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they shouldn't take such a risk by moving as a group on the road, especially during such a drought when people were falling like flies from thirst. I also told them that they were putting their lives, and the lives of their children, in danger, and that they should return home. I advised them to dig ditches, and G-d would help. Those Jews listened to me and went home. They later thanked me for my advice.

        One Thursday at nightfall, the sky turned red from all the fires started by the Cossacks in the villages around the town. We now realized that this was the last night, and Drohitchin would be next. (By the way, there was an interesting episode: during the day, a German airplane dropped a bomb in Zakazelia that fell right on the large whiskey factory, breaking down some walls. There were some Jews from Valevel and Drohitchin there in the brewery to get some liquor that the Russians had left over in the basins in the ground. Luckily, the bomb didn't injure anyone).

        That same Thursday evening, we gathered all of our belongings – some people put them in their wagons, others carried them on their shoulders – and made our way to our trenches on the Vion, where we waited for the assault to begin. Exactly at 12 midnight the Russians started burning the houses in town, and it was like daylight. We all stood and watched their property go up in smoke.

H.

Cannon bombardments in Drohitchin

        They started bombarding Drohitchin on Friday afternoon. The Germans were hiding underground somewhere, and the Russians were in Lipnick. The airplanes flew around the town, and the Jews ran for cover in the trenches that were filled with the elderly and children. We were terrified that an airplane would bomb a trench. Everyone was crying out 'Hear O Israel' throughout the battle.

        In the evening at Sabbath candle-lighting time the bombardment died down, and we went out of the trenches to get some fresh air. We ushered in the Sabbath in the trenches and had a Sabbath meal. Around midnight the shooting started again and lasted until dawn. On Saturday morning we left the trenches and held our Sabbath services on the grass. A couple of neighbors and I found a house that the Cossacks didn't completely burn down, and we conducted our prayers as a group and read from a Torah scroll that we had with us. That little house was very good for us since Friday night there was suddenly a tremendous rainfall that flooded our trenches. We were drenched to the bone, and ran for shelter in that little house. This was a good thing, since the rain had already caused one trench to collapse on top of a Jewish girl.

[Photo:] From right: Meir Yehuda, Chaya, Leiba and Sheinka Feldman; Velvel, Esther and Leah Beila Mishovsky; and Machlea.

        On Saturday afternoon the bombardment started once again, but this time it was much worse. It's impossible to describe the effects of the bombs of both sides of the battle. The little house where we sought shelter shook and bounced like a ball. Then it collapsed on us, and we didn't even have a chance to say 'Hear O Israel' and ask G-d to help us survive the assault. The following morning things calmed down; we went out onto the road and saw a few horses that were hit by shrapnel and were lying dead next to the trenches. Meir the Wagon-Driver was also hit and injured slightly in the hand by shrapnel. Other than that, however, thank G-d no one else was harmed.

        It was quiet all day on Sunday, and we all stayed close to the trenches talking. On Sunday night the shooting started again, forcing us back into the trenches where we remained, seized with fear, until Monday morning, when the shooting stopped again. We crawled out of the trenches again into the fresh air, feeling overjoyed and excited. We then saw the first Germans arriving in town, which meant that the battle around Drohitchin was over. We were so overjoyed to see the Germans, that a few Jews ran up to the Germans and kissed them.

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I.

Drohitchin under German occupation

        As soon as the first Germans entered Drohitchin, everyone picked up their bundles and went to look for somewhere to live. Unfortunately, what we saw was that only Red Street (Krasna Ulitsa) and the street next to the bridge leading to the Sand remained untouched. We went to take a look at the non-Jewish street; anyone who could run fast enough immediately became the owner of a house and a barn filled with grain that were abandoned by the peasants when they fled. In addition, everyone went back to dig up the property they had buried earlier. We also dug up possessions that the peasants had buried.

        It's worth noting the tragic case of Moshe Mendel, the cabinetmaker's son-in-law. He went to dig up his possessions that were buried in the oven; the oven collapsed on him and injured him. Using superhuman efforts, we (I was there too) cleared out the heap lying over him and managed to pull him out of the grave in which he was being buried alive. Unfortunately, he lingered for a few days, and then died – he was the first war casualty.

        We decided to set up a committee to prevent lawlessness in town; the committee was made up of the following people: Rabbi Isaac Kalenkovitch, Zechariah Schmid, Zalman Bunyes, Chaim Binyamin's, Tuvia David Warshavsky, Hershel Chaim, Zusha Warshavsky, and this writer. The committee notified the German commander of Drohitchin of the committee's existence and that the German authorities should consult with the committee on all local matters.

        Shortly afterward, an epidemic of spotted typhus and diphtheria broke out in Drohitchin. The epidemic's victims, both young and old, started dropping on the street like flies. Almost all the refugees that came to Drohitchin from Congress-Poland and Brisk died in the epidemic. They left behind many orphans without anyone to assume guardianship or take care of them. The town committee, naturally, assumed responsibility for those orphans, as well as for the weak and sick who could not provide for themselves.

[Photo:] Jewish children from Zaritshka Street under German occupation in 1916.

        The committee was also obliged to look after householders whose houses still stood after the fire to make sure that they didn't take advantage of their neighbors who had lost their property in the fire.

        In connection with this, it's worthwhile saying a word about something that happened to me. As one of the victims of the fire, I rented an apartment in one of the remaining houses. Since I had to heat the apartment, I borrowed a hatchet from my landlord to chop some wood. Shachna the Synagogue Caretaker asked me to attend a meeting of the town committee. When he saw me chopping wood, he grabbed the hatchet from my hands, and wouldn't let me continue to chop. He said that it wasn't right for me to do it, and that he would do it himself. Shachna the woodworker simply struck the wood once, and it broke into several pieces. He also hit and broke the hatchet handle. He must have known what this involved, and then moved off to the side so he wouldn't get hit.

        We didn't have to wait long for my landlord to come along; he started hitting his head in his hands and banging his head on the wall.

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