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Row 1 above from right to left: 1. Arye Balan 2. Yaakov Kulik 3. … 4. Avraham Finkelshteyn 5. … 6. Yitzchak Kupertzansky 7. … 8. Mesha Grinberg 9. … 10. … |
Due to reasons that could not be foreseen from the outset, the depot in Orheyev could not continue operations, and many of our members transferred to the depots in Bukovina. However, many remained who did not have the financial means to travel there. For those people, it was necessary to create Hachsharah opportunities in our region.
The agronomist Feigin directed us to Azriel Bolochnik from the village of Kriulyany. With his assistance we reached an agreement with the landowner Sheftilul to establish a Hachsharah depot on his estate. Our pioneers moved to Kriulyany, and other members from that place joined them (Yehudit Berliand, Mendel Trafzin, Chasya Krashkovitz and others). We ended up with 48 members, and we worked there until the end of the autumn.
On account of the proximity of the village to the Dniester, the government suspected us and investigated our “legitimacy” from time to time. A few of our members were arrested for interrogation, and were freed thanks only to the intercession of the landowner. This caused a waste of time and interruptions. We overcame all obstacles, and our turn came for aliya, but then an additional obstacle came to the fore. The aliya center in Kishinev found that the Hebrew fluency of several of our members was insufficient, so they did not authorize their aliya. All of our explanation that it was improper to require from our members, who were mainly workers, the same level of fluency as the studying youth did not succeed. Only after the aliya of our first group in 1934 did I succeed in convincing the secretariat of the Kibbutz Hameuchad to send emissaries to Bessarabia to prepare members for aliya.
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(for names in the picture go to Table of Figures entry)
Standing from right to left: 1. Yaakov Kulik 2. Yadua Lau 3. Avraham Finkelshteyn 4. Mesha Grinberg 5. Yehoshua Zamochovsky 6. Malka Lubarsky 7. Yehoshua Kantor |
The last of our members made aliya in 1939 before the outbreak of the Second World War.
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After a short while, we received the news that we would shortly set out for the Land of Israel. The joy was great. We were five people from Orheyev who joined the group that was departing. I will not forget the day that I took leave of the city. It was a winter day. We rented wagons, loaded our baggage, and left. Moshe Kalmanovitz and Zionists from the city stood on the big bridge. Leib Stolyar poured water, and we took leave of them with blessings of success, and wishes to see each other in the Land.
We arrived in Kishinev and joined up with a larger group of pioneers. This was the sixth group of 180 people. We set out for Galati and waited for a boat that was going to Kushta. There in Galati, we were set up in the building of Beit Hechalutz until we received news about the departure. When we arrived in Kushta, we received news that we had received our certificates. Our joy was boundless, and we began to prepare for the journey with great joy. We embarked upon an Italian boat, received food from the Joint and the committee of delegates of the Land of Israel. The journey lasted for two weeks. We suffered no small amount from lack of food, but we overcame. The hope to see the Land shortly increased our strength. As we drew near and arrived in Beirut, Arabs ascended the boat and told us that there were disturbances in the Land, and many Jews were killed. They continued on and told us that we would also be slaughtered the moment we reached Haifa. We immediately gathered in the belly of the ship and declared a state of emergency. We decided not to lose spirit, and to make additional efforts to reach the Land, even if it would require sacrifice. We gathered weapons that were with us. These included scrap metal and even empty bottles, since there were almost no weapons. When we arrived in Haifa, boats of the port came to greet us with a member of the committee of delegates and the captain Dov Hoz. They told us about the disturbances and the murder of Brenner and his family, the Beit Chalutz that was destroyed, and the 38 pioneers that were murdered. They also told us that the English government, via the Jewish commissioner, forbade all immigration to the Land in order not to arouse the wrath of the Arabs, so we must sail on to an unknown destination. The news crushed us. We were dejected, without any recourse.
We sailed to Egypt. We remained in Alexandria for three days, and nobody was permitted to approach the boat. By chance I made contact with one Jew, and I asked him to inform the Zionist committee or the communal council about our situation, and to request help. Immediately, representatives of the Joint and the communal council arrived, and brought us food. The Chief Rabbi interceded with the governor, and they agreed to let us off the boat. We were brought to the well-known quarantine area in Alexandria. We suffered a bit from lack of food, but the most important thing was the freedom that we had there. We were able to arrange our baggage and wash our clothes. After a few days, the governor issued an order to send us back on a boat, but not the same boat. It was rather a small boat, filled with merchandise. We were informed that we were being returned to Kushta. We suffered greatly from hunger since there was almost no food. On the boat, we found grains of corn and onions in the storehouses, which we feasted upon. We reached Kushta after four days. We were received by the committee of delegates, and put up on the Jewish settlement of the I. C. A. (ed. note: Jewish Colonization Association). We began everything from scratch. We erected tents, set up a kitchen, and everything went properly. We organized a collective life. Some of us worked in fields as farmers, and others worked in the forests. The girls worked in the kitchen and other utilities. We received comforting news from the Land. Life there was becoming quieter. We were informed that soon an English Major would come to check that there were no communists among us. The first examination went successfully. Forty of us received aliya permits, including me and the others from my city. The joy was great. We would finally be able to achieve the awaited objective. We reached Haifa after a brief period. This time we were greeted by family members and people from Orheyev, including Moshe Roitman. We disembarked from the boat that day and we were sent to quarantine outside the city. We spent about ten days in tents. Acquaintances and relatives visited us daily, and brought us good things and Israeli newspapers. We were organized into groups when we left quarantine. Our group, including Moshe Roitman, joined the group of the Haifa port, which was headed by Berel Repetur. We received various jobs, including the unloading of heavy railway links and coal from ships. The heat was great, and bothered us no small amount. There was no water at the port. The work was grueling and tiring. We worked diligently and overcame everything. The contractors gave us large quantities of work, and we filled their demands. The Arab porters were not able to stand up to the competition, and we thereby took over the work in the port. After some time, we obtained beasts of burden. A group of wagon drivers also was transferred to us. The aliya increased, the settlement increased, and Haifa became a city with a large and organized Hebrew settlement. Moshe Roitman finally left the work in the port, and purchased a store for the sale of meat. At that time, riots again broke out in the Land (1929). Roitman fell victim during the riots at the hands of a co-professional. Thousands of people participated in his funeral, but the English would not permit us to travel to the cemetery. Only several friends, myself included, received permission, and accompanied our friend to the communal grave in Lower Haifa.
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