Michalovce, Slovakia

The Book of Michalovce
(Michalovce, Slovakia)

48°45' / 21°56'

Translation of
Sefer Michalovce ve-ha-seviva

Editor: M. Ben-Zeev (M.Farkas)

Published in Tel Aviv 1969

Our sincere appreciation to Susan Dressler for typing up the
English section to facilitate its addition to this project.

This is a translation of: Sefer Michalovce ve-ha-seviva (The book of Michalovce),
Editor: M. Ben-Zeev (M.Farkas), Committee of Former Residents of Michalovce in Israel, Published: Tel Aviv 1969 (H, Hu, E 407 pages)

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

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fulfilling our mission of disseminating information about the Holocaust and destroyed Jewish communities.
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Translated by Sara Mages

[E] Articles in Hebrew and English

With the Book [E]	Mordechai Ben-Zev (Mori Farkash)	5

The City and the Community		7
Michalovce – Chapters of History	Aharon Helinger	8
The community of Michalovce – Its history, institutions and personalities [E]	Dr. David Erenfeld	17
A monument to the Michalovce Jewry [E]	Elishevah Szenesh	24
The religious life in Michalovce, a Jewish metropolis [E]	Yisrael Yakov Davidowich	27

Memories and Folklore		37
Our teachers [E]	Avigdor Steno (Steinhardt)	38
The Bath-House Street [E]	Dov Lahav (Blau)	42
High-School years	Dr. Avraham Talmi	43
My father's house in Dolna Street	Aharon Martinowitch	49
The life story of a simple man	Dr. Avraham Talmi	53

The National Revival and the Youth Movements		63
The founding of “Kadimah Hashomer” in Michalovce [E]	Tzvi (Hermann) Spira	64
“Hashomer Hatzair” nest in Michalovce [E]	Mori Ben-Zev (Farkas)	66
The history of “Beitar” in Michalovce [E]	Binyamin Helinger	74
The Religious Zionist movement in Michalovce [E]	Akivah Keshet (Kastenbaum)	78
“Poalei Zion” [Zion Workers] [E]	Moshe Duvdvani (Kirschnbaum)	80
In “Hashomer Hatzair” nest	Yachet Gregor	82

Holocaust and Heroism		83
With awe and love [E]	Dr. Alexander Mitelman	84
On the long road	Dov Gregor z”l	85
Teachers and students in the vocational school	Dr. Alexander Goldstein	90
The town is emptied	Jachet Gregor	91
The girls are taken out	Elishevah Szenes	92
The Land of Yisrael can only be acquired through suffering	Dr. Avraham Talmi	94
Tidings and a letter from Auschwitz [E]	Jachet Gregor	98
Sparks from the darkness	Avigdor Steno (Steinhardt)	99
The life of the Jewish congregation in Michalovce during the Second World War [E]	Benjamin (Berry) Bornstein	101
The Jewish School in Michalovce	Aliza Barak née Ressler	115
The road to battle	Emil Knieza First	118
The Needle [E]	Elishevah Szenes	126
An onion – a subject for arbitration in Auschwitz	Dr. Alexander Goldstein	128
In the mission of conscience [E]	Katya Carmi	129
The Gypsy woman [E]	Elishevah Szenes	132
The town is burning	Mordechai Gebirtig	134

List of Holy Ones [E]		135
The section - “A candle for the family”		151
R' Yedel Goldstein - one of the “Lamed Vav Zaddikim” [36 righteous men]	Dr. Alexander Goldstein	194
“Yizkor” - A page for the commemoration of relatives		196

The Martyrs of the Israeli Defense Forces		197
A Prayer	Tirza	197
Yakov (Yankale) Ra'anan z”l	Naomi	199
Yakov a submarine man	Yosef Dror	201
Dov (Tomy) son of David Karl and Yehudit Porat		203
Alex Armon (Kastenbaum)		205

Former residents of Michalovce who passed away in Israel		206

The Survivors		215
The return of the expelled [E]	Emil F. Knieza	216
The testimony of our townswoman about the Nazis horrors		227
Michalovce - before the war and during the Holocaust (from the “Zemplín Almanac”)		231
The western expert [E]	Vill Stano (Avigdor Steinhardt)	232
Melancholy thoughts	Dov Lahav (Blau)	233
Before the bench of the national court	Dr. A. Goldstein	234
In their death they bequeathed us life	Elishevah Szenesh	236
Members the organization's National Committee		238
On the activities of Michalovce immigration organization [E]	Asher (Artur) Benovitz	239
To the former residents of Michalovce and the vicinity [E]	Dr. Alexander Goldstein	240
	Dr. David Erenfeld

English Section [from the back of the book]
With the book	Mordechai Ben-Zev (Mori Farkash)	3
The community of Michalovce – Its history, institutions and personalities	Dr. David Ehrenfeld	5
A monument to Michalovce Jewry	Senesh Erzsi	12
The religious life in Michalovce	Yisrael Yakov Davidowich	17
Our teachers	Avigdor Steno (Steinhardt)	29
The Bath-House Street	Dov Lahav (Blau)	32
The foundation of “Kadimah Hashomer” in Michalovce	Tzvi (Hermann) Spira	33
“Kadimah Hashomer”	Anus Gregor (Hexner)	34
“Hashomer Hatzair” nest in Michalovce	Mori Ben-Zev (Farkas)	35
Zion Workers [Poale Zion]	Moshe Dovdavany (Kirschnbaum)	37
The Religious Zionist movement in Michalovce	Akivah Keshet (Kastenbaum)	38
The memories of a movement member	Dov Gregor (Gleich)	40
The history of “Beitar” in Michalovce	Benjamin Helinger	41
With awe and love	Dr. Alexander Mitlman	43
The town	Jachet Gregor	44
The Gypsy woman	Elizabeth Szenes	45
The life of the Jewish congregation in Michalovce during the Second World War	Benjamin (Berry) Bornstein	49
Tidings and a letter from Auschwitz	Jachet Gregor	66
In the mission of conscience	K. Carmi	68
The Needle	Erzs (Elishevah) Szenes	71

List of Holy Ones		75
The return of the expelled	Emil F. Knieza	92
The western expert	Vill Stano (Avigdor Steinhardt)	97
A short report on the emigrants of Michalovce		98
On the activities of Michalovce immigration organization	Asher (Artur) Benovitz	99
A memorial speech in Israel	Senesh Erzsi	100
To the former residents of Michalovce and the vicinity	Dr. Alexander Goldstein, Dr. David Erenfeld	103

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