Memorial Book of Five Destroyed Communities
(Pruzhany, Belarus)

52°33' / 24°28'

Translation from
Pinkas Me-Hamesh Kehilot Harevot

Edited by: Mordechai W. Bernstein

Published in Buenos Aires, 1958

This is a translation from
Pinkus Pruzhany: Pruzhany, Kartuz Bereza, Malch, Shershevo and Selets (Punkas fun Finf Fartilikto kehilos)
Memorial Book of Five Destroyed Communities, Edited by Mordechai W. Bernstein,
Buenos Aires, former residents of Pruzana, 1958.

Note: The original book can be seen online at the NY Public Library site: Pruzhany (1958)

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Translated by Yocheved Klausner

Title Author Page
 
YIDDISH
 
Five annihilated communities Mordechai W. Bernstein IX
 
PRUZHANY
 
The establishment of the town N. Zukerman 3
Name and age of the town M. Wolanski 8
Roads and rivers S. D. Borker 16
“Privileges” M. Wolanski 19
Through three centuries N. Zukerman 22
The Pinkas Hevra Kadisha [burial society register] M. Wolanski 35
“The Book of Life” N. Z. 42
The Hevra Kadisha [burial society] regulations N. Z. 44
The Pruzhany Pinkas [community register] N. Zukerman 49
The Pruzhany Kahal [community members] G. Oryanski 53
A document about the cholera epidemic in Pruzhany G. Oryanski 60
A meeting of the Vaad Medinat Lita [the Lithuania Committee] in Pruzhany G. Oryanski 62
The Vaad Medinat Lita Regulations from the year 5488 (1728)   64
The Batei Midrash [synagogues, lit. “houses of learning”] in Pruzhany G. O. 89
The rabbi of Pruzhany, Rav Eliyahu Feinstein David Halevi 94
With the rabbinic family Tzipora Katzenelson-Nachumov 98
The BAH (R'Yoel Sirkis) and the TAZ (R'David Halevi Segal) in Pruzhany G. Oryanski 101
Learning institutions in Pruzhany in the second half of the 19th century N. Z. 104
Our region during “The Great War of the North” S. D. Borker 111
Pruzhany in the 1812 War S. D. Borker 113
Pruzhany in the 1863 Revolt M. W. 115
Social movements in Pruzhany G. Oryanski 117
The First World War and the German occupation G. Oryanski 127
The Pruzhany “Republic” G. Oryanski 142
The first years after the World War G. Oryanski 151
Pruzhany during the first decade of the Polish rule 1921-1931 N. Zukerman 152
Social, Charity and Cultural institutions in Pruzhany   167
“Shevivim” (Hebrew journal of the Yavne organization in Pruzhany)   195
Pruzhany Folklore A. Feivushinski 199
What the Jews have to tell about Alexander I S. L. Zitron 206
The Y.L. Peretz School and its Principal G. Oryanski Chaim Yanish 213
The Pruzhany Y.L. Peretz ZISA [1] School in Pruzhany Ch. S. Kazdan 216
About the teachers' work H. Grinbaum 219
Zionist movements in Pruzhany Dov Kirzhner 232
The Hebrew High-School in memory of A. D. Gordon   233
The educational “Tarbut” Institutions   237
Zionist festivities in Pruzhany Yosef Borman 241
The JNF bazaars in Pryzhany Yitzhak Seletzki 245
The “Tarbut” library - its establishment and development Zelig Pomeranyetz 248
Pruzhany facing the Vaad Hayeshivot [the Yeshivot Committee]   250
Memories of a Bundist in Pruzhany Fishel Weiner 254
The Bund movement in Pruzhany Zalman Oryevitch 259
We are hungry and we sing   265
The candidates to the Pruzhany Community Council in 1920   267
The social chronicle of Pruzhany   273
Pruzhany M. Schefner 315
As a refugee in Pruzhany Hershel Himelfarb 318
The rabbi and great scholar Rav Yehuda-Leib Fohrer z”l Rav Avraham Zev Schoen 320
The last Pruzhany rabbi, the holy martyr Rav David Feigenbaum   323
 
KARTUZ - BEREZE
 
Bereze or Kartuz-Bereze   327
Kartuz-Bereza Yakov Gorali (Goczalka) 328
My Home Exists No Longer Masha Shtuker-Paiuk 344
The life story of the world scholar R'Yitzhak-Elchanan z”l Nute ben Rav Yakov Lifschitz 349
The Great Klatzkin Family in Kartuz-Bereza   355
The Rav R'Shlomo Feinsilber   357
A Rabbinical Family Tree from Bereza Found in a Book   358
Kartuz-Bereza Jewish Education Elya-Motye Boksztajn 361
About Bereza Communal Life Vova Wajnsztajn 365
The Kartuz-Bereze folklore   370
I remember my little town Bereze David German 374
The Polish concentration-camp in Bereze Elya-Mate Backstein 382
My last day in Kartuz Bereze S. Schichtow 384
Peretz Markish in Bereze Y. Rotenberg 387
The teachers in the Kartuz-Bereze Jewish elementary school   392
The school journals in Kartuz-Bereze   402
Figures in Kartuz-Bereze Elya-Mate Backstein 418
Social figures in Bereze Nathan Shapira 423
Zadok R'Itche's [son of R'Itche] Yakov Gorali 425
The Kartuz-Bereze fire-fighters Elya-Mate Backstein 429
On the roads of wandering Yosef Rotenberg 432
Memories from our ruined Kartuz-Bereze Nechemia Stocker 441
The decree about the Kartuz-Bereze elementary school Choshke Grayevski-Koval 453
Aharon-David Egoz, the Yiddish translator of Chovot Halevavot   455
American aid in Kartuz-Bereze   457
Kartuz-Bereze 1939-1941 Elya-Mate Backstein 459
Kartuz-Bereze helps building Eretz Israel   464
 
MALECZ
 
The Jewish community in Malecz Shmuel Appelbaum 469
Among Polish-Lithuanian Jews Yakov Mestel 501
Rabbi Zalman-Sender Kahana-Shapira z”l M. Tzinowitz 505
Tamrat (Tamares) Aharon-Shmuel   509
Malecz between the Two World Wars Shmuel Chomski 511
 
SHERSHEV
 
Shershev   521
Our Hometown, Shershev Zundl Yablonovitch 522
Rabbis of Shershev   528
Ten Years of the “Yavneh” School in Shershev   533
The Community in Shershev   548
The General “Gemilas Chasadim” Fund in Shershev   550
 
SELTZ
 
Seltz - the cradle the Vilna Gaon   557
The meetings of the “Lithuanian State Committee” in Seltz Mordechai Bernstein 559
Historical information about Seltz in the book “Rosh Yosef” Mordechai Bernstein 570
Seltz for the benefit of “Vaad Hayeshivot”   574
In the familiar villages Yakov-Meir Appelbaum 577
 
OUR RUIN
 
The Pruzhany Jews in the ghetto and in the camps Zalman Oryevitch 599
Memories from the Pruzhany ghetto Zanwel Segal 621
A sum-up of the Holy Community Pruzhany Avraham Breski 627
From Pruzhany to destruction Berl Kirzhner 635
From Pruzhany to Central Asia Y. Gleser 646
Through seven Hells, by a miracle Zlatke Schneiderhaus-Pitlyuk 648
From the ghetto to the partisans Yosef Ellman 659
A diary of a partisan Shemaryahu Ellman 667
A partisan Mordechai-Ber Segal 675
The Pruzhany ghetto and its struggle for Jewish Honor Yitzhak Friedberg 677
The end of the Jewish settlement in Kartuz-Bereze Moshe Tuchman 687
The destruction of Kartuz-Bereze Elya-Matie Backsteein 690
The evacuation from Pruzhany Y. Klementovski 692
The Pruzhany ghetto before and after the liquidation N. Altschuler (Altman) 693
The 24 members of the Pruzhany Judenrat (“Jewish council”) Sender 699
I survived Hitler Lazar Kartchamker 702
The ruin of Lineve Berl Blustein 707
Pruzhany without Jews Itche Seletzki 715
A cut-off life Chaim Berkman 717
Pruzhany and surroundings after the destruction Yosef Bobman 719
My little town Pruzhany Lena Neidos-Yudewitz 724
Death is lurking Ruth Scheich 725
A Letter A. Zakheim 728
The ruin of Malecz Shmuel Chomski 729
My town Szereszow in the Death-March Chaim Maletzki 732
Tha Malecz Jew who was a “Nazi Officer” Aharon Goldstein 735
The preparations for the uprising in the Pruzhany ghetto Yakov Wolowelski 736
From a bunker in the “partisan country” Moshe Yudevitz - Rivka Kaplan 737
The few who survived in Malecz Shmuel Mordechai Rubinstein 739
The suffering in the Ebensee Camp Chaim Kaminker 740
Survived, in order to give testimony Dr. Elya Goldfein 741
Yosef (Yosl) Kleinerman Z”l Yakov Schreibman 744
The social charity activists who were killed in Pruzhany   745
 
ECHOES AND MEMORIES FROM THE OLD HOME
 
A “confiscated” printing shop Fishel Weiner 751
Regards from the old generation Y. Delewski 752
Memories of a “Day-Eater” [2] A. D. Egoz 754
Broken echoes from my youth in my little town Pruzhany Nathan Rosin 757
From the time of the storm Shmuel-Leib Katz 758
What I remember from Pruzhany Moshe Chaim Nun 759
Kartuz-Bereze Av. Victor 760
Our town Malecz is no more Moshe Friedman 761
Bereze was full of newborn children named “Shalom” Yona Berezeman 763
 
YIZKOR SECTION
 
Memorial Plaques, p. 765 to p. 825, unnumbered
 
DISPERSED AND SCATTERED OVER THE ENTIRE WORLD
 
Our Landsleit (former residents) over the wide world David Fohrer 827
The Max Kronstat Pruzhany Workers' Circle Branch 244 Fishel Weiner 844
The women's branch of Branch 244 Workers' Circle Henia Kronstat - Fishel Weiner 850
The United Pruzhany Aid-Committee in New York Fishel Konik 853
List of deceased landsleit in the United States   860
Our Landsleit in Argentina David Fohrer 861
Our Women's Group David Fohrer 912
Our Youth Circle David Fohrer 913
The credit co-operative “La Amistad” David Fohrer 917
Mechl Perlstein Leizer Resches 920
Deceased members of the administration   921
List of deceased landsleit in Argentina   923
Our supporters and co-workers David Fohrer 925
In Conclusion David Fohrer 929
List of photographs and documents   931
Additions and corrections   939
Typogaphical errors   941
Index of names   943
 
  1. “The Central Organization of Jewish Schools“ return
  2. A young man who studied at the Yeshiva was assigned by the community to have his meals at the well-to-do families in town, each day with another family. return

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