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To remember. To the end of generations, to the end of days. To remember the fall of justice and the death of compassion. The darkening of the years, in which malevolence and slaughter celebrated victorious bloodletting. The complacent indifference of a world with a pitiless heart. Every sob and every drop of sweat; every tear and interrupted scream. Every mass grave of the murdered and every train of poison; every camp of despair and every oven for consuming human flesh. All the masses and hordes that were rounded up, imprisoned and driven to the end of their existence and the cessation of life. Every heart that was frightened and every hair that was made to stand on end; every throat that gave out a groan, every fist that was clenched. To remember that terror that is indescribable, the deep resignation and hopelessness from the deep. The heroism that grew in those killing fields, and the sacred anger that was ignited in those hearts. The despair that was transformed into a keen sword, and the teeth of enmity of those sentenced to die, that were sunk into the throats of the murderers. The ‘Shema Yisrael’ of those who had to surrender their souls who were without blemish. And the longing ache of those who say Kaddish over the death of a nation. (A. Shlonsky)

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The Rabbi-Gaon R' Yehuda-Leib Fein זצללה”ה (Rabbi of Slonim)

Rabbi R' Reuven Fein יבלח”א		The Rabbi-Gaon R' Shabtai Fein זצללה”ה

The year in which he was born is not known to me, however, I do know that he presented himself for military service in the year 5675 (1915), that is in the last summer before the retreat of the Russians from the territories of Lithuania, and western Byelorussia. It is possible that he presented himself for military service at that time, for the second time.

My father זצ”ל was the firstborn son of his father, the true Gaon, the Rabbi of Slonim, who had previously served there as the Rabbi. My grandfather studied in the city of Minsk, and he was a product and entered with the ‘great’ Gaon of Minsk. This Gaon proposed to the people of the shtetl of Pesochno, adjacent to Sluck (beside the headwaters of the Neman River), that they should retain my grandfather as the Rabbi of their congregation. And so, at an early age, my father and his parents went to the shtetl of Pesochno, and from there – after a short while – to the city of Kupiskis, that was an important city in the Kovno district of Lithuania. My father traveled to study at the Yeshiva in Volozhin at the age of fifteen, (it had re-opened anew after it had been closed, by decree of the Czarist regime, during that well-known period when they were informed on, by Maskilim who favored assimilation, that the Russian language was not being taught in Heders or in Yeshivas).

After some time, my father transferred to study at the Yeshiva in Slobodka. From there, he went to study with the true Gaon, and one of the exponents of his generation, R' Yitzhak Yaakov Rubinowicz, nicknamed by all as: R' Itz'l miPonevicz (because he had served as the Rabbi of the city of Panevezys). This Gaon was also the teacher of my grandfather in his youth, in the Yeshiva at Slobodka, where the select students from the Yeshivas studies, supported by Baron Ginzburg.^[2] It was with R' Itz'l that my father obtained his direction

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in study, and it was from there that he emerged as a great scholar, par excellence.

After my father presented himself to the military, he was compelled to hide himself within the boundaries of the city of Vilna until the Russians retreated from the city. Because of this, my father was prevented from joining up with the hordes of yeshiva students that went off with their Rabbi-Teachers into the interior of Russia, and for a long enough time, he studied by himself in Vilna or Asmjany (in which he served as the Rabbi).

In our house, I saw the diminutive kerosine lamp – called at that time a ‘kupchik’ – by whose light he studied for an extended period of time.

This situation persisted until the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. At that time, many of the yeshiva students from Russia began to come back, and places for Torah study were established anew in various cities, or as they were called ‘kibbutzim.’ A ‘kibbutz’ of this kind was also established in the city of Bialystok, and my father went there to study.

It was in Bialystok that, a short time after the war, a marriage was proposed to him with my Mother-Teacher Sir'l-Yenta ע”ה, הי”ד, and the franchise of the rabbinate for the town of Narew beside Bialystok went over to him. after four years of serving in this capacity, as the Rabbi of this town, the place where I, and my older sister Dvora-Henna ע”ה הי”ד, were born, my father assumed the rabbinate in Belica, and afterwards, my younger brother Yaakov-Eli' ע”ה הי”ד, was born there.

As all know, my Father and Teacher, the Gaon and Tzaddik זצללה”ה carried the obligation of Rabbi and spiritual leader, on his shoulders with the greatest responsibility, and was a catalyst in community life. He established study groups for Shas and Mishna, and concerned himself with strengthening the school, and would appear before the authorities in various representations for the general good.

A short time before the war, my father זצ”ל conveyed part of his writings and innovative thoughts on the Shas, and Maimonides to be published in Bilgoraj near Lublin, and as the book was being readied for publication, the terrifying war broke out and destroyed everything. The name of the book was to be : ‘Oneg-Shabbat.’ I was privileged and succeeded in saving everything that was supposed to have been published, and with God's help, I published the book a few years ago, in our own Holy Land.

I, personally, left Belica immediately after Simchat Torah of 5700 (1940) and got to Vilna. The fate of the shtetl of Belica and the fate of its Jews are known to me only by hearsay. תנצב”ה

Translator's footnotes:

1. This body of water is not readily identifiable, viz: Kaunas (Kovno) is located at the confluence of the two largest Lithuanian rivers, the Nemunas and the Neris, and near the Kaunas Reservoir, the largest body of water entirely in Lithuania. Return
2. Baron Horace Ginzburg. He was a resident of St. Petersburg in Russia and a person of significant influence in Jewish Russia in the latter part of the nineteenth century. His bent was towards assimilating the Jewish population into the general Russian population. He believed that with secular education, the modification of Jewish dress, the acceptance of Russian language and culture by the Jews of Russia, the “Jewish problem” would be solved. He was one of the prime movers in the building of the great synagogue building in St. Petersburg, a synagogue that the more observant Jews there shunned. Return

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R' Chaim-Noah Kamenetzky

A Passover Seder at the home of R' Chaim-Noah Kamenetzky (Two years before the Holocaust)

The son, Azriel Kamenetzky, and the daughter Shlomit Kamenetzky at her mother's grave (in the year 1938)

As a student of the Kabbalah in those years, he was one of the regulars at the Bet HaMedrash (he was born in Lida). However, while even still a youth, he felt a special love for the books of the prophets, and each day, he began to study a couple of chapters in the Tanakh, and he especially read , with great feeling, the words of solace offered by the Greater Prophets. He drew his faith and hope from their words, that a day would arrive and even his people would return to its Land, and once again build up its homeland anew, in our Land, in security.

When he was a young lad, R' Chaim-Noah was brought by R' Shmuel Schechtman ז”ל (Munya Karpel's) to his home in Niteca^[1], to study, and to educate his sons and daughters. After several years, R' Chaim-Noah married the distinguished young lady, Mrs. Rachel, the daughter of R' Moshe Yenta's (Kaplan) of Belica. Here, he opened a ‘modern’ Heder, and in a short time, he garnered a reputation as an effective teacher, received students from ‘the better homes,’ and was able to make a respectable living from these educational pursuits, while also finding spiritual and intellectual satisfaction.

R' Chaim-Noah introduced a new and pleasant atmosphere into the ‘modern’ Heder. First, he positioned himself to his students in a pleasant manner, with affection and love, and not with yelling and beating, as was the more normal habit with most students at that time, and with this, he won the hearts of the students who loved him and respected him all the days of their lives. Second, he added the study of the Hebrew language to the conventional curriculum of study, and he not only taught it, he inculcated in his students a loyalty to the traditions, to national identity, and especially to the desolated homeland that was being brought back to life.

R' Chaim-Noah was not content with the ‘modern’ Heder that he had established in his town, and he visited other cities in order to organize a ‘modern’ Heder, using his own as a model. He reached as far as the city

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of Siedlice in Poland, and spent a number of years there in education and the organization of ‘modern’ Heders. In the free time that he had, from his hard work, he would direct an effort on behalf of the concept of ‘Hibat Tzion,’ a concept beloved and dear to him, and wherever he went, he would excite his listeners with his words, directed especially at the young, to work on behalf of the Land of Israel and Zionism, leaving behind an organized group in every place he went.

Understandably, there were no lack of protagonists in those days, who opposed the idea of a return to Zion, among who the argument was that this was contrary to the faith and its tradition, and it was forbidden to attempt to accelerate the coming of the ‘End of Days,’ but rather to wait in absolute faith for the coming of the Messiah, and only he [the Messiah] will redeem us from this bitter exile, and return us to the land that God promised to our forefathers. But R' Chaim-Noah neither feared nor was he dismayed by them – in his complete faith that the Divine Spirit had been aroused to return its dispersed sons to their borders, and with his stormy fervor, he would disassemble their arguments, and continue with his sacred work in ‘Initiating the Redemption,’ until the coming of the Messiah, our Just One.

Even earlier than sixty years ago, there was already a ‘Hibat Tzion’ group in our town. Three of the prominent people of the town stood at its head: R' Nahum Shebshinsky זצ”ל – the Chairman of the committee; R' Chaim-Noah Kamenetzky ז”ל – Secretary; R' Michael Lefkowsky ז”ל – Treasurer. The effort on behalf of the concept of ‘Hibat Tzion’ in the town was realized through lessons and speeches at the Bet HaMedrash, and it was R' Chaim-Noah who was the living spirit behind this effort. He also engaged in the ‘black’ work: he would convince the members to purchase lottery tickets and stamps that the central Agudat Hibat Tzion put out, for the purpose of supporting settlement in the Land of Israel. From his own mouth, I heard several times, that he would even organize dinner-dances for this purpose on Hanukkah in the barbershop of R' Yaakov Baranchik ז”ל (Yankl Tzin'keh's) and that even R' Nachman would attend the celebration (and he would add: ‘It is understood that R' Nachman sat in a separate room.’).

Apart from his educational work, and his endeavors on behalf of Zionism, he engaged in dealing with all of the town needs, and it is possible to say of him, that he was one of those who faithfully dedicated himself to looking after community affairs. He organized the institutions of ‘Bikur Kholim,’ and ‘Linat Tzedek,’ arranged for a municipal ‘Gemilut Hesed’ that would look after the needs of those that required a loans, without interest. After The First World War, he organized and ran the Volksbank that functioned with the help of ‘JeKoPo’ in Vilna (he led the bank until the Soviets arrived in 1939, and closed it).

With the outbreak of the war between the Nazis and the Soviets (1941), R' Chaim-Noah was plunged into a massive quandary. He would pace back-and-forth in his house, sunk in his thoughts, and from time-to-time would start to talk in a saddened tone: ‘What will happen now? What will the day bring?’ To the God of Israel, how can the sons of your people stand against the evil decrees and the terrifying troubles that lurk to befall them? But after a number of hours, when many of the townsfolk came to ask his advice, whether it was worth fleeing their location together with the Soviet military, into the center of vast and broad Russia, his spirit revived, and his eyes began to sparkle as they usually sis, and he decisively said: ‘ I think that it is better that everyone remain in his place: from the experience of The First World War, I learned that whoever did not leave their place was in better condition than those who fled to Russia; they were tossed about in alien lands, and were among the first to contract diseases that erupted from the terrible hunger that reigned there.’

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Yes, he was an elder with integrity of character, and he was unable to even conceive that an enemy so terrible could arise against his people, that would destroy it right down to the root, from the young to the old, women and children alike, with a cruelty that has no peer in the annals of human history.

Indeed, from the first day that these malevolent ones entered the town with fire and blood, this aging man saw the error in his judgment. With his own eyes, he saw how savage German soldiers put one house after the other to the torch, many of them houses that had been built with the toil of generations, and had passed as an inheritance from father to son, without any fault or wrongdoing on the part of the builders. Only very few days after this, yet another type of pillage and predation came into being: suddenly, a cohort of Nazis burst into the center of the town, charging through the streets with shouting and abusive threats. In the end, they seized two innocent and righteous men (R' Chaim-Yitzhak Kremen and Fyv'eh the son of Moshe-David Stotsky הי”ד), gave them a large basket, and ordered them to go to the ‘accursèd’ Jews to gather eggs, and if they could not fulfil the order – they will be killed like dogs. I remember, at that hour, that the old man summoned his strength, and went out into the only road that had escaped arson, where all the people of the town had gathered. He trod on the street, here and there, and called out: – Fellow Jews, turn over whatever eggs you have in your homes; do not think now about yourselves or your children; we are standing as if we were in the place of our forefathers of yesteryear, poised to perform the mitzvah of redeeming hostages; give whatever eggs you have at home; permit our dear two brethren to be released by these murderers.’ It is understood that, in the wake of this exhortation on his part, everyone turned over all the eggs they had at home, for purposes of getting the hostages released, and it was in this way, that the order for the eggs was fulfilled.

However, the bitter end of this incident oppressed the old man even further. Because when the two brought the basket of eggs to the murderers, the eggs were taken from them, and afterwards they were ordered to get on a freight truck, and they were taken outside of town. At the beginning, not one person knew where they had disappeared to, but after several days, some peasants came from the village of Misilowiec^[2], and related that the bandits had killed them and buried them close to the village. When R' Chaim-Noah heard about this travesty, he bent his head as if he was a mourner, and let out a broken groan that broke the heart and said: – We are lost, all of us are lost.’

After a brief respite, the Nazis again fell upon the town, surrounding the Jewish quarter and began seizing people to do [forced] labor. On that same ‘black day’ they gathered up thirty-six Jews, among them the Rabbi of the community, the Rabbi Gaon R' Shabtai Fein הי”ד, bringing them to a station close to the Russian Orthodox cemetery, and they tortured them there with a variety of severe and bizarre tortures, and afterwards, forced them to dig a grave for themselves, and shot them at the edge of the pit. This incident broke R' Chaim-Noah completely, because among the thirty-six was also his youngest son – Yitzhak. And so, R' Chaim-Noah, and his wife, Gitt'l remained bereaved of their youngest son for days. His sorrow was beyond bearable, because the murderers continued to prey upon their victims for several weeks, and they did not permit the martyrs to be given a proper Jewish burial.

At the same time, on Rosh Hashanah, prayer quorums were arranged at the home of my father, and the home of R' Joseph Wolkowysky, and the services of ‘the Days of Awe’ were especially ‘Awesome’ that year.

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Everyone felt in his heart that the prayers were talking about themselves personally, addressing their personal fate, and the fate of their family. When the ‘U'Nesaneh Tokef’ prayer was recited: – ‘Whom for life, and whom to death, who is at his end, and who is not at his end, who by fire, who by water’ – the letters of these words were like needles that stabbed the bodies of those reciting them. Fore each, the question was carved into their minds: Who knows by what sort of death I will have to Sanctify the Name?

The young man, R' Lipman, the son of R' Dov Radominer the Kohen, told me: R' Chaim-Noah lead the services in front of the ark at the minyan in the house of R' Joseph Wolkowysky, and in my entire life I never heard such a pouring out of the soul. He enunciated every word of prayer with the clarity of his tongue, and in a number of them, he stretched out his arms above, and registered his plea to the heavens. When he arrived to the point in the familiar morning prayer, ‘do not wipe out the remnant of the sons of the king,’ he fervently began to plead: ‘Merciful Father, if you indeed are Our Father, how are you able to rest silently on your throne of glory and look down upon the deeds of these unclean ones, that they perpetrate against the children of your people? Do you, God-forbid, really wish to see the extermination of what remains of your people? And if you are Our King, what sort of King will you appear to be to all the peoples of your world, if you will permit those who are malevolent to exterminate what is left of the sons of the King?’ When he reached the phrase: ‘Spare them today from judgment, and desist from holding them guilty,’ he called out in a strong voice and continued his plea: ‘Master of the Universe – Today! Today! And only Today! Know that tomorrow may be too late…’

On the second day of Rosh Hashanah 5722 (1942) after the noon hour, news spread through the Jewish quarter that the evil ones granted permission to transfer the bodies of the thirty-six martyrs to be given a Jewish burial. All of us, with digging tools, went to the cemetery, to dig out a common grave for our beloved ones. I recollect that when I arrived, R' Chaim-Noah was there already, and when he saw me, he opened his palms toward me, saying: ‘come, help me dig a grave for my little Itchik’….

We began to dig the common grave, and someone arrived to inform us that the murderers are not giving permission to transfer the martyrs to the cemetery, and we were obliged to immediately leave the cemetery. With lowered heads and an ache in our hearts we returned despondent to the Jewish quarter.

On the Eve of Yom Kippur, I went by way of the gardens to visit R' Chaim-Noah, who was in the home of R' Israel Halperin. I found him broken and exhausted. An old man, bent over and without hope. At first, he spoke in a sorrowful voice, softly, regarding his personal troubles, and about the terrifying decrees that cascaded over all of his people. But, suddenly, he stopped what he was saying, and after a number of seconds, ne bestirred himself, and even straightened himself out to his full stature, and with a powerful fervor he said: ‘You need to know, that despite this horrible and terrifying situation, I do not give up. Even on a day like this, I believe, with a complete faith, in the maxim, ‘Am Yisrael Chai v'Kayam^[3].’ Yes, they can kill me and my wife, but my daughter Shlomit and my son Issachar are in the Land of Israel, and they will not get to them. I do not know if I will be privileged to see the downfall of these enemies of my people, but I see with clarity, that, in the end, this Holocaust will run its course, the fury will pass, and a remnant of us will see the denouement of our enemies and the establishment of a Jewish nation in the Land of our Forefathers.’ – This is how that wise old sage spoke, even at the time that a sharp sword had been placed at the throat of our expiring people.

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With the writing of these lines, in a sovereign and free nation of Israel, in memory of this sage Jewish elder, I hear the ring of his voice in my ear: ‘Yes, they can kill me and my wife, but they will not reach my daughter Shlomit and son Issachar in the Land of Israel,’ and by personal eye witness, I see how the prophetic words of R' Chaim-Noah ז”ל have come to pass.

When, today, I see his prominent descendants here in Israel, all of them active in the life of a reborn country, especially his grandson the young Azriel, beloved, and pleasant, in Kibbutz Magal, who stands guard over the border of our sacred Israel, about which his grandfather R' Chaim-Noah foresaw and prophesied, I feel a joy in my heart, that the sacred chain, that had weakened the heart of his noble grandfather, in blood and fire, was not broken or stopped.

Yes, we today are witnesses, that the prophecy and vision of R' Chaim-Noah has been realized.

May the memory of this sage old man – be for a blessing.

Translator's footnotes:

1. Possibly Netech' about five miles from Belica, but could also be Njacec. Return
2. Possibly Nesilovtsky, about two miles from Belica Return
3. The Nation of Israel Lives and Exists Return

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The Family of R' Shlomo Szlomowicz (Shlomo der Melamed)

From earliest childhood, my father ז”ל stood out because of his gifts and in his great diligence in the study of Torah. He stood head and shoulders above all the boys of his age, and at the age of fifteen, he fulfilled in his person the maxim ‘take yourself off to a place of Torah study’ and traveled to the famous yeshiva at Slobodka, which was under the spiritual oversight of the Reverend Gaon Tzaddik, R' Nathan-Zvi Finkel זצ”ל, nicknamed ‘The Slobodka Grandfather.’

When he reached the age of twenty, after having filled himself with the study of Shas and Poskim, my father went over to the ‘Great Talmud’ in the city of Kelme in Lithuania, founded by the ‘Kelem Grandfather’ the Reverend R' Simcha-Ziss'l Brody זצ”ל. The ‘House of Talmud’ in Kelem, where my father studied in which my father studied until me married, was the place where his personality unfolded, apart from the fact that students there exerted themselves to acquire mastery of the concepts from Shas and Poskim, a central objective of this yeshiva was to result in the maturity of the person's character. To achieve such maturation, there was individual attention given by the leading thinkers in Musar and Judaism (at the head of which stood the ‘Kelem Grandfather’), and everything that was done there was oriented to this goal, and as a result, the institution was transformed into a Higher Bet HaMedrash for elevated spirituality. To this end, care was taken in the selection of level of Musar of the students. Anyone who knocked at the doors of the yeshiva, was required to undergo probing and fundamental examinations, and pointed interrogation, and only the very few were privileged to be accepted.

My father ז”ל passed these examinations with distinction. He was accepted to this ‘House of Talmud’ and was greatly influenced by the spirit of this yeshiva, rose and was elevated in aspects of Torah study, and the faith, and was thought of as one of the excellent exponents of that place. It is interesting to note, that in the book ‘The Musar Movement’ (Volume 20) that Rabbi Dov K”atz prepared, there is a letter from the year 5668 (1908) written by a group of senior students of the ‘House of Talmud’ and sent to the Land of Israel to R' Leib Brody ז”ל, for him to persuade his son, R' Zvi Brody, who was the son-in-law of R' Simcha Ziss'l, to return to Kelem, and to continue in providing the spiritual leadership of the House of Talmud in place of his father-in-law (after he would pass on); my father ז”ל was one of those who signed that letter.

In the year 5669 (1909) my father entered into marriage with the daughter of R' Shlomo Shmulewicz from the town of Belica, this being my mother the righteous Rebbetzin, Mrs. Batya Gala הי”ד. This grandfather of

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mine was a wonder in Torah study and piety, his Torah was his faith, his home was a way station and a permanent Bet HaMedrash, a genial and modest man, in harmony with his environment, a man of compassion a doer of good deeds, and one who cherished the sages of old. He was extraordinarily careful in guarding the dignity of every person, dispense the Torah to the many, and would study the Torah for its own sake, and not for purposes of getting any pecuniary reward. Never did he stint on his own person, from his effort, or his money, to provide help and assistance for the general good, to the fullest extend of his capability. His wife, Shayna-Reizl ז”ל, my grandmother, was a Woman of Valor, God-fearing, and gave all of her effort to assuring that her husband would not be taken away from his Torah study, and his engagement in the pursuit of sacred matters, and to this end, she assumed the entire burden of supporting the family. They had two sons and two daughters: the sons – R' Dov-Zvi, the eldest, was the ritual slaughterer in the town of Dieveniskes, in the Vilna district, and after The First World War, he emigrated to the United States, and in his place, his younger brother was retained, R' Abraham-Noah ז”ל in the capacity of ritual slaughterer in Dieveniskes; the daughters – my mother, and her sister Sarah-Faygl – whom my grandfather and grandmother tried with all their might to marry off to scholars.

To the heartfelt sorrow of the family, my grandfather was not privileged to be present at the weddings of his children, he passed away, leaving a good name, on 4 Menachem-Ab of the year 5667 (July 15, 1907) and was eulogized by the Rabbis, Gaonim, of the town and its vicinity. Our mother told us about the commitment that our grandfather, R' Shlomo, had to the education of the children, and he would pay heed to their activities even while they were still quite young, worrying over their spiritual state even while they were still at a very young age, using all of his pedagogical talents to sent them on a straight course. And it is, therefore, no wonder, that all his progeny followed in his footsteps, and became people of accomplishment: [Regarding] my uncle, Rabbi Dov-Zvi Shmuelwicz

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שליט”א in the United States, everyone who knows him would testify that he is a person of wondrously noble spirit, who is a model of what heights a human being can achieve.

My grandmother, who was a great-granddaughter and granddaughter of the ‘Chayei-Adam’ passed away, leaving a good name, on the Saturday of Erev Rosh Hodesh Iyyar 5677 (April 21, 1917) after she had lit the Sabbath candles in her home in Belica – and her soul took flight.

My mother ז”ל stood out because of her pleasant demeanor, while still young, and she had a special talent of endearing herself to everyone. Her insight, and substantial knowledge in world experience would attract the neighbors into our house, whether there were, or were not of our faith, to get her advice and help, and she would delve into their issues, and offer them advice that was well-directed at the objective. In this way, she excelled in matters of good, helping everyone who was in distress that day, and provided support to the hapless and the poor.

After getting married, my father decided not to support himself through his religious study, but rather to earn a living from the work of his hands. In the first period, he made a living as a grain merchant, and after not realizing much from this line of work, he attempted to produce strong drink together with R' Shmuel-Joseph Itzkowitz ז”ל, and R' Yaakov Kotliarsky and his son Moshe El'keh from Lida. He did not succeed at this either, and opened a factory for the manufacture of soap, and in time, fortune did not smile on him, and he lost all of his money. There were times when there was not a penny in the house, and our mother fell sick, suffering from a variety of ailments and was unable to help in supporting the household, and were it not for the financial support that was extended to our family by my mother's brother, R' Dov-Zvi Shmulewicz שליט”א in the United States, during these difficult times, the plight in our household would be sevenfold more dire. Over time, all of this did not impair my father's tranquility or his faith in God – his peace of mind and patience are worth underscoring, and in the most acute of circumstances, one could not see any show of emotion or panic, being always tranquil in spirit, and at peace within a clarity of thought and a full self-cognizance. And my father told me, that during The First World War, when he was traveling with one of the prominent balebatim to the city of Slonim, and they were seized in transit by the Germans and accused of smuggling, they were thrown into jail in Slonim, and they were informed that they were to be taken to stand trial in a military court, and a date for the trail was even set (a death sentence awaited them). His companion broke down very quickly, but my father placed his trust in God, as his support, seeing in Divine salvation, a means to avoid falling, God forbid, into a state of despair. The following morning, he heard a sort of ‘voice from heaven’ repeating itself and calling: ‘R' Ben-Zion, I have come to advise you, that in the name of the Rabbi of Slonim, who asked me to convey to you and your companion, that, with God's help we have been able to redeem you, and you will be released yet on this day.’ And that is how it was.

My father never so much as let out a groan from his heart, even in the days of his illness and suffering, because he wanted to spare the members of his household any grief, and he made an extra effort so that they could not detect anything the matter with him. My father always participated in the travails of the community, and helped and encourages as best as he could in the spirit of ‘I am with him in his time of need.’ The central core of his personality was his faith, and it was on its many facets that all of his endeavors and life's behaviors proceeded. In faith, he saw the bedrock foundation whose lips each man must kiss, and he would take note to always understand all the aspects of nature and how the world operated, imbibing from them a fervor that came from the recognition of God's handiwork, and attempting to see in all the events of life, in general, and in specific, the ways of guidance that came from above, and look among them for their spiritual raison d'être.

Endowed with a sensitive and fervent soul, his emotions would become manifest especially in the songs of the Sabbath and Festivals, when we were all seated around the table at home. His emotions would also receive expression in prayer, even if his prayer was very subdued, and mainly based on thought. He would deeply immerse himself in prayer, and found it a powerful wellspring of ideas, and would extend his praying that was performed while standing, and even on Yom Kippur, he would stand from morning until the evening. In his prayer, one could see a literal work of the heart, and the residents of Belica, who created a nickname for everyone, gave my father the name of ‘Baal Shem^[1],’ and accordingly, they called him R' Ben-Zion ‘Baal Shem.’

The commitment of my parents to educating the children in the path of Torah and Musar – was remarkable. They deprived themselves of food, and noting was considered to be a difficult obstacle that stood in their way, in their fulfilment of this powerful urge, so that their sons be able to study in prominent yeshivas, and their daughter in the Beth Jacob Seminary in Cracow.

My parents lived to see their sons make aliyah to the Holy Land.

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In the year 5694 (1934) my father ז”ל, was invited by Out Teacher, Rabbi R' Yerucham Leibowitz זצ”ל, the great spiritual leader of the Yeshiva of Mir, and was given the task of directing the study of Torah and Musar in the Junior Yeshiva at Mir. My father accepted the appointment, and we left Belica and went to Mir.

On 19 MarHeshvan 5702 ( November 19, 1941) – that bitter and rash day, in which the Germans, may their name and memory be erased, organized the great slaughter among the Jews of Mir, my sainted father, R' Ben-Zion Shilovitzky זצק”ל and my righteous mother Batya-Gala née Szlomowicz ז”ל were martyred, together with the sacred community of Mir, הי”ד.

In conclusion, a few lines about my mother's sister, Sarah-Faygl ז”ל, whom we children loved very much, and related to her as if she were a sister. We remember only too well those times, when our mother was sick, and suffered from many symptoms, and our father was very occupied with his business, so that our aunt Sarah took care of our mother and us with tremendous dedication. Fate was cruel to her, in that she did not have children of her own, and accordingly, she put all of her love and dedication into us. No one ever sensed any bitterness in her heart, she was at harmony with her environment, having a good humor, and a good heart. In the last years, before The Second World War, our uncle, Abraham-Noah, who was the ritual slaughterer in Dieveniskes, requested her husband, R' Israel ז”ל to come from their location, and he retained him as his assistant in his capacity as ritual slaughterer. Our aunt Sarah, together with her husband, R' Israel Rowinowsky were martyred together with their brother R' Abraham-Noah and his family, at the time The Abrogator^[2] fell upon the Jews of Dieveniskes. הי”ד

Translator's footnotes:

1. Perhaps a reference to the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidim, and considered a holy man. Return
2. An allusion to the Hebrew word ‘Koret’ referring to the act of cutting short. One of the biblical punishments, for a serious transgression, is to have one's life cut short. Return

R' Joseph son of R' Eliezer Gapanowicz HaKohen, was a Jew of integrity and honesty. Up to when he got married, he was a frequenter of the Bet HaMedrash for study, and was also a village teacher in the village of Pogiry. In this village, he proposed to his intended, Mrs. Mir'l, and took her to wife. After their marriage, he experienced difficulty in getting established in life, and decided to learn a trade, in order to make a living from his labor. He learned shoemaking, and was able to make a good living from this for all his life.

From time-to-time, he would stop his work, go over to the bookshelf that he had in his house, pick himself a book, and take a short hour to look into it, return the book to its place, and once again take his seat on the footstool by his work.

It was only on the Sabbath, that he would set aside his worries and concerns, and dedicate himself to the sanctity and tranquility of the Holy Day [of Rest]. After the Sabbath eve meal, he would be quick to lie down and rest, and after several hours of rest, he would be early to rise. His first task was to do the traditional review of the weekly Torah portion, twice in the original text, and once in Aramaic Targum, along with the

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Rashi commentary for the entire portion. After this, he would recite the Psalms in a sweet, pleasant voice, and when the dawn broke, he would speed to the synagogue to pray with the quorum of the ‘older men.’ Upon his return from the synagogue, he would bless the day [over a ceremonial cup of wine], eat his midday Sabbath meal, rest a bit, and once again get involved with a book. So it was, in this way, that he would pass the Sabbath, in the study of Torah and in serving The Creator.

R' Joseph also could sing, and from time-to-time, he would lighten his work with a traditional melody drawn from the prayers of the High Holy Days. His intense desire was, that he will have the privilege of leading the services of the community on the High Holy Days. This desire came to pass, and year after year, he was the ‘Baal Shakharit^[1]’ in the ‘Old’ Bet HaMedrash.

After Shabbat Nachamu^[2], the neighbors would already begin to hear R' Joseph practicing his melodies and rehearsing all the prayers of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. He was fortunate, in those days, to be the man who stood before the Holy Ark on the Day of Judgment, to beseech The Almighty for His compassion, and for a good year for all the members of his congregation.

Ten days after the German regiments burst into the town with blood and fire, the murderers befell the town early on one Sunday morning, and began to drive those remaining men out of their houses with beating and violent force. The sight was terrifying, and I can remember how they drove myself and my father ז”ל out of our house, and hounded us with batons and staves, so that we would run faster, to the area in front of the Catholic church. A terrifying picture then passed before my eyes, and to this day, it sends a shudder through my entire body and soul. People ran about holding their clothing, and the malefactors did not permit them to get dressed. In front of me, the young boy Lipa Radominer ran by, with his trousers in his hands, and every time he stopped to put the trousers on, the bandits started to hit him with cruel force, and did not permit him to put them on. In this way, he ran about half-naked, and they amused themselves in a savage laughter, taking pleasure and feeling good from the suffering of the Jew, until along with his trousers, he came to the place where they had gathered us together.

On the lot in front of the Catholic church, they arranged us in several rows. We stood that way for about two hours, without knowing what was to become of us, and in the meantime, the Germans ran about, here and there, shouting and cursing. Also, the Polish police were riding back and forth on bicycles, and from time-to-time, they would pass something along to the Germans. Suddenly, a rumor passed among the rows, that they had already prepared grave pits for us beside the village of Yel'na.

Beside me stood R' Joseph Gapanowicz, and when he heard this news, he shut his eyes, and began to rock back and forth, and to intone, Ah-hai, Ah-ahai… when I heard the sound of his melody, I began to beg of him:

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‘R' Joseph, stop singing, because you will bring a great misfortune upon the entire community.’ But he paid no attention to me, and with his eyes shut tight, he continued with his sorrowful and awesome melody, until he culminated it with the enunciation of: HaMelech….

For year upon year, I heard R' Joseph, and how he would sing this tune in the Bet HaMedrash, and I have heard this tune used also by others who lead services. But R' Joseph's voice was different, that voice of his, Ah-hai, Ah-ahai… accompanies me, and takes me back over all the ways and paths that I traversed since that day. And always, when I, once again, hear the voice of R' Joseph behind me, I feel in my heart. that this sound, HaMelech… is a reincarnation derived from those voices, that is heard from one end of the world to the other…

Translator's footnotes:

1. The cantor who led the first part of the morning service. Because the service was so long and arduous, the work was usually divided among at least two men. The Baal Shacharit led the service from inception to the end of the Torah reading, and then the service was taken over by the Baal Musaf. Return
2. The first Sabbath after Tisha B'Av Return

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