Svir, Belarus

There Once Was a Town Swir;
Between the Two World Wars
(Svir, Belarus)

54°51' / 26°24'

Translation of
Haya hayeta ayarat Swir; ben shtei milhamot ha-olam

Editor: Herzl Vayner

Published in Tel Aviv 1975

Acknowledgments
Project Coordinator

Lee Harrison z”l

This is a translation of: Haya hayeta ayarat Swir; ben shtei milhamot ha-olam (There once was a town Swir; between the two world wars),
Editor: Herzl Vayner, Swir Society, Published: Tel Aviv 1975 (H,Y 227 pages)

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Translated by Yocheved Klausner

Hebrew

Introduction	5
Several Chapters in the History of the Town Svir	7

The Cultural and Social Life in Svir
The Economic Life	9
Charity and Social Aid	11
The Great Dispute Between the Majority and the Minority	12
The Struggle Between the Social Classes in Svir	13
Doctors and Miracle-Workers	14
My “Melamdim” [Teachers of small children, in the “Heder”]	16
The Education system	18
Memories from my School Years	19
The Public Library	21
The Jews on the Sabbath and Holidays	22
I am Seeing Your Jews - and They are Still Alive	24
The Lake	26
Holidays	28
A Tour of the Town	43

Organizations and Parties
Memories from the Old home	56
History of the Zionist Movement in Svir	57
The Cultural Activity of Hehalutz	62
The Jewish National Fund [Keren Kayemet LeIsrael]	63
The Struggle between the Parties in Town during the Last Twenty Years	64
Hashomer Hatza'ir, Hehalutz Hatza'ir, Freiheit (Dror), The Po'alei Zion Party (Right), Ha'oved [various Zionist parties]	66

Destruction and Annihilation
Svir	69
The Bridge	70
A Letter to the Home of my Parents	71
And it Came to Pass when… - Springtime is Over and Gone - on the Path of Suffering	72
The List of Persons Who Perished in Wilyeka	80
We Shall Never Forget Amalek	81
The Mound	81
A Window to my aching Heart	82
The Mountain	83
A Partisan from Svir	86
Ponar	89
The Handful of Ashes that Was My Mother	90
My Farewell to Svir	90
By the Picture of Mother - Father - to my Wounded and Sick Brother - the Vicious Circle	91
The Pure White Flowers of the Oleander	92
You, too, are an only Brother …	93
Grandfather Mor	94
To the Memory of Those Who Perished	95

Yiddish

Introduction	125
A Few Guidelines to the History of the Town Svir	127

The Cultural and Social Life in Svir
The Economic Life in Town	130
Philantropic and Social Aid in Town	132
Disputes and Arguments in Town	134
The Struggle Between the Social Classes in Svir	136
Doctors and Miracle-Workers	138
My “Melamdim” [Teachers of small children, in the “Heder”]	141
The School System	143
Memories from my School Years	145
The Jews on the Sabbath and Holidays	147
I am Seeing Your Jews - and They are Still Alive	150
The Lake	152
Holidays	154
Figures and Characters in Town	173
Memories from the Old home	203

Destruction and Annihilation
Svir	206
The Bridge	208
A Letter Home	210
When?	211
We Shall Never Forget Amalek	212
The Mountain	213
Ponar	217
The Handful of Ashes that was My Mother	218

The Missing
By the Picture of my Mother	219
Father	220
On the Mount of Olives	221
To my Wounded and Sick Brother	223
In the Vicious Circle	224
The White Oleander	225
To my Only Brother …	226
To Grandfather Mor	227

Yizkor Book Project JewishGen Home Page Svir, at Shtetlinks

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