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[Page 8]

List of Photographs[a]

Translated by Jerrold Landau

The History of the Jews of Rzeszów
Drawing of the city in 1762 23
Rzeszów in 1856 21
The city square in 1895 24
Lubomirski's castle 28
Business on market day 33
Jewish peddlers on Mateyko St. 34
In the synagogue in 1917 44
A section of the cemetery 45
Remnants of graves from the old cemetery 46
The chicken market 51
Fruit and vegetable stands 52
Mickiewicz Street 54
Business on market day 57
Editorial board of Volkszeitung newspaper 60
Hashachar convention, 1908 62
Dr. Henry Yitzchak Wachtel 66
The interior of the old synagogue 67
Tzvi Simcha Leder 68
Rzeszów in 1890 70
 
Faith & Tradition in Rzeszów
Abba Apfelbaum 71
Rabbi Moshe Kamelhar 72
The holy ark of the old synagogue 76
Rabbi Aaron Lewin 82
The gravestone of Rabbi Nathan Lewin 84
Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak Lewin 86
Rabbi Dr. Joshua Thon and Rabbi Aaron Lewin 87
"Rabbi Aaron Lewin, Reb Eliezer Lev” 89
The family of Rabbi Aaron Lewin 90
Rabbi Dr. Yechezkel Lewin 91
The synagogue in the 17th century 94
Rabbi Yekutiel Aryeh Kamelhar 95
Rabbi Issachar Berish Halpern 100
The Yeshiva of Rabbi Yosef Reich 102
On the route to the synagogue 106
Rabbi Avraham Chaim Horowitz of Plantsh 114
The Rabbi Reb Tzvi Eliemelech 116
M. Sh. Geshuri 118
Meir Diener 123
Dov Menachem Konwisser 123
Cantor D. M. Konwisser and his choir 124
A drawing of the synagogues of Rzeszów 126
The plan of the synagogue 126
The interior of the old synagogue 127
The old synagogue 127
 
In the Haskalah Press
The government school for girls 129
Grade 4 in the school in 1890 130
 
Before and Between the World Wars
Members of “Hashachar” in 1922 139
Leon Weisenfeld 140
The teacher “Fink” and her students 142
A group of general Zionists 143
The committee of “Histadrut Hatzionit” in 1932 144
The executive of “Poale Zion” 1913 148
The committee of the League of Workers for Eretz Yisrael 149
Bernard Fish 150
Hashachar in 1927 151
Hechalutz in Rzeszów 152
David the son of Avraham Tuchfeld 153
A group of “Hanoar Hatzioni” in 1929 154
Workers of “Bnei Zion” 155
The charter members of “Akiva” 156
Naftali Hakhel 157
Young Mizrachi in 1922 159
Mizrachi activists in 1932 162
Young Mizrachi in 1922 163
The executive of “Agudath Yisrael” youth 164
Avraham Mussinger 165
The Revisionist movement in 1928 166
Revisionist conference in Rzeszów 167
Zeev Jabotinski in Rzeszów 168
Dr. Joshua Alexander Rosner 169
Pepa Lisak Tuchfeld 170
Maccabia University students organization, 1932 171
Kibbutznik Meir Yaari 172
Hashomer Hatzair in 1926 173
Hashomer Hatzair in 1928 174
A group of older youth 1929 175
Meeting on the banks of the Wislok River, 1929 176
Lotke Shlisselberg (Kleid) 178
Yehoshua Strassberg 181
Hanoar Hatzioni 181
A group of “Hanoar Hatzioni” in 1930 182
Klara Ma'ayan (Munzberg) 183
Hanoar Hatzioni with the parents' committee 184
A group of “Hanoar Hatzioni” 185
Teachers and students at the Hebrew Gymnasia (High School) 186
A class with their teacher at the Hebrew school 187
A class with their teachers at the Hebrew Gymnasia 187
A procession of students at the Hebrew school 187
Teachers and students at the Hebrew school, 1922 188
Bar Kochba, 1932 189
Bar Kochba 190
Bar Kochba 191
A group of boxers in 1935 192
Esther Weisenfeld 193
Children of the orphanage on a summer holiday 194
Beit Haam 195
Chalutzim digging the foundations of Beit Haam 196
The Jewish Hospital of Rzeszów 197
Slowczki St. 198
Rzeszów 200
 
Memories and Happenings
Two pumps in the Potters' Street 203
Baldachowka Street 204
Berik Joselewicz Street 207
Young Zion (Yardenia) in 1912 210
Hashomer Hatzair in 1916 211
Yad Charutzim workers' union 214
Children of the orphanage 215
Zionists during the First World War 219
The leadership of “Hashomer Hatzair” in 1918 221
Jewish officers on Passover leave, 1916 223
Teacher M. Davidson with the first students of the Hebrew school 225
Ben Zion Fett 229
A meeting of Rzeszów emigres in Tel Aviv 231
Moshe Ungerfeld 232
Irving Low 234
The railway station 236
A memorial gathering in 1965 239
The committee of “Ivria” in 1925 240
Nachum Sternheim 241
The city square and town hall 242

[Page 9]

Intelligentsia and Writers
Moshe David Geshwind 243
Dr. Ovadia Barshal 246
Moshe Alter 248
Chaim Wald 249
Moshe Weisenfeld 252
Leon and Esther Weisenfeld 253
A performance of “Tzeristene Neshomes” (Sad Souls) in 1919 255
Berish Weinstein 256
Simcha Seiden 261
Nachum Sternheim and his wife 262
 
Personalities and Characters
Yaakov Alter 264
Professor Meir Balaban and his wife Gisela (nee Alter) 264
A meeting in Tel Aviv in 1954 266
Dr. Felix Hoffman 267
Dr. Aaron (Arthur) Wang 269
Asher Silver 269
Levi Chaim 270
Dr. Tzvi Kanarek 270
Naftali Tuchfeld 271
Anna Kahane 272
Irving Low 273
Shlomo Munzberg 274
Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Koretz 275
Yaakov Elimelech Knecht 276
Malka Knecht 276
Yitzchak Oestreicher 278
At a party in honor of Tzvi Simcha Leder 279
Reuven Eckstein 280
Yitzchak son of Mordechai Mintz 281
Moshe David Ashriel 284
Yehoshua Ashriel 284
Joscha Shapira, Baruch Wachspress, Avraham Tuchfeld 285
Yisrael Kamelhar 289
A drawing by Menachem Ron 291
Dr. Asher Alexander Heller 295
 
The Holocaust
Slaughter in the Forests of Glogow 298
A group of those deported from Rzeszów on their final way 299
Entrance to the mass grave 300
Grete Heller 301
Mala Krischer Munzberg 307
The entrance to the ghetto 308
The slaughter of the Jews in the forests of Glogow 309
The communal grave in the forests of Glogow 310
Lotka Goldberg 312
Certificate of transfer to forced labor 313
In front of mass grave 314
People who were deported from the Rzeszów ghetto 315
The house of Eliezer Lev, which housed the last remnants of Rzeszów Jews 318
The entrance to the bunker at the side of Shiper's house 319
Death march 321
The murderers, their assistants and their victims in the forests of Glogow  324
In the Hall of Holocaust Remembrance, to the right is Klara Ma'ayan 325
Dr. Michael Schneeweiss 326
The old cemetery - concentration place for deportation 328
Dina Strassberg (Einhorn) 335
Ita, Chava and Chana Eckstein 336
Gola Mira 340
Sanctification of G-d's name - by the artist Menachem Ron 341
Franciszek Kotula 342
The destroyed synagogue 345
At prayer in the Rzeszów ghetto 346
Remembrance plaque for those killed in the forests of Glogow 349
Jan Forczek 350
Forced labor 351
Map of Rzeszów 353
Manes Fromer 368
Avraham Altman 369
Avraham Teitelbaum 370
Mordechai the son of Elchanan Lifschutz 371
Dedication of a Torah scroll in the synagogue 372
Yitzchak Oestreicher, Rachel Alter, Irving Low 373
Unveiling of a memorial plaque in the Hall of Remembrance 374
Party at the home of Dr. Moshe Yaari 374
 
Yiddish section
On the History of the Jews in Rzeszów
Front of the city's synagogue 375
Dr. Avraham Chomet 377
The old town hall 389
At the 50th anniversary of the old age home 395
Michael Berman 400
A section of Roizen St. 401
The courthouse building 409
Members of “Bnei Tzion” organization 411
Appointment of president 413
Bnei Tzion organization 415
Ochranka children's home 417
Beit Lechem public kitchen 419
Rzeszów town hall with a sign: Judenrein 422
A section of the new cemetery (1939) 423
Gravestones in the destroyed cemetery 425
 
Before and Between the Two World Wars
Interior of the old synagogue 427
Tzvi Simcha Leder 428
At a fair in Rzeszów 430
Interior of the synagogue with the Bima[1] 431
Jews in the marketplace 433
Association of dental technicians 437
Rabbis from Rzeszów in America 440
Leon Weisenfeld 449
Moshe Weisenfeld 451
Inhabitants of the marketplace 463
Lwowska Street 465
Poale Zion members 471
Dramatic group of the “Children's Home” 473
Administration of the “Children's Home” 474
Actors of the “Stage” drama club 475
The tailor “Shulechel” 478
Dr. Aaron Rosenbaum 481
The Rzeszów Yeshiva of Maller, Naftali Hakhel 485
 
Personalities
Directors of Rzeszów Organization in Israel 492
Directors and children of the “Orphanage” 495
Moshe Weisenfeld 496
The forest of the martyrs, Rzeszów grove 499
President Yitzchak Ben Tzvi, Irving Low[2] 501
American Vice President Humphrey, I. Low 502
Reception in honor of I. Low 503
Rabbi Yaakov Fink 504
Berish Weinstein 505
 
The Destruction
Communal grave in the forest of Glogow 525
Kazimiersz Street 537
Directors of Rzeszów Club of America 542
Rseszow Landsmanschaft of Montreal, Canada 543
The Wolishe synagogue before the destruction 544
The destroyed East section of the synagogue 544
Pages of remembrance and perpetuation 545

 

Original footnote

  1. Documents, certificates and title pages of books do not appear in this list. Return


Translator's footnotes

  1. The podium from which the Torah is read in a synagogue. Return
  2. Yitzchak Ben Tzvi was the second president of Israel. Return


[Page 10]

The Committee for Publishing the Book

Translated by Libby Raichman

In 1959, the organization of former Reishe residents formulated the idea of publishing a memorial book of the Reishe community, but in practice it was not achieved. The plan only developed when Mr. Yitzchak Estreicher was elected as head of the organization. His main concerns were the publishing of a memorial book and organizing funding for the project; and in that he succeeded. He received assistance from his friends in the USA and arranged funding from former residents of Reishe in Israel and the diaspora. The foundation stone of the campaign for the publishing of the book was facilitated by the generous donation of the Reishe resident Tzvi Simchah Leder of Washington, the author of the book “Reishe Jews” – as well as the donation of Irving Low (Yitzchak Lev) of Reishe, now resident in West New York.

After funds for the printing of the book were pledged with the aid of Reishe residents in Israel and the USA, Moshe Yaari-Wald accepted the role of editing the book at the invitation of the organization – and in 1962 he began the task with the help and vast experience of Michael Walzer, the secretary of the campaign. The task of compiling the written material was carried out during the years 1962 – 1964. Eliyahu Porat (died Tishrei 5727) – [corresponding to 1966] edited the written material. We were assisted by the editorial staff in finalizing and sorting the material. In 1965, we began the printing of the book, section by section. Proof reading was done by Michael Walzer-Pas and the editor.

We thank and congratulate Tzvi Simchah Leder – of Washington, for the first generous donation, and Irving Law, a resident of West New York, the chairman of the Reishe organization in the USA, for his donation and his fundraising among those who left Reishe. Thanks also to Leon Weisenfeld the editor of the Jewish Voice Pictorial in Cleveland, for his help, his advice, and his resourcefulness, to Dr. H. Y. Wachtel, a veteran Reishe resident in New York, to the poet Berish Weinstein, who suffered a heart-attack a few days before the book was published, on the 23rd Elul 5727, (28.9.1967).

Special thanks and congratulations must be given to Mr. Yitzchak Estreicher, chairman of the organization who devoted years of hard work towards completing the book.

We thank and congratulate the editor Dr. Moshe Yaari-Wald, members of the editorial staff of the committee for the publishing of the book, and the list of members who were almost all from Reishe. Special thanks must be given to the secretary of the editorial staff Michael Walzer, who saw to its publication, the Israeli zincographists, and last but not least, the publishing house “Achdut” that did its best in printing the book.

We thank and congratulate all those who collaborated with us, with material and with enthusiasm, to realize our vision.
    The committee for publishing the book
Dr. Aleksander Yehoshua Rosner
Chairman of the council of the organization.


[Page 11]

Editor's Foreword

by Dr. Moshe Yaari-Wald

Translated by Libby Raichman

With blood and fire and pillars of smoke, the community of Reishe (Rzeszów) was destroyed during the years of the war 1939 – 1945 by the soldiers of the German Reich and their collaborators – after 500 years of struggle for a productive existence.

Some time ago, Poland celebrated a full 600 years since the town of Rzeszów was established. On the other hand, the Jews of Reishe, survivors of the Holocaust in Israel and the diaspora, mourn the destruction of their community and say the “Kaddish” [the mourner's prayer] in memory of their families that are no longer. Their families were massacred and burned by the Germans in the Reishe ghetto and in the forced labor camps of Shavniya and Plashov, in the forests of Glugov, in the crematoria of Balzatz, and the ovens of Auschwitz.

Reishe Jewry is no longer, it was annihilated, every trace of its existence in the past has been erased, since the day that the German ruler of the district fixed a short notice on 14 February 1944 that read: Rzeszów is free of Jews.

In memory of their destroyed community, an organization of Reishe residents in Israel and in the United States of America, have published a memorial book that includes records of the history of the community, and its way of life, until its bitter end.

The book is presented in three sections and three languages: Hebrew, Yiddish and English. The sections in Yiddish and English are limited, compared to the Hebrew section. The section in Yiddish is intended for those in the community who do not understand Hebrew. The English section is to remind Reishe residents in the diaspora who read English, of the town of their ancestors. It will also enable the nations of the world in general, and Poland in particular, to read and know what the Jews of Reishe contributed – to building their town - and what was the reward that they received for their contribution? - sorrow and suffering in different periods. How difficult was their struggle for existence, as an oppressed religious minority. The book describes the distress of poverty and the lack of employment and income, that compelled many to seek salvation by emigrating to the west and overseas; and the youth that was thirsty for Torah and work, sought a life of freedom and productivity in the Land of Israel.

This book provides evidence, and testimony to Germany's crimes, to five years of oppression and poverty. The Jewish community was murdered in horrific isolating conditions, locked in ghettos and death camps – in the presence of neighbors who were indifferent, or ignored the events in fear of the Gestapo and their informers. Christian neighbors saw and knew that the Nazi monsters dug their claws into men, women, and children, and drained their blood day and night, in satanic savagery. Only a few individuals among the neighbors, outstanding people, noble souls, risked their lives and stretched out a kind hand to save a Jewish person. May the names of the righteous individuals be blessed and may those who collaborated with the German oppressor be eternally condemned.

Each one of the three sections – Hebrew, Yiddish and English, is comprised of three parts:

a. The history of the community until the end of Austrian rule;
b. The way of life of the community before the two world wars and between them;
c. The Destruction.

In the book there are pages that perpetuate the names and photographs of the families who were killed in the Holocaust – like a literary mausoleum. After the Reishe cemetery was ploughed, most of the scorched gravestones were used to pave streets and build houses.

 

1. The Section of the History of the Community

The chapters of history in the Hebrew segment were written by the noted historian Dr. N. M. Gelber, of blessed memory, who survived to see his words in print. The history of the community in the Yiddish segment was written by Dr. Avraham Chomet, the former head of the community in the town of Tarnov. The chapters of history in English were written by Dr. Y. Henry Wachtel, who was born in Reishe and settled in New York. Rabbi Moshe Kemelhor dedicated the article on the history of the Rabbinate and religious life, and M. Sh. Geshuri and other members of the town, wrote the article on religious and traditional Jewish life.

 

2. The Section: The Way of Life Before the Two World Wars and Between Them

In this section, in the Hebrew segment, the editor published an article on the character of the town, as a comprehensive description of the life of the community as was reflected in his eyes, close to the First World War (1914), and until the end of the period of Austrian rule. Regarding that period, Shlomo Hurvitz of Haifa, in his article, added guidelines. Klara Ma'ayan, Avraham Musinger, Michael Walzer, and Advocate Shlomo Tal, wrote articles about youth movements and politics.

[Page 12]

Articles filled with a love of Reishe were written by Professor Shmuel Yosef Pnueli prior to his death. The journalist Mans Frumer published material that summarized the demographic situation of Reishe Jewry.

Moshe Weksler Nebentzal and others published articles about personalities, characters, authors and others. In the Yiddish part included in this section, there is more detailed material in chapters that were published about recollections of the first ten years of the century by the writer Tzvi Simchah Leder of Washington in his Yiddish book “Reishe Jews”. Leon Wiesenfeld, a newspaper reporter (now in Cleveland, USA), described in his articles, the pogroms in Reishe on 3. 5.1919, the national holiday of Poland. He reports on the visit of a delegation of American Jews, former residents of Reishe and the vicinity, to investigate the damages from the riots. He wrote that the inquiry was conducted under the leadership of the minister Murgnato and also provided details of his discussions with the parliamentary commission of the Polish government. This commission to investigate the riots was chaired by Vintzenti Vitus (who later became the Prime Minister of Poland). Poems by Berish Weinstein, one of the great Yiddish poets, are presented in every part of the book, particularly the appraisals of his creativity, in the Yiddish poem “Reishe”. Dov Sadan's appraisal of Weinstein's work was taken from the Yiddish introduction to the poem “Reishe” and translated by him into Hebrew. The people of Reishe who were active in the town in the period between the two world wars, wrote their articles in this section and in the other sections, almost all in the Polish language; these were translated into Hebrew by the editor. The material could have been more comprehensive and detailed if those from among the intelligentsia (professors, doctors etc.) would have contributed their share. Had the elders of Reishe, who were active in the organization, and emigrated to the Land of Israel at the end of the war lived long, and managed to give of the fruit of their pens, to share their memories of the generations of their forefathers, it would have been more detailed. The way of life between the two wars is published in the English section – fragmented articles that were translated from sections in Hebrew and Yiddish, with additional new material.

 

3. The section: The Destruction

Published in this section are the experiences of the people of Reishe who endured every kind of Nazi hell, among them Dr. Asher Alexander Heller, M. Lazar, Lutke Goldberg, Klara Mintzenberg, Dr. Michael Schneeweis, Malah Krisher, Dina Shtrasberg and others, who described the days of terror and the nights of horror in the years 1939-1945. They described acts of heroism in their suffering amidst inhuman torture, their bitter struggle in the resistance, in the ghetto, and among the partisans who were in the camps and the forests. The poet Berish Weinstein of Reishe, expresses his pain of the Destruction in his Yiddish poem, “Majdanek, God” that has been translated into Hebrew.

We also printed pages from the diary of a Polish resident of Rzeszów Frantzishk Kotula, about German rule in the town. Mans Frumer formulated a balanced account, of the historical relationship between the Jews and the Poles who lived in the vicinity, over a period of 500 years.

At the end of the section “The Destruction”, there is a short article by the attorney Moshe Reich about the fate of the survivors of the Holocaust who emerged from their hiding places and returned with the defeat of the Germans. They tried to re-establish the community from the ruins, but their attempt failed because of the blood libel and the hatred towards the handful of Jews. The Jews were like thorns in the eyes of the rabble that wanted to take possession of the remnants of Jewish assets and to fulfill the last will of Hitler's criminals so that Rzeszów would remain “Yudenrein” [free of Jews]. As a result of the libel, the last Jews left the town and their re-established community, over a period of approximately 100 days. The section “The Destruction” ended with an article by Avraham Musinger about his visit to the town in 1946, on his return from the Soviet Union. In all its sections, the memorial book contains hard copies of documents, maps, articles, pictures of individuals and group social life, creation and destruction, sacred and profane, culture and education, photographs of scenery and institutions, personalities and images.

The Yiddish and English sections that are published in the section “The Destruction”, are mostly translations from Hebrew sections with articles from other sources.

We, the people of Reishe who remained after Hitler's deluge, are compelled to tell our children, and our children's children about all the harm that was inflicted upon us by German gangs. They eroded, raided the entire breadth of Poland and Russia, eastern and western countries just like their vandalizing forefathers – headed by their leadership of insane mass-murderers – who robbed, raped, murdered, burnt cruelly and with guile, and with systematic German precision, utilizing all the rules of modern science that destroyed a third of our nation.

Among the rest of the communities of the Jewish people, the Jewish community of Reishe was also erased from the map of the world – and will be remembered, and shine, in this book.

May the name of the community of Reishe be glorified and sanctified, and may he who makes peace in the heavens, bring peace upon us, on our land, on all the Jewish people and on the entire world. May the memory of the community be blessed.


[Page 13]

Lamentations

by Shlomo Tal

Translated by Libby Raichman

 
“Oh that my head were waters
And my eyes a fountain of tears
That I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people”.

Jeremiah 8:23

 
     
Where were you when my home-town Reishe was desolate,
Where were you when your sons and daughters were strangled
When your pious fell by a hand of evil
When your merchants were robbed in the prime of life
When your Rabbis were shot by your bitter enemy
When your officials were trampled by pompous feet
What writer can recount your destruction ?
The self-sacrifice of your sons
Or the secret war of your partisans.
     
  How were the voices of your scholars silenced
How were the doctrines of your teachers ceased
How were the heart strings of your poets severed.
 
     
  Are there none more broken than you
Sons swept from your streets
Your sons taken into captivity.
 
     
  But not like sheep were your victims taken
They fought to defend your gates
Like heroes your rebels fell
Your sons will be remembered eternally.
 
     
  I was raised in her holiness – and took on her righteousness,
Where your young men and women were buried alive,
And evil people defeated your heroes,
And your merchants collapsed under the enemy's foot,
Your teachers and Rabbis murdered in cold blood.
Your shopkeepers dismembered by a cruel hand,
How can your losses be weighed and counted?
And you protected the honor of your daughters,
And the courage of your fighters.
 
     
  And the hands of your writers were severed,
And your leaders were plundered,
And your musicians ceased to sing.
 
     
  There is no disaster to compare to yours,
And houses became your graves,
And your infants were smashed against the rocks.
 
     
  Not like evil people did your corpses fall –
Your fighters took revenge against our enemies
And your martyrs sacrificed themselves for our nation –
And your daughters will be praised for eternity.
 
     
  Earth, do not conceal their blood ! ! !  

[Page 14]

* * *

As a child of the town of Reishe, I participate – from distant America - in honor of the publication of this memorial book, that is dedicated to the unforgettable martyrs of Reishe.

Together with you, I stand bowed in deep sorrow – in that sorrow, that influenced me to re-establish and bring alive our Reishe Jewish landscape in the epic poem “Reishe”.

 

Reishe!

The town of all the “isms” - Zionism, Chassidism, Socialism, Assimilationism. The town of ideals, of every kind and every word, a town that bubbled, buzzed with trade, with worldly images and characters.

This book of martyrs, of which I have managed to see only one part, made a lasting and moving impression on me. I remained fixed on the picture images, the documented town's newspapers that revived in me anew, my boyhood in the cheders, in the study houses, the market place, the Jewish fairs, and the whole Reishe scene – the Chassidic, the religious, the enlightened, and the poor little Tepper Street, with all its charm and appeal.

 

Reishe!

The town of the working class, of the diligent porters and butchers; the town of all kinds of institutions; the town that implanted a wonderful pioneering youth in the Land of Israel; the town that radiated in a colorful Jewish way, with deep Jewish content; the town that made an important and significant contribution to the world.

It is not at all incidental, that the first two lines of the epic “Reishe”, reads:

“Everything that is destined on Galician soil,
Is in you, hometown, Reishe – there”.

The publication of the Reishe book of martyrs is a miracle ! This miracle has demonstrated the nature of the stubborn Jew, the chairman of the people of the Reishe organization, Reb Yitzchak Estreicher. He, the Jew Reb Yitzchak, the honest obstinate man, is a determined person of Reishe. His conscience would not allow him to rest - concerned that the martyrs of Reishe should God forbid, be forgotten by the living earth.

And he, this Reb Yitzchak, may he live long, has accomplished this. Of course, this was not an easy task for him. He aroused, called, as on the first day of Slichot. His voice awakened the sleeping former residents and reached the heart of America.

I say this with particular pride and contentment: I am more than happy that this Reb Yitzchak, has lived to see for himself what he has sown, with the assistance of a few co-workers such as Dr. Yaari-Wald, Michael Walzer, Leon Wiesenfeld, Tzvi Leder and Yitzchak Lev.

I am a witness to the birth-pains that my respected fellow-townsman Estreicher, experienced in every detail and act, in putting together and seeing to the realization of the project, to the memory of the holy ones of our town who perished.

[Page 15]

Now, for the former residents of Reishe in Israel and the diaspora, a monumental work lies before us ! Let us open it with a tremble, with a blessing like the holy ark… Let us bless the living, who have not allowed the Reishe martyrs to be forgotten or dishonored… let us feel the holy quiver at every page, every letter, every name!

Together with you, I say:

“Your every stone, every street and door
Is in blood now, in me.
I cry now upon your pious walls;
Upon your synagogues, upon your study houses;
Upon the sabbaths upon the trading weeks
With its communal beadles and wardens;
With its alef-bet and Pentateuchal cheders.
The porters' small synagogues, the tailors' small synagogues;
All the enthusiastic Chassidic small prayer houses.
Every silk and satin touch,
Is in blood now – in me !”

Together with you, residents of Reishe, let us always remember our martyrs!… Let us forever strengthen an enduring Land of Israel for the sake of the martyrs of the Jewish people!

Berish Weinstein

New York, 16 Elul 5729, (21.9.1967)

 

rze015.jpg
”Bet Am”

Translator's note:

The “Bet Am” building and its sporting facilities became a Jewish communal center in Reishe.

[Page 16]

rze016.jpg
Map of Rzeszów & Vicinity

 

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