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A view of Lisokovo

The Temple Choir in Lisokovo with the Cantor, Leib Karashinsky

A Hanukkah party of young people in Lisokovo

It was possible to reach the town by way of dirt roads during the summer, but for the remaining seasons of the year, Lisokovo was practically cut off, because of mud and snow, that covered all the roads, and there were no highways in those days. Transport between Lisokovo and nearby towns took place on wagons hitched to horses. In the thirties, an experiment was instituted to run a bus along the line from

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Volkovysk-Lisokovo-Ruzhany, but after a short while, it was seen that the line didn't pay for itself, and so was stopped. It was only in 1938, that the wagon drivers bought a new bus, and they established a form of cooperative for transportation.

Nearly all the Jewish dwellings were in the center of the town, as well as their stores, but the main form of livelihood was – labor. There were two flour mills that ran on steam power, which also belonged to a group of Jewish partners, and the farmers from the surrounding area would bring their grain for milling. Every two weeks there was a ‘fair’ that provided livelihood to many Jews.

The three policemen in the town had little to do on normal days, which was not the case during ‘fair’ days, when no small number of the gentiles would get drunk and revel about. In general, there was a peaceful relati0onship between Jews, and one could see a lot of Christians attending the weddings and festivities of the Jews. On Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, even the Christians would come to the sole synagogue in the town, in order to enjoy the singing of the Cantor and the choir. I am of the opinion that our town was among the few that permitted itself the pleasure of maintaining a permanent Cantor, and he was indeed, a young man from Ruzhany, and enchanted all the Jews of the town with his sweet voice. An interesting fact: After the Cantor began to serve in his post, it became known to the leaders of the town, that several years before, this very same Cantor was in the Adamkova estate, training along with other young Jewish men in agriculture, as preparation to make aliyah. There were many who saw in this a form of disqualification, and the town split into two camps: those who demanded that the Cantor be dismissed, and those who saw no reason for him to be disqualified. In the end, it was decided to bring the issue to the Dayan of Kosovo, and the Dayan ruled that Leib Karashinsky, this was the Cantor's name, was ‘kosher,’ insofar as qualifying as a Cantor, and the training he underwent does not disqualify him from rendering ‘Song and Prayer.’

Lisokovo – surrounded by forests, and they spread to the distant plains. Also large estates of Polish nobles and many pastures surround the town. Many of the Jews in the town earned a living from working the land of the estates of the nobles. All the houses in the town were built of wood, and the roofs were covered in a thin slate. Fires were a frequent occurrence in the town, and it was necessary to bring fire-fighting equipment from Ruzhany, but until these would arrive, the fire would cause a desolation. The local fire-fighters had only several barrels of water mounted on wagons, and their fire-fighting process was very primitive. Only the better off balebatim could afford to insure their homes, but the victims of fires, who were from the poorer class, were forced to depend on the mercy of heaven and the mercy of the Jews….it is worth noting, that all the prominent people in the town volunteered as fire-fighters, and among them was the Feldscher, Goldman, who for many years was the only place that sick people could go to, and after he died, a graduate doctor came to the town, who was not Jewish, but many of the ill longed for the Feldscher who was not a graduate, who had earned a reputation as an expert in dealing with internal disease.

Almost all Jewish families had cows. The surplus of milk was used to prepare cheeses and butter. Each house also had a cellar that was used to store potatoes, cabbage, cucumbers, and other vegetables. The vegetables stored in the cellar were edible all year round. Fruit was also in abundance from the nearby surrounding forests, and the womenfolk became expert at preparing a variety of jams from these fruits. Mushrooms were dried, and Lisokovo mushroom soup was a real delicacy. Even the geese of Lisokovo gained a reputation in the area, because they were fat, and well-fed, and provided fat for the entire year. Their feathers were also very useful. One could find the goose feathers in all the blankets and pillows of the Jews of Lisokovo. Plucking feathers occupied all the women of the town.

In the wintertime, as soon as the rivers froze over, the winter sports season began, especially skating on the ice. Skates were made by hand, by the young people, and the only thing that was requited was two pieces of wood, the length of a foot, and strips of iron inserted in their midst. With these simple skates,

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the people of Lisokovo were able to compete with people that had more modern skates. All the young people of the town could be found out on the ice in the afternoon on a Sabbath day. At the same time, parents would be fulfilling the mitzvah of ‘sleeping on the Sabbath,’ all the while that their children were skating on the ice and doing acrobatic feats to dazzle the eye. Not a few would fall into a hole in the ice, under which there was flowing water, and in order that they not be subject to getting beaten by their parents, they were taken to dry out in… the synagogue, in which there were large brick ovens, and by the time of the Maariv Prayers, the boys would be dried out.

There were charitable and goodwill institutions in Lisokovo that looked after the poor and destitute, and righteous women who would go from house to house, collecting ‘tzedaka.’ It is worth noting that the women literally worked very hard. They would so laundry by hand, bake their own bread, sew clothing for the members of their families, establish the household, prepare mead from honey, bake matzos, etc., etc., but they never, God forbid, complained.

The ties of the town to Volkovysk were very strong, even though to reach Volkovysk from Lisokovo one had to ride all night in a wagon hitched to two horses. Frequently, the wagons would get stuck in mud or snow, and the wagon driver along with the passengers would have to get out and ‘give a push’ – that is, disembarking and putting a shoulder to the wheels. The wagon driver Benjamin Kuzhevitsky would bring the mail from Ruzhany, and even obtained authorization to carry a pistol to defend his life, in the event that robbers attacked him, however, it must ben immediately said that he was never attacked, and he never put a bullet into the gun…

When the war broke out between Poland and Germany, the Jews of Lisokovo found out somewhat later. The single radio in town was at the Polish tavern, and this radio broadcast one theme without interruption: “The Poles will not give the Germans so much as a button.” And if the radio says so – who is not to believe it?

Not many days went by before the town was flooded with police and soldiers fleeing the front. The confusion was immense. Desolation and destruction. The Poles managed to discover the single autobus that was hidden under a pile of fodder, and they confiscated it for their own use, as well as the horses and wagons. Nobody knew what the day would bring, until the change came, and in line with the Ribbentrop-Molotov Treaty, Lisokovo was transferred to communist rule, to the Soviet Union. The Jews were elated by this change. The soldiers who had been drafted into the Polish army began to return to their homes, and in their wake, a series of arrests began of the bourgeois, property owners, Polish officials and anyone the communists suspected of being bourgeois. Among those detained were the Rabbi and several priests, but they were set free after a short while.

Very rapidly, refugees began to arrive from the territories captured by the Germans. According to everyone, there were terrible stories about the relationship of the Germans to the Jews. The Jews of Lisokovo did the best that they could to ease the distress of these refugees, until the Soviet regime transferred the majority of these refugees into the heartland of Russia. Tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, and various other tradespeople were organized into cooperatives, and wood sellers began to work as state employees, many were occupied with digging peat, that also served as fuel for the flour mills. A school was opened in which instruction was in Yiddish, but it was closed shortly thereafter, and the Jewish children were sent to a Russian school that also included children from the vicinity. There were difficulties in obtaining food, long lines stretched from the early hours of the morning to obtain sugar, oil and other necessities of life. One, and only one store served the entire area.

In time, the regime was installed and order returned. They began to develop the area, and a military airfield was established nearby. Prisoners who were brought from Russia worked on road building. Jews in Lisokovo, who owned wagons and horses, were compelled as well to haul stones for some distance, to this air field. Tanks and armored troops passed through the town, and in the school, there was

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instruction in how to defend against gas attacks. In a word – all was “content” in the town.

This was the way things went along until June 21, 1941, when the German-Russian War broke out. A tremendous exodus to the east began, and the first of those to flee were – the workers in the Komsomol, and the communist party, among which were many Jews. There was great turmoil in the town, and young people again were recruited, this time into the Soviet Army.

The Germans entered the town accompanied by cannon, tanks and all manner of weaponry. Immediately Christians sprouted up who joined up to cooperate with the Germans, providing them with agricultural produce and all manner of foodstuffs, and all the information that was demanded of them. The Jews locked themselves in their houses, greatly alarmed and anxious. Once the front had passed the town, the Germans began to “deal” with the Jews. The first step – they assembled all the Jews, from the youngest to the oldest, in the center of the town, arranged them all in rows, with armed Germans opposite them. The local Christian citizenry stood nearby, who had come to “observe the spectacle.” The Germans contented themselves at this juncture with the reading of their first decrees. Among these, the Jews were ordered to assemble gold and silver and turn it over to the Germans in the course of several days. Lisokovo was not endowed with many rich Jews, and it was difficult for the local Judenrat to raise the contribution that had been impressed by the Germans. An assembly of the Jews was called at the synagogue, and the Rabbi announced an ‘excommunication’ of anyone who had gold or silver, and refused to turn it over to the Judenrat. This ‘excommunication decree’ had an effect. Many sold all manner of their possessions to Christians in the Area, in order to raise funds. At the time designated by the Germans, the Judenrat had the designated sum, and the Jews breathed a little easier.

It is worth noting at this time that there were capable leaders in the local Judenrat, led by Abraham Kuzvitsky, and they found a variety of ways to satisfy the German demands. Moshe Resnick was also among the members of the Judenrat, and when he predicted the end of the Jews of Lisokovo was nigh, and many thought he had gone out of his mind.

There was no ghetto in Lisokovo, but decrees came one after another. The Judenrat would supply the Germans with labor in accordance with their demands. Tailors and shoemakers would repair the uniforms and boots of the Germans, and groups of young people would work on road repair. By comparison with the condition of Jews in other cities and towns, the condition of the Jews of Lisokovo was not so bad, and there were Germans who actually visited Jewish homes, and even made an attempt to be friendly with them. The Judenrat help them obtain what they needed and supplied food, and it appears that the news of the relatively good circumstances of the Jews of Lisokovo caused an influx of refugees from nearby towns, and they too received support with food and shelter to the extent available.

Small groups of partisans were active in the vicinity of Lisokovo, who, from time-to-time, would emerge from their hiding places in the forest, and carry out acts of reprisal. Among other acts, they burned the Mogolovtsa Estate and everything that was in it, in order that the Germans not derive any value from it. The Germans would periodically organize attack campaigns against parts of the forest where partisans were located, but without any particular success. The farmers of the area also allied themselves with the partisans. On one of those days, the Germans organized an encirclement against these farmers, and hundreds of them were captured and brought to the Catholic cemetery, where they were taken out and killed. The grave was dug in advance by Jewish laborers who were sent to do this work by the Judenrat. On that same day, the cries of the family members of the slain went up literally into the heart of heaven. Many Jews stood in the area, and wept bitter tears.

In November 1942, the Germans began to commandeer wagons and horses from the entire vicinity. It was not difficult to guess the purpose. There were Christians with connections to the Germans, who sped to tell their Jewish neighbors and acquaintances, that the Germans are getting ready to

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drive out all the Jews from the town, and tried to persuade them to flee or find a hiding place. Very few fled. Fathers did not want to abandon their wives and children. “What will happen to all – will happen to us” – is what many said, and they stayed in place. Not a few committed suicide before the expulsion by taking poison. All the Jews of Lisokovo were transferred to Volkovysk, and their end was like the end of all the Jews of Volkovysk. All the homes of the Jews in the center of Lisokovo were burned down by the Germans, once they began to retreat after their defeats on the front. The youth that joined the partisans, who also showed no particular concern for the Jews, and succeeded in surviving after going through seven circles of Hell, lived to see Lisokovo after it had been destroyed.

The town of Lisokovo was surrounded by forests, agricultural villages, and the Estates of the Nobility. These estates were generally managed by Jews who comprised the majority of the population of Lisokovo. The Jews lived largely in the center of the town, and they made their living through commerce and labor. The market days brought in most of the base income. Many wagons of farmers would appear in town, containing the agricultural produce of the farmers, bought up by the Jews. This was a veritable fountain of commercial trade and barter, which after the farmers had sold their produce, they would spread to the Jewish stores and stock up on all the necessities that they required.

There was a Polish school in Lisokovo, but on the Sabbath, the Jews were excused from sessions, apart from Sunday, when the school was closed as a matter of course. We would get the Saturday lessons from the Christian students. When the Nazis took power, we began to feel anti-Semitism from the Polish residents, and one of its manifestations was the fact that the Christian pupils would no longer give us the Saturday schoolwork. Even the teachers picked on the Jewish students in a variety of ways.

We learned Hebrew from local teachers. Once a week, we got a lesson in Jewish religion from the teacher, Hannah Lieberman. Upon graduation from the local school, most of the students traveled to Volkovysk to study at the Tarbut Gymnasium, or to Ruzhany.

There was one synagogue in the town, and on Friday evening, one could find all the Jews of the town within its walls. The image of my father and brothers returning from this synagogue is ever before my eyes. The house is flooded by light, his recitation of the Kiddush can be heard, rendered in a festive air, and all of the special Sabbath delicacies are placed on the table.

I particularly liked the winter in the town, and my heart was especially drawn to the winter evenings, when we would go out in sleds hitched to horses decked out with bells, and ring the town. Another picture etched in my mind is – baking of the matzos for Passover. In my mind's eye, I see the woman who was kneading the dough in a sparkling clean copper bowl, and beside her stands another woman, dividing the dough into small portions, and around them are rows of women lined up at the oven.

Lisokovo was surrounded by forests, that during the summer provided us with a unique experience of the sort, that we would go out with large baskets, and pick mushrooms, blackberries, mulberries and all other varieties of fruits, which were found in abundance in these forests.

There were two youth movements in the town: Betar and HeHalutz. When members of Betar arrived for training in our vicinity from all parts of Poland – the town bubbled with life, and even those who were at a distance from Zionism thought about making aliyah. As it was, my father's family made aliyah in 1914, and settled in Neve-Tzedek, in Jaffa, but my father, who was the oldest, and his brother Jekuthiel remained in the town. My father, Eliezer Kravchik ז”ל

was head of the Zionist funds, and my grandfather, Herschel Novick, ז”ל, filled many community positions, among others, he directed the only bank in town – the Free Loan Society.

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