[Page 134]

Among those of the last generation who immigrated to Israel, the name of Shmuel Shrira (Shreier) will be displayed in the first row of those carrying the flag of the revival. A learned Jew, a man in whom noble qualities and lofty characteristics mixed, a lively Jew with a sensitive heart and lofty idealism, a man of deeds and a vigorous activist, teacher and educator, author and journalist, one of the great men of Volhynia, whose reputation and deeds were also known outside of Volhynia. Those who respected and valued him, his friends and his students, who were counted among those who came to his home and heard his ideas, both when he was in the diaspora and here in Israel, were many. And even though there were not a few intellectual forces around him, his wonderful personality stood out everywhere in many, many areas of action in the communalism of Jewish Volhynia.

Shmuel Shrira

[Page 135]

from among the great academics of those days. The Tanakh that had already attracted him in Cheder – continued to interest him even in the upper Beit Midrash and he deepened his study of the Book of Books and excelled. At that time, he began to publish notes and articles in “Ha-Zman” and in “Ha-Shiloah” (this one about the men of the Great Assembly). However, out of caution and possibly humility, he refrained from publishing articles about subjects from the Tanakh. He participated also in the Jewish-Russian Encyclopedia established by Brockhaus-Efron.

Some years before the First World War, Shrira accompanied S. Ansky and Yoel Engel on their trips through the cities of Volhynia and its towns and also in other regions in order to gather ethnographic material, ancient remnants of Jewish folklore. This was a stormy and substantial period in Shrira's life. When he would tell the legends to his circle of friends with emotion and excitement and sing the folk songs that he had collected then – he would create a special spirit of longing and awakening in his listeners and bring them to enthusiasm. Even then they saw in Shrira a rising force.

The World War came in 1914 and Shrira was thrown back to Volhynia. A new chapter opened in his life. Being full of knowledge, imbued with endless love for his people and his language, and full of faith in the revival and redemption of his land, Shrira took upon himself important public and national tasks. Here, during action, he was revealed as also possessed of organizational, educational, and propagandistic abilities. He worked a lot among the Jewish masses on behalf of the society to aid refugees, likewise as a representative of the society to spread education among the Jews and as a Zionist activist. His tasks completely consumed him and, being close to the broad layers through contact with them – there grew in him the aspiration of rescuing the masses of Israel from the vale of tears, to raise them up and to provide them with the spirit of revival.

In 1919-1920, he served as the administrator of the gymnasium in Ruzhyn, took part in communal life and Zionist activity there, and was, for that reason, beloved by the youth and the entire town. When the influence of the Yevskis [=Jewish members of the Soviet Communist Party] grew in government circles, the gymnasium passed over to Yiddishists and Shrira (the Hebraist and Zionist) returned to Ostroh and became a Hebrew teacher in the government gymnasium. In so doing, he also returned to his public involvement in Ostroh. Afterwards, he was called to serve as a guide and supervisor at the “Tarbut” school in Poland. He also worked under the auspices of the Joint as the administrator of the section for orphans.

Into every operation he sank all his efforts and the warmth of his heart.

As a combative Zionist and man of the Labor Movement (being a member of “Hitachdut” – “Tze'irei Tziyon” and “Ha-Po'el Ha-Tza'ir”), Shrira took an active part in the work of his party, appeared at conferences and meetings, was a member of local and central committees, and stood at the head of the work of the Keren Kayemet and Keren Ha-Yesod in places where he lived in Volhynia until his immigration to Israel at the beginning of 1925, and Shrira also knew how to work and how to put activists to work and to influence them and donors always.

It is especially appropriate to mark the period of his wide-ranging work in Ostroh. For many of his friends (and in particular for the writer of these columns) his ethical work is remembered beginning from the spring of the Russian Revolution, a period of independent Ukrainian rule and the announcement of Jewish national autonomy. These were tumultuous days in the Jewish street, all the parties ran around in the open, even the Zionist movement came out from hiding, and with this, an unsettled mood was felt: worry over livelihood, transition from war to peace, looting of Jewish property, and also murder of Jews (afterwards, a wave of pogroms in Ukraine). In those days, extraordinary forces were needed in order to direct, to advance, and to ensure matters, to manage politics, to fight the fight of Zionism and the communities and in general to stand guard. Shrira was the appropriate man for this, knowing how to win arguments, to resolve party and movement disputes, to wage the elections war, to order educational and cultural affairs, and to express opinions in public and community affairs – and he won the trust of the masses of workers. His simplicity, his wisdom, and the tenderness of his heart helped him a lot. He knew how to delegate everything from the warmth of his soul and from the storehouse of sayings steeped in living Jewish humor, and to convince not only friends of his opinion, but also people from the opposing camp.

And so we see Shrira as the founder and editor of the “Idische Vach” newspaper and later as the literary editor of “Vachliner Leben” in Rovno [=Rivne] during the two years until he immigrated to Israel.

With his coming to Israel, we see Shrira among the activists of the Keren Kayemet in Tel Aviv. And again he turned

[Page 136]

to education, worked in teaching in high schools, but problems of absorption in the homeland fell to his lot, like for many diaspora activists, without complaint about it. On the contrary, he continued to be happy and good-hearted in all his days and in all circumstances. Being free of the burden of community activism in Israel – his strong love for early Hebrew literature and Tanakh was renewed and he invested much of his strength and himself in books: “Introduction to Early Hebrew Literature” and “History of Talmudic Literature,” which he published together with the writer Shmuel Herr, and lastly his book, “Introduction to the Holy Writings,” which he completed at the end of his days (he only managed to prepare this book, but did not get to see it published). His friend, Zalman Rubashov (Zalman Shazar) says in the introduction to the book:

“…and this book, the last of his strength, was the beginning of his literary desire in ancient days … in books he bestowed upon the people works that would be useful in bringing the Hebrew student in the homeland to ancient Hebrew literature, to know it and to love it.”

In fact, the number of Shmuel Shrira's students is not small, some scattered throughout the Yishuv and in the ranks of fighters on the front. And the nobility of the spirit of their beloved teacher, educator, and guide accompanies all of them. A few weeks before he passed away, he gave a lecture to the community in Tel Aviv on “Volhynian Jewry Day” and among other things, he said:

“Volhynian Jewry are juicy, and if Lithuanian Jewry are the brains of the nation – then they of Volhynia are her heart …”

And so great was Shrira's love for Volhynian Jewry, which knew how to remain faithful and how to honor one of its good sons, Shmuel Shrira, in life and in death.

It's hard to get used to the idea that Chaim Davidsohn was taken from us and is no more. The image of this student in uniform who, in 1917-1918, was hurled into the work of the Zionist movement, body and soul, hovers before my eyes still. Students and youth assembled around his personality, abundant in youthful energy, drinking thirstily of every word that came out of his mouth, whether at Zionist party meetings or literary gatherings.

There was no area of public work in Ostroh, whether in the area of Zionist work or in the area of cultural, social, and socialist work, that Chaim Davidsohn did not find there a place to focus on and to prove honest sincerity and to sacrifice himself to the maintenance of all the institutions in Ostroh. He always showed extreme understanding of the needs of the whole, who were truly a part of his being. And when he would speak or offer a conclusion on a social subject, he succeeded always in his sound sense, in his logical and correct analysis, and his clear speech to conquer the hearts of his listeners.

It is worth noting the fact that, during the time that Zev Jabotinsky spoke in Ostroh, he did not overshadow the accompanying address of Chaim Davidsohn, who left a massive impression on all who were gathered. Even his ideological rivals recognized his supremacy against their will and valued him as a shining popular leader and protector of the interests of the Jewish public in the city.

His blessed activity was marked and known by all in the Zionist movement, in the national funds, in the “Tarbut” school, in the Zionist library, in the city council, in the drama section, in the orphans home, and more. He stood at the head of the work everywhere as engineer and organizer and also worked diligently to carry out the work plan as one of the regular workers, however he reached the height of his action and organizing ability in the Jewish community, all of which,

[Page 137]

from bottom to top, could boast of the work of his hands. He founded and nurtured with love and did not leave until his last day, when the two of them passed away as “one.”

The heaviest burden that fell on his shoulders and that he accepted with courage and love was, without a doubt, social assistance to the poor of the city, whose number grew from year to year. I remember his feelings of joy when he authorized the support that the Committee of Ostroh Natives in Argentina contributed in 1938 to the “Ma'ot Chitin” project, and further how much sadness and pain he felt when he did not have the ability to answer the requests every day of the year – for firewood, for medicine, for livelihood, and so on. Fate gave Davidsohn an unbreakable tie to the poor and the stress of most of the residents of Ostroh, and when he wanted to turn away and immigrate to Israel, his great desire, for which he had worked all his life, this possibility was denied him. “He must remain in the diaspora, a place where his service is most essential,” that was the answer of the Israel Office.

Chaim Davidsohn

“Despite the great poverty that exists in the city, one must note significant successes in the area of Zionist work: Keren Kayemet works without fault and in the “Tarbut” school, we have “without tempting the evil eye” more than 350 children. We founded a secondary school three years ago, too, and more than 150 children study there now. If we had our own building, the school would become famous.”

These words were written four months before the war with the Germans broke out. The condition of the Jews in general was completely bad and yet, in the city they thought about strengthening cultural and national life, and Chaim Davidsohn was the man who, with one hand, supported and aided the poor masses so they would not collapse and, with the other hand, held the torch of culture at a high level.

In 1936, he had the opportunity to leave the diaspora when the leadership of Keren Ha-Yesod appointed him as director of their operations in America along with the privilege of immigrating to Israel. However, his bad luck was that he was delayed in Ostroh and his fate was set to extermination in 1941 along with the community.

His good name will live in the hearts of Ostroh natives and this modest page of memories will serve as a memorial in the line of the exemplary activists of Volhynia.

[Page 138]

Leibush Biber worked in the local bank. Everyone thought of him as quiet and a little shy and no one would have thought to themselves that there would come a time that he would be one of the outstanding Zionists in the city and among the best speakers of the city residents. Over time they came to know his abilities and his Zionist tendencies and included him in secret Zionist work, particularly in one area – the Hebrew speakers' circle. This was a small group that met at set times in the house of the Liss sisters: the elder, Esther, the kindergarten teacher, and the younger, (afterwards Leibush's wife), who was a Hebrew teacher. The principal work of this group was the cultivation of Hebrew speech and the subjects for discussion were: issues of Judaism, Hebrew literature, and Zionist questions.

Leibush Biber

And now came the Revolution of 1917 and, on one clear day, we went from slavery to freedom, from Zionist work in secret to open communal work, and then, too, came the day for Leibush to work to the extent of his strength. He quickly overcame his natural reticence and shyness and became a speaker and convincer. He adopted a warm, popular style that tied the audience to him and his speeches in public gatherings were always full of interest.

Over time he evolved and became an outstanding personality in the public world of Ostroh. He was very active in the Jewish community, in the popular bank, and in the “Hitachdut” party, of which movement in our city Leibush was the leader and the life force and its official representative to all the conferences that took place in this period in Poland.

In the last years preceding the Second World War, he dreamed of immigrating to Israel with his family, but this dream was only partially realized: only his oldest son, Meir, managed to come to Israel and settle there, while Leibush and his wife, Feiga, met the same fate as all the Jews of Ostroh.

[Page 139]

Zalman Gerschfeld began his public work as a clerk in the savings and loan bank, which was then the first Jewish public institution in Ostroh. Leib Spielberg was a good co-worker at the bank and a good friend in public activity and the two of them founded the first two Zionist societies in Ostroh in 1908-1909.

Zalman Gerschfeld

Zalman Gerschfeld was able to turn his dream into reality. Unlike those who worked in secret and in danger for their lives, he was able to dedicate his best years to active Zionist work in the open.

With the legalization of the Zionist federation during the period of Polish rule, he moved to the Bokimer house in Warsaw, along with his wife Mala (Malka), where he continued to work and the next station in his life was immigration to Israel and the difficulties of absorption there. Until then, the complete fulfillment of the man and his dream, the activist and his work. Being satisfied with little and with partial happiness, the lives of Ziameh and Mala were joyful with their family and the circle of their friends and associates.

But how much the Minister of History made us miserable, who brought us redemption through rivers of the blood of millions of Jews in the horrible Holocaust. And when the covering was removed from over the destruction of our city of Ostroh and the elimination of its Jews, he stood with all the warmth of his heart at the head of the rescue and aid operations of the Organization of Volhynia in general and of the Organization of Ostroh Natives in particular, where he served as chairman and spiritual father until his last day. And action brings action: he conquered the activity of memorializing the victims of our city in various ways and, in particular, through the publication of the Memorial Book, “The Ostroh Notebook,” joined the work of “Hechal Wolyn” in memory of the Jews of Volhynia, and was a member of the council of the World Union of Volhynia Natives, and in addition to all of that was active in the Tuberculosis League, in which he persisted from the beginning of its founding to his last day.

Zalman Gerschfeld wrote a shining chapter on the history of the Jews of Ostroh, their lives and their destruction, with his heart's blood and that was his long article in “The Ostroh Notebook.” With modesty

[Page 140]

and the spirit of friendship, he went among us, leader and guide, without making himself stand out, like the best of the tradition of the Gerschfeld-Bokimer family and this is how he will be remembered forever.

Ziameh Gerschfeld is the personality who is among us. Blessed with talents, gifted with great intelligence, with a sharp eye and revealing deep understanding, involved in the community and society. And so the society knew to value his unique qualities and laid important tasks upon him and he succeeded in fulfilling them for the good of the public and its benefit.

Zalman Gerschfeld revealed astonishing activity in the Zionist movement already in his youth, a time when it was still forbidden by the law that existed during the days of the Russian tsar to create political associations and organizations. Ziameh belonged to the “Me-firei Hok” [=lawbreakers], joined the underground Zionist “organization,” and was even one of its leaders as a member of the committee of the underground Zionist society, and it is doubtful that he was even 18 years old then.

In particular, his action increased during the First World War and the period of the Russian Revolution of 1917 which followed on its heels. And after the signing of the peace agreement and Ostroh was annexed to Poland, he invested his energies in the society of Zionist activity by establishing the institutions of the movement – the “He-Halutz” funds and more. His principal emphasis was on explaining the Zionist idea within the circles of the wider population, in addition to his work among the youth.

I, too, the writer of these lines, was drawn in after him and was among his students and I worked in his area. I had, therefore, the opportunity to see him up close in the Zionist field, full of youthful energy, producing light from high spirits. Those who worked in his area were influenced and joined him in action and the loss that will not return is terribly sad.

The chapter of Ben-Zion H. Ayalon's life was part of a period of great upheaval. In his personal life, he stood out as a man of original ideas, a mannered man of culture, one with a crystalized character, absorbing Zionist ideas that began to percolate in the period in which Ben-Zion H. Ayalon grew up and worked. A learned Jew, a man in whom lofty qualities and elevated features mixed. A man with a sensitive and idealistic heart, an author, a publicist, a researcher of Jewish folklore, a talented editor, and his marvelous personality stood out everywhere, in our city of Ostroh and here in Israel. Always surrounded by respect and affection from the public because he was a symbol of public and intellectual integrity, a man of good intent and pleasant to mankind.

Ben-Zion H. Ayalon was born in Ostroh in 1901 to his parents, R. Yaakov Yosef and Nechama Baranik, who was a biblical scholar, a ritual slaughterer from a dynasty of ritual slaughterers, and who served as the principal cantor in the great Maharsha synagogue in Ostroh. He got his first education at the government school for Jews and later studied at the Russian secondary school in Ostroh and, upon completing his secondary studies, continued to learn pedagogy and was licensed as a teacher in the “Tarbut” network of schools in Poland. Because of his educational and public work, he earned a reputation as a man of principle, noticeable for personal qualities among which modesty and simplicity stood out, his wonderful personality prominent everywhere.

Already in his youth he stood out for his ethical essence, the fine psychological feeling that led him to penetrate and to get to know the characters of everyone who came in contact with him. Full of national and Zionist ideas, he joined “Ha-Shomer Ha-Tza'ir” when he was still a student

[Page 141]

in the upper grades of the secondary school and in a short time was among its leaders. From this movement, he found his way to the “Dror” movement –

Ben-Zion H. Ayalon

A journalistic ability was revealed in Ayalon and he wrote about ideas and outlooks in the pages of the movement's newspaper, “Al Ha-Mishmar,” where he published articles, notes, and lighter work to which he signed his literary name, “Ayalon,” next to his original name, Baranik. And when he became known throughout Volhynia as a gifted publicist with a sharp pen, he was offered the editorship of the newspaper, “Wolyner Cajtung,” and was its head editor in 1932-33. During this period, he published a large number of articles and research pieces in the field of Jewish folklore, which brought him great acclaim.

Ayalon took an active part in the public and cultural life of Ostroh between the two world wars, known as a man of polished style, and was among the leaders of the cultural activists in the city, taking an active part in every cultural, national, and Zionist event. He was very productive, too, at this time, wrote extensively in various journals and worked in the area of Hebrew language instruction for the masses and, in particular, for those who intended to immigrate to Israel. His lessons gave satisfaction to his students because he knew how to conduct interesting and concrete lessons.

“Wolyner Cajtung” from 1932 under the editorship of Ben-Zion H. Ayalon-Baranik

[Page 142]

Ayalon had a strong love for the land of Israel, not just from a Zionist viewpoint, but rather he felt and believed that there was no other place in the world that could serve as a refuge for the Jewish people except for Israel. He expressed his belief in Zion in public meetings in the city and, in 1933, his aspiration was fulfilled and he immigrated to Israel to realize the idea that he had preached and worked for.

Books written by Ben-Zion H. Ayalon

In Israel, he got a job as the secretary of the “Nordau” secondary school and then was engaged for 15 years in teaching in the professions of Judaism, Hebrew literature, and Hebrew language. Over time, he was appointed as the head of the secondary school, changing its name to “Tarbut” as a daytime institution and “Or” as an evening institution.

Ben-Zion H. Ayalon wrote a textbook in Hebrew and in English, published an anthology of Jewish folklore under the names, “Once There Was a Tale” and “Raisins and Almonds,” wrote many articles about various subjects for newspapers, both local and abroad. He was involved in collecting valued folk works and in arranging the literary-artistic material over decades and he proved himself as an important researcher of Jewish folklore, noted for appropriate scientific and artistic training. He succeeded in assembling the entirety of folklore entries for the first time in polished Hebrew in a special publication, “Anthology of Jewish Folklore in Eastern Europe,” from the Folklore Press in Tel-Aviv.

Ben-Zion H. Ayalon served as a spiritual guide

[Page 143]

to the “B'nei-Tsiyon” organization, to “Ha-Bonim Ha-Hofshiyim,” and to “B'nai Brith,” wrote and published five instructional books, and appeared on various platforms in Israel as a lecturer about the Masonic movement. In parallel with his public activities, he taught a class in Talmud and was a lecturer in literature and art.

Ben-Zion H. Ayalon was among the founders of the “Organization of Volhynia Natives” and its institutions and our organization, “Organization of Ostroh Natives in Israel.” He edited three volumes, “Volhynia Collection,” in which he published monographs on about 170 communities that were annihilated and edited 15 memorial books for Jewish communities that were wiped off the face of the earth by the cursed Nazis.

He was a faithful and devoted supporter of the remnants of Ostroh who remained alive. He and his wife, Miriam, engaged in providing help to the survivors of the city in Europe by sending packages of food and clothes and their home served as the address for new immigrants of Ostroh natives, worked to absorb them and to get them settled in Israel, and their home served as a meeting place for Ostroh natives. Ben-Zion H. Ayalon was the editor of “The Ostroh Notebook,” which was published in 1960, dedicated most of his time and energy to raising a monument to the splendid community of Ostroh so that the coming generations would know the roots and sources of those who came before them.

The members of the Organization of Ostroh Natives in Israel knew to value the distinguished son of our city who did so much for the organization in Israel and whose name will not be forgotten in our hearts and we will keep his memory forever.

Ben-Zion H. Ayalon and his wife Miriam (nee Rosenthal) at a party of the Ostroh Natives

  Ostroh, Ukraine     Yizkor Book Project     JewishGen Home Page

Copyright © 1999-2025 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 22 Dec 2025 by OR