Bobrka, Ukraine

Boiberke Memorial Book
(Bobrka, Ukraine)

49°38'/ 24°18'

Translation of
Le-zekher kehilat Bobrka u-benoteha

Edited by Dr Sharaga Feivel Kallay

Published in Jerusalem: Sivan Press, 1964

Acknowledgments

Project Coordinator

Tisha Bergwerk Bryan

Emerita Coordinator: Beverly Shulster Beiman

Dedicated in loving memory to our grandfather, Samuel Bergwerk. It is an honor to contribute to the publication of these writings from the noble people of Boiberke. May their voices be heard for generations, and may their message—to never forget the atrocities perpetrated against their community—be heeded by all who read their stories.

Sam & Tisha Bergwerk Bryan, M. Lynn Bergwerk, and Laurie Bergwerk-Gibson

* * *

Translation of the Original Boiberke Memorial Book (Bobrka, Ukraine), Yerushalayim, 1964,
Dedicated in Loving Memory of the Herbst Family

Pamela L Herbst

“O Earth, Do Not Cover My Blood, May My Cry Never Be Laid To Rest”

Job 16:18

This is a translation from: Le-zekher kehilat Bobrka u-benoteha (Boiberke memorial book),
Editors: Sh. Kallay, Jerusalem, Association of Former residents of Bobrka and Vicinity, 1964 (H,Y,E, 256 pages).

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

This material is made available by JewishGen, Inc. and the Yizkor Book Project for the purpose of
fulfilling our mission of disseminating information about the Holocaust and destroyed Jewish communities.
This material may not be copied, sold or bartered without JewishGen, Inc.'s permission. Rights may be reserved by the copyright holder.

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 Editorial Board in the US and Israel:

Samuel Bergwerk
Julius Haber
Abraham Fischer
Sam Marcus
Uri Kruwi
Zeev Shilo
Zippora Perlstein
Haim Zohari
Michael Zohari
Moshe Wind

Monument to Bobrka Holocaust victims in Ra'anana Cemetery, Israel

Yizkor Book Project JewishGen Home Page Bobrka, at KehilaLinks

Yizkor Book Director, Lance Ackerfeld
Emerita Yizkor Book Project Manager, Joyce Field z”l
Contact person for this translation Tisha Bergwerk Bryan
This web page created by Moshe M. Shavit


Hebrew
		Page
Committee's Preface		5
Foreword		7
Table of Contents - Hebrew		8
To the Hill of Bodies in the Snow	Uri Zvi Greenberg	9

Part I - The City and its Inhabitants
History of the Jews in Boiberke	Dr. N. M. Gelber	11
Where Were You on the Day of Rage? [Poem]	M. Z.	24
A World That Was and is No Longer	Dr. Shraga Pivel Kalai	25
The Black Saturday of 1914	Dr. S. P. Kallay	31

Part II - People and Personalities
The Rabbis of Bobrka and Szwirsz	Rabbi Y. C. Weisblum	33
Shmuel Karten	Malka Stein	37
Memories From There	Mordechai Galer	38
Feivel the Heder Teacher	Avraham Fisher	41
Zionist Organizations in Bobrka	Arieh Zukerkandel	43
Petri Politzai (Petri the Policeman)	Dov Beker	44
Founder of the Youth Movement	Mordechai Galler	45

Part III - Memories
Autobiographical Notes	Arieh Allweil	46
Fragments of Memories From the Pioneer Period in the Town	Hila HaMenachem	49
The Incident With the Rabbi From Stratin on the Holiday of Shavuot	Dov Beker	51
The Baking of the Matzos	S. P. Kallay	53
On Shabbat Eves [Poem]	M. Z.	54
Slichot Night	Alexander Karten	55
The Privileges of the Babies From the Rabbi's House	Dov Beker	57
Childhood Memories From There	Zippora Perlstein nee Lotringer	59
My Father's House in the Village	Naomi Berger	60
The Story of One Family	Pnina Mantel	60

Part IV - Happenings
City Residents as Prisoners in Russian Captivity	Dov Beker	61

Part V - Folklore
A Study of Names	Dr. S. P. Kallay	63
The Shattered Folklore From There	Avraham Fischer	66
The Words of the People of Bobrka	Dr. S. P. Kallay	68
Religious Personnel in Bobrka	Avraham Fischer	69

Part VI - Preparation and Aliya
Training and Aliyah	Uri Kruvi	71
The Youth in the 1930s	Zeev Shilo	73
Beginnings of the Pioneer Movement in Bobrka	Dr. S. P. Kallay	75
Aliya to Eretz Yisrael	Chaim Kimchi	77
The Pioneers of Bobrka	Shmuel Schrier	79

Part VII - Those Who Fell Along the Way
Yosef Apner - For the Good of All	Dov Sadan	82
Bobrka [Poem]	M.Z.	84
The First Ones	Dr. S. P. Kallay	86
Memories of the Fallen	Dr. S. P. Kallay	87

Part VIII - The Valley of the Shadow of Death
Memories of the End	Emanuel Kruvi	91
In Memory of My Brother and Sister-in-Law, Michael & Mania	Zippora Perlstein Lotringer	94
Memories	Yona Nemt nee Lotringer	95
Twenty Years Since the Destruction of the Jewish Population of Bobrka	Yitschak Fuchs	96
Jewish Burial [Poem]	M. Z.	98
God is full of mercy - Prayer		99
In Memoriam - List of Victims		100
In Memoriam - Memorial to Family Members		106
Lights in the Darkness - Righteous Gentiles		110

Yiddish
		Page
A Memorial		111
Forward	The Editors	112

Part I - City and People
The Shtetl Is Burning	Mordechai Gvirtig	115
Boiberik	Dov Sadan	117
History of the Jews in Boiberke	Dr. N. M. Gelber	121
The First Boiberker Sick and Benevolent Society in New York	Israel Gimpel	135
The Village of Strilke near Boiberke	Motl Ehrlich	136
The Spirit of All Life… [Poem]	M.Z.	137

Part II - Departure
The Flight to Vienna at the Outbreak of World War I	Avraham Fisher	138
What Brought Me to America?	Shamai Bergwerk	140
Boiberkers on the American Scene	Julius Haber	141
A Yiddish Song from the Past		156

Part III - Characters
R. Lippa Fenster	Hirsh Safron	157
Chaim Klinetor	Yisroel Gimpel	159
Ancestor's Graves	Meir Shtiker	160
Rabbi Feivel Melamed	H. Z.	161
Yisroelik	Yisroel Gimpel	162
The Bankrupt Man	Meir Shtiker	162
The Teachers of Our Town in 1900-1920	Avraham Fisher	163

Part IV - A Way of Life and Memories From the Old Home
With Us At Home	Shamai Bergwerk	164
A Sermon	Mordechai Geller	165
Preparing the Bride	Rabbanit Zippora Perl Twersky	166
Shabbos and Holidays and Ways of Life	Yisroel Gimpel	167
Tormentors	Avraham Fisher	169
Feivel the Tall One	Meir Shtiker	170
Baking Matzos at Avraham Breitfeld's House	Dvorah Breitfeld	171
Belz Chasidim Fight the Szwirszer, the Stretiners in Boiberke	Hershl Gross, z”l	172
The Teacher [Poem]	Meir Shtiker	174
Childhood Years in Boiberke	H. Z.	175
When Strelisk Burned [Poem]	Meir Shtiker	178
The Thirteen-Year-Old Boy [Poem]	Meir Shtiker	178
My Shtetl Boiberke	Kinke Asher Krieger	179

Part V - Holocaust and Destruction
The Ghetto in Our Shtetl	Avraham Fisher	183
The Szwirsz Forest	Avraham Fisher	184
GONE!	Yehudit Altman–Yenta Meller	186
The Experiences of Our Shtetl Drom the First of July, 1941, Until the Thirteenth of April, 1943	Mordechai Ehrlich	187
The Beggar Woman [Poem]	Meir Shtiker	191
The Rejected [Poem]	Meir Shtiker	192
The High-Class Woman [Poem]	Meir Shtiker	192
Two Drunks on the City Asphalt [Poem]	Meir Shtiker	192
The Bankrupt Man [Poem]	Meir Shtiker	192
The Bitter End	Itche Karten	193
The Holocaust	Chaim Karten	195
The Last Fight	Yosef (Yosl) Fogel	199
My Experiences	Selig Fluss	201
The First Forest People	Yisroel Karton	204
Escape From the Death Camp	Moshe Ehrlich	204
How a Shtetl Was Erased	Moyshe Nass	206

English
		Page
You Should Know It	Sam Marcus	7
History of Boiberke (excerpts) translated by Julius Haber	Dr. N. M. Gelber	11
Boiberker Lansleit on the American Scene	Julius Haber	17
Commemorations of Jewish Victims of the Nazi Holocaust		34

Names in Photograph Captions