Notes: The complete translation of this book is also available here: The Tomaszow-Lubelski Memorial Book The original book can be seen online at the NY Public Library site: Tomaszow-Lubelski (1965)

Translator's Foreword		xv
Foreword		1
The Yizkor Book Committee in New York		4
Members of Va'ad Sefer HaYizkor in Israel		4
A Few Words to the Reader	J. Moskop	5
A Headstone for Our City	Rae Fust	9
The History of Jews in Tomaszow-Lubelski	Mordechai W. Bernstein	10
Introduction		10
Beginning of the Settlement		11
The First Jews in Tomaszow		13
The Privilege of the Tomaszow Jews		15
Jewish Barber-Surgeons (Physicians) in Tomaszow		20
Jewish Tradespeople in Tomaszow		22
Contentious Relations between the Jews and Poles in Tomaszow		23
Comparative Data about the Jews in Different Time Periods		25
The Martyr, R' Pinchas of Tomaszow, הי”ד		27
The Girl Martyr	Sh. Lemar	28
The Synagogue	Sh. Licht	29
The Pinkas of the Synagogue	Shmuel Eliezer Branner	34
My Grandfather R' Pinchas, and the Seat of Elijah in the Tomaszow Synagogue	Rae Fust-Lehrer	36
The Synagogue and the Bet HaMedrash	Israel Zilberman	38
Nahum the Shammes, הי”ד	Sh. Licht	39
The Mishna Study Group in the Great Bet HaMedrash	Aharon Pitluck	40
Jews of the Bet HaMedrash	Shmuel Elazar Branner	41
The Belz Shtibl and its Influence in Tomaszow	Asher Reis	42
Sanz-Cieszanow Shtibl	Y. Nierengang	46
The Study of Torah		46
The Curriculum		47
The Sabbaths & Festivals		47
Charity & Good Deeds		47
Guests		48
Books		48
Agudah Activities		48
The Dress		49
The Worshipers of the Sanz Shtibl		49
The Chelm Shtibl	Zusha Kawenczuk	50
The Hevra Kadisha	Joseph Moskop	52
Memories of Tomaszow	Mikhl Weinblatt	55
Linat HaTzedek		55
The Ritual Slaughterer from Markuszow		55
The Collection Box of Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess	Sh. Leibowitz	56
The Rabbis of Tomaszow	Sh. Licht	57
The Rabbi of Cieszanow Rabbi, R' Aryeh Leibusz Rubin, זצ”ל	Y. Weintraub	60
The Tashlikh River	Rae Lehrer Fust	62
A Few Facts about My Family from Tomaszow	Isaac Bashevis	64
My Shtetl Rising	Rae Fust	68
Tomaszow – Before the First World War	Moshe Garzytzensky	69
The Rebbe, R' Mendele ז”ל		70
The Rebbe, R' Yoss'leh ז”ל		74
R' Hirsch Tomashover ז”ל		76
Rabbi Yehoshua'leh Tomashover ז”ל		76
The Rebbe, R' Leibusz Neuhaus ז”ל		78
My Grandfather		78
Rabbi R' Shmuel Singer זצ”ל		81
My Father		82
Rabbi Chaim Aharon Zvi Shidkovsky ז”ל		84
Spring in Tomaszow	A. H.	94
The Jewish Way of Life in Tomaszow	Joseph Moskop	95
The Tomaszow Box Factories	Rae Fust	104
My Father's Factory	Rachil Fust-Lehrer	106
The Bulak-Balakhovich Pogroms in Tomaszow-Lubelski	M. Zeldin	110
Document Number 1		111
Document Number 2		111
Document Number 3		113
Document Number 4		113
Document Number 5		114
Document Number 6		114
Document Number 7		114
Document Number 8		115
Document Number 9		115
Document Number 10		115
Document Number 11		115
Document Number 12		116
Letter from the Laszczow and Komarow Communities to the Jews of Tomaszow		116
Letter from Laszczow		117
Letter from Komarow		117
The Re-established, Liberated Poland	Shmuel Shiflinger	119
Halutzim in Tomaszow	Fishl Hammer	121
The War and the Birth of Tze'irei Zionist Parties	Rae Fust (Lehrer)	124
The Bund Movement in Tomaszow-Lubelsk(i)	David Geyer	131
The City Library		133
In the Municipal Council		134
The Bund Helps to Organize the Polish Workers		136
Far-Flung Work with the Masses		136
Youth and Children's Movement		137
Contentious Relationships in the Surrounding Jewish Area		137
The Bund Committees		137
A Gallery of Bund Activists in Tomaszow-Lubelski		139
Yaakov-Shia Grohman		139
Mordechai Weissberg		139
Shlomo Lieber		140
Peltik Lederkremmer		141
Leibusz Kaffenbaum		141
Shevakh Kornworcel		141
Nahum Schuldiner		142
Koppel Szpizajzen		142
Histadrut ‘Tze'irei HaMizrahi’ in Tomaszow	Nahum Ratzimer	144
The Establishment of the HaShomer HaTza'ir Chapter in Tomaszow-Lubelski	David Y. Levenfus	147
A Short Overview of “The Working of the Land of Israel” in Tomaszow	Asher Herbstman	149
The “Agudah,” Its Establishment and Development	Rabbi Yitzhak Meir Gartler	153
The Agudah Movement	Sh. Licht	157
Tze'irei Agudat Yisrael		157
Pirkhei Agudat Yisrael		157
Poalei Agudat Yisrael		158
Heder Yodei HaTorah		158
Beth Yaakov		158
A Monument to Unforgettable Friends	Isaac Krass	159
Israel Pearl		159
Mordechai Ganzer		158
Yitzhak Meir Pflug		159
Sinai Stender		160
Leib'l Lehrer		160
Leib'l Mermelstein		160
David Yud'l Shur, הי”ד	A. Freund	162
The Agudah Boycott	Sh. L.	162
The Leftist Movement in Tomaszow	Leah Friedlander	163
The Jewish Youth in the City Tomaszow Lubelsk	Pinchas Ehrlich	166
The Yavneh School	Aryeh Arbesfeld	174
The Leaders of Mizrahi	Ch. Y. Lehrer	178
First and Foremost, R' Eliezer Lederkremmer		178
R' Sholom Zilberman, הי”ד		179
R' Benjamin Tepler, הי”ד		179
R' Mordechai Ratzimer, הי”ד		180
R' Mordechai Blank הי”ד		181
R' Pinchas Brass, הי”ד		181
R' Nahum Dov Glas , הי”ד		181
R' Yaakov Arbesfeld , הי”ד		181
The Yeshiva of Novardok	Joseph Friedlander	183
Bread for the Poor	Jonah Feldsehn	186
Objective of the Organization		186
Sources of Income		186
Distributing the Products		186
Taharat Israel	Sh. Licht	188
The Economic Structure of Our Community	Vova Neu & Baylah Kreitzer	189
Stores		190
The Spoldzielnia		191
The “Lotna Brygada” (The Flying Brigade)		190
The Tricks of the Flying Brigade		191
Retail Stores		191
Cut Goods – Fashion and Leather – Shoe Businesses		193
Food Stores and Confectionaries		193
Hotels and Restaurants		193
Saloons		194
Soda Stands and Confectioneries		194
The Bitter Circumstances of the Storekeepers		195
The Relationship of the Polish Authorities to the Jewish Storekeeper		195
The Tax Authority (Urzad Skarbowy)		195
The Tax Authority Staff		194
Jewish Combinations Against Tax Shakedown		196
When the Jew Finally Laughed Sadly		197
The Jewish Quandary		197
The Jewish Craftsmen		198
The Social Improvement!		198
The Bank of the Manual Tradespeople		199
Tailors		199
Shoemakers		200
Glaziers		200
Hat Makers		200
The High Level of Jewish Work		200
The Spiritual and Religious State of the Jewish Worker		201
Concerning the Religious Side		201
Sabbath at the Time of “Shaleh-shudes”		201
Youth		202
The New Registration Laws as a Means to Excise the Jews from the Manual Trades		202
The “Spolka” (Partnership)		202
Foreign Currency Traders		205
The Meat Industry		206
The Tomaszow Porters		207
Livelihoods	A. H., Wroclaw	211
Ber'leh Katriel's		211
On the Marketplace		212
Hilkeh'leh		214
Deaf Moshe and the Pony		215
This was Tomaszow	Sh. Leibowitz	217
The Commercial Center		217
Craftsmen; Free Occupations		217
The Magistrate		218
The Way of Living		218
Religious Life		218
Houses of Worship		218
Rabbis and Yeshiva Headmasters between the Two World Wars		218
Ritual Slaughterers		219
Mohels		219
The Shamashim		219
Educational Institutions		219
Secular Studies		220
Philanthropic and Charitable Institutions		220
Productive and Economic Institutions		220
Leisure Amusements of the Young		220
Political Parties		220
Emigration		221
Attributes of our City	Sholom Licht	222
Memories of a Tomaszow Scion	Fulya Haut	229
Our City	Yaakov Laneil	229
The Market		229
The Houses of Worship		231
Tomaszow-Lubelski – The City Where I Was Born	Mordechai Ehrlich	234
Sabbath and the Festivals		235
Educational Institutions		236
Talmud Torah		239
Groups and Youth Movements		239
Elections in the Town	Sh. Licht	241
The B.B.W.R. (Pilsudski's Sanacja) and the Jewish Voters		240
Community Elections		242
Municipal Council Elections		244
In Passing	Neta Eisen (A. Roum)	244
The Spiritual State of Tomaszow Jewry	Sh. Licht	246
The Spiritual Nourishment of the Last Era		247
The Spiritual Situation Up To 1905		247
New Currents		248
The Spiritual Revolution		249
In Summary		250
Unique Jewish Sartorial Choices	Sh. Leibowitz	251
The Preparations for Sabbath and Festivals	Sh. Leibowitz	253
Passover Preparations		255
The Eve of Shavuot		256
The Eve of Rosh Hashana & Yom Kippur		256
The Eve of Sukkot & Simchat Torah		258
Preparations for Hanukkah & Purim		258
The Black Pillar	Yoss'l Shepsel's	259
The First and Last Theater Performance on the Sabbath	Hirsch Reis	260
Sabbath and Holiday Time in Tomaszow	Kh. Y. Biederman	262
Erev Shabbat in the City		263
Kabalat Shabbat		263
At the Rebbe's Tisch		264
Rosh Hashana to Tashlikh		265
Simchat Torah		265
The Siyyum Celebration of Daf Yomi		266
The Joy of Purim		266
The Bet Yaakov Movement		267
The Heder Yesodei HaTorah		267
Pirkhei Agudat Yisrael		268
The Activists Among the Youth		269
Talmud Torah		269
The Shtibl of R' Nachman Neuhaus ז”ל		270
The Angel of Death [in the form of] Typhus		270
The Ger Shtibl		270
The Great Wedding	Asher Reis	273
Reminiscences of Youth	Isaac Krass	275
A Cure for One Who Was Sick	Sh. Leibowitz	276
A Catarrh or Cold		276
An Evil Eye		276
Pouring Wax		277
Broken or Hyper-extended Limbs		277
A ‘Lemung’		277
Feldscher or Doctor		277
Pregnancy		278
Birth		278
The Seriously Ill		278
‘Tearing In’		279
Cures & Prayers		279
Toothaches		279
Baby Teeth		280
Prescriptions		280
Memories of My Childhood	Leah Ardinatsky-Barnstein	281
Unforgettable Impressions	Yaakov Minkowsky	283
The Synagogue		283
The Situation on the Eve of War		284
The Institutions and Their Activists		285
Between the World Wars		286
The Holocaust		286
The Lesson		286
A Threnody for Tomaszow	Yaakov Herbstman	287
The Life and Death of Our Shtetl, Tomaszow Lubelski	Y. Schwartz	292
The Gabbaim in our Beautiful Synagogue		292
The Jewish Community		293
The Free Loan Society Bank		293
The City Council		293
Keren-Kayemet		294
Keren HaYesod		294
Volks-Bank		294
The Merchants Union		294
The Manual Trades Union		295
Competitors		295
The Fire Fighters		295
The Bund		295
The Drama Circle		295
Little Jewish Snows	A. H.	297
Portraits, Names and Personalities		298
Shmuel Meldung	Sh. Licht	300
David Schwindler	Dov ben David	300
Noah ben Abraham Herbstman	Asher Herbstman	301
In Memory of my Son, of Moshe הי”ד	Zusha Kawenczuk	301
Avigdor Eidelsberg	Sh. Zamoyski	302
Shlomo Goldzamd	Sh. Zamoyski	302
Moshe Reichenberg	Sh. Zamoyski	303
Pinchas Goldstein	Sh. Zamoyski	303
Gershon Brand	Sh. Licht	302
Ary' Heller	Sh. Licht	304
Yaak'li Lederkremmer	Sh. Licht	305
Yitzhak Karper	Sh. Licht	305
Sholom Singer	Sh. Licht	306
Yaakov Moshe Guthartz	Sh. Licht	306
Shlomo Akst	Sh. Licht	307
R' David Weitzman	Sh. Licht	308
R' Ben Zion Faber	Sh. L(icht)	309
Benjamin Weinberg	Sh. Lamed (Licht)	309
R' Shmuel Putter הי”ד	Leah Moskop (Friedlander)	311
R' Sinai Putter ז”ל		312
Yekhezkiel Lehrer and the Krasnobrod Gasse	Eli' Lehrer	314
My Father, R' Shabtai ז”ל	Moshe Friedlander	317
In Bayrakh'eh's Mill in Belzec		319
Gut'sheh the Widow	Rachel Lehrer-Fust	322
R' Tevel ז”ל	Israel Zilberman	324
Rabbi Dov Ber'l Fershtman הי”ד	Sh. Licht	326
The Dornfeld Family	Leah Dornfeld	327
R' Yaakov Mordechai Dornfeld ז”ל		326
My Father, R' David Tevel Nat, הי”ד	Ephraim Fishl Hammer	328
My Grandfather and Grandmother ז”ל	Ephraim Fishl Hammer	330
My Unforgettable Friends	Y. Liebowitz	332
Moshe Szparer		332
Mihkl Reis		332
Henikh Koch		333
Hertz Feldsehn		334
To the Memory of My Acquaintances	Sh. Khanowich	335
Moshe Weissleder		335
Elazar Ader		335
Abraham Sztajnworcel		335
Yaakov Arbesfeld		336
Dr. Shulman		336
Shabtai – Good Morning to You	Sh. L.	337
Advocat Mandeltort		337
Itcheh Bernstein		337
Eli' Shtruzler		338
Ary' Levenfus		338
Yekhezkiel Kaffenbaum		338
Eliezer Dorenfeld		338
Fyvel Holtz		338
Abraham Yitzhak Blonder		339
The City Elders	Sh. Licht	340
Old Heschel		340
Old Yaak'leh		340
Old Shmuel Mikhl'eh's (Bodenstein)		340
A Headstone for Acquaintances and Friends	Sh. Licht	339
Alter Stahl		340
R' Nathan Neu		341
Shmuel Lubert		341
Eli' Chaim Gershon's		341
Mendele Tepler		341
Dud'l Goldstein		341
Reuveh'leh Chay'tcheh's (Gartler)		342
Pesach Putter		342
Yisroel'keh Lehrman		342
Anshel Szur		343
Eliezer Bergenbaum		344
Shtibl Youth	Sh. Licht	345
Mott'l Fish		345
Yekhezkiel'i Zekhari[ah]'s		345
Yoss'li Gelber		345
Sinai Friedlander	Leah Hertzig	346
Frieda Tyerstein	Rekhil Friedlander	347
Sarah Dvora Friedlander		347
Meshullam Borg	Y. M.	347
Personalities		348
Yoss'l Wassertreger	Sh. Licht	348
The Matchmaker with the Crooked Head	Ephraim Fishl Hammer (Nad)	349
Nahum the Blind One	Yaakov Schwartz	350
“Blind Nahum”	A. H.	352
Crazy Tema'leh	A. H.	353
Destruction and Annihilation		355
Tomaszow-Lubelski	Yaakov Schwartz	356
At the Outbreak of the War	Shammai Drilman	358
The First Days of the War in Tomaszow	Asher Herbstman	363
The Last Look at My Former City – Tomaszow		366
German Acts of Brutality in the First Days of the War	Chaim Yehoshua Biederman	367
The Black Sabbath	Mordechai Lehrer	374
The Black Sabbath		374
A Model of Salvations	Shmuel Ehrlich	376
The Destruction and Annihilation of My Shtetl, Tomaszow-Lubelski	Sheva Kempinsky-Krieger	377
The Second Aktion		378
The Last Aktion		378
My Experiences Under the Germans	Abraham Singer	382
I Am the Sole Survivor of My Entire Family	Chana Ruduler (Krieger)	392
In the Struggle for One's Life	Herman & Sabina Keitel	397
During the Years of Horror	Rachel Schwartzbaum (Klarman)	405
My First Fright on the Way from Warsaw to Tomaszow		405
My Arrival in Tomaszow		406
My Lonely Existence in Rawa Ruska Until the Outbreak of the German-Russian War in June 1941		406
My Return to Tomaszow and My Frightening Experiences		407
I am Slandered as a Communist		408
The Aktion in Tomaszow		408
The Aktion in Belzec		409
Judenrein		409
My Experiences in Tarnowska		410
In Majdanek		411
In Auschwitz		412
Torture at Work		413
My New Workplace with Better Conditions		414
The Liquidation of the Good Workplaces		415
My New Work in the Union Factory		415
I Am Drawn into the Underground		415
The Judgement		416
The General Evacuation of the Auschwitz Camp		417
Our Wanderings		417
The Liberation		418
My Experiences	Charna Kaufman-Eilen	420
My Four Good Years in Wloclawek		420
My Three Frightful Months with the German Executioners		420
My Husband Flees to Tomaszow		421
I Go Off to Bialystok		422
My Life in Russia		423
Our Return to Poland, and the Effect on Me of the Bad News		423
On the Waves of the Hitler Storm	Beryl Hirschensohn	425
A Gentle Christian Woman Saved Me	Chana Szpizajzen-Weissleder	433
Dark Days in My Life	Feiga Pess'l Bergman	435
Joel the Wit and His Wartime Experiences	Transcribed By Yaakov Schwartz	438
The Beginning of the War		439
Yom Kippur in Jarczów		439
In Lubicz		440
Back in Tomaszow		440
In Rawa Ruska		440
We Travel Voluntarily to Russia		441
The Outbreak of the German-Russian War		441
In Zmerynka Under the Germans		442
In the Ghetto Under the Rumanians		443
A Rumanian-Jewish Doctor –Head of the Ghetto		443
Dr. Hershman and His Activities		443
In Brailiv Under the Germans		446
How We Were Rescued		447
The Last Times and the Great Miracles in the Ghetto of Zmerynka		448
The Testimony of Maria Kopiecka		451
Statistical Inquiry		452
Translation from Polish		453
A Few Words About the Questionnaire	Y. Moskop	454
My Tortured Brothers & Sisters Who Fell In Sanctification of the Name	Yaakov Schwartz	456
“Bones Lie in Belzec”	A. H.	457
The Sorrowful End of 500 Years of Jewish Settlement in Tomaszow	Sholom Licht	459
The Beginning of the Destruction		459
The Anxious Mood		461
Homes Are Requisitioned		461
The Bombardment		462
The Results of the Bombardment		462
Brought to Rest in Burial		463
The Entry of the Germans		463
Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur Under the German Occupation		464
Interregnum		464
Under the Russians		465
The Reason I Left Tomaszow		465
In Rawa Ruska		466
The Germans Occupy Tomaszow for the Second Time		467
Efforts to Obtain Entry Permission from the Russians		467
A New Delegation is Sent to Lvov (Lemberg)		468
The Fate of the Jews Who Left Tomaszow		468
The Passport Transaction		469
The Fate of the Jews Who Remained in Tomaszow		469
The Judenrat		470
Religious Life		470
During the Difficult Years of Dying		471
The Collaboration of the Poles with the Germans		471
The Permanent Enmity Towards the Jew		472
The Ultimate Liquidation		473
The German Tactic		473
An Example of German Barbarism		474
An Act of Martyrdom		474
Jewish Partisans		475
The Survivors in Russia	Chaim Joseph Lehrer	476
Where Did the Rawa [Ruska] Echelon Go To?		477
How Did They Survive Living in Russia?		477
Where Did They Live?		478
What Did They Live From?		478
Amnesty for Polish Citizens		478
The Wandering Through Central Asia		479
The Situation After Liberation		479
The First News of the Holocaust		480
Traveling Back to Poland		481
At the Site of the Destruction	Dov ben David Schwindler	482
In Tomaszow, After the Holocaust	Moshe Taubenblatt	483
Tomaszow [Jews] After the Holocaust	Leah Moskop-Friedlander	487
The Tomashover Hilfs Commitet in New York		489
The Free Loan Society of the Tomaszow–Lubelski Émigrés	Zusha Kawenczuk	490
R' Abraham Goldschmid ז”ל		490
The Yizkor Book Commission in Israel	Yaakov Herbstman	492
Circular		494
The Assistance Committee	Yaakov Laneil	496
The Tomaszow Free Loan Society in Israel	Mordechai ben Ben-Zion Honigsfeld	497
Tomaszow People in B'nai Brak	L. Wermuth	499
Cornerstone Laying Ceremony for Talmud Torah Kol Ary'		500
Memories of Tomaszow-Lubelski	Shmuel Shiflinger	501
A Theater Presentation		501
Dr. Zawadzki		502
A Victim in Illegally Crossing the Border		502
The Common Folk Get a Place	Y. Moskop	503
A Protest Demonstration		502
The Dispute of the Shokhtim and Election of the Spiritual Leader		504
Jewish Social Self-Help		506
E. G. Z.–Jewish Social Self-Help		507
Necrology		509
Memorials		528

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