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[Page 8]
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 |
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
Translator's footnotes
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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. |
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.
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 |
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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. |
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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 ! ! ! |
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.
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)
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Bet Am |
Translator's note:
The Bet Am building and its sporting facilities became a Jewish communal center in Reishe.
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Map of Rzeszów & Vicinity |
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