 |
|
|
[Page 505]
by Ch.Z. Mendelson[3]
Translated by Allen Flusberg
Among the people learned in Torah and the leading members of the community in our shtetl [little town], there were also Jews who, aside from their Torah knowledge, were also dedicated heart and soul to the welfare of the community. One of these, who achieved an outstanding reputation throughout the region, was the Torah-learned volunteer worker R.[4] Yosef Vigutov of blessed memory, who together with other esteemed members of the community, such as R. Avrohom Shaya Nosson and R. Hirsh Rudnicki, led the assistance work in our town.
During the period in which the Germans captured our shtetl [during the First World War] and immediately began to confiscate the entire wealth of the region—already in those days the Germans were conducting their effort of plunder with great brutality. There stood out in particular a member of the military who would, with sadistic pleasure, beat Jews whom he came across while he was riding his horse; he was accompanied by his assistant, Chwat, a son of the German teacher Chwat, of whom it was rumored that they were meshumodim [Jewish converts to Christianity].
But worse than that in that period was when the farmers became so impoverished that they had nothing more to bring to town to sell. In addition, monetary support that a large fraction of the population used to receive from their relatives in America was suspended. Consequently, the economic situation in our town deteriorated from one day to the next, until the majority of the population was actually starving. They didn't even have clothing to wear: they were wearing wooden shoes, as well as garments fabricated from German coats that had been purchased from German soldiers.
At that time, we needed someone to lead an assistance program, someone with a truly warm Jewish heart who would be prepared to sacrifice his own needs to benefit the public welfare. The monthly support that our shtetl was receiving from the JOINT was not nearly enough to aid those in need, not even partially.
[Page 506]
I vividly recall the heart-rending spectacles at R. Yosef Vigutov's house. His home was always full of people who had come to ask for aid. They were all crying out, begging, pouring out their bitter hearts, describing the great deprivations that they were experiencing. R. Yosef, whose desire it was to help everyone, would grimace with pain; for as great as the needs were, the available funds were limited. Yet no one left emptyhanded, whether he received a note that would get him bread from the baker, or a few German marks in cash. Nor did R. Yosef forget the impoverished individuals who were too ashamed to ask.
I remember him well: a tall man, running around worriedly all the time, deep in thought—ignoring his own livelihood, which he obtained from a tavern. Every evening would find him sitting at home, studying Torah late into the night. This was the kind of aid workers that our little town had—who can forget them!
Translator's Footnotes
by Zalman Reisen
Translated by Allen Flusberg
Avrohom Hersh Kotik was born in Kamenetz-Litowsk on the 3rd of Elul[2], 1868. He was the son of Yechezkel Kotik. At the age of four he had already begun learning from children's teachers. Later he moved to Kiev with his parents. In 1881 he enrolled in a Warsaw state gymnasia (high school), but he was expelled from the school in 1886 because of revolutionary activity. Much later, in 1898, he completed his education at the Warsaw University as a pharmacist.
|
From the very beginning of his youth he took part in the socialist movement, leading the propaganda and enlightenment effort in Russian. But realizing that the Jewish workers did not understand any Russian, he got the idea that there was a need to create a popular scientific literature in Yiddish.
In 1894, together with A. Breslern, he began publishing a series entitled Visenshaftliche Folks-Bikher [Popular Science Books], of which the first was entitled “What Life Was Like for People Several Thousand Years Ago”. This publication played a certain role in the years of the Jewish workers' movement before the Bund[3] was founded and immediately afterwards.
After a break of several years (1900), A. H. Kotik renewed his publishing activity in Bialystok, where he also served as a teacher. He established the publishing company Folks-Bildung [Popular Education], where Avrohom Reisen and afterwards Y. Ch. Brener served as secretaries.
[Page 508]
In 1904 Kotik settled in Minsk, where he founded a Yiddishist[4] Center, one of the first that would occupy itself with putting together a Yiddish grammar, Yiddish textbooks, etc. Members of the center included David Kasel, Sarah Reisen, and Yosef Tzipkin, to name a few. Zalman Reisen was then working under Kotik as a secretary. In July 1905 Kotik was arrested for his connections to the Bund, but he was released during the October events[5].
In 1906 he gave lectures on Yiddish literature for the Warsaw Jewish night courses. In 1912 he became the editor-in-fact of the weekly supplement of the [newspaper] Heint, called the “House Doctor”.
During the First World War he and his entire family were forced to wander across various cities of Russia as the representative of the newspaper Russkiye Vedomosti[6]. In 1920 he returned to Poland as director of the information section of the public-health medical organization of the Joint[7].
In February, 1924 he came to America, but because of the limitations on immigration he was forced to leave the country in 1926. He went off to Moscow, where he took a position in the education department.
In his versatile activity and creative work, Kotik also published journalistic and popular science articles in various Yiddish and Russian newspapers. He wrote about culture and school issues, bibliography, economic issues, social hygiene, and the like.
(From Zalman Reisen's Lexicon, as abridged by Chaya Krakowski)
Translator's Footnotes
by Prof. Shmuel Eisenstadt (Tel Aviv)
(From My Father's Memoirs)
Translated by Allen Flusberg
My father, Yosef Eisenstadt, recounts the following in the memoirs of his youth in Chemeri[2]:
On the eve of every holiday, my father, R.[3] Yaakov Ber, used to send charity from his estate to Kamenetz and the surrounding littles towns—not less than 18 rubles to each of them, to be distributed among the poor people of each place. He also used to send wagons, laden with potatoes from his own fields, to the gabbais[4] of Kamenetz, to distribute to poor families for Passover.
*
When I was only seven years old, I was already quite aware that there was a soifer [scribe] living in Kamenetz who wrote scrolls for Torahs, tefillin [phylacteries] and mezuzes [door-posts]. He name was R. Shepsl. We children were very fond of him because he was funny and told great stories. Although very poor, he was always jolly and good-natured; and he was a treasure house of sayings and ideas.
And when R. Shepsl's source of income dried up completely—because townspeople who had no children stopped commissioning him to write Torah scrolls—he was not at all flustered, and he decided to set off on a journey to the Land of Israel. Townspeople who knew him well provided him with expenses for the trip.
After a year had passed he returned to Kamenetz, bringing with him all the best of things: a few bags of earth from the Land of Israel[5]; Torah Atzei Chayim[6], made of cedarwood from Lebanon; pomegranates from the vicinity of Jericho; coconuts; and most of all, an endless stockpile of stories about the wonders that he experienced on his journey to the Land of Israel.
[Page 510]
R. Shepsl, always a welcome guest at our house, used to visit our estate quite often. He was treated like a gentleman and a scholar, and he would always stay over for several days. My father received him very respectfully and rewarded him with a few rubles and a flask of wine for kiddush and havdola[7]. On each of his visits to our estate that took place after he had returned from the Land of Israel, he would tell us children his wondrous stories. And in our imaginations, we used to think of him as a kind of reincarnation of the prophet Elijah.
Translator's Footnotes
by Leah Aloni-Bobrowski (Tel Aviv)
Translated by Allen Flusberg
Shloimke was born in Kamenetz-Litowsk. His parents were Nechama and Yossl Mandelblatt; the latter was a writer who for many years was a Yiddish-Russian teacher in our town. Even as a child, Shloimke was an excellent student. At the age of 12 he was already actively working alongside his father in the Yiddish-Russian classes, but all this did not satisfy him—he was striving for an education.
|
He taught himself from textbooks until the First World War broke out. When the Germans occupied Kamenetz at that time, no one needed the Russian language anymore, and the writer Yossl and his family were left without any livelihood. But Shloimke did not lose courage. Right away he began to study German diligently, and he was very successful. It didn't take very long for Shloimke to obtain a position as a secretary and translator for the German military authority in Kamenetz, a job that greatly improved his family's economic situation.
[Page 512]
During the course of his work in the headquarters of the German command, he tried as hard as he could to help the citizens of Kamenetz, whether Jewish or Christian. When the First World War ended and the Germans retreated from our area, Shloimke was again unemployed.
As soon as the Polish state came into existence and incorporated our shtetl, Shloimke began to study again. With much difficulty he acquired Polish textbooks and intensively devoted himself to learning the Polish language. He studied while concealed in an attic, just as many of the Jewish youth of Kamenetz were doing, because the cruel Polish police commander, a Jew hater, would beat any Jew whom he came across.
When Shloimke was convinced that he knew both written and spoken Polish well, he began to seek a practical occupation. He went to the Polish police headquarters and spoke directly to the Polish police commander, the Jew hater, offering his services as secretary and translator in the Polish military authority. The police commander responded with derision, expecting to bestow a bit of a beating on him, but Shloimke was not flustered. He reminded the police commander that the majority of Kamenetz's citizens were Jews and Provoslavna [Eastern Orthodox] who did not know the Polish language, and so the Polish police headquarters would need a translator who could lighten the work load of the police authorities. After he had said this, the police commander gave him a sheet of paper and asked him to write the following in Polish: “All the Jews are Communists and enemies of the Polish Fatherland, and they should all be shot.” Shloimke responded boldly and emphatically: “I am a Jew and I will not write those words about my people!” The commander softened a bit and said: “Then write whatever you wish.”
Shloimke wrote down his resumé, in which he noted that in that very same building he had also worked as a German secretary and translator. He said that if the commander wanted someone to vouch for his honesty, he could ask the Catholic citizens of Kamenetz, many of whom Shloimke had helped in their interactions with the German police.
[Page 513]
Once the commander was convinced that everything that Shloimke had said and written was true, he called Shloimke in and said: “You will be my secretary!” And when Shloimke began working in the Polish headquarters, the savage commander stopped beating Jews. Shloimke became the Jews' patron: whoever needed help came directly to him, and he rescued many Jews from various troubles and evil decrees. He served both the Jewish and Christian population with great faithfulness.
When they held the very first election for the local municipality of Kamenetz, the local government appointed Shloimke Mandelblatt as the town secretary in the municipality,[2] even though a candidate who was Polish was competing against him. Shloimke was a personality who was well liked by all the citizens of Kamenetz, both Jewish and Christian. A man of profound understanding, he knew how to adapt to all the different types of people that he dealt with throughout the course of his work in the municipality. His competence and tactfulness made it possible for him to remain in his position for many long years, from his difficult start all the way to his tragic end.
Shloimke was married to Chaya-Sara Chazanowitz. They led a tranquil, dignified family life.
When the Nazi murderers took over Kamenetz, the Mandelblatts' oldest son, Reuven, was among the first 100 victims.[3]
Chaya-Sara, Shloimke and their children all perished at the hand of the German murderers, together with all the other Jews of Kamenetz and Zastavya.
May their memory be a blessing.
Translator's Footnotes
by N. N.
Translated by Allen Flusberg
Dr. Ayzik Gorny was born in Kamenetz. His parents made it possible for him to receive a traditional upbringing as well as a secular education. Right after the First World War—when he was 13 years old—he got into the 5th class of the Hebrew Gymnasia in Bialystok, where his parents had also taken up residence. But two months later his father died.
|
After his father's death, the economic situation of the bereaved family worsened considerably. But Ayzik continued learning, spending hours on mathematics, preparing himself for his studies. It should be noted that after his father's death he recited kaddish[2] for him several times a day, and even studied a chapter of Mishna[3] to honor his memory.
[Page 515]
At the age of 17 he left to study in university—first in Switzerland and then in France—where he studied mathematics, and obtained a doctorate. He was given a university chair in France[4].
In spite of the fact that outside the country Dr. A. Gorny was not living in a traditional Jewish environment, he courageously kept his Jewish name, and he participated in circles that were active in nationalist funds that supported building up a free national home in the Land of Israel.
During the Second World War, on Yom Kippur[5] of 1942, he was sent to Auschwitz by the Nazis, who had occupied France. And he never returned from there.
Dr. Ayzik Gorny published mathematical works that can be found in the mathematics faculty of the Jerusalem University. In that faculty, a conference was held on October 8, 1963, in which Prof. S. Mandelblatt of England[6] memorialized Dr. Ayzik Gorny, referencing a number of the works of the scholar who had been put to death.[7]
Translator's Footnotes
by M. Naiman
Translated by Allen Flusberg
During the First World War, a very large number of people were suffering from hunger, fear and illness in Kamenetz. Families stayed together as a group and suffered together. At that time Yankl Zlates of Zastavya lost his entire family (except for one brother, Avrohom Moishe and family, who later died at the hands of the Nazis); and he, the youngest of his brothers, was starving. He was sleeping in attics and walking around in tattered clothing.
When he grew up, however, he became a capable young man. He organized labor meetings and spoke before the workers, explaining to them that they should join a union, so that together they could fight for better working conditions. Not all the workers listened to him, but Yankl did not give up. After a hard day of labor, together with Bentze Safir, Layzer Kagan and many other workers, he would go out to round the workers up at work, so that they would not work 10 hours or more a day. Yankl and the others wanted to fight for an 8-hour workday. It was difficult to make this happen, but organizing the workers in unions was successful. After a great struggle the workers there became conscientious members of professional unions.
Yankl was also one of the first to come up with the idea that the town must have a library. Together with Moishke Greenblatt, Moishke Visotzky, Gitl Sofer and Hiyene the Rebbetzin's[2], he founded the first Jewish workers' library. This library brought the town joy: every evening young boys and girls would come to the library to read books and also to meet their friends. These were lovely, pleasant years.
After that Yankl was selected as a councilman, representing the workers of Kamenetz, while Yosl Vigutov[3] became the representative of the shopkeepers and businessmen. Matuchnik was then the mayor of the municipality and Shloimke Mandelblatt[4] was the secretary.
[Page 517]
Yankl was always watching out to make sure that the poor segment of the population was not burdened by too much tax. The mayor and the secretary always paid attention to what he had to say, and many times they also followed his opinion. He was kindhearted and did many favors for poor people.
Later, Yankl, together with Yosl Vigutov were selected as councilmen to the Assembly in Brisk [Brest-Litowsk][5]. Once a month the councilmen from the impoverished little towns used to come to Brisk for the sessions, to defend the interests of their towns.
Yankl died in Brooklyn on July 10, 1963.
Translator's Footnotes
|
|
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.
Kamenets, Belarus
Yizkor Book Project
JewishGen Home Page
Copyright © 1999-2024 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 5 Jan 2022 by LA
