[Page 461]

In memory of my father Eliezer of blessed memory

My grandfather Reb Moshe Leib Bodek had previously served as the head of the community, and was elected as a representative for the [town] council by the Christians. At that time, when the synagogue was being built, they sent him to America to collect money for the synagogue. The majority of the Jews of the town were murdered together with all the other martyrs who were murdered by the Germans and their assistants, may their names be blotted out.

A few Jews who miraculously succeeded in saving themselves live in Israel and in the Diaspora today.

Blima Gruber nee Bodek		From the right: Shimon Shterling and his wife Zandil, Baruch Tzvi Fish, Fruma Fish wife of Shterling, and Chana wife of Parnas

Despite having been liberated from the horrors of the Nazis, the survivors in Bytom, Poland, in 1945, did not find peace. Polish hooligans rioted and harassed Jews, breaking into homes, stealing valuables and anything they could find, and even murdering the occupants. This was how our townsfolk, Tzila Auerbach, nee Rosenfeld, was killed. The atmosphere was charged with fear; even the faintest sound would trigger panic and alarm.

Uncle [of Ben-Zion Friedman], Reb Mendel Friedman, by the tombstone of his rabbi

[Page 466]

I listened to the voice from the other side of the door. It was my uncle calling out, “Do not be afraid, it is I, your uncle Mendel. Quick, open the door.” When my uncle entered the house, he was carrying a package covered by a white sheet. It was difficult to recognize him; he was as pale as chalk and appeared to be breathing heavily and struggling to speak. He opened the package, and there were two silver candlesticks, a cup for Kiddush and Havdalah, a sugar bowl and small tongs to take out the sugar cubes, and a tobacco box, everything made from pure silver. My uncle explained, “I saw Rabbi Brinio in my dream, and he commanded me to bring these items to you so that your wife could bless the candles every holiday.” I replied, “Dear uncle, my wife, Reitza, is no longer alive. Who will recite the blessing over the candles? And why did you come to me at three o'clock in the morning?” He answered, “That was Rabbi Brinio's wish, and I am simply fulfilling it. I brought these articles to you as he requested. You will marry again, and your new wife will recite the blessing over the candles every Friday night.” I promised my uncle I would honor his wishes, and then he returned home.

However, I wondered how the rabbi's ritual articles ended up with my uncle in Bytom. It puzzled me, so I decided to ask my uncle, “How did this miracle happen? After enduring so many hardships–surviving the seven circles of the Nazi hell, facing confiscations and thefts during the Soviets days, and crossing through the Polish border–how did these articles remain intact?” My uncle shared with me an incredible story of dedication and sanctification of God, involving him and his son, Yitzchak. Only courageous Jews with strong faith like theirs could achieve what they did.

My uncle lived in Shtervitz [Szczurowice], which is located about 20 kilometers from Brody. When the Nazi's occupied Brody, my uncle, a loyal follower of Rabbi Brinio from Brody, decided to sneak into the city to see what was happening at the rabbi's court. During his discussion with the rabbi, it was decided that the silver ritual articles would be buried in the garden of a gentile neighbor, without his knowledge and without leaving a mark. My uncle buried the articles one night, and it remained a secret. Tragically, the rabbi and his entire family were annihilated in the Holocaust. Only the rabbi's sister and her husband, Rabbi Dr. Weinstock, survived; they were abroad when the war broke out. After the war, my uncle and his son, Yitzchak, wanted to find out what happened to the rabbi's ritual articles. Traveling to Brody and staying there was dangerous during that time, but my uncle was determined to return to the garden. He and his son made the difficult and risky journey to Brody, and one night they reached the site and retrieved the ritual articles. They carried these items with them throughout all their post-war wanderings.

[Pages 467-474]

There were about 70 families in the town of Schtevitz where I was born. The town was surrounded by forests, one of which was owned by the philanthropist Reb Velvel Wachs. The community itself, headed by Reb Eliezer Sterling, owned its own forest. The Styr River passes by the town and was leased by Reb Avraham Ber Friedman. Later, on the lease was acquired by his son, Reb Mendel Friedman, who was a survivor who passed away recently in Israel. They owned the rights to make use of the income from the river.

This town had a synagogue and study hall just like other towns. There were religious teachers for children and all types of ritual objects required by any Jewish community. Rabbi Yosef Hemerling served as the town rabbi. It was a small town although there were Chassidim from various Chassidic dynasties: Belz, Husiatyn, Olesko, and others. Most of the Jews were involved in business: storekeepers, wood merchants, etc. Some also worked in agriculture. There were artisans, shoemakers, tailors, blacksmiths and others. A fair was held in town once a week, and villagers from the surrounding area came to sell their agricultural products. They would buy merchandise in the Jewish stores: skins, fabrics, kerosene, salt, salted fish, and the like. Non–Jews also enjoyed alcohol, and this was also a source of income among the Jews.

A Zionist organization was established in town at the initiative of Zelig Kranz from Lopatyn in 1922, and it was the first in town and called “Achva”. I happened to have been elected the chairman of the association. Then the “Gordonia” organization was established. At the same time a Hebrew teacher was hired. A library was established and began broad Zionist activities. Lecturers from the central offices and surrounding towns came to Schtervitz. Major activities were undertaken on behalf of the Zionist funds, and the main headline was the establishment of the hachshara training group whose purpose was to train people for the agricultural estate belonging to the Kardiman family in Zawidche.

In 1930 I left for training held in Radekhov at the sawmill owned by Yosef Postel. My brother–in–law, Moshe Eidelheit, was the manager of the sawmill. I handled the group's interests and my official title was Group Leader. Our friends from Radekhov, Zelig Kranz, L. Wurm, Michal Schrage and Baruch Sternberg, who lives in Israel, invested a great deal of effort and work in order to maintain the kibbutz at the appropriate level. Afterwards a second group was set up which found work at the Feierstein sawmill.

In 1933 the first pioneers moved to Eretz Israel: Nechama Perl nee Sterling, Shmuel Singer and his wife Tsipora Schorr, Sarah Feinmesser nee Reis, Rachel Chazan and Kayla Neufeld nee Gold. They all live in Israel today. A letter arrived from the central office just before Pesach in Lvov with instruction not to leave the worksite before the holiday, but to remain at the worksite. However, some of the participants did not heed this request although the majority did, including myself. Our economic situation was not particularly bright, and we did not have the means necessary to observe the holiday properly. We heard that the local rabbi was helpful to the pioneer groups in the area, and we contacted him about it. We found Yosef Wasser at home. The rabbi asked us the reason for our visit and then told us that he was happy we contacted him. He said he would do whatever he could to help us. But when Yosef Wasser heard the rabbi's response he remarked, “But rabbi, these aren't the people you think they are. These people are among those who come every Shabbat to pray.” The rabbi responded that he must first assist those who do not come to pray. I was not ashamed and said, “Then rabbi, you have to punish those of us who do come to pray.” “God forbid,” he replied. “What do you think? I am certain that somehow you will make your arrangements and will not eat chametz,^[1] but those of the second group could end up eating chametz.” And in fact, we made our arrangements, and everything turned out just fine.

I was living in the city of Zalozce near Tarnopol in 1939 when war broke out. The wicked and cruel actions committed against Jews began even on the very day the Germans arrived in town, may their names be blotted out. They immediately captured around 50 Jews including myself. They herded us together into one of the yards and kept us there for a few hours while their curses and threats flowed without end. Suddenly we heard an order: “Within three minutes you must disperse in all directions.” People started running chaotically in every direction, and the Germans opened fire, killing 40 Jews. I succeeded in hiding inside one of the ruins nearby. Then they captured people to dig a large pit to be used to bury the victims. The victims were thrown into the pit without distinction or marking. A few days later the Germans agreed to transfer the victims to a local cemetery, but we were warned to get it done as fast as possible. Chaos broke out among the families of the dead. Everyone wanted to identify their loved ones in order to bury them according to Jewish law with shrouds and ritual cleansing and purification. However, it was difficult to identify the people. Their faces were unrecognizable after several days inside a mass grave. The murderers sped things up, demanding, “faster, faster, finish.” My mother–in–law came to identify her two sons who were among the victims. They identified one of my two brothers–in–law immediately with no doubt, but it was difficult to identify the second one. Both claimed that one of the victims was their son. I searched in the pockets of the dead man and found my brother–in–law's wallet, so only then could we determine the identity of the person without any doubt. After the burial the bitter wailing and crying of the parents, women and children began. The cries rose to heaven and we did not know that problems were just starting.

When the order came for us to leave the town and head to the ghetto in Zborov – I decided that it would be easier to go to Brody, because I knew no one at all in Zborov, so we left for Brody. As we passed Podkamen we were arrested by the wicked Germans who took everything we had in our possession. My father– and mother–in–law were with us, as were my wife and our one–and–a–half–year–old daughter. A few days later we succeeded in getting away again and headed for Brody. When we arrived in Brody at the entrance of the city we were attacked and beaten badly. We made it to our friend Yitzchak Kuperberg who lived in the house of Itsha Haberman on Goldhaber Street.

While we were staying in that home, the first “Aktzia” began. Thirty–some of us, men, women and children, went down to a bunker that had been prepared previously. Unfortunately we did not have sufficient food, and not even drinking water. We had a lot of fear and anxiety. I still feel unsettled whenever I think about those days. Ten days later we left the bunker alive, still surviving. One decree followed another. An order was issued for all Jews living outside the ghetto to congregate inside the ghetto within three days. I found out that my acquaintance Avraham Yaar, the son–in–law of Michal Rottenberg, had an available room and even a cellar where one could hide if necessary. Avraham Yaar took me into his home thanks to the fact that he knew my two brothers, Chaim Hersh and Nachman. Chaim Hersh was my eldest brother who died in the Rimanov camp near Lvov, and my other brother Nachman was murdered in the Yanov camp, also near Lvov. My brother Reuven died in Lvov, and brother Shalom in the Brody ghetto. My two sisters, Mindel Eidelheit, who lived in Radekhov, and Sarah Distenfeld, who lived in Lopatyn, were murdered in Radekhov together with their children. May God avenge their blood. My third sister Fruma Sterling died in the Brody ghetto together with her two children.

After we moved to Avraham Yaar's apartment we decided to refurbish the bunker and make some changes in the apartment: one day Moshe Charesh approached me and told me that in one block of houses called the “Podkamener Block” named for the people from Podkamen who lived there, a few sick people with fevers were there. If nothing was done an epidemic would break out in the ghetto, and an order might be issued: to burn down the block with the residents. However, he demanded that I enter the block of homes and straighten things out. I agreed and went there. When I went in I was crestfallen. In one corner I found a woman who was unconscious next to her dead daughter and her child. People told me that they had been stuck with that situation for several days. They were scared to say anything to the authorities for fear that they would set fire to the building and its residents. I started making order in the houses, removing the dead, etc. Then I also became sick with typhus and was bedridden for two weeks. This also had to be kept a secret so the Germans would not find out about it.

Miraculously I recovered. A rumor was circulating that there would soon be another “Aktzia”. We made efforts to obtain some food and water in the bunker. The fear about the “Aktzia” lasted for weeks, and it was impossible to leave the bunker. Our food and water were gone. The children cried and screamed constantly from hunger and suffering, and it was impossible to help them. But we found ways to survive. Avraham Yaar suddenly remembered that two weeks earlier he had seen two pails of water. The women returned and said they didn't find the water. However, they saw two unknown people from a distance in the area, and Avraham Yaar remained outside to follow them. They also said that they saw my mother–in–law lying helplessly and unconscious in the second cellar where she had gone to set a flame to heat the water she was going to bring. Avraham Yaar also entered the cellar and as he entered he died from poisoning caused by the charcoal gas and lack of air to breathe.

I entered the second cellar, covered Avraham without revealing his death to anyone else. Someone was always passing out. We were a total of three men – my father–in–law, Avraham and myself. After Avraham died there were just two of us left. My father–in–law died before my eyes and I remained the only man who was capable of providing assistance. The only medication I had available was vinegar. Finally I too passed out. They saved my mother–in–law, but when Avraham Yaar's wife learned of her husband's death, her tragedy began. How could anyone influence her not to cry about the death of her husband?

Another day went by with horrors and brutality. On the second night, at approximately midnight, we suddenly heard knocking. In the second cellar someone was knocking and constantly scratching until they discovered an entry into our cellar. They started to open the entrance, and I saw people, one of whom was listening to the wall and saying to the other, “I can hear snoring.” This was the snoring of children asleep who knew nothing of what was going on. Suddenly five or six non–Jewish teenagers of 15–16 years old burst into the entrance to the cellar, and one of them started cursing in his golden language: “Give us all your property and we won't harm you.” I was the only man there, and I could not stand up against them. They started turning over everything in the cellar. Two of the children were choked in the midst of all this devilish activity. The two were my child and Avraham Yaar's child. Finally, they told us: “There aren't any more Jews in the ghetto. Do whatever you want. We can take you to the forest or leave you here.”

I could see that it was more dangerous to remain there. I told the people in the cellar that I thought that we had to get out of there, and every person should do whatever he could to save himself. A few women told me that if I would transfer them across the barbed wire fence they knew where they could go. I did what they asked and a few of them remained alive.

The Germans declared Brody to be Judenrein (free of Jews). However, on occasion they discovered new bunkers. They took people out of them, and some were shot to death and the rest were taken out to forced labor in the camps. We also came out of our faraway location and went to the camp with everyone else. The murderers saw that new people appeared for work and wanted to get rid of them. The day after our arrival an order was issued for all those in the camp to leave their locations and gather together in the yard in rows. Seventy people who arrived at the camp were taken out of the lines. These included Chanoch Kardiman and his family and brother Baruch from Zawidche. These people had already seen the bitterness of death with their own eyes. My brother–in–law Yitzchak Sterling and I returned in the meantime to the location of the ghetto where my wife, mother–in–law, sister Fruma Sterling and her daughter were located. We took them to the camp because we realized there was no possibility of remaining in that location. My brother–in–law and I left the next day for the work in the ghetto. Suddenly we received an order for all workers to gather together back in the camp. We understood that they had selected us to dig a pit for the 70 people who were arrested. We ignored the order, and remained in the ghetto inside some ruins. We were found to be correct because they called for people to dig a mass grave for themselves. Everyone was shot and thrown into the pit in the Leshnev forest. When we arrived at the camp in the morning we discovered only the clothes of the people. The camp was wiped out.

So my brother–in–law and I decided to leave and search for a hiding place some distance away. Suddenly my niece appeared – Mani Fisch together with her girlfriend from Radekhov. She told us that her girlfriend had a safe place where we could hide. It was just a question of money. I did not pay much attention to that story. But I gave them some money. They remained in Brody, and my brother–in–law and I left the next day to work in the ghetto. We worked until the afternoon. We did not return to the ghetto. We hid until midnight and then left Brody. We arrived close to Leshnev, where we spent the whole day. At night we had to continue on to Schtervitz, but in order to get to Schtervitz we had to pass through Leshnev which was quite dangerous. When we got close to Leshnev we found the village of Pisky. My brother–in–law knew a non–Jew there and he hoped that this person, who was a fisherman, would agree to take us across the Styr River into the forest near Schtervitz, which belonged to Velvel Waks. We arrived at the non–Jew's home around midnight. We knocked at the door and he woke up. He welcomed us inside, and we ate and drank, and he promised to get us across the river. This was really an angel from heaven who was sent to save us, and not a gentile such as those we had grown accustomed to treating with suspicion and dealing with cautiously. He got us across the river in a boat, and when I wanted to pay him for the work of helping us he refused the money and said: “When we are all alive together – we'll have a drink together.”

We went into the forest and stayed there all day. At night we continued on until we got to Dobrelovka, to Jan Yashkevich. He also welcomed us and arranged a fine supper for us. He advised us to go to the Mikolayev Forest with the promise that he would bring food to the forest. He also remained true to his promise. A few days later he brought us my brother–in–law's brother, Shimon Sterling and his wife. However, we could not stay in the same place for very long. Shimon and his wife left. Yashkevich also transferred us to another safer place. He provided us with all our needs. We were also with Eliyahu Bernstein and Hertz Friedman from Schtervitz. Both were murdered a brief time later. In this place too was Yosef Parnes from Schtervitz. We were not allowed to remain there for a long time. We therefore decided to move to the place of another gentile. His name was Martzinovski and he lived at the end of the forest. In this area Mendel Friedman and his son Yitzchak were hiding, together with the wife of Meir Hart and their children from Brody. Fate had it that the child struck a match and a fire broke out. People ran away from their locations to the haystack on which I was laying. The people were saved miraculously. They looked for them everywhere, but luckily for them they passed by the place where they were hiding. A few gentiles joined me where I was lying – and asked me for money or else they would report me to the police. Somehow I got away from them and got to the forest. After staying there for two days I heard a dog's barking getting closer. It was the woodsman who was walking with the dog on a hunt. But as he got closer he recognized me, hugged and kissed me with great emotion. He was the woodsman Benderchik. He brought me food and told me that the place where I was hiding was not safe, and he would take me to a safer location, which he did. The next day he brought me Yaakov Potasch who today lives in Canada.

At our new location we barely succeeded in setting up the bunker. We had no digging equipment, and the gentiles were scared to lend them to us. Finally we were forced to buy them from a non–Jew. There was another bunker in the same forest where my brother–in–law's brother Shimon Sterling was located with his wife and her brother Meshulam Reis from Schtervitz. A short time later the Germans discovered that we were in the forest. They informed the woodsmen that a search would be made soon, but the woodsmen informed us about it ahead of time, and we fled the place. I ran to Dobrelovka to Martzinovski, where I had hidden once. He told me that on occasion Pina Potasch, the daughter of Zalman Gold came to him with her two children. On one of my own visits to him I found out that she was at his house recently, and he pointed out the direction she had gone although it was nighttime. However, I succeeded in getting to her. I saw her walking with a child in hand. She was very shocked before the meeting, but she was overjoyed when she realized that she was no longer alone and there was someone to help her.

When I saw the bunker that she had dug with her own hands and with a little assistance from her children I was heartbroken and bewildered. She told me about everything she had gone through, as well as about her husband who had been murdered. And then she said: Ivan Kott lived in the forest. She had already given him everything she had, and he had even threatened her with an axe. The next morning Ivan's wife arrived and provided some food for Pina and her children. When she saw me she was overjoyed, as if about me, and said that Ivan would definitely be happy to see me. She invited me to visit one evening. I knew I had to be careful. However, Pina and I went to see him but he received us coldly but pretended to welcome us as if he wanted to assist us and we asked him to take us in. We could tell he had wicked plans for us, and we decided to run away. Yosef Parnes, Yitzchak Sterling, Shimon Sterling and his wife, Meshulam Reis, Yaakov Potasch, Pina, the children and I met to discuss the matter. We decided to remain in that forest although in a different location a distance away from where we had been until then. We also decided that we should all gather together in one large bunker that we would build for ourselves. This was in January 1944. The weather was very cold and the snowstorms were large. So my brother–in–law Yitzchak Sterling and Yosef Parnes left our bunker and hid with a farmer in the village of Hrycowola.

On one occasion we heard the cries of children, and I could not understand what it meant. Pina explained to us that the Germans sent children who, with their screams and noises, sent animals out of the forest, and that outside the forest there were Germans hunting the animals. So we realized we had to leave the area immediately. We sent Pina and the children to Ivan Kott, and the rest of the people scattered to various places. I went to Dobrelovka to Yashkevich who told me that his own son was among the children running around in the forest. However, as far as he knew they had not discovered the bunker. So we all returned to the bunker where there was some news: Shimon Sterling had come down with typhus. We were crowded together and all ate from the same dishes, and we feared that others would also become ill. Nevertheless the situation ran its course and no one came down with his disease. We received medication for Shimon from the priest in Schtervitz who had a wonderful relationship with us. We remained in the bunker until March 1944.

Ultimately our hour of salvation arrived. It was on the Sabbath. We suddenly heard shouting in Russian: “Long Live the Red Army!” I recognized the voice of my brother–in–law Yitzchak Sterling who had come to report to us about the liberation from the accursed Germans. It is difficult to describe the joy that enveloped all of us. Shimon Sterling was still sick, and we took him on our shoulders and arrived at the center of Schtervitz.

The Passover Seder was approaching, and the town priest suggested we celebrate Passover in his home. As far as kashrut was concerned, the priest told us that the Seder would not be at the highest of standards. We could get fish from the river, and he had wine. But we could not use this wine according to Torah law. He could offer us chickens, but he knew nothing about our slaughtering laws. David Sitzer from Stremiltsh was with us, and he said he had studied the laws of slaughtering in the Talmudic tractate of Hullin. But it was clear we would not have matzah or wine, so we made do without them.

In the meantime the Germans were bombarding the town, and the Russians retreated to Berestechko. We all joined them, and that is where I met Kehat Barach from Lopatyn. We wanted to travel together to Dubno with hopes of finding other Jews there. The Russians sent us back in the middle of the journey to Berestechko. They took Avigdor Apelfeld from Wygoda, the son of David Sitzer and me to Rovno, where we were drafted into the army. We registered as Polish citizens. We understood that as Poles we would have more freedom to decide where we would go in the future. The next day the Germans bombarded the train station in Rovno. We were conscripted together with other people for repair work. Among other things we had to get railroad tracks out of a deep pit. Most people were injured including me. I awoke in a hospital where I remained for a month until I recovered and was sent back to the army. When I left the hospital I dressed in a Polish military uniform, but I was told that I belonged in the Russian army. Since I was a Jew from “Zapadnaya Ukraina” (Western Ukraine), I went to the commander and requested that I be recognized as a Polish soldier. The commander replied harshly and stated that he would put me on trial at a military tribunal because of my counter–revolutionary claim. He finally acceded to my request stating that he liked me. So I joined the Polish army where I went through difficult and bitter times until the end of the war. In 1949, I succeeded in arriving in Israel.

School children in Schtervitz

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I was born In the town of Shtervitz [Szczurowice]. About 70 Jewish families lived there at that time, among a few thousand peasants. The town was in Radekhov county in eastern Galicia. It was surrounded by forests, including a Jewish [part of the] forest that belonged to Reb Velvel Wachs, of blessed memory. Another part of the forest belonged to Rev Eliezer Sterling, of blessed memory, who was the head of the Jewish community. The Styr River, flowed near the town and in those years was managed by Avraham-Ber Friedman, of blessed memory, then later by his son Mendel Friedman, who died here in this country.

In Shtervitz, there was a shul and a beit midrash. There were cheders [religious elementary schools] with various teachers, including a teacher by the name of Hersh Klein, who was the father of David Klein, who died in the war of liberation. The rabbi at that time was Reb Yosef Hemerling, and there were two shochtim [ritual slaughterers]. As small as the town was, there were Chassidim of various dynasties including Belz, Husiatyn, Olesko, and so on. The majority of the Jews worked as merchants, some had shops or were wood merchants, and so on. And some of them earned a living from agriculture. There were also many craftsmen – shoemakers, tailors, metal workers, etc. Once a week a fair was held in town. The farmers from near and distant villages used to gather to sell their products and buy various goods from the Jews, such as leather, cloth, oil, salt, herring, sugar, and so on. The farmers engaged in buying and selling, and like the Jews, they earned money and made a living.

In 1922, we founded the first Zionist organization, which was called “Achva” [“brotherhood”], through the initiative of our late friend Zelig Krantz, of blessed memory,

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and I was the director. Soon after that, the youth organization called “Gordonia” [Zionist youth organization] was founded. They brought in a Hebrew teacher, started a library, brought in speakers, and held many events to support Keren Kayemet [Jewish National Fund]. We also sent a group of boys and girls for Hachshara [agricultural training] to areas, such as to Zavidcze. The Kardimans were the owners of this area.

I remember an episode when I was a young boy of 15 or 16, and the bishop came to Shtervitz. The Polish priest and the Ukrainian archbishop came to welcome him with their sacred objects, while from the Jewish side, excuse the comparison, the rabbi came holding a Torah scroll, accompanied by the town's dignitaries. When the bishop got down from the carriage, he first went over to the Torah scroll and gave it a kiss, and then he turned to the priests. This made a big impression on me and I felt very proud.

In the year 1930, I went to Radekhov for Hachshara. This kibbutz was located in Hanunin near Radekhov, at the sawmill owned by Yosef Pastel. The head instructor of the mill was my brother-in-law Moshe Eidelheit, of blessed memory, and I was the head of the kibbutz. Thanks to friends from Radekhov including Zelig Kranz, of blessed memory, Lalo Wurm, of blessed memory, Michel Shrage, of blessed memory, and Uri Sternberg, who lives here in the country, who put in a lot of energy to keep the kibbutz alive, it existed honorably and was able to progress. When the number of members increased and the amount of work increased, we created a second kibbutz in the sawmill area near the railway, The owner there was Feuerstein, of blessed memory. In 1933, we sent the first group of pioneers to Eretz Israel, and today they still live there. Among them were Nechama Sterling, Perl Heint, Shmuel Singer with his wife Tzipora Shur, Sarah Reiss, Heint Feinmesser in Tel Aviv, Rachel Chazan in Ramat Gan, and Keila Gold, today Neufeld, in Rehovot.

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I remember, as Passover was approaching, a letter arrived from the central office in Lemberg [Lviv] saying that we should not leave the kibbutz for Passover. Some of the members did go home, but most stayed, and I was among those. The material condition of the kibbutz was poor, and since I heard that the Rabbi would help the kibbutzim for Passover, I went with another friend to see the Rabbi, and we met Yosef Wasser, of blessed memory, there. When we told him what we needed, he answered that he was very happy that we had come to him and he would certainly help us. When Yosef Wasser heard this, he said to the Rabbi, “But we are not the chalutzim [pioneers] that you think we are.” “What does that mean?” asked the Rabbi. “Are there two types?” “Yes,” replied Reb Yosef. “We are the ones who go to shul every Shabbat to pray.” “If so,” said the Rabbi, “then I have to help the others, because with you I am certain that you will keep Passover, and with those others I am not sure.”

Another interesting event, that the Polish priest told me: Near Shtervitz, there is a town called

Lesznev [Leshniv], near the palace of the Polish King Sobieski. Once, when the king was passing through Leshnev, he met the local rabbi and had a conversation with him about which religion was better, the Catholic one or the Jewish one. The rabbi was overwhelmed by the question and did not answer. The king gave him a deadline of three days to present a clear answer.

Very disturbed, the rabbi went home and immediately gathered important people from the city for a consultation, but they did not come up with an answer either. On the third day, the king sent a carriage for the rabbi; alas the rabbi left with a heavy heart and without an answer. As the coach approached the palace, a band playing music came forward, and when the rabbi got out of the coach, the king came to meet him and gave him a warm welcome. The king immediately asked him whether he had come with an answer.

The rabbi calmly replied: “Your majesty, I brought the answer

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but first please allow me to ask a question: As I see, you are having a major celebration, to which you have invited many important people, with me among them. You also ordered a large band of musicians, but why did you have to have so many instruments? Isn't one fiddle enough?” The king replied that many different sounds from a variety of instruments make the music more beautiful. “That is exactly my answer,” said the rabbi. “When all kinds of religions are present, then the heavenly music becomes more beautiful.” The king was happy with this answer and in recognition of this, he established the large shul that I had the privilege of seeing in the year 1942.

In 1939, the day the Germans marched into the town of Zilozitz [Zaliztsi], there was chaos immediately. They grabbed men and assembled them all in the courtyard of Dr. Glasgal. There were about 40-50 men there and I was among them. Facing us were the murderers with machine guns, and one of them threatened us with these words: “Very soon, you all will be there like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” [meaning dead]. Soon an order came that everyone had three minutes to disappear. Everyone began to run, and as everyone was running, 40 people were shot. I was lucky enough to run inside an old building. Then they gathered us together again so that we could dig a ditch for all those who had been killed, and then they were thrown in from where they lay.

A few days later, they allowed the dead bodies to be carried over to the cemetery and there, there were horrifying scenes. Mothers and children tried to identify their loved ones. When my mother-in-law got there to identify her two sons, a terrible tragedy began: They identified one of my brothers-in-law, but they could not identify the second one, until I began reaching in pockets and found a wallet in my other brother-in-law's pocket. And the murderers were standing there and shouting: “Fast! Fast!” Once all the dead bodies were transferred to the cemetery, the cries and screams of the mothers and women began, as they bemoaned the deaths of their husbands and children, and the orphans who lost their fathers cried too. During those years, I lived in Zilozitz.

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That first tragedy was only the first of much greater ones to come, the horrors of which are impossible to describe. When the order came to evacuate the town and go to the ghetto in Zbarav [Zboriv], everyone left to go find a place to live. Since Zbarav was foreign to me, I decided to go to Brody because I was more familiar with it. But as we were passing Podkamen, they detained us and we remained there for a few days.

After they had robbed us of everything we owned, in spite of the robberies, we left for Brody. Before entering the city, they welcomed us with beatings, because we had nothing left for them to steal, and with God's help, we arrived at the home of Itche Kuperberg on Goldhaber Street, where we stayed – my father-in-law and mother-in-law, my wife, me and our little girl who was a year and a half old.

We were only there for a couple of days when the first Aktions began. We ran down to the prepared bunker where there were already more than 30 people: men, women and children. Unfortunately, they did not prepare enough food and water, and the children cried and screamed because they did not understand this. You can imagine my pain when I rocked my child in order to calm her. One woman sadly demanded that the child be suffocated, and another demanded that the child be strangled. That is how we stayed in the bunker in agony and suffering for eight to 10 days until, with the help of God, we came out alive.

But then new troubles arose. There was a decree that, within three days, all those who lived outside of the ghetto had to leave their homes and move into the ghetto. Everyone rushed to find a place with a bunker in the area of the ghetto. I found out that on Hospital Street, at the home of Michel Rothenberg's son-in-law, Avraham Yair, there was an empty room and also a bunker.

I immediately went to him and presented my request. He even thought about it a little, when I told him that I also had a small child, but finally he agreed, saying, “You are the brother of Chaim Hersh and Nachman Fisch,

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so I cannot say no. I also have children, and however God rules, so be it.”

Chaim Tzvi Fisch and his wife Lipshe née Shleifer, of blessed memory		Fisch and his relative Tolci Kurtzer

Yakov and Klara and their mother Fruma Sterling, of blessed memory

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Lopatyn, both died in Radekhov with their children. The third sister, Fruma Sterling, died in the Brody ghetto along with her two children.

After Avraham Yair agreed that I could live with him, I took my family, and while holding my child in my arms, and with nothing else since we owned nothing, we moved in with him.

The Brody ghetto was surrounded by barbed wire, and occupied several streets. The Fish area [Fischplatz], which consisted of many blocks of large houses was among them. Another was a block called the Podkamener block, because people from Podkamen lived there. Once, Moshe Charash, who once had a restaurant on Leshnover Street, came to me and said there were sick people on that block, and if nothing was going to be done about it, it might become an epidemic. And if that were to happen, then the entire area, including the people in it, might burn down. Since I lived close to that area, I went there the following day to see what I could get organized. In one room, there was an elderly woman, and close to her was a young woman and a child – dead. When I began asking what had happened, I was told that they had been lying like this for a few days already but they were afraid to report any of this fearing that the entire area would be set on fire.

I began to remove the dead bodies from there in order to bring a little order to the situation. Unfortunately, I came down with typhus, and I was also laid up for two weeks. All of this had to be kept strictly secret so that the Germans would never, Heaven forbid, find out about it.

When I miraculously recovered, we received reports that there would soon be an Aktion. We quickly began to prepare some food and water for a few days, but unfortunately this went on for weeks, and the food ran out. Then the landlady said that there was a little bit of kasha [buckwheat] in the house and also a lamp and some coals for cooking. In the attic, there was also a barrel of lye water from the laundry she had washed. I brought all this, and packed more food for the children. But when this too was depleted, Avraham Yair remembered that two weeks prior, he had seen a tub filled with rainwater on a second street near the shul. At night, Avraham Yair and two other

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women, went out with buckets to get some water, and my mother-in-law went into another cellar to prepare a fire for cooking. Sadly, they came back without water, because someone had seen them and they got frightened.

My mother-in-law, who busied herself in the cellar trying to get a fire going, became very dizzy and fell to the floor unconscious. When Avraham Yair came in and saw her like that, he became frightened, and since he was tired and hungry, and also dizzy from the charcoal fumes in the cellar, he also fell and breathed his last breath. When people heard what had happened, they came to the cellar, and the fumes affected everyone. I had to save them with vinegar because that was the only “medication” we had. In the end, I also fainted.

That was how we spent a frightful night and anxious day. Then on the next night, there were new fears. In the middle of the night, we heard banging in the other cellar. A few young hooligans banged and searched until they approached the bunker. When they broke in, they demanded that we give them everything we had. If we were a few more men, we could have shown them a thing or two, but sadly, I was the only man. They tore everything apart and searched for a long time until finally they suffocated two children – one was mine and the other was Avraham Yair's.

When we realized we had been discovered and that it would be dangerous to stay here, I told the others that everyone should try to save themselves by any means possible. I helped some women get across the barbed wires, and some of them remained alive. Brody was formally Judenrein [cleansed of Jews], but from time to time they discovered a bunker and that's how they kept collecting people for the camp, and sometimes they sent them to work in the ghetto. We left our hiding place and went with them to the camp because we had no other choice.

But the ghetto murderers recognized the newcomers and ordered all those who were in the camp to gather together and line themselves up in rows. That's how they rounded up a lot of people and among them were Chanoch Kardiman and his family, and his brother Baruch from Zavitsh [Zawidche]. My brother-in-law, Yitzchak Sterling, and I

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went back to the former ghetto because my wife, father-in-law and mother-in-law were still hiding there, as were my sister Fruma Sterling and her daughter. We took them from there and went back to the camp. On the second day, my brother-in-law and I went to work in the ghetto, but soon we were all summoned back to the camp for other work. We had a feeling that we would be digging ditches for the condemned 70 Jews, so we stayed in the ruins of the ghetto. And that is how it was. All of those Jews were taken to the Leshnover forest, thrown alive into a ditch, and then shot.

I remember how one Thursday evening along with 15 to 20 people, we were sitting and discussing what to do next. My brother-in-law and I decided to leave the next day or on Shabbat. But then my brother's daughter, Mani Fisch, who had run away from Radekhov with her girlfriend, came unexpectedly. She told me that her friend had a good hiding place, but money was needed to stay there. As far as I was concerned, it was not a good plan, but being unable to take her with me, I gave her the money and she stayed with her friends in Brody. My brother-in-law and I decided that the next day, Shabbat, we would go to work in the ghetto, and from there we would leave. And on Shabbat, at about midnight, we left Brody.

We went as far as Leshnev, where we stayed the entire Sunday, and then at night we were on our way again. Before Lesznev there was a village called Piaski, where my brother-in-law knew a gentile he thought might be willing to take us by boat to the other side of the Styr River, to the forest of Velvel Wachs. We knocked at the gentile's door at about midnight. He let us in, gave us food, and agreed to help us cross the Styr River. On the way, he took us to a house and told us to wait there until he brought the key to the boat. At first we were worried that he had bad intentions, but it turned out that he was an angel sent from heaven to save us. He transferred us safely,

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and did not want to take any money for his trouble, unwilling to “sell the mitzvah” of saving human lives.

We went to Velvel Wach's place in the woods and spent the whole day there. At night we went to another part of the woods, which belonged to the Jewish community. We stayed there for a whole day, and at night we left for Dobrilovka to go to Jan Josekevitch's place. He welcomed us warmly, gave us dinner, and suggested we go to the Mikolayuver forest not far from him, where he would bring us food. We stayed there for two days, and on the third day, he brought my brother-in-law Shimon Sterling and his wife, who today live in America. At this point, we were four people and we could not remain together for long. Shimon and his wife left us, and my brother-in-law and I asked Josekevitch to help us find another place.

Josekevitch not only gave us something to eat, but he also sheltered two more Jews from Shtervitz – Eliyahu Bernstein and Herz Friedman, who were later murdered. Also, Yosef Parnes from Shtervitz was in that area and my brother-in-law Yitzchak met him. When he returned, we decided to leave that place and go to Yashki Martyshchuk's, where there was a water mill, on the way to Radzivilov [Radyyvliv]. Mendel Friedman, who died here in this country, his son Yitzchak, who is living in Rehovot, and Meir Hart's wife and child from Brody were hiding in his attic. When the place became unsafe, everyone left, but I returned. That same night, three hooligans came, and fed their horses there, then wanted to climb up the stairs and go to sleep. When the first one climbed up and grabbed my leg, he got scared and fell down.

The hooligans began calling out to me, telling me to come down. They threatened to set the hay on fire if I ignored their command. Then they told a friend of theirs to take a horse and go to Shtervitz to report us to the German police. I gathered my courage and went down. They demanded that I give them money, but when I said I did not have any, they left and hid in a place where they could see what I was going to do. I went back up

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to the attic and then exited from the other side and went into the forest to Rohizno. There, using the trees, I formed a hiding place, and remained there for two days. On the third day, I heard a barking dog coming closer and closer. This was the forest security guard who was patrolling the area. Thinking that the dog had smelled a wild animal, he prepared his gun to shoot the animal. But when I appeared, he ran up to me and kissed me happily. This was the forest guard Gyhoriy Bednarchuk, who brought me food and then moved me to a different place.

He came again the following morning and brought Yakov Potash, who today lives in Canada. We quickly began to dig a bunker [hiding place]. In that same forest, there was another bunker where my brother-in-law's brother, Shimon Sterling, was hiding along with his wife and her brother, Meshulam Reiss from Shtervitz. In time, the German police discovered us, and they came to do an “oblave” [raid]. They told all the guards about this raid and hoped for their help, but the guards told us what was going to happen, and we all ran. I ran to Dobrilovka to Martsynovskyi, who told me that Pina Potash, Zalman Gold's daughter, kept coming to him with her two children, and they would take some sort of tool for digging. I asked him to tell her the next time she came, that I was here and I wanted to see her. And that is how I finally met her, and she was very happy that she was no longer so alone. We went together to her bunker in the woods, to Horodynski, and there she told me about her experience and how they had shot her husband.

Ivan Kyt lived there in the forest and his wife used to bring food to Pina. Pina told me that the gentile had already raised an axe to her [as a threat], and she already gave him everything she had. The following morning, Ivan's wife came and brought food for Pina and the children, and when she saw me she was very happy and she invited me to come to her house that night. Pina told me that she had seen armed hooligans leaving that house, but even so, Pina and I did go to there at night. Ivan welcomed us warmly, but I recognized malicious intentions on his face. He promised that he would make a bunker

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and then he asked me to try to get him some ammunition. I told him that I would think about it and we left the house with the thought of never seeing his face again.

We immediately called for a meeting with all those in the bunker: Yosef Parnes, Yitzchak Sterling, Shimon Sterling and his wife, Meshulem Reiss, Yakov Potash, Pina and her children, and me. We decided to build a large bunker with space for all of us in the same woods, but in a different part of the woods. And since winter was approaching, we had to rush. We collected tools for digging and for cutting down trees, and with collective strength the bunker was completed. Meanwhile, my brother-in-law Yitzchak Sterling and Yosef Parnes decided to go in search of their good fortune, but in the end they could no longer return.

One day, we heard children's voices. Pina, who was already an experienced forest person, explained that the Germans had come into the woods to hunt, and the children were chasing the wild animals out of their dens. We quickly left the bunker and went to hide until the noise passed. When we returned to the bunker we noticed the footprints of the Germans' boots in the snow. Understandably, that night we did not sleep in the bunker. Only the next day did we get back together and we continued our way of life. And if those problems were not enough, Shimon Sterling became sick with typhus, and that was worse than anything. We all ate with the same spoon, drank from one glass, and lay together. But in a time of great challenges, a person becomes stronger than iron, and this did not disturb anyone. That's how we lived for one more day, one more week, one more month, until the end of March…

Once, on Shabbat, we heard yelling in Russian: “Long live the Russian army!” And I recognized the voice of my brother-in-law Yitzchak Sterling who came to tell us the good news that we had been liberated. We were overjoyed, and when we came to our senses, we carried the sick person on our shoulders and left the bunker. We made our way to our former home of Shtervitz and we arrived there just before Passover.

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After we got out of Hitler's hands alive, we had to celebrate with a proper Passover seder because we went through the real exodus from Egypt. There was a great lack of Passover products, but we made do with what we received, and celebrated our survival. But the joy was premature, and all of the pain and anguish was not yet over. The Germans, in their stubbornness, bombed the town, and the Russians retreated with us to Berestechka. There we met a few people we knew and together with them went to Rovne [Rivne], where we were mobilized into the military and continued battling against the fleeing Germans. It was very difficult for me, but I was able to join the Polish army that was formed in Russia, and that is how I arrived in Poland.

After I was discharged from the army, I went to Krakow, where I met some acquaintances from whom I learned that my brother's daughter, Manya, was in Bytom. I went directly there to look for her, and we decided to leave the blood-soaked ground and go to Eretz Israel. We sneaked across the border to Italy, and from there went to Austria, where we were sent to the Wegscheid DP camp in Linz.

In Wegscheid, different parties and kibbutzim began to organize. Many Jews from Romania were also there, and each party took in its own people, organized them, and prepared them for Aliyah to Eretz Israel.

When Yitzchak Grinbaum came to visit Austria and called together representatives of the different parties, he explained to us the situation in Eretz Israel; we immediately organized the youth who voluntarily enlisted in the Israeli military and they immediately made Aliyah.

In 1949, the emissary Ben-Ari came to Austria, and today he is the director of the Lod Airport. He spoke to us briefly: “Children, the path to Eretz Israel is open, you have to pack for the journey.” When I told him that I was all packed, he replied

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that they still needed me here. But by then I had run out of patience, and I decided to leave.

And God helped, and we arrived in Israel in June 1949.

Chana, wife of Reuven Fisch, and child, may their blood be avenged		Sholom Fisch, Bluma wife of Fishel Fisch, and their child, may their blood be avenged. (Picture was taken at the gate of the ghetto in Brody.)
Standing: Fishel Fisch and his brother-in-law Yitzchak Dubovy Bottom left sitting: Musia Eidelheit and Bluma Fisch		Zundel Reis, Chana Bernstein, Fishel Fisch, Rachel Sterling

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