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By Meir Zimeles
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| A national celebration by Jewish youth in Zolkiew – in the year 1918 |
From my early childhood, the founding of the first Zionist organization in Zolkiew was an important and gratifying event in the chronology of the Jewish life in our city before the Holocaust.
The movements and concepts of the ‘Love of Zion’ penetrated our city through many means, even before the appearance of Herzl. One or two generations before us knew of the longing for rebirth, but the dreams of the ghetto grew skin and sinew only from the time of the first congresses.
Essentially, in the days of Uganda, a group was formed in Zolkiew with the help of the heads of the movement in Lvov, called, Greeters of Peace for Zion. I remember the event well even though I was a child who did not grasp its significance, but did collect its symbols after studies in Heder. My father, Avraham Shmuel, ז”ל who was elected to be the first president of the group, tried to explain to me, what Zionism and pure Zionism meant. The matter of anti-Ugandan Zionism lives within me to this day.
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This group, which was a sort of club, was called Zion Verein, and was based in a small room in the house of Frustig. Both adult and young Jews paid visits to this room in the evenings, most of them came from the cadre of balebatim, drawn from among the craftsmen and workers. They read the papers, listened to speeches, and conversed about a variety of issues that were important to the Jewish world. From time-to-time large gatherings took place as well as parties with many people.
Two important events stood out in those times: the Russian pogroms after the Russo-Japanese War, and the failure of the revolution. Then, there were elections to the Austrian parliament, the first after a general election. All people over the age of 24 were allowed to vote and run for office.
The tragedy of Russian Jewry, and who thought that such tragedies had no bounds, resonated with us as well. In addition to our gatherings of support, we collected money for the martyrs and refugees. With the stream of emigration from Russia, the first teachers of the new Hebrew reached Zolkiew.
The parliamentary elections created a storm on the Jewish street. For the first time, Jewish candidates appeared expressing a Zionist or Nationalist credo, and presented themselves publicly as Jews under the full glare of the sun, instead of keeping it secret and hiding it. Dr. Joseph-Shmuel Bloch, the Rabbi of a Vienna suburb, was a brave champion, during the blood libel of Rohling during the eighties. The Jews of Zolkiew, were card-carrying nationalists and they made a substantial effort on behalf of Dr. Bloch. But mainly, the assimilationists and the Hasidim could not come together to support a coalition of the government.
From that time on there were many changes taking place in the Zionist movement around the world. The movement in our city also split into parties, depending on their interests and factions. There were ups and downs, but the burden on the soul to express nationalism and Zionist realization did not weaken, even during the darkness of the First World War, and the Ukrainian War. In 1918 an international committee was created in place of the community of assimilationists, who worked under my father's supervision. My father was an ardent Zionist, but his work came to a halt with the capture of our city by the Poles. Days of economic want and harassment by the government and the Polish nation came upon us, but the wheel did not turn backwards. Jewish life and Jewish dress were simple, but went up to a high and lively level. The new generations held onto the flag until it was stricken from its hands.
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| Paper cutouts called ‘Reizalakh’ or ‘Shavuotlach’ for decorating glazings |
By Y. Tz. Buber
The Maskilim of Zolkiew were Mitnagdim who derived their Haskalah and wisdom from the great men of their city, the patriarchs of Haskalah in Jewish Galicia, and they were the Rabbi Gaon R' Zvi Hirsch Khayot, and the last of the comprehensive wise men, R' Nachman Krochmal. And it was none other than the latter who laid down the foundations and tenets for the lore of international Judaism, and contributed so much to the basis of the concept of Love of Zion, even before the Zionism of Herzl.
The Maskilim of Zolkiew founded a group called Seekers of the Peace of Zion. Members were pioneers of the Zionist movement in the city that created waves among the youth, the intelligentsia, and the working class. Its activities earned the heart of the adherents of the Bet HaMedrash, and succeeded in penetrating the Belz Kloyz. Distinguished people stood at the head of this movement. There was Avraham Shmuel Zimeles, a great man from the élite of the Jewish leadership, who integrated Torah and wisdom as one. Nobility emanated from the look of his eyes and from his manner of speech, and he was dignified in all of his undertakings. His deputy, Nathan Apfel, was a skilled speaker about Divine grace, and a brilliant organizer. The secretary, Nachman Apfelschnitt, was a Maskil, and master of the Tanakh. His leadership style was calm and sensitive. The Fokard brothers, Fyvel and Moshe Ungar, organized the movement with commitment and devotion as it grew and spread its influence throughout the community, the educational curricula, and the culture of the city and surrounding villages. Among those who stood out as activists in the organization were M. Lamm, the Kloyz young men, Elazar and Shlomo Tanzer, Avraham Basikis, Israel'chi Shtreller and others.
The Zionist and pioneering groups established a broad plan for their activities. The Zionists sent their representatives to the community, to its towns, and during election time, to the Austrian parliament. Their actions were recognized to be for the good of the Zionist candidate, Dr. Bloch. They stood aligned against the Belz Hasidim who supported the government. The Hasidim saw in the Zionist movement a dangerous breach in the standards of education, and a subversive element to the foundation of the Kloyz and its educational curricula. The Hasidim fought it in all ways. But a Satan arose from the government with regard to the direction of education that they did not entirely anticipate. If a city resident wanted to give his sons an intermediate education he was compelled to send them to Lvov, or to Czernowitz, etc., which was a matter of great expense and difficulty, and only some fortunate Jews were able to afford this.
The government opened a gymnasium in the city, in the building of the Dominicans. The entrance to this school was through the gate to the church. Since it was located in the city, there were more parents who decided to provide their sons with an intermediate education. Many of the students came from Zionist homes. From this time forward, the abyss between the Hasidim and the Zionists deepened. The Hasidim did not even send their children to the government elementary school in accordance with the law. And even when the establishment of a Jewish school from funds supplied by Baron Hirsch was proposed to the community, the Belz Hasidim opposed it, and the school never opened.
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The Belz opposed schools in general, regardless of its form. The Heder, the Yeshiva and the Kloyz, were the strong institutions of Jewish education. Everything else was considered off limits, without compromise.
The Zionist movement established roots in the city. The leaders provided courses in Hebrew and opened a widely-branched pioneering movement. Already by 1912, Ze'ev Reitzes made aliyah to The Land. In 1913, the movement sent two representatives, Nachman Apfelschnitt and Nathan Apfel, to the Zionist Congress in Vienna. Nachman Apfelschnitt was an ardent believer in the Zionist concept. He worked tirelessly for the Zionist cause and did not forgo any opportunity to collect funds for Keren Kayemet. He owned a store in the center of the city in the building of the Hotel Pinsky that sold newspapers, and tobacco for cigarettes. He once asked the hotel owner, M. Weissbrod, to make a donation to the KK”L. Mr. Weissbrod sidestepped the request with an excuse not based on being cheap. Without thinking much, Apfelschnitt called to Nachman L'Alter, the water carrier, paid him two agorot, and took the yoke from him while saying to Weissbrod: ‘donate a crown (an Austrian Crown) to KK”L and I will bring two servings of water to the kitchen from the pool that is in the Rynek.’ The owner of the hotel agreed because he did not believe that Nachman would do this, as it seemed he was joking. But Nachman placed the yoke on his shoulders, and in front of everyone, he filled the pails at the pool, brought them to the hotel, and poured them directly into the kitchen container. It was in this way that a fine contribution was made to KK”L by the sweat of his brow.
In 1925, Nachman was among those who traveled to Jerusalem for the opening of the Hebrew University.
The movement in our city also spread to the youth in the nearby villages and Mr. Moshe Oliphant from the village of Glinski was among the organizers. In 1904 he had already composed songs about Zion which were saturated with heartfelt sentiments about the homeland. One of the verses remains in my memory:
I strolled along the mountains of Zion
A place where a soft stream flows
And to my ears, ancient secrets
It whispers to me thus.
And in one poem, he prophesied and didn't realize about what he prophesied:
How, my friend, did you recognize this in the spring of your days
And to the jaws of death you gave,
The cruel murderer took no pity on you:
I will weep to you now, my Lord, it is bitter now:
O woe, an eternal beautiful flower, how did you die?
It is for this that I ache, oh, my heart groans…
After the Balfour Declaration in 1917 and the dissolution of the Habsburg Empire in 1918, many of the scions of the city returned home from the war. Among them were young men from the Belz Kloyz. As a result of their military service during the war, these young men experienced a wider world and new attitudes. The old form of education they received in their fathers' homes, and the odd religious dress, became alien to them. The Polish Republic arose in Galicia, a fateful period in the history of our people ensued, and changes began in the Jewish world. The youth and students of the Kloyz absorbed the new orientation of life that they saw, and they began to distance themselves from the Kloyz or simply did not return to it altogether.
I understood that, without changes in direction, the Kloyz was destined to lose many of its students and adherents. I consulted with Moshe Kubler, a Sage and a Maskil and Isaac Greidinger, an advanced thinker who leaned a bit towards Haskalah, to formulate a suggestion on how to make changes to avoid the youth from entirely distancing themselves from their roots. We came to the conclusion that we need to bridge the Kloyz to the outside world, to establish a Mizrahi institution in the city. The concept took root and the youth were attracted to the essence of the idea. In the meantime, this became known to the fanatics of the Kloyz, with Henoch Lieberman at their head, and they persuaded M. Kubler and I. Greidinger to withdraw.
The head of the Zionist movement in the city included Nachman Apfelschnitt, Nathan Apfel, the Fokard brothers, Israel Shapiro, the Ungar brothers, others from the academic youth and also single members from the Belz Kloyz. They were a recognized political and educational force until the outbreak of the First World War. There was no activity during the four years of the war, not even opening a new place of meeting. The work was limited to academics and a commemoration day for Herzl on the 20 Tammuz, (at the time of the election of the national council during the short time that the Ukrainians ruled) and collecting donations by the Chairman of the KK”L committee, Moshe Acker and his comrades.
As the field of endeavor was wide open, we decided to take advantage of the hiatus provided by the war, and undertake the work of organizing a Mizrahi institution, together with Yehoshua Shapiro, Moshe Altin and Eli Lichter. We decided to invite people committed to the Mizrahi movement who could come to Zolkiew and explain its goals. As I was assigned this task, I traveled to Lvov and reached the working committee. On that same day, a sitting of the center took place, headed by the Chairman Dr. Dov Hausner. I conveyed the substance of my request, and Dr. Hausner rose and said: ‘I volunteer to travel to that sublime city of Zolkiew. It will be a great honor for me to speak in front of their educated and enlightened people.’
We made all the preparations in anticipation of his arrival in the Old Bet HaMedrash. When Dr. Hausner spoke, the room was filled from end-to-end, as he unveiled the core concept of Mizrahi. His speech made a powerful impression on his listeners. More than one hundred people signed up to be a member of Mizrahi, on the spot. We rented a hall in the home of Tz. Acker to serve as the Mizrahi Institute headquarters. Dr. Shimon
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Federbush came from Lvov to organize the movement. He gave a philosophical speech in the Bet HaMedrash peppered with sayings of our Ancient Sages, and with his words, he showed us the way to go.
Elections were held and the following people were elected to the institutional committee of Mizrahi: R' Avraham Shapiro, Chairman, A. Sh. Zimeles, Director, Meir V. Katz, Deputy, and the members of the committee: Moshe M. Rad, David Gottesman, Yaakov Y. Samet. The following were elected to the committee of Tze'irei Mizrahi: Yehoshua Shapiro, Moshe Altin, Eli Lister, Hirsh Deutcher, and myself. Deputies were Fishl Hammerling, Yaakov Dagan, Hirsh Reiser, and Honorary Secretary, Jonah Shapiro, and this writer as the general secretary.
The Mizrahi Institution spread its wings and encompassed all walks of life, in organization, education, and in matters of religion and politics. Courses were organized for the study of the Tanakh, Tales, secular subjects and Hebrew. Lectures were arranged for Sabbaths and Festival Holidays. David Gottesman lectured at a Talmud lesson. M. M. Rad taught Rambam and Pirkei Avot to general members of the Zionists, and participated in courses and lectures headed by Nathan Apfel.
The movement was very well recognized and respected in the city. Mizrahi was represented by the members, Moshe Altin and Eli Lichter, in the town and on the community committee. These men fulfilled their objectives loyally and honorably. We sent representatives to the various meetings of the working committee of Mizrahi, and the division council. A. A. Cooperstein, a member and supporter from Lvov, came to participate. The Mizrahi movement was the pioneering center for the Land of Israel, and its leaders were the spokespersons for matters both religious and international matters in the city during that period.
The Agudat Israel did not exist in our city. There were only sporadic adherents to this group, among them the son of Isaac Mikhl the ritual slaughterer and meat inspector, and his friend Israel'chi Rittel. In the 1920s a preacher, Schud, was sent to our city from the central Agudah. His followers consisted of the previously mentioned young men, and a group of heated minds who took an interest in the establishment of this new organization. It is important to know that in Zolkiew, there was a full understanding about the daily life of the Hasidim, the Mitnagdim, Maskilim, secular folk, and the assimilated. Ideological conflicts became evident infrequently, during the election season for the city, Parliament and afterwards to the Polish Sejm. Even the Belz Hasidim were not interested in the establishment of this group, the Agudah, since they were loyal to their motto, ‘Belz is above all factions.’
Notwithstanding, the acolytes of Mr. Schur were concerned with having a lecture take place in the Great Synagogue that would be attended by all of the young men and young adults of the Kloyz. In retrospect, those of us who came from the Kloyz were satisfied that the youth of the Kloyz would also organize and spread outside. However, instead of stressing the objectives and hopes and directions of education of the Agudah, the speaker, Mr. Schur began to defame, criticize and insult the ways of Zionism and the Mizrahi. His
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objective was to sow division and incite fraternal enmity. This situation was surprising. Those who sided with me questioned: is it worth reacting to the words of the speaker, or in general, not worth having a discussion with him, because he hasn't come to organize Haredi youth, but rather to mock and poke at Zionism? However because he enveloped his speech in citations from the HaZa”L, it became incumbent upon me to publicly oppose him and to reveal his true face.
I was opposed. First, I thought that it was not worth causing a flare-up of passions. Second, up to that time, I was an attendee at the Kloyz, and it was not pleasant that they would spread my words as if I was against the conspiracy. In the meantime, on Shabbat Hazon, notices were pasted up that on Shabbat Hazon the preacher Schur would speak on the direction of education in the Agudah, in the Great Synagogue. We decided then, not to give him a chance to speak, no matter what.
In consultation with those who caused this matter, a variety of proposals were made regarding how we should react. Some felt that he should be forcibly removed from the Bima, but the majority, including myself, opposed this. We looked for more pleasing alternatives that would be favorably received by an idealistically educated youth. And since I was the general secretary to the Head Gabbai at the time in the Great Synagogue, R' David Mordechai Sholom's, I recognized the amendments to the chronology made generations ago, and among these amendments was an amendment for Shabbat Hazon, which was signed by our great-grandfather Meir Buber, when he was the Head Gabbai in the Great Synagogue, and ז”ל:
We decided to write a notice in the form of a caution, dictated by the amendment, and we pasted it on the entrance to the Great Synagogue. When Schur and his escorts arrived on Friday evening to pray, we warned them that they should not enter the Synagogue wearing shtreimels, and not desecrate its sanctity. Having no choice, they left the Synagogue, and went to the old Bet HaMedrash and did so also the following Sabbath morning. Before the reading of the Torah, Schur attempted to speak, but the Head Gabbai Meir Wolf Ka”Tz, being a Mizrahi man, closed the Bet HaMedrash after services, and took the keys with him with the intention that no one could enter without him. But, the Second Gabbai of the Bet HaMedrash R' Berisz Waldman, an adherent of the Hasidim, opened the door, and agreed that the locksmith Noviszwicky will remove the locks in order that Schur and his escort could enter. The matter became swiftly known to the Zionists and members of Mizrahi, and by the time that Schur and his brethren got to the Bet HaMedrash, it was filled to capacity by Zionist youth. Schur and his escorts
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were pushed inside and they began to recite the Mincha service. Having no recourse, the brethren took him to the Belz Kloyz, where he could speak and excoriate the Zionists. And here, R' Avraham Lurberbaum, a teacher of justice, arose and forbade him to speak, because in the Belz Kloyz it was not customary to permit an orator to speak, even if it was from the Legends of Israel, and this custom could not be violated.
It was then announced that, with God's help, tomorrow on Sunday at ten o'clock, Schur would speak in the Great Synagogue. The custom was that when a speaker visited the city, the youth and young adults of the Kloyz wanted to hear him, especially if the speaker was ‘one of us.’ This time, it was whispered, it would be a great mitzvah to pay attention to everything he said, for is he not speaking against the Zionists?
The Mizrahi youth thought otherwise. According to their dictates, they were forbidden to speak badly and sow the seeds of enmity and strife in the city.
On Sunday morning, they organized the youth, mostly students from the intermediate municipal schools who had no classes that day; they streamed into the Great Synagogue, took all the seats (every seat was connected to a large bench in a way that it was possible to lift it together). Slowly but surely, the Synagogue was filled by Kloyz worshipers and ordinary Jews. On Sundays, stores are closed, and the speech was not intended to raise funds, so many came to listen. The speaker, Mr. Schur went up to the Bima, with his Hasidim at his sides, to protect him if needed. Suddenly knocking was heard, voices and noise rose from all of the benches at once like a strong explosion. The banging and unrest did not abate until the preacher and his escorts left the place. The speaker left the city without founding and organizing a chapter of Agudat Israel.
Through the effort of Rabbi Meir Shapiro, the Headmaster of the Yeshiva Khakhmei Lublin and the Agudah, an Agudah chapter was initiated, ten years after the original failed attempt.
My brother Elazar was among the adherents. The Agudah Verein did not find favor in the eyes of the Belz fanatics, but largely, there were not many opponents. Despite being members of the Agudah, they did not leave the Kloyz. At a rabbinical assembly in Lvov, in which the ADMo”R Rokeach זצ”ל of Belz, also took part, the ADMo”R poured his heart out to Henoch Lieberman, and the bitterness of what he said made an impression on me, to wit: ‘At the time you founded the Mizrahi you left the Kloyz and kept your word not to coax the youth of the Kloyz to join the Mizrahi. Your brother Elazar was the opposite of this, he remained in the Kloyz and between the walls of the Kloyz he was active on the part of the Agudah Verein.’
Henoch was a loyal Belz Hasid, committed with all the feelings in his soul and with no compromise to his own ideals, he believed in God and the Rebbe שליט”א and the direction of the Belz educational system.
Despite our different outlooks, and our separate ways, we remained good and loyal friends. This was true of his criticism and support, because he knew what he was fighting for and understood the heart of his opposition.
By Zvi Fish
I was born in 1892 into a family of furriers. My brother Shimon ז”ל, founded a firm to make jackets and hats, and I also worked there. We were the first to bring machines into the city, because up to that time, the furriers worked manually. The profession expanded in the city with a large number of craftsmen and laborers. In 1819, a friend and I decided to organize our youth, and with the help of Mr. Tzeltner, who was an official under the local notary, established Poalei Zion. An important branch in this initiative was raising money for KK”L, and together with the friends of Yaakov Maimon we performed many charitable projects. Our friends, Leon Apfel and Nachman Apfelschmidt, Sobol and others also worked in this group.
By Penina Netzer (Katz)
As was the case in all the towns of Galicia, alongside the Zionist institution was also a youth group, called Tze'irei Zion, which operated clandestinely. Young people from the middle class and upper classes of the gymnasium joined this group. Its purpose was to deepen the international recognition among the assimilating Jewish youth, and to complete the Jewish education that the Polish school did not provide to them, including, for example, the Hebrew language, Jewish history, and chapters of knowledge about the Land of Israel.
In alignment with Tze'irei Zion, there were, at the same time, particularly in the big cities, scout groups, tzofim, under the direction of Heinrich Sterner. Sterner's goal was to educate a new generation of Jews who were suffused with a sense of self- worth, able to stand tall, and build a robust group in the Land of our Fathers.
In 1913, the Jewish scout movement was given the name, HaShomer, as a symbol and expression of its affinity to the HaShomer group in the Land of Israel. During the days of the First World War, the elite of Tzeirei Zion, who had fled the Russian invasion, along with the members of HaShomer in Vienna, the capital of Austria, became integrated into one movement called HaShomer Hatzair.
The international educational movement, HaShomer Hatzair, arose out of opposition to the degenerate life of the Diaspora and a longing for a new, better, and more wholesome life. It addressed the realization of an individual's personality, and cultivation of the values of tradition and fellowship. It paid attention to the salvation of man and the Jew together.
HaShomer Hatzair was influenced by the free youth in Germany, who called for its members to distance themselves from the sinking bourgeoisie. The Russian Revolution and its communal concepts also left their impression on HaShomer Hatzair at its outset. At the beginning, HaShomer Hatzair was apolitical. This was the romantic period at its beginning.
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News of HaShomer Hatzair came to Zolkiew after a meeting that was held in Tarnowa in 1918. The members of Tzeirei Zion were invited as well, and the representative from Zolkiew was Avraham Samet. After he returned from this conference, a HaShomer Hatzair group was organized in Zolkiew from among the graduates of the eighth grade gymnasium class, headed by Meir Melman (who is today a member of the government Yiddish Theater in Warsaw). In a short time, an additional group called Zechariah was added, composed of the daughters of the city, and other groups arose among other students.
The work of these groups was very intensive and they operated clandestinely. Most of its members were students of the gymnasium and this kind of activity was forbidden by the school. Parents also were opposed from a religious standpoint as they felt it took away from study time. The members of the group learned Hebrew, Jewish history, and a familiarity with The Land, called Palestinographia in the nomenclature of the times. The group members saw club participation as a way to reach the realization of their dreams, to make aliyah to The Land. The members of the movement worked in all of the Zionist undertakings in the city, especially in donations to Keren-HaKayemet to which they dedicated the better part of their energy. They collected donations for international Zionist institutions at celebratory community gatherings such as weddings or other opportunities. HaShomer Hatzair could not provide a permanent gathering place for the membership in Zolkiew. The group lacked the means to rent a hall, and so work was directed out of a community garden or specific houses of members.
The members of HaShomer Hatzair held discussions about the issues facing the group. They dedicated a great deal of time reading books about methods of organization, socialism, and especially books about Jewish subjects. They also read and conversed about the German newspapers that they received: Junge Menschen, meaning Young Men, and Junge Gemeinde - a youth organization. The movement raised the standard of the Zionist-socialist concept, with the goal of building labor socialism in Israel, but the faces of the group were turned towards aliyah to The Land, and not to engage in conflict in the Diaspora.
Anti-Semitism ran rampant at that time, but this atmosphere did not retard the spirit of the members of the group. Rather, it served to strengthen the spark for the movement and for the Land of Israel. The concept of aliyah injected a sense of confidence in them. Instead of a life in the Diaspora, a new goal was now planted in the lives of Jewish youth who proudly proclaimed their hope to make aliyah to The Land. Many also left their studies in order to prepare for aliyah.
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Seated: Shoshana Harbster, Dvora Goldbarker, Tamar Orlander Standing: Fried'ka Fish, Batya Cohen, Rivka Lichter |
Only a small number of the original group realized their desire and made aliyah to The Land. The first group of the seniors from the gymnasium fell apart, and most of them continued their studies in the university. The head of this group, Meir Melman left the movement, and he was replaced by Avraham Samet, today a member of Kibbutz Ramat-Yokhanan. Young people joined the movement from all ranks of Jewish youth in Zolkiew: workers, students, and even the religious youth. They began to take part in the training units of the movement, but they could not integrate this with actual aliyah because of the conditions in The Land, and the opposition of parents, who demanded that their sons continue with their studies despite the slim chances of getting set up in a job.
By Shoshana Selakh (Harbster)
The HaShomer Hatzair movement in Zolkiew was founded in 1918 at the end of the First World War. This was a time when small nations pressured for their own independent countries and prevailed. The Jewish nation in the Diaspora became attached to its own mission, the sentiment that the Zionist dream had to be realized. The concept of organizing Jewish youth to achieve redemption and a Zionist concept was not disappointing. The work required to organize youth began in Vienna, where Mr. Rieger founded the institution of HaShomer Hatzair in the Blue-White place that existed in Austria and Czechoslovakia, and through this, the organization of HaShomer Hatzair throughout the Poland and Galicia took place.
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Middle row seated: Shoshana Acker, Reuben Keifer, Yehudis Samet, Michael Lichter, Saba Borer First row standing: Joseph Shlitin, Mordechai Apfel, Aryeh Acker, Shmuel Honig, Pinchas Halpern, Nathan Reiss, Shoshana Harbster Kneeling on the side: Shimon Fishler, Moshe Leiner Top row: Yitzhak Friedman, Yehoshua Berger, Avraham Lichter, Gi'tcha Reitzfeld Sitting below: Pinchas Halpern, Sholom Lida, Sholom Deutscher |
One of the members of the first group from Lvov, Eliezer Wilder (now Farhi) founded HaShomer Hatzair in Zolkiew. The ideology of HaShomer Hatzair was the realization of Zionism by means of aliyah to The Land and to work the land there. It involved the protection of the settlement, and the rise of a new Jewish entity in body and soul. The concept was founded on the common principle, founded on the global vision established by Baden-Paul. Initially, there was a tendency to practice the goals of other movements whose objectives were a return to nature. The members of HaShomer Hatzair especially admired the Yizkor Book of the Shomrim, which fell under the auspices of the first settlements in their protection against the murdering Arabs.
There were two periods of HaShomer Hatzair activity in our city: one was theoretical, and one involved pioneering and actualization. The founding assembly of HaShomer Hatzair was attended by Meir Melman, David Tauba (today Tuviahu) and Ronek Wachs. There was a very festive moment one Sabbath in the winter of 1918, when most of the student youth of the city assembled together and ardently listened to the talks by these three academics, who announced that it was the responsibility of the young to take an active role in the realization of the Zionist ideal. This assembly took place in the home of Mr. Bandel, who had allocated two rooms for assembly and the work of HaShomer Hatzair. This was a substantive event, during which time the youth gathered together to organize the movement. On one side, the wall of tradition fell from the young person whose strictly observant parents insisted upon, and on the second side, the youth from assimilated homes found a path of return to their people, a way opened up for them to engage in active, and progressive Zionism. Through this, the youth found their destiny and way forward.
The objective pursued by HaShomer Hatzair was to educate and promote a new and healthy Jew, prepared to withstand all of the disruptions and dangers in the Land of Israel, before making aliyah, and to be prepared to sacrifice one's life for the sake of the nation and its land. Most of the young people in our city, from age 12 and up, participated in the movement. They felt satisfaction and much pleasure amid the essence of the organization, the groups, units, the work and team discussion that took place several times each week. For the first time, the youth of the city came together in a united and solid organization, with a set agenda of work. This was a change for the city of Zolkiew, a city that had been completely suffused with Hasidism and the spirit of the Kloyz. The Zionist movement existed, but the Hasidim had no part in it. The Zionist movement was supported by an annual speech, the sale of several tickets to the Zionist Congress, and by conducting large celebrations on Purim and Hanukkah, for Keren HaKayemet. Other than that, the HaShomer Hatzair movement showed the way to realize the redemption of The Land, in body and soul. The youth shed the yoke of Hasidism and assimilation, and began a life of the young that was wholesome and independent.
There were intelligent and educated youth in Zolkiew who knew how, and were able, to organize group efforts. They founded courses for Hebrew, knowledge of The Land, history and science. They were engaged in projects, sports games, and singing. On Sabbaths there were joint presentations for everyone in the branch, and games, and Halutz-style dances. A library was established with a collection of books collected from the members of the branch. There were courses for group leaders, and the heads of the groups were even sent to courses in Lvov or to summer camps. There were group discussions once a week for 3-4 groups together. When the weather was good, distant walks were arranged for a special experience to the beautiful city forest, the Re'i, which was not only a place for recreation, but also appreciated for its scented air and freshness. In this wondrous ancient forest, we would weave our dreams, knit our agendas for aliyah to The Land, to be able obtain the means to achieve these dreams. Our parents resisted us and were not inclined to take steps that conflicted with their beliefs.
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Apart from the Re'i forest, we had a magnificent municipal park which spread around the ancient castle and served as a place for assemblies and discussions. For almost the entire summer, and even during the rainy season, we gathered in the hut inside the park and led courses in the garden. Even in the winter we did not abandon the garden. Our singing could be heard for some distance, while we played in the snow and engaged in sports exercises. We even used hand-made sleighs on the abandoned hill in the middle of the city. The branch newspaper was distributed each month, full of information written in the spirit of HaShomer Hatzair and which expressed its expectations. After some time, even the opposition of our parents to our work came to an end.
In preparation for our aliyah, we were required to participate in agricultural training in order to be prepared for this kind of work in the Land of Israel. Our first such training was in Mr. Apfelschnitt's field in Zolkiew, on ul. Snitzraska. Mr. Apfelschnitt was known to be a Zionist, and he had a parcel of land that was sown with wheat or rye. He was very happy to turn over the reaping of the grain in his field to us, a job that was aligned with his spirit and outlook. On a clear day, a group of students set out for this field. The Hasidic parents saw this as a betrayal of Torah, seeing young boys and girls going out to work together. We had the scythes in our hands, and after a short bit of instruction we began to enthusiastically reap with great diligence. The stalks covered our hands immediately, and sweat poured down our faces onto our clothing. We were not used to this kind of work, but we paid no attention to this. We were happy for every stalk that fell and every bundle that we succeeded to tie up, and we were very proud of our first harvest. This was not only physical training, but also a sundering from our parental tradition. We were Haredim and progressive people together. On one occasion, I was compelled to leave the harvesting because my father was walking towards me and I understood that he had not come to the field in my favor. He was a highly observant Hasid and my association with the Histadrut of HaShomer Hatzair was against all of his beliefs. I had to quickly get out of his sight.
We traveled to a second training site during the summer. Avraham Samet was the head of the branch, and he also went as the head of the training group of HeHalutz. We traveled to the village of Turynka which was a distance of 190 kilometers from Zolkiew, to the land parcels of Lawrence and Schreiber. Lawrence owned many parcels of land in Galicia. Avraham Samet, Fried'ka Fish, Ida Fukard, Bel'kah Cohen, Boszko Zimeles, Stakh Bindel, Borko Lebenstein, and I were in the training groups. I followed on foot and did not ride together with them on the way, as I feared that my father would follow our trail, find me, and make me return home. The training in Turynka was a heavy and hard experience. We carried out work in all aspects of agriculture that were new and strange to us, such as harvesting, threshing in a wash, building a sheaf, moving and carrying the products. We worked willingly and with much focus with pitchforks, hoes, scythes and sickles, and also with machines that, all of which were strange to our hands and eyes. Large stalks came up in our hands, but we did not complain. We carried out all the work that was alloted to us, with song and laughter. We received praise for our work, and admiration in all of the land parcels, and from the Christian workers.
We returned home when vacation was over and we received news of the halt to aliyah, but the members of HeHalutz did not stop seeking out places for training, in hope that the aliyah would be started up again. Avraham Samet traveled for training to Holwowica, a village beside Bobryk in the Lvov province, with an enchanting natural ambience, that elicited much envy from the Halutzim who were all young Maskilim, and among them, people with talent for poetry and literature.
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Some of these individuals were Anda Finkerfeld, her sister and brothers, Krempfner (now known as Amir), Tzil'keh Klar (Finkerfeld), the Mintzer brothers, Carla Reich, the Mizess brothers, etc.
Batya Cohen and I prepared to travel to train at an agricultural farm in Stanislawow. To our great dismay, our parents decided to detain us, and called the police who brought us back to our house from the train. This was in 1922/23 on the eve of the Third Global Assembly of HaShomer Hatzair in the village of Stchilki-Jagolnica, in the Carpathian mountains in the south of Galicia. After the Assembly, I completed my training at the agricultural farm in Stanislawow, which was not only an area for Shomrim and Halutzim, but also an institution for orphans, led by a strict internal guard who did not share the ideals of HaShomer Hatzair.
Jewish youth were not allowed to be part of the oversight committee. There was a large gathering of youth in the diaspora which was held in a place of enchanting natural beauty. At the foot of a high mountain, in a forest of thick pine trees, on a redolent field of grass, a festive celebration was opened up with the singing of the Shomer hymn ‘We Are Going Up [to the Land].’ That moment left a strong impression in the hearts of the participants, which will remain etched in their memories forever. The meeting began with speeches by M. Ya'ari and M. Orenstein, Tilman and others who came from The Land. The leaders leaned towards a different ideological perspective, and wanted to burden the movement with new obligations that did not align with the reality and the expectations of the diaspora. The HaShomer Hatzair movement was, from the beginning of its founding, a right-wing Zionist organization, and had organized most of the educated youth under its wings. They were outstanding members of the Jewish Diaspora, who had the ability to bring lofty cultural values to The Land. With the acceptance of these new ideals, youth movements began to organize along different streams, and there was competition amongst them.
After the meeting in Stchiliki, Avraham Samet made revisions in the branch of HaShomer Hatzair in Zolkiew. Those remaining in the group were active members who expected to make aliyah to The Land. Samet provided a living example with his own aliyah. The HaShomer Hatzair branch weakened considerably. Many left because of the termination of aliyah in general, and also in the face of staunch opposition from their parents. The boys and girls returned to their studies, and satisfied themselves with sympathy for the movement only. A handful of people who thought of the movement as the entire content of their lives and did not want to imagine living any other way without making aliyah to the Land of Israel, did not give up, and continued to keep the branch alive. Among them were Saba Borer, Michael Lichter, Yehudi Samet and me. We joined activities with HeHalutz, and from the beginning renewed the groups and the work in the branch, until such time that we were privileged to realize our desires, and we made aliyah.
By Michael Lichter
The Zionist movement in our city found its organic expression in the Verein called Dorshei Shalom Zion. All the young adult men would enter there, glancing at and not repulsed by Zionist culture. They were repelled by people who behaved in accordance with the saying, ‘what a beautiful thing, the assimilationists or Poles of the Mosaic Faith’, rather behaving in accordance with the saying ‘take hold of this and do not let your hands rest.’ Very quickly, the sons of balebatim and some of the daughters could be found in the Verein. The intelligent men, or young adults, became the leaders of the Verein. And if in prior generations they were forced to learn secular material in secret in the Yeshivas or Houses of Study, now they could do so out in the open under the guardianship of their fathers. A sample of the brilliant type among them was the son of Avraham'li Shapiro. Avraham'li, was an Enlightened person with a sharp mind. He educated his sons, Israel and Yehoshua, not only to reach the wedding canopy and perform good deeds, but also about his way of life and his charitable orientation. The essence of his influence was to teach them not to use the Torah as an ax with which to grind. He made it possible for his son Yehoshua to become the spiritual leader of the Verein. Yehoshua can be known as the father of the spread of Zionism in our city. Together, father and son took an active part in sacred work similar to Waldman, Guliger, and Dr. Tzimerman, and David Tauba, now David Tuviahu, head of the town of Beersheba.
There were upsets in the life of the movement. We spoke Yiddish at home, our mameloshn, but even with Tuviahu, who was my teacher and guide, I had to speak Polish. During the short time when our city was under Ukrainian rule, we also learned the Ukrainian language in the gymnasium. The period after the war was the golden age of international rebirth in our city. Immediately after the Ukrainians took control, Tuviahu led a revolution in the Kultursrat and changed it into a Nationalsrat. This was not easily achieved, and it was necessary, during several stormy assemblies accompanied by fisticuffs, to have the assimilationists removed from their positions. This was the period of the flowering of the Zionist youth movement, when the movement was concentrated almost entirely on the youth organization, HaShomer Hatzair. Almost all of the gymnasium students in our city belonged to this Histadrut, even the sons of the ardent assimilationists, in whose homes there was not even a trace of Judaism.
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(Seated): Dov Karuss, Getz'l Langer, Michael Lichter, Yitzhak Lichter, Menachem Rat (Standing): Schultz, Genauer, Michael Shomen, Zvi Leutrafacht, Yaakov Kanczuker |
I will describe two functions held by the Histadrut HaShomer Hatzair. The first was a celebratory memorial gathering that took place on 20 Tammuz in the Great Synagogue and organized in conjunction with all of the Zionist institutions in our city. The essence of the memorial service in the Great Synagogue was to witness the breaking of tradition by the assimilationists. During their reign in the community council, the assimilationists organized only secular celebrations in the Great Synagogue, and only on the birthday of the Austrian monarch, Kaiser Franz-Josef I. This time, the wall was pierced, and a service of mourning was held in memory of the revered Zionist leader in the Synagogue. During the middle of that same week, towards evening, all the stores were closed, and all of the city residents streamed to the synagogue. It was HaShomer Hatzair which maintained order. This group
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demonstrated its power through their role as guards. They lacked uniforms, but wore a band on their sleeves. In every respect, we came out, this first time in public, with a firm step and a demonstration, and this not only bolstered our own pride, but also the parents and elders took pride in our satisfaction.
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The second appearance was especially for students. We had returned as a team from a promenade in the Re'i on the Sabbath towards evening. It was a time before the conclusion of the Sabbath, and we were camped out in the fields of grass between the park and the railroad tracks. We began to sing in unison, all of the Hebrew songs that we were taught during the last period. Our singing was apparently very successful, because it caused a significant echo and elicited a trembling from the traces of longing for The Homeland that had fallen asleep inside of every Jew. The Jews of the city gathered around us, and not only listened, but by the look in their eyes, and their movements, one could sense the rustle that pervaded the singers and the listeners.
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The country created by the Ukrainians in Eastern Galicia fell in 1919, and in its place arose the Hallerists of the Polish Army. The first to suffer were the Jews. Many were forced to flee the city, and those who remained were very frightened. Only a small handful continued with Zionist work in secret, to keep watch over the ember, so that it would not be extinguished.
As the era of the Depression began, the parents, even the Zionists among them, began to oppose their sons remaining in the movement. We were compelled to take down our flag, and to close ourselves up in a branch office outside the city and to hide all the external signs and symbols of the movement. The Tzofim movement changed and became a pioneering movement. We received only weak echoes of what was going on in the world, and very few actually went up to The Land in the Third Aliyah.
The first to make aliyah were David Tauba and Simcha Klinger. In a similar manner, Anshel Sobol and Ze'ev Reitzes made aliyah.
Training groups were organized in the nearby surroundings. The study of Hebrew was of central importance, and with this, the seed of Hebrew speakers was planted in our midst. Hebrew teachers came from outside the city until we reached a foundation of courses for the Hebrew language on our own at the end of the school year. A permanent training facility was established, founded by the glass factory, and a spot of training for Dror. A branch of the Hitakhdut organization arose in our city as well, which centralized all the Zionist work carried out in our city. The main concern of this institution was to secure the economic standing of its members. There was a multi-branched cultural initiative created and the beginning of political work, that is to say, the organization of the political and autonomous life of the Jews in our city, especially during elections, whether to the country-level institutions or municipal and Zionist institutions.
The character of our city, which in reality was a small town, remained dormant. The economic and cultural depression grew stronger along with the anti-Semitism and its manifestations. Here or there, especially among the maturing youth, someone had the nerve to jump out into the wide world, but because of the change of the status regarding aliyah to the Land of Israel in a substantive and organized way, those jumps did not happen.
It was recognized that the Youth Movement of the Land of Israel for Laborers influenced the youth in our city.
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First row: Akiva Oster, (unknown), Shlomo Frum, Mendl Kandzuker, Avraham Lichter, Mendl Schultz Standing (2nd row): (unknown), Yaakov Fundik, Nathan Reiss, Yitzhak Schlusser, Moshe Berger, Meir Katz, Chaim Fogel, Fyvel Spindel Seated: Shimon Brenner, Malka Dornfeld, Tunka Borer, Ephraim Waldman, Chana Spiegel, Minna Gurman, wife of Water Seated bottom: Avraham Lichter, Shlomo Katz, David Ziebert |
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