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“The child is gone”

In the Great Synagogue, before it was destroyed in the First World War, there was a porthole up the north wall and above it the inscription “The Child is Gone”.

According to the legend, the Ba'al Shem Tov once visited Gwozdziec and met with “HaShor HaKaddosh”. The two tzaddikim gathered in the old synagogue and ordered everything not to disturb them. A group of curious children could not overcome their urge, they let one boy climb on top of them and he poked his head through the porthole, to see what was happening inside. However, the boy “peeked and was hit” and fell dead on the spot.

In memory of the event - and probably as a warning - they installed on the north wall the inscription “The Child is Gone”.

In Gwozdziec, it was not customary that the groom, who was about to consecrate a woman under his canopy, cover the bride's face, which was contrary to the accepted custom in all Jewish communities. The reason for this unusual custom lie in a tragic incident that happened there. Once during the Kiddushin ceremony, held near the old synagogue, at the moment when the groom covered the face of the bride, both - the groom and the bride - collapsed and died on the spot. The unfortunate couple, who haven't been reunited yet, were later buried next to the synagogue where it happened. Since then, a groom who was about to marry a woman was forbidden to cover the face of the bride.

Another custom, which took root in the town following the death of the couple, was throwing garlic over the grave of the two on the ninth day of Av.

Due to the tragic case of the bride and groom who died together under their canopy, which was placed in the courtyard of the old synagogue, and they were buried in the southern corner of the courtyard, on the area east of the synagogue, the area east of the synagogue remained empty and it was forbidden to build on it, even for the use of the synagogue itself.

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The penknife

The Jewish craftsman who was involved in the construction of the synagogue, used for the sculpting work of the Holy Ark the same penknife that was used to sculpt the Holy Ark in the synagogue of the Holy Ari in the city of Safed in the Holy Land.

In the First World War, when the Russian army burned all the houses in the town, the fire started after a group of soldiers found a treasure of schnaps. After they got drunk, as it was customary among the Russian soldiers, they set fire to the brewery along with all the schnaps left in it. After that they went from house to house and set it on fire, until all the houses of the town were burnt. Only one building was not damaged by the flames, and it was the large and old synagogue, even though it was also made of wood, like all the other houses that were burnt. The soldiers took flammable material and poured it on the synagogue, but it didn't help. despite that, they did not let go of their plan, and three days later they succeeded in their plot. Only a small handful of ashes remained from the synagogue.

The Cossacks carried out their plot and the synagogue, which had stood for about three hundred years, was completely burned down.

A few days before the election day of a new rabbi, one of the melamedim was engaged in several acts with the elder of the tailors in the town. First, they both went to the mikveh to purify themselves, then they prayed Shacharit with the Anenu prayer, as being done on a fast day, and then they went to the cemetery, where they walked

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straight to the grave of “HaShor HaKaddosh”. The elder of the tailors of remained standing some distance away by the fence while the melamed ascended the grave of the tzaddik.

As it was well known, this was against the prohibition of the famous will, which was accompanied by the threat that anyone who violates it, will be punished and die.

But the melamed approached and begged, saying: “HaShor HaKaddosh”, let us have the Great Synagogue, please help the election of Rabbi Malmberg!

When this became known in the town, upon the return of the melamed and the elder of the tailors, many people came towards them and began to preach morals to the melamed and it seemed that he was comforted by this act.

That day in the early evening, the melamed's son was about to go to the city of Horodenka and the father accompanied him to the train station. It was during the winter and the road was slippery and the melamed fell and injured himself. He was immediately taken to a hotel, which was near the train station, from where a doctor was called and when he arrived some time later, he could only determine a cerebral hemorrhage. That night the melamed passed away and the next day he was brought to the same cemetery where the tzaddik was buried. The elder of the tailors didn't last long and he passed away a month after the event.

Rabbi Yitzchak Shor, known as “HaShor HaKaddosh”, writes G. Shalom: “was Av Beit Din in Gwozdziec, who some of his family members were among the leaders of the sect (Shabtai Zvi), writes in response about a book of the Torah, written by a scribe from the members of the sect: “those who follow the instigator and inciter “Barkiya of Slonik”, who is one of the most famous liars, who even did not change their name, their appearance and their speech from my ways of the Law of Moses, but part of their heart was not devoted to it, They deviated from the straight path of the Torah”.

(Q&A Shor, section 31, Kolomea, 5648 (1888), page 57, 63. The author passed away on 5536 (1776). The sect had a settlement in the vicinity of Gwozdziec, there was a large number of them especially in the nearby city of Horodenka).

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At the beginning of the war between Germany and Russia, five months into the war (July – November, 1941), the town was relatively quiet. Gwoździec and the surrounding area were occupied by the Hungarians, and the occupiers' attitude towards the Jews was not very bad. At the time, we hoped that perhaps we would be able to get through the difficult period peacefully.

It was summer. There were fruits in my garden and a stock of food and clothing in the house.

The occupiers employed only the men and used the local Jewish Committee that had been established for this purpose. My two sons, Ducia and Benny, were forced to serve Hungarian officers and also worked with others in cleaning the town.

Here and there were cases of abuse, Jews were arrested and beaten and then released. They were beaten during work as well. But these were very minor troubles compared to those that happened during the later period of the war.

Summer has come to an end; the autumn winds were blowing sadly. You could almost feel in the air that tragedy was approaching. In November 1941, the Germans entered Gwoździec and the civil government passed entirely into the hands of the Ukrainians, and the enemy of the Jews, Tkaczyk, was appointed mayor of the town.

The Jewish population received a strict order: it must concentrate within a few hours in the ghetto in the east of the town. My family and I - five people - moved to live at Moshe Binder's house. There was a severe shortage of fuel and food in the ghetto. We suffered from overcrowding and cold, and we were all afraid - everyone asked what would happen?

The situation of the Jews living in east Gwoździec, whose neighborhood was declared a ghetto, was relatively better than that of the Jews who came here from other neighborhoods. Those in the east remained in their apartments with their belongings, while the Jews who were deported to the ghetto were forced to leave most of their belongings in their homes. The belongings were of great importance because in exchange for them, food and fuel could be obtained from the Gentiles.

Despite the difficult situation, which led to famine, no diseases broke out in the ghetto. The fear of death swallowed up most of the troubles. The will to live was stronger and even the natural mortality rate was relatively low. Horrible rumors arrived from the surrounding settlements and, to further the evil, they began to build bunkers in a primitive way in basements.

We built a bunker with the Binder family for seven people and we were ready to go down to the bunker at any moment. We felt that the storm was getting closer.

It happened after Passover, on the 27^th of Nisan 5702, the first Aktziya. At six in the morning shots were heard. Armed Germans and Ukrainians appeared around the ghetto and began a brutal massacre. I went down with my family

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and the Binder couple to the bunker. We lay close to the ground and were terrified. We heard terrible shots and screams and felt suffocating smoke. Sweat, heat and shivering from the cold mixed in me. My head was heavy. I remained almost unconscious. Has the end come? The German-Ukrainian Aktziya against the Jews of Gwoździec lasted for eight hours. Time is different if you measure it by the suffering of hell on earth. At about one o'clock in the afternoon the Aktziya stopped. Its results were terrible: half of the Jews of Gwoździec were killed by gunfire, hand grenades, fires and smoke suffocation.

The surviving Jews loaded the bodies and bones of the dead onto vehicles and buried them in a mass grave in the cemetery. It was the hand of fate that Fate the first day of destruction of the Jews of Gwoździec, the 27th of Nisan, was declared by the Knesset of Israel as Holocaust Day - a day of remembrance for generations.

We were shocked and helpless. The tragic reality quickly brought us to our senses. Gwoździec was declared a “Judenrein” and we were deported to Kolomyia. Old people and children were taken by car and the young people walked. When we arrived at the Kolomyia ghetto, we were horrified by what we saw. Crowds of Jews from Kolomyia and the surrounding area were crowded into a small area, in apartments and courtyards. Poverty and filth, hunger and misery. Natural and unnatural death, in short - hell.

My sister Esther had an apartment in the ghetto - a stroke of luck in a time of disaster. We moved into it and after a dramatic meeting, we regained our spirits. My daughter Genya and I did not leave the house, while the boys Ducia, Benny and my daughter-in-law, Fanny, worked in the fields of the noblemen with other young Jewish men and women. In exchange for working in the fields, we received a little food.

It was already the second summer during the occupation and the chances of staying alive were already slim. Kolomyia ghetto was a cruel place, and we knew we had to escape from it.

A few Jews from Gwoździec were given permission to buy goods for the occupiers, they were called “lucky ones” – “mit di blachlech” – as they had licenses to move freely. They took advantage of the license to move freely for trade and returned to Gwoździec. Others followed them and settled in the apartments that remained from the first destruction of the ghetto. Dressed as a Ukrainian women, I fled from Kolomyia to Gwoździec and returned to my previous place, the apartment of Moshe Binder. A few days later, my daughter Genya also came and we lived together.

We then learned from local Ukrainians that my son and daughter-in-law were in the village of Slobodka (near Kolomyia).

After some time, more families and individuals returned from Kolomyia to Gwoździec by tortuous path, and occupied apartments in the ghetto area. Our hope was that

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since Gwoździec had already passed the Aktziya, the Jews there would probably no longer be bothered, and it would be possible to obtain a little food from the Gentiles who were happy to sell on credit until the end of the war. We thought of a way to escape and hide with humane and brave Poles and Ukrainians.

My daughter Genya dared and succeeded in this. She hid with her Polish friend Anila. I was left alone in Binder's apartment. A short time later, we learned, to our great regret, that the hopes of the Jews of Gwoździec to remain in the town were in vain. A new order was issued by the cruel government to gather all the Jews, register them and deport them.

It was Monday, eight days before Rosh Hashanah 5702. We were gathered and taken according to the previous method to Kolomyia. On the way before the village of Podheychik, the convoy stopped. I was in a wagon when the idea of “escape” suddenly occurred to me. I got out of the wagon and hid in a nearby shed. I heard them looking for me. Finally, the search stopped and the convoy continued on its way. As is known, the Jews were taken to the Kolomyia train station, where there were many Jews from Kolomyia ghetto, including the people of Gwoździec, who had not returned to the town. They were all surrounded by armed Germans and Ukrainians. The wait here at the train station was terrifying. The masses of Jews, men and women, young people, children and babies, were waiting for their funeral. They put this helpless crowd into freight cars and took them to the Belzec death camp. From the survivors who managed to jump from the freight cars, it was learned that many of the victims died during the horrific journey.

As mentioned, I stayed in Podheychik. At nightfall I began walking through fields towards Gwoździec. My goal was to get to my daughter Genya, who was hiding at Anila's house.

I walked among the grain, which was already ripe and ready for harvest. I walked and rested. Farmers took pity on me and gave me food. I wandered around the fields for several days and slowly approached the town. I arrived at the village of Mali Gwoździec. I approached an unfamiliar house and knocked on the window. A woman came out to meet me and I asked her to give me a place to sleep. The woman was frightened, but she quickly understood what was the matter, took me into a small warehouse and served me food. Early in the morning she woke me up, gave me a bottle of milk and a pita made of wheat flour and sent me on my way. I went to Gwoździec. I did not see a living soul on the way. The town was empty of people. I arrived at the house of Dudi Fishman, where Anila lived.

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I knocked on the window and heard the voice of Anila's husband - Ketu Tam (who is it)? I answered: “Geanya's mother”. He opened and let me into his house and when Genya saw me, she fainted.

There was a small storage room in Anila's basement and it was used as our living space. During the days, we didn't dare stick our heads out and only went out at night to get some fresh air. Anila provided us with food as best she could and occasionally brought us hot water to bathe.

Through the Ukrainian Les Wobczerik, I established contact with Ducia and Fanny, who were in Kolomyia ghetto, and we learned about the bitter fate that befell the Jews of Gwoździec, and also that my youngest son was deported and taken to an unknown location.

Winter 1943. Ducia and his wife fled from Kolomyia ghetto and looked for a way to escape. Ducia hid at Anila's house, while Fanny stayed for a while in a pigsty with Wobczerik. At our request, Anila agreed to give a hiding place as well to Fanny, who did housework for Anila at night, and spent the day with us in hiding.

Anila's daughter, Jancia, hid five Jews at her house: the three Bergman brothers – Mendel, Friedel and Moshe, as well as Zalman Perschel and Stella Leitner. Jancia's husband, Karol, was the brave man who initiated our rescue. He was the one who influenced Anila and her husband Piotr to take on the task.

These two Polish families, in danger for themselves, hid us and also ensured our survival. We stayed with them until the end of the dark period, when every Jew was condemned to death simply for being Jewish.

The Red Army captured Gwoździec at the end of March, 1944, and we were liberated. Slowly I got used to walking and I was breathing free air again with my family. We entered our house, got settled in, and on Passover 5704, we felt that we were free again.

A military doctor, a Hungarian Jew, stayed with us, treated us, healed us, and helped us obtain food.

The town looked like a cemetery, with strangers wandering around. We only knew a few who were Holocaust survivors and seemed like shadows of people.

My house was then used as a hostel for the poor remnant of the Jewish refugees. The young people started working to earn a living, but we didn't want to stay and a year later we moved to Poland and from there we immigrated to the Land of Israel.

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