Bălţi, Moldova

Balti Bessarabia:
A Memorial of the Jewish Community
(Bălţi, Moldova)
47°46' / 27°56'

Translation of
Sefer Beltsi Basarabia: yad ve-zekher le-yahadut Beltsi

Edited by: Yosef Mazor (editor-in-chief), Mishah Fuks (editor)

Published in Jerusalem 1993

Acknowledgments
Project Coordinator
Alexandre Crazover

Emerita Coordinator: Roberta Jaffer

This is a translation from: Sefer Beltsi Basarabia: yad ve-zekher le-yahadut Beltsi,
Balti Bessarabia: a memorial of the Jewish community,
ed: Yosef Mazor (editor-in-chief), Mishah Fuks (editor), Jerusalem 1993 (H, Y 655 pages)

Note: The original book can be seen online at the NY Public Library site: Balti

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Translated by Yocheved Klausner

Preface	Y. Mazor	5
Introduction	Y. Mazor	11

Chapter 1. Bălţi and its Jews

A house on the Raut (poem)	Y. Fikhman	27
Beltz, mein Stetele Beltz [Bălţi, my town Bălţi] (poem)		28
Monograph on Bessarabia	Stefan Tchovno	30
Chapters from the history of the Jews	Dr. Schwarzfeld	31
The Bălţi Jewish community until WWI	Prof. A. Feldman	33
Bălţi in the 19^th Century	Shlomo Yovel	44
Bălţi between the two World Wars 1918-1940		78

Chapter 2. The Jewish Community

The Bălţi Community Council	Y. Mazor	100
Yerachmiel Jaffe	L. Kuperstein	111
Personalities in the Jewish Community Life in Bălţi	Y. Jaffe	116
The Jewish Community in Bălţi [Romanian]	R. Ioffe	116
Our Stubborn Struggle against the “Korovka”	Z. Heinichs	118
Medical Aid in Bălţi until 1940	M. Gafter	119
Pharmacists in Bălţi until 1940	Bluma Malamud	124
Jews in the City Councils and in Politics	Y. Mazor	126
The Fathers of the Town Bălţi	Y. Mazor	132
The Jaffe family	Y. Mazor	134
Eliezer Gick (Hik)	T. Heinichs	142
Bernard Walter, the Bălţi Communal Worker	Z. Heinichs	143
The Krasyuk Family	Dr. M. Gafter	144
My Father Avraham Goichman	L. Staviski (Goichman)	146
Memories from Bălţi [Beltz]	Eng. Yakov Gefter	148
Bălţi [Beltz] – the Charm of the Jewish Folksiness	Prof. Elkana Margalit	152
Memories from Bălţi [Beltz]	Chanoch Goldstein	154
Childhood and Adolescence in Bălţi [Beltz]	Misha Fuchs	159
Memories from Bălţi	Y. Mazor	165
The Silbergs	Ruth Pri-Paz	167
The Vaserman Zelţer Fabrics Shop	Dr. Moshe Gora	172

Chapter 3. Jewish Education

Jewish Education	Y. Mazor	176
The Talmud Torah Schools	Y. Mazor	183
School principals of the Talmud Torah schools in the twenties	Y. Mazor	188
The beginnings of the Hebrew High-School	K. A. Bertini	191
The Hebrew High-School in Bălţi	Y. Mazor	203
The Hebrew High-School orchestra	Yitzhak Feldman-Peled	207
Our ever young teacher	Yosef Loven	209
L. Kuperstein, teacher, educator and writer	Y. Mazor	211
ORT	Y. Mazor	229
Buzia Stiebelman	Y. Mazor	230
Moisika Sissman	Y. Mazor	232

Chapter 4. Zionism

Zionism in Bălţi	Y. Mazor	264
Zionist activity in Bălţi	Z. Heinichs	276
Beginning of the Keren Hayesod activity in 1921	Z. Heinichs	285
Zionism and Zionists in Bălţi	Z. Heinichs	288
Mendel Masis, Zionist No. 1 in Bălţi	Portrayal by his son Shalom	294
Autobiographical notes	Z. Heinichs	296
David Bet-Don	T. Mazor	299
The Revisionist Zionists in Bălţi	Y. Mazor	300
Doctor Leizer Gurfel	Dr. Ben Or Gurfel	304
Avraham Sigberman z”l	Y. Mazor	307
Ha'oved Hazioni - Tze'irei Zion - Yoel Schechtman, Yakov Ripstein, David Oleinik, Kalman Seger	Y. Mazor	308
The Hashomer Hatza'ir branch in Bălţi	Yosef Loven	311
The Hashomer Hatza'ir branch in Bălţi on the eve of WWII	Yakov Dagan	314
The Bălţi people	Avraham Orin	316
From Beltz [Bălţi] to the Land of Israel via Holland	Fania Lanir	318
Grisha Staroste	Z. Heinichs	320
The Finkelsteins		324
Arie (Lionia) Schachter the Jewish Brigade man		333
Levy Greenblatt	Izia	336
Nostalgic memories from the Bălţi branch of Hashomer Hatza'ir	Yosef Goldenberg	338
Memories	Nona Pozis-Shacham	340
A letter of a bereaved father	Chaim and Chantze Flanzenbaum	342
A young turner among students	Yosef Loven	343
In memory of Moshe Rady (Radolski)	Yitzhak Lanir	344
Yitzhak Lanir	Yosef Loven	345
This is the story of Amir Galili z”l		352
Gordonia in Bălţi	Israel (Izia) Galitzki	354
The Gordonia branch in Bălţi	Zerubavel Seker	362
Before sunset	Shlomo Yuval (Sturmwasser)	365
Words to the memory of Gershuni	Izia	368
Beitar in Bălţi	Y. Mazor	381
Shlomo Trachtman Harary	Y. Mazor	404
Figures in the Beitar branch in Bălţi	Y. Mazor	414
Munia Bordman	Y. Mazor	424
Yakov Ben Nathan	Y. Mazor	428
The visit of the Delegates	Y. Mazor	431
The first Aliya through “Af-Al-Pi” from our town Bălţi	Menachem Bordman	433
Hapo'el Hamizrahi	Efraim Soibelman	436
David Barzilay, a pioneer, one of the builders of Kfar-Saba		441

Chapter 5. Culture

Bălţi in Yakov Fikhman's poetry		445
Yakov Fikhman - his life and work	L. Kuperstein	448
With Fikhman	Chaim Hochman	454
Efraim Auerbach	L. Kuperstein	456
Bălţi in Auerbach's poetry		463
Poetry from the Purest Spring [Y]	Alexander Melechson	465
The wandering singer	A. B. Yaffe	467
Hersch Leib Kazhber [Koszever] - Weinstein [Vaynshteyn] [Y]	Sholom Sudit	473
Purim (poem) [Y]	Mendel Geventer	475
“Mein Shtelele Belz...” (poem) [Y]	Sholom Sudit	476
About Aharon Fikhman	Y. Mazor	479
Bălţi Artists	Y. Mazor	481
Cantorial art in Bălţi	Y. Mazor	485
Sports in Bălţi	Zeev Vergolis	487
Maccabi - Bălţi	S. Sodek	489
Musical Life in Bălţi	Jacob Soroker	495
The Press in Beltz [Bălţi]	Y. Mazor	503
Pinchas Lev-Tov	Chava Mernfeld, Giora Levtov	507

Chapter 6. The Economy

The Economy in Bălţi	Y. Mazor	514
Berka Frank	Y. Mazor	531
Israel Wolman	Y. Mazor	538
The Zimmermans - Reuven (Ruby) Zimmerman	Y. Mazor	542
Baruch Rosenberg	Y. Mazor	548

Chapter 7. The Holocaust

The High-School during the Soviet Period	Mordechai Motia Kogan	560
The Soviet Period in Bălţi Until the Outbreak of WWII	Tziporah Ungar-Mazor	563
My Bălţi (Beltz)	Menachem (Munia) Ackerman	566
Menachem (Munia) Ackerman	Misha Fuchs	570
The deportation	Menachem (Munia) Ackerman	571
Memories from the Suffering of the Jews evacuated from Beltz	Dr. K.	576
“Prisoners of Zion” [Asirei Zion] Residents of Beltz	by Tz. Heinichs	578
“May the informers have no hope”	Z. Heinichs	582
The Holocaust of the Bălţi Jews	Y. Mazor	585
And it burned and was not consumed	Neomi Avi-Yitzhak (Tur Kaspa)	595
Leib Galawati	Efraim Auerbach	599
The testimony of Bernard Walter		602
Memories of Beltz (Bălţi) at the time of the Destruction [Y]	Goldiak Wolf	604
Life and Death–Neighbors in Duvino, the Camp of Transnistria [Y]	Chana Lukatscher Warshavskaya	607
Memories from Transnistria	Bella (Meimis) Raat	609
Beyond the Dniester	Hadassa Raam	611
Transnistria	Pendler Nechama	616
Episodes of the Jewish Tragedy 1941-1945 [Y]	Sonia (Faiershtayn) Katz, Washington 1984	618
Documents		622
A miracle in Astrakhan	Nachum Degani	634
Life during World War II	Yakov (Yania) Oren	636
Bălţi people fight the Nazis	Chaim Gorochovski	641
Bălţi people in the Jewish Brigade	Misha Fuchs	645
Travelogue: Impressions of Bălţi and Bessarabia, 1992	Y. Mazor	653
Epilogue	Yitzhak Korn	655

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