A Memorial to the
Jewish Community of Zhetl
(Dzyatlava, Belarus)
53°28' / 25°24'

Translation of
Pinkus Zhetl

Edited by Baruch Kaplinski

Published by the Zhetl Association in Israel

Acknowledgments
Project Coordinator
Sam Bayer

Emerita Project Coordinator: Becky Diamond

Our sincere appreciation to Stefanie Holzman for extracting the pictures
from the original book, enabling their addition to the project.

This is a translation from Pinkus Zhetl,
(A memorial to the Jewish community of Zhetl),
Editors: Baruch Kaplinski, Published by the Zhetl Association in Israel,
Tel Aviv 1957 (H,Y 482 pages).

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

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Pinkas Zhetl

A memorial to the Jewish community of Zhetl

Published by the Zhetl Association in Israel
in Participation with the Zhetl Attociations*
in the United States of America, Argentina and Canada

Tel-Aviv 1957
(in alphabetical order)

* Note from the Coordinator: This is an error in the original. return
** ND Narodowa Demokracja. return

Yizkor Book Project JewishGen Home Page

Yizkor Book Director, Lance Ackerfeld
Emerita Yizkor Book Project Manager, Joyce Field z”l
Contact person for this translation Sam Bayer
This web page created by Lance Ackerfeld

Zhetl Acknowledgements	Sam (Shmuel) Bayer

Introduction		9
Pictures tell Stories	Borukh Kaplinsky	12
Merciful God in Heaven		18
Zhetl Martyrs		19

The old Zhetl
The History of the Jews of Zhetl	Borukh Kaplinsky	33
Zhetl in the Budget of the Jewish Council of Lithuania	Mordkhai V. Bernshteyn	40
Zhetl From the Past	Avrom Ivenitsky of blessed memory	47
Zhetl's Rabbis	Avrom Shepetnitsky	49
The Great Miracle of the Author of “Machane Yehuda”	Mordkhai V. Bernshteyn	53
Books by Zhetl Authors		54
Articles about Zhetl in Encyclopedias		55
Zhetl in the Hebrew Press	M.Tzinurit, B. Kaplinski	58

Dates From the History of Zhetl		65
Geographic and Climate Conditions in Zhetl	Dr. A. Y. Braver	67
Population and Occupations	Borukh Kaplinsky	69

On the Verge of the 20^th Century
On the Verge of the 20^th Century		72
Zhetl Fifty Years Ago	Moishe Bitan – Bitensky	73
Zhetl Fifty Years Ago	Moishe Bitan – Bitensky	73
Fifty Years Ago	Moshe Bitan	75
I Left Zhetl in 1900	Yitzkhak Gvori	76
My Memories of Zhetl	Avrom Shepetnitsky	78
The Excellent City	Rabbi Yitzkhak Veynshteyn	80
Navahredok Kollel in Zhetl	I.L. Nakric	82
For These Are the People of Zhetl!	Rabbi Yitzchak Weinstein	82
My Home Town	Nekhemiah Aminoach	83
Zhetl Until 1905	Zalmen Mirsky	85
From Everything to Very Little	Avrom Yitzkhak Medvedsky	87
Jews Living in Rural Villages and Conscripts	Avrom Leyzerovitch	93
During the First World War		98

The First World War
Zhetl During My Rabbinate	Rabbi Zalmen Saratzkin	99
During the German Occupation	Yosef Vinyetzky of Blessed Memory	109
An Appeal to Zhetl Jews in America	Menachem Vernikovsky OBM	111
Only Memorial Books Have Remained	Avrom Zak	112
During the First World War	Moishe Mirsky	113
The Jewish Republic in Zhetl	Efraim Hermoni of blessed memory	116
From One Rule to Another		117
The Transition from Ruler to Ruler	Nekhemiye Aminoakh	118
The Transition Period	Yitzkhal Epshteyn	122
This is How I Remember You, Zhetl	Soreh Medvetzky	124
Between Two World Wars		126

Between the two world wars
Cultural and Economic Life	Avrom Ivenitsky of blessed memory	127
Zhetl and the Zhetl Craftsman	Moishe Mendl Leyzerovitch	132
The Ban in Zhetl	Rabbi Elkhanan Saratzkin	136
The Great Fires	Soreh Epshteyn – Shoer	138
The National Democrats (Endecja) Rage **	Moishe Mirski	140

Political Parties
Political Parties in Zhetl		142
Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) and the Zionist Movement	Borukh Kaplinsky	143
Zhetl's Revolutionaries	Moishe Mirsky	148
Attacks		149
Memories of the “Bund”	Yekhiel Kuznietzky	150
Memories of the Zhetl S.R. (Socialist Revolutionaries)	H. Lubchansky – Khabibi	151
The Zhetl Worker After the First World War	Dov Arzhekhovsky	152
We are Striking		154
The HeChalutz (The Pioneer)	Yosef Berman	155
Poalei Zion (Labour Zionists) – Z.S (Zionist Socialists)	Eliezer Namiyat	159
Hashomer Hatzair	Yakov Indershteyn	163
Revisionists and Betar in Zhetl	Avrom Alpert	165
Agudas Yisroel	Yisroel Karpl	166
The Bund	Sholem Lisogursky	167
The First Jewish National Fund Bazaar	Lize Kaplinsky	169
The Last Jewish National Fund Bazaar	Sarah Gal – Begin	170
Communal Life in Zhetl	Collected by Soreh Gal– Begin	171
Institutions in Zhetl		176

Institutions
Societies and Institutions	Baruch Kaplinski	177
Volunteer Firefighters	Dov Arzhekhovsky	179
Our Fire Brigade Orchestra	Philip Zabitz	180
The Drama Club	Hindke Mirsky	184
Medical and Social Institutions	Dr. Avrom Alpert	187
The Society to Spend the Night with the Sick and the Medical Aid Society	Henie Piekelny – Rozenblum	192
The Orphans Committee	Shifra Medvedsky	194
Social Women's Aid	Soreh Gal – Begin	194
The Popular Bank	Arye Zelikovitch	195
Balances of the Zhetl Cooperative Popular Bank		196
The Interest Free Loan Society	Sore Gal-Bigin	197
TOZ (Society for Preservation of Health) in Zhetl		197
Remember!	Moishe Man	198

Schools
The Schools		200
The Talmud Torah	Alexander Ziskind Silverman	201
The History of the Yiddish School	Binyomin Kaplinsky of blessed memory	203
How Can I Grasp This?	Avrom Savitsky	212
We Are Building a Yiddish School	Moishe Mirsky	213
The Tarbut School	Dvoyre Gorodaysky–Shkolnik	215
Tarbut School	D. Gorodieski-Shkolnik	218
Memoirs of a Student	Soreh Epshteyn – Shoar	219
Rabbis		222

Rabbis
The Rabbi Reb Yakov Krantz – The Dubner Preacher	I. Mandelbaum & I. Trunk	223
Rabbi Yisroel Meir Hakohen – The Khafetz Khaim	Rabbi Moishe Meir Yashar	225
My Meetings with the Khafetz Khaim	Shabbtai Mayevsky	227
The Wise Men of Zhetl	Moshe Tzinovitz	228
Rabbi Reb Baruch Avraham Mirsky OBM	Rabbi Y.L. Maimon	230
Rabbi Borukh Avrom Mirsky the Lover of Zion	Moishe Tzinovitch	231
The Rabbi Reb Shmuel Rabinovitch	Moishe Tzinuvitz	232
The Life Journey of Rabbi Zalmen Saratzkin	Rabbi Elkhanan Saratzkin	233
Rabbi Zvi Hirsh Khurgin of Blessed Memory	Yosef Eliyahu Piekelny – Pniel	236

Communal Leaders and Men of the People
Communal Leaders and Activists		238
Reb Avrom Patzovsky – The Elder (Starosta) of Zhetl	Moishe Man	239
Reb Hertz – Leyb Kaplinsky of blessed memory	Yudis Ostrovsky (Tel Aviv)	240
Reb Shmuel Kustin of blessed memory	Dvoire Shkolnik	240
Reb Menakhem Vernikovsky of blessed memory		240
Reb Shlomo Zalmen Dunetz, of blessed memory	Mordecai Dunetz	241
Reb Yisroel Ozer Barishansky of blessed memory	Avrom Ivenitzky of blessed memory	245
Two Brothers	Moishe Mirsky (Man)	246
My Grandfather Reb Yisroel Elkhanan Piekelni of blessed memory	Leah Rozenblum	247
Characters and Facts	Moishe Man	248
Reb Avrom the Recluse	Efraim Pasaf	249
Reb Moishe Ruven Markovsky of blessed memory	Avrom Iveniecki OBM	250
Reb Yosef Mutchnik of blessed memory	Shloime Mutchnik	250
Reb Yosef Vinetzky	Avrom Ivenitsky	250
Reb Shaul Kaplinsky of blessed memory	Borukh Kaplinsky	250
Reb Mendl Mirsky of blessed memory	Ruven Mirsky	251
Reb Avrom Langbart of blessed memory	Yitzkhak Rabinovitch	251
Reb Avrom Gal of blessed memory	Sarah Gal	252
Noyekh Mikulitzky of blessed memory	Khaim Lusky	252
Yehuda Lusky of blessed memory	Khaim Lusky	252
Yehoshua Ovseyevitch of blessed memory	Moishe Man	253
Alter Gertzovsky of blessed memory	Shmuel Mnuskin	253
Motl Man of blessed memory	Moishe Man	253
Reb Yakov Obershteyn of blessed memory	Moishe Man	254
In My Father's House	Binyomin Kaplinsky of blessed memory	254
Niameh Kaplinsky the Bundist and Cultural Activist	Rishe Kaplinsky – Kovensky	257
Neighbours, Friends, Teachers and Acquaintances	Yitzkhak Epshteyn (Kfar Neter)	259
Communal Activists and Public Figures	Yitzkhak Epshteyn (Kfar Neter)	265
Lost Talents	Soreh Epshteyn – Shoar	268
Public Figures	Shabsai Mayevsky	269
The Tailor from Zhetl	Yakov Indershteyn	271
Zaydke	Yakov Indershteyn	275
The Last Badkhn	Yankef Indershteyn	276
The Shiluvsky Family from Haleli	Moishe Mirsky	278
My Mother Leah Hinde Merim's of Blessed Memory	Miriam Izraelit – Davidovsky	278
Efraim Belagolovsky – Kharmoni of blessed memory	Nekhemia Aminoakh	279
Zhetl Writers	M. Dunetz	280

Memories
Memories		283
Why Does our Heart Cry so Much?	Borukh Kaplinsky	283
Once There Was a Town…	Mordechai Dunetz	286
The Seder Night	Mashe Rozovsky – Shvartzman	287
A Week in Zhetl	Sarah Gal – Begin	288
Tuesday		292
My Home	Rivka Valdman	293
Friday at the Marketplace	Khaya Alpert	295
Slonimer Street	Sarah Gal – Begin	296
Memoirs	Yehudit Ostrovsky	297
The Famous Zhetl	Shmuel Rabinovitch (Herzliya)	298
Impressions	Lize Rozvosky of blessed memory	299
The Hasidic Rebbe in our Home	Rachel Rabinovitch	300
Customs	Mordechai Dunetz	301
My Small Jewish Town	Pesieh Mayevsky	304

The folklore of Zhetl
The Dzyatlava Folklore	Baruch Kaplinski	305
The Dzyatlava Nicknames	Baruch Kaplinski	306
Dzyatlava folklore	Avraham Iventzki, may his memory be for a blessing	308

Under Soviet Rule
Under Soviet Rule		310
Under the Soviet Regime	Efraim Shepshelevitch	311
The Tailor's Cooperative	Lize Rozvosky	313
During the Years of Soviet Rule		314
On the Verge of the Destruction		316

The extermination of Zhetl
Under the Yoke of the Germans	Azriel Shilovitsky	317
Hunger	Pesie Mayevsky	320
The First Murderous Act	Miriam Shepshelevitch	325
The First Murder	M. Shepelevitch	326
The First 120 Victims	Pesie Mayevsky	327
Zhetl at the end of 1941	Sarah Nashmit	329
From the Mouth of a Refugee who Found Herself in Zhetl	Sarah Nashmith	331
The First Slaughter	Basieh Rabinovitch – Yashir	332
Kaddish – The Memorial Prayer	Kahim Veynshteyn	333
Returning from the Graves	Yitzkhak Rubinshteyn	334
How Was I Saved?	Lize Kaplinsky (Tel Aviv)	335
The Tragedy of My Brother's Family	Mashe Rozvosky – Shvartzman	336
A Sad Summary	Khane Mayevsky – Klar	337
Two Children Fight for Their Lives	Kalmen Mnuskin	342
He Escaped From the Grave	Shifra Medvedsky	347
Zhetl Cleansed of Jews	Tzile Zernitsky – Yoselevsky	349
How Did I Save My Children?	Shaynke Mnuskin	353
I Lost My Entire Family	Yitzkhak Goldshteyn	356
From the House of Study to the Forest	Bashe Mnuskin	358
In the Workshops of the Novogrudek Ghetto	Pesieh Mayevsky	359
The Zhetl Glaziers in Novoredok	Zavl Mordkovsky	361
I Escaped from the Novogrudek Camp	Moishe Mendl Leyzerovitch	363
My Sad Childhood	Avrom Leybovitch	366
The Path of my Suffering	Kalmen Shalkovitch	367
The Extermination of Zhetl's Gypsies	Yitzkhak Epshteyn	368
The Underground Movement in Ghetto	Sh. Gerling	369
The Underground in the Zhetl Ghetto	S. Gerling	372
The way we lived in the Zhetl Ghetto	Pessya Mayevsky	373
Remember!	Pesie Mayevsky	375
Kaddish – The Mourner's Prayer	Mordkhai Epshteyn	376

In the forests
In the forests		378
The Participation of People from Zhetl in the Liptchanska Partisans	A group of partisans	379
Revenge for the Blood of our People!	Eliyahu Kovensky	391
We Fight!	Azriel Shilovitsky	395
Years in the Forest	Khane Mayevsky – Klar	397
Between Life and Death	Tzile Zernitzky – Yoselevsky	401
Taking Revenge on a Maytchet Murderer	Yekhiel Yoselevitch	404
We Take Revenge on a Murderer from Maldutch	Zavl Mordkovsky	405
The Battle in Dubrovke	Sholem Gerling	406
Four Victims	Lialeh Kalbshteyn – Yakhas	407
In the Family Camps	Shmule Mnuskin	408
The Partisan Hospital	Sholem Gerling	412
Partisan Heroes	Sholem Gerling	414
Short Biographies of Zhetl's Partisan Heroes Who Fell Fighting Hitler's Bandits	Group of partisans	420
“Kokes and Shakhmaniyes”	Tzila Zernitzky – Yoselevsky	428
Before Liberation	Lizeh Kaplinsky	430
The Last Months in the Forest	Soreh Ovseyevitch	431
My Last Day in the Forest	Hindke Mirsky	433
Zhetl Partisans in the Soviet Army	Khaim Sovitsky	434
A Zhetler in the Red Army Recounts	Shloyme Sharlat	439
In a German Prison Camp	Berl Goldberg	439
Partisan Heroes From Zhetl		440

People From Zhetl Throughout the World
Zhetlers in the World		442
Jews From Zhetl in the United States	Efraim Pasaf	443
Jews From Zhetl in Argentina	Moishe Man	445
Jews From Zhetl in Israel	Borukh Kaplinsky	447
The Zhetl Interest Free Loan Society in Israel	Shabtai Mayevsky	451
The Zhetl Forest	Yehuda Ostrovsky	452
At a Memorial Gathering in Tel Aviv	Shimon Berniker	453
From Zhetl to Petach – Tikva	Pesiye Mayovsky	454
Remember!	Mordecai Dunetz	458
Zhetl in April 1957	Mireh Volpovsky – Gontchorovsky	459
Bricks have Fallen – We will Rebuild with Hewn Stone	Baruch Kaplinsky	461
List of former Dzyatlava residents living in Israel	Addresses	464
List of former Dzyatlava residents living in the USA	Addresses	467
List of former Dzyatlava residents living in South America	Addresses	469
List of former Dzyatlava residents living in Canada and elsewhere	Addresses	470
Families From Zhetl	Pictures	471