53°10' / 24°28'
A Trilogy Comprised of
Wolkovisker Yizkor Book - Edited by Dr. Moses Einhorn, New York 1949
Hurban Volkovysk - Published by the Committee of Volkovysk Émigrés, Tel-Aviv 1946
Volkovysk - Published by Katriel Lashowitz, Tel-Aviv 1988
English Translation Prepared and Published by
Jacob Solomon Berger
Mahwah, New Jersey, USA 2002
Our sincere appreciation to Jacob Solomon Berger who has kindly donated
Our thanks to Sondra Ettlinger for extracting the pictures from the original book,
enabling their addition to the project.
JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of
the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material
for verification.
JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions.
Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.
The complete translation of these books are also available here: | ||
Introductory section | ![]() |
|
Wolkovisker Yizkor Book | ![]() |
|
The Destruction of Volkovysk | ![]() |
|
Volkovysk | ![]() |
וואלקאוויסקער יזּכר-בוך
Wolkovisker Yizkor Book
by
Dr. Moses Einhorn
New York | 1949 |
Initial pages | ||
Table of Contents | i | |
Foreword | xi | |
Plan of the City of Volkovysk in 1887 | xiv | |
Plan Legend | xv | |
My Family | Dr. Moses Einhorn | |
The Einhorn Family | 1 | |
My Father | 3 | |
My Mother | 3 | |
My Sister Lisa | 4 | |
My Brother Oscar | 4 | |
My Sister Rosa | 5 | |
My Sister Dora | 5 | |
My Sister Paula (Pes'shka) | 6 | |
Volkovysk, My Home City | Dr. Moses Einhorn | 7 |
The History of the Jews in Volkovysk and The Towns | 11 | |
The Symphony of Erev Shabbat | 14 | |
The Food Center | 15 | |
The Butchers | 15 | |
The Fish Market | 16 | |
The Fruit Peddlers | 16 | |
The Grinder | 16 | |
The Bakers | 17 | |
The Dog-Catcher | 17 | |
Sweets and Dairy Products | 18 | |
The Weekly Torah Portion is Reviewed in the Heders | 18 | |
The Musicians Escort the Bride and Groom | 19 | |
Herschel the Scribe and Chana-Chaya the Yoreshteh | 20 | |
The Promenade to the Synagogue | 20 | |
The Youth Promenades and Sings | 21 | |
The Volkovysk Rabbis & Dayans | 23 | |
The First Rabbis in Volkovysk | 23 | |
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan זל, in Volkovysk | 23 | |
The Rabbis Rabbi Yitzhak Aizik Khaver זל, & Rabbi Yekhiel Ben-Aharon Heller זל | 24 | |
Rabbi Abraham Shmuel [Diskin], זל | 25 | |
Rabbi Jonathan Eliasberg, זל | 25 | |
Rabbi Abba Yaakov Borukhov, זל | 26 | |
Rabbi Yitzhak Kossowsky | 30 | |
Rabbi Yitzhak Rabinovich, זל | 32 | |
The Volkovysk Dayans | 32 | |
The Dayan Rabbi Yaakov Abraham Stein, זל | 32 | |
The Dayan, Rabbi Menachem Joseph Volp (Reb Mendele), זל | 33 | |
The Dayan, Rabbi Tuvia Ravitzky (Reb Teveleh), זל | 33 | |
The Dayan, Rabbi Yaakov Berestovitsky, זל The Last Dayan | 33 | |
A Jewish Education in Volkovysk | 37 | |
The Elementary Teachers | 37 | |
The Writers | 37 | |
The Regular Teachers (Melamdim) | 38 | |
Modern Heders | 40 | |
The Real Schul | 41 | |
Private Teachers | 42 | |
The Talmud Torah and The Yeshiva | 42 | |
The Yiddish Volksschule | 45 | |
The Hebrew School System in Volkovysk | By Yud'l Novogrudsky | 47 |
The Kadima Volksschule | 51 | |
The Yavneh Hebrew School | 51 | |
The Herzteliya Hebrew Gymnasium | 52 | |
Private Trade Schools, The Tarbut Gymnasium, The T.K.A. Gymnasium and the Yavneh Trade School | 54 | |
Zionist Movements in Volkovysk | 56 | |
The Volkovysk Bund | 69 | |
The History of the Volkovysk Bund | 69 | |
The Struggle of the Apprentices with the Tradesmen | 70 | |
The Volkovysk Cell | 70 | |
The Activists of the Cell | 71 | |
The Bund Prior to the Second World War | 73 | |
The Social-Medical Institutions in Volkovysk | 74 | |
Khevra Lina | 74 | |
Linat Kholim | 76 | |
The Jewish Hospital in Volkovysk | 78 | |
The TOZ Organization in Volkovysk | 81 | |
A Report from Sioma Gallin Concerning TOZ Activities in Volkovysk For the Year 1939 | 83 | |
The Volkovysk Old Age Home | 84 | |
The Volkovysk Fire-Fighters | 89 | |
Establishment of the Fire-Fighters Organization and Command | 90 | |
Founding of the Fire-fighters Orchestra | 92 | |
The Jewish Fire Chiefs | 93 | |
The Fire Brigade Under the Leadership of Melekh Khantov | 94 | |
The Role of the Fire-fighters Organization in the Unrest After the First World War | 96 | |
The Fire Brigade Under Polish Rule | 97 | |
The Volkovysk Maccabi | 99 | |
Establishment of Maccabi | 99 | |
Maccabi Divisions | 100 | |
The Maccabi Activists | 100 | |
The Soccer Team | 101 | |
Other Maccabi Divisions | 101 | |
Soccer Matches | 103 | |
Amateur Theater in Volkovysk | 105 | |
The Establishment of the Amateur Theater | 105 | |
The Amateur Theater Up to the First World War | 106 | |
Amateur Theater Under the German Occupation During the First World War | 107 | |
Amateur Theater after the First World War | 109 | |
HaZamir under the Direction of Yaakov Fisher | 110 | |
Personalities | 111 | |
Nakheh & Hinde Heller | 111 | |
Eliyahu Shykevich | 112 | |
Rabbi Abraham Zalman Kurtz | 115 | |
Sarah Perliss (Sarah the Fishmonger) | 117 | |
Bob'cheh Kilikovsky-Cohen | 118 | |
Moshe Shapiro | 118 | |
Reb Joseph Yerusalimsky | 119 | |
Moshe Leib Khmelnitsky | 120 | |
Zerakh Moshkovsky | 121 | |
Tuvia Fenster | 121 | |
Reb Aaron Lifschitz | 123 | |
Reb Israel Efrat | 124 | |
Volkovysk and The Land of Israel | 126 | |
Chaikel Shiff | 126 | |
Sarah Tovah Shiff | 128 | |
The First Volkovysk Youth Aliyah | 129 | |
Eliyahu Golomb | 131 | |
Zus'keh Berman | 134 | |
Yaakov Rabinovich | 134 | |
The Kalir Family | 138 | |
The Yudzhik-Yehuda'i Family | 143 | |
The Markus Family | 149 | |
The Epstein Family | 150 | |
My Forty-Five Years in Volkovysk | 162 | |
Volkovysk Schools and Houses of Worship at the End of the Nineteenth Century | 162 | |
The Second Sabbath | 165 | |
Volkovysk at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century | 167 | |
The Volkovysk Orphanage | 174 | |
Cooperation with the Joint | 177 | |
The First Objectives of the Orphanage | 178 | |
The First Fund-Raiser of the Orphanage | 180 | |
The Sanitary and Medical Condition | 180 | |
The School System in the Orphanage | 180 | |
Training in Craftsmanship at the Orphanage | 181 | |
The Religious Upbringing in the Orphanage | 182 | |
Private Care for Orphans | 182 | |
The Children After Leaving the Orphanage | 182 | |
Day Care for Indigent Children | 183 | |
Sources of Support for the Orphanage | 184 | |
The Weddings of Orphan Children | 185 | |
The American Landsleit | 186 | |
The Volkovysk Synagogue and Volkovysk Relief Committee in New York | 187 | |
The Builders and Activists of the Volkovysk Orphanage | 188 | |
The Dreamers & Builders of Volkovysk | 194 | |
Two Community Institutions in Volkovysk | 199 | |
Discreet Charity | 199 | |
Provisioning Firewood | 199 | |
The Educators of Days Gone By | 200 | |
Volkovysk Landsleit in the Land of Israel | 200 | |
The Destruction of Volkovysk | 202 | |
In Those Times | 203 | |
The Old Bet HaMedrash in Volkovysk | 203 | |
Rabbi Jonathan Eliasberg, זל | 204 | |
About Batyushka | 205 | |
The Rabbi & The General | 206 | |
The Einhorn Family | 208 | |
Reb Shmuel Feinzilber | 211 | |
The Rakhmilevich Family | 212 | |
Reb Koppel Isser Volkovysky | 213 | |
Myrrh and Sweet Cinnamon | 216 | |
The Forest Products Merchants of Volkovysk | 217 | |
And You Shall Not Draw Near to a Woman | 217 | |
Reb Benjamin Bialsky | 218 | |
Saturday Afternoon A Stroll Through Volkovysk Streets | 220 | |
Jewish Tenant Farmers | 224 | |
A Jewish Swindler | 225 | |
Three Volkovysk Residents | By Rabbi Abraham Zalman Kurtz, Rochester NY | 227 |
Reb Joel Azriel Shishatsky | 227 | |
Reb Moshe Tzigelnik | 228 | |
Reb Aaron Leib Friedenberg (Leib Ohreh der Melamed) | 229 | |
Zamoscheh | By Velvel Krinsky, Argentina | 230 |
The Old Zamoscheh Bet HaMedrash | 231 | |
The High Holy Days | 234 | |
The Other Holidays | 236 | |
Numismatists in Volkovysk | 238 | |
Karczyzna | 240 | |
Ending Prayers Late Because of an Esrog | 241 | |
Having Prayed Under the Free Sky | 243 | |
An You Will Exact Vengeance From His Oppressors | 244 | |
Ostroger Gasse (Kosciuszko) | By Rabbi Yaakov Zakheim, New York | 246 |
The Ostroger Bet HaMedrash | 246 | |
Yitzhak Neiman | 247 | |
Berel Itcheh Pinkhosovsky | 247 | |
Rabbi Yerakhmiel Daniel | 248 | |
Rabbi Moshe Nakhinson | 248 | |
Reb Moshe Joseph Ravitz | 249 | |
Reb Shlomo Eliezer Zakheim | 249 | |
A Tear for the Volkovysker Leben | By Alexander Kalir, Petakh Tikva | 253 |
Three Balebatim of Volkovysk | By Eliezer Kalir (Petakh Tikva) | 256 |
Reb Abraham Eliyahu Markus | 256 | |
Reb Shmuel Feinzilber | 257 | |
Reb Yaakov Solomon | 257 | |
Reb Shlomo son of Reb Yitzhak Bereshkovsky | 259 | |
Reb David Feinzilber | 260 | |
Reb Yehuda son of Shlomo Bereshkovsky | 260 | |
Reb Yitzhak Novogrudsky | 261 | |
Reb Joseph Berestovitsky | 263 | |
Sholom Barash | 263 | |
David Hubar | 265 | |
Meir Shiff | 265 | |
Zvi Berg (Herschel the Contractor) | 266 | |
Dr. David Tropp | 268 | |
Itcheh Leibeh Golda's (Reb Yitzhak Goldin) | 269 | |
Gedaliah Pereshetsky | 269 | |
Leibkeh Patsovsky, the Barber | 270 | |
Yud'l Novogrudsky & Moshe Rubinovich | 271 | |
Moshe & Yankel Rutchik-Kavushatsky | 272 | |
Meshel Lashowitz | 272 | |
Padrovsky the Feldscher | 273 | |
The Kolontai Company | 274 | |
Shaymeh Mordetsky & Yankel Palteh's | 275 | |
Shmuel David Nionia's | 275 | |
The Jewish Wagon Drivers and Peddlers | 276 | |
An Album of Volkovysk Groups | 278 | |
Scenes from Volkovysk | 282 | |
Volkovysk Relief Organizations | 283 | |
Lisokovo | 284 | |
Jewish Community Life | 285 | |
Personalities | 286 | |
Lisokovo Before the First World War | 287 | |
What Happened in Lisokovo | 291 | |
The Outbreak of the German-Russian War | 291 | |
Lisokovo Under the Nazis | 292 | |
The Nights of November 1 & 2, 1942 | 293 | |
The March to Volkovysk | 294 | |
What the Lisokovo Partisans Survived | 295 | |
Lisokovo After the War | 297 | |
Svislucz | By Abraham Ain, New York | 298 |
The Jewish Community in Svislucz | 299 | |
The Economic Life of the Jews in Svislucz | 299 | |
Economic Conditions After the First World War | 300 | |
The Destruction of Svislucz | 302 | |
Svislucz Under the Nazis | 302 | |
The Last Night in Svislucz | 303 | |
Volp | By Zvi (Herschel) Kaplan | 306 |
The Development of Volp | 306 | |
The Synagogue | 306 | |
Economic & Community Life | 307 | |
Incidents in Volp | 309 | |
The Incidents in Porozovo | 312 | |
The Life of the Porozovo Jews Under the Nazis | 313 | |
The Expulsion of the Porozovo Jews | 314 | |
The March to Volkovysk | 315 | |
Krzemienica | 316 | |
The Extermination of the Volkovysk Community | By Dr. Moses Einhorn, New York | 318 |
My Flight to the Land of Israel | 318 | |
Meeting with the First Witnesses in Israel | 319 | |
Our Witness Ida Mazover | 320 | |
Our Witness Yitzhak Tchopper | 321 | |
Our Witness Dr. Yitzhak Resnick | 321 | |
Our Witness Dr. Yitzhak Goldberg | 322 | |
Our Witness Dr. Marek Kaplan and His Sister, Nunya | 323 | |
Other Witnesses: Dr. Noah Kaplinsky, Katriel Lashowitz, & Eliyahu Kovensky | 323 | |
Our Witness Moshe'l Shereshevsky | 324 | |
In the Year 1939 | 324 | |
On the Threshold of the Second World War | 327 | |
Volkovysk Under the Russians | 330 | |
Outbreak of the German-Soviet War | 331 | |
The German Invasion | 331 | |
The Bombardment and Destruction of the Jewish Quarter of the City | 332 | |
The German Occupation | 338 | |
Anti-Jewish Decrees | 339 | |
The Judenrat | 339 | |
The Mass-Murders | 340 | |
Daily Life Under the Germans | 342 | |
Summer 1942 Under the Germans | 344 | |
The Partisan Movement | 344 | |
The Contact of Volkovysk Youth with the Partisans | 344 | |
The Aktion Against The Handicapped Children | 346 | |
German Espionage in the Battle with the Partisans | 346 | |
The Arrest of the Jewish Doctors and Technicians | 348 | |
The Interrogation of the Doctors and Technicians | 348 | |
The Interrogation of the Technicians | 350 | |
The Efforts to Free the Doctors | 350 | |
The Murder of the Doctors | 351 | |
Depressed Morale in the City | 352 | |
The Feverish Preparation of Hiding Places | 353 | |
The Expulsion of The Jews of Volkovysk Into the Bunkers | 354 | |
Black Monday | 354 | |
The Tragic Procession | 355 | |
Panic On Being Driven Into The Bunkers | 356 | |
The First Night in the Bunkers | 356 | |
The Arrival of the Jews from Surrounding Towns | 357 | |
The Bunker Lager | 357 | |
Living Conditions in the Bunkers | 358 | |
Life in the Bunkers | 359 | |
The Difficult Conditions There | 359 | |
The Health Situation in the Bunkers | 360 | |
The Work of the Khevra Kadisha | 361 | |
The First Work Group | 361 | |
A Typical Twenty-four Hour Day in the Bunkers | 362 | |
The Murder of Sioma Gallin | 363 | |
People Seek Means to Escape from the Bunkers and Many Victims Fall | 364 | |
A New Volkovysk Partisan Group | 365 | |
A Group of Girls from Bialystok Is Permitted to Leave the Bunkers | 365 | |
The Transports | 366 | |
The First Transport | 366 | |
The Order to Liquidate the Lager | 368 | |
The Judenrat is Ordered to Prepare a List | 369 | |
The Confused Struggle Between Life and Death | 370 | |
Renewed Pressure to Flee to Bialystok | 371 | |
The Terrifying Night of Departure | 372 | |
Evacuation of the Jews of Volkovysk and Svislucz | 373 | |
The Image of the Empty Bunkers | 374 | |
The Gassing of Bunker Number Three | 374 | |
The Life of the Seventeen Hundred in the Lager | 375 | |
The Bad Hygienic Conditions | 376 | |
Incidents With The Germans | 376 | |
The Typhus Epidemic | 377 | |
The Judenrat Organizes the Doctors to Combat the Epidemic | 377 | |
The Epidemic Grows From Day-to-Day Many Incidents of Death | 378 | |
The Last Volkovysk Transport | 379 | |
The Order to Abandon the Lager | 379 | |
Those Ill With Typhus Leave the Bunker-Hospital | 379 | |
New Pressure to Flee the Bunkers | 379 | |
Panic and Confusion in the Lager | 380 | |
The Historic Night of the Last March of the Volkovysk Jews to the Train Station | 381 | |
The Brutal Onslaught At Being Driven Into the Wagons | 382 | |
In the Wagons | 382 | |
Arrival In Auschwitz | 383 | |
The Tumult in Being Driven from the Wagons | 383 | |
The Selection for Life and Death | 384 | |
The Tragic Fate of the Last Volkovysk Transport | 385 | |
A Partial List of the Men and Women in the Auschwitz Camp | 386 | |
The Men | 386 | |
The Women | 389 | |
The Lager in Auschwitz | 390 | |
The First Night in the Lager | 390 | |
The Three Days of Quarantine | 391 | |
The Life of Bondage in the Lager | 392 | |
Bunker Number Seven | 393 | |
Details of the Death of A Number of those from Volkovysk | 393 | |
The Women's Lager In Auschwitz | 396 | |
Life in the Women's Lager | 396 | |
A Number of Episodes With the Girls from Volkovysk | 396 | |
Death Bunker Number 25 | 397 | |
The Selections | 397 | |
The Crematoria at Birkenau | 399 | |
What Some from Volkovysk Lived Through | 399 | |
The Underground Movement and Resistance in the Auschwitz Lager | 400 | |
Liquidation of the Lager | 401 | |
Volkovysk After The War | 401 | |
The Tragic Fate of the Volkovysk Jews | By Yitzhak Tchopper | 404 |
Zamoscheh (The Left Side) | 404 | |
Zamoscheh (The Right Side) | 408 | |
Svisluczkeh Gasse | 411 | |
Bet HaMedrash (Zamoschanskeh) Gasse | 412 | |
Brzezkeh Gasse | 412 | |
Die Kakhelnya | 414 | |
The Wide Boulevard | 414 | |
Vatachiner (The Shammes's) Gessel | 415 | |
The Wide Boulevard (The Right) | 421 | |
The Wide Boulevard (The Left) | 426 | |
The Gesseleh | 427 | |
The Schulhof | 427 | |
The Wide Boulevard (The side on which the Blond Hassid's house was located) | 428 | |
The Einhorn Family | 429 | |
The Gesseleh | 431 | |
Fabrichneh Gasse | 433 | |
The Wide Boulevard | 434 | |
Millner Gasse (The Side of the Mill) | 435 | |
Millner Gasse (The Second Side) | 436 | |
The Market Street (Rynkowa) | 438 | |
The Neuer Gessel | 439 | |
Novogrudskeh Gessel | 443 | |
Kholodoiskeh Gasse | 443 | |
Wilenska Gasse | 446 | |
Gymnasialneh Gessel | 447 | |
Tatarski Gasse | 448 | |
Tatarski Gasse (The Second Side) | 449 | |
Grodno Gasse | 453 | |
Alshimover Gasse | 455 | |
The Hospital Gasse | 456 | |
Ostroger (Kosciuszko) Gasse | 458 | |
Ostroger (Kosciuszko) Gasse (The Other Side) | 465 | |
Mazover Gesseleh | 465 | |
Karczyzna | 468 | |
The Tribulations of Ida Mazover | 470 | |
Escape from the Bunkers | 471 | |
On Foot to Bialystok | 472 | |
In the Bialystok Ghetto | 473 | |
From Bialystok to Maidanek | 473 | |
In Maidanek | 474 | |
The Major Aktion in Maidanek | 475 | |
Departure from Maidanek | 475 | |
The Jump from the Train | 476 | |
In the Hospital | 476 | |
Photographs | 477 | |
Local News (Heimishe Inyonim) | by Reuven Rutchik, זל | 478 |
Yizkor Book Project
JewishGen Home Page
Copyright © 1999-2022 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 23 Jun 2022 by JH