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One hundred and thirty years ago [ed. note: 1809 ?], the Tzar of Russia, Alexander I, issued a proclamation in which he decreed that any Jew who settled in a village and became a farmer, would enjoy equal rights with other farmers, and in addition, their children would be released from military service for a period of 25 years.
Our forefathers gathered together and chose a committee that went out to survey the area, which is today the townlet of Trachenbrod.
The land belonged to three brother squires. During the bargaining, the three brothers stipulated that three hamlets be founded on that land, which were to bear the names of the three brothers. Our forefathers accepted the condition. The name of the eldest brother was Sofin, the second was Ignatz, and the third – Yosef. Consequently my townlet was called Sofievka, the second townlet was called Ignatovka, while the third one became a German colony and was called Yosefina. But, in addition to the Gentile names the townlets also bore Jewish names. My townlet was called Trachenbrod. Why was it given this name? It was because the name of the river that passed thru it was the Brod. Once a Gentile, driving a double axled wagon, drove into the river and was drowned. The name of the Gentile was Trachim, and so the townlet was named Trachenbrod, by which name it is called to this very day.
Our forefathers left their former homes and settled on their newly acquired land. It was a desolate spot; wild forests and barren soil, swamps and bogs, snakes and wolves. First and foremost the area had to be parcelled out; lots were drawn, and each man was apportioned his plot. Next a track cut through the center and each family built a house on its plot facing the new pathway. Behind each house each man's fields stretched one mile back. They built the houses of wood from their own forests. They built them without a single nail. The living quarters and the stables for the horses and cattle were one and the same building. The chickens were kept behind the stove and even the potatoes were kept under their beds. In winter, during the heavy freeze up, the calves were also kept inside the houses.
The road was covered with water and by deep mud. What did they do? They dug a ditch on both sides of the track and then covered the center pathway with branches of trees on top of which they spread soil. That helped a little, at least enough to permit some means of travel. To this very day similar methods are practiced there.
Now I will describe to you how our forefathers started to work their land. Having always been townsfolk it wasn't easy for them. At first, they had to clear the land of underbrush, trees and all kinds of weeds. After that they were able to plough and sow seeds. They grew wheat, rye, barley and oats, also potatoes and other vegetables for their household needs. Each family had a mill in which the wheat was ground into flour. From the barley they prepared tasty cereals. Each family possessed a wooded mortar, made from the stump of a tree and burning a hole in the root. To this they made a pestle for crushing. The barley was put into the hot oven after the bread had been taken out. Inside the oven the barley dried and after that it was put into the mortar and crushed with the pestle. This work was always kept for Thursday so that they would have enough crushed barley for the Sabbath meal. They did similarly with the rye. They prepared millet from the rye. This was hard work, so much so, that a “clever” Jew, who wanted to show that he could save himself a lot of work, thought, “why should I sow rye and put so much work into it until I get millet. I shall do better to sow millet straight away and reap ready made millet.” He took a bag of rye and crushed it to millet after which he sowed the prepared millet. He waited and waited but the millet did not take seed. He went and asked his neighbour what could have happened, for his rye had sprouted and taken seed, but there was no sign of his millet. It was a standing joke with the neighbours for many a day!. A similar thing happened to a woman who sowed beans. Instead of plowing them into rows she wanted to save space and sowed them very close together. Indeed they did sprout but she got no beans.
However, slowly but surely, these townsfolk learned the ways of the land and became good farmers who were satisfied with their lives. Indeed one can say that our forefathers' decision to become farmers, and their foresight of things to come was a good and healthy step. Later we see how Jews in the large towns simply starved of hunger. However, in Trachenbrod there was enough to eat. Perhaps there was sometimes a shortage of bread but they had a plentiful supply of potatoes, beans, vegetables and milk. 90 percent of the population of Trachenbrod kept cows and chickens. It was impossible to get flour for they were surrounded by raiders on all sides. On the one hand the Germans and on the other, the Russians. They could bring in nothing nor take anything out. In addition they had to feed the soldiers. As soon as any of these entered a Jewish home, potatoes had to be put on to cook and the soldiers had to be fed. Once, when my younger brother stole a potato boiled in its jacket, he was immediately clouted by a Russian soldier. Another miracle was that our townlet was not demolished by the artillery fire that thundered day and night, for our roofs were all thatched and only the Lord himself watched over our little townlet.
Until the war started there were middle-class people in our townlet and the population included many rich employers, but after it fell under Polish rule, they all became poor. The Polish government instigated propaganda amongst the farmers, inciting them not to buy from the Jews. The government set up cooperative stores in the villages and the farmers of the district came no more to Trachenbrod to make their purchases. Jewish businesses, large and small, were ruined. They did not have even enough to live on so they engaged with renewed energy in the working of their land, from which at least they had food to eat. They had no money in their pockets. They had no one to whom to sell their products. They hadn't a penny to their name and went about poorly clothed and unshod.
Five years ago (in 1934) when I visited my townlet, I saw for myself that they hadn't a penny even to buy kerosene and they were forced to sit in the dark. I saw how the men came home and found no bread to satisfy their hunger. Only potatoes boiled in their jackets and no more. In spite of all they were satisfied and did not complain. Nearly all of them had cows, but they did not get much for the milk. My father had 2 cows. For the whole week's milk he bought at the grocers, yeast, salt, oil and kerosene. The money wasn't sufficient for flour.
Now I want to go back to the beginning and go on to describe our townlet Trachenbrod. The long street had several names. From the North to South it was called Barshapas, Luvishis, Shelishter and Fradilach. And now the names of the inhabitants of the second generation. The name of the first was “long-bearded” Mattis and his wife Buntzy of Barshepas Street. In summer he was a house painter and in winter he worked for my grandfather in the tannery. When his wife wanted to hold a conversation with her husband during his working hours, she would stand on the threshold of the house and shout “Mattis”! He heard immediately and would excuse himself by saying “my wife is calling me”. Then he would go out of the tannery, stand near the door and enter into a conversation with his wife. Do you know what the distance was from the tannery to her house? 3 Vierst in all _ _ and so she was named “Buntzy of the loud voice”.
And now to go further down the road. Simcha Hudish's, Yaakov Leib, the Baraznik, Shmuel the first tanner, Shmuel Joel, Hirschke Baletzkas [ed. note: this is Hershl Blitstein], Hirsch Leib the Litvak, Shimon Uri Tepper, Moishele the Shoemaker, Alter the Teacher, who was a very good teacher and a very irritable person. He used to hit his pupils well, and truly and even box their ears. Once the pupils played a trick on him. There was a calf in the teacher's house and when he went out into the street, they inserted a hot potato (under the calf's tail). The calf naturally went wild and jumped about causing considerable damage in the house.
To return to the names: Josel the teacher, Baruch Tanzer, who was thought to be a rich man for those days, and who lived opposite the Barazani Synagogue [ed. note: Berezhany]. Yakir Lebishe's and his wife Susia, whose first husband was called Pinia and who was killed on a journey to Rovno. He jumped from the wagon when the horses were galloping downhill and his foot got caught. Her second husband's name was Falik. Shlomo Hersch Bir's, Abe who owned an oil press, Nachum Yosi, Elie “with the growth”, Chaim Nutta, the Shoemaker, Shaul Avramchik's [Blitzstein], who was known as “the big eater”, Itzy Schuster and Nachum Schuster, Avraham the tall one, Uncle Dudia, “Ginger” Yosel, owner of an oil press, “belly button” Itzy who was a Government appointed Rabbi. Gershon Bear “the Pious”, Moishe Hersch, who was my Rabbi and who was the old teacher's son. As bad as his father was, so was he good. Whereas his father used to pull ears he used to preach but his preaching was worse than a beating. Mali Cheiche's, who had four children; Hannoch Yentel (a teacher), Leib “ the big one”, Leib “the small one”, Shmuel Pinchase's, Chaim Malia's, Itzy “with the nose”, Pinia, who was a good Cantor in the Triske Synagogue, Dvorinyu and her son David “The young squire”, Breindele, Itche the “Schochtim”, Leib Armier's, a butcher, Chaimke the bathhouse keeper, Helchick the butcher, Itzik the weaver. Hoishe Motia the tailor, “long” Chuna, the butcher, who died last year. Next the old Judge who was a good Jew and a pious man (of the Mikaiver Synagogue), Chaim the Sexton, Chaim Joel, the carpenter, Avraham Schloime, Wolf the scribe, Baruch Zivia's Zivia being a midwife, Moishinyu the teacher, Yankel Usher Wolfe, Rivkele, Schmuel Shimon the shoemaker, a very good man, who used to go from house to house, to wake people up for prayers. Not even the hardest frosts deterred him. He had a good voice and would accept no payment for leading the prayers. Meier Arke, the shoemaker, Motke Zirel's the candlemaker, Berel from the feed mill, whose wife Tilly used to say that since Chaim Risel's had opened a business, things had become slack in her husband's shop, Itche Henta's, Hirsch Joel the shoemaker, Jaakov Leib the cooper, Aaron the “blind one”, Chaim Shmuel the shoemaker, Zelig Avraham Schlomi's, Feivel Luvishe's, Nachum Avivi's, Shmuel the healer, Felvel Aharon Moishe, Hirshel Wolfe from Ardisht, Velvel the tax collector, Zirel Nuake's, Ephraim “who cries in the synagogue”, Chaim Itehe the sexton, Berl the shoemaker, Chaim Feivel, the teacher of beginners, Moti Riser's the “midwife”, Avram Feival the “cripple”, Hirsh Leib the “clever one”, Raphael Sora Layi's, Berele Yisrael's Kessel, Hanna Chaim Patche Blumchi's, Itche Bear Nudel's, Zede Feivel Luvishe's, who was a carpenter, Yosi Bruch's, Mattia Shie's, who was the first son to be born in Trachenbrod and who died in 1913 at the age of 100 years. Feige She's, Berl Melamed, Benzion Chatania, who had a tannery, Hirschke Katzke, who kept a bar, Elie Levi, who was a learned man, he was cashier for Chava Rochele from Lutzk, Itche Potish, Israel Handwerk, who was called Possia was my grandfather, my mother's father, G_d rest his soul. He was always protesting against the high taxes taken from the Jews. Once he even went to Jitomir (Zhitomer) to see the Governor from whom he obtained a reckoning of the amount of taxes payable on a certain parcel of land. Anshel and Shaia, two brothers, who used to cook the fish for every wedding free of charge, and whose little brother was a cowherd in the Radzivil's Forest. One evening he lost his way in the forest and drove the cows in the wrong direction. The cows, feeling that they were being driven in the wrong direction, ran away and left him alone. The youngster was left lying in the forest, exhausted with fatigue and fear. In the meantime the cows reached home without the cowherd, so the townsfolk went into the forest to search for him and found him more dead than alive. After this the youngster was bedridden until he died. This was a lesson for future cowherds who, if lost, should follow the herd, which would always lead in the right direction. But let us return to the inhabitants of Trachenbrod.
Hannah Gitel's, whose husband practiced as a teacher. He was by nature a good-hearted man and the pupils had no fear of him and played tricks on him. In summer every householder in Trachenbrod was wont to empty his well, i.e., to clean out the dirt. One summer the teacher also emptied his well. When he went down into the well the pupils stood at the top to receive the buckets of dirt. When he was almost finished the pupils took away the ladder and ran away. The water was pouring into the well from all sides and the teacher, standing in water up to his knees, was shouting and pleading for the ladder. But the pupils who were standing some little way away, were rolling with laughter. Only when the water was up to their teacher's waist did the “dear” pupils deign to let down the ladder.
Pinchas, the carpenter, Josef Leib, Ester Leah's Yisraelich, whose sons always had their heads buried in their books. Sender's Aliva, Moishe-Izinke Hannichke, owner of the tannery, Yankel the blacksmith, Yuda-Meir the teacher, Yona-Wolf the shoemaker, Zivia's Yankel, carpenter, Doodia and Cheskel, two strong fellows, each of whom could eat a quarter “fod” of potatoes at one sitting. They used to make fun of people who complained of tooth-ache and would say “a bone can't hurt”. If anyone wore spectacles or walked with a cane they would say that he did so for effect. Shlomo-Shmuel and Etti-Feiges Gershon, Shmaia-Shaika, Gezele and Yosi Yaakov and his wife Chava, the “midwife”, Yaakov Zisa the shoemaker, Yankel the cripple, Chaskel Leib, Zelik the tailor, Yudel the “dumb one”, Gitel-Ruchel, Moishe Yosel Valze's, Moishe-Bear, Shmilinke, who owned a tannery, a little synagogue and a bathhouse. Yuda Perish who earned a monthly salary. Yankel the blacksmith, whose house was the last in Shelishter Street on the way to Lutzk. There were two more families whose fields were outside the town's boundaries and these were those of my grandfather Shmuel Leib.
I would ask my townsfolk to forgive me for mentioning only a few names of people of the third generation. These people married and settled in Trachenbrod and could recount all the names of the third and fourth generations but this would take up too much space, but if should be of any interest to you, my dear townsfolk, I could recall the names of all those from our forefathers to those of the fourth generation. More than that I don't know for it is already 32 years since I left Trachenbrod.
Now I shall recall the trades in which our forefathers engaged.
They had all kinds of small factories, workshops, and tanneries. They were shoemakers, tailors, teachers, carpenters, blacksmiths, locksmiths, painters, bricklayers, foresters, brickmakers and owners of sawmills, wheelwrights, and a glass factory. The Jews made a good living. There were in addition all kinds of stores and shops; glaziers, wood dealers, butchers and cattle dealers, who used to drive the cattle up to Warsaw for sale, dealers who supplied geese and eggs to places as far away as Prussia, and contractors who supplied horses, straw and meat to the army. There were many Jews also who lived by their land alone and also all the above-mentioned tradespeople worked their own fields, either alone or with assistance, in addition to their professional work. Apart from corn and wheat the land produced all. We had to buy nothing apart from bread and meat. The very poor people who did not have enough money with which to buy bread and meat for the Sabbath, made do with potatoes and beans, and each for himself was happy and contented with the life. We lived an organized and wholly Jewish life and we practiced Jewish rituals in accordance with Jewish law. On Friday everyone finished work early and after lunch everyone, young and old, would dash to take a bath, would then get dressed in Sabbath array and would go to the synagogue. In summer it was a pleasure to hear the friendly greetings “Shalom Aleichem” and the music of the voices of the fathers and children was carried from the synagogues the length of the streets and would enter into every limb. After supper we would sit out on our front steps and breathe in the delightful scents of the grass, the blossoms and the pine trees of Radzivil's forest. We had no electric or lantern light but there was light in our hearts and our eyes sparkled and illuminated the darkness around. We used to sleep soundly and peacefully without fear of burglars or thieves. On the Sabbath morning one would awaken to the sounds, coming through the open windows, of the chanting of psalms or the reciting of the weakly portion of the Torah. Neither did the women stand idle. They had to wait for the Gentile who came to milk the cows on the Sabbath and for the Gentile cowherd who took the cows out to pasture. After the early morning prayers we would drink the tasty chickory from a pot warming onto of the oven. The milk was well boiled with a thick skin on it. Only then would we put on our “kapotes” and girdling cords and our praying shawls (Talisim) with the “tzizis” tucked into the cords and we would go to the synagogue in whole families, grandfather, father, sons and grandchildren; a whole regiment!
We came home gaily and in high spirits, made “kiddush”, washed (even the very small boys) and smacked our lips over the calves' foot jelly and “chulunt” that only an angel could have baked so deliciously in the oven, and were served with potato pudding (“kugel”), and if there was a piece of stuffed intestine “kishke”) in addition, then it was indeed a Sabbath meal of the first order. After eating the meat out of the “chulunt” and the “tzimmes” we said grace and went to bed. We were no sooner up than the hot tea, which was taken out of the stove, was on the table. Then the whole family would go out for a walk around the fields and gardens to see and take pleasure in the way all was sprouting, growing, and blooming. Only a villager can realize what this means; a townsdweller can never understand it. Many would stroll in the Radzsevil forest. The children would pick the wild berries with their mouths for, on the Sabbath, it was forbidden to pick by hand. After the walk the men would go to the synagogue for the afternoon prayers (“mincha”) and would return home to “shalosh seudes”, “the third meal”, a good “borsht” whipped with cream, and again the singing of the “zmires” would resound throughout the townlet. After evening prayers (“maariv”) we made “havdala” (ritual prayer differentiating between a holiday and a weekday). The women would then go off to the cowstalls to milk the cows and churn the butter, as it had to be ready for dispatch to Lutzk early on Sunday morning.
Many things grew wild: wild blue berries, huckleberries, red currants, black currants apples and pears. After a rain the mushrooms would rise like yeast-filled dough. Jam made out of the blueberries and huckleberries was eaten on bread. We would know immediately when the children had eaten this jam, for their lips would be colored and their teeth would be blue. What we couldn't eat, we would dry. We also used to dry the pears and had enough for dessert for the whole winter.
In Autumn the potatoes and beans were harvested. The potatoes were stored under the beds and the beans in the lofts. Potatoes for Pesach and for seed were buried in a hole dug in the garden: on one side those for Pesach and on the other the seed potatoes for sowing. The potatoes which were sweetened by the frost were used for baking at Pesach. There was plenty of goose-grease (shmaltz), and from Purim onwards eggs were stored in preparation for Pesach. Every householder would fatten geese and turkeys from which he would get enough “grease” for the whole year. The kitchen gardens produced radishes, carrots, beetroot, and the cucumbers and cabbages which were pickled. In winter meat was scarce and the main dishes were potatoes and beans. The families were large and they used to make dumplings, puddings, and pancakes, all from potatoes. The town Jews indeed called us the “Trachenbrod Potatoes”.
Perhaps you may think that the Trachenbrod Jews were physically weak. If so, you are greatly mistaken, for they were known to be among the strongest Jews of the district. When the peasants of the neighborhood did not behave as they should, they were shown the way out of Trachenbrod, and they were afraid to return to the townlet. Nearly all the Trochenbrod Jews were “Chassidim”. Four Rabbis had synagogues named for them in Trachenbrod. There was a Brezner Shul, a Trisker Shul, a Holiker Shul and a Stepener Shul. In addition, various Rabbis would come to Trochenbrod from Koritz, Kashifka, Lutzk, and Makrig and Karlin, and their descendants came as well. It was really jolly n the townlet on a Sabbath when a “rebbe” came. We would celebrate the whole week. Each evening we would go to the Rebbe to celebrate. The “chassidim” would drink and the Rabbe would quote and explain the “Torah” (Bible) and would tell all kinds of other stories. No Rebbe lost anything by coming to Trochenbrod. He would always leave the townlet with anywhere from 50 to 100 rubles. Whenever a Rabbi was due to arrive in the townlet, the “Chassidim” would go out to meet him and would give him an honored reception. At night they would light torches and would lead him into the townlet with songs. Fifty years ago there were many young men who would sit studying in the Hikiver synagogue, where the old Rabbi, G-d rest his soul, would study. When I was there in 1934 I was delighted to see young men who had been away in “yeshivot” and had returned learned men. When speaking to any one of them he would always refer to the others as “highly intelligent”; they were indeed dear children. It was seldom that a family had no child in the “Yeshiva”. Under Polish rule the Jews became poor. The children had nothing to do at home so they would go away to the “yeshivoth” to learn. Before the first World War many learned trades and many also left for America.
In the last few years Trochenbrod became Zionistically inclined: Ten year old children already belonged to Zionist youth clubs. Today that is all over.
(Ed note: this is from the original booklet and copied exactly as written. Chapter 6 doesn't exist.)
Now I want to recount a tale of 125 years ago that my grandfather Shmuel Leib told me.
His parents had 5 children. The oldest were 3 girls and the youngest 2 boys. My grandfather was the youngest child. When he was seven years old his parents died. His uncle Yankel took him to live with him while his nine year old brother was kidnapped by the 'kidnappers” and sent away a great distance into Russia. In those days the Russian government used to kidnap a lot of young Jewish children and make soldiers out of them. At first my grandfather worked in the house helping his aunt with all the housework, and when he grew older he worked in his uncle's tannery doing all the hardest chores.
Once he heard that the Russian “kidnappers” were looking for him and wanted to take him away as they had taken his brother, so he ran away to the neighbouring village of Stenvok. There he met up with 13 other young boys who had also run away from the “kidnappers”. He was then 12 years old. In the village there was also a tannery, the owner of which was called Reb. Meir Branfen. As my grandfather already knew the trade he at once started work and began slowly to earn a living. There my grandfather did very well. He had plenty to eat and drink. His employer was a well-to-do Jew. Apart from the tannery he also had a distillery (where they distilled spirits). The employer's wife (who was called Rezel) was a good woman who looked after the young boys well. Brandy was drunk there as water; apart from the bucket which always stood in the workshop each boy also had a straw. They would go into the store-room, lie down a barrel and suck the brandy so long until they fell asleep by the open barrel. . . and these once small boys grew into strong, healthy young men. But my grandfather left the village for he learned that in Trochenbrod he could register as a member of the colony and so free himself of having to serve in the army. He returned to Trochenbrod and had no difficulty in registering as a member of the community, and in this way he became a citizen of Trochenbrod.
He immediately started to work in Shmuel's tannery and since he was a mechanic he earned 2 Gilden a week. At the same time he became friendly with a girl, Biela, who was the daughter of Reb Ali Leib Borak, who was the son-in-law of Reb Meir Bronfen of Stavok. He got married to Beila and received a dowry of 100 Gilden. He also had some money saved and he bought a house near Mottia Chaim's and opened a tannery. But he couldn't work in that house for long because of the neighbors' complaints and interference. So he sold everything and bought land in the forest beyond the fields belonging to the townlet. The land belonged to an old Jew (I have forgotten his name), who had a son who had been taken away to the army before he had become a settler of Trochenbrod. There was a house standing on the newly-bought land so my grandfather transferred the beds and my grandmother helped him dig the vats out of the tannery, roll them through the forest and placed then into the new workroom.
When I went back home in 1934 I saw that the selfsame six vats were still there and that they were serving their purpose as well as they had done some 32 years previously.
My grandfather always used to tell me that “one must flee bad neighbours and that that was why he lived in the forest where no-one disturbed him.” Once – my grandfather told me – an old man came into his house and told him that the land belonged to him; that his father had no right to sell it without his consent. It was the son of the old man who had sold the field. He had served his 25 years in the army and had returned old and gray. In short, the soldier took my grandfather to court but my grandfather brought defence witnesses, the peasants who had for many years worked his fields, and he won the case. In spite of this my grandfather gave the ex-serviceman a few Rubles and the latter signed to the effect that he had no claims on my grandfather.
So my grandfather lived on his estate, always working it up. He brought up seven children, five sons and two daughters, married them off and helped them to get started in life. Apart from the tannery he had his fields, cows and chickens and it was, as they say, a contented household.
The workers in grandfather's tannery brought no food with them to work apart from dry bread. Everyone ate together with grandfather. They would spread butter on the bread, on top of which they put a large chunk of fresh cheese and then they would go into the storeroom and drink as much milk as they wanted. My grandfather made a practice of baking an oven full of bread and rolls every Thursday evening and would distribute them on Friday among the poor, and there was seldom no guest at the table.
Grandfather's leather was well known. Dealers from distant places would come to buy our leather. From the junction they used to have to ride the whole night in wagons, through deep mud, in order to roach my grandfather's tannery by early morning. If not for the high quality of the goods – they would say to my grandfather or father – we would not come so far.
Yes, the dealers were satisfied, both with the high quality of the goods and with the treatment they received. They felt very much at home, would eat and drink of the finest and best. The town Jews used to enjoy the good cream, the rich milk and the wonderful forest air. In summer they would sleep together with us children in the haystacks, in winter in the house.
The routine in my grandfather's tannery was as follows: At seven o'clock in the morning work began. At twelve everyone would eat. After the meal they had to take a nap, in summer sleeping in the hay and in winter in the house. After an hour's nap they would get up and would have to have a bit of “exercise” wrestling each with his partner. Even grandfather used to wrestle with someone.
In summer the food consisted mainly of vegetables, a good radish, cucumbers, onions, and other vegetables eaten with fresh sour cream. They would sit down round a large table, members of the family together with strangers. Then a potato soup would be served with fresh new beans and butter. At four o'clock they had dinner which was almost the same but instead of the potato soup they would eat potatoes boiled in their jackets with sour cream and buttermilk. In winter it was already dark at 4 o'clock so before the meal they would say the afternoon and evening prayers (“mincha” and “maariv”) with a “minyan” indeed, and only after this would they start the meal. Heaven be praised, there was never a shortage of appetite and they would chew away with both jaws. The faces would become red and perspiring during the meal. Once a Bardischover dealer came in and seeing the hot and sweating company at the table asked whether “they were not suffering from measles”.
So we lived in the colony, quietly and contentedly, and as my grandfather and grandmother lived so also my father and mother. The workers used to feel very much at home at grandfather's and never changed their jobs. One who came as a young boy to work for my grandfather left only seven years ago at the age of 90. When I was back home in 1934 I saw him. He was still a healthy Jew. His uncle Mendel was still working for us.
My grandfather made a practice of waking before dawn to pray “Chatzot” and to recite psalms (“Tahilim”). On Friday he would leave the lamp burning the whole night so as to be able to get up an hour or two before dawn and pray. He used to wake me up also from sleep and would say: “Time to get up, little David, and put a Jewish word into your mouth”. I would get up, recite all the psalms and all the early morning prayers. I continued this practice after my marriage and I carry it on also here in America. When I started to put on “Tefilin” he instructed me to recite Psalms each morning and to this very day I carry out his instructions.
“If you want a home”, he would always teach me, “make a practice of making guests welcome, of giving them food and drink and a bed on which to sleep, and then, if you ever visit them, you will always have a house among strangers.”
“When you go out into the street”, he would say, “always say “good morning” or “Good evening” to anyone you may meet, and don't wait for him to say first.”
He also had a first class knowledge of his trade, and was an experienced dealer. He would often take me with him to the large town where he bought hides and more than once I saw how he valued the goods at a glance and how he reckoned out the most complicated accounts in his head.
You must surely be wondering why I have said so much about my grandfather, and so little about my father, may he live and be well, so – I will explain.
My father was away from home for seven long years. He was one of the first children in Trachenbrod that were due for military service, and naturally, you will understand, he wasn't all anxious to become a soldier. There was an organization that arranged for release papers for a fee of 500 Rubles but this organization was informed on, and among the young people who had such papers was my father. He hid at first in Trachenbrod itself, but he was betrayed and had to flee to Lithuania. My mother was left alone with four small children, three boys and a girl, of whom I was the oldest child.
In Lithuania my father got work in a tannery and soon became manager of the business. The owner was extremely satisfied with him and would leave him to deal with everything, and he would even go alone to trade fairs to handle the buying and selling.
He would come home to us only once a year for Succoth (Feast of Tabernacles). My grandfather would go to meet him at the railway junction at Keviritz at night and would take with him woman's clothing and my father would reach home dressed up as a woman. At the end of the holiday he would again dress up in the woman's' clothing and would leave for the railway junction. And so it was each year. My mother, a young woman with four young children, never ceased bewailing her bitter fate and G-d answered her pleas. After seven years an amnesty was granted and my father finally came home.
My grandfather's tannery was at that time not going well and he was in a bad position. When my father came home he devoted himself to the tannery, enlarged and developed it and introduced all kinds of new equipment and took over the entire management and started a new life. My grandfather left him to deal with everything and rarely interfered. Every morning and evening he would have himself driven in the horse and cart to the synagogue (we lived a long way from the townlet) and lived a quiet life.
Once I told him that I wanted to go to America. He began to cry and said “I know, my child, that you are planning to go there, and later you will take the others away also. Who will cry for me and who will say “Kadish” (mourning prayers) when I die?” So I promised him that I would not go and I saw how he began to breathe freely once again.
Once a letter arrived from some unknown person saying that he was looking for a brother with the same name as grandfather. Of course grandfather replied to the letter. Some time later the “unknown person”, who was in reality grandfather's blood brother, came. He was already an old man, and greatly resembled my grandfather. He told us that he was a general and had been baptised but that he was thinking of fleeing from Russia and becoming a Jew again. He stayed with us for a while and then went away. We heard no more of him. It was grandfather's brother who had been “kidnapped” as a child for the army.
Every Friday evening, after supper, all the children and grandchildren would come round to grandfather's. Then he was really full of life; he would sing and the grandchildren would dance. He would tell them all kinds of stories and about the miracles that had happened to pious Jews, in which he believed. He himself used to visit the Schiziner Rebbe. G-d rest his soul.
Once – he told us – he was sitting at the Rabbi's table. It was “Shavuoth” (Feast of Weeks). Suddenly a bird came flying in through the open window, stood on the Rabbi's plate and started to sing, twittered and flew off.
“Do you know who that was?”, the Rabbi asked, “It was King David!”
On this occasion the Rabbi ordered several hundred psalm books to be printed but without printing the letter “Beth” (B). All the B's were written in by the Rabbi personally. He then sold the Psalm-books for a Ruble apiece to his followers and to this day I have such a Psalm-book in America.
When the Rabbi died his disciples went over to the Stepinier Rabbi, among them also my grandfather and my father, and we are all to this day Stepinier “chassidim”. Grandfather always told stories about the wonder-working of the Rabbi and other pious Jews.
In the early days – grandfather would relate – Trachenbrod was overrun by snakes. They would come into the houses, and the children would play with them and would feed them at their mealtimes. Indeed they did not bite anyone and they did no harm but it was simply impossible to tolerate them. Once a Rabbi (I have forgotten his name) came to Trachenbrod and the Trachenbrod Jews complained to him about the snakes. The Rabbi replied, “I will drive them away!”
He went out into the field, tore up some grass, and threw it into the next field, uttering some words at the same time. From then on there were indeed no more snakes at Trachenbrod.
40 years ago there appeared in Trachenbrod a mirage in the form of a flame. Every evening it could be seen glowing near the forest. Sometimes the flame would be large and sometimes small, sometimes it would appear low down near the ground and at others it would be high up. So it would glow night after night over the whole townlet. Often it would come up quite close to the houses but as soon as one got near it, it would disappear. We got accustomed to it and were no longer afraid.
At Hershel Shai's wedding, which was celebrated at grandfather Possi's house the flame came right up to the house. All the guests and members of the band went out to have a look at the flame which was very bright, but as soon as we got close to it, it disappeared.
Once a dealer from Klivan came to buy leather. He loaded up a full wagon and drove off. When the wagon reached the road to Lutzk the flame was shining in the middle of the road. The horses were afraid and didn't want to go forward, and the dealer had to turn around and return to Trachenbrod and only next morning when it got light, did he set out on his way.
Once, on “Shavuoth” night three lads from Shelishter street (Cheskel Yosi's, Benzi Cheskel-Leib's and Eli Getzi's) rode their horses over to the Karlanki's meadow. Suddenly they saw the flame which got nearer and nearer to them. The horses fled in wild terror and the lads climbed up on to a fence. But the flame followed them. They started to scream out in terrified voices until Ynsik Michaltshik came with his gun and fired. Only then did it disappear.
Going home from “Cheder” at night I saw the flame more than once. I had already become accustomed to it. It remained with us until the first World War. Then it disappeared without leaving any trace and to this day no one knows what this apparition was.
The children that grew up In Trachenbrod were strong and healthy. A Trachenbrod boy could knock out ten peasants.
On army registration days young people from all the neighboring townlets would come to Trachenbrod to evade service. Once they were informed on and even the name of the house in which they were hiding was revealed. Soldiers came and surrounded the house but immediately the Trachenbrod lads went out and set upon the soldiers. A fight started and the Trachenbrod boys snatched the guns away from the soldiers and broke them over the soldiers' backs. They scarcely managed to escape with their lives. The officer collected together all peasants from the surrounding villages, surrounded the townlet, caught the boys who had been in the fight and took them off to Lutzk and put them in prison. They would certainly have been packed off to Siberia but the people of the townlet didn't remain silent. They sent a delegation to Petersburg and secured the release of the fighters.
Once the workers in the neighbouring sawmill got drunk in Trachenbrod and started to attack the Jews. A few young lads went out and gave them such a beating that they remained lying on the ground bruised and broken. They thereafter warned their children and their children's children not to start with the Trachenbrod Jews.
When I was in Trachenbrod in 1934 I was told the following story: A few ruffians that had stayed behind in Poland after the Russian revolution and were watchmen in the Radzivilas Forest, would come up to the boundaries of Trachenbrod on their horses and would beat up anyone who happened to pass by, not excluding women and children. One Saturday several Trachenbrod youths got together and hid behind the bushes (34) on the edge of the forest, sending one of their number into the forest. As soon as the watchmen saw him they fell on him. Then all the lads came out from among the trees and they beat up the watchmen to such an extent that they barely escaped with their lives. The squire took the young lads to court but the Jews won the case and the squire was forced to get rid of the ruffians.
Yes, the young folk inherited the bravery and courage of their forefathers of a hundred years before them.
My dear townsfolk! I know that when you read these lines about the townlet of our birth, that you will derive pleasure from, and like myself, you will be proud of our grandfathers. They left behind them in the towns well-to-do homes, a comfortable and easy life and went out into the wilds. They saw the town in another light. They felt the town livelihoods to be built on air and took upon themselves to build for their children and children's children a surer future, a free and healthy life in the lip of nature. In this they succeeded. They reared seven generations of healthy men and good Jews.
In the last few years many of the children have fled to Vilna and from there to Eretz Israel. They do not have to start learning agricultural work, they come ready made peasants who can also study and who know the Hebrew language. In the letters received from them they write that they are happy and are prepared to give up everything for Eretz Yisrael. They have inherited the stubbornness of their grandfathers to overcome all difficulties and to reach their goal.
Now I will tell you what my wife and I saw in our townlet when we visited it in the year 1934.
At nine o'clock in the evening we left Warsaw and we reached the Kviritzer junction at about six o'clock in the morning. The early morning was a lovely and fresh one. It was the month of August. When the train stopped and we got off we saw before us three young lads waiting for us. One of them was Shmolik the son of David the bricklayer, the second Shmuel's son Yoske and the third was from Kolk. They were all carters, who were waiting for us with their horses and carts. They told us that they had been waiting for us for two days and nights. When we saw them tears filled our eyes. Their clothing was torn and patched and even the patches were torn and they were all but nakedy.
Shmulik, who had once been in America told me in English that my brother Sholom had sent him to the junction to fetch us and that the other two had come of their own accord and also wanted the honour of driving us. I told him to do as he thought best so Shmuelik made the following arrangement. Each of the three carts had two horses. He unharnessed one of his horses and harnessed it to the second cart and he took the other's horse and harnessed it to his cart. He took us on his cart. He told the kalk carter to go home as he wasn't entitled to anything.
Riding over my father's fields we met some children who were coming from the forest with blueberries. “There are your sister's children”, said Shmuelik, pointing to the children. He stopped the cart and we took the children up and kissed them repeatedly.
As we got nearer to my father's house, the children jumped down from the cart and ran a head of us to tell my father the news. He ran towards us and fell upon us and we could not say a word for the tears choked back all our words . . .
Finally my father took us in to my brother's house. Only then did I learn that my father's house and the tannery had burned down a month previously. On that particular Friday everyone had gone to the “Ben Zachar” of my brother's son. Someone had stolen all the leather from the attic and then set fire to the house and tannery. My brother's stables were also burned down. By the time the townlet realized what was happening everything was burned. It was the first fire since my grandfather founded the tannery.
I asked Shmuelik the carter what I owed him for the journey and he replied that he left it to me, giving me to understand at the same time that he had a partner in the transaction. . . . I gave him 5 dollars and also satisfied the other fellow. They could live for a whole week on the money.
And then the celebration really began. All our friends and acquaintances and people in general from the townlet came in a constant stream to greet me and to get regards from their friends and relatives. There was no room in the house so we put benches outside. Day after day new people came and there was so much coming and going that the house was like a beehive. Everyone was envious of my father's having such important guests who had come from across the seas to see him.
I had brought with me money for almost all the townsfolk from their friends and relatives in America. I paid each in dollars and not in Zlottes so as not to let it be thought that I was making a profit on the transfer. Many of the recipients lived in other towns and townlets – so I had to travel to them. I took my brother Shalom with me on such journeys. First we went to Holik. There I informed all my acquaintances of my whereabouts and invited them to come and see me. Soon my apartment was overflowing with people. Among them waited representatives of all kinds of institutions and organizations asking for contributions to charities. I left my brother to deal with these matters and to give as much as he considered proper to each. In Holik I met the Holiker Rabbi and left him a handsome monetary gift.
From Holik we went on to Rovno. There I had to give forty dollars to someone from his sister. He lived in a cellar. When I entered the house I was struck by the stench of dampness. He told me that he had become ill on account of the damp and wet room but that he could not afford better accommodations. He added that he owed six months rent and that they wanted to throw him out, as he was ninety zlotes in arrear.
I told him that his sister in America had sent him some money and counted out ten dollars. His face began to change colour. Then I gave him the second ten dollar bill he jumped up from the bench. At the third ten dollar bill he looked at me with bulging eyes and at the fourth ten he began to dance around the room. I have never, in all ay life, witnessed such a scene.
From Rovno we travelled to Lutzk and there – a repetition of what had taken place in Holik and also the same requests from organizations and institutions. In Lutzk I rejoined my wife. She had been visiting a niece. From there my wife and I journeyed to Vishinka to her family graveyard, travelling by night by boat on the Stier River. Many Jews were travelling on the boat. They immediately, recognized us to be American and soon surrounded us asking all kinds of questions about life in America. They were all envious of us and from time to time a sigh would escape from one breast or another.
The Jews warned us that an arriving late at night in Vishinka we should not let it be known that we were Americans and should not speak English as it might be fatal. The owner of the ship was also a Jew. They told him to arrange for the gentile that awaited the arrival of the ship to take us straight to the “shochet” (slaughterer) and to say that some Trachenbrod folk had arrived. The Jews disembarked at Razshisht and left us terrified. We reached the landing stage at Vishinka at twelve o'clock at night. The gentile that was waiting at the dock took us to the “shochet” (The young shochet was Asher Nachum Alter's son), knocked at this door in the dark saying that Trachenbrod folk wanted to stay the night. The “shochat” opened up, gave his bed to my wife, and put me to sleep on a bench. I can assure you that I didn't close an eyelid the whole night and thanked G-d when it began to get light. To such an extent had our companions of the boat frightened us.
We went out into the street and made our way to my father-in-law's house. Only a few semi-destroyed houses remained of the townlet. We reached the spot where my father-in-law's tannery had once stood and found a bare patch. Only one single pear tree remained. The house, the tannery and the stables had been burned down during the war. The willow trees which had stood by the Stier had been torn away by the river. The large old synagogue, the “Beth Hamidrash” (small synagogue and class-rooms), the bath house, all had been completely and utterly destroyed.
Before the war Vishinka had been a blooming townlet. The Jews were prosperous, kept comfortable homes and were well versed in learning. My father-in-law – Israel Baer was hold to be a highly respected man in the townlet a well-educated and wise man. If anyone had to answer a complicated question or wanted advice in an important matter, they would come to my father-in-law. Peasants would come to him for information on land matters and he would be called to cure sick people. He would consider the patients complaint and would either prescribe what had to be done or whether it was necessary to call a doctor.
He once told me that Vishinka was a very old town. As a young man had seen gravestones in the old cemetary that were over three hundred years old. Some years back Rojshist was a little townlet and Vishinka was a town. They used to bring the dead people from Rojshist to Vishinka – a distance of ten miles. And now with difficulty, I found a “minyin” (ten grown males) of Jews. On the other hand Rojshist had become a big city.
We stood at the empty plot where my father-in-law's house had once stood and bemoaned the destruction of Jewish homes and Jewish communities.
My wife told me that some forty odd years back the first boat began to ply on the Stier. In Vishinka the boat had stopped in front of their house and the captain made fast the boat to a pear tree with a thick rope. He came into the house and said that the landing dock would be built in front of their house. “And today”, said my, wife, “we left the boat like thieves in the dead of. night and were afraid to say a word for fear of the peasants.”
That spot was once the center of the townlet. Today only the pear tree remains of it all. All is dust and ashes. The well-established house where people could always get advice from the father and help from the mother is no more.
From there we went to the consecrated grounds and took with us an old woman. In the cemetery there are no paths and there are no gravestones to be seen, and no one knows where my father-in-law lies buried. There are no old people who might remember and the young ones don't know. So we stood and wept for the destruction also of the Jewish cemeteries.
I asked: Where are the old gravestones of which my father-in-law always took such great care. The old woman (prayer sayer) replied that since my father-in-law had died there was no one left to take care of them.
We left the consecrated grounds with heavy hearts. We bade farewell to the remaining people in the townlet and left for Rojshist.
We reached Rojshist at midday and went to see my wife's sister, by the same mother. She was highly delighted to see us. I left my wife at her sister's and went alone to seek out an old father for whom his son in Columbus had sent money. I found him after enquiry and on reaching his house I found a handsome old Jew, but unfortunately blind in both eyes. He greeted me and, on hearing that I had brought money and greetings from his son he would not let go of my hand saying: “I want to hold your hand and imagine that I am speaking to my child”, and tears fell continuously from the blind eyes.
I spent two days in Rojishist. My wife stayed with her sister over Rosh Hashana (New Year) and I travelled back to Trachenbrod in order to spend the holy festival with my father.
On the eve of the festival father went with all the children to the consecrated grounds. I knelt down by my mother's grave and wept out the bitterness in my heart. I wept for the whole of the Jewish Life that had been destroyed and I wept because my mother had not lived to have the pleasure of seeing her son, returned from afar, once again. Then we went to the graves of relatives of my father and grandfather. After that we went to the old cemetery where lie buried my great grandfathers and grandmothers. These old consecrated grounds are overgrown with a forest of oak and pine trees. None of the graves there are distinguishable; they have become flush with the ground.
Standing by our grandfather's grave we met Zelig Yisrael-Moishe's, a settler in the neighbouring Jewish agricultural colony Lojshist.
On Rosh Hashana morning we all went to synagogue together, for living some distance from the townlet we always used to go to the synagogue together; grandfather, G-d rest his soul, father, and his children, father's brother and his children, – so also now. When the townlet Jews saw us approaching they would say: – Here comes the Shmuel Leib's – it is time for us to go to the synagogue.
That is how we were known – “The Shmuel Leib's” by my grandfather's name.
The service soon started and I thought that, finally, after so many years, I would again recapture the feeling I had while praying in my younger years.
In all my years in America I had felt a homesickness for the Trachenbrod synagogue, for the Trachenbrod Rosh Hashanas and Yom Kippurs (Day of Atonement), when Jews, with their “Talisem” (Praying shawls) over their heads, would say like trees in a storm and whose wailing and weeping could have penetrated the heavens.
But the present incantations in no way resembled those of the past, the warmth was missing, the feeling of holiness, and the fire of former days. A deeper pain engulfed me, a feeling of ordinariness and emptiness.
After the service I inquired: – What has happened to the old enthusiasm, the sweetness, the fire?
And I was answered: – The World War quenched the fire. Jews left without a roof over their heads, without bread and almost no clothing or footwear. Their hearts have become stones and their tears have frozen.
On Yom Kippur I prayed in Lutzk, and it was no different there from Trachenbrod. Succoth I again spent with my father. Every householder built a “Succah” (Tabernacle) for his household. Each made “kiddush” (blessing of wine) quietly in an everyday fashion and also “Simchat Torah” (Rejoincing of the Law) passed quietly. What had happened to the unmarred (pure or light-hearted gaiety) happiness, to the dancing and singing of the old time Simchas Torah.
I had come, thirsty to drink from that other well, to warm myself by that other Jewish fire, and I found the well dry and the fire extinguished.
Now I want to tell you what our Trachenbrod brothers lived through during and after the war, and then you will understand why they were so broken and beaten, physically and spiritually. They would sit for many days and not tire of telling me.
The trenches were all round our townlet. The cannons thundered day and night, but that was not the worst of it, for they got used to that. The worst was that the armies were continually changing. When the Russians left, the Germans came in and when the Germans retreated the Russians again took over our townlet. The townlet suffered more from the Russians. As soon as they came the Commandant would come to my father and would demand leather. You had to give them what they demanded and would receive in exchange a promissory note which stated that after the war they would pay. There was no shortage of beatings-up if the demanded quantity of leather was not forthcoming immediately. When the Poles came in there was more beating and open and barefaced robbery and when the war finally came to an end there arose bands of bandits, robbers, and murderers, who killed, robbed and tortured the Jews. The soldiers came by day, the bandits by night. And do you know who the bandits were? To our great shame I must tell you that they were Jewish bandits from Rojshisht. My mother died of beating and torturing. My brother was laid up for several months seriously ill from a beating up and it was doubted whether he would ever get up again. They never demanded leather, only money, and they stole everything from the house, even the bedclothes. Later they caught two of them. They were caught and handed over to the Polish soldiers who took them away behind the bathhouse and shot them through the heart. Their wives later came to collect their dead bodies.
After the war the position of the Trachenbrod Jews did not improve. Most of their sources of income were taken from them. No Jews was allowed to deal in forestry, they were not allowed to keep shops or businesses and later when the Polish government opened co-operative stores all over and continuously incited the peasants against the Jews, those from the surrounding villages no longer came to Trachenbrod, but bought only in their own villages, in their own stores. The taxes that were demanded from Jewish businesses were so exorbitant that it was quite impossible to pay them. So the last sticks of furniture as well as anything of value, were confiscated from the Jewish homes, and they took the cattle from the stables and sold all for the unpaid taxes.
So the townlet became poorer and poorer, until there were no coins with which to buy a little kerosene for the lamp. It was fortunate that there was no shortage of potatoes and beans in the townlet.
When the beans were eaten up, a woman told me – we would pull up a Polish [radish?] out of the garden, peel it, and would chew at it until we got tired and fell asleep.
Our coming to Trachenbrod, and the visit of two other former townsfolk brought back a bit of life to the townlet and a few good dollars. I should have come together with the other visitors but they completed their affairs in America sooner and came first. Therefore they, together with their wives, also left sooner.
When I looked on at the farewell scenes – how they lay on the boards and wept, – my heart contracted with pain. I was reminded that I too would soon have to part with my father and with all those nearest and dearest to me, perhaps for ever.......
When I sat with my father, brother and sister, they already wept at the thought that soon, very soon, I would also be leaving. I pretended laughter, but my heart was heavy. The nearer the day of our departure got, the closer we drew towards each other and the more we had to tell and retell, and just then, the people who had just taken leave of their relatives at the junction came into the house and only then did they really begin to cry, making our grief even greater.
Shortly before our departure my father said to me: “My child, I want to give you a present that will surely be dear to you; it is your grandfather's psalmery that he once received from the Schizisher Rabbi. You are also a Schizisher “chassid” so you are worthy to have his psalmery.”
I was moved to tears. It is my most precious gift. I regard it as a precious stone and when I recite psalms from this little book, I think of the days that were, when I was a young boy and my grandfather would wake me up before dawn to recite psalms.
When the day of our departure arrived, the whole townlet came to say goodbye. The garden was full of people.
Seeing myself surrounded by all who were nearest and dearest, – father, brother, sister, uncles, aunts, cousins, I was overcome by a strange feeling, and had a strange and overpowering desire to see the family split up into groups, according to their relationships. I asked them to do this for me and they did so willingly. They arranged themselves as I wished, with my father and step-mother standing in the center.
When I saw them standing so a blessing was torn from my lips. I blessed them and then took leave of each one individually.. Then we left, accompanied by the people of the townlet and by the whole family.
We were already far from Trachenbrod and those that were left behind had long disappeared from our eight, but their heartrending cries followed us for a long time.
We reached Warsaw tired and broken. From Warsaw we travelled to Trieste in order to travel on from there to Eretz Israel. There were 1100 other people also travelling from Trieste to Eretz Israel. We had to wait two days in Trieste because the first ship could not carry all the people. We travelled first class on the second ship. We met a lot of Jews there and it made us feel better. We were carried away by their pioneering singing and their ecstatic dancing. Into their circles young and old were drawn, bearded and unbearded Jews. Hand on shoulders, they strung together and dancing broke out over the whole of the ship's deck. Our hearts overflowed with joy, and looking on, tears welled up into our eyes. The wounds, fresh from Poland, began to heal. Only now did I begin to understand what I had seen on board the “Rex” that had carried us from America to Italy.
Whole Italian families were travelling to visit their mother country. Mussolini's government made considerable reductions in the fare for the American Italians and invited them to see for themselves what Mussolini had done in their fatherland. They travelled en masse, singing and making merry the whole way. The nearer the ship got to Italy, the merrier they became. We, the few Jews, envied them. They were going home, they had their own home. And, we . . . ? We were going to see our close relatives and friends, who themselves had no home, no land of their own. And only there, on board the “Rex”, did we feel how homeless we Jews were!
When the first speck of land appeared on the horizon a young Italian suddenly appeared, climbed up on high and began to serenade his fatherland with such a sweet melody that it touched our souls.
I watched the smiling faces of the Italians and thought, these very people left their homeland because of poverty, they have lived in America for many years and are completely Americanized and they have become rich in America and, in spite of all, on barely spying the tiniest speck of black Italian soil, there is awakened in them such a love and enthusiasm for their fatherland.
And now, travelling to Eretz Yisrael, and seeing the enthusiasm of our pioneers, girls and boys, we began to understand those Italians.
We are going to Eretz Israel, the Jewish land, our own land, how can we remain calm and not join in the singing and dancing.
Next to me stands a Jew, he points with his finger at the sea and says: “Can you see? There Jonah the prophet hid himself on a ship.” It was not far off Jaffa and the Jew continued: “When you get off the ship you will see things that you learned in “Chomesh” (Bible).
The ship came to a standstill and we went through the customs, cleared our luggage and got into a small Arabic boat that piloted us between the reefs until it came to a standstill by the old “Castle Garden”. We took a car and were driven off to my sister's. The chauffeur said to us: “This is the old town of Jaffa, soon we shall reach the now town of Tel Aviv, which you will see is a modern town.”
When we saw Tel Aviv, the hundred percent Jewish town, our hearts swelled with happiness.
We drove to my sister's who lived not far from the Yarkon River. She has her own house near the brick factory. She is the youngest of our family. We had not seen each other for twenty years so you can imagine the joy at our reunion.
She has two handsome sons and her husband owns two pair of horses and carts. He transports building materials and he is doing quite well.
On the second day we travelled to Petach Tikvah to look up a friend from Columbus, where he had been the Cantor of the Synagogue. His name is Anshel Friedman but we did not find him because he had moved to Tel Aviv, where we found him on the third day. He made us very welcome. I asked him if he knew where we could buy land on which to plant an orange grove. He told us that only two weeks previously he himself had bought thirty dunams of land and that the company had more for sale. So I asked him to accompany me there and then, and indeed we were soon in the office and had discussed the business.
And then straightaway we caught a taxi and drove off to see the land and on our return we made the contract and I had bought thirty dunams of land.
When I returned home with the “Chazan” (Cantor) and told my wife about my purchase, she was very pleased. And I – even more so, for I felt as if I had done a good and necessary deed – for the Jewish people, and for myself at the same time, I decided that I would plant it as soon as possible.
But in the meantime the riots broke out and we had to put off the plan for a more peaceful time. I hope to G-d that he will redeem our people and that I and my family and all the Jewish people will have the opportunity of settling in our own land.
From Tel Aviv we travelled to Jerusalem for Shabbath. On Shabbath we went to pray at the Wailing Wall. We could see Jews there from all over the world.
Here comes a Jew, in a short coat, with a shining Russian cap and Russian boots. He leans his head against the old stone and his lips tremble. So he stands for some minutes, kisses the stones and goes off. A tall old Jew comes up wearing a “Talit” (Praying shawl). He starts by kissing the stones from top to bottom and from bottom to top and only then starts praying. And so we witnessed all kinds of scenes. As we stood I noticed from afar three Jews dressed in Eretz Yisrael's typical Shabbath dress. I knew one of them. He used to come to our house as a collector for the Diskin Institution. His name is Gelbstein. He immediately recognized us and invited us to his house for lunch.
After lunch Gelbstein took us around to see all the old synagogues, showing us all there was to see and telling us about each and every synagogue. Then he accompanied us to our hotel and promised that on the morrow, Sunday at 9 o'clock he would come again and would take us wherever we wanted to go.
Promptly at 9 o'clock on Sunday he arrived and we travelled to Hebron to see the “Maarat Hamachpelah” and Rachel's Tomb. We returned at about nine o'clock in the evening.
On Shabbath I went to “mincha” at the synagogue of Rav Kook G-d rest his soul, and I partook there of “Shalosh Seudos”. The Rabbi read the portion of the law – “Chaie Sara” (Life of Sarah). I had never heard it so read. I have heard many “chassidish” Rabbis reading the law but what I heard there was something quite extraordinary. There were very many people round the table. After the grace he came over to me, greeted me and asked who I was and from where I came. I told him that I was from America. He enquired from what town and I replied from Columbus. He said: “I know I have been in Cleveland. And what are you doing here?”
I told him that I had come to see Eretz Israel and that I had already bought thirty tunams of land.
He had been holding my hand in his throughout our conversation and when he heard that I had bought land, he grasped me with his other hand and wished me luck and was most delighted. May the blessings only come true.
After “maariv” I left for my hotel (Warshawski). We had spent a whole week in Jerusalem. On the second Saturday we were in Tel Aviv and spent it with my sister and with many Trachenbroders – only young people. They were all skilled tradespeople, bricklayers, cabinet makers, electricians. Many already owned their own homes and were happy that they had come to Eretz Israel. Many sent money to their families in Trachenbrod. A cousin of mine Meir David Entwarg is a carpenter. He has his own workshop with four employees. He told me that in order to carry out all the orders he had ordered a machine from England costing 500 dollars. He had his own wooden house on the Hadar Hacarmel as well as a cow and a calf which pastured on the Carmel and were driven home at night by his wife. Now he was going to build a three-story building. The bank was lending him money and the neighbours were advancing him money in anticipation of his eventually renting them flats. His brother, Yaakov' Elia, had also bought several building plots. He is also a carpenter, so all the ex-Trachenbroders were working themselves up. I could mention them all by name.
Our Trachenbrod brothers in Eretz Israel came to me with the following proposition: That we ex-Trachenbroder folk in America should bring over as many of the young Trachenbrod people as possible to Eretz Israel, and that we should buy land on which our Trachenbrod brothers could be settled.
Today the proposition could not be executed.
You will remember my dear townfolk the plan that I suggested some years ago, that associations be set up in each American town whose purpose it would be to help our friends in Trachenbrod.
You accepted my suggestion and that of Meir Kaller and formed associations that did a great deal for our Trachenbrod brothers. And today we must turn our work into other channels. We must collect a large sum of money and buy land in Eretz Israel in the name of our forefathers, or plant a forest that their names be immortalized. And we can do this very easily.
And something more: We should collect material about our Trachenbrod and should publish a book. I have written of what I know and remember. Others can write their memories. I have written mainly about the second generation, let others write about the first and still others about the third generations.
We should organize a congress of all ex-Trachenbroders in America and the delegates should come with plans and proposals as to how the book should be published. Such a book would sell well and we could do a great deal with the proceeds.
My dear friends! When you read my lines you should get together, each in his town, and write me at once what your opinion is of my proposal.
Let us be the first. Let us set an example to other brother townsfolk, as we did with our ex-Trachenbrod associations, in which we were the first. Following our example other associations were also started in the towns of ex-members of such places as Lutzk, Kalk, Rojshisht, Kovla and Rovno.
I left Eretz Israel with my wife in a happy and exalted mood, not as on leaving Poland. We had no inclination to leave the lovely and dear country. Only my business affairs prevented us from staying longer. My wife, who is not completely well, felt healthy and satisfied in Eretz Israel and I too felt likewise. And we pray to G-d that He should bring us back to Eretz Israel to live out our lives.
On the ship, on our return journey to America, there were also travelling two Arabic families who live in America and had been visiting their relatives in Eretz Israel. We got into a conversation with them. One told us that he would never again visit Eretz Israel – in spite of the fact that his parents were there. I asked him the reason. He told me that he did not want to become ill there. He said he had been ill there the whole time and he showed me that the whole of his body was covered with sores that he had contracted in “Palestine”. The second also said that he would not visit there again, making another excuse.
I said to my wife: We have no mother or father in Eretz Israel and furthermore we were not born there, and yet we fell so in love with the country, that we had no inclination whatsoever to leave. And see, those Arabs were born there, have parents, relatives and friends there, and have fled from their home. Is it not – I said – a miracle? “The hand of G-d”?
My wife replied: “My heart tells me that we will be in Eretz Israel again”. To this I replied: – “If only it would come to pass already!”
Yes – our hometown is no more. However, as compensation, we find comfort in the rebirth of our Land of Israel. Filled with homesickness for Eretz Israel, I bring my memoirs to an end.
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