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At the initiative of Meshulam Davidson and Avraham Zilberman, in late 1950, a group of Rzeszów people met at the home of Yehezkel Weinstein with the aim of organizing the Rzeszów people who were in Israel. The meeting was attended by: Meshulam Davidson, Avraham Zilberman, Yehezkel Weinstein, Yitzhak Estreicher, Sh. Shlam, Frieda Feldmauz, Israel Waxpers.

The following meetings were held at Sh. Shlam's cafe on King George Street and were also attended by joined by Ben Zion Pet, Yosef Storch and Yaakov Alter, who welcomed the organization of the Rzeszów descendants in Israel. Yitzhak Estreicher prepared a plan of action in the social and cultural fields, mutual aid, legal aid and recommendations for job seekers. In 1951, a general meeting of the Rzeszów and the surrounding area descendants was held in Israel. The following were elected to the management: Yaakov Alter, chairman; Sh. Shlam, Yaakov Rabhon, Naftali Tochfeld, Yitzhak Estreicher, Frieda Feldmauz, Wohlfeld, Yehezkel Weinstein, Avraham Zilberman and Israel Waxpers. The chairman, Yaakov Alter, began extensive work in Israel and abroad. His appeal in a call to action to the Rzeszów descendants in the United States was not answered. On the other hand, the appeal to the Rzeszów descendants in Israel was crowned with great success.

We bring here the wording of the “call to action”:

Rzeszów and Environs Descendants Organization -

Tel Aviv, Nissan 5712, April 1952

Dear Rzeszów descendant!

About two years ago, several descendants of Rzeszów got together and conceived the idea of establishing a united community of Rzeszów descendants in Israel. The goals presented to them were expressed in:

1. Uniting with the souls of our relatives, may God avenge them, the victims of the Holocaust.
2. Providing assistance to the needy of the Rzeszów descendants in Israel,
3. Making an effort to search for relatives scattered throughout Israel and throughout the world.

Hundreds of people from Rzeszów immediately responded to our call and gathered around the “Rzeszów and the Surrounding Areas Descendants organization”. A memorial gathering was held for the martyrs of our town, and a Torah scroll will be brought to the synagogue on the night of Lag BaOmer (12.5.52) to commemorate their memory. Dozens of families received constructive help; and many found their relatives in Israel and abroad through our relentless efforts. It is clear that the existence of the “Rzeszów and the Surrounding Areas Descendants organization” is necessary.

However, our conscience will not be clear until all the descendants of Rzeszów in Israel are absorbed into the organization. Most of them did not join the organization yet. Our above-mentioned lofty duties will not be fully carried out if we do not succeed in gathering all the descendants of Rzeszów in our organization.

Therefore, it was decided to declare the month of Sivan 5712 - May 1952 as

“Month of gathering all of Rzeszów and the surrounding area descendants”

We therefore appeal to every member of our organization to take an active part in the gathering and we impose the following duties on each one of you:

1. Every Rzeszów descendant organized in the Rzeszów Descendants organization is obligated to sign, using the attached form, at least one Rzeszów descendant who is in Israel and who is not yet registered in the Rzeszów Descendants organization.
2. Provide us with the addresses of Rzeszów descendants in Israel that you know of, if you are unable to contact them personally.
3. You must explain to the Rzeszów descendants personally that their affiliation with the “Rzeszów and the Surrounding Areas Descendants organization” is for their benefit.
4. You must lend a hand and make every effort in the month of Sivan 5712 – May 1952 - Month of gathering all of Rzeszów and the surrounding area descendants - in order to fulfill our slogan: additional one thousand descendants of Rzeszów organized in the “Rzeszów and the Surrounding Areas Descendants organization”.

To commemorate the memory of the martyrs of Rzeszów, a Torah scroll was brought into the synagogue on the night of Lag BaOmer 5712, 12 May 1952 Standing from the right: Naftali Tochfeld, Yitzhak Estreicher, Meshulam Davidson, Ephraim Wachtel (child), Chaim Kraut, Spitz, Avraham Silberman, Teitelbaum Second row, fourth from the right: Yaakov Rabhon.

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Rzeszów descendant!

Achieving these above-mentioned lofty goals, which were presented to us from the very beginning of the organization of the Rzeszów descendants, will be made possible only by increasing the number of members in the organization. Our influence will increase only if the organization is established numerically. In this, Rzeszów descendant, you will encourage us to fill new goals that we have not been able to implement so far.

The success of the “gathering all of Rzeszów and the surrounding area descendants” project depends only on your goodwill.

Act and succeed!

P.S. We are about to publish an internal monthly informative bulletin, the content of which will be: a. Memories. b. Report of our activities, c. Who knows, who recognizes, d. Addresses of Rzeszów descendants in Israel, e. Addresses of Rzeszów descendants in the Diaspora, f. Operations in branches, g. Questions and answers, h. Miscellaneous.

We hereby appeal to every Rzeszów descendant to provide us with material, photos and drawings relating to the above subjects, which will be published in the bulletin.

With great respect
Rzeszów Descendants Organization Committee

From right to left: Yitzhak Estreicher, Rachel Alter, Irving Lev

The visit of the resident of our town, Irving Lev, who arrived to Israel from West New York at the beginning of June 1958, opened a new era in the activities of our organization. Yitzhak Estreicher gave Irving Lev details of the operation in the field of social and public work, and also explained to him the importance of establishing a charity fund to help immigrants arriving in Israel. Irving Lev, who was a well-known public and social activist in his city in the state of New Jersey, willingly accepted the proposed plan and donated 3,600 liras to this cause. The Rzeszów Descendants Organization was appointed to own the charity fund; the fund was held by the Mizrahi Bank in Tel Aviv and was called: “Charity Fund by the Rzeszów Descendants Organization in Israel, founded by Irving and Regina Lev, United States”. The committee members that were elected were: Baruch Schlissel was appointed as the chairman and treasurer, Yitzhak Estreicher and Rachel Alter were appointed as vice-chairmen, Moshe Tochfeld as the secretary, Gutta Kurz, Dr. Kopel Schlesinger and Mordechai Hillinger. In addition to the loans given according to the recommendations of the Polish Immigrant Association, the Charity Organization also participated in providing loans to new immigrants for essential needs at special discounts and without interest. It is worth mentioning the great help that the organization contributed to the absorption of the new immigrants upon their arrival and the assistance provided by the organization in finding a source of income by working as a craftsman, in the field, or in clerical work.

In the Forest of Martyrs, the organization planted a grove in the name of the martyrs of Rzeszów. The organization appointed an editor and editorial staff to publish a memorial book for the Rzeszów community. The editorial staff was headed by Dr. Moshe Yaari Wald, the secretary of the editorial staff was Michael Waltzer, Lotka Goldberg has taken on the task of compiling material to commemorate the martyrs in the memorial book. The work and dedication of Gutta Kurz as treasurer should be acknowledged.

We thank and bless our devoted friends in the United States for their assistance to our goal in the material and cultural fields. Zvi Simcha Leder, the author of the book “Reisher Yidden” during his second visit to Israel in 1959, expressed interest in the Rzeszów Descendants Organization. When he learned of the plan to publish the book, he donated the first amount for a memorial book for the Rzeszów community, thereby laying the foundation for financing the publication of the Rzeszów book. Irving Lev, the chairman of the new Rzeszów Descendants Organization in New York, helped raise funds for the book through donations and grants and donated the paper for this book.

Among the participants who contributed with their articles and financial contributions, we should mention our town residents, Dr. Henry and Wachtel from New York, and our friend the editor, writer and journalist Leon Wiesenfeld and his wife Esther, who assisted us with their articles, in selecting historical chapters, with advice and contributions.

We would like to note the important help to the book by our town resident, the great poet and writer Berish Weinstein, author of the epic “Rzeszów”, who wrote the elegy “Majdanek, oh God”, which is published in this book.

The Rzeszów Descendants Organization in Israel currently has over 560 registered members. The organization has shares and deposits in the fund of the Polish Immigrants Association.

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Jerusalem, the Holocaust Cellar Unveiling of a memorial plaque for the martyrs of Rzeszów, 27th of Nissan, 5719 (5 May 1959) with the participation of Zvi Leder (fourth from the right, standing)

A party at Dr. M. Yaari home From left to right: Gutta Kurz, Letka Goldberg, Clara Maayan Mintzberg, Dr. Moshe Yaari Wald, Michael Walzer, Yitzhak Estreicher, Aliza Yaari, Irving Lev, Eviatar Yaari, Rabbi Moshe Kamelher, Avraham Musinger

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