka

Ratzke		307
Sosenka		307
Kalafi		308
Nyakeh		308
Boshova		308
Viazin		309

Commemoration Pages

The List of the Martyrs who perished		311
Our Town's Natives who perished while serving in the Polish or Soviet Armies		319
Commemoration to the Souls of the Town Natives who passed away in Israel		319
The List of Martyrs of the Community of Viazin		320
The List of the Martyrs of the Village, Nyakeh, Memorial Pictures		320
English Section		321

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