Drogichin, Belarus (pages 23-24)

[ Page 23 ]

The Jews Received the Land Free - A Theory

Our theory is that the first Jews probably received the Drohitchin marshlands from the landowner free of charge or in lease, so the Jews could cultivate it, as described earlier. Evidence of this is that until World War I the Jews of the shtetl paid tsinzen, a kind of land tax, to the landlord or landlady of the nobleman's estate who owned all the land of the shtetl.

(The following is a legend from the recent past: The Czarist regime was to give away the nobleman's estate located near Drohitchin, as well as all the land of Drohitchin as a gift to the hero of the Russo-Turkish War in 1877, General Minkov. How was it that the nobleman's estate belonged to the Russian government? The fact is that the nobleman's estate and the Drohitchin area had previously belonged to a Polish nobleman who probably participated in Polish revolts against Russia, such as the 1863 Matiesz uprising and earlier revolts. The Czarist government punished him by confiscating his property, and gave it to General Minkov. This was the same action the Russians had taken against other Polish nobility.

* * *

[photo:] A section of Pinsker Street (spared by the fire) under German occupation in 1916.

So it is more than probable that the ground on which the shtetl stood or still stands was at one time a very deep valley into which the water from the surrounding mountainous fields flowed; over time, the standing water soaked the ground so much that it turned into a bay and a marsh. Later on, the bay was drained, and a road was built in the middle of it, and right next to the road the Jews built Drohitchin. However, around the shtetl, the bay, which we called Vion, remained untouched. The ditches and the bridges that cut through the shtetl are evidence of this: one is next to the sand, and the other is next to the village of Zaritchka (the name of the village means "over the creek" – "retchka" in Russian means "creek"). Thus, the shtetl served to join the two Vions, so that the water would run from one Vion into the other.

[ Page 24 ]

In the springtime, when the ice and snow would melt, and in autumn when the great rains would begin and the water of the Vion reached the houses, the shtetl would look like an island embraced by two great lakes.

In the middle of the summer the Vion would dry out a bit, and tcherot, moss, reeds, small weeping willows, etc. would grow there. Wagon-drivers' horses from town would also graze there.

The Vion as a place for youth and sports

The Vion in the summer time was one of the greatest attractions and amusement spots for the school children, especially on Fridays, when the children got out of cheder around noon. The cheder boys would go around barefoot, roll up their pants, and run around in the moss that brushed and tickled the soles of the feet. In certain spots the ground would shake under your feet. This was a sign not to go any further, since if you did, you could sink up to your neck.

We schoolboys took pleasure in goofing off at the Vion. Where else were we as free as at the Vion? We played hide-and-seek in the high moss; we made whistles from young willows or tcherot; we would tear the reeds and toss them to the wind like feathers or stick them on each other's collar. We would go out onto the Vion mountains on the festival of Shavuot and gather moss and spread it around and at home. On the festival of Sukkot, we would cut down branches to cover the tops of sukkahs, willow branches to be joined with the palm branches, and additional willows for the last day of Sukkot, Hoshana Raba .

In the winter the Vion served as a place to play sports for all the youth of the shtetl. The youth would go sleigh riding with horses on the thick gleaming ice that extended for a square mile, and perhaps even more.

Small fish, porgies, leeches and various other species of creatures creeping animals multiplied. The area was also full of loaches, which the peasants used for their special dishes.

[Photo:] The bridge next to the sand at the edge of town, under German occupation during World War I.

* * *

At sunset in the summer the songs of the millions of frogs in the Vion was heard throughout the shtetl. Every evening at sunset one frog would croak, then a second, and then a third, until the whole shtetl was filled with the sounds of croaking and creaking frogs. It was known as the sound of the frogs reciting the bedtime Kriat Shma [Hear O Israel] prayers. The frogs used to spend the entire summer in town. We knew that spring was here and summer was on its way as soon as the frogs started croaking at sunset. The croaking of the frogs left me looking forward to the mild, pleasant, and homey summer evenings that lulled me to sleep with sweet dreams...

Previous Page | Next Page

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.

Drogichin, Belarus Yizkor Book Project JewishGen Home Page

Yizkor Book Director, Lance Ackerfeld
This web page created by Lance Ackerfeld