[Page 174]

Whoever comes to tell of the uniqueness of Zolkiew among the communities of Poland has the obligation to move back in time to reach the Zolkiew of yesteryear. It was an era when her streets were populated by Wise People. People of action in those times, who were loyal partners in the design of the image of the Galicia of Torah, and Maskilim, filled the various Houses of Learning. I will write a few things here about the end of the Zolkiew years as they remained in my memory since my youth.

One could still find clear traces of the teaching of ‘Hidnagdut.^[1]’ in Zolkiew at the end of the 19^th century and the beginning of the 20^th century. The spinal cord was still the Great Synagogue and the Old Bet HaMedrash where the Ashkenazic tradition was guarded in its purity. The Kloyz, on the bakers' street, had not yet become a special part of the unique atmosphere of Zolkiew. The part that the Kloyz played in the image of the city continued to grow. As a measure of just how much they had vanished, each of the Wise Sages of the Bet HaMedrash stopped using it as the only lodging place for Torah in the city.

The Old Bet HaMedrash, separated from the Great Synagogue by a narrow street, was one of the most majestic in the land of Galicia. It was a two-story building with thick walls. On its south side, large windows reached all the way to the steps on the street. The second floor was used entirely as an Ezrat Nashim. Four long tables made of very heavy boards were placed in the Bet HaMedrash, and beside them were eight long benches made from the same kind of wood.

The tables were located on two sides of the Bet HaMedrash. Two tables were along the southern wall from east to west, and two more were arranged in an acceptable manner beside the northern wall. Ordinary balebatim and Wise Sages, weighty in Torah and good deeds, sat at these heavy tables. The Balebatim sat on the eastern bench on the two sides of the Holy Ark, not only because of the Torah, but also because of the goods they sold there. Those Balebatim who succeeded in their businesses reached the level of being ‘governors.’ Among those who initially qualified were A. Sh. Zimiles, who was one of the first of the Maskilim in the city in those days. The permanent place of the Chief of the Religious Court was on the left side of the Holy Ark. The right side was dedicated for the spiritual leader of the congregation. It remained vacant for many years until R' Pinchas Rimmelt, the Rabbi of Kirov, was selected to sit on the city's rabbinical chair after a difficult election struggle between his supporters and the supporters of Rabbi Mish'l of Gologora.

Among those who stood out among the controllers of the shutters that were in the Bet HaMedrash, the following are etched into my memory: R' Yehoshua Lerkher, a grain merchant, who despite being occupied with practical work did not cease his studying. R' Yehoshua sat at the corner of the table on the southeast side. A copper candelabra, created in the shape of the head of an ox, hung from the ceiling above his head. According to tradition, the author of ‘T'vuat Schor’ sat there. I hurried to get to the Bet HaMedrash early on Friday nights when I was a boy in order to hear recitals from ‘The Song of Songs’ sung by R' Yehoshua, who was a regular to recite this in a loud voice with sweet pleasantness.

[Page 175]

R' Israel Mallis, the leader of Musaf services on the High Holy Days also sat at the table. He was a tall man with a masterly visage, and a beard that reached down to his midriff. During the Musaf prayers of Yom Kippur, he appeared as a figure all in white, including his head covering, his beard, his kittl and socks. Opposite him sat R' Shmuel Mintzer, the leader of the Shacharit prayers on the High Holy Days. R' Shmuel was knowledgeable in grammar, which stood him in his role reading the Torah on Sabbaths, and the second minyan.

My grandfather, and my teacher, R'Avner Wildman, sat at the corner of the table on the second side of the Bet HaMedrash. R'Avner was a Wise Man, who educated a generation of Wise Sages in the city. R' Pinchas Schwartz, a mathematician and known to be sharp minded, was one of his superior students. R' Avner was known by all not only as a great Torah Scholar but also as a man of good deeds and philanthropy. The writing of the poet R' David'l, son of R' Meir Maimon, comprises the inscription on his headstone. It is arranged with an acrostic according to the name Avner ben Yaakov, which bears witness to the faithful respect that the members of his coterie accorded him. The four lines of the acrostic follow:

א: There is a heap of holiness here in this grave
ב: Whoever passes by this grave should do this in trepidation and fear
נ: A jewel and sapphire rests in this dust
ר: A Rabbi and a great Jewish man is buried here below

R' Avraham'li Shapiro was considered to be one of the Sages of that generation. We also include R' Avraham'li Shapiro, and younger than him, Loba Lichter. R' Eliyahu Halperin, who was called Eli Poni and whose parents were among those who left Russia, was known to be a researcher who delved into the literature of philosophy. It was said that when R' Eli went out to pasture his cows (he lived outside the city where he had a small stable), he carried ‘A Guide to the Perplexed,’ and the ‘Kuzari^[2]’ with him.

The picture of the Bet-HaMedrash would not be complete if we omitted both of the Shamashim. Herschel'i and Meir. R' Herschel'i, the First Shammes, was totally fluent in the Tanakh. He was a grammarian, and an outstanding Torah reader for the first minyan on the Sabbath. And he deserves credit for providing lessons and teaching ‘Eyn Yaakov’ and ‘Medrash Rabba,’ to the ordinary people,

In practice, the Shammes looked after the cleanliness of the Bet HaMedrash, providing water for the basin, etc. Tall Meir (called Meir der Langer), was also a comic, who performed at weddings and other happy occasions. The Holy One, Blessed Be He, endowed R' Meir with a wondrous memory which was a substitute for reading, which he did not master. Thousands of ‘Yahrzeits’ were recorded in his mind, and he knew the entire Book of Psalms by heart, which he routinely recited each and every Sabbath. If you ran into R' Meir on one of the Sabbaths before noon while he was muttering, you knew he was involved in the recitation of Psalms. All through the summer, Meir collected ‘Yahrzeit’ candles, stored them in the cellar of our house, and took them out to light up the study of Torah in the long winter nights. On one occasion I stood at the threshold of our house, and heard a discussion between him and the wife of the Zucker, the pharmacist, at a time he was preparing a box of candles to store in the cellar. She asked him ‘what are you doing?’ and he replied to her in Polish:

[Page 176]

‘I am giving you
These candles
For Yahrzeits
I am putting them in the basement^[3]’

The Great Synagogue, the smallest holy place in the city, was built as a fortress, and there was enough room inside to accommodate all the Jews of the city. It was also a fortress for prayer rendered in the Ashkenazic style, along with all the complexities that were folded into this style as well. No poem was skipped during Festivals and the High Holy Days, and not even on the Sabbaths that occurred between Passover and Shavuot. And woe unto a guest leader of services who was not familiar with our custom, and he did not skip the ‘V'Yaztmakh Purkonei’ prayer in the recitation of the Orphan's Kaddish.

The writing over the entry gate of the Synagogue had the capacity to shake off the dust of the deeds of life and give rise to feelings of repentance. The writing was drawn in large colored letters over the gate office, and contained the well-know proverb:

A Man worries about the loss of his money
But does not worry about the loss of his days,
His days do not return
And his money is of no help to him.^[4]

The Synagogue was configured for prayer and not for Torah study, and was not a place where the Wise Sages gathered. Among those who prayed at this Synagogue was the Hazzan, David Mordechai Shlomo's, whose sweet voice cascaded throughout the building on the eves of Sabbath, filled by hundreds of worshipers, filling every empty space. The notes of ‘Then Six Hundred’ still echo in my ears. The Hazzan recited this on Shavuot when they brought in branches from the ‘Re'i’, a forest planted in the days of King Sobieski that housed a summer retreat near him. It was a spectacular sight to observe when the Synagogue was transformed from night into a field of grass before the Festival of Shavuot. Whole trees were uprooted from the ‘Re'i’ and placed in a row from the entrance gate to the Bima of the Torah (the Belemer), and on the table, where the Torah was placed to be read. The arrangement was like a green mountain, a symbol of Mount Sinai, on top of four poles. The walls and pillars of the entire Synagogue were covered in green flowers. It seems that the prohibition of enjoying a beautiful tree and decorated paper was suspended for the Shavuot Holiday. A host of young men streamed to the ‘Re'i’ after ‘ Tikkun Shavuot’ with the early light of dawn on the first day of the Holiday to enjoy the handiwork of the Creator of Genesis, and the beautiful tree placed in the Synagogue for all to enjoy.

[Page 177]

Among the regular worshipers on the Sabbaths and Festivals were two prominent Maskilim in the city: Anshel Hai, who was fluent in German, and Herzl Ehrlich, a teacher of religion in the government schools. Their heads were adorned with forelocks tied back, in the place of the beard on the faces of the rest of the worshipers.

A central figure in the Synagogue was R' Alter, the son of the Shammes, and the Torah reader at the first minyan. His style was very precise and he knew a great deal of the Tanakh. R' Alter's lifelong position was to oversee the Ashkenazic style of chanting the prayers, guarding it from any violation by the Hasidim in the Kloyz. The paralysis on the right side of his body was believed to have been caused, according to the whispers in the Kloyz, by the provocation he started with the Belz Rebbe. The incident took place as follows. The ADMo”R, R' Yehoshua'leh of Belz was invited to Zolkiew and the Hasidim tried to persuade him to pray in the Great Synagogue on the Sabbath at the second minyan. When R' Alter became aware of this, he gathered a group of worshipers, experts in the Ashkenazic style, for the first minyan. He led the service before the Ark and stretched out the prayers until the people of the second minyan could not secure a place beside the shtender. The police were called to the Synagogue by the Rebbe's Hasidim, but the police left almost as soon as they came. According to the law, the police were unable to disturb R' Alter in the midst of his prayer. For this reason there was a disturbance in the worship of The Creator (Gebetstörung). And there is yet another story about R' Alter. In his old age, at a time when the Hasidim had the upper hand, when the Rebbe Issachar-Ber of Belz came to the city, many of his Hasidim gathered from the entire region and they worshiped in the Great Synagogue. R' Alter, whose entourage of Ashkenazim had dwindled in the meantime, was without support for the idea of desecrating the recital of the ‘V'Yatzmakh Purkonei’ prayer. R' Alter ran to my uncle Avraham-Yaakov, a young but wise man, the son of Avner Wildman, an uncompromising Mitnaged, and shouted loudly in the room with the stairs: ‘Avraham-Yaakov, Avraham-Yaakov, Ashkenazic prayer is dead!’ On hearing this shouting and screaming, all the residents of the house went out in a panic.

R' Alter chose to unleash these words to Avraham-Yaakov, who was twenty years younger than him, because he knew that the younger man still had the same zeal for Ashkenaz and Mitnagdut. I heard the following story when I was a child.

R' Issachar-Ber of Belz came to the evening worship in the Old Bet HaMedrash. As it happened, he chose a table where Avraham-Yaakov had a permanent seat.The following day, when Avraham-Yaakov became aware of this, he called a carpenter to cut down the table.

Avraham-Yaakov was the ‘last of the Mohicans’ of the Mitnaged movement in the city. Those older than him had died, one-by-one, and in this world of the law, he remained the single soldier in the ranks, fighting the battle of the Mitnagdim. During his time, the doors to the Old Bet-HaMedrash were closed for lack of Torah students from the young generation, and it became a place for prayer only. The crown of scholarship was now in the Kloyz.

The days of yesteryear in Zolkiew are gone. It was once sublime, but slowly, bit by bit, it relinquished its special character, and became a city like all of the others in Galicia in those days. The history of the city in the past years will certainly be related by the young people from our ranks. However we must recall the unique character of Dr. Benjamin Grill, the ‘Sidelined Star,’ who generated light those in Zolkiew in this period. I had the privilege of being under his aegis during the times I randomly visited Zolkiew in the two decades before it was wiped out in the Holocaust. After several wanderings and failures in the practical world, Dr. Grill returned from the Austrian capital to his birthplace after the First World War. He strolled about like a remnant, and symbol of what the streets of Zolkiew were like in the past. Very few of the people among whom he now lived had had an interest in these remnants and symbols. People saw Grill's outer shell, his extreme poverty and the way he went through life. But insofar as his inner self, Grill the wise man with a sensitive soul, Grill who told fantasies, and Grill, who, deep in his soul, admired the holy things and the acts of the holy, was known and understood by very, very few.

[Page 178]

So I turned him over to Dov Sadan, who spared no effort in order to dispel the clouds that covered the ‘Sidelined Star’ and raised up this wondrous figure from the depths of oblivion through a monograph published in the newspaper, ‘Davar,’ and the revelation that Grill wrote ‘Mottl Tokheykha’ in Yiddish, which was printed in the calendar of Gershon Bader. The story was also translated by Sadan into Hebrew, and published in ‘Davar.’

We knew that Grill's stories fascinated the soul of anyone who heard them. Stories that described Zolkiew when Grill was a child, or about his family, or about the Maskilim of Lvov and Vienna, or his adventures during the days he served in the Austrian army, etc.

I recall one of our encounters at sundown in the city garden during the summer. I listened to Grill's story about his first attendance at the opera in Lvov during those first days after leaving the walls of the Bet HaMedrash in Zolkiew in order to experience Haskalah in the larger world. The scene on the stage, and the sound of the singing and music could be heard emanating from his words, and like prisoners we walked after him up to the Bet HaMedrash for the Maariv service. He continued to tell us about the time of his first encounter with a ‘trooper’ from the Bet HaMedrash with the music of the opera.

His book, ‘Mottl Tokheykha,’ the only book of his in print that reached us, surprised us with the scope of his literary skill. He raised questions about general humanity and on the life of the city. He aroused wondrous uncertainty in us, as Grill seemed like someone who mocked the world and himself. His book revealed that he treasured, deep in his soul, that which was holy, and deeds of holiness. Grill identified with R' Mottl, the hero of the book in all of its parts. He, along with R' Mottl, were placed against the congregation as a whole, at an hour that he said was necessary to fulfill a deed that he saw as just, with a task that was bound up with the Rabbi of that place, to prevent insulting suffering. He understood R' Mottl as well when he justified the law to himself. ‘Because one cannot suspect holiness, blessed be he, who carries out a law without a law.’ And when he shouted: ‘No doubt I have sinned, I called to Zalman Tchipkineyzl and he together with R' Zalman, when he left community business and returned to study the Gemara, the Maimonides and the Maharsha.^[5]’

And with a pleasant relation to all of the Mottls in every nook and cranny, it was their responsibility to risk their lives in opposing the Shratzes and the Chipkinezelakh that rose up against them. He ends his book with:

‘The shtetl still stands in the same place, Lipa Shratz is still alive, Zalman Chipkinezyl fends for himself, the reproof yet again gets the foot of a porter, but R' Mottl is no longer here.’

[Page 179]

It is not only Mottl who is no longer here, but also Zolkiew of yesteryear. it vanished before its annihilation of its residents by the Wicked Hand. Dr. Grill's gravestone remained beloved ever since.

A meeting of ‘HeHalutz’ youth in Zolkiew – 1931

1. Opposition to the very observant Haredim, from the Hebrew word ‘to oppose.’ Return
2. The Kuzari was studied by those wishing to master the essentials of the Kabbalah. Return
3. This was originally rendered in Polish. I am indebted to my cleaning lady, Sophia Butas, who is Polish, for the proper English translation. Return
4. This poetry is rendered in Hebrew, translated by myself. Return
5. A Hebrew acronym for the phrase ‘Our Teacher and Rabbi’ followed by an acronym of the name of the person being described. In this case it refers to Our Teacher the Rabbi Shmuel Eidels. Return

[Page 180]

While traveling in the Diaspora, the Gaon, ז”ל, reached the city of Zolkiew on the eve of Passover. He approached the Bet-Din Senior, the Rabbi and Gaon R' Mordechai Ze'ev Ettinger, who was in the city at that time, and asked to be received as a guest for all the days of the Festival. The Rabbi asked him: ‘what is it and what do you want from me, my son, more than others?’ He answered: ‘I chose you, my Lord, because I said in my heart that the matzoh and all the fixings for Passover are cherished by him, unquestionably with a kashrut stamp, as would befit a great man like him.’ So the Rabbi of the city responded to his request, and invited him as a guest for all the days of the holiday.

In the evening, when the table was being prepared for the Seder, the Rabbi asked him whether or not he wanted to make a Seder for himself, or would he be satisfied with his Seder. The Gaon answered, and said: ‘If this arrangement is proper for my respected Lord the Rabbi, our Sages of yore have already said: everything that the master of the house will say to you, do so accordingly, etc.,’ (Tractate Pesakhim 86, verso side). The Gaon took a seat and prepared a plate according to his understanding, two matzohs as was done by the ר"פ, and a few other modifications. When the Rabbi and Gaon R' Mordechai Ze'ev saw the modifications that ז”ל was applying to well received customs, the matter was wondrous to his eyes. And he could not understand how, a young man like him, would change customs that were established in ancient times, according to his will, and do what he might choose on his own. But since ז”ל was a guest, Mordechai Ze'ev watched, and remained silent, asking no questions. However when it came time to recite the Shacharit prayers in the Bet HaMedrash, he related what he had seen to the educated ones of the city, and got a reply. The learnèd ones heard what the Rabbi said, and they were astonished. It was taken as axiomatic that one who alters accepted practice from what it is supposed to be, that the Rabbi of the city should test him for his learning. And should they find that he is indeed a great Torah scholar, they should let him be, but if not, they will know what to do to him. They will punish him for the arrogance he showed in changing an original custom.

At the midday repast, the Rabbi began to discuss Torah matters with ז”ל, and pressed him to say something about an innovation of his. The Gaon did not respond, so the Rabbi of the city said to him: ‘if it is your wish not to speak of some innovation, I am prepared to tell you of an innovation of mine if you have the ability to grasp these things.’ He said nothing, but he nodded with his head as if to say: ‘let my Lord speak, because I will hear it.’ So the Rabbi began to speak of his innovations, and sharply articulated a casuistry, as was the custom of the Rabbis in that area to do in those days. And the Rabbi of the city thought that certainly he would immediately engage him in the matter at hand, and the guest would try to respond with something, either positively or negatively. Rather, he sat and paid very close attention, and when the Rabbi finished what he was saying, he was silent and said nothing.

When the Rabbi saw that he was not going to open his mouth and not say even a single thing, he got very angry. Out of anger he said to him: ‘maybe these things are difficult for you, and you do not understand them yet, accordingly, I will make the effort to repeat them, and to review them for you to hear.’ He answered and said: ‘why does my Lord choose to exert himself so? Here, I am going to repeat what he said, and I will review his words just as he said them.’ And so, as though in the middle of a conversation, he began to recite the things, and to alter them by way of summarizing them, as was his way. And even though he did not add anything new, the Rabbi nevertheless understood from what he said, that his speaking had been absorbed with a clear filter, making use of few words the essence of his sharp casuistry, and that he was a great man. Then his feelings relaxed, and from that hour on, he was treated with respect.

[Page 181]

And he spent all the days of Passover at his house, and at the end of Passover, he still lodged there, and early in the morning he arose and went on his way. And when the Rabbi entered his bedroom in the morning, he found a list of the foods that the Gaon had eaten at the Rabbi's house during Passover together with money to pay for all of his consumption during the Festival.

The method of educating the Jewish children in the city where I was born was strictly traditional. When I was about 4-5 years old, the head of education took me, along with other children, to the Heder. Sholom the Melamed taught us the alphabet, how to read the Shema, and recite blessings. After some days had passed, I was in the class of my Melamed Joseph Elazar who taught me the Pentateuch. This Heder was beside the Old Garden. My father was secular, and the Rabbi came to visit him while he was ill, and occasionally would propose a medicine. Two years later, I transferred to learn with the Melamed Getzl. We studied the Pentateuch there, but with Rashi commentary, and also Gemara. They began, as is understood, with the portions of HaMafkid and Eylu Metziot and also the tractate of Kiddushin^[1], and chapters of both the Psalms and Proverbs. Periodically, an inspector would be sent by the government, who found some shortcoming in the Heder, and decreed it should be shut down. When this happened, the Rebbe would gather his students to the house of one set of parents and continue teaching. When I was seven years-old, children were required to also attend the government school, according to the law of compulsory education in force at that time. This matter put a heavy burden on Jewish education. Every boy got up before dawn to attend the Polish school in the morning, and in the afternoon, studied at the Heder until evening. When I was ten years-old, I studied at the Heder of Shmuel of Brody, which was opposite the Bet HaMedrash. We studied sections of the Talmud such as Meytav Sadeyhu in Baba Kama. An exceptional student would be brought by the Rebbe on the Sabbath before the Wise Jewish men of the city, and the student would review the Mishna he was studying and was treated to fruit for the Sabbath. A year later I ceased my studying, both at the Heder and the government school, because my parents did not have the means to pay the tuition. Having no other option I circulated among the students at the Bet HaMedrash. Slowly but surely, I became accustomed to studying a page of the Gemara by myself. As for the rest of the subject matter, I got help from older boys who were going to take tests. During this time, I became friends with my classmate Yitzhak Tzimerman, and his big brother Reuben, who inculcated us with Torah in the course of two years. From him we learned Yoreh Deyah and Khoshen Mishpat, and we read through a number of Talmud tractates in a theoretical sense.

Apart from the Talmud and its commentaries, we studied the Book of Job with deep interest along with the Malbim commentary, and the Mishna of Tiferet Israel, in the evenings at sunset in the Bekarim Synagogue.

Life went on without any great problems, and life-threatening crises did not assault us. I recall a gathering of the youth of the Bet-HaMedrash beside the Great synagogue, active in the establishment of the HaShakhar movement. The founder of the movement was Mr. Frankel from Zhuszow, and comrade Moshe Glinsker participated in the group as well as others. This was the last spark before the flame of learning Gemara was extinguished.

[Page 182]

In 5667 (1907) I left Zolkiew and went to Lvov. Miraculously, I was able to settle in the city, until the idea arose within me to make aliyah to the Land of Israel. I went to Dr. Hosman to obtain information on how to arrange for the travel through Vienna, and he asked me, was I thinking, God Forbid, of using this to avoid service in the Austrian army? He was a faithful deputy-officer to his homeland. On my way to The Land, I visited Dr. Yehoshua Tohun in Krakow, who addressed me in front of his brother Dr. Yaakov Tohun, the manager of the Israeli office in Jaffa, and I was sent to experience the KK”L^[2] at Bet-Shemen. However I was not accepted for this work. And as was the case with all the workers, they were concerned about sending me to work in the orchards of Petakh Tikvah.

I was compelled to return to Poland to Zolkiew in 1913 due to the situation at that time; Jewish youth were supposed to enlist for military service. These young men would walk around as if they were ascetics of a sort, unfit to serve, and then gather in the Bet-HaMedrash, and lift up heavy benches, tire themselves out, and walk around at night as though they were Lusniki setting up in the late hours of nighttime, dancing walks to the courtyard of the Rebbe of Belz etc. Despite all of this, I was taken into the army as a private to serve ten weeks in the Legion of Peace in a fortress, the Citadel of Lvov.

In the winter of 5674 (1914) peace and tranquility still reigned in the world, and specifically so in Zolkiew. People did not think about turmoil or conflict, and their hearts did not augur that bad things would happen. On one occasion, as I was taking one of my walks in the municipal garden of Zolkiew, my friends Yitzhak Tzimerman and Zimeles ran into me, and they told me the news that the Archduke Franz-Ferdinand was assassinated by a student in Sarajevo. It was clear to me that a war was beginning to draw close. I left the city on my way back to Lvov. I ran into Tuvia David, standing on the threshold of his house in the suburb of the city, the Lemberger Vorstadt, and he told me that it was possible to cross the border. However, I was caught as a result of being informed on, and I was drafted into the Austrian army at the outbreak of the war with Italy, and I was sent to the front. When I had been in the Army about two years and after I had been wounded beside the Pava River in Italy in January 1918, I went through a variety of hospitals in Innsbruck, Prague, Kharkov and came to the city of Zamosc, from which I was temporarily discharged. I stopped coming to Zolkiew about two months before the end of the war.

I recall the tour, arranged by the Zionists in Lvov, through the streets of that city. At a rather large public assembly, a Ukrainian spoke, and promised independent autonomy to the Jews of Galicia. But immediately a war broke out between the Poles and the Ukrainians and they inflicted pogroms on the Jews of Lvov. A corps of Polish soldiers reached us, and for several weeks stillness reigned, but it seems that no sufficient strength was left in the city, and on one clear day the Ukrainians attacked. I was in the LaB'karim Synagogue and the campaign was abandoned in the carnage of the stores facing the court building. The Poles retreated and the Ukrainians seized the rulers. Terrifying days came upon us. Men were seized from their houses to work on fortifications, and the soldiers went wild. In one gathering that took place in the Bet HaMedrash all streams of the city participated, from Haredim to Zionists. When asked the question of one's orientation, whether to lean towards the Poles or the Ukrainians, a conversation took place among the Judge Fish, Mr. Apfel from the Zionists, and Hanoch Lieberman from the Haredim. The situation was still uncertain, but it looked like we were destined for a Jewish Ukrainian fate, unless a pronounced reversal in the struggle between the Poles and Ukrainians developed and the Polish army overran Eastern Galicia and established a Polish government. At the outset, there were incidents of pogroms by the soldiers of General Haller ימ”ש who would tear elderly Jews from the streets, but very, very slowly, life returned to its usual way and was put back in its place.

Translator's footnotes

1. The reader will see a number of references here to chapters in the Talmud, or to related books of Holy Writ. Return
2. The Anglicized acronym for Keren Kayemet L'Israel, known more commonly as the Jewish National Fund. Return

[Page 183]

I left Zolkiew in 1929, and I will recall several things that took place years ago.

In 1908, the city was privileged to be graced with the presence of the writers, Brenner and Schufman. They had to learn the principles of the Haskalah in secret and out of sight, you understand, because they were the sons of good people and Hasidim, but they found the way.

On one Sabbath occasion at the time of the reading of the Torah, the reading was delayed. R' Leib Deutscher, the First Gabbai, and R' Ze'ev Lichter, the Second Gabbai, spoke, and lectured with criticism against the danger toward which the youth were heading. They said: ‘Dear friends. The fires of Gehenna have been lit around us, and our children, our beloved youth, read the sort of books that are treyf-possul. They go to the Zionist Society and listen to the speeches of Dr. Tzipper (from Lemberg - Lvov), and we must come up with suggestions as to how we can get ahead of this evil.’

In looking back at those years, we have to be thankful that there were precious Jews. R' Berisz Orlander, of the Zhidiczow Kloyz, was a wondrous scholar. His uncle, R' Baruch Stein, was one of the prominent balebatim of Kloyz of Zhidiczow, a wealthy man and a Maskil among his people even prior to a jubilee of years. His brother R' Nissan Stern, led services in the Kloyz for many years.

And here is a fact. My father took me to the Simchat Beyt HaShoeva for the daughter of R' Nissan Stern, which was attended by the worshipers at the Kloyz of Zhidiczow. They drank honey mead in order to bless the cup and to fulfill the mitzvah of pouring water, and then separated themselves with song and dance almost to the time of reciting the morning Shema of the Shacharit service. And there was a young man there, R' Joseph Deutscher, a righteous and honest man. R' Joseph Deutscher came up close to R' Nissan Stein, put his hand on his shoulder, kissed him, and said: ‘R' Nisse'leh let us go to the mikva. We will make an ablution in its waters and weep bitterly until the Messiah comes.’

Zolkiew was a fortified city from within. High, thick walls surrounded the city from all points of ingress, and each of them had a watchtower with steeples. The entrance and egress from the city took place through several gates. When the city was expanded from having only one street to many, it no longer used these fortifications, The walls and their gates and steeples were abandoned. Only a sliver of the fortified wall encompassing two gates and a number of their towers remained until our time. These are the historical remnants of the city. The slice of the wall that was left forms a stone gate for the garden of the castle in the city. There are remains of the gate of Zvizhnicki (Zwierzniecka Brama) in a different section of the wall that is on the southeast side, where according to legend, Czar Szuisky, who had surrendered to the King of Poland, was jailed.

[Page 184]

A general view of Zolkiew

The royal castle was damaged during the generations, but was repaired to an almost completed state to this day. The Latin inscriptions on its windows were clearly etched and still visible. A variety of institutions settled there in the last years, such as the Municipal Court, municipal offices, the municipal gymnasium, and a prison in one of the towers on the northwest side of the castle. The windows of the jail looked out on a municipal garden park. The voices of the prisoners burst through the bars and infiltrated the fresh air and the base of the enchanted garden, and vanished among the rustling of the leaves and chirping of the birds.

[Page 185]

The most popular place in the city, with the most character, was known by the name Rynek Królewski. It was a wide space, almost four-sided, and surrounded on all sides by many different kinds of buildings. Roads went out in eight directions from it, to eight of the most important and well-known streets in the city, and to the principal entrance to the royal castle. This square appears to have been used for demonstrations and military marches during public celebrations during the reign of King Sobieski. In our day, the ‘Rynek’ served mostly as a center of commerce, with two-storey buildings supported in their middle section by columns, the Arcadia, remnants of architecture of earlier periods. Jewish residents of the city called these arcades, potchineh. They were called podcienie^[1] in Polish.

Stores were located under the arcades that ran along the full length of the buildings. Almost all of the stores were owned by Jews. Opposite the entrances to the stores and alongside them were Jewish vendors in their stalls, who would announce their wares in loud voices, calling out the virtues of their goods for sale. Christian farmers from the surrounding villages came to sell their agricultural products in the middle of the square a few times during the week, and at the same time, they made purchases in the Jewish stores. A number of times during the year, at set dates, a ‘Bazaar’ and an annual Yarid^[2] was held in the square. On the days of these fairs, the whole space of the Rynek filled up with wagons hitched to horses. During winter fairs the winter wagons, senki, were also hitched to horses. Most of the farmers came from the surrounding area, but some also came from some distance to sell their agricultural products. Cattle were bought and sold in a different place outside of the city center. Also the Jewish merchants who were residents of the city, and those that came from outside the city, especially from Lemberg (Lvov) and towns, which from an administrative standpoint, belonged to the Zolkiew province, such as Kulikovo and Mosty-Wielki, set up their stalls in every free corner in the square. Their merchandise consisted mostly of decorated textiles, gilded, and silvered, as well as various forms of drink. The Bazaar Day contributed a great deal to the economy of the city by increasing incomes for the city residents, and substantially so for the Jewish merchants. This Bazaar took place from the early morning hours until late at night.

There were a number of times when Christian city managers intended to cancel this commerce in the royal square and transform the square into a place for pleasure gardens and areas for growing vegetables. But thanks to the involvement of the Jewish officials in the city council, this decree was deferred each time, and it was in this way that the earnings of the Jews of the city were rescued from a potential decline. After the annexation of the city to Soviet Russia, after the Second World War, the plan to implement the planting of a public garden in the square was apparently realized, seeing that there was no longer any need to be concerned about the income of the Jews.

The Jews of the city obtained their water supply from wells that were located in many yards, but at the end of the 19^th century, a fountain pool was created by the city in one part of the Rynek to supply water. The water flowed to this fountain from the familiar, belink fountain that was located in the mountains of the city forest called the Re'i. The fountain also provided water to a number of pools in the corners of the city. Water carriers divided up the water each morning and delivered it to the residents. The fountain of water that was in the center of the city, more accurately stated, in the front of the castle, was created out of a pool that was surrounded by a railing. A large statue of the Holy Mother, adorned by a splendid tiara, stood In the middle of the pool. This statue was lit up during the holidays. There were four pipes connected to the four sides

[Page 186]

of the pool at the feet of the statue from which the water streamed ceaselessly day and night. This water was called schloss wasser (castle water), and was the freshest and coldest and best tasting water in the city.

As previously noted, the space was surrounded on two sides by buildings containing stores. The other two sides were filled with historic buildings, including the royal castle and the Fahrah Catholic Church. This was a gigantic church built in the form of a cross, in which all of the interior walls were covered in marble, a rare thing in those times. Large oil paintings by noted artists looked down from the interior of these walls. These pictures portrayed the battles fought by the founder of the city, Hetman Stanislaw Zolkiewski, and the descendants of the King Jan III Sobieski. Another was a portrayal of the Poles' fight against the Ottoman Turks in 1620, in which the founder of the city, Stanislaw Zolkiewski, died a hero's death in battle. The coffins of the founder of the city and that of his wife, his daughter and the family of her husband Danielewicz, were interred in the church. There are statues of the founder of the city, his wife, his son and daughter beside the church altar. Following the request of the mother a sentence in Latin was carved into the statues in gold: ‘We hope that from our bones an avenger of our death will rise up.’ This prayer became a reality in 1683 when the Polish King, Jan III Sobieski, the great-grandson of Zolkiewski, the founder of the city, defeated the Ottoman Turks at the gates of Vienna, the capital of Austria^[3].

Opposite the church entrance stood a giant red Turkish flag with a crescent moon and star in yellow. King Jan III Sobieski seized the flag in a battle against the Ottoman Turks during the Turkish siege of Vienna. A small marble topped table stood beside the flag, and on it was a copper coffee urn that, in its day, was the personal property of the Turkish Vizier, and was brought here by King Sobieski. The graves of the Zolkiewski family are in the church cellar. The ashes of the Hetman, Zolkiewski, are in a marble casket. The following statement is carved on the entry door to the grave: ‘How good and pleasant it is to die for the mother country.’ In a different location, the following words were carved: ‘At a place where the flock fell, let the shepherd also fall.’ These writings served as an educational challenge for generations of school students, who periodically visited the church. A statue of King Jan III Sobieski stood in the wide space in front of the church, with the following words carved on it: ‘to the King Sobieski, protector of the nation and Christianity.’

A part of the castle that is outside the walls appears to have served as the wing of a barracks for the king's guard. It was destroyed hundreds of years ago, restored anew, and a tall watchtower was built on it which housed some city offices. The building was called Ratusz. Every day at 12 o'clock in the afternoon, the city fire-fighters blew trumpets towards the four roads of the city from this tower. The castle itself, a square building, surrounded by thick and high walls with watchtowers at all of its corners, took up a very large area. The tallest tower was found over the primary gate of entry. The inner buildings abutted the wall, and because of this a large yard was created inside. These structures stood neglected for generations and became historical artifacts for visitors to see. In our time, the buildings were refurbished and improved in appearance, and served the use of a variety of municipal institutions.

[Page 187]

As previously stated, eight streets emanated from the central Rynek. Ul. Bazylia Ska, was a short and narrow street on which there were a number of Jewish and Christian owned stores. A Ukrainian store known as Soyuz, a supply store established by Ukrainians to compete with the Jewish stores, was on this block. This store was managed by the people of Undu (A.N.D.) an independent Ukrainian organization that worked against Polish rule. The Ukrainians also established an initiative against making purchases from Jewish stores. At the edge of this street was the Greek-Orthodox Bazyliani Church and a Ukrainian printing shop further along. There were steps that led up to a hill on which the children of the city would use for their small winter sleds. The suburb of Vynnyky lay north of these steps and it shared a boundary with the fields outside the city.

The second street: ul. Piekarska (the bakers' street), was a long street, inhabited entirely by Jews on one side in one-storey buildings. The entrance to houses on the street beyond the descent of the hill was accomplished by stairs. There were three synagogues on this street, one of which was one of the large and new buildings of the city, called the Belz Kloyz, the Yeshiva of Belz. The voices of young men emanated from the Kloyz-Yeshiva day and night, along with the melodies that accompanied their study of Torah and Gemara, and a light shone in this synagogue for the entire night. These Yeshiva students had a unique way of dressing. They wore long black kapotes, skull caps on their heads and long sidelocks adorned their faces. Another synagogue was Die Lubeler Kloyz. This synagogue was a long, narrow corridor. It served as a Heder for the study of Torah during the week, led by the melamed called Mitch'eh Melamed. Almost every Jewish young man attended at least one semester with the teacher, Mitch'eh Melamed, who inculcated Torah in the Jewish children with a kanchik (a discipline rod) that never left his hand. This synagogue had an amazing part to it in which the Fogel family lived. At the edge of the street, there was an alley where the Zhidiczow Kloyz was located. This was a unique structure, not large, but it had many worshipers who were prominent in the city. During the 1930s, the name of this street was changed to the I. L. Peretz Street, following the proposal of the Jewish Parnassim of the city on the municipal council, in honor of the highly regarded author.

The synagogue street, ulitsa Boznica, led to the bakers' street. The two-storey houses on this street comprised the commercial center of the city where one would find stores for textiles, building supplies, leather goods, decoration items, and several stalls for the sale of vegetables and fruits. In a number of these houses, the owners and families were engaged in retail businesses, such as making brushes, ropes, hats, etc. The Great Synagogue was at the end of ulitsa Boznica. It was erected with the permission of King Jan III Sobieski, during his reign, in 1687. The Great Synagogue was built like a fortified barbican and was famous throughout Poland. There was another house of prayer near the Great Synagogue. This two-storey building was called the Bet-HaMedrash and also served as a lodging place for all of the poor of the city, including water-carriers. It was here that those who worshiped at the Great Synagogue would invite guests for lunch on the Sabbath. The bathhouse, which included a ritually built mikva, was behind the Great Synagogue. Despite the primitive trappings of this bathhouse it accommodated an important community segment, and it was there that the Rabbi and most of the residents of the city would flock to on Friday, to enjoy the famous shvitz, which cured all ills.

The Great Synagogue was a gigantic building, full of grace and majesty, and the pride of the Jews. It was built in the shape of a fortified square supported by internal and external pillars and could be seen from all points in the city. The Synagogue served as a defensive fortress, built to withstand and defend against an enemy that might penetrate the gates of the city. A high railing was built on the rook with low points and openings to accommodate the cannons and watchtowers that were built at each of its four corners. The building stood in the center of two-storey buildings at the behest of the King Sobieski in

[Page 188]

order to shield the synagogue from the street. These buildings had entry gates that led to the center of the synagogue and to the upper floors which also served as a prayer place for the women, Ezrat Nashim. The ground floor had a cellar which served as a geniza for shamot, discarded sacred writings. In the dividing wall that separated the women's area and the large prayer hall, there were windows through which one could hear the praying of the congregation below..

Whoever entered the synagogue had a beautiful and spectacular view revealed before his eyes, all of which spoke of reverence and holiness. The front of the Synagogue, which underwent a thorough inspection, was renovated during the term of the Gabbai, Yehuda Harbester.

The beautiful frescoes at the top of the columns which supported the ceiling were renovated. The walls were covered with images that were faithful to themes drawn from the sayings in the Tanakh and the Talmud. The eastern wall was especially beautiful. There, by the stairs leading up to the Holy Ark, was a copper menorah. On the top of the Ark was a painting of the Leviathan, holding his tail in its mouth, and would be liberated, according to legend, only at the time when the Messiah will come. The ceiling of the Synagogue was supported by four pillars in the center of the hall, and it was in this way that the hall was divided into nine equal sections. The Bima (Belemer) was placed in the center of four columns, reached by two sets of stairs from two sides which led up to it. A table stood at the center of the Bima used for the reading of the Torah portion of the week. A section of leather was spread on the table, such that when it was struck, the sound could be heard throughout the synagogue. This striking of the leather was meant to orient the attention and focus of the worshiper, to center themselves on prayer or to be prepared to listen to the reading of the Torah.

The Bima was surrounded by an iron gate etched in a religious fashion. Benches were set in place in the hall, with stands for prayer. A white eagle was drawn on the eastern wall with a crown on its head, a symbol of the country of Poland. In the ceiling were copper chandeliers hung from copper chains in honor of the lighting of the candles. One chandelier beside the eastern wall served as an eternal light. This synagogue was used only on the Sabbaths and Festival Holidays, the synagogue hall was closed during the regular days of the week. A small minyan prayed in one of the side rooms called the Rashi Shtibl. The Synagogue was occasionally used for gatherings for memorial services, for example as the memorial service on 20 Tammuz, the Yahrzeit of Theodore Herzl. It also served for a Zionist assembly on the occasion of the opening of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, (without permission from the government) when the international Zionist flag fluttered from its walls. During the 1920s, the synagogue street was called ul. Sobieski.

The Turyniecki Place spread out north of the synagogue. This was where farmers from the surrounding area congregated during the time of the fairs. Various entertainment groups of all kinds pitched their tents there. Among them were the first motion pictures that reached the city, the circus, and carousels. A different square bordered on the fortified wall which surrounded the Dominican monastery. The fire-fighters flag fluttered in this square, which also served as a location for carrying out a variety of fire drills. The tower served as a place for play and for climbing to heights for the children of the city. Another square was the center for the carriages belonging to the extensively-branched Wolf family. These carriages served the populace in all manner of transportation around the city. Jews lived at the beginning of ulitsa Turyniecka, but there were only Christians at the end. A few Jewish families lived in the nearby village of Turynka, which was populated almost entirely by Christians. Pl. Turyniecki served as part of the ghetto created by the Nazis, for Zolkiew Jewry.

Lvov Street (ulitsa Lwówskai) was the principal street in the city. It was on this street that the youth of Zolkiew took their pleasure strolls, especially in the evenings. Adults took walks on this street on Sabbaths, both going and coming, and they used to say: ‘we are measuring the street.’ Jewish youth confined their contact to other Jews, because Christian youth walked this street as well. This street served as the main course of

[Page 189]

the city. There were both Jewish and Christian stores on this street, but mostly there were institutional buildings. Municipal offices and the city police were in a two-storey building at the beginning of the street. During the 1930s the city offices moved to its new site, the Ratusz, which was located in the historic Kazamtim building. After the municipal offices left Lvov Street, the Jews were able to obtain permission to use the former offices, and opened a Jewish cultural meeting place, called Kultur Verein. Young people and adults met there to discuss the issues of the day, to read newspapers, to borrow books from the library of the organization, and to find out about possible get-togethers with other comrades.

Further down on this street was a two-storey building, called ‘pudsienies’ in which the offices of the council of the Jews of Zolkiew were located. The council met for meetings, occasionally open to the public, in one of the building halls. Beside the Kultur Verein building was a narrow street, ulitsa Krawiecka, the Tailors' Street, populated by Jewish craftsmen, such as tailors, tinsmiths, locksmiths, shoemakers, umbrella makers, etc. Past the arcade buildings on the Lvovska Street was a church on ulitsa Turyniecka. This was the large and magnificent Church of the Dominicans where the townsfolk received honored guests, such as the Catholic Archbishop. The residents of the city received him, as was their custom, with bread and water, the Jews, with a Torah scroll. After the Archbishop heard the various blessings, he kissed the Torah scroll. This was a very important occasion which contributed to the worth of the Jews in the city, a perspective that echoed and spread in the vicinity, and served as personal encouragement to the Jews for a long time.

Close to the Dominican church on Lvovska Street was a three-storey building facing two centers. One was to ulitsa Berko Joselowicza. This building served as an elementary school in which Jewish and Christian children learned together but had gender separation. Most of the pupils were Jewish, and the teachers were all Christians, except for the religion teacher, Mr. Waltuch, an assimilated Jew. Next to this school was a church on ulitsa Niezabitowska. This block, populated by Jews and Christians together, was a long and narrow street

[Page 190]

with wooden sidewalks, parallel to the Lvovska Street. The houses were small, but the house of the family of Shmuel Katz stood out. Opposite and down from the elementary school was a street called ulitsa Berko Joselowicza, named for a Jewish hero who fought in the Polish war of independence in the 19^th century. There were many empty lots on this street, and the office of the well-known dentist, Dr. Tirk. He was an unmarried, old and infirm, Jewish man, but good-hearted, who did good deeds. Continuing along the street, there was a building that housed the Union of Christian Craftsmen, Gwiazda (Star). There was a large hall in this building which was made available to the Jews to put on plays, but especially for bands that came from outside the city. A variety of celebratory events were held in this hall such as balls, festivals and weddings. Opposite the Gwiazda building was the saloon of Mr. Brod, where the city youth occasionally gathered for balls and dances. This street ended at a corner of ulitsa Lanikiewica.

The community considered the condition of the Talmud Torah in the city to be in poor shape. It was run down. The education level was pedagogically and spiritually low, the curriculum foundation was unsettled, and sanitary conditions, as was the case in ordinary Heders, were very bad, suffering from considerable neglect. The town's sanitation inspectors came each Monday and Thursday to inspect the condition of cleanliness in the school. This was not done with the intent of fixing it, but here and there, they closed a Heder for a period of time and in this way caused an interruption of Torah study. It was only after efforts were made to clean up the building that they would open it again. In general, the government cast a stern eye on these Heders because of the boycott of the government schools by the Haredim who refused to let their sons attend there.

From ulitsa Berko Joselowicza, we entered ulitsa Szpitalna. Its name apparently came from the fact that the hospital was found at the edge of this street. This was a narrow street, parallel to ulitsa Lwowska, with wooden sidewalks, held up by two wide boards like on ulitsa Niezabitowska. Only Jews lived on this street, and there were a number of shops, carpentry, shoemaking, and especially shops for working with fur. During the 1930s the street was named after the familiar city doctor, Dr. Muszket. Following on to ulitsa Lwowska, past the elementary school, there were one-storey houses with ornamental gardens, and orchards of trees in their centers and two rows of chestnut trees along the length of the street. The family of the well known Rabbi Rabinowitz lived in one of the houses. Near the Rabinowitz home was a simple prayer house, a place where his Hasidim worshiped. Even the progressive youth were in the habit of coming to the house of the Rabbi on the evening of the Seder to hear his recitation of the Passover Haggadah. On the second side of the street was the Christian Order of the Women of Plicianki. A small church and residential houses comprised the monastery, and most of the nuns taught in the monastery's school. This was a school for the daughters of exclusive families. Even strictly observant Jews preferred to send their daughters to this school. At the edge of ulitsa Lwowska was a large suburb which was called Die Lemberger Verstadt, and from here the principal road began, leading to the city of Lvov. There were tens of Jewish families that lived here. There were factories for production of oil belonging to the families of the Melmans, Patrontacz and Reitzfeld, a large inn belonging to the Indyk family, and the wood warehouses of Britwitz and Tauba of the Mendl family. One of his sons, David Tuviahu, was the first leader of the city of Beersheba.

An orphanage for children from the surrounding area was erected on the same street. The orphanage was headed by the Radsa,^[4] Ignacy Fish, and a number of other city dignitaries, whose goal it was to keep the orphans occupied and also to provide them with a professional education. A trade school was founded in the same building for sewing, and weaving, serving as a branch of the trade schools for girls founded by Mrs. Klaftin from Lvov. Female orphans and daughters from various sections of the city learned there. There was a large hall in the orphanage with a stage and red curtain. The hall was used for various assemblies, and as a theater to present plays by the Zolkiew dramatic group, founded by Meir Melman. Bands from outside the city and bands made up of members of the workers' union and city craftsmen also performed in this hall. The hall served as a focal point for culture for the annual Purim and Hanukkah balls. Revenues from these balls were dedicated to Keren Kayemet. Even the Zolkiew academics arranged balls in the hall, and an occasional wedding took place there as well. Not far from the orphanage, and after Die Lemberger Verstadt, the built up portion of the street ended with two Christian cemeteries. The old cemetery was closed, and the second was allocated to two of the Christian communities. The soldiers who fell in battle during the First World War were interred there.

The Lanikiewicza Street with the Zwierzyniecki gate

The street, ulitsa Zwierzyniecka, began at the Zwierzyniecki gate, one of the two gates that remained from the ancient wall that fortified the city. On this side street, in the area where a part of the old wall was preserved, there were small, but pleasant houses belonging to the families of Jonah Shapiro, Fishl Hammerling and Nathan Apfel. The

[Page 191]

Landau family also erected a new, large, building. On one side of this street, the passage led to the Rynek, Faszh Zuvl, named for the Zuvl family.

The entrance to ulitsa Lanikiewicza was through the Zwierzyniecki gate, or the road near the gate. The tallest and largest building of the city, the Finance Directorate, stood out on this street. There was a barracks and a row of two-storey houses along the length of the street that served the Austrian, and later, the Polish armies. Between these houses was an expansive building, the Reitschule, a school for the cavalry branch of the army. At the edge of these houses was a giant house, inhabited by Count Kinskiand. At one time the Count Kinski, a close relative of the Austrian Kaiser Franz Joseph I, lived here. Opposite the directorate was a small quad belonging to the Countess Kalinowska. Kalinowska was a famous family in Polish history. In the middle of the quad was the building used by the city newspaper. Nearby, long streets fanned out. Batteries, built by the king, now bolster the wall and its columns, and have remained in the municipal garden, Wali-Królewskie since the days of Zolkiewski and Sobieski. Garden parties, bazaars, and festinyny^[5] were held in this garden, and the revenues generated were dedicated to Keren Kayemet, Keren HaYesod, and sometimes to help out the pioneers (halutzim) who made aliyah to the Land of Israel. Old men and women rested in this garden after work, enjoying fresh air and conversations with friends. A beautiful building stood at the south entrance of the garden which served as a sports arena for the Polish school, the Sokol (The Hawk), and contained a variety of sports equipment. The building was constructed in the ancient Greek style with impressive columns in its center. There were presentations by Christian and Jewish bands in the hall of the Sokol. Movie pictures were shown here several times a week. A memorial was erected to the Unknown Soldier of the First World War at the entrance to this building, among its flowers and bushes.

The ‘Sokol’ Building, the Christian Sports Center, that also included an Entertainment Hall

[Page 192]

There was a sports field for the city's three soccer teams in the area of the Targowica. One team, Lubicz, consisted of a mix of Christians and Jews. This team was strong enough to compete in games with the surrounding towns, including the capital city, Lvov. One of the more popular players on the team was the guard, Hank Wachs, son of the well-known Dr. Wachs. The second team, named Khashmonaeh (Hasmoneans), was composed of only Jewish players and organized by the academic youth. The third team, Nordia, was organized by the BETAR youth. Yekhiel Rapaport, a well recognized team member who represented the spirit of this team, occasionally appeared as a guest player in the Maccabi team of Lvov. The soccer players of Zolkiew were very popular and attracted hundreds of Jewish and Christian spectators to the sports field during competitions.

The railroad street, ulitsa Kolejowa, was one of the nicest and cleanest streets in the city. It served as a gathering place and a spot for relaxation for the citizens of the city, who came to rest in the shadow of the redolent trees. Wooden sidewalks and paths ran for the full length on both sides of the street. New buildings were constructed only on one side of the street and were surrounded by pretty, well-tended gardens. Most of these residences were inhabited by Christian families who were generally part of the local intelligentsia, lawyers, doctors, judges, government appointees and military officers.

Engineer Lichtenberg's family villa on the railroad street

Ulitsa Glinski was the last of the eight streets that led to the Rynek square. A road originated from this street that led to the nearby village of Glinski, from which the name of the street is derived. One entered the street by way of the gate nicknamed Brama Glinska, one of two gates dating back to the fortified wall that protected the city. This was a wide gate, with three statues with images of heads on its top. Beneath the statues is an insignia of the royal Sobieski family. At the side of the gate, a strong steel chain was pitched into the ground, apparently part of the chains that were used at one time to raise or lower the bridge over the river that flowed close to the wall. This river, called the Swinia (Pig), divided the city of Zolkiew in half. This was a small river and not particularly deep, but during the season when the snow thawed, there were days where one could not cross along its sides. The bridge over the river, close to the Glinski gate, was the largest and strongest bridge among the five bridges that crossed the river in the middle of the city.

Brama Glinski was the longest street in the city. On one side was only a sidewalk for pedestrians, lined with high trees. At the beginning of the street was a barracks for the Polish army and the sixth cavalry unit. Most of the residents on this road, up to the crossroad that led to the village of Wola Wysocka, were Ukrainian Christians. There was a barrier, Rugtka, that was raised only after the payment of a tax fee to the city, used to fortify the roads for all vehicular traffic that came into the city. The tax was paid during several decades and was collected by the Jewish Schlusser family, who lived close to the barrier. Many Jewish families lived in the direction of the village from this barrier. An independent Jewish suburb was developed there with stores, workshops and also its own synagogue. This suburb was known by the name Die Glinsker Verstadt. There was a glass factory further along the length of the street. During the 1930s, members of a training group of HeHalutz Dror were able to find work in this factory which was located near their base. After a time, the name of the street was changed from ulitsa Glinski to ulitsa Pilsudski. There were other small and narrow streets, alleys and overpasses that served no particular purpose.

Translator's footnotes

1. An Italianate architectural feature of a structure. For more details see ‘The Zamosk Memorial Book.’ Return
2. A fair. Return
3. The victory at Vienna set the stage for the re-conquest of Hungary and (temporarily) some of the Balkan lands in the following years by Louis of Baden, Maximilian Emmanuel of Bavaria and Prince Eugene of Savoy. The Ottomans fought on for another 16 years, losing control of Hungary and Transylvania in the process before finally desisting. The Holy Roman Empire signed the Treaty of Karlowitz with the Ottoman Empire in 1699. The battle marked the historic end of Ottoman imperial expansion into Europe. Return
4. Advisor Return
5. Festivals Return

[Page 193]

An ancient house on Zilianska Street

[Page 194]

leaned against each other. They were bent over and sunk deeply into the ground, and so it was very difficult to get close to any of them. The place was untended, and access to the graves was made possible only through very narrow paths. Black, marble gravestones from the Cuker family were prominent at the entrance to the cemetery. This cemetery was available to Jews of the vicinity as well, who transported their dead to be buried in Zolkiew, in wagons drawn by horses.

When the cemetery became full it had to be enlarged. To accomplish this, a parcel of land close to the cemetery wall, acquired from the farmers of Vynnyky, was added to it. As the cemetery grew larger, the gate had to be moved. They would say in the city, in those days, that in the World to Come it was possible to demonstrate justice. The proof was that those, who at one time were buried near the wall (we have lost knowledge of those that died an unnatural death) suddenly found themselves in the middle of the cemetery.

One of the most beautiful areas that surrounded Zolkiew was called the Re'i. This mountain was entirely covered by greenery. At its base were natural fields of grass and groves of trees. While the green color was dominant during the summer, the white snow covered the trees in winter, and bestowed the surroundings with grace and beauty. According to legend, when the Polish King Jan Sobieski visited this place, he was so impressed by its beauty, that he called out: ‘Ho! Re'i^[2]!’ From that time on, the area was called HaRe'i, inferring that it was the Garden of Eden. Roads and paths led to it from all parts of the city. On Sabbaths and Festival Holidays, Jewish people were drawn to this natural park, notwithstanding its distance from the city. Jewish youth held their weekly Sabbath gatherings in this bosom of nature, groups upon groups of pioneering young people would conduct their conversations among the groves. One of the pleasures of HaRe'i and its forest was picking strawberries. Others competed in the collection of konbalyot, which flowers with a strong, pleasant fragrance.

A fountain opened at the foot of the mountain. A circular structure was constructed around it called the Blinik. This fountain served as a source of water that was conducted to the city by pipes, and from there, the water carriers would draw the water and bring it to the homes of the residents. The Blinik was often used as a meeting place for the Jewish youth of the city and other scheduled events. People came to the Blinik to drink the fresh water from the fountain, and to fortify themselves for a stroll through the forest. In the middle of the forest, several kilometers from HaRe'i on the top of the mountain, there was a double row of tall pine trees that had been planted centuries ago. It was said that these trees were planted by King Jan Sobieski himself. This grove was called Sobieski's Avenue, in Polish, and known as The Two Rows of Trees, by the Jews.

[Page 195]

Groups upon groups came to eat and spend time in the forest. A number of houses in which Christian families lived were in this area. In 1908, the author Y. Kh. Brenner lived here. The forest of HaRe'i stretched out for a very long distance, and at its end there were fields of vegetables and a magnificent view.

According to my memories, this is what Zolkiew looked like, a place I left over thirty years ago. This is the way my city was, the place where I was born and in which I grew up, and where my parents' home stood. Bright figures of that time rise in my vision: tranquil residents who earned their living through commerce and labor and Jewish youth organized into movements, full of life and vibrant, planning to make aliyah to the Land of Israel, to fulfill the goals of their lives.

Their lives came to an end as only a few succeeded to flee the inferno. The city of Zolkiew, the sublime city, no longer exists. It was erased from the map, and even its name disappeared, as the Soviet Russian régime gave the area a new name.

With this, let us erect a memorial monument to underscore the memory of the precious martyrs, our parents, brothers and friends. Their memory will never leave our hearts for all eternity.

Translator's footnotes

1. The original text shows this as ‘HARAJ.’ We choose the more pronounceable English version Return
2. Look! See! Return

The ‘Blinik’, a stock of the waters on the Re'i that flowed into the city. (In the picture: Ida Feier)

[Page 196]

afterwards that the Russian commandant of the city, who had received an order to destroy all the signs in the Polish language, ordered the erasure of this Polish sign as well.

The war over the Polish language in Zolkiew caused an unexpected impact on the Yiddish, the language of the Jews. The commandant forbade the use of the Polish language in the various diaries, and on its currency. The heads of the community were dismayed, and did not know what to do. ‘We hear the Russian language spoken – they argued before him – and if not in Polish, which language shall we use to arrange our diaries and letters?’ But you are Jews, and you have the ability to do these documents in Yiddish – the commandant replied.

It was, in this way, that Yiddish became used as a real language in the community.

It was difficult to find Dr. Lander and to arrange a meeting with him, as it was not comfortable for me to visit him in the hospital in which he worked. A pharmaceutical salesman who was the head of the local Jewish first-aid society, helped us to arrange a meeting in the city.

I was very impressed with Lander. Even though he was quite occupied with his work as a doctor, he never avoided the issues that affected the Jewish residents. He traveled to Lvov twice a week in connection with issues connected to the local council and he also visited the remaining Jewish settlements in the area. He worked out a complete schedule of assistance for the Jewish populace in Galicia, provided currency exchange, worked with an assistance committee in Petersburg and Kiev, and demonstrated judicious commitment and dedication in his work. He explained to me in great detail, the details of the dispute he had with Diamant regarding the establishment of a genuine aid committee.

‘We must maintain, with all our might, adherence to the fundamental principle that we have the force to establish a real first aid committee that will be under the supervision of the committees in Petersburg and Kiev. We will then be able to grow and enlarge its work and receive substantial amounts of money. It is necessary to convince Diamant that he should agree to be the Chairman of the committee. This is sorely needed.’

The members of the Uncivilized Division who played a musical instrument and are called ‘Dirina’ – Dr. Lander explained to me – ‘came here yesterday as a large part of the Uncivilized Division, to rest here for a number of days.’

I went outside and saw the following scene. There were fifty or sixty Asian soldiers riding about on small, but strong horses. They were dressed in red Caucasian jackets. One was carrying the ‘Dirina’ insignia in front of him. Two were dancing to the melody of the music behind the whole group. The soldiers' faces were at rest and expressed an inner depth, as if these were military ceremonial dances. Jewish storekeepers, their faces ignited by fear, watched the scene from all directions. Some hurried to close their stores.

The Uncivilized Division fulfilled a very important role in this war. This division contained residents of the Caucasus, Georgians, Chechens, and others. The Commanding Officer of this Division was the Czar's brother, Mikhail Alexandrovich. The soldiers, only half-civilized, did not obey their orders

[Page 197]

and did not take any lip from anyone. They were committed to their Senior Commander with their full hearts and souls and projected a really savage spirit of strength. Along with this, they also excelled at their semi-civilized cruelty when they confronted an enemy and local residents who disturbed the peace, but especially towards Jews. I had the opportunity to hear many stories about their conduct in battle. At the beginning, they completely did not understand why they were not killing the local citizenry.

– ‘Why do we not slaughter all of them? For what reason do we let them live?’ – they would ask.

One officer said that on one occasion he went with twenty Georgians from this Division on a spying patrol. They silently reached the place where the enemy was camped and saw that there were two or three military units present. The officer gave a silent order to the Georgians who came with him, to retrace their steps and go back, but the soldiers demanded an opportunity to fall upon the enemy.

– To assault three units with only twenty men? – the officer asked in astonishment, and it was only by exerting much effort that he got them to turn back.

They were really enraged, and thundered at the officer because of his fear, and demanded that he be taken away from them.

A second officer said that he had in his unit, a father and his two sons. They were Chechens. One day, the unit brought one of the sons back dead. The following day, the second son left his father and went to seek revenge on behalf of his brother. Two days later, he was also brought back dead, and he was cut in pieces. The father did not shed so much as one tear, and uttered nothing about the death of his sons. Rather, he knelt all day and prayed. On the following day he took a spear between his teeth and two revolvers in his hands. He came out of his foxhole and quietly went over the field to the enemy's foxhole. When the enemies in the Austrian foxholes saw this elderly Georgian man walking slowly on the field exposed, they were apparently dismayed. They began to shoot at the old man, but the bullets didn't hit him, and he continued to walk quietly as before, until he reached the foxholes of the enemy, and he leaped in their midst. What he did there, and if he satisfied his desire to exact revenge for his sons who were killed, it is hard to say. However, that night, the Austrians took his cut up body, and placed it on the field with his spear by his side. In this way, the Austrians conveyed their sense of respect for the heroic spirit of the elderly combatant.

In their conduct, there were many instances of heroism besides the inner savagery that beat in their hearts.

One time a group of them penetrated an enemy foxhole. The Austrians threw down their arms, and raised their hands as a sign that they were giving up and turning themselves over into their hands. But the wild men did not accept their intent, nor did they accept their proposal.

[Page 198]

– ‘Why are you throwing your arms away? Why do you want to give up? Shame on you’! They called out loudly. They returned the arms to the soldiers, and compelled them to engage in battle. Of course the savages prevailed, and killed everyone of the enemy soldiers to the last one. But a couple of them were killed as well.

During the capture of an enemy city, the savages thought that whatever they found in the city belonged to them. They plundered everything from the residents, from the thread on their backs to the laces of their shoes.

I left Zolkiew with Lander, and we returned to Lvov together.

Come my brethren, scions of Zolkiew, on a sightseeing tour, with the eyes of our spirit, and on the wings of our memory of the city in which we were born. Let us traverse its streets. Let us take a shortcut through her side-streets and a brief glimpse into the corners of its loveliness.

Will my memory still serve me after having left Zolkiew permanently 37 years ago when I made aliyah to Israel? I periodically visited this city which was so dear to me. I was last in Zolkiew for only two weeks before the outbreak of the Second World War, the war in which we suffered the terrifying annihilation of the Jews of our city.

Where shall we start? I will begin with the Train Station Street, ulitsa Kolyuba. It was a tranquil street with a spectacular view of the new park on the right. Approaching the train station, the street bends in an architecturally attractive view of the houses, around which were two special landmarks. The ancient entry gate on the left was the gate to which all streets converged from four directions: the Train Street, the Rynek, the Mail Street (Lanikiewicza) and the Zoyzhinitska Street, where Nathan Apfel and Jonah Shapiro lived. No gate is configured like this one in all of Israel, not in Tel-Aviv which is 56 years old, and not in Jerusalem which is millennia old. It is possible that one can see something like it among the ruins of Caesarea. Occasionally I stopped and enjoyed looking at the figures in this gate, proud of my Zolkiew, and thinking that not in Rawa Ruska, not in Sokal and not in Mosty'-Veliko, and if I am not mistaken, not in Lvov, were there ancient remains as there were in our city of Zolkiew. Opposite that gate was a road to the barracks and the new park, where there was a kiosk run by an infirm Pole. We would quench our thirst during hot summer days, and some young ones among us would surreptitiously enjoy a cigarette, at this kiosk.

The residents of the Train Street were by-and-large the intelligentsia of Zolkiew: people who were in academic professions or were senior officials and high school teachers, a small number of Jews among them. This street was noisy because of the extensive amount of movement, especially in the evening hours and on the Sabbath days. The promenade was split by the Zolkiew river which was called Szvina, meaning Pig. There were a thousand things for the strollers to do. One could stand on the threshold of its guarding gate, and look out over the river into its still waters with tranquil waves. Whoever wanted to enjoy the natural splendor of Zolkiew in the depths of his heart, went into the park, and walked past the bridge by the circular recreation stalls, which had, written on its walls, sentiments of heartfelt memories in the quiet silence that filled the park. Young and old walked in the park, often filled with various emotions. I occasionally ran into my father in this park, who frequently took pleasure walks, all alone, deep in thought.

[Page 199]

Standing by the path leading to the bridge in the open area, we can see the pearl of the beauty and magnificence of our city, called HaRe'i. How many cities in Galicia have such a place of recreation justifiably called HaRe'i, The Garden of Eden. The roads and paths through HaRe'i began at the train tracks that ran from Zolkiew to Glinski. These roads led far into this lovely forest up to a wrinkled dune where many years ago, Joseph Chaim Brenner, a writer and Hebraicist, was known to relax. When I sank into the depths of loneliness I would flee the city and go to HaRe'i and always find the pleasure of relaxation and rest there, that comes to a man who is alone. HaRe'i was known as the crown jewel of Zolkiew.

The ‘Medurah’ Halutz group in Zolkiew – 1924 Sitting (left to right): Shimon Samet, Nathan Reiss Standing (left to right): Israel Mandel, Joseph Shlitin, Pinchas Halperin, Aryeh Acker, Mordechai Apfel

[Page 200]

The Rynek was the center of the city, a broad piece of land, in the center of which was a well with plenty of fresh water, used by the water carriers (Wasser Tregers) or the ladies who ran the household and came to draw water on their own behalf. The ancient fortress and the government courthouse was located on one side of the Rynek. The municipal gymnasium was located in the yard of the fortress, named for King Sobieski. The other side had a station for the wagons of the farmers who brought their wares for sale from the surrounding villages. It was here that the merchandising part of Zolkiew gathered, carrying out transactions in a mix of Polish and Ukrainian languages. The path leading to the arcade of houses (podcienes) spread out into a network of stores and houses. This open square was the center and heart of the town. Many roads emanated from there to all parts of the city.

The square looked over the Fahrah church, in which we were told, were valuable paintings and religious articles in gold and diamonds. Here, it was possible to cross through the gate to Glinski Street beside the bridge and over the river that quietly coursed into the middle of the park. Then, it was possible to turn to the Bakers' Street (Piekarska) where the Belz Kloyz, the focal point for the Hasidim of Belz, was located. At the edge of the street was a bread bakery, and its aromas of various baked goods penetrated from there to a far distance.

We celebrated Simchat Torah on ul. Piekarska, with performances and the joy of the holiday, where echoes of the singing by the Hasidim burst out with vigor from the Belz Kloyz. The family of Shmuel Shtiller lived here, where a friendly group shared time together on the nights of the Sabbath. On exiting this street, one encountered the architectural giant of the Great Synagogue. The interior and exterior designs were the product of well designed architectural plans. It was a unique structure in the entire surrounding area, a huge building that sated the eyes with its beauty. Worshipers came to this synagogue not only because they were drawn to unite with the Creator of the World, but also because they admired its beauty and the sanctity of the place. As one entered through the central gate into the hall of the Synagogue, you would immediately be seized by a holy sanctity, removed from the feelings of an ordinary day, and your soul was captured. There was a beautiful Bima in the center of the Synagogue, a Holy Ark, pleasing drawings that covered all the walls, stained-glass windows, and stark silence in the hall. One could see piles of discarded pages of prayer books, shamot, through the windows into the cellar.

The Bet-HaMedrash stood across from the Great Synagogue, which in my memory is linked to the deaf Shammes Meir'l, who collected donations for the preservation of this building. The poor and meager kiosk of the Lichter family was also opposite this synagogue. There was soda water, cigarettes and candy to buy, but it was a place for Jewish youth to meet their friends. It was a place where plans were created for the preservation of the Zionist movement of Jewish youth in Zolkiew in general, and HaShomer Ha Tza'ir in particular. The Tzimerman house, which was a location for committee meetings of Torah Sages and Maskilim together, stood by the kiosk. The Tzimerman brothers grew up in this house. Yitzhak Tzimerman now lives in Israel. Above the Tzimerman house, along a narrow and unpaved road, was another house in which the Herman brothers, Hirsch and Isaac Spiegel grew up. They were practically assimilated, and the call of a return to Zion did not reach their hearts. We played in a large yard next to their house. Further up, on Tuviecki Street, there was a house with five steps leading up to its door,

[Page 201]

and to the side, was a window through which you could view watches and jewelry that were sold there by my father. I was born in this house and lived there for several years.

From that house we moved to the Hospital Street which stood beside the Einvahrhaus with an inn for guests, especially for Hasidim who sought lodging and kosher food. His Honor, the Rebbe of Belz, would stay there when he came to visit Zolkiew. Tuviecki Street takes us from the station for wagons, and the tavern at the edge of this place for parking carriages, from the side of the pool (Pumpli) with drinking water, to the length of the way up to the Rynek, and on both its sides facing the kitchen, and the river, to ul. Turyniecka. This was the same Turyniecka Street that began at Hochner's wood storage facility and reached the village of Turynka and Mosty'-Velikii, and from there it was possible to cross over to a square with beautiful, tiny houses, surrounded by decorated gardens in the middle of a narrow street. There, the large and tall church stood leading to ul. Turyniecka. A turn to the right, and a long way down, reaches one of the principal and noisiest streets, ulitsa Lvovska. Two side streets were beside it, one which led in the direction of the Great Synagogue of the Magistrate, which was a municipal building. The prayer house known as Kadeten Schule, where the progressive people prayed, was at that location. They were individuals with pedigrees, and secular, but observant of the Jewish tradition. This prayer-house was the headquarters of the Zionists and during prayer, a lot was spoken about world issues, issues of the Land of Israel, and political Zionism. These people were Mitnagdim, and protagonists of the Hasidim of Belz. Even my father prayed there regularly, and discussed Zionist issues. It was in this prayer house that plans for the election contest were formulated for the community of Zolkiew, for the city, and even the Zionist Congresses. There was a bakery alongside the yard of The Kadeten Schule, and our friend, Zelig Shatz, gave us items from this bakery which belonged to his relative.

The bath and mikva were at the end of this street, in the direction of Turynicka. Ulitsa Lvovska splits into two directions, one to the Rynek, and the second to the road from Zolkiew to Lvov. The Rynek was the center of the street. The store of the Acker brothers not only sold paper and writing materials, but also served as a meeting place for Jewish youth and often was used as a meeting place for educated youth. A more central meeting place was the nearby coffee house of the Wilder sisters, where we would meet for something to eat and drink.

There was a Kultur Verein in the Magistrate, the municipal building, headed by Dr. Shlusser, Dr. Moshe Sobel, Dr. Reuben Tzimerman, Dr. Satran, and others. It was here that the young people who wanted to learn would congregate. They played chess or cards, and arranged a Purim celebration. Shimshom Lifschitz was a sort of administrator of the institution. Saturday nights were dedicated largely to meetings and appearances at the Kultur Verein.

The old garden, Der Alter Wahl, was further up the Zolkiew-Lvov road, with a symbolic kiosk on its right side. Our mothers would stroll for pleasure in this garden on Sabbaths, and discuss things going on in the world. They would talk about their sons, the cost of necessities, about Kashrut and Rabbis, about the sorrow of parting with sons and daughters who had the insanity of Zionism, pioneering, and leaving Zolkiew, penetrate their minds. Our mothers discussed their daughters, weddings and good fortune, and who was traveling or planning to see the Rebbe in Belz in order to request a good luck blessing, and who sent their sons to Lvov to look for a way to make a living.

[Page 202]

The descent from the old garden leads us to the saloon on the way down, opposite the garden. Here, Poles, Ukrainians and Jews guzzled beer, hidden in a dark cloud of cigarette smoke, among a mix of conversation and cursing. Occasionally, anti-Semitism would burst forth.

One could frequently encounter Dr. Benjamin Grill in the old garden. The assimilated Gaon, was wondrously insightful when he poured out stories of wisdom and laughable humor. It was from him that I heard the famous anti-Semitic slur from the head of the city of Vienna: ‘Who is a Jew, I determine alone.’ This slur, which gave him wings, and became a gem in all of Europe, was uttered by the educated anti-Semite as an answer to his challengers: why does he distance himself in a hostile fashion for a Polish Jew, but draws an anonymous Jew to him with affection, without him at all revealing that he is also Jewish.

The large house, Gwiazdna, was on the street near the old garden, Berko Joselevica. On the corner of the hospital was the pleasant house of the dentist Dr. Tirk. The municipal hospital was also located on this same street. Dr. Wachs was the director of the hospital, and Dr. Muszkat, a Christian, was the head surgeon there. It was possible to enter the yard of the Zolkiew Rebbe from this street. This was not an ordinary house of a local Rabbi, rather it was a total Empire that drew most of the Jewish residents of the city to it: those who came to seek advice and wisdom from the mouth of the Rabbi. He succeeded in drawing those far from him to be near, with his power of persuasion, and it is no wonder that even non-Jews sought his advice. An incident occurred once, when a Polish judge found it difficult to rule on a dispute between a Jew and a non-Jew and he came to ask the advice of the Rebbe of Zolkiew. During Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Shavuot and Tisha B'Av, the house of the Rabbi was full and crowded with worshipers. It was not only a residence, but also a synagogue for worship. It was the house of a Rabbi and a Dayan, who dispensed advice, and a remarkably sensitive man when it came to understanding a man's soul and the state of one's suffering. My father would visit the Rabbi's house, and my mother saw him as an Officer of Israel.

The Einfuhrhaus of Filfeld, opposite the Rabbi's house, was a noisy inn, with guests who came from near and far. Both officials and ordinary travelers came with their effects or in wagons loaded down with merchandise. From there, one reached an unpaved square, but full of wagons and cars, coming and going. In recalling the Hausenhaus, we have to recall with trembling honor, the advisor, Fisz, who worked nights like they were days, to develop this wonderful institution. Many orphans found both domicile and protection in this house, and many sons and daughters of the Zolkiew populace and nearby towns, studied a variety of subjects in this place.

Two houses stood at the end of the street. One was the home of the Tauba family, the family of David Tuvia who built Beersheba from nothing, and one of the first of the Halutzim of Zolkiew to have made aliyah to the Land of Israel. The large wood storage facility that was in the yard of the Tauba family was practically the boundary of the city of Lvov, and could be reached by the main road.

The circle of my memories goes round-and-round. My heart is with you, my precious birthplace, Zolkiew. This city has been torn from us for ever and ever, as even its name was erased and is now called Nastorov.

[Page 203]

Zolkiew had its physical fortresses, and in a like manner, the Jews of Zolkiew had fortresses from a community point of view, both fraternal and religious. The Belz Kloyz was an impenetrable fortress of the religious and fanatic Jew. The Kultur-Verein was the fortress of the youth that burst through the walls of the homes of their fathers in search of a cultural and Enlightened life. In the orphanage, Weisen Verein of Radza Fisz, a widely branched work was undertaken in the fields of culture, the drama stage, and learning.

I still remember some outstanding figures of these fortresses. Who can forget R' Henoch Lieberman? His unbounded ardor and uncompromising dedication to the Torah of Moses and Israel displayed a fanaticism that I knew to admire even though we were at a distance from it. And see a miracle, specifically in the family of Henoch Lieberman, a Hasid of the type of the Haredim of Mea Shearim and the Neturei Karta, in the house of his brother, Sholom Lieberman, an ardent Hasid himself and secretly a great ‘Zionist and pioneering plant.’ Once, Nathan Apfel, the Zionist activist of Zolkiew, came to R' Sholom Lieberman to seek advice about a community matter. In the midst of the discussion, R' Sholom thundered at his guest saying that he was poisoning the soul of Jewish youth in the city with his Zionist work. Mr. Apfel replied: ‘You have nothing to worry about, your son is already infected with this poison in a very thorough fashion, and it seems he will not be cured.’ This day, to R' Sholom Lieberman, was a sort of Tisha B'Av. However, the son was not cured. Will we be able to forget the dissemination of culture and loyalty to the theater in our city, by Dr. Reuben Tzimerman, who inculcated Torah and wisdom into the midst of Zolkiew youth, or those that suffused us with an affection for Yiddish theater, like the famous actor Meir Melman? Will we erase from our hearts, the memory of Jonah Shapiro, a community leader, who did not excel in scholarship, but his heart and hand were always open to all the needy, seeking succor and nourishment in their sorrow and distress. The gentiles called him Panie Jonah, My Lord, Jonah, and mocked his Polish, which was fractured at best. But everyone knew that whoever was in need of dire help or financial assistance could turn to him, and he would extend a charitable hand. The social-community activity of Shimshon Lifschitz is recalled the same way.

Zolkiew was a very Zionist city. This became generally known especially during the election days for the community, the town, and even the Sejm, the Parliament. It was mostly the young generation who bore the burden of Zionism, but many of them never realized the Zionist concept of making aliyah to Israel. The older generation primarily did its part for Zionism by making donations to Zionist institutions, arranging Zionist gatherings, and reading such Zionist newspapers as Khoyla and Tageblatt. Zolkiew was considered an outstanding Zionist city by the other cities in Galicia, and the familiar Zionist Galitzianer, Dr. Reich once said that it was possible to depend on Zolkiew from a Zionist standpoint. But there was a very wide gap between the atmosphere and actual Zionist effort to achieve the Zionist goal. Few made aliyah to Israel, and some returned to our city, where it was easier to live, than Israel. The Shomer Ha Tzair movement, which differed from what it is today in Israel, made an important contribution inspiring the youth, but it was not the only one in the array. There were a number of levels along the way in the steps taken by the young generation in their stride toward Zionism. There were leaders to train potential pioneers in the practical implementation of Zionism, who themselves served as models and outstanding examples. We had in our midst, David Tauba, today called David Tuviahu, a pioneering Zionist leader who provided a great deal of inspiration and influence. David is the Halutz who brought the Negev back to life by developing and leading the city of Beersheba. I got to know him among the boards of wood in the storage facilities of his father on

[Page 204]

ul. Lvovska. I came to seek his advice regarding personal training in his father's storage facilities. He proposed that I become involved in agricultural training instead, to condition my body for the future as a working man in Israel. I asked him at that time how I would be able to make aliyah to Israel? His answer was curt. He told me about a book written by the prophet of our generation, Theodore Herzl, with the message: ‘If you will it, it is no longer just a tale with no substance.’ I then joined a training group of agricultural pioneers near Zolkiew, which was headed by the admired female poet, Anda Finkerfeld. Today, she is Anda Amir who lives in Tel-Aviv. David Tauba directed many young people in Zolkiew to realize their role as pioneers in Israel, as he trained himself for this role.

On one cold winter night, an unknown man entered our house, dressed in Polish military clothes, and asked to speak to my father privately. My father consented to his request, and the two of them conversed in whispers. My mother, brothers, my sister Yehudit and I were in a state of fear, suspecting that someone had informed on my father, and he was being arrested by the army.

The members of HeHalutz in Zolkiew – in the year 1926 From left to right: Sitting: Gershon Borer, Shoshana Harbster, Shimon Samet, Saba Borer, Shimon Lifschitz Standing in the first row: Mordechai Apfel, Moshe Berger, Moshe Keifer, Nathan Reiss, Aryeh Acker, Israel Mandel, Joseph Shlitin Standing in the second row: Git'cheh Reitzenfeld, Yitzhak Friedman, Yehudit Samet Sitting at the bottom: Avraham Lichter, Giss'l Sametgarten, Isaac Glazer

There were several people among the assimilated Jewish intelligentsia in Zolkiew who believed strongly in living in the Diaspora. The Polish community was their support, and the Polish language was their language. However, in the depths of their inner souls, in the secret places of their hearts, they had affection for those who longed to leave Poland, and make aliyah to The Land. These assimilated Jews offered help to the Zionists to achieve their dreams. For example, Mrs. Wilder, a noble woman, expressed herself this way: ‘We however, do not see the light in the Land of Israel nor the light of our lives, and our future lies in the new Poland which is ours. But if you have revealed that your salvation is in the faraway places, in the Land of our Fathers, let us be partners in the realization of your dream.’

I close my eyes, and visualize my memories of Zolkiew in the distant past. I see my town, as I walk through its streets before its destruction, and before the Jews were cleaned out.

[Page 205]

I remember the report about Zolkiew in the Yiddish newspaper, Heint, under the headline, Das Romantische Shtetl Zolkiew, written by Joel Mastbaum. He had spent time in our city for a day or two, before the invitation of the Leftist Poalei Tzion, in order to give a talk and meet the young people and other activists. During this short time the people of Zolkiew demonstrated what their town and lives were like, and the report was an honorable one for the scions of our town. And if the city made a good and affectionate impression on the visiting guest, how more so the case was that the city was beloved and treated affectionately by its Jewish residents.

The holiday of Simchat Torah is a holiday suffused with sanctity and unbounded happiness. The holiday made a strong impression on all Jews. Even those who did not directly participate in the festival could feel it in all corners of the city. Whether knowledgeable or not, they enjoyed the happiness that others experienced, and this feeling overflowed throughout Zokiew. I remember the celebrations at the Belz Kloyz, and how the Hasidim, the boys and elderly people danced in a circle, carrying Torah scrolls in their arms during the Hakafot. Their singing did not stop for a minute. This celebration, including vigorous drinking, continued from Shemini Atzeret to the late hours after the holiday ended. The celebrants were not able to get home without help because of their drunkenness, but there was no shame in this: drinking was permitted in honor of Simchat Torah. In the Zibert house, opposite the Belz Kloyz, was a prayer hall called Lubiler Kloyz, where the Hasidim came together to spend the holiday in prayer and dance. In the Great and ancient Synagogue and in the Bet-HaMedrash, the holiday was celebrated by the balebatim and dignitaries, with much ardor.

There was a small synagogue called Talmud Torah or Kadaten Schule, where studying took place all week, and there was a place for praying for the adults on the Sabbath. Most of the worshipers were Maskilim, and my father, Hanoch Zinger, prayed there as well. The holiday was celebrated with much beauty and generosity in this Schule. Many members of the family of the worshipers also took part in the holiday feast, especially the children. The same was true for the Yad HaKharutzim Synagogue, which had been built by the efforts of the working people and craftsmen of the city.

The Hasidim who were admirers of the Rebbe, Rabinovich, gathered in his synagogue, and along with residents of the vicinity, they celebrated the holiday with joy and passion. The Rebbetzin invited the women of the area to her house on Simchat Torah for a holiday feast. The sounds of song and dance burst from the little Schilkh'l on ul. Turynicka, which could be heard even in the distance.

Jewish families lived in a narrow house in the Rynek. There was a synagogue called LaB'karim Kloyz in this same house, in which the residents of the area prayed. Even though there were not many worshipers here, the joy reflected the season. Even in many ordinary houses in all corners of the city, the atmosphere of the Festival could be felt, and the joy spread into the whole city, from end-to-end.

  Zhovkva, Ukraine     Yizkor Book Project     JewishGen Home Page

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