[Page I]

We have no particulars about the history of the beginning of Dubienka. We do, however, know that in the 16^th century, it was called Dubno. It was bordered by three rivers: Strihanka, Wilnianka and the Bug. The development of commerce and trade in a rural farming region was influential in its development.

On the 10^th of February 1588, King Zigmund III elevated the area to the status of a town. He allowed the town to operate marketing days. Every two years, a large market for the exchange of goods was permitted. This became law between 1593 and 1596.

The invasion of the Swedes between 1598 and 1613 resulted in the destruction and rebuilding of the town and the name was officially changed from Dubno to Dubienka by order of the King. The Jewish community was in existence and was developing rapidly.

King Zigmund III allowed Jews to settle in the region. They built homes and developed commerce and trade. The Jews were allowed to manufacture and deal in alcoholic beverages. This resulted in a boom in commerce and the Jewish population increased. The region also became a center of commerce with transport of materials on the River Bug. The Jews developed businesses, warehouses, restaurants and other enterprises resulting in prosperity. The region became a well-known trade center. In the year 1765 they were the owners of 37 plots of land on which they built 34 inns, 14 apartment houses and 16 distilleries of alcoholic beverages.

An interesting footnote: in the year 1765, the Jewish population was 605 souls. There were also Jews living in the neighboring towns of Horodolemska, Chalemska and Zatylna, and they enjoyed equal rights with the Gentiles. In the year 1781, the Jewish population had grown to 910.

As a result of an agreement between the Jewish and Gentile communities in the year 1785, the Jews paid a tax of 900 Zlotys to build and maintain roads; and 2001 Zlotys each year to maintain security in the area. The Community rose and progressed and by the end of the 19^th century, the population had increased to 2,343 people.

During World War I, many Jews suffered from the effects of the war. Many Jewish residents left their homes and possessions, and moved to distant villages and towns. After the war, some returned to Dubienka to claim their shops, stores and possessions that were left behind. They [then] sailed to the New World and settled there. The rest returned to the region and re-established themselves. By 1939, the Jewish population was 2,160 people.

With the coming of the 21^st Zionist Congress, the Zionist Youth Organization and the Hachalutz awakened and came to life. As a result, Beitar was formed and the Youth received Zionist indoctrination. Many prepared themselves for Aliya to Palestine [in order] to help develop the land there. Those who made Aliya to Palestine were fortunate enough to escape the Holocaust. All these things were happening in Dubienka before the start of World War II.

When the German Army entered Dubienka in mid-September, 1939, the Nazi's started their brutality against Jews, [including] forced labor and other excesses. They stormed synagogues, forced Jews outside wrapped in their prayer shawls. They cut the sidelocks of all Jews that they could get their hands on and beat them for extra measure. A Judenrat was formed and they were forced to supply Jews for forced labor. In December 1939, Jews were forced to gather in the middle of the marketplace and stand before the Gestapo.

The younger and stronger ones were forced to march from Dubienka to Hrubieszów^[1] and many were shot to death on the way. From Hrubieszów they were again forced to march to the town of Sokola. Hundreds of Jews went on this death march. Half of them were murdered on the way. Many of them tried to swim across the River Bug to get to the Soviet occupied zone. Many of them drowned. Few survived to reach the Soviet side. In the beginning of 1940, many Jews came

[Page II]

from neighboring towns and villages from the Krakow region and resettled in Dubienka. They were forced to wear the Star of David. Prayer was prohibited. The big synagogue and other places of worship were demolished. Torahs were ripped and burned. Jews were beaten and killed all with the act of participation by Gentiles. In the spring of 1940, the Nazi sent hundreds of Jews from the age of 17 and higher to Belzec. They stayed there until the spring of 1941 doing forced labor. From November 1941 to March 1942, hundreds of refugees from Krakow and neighboring towns were sent to Dubienka.

In June of 1942, the Nazi gathered 100 Polish wagons with horses and 2,070 local Jews were driven out by the S.S. and Polish police from their quarters and driven to Hrubieszów; and from there, they were driven in trucks to the death camp in Sobibor. Very few saved themselves by escaping. Many of them were rounded up by Polish peasants and Nazis. There were 200 Jewish tradesmen left in Dubienka and many of them died of starvation. On the 19^th of October 1943, the Nazi rounded up the remaining 54 Jews in the town and took them to the local cemetery and murdered them.

[Page III]

Dubienka was a small town in Poland, separated from the world by the river Bug. It was populated by about one thousand families; five hundred Christian and five hundred Jewish. There were plenty of tradesmen, tailors, shoemaker, carpenters and builders. The rest scratched out a living as merchants, dealers and peddlers. Very few were well off and most, quite poor, but they didn't seem to notice.

The town had many houses of worship, enough to satisfy all of its inhabitants. There was the big synagogue standing tall and majestic, and a small one where shoemakers and tailors attended. There was also the large Beth Midrash where mostly business people prayed. The Chasidim had their own places. There was the Trisker and Wladafker Shtibul (house). Across the road from the synagogue was the community bathhouse and mikveh. Every Friday, Jews would go to the steam room and get cleaned up in preparation for the Shabbat. It was also open for women on Mondays and Thursdays.

Before World War I, there was a community cantor. He earned a living by selling kosher wine and by going to homes and stores collecting some groshen (pennies). The town shammes was Avrum Dansinger, a learned man who was in charge of the big synagogue. Every Friday afternoon, he would go around the stores, calling loudly that Shabbat was approaching and it was time to close up shop. All the merchants locked up and ran home to get ready to welcome Shabbat.

The Trisker and Wladafker Shtibuls had their own rabbis and Chasidic faithful. Every year the rabbis would come to visit their followers and they would have a big celebration. The Chasidim prepared the food and it was a big honor for them to receive blessing from the Rabbi. In the evening, he received visitors who came for his blessings and guidance.

As a rule, Jews always tried to help one another. A group of women was interested in helping the sick and poor, so on Friday afternoons; they canvassed homes to collect challah, bread and other items for the needy families. That's how things were until World War I, when I was ten years old.

During the war^[1], the Russian and German armies had a big battle in our town and the Russians lost. The Russian troops retreated and Dubienka was occupied by the Germans. At that time, it wasn't too difficult to live with the Germans because we were able to communicate with them.

However, many homes and stores went up in flames during the fighting. At about the same time, the cholera epidemic broke out and people were dying like flies... Little by little, the town started to rebuild with the help of the government.

It was about this time that the Zionist movement developed. Those active in the cause distributed Keren-Ami boxes to local homes. A Zionist organization and a school were founded under the leadership of Shlomo Lev, son of Rachmil the Shochet. Shlomo Lev was well-learned in Tanach and spoke fluent Hebrew. We had good teachers and even I was a student in Beth-Sefer. A drama department was established under the supervision of Israel Helfand and his wife.

In 1930 on Simchat Torah, the Chasidim were dancing and singing with the Sefer Torah in the Wladafker Shtibul. A group of young Zionists, including myself, sang the Hatikvah. That angered the Chasidim who turned on us and called us “Shkutzim” – bums. Some of us were already young marrieds and were very upset with the insult. We left the Shitbul, called a meeting for all the young men who prayed there, and decided that we needed to have a place of our own to worship. We found an empty building that had once been a shelter for the indigent. We fixed the dilapidated walls and doors and painted the place. For a while, we had our own shul and mostly young people attended the services. It wasn't long though, before the building burned down, but we didn't give up. We formed committees and decided to build a place to worship and a school.

[Page IV]

We started a fund drive, and the first five hundred dollars came from the Dubianka Society of New York. There was also two hundred dollars contribution from Warsaw Jewish Community, but the rest we managed to raise ourselves. We wanted to provide our children with a modern Jewish education along with knowledge of the Polish language, without them having to suffer the indignities hurled at them in public schools. Too often they came home beaten and humiliated by antisemitic Polish classmates.

I was appointed to head the project and had to assistants. Moishe Helfman and Pinchas Shwartzberg. We brought in teachers from out of town. One was Yakubowitch, a graduate of the Polish seminar, and then there were some teachers who taught Hebrew.

In order to appease the Jewish community's more zealous faction who might argue that the Culture School wasn't Kosher enough, we decided to name the school Yavneh. The school enjoyed great success and the parents were happy knowing their children were in good hands, getting a good education. It was wonderful to hear the school's two hundred students were learning Hebrew, conversing with one another. It was difficult to find money to keep the school operating, and the American Society again came through to help.

On Saturdays and High Holy Days, we had a large attendance, mostly young Zionists. We had our own cantors, Torah readers and a choir. Life continued on until Hitler winds began to blow from Germany into Poland. Antisemitism was growing from day-to-day. The atmosphere was stifling and it was difficult to live. Signs cropped up all over town warning Poles not to do business with Jews. Store windows were broken; our houses burned and insults were hurled. The gates to all other countries were locked to us.

September 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland. Immediately, the country was in an uproar. The cities were bombed and it didn't take long for Germany to capture Poland. Our town was occupied by the Russian army, for which we breathed a sigh of relief. But that, too, was short-lived. In just three weeks, Stalin and Hitler signed the Non-Aggression Pact. The Russians told us they were leaving the town and the border would be changed to the other side of the River Bug. They warned us what to expect from the Germans and begged us to leave with them, even offering transportation. Some people did leave with the Russians, especially the young and the poor who had nothing to lose. Others didn't know what to do, especially those who had shops and businesses. They didn't want to leave the material things, so they stayed.

On a cold, snowy morning, right after Sukkot, the Russian army left and for a few days it was quiet. No one could imagine the tragedy that would occur. Soon, 15 Nazi on motorcycles appeared in town. Like wild animals, they ran into homes and pulled out Jews, including myself, my father-in-law, and Rabbi Kowartowsky. They placed the motorcycles, filthy with mud, before us and told us to clean and polish them. Of course, we did the job. It was a Sunday morning and the Poles stood by and insulted us with filthy antisemitic expressions and danced with happiness.

After we finished the cleaning job, the Germans cut off the beards of the men. They made a pile of the cuttings, poured kerosene and made the men form a circle and dance around the fire. The Poles applauded and said it was a beautiful show. Right then, we realized that the Russians were right. We had made a big mistake in not leaving with them, but it was too late. The border with Russia was the River Bug and it would be impossible to cross. Before long, men and women were pressed into hard and filthy work; the only reward for which were insults, beatings and the German whip.

One fine morning, the mayor called in several Jews and gave an order that within three days they had to pick twelve people who would be responsible for fulfilling all the orders given out by the Germans. The group would be called the “Judenraat”, however, no one wanted the position. Then came the second order: people who worked with the Jewish community had to accept the position and since I had worked in that capacity, I was one of the twelve. The others

[Page V]

were: Moishe Helfman, President; his assistants were: Welwele Winek, Yoni Pinies, Izick Sobel, Shepsil Bernstein, Itche Danciger, Aaron Mastbum, Bunish Krempel, Itzhak Segal, Chaim Lemberger and Avrum Mandel. Also assigned were some young men for policemen.

The Judenraat had to supply workers for all kinds of jobs like taking care of the horses and wagons, chopping wood and all kinds of dirty jobs. There was no pay, of course, except for the frequent beatings. After such days of hard work and beatings, the people went home exhausted, but other Jews had it much worse. There were no Gestapos in Dubienka but they came from other cities such as Hrubieszów, Chelm and Dorhus. They caused us plenty of trouble and when they left town, there was always fewer of us alive.

Lots of Jewish families came from Chelm, Lodz and Warsaw to live with us, hoping it would somehow be better in a small town. The situation became worse when the war broke out again between Russia and Germany. All hell broke loose. We received an order that all Jews had to wear a Star of David patch with the inscription “Juda”, and all men had to cut off their beards. It was especially difficult for the Orthodox men. The humiliation was tragic; hard to describe. Some just were not able to do it and instead covered their faces with shawls so people would think they had a toothache.

The residents were allotted three and a half ounces of sugar, very little potatoes and about six and a half pounds of flour a month per person. The Judenraat took the flour and gave it to a baker who then gave the people bread since people didn't have wood to burn. People were starving because they had no money to secretly buy food from the gentiles.

We belonged to the working group in Hrubieszów, which was told to supply workers to cut down trees. We sent them but the men had to bring their own food. The commandant gave us three days to supply fifty young men to work in the Wlobeurtz, a village near Hrubieszów. We asked the well-to-do families to help out the needy, and we sent out our own children from the Judenraat to relieve the tired workers. We also became acquainted with the watchmen, paying them weekly bribes to that they wouldn't labor [work] the children too hard.

One morning, they sent us 500 Jews from Hrubieszów who came from Krakow. We settled them. Some had money but the rest we had to help survive. That is how we lived from 1939 until the beginning of 1942 and in that year, came the beginning of the end. The Gestapo from Chelm would appear daily and demand things such as whiskey, cigarettes, silverware and electrical appliances. That forced us to buy back those things that we had sold to the Poles in order to give it to the Gestapo. Before leaving town, they made sure to kill a dozen or so Jews first and demanded that they be buried immediately.

Not far from Dubienka was the village of Bialepol was a brick factory was owned by the Goldbarten family. The Nazi demanded that we supply workers for the factory who would live there and be fed. There were 20 volunteers, young strong men who thought that they would not be sent anywhere else and would at least get food. They worked there for several months until one day, the Gestapo came and took 50 Jewish men out of the factory and put them in empty Jewish houses. They locked the doors and windows and then set the house on fire, watching it burn, as they stood ready with machine-guns. Nothing was left but ashes. The Gestapo searched for Jews everywhere, killing them until they liquidated the Jewish population of Dubienka.

In the beginning of March 1942, there came an order to the Judenraat that 1,000 Jews were to arrive in three days from Hrubieszów and that we had to provide lodgement for them. We prepared the Beth-Midrash, Shtiblach and empty stores to receive them. A kitchen was prepared at Ruchel Albert's house and everything was ready as we waited to meet our guests. It was cold, damp and frosty when the 1,000 worn-out people came to town on Purim. There were men, women and children. It was a frightful sight. They had been chased out from their own surroundings and

[Page VI]

> were told to walk to Hrubieszów in the cold, ice and snow. Many fell out on the road, and those who could not go on were shot by the Gestapo. They arrived in Hrubieszów more dead than alive, and a group of one thousand came to Dubienka. When we saw the condition of the people, we knew we could not place them in empty stores and synagogues because there was no heat. We decided that each family would take in several families. We organized a kitchen and gave them soup and bread twice a day and they slept on the floor. The filth and congestion were horrible. It brought disease when there were no doctors or medicines, and that is how we lived and suffered.

It was on a Saturday that we received information that on [the next] Tuesday morning we would have to prepared 500 wagons to transport all the Jews to Hrubieszów, and so I called on a meeting of the Judenraat to discuss the situation. The news travelled very fast around town. On that same day, a messenger appeared from Hrubieszów with a letter to the Judenraat stating that no Jew is allowed to leave town for the next three days. Even those who worked for gentiles and those living in outlying villages had to come back to town. Now, all of them were awaiting the verdict. The people started packing their belongings. The things they could not take with them, they gave to gentiles they knew for storage. On Monday evening, two Gestapos came riding on horses. They went directly to the President of the Judenraat and informed him that all the Jews would have to be in the center of town at six a.m. the following morning. Each person was allowed to take 20kg of baggage, money and jewellery, as well as food for three days.

They were told they were going to a place where they would be able live free and no one would bother them, but if someone was hiding, they would send the police to find them and kill them on the spot. We asked how we could be expected to notify everyone since there was a six-p.m. curfew? The answer was that that night there would be no curfew. We were free to move about, whoever had any flour, baked bread for the no-return trip.

At six o'clock the next morning, the market was filled with Jewish residents. Two Gestapo men pulled out a list and called about 200 names and told them to remain. The rest, some 4,000 in all were told to mount the wagons and with the escort of the German murderers, left town. The trip to Hrubieszów wasn't too bad. The Nazi pretended to be taking us to a friendly place and didn't even insult anyone. They even stopped a few times on the road.

The tragedy started when the Jews entered a large section near the train station, surrounded with wire fencing and German police with machine-guns. They shot many of the tired old people who didn't have the strength to move on. Among them was Rabbi Aaron Mordechai Suchachewsky. The bitter reality was seen by all. Again, it was too late to escape. The place was surrounded by German soldiers with machine-guns and everyone knew they had come to the end of their sad existence. I and a few other men went to see the Hrubieszów Judenraat to see if they could help to free some men who were separated from their wives, but they were not able to help. Moishe Helfman and I went to see the working inspector, thinking, perhaps he could help. We took money and gifts to him and promised to help. We gave him a list of 100 names. He called the names out and was about to release them when the S.S. commandant appeared and asked what he was doing. The working inspector told him those people were needed to finish the necessary work. The S.S. commandant told him that those people belonged to the transport but that there would be another group arriving the following day from which he could get his workers. The inspector could do no more. He came back and told the situation, but of course, did not return the money or the gifts.

Broken and disillusioned, we returned to Dubienka where the remaining people waited for us to give them good news. They didn't have to ask; the answer was on our faces. Riding back to Dubienka, we encountered a group of Germans. They threw us off the wagon, beat us up until

[Page VII]

we passed out, and then lined us up, ready to kill us. At the last minute, a Polish customer of mine intervened and begged them to let us go. I guess our time wasn't up yet. The Germans let the driver and wagon go, while we walked the twelve kilometers home, half dead.

The Jews that were left at the place near the train station remained there, suffering for two more days without food, water or sleep. On the third day, more wagons [carrying Jews] appeared. All were shoved into boxcars to be taken by train to Sobibor where the gas chamber awaited them. With that, ends the lives of four thousand human beings.

The remaining one hundred fifty people in Dubienka suffered until after Sukkot. They were then taken to Hrubieszów where several thousand people from different towns were waiting. From Hrubieszów, they were sent in packed wagons. Among them was the President of Hrubieszów Judenraat, who committed suicide. Some managed to escape, including myself, my wife and three daughters. My oldest was hiding with a group in Chelm; they were caught and shot. Many Jews that left with the Russians managed to save themselves. Of the last group that managed to hide, only fifteen survived.

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