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To the Members of the Association of Goniadz Jews in Israel H.Y. INVITATION TO A MEMORIAL MEETING And the Perpetuation of the Goniadz Community From the “Atid” School Ramat–Gan That will take place on Tuesday, 15th Tevet 5728 (16.1.1968) At 20:00 in the school hall, Ramat–Gan (The approach is from the corner of 184 Ha–Ro'eh Street to 10 Ha–Negev Way and turn left in the direction of the school). The hall will open at 18:00 for colleagues You are asked to transmit this invitation to all residents of our city. The Committee of Goniadz Jews.

The “Atid” School Ramat–Gan N. Archiel. The Program: Memorial to Goniadz Tuesday 15th Tevet 16.1.1968 20:00 The Funeral March – Frederic Chopin ; Doron; Lighting the Memorial candle : Mrs. D'vora Rinrosky and Mr. Moshe Levin Perpetuating Communities : And we, in the school, Memorialize Goniadz : Mrs. Nehama Archiel. In the name of the Goniadz Association : Mr. Yitzhak P. P u p i l s Memorial Scroll – Vickie Did They Know Tears – Girls' Choir How do I see Goniadz as a Sabra – Yohanan Our visit to “Yad Va–Shem” – Yitzhak and Vickie Photograph Gallery of Goniadz – Shimon, Yitzhak and Vickie Excerpts from the poem of Mr. Ivri – Ruthie and Orna Verses from the Psalms – Asher All the pupils : REMEMBER We remember you Goniadz – Mrs. Sarah Barkai Oration – Mr. Yosef Halpern El Maleh Rahamim – Mr. Yosef Halpern Poem of the Shoah – Mr. Ivri Hatikvah

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Since the days of the terrible Shoah, which befell upon our people during the Second World War, the obligation and need to do everything we can to ensure that we do not forget our brethren who perished during the days of the Nazi terror, has stayed with us and accompanied us and during those years, the thought of how to educate our children and pupils that they should remember what was done to us by Hitler and his helpers, has gnawed and pecked constantly at our minds.

With our consecration of the Community of Goniadz Corner, here, in the Culture hall of our “Atid” school in Ramat–Gan, We all felt – all the City's citizens, that we are fulfilling that modest but hallowed mission of the families, who have collected all remnants and memories of the images of their loved ones in order to establish for them a memorial and a name^[1]. The corner with its large photograph of the Goniadz synagogue on the hill, from which lead down the twisted lanes and narrow streets of the crowded Jewish homes, creating a protective shield to their spiritual center, reminds every one of us of the cherished one lost so cruelly and terribly.

The memorial corner in which are preserved the religious artifacts of the synagogue, documents, certificates and newspapers from the Hebrew school and books of the Holocaust represent an educational factor for the pupils of the school.

The successful blending of the perpetuation of the memory of the community by the pupils of the “Atid” school created a living and vibrant bridge between the pupils and our annihilated community. The preservation produced two–way connections between children born here, those from the ingathering of the exiles, and the survivors of the community. Our meetings with the pupils from the senior classes and with the representatives of the pupils in the School Parliament were a significant experience for all of us. The pupils succeeded in entering deeply into the town chronicles and extracting from them a sense of the life of the town; they learned about the scenery of Goniadz, of the popular personalities, on the town's habits and the pioneers who immigrated to Palestine under difficult circumstances. The story of the three pioneers who immigrated after the disturbances associated with Tel–Hai and took up arms. Every one received a round loaf of bread with a pistol hidden inside that captured the hearts of all the children. The pupil R.A describes the town in her essay, thus: I feel as if I know intimately the scenery of Goniadz very well. If I were to succeed in getting there in my dreams, I would immediately go down to the river, go up to the hill with the synagogue at the top, ramble around the lanes and arrive at the “Tarbut”. I would complete my ramble through the town in the cemetery hidden among the trees and flowers.”

The pupils discovered that in our community were many children just like them. They learned in the Hebrew school, they loved the school and chased butterflies; they played “hide–and–seek” they brought donations to the “KKL”, spoke Hebrew and knew our country the Jordan and Mount Hermon. They dreamed of getting to Palestine and being among the pioneers and the builders, but were wiped out in the Shoah.

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The pledge undertaken between the pupils and those of the town teaches the pupils to remember what was done to us by the terrible enemy in the destruction of Jewish communities in 21 European countries in which one–third of our people were annihilated.

As the “Atid” school is doing in memorializing the community, thus are 600 other schools throughout Israel. These schools are creating a monument in the hearts of the pupils. The students are learning about the communities, describing the Jews of the town, writing essays on its institutions and festivals. Thus we bring about that the Diaspora continues to be in the hearts of the children in Israel.

Translator's note:

1. Although the actual Hebrew words used here are Yad Va–Shem, in this context I believe the author intended to use the original words as they are in Isaiah 56: V, rather than the name of the institution. Return

Memorial Service of the Goniadz Community in Israel.

There are those who think that only adults are capable of running some kind of project, although for all that, we, children from Israel, have proved that we also can do it. I think that it is difficult to find a more exalted project than that of perpetuating the memory of our martyrs, our brethren, the People of Israel, who were taken from us in cold blood and cruelty, by the German wild animals throughout the whole of the Diaspora.

We, children from Israel have stood up and proved that whatever is connected with sacred and exalted acts, we are obliged to fulfill them and our hand is upon them.

As one among the many schools, “Atid” placed before itself the most sublime and exalted ideal – and achieved it. And indeed the project of perpetuating the name of the cherished town, Goniadz, has been accomplished.

We did it with great personal and deep feeling, a feeling of pain and shock, sadness and respect.

In order to achieve this lofty aim a team was chosen from among the school classes of the 4^th year to 8^th year, in addition to the members of “Yahdav”. The committee commenced acquiring and editing the material and sorting it into various categories. We conducted exacting and searching investigative work and only then did we distribute the material between us and the team began its work proper. In the beginning this was expressed in comprehensive perusing of every topic and idea. The diligence brought its reward. In truth we became completely enamored by the subject and worked with all our hearts. Waves of emotion after emotion flooded us as we concerned ourselves with reading the multi–faceted material. Each and every one of us was deeply affected by different aspects: the scenery of the town, the cultural life

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and spirit of education that pulsed there, the cultural institutions, the charitable organizations, the religious faith that displayed itself in every household, the Zionism in the life of the town, and the deep yearning for our Holy land that expressed itself in the foundation of Zionist associations, donations from lofty and public figures who out their mark on the town. Sh. Ben–Meir (Z”L), Mr. Moshe Levin, Mr. Yehoshua Persky, Mr. Avraham Yaffe (Z”L), Mr. Yaakov Tucker (Z”L), Rabbi Ephraim Halpern (Z”L), Mr. Yaakov Rudeski (Z”L) and others.

The processing of the topics began and the work was executed with every fiber of our being, with determination and love with each one of us editing and preparing the material in the smallest detail our individual subjects, until the work was finished. That was one of the nicest stages and perhaps the most interesting in the project because the work was done with love and respect for the town.

After we had gained an overall concept of the town, we invited three people from the town of Goniadz to the school: Mrs. Sara Barkai, Mr. Moshe Golman and Mr. Fischl Yitzhaki. Throughout the whole of our work a few problems arose that required solutions.

It was a real experience meeting these three people. Why such an experience? That may be a little difficult for me to explain, but I'll try! All the time we were seriously working on the project, in spite of our hidden, heartwarming emotions that were awakened, we sensed that the work was being done without a real connection with the townspeople and we couldn't feel appropriately the essence of their lives. Therefore we were very happy when the time came to meet them – survivors of the town.

Behind the sensations of the emotional experience there lay several questions on several aspects that were not too clear to us and they were answered. Eventually we left that wonderful meeting with two “prizes” one: all our problems were solved and clarified, and now we understood everything and the second – we were happy and overjoyed at our experience of actually meeting and connecting intimately and warmly with the people.

The next step in learning about the life of the town was – again – on a Memorial Shabbat sitting in a “live” meeting. This time the ceremony was more public and formal which took place in a restaurant in the presence of senior students (Classes 6–8) and was arranged in order to infuse into our pupils the awareness and recognition of the value of the life of the town. We again invited people from the town who came this time with a larger retinue, including Mr. Bachrach from the United States, and also the representative of “Yad Va–Shem” Mr. Aloni. We were surprised and left with mouths agape to hear the speech of Mr. Kalman Bachrach on the life of the town. After that we felt that our outlook and understanding of the Jewish world in the Diaspora of all the communities had improved. While for us – the team – the topics were known and understood, in the faces of the rest of the pupils who were present in the hall, eyes glowed and tens of faces showed amazement, astonishment, and understanding.

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The third time we were present was Holocaust Memorial Day 27th Nissan. Mr. Ivri, a survivor of the sanctified town, Mr. Ivri, left a strong impression on us that will never be erased. I don't know about others but for me it was the most earth–shaking ceremony of my life.

It was Holocaust Memorial Day 27^th Nissan. It will remain etched in my memory as the day we matured by a number of years. The gloomy atmosphere, the sadness that spread over us an unseen fear, the awe and the respect shown to the lighted memorial candles in the black containers and beneath them the names of the countries and the number of Jews exterminated in the Holocaust. The tense atmosphere was as if it needed only a spark to set off gun–powder and start an unquenchable blaze. And the candles were lighted. A small additional candle was lighted and stood in shadow, in memory of the people of Goniadz, the Holy community that is no more. The burning flames that encircled and reached out cried out against oppression and demanded vengeance. The burning candles shouted aloud: “Avenge our spilled blood!” Our fists are clenched; the accumulated anger covered the waves of tears that choked our throats at the sight of the candle in memory of the destroyed community that we have come to know so well.

…And Mr. Ivri himself? Who knows what memories wafted up and floated in his heart at that tumultuous moment? With the sad background of the silent, burning candles his words and the declaration of the Commemorative Scroll of the Memorializing project in memory of the Righteous departed from that magnificent town, sounded like a drop in the ocean, but for us a drop that filled, however little, more than the entire ocean itself. It is difficult to describe with what emotion we left the hall but the impression that remained in our hearts will never fade.

The magnificent and noble project of perpetuating the memory of the town Goniadz has not stopped and will never cease. The thread that has been entwined will continue and grow longer and longer. The only element that will change – is the pupils. We, the seniors, have completed our part of the task and what is left and remains for us in the lofty task? We learned to know well the town one among many – and it is now cosseted deep within our hearts, in our souls.

We have bequeathed to the generations that come after us a memorial of our work and that is: the creation of a corner in our school as a memorial to the town of Goniadz. In that corner we have invested all our feelings and our experiences.

We wish to unite Goniadz with another thread. We perpetuate and also admire the town and also this Holy place, but in fact the town is like any other town in the Diaspora. Therefore, in this corner that we have created we can read much material on the Holocaust that we have collected in the form of pamphlets, journals and magazines, although indeed, the main theme is that of our cherished town.

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The picture of the Sanctified Town was drawn by the artist Mr. Elhanan Halpern and there is no finer or fitting illustration to watch over the whole corner. Therefore, everyone who looks the drawing will remember. To us also, who have never seen the town with our own eyes, it tells us much. Here is the synagogue, and here the school, and here…

An entire world is discovered before our eyes and a scroll on which are inscribed the names of all those butchered at the hands of the wild, Nazi animals, pictures that illustrate the town and relate and relate and relate…

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