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[Page 288]
by Naftali Yogev, (Glil Yam)[1]
Translated by Nancy Schoenburg
Our branch was founded in 1923, and the following year the activities of HeHalutz Hatzair [Young Pioneer, a Zionist youth movement] were felt in Bielsk. We were the only youth movement that dealt with Zionism and its fulfillment. Perhaps Hashomer Hatzair [The Young Guard, a Socialist Zionist youth movement] was more active than we were as a movement. But it was engaged in educating its members in scouting, in general human values and also in the nature of the Land of Israel, while HeHalutz Hatzair was completely dedicated to Zionism and Aliyah [immigration to Israel]. In addition, Hashomer Hatzair was founded after us. Thus, it seems to me that our club for a while was an only child in town in terms of a movement. We were at that time the only ones working with the youth.
Among the founders of HeHalutz Hatzair were Goldvitz, Aharon Reichman, who was the secretary and keeper of the embers, and Nahum Bielsky. Reuven Utzyski collaborated with them and with great vigor, investing his talent for speaking and his vigilance in the movement. Of course, that was until he moved over to “Hashomer Hatzair.”
Some of the first members of our branch, as I remember, were Shmuel Epstein, Yitzhak Appelbaum and the sisters Sonia and Tzvia Utzyski, perhaps because they were from the best families in the city and were among the best youth in it, and perhaps because they stood out for their culture and formal education among the simply hard-working, plain toiling and hard-working youth of HeHalutz Hatzair. I also remember them because they remained loyal to the idea of the Zionist working class that was the core principle of HeHalutz Hatzair.
We started out without a clubhouse, but over time we achieved a clubhouse by ourselves and by our savings and were able to be more persistent in activities and youth gatherings. Thanks to the clubhouse, youth were also attracted to us who we did not think of as suitable or inclined to be. The clubhouse was on Orla Street; it was not one of the most magnificent of clubhouses, but it had warmth and it served as a setting for the youth off by themselves, where they left adult and urban reality and where they could think and dream of a better world. All this added to its value and drew our affection to it.
Our activities were concentrated in the clubhouse. We went there each evening for discussions, singing, dancing, youth meetings, and games, although we did not play games like other movements that arose over time. And we were “serious, worrying about the future.” Nevertheless, the games and the spirit of mischief broke out by themselves. At one time we would get upset about it when something happened. Now I look at it differently; it seems to me that even that which aroused the spirit of games in the young men and women should be seen in a positive light. I think that it was also a blessing for our movement in the past.
Apart from the activities each evening, we would hold celebrations on occasions such as Purim, Hanukkah, 11th of Adar [the Fast of Esther preceding Purim], Shavuot and others. We would also arrange plays in which Shlomo Epstein stood out both as a talented actor and as a producer of plays. It seems to me that he also
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wrote the plays or directed them or made them match our abilities in acting and theatrics.
We also set up a library. This is a detail that always fills me with memories of having a certain pride and self-satisfaction. First, whenever we thought that without literature and constant reading, there is no education and your outlook is not open to the problems of the nation, the youth, and the future. And, secondly, my pride stems from the way we dared to establish a library. We went from house to house, asking everyone to donate one of their good books, useful ones, and we received them.
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There were those who dealt with this enterprise with great skepticism. They also mocked us for engaging in an issue that does not belong to a movement of “pioneering.” Nevertheless, the initiative was launched and the library came to be. It had several dozen good, readable books. Afterwards, we collected a little money and purchased more books. Members would come and exchange books, approaching broad subjects of humanity and problems other than those of Bielsk. That was the most important thing.
I was a working boy from a young age, and I did not stay long in Bielsk; for various reasons, I moved to Kaleshchil,[2] but my connection to Bielsk remains firmly with me because the best years of my youth were spent in Bielsk and the branch of HeHalutz Hetzair, that gave me experiences of young manhood and happiness, and brought about a deepening of the connection.
When I recall Bielsk, I remember this movement of mine with great satisfaction and gratitude because it is that which brought me pleasant memories and which led me, the working boy, to other horizons of creativity and independence.
Translator's footnotes
by Shaike Vaser (Mesilot)[1]
Translated by Nancy Schoenburg
Bielsk, my town: “I recall for you the kindness of your youth” [biblical quotation from Jeremiah 2:2],[2] when you were a typical Jewish town, bustling with life and known for joy and pain, until the reaper came and destroyed every Jewish memory of you.
Bielsk the town still exists, but OUR Bielsk, where we grew up, we studied, and were educated …
The town of Bielsk continues to exist, but OUR Bielsk, in which we were raised and studied and educated as Jews - that is no longer. Not many Jews were among the rich of Bielsk --- very few [lit. even a child could count them]. Most people were either well-to-do or poor, merchants and artisans who were busy every day of the year, each one with his own craft and business. They toiled hard for their livelihoods, but their hearts were open for helping and supporting their fellow man, and many were needy, some only for the gemach[3] and some for anonymous giving. There was always someone ready to dedicate his time and strength to fulfill the mitzvah [commandment; good deed] of helping others.
In the years that have passed since I left the city and made aliyah [immigrated to The Land of Israel], I have forgotten many names, but not the people. How could I forget one of my neighbors, a roofer (der schindel schlager), a Jew short in stature, one of the people, full of energy and joy of life, who ran about on weekends to arrange for the poor, who were not from there, as guests for Shabbat. Or the distributor of letters and newspapers who had been widowed and left with small children and without a source of income. Good Jews took the initiative and succeeded in convincing the postmaster that, although there was a letter-carrier in the town (a non-Jew) and his salary came from the post office, the widow would only distribute the letters of the Jews and without a salary. Payment would come from the Jews themselves. Thus, they assured a dignified existence for the family.
The town was small, but many roads encircled it from every side, and the youth strolled on them for pleasure. These roads were silent witnesses to much singing, loves that blossomed, and ideas that crystalized during endless discussions and debates.
The town was rich in its cultural life. The youth were alert to what was happening and most of them were organized into [political] parties and youth movements. I do not think there was a Jewish party in Poland that did not have a branch in Bielsk.
I will mention Sander the shoemaker, the Bund operative, who while doing his hand-work would often argue with me about two issues:
I will mention with awe-inspiring honor the three Zionist leaders in the city: Stopnitzki,[4] Melamdovitz[5], and Appleboim[6] z”l [may their memory be a blessing]. Their names were a symbol of everything that the Hebrew language and the Land of Israel were connected to. They had a large hand in every Zionist activity.
[Page 296]
Mr. Appleboim was full of energy and extended his activities also to other areas like Cooperatzia,[7] Linat HaTzedek[8], and others.
The first Zionist youth movement organized in the town and connected to a national and international movement was the “ken” [a cell; literally “nest,” as they referred to each of their groups] of Hashomer Hatzair.[9] Its appearance in the town was like a breath of fresh air for the youth and many joined the ken. Over time, although small in number, it materialized and gathered serious youth who devoted themselves to Zionist work in the town and trained for pioneering and aliyah. The ken worked hard for the “Tarbut” School,[10] which struggled hard for its financial survival.
The work for Keren Kayemet [Jewish National Fund] was interwoven with educational activity on behalf of the Land of Israel, and the ken [of Hashomer Hatzair] was a large part of it.
There were numerous and varied educational activities and workshops within the walls of the ken and the rooms of the “Tarbut” School, which were used in the evenings and on Shabbat as a meeting place for members of the ken. But also there were no small number of activities spread outside – camps in the surrounding forests, escorting processions in the city, and organizing summer moshavot [colonies] in one of the surrounding villages.
Many a parent, sympathizers, and the just-curious would visit the camps and moshavot for a while and breathe the air of The Land of Israel.
At the end of the 1920s, the educational work of the ken began to bear fruit with the departure of the first graduates for training and at the beginning of the 1930s for aliyah [immigration] to Israel.
During these years, graduates of the ken were also joining a branch of “Hechalutz” [pioneering youth movement] and its workers. During this period, there began a radical turn in the attitude of the older youth in the town to The Land of Israel. Many who had been far from Zionism and even opposed to it, were joining Hechalutz, and going for training. Those who merited and succeeded also made aliyah to The Land [of Israel].
I did not purport to describe everything that linked and connected me to our Bielsk. I just wanted to contribute my small part to the book and thus to participate and lend a hand in remembering the town that I loved and the people whom I so appreciated.
Translator's and Editor's Footnotes
by Motos Kaplanski
Translated by Sarit Sachs
The League for the Working Land of Israel
This body was established to incorporate all the forces of the labor movements in the city, coordinating all their joint activities to prevent duplication in the distribution of powers, and to unite their efforts. We also wanted this League to unify all parties or Socialist-Zionist movements, as well as to create a cohesive force for the Socialist-Zionist act, thereby fortifying our camp against the other movements and parties in the city.
We were ideologically divided in our different perceptions within the labor movement. There were nuances and attitudes here and there regarding the future of the country [Israel] and the structure of the society within it. We disagreed on the desired form of settlement for the future state, as well as regarding the structure of the kibbutz, its broad framework and social cohesion. We allowed ourselves, each in his own movement, to develop his own view. However, despite all the halachic division, we were united in the fact that the state must be one of justice for labor and the people in it. It was necessary that there be [in the state] a working and organized people in the war for its rights. And in this unity, action
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Council for the Funds for the sake of Eretz Yisrael |
[Page 298]
was more of the focus than halacha [religious rules]. They did not emphasize halacha for the public and the youth, and it did not become the focus of education for the youth and for the power that motivates the masses toward a change of values in the nation itself.
This is how the League for the Working Land of Israel was established, and thus it was able to attract all the extremes into realizing a practical Zionism.
Its executive institutions consisted of representatives of Poale Tzion Yamin, Hechalutz, Hashomer Hatzair, and part of the radical General Zionism founded by Yitzhak Gruenbaum,[1] who, apart from their opinion on the field of national policy in Poland, were inclined toward the path of all of us – of all those united in the League. Interestingly, the left-wing Poale Tzion members in Bielsk did not join the League and did not see fit to send their representatives. But they were very involved in the thick of the present, arguing about the future of the Yiddish language and its status among the people. They were tormented by the problems of the working class and labor in Poland almost as much as by the problems of the future of the Yishuv [the settlement] in The Land of Israel. Since they immersed themselves in working for the existence of the Yiddish School until all their public power was swallowed up by it, we did not feel that they were united with us. It was the Bielsk version of the Poale Tzion Left whose closeness to the Bund[2] grew here especially, unlike what happened in Poland as a whole. Here was a case that was unique to Bielsk because of the cooperation between the two of them in the existence of the above-mentioned [Yiddish] school, almost forgetting the Zionist part and the Zionist worker in their platform. Our Yiddish school made it clear to them that it was difficult to give up on it, and in the meantime, they were almost like captives in the hands of the traitor.
The central force of the League was Hashomer Hatzair, which made its dynamic representatives and the youth organized within it available for activities to carry out the decisions of its institutions. Hashomer Hatzair counted among them at that time about 100 youth of all ages and was a vibrant movement. In any event, the League was being helped by Hashomer Hatzair without taking into account that most of the initiatives, actions and influences of the League were transferred to Hashomer Hatzair's staff.
The League in Bielsk was thought of as a framework for activities for adults and as such a framework, we had the most activities and gatherings, always attracting hundreds of listeners and sympathizers.
The main activity of the League was concentrated in the period of time and the years when the elections for the Zionist Congress[3] were held. This was the largest and most impressive activity, but in the interim periods we were working to increase donations for Keren Kayemet L'Yisrael,[4] for Keren Eretz Yisrael HaOvedet,[5] and also for other funds. And our help was also recruited by the radical Zionists in its activities in Poland, in its public wars in the Jewish community for their stands on policies of the Sejm[6] and national policies in general.
During the elections for the Zionist Congress, we would take personal action, recruiting votes from those who were uncertain, identifying those with no party affiliation and arranging public gatherings which were held most of the time at the Yefeh 'Einayim Synagogue. In that shul there were also appearances by local lecturers and others, shlichim [emissaries] from Eretz Yisrael and from other towns in Poland. The period of elections provided an opportunity for the Jewish community in Bielsk to hear us explain what was created by HaTzionut HaOvedet HaMagshima[7] [the realization of working Zionism], demonstrating a united fulfillment and the fruitfulness of building. This was in contrast with declarative Zionism, with its political proclamations, while its role was not evident among the achievements of the Yishuv in The Land [of Israel].
The results of our meetings and activities during election times became clear in the percentage of votes that we managed to accumulate. Our bloc would reach as much as 80% of the actual voters, while our weight in the overall electorate during the entire year did not even reach half of that amount.
[Page 299]
The League was also the arm that organized rallies of solidarity with the Yishuv, from holding demonstrations against the White Paper[8] in the streets of Bielsk to protest gatherings against other deprivations of the Mandatory regime [of the British]. In both of these we would be seen as directly touching on the problems of the Yishuv. And the Yishuv would be reflected as the exclusive creation of the Socialist Zionists, which carried on its back the national burden of maintaining aliyah in spite of everything, increasing settlement, and reinforcing its defenses that stemmed from the difficulties of the times and the British policy regarding Arab and Jewish involvement in the national homeland.
The budget of the League was created from a new tax levied on all of its members. This allowed us to finance the mission that we imposed on ourselves. Thus, the League became a stimulating, energizing force supporting the burden of carrying out the Zionist cause in the city. And many of the achievements of Zionism can be credited to it.
As stated, we wanted to create a prominent feature of our Socialist Zionist unity and a means of education for the public and the youth, directing the masses toward the aim of action and fulfillment. It seems to me that we achieved our goal.
The very existence of the League as a unifying framework for concrete joint action brought about unity, guiding us with ideas even in ideological differences.
General Hehalutz and “Tarbut”[9] School
The General Hehalutz branch in our city was founded in 1928. It was established, or more correctly it arose by itself, as a necessity of Tnuat Magshima [movement of fulfillment] and as a result of evolving actions of the movement.
Here in Bielsk there was a developmental process in Hehalutz, a process that could be called a “reverse process” if we discuss it according to its operators and organizers.
Although, according to the ages of those working toward educating for fulfillment, [i.e. aliyah], it was a kind of natural development of children, marching along the path going from youth to full Jewish maturity, ending with Hehalutz [Pioneering] for the sake of changing the state of the nation. In other cities Hehalutz was established by adults and then they concerned themselves with organizing youth groups and then from youth groups down to younger, school-aged children and investing in a Hebrew school. Here in Bielsk the Hashomer Hazair Movement was organized, and that group began attracting young people from other schools to the Tarbut School. From one side or the other, it also organized Hehalutz when the pupils reached the “age of fulfillment” [coming of age when they could go on aliyah to Israel].
As is well known, the fulfillment [i.e., making aliyah] and departure for the training which preceded it, involved youthful rebellion against the parents. This was the test for the young man, whether he was faithful to the way of his education to the end and whether he was ready for the sake of his loyalty to be separated from his parents. And there were truly those who, in this moment of crisis and test, tried to confront the challenge of the movement's command against the commandment of respect for a father, and who hesitated. It was difficult for them to stand up against their parents' wishes and, unfortunately, they stayed there [with their parents].
Here in Bielsk, our daring to leave the various schools, the cheder, the Polish school and others, went against our parents' wishes. With our support for the “Tarbut” school, we took our first step in the direction of resistance to the tradition of the ages, and so it was that in
[Page 300]
opposition to the generations, we decided in favor of the youth with the first actions of the movement. When we reached the age for pioneering, called the “age of fulfillment” at 17-18, the problem of being “with the parents or against them” was already almost totally resolved. This avoided serious crises for the maturing youth.
Thus, our Hechalutz pioneering activities were all connected to our movement through the “Tarbut” school.
The school became the center of growth for concrete Zionism and an incubator for the nucleus of future “magshimim” [realizers of Zionism]. The instructors of the Hashomer Hatzair movement took upon themselves the teaching responsibilities at the school. From this aspect, and taking the risk of not paying the teachers, and dealing with budgetary problems, these issues would never have been solved if the school had been seen only as an ulpana [school for intensive Hebrew studies].
Moshe Globovsky, now Moshe Gilboa of [Kibbutz] Gan Shmuel, worked in teaching and was on the teachers committee. Two instructors from Semyatitch [Siemiatycze, Poland] served as teachers at Tarbut. They are Suknik, who is now a doctor in Petah Tikva, and Rikol Lev, now also of Gan Shmuel, and she is at the secretariat of the Workers Council. They all saw teaching as the focus of action for education in preparation for the “hagasha” fulfillment, and their involvement in this action was a direct movement obligation.
Apart from our graduates, a few others who helped the Halutz organization, were individuals who had not had a chance to be educated in any youth movement. Prominent among those from “Frayhayt”[10] were Yaakov Akronowitz, today at Givat Haim Meuchad, and Finkelstein.
Hehalutz encompassed the graduates who considered themselves candidates for aliyah. They numbered 20-30 members.
Hehalutz action was centered on holding informative meetings about the state of the Yishuv [The Settlement; Jewish community in Israel before Statehood], problems in our relationship with the Arabs and with the Mandatory regime [under the British Mandate]. In these assemblies we tried to illustrate to our members the reality which we were soon to integrate into, and the atmosphere created at the meetings was educational and helpful. It transported the participants in the assemblies to another world, disconnected from the reality of despair in Poland, as they coalesced and were imbued with a very tangible vision of the future after the act of aliyah to Israel.
We held evenings of singing and dancing, all of which were devoted to Israel and the pioneering nature of its workers and social life.
We taught Hebrew, providing it to those who had not learned it during their school-ages. We recruited teachers from our friends at “Tarbut,” who taught courses diligently. Their perseverance compelled the trainees to take these studies seriously.
We organized trips and meetings with other branches of Hehalutz, and thus we saw ourselves going beyond the realm of the camp. These trips and meetings were a kind of broadening of the mind for the movement. While in the activities of the various movements, the local social moment was the determining factor. In these actions of Hechalutz the youth got used to thinking of themselves as being removed from a warm local setting that alleviates loneliness. They were entrusted with a personal test, in which you had to overcome feelings of detachment from your society and face problems of loneliness and connecting with people who were strangers to you. The connection in your eyes was the common national destiny.
We would meet every evening and spend Shabbat days all together. We did not have our own clubhouse
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yet. We wandered from club to club with Hashomer Hatzair and the school serving as bases for our activities.
This paper that I have written covers over three years of operation. It is possible that after my aliyah [going to settle in the Land of Israel] the image of Hehalutz in our city changed. This is the description of Hehalutz from the day it was founded until I left my city forever. And there is in this description from memory an explanation of just how much vigilance and zeal were needed not to let go of the youth movement until its fulfillment, and how difficult reaping the harvest of so many years of the education of our movement was.
It can be said that today we are not happy with the number of people in Hehalutz nor with the number of immigrants from it, but given the times it was an achievement to gather 30 people around the problem of personal immigration and cause half of them to make aliyah to Israel. I wish we would have been more successful; then we would have saved dear friends and youth from the storm of the Holocaust and its destruction.
Translator's and Editor's Footnotes
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Bielsk-Podlaski, Poland
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