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Introduction

This volume has been prepared as a memorial to the Jewish Community of Uhnow in Galicia, Poland, who as part of the Six Million, perished at the hands of the Nazis during World War Two.

The outbreak of the war found the Jewish community Poland in full spiritual bloom. Torah life was full of vitality; the whole country effervesced with the vitality of authentic Torah living.

The Jews of Uhnow exemplified the life and course of Polish Jewry before the war. In their essence and their conduct the Jews of Uhnow typified the vivacious Jewish communal life which held nearly unlimited sway in the Jewish quarters of Polish towns before the war and left he imprint of Torah and Chasidism on its every facet. Even purely secular affairs bore the stamp of sanctity which had been imprinted over generations of pure Jewish living. This heightened spiritual awareness reached an annual climax each Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) when the community gathered in prayer and repentance. So often did the congregants find release in tears of remorse and of longing for their Creator, that the walls of the synagogue seemed to weep as well. Even the gentiles of Uhnow were accustomed to gather outside the synagogue on this holiest of nights to share vicariously this most awesome experience.

All of Uhnow's Jews (and those of the surrounding area) were avowed Belzer Chasidim. It took three hours to go from Lvov (Lemberg) to Belz. En route the train passed through four towns: Yerushov, Lubishov, Rava-Ruska and Uhnow. The Chasidim often quipped: “A person who wishes to travel the road to Belz and attain inner sanctity must achieve the following four levels: a heart-felt awe (in Hebrew, Yiras Lev); -- Yerushav: a repent and heart (in Hebrew, libi shuv b'tshuvo) – Lubetshov; “May it be thy will

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(Aramaic, from the Talmud: yhai rava kodomoch) – Rava Ruska; and humility (in Hebrew, Onov), Uhnow.”

The city was a well-established center of Torah learning. The younger boys were enrolled in the local Talmud Torah (Cheder) where they were steeped in the glories of the ancient tradition; older boys and the men, young and old, spent most of each day in the Beis HaMidrash, delighting in the pathways and byways of Torah study. Those who had taken up crafts or professions also spent part of each day in the Beis HaMidrash, whether in the evening, late in the night, or early in the morning. There was hardly a moment, day or night, when the sound of Torah study did not resound in the synagogues and Beit HaMidrash of Uhnow.

Concern for communal welfare also characterized Uhnow. Friends and neighbors were devoted to one another as to a favorite brother or sister. The traditional concern or others was legion amongst the Jews of Uhnow. Several special organizations existed to ensure that every need was met.

In addition many individuals extended help on a one-to-one basis, often unknown, unsung, and rewarded only by the personal satisfaction of having benefited their fellow Jews.

Two factors have limited the scope of this work: first, the fact that over forty years have passed since the outbreak of the war, and secondly, the tragically small number of survivors, as the verse says: “One from a family two from an (entire) city…”

But the individuals and incidents described here are not isolated cases: they typify all those anonymous martyrs whose names are not mentioned in this book, for their deeds were part of a way of living common to all Jews in pre-war Uhnow.

The bitter fate of the town's Jewry is related here by those few who survived. The events they relate, and particularly, the epic of their rescue, underline the profound comment of the later Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon Rokach, z”l, who alone of all his family was miraculously saved from the Valley of Death:

“That nefarious villain aimed at each and every Jew, and each of us who survived, remained alive only because two angels were sent from heaven to rescue him.”

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Only through miracles were these few survivors spared after having met death face to face.

Most of the incidents related here were written or related originally in Yiddish. All have been translated into Hebrew, and some also into English, in order that the future generations might taste of this Jewish glory, now annihilated forever; that they might take as their own this thoroughly Jewish mode of living; that they too come to exemplify the heights to which the authentic Jew may rise.

While their fate – physically speaking – arouses our deepest compassions, we can but envy the spiritual heights these Jews attain both in life and ultimately in death. May we succeed in capturing something of their greatness!

I wish to thank all those who shared in word and deed in the preparation of this volume. My grandfather, Rabbi Dov Berish Ortner, z”l planted the first seeds of the idea of “Memories of Uhnow” (as described in the book Devar Chen which I published in 1963 in his memory). I am deeply grateful to three others who helped greatly in writing the book: Mr. A. Kleinspiez, Mr. M. Adler, and also Mr. A. Segal. My special thanks to Rabbi Meir Wunder, editor of the Encyclopedia of Galician Scholars for his helpful comments.

Finally, I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Mr. Yehudah Remer, his brother, Mr. Eliyahu Remer, and Mr. Joseph Miller, of Canada, who so kindly shared in the financial burden of publishing this volume.

Only their generous support enabled us to complete our project of perpetuating herewith the memory of Uhnow's holy martyrs.

May their memory be blessed.

Rabbi Natan Ortner

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Our home town, Uhnow, was a very small town, near the railroad track Yuroslav – Skol, between Rava Ruska and Belz.

Except for the elegant synagogue (shul), Beit Midrash and three small shuls, there were no public institutions or cultural organizations. There was no industry whatsoever. Sources of earning a living were meager, and every extra inhabitant was a problem. There was no thought of learning a trade or planning for the future. In fact, there was no future for young people. And so we were raised with no feeling of security.

This didn't apply only to the poor and middle classes. It was the lot of all the young people of Uhnow of my time. When a Jew of Uhnow wanted to say where he came from, he said: “I'm from Uhnow near Belz” or “I'm from Uhnow near Rava-Ruska”, as if he wanted to lean on a brother both richer and stronger, than he was. Rava Ruska was even then a much more modern and progressive city. And Belz was a place of prestige for our town and the whole area.

And so generation after generation the people of Uhnow accepted their sorry lot as if it was nature's decree. All their prayers were to get through their daily struggle for existence and in time to see their children married.

They were not rebels. And they did not complain about class differences. Everything was ordained.

Everything was peaceful. Nobody dreamed of change.

At that time we didn't know or understand the causes of the difficult condition of most of the town's inhabitants. One consolation filled their innocent hearts: -- they would get their reward in the next world. Many good and righteous Jews devoted all their energies to helping those who were weak and needed help. But the peace and quiet of those days didn't last – they ended and vanished forever.

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There is no doubt that the first in Uhnow to rebel was the last Isaac Berger. There is a popular saying that goes: “It is no shame to be poor but it is not great honor either”. We young people of the poorer classes said even then – although without any theoretical basis – that poverty does not have to be a necessity. And Isaac Berger, who was almost entirely self-educated, expressed this even then in his poems. The second person who gave expression to the hardships of Uhnow's poor people was Yakov Shudrich. These two were different from their contemporary Avigdor Spritzer and their predecessor Mordechai Gotfried, who had no particular social direction. There is a saying that in an atmosphere of plenty literary talent doesn't grow. It is not by chance that Berger and Shudrich were sons of workers who had to struggle for a living. These two poets were a reflection of the youth of our town – youth without an economic foundation and without a planned future.

However, that period after the First World War which can be called a second Renaissance, gave hope to people all over the world. Jews were sure that racial hatred and murder were no longer possible after the horrors of the First World War and that the vision of the prophet Isiah Ben Amotz would come true – “He will Judge among the nations”, and nations will not solve their problems by war and destruction but by peaceful means. And the simple people of Uhnow who thought only of Torah, the commandments and good deeds, never realized that they were being cheated. They didn't realize that the Versailles' Treaty was a piece of paper with no significance. They did not know that Germany, who caused the world's blood-bath and was defeated by the Allies, would get concession after concession. And the great people who had taken to themselves the Bible as the basis of their moral code would be the first sacrifice.

The monument to the memory of Uhnow that we, its children want to build, is not concerned with the history of two world-wars but with the tragedy that befell us. We are not analyzing that tragic time although it is desirable and necessary to do so; otherwise it is impossible to understand how it all happened. All those who remained alive after the Holocaust, those from the small towns and those from the big cities, write

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their personal memories and mourn the fate of their families as if diving into a private sea of their own. We understand their reaction, for as Job said: “Skin for skin”. A man feels his own hurt first. It is understandable but not right. The Holocaust that hit all of Europe and the Jewish people most of all is a social problem; we Jews, who contributed so much to the solution of social problems, must uncover the roots of what happened. Two world wars and all that they caused were not the result of natural causes; it was a result of people's opposing progress and advancement. This could have prevented certain European nations from controlling and conquering nations. Germany didn't accept this state of affairs and wanted a new division of the world. We all remember Great Britain's flirtation with Germany in order to divert her attention from Western Europe to Eastern Europe; to the Ukrainian fields and the petroleum of Baku.

And so it all came about on that sorry date – September 1, 1939. The tragedy of European Jewry began long before that date. We know well all the pogroms against Jews during that period. We thought it would pass – in wartime cruel things happen. No one dreamed that the satanic acts of fascism could happen. No one could envision that men of science did research on how to destroy people wholesale. No one could envision that the nation f Goethe, Schiller and Beethoven would sink so low. The world has seen many wars, each one presenting its individual tragedy; but such madness, such insanity has never before been experienced by mankind. Time and distance cannot erase these criminal acts. Nevertheless, some sources are trying to look for reasons to excuse the past and rehabilitate Germany. And so our shame, Jewish sources are helping them re-enter the family of nations.

But what happened in Europe during the reign of fascism will never be erased from the annals of history. People and nations can be corrupted, but not the truth. Grass can grow on graves but some things cannot be covered. Piles of children's shoes and women's hair – victims of the Nazis – cannot be covered and hidden. The smoke of the crematoriums remains forever and ever in our memories. And in our prayers and hopes we always say, “It will never happen again”.

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I do not remember a great deal about the life in our town. I was the second one in Uhnow to go to the Land of Israel. The first was Arjeh Reichler (Arnon). There are many Jews of Uhnow who remember it better than I do and I hope they will give us in writing a full picture of life in Uhnow. I hope they will recall our wonderful teachers who taught us to read and write. They must also mention those who led us in prayer and inspired us on the Sabbath and during holidays. And they must not forget their mothers who accepted their hardships stoically and raised us to face our destiny in strength.

Uhnow is the Rava Ruska district in Eastern Galicia, 22 kilometers from Belz, 21 km. from Rava Ruska. The capital of the district is Lemberg (Lvov).

At the end of the 2^nd century A.D. the Goths invaded Galicia. They conquered the Uhnow area and settled there. At the end of the 4^th Century A.D. the Huns conquered and replaced the Goths. In the middle of the 5^th century the Slovenes took control of the area. In 1019 the area was conquered by the Polish king; until 1462 the area was under ducal control. In that year Belz was established as a district (Wiebudstabo) under Polish rule – this district included the town that was later called Uhnow. The settlements in the Belz area belonged to various owners; some to the kingdom (these were called crown cities) and some to individuals called squires.

In that year (1462) King Kazimirz gave his permission to a man called Zigmond to give the name Uhnow (his crest) to the place as a reward for his giving protection to the Belz area. And so the village became an independent town, free of wider supervision (according to the Magdaburg

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rule giving local control to districts, towns and village. The inhabitants were not under the squires' control but under the king's rule.

In 1477 several villages were included in the general area of Uhnow. This area was extended in 1595.

In 1914 there were more than 20 villages surrounding the town of Uhnow.

In 1497 the Crusaders came to the district to help the Polish king against Turkish invaders. In 1548-9 the Tatars invaded; from 1648-1655 the area suffered from Chamilinisky, a Pole who joined forces with the Tatars.

In the following years many wars took place there, until the division of Poland and the transfer of Galicia to Austrian rule. After the 2^nd World War Russia took control of the area.

The Jewish community of Uhnow goes back very far. There is little historical evidence of this since. The place is too small to be mentioned in Jewish or other records. But thanks to famous rabbis who are mentioned in various sources because of their importance it is clear that a Jewish community existed there for at least 350 years and even had a rabbinical court and Judge (See the list of rabbis that was found in the chapter “Rabbis of Uhnow”).

In 1629	30 Jewish families.
In 1648-9	100 Jewish families.

In the “Tiet Hion” scrolls of Rabbi Shmuel Feivish, son of Rabbi Nathan Pytel:

“From there the enemy went to Megirov where there were about 100 families who escaped to Nerol (mentioned before). From there the enemy went to Pat Lish – also about 100 families – who escaped to Nerol. The enemy then went to Rava which had 100 families and they also ran away to Nerol… In Nerol there were 600 householders, not counting refugees; altogether more than 5000 families. As a result of our many sins, a terrible decree was issued and more than 10,000 people were killed, including women and children.

From there, the enemy advanced to Belz which had about 200 families.

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In addition, Belz had more than 10,000 families who escaped from other towns because Belz was a very strong city. But some died of hunger. From there the enemy went to Uhnow which had 100 families – they all were killed each by the other so as not to fall victim to their enemies. From there the enemy went to Tishvitz which had 100 families and killed most of them. The enemy went on to Skool which had about 100 families who hid behind a very thick wall which was built like a fortress and so were saved.”

The Jewish community was rebuilt by Jews from the surrounding area. After calm was restored, they came out of hiding and built new homes.

From the above citation it is clear that long ago the number of Jewish residents of Uhnow was equal to that of Rava-Ruska. This changed in time and Rava-Ruska became much more populated than Uhnow.

No. of Jewish families

	1629	1643
Uhnow	30	30
R.R.	24	25
Belz	34	40

In 1880 had Rava Ruska 3878 Jews and Uhnow 1843 in 1900 R.R. had 5098 Jews and Uhnow had 2140 Jews (47.7 of its population.

The river Slukia flows through the center of from west to east. A stream flows north from the main river. In the area are forests, fields, mountains and hills.

Industry: water mill, oil and wood factories.

Every Thursday was market day. There was a fair twice a year.

The municipality included 28 villages in which Jews also lived. They were as follows:

1. Ostobozish	6. Verbitz
2. Brukental	7. Vilke Mezvietsky
3. Dumashov	8. Zelone
4. Danisk m. Leshnizevsky	9. Zastavie
5. Varanov	10. Haliptshin

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11. Churunov	20. Selishiz
12. Tarnushin	21. Stai
13. Tehilov	22. Pudenze (pidivitz)
14. Yosefufka	23. Karib
15. Machnov	24. Kortchov
16. Machnivek	25. Korshmin
17. Michalubka	26. Kshevitze
18. Navishilk Pshedni	27. Recziza Hubinec
19. Navishilk Kardinelsky	28. Czepietin

There were generally good trade and neighbourly relations between gentiles and Jews and there were even prosperous and good working understandings – especially in the leather industry. Most of the Gentile inhabitants were occupied in the manufacture of shoes and leather goods and their merchandise satisfied the demands of the large bazaars.

The foundation of Jewish businesses and income were gathered inside the town. They were the shop owners and the professionals. The income of the municipalities came from timber cutting in the huge forests close to the town. The large profits from this trade made it one of the richest towns in the Galicia – even the town footpaths were made from this timber. The Gentiles bought timber very cheaply for all their needs. Every year the Jews were given free timber for the Shevuot Hag, for the synagogue, for the Beit Hamidrash and for the Close.

A substantial proportion of the key positions in the town's municipalities and civil service were in Jewish hands e.g. financial institutions representative of insurance companies and Government lotteries and so Jews were members of municipalities and high ranking in the civil

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service and local Government. Towards the end of the 19^th century, the head of the municipality was a Jew, Reb Israel Schrober and all the business of the town was decided by him. The Registrar's Office in the Uhnow district (the office in charge of birth, marriage and death certificates) was also in Jewish hands. The Government decided the tariff for the issuing of these certificates and whoever had this job could easily support a large family. The holder of this job was someone who was without blemish in the eyes of the Government, and who knew the country's languages – Polish and Ukrainian. Marriages were recorded only after a certificate was obtained from the Rav who performed the Kiddush and the religious chuppah. The competition for this job was very keen and sometimes there were even fights, and the successful candidate was the one who succeeded in getting around the someone in a suitable high position.

He had to swear by the Torah, the district governor or a high government official. The handling of the records started in 1840 and I remember the first page – the Rabbinate Racheeli, daughter of Reb Moshe Elbaum and that she later became the wife of Reb Arje Lebish Horoschovsky AB”D Uhnow and my grandmother Haya Sara Arman. In the first period only daughter's names were registered so that the sons would not have to serve in the army. From the 1840 the head of the municipality was Rab Hayim Boyman from Uhnow and after his death, for a short time only, Reb Moshe Ortner. On the 15^th January 1906, I received a certificate from the district governor to say that I was my father's second and I took on these duties after having been sworn in on the 15^th February 1906. When I left during the 1st World War my sister Mindel (G'R'H'B') managed the “matriarchy”. After this Reb Fivel Kluger (G'R'H'B') was in this job until he was killed (in G–d's name) together with all the townspeople on the 5^th candle of Hanuka.

In the election to “Sam Blumberg” and the House of Lords in Vienna, the Jews voted with the Poles and so they always had a majority. If a few votes were missing, they were bought from the Ukrainians.

The Government license for the tobacco trade was in the hands of Reb

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Yoshi Kaner and there were also agencies in the towns and surrounding villages – all in Jewish hands. After him, came his son–in–law Reb Herz Rubhun and his wife Pashi until they met their bitter deaths. The license for the local agency for lotteries was headed by Reb Yoshi Ianer also, and he nominated his son–in–law Tzvi Katzenbach and his wife Hannah to this position. The license for slat selling was given to Reb Yechiel Klein and after him, Reb Aron Hayim Morgenstern and Hannah Katzenbach.

The two final institutions in town – 2 Jewish banks– were managed by Reb Aron Zuckerman & Reb Beryl Kanner & Reb Tzvi Moshe Kanner. One of the most flourishing businesses in the economy of Galicia in those times was the sale of alcohol. In the previous century the monopoly was in the hands of the Polish “Pritzim” only, but in 1878 this was taken from them and put on the market on a tender basis. The winner was given the right of all sales for 3 years. Only those with a large amount of capital could apply, as large investments were needed – for a hotel, refinery, special shops and offices, guards and road guards whose duties were to make sure that no outside merchandise could enter the town and so create competition. Moravsky held the position and he handed the right to the Jewish community, which nominated two people to handle it, Reb Yacov Shalom Stross and Reb Yechel Arish Katz, at the expense of the community.

They were both clever pupils who prayed in the Close “Kottel HaMizrach” and they were called the loyal ones – which meant a chosid – honest, with clean hands, who knew writing, arithmetic and had a knowledge of the trade. In all these, these two were blessed, and all the workmen of this trade were under their control. The profits are large, because prices were set by the leases and many people were involved and made their living from this business. At one time it was leased by the Baron Whatman, who took other “loyal ones” from where he lived, the Reb Avraham Zandegarten and Reb Avraham Pomerantz and a few other people. Immediately, the town declared a ban – no one bought from them and each night, alcohol was smuggled into town from other sources. If a restaurant owner bought from them, he was pulled out of the shule and no

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one would pray with him because he broke the ban. This struggle lasted a year until the Baron re–instated all those who had been dismissed, and dismissed all the new workers, all except Messrs. Zandegarten and Pomerantz, and he paid large sums in compensation to the community.

As time passed, the Ukrainians developed their cultural activities, many attained higher education and became doctors, lawyers, teachers etc. and their penetration into these higher levels made them more ambitious. They concentrated their efforts into patronizing the town's economy, and their first steps were to narrow the Jews' activities and drive them away from the businesses. They opened the first Ukrainian shop in Calibar St., not far from the Russian church and a bar not far from the Polish church, and started to ban Jewish trade, and this created the first hostilities. The first rotten complaint was that they claimed that the forest surrounding the town belonged wholly to the Christian sect and not the municipality (made up of Christians and Jews). They wanted to deprive the Jews of their timber rights and brought the matter to court. The Jews dismissed this suit by exposing its rotten base and used all the necessary steps to ensure their rights, because they knew that it was only the beginning of a chain that would follow if the Ukrainians were successful. To prove that the forest belonged to the town the Jews used the facts that the footpaths were made from timber, and that they were given free timber every Succot. The Jewish community was given added strength by its committee, from Reb Meir Ortner who hired a Jewish lawyer from Lemberg Dr. Raphiel Bobber and his assistant Dr. Mildwarm and from Vienna, Dr. Fenater, because here, the standard was high and it held the main Government of Galicia that was under Austrian rule.

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The proceedings of this court case dragged for many years and during this period was lost several times in Uhnow and even in a higher court in Lemberg, but each time it came to the highest court in Vienna everything turned upside down and the verdict was given to the Jews and this brought the case back to the Uhnow court. The heads of the Austrian Kingdom in Vienna interfered into the Government of Galicia, because they needed the Jewish votes at election time, and therefore the efforts of the Ukrainians failed.

Hatred bubbled in the town, because of the court case, because election time was drawing near and because of very strong propaganda from the Russian priest Rumanovsky. On one clear day in 1903 30 fires started in town. Whole streets inhabited by Jews burnt to ashes. Christian grain storages and even part of the Polish church went up in flames.

At the same time, another very sad event occurred which had dangerous results including pogroms against the Jews. The son of a very poor, religious Jew, who acted as go–between in the soft–drink trade between Jews and Christians, was seduced by a Ukrainian Petas Crychuk into becoming a Christian. He hid the son in his home, because if he went out into the street, the Jewish children threw stones and called him “kugelfresser”. One night a fire started in the Christian grain storage and it spread so fast that the Russian church caught alight too.

I, Berish Ortner and my father Meier Ortner (G–d rest his soul) stood near the church and watched the fire. My father was the agent of a Russian insurance company in Prague called Salavia and almost all the townspeople, both Jews and Christians were insured with us. At that moment our neighbour Kolbochevsky, who was in charge of tax collecting, came towards us and grabbed my father's arm and would not let it go, saying “Mitchke, come home with me at once, because things will be terrible.” We walked with him for about 10 minutes when suddenly the church bells began ringing – the sound which meant “givald”. On the way we met a Ukrainian who said “You set the fire at Petas Crychuk's. You shall see your end.”

We lived on the outskirts of town between the Beit HaHayim, the court

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house and the jail. We saw no one in the vicinity, but in spite of that, the church bells rang continuously. Kolbochevsky shouted at us “Go into your house quickly. There is a pogrom.”

The Jews escaped – some into their homes and some to the other side of town to the river Solikia. All over town as if by an act of G–d all the windows of the Jewish homes were smashed except for one person's – Wolf Judenberg – he stood with an axe in his hand and threatened to chop off the head of anyone who came near. Several Jews in the streets, were cruelly beaten, but they later told of a wonderful thing – that they did not feel that they were being beaten.

The Government clerks knew that there was to be a pogrom. The army command of Uhnow was in Rava Ruska. The son–in–law of the very wealthy man Hiller Kaminsky shouted at the mob “We are going to Mitchke Ortner”. On the way they uprooted a telephone pole. There were only 4 officers (which stood back to back) near Dr. Kibbutz's house and after shooting into the air they began arresting some of the mob. Meanwhile, reinforcements arrived from Rava Ruska.

Mr. Bocansky, the representative of the county Governor stood near the entrance of the Polish church. The Ukrainians wanted to lynch him on the spot. He escaped to a Polish barber and telephoned to the Governor of the Liberman County in Rava Ruska and within 25 minutes, 4 officers with soldiers arrived and they concentrated in the Ring Platz. They armed the secret police and apprehended some 300 Ukrainians. The soldiers were boarded in the homes of rich Christians and they beat them and emptied their houses.

My father and I walked to town and saw the terrible destruction. Emile Liberman's “Ringlatz” store was completely destroyed.

Within a short time the court judging body arrived from Lemberg and trials of the Ukrainians began. They took place in the “Fire–fighting” hall. Many lawyers volunteered their services to the Jews free of charge. The court gave the Ukrainian louts jail sentences and fines, so that compensation was paid to the Jews who had suffered damages. I, myself, testified against two people.

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As a result of these events, the central Government dispersed the township. The county Governor's representative was sent as Mayor. His name was Holaslow Halelear and with him a committee of Jews, Christians and Ukrainians was appointed with 2 representatives from each. The first actions of the mayor were the uprooting of the forest and the paying of new footpaths. Commissar Halelear bought the red building of the Lord Moravsky and wanted to put there a large building to house all the Government and public institution in the centre of town e.g. court house, taxation department, police, jail, etc. Next to this stood the house of Reb Nathan and Reb Schmulke Baar. This house had been badly burnt but Reb Elkana Horoshovsky's wooden house next to this was untouched, and he refused to see at any price, for 2 reasons. He said that Zuderings would not live in the house in which his father had studied and that none of the Jews agreed that the building housing the court room and the officers' quarters should be in the middle of the market. The officers made trouble for the Jews at every opportunity. The brothers Reb Nathan and Reb Schmulke also refused to sell. These 3 men were wise Jewish scholars.

Commissar Halelear brought orders from Lemberg which stated the necessity of destroying the houses because of danger to the inhabitants and to allocate them to the above mentioned building. Reb Elkina sent an appeal against this order to Lemberg but received no reply.

One Friday afternoon the mayor arrived, accompanied by officers and police and they evicted Reb Elkina, his wife Mintshe, son–in–law Jacob Hirsch and daughter Bina and her child. At the same time he read an order that no man was allowed to receive them into his home and if anyone disobeyed this order, their home would also be declared unfit for habitation.

My father (G–d rest his soul) took them into his home. The mayor then notified my father that that same week his house would be declared as unfit, and that his position as head of the birth registrations would be taken from him. My father replied that before these things could happen, he would see that the mayor was removed.

On Sunday, my father went with Reb Elkina to Lemberg and brought back a court ruling that the e warrant making Reb Elkina's house unfit had

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been cancelled and that he could return to his home. The merchandise from his store had been thrown into the street and had been guarded by Jews, was now returned to the store and the municipality paid him compensation for the damages incurred.

Jacob Zak relates:

In September of 1939, with the outbreak of the war and the invasion of Poland by Hitler's forces, the Germans quickly penetrated Uhnow and scattered the Polish army there. On the second night of Rosh Hashana, 5700 (1939), while the two forces struggled over the control of Uhnow, the town was shelled by the Germans. Everyone gathered in the synagogue which was a large, strongly–built, brick structure, as opposed to the flimsily–built private homes.

During the attack, one shell – two meters long – penetrated the synagogue and fell on the aron hakodesh (holy ark). Miraculously it failed to explode, but just landed on the aron as though it were merely a piece of metal. Had it exploded, everyone would have been killed on the spot.

On Simchas Torah, (The Festival of the Rejoicing of the Law, three weeks later), the Germans turned to the Jewish community of the town with the accusation that they were hiding two Polish officers. They had with them an order to execute fifty Jews in the market square if the two officers were not surrendered to them. The Jewish populace was still at an utter loss how to deal with the crisis when two German citizens who resided in that area came forward and reported having seen the Polish officers in a nearby forest. Thus the horrid nightmare ended.

When the Germans first arrived in Uhnow and the market–place was full of tanks, the Ukrainians came with empty sacks and wanted to start

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plundering the Jewish quarter, but the Germans stopped them. The Germans themselves even paid for the beer they drank, although with Czechoslovakian currency.

Later a German plane circled overhead and dropped a Polish flag together with a letter stating that the Polish were coming, because that was the arrangement they and the Russians had agreed to.

The Jews began to organize civil defense, but that lasted only two days. The Germans withdrew. On the day before Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement, September of that year), the Germans shelled the town and several gentiles' homes burnt down. But mot one Jewish home was damaged, and the gentiles were amazed. On Yom Kippur itself the Germans returned, but after a short while they withdrew and the Russians came.

Serril (Sonia) Rzeczinski relates:

With the news of the arrival of the German army, the Jews hurriedly sought hiding places. But after a few weeks, they left the place and the Russian army, who came in their stead, took over the town. After a while the two armies established their locations, the Wusel River serving as a boundary between them. The area up to the river belonged to the Russians, (Rava–Ruska, Uhnow, etc.), while the other side, including Belz, was held by the Germans. The border also cut through the region of Uhnow and some of its villages fell to the Germans.

Life under the Russians took the form of the typical communist society. Everyone had to work in order to be able to prove how he made a living. Anyone who didn't work was assumed to be a capitalist and therefore was subject to extremely high taxes. Similarly anyone who was thought to be well–off, or was reported to have means, was also highly taxed. Three months' taxes had to be paid in advance. Later, the amount of the tax was doubled, and yet later, it was tripled. The merchants were the hardest hit because their income was always over–estimated. In actual fact they did not earn well because the economic situation was very bad and they were forced to sell for very slight profit. Since most Jews were in one kind of

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business or another, the Jewish community was severely affected. Everyone started looking for an office job or the like, so he would have a known, fixed income. But not everyone found something. Those who could afford it fled to Lemberg. Those who remained and carried on in business, tried as much as possible to keep their merchandise out of sight so that the authorities wouldn't be able to claim that they were earning well. A bitter fate awaited anyone who dealt with contraband; if the Russians caught him, he was sent to Siberia. All these restrictions so depressed the economy that they made life unbearable. Ironically, the Jewish community pinned their hopes on the Germans, because until 1941, no one knew that they – the Germans – were even worse than the Russians. Until 1941, no one was aware that the Germans were executing Jews. On the other hand, the Ukrainians, the gentile neighbours of the Jewish community, were anti–Semitic and exploited the situation. They made the lot of the Jews even harder by boycotting their businesses, not buying in Jewish shops, and such measures.

When the Russians took over they summarily removed the mayor from office and appointed in his stead an avowed Communist, a Jew by the name of Simon Adler. When the Russian soldiers first came into Uhnow on horseback, this Adler kissed the feet of their horses. But six weeks later, when he saw the Russians looting and plundering the town, he asked: “Is this Communism?” In reply, he too was removed from office and sentenced to six years' imprisonment in Siberia. Anyone against whom there was testimony that he belonged to the bourgeoisie was exiled to Siberia; many died there.

On the First of May the Jews had to wear their Yom Tov (holiday) clothes and the Rav (the Rabbi) his shtreimel (a luxurious fur hat traditionally reserved only for Sabbaths and Holy Days). Every evening there were special meetings which everyone was compelled to attend. There would be speeches praising Stalin and a lot of talk about how we must fight for Russia, and so on.

Amongst those who were in the villages under Russian control there were some people who thought that the Germans were preferable to the

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Russians. These people came from Uhnow. In Tammuz 5700 (summer of 1940) the Russian authorities announced one Shabbos (Saturday) that anyone who wished to return to German–held territory could sign up to do so. Those who in fact signed up were loaded onto freight cars and shipped to Siberia. The Russians taunted them: “You preferred the Germans; there you are! That's what you deserve!”

In August 1942 the Germans entered Uhnow and the Russian army started to retreat. They entered Uhnow in the morning. We heard firing from five o'clock in the morning until noon. When the shooting stopped the Germans were camped everywhere and had full control of the town.

Soon after the German takeover, we began to appreciate how well off we had been under the Russians. The situation of the Jews went from bad to worse – ten times worse than it had been under the Russians. There was an immediate order for all Jews to gather in the synagogue, the Ukrainians in the Ukrainian Church, and the Poles, in their church. The reason they gave for this order was that there was still fighting going on and that some civilians might get hurt. The anti–Semitic Ukrainians adapted to the new situation at once. They changed the color of their skin like chameleons and now worshipped the Germans. Only when it came to hating the Jews did they remain unchanged. They quickly demonstrated their loyalty to their new rulers by denouncing to the Germans a number of Jews who were supposedly Russian sympathizers. That very night several Jews were summoned to the German authorities: Aaron Uhlricht, Jacob Stelhammer, Zecharia Beznosof, Elchanan Rothberger, Michal Klahr, Pinney Lampel, Langsam, Buchsbaum and others. They were lined up near the Rabbi's house which was next to the synagogue and shot. Only one of them, Lazar Buchsbaum, survived; he pretended to be shot and fell down “dead.” Later he ran away, went into a private home, and then hid in the attic of a warehouse.

When a few people were summoned later to bury them, they found a scene of horror and trembled at the sight that met their eyes. The victims lay where they had collapsed on the ground, covered in blood.

The Germans appointed a militia to administer the local affairs. It

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comprised two members of the Gestapo and some Ukrainians. They set the taxes for the local residents and also ordered them from time to time to supply various goods to the German army.

In the synagogue of Uhnow there was a pulpit of iron. One day the Germans came and ordered us to demolish it. It was extremely difficult and only after back–breaking efforts did we manage to smash it. After that they ordered us to remove the Torah Scrolls from the Holy Ark and to take them outside the town to a muddy field. There we had to chop down trees from the woods, build a fire, and burn the Torah scrolls. Then all the Jews were ordered to dance around the fire while the Torah Scrolls were burning.

They say that several Ukrainian women grabbed some of the Torah Scrolls and saved them, right under the noses of the Germans. They said that “if you start up with the G–d of the Jews, the end won't be good.”

Even with this, the brutality that day was not yet over. After the dancing, the Germans ordered the Rabbi of the town to put on a Kittel (a white surplice worn on special occasions) and to lace on his head one of the ornamental Torah crowns. Then we were all ordered to go to the river and get into the water with our clothes on. It was autumn then, and the level of water was low. When we got there the Germans started firing into the air and everyone had to lie on the muddy river bottom to avoid the bullets. Afterwards we all got up and were made to stand there while the crowds of gentiles who had gathered there burst with glee and laughter at the sight of the Jews' distress.

My father, Wolf Yudenberg, was exemplary in his readiness to put up a fight against the murderous Germans and in his refusal at all costs to submit to the degradations and humiliation. He alone from the whole town refused to join this spectacle of terror and march of shame. He paid no heed to the pleas to go along with the others and not to risk his life. “I won't go, even if they kill me; but before they do, I'll knock their teeth out!” he said. He didn't even go up to the warehouse attic to hide.

During the days that followed, the Germans carried on with similar acts of brutality. They pounce at random on some Jew passing by. Once they tore out half of someone's payos (traditional side–curls); another time

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they pulled out half of someone's beard, with the skin. Sometime later, they ordered everyone with a beard to shave, claiming that beards couldn't be kept clean. After this order had been carried out, all the freshly–shaven men looked ugly to us because, due to all the troubles, they looked worn and haggard, and shaving off their beards made it much more evident.

When our first Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) under the Germans came, we didn't pray in the synagogue, but rather organized several small minyans (prayer quorums) at various homes. An atmosphere of terror pervaded that holy day. A feeling of devastation lodged in our hearts and despair overwhelmed us.

The hours of prayer on this holy day served both as an outlet for the anguish in our hearts as we all wept bitterly, and as a source of hope that our situation might change for the better, as we anticipated relief and redemption. Many of us felt sure in our hearts that America would certainly not remain silent in the face of the atrocities being heaped upon Polish Jewry, but would swiftly come to our aid and improve our lot.

Economically, the situation had been nearly impossible already under the Russians. With the takeover of the Germans, it became even worse. Everything they could find, the Germans confiscated for their army. All the storehouses that had been stocked throughout Poland had already been emptied in the war effort. As a result of the confiscations and looting the Jews were impoverished. The Ukrainians joined in the effort to make life even more difficult for the Jews (although there were some individuals who helped us). Even when the Jews still had merchandise left to sell so that they could have earned the money to buy food from the surrounding villages, the Ukrainian militia in control of our area didn't allow us to bring in food. The Jews were compelled to go to work in the fields because rather than selling them food, the gentiles wanted the Jews to come work their farms in exchange for the food. Consequently the Juden Rat (Jewish Council) had to send individuals to work on the Ukrainian farms. The owners used to beat the Jews when they weren't satisfied with their work; sometimes they even whipped them in the face with leather straps.

But the produce was taken by the Germans. There were various

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methods and excuses given for the looting. One time several car–loads of Gestapo officers arrived and ordered us to open all the doors and windows in the Jewish houses, because they wanted to inspect the cleanliness of our homes in order to prevent an epidemic of typhus. Two Ukrainians accompanied the on their tour of “inspection” and proceeded to empty every cupboard in the house. Even the burial shrouds that my mother Bluma had prepared were taken.

One time I witnessed a terrifying attempt: two Gestapo men and two Ukrainians ordered two women, the daughters of Fivel Kluger, to take a bucket and to give a bull a drink of water from it. They were overcome with fear at this terrible command. The look of horror on their faces shocked me and I took the pail from them, saying I would do it. “But,” I turned to the men who had given the order, “show me how you do it, and then I'll do the same as you show me.” A diabolical smile came to their lips, and they left me alone. The Sad End of the Uhnow Jews

During the same period the Germans started executing Jews. They were also using gas cells. There were no mass deportations before hand to the gas chambers; but when the Germans occasionally demanded Jews for outside work, everyone knew that this meant death via the gas chambers.

Trains filled with deported Dutch Jews passed through Uhnow. When these people became aware of their final destination, they threw out all they possessed, hoping that Jews would pick them up. Belsitz was one of the places where executions were held. The stench from apparently unburned bodies was unbearable. People would do many things out of desperation and regret them later on. For instance – a woman jumped off a moving train that came from Sokall, leaving her husband and children behind. Realizing this, she said: “What have I done – I left them alone”. Another man jumped and broke his leg.

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The method of destruction would start by rounding up lonely people from the suburbs to the towns. From there to the city and then to the gas chambers.

Yossef Karmish writes in “Galicia Chapters”, page 434:

“On December 1, 1942 the Borislave and Rava Ruska ghettoes were closed (after the Jews in the surrounding towns were uprooted).

As a result of these up-rootings, the population of the ghettoes swelled in a short period. For instance, in Rava-Ruska ghetto, the Jewish population went up to 11,000 after remainders from other places were moved in. The German authorities did not care about the absorption possibilities of these ghettoes and kept sending thousands of Jews who had been up-rooted from other places. In a lot of places refugees outnumbers the local residents”.

The late Shmuel Katz, who visited Uhnow after the war, gave this account of what happened to the town's Jews.

During the war years the situation in Uhnow was pretty well off, with Jews coming there from Lemberg. In December, 1943, (the fifth day of Chanuka) the Uhnow Jews were taken to Rava-Ruska, since Belsitz was not in use then. On the way there, half of them (including the Rabbi and his son) were killed by Poles and Ukrainians. Once in Rava-Ruska, the Jews were brought to a sandy lot, dug a pit, and were then shot down by the Ukrainians who were posted on the surrounding trees (by German orders). The victims fell into the pit until everything looked like a mountain.

Uhnow was released from the German hold in April, 1944. Two days earlier as the result of Ukrainian informing the Germans, Anshel Kaiser's two grandsons (who had been hiding) were killed by the Germans.

Uhnow after the War

Shmuel Katz relates:

Besides a few houses, all those belonging to Jews (located in the center of the city) were destroyed.

The goyim told me that the Germans would sell them these wooden

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houses for a bottle of cognac. They took these houses apart and bore them to their surrounding villages.

Although I never made it to the Jewish cemetery, I saw sidewalks that were paved from its tombstones.

When we spend a minute or two thinking of years passed, of the Holocaust, and many happy days thinking of what we did for the past thirty years, we remember our town. And we remember what this town did, how it fought, how she handled her affairs, how she existed (together with her religious and public services), no more and no less than the rich powerful country.

Poverty then was different than it is now. Today there is not a house that hungers for bread or fruit; they get special insurance, they don't work twice as hard to pay tuition for their children and they even get their textbooks.

This poverty before the Holocaust was in the more well-to-do houses, people who earned their livelihood and who always had bread on their tables, that were not afraid of the difficult winter or that the landlord would throw them out of the house, people that were not afraid of the melamed sending their children home because of unpaid tuition, and that the melamed had no money outside of this tuition fees.

The poverty in many towns was unbearable. People barely made a living (if you can call it that). They never knew what they would eat tomorrow. There were no jobs whatsoever available. Small-time store owners, craftsmen, saddle makers, tailors; but they barely made a living because only a few could afford to buy shoes. They wore shoes until they were so worn-out that the shoemaker could only patch them up. The shoemaker,

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like the tailor, could not charge high prices otherwise no one would come to them. Who could afford to buy – and who doesn't eat a cake or a biscuit today – on a weekday, even those getting welfare?

But still ----

There is a big difference between life then and now, from the public and educational point of view; and especially religious services.

Today these services are given by the Religious Council (a municipal department), which gets most of its money from the City Hall and part of it from the government. The Religious Council people don't have to look for funds; they have them whenever they want them. They just perform the actions, pay the salaries, they worry about putting up mikvas, synagogues, etc.

The Religious Councils are rightfully angry, because the few cannot satisfy the majority, and because religious needs are so vast that the city councils are not paying enough attention to satisfying these needs. The fact is that the town councils worry more about movie theatres than about synagogues, clubs, etc.

In our town there were 120 families, most of them poor people who did not know what the next day would bring. They could not be policemen or customs' men, or even postmen, because they were Jews. Besides the big yeshiva which employed a few men, there were no jobs to be had. Most of them waited for market day, but if it rained the storekeepers could not prepare the Sabbath. There were families who had to be given fuel for heating, money for Sabbath, to prepare two pillows and two blankets for a young couple, or chicken soup for a woman after childbirth because she was not allow anything but that for the first few days.

Not only did the government not give funds for Jewish needs, they also taxed the Jewish citizens more than the non-Jewish ones. The Jewish population never gave the town a single penny because we were not a state with immigrants; neither did we have a Joint Fund or a Histadrut that collected millions of dollars for herself and gave money to others; there were no committees, only individuals, sent abroad to collect some money for themselves and came back tired and ashamed, swearing never to go abroad collecting money for any purpose whatsoever.

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Still we had, and paid for, a rabbi and a shohat and a Talmud Torah and a mikvah and a bath house that were open every day; there were two synagogues; with Ezrath Holim, we had everything needed to take care of our sick; we paid more tuition than we could afford; we contributed to the synagogue, which was painted every three years; in winter we bought trees to warm up the synagogue and the people whose houses were cold would come there as well.

There were no social or welfare departments nor Kupath Holim; when a doctor was needed or the “feitcher” one had to pay quite a sum of money – even though his wages, compared to present-day salaries, came to nothing.

How did our town exist? How did she manage for centuries? How were there never any robberies, no tables thrown, no tools thrown? There were no clerks or religious councils, only the rabbi and the shohat were paid; the rabbi's only form of living was the candles and yeast sold from his wife; the shohat's living was made from slaughtering chickens and a few more pennies for the meat.

How did the town exist honorably without begging donations, without spreading herself before the government or every minor clerk, without writing letters, without the need for selling whole families to the ruling party in order to receive the money to run these public and religious institutions?

Even if they paid taxes they understood that as Jews they would never get anything from the government. So we existed on our own. We paid tuition from our own pockets, even though today we cannot support our schools without government assistance; today every synagogue gets some allowance for repairs.

Why did not our town need help from outside institutions, only from one hundred and twenty households? Among them were those who needed help in buying bread or heating fuel. They held all the public and religious institutions together without taking taxes for any services rendered. There were no chairmen or clerks. Everything was handled by penniless collectors, and was handled accordingly.

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Jewish Community Institutions

The Jews of Uhnow had independent religious services that were given within the local Jewish community, under the supervision of the local rabbi. The rabbi was helped by two more judges, and together they took care of all the problems that arose. Only divorce matters were not settled in Uhnow because nobody knew the precise name of the river that passed by the city (the Halacha says that the name of the river has to be written alongside the name of the city in divorce proceedings); if a divorce was necessary, it was done in Rava Ruska.

There were local slaughterhouses and slaughters. Until the passing of a law requiring animals to be stunned before slaughtering, the slaughtered meat was sent to Lemberg (because there was too much meat for local consumption). This type of export was stopped as the result of the “Slaughter Law”. All the un-kosher meat was bought up by non-Jews.

There was a local “Chevra Kadisha” and cemetery, whose management provided for the smooth running of religious services, including the salaries of rabbis, etc.

The money used to cover the salaries came from rendering certain services; mainly fees charged for slaughtering (this income came from outside, while marketing the slaughtered meat to other areas) and incomes from the cemetery. The rabbi's income also came from selling hametz and etrog, since not everyone was able to buy etrog.

The Jewish Community Committee was first elected in 1893 after a law was passed whereupon all Jewish communities had to make amendments justifying their causes and their ways of action and to elect a committee that would run them. Accordingly, a committee was elected of seven of the city's best men. Rabbi Michael Spritzer was appointed as head of the committee. Other members of the committee were: Rabbi Yossef David Klag (vice-Chairman), Rabbi Leibush Sigel, Rabbi Isahar Beer Zak, Rabbi Meir

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Ortner, Rabbi Baruch Gottlieb and Rabbi Yossef Beer. The local rabbi had the right to veto on any decisions made.

After Rabbi Michael Springer, the chairmen were: Rabbi Isahar Beer Zak, Rabbi Samuel David Handelsman, Eliezer Reichler. The last chairman until the last bitter days of the community in the Holocaust was the late Rabbi Ahron Haim Morgenstern.

In time the number of members grew to nine. Through the years the committee members were appointed by the local rabbi rather than elected. Only in 1932, after outside (the county governor) and inside (mainly the local young people) elections in every sense of the word were held.

After the death of Rabbi Aryeh Leib Horshovsky, z”l the head of the rabbinic court of Uhnow and its spiritual leader, the community was headed by his son-in-law, Rabbi Elazar Rokach, the son of the Tsaddik, Rabbi Meshulan Rokach, the head of the Borislav community. He was appointed at the direction of Rabbi Y'hoshua of Belz, the Belzer Rebbe.

With Rabbi Elazar's appointment, Uhnow again acquired a great Torah scholar and teacher as its head, in keeping with the precedent set by Rabbi Aryeh Leib. He had an excellent name as a teacher, together with a reputation for Yiras Shamayim and an unwavering meticulousness in applying the verse “Fear not any man…” (Deut. I, 17), an essential guidepost for a rabbinical judge. Together with this, he was well-liked by people and his rulings were accepted as if handed down from on High; there was no questioning them. His years at the head of the community served as a true example of the Jewish Rav appropriately exercising full authority in his community.

He once tried a case concerning which one of the leading authorities of

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Galicia had already expressed an opinion. It was Rabbi Elazar who actually presided at the trial, because, as head of the Rabbinic Courts for that locality, it fell under his jurisdiction. When Rabbi Elazar gave his verdict, it was in disagreement with the well-known and highly respected scholar who had already studied the case and announced his decision. At first, the other was slightly annoyed, but in the end he agreed that he had been mistaken in his judgment and that Rabbi Elazar's verdict was indeed correct and just.

After this episode, this same Torah leader asked Rabbi Elazar in admiration: “How did you find the courage to hand down such a verdict when everyone already knew that I had given a different opinion?” Rabbi Elazar answered: “My strength lies in my practice before presiding over each case; I pray that Heaven help me not to err and not to lead others to error. And I rely on my holy ancestors that it will indeed be so. With this strength, I give my verdict.”

Once, one of the litigants took as his legal representative an outstanding scholar of Uhnow, Rabbi Y'hoshua Lesser, later the Dean of the Yeshiva in Cracow. When Rabbi Lesser applied his extensive learning and his keen mind to prove his client's innocence, Rabbi Elazar told him: “Don't think that since you are learned you may use your knowledge to acquit someone with reasoning that is not sound. In my court you may not serve as a lawyer.” Rabbi Lesser was indeed obliged to give up his task in that particular case.

His stature, straight-forwardness, and sincerity captured the hearts of all his congregation. They knew that once the Rav had decided “permitted” or “forbidden”, there was no need for second thoughts. Even when he ordered one of the butcher shops to close down for some time because of an infringement of the laws of kashruth, the butcher in question didn't say a word, even though in other towns the butchers had the reputation of bowing to no one and nothing.

He was greatly loved by his fellow men. He himself was deeply concerned with the welfare of others and constantly on the lookout to guard the interests of those under his jurisdiction. During World War I, he was taken prison of war by Russia together with several of his congregants.

[Page 33]

When they were released, people related many episodes about the Rabbi. While in Russia, they sometimes encountered very difficult situations and the only possibility open to them was to purchase non-kosher food. At such times, Rabbi Elazar would tell the members of his community who were with him that they must eat whatever food was available to them under the circumstances. When they hesitated to actually eat non-kosher food, he turned to them and said: “I am your Rabbi (and as such, you are obliged to heed me) and I command you to eat!” However, when they saw that he himself, although weak and suffering much pain, did not touch the food, they asked him: “Why, if we must eat it, does the Rabbi himself abstain?”

He answered them: “You are allowed to eat because you have an authority here with you – your rabbi – to render a legal decision for you. But my rabbi isn't here, and I have no authority to allow me to eat non-kosher food…”

Once Mr. Asher Hezkels Zeif caught pneumonia. When Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement, a fast day) drew near, Rabbi Elazar told him he must eat on the Holy day, despite the fast. However, he suspected that Mr. Zeif would be hesitant to eat on this holiest of days, and therefore he himself went to visit the sick man on Yom Kippur and again told him he must eat. “But it is Yom Kippur today,” the patient protested. The Rabbi turned to him and said, “With the authority invested in me as your Rabbi, I command you to eat today.” When he saw that Mr. Zeif was still hesitant, he added “If you won't eat something, and you want me to join you and eat together with you, then I will also eat. We will pour out two glasses of brandy and drink a “L'Chavim.”

When he heard this, Mr. Zeif quickly took a bite of something, for he knew t hat otherwise the Rabbi would do just as he had said.

On the day that Mr. Kleinspiez became Bar Mitzva (thirteen years of age) Rabbi Elazar tested him with several questions about tephilin (phylacteries) based on the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law). The exchange of questions and answers took place in the presence of the boy's parents and his grandfather, but, because both the Rabbi and the boy kept their voices low, the others could not hear them clearly, and strained to

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catch their words. At the end, the Rabbi asked the child an easy question, but apparently confused by the excitement of the occasion, the boy was not able to answer straight away. Rabbi Elazar knew that the parents and grandfather would be very upset at the boy's failure to respond correctly, and would no doubt scold him. On the other hand, was the boy to reply successfully to all the Rav's questions, the parents would be very proud of him. Consequently, he made no mention of the fact that the boy had not answered his last question. Even more, he purposely raised his voice for all to hear, and said: “How well your boy knows the material!” while giving his cheek a friendly pinch. Thus he cleverly spared the feelings of both child and parents, and gave everyone much pleasure.

His unswerving devotion to the truth is evident from a comment he made when he was returned to Uhnow after having been held as a prisoner of war by the Russians during World War One. Since his health was frail, he sometimes had difficulty climbing up into the horse-drawn carts the Russians used to transport the prisoners from one part of the country to another. Several times it happened that Jewish students who were not at all observant bent over and let him mount on their backs, thus forming a kind of a bridge to help him onto the wagon.

Following these and other incidents of sacrifice by non-observant Jews on behalf of their religious brethren, he commented: “We are accustomed to speaking derogatorily about Jews who leave the path of Torah-observance. But there are some simple Jews who are still holy and sincere, and who willingly sacrifice themselves to help their fellow-Jews. We should be careful not to speak negatively about Jews.”

He was so outspoken in this matter, that it seemed to some that he had changed, even if only slightly, his consistently resolute stand on Torah observance.

The period spent in Russia as a prison of war affected his health which in any case had never been good. Even though he was plagued by pain, he continued to spend day and night immersed in Torah study.

He was in touch with all the leaders of Galician Jewry, who appreciated and respected him fully.

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Rabbi Elazar passed away the day after Sukkoth (the Feast of Tabernacles) 5686-1935.

Once someone tried to intimidate R. Elazar by threatening to “report” him to government authorities; this person could have denounced him slanderously and caused him great difficulties. But Rabbi Elazer didn't give in an inch. Rather he answered him: “Each creature is proud of something that he has and the other creatures don't have. For instance, the ox is proud of its great strength, the buffalo of its horns. What about the pig, who wallows in mud – what is he proud of? He takes pride in his filth!”

Rabbi Joseph Bazeroltchnick, who was handicapped and had only one arm, once received a live turkey from the Community leader for whom he worked. A question arose as to the kashruth of the fowl, and Rabbi Joseph took it to Rabbi Elazar. The Rav sought to find a legal ruling that would render the bird kasher (permitted) because of the considerable loss involved to Rabbi Joseph. “Do you have another turkey for Pesach (Passover)?” he asked.

“That doesn't make any difference; if it's kasher, it's kasher”, answered Rabbi Joseph. “And if not, then it's traif (not kosher).”

“If so”, replied Rabbi Elazar, “you haven't any turkey for Pesach.”

Rabbi Abraham Jacob Rokach was the last rav of Uhnow. Officially he was appointed to this position only in 5686, after the death of his father, but in actual fact he had served as rav earlier, during World War I, when his father was exiled to Russia. He was murdered al kiddush hashem (in sanctification of G-d's Name) together with his wife, the pious Dena Flamm, and the entire Jewish community of Uhnow, on the fifth day of Chanukah, 5703 (the Feast of Lights, winter of 1942-43).

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In the volume of Responsa Tsur Ya'akov, by the Gaon of Provizna, we find an answer addressed to Rabbi Abraham Jacob (Section 103). It deals with a legal question arising from a tragedy that took place during the First World War:

“Concerning your question about the agunah (a woman whose husband has disappeared and has presumably died, but for whose actual death no witnesses can be found), Miss Hanna, from the village near Uhnow; whose husband went to war in 5674 and disappeared from the year 5676 onward, testimony was received from Mr. David Kiig that the husband was with him at the beginning of the end of the warm which was near River Prat near Chernowitz; and he saw Rabbi Hirsch Miller, the husband of the agunah, go onto the bridge with other military personnel, The bridge was mined and it exploded and fell into the Prat; he saw that it sank into the Prat and there were shots on all sides with canon and he could wait only a quarter of an hour, and afterwards they were captured by the Russians, and he heard from other military personnel that Mr. Hirsch Miller drowned in the Prat…”

“I return greetings to my friend the rav and gaon, keen and learned, excellent and eminent in Torah and reverence, of splendid ancestry,

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