51°08' / 26°18'
Translation of Ayaratenu Stepan
Edited by: Yitzchak Ganuz
Published in Tel Aviv, Stepan Society, 1977
Acknowledgments
Project Coordinator
Our sincere appreciation to Mr.Yesheyahu Pery, of the Stepan Society in Israel,
for permission to publish this material.
This is a translation from: Ayaratenu Stepan (Our town Stepan),
Editors: Yitzchak Ganuz, Tel Aviv, Stepan Society, 1977 (H,E, 368 pages).
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.
| 1 | Preface | Editorial Board | 7 | |
| 2 | The Generations of Stepan | |||
| a) | The History of Stepan and its Jewish Population | I. Ganuz and J. Peri | 9 | |
| b) | The Jews of Wolyn | Y.L. Yonatan | 14 | |
| c) | Jewishness in the Heart | I. Lamdan | 21 | |
| d) | Education in Polish Wolyn | S. Roznak | 22 | |
| e) | Stepan: World War I | H. Zoller | 28 | |
| f) | Stepan: 1910-1920 | M. Woschina | 44 | |
| g) | Town Life in the New Poland | S. Mann | 48 | |
| h) | The Synagogues | J. Peri | 53 | |
| i) | My Town - My Home | G. Krukover | 56 | |
| j) | The Home of the Late Rabbi Tversky | J. Peri | 64 | |
| k) | "The Sage, the Late Rabbi Tversky, Magid" of Stepan | M.S. Geshori | 69 | |
| 3 | The Way of Life | |||
| a) | My Father's Home | J. Peri | 72 | |
| b) | What Was But No Longer Is | Z. Gorinstein | 89 | |
| c) | Vocations of Stepan Jewry | J. Peri | 94 | |
| d) | Stepan: Looking Back | I. Weismann | 98 | |
| e) | Memories | J. Shpritz | 100 | |
| f) | Youth Activities | Z. Zilberman | 102 | |
| g) | The Summer Home | J. Peri | 104 | |
| h) | Memories | E. Shimshak | 105 | |
| i) | Our Home in Kosmochov. L. | Hashavia (Rudnik) | 106 | |
| j) | The Miserable Ones and Transient Guests | J. Peri | 108 | |
| 4 | The Way to Zion | |||
| a) | Founding of the Tarbut School | S. Sheinboim | 109 | |
| b) | The Beginning of Zionist Activities | S. Sheinboim | 111 | |
| c) | Reflections of the Wolyn Press on Public Activities | B. Shpritz | 116 | |
| d) | Illegals to Israel: Stepan 1939 | J. Peri | 119 | |
| 5 | Our Fathers' Homes: Where They Were in Stepan | Editorial Board | 123 | |
| 6 | Memories: Images and Families | |||
| a) | Some Images and Families | I. Weismann | 166-196 | |
| b) | The Home of the Genius Ben-Zion Volinsky, the Righteous Man of Blessed Memory | B. Shpritz | 200 | |
| c) | My Father, Reb Azriel-Yaacov Kaufman (Zunieh) of Blessed Memory | I. Koifman | 201 | |
| d) | The Teacher, Moshe Kalat, of Blessed Memory | J. Peri | 204 | |
| e) | My Father, Reb Yoel Baruch Ben Yehoshua Halevi Becker of Blessed Memory | A. Tahor Becker) | 205 | |
| f) | The House of Reb Pesach Bebtchuk and His Wife Esther Leah, of Blessed Memory | B. Shpritz | 209 | |
| g) | The Family of Yechiel Vildgoiz | N. Gordon | 211 | |
| 7 | The Holocaust | |||
| a) | Death and Sorrow | J. Peri | 213 | |
| b) | Destruction of Stepan's Jewish Community | A. Tchor(Musik) | 274 | |
| c) | Memories 1939-1946 | Benzion Bebchuk | 278 | |
| d) | German Bombings -Beginning at the Ghetto | J. Peri | 280 | |
| e) | How Could it Happen to My Town Stepan | I.Gonik | 282 | |
| f) | Amongst the Gentiles | A. Grossman | 283 | |
| g) | Sea of Hate | J. Peri | 285 | |
| h) | Between Life and Death | I. Wachs | 286 | |
| i) | Forced Work Camp | Y. Rassis | 288 | |
| j) | Escape from the Beast's Claws | Y. Rassis | 290 | |
| k) | Stories of Escapees | J. Peri | 292 | |
| l) | Escape from the Murderers | B. Scheinboim (Becker) | 294 | |
| m) | The Story of Sonia Wiener - Escapee | J. Peri | 296 | |
| n) | The Struggle for Life | F. Maggid | 297 | |
| o) | The End of Stepan | M. Grinshpan | 299 | |
| p) | The Image of the Judenratt Chairman | The Editors | 300 | |
| 8 | The Ruins of My Town | |||
| a) | A Visit to Destroyed Stepan. | J. Peri | 302 | |
| b) | Revenge of Stepan's Survivors | J. Peri | 315 | |
| c) | A Meeting of Stepan's Jewish Red Army Veterans | J. Peri | 316 | |
| 9 | In Memorium: Stepan and Surrounding Citizens who Died in Israel | The Editors | ||
| a) | Image of the late Itzhak Weisman | D. Weisman | 319 | |
| 10 | EPILOGUE | |||
| a) | Gathering Information about Stepan | J. Peri | 321 | |
| b) | Editorial | I. Ganuz | 322 | |
| c) | Translation of Local Terminology and Slang | J. Peri | 324 | |
| 11 | Family Photographs | 327 | ||
| 12 | Public Photographs | 343 | ||
| English Editors' Notes | 362 | |||
| English Preface | 363 | |||
| English Table of Contents | 364 | |||
Stepan Ghetto was erected on Chol Hamoed Sukkot, October 5, 1941.
Stepan Jews were exterminated and ghetto liquidated on 11th of Elul, 5702 or August 24, 1942.
Stepan was liberated by the Russians on January 12, 1944.
Number of Jewish survivors from Stepan – 44 (as reported by Shmuel Spector, see below).
The Moses of Rovno, by Douglas K. Huneke and Herman F. Graebe, Compassion House, 240 Tiburon Blvd., Tiburon, CA 94920, 1985.
The Stepan Yizkor Book, edited by I. Ganuz, collected by J. Peri, 1977, 364 pages.
Yizkor Book Project
JewishGen Home Page
Stepan, at Shtetlinks
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Updated 8 Dec 2009 by MGH