Ruzhany, Belarus

.
Rozana: a Memorial Book to the Jewish Community
(Ruzhany, Belarus)

52°52'/ 24°53'

Rozhinoy; sefer zikaron le-kehilat Rozhinoy ve-ha-seviva

Edited by: M. Sokolowsky

Published in Tel Aviv, 1957

Acknowledgments

Project Coordinators

Edith Taylor

and

This is a translation of: *Rozhinoy; sefer zikaron le-kehilat Rozhinoy ve-ha-seviva;
Rozana: a memorial book to the Jewish community. Ed. M. Sokolowsky.
Tel Aviv, Former residents of Rozhinoy in Israel, 1957 (232 pages H,Y).

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

Purchase details for a printed copy of this translation can be found at http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/ybip/YBIP_Ruzhany.html

*Ruzhinoy = Rozana (Polish pronunciation), now Ruzhany in Belarus.
My copy has a handwritten dedication to my father: “Abraham Vegotsky, fellow citizen of Ruzhnoy, as a sign of respect and thanks from the committee of Ruzhnoyan landsmen. Tel Aviv, May 7, 1958.”

Translation by Nurith Brier and Edith Vegotsky Taylor.

This material is made available by JewishGen, Inc. and the Yizkor Book Project for the purpose of
fulfilling our mission of disseminating information about the Holocaust and destroyed Jewish communities.
This material may not be copied, sold or bartered without JewishGen, Inc.'s permission. Rights may be reserved by the copyright holder.

JewishGen, Inc. makes no representations regarding the accuracy of the translation. The reader may wish to refer to the original material for verification.
JewishGen is not responsible for inaccuracies or omissions in the original work and cannot rewrite or edit the text to correct inaccuracies and/or omissions.
Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.

Subject	Page

Introduction by the Editor	5
Schematic map of Ruzhany	6
History:
History of the Town of Ruzhany	7
Ruzhany according to the ledgers of the council of principal communities in the State of Lithuania	8
Ruzhany according to the General Encyclopedia Orglobarnada from 1884*	8
Ruzhany according to the Jewish Encyclopedia	8
Martyrs:
The Martyrs of Ruzhany	10
The Selicha for the Martyrs	12
Martyrs tomb	17
Descendents of the Martyrs	17
The Martyrs of Ruzhany	18
Torah:
Cheders	21
The Teacher's Union	22
A Cheder for Girls	23
Tiferet Bachurim	23
The Yeshiva in Ruzhany	24
Various study organizations	26
Rabbis in Ruzhany	29
“Shaatnez”	41
Labor:
The economic situation of the town	47
Lives of the weavers in Ruzhany during the 19^th century	48
Families of workers in the town	49
The Labor Movement in Ruzhany in the 19^th century	50
The founding of Pavlova and Konstantinova	51
G'milut Chassadim (Benevolent Societies):
Popular idealists	52
Hadaska	54
Leib Wasz and other members of the Pines family	56
Yona the shoemaker	58
Nimele the butcher Bulgatz	59
Shabtai Shefem of Pavlova	59
Our Town:
Our town Ruzhinoy	60
The synagogues of Ruzhany	62
Public life in Ruzhany	64
The “Takseh” (meat tax, “Korovka”)	65
From the days of my childhood in Ruzhany	66
The Fires:
The plague of fires	68
Leib “Yachid” [the only one]	71
How the fire brigade in Ruzhany was set up	72
The voluntary fire brigade in Ruzhany	72
The drills of the firefighters brigade	73
Fear of pogroms in the town in 1904	75
The beginnings of Zionism:
“Hurry, Brothers, Hurry” written by Yechiel Michal Pines (song still sung in Israel)	77
Beginnings of Zionism in Ruzhinoy	78
Yechiel Michael Pines	78
More on the Activities of Yechiel Michel Pines	80
Passages from “The Children of My Spirit” by Y. M. Pines	81
Itta Yellin	82
Rabbi Ze’ev Wolf Shachor (black)	82
The founding of Ekron (agricultural settlement south of Tel Aviv)	83
Yearning for redemption	85
The years of agitation:
The year 1905--the political parties	87
The struggle for 12-hour work day	87
The big strike of 1910	88
Public figures and personalities:
Lullaby	90
Aharon Libushitzky , Meir Krinsky, Zelig Sher, Melech Epshteyn , Dov Shpak Lobzowsky, Avigdor Michal Goldberg, Dr. Meir Pines, Moshe Limon	91-95
The First World War:
The Days of the First World War	97
The First Period of the German Occupation	98
From the Time of the German Occupation	99
The Forest People	100
The Big Fire	101
The Kinderheim (Children’s Home)	102
The Choir	103
“Hazamir” and “Herzlia”	104
The Consum Farein (consumers’ organization)	107
Between the Regimes	108
Pogroms in Ruzhinoy	108
Way of Life in the Shetl:
The libraries of Ruzhinoy	110
The library in Pavlova	110
Memories of childhood	111
Longing for Zion	112
Longing for the Land	114
Ma’ot Chitim (food fund for needy)	115
The eve of Passover in our town	115
Economic Situation:
The economic situation after the First World War	119
In Ruzhany	119
The bank in Ruzhany	120
Zionist Movements:
Hechalutz Movement in Ruzhany	122
Activities on behalf of the Jewish National Fund	126
The General Zionist Organization	129
The Hashomer Hatzair Movement in Ruzhany	131
Hashomer Hatzi’r renews its activities	132
Betar (Jabotinsky’s youth movement)	136
My native town	137
Educational Institutions:
Educational institutions in the town	138
The Tarbut School in Ruzhany	139
The Talmud Torah Institution in Ruzhany	143
David Miller	144
Charitable Institutions:
In the 19th century	145
In the 20th century	146
Second World War and the Holocaust:
Nineteen Days of the German-Polish War, and Russian Jurisdiction in Ruzhany	150
Echoes in Writing	151
In Ruzhany During the Time of the Nazis	153
I Passed Through Ruzhany During the Days of the Nazis	162
Echoes	167
Poem: “Everything Precious to Me”	170
In the German Captivity	170
What Happened To Me When I Returned Home	171
Yaakov Meir Maruchnik	172
In Memory of the Martyrs of Ruzhany	174
The Beloved and the Pleasant	175
In Memory of Those Who Made Aliyah:
Avraham Yitzchak Chwojnik and his wife	177
Rabbi Ze’ev Wolf	178
Leibl Ziskind	178
Nachum Alperstein	180
The Organization of Ruzhany Natives	181
Our Families:
A listing & photos of some of the families	184
Those Who Fell in the War of Independence: (Israel)
Listing of many names & photos	190
Poem: The Jewish Body	192
More names listed	193
Another poem: Liberty	197
“Amal is Geven a Stetl” - Ruzhinoy as I Remember:
Once There Was A Shtetl by Yosef Abramowich	199
In Memory of our Martyrs	212
Ruzhinoy and Environs	213
List of Ruzhany Natives Living in Israel	228
List of Liskova Natives Living in Israel	232

Yizkor Book Project JewishGen Home Page Ruzhany, at Kehilalinks

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