Svislach, Belarus

The Community of Swislocz,
Grodno District
(Svislach, Belarus)

53° 02' / 24° 06'

Translation of
Kehilat Svislots; Pelekh Grodno

Edited by: H. Rabin

Tel Aviv, former residents of Swislocz in Israel, 1961

Acknowledgments

Project Coordinator

William K. Rosenbloom z”l

Our sincere appreciation to Toby Bird z”l
for her excellent editing of the translated material

Our thanks to Sondra Ettlinger for extracting the pictures from the original book,
enabling their addition to the project.

This is a translation from: Kehilat Svislots; Pelekh Grodno (The community of Swislocz, Grodno District)
ed. H. Rabin, Tel Aviv, former residents of Swislocz in Israel, 1961.

Purchase details for a printed copy of this translation can be found at http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/ybip/YBIP_Svislach.html

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Introduction
Our goal was to make the English version of Kehilat Svislots come alive by translating it as literally as possible.
We wanted to insure that the present and all future generations were able to hear the words in this book as they were spoken; to know the actual thoughts and words of those who remembered our families, and the place they called home.
The writers were not famous authors and wordsmiths skilled in the use of language.
Their concern was not the use of correct grammar, but rather, to preserve their memories of that time and that place.
You will certainly notice that, on occasion, certain ideas do not flow smoothly; there may be some incomplete thoughts, or some statements that just defy logic.
Certainly there is a frustration that comes with everyone's desire for words to flow like novels on the Best Seller List.
But balance that desire with the magic of hearing the words as they were spoken to us; think of Tevia, in Fiddler on the Roof, and you can almost hear some of these words and phrases coming from his mouth.
A particular favorite of ours is the description of Aaron Isaac in the “Teachers of Sislevitch” article: “a tall man, with a nice built front and starched white cuffs, a bib, a starched collar with cuff links and a black top hat. His pride was in his brown mustache and pointy beard.”
We can try to discern what the writer meant, that maybe he was handsome, muscular, fat, skinny, etc., etc.
But that would not be what was written, and in our opinion it would be sacrilege to try and interpret these words.
Please note that all comments in parentheses are that of the translator.

Dedication
We humbly dedicate the translation of this book to the memory of all those who lost their lives through the senseless tragedy of the Holocaust.
We particularly remember our family members, Kaplan, Vigonsky, Rosenbloom, Lappe, and Liss, and share the sadness of loss with all those whose family or families perished.
We also dedicate this to Mr. Joe Rozenberg, a 79 year old survivor of the Lodz Ghetto, who possesses a wonderful knowledge of Jewish history and customs and a man with a genuine understanding of English, Yiddish, German, and Polish.
Joe is a perfectionist and has donated hundreds of hours of time translating the Yiddish portion of the book, going over each article countless times to insure each one was as accurate and literal as possible.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to Joe for all his help.

(Translator's Note: Chapters noted by (Y) are in Yiddish. All others are in Hebrew)

Introduction – the editors	5
Let us Remember – Ch. Sh. Rubin	7
Svisloch – Avraham Ayin	9
History of the Community of Svisloch – R Egosewicz	13
Spiritual Leaders	19
Rabbi Meir Yona Meforash Haitur	19
The Rabbis After Rabbi Meir Yona	22
Rabbi Shneur Zalman Pines z”l^[1]	23
Rabbi Yosef Rozen z”l	24
The Rabbi and Gaon Rabbi Mordechai Dov Eidelberg, may G–d avenge his blood^[2]	25
Rabbi Chaim Yaakov Miszkinski of blessed memory, the Last Rabbi of Svisloch	28
Institutions of Torah, Education and Culture – Ch. Sh. Rubin	31
Svisloch and its Teachers – Eliahu Ayin (Y)	36
The Modern Cheder – N. Eden	45
The Hebrew School in Svisloch – Sh. Finkelstein	46
Memories and Experiences from my Studies at School – Sh. Finkelstein	50
My Town Svisloch – Yaakov Niv	52
From My Memories in One Article – Naphtali Eden	^[3]56
Sislevitch Enlighteners – Eliahu Ayin (Y)	59
Communal Life in Svisloch in our Generation – David Zilberblatt	65
The Beginning of the Young Zion (Tzeirei Tzion) Party in Svisloch – Y. D. Egosewicz	68
The History of Zionism in our Town – Feivel Zaonce z”l	69
“Before the Candle of G–d is Extinguished” – Naphtali Eden	71
The Synagogue Courtyard (Shul Hauf) – Tz. Finkelstein	74
My Grandfather Reb David Meizel of blessed memory – Sh. Finkelstein	78
Shmuel Goldberg of blessed memory – Tz. F-N	80
Sislevitch In Our Generation – Kayla Zakuta (Y)	81
My Friend Feivel Rubin may G–d avenge his blood – Ch. Sh. Rubin	88
Memories from my Father's House – Yafa Szpak Rabicki	91
Avigdor Berezanicki may G–d avenge his blood – Tz Finkelstein	94
In their Memory – Sh. Finkelstein	96
The Jewish Settlements near Svisloch – N. Eden	98
The Revenge On The Police Commissioner – Eliahu Ayin (Y)^[4]	99
Oh, My Small Village! – Devorah Eden (Y)	105
The Destruction of Svisloch – A. Ayin	108
The Torture that the Svisloch Natives Endured in the Volkovisk Ghetto – the editor	112
The Testimony of Mrs. Winkelstein	115
From the Letter of Yerachmiel, a Svisloch Partisan	116
I am the Woman who Witnessed Tribulation – Gittel Slapak-Shechter	118
Svisloch – P. Liss (Y)	130
My Wanderings – Moshe Rubin	132
From a Letter – Yacov Panter (Y)	135
Avraham Ayin of blessed memory – the Editor	140
12 Year Relief Work – Avraham Ayin (Y)	141

Footnotes:

The abbreviation z”l (zichrono livracha for a male, zichrona livracha for a female, zichronam livracha for the plural) means “of blessed memory”. This term is traditionally used following the name of a deceased person. Note, throughout the book, I use the full English term for this abbreviation. return

The abbreviation hy”d (Hashem yikom damo for a male, Hashim yikom dama for a female, Hashem yikom damam for the plural) means “May G-d avenge his blood”. This term is traditionally used following the name of a person who has died a martyr's death such as victims of the Holocaust. Note, throughout the book, I use the full English term for this abbreviation. return

The page number is erroneously listed in the book as 57. return

A Pristov is a Police Commissioner in Czarist Russia. return

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