Darkness and Desolation;
In Memory of the Communities of Braslaw,
Dubene, Jaisi, Jod, Kislowszczizna, Okmienic,
Opsa, Plusy, Rimszan, Slobodka, Zamosz, Zaracz
(Belarus)

55°38' / 27°03'

Translation of
Emesh shoa; yad le-kehilot/gevidmet di kehiles Braslaw...

Edited by Machnes Ariel, Klinov Rina

Published by Association of Braslaw and Surroundings in Israel and America;
Ghetto Fighters House and Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House

 

Our sincere appreciation to Yad Vashem
for the submission of the necrologies for placement on the JewishGen web site.

 

Acknowledgments

Project Coordinator

Jeff Deitch

Emerita Project Coordinator: Eilat Gordin Levitan

 

This is a translation from Emesh shoa; yad le-kehilot/gevidmet di kehiles Braslaw...,
(Darkness and desolation; in memory of the communities of Braslaw, Dubene, Jaisi, Jod,
Kislowszczizna, Okmienic, Opsa, Plusy, Rimszan, Slobodka, Zamosz, Zaracz),
Editors: Machnes Ariel, Klinov Rina, Israel, Association of Braslaw and Surroundings in Israel and America;
Ghetto Fighters House and Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House, 1986 (H,Y,E, 636 pages).

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

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.
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JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material for verification.
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Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.

[Pages 2-8]

Translated from the Hebrew by Laia Ben-Dov

Donated by Jeff Deitch

Introduction 9
From the Editorial Board 10
 
Braslav [Braslaw]: Chapters from Its History 13
Braslav: Historical Notes, by Yaacov Levin [including a map of Braslav on pages 20-21] 15
In Memory of Yerachmiel-Mendel Meirson, by Miriam (Mariashka) Rotenberg 35
The Story of Perke (Perel-Mina) Fisher 37
The Story of Yehuda Chepelevitz 43
The Story of Ziska (Reuven) Shmushkovitz 59
 
The Community of Braslav during the Holocaust 63
Deep, Deep Pits and Red, Red Loam, by Shmuel Halkin (poem) 65
In Memory of My Father, Rabbi Zvi-Hirsh [Valin], of Blessed Memory, by Israel Valin 66
In Memory of the Rabbi Rav Avraham-Abba-Yaacov Zahorie, of Blessed Memory, by Tuvia Fisher 68
About Chaim Munitz, of Blessed Memory, by Leyzer Ran 70
The Story of Masha Maron and Mendel Maron 72
The Story of Chaim Band 80
The Story of Yaacov Levin: A Simple Story of Prison Camp, Exile and Struggle 86
The Story of Mottel-Hirsh Fisher 90
The Story of Yerachmiel Biliak 96
The Story of Tuvia Fisher 108
The Story of Henka (Chana) Fisher 111
The Story of Yetta (Yentka) Vishkin 117
Like Arrows in the Hands of a Warrior Are the Children of One's Youth … (poems) 120
The Story of Anna (Nuita) Zelikman 124
From the Courtroom: The Indictment of Stanislav Jasinski (report) 134
The Infamous Stanislav Jasinski, Murderer of the Jews of Braslav (report) 136
The Story of Boris Ulman 143
The Story of Moshe Vishkin 145
The Story of Eliezer Fisher 155
The Story of Tzipora (Faiga-Tzipka) Toker 159
The Story of Sara Movshenzon 164
The Story of Chana Lubovitz and Zusman Lubovitz 217
The Story of Moshe Milutin 227
The Story of Rafael Charat 234
The Story of Avraham Biliak 239
The Story of Chaim-Eliahu Deitch 245
The Story of Yerachmiel Milutin 254
The Story of Yitzchak Reichel 258
The Story of Liuba Shmidt 263
The Story of Emma (Esther) Milutin-Korner 274
The Story of Chaim Munitz (letter) 280
About Tevka (Tuvia) Biliak, by Moshe Bogomolski     283
About the Bank Family, by Yaacov Levin 286
The Story of Chaim Ben-Arieh (Burat): From the Ghetto to the Ranks of the Partisans and the Palmach 288
About Isser Rabinovitz 293
The Story of Zalman Charmatz 297
About Peretz Levin (letters) 300
About the Three Fighting Veinshtein [Weinstein] Brothers (letters / notes) 302
About Gershon Yankelevitz, by Yaacov Levin 308
About Mikhael (Mendel) Sherman, by Bilha Sherman [his wife] 309
The Story of Sara Shmushkovitz 310
On the Terrain of Braslav, by Yoel Nimnov (poem) 312
 
In Memory of the Fallen
I Weep over My Son's Passing, by a father (poem) 313
Amitai Kort 315
Chaim Robowitz 316
Zvi (Yehoshua-Heshel) Zeif 316
Arieh Levin 317
Shmuel Berkman 318
 
Opsa 321
Map of Opsa 322
The Story of Yaacov Aviel (Abelevitz) 323
The Story of Mordechai (Motke) Rosenberg 339
The Story of Arieh Munitz 352
About Melechke the Geroi [Hero], by Arieh Munitz, His Brother, and Zahava Bilogoski, His Sister 354
 
Okmenitz [Okmienic / Okmianica]
The Story of Alexander (Shmaryahu) Dagovitz 356
 
Dubina [Dubene] 367
The Story of Sima Moretsky 369
The Story of Rivka Rukshin 377
The Story of Mira Lotz 381
The Story of Zalman Levin 389
The Story of Chana-Feiga Berkman 390
 
Zamosh [Zamosz] 393
The Story of Chalvina Pinchov 393
 
Zarach [Zaracz / Zaracze]
The Story of Shlomo Reichel 397
 
Yaisi [Jaisi / Jejse / Jajsy]
The Story of Shneiur Munitz 399
 
Yod [Jod / Jody] 403
The Story of Slava Pinchov 405
The Story of Zalman Fisher 427
The Story of Liuba Yanovski 432
Map: Ghettos and Partisan Camps 1941-1944 438
Partisans in the Braslav Region 440
Partisans from Yod 441
 
Slobodka
The Story of Boris Berkman 445
 
Kislovshchitzna [Kislowszczyzna]
The Story of Masha Kapitza 451
 
Yizkor [Remembrance] 457
Let the Nation of Israel Remember . . . 459
Statement by Polia (Pesia) Kahat 461
Remove the Shoes from Your Feet . . . 462
Next to the Monument, by Yaacov Aviel (poem) 465
 
Those we'll commemorate....(Lists of Perished)
Braslaw (Belarus) 467
Opsa (Belarus) 481
Dubene (Dubinovo, Belarus) 483
Zamosz (Zamosh'ye, Belarus) 486
Jaisi (Jejse, Belarus) 487
Jod (Iody, Belarus) 488
Slobodka (Belarus) 492
Plusy Plyussy, Belarus 493
Kislowszczizna (Kozlovshchina, Belarus) 494
Rimszan (Rimšė, Lithuania) 495
My Perished Town; abridged version of the Hebrew text in Yiddish 497
Picture of Braslav survivors and their family members 572
List of gentiles who saved Jews in the Braslav area 572
Darkness and Desolation - abridged version of the Hebrew text in English (paged backward, Hebrew version.) 644
Map of the Braslaw region 646
Map of the Braslaw region 647

[Dedication]

Translated from the Hebrew by Laia Ben-Dov

Donated by Jeff Deitch

My contribution to the book is a memorial candle for my family that was killed in the Holocaust with all the Jews of Braslav
My father, Zerach Bogomolski
My mother, Chasia-Rachel
My sister, Sara-Leah
And in memory of my good and devoted wife, Clara, of blessed memory, who passed away on 26 Shevat 5743 [February 9, 1983]

--- Moshe Bogomolski

Editors: Ariel Machnes, Rina Klinov
Book editorial board: Yaacov Aviel, Moshe Bogomolski, Yaacov Levin, Aharon Shmutser
Book committee: Yaacov Aviel, Moshe Bogomolski, Chaim Band, Boris Berkman, Moshe Goldin, Moshe Vishkin, Zalman Charmatz, Yaacov Levin, Arieh Munitz, Yehuda Chepelevitz, Isser Rabinovitz, Aharon Shmutser
Members of the committee in the United States: Leib-Shmuel Bernamov, Tsala [Charles] Witkin, Leib Chanin, Mendel Maron, Tuvia Fisher, Michael Kopach, Yehoshua Shuran
Translations into Hebrew (from Yiddish, Polish and Russian) and initial editing: Yaacov Aviel, Moshe Bogomolski, Chaim Band, Yaacov Levin, Aharon Korner, Aharon Shmutser
Yiddish abridged version: Yaacov Levin
Editing of the Yiddish version: Zvi (Tzvi) Eisenman
Translation of the abridged version into English: Rachel Mann
Map of Braslav (from memory): Chaim Band
Map of Opsa (from memory): Yaacov Aviel
Photographs: Private collections
Gathering of material: Moshe Bogomolski
Graphic editing: Arieh Velleman

[Total of 640 pages, comprising 496 pages in Hebrew, a Yiddish summary of 72 pages, and an English summary of 72 pages]

Copyright by the Ghetto Fighters' House
Printed in Israel 1986 (5746)
Chidekel Printers Ltd., Tel Aviv

 

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