« Previous Page Table of Contents Next Page »

[Page 344]

Across seas, continents, by night and by day A letter carrier, the wind, hurries, carries to me A last page, an only line: Dark news on wings of smoke. About my entire shtetl, the destruction and pain, That is in one short, little line that Was eternally written in letters of blood: “ – no one remains from Kartuz-Bereza…!” Kartuz-Bereza: In spring the white, sweet-smelling lilac blooms, Your turbulent, noisy young, where are they, where are they? All, all, large, small, old, young – Who has swallowed you? The river? The river whose water barely moved, Adorned the shtetl like a bluish ribbon, With “forget-me-not” – blossoms around the shore, And verdant willows guarding everywhere, Leafy branches, like protecting arms, Spread out cool shadows during the heat of summer. The river that never boiled in a tempest, Where my forefathers bathed, Where entire families enjoyed themselves, It never showed rebellion: It was enough for it To rinse the dust of labor from their bodies. And in winter months, frozen, it would long To let itself be chopped, the hard ice of its back. And with great difficulty, it waited for summer. And what kind of fuss it would make. The river would laugh along with everyone's laughter, Rolled slowly on both sides Like a good grandfather who lets himself be ridden.

[Page 345]

And tiny children would play, Its face would feel the splash of tiny hands: Yet…! It winked with glassy eyes. The river that always watered The entire shtetl. With sweet water, Suddenly left its shore in a flood. With animal-like greed stood against you And devoured everyone? – I cannot believe it, I cannot believe it! Tell me river, this is you? – Where are they – where? I will devour the curses of my people in the world and My mouth will eternally damn your waters, Not to stream, not to flow Not to have the waves created by children You should dry up into a swampy ditch! The river kneels, its head deeply bent. Innocent eyes inundated with tears: Not I, if I – may I vanish! They swam with my flow In groups, alone – to other shores And I spread my arms to them Wanted to keep them alive until… Kartuz-Bereza: Your wave, where is the radiant youth. Where?

The park near the ruin of the monastery of the “Kartuz Brothers”

[Page 346]

And perhaps the forest with berries and mushrooms? The trees known by so many generations, How proud we were of you, beautiful Bereza! How ingrained in my heart you were! It caressed your couples with love Spring, summer until late in the evening, Clasped to the heart wrapped in shadows, Their dreams woven; their longings stilled. You? You had abandoned your hand-like branch For gallows and flame and destroyed them all?! If it happened near you? Small woods, Where children would play on Lag BaOmer,[1] And you remained the darling of my first memories – Tell me, this is you? I shall not forgive it, not forgive! I will blow at the sparks of revenge – burn you In flames, as you us – with branches and trunks! The forest began to shake its mature head Its old one: No! No! I had them hidden in my depths, In the thicket of my entangled branches, And issued a decree to the leaves: Quiet! Silence! Hidden from the airplanes of death lying-in-wait. So that even the sky would not suspect. They were wrapped in me, I meant to save them. – Until – Kartuz-Bereza: Where is yo ur awesome blooming flower, where is it, where is it?! And perhaps The good, dear fruitful earth That nourished entire families With everything good! Almost everyone had an orchard and a garden With vegetables and fruits around the house And a piece of field outside the shtetl, And the blessing from it beamed inside the house! Health in our hands, it helped everyone Plowed, protected and so was seeded: My father in front with the plow, the sharp one, His wife, the children tossed potatoes In straight rows; they walked step by step And they were careful so that the distance would be equal And they saved time, nonetheless, to have fun.

[Page 347]

The mother of the house, after school – the children. The earth smiled with abundance and joy Beaming with bountiful good fortune. And bloomed with yellow-blue and green And ripened the parts of the field of every sort Vegetables and wheat in golden ears of corn They filled the granaries for the long winter… And chickens crowed joyfully aloud. A fresh egg was always here in the house, Every day, a few quarts of milk from the cow And every year there also was a calf, We had [food] for Shabbos and for holidays and I knew, Sometimes also a strand of meat during the week. We set down the jug of milk from time to time, We removed a film of cream from it, We churned butter; there was also cheese here. We thanked the earth for everything, the miracle. That there would not be, God forbid, hunger in the house: Could the good earth split open a pit, Such a hell-mouth, deeply frightening, large, Swallowing what was raised on her lap? I cannot believe it, that Mother Earth could Do it to her children. She? Who spreads out her coattails With devotion and nurtures them with food and drink, Could they all sink in her abyss? Earth, earth: If because of you I have become a mourner, Let there pour out on you a flood of curses, May your womb be cursed for eternity, No longer should anything thrive from you…! And a tremble passes over the earth Its skin is crushed, it twitches and it is feverish: – No, not I! Not I! There are witnesses and they can speak My deep tunnels, underground caves, Where with my wide-open limbs, I clung to your sisters and brothers

[Page 348]

Let them do anything, so as to protect The life of those you love the most. But I did not prevent their death… The forest howled, the river cried and the earth was feverish: – No one anywhere heard their call. Their shout was drowned in their own blood, We are not guilty of their destruction and pain Not fire, not water, not earth and not forest, This was done by animals in human form. The river and the forest and the earth are witnesses – The eternal witnesses of millions of losses - - - Buenos Aires, 1945

The Kartuz-Bereza market

Translator's footnote

1. A festive holiday that falls on the 33^rd day between Passover and Shavous Return

[Page 355]

One of the most well-known great Jewish personalities, who was the rabbi in Kartuz-Bereza after the gaon [genius], Rabbi Yitzhak Elchanan, was Reb Eliyahu Klatzkin.

Reb Eliyahu Klatzkin was the rabbi in Kartuz-Bereza from 1881 to 1894; he occupied the esteemed rabbinical seat here for 12 years.

From Kartuz-Bereza, he moved to Marijampole (Kovno area, Lithuania) and in 1910, he became the rabbi in Lublin where he remained until 1925. From 1925 on, he lived in Jerusalem, where he died in 1932.

Reb Eliyahu Klatzkin descended from a very noble rabbinical family. We have little room here to exhaustively go into the genealogical family tree of Klatzkin. We will only provide a few details.

Reb Eliyahu's father, Naftali-Hirc, was born in 1822 in Dvinsk, was the rabbi in Ushpol [Užpaliai] for 10 years and in Schoemberg [Courland] for 37 years, where he died in 1894. The later Kartuz-Bereza Rabbi, Reb Eliyahu, was actually born in Ushpol.

Reb Naftali-Hirc Klatzkin established an entire Pleiad of rabbinical sons. Let us only mention them:

1. Reb Eliyahu, who began his rabbinate in Kartuz-Bereza;
2. Reb Yisroel-Iser – rabbi in Livenhof [Livāni], Vitebsk area;
3. Reb Avraham – rabbi in Liozna, Mohilever area;
4. Reb Zalman – rabbi in Rohatshev [Rogachev], Mohilever area;
5. Reb Moshe-Tzvi-Hirsh – rabbi in Romanove, Mohilever area.

Reb Eliyahu Klatzkin was the author of a series of books that were publicized in the greater world. These are:

1. Even ha-Roshah [Keystone]- Warsaw 1887, (published when he was the rabbi in Kartuz-Bereza).
2. Imrei Shefer [Words of Beauty] – Warsaw 1895;
3. Even Pinah [Cornerstone] 1907;
4. Devar Eliyahu [Eliyahu's Words] 1915;
5. Devar Halakhah [Halachic Discourse] Piotrokow 1921;
6. Kuntres le-dugma [Notebook of Examples] – 1921;
7. Millu'ei Even [Settings of Stones] – Lublin 1925;
8. Hibbat haKodesh [Love for the Holy] – Jerusalem 1927;
9. Devarim Akhadim – [Singular Things] Jerusalem 1931.

From this Klatzkin family, another one was a rabbi in Kartuz-Bereza; this was Rabbi Yehoshua-Mordekhai, a son of Reb Eliyahu's brother, Reb Yisroel-Iser. He occupied the rabbinical seat in Sviatash, Horodok (near Minsk), Kartuz-Bereza, Rasein [Raseiniai] (Kovner area) and finally in Libava [Liepāja], where he died in 1925.

His [Rabbi Eliyahu Klatzkin's] son, Yakov Klatzkin, who occupied a very respected place in modern Jewish national philosophy, was born in Kartuz-Bereza. One of the spiritual personalities of the present [20th] century.

Yakov Klatzkin was actually born in Kartuz-Bereza on the 10^th of March 1882. He studied in Marburg [Germany], mainly with Hermann Cohen, one of the Jewish philosophical thinkers and spiritual leaders of the previous generation. He later studied philosophy in Bern.

In 1909-1911, he was the editor of the Zionist central organ, Di Velt [The World [ (German). Later, he was a worker at the main office of the Jewish National Fund in Cologne.

During the years 1915-1918, he published

[Page 356]

the Bulletin Juif [Jewish Bulletin] (French) in Switzerland and in the years 1921-1922, with Nakhum Goldman he published Freie Tzionistishe Bleter [The Free Zionist Paper] (German) in Heidelberg.

With Nakhum Goldman, he founded the publishing house, Eskhol, which in 1926 began to publish the Encyclopaedia Judaica, where he was the chief editor (published 10 volumes, up to the word Lyra) until Hitler came to power; and of the Encyclopaedia Evrit [Hebrew].

His philosophical works were guides for the Jewish movements of the last [19^th] century.

Thus is the Klatzkin family – rabbinical authorities on one side; secular scientists on the other – woven in the history of our home-city, Kartuz-Bereza.

The Rabbi, Reb Yakov Moishe, son of the Rabbi, Reb Yisroel Osherovitsh, was one of the last rabbis in Kartuz-Bereza.

In Ohalei Shem [Tents of Shem] by Shmuel-Noakh Gotlib (1912), we find further information about him:

He was born in 5628 (1768).^[1] He was raised in Woloczyn, where he studied with the Netziv (Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin), as well as with Reb Chaim Soloveitchik. He later studied in the Kovno community. He received rabbinical ordination from the Netziv and from the gaon Yitzhak Elchanan Spektor.

In 5655 (1895), he was hired as the Bereza Rabbi.

He was the son-in-law of the Yanishoker [Joniškis] Rabbi, Reb Yehiel-Mikhl, the author of the book, Sfas haYam [The Seashore].

A wedding invitation from the Bereza Rabbi, Reb Yakov Moishe Osherovitsh to the wedding of his daughter, Itka

Translator's footnote

1. 1. The Hebrew date 5628 is 1868, not 1768 as the text states. Return

[Page 358]

The “rabbi question” in Bereza is mentioned very often in various memories of the survivors. The city had two rabbis, with two sides and even “territories” that they held as their own. In general, we have very little material about the Berezer rabbis over the course of the century during which there was a Jewish community there.

A book by a former Bereza rabbi in which there is a bit of Jewish historic ancestry in Bereza gives us [some information].

In the book, Shemen Sasson, Shayles vTshuves [questions and answers], by Benyamin-Dovid Lewin, the son of Rabbi Shimshon Rafael, zt”l [zekher tzadik livrakha – may the memory of the righteous man be blessed], the author declares on the title page that he is the grandson of the Maharsha [acronym of the Hebrew, Our teacher, the Rabbi Shmuel Eidels]. It is also said on the title page that these Shayles vTshuves were written when he was the rabbi of the Jewish community in Bereza and in Kapolye and he is now living in Kolna.

The “now” meant in 1904. Thus is given the year on the title page and we know, too, that the book was published by his son and student, Rabbi Arya-Dovid Lewin and his son-in-law, Rabbi Shaul-Arya Zajdenberg. The type for the book was composed in the printing shop of Reb Mordekhai Cederbaum in Piotrkow, printed and published by the publishing house of the Lewin-Epstein Brothers in Warsaw.

From the forward to this book, Shemen Sasson, that was written by the son-in-law of the author, we learn that this was the second book by the author, that the first with the name Tzuf Devash [Honeycomb – sermons] was published four years earlier (1900); that the success of the first book really aroused the desire by his father-in-law to publish the present second book.

One can also see that the son-in-law lived with his father-in-law, the rabbi, that he did not have the money to publish the book and had to obtain a loan from the local proprietor, the rich man, the benefactor, prominent person and so on, Zeev bar [son of] Yitzhak Melcerski.

The author himself had a large preface about his book and he explained why the book was called Shemem Sasson. He wanted to immortalize in it the name of his father Shimson. In doing so, he also explained why his first book was called Tzuf Devash. It is, he said, built on the verse from Mishlei [Proverbs], chapter 16, verse 24, “Tzuf devash imrei noam” [“Pleasant words are as a honeycomb…”] The word Tzuf signifies how his name Dovid Benyamin and the word devash are the initials of Dovid ben Shimshon, the name of the author and his father's name. He adds that the words imrei noam [pleasant words] from the mentioned verse are in memory of his mother, Rayzil because this name signifies so much.

After the introduction is found a scroll of ancestry that explains some small, very interesting genealogical facts about Bereza.

The author explains that he was a grandson of the Rema [Moses Isserles] and of the Maharsha [Shmuel Eidels].

His father, who was entitled the rabbi, the scholar and rich man, Shimshon Rafael Lewin, was the seventh generation from the Maharasha and the ninth generation from the Rema. He died on the 22^nd Elul 5627 ([9^th of September]1867) and was buried in Bereza, near Brisk, Lithuania.

His grandfather was the rabbi, the distinguished scholar and rich man, Matisyahu Pinkus haLevi Lewin. He had four sons and a daughter and all occupied very great respected places in Karlin, in Vilna, in Warsaw. The Lewin-Epstein Brothers, the well-known printer and publisher from Warsaw, are descended from them.

The author's mother descended from very great ancestry; she was named Rayzl [spelled Rayzil above] and was the daughter of the rich, eminent man, Yosef Auerbach whom everyone called Yosef Leipciger and he was buried at the old cemetery, was the son of the Chomsker Reb Hilel and his grandfather was the Amstibover [Mstibovo], Rabbi Nehemiah.

[Page 359]

Title page of book Shemen Sasson Shayles vTshuves

[Page 360]

It is very likely that the author's father became a son-in-law of the rich man, Reb Yosef Leipciker.

The author's mother died in 5639 (1879). Was buried in Bereza.

The author had four brothers; all of them became rabbis:

The Rabbi, the great, pious man, Moshe-Menakhem, the rabbi of Serock and Raciaz, died in Warsaw; the Rabbi and genius, the widely-known, Borukh-Mordekhai, who was the rabbi in Ivianiec [Ivyanyets], Stawiski (Stolpce, Moscow), Valozhyn [Volozhi] and is now (in 1904), the preacher and religious judge in Vilna.

Two brothers, eligible to be rabbis, did not chose to be rabbis. One of them, Eliezer-Leib, died in Moscow, where he lived. He caught a cold sitting in a sukkah [structure built for use during Sukkous – the Feast of Tabernacles – in which a family eats its meals]; the other one, who the author addresses as the Rabbi, the Light of the Exile, the sage and expert, rich man and so on, Yosef-Yakov, was the son-in-law of the rich and well-known Tzvi-Hirsh Zeldovic from Beresin (Byerazino] near Minsk.

The only sister died very young and was buried in Bereza.

The author had a very extensive family of three sons and three daughters and grandchildren. One of them, Eliezer-Lev, was the rabbi in Czarnia (near Łomża).

The book had 48 answers and finally a series of corrections and improvements on the Shulchan Aruch [body of Jewish law], Yoyre-Deye [second part of the Shulchan Aruch], in total the book had 92 pages.

The last five pages were taken with the names of the “subscribers” who ordered the books, Tzuf Devash and Shemen Sasson. The names are from more than 30 cities and shtetlekh [towns]f. However, Bereza, the city where the author began his rabbinate and from which he originated, does not figure among these places. Should we understand from this that he did not have good relations with his home city?

It must be further established that although it is clearly stated on the page that the questions and answers and innovations were from the time when he was the rabbi in Bereza and other cities, we see from the questions that they relate only to the time of his rabbinate in Kolna. The questions are addressed there and the answers state that they were written there.

Finally, it is interesting to add that some of the answers have Yiddish texts, mainly the testimony that has a connection to permission for agunahs [women who cannot obtain a religious divorce] and a few questions that tell a very curious history of young men who, as a joke, took girls as wives according to Jewish law. There are many facts about Jewish social life and life-style in the questions and answers.

Let us add that the book that began to be published during the life of the author was published after his death, thus it appears from the afterword of the previously mentioned publishers, the author's children.

Call for elections to the kehila [organized Jewish community] in Kartuz-Bereza

[Page 361]

As in the majority of shtetlekh [towns] of Lithuania-Belarus, in our shtetl instruction first took place mainly in a kheder [religious primary school] and then in yeshiva [religious secondary school].

The school year in the kheder began when the boy was four years old. The teacher would often have a helper who would carry the boy to the kheder in the morning.

The mother came along the first time and threw a coin (a kopike) from above, which meant that an angel threw it down, so [the boy] would learn well and he would constantly receive gifts.

In Kartuz-Bereza until 1905, the studying with the melamdim [religious school teachers] was divided into categories – from [those teaching] the youngest, which consisted of teaching boys the Hebrew alphabet, how to recite blessings and to read the Krias Shema [prayer recited at bedtime and in other daily prayers], up to the highest teachers who taught Gemara [Talmud and commentaries].

They studied according to “terms.” A “term” lasted from Passover to Sukkous [Feast of Tabernacles] and then from Sukkous to Passover.

After the first term, when the boy could already read Hebrew, he went to the higher teacher, where he would learn praying, Khumish [Five Books of the Torah] and Rashi [commentaries].

The teachers were: Nioma the melamed [teacher], Lipa the melamed, Esterka's [husband] Yosl, Dovid-Chaim, the shokhet Ora, Mamereh's [husband] Moshe Elihu.

After studying there for four terms (two years), the boy advanced and left to study Gemara with Yosl the Ulinover or traveled to Malech to the yeshiva.

Richer boys studied Gemara and Mishnius [written compilation of oral Torah] with Reb Ayzyk the religious judge.

Girls in general did not study. Only the middle-class richer girls studied a little writing with Arke the teacher.

Before my time, there were a few melamdim who they called lerer [teachers, instructors], such as Faywl the candymaker, Hershl the lerer, who would teach Hebrew grammar and a little reading and writing in Yiddish and Hebrew.

The richer children studied with Reb Ayzyk Molodowsky (the father of Kadya Molodowsky [famous Yiddish poet and writer]), who taught using the system of “classes.” He taught the students Hebrew grammar, history.

There also was a city Talmud Torah [primary religious school for poor boys] supported by the Jews. The Talmud Torah was located in the house of prayer. They taught praying, a little bit of Khumish [Five Books of the Torah]. The poor were taught there and the teachers were not interested in whether the boys

A street in Kartuz-Bereza – on the right the Gvirisher [rich man's] house of prayer

[Page 362]

knew anything. Ignorant children actually graduated from there. There, the whip was the boss…

In 1908, a diploma-ed teacher with “golden buttons” [on his jacket] came to Bereza; he was named Gerashov. He opened a school with three classes [grades], with Russian as the language of instruction and once a week he also taught singing. With him, the boys studied until 12 noon and the girls from one in the afternoon. Boys who already knew the Russian alphabet well were accepted there; one studied there for three years. It was an elementary school for Jews because they did not study on Shabbos.

There was a tumult in the shtetl – they are turning the children into gentiles! They are studying without hats. But the population realized that the school was very necessary for the shtetl and the parents sent their children to it. Some children, after graduating from this school, went to gymnazie [secondary school]; after [graduating], several children studied by themselves, that is, they were “non-matriculated.”

In 1910, Vajnsztajn, a teacher, and his wife, came to Bereza to open another school, especially for girls. Handicrafts were taught there, too.

Shlomo Ganz [spelled Gandz in other articles] taught girls to read and write Yiddish and Russian at his house.

After the outbreak of the First World War, in 1915, the first German occupation occurred. All of the khederim and schools were closed. It was not the time for learning. The Talmud Torah began to teach and closed. Thus it lasted until 1917 when the Germans loosened the tension a little after the Russian Revolution.

At a meeting at the library, according to the initiative of Shika Berman, a nursery was organized by Shika Berman, Temtsha Roczanski, Alya Motya Boksztajn and Zajdl Chajkov. They took the premises of Gerashev's [spelled Gerashov above] former school and arranged a school for children and called it a Nursery.

Bajltsha Berman, Chana Bilczik, Rajzl Goldman, Fajgl Perlovich, the former gymnazie students, worked there, without pay, as teachers. There they taught reading and writing in Yiddish and Russian.

The Yavne [religious Zionist] School was founded later with a dramatic circle at the library and reading room and they gave performances that also brought in income. Fifty percent of the [ticket] purchases went to the library and fifty percent to the nursery.

Paying wages, they hired the teachers, Yona Reznik. Brukha Kamenski and a Brisk teacher, who was in Bereza. The school proceeded as a normal educational institution.

In 1919, during the Polish regime, a great deal of help came to us in Bereza from our brothers in the United States. The Joint [Distribution Committee] also helped.

Bereza was partly burned then. In 1915, almost the entire market and its surrounding streets were burned. Not only the population in general made use of the support – the nursery received special attention. The children there received rolls in the morning and also soup for lunch. The Joint also provided money to pay the teachers.

There were two bathhouses in Bereza for washing. One, a municipal one near the market, and one that was called the gvirshe [rich man] The Germans turned this bathhouse into a horse stable.

The Jewish Committee (which distributed the American support) decided to make this bathhouse a school for children. The bathhouse was remodeled with the help of the Joint; windows were put in and the bathhouse was transformed into a school building.

Five rooms belonged to the school and two for the Talmud Torah, which did not have a place to teach because the house of prayer had been burned.

Yiddish, Polish as the national language, and Hebrew according to the old methods were taught in the school.

In 1922, the foundation for a Hebrew school was laid in Bereza. The Zionists in the shtetl brought Hebrew teachers and they began to teach Hebrew privately to a small number of children.

These attempts grew larger and they demanded a premises from the community. When the Talmud Torah went to teach in its own building, which it received as a gift from Mera Yokha's, the two rooms that it had occupied in

[Page 363]

the former bathhouse were empty, where the Yiddish school had been located.

Then the well-known dispute between the two schools broke out. The Yiddish school wanted the empty rooms for itself. The Hebrew school wanted them, too. There was a resolution to the dispute. The Yiddish school received half a room and the Hebrew school one-and-a-half rooms.

The Yiddish school, through its leaders, former Bundists, Shlomke Vajnsztajn, Gotl Pisecki, Meir Podostoice, Nisl Zakhajm and additional leftists such as Naftali Levinson, Alya-Mota Boksztajn, Yehuda Kaplan, Nioma Szapiro, Yehiel Solnic, joined the Central Yiddish School Organization. They received support from the Central [Committee]. The theater at the school was also organized by this group.

The dramatic circle at the school gave performances that covered part of the school budget.

A chorus of children and adults was also organized at the school led by Comrade Leibl Kaplan. They gave performances with the dramatic circle that had great success in the shtetl.

The leadership of the Hebrew school, which then joined the union of Tarbut [union of secular, Hebrew-language schools], developed vigorously. This school taught in two places and this was not comfortable for the children. The leadership, in the person of Yehosha Zalcman, Henekh Liskovski, Moshe Goldsztajn, Fajvl Yaver and others, decided to build its own school building. A spot was purchased at the Gmina [community] Street. In 1934, a beautiful building was constructed with a room for performances, [created] by taking apart a specially built wooden wall in the middle.

The young took part in various political movements: Hashomer Hatzair [the Youth Guard – Labor Zionists], Betar [Revisionist Zionist youth group]. In general, the life of the young people after graduating from the school was concentrated around their school – around the Yiddish one or the Hebrew one.

The youth organization performances, children's evenings, every undertaking was an event in the shtetl. The schools contributed a great deal to raise the cultural level of the shtetl and gave Bereza prestige in the Jewish world. The children's presentations by both schools would be visited by the teachers from both schools and often by the managing committee. Then

Student certificates from the Bereza Yavne [religious Zionist school] for school year 1925/26

[Page 364]

they would discuss which evening was more beautiful, successful.

It is a characteristic fact that there were parents who would send their daughters to the Yiddish school and their sons to the Hebrew one.

The entire cultural life was concentrated around the movement, not only of the young. Their parents also were devoted to their schools where their children studied.

It was like this until 1941, when the Germans, may their names and remembrances be erased, annihilated the shtetl and its Jewish residents.

A kind of symbol of sadness is the fact that both schools – the Yiddish and the Hebrew – remained intact while the entire shtetl lay in ruins.

The buildings were intact, but empty.

The subjects at the Bereza Yavne School for the student certificates for the school year 1925-26

[Page 365]

The Jewish folks-shul [public school] in Kartuz-Bereza was founded in 1922. It began with the creation of an “intellectuals' kitchen” for poor children with the help of the Joint [Distribution Committee]. After a struggle between Yiddishists [advocates of Yiddish] and Hebraists [advocates of Hebrew], the Yiddishists took over the building of the old bathhouse that, in accordance with the requirements of the school authority, was rebuilt as a school.

Shlomo Wajnsztajn was chairman of the school for the entire time of its existence. He also was a member of the city council, of the managing committee of the kehila [organized Jewish community], leader of the dramatic circle and, in general, an active and devoted communal activist.

The most active workers in the Yiddishist sector, who worked on the founding and, later, by supporting the school until the end, were: Gotl Pisecki, Meir Podostroyce, Elya-Motie Boksztajn, Yeshayhu Kaplan, Borukh-Layzer Jablonowich, Nisl Zakhajm, Naftali Lewinson, Meir Berman, Yona Reznik, Nioma Szapiro. Later, from the younger off-spring there, joined: Yisroel Patok, Leibl Epsztajn as well as many of the later graduates of the school.

The manager of the school and the permanent teacher-pedagogue was Yona Reznik; secretary – Meir Berman and, starting in 1935, Elya Szafman, a teacher from Vilna district.

Teachers from the school I remember: Yona Reznik. Meir Berman, Brukha Kameniecki, Ruchl Chmielewski, Bela Winikow, Ruchl Chmiel, Yosef Rotenberg, (today in Mexico), Chana Biltszik, Chava Segal (today in Canada), Yehiel Sztern (today in Montreal), Artshik Tsfnis (today in Israel), Robtshe Rotenberg, Faygl Pawin, Gutman and his wife, Swarc, [female] teacher Feld, Ruchl Fridman, [female] teacher Sawinski, Ester Boksztajn, Mary Boksztajn, Zlatka Wajnstajn, Sura Kopinski-Sztern (today in Montreal) and the teacher of music and singing, Leibl Kaplan.

The material situation for the school was always difficult, as was true of all Tsysho [Tsentrale Yidishe Shul-Organizatsye – Central Yiddish School Organization] schools: low tuition, subsidies from the central organization; income from presentations, small subsidies from the city council and the kehila and, finally, a life of hunger for the teachers.

In 1939, with the arrival of the Soviets, the school was given over to the regime. The manager became a teacher brought from deep Russia. Many subjects immediately transitioned into Belarussian and Russian. Several former teachers continued to work until 1942 in an environment that was difficult for their morale. All activists from the school remained passive, uninterested in the Sovietized school. The former managing committee members were not permitted to participate in any school work and were not called to any school activities.

Our dramatic circle was founded before the school, in the year 1919. There were not yet any premises in which to carry on performances; we would present plays in a room above a mill or in a large barn where we could place chairs for a small group of theater lovers and visitors.

Belonging to the first circle were: the Tkacz brothers, Ruchl Zakhajm, Rokhtsha Ejzenberg, Elye Boksztajn and his wife and many others who I do not remember.

After the founding of the school, there was a drive to have their own theater. The devoted school activists turned to the entire population of Bereza with a call for help to erect a building. It was not easy

[Page 366]

to receive permission from the regime to erect the building. However, all of the difficulties were eliminated. There was no need to buy a spot [to build]. The spot that was behind the synagogue (the former bathhouse) was, at first, transformed into a large vegetable garden where various vegetables were planted and the income brought a certain support for the school library. Incidentally, the garden was planted and taken care of by the students in the various classes. We began to build the theater building on this garden.

The materials for the building were lent by the devoted activists, Meir Podostroyce (a forest merchant and sawmill owner), Nisl Zakhajm (a forest merchant and former vice-mayor of the city), locksmithing and materials were provided by the dear friend of the school system – Yakov Slosberg. Carpentry, masonry and other work was carried out by the friends and lovers of the dramatic circle and school. The graduates of the school and even the students themselves put in extensive work.

A great deal of work in finishing the building was done by Borukh-Layzer Jablonowich, who also was a member of the school managing committee.

Two years of intensive work was done on the building until it was completed. Then the real work by the dramatic circle began. It acquired many theater amateurs and the theater circle began to develop strongly in its own home.

Entire plays or one-act plays were performed. I remember the fine performances of Mirele Efros, Grine Felder [Green Fields], Di Nevie [The Prophetess], 200,000, Khashe di Yesoyme [Khashe the Orphan Girl], Tevye der Milkhiker [Tevye the Milkman], an incalculable number of one-act plays as well as musical numbers.

The presentations were carried out with great success and the presence of the population was larger each time.

Each play was prepared earnestly and heartily. The director was Shlomo Wajnsztajn (the father of the writer of these lines), with the constant help of

Dramatic Circle at the Jewish folks-shul in Bereza, led by Shlomo Wajnsztajn From left to right, standing: Elye Skacz, Zlatka Wajnsztajn, Shilim Kagan, Leibl Bayon, Meir Podostroyce, Moishel Nowik, Shlomo Kameniecki, Hershl Kagan, Nisl Tkacz, Zindl Kowal, Yosl Bilczik, Moishel Kowal Middle row: Hershl Kronik, Vikhne Boksztajn, Chava Segal, Shlomo Wajnsztajn, Gita Szaftan, Zelik Zakhajm, Khaytshe Jalon (Zakhajm) Elye-Motya Boksztajn, Elye Szaftan Front row: Shaya Kowal, Baylka Czesler, Yankl Zakhajm, Rukhl Garber, Moishel Fridman, Ryvka Kowal, Bayltsha Risker, Vova Wajnsztajn

[Page 367]

the gifted painter, Meir Berman, who would make the scenery and also prepare the makeup for each presentation. Each time they would invite the representatives of the regime (Christians) and they would respond with the best opinions.

New strength arrived later in the area of scenery and makeup. This was Moishel Fridman, the gifted painter, a graduate of the school, who carried out the work with great taste.

The musical part of the performances and revue evenings were led by Vova Wajnsztajn.

The most talented amateurs that I remember, who always were outstanding, were: Nisl Tkacz, Hershl Kronik, Ryvka Kowal, Ruchl Zakhhajm, Shmuel Goberman; in the revue numbers: Khaytshe Jalon, Yosl Biltszik; later, new strength arrived from the graduates Moishel Nowik, Yudl Fodorowski.

In a very large number of the presentations, the circle had the privilege of having in the main roles Shlomo Wajnsztajn's oldest son, Yosef (today in Sao Paulo, Brazil), who studied at the Vilna Real Gymnazie [secondary school] and at the same time studied dramatic arts at Avraham Morewski's studio in Vilna. He then really brought a great deal of modernized theater and improved the standard of the performances. It was the same with Shlomo Wajnsztajn's daughter, Zlatka, also a student at the Real Gymnazie and a talented, theater amateur. She performed later in the famous role of Eti Meni in 200,000.^[1]

Every year, new strength would come from the teachers at the school, who had a good taste for Yiddish theater, such as Leib Bojan (today a teacher at the Jewish school in Mexico), Chava Segal (today a teacher at the Jewish school in Montreal), Eliyahu Szaftan and others who helped and added a great deal to the development of the dramatic circle.

The income from all performances went to cover the expenses of the evening; a certain amount to pay for the building and the remainder, as an ongoing subsidy for the school.

With the rise of the theater, Bereza moved to first place in the province. Various theater groups from all over Poland came to appear – to begin with Yiddish ones, but also Polish and Russian ones. Various revue theaters came.

A class at the Yavne [religious Zionist] school in Bereza – students and teachers

[Page 368]

The theater hall also was used for lectures and it also served as a movie theater. All of the proceeds went to pay for the building.

We must also mention the founding of the Jewish chorus that was organized and directed by the talented fiddle player, music teacher and director, Leibl Kaplan, who would carry out the rehearsals in the school building until the erection of the theater. The chorus consisted exclusively of workers at the school and friends of the Yiddish folks-shul [public school]. It was a chorus of 50-60 men, in four singing voices.

The same comrade, Leibl Kaplan, organized a mandolin orchestra at the school, exclusively with the school's students. The orchestra was at a very high level.

This chapter, too – Yiddish theater, Jewish chorus, student orchestra – ceased with the arrival of the Soviet regime in September 1939. The theater was “nationalized” and used mainly for propaganda meetings and propaganda films from the regime. The remainder were ended by the Nazi beast, which, after the emptying of our spiritual life by the Soviets, concluded with the end of the physical existence of our dearest ones.

I have spoken here about the Yiddishist sector. However, Bereza also had a Tarbut school [Hebrew language secular school]. It was organized later than the Yiddish folks-shul [public school]. Its beginning also was in the former building of the bath (exact information about this is in the work of Eliyahu-Motya Baksztajn in our Pinkes [community chronical]). The beginning was with two rooms in the building of the previous bath and later Peretz School. Later, they occupied the building on Chaussee Street, in which there had once been a house of prayer. Much later, they erected a magnificent building (in the 1930s), not far from the Polish public school.

The managing committee of the Tarbut and important leaders were: Moishe Goldsztajn, L. Dancig, Markanski, Yakov-Asher Fridensztajn, Shmerl Reznik, Meir Raszinski, Shmeon Najdus and others.

Speaking about the two important cultural institutions of our annihilated shtetl, I want to mention a few other unions and institutions that added life and color to our hometown.

There was a gmiles khosodim kase [interest-free loan fund] here that was organized by Gotl Pisecki with the participation of Reb Yosl, the Voytseshiner, I do not remember his second name, and other communal activists. The interest-free loan fund would give loans of up to 200 zlotes without interest exclusively to the non-affluent part of the population: retailers and artisans.

In 1922 (approximately), a cooperative bank was also founded (exclusively Jewish) under the leadership of Gotl Pisecki, Nisl Zakhajm, Naftali Lewinson with Y. Kaplan as the chief bookkeeper.

There also was a women's union in which Khaytshe Berkovich, the owner of the mill, was very prominent. The work of the union was to help poor families with medical help, food and other things. They would also collect for Keren Kayemet [Jewish National Fund] and other Zionist funds.

The Talmud-Torah [free primary school for poor boys] carried out its activity in various houses of prayer. After the Tarbut school moved to its own building, the Talmud-Torah took its old building and developed much further. Above all, children with religious parents were recruited. Yankl Moszkovich (headstone engraver), Yisroel Broyda, Shlomo Broyda, the rabbis of the city: Rabbi Trop and Rabbi Oszerovich, and others were at the head of this institution.

[Page 369]

Teachers and students from the Yavne [religious Zionist] School in Kartuz-Bereza

1. Eti Meni is a character in the Yiddish play, 200,000, which is based on Sholem Aleichem's story, Dos Groyse Gevins – The Big Prize. Return

  Pruzhany, Belarus     Yizkor Book Project     JewishGen Home Page

Copyright © 1999-2025 by JewishGen, Inc.
Updated 23 Oct 2024 by JH