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As dark clouds covered the skies of Europe and Satan got a free hand to unleash destruction, the fate of the Jewish community of Bilke in the Carpathian Mountains and among them Rabbi Joshua Doft the Cantor and Shochet of the town was sealed. Since permission was given to the evil forces they did not distinguish between the wicked and the just. During sleepless nights the image of my father, his blessed memory, appears before me as it was engraved in my mind and on the tablets of my heart. I absorbed a great deal of knowledge and ethical behavior from my father that directed my life until this very day. Over the years, I realized the great influence he had on forming my character. For all of that I keep in my heart my deep admiration that I will preserve until the end of days. All these years, I cannot get my father, mother, brothers, sisters and other dear family members out of my mind, who in life and death were not parted. The terrible Holocaust that befell our people uprooted our beloved ones. In this article, I wish to create a memorial to my father, of blessed memory, Rabbi Joshua Doft who devoted his entire life to serving his community.

Rabbi Joshua Doft, the son of Shlomo Dov and Miriam Eidel Doft was born in 1880 in the city of Zidachov Poland. At the age of five he and his

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family moved to Polyne, a town in the Carpathian Mountains. In Polyne, his father Rabbi Shlomo Dov Doft was appointed Shochet. Rabbi Joshua was a descendent of a famous family of judges and Shochatim. He married Pearl, the daughter of Rabbi Abraham and Rachel Yitte Lipschitz of Zalizshe in the Carpathian Mountains. Rabbi Abraham was the son of Rabbi Shabsai Lipschitz, the chief judge of Irshava, who was a famous scholar and author. Mrs. Rachel Yitte was a descendent of the “Noda Beyehuda”, Rabbi Ezekiel Landa, the Chief Rabbi of Prague, Czechoslovakia. Pearl was a real “woman of valor” and a great homemaker. She was beautiful, had a pleasant personality, a righteous person and a great help to her husband. Rabbi Joshua adored his wife and treated her as if she were a queen. She gave birth to and raised eleven children. Their children and other members of the family revered her.

In the year 1905, Rabbi Joshua was appointed Cantor and Shochet in Bilke, a position which he held until the day he and his family were forced into ghetto Bilke and its suburbs. He was revered by all of his constituents, by his behavior and way of life. His hearty behavior, his love and devotion for the members of the community and especially his concern for ordinary folks, created the image of a popular and beloved personality in Bilke and its environs. The town of Bilke was situated in a most beautiful valley of the Carpathian Mountains in the Bereg county on the main road between Mukachevo and Chust. Rabbi Joshua served as the “Chazan ” – Cantor in the great synagogue in the center of Bilke that served as the focal point of the Jewish spirit.

Rabbi Joshua was approached many times by larger and more affluent Jewish communities with tempting offers to serve as their Cantor that he refused. His concern for the Bilke community prevented him from improving his economic situation. All who came in contact with him felt an extraordinary marvel, a special spirituality that emanated from his personality. His spiritual strength and extraordinary character uplifted and strengthened those of the Bilke community who needed encouragement.

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and support.

When Rabbi Joshua walked on the path from his house to the main synagogue with his Tallis and Teffilin bag under his arm, the passersby looked at him with great admiration, as if they were saying here goes Rabbi Joshua who is the pillar of the community and who is the epitome of Derech Eretz – of honor and respect. He was the Beacon that illuminated the darkness of the down, who spread heavenly light and spirit into the lives of his constituents. He possessed many good and special qualities of the admired Jew. He was a G–d fearing person, a Chassid and at the same time, a deep, caring person for his fellow human beings. He loved peace and pursued it. He was a great scholar with a vast amount of knowledge in the Talmud, Bible, Midrashim, Oral Law and many other books in Judaica. He was a pleasant person and remained so until his last days. He lived and breathed Judaism. Deep in his strong personality was embedded a soft and sensitive soul. He was a deeply religious person who succeeded in imbuing in his constituency an uncompromising faith. Rabbi Joshua was a representative of a special generation that disappeared during the Holocaust.

He had many talents that enhanced his aristocratic personality. In addition to being the Shochet in Bilke and its environs, Rabbi Joshua had a great writing talent with a pure and clear Hebrew handwriting with a special style. Each letter was like a pearl, his letters were bright and soothing to the eyes. He wrote the Ketuboth – marriage documents for all the happy couples who were married in Bilke all these years. As a specialty, he wrote the entire scroll of Esther on a postcard that he sent to the various branches of the family as “Shalach Manot” for Purim. He also prepared and edited the script of Rabbi Abraham Lipschitz, his father–in–law's book “Yalkut Avraham” because of Rabbi Abraham's blindness. It was known that Rabbi Joshua produced and created things to perfection.

Rabbi Joshua always went out of his house spotless and splendidly dressed. His beard was combed and his Peiot –ear locks always curled.

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His face was bright and on his lips a pleasant smile. He had a delightful and lovely personality; he was all soul. His royal appearance, his radiant face and his extraordinary stature contributed to an honorable aura of awe that all people were moved by. His wife, sons, daughters, grandchildren and in general all his larger family loved him and honored him. He loved children with all his being and was deeply devoted to his family.

On Erev Shabbat – the Sabbath eve, Rabbi Joshua prepared the Sabbath candles in the candlesticks. After he secured the candles in the candelabra, he lit them for a moment according to tradition and also to make it easier for Mrs. Pearl to light the candles. There were thirteen souls in the family. For each person she lit a candle. When grandmother Rachel Yitte died, Pearl took on an additional eleven candles, the candles Rachel Yitte used to light each Friday so she now lit twenty–four candles every Friday.

Rabbi Joshua came from a musical family, a talent that passed on from generation to generation. He had three brothers and one sister. Rabbi Joshua had a very strong, sweet and pleasing voice. His three brothers also had beautiful voices. His brother Tavi Hersh was a famous cantor in Paris until he was deported to Aushwitz. Rabbi Joshua's voice had an unusual sweetness that inspired his worshippers. His singing was exalted and heavenly, as if it came from above. His renditions and melodies were rooted in holiness that one could compare to the music of the ministering angels that rose all the way to heaven. Those who heard his singing felt a Tamm Gan Eden – a taste of paradise.

Rabbi Joshua stood in front of the Aron Kodesh – the Holy Ark, in awe as if he actually stood in front of his creator. He lifted his heart and soul to produce sweet and pleasant sounds. During the year round Jewish calendar, on the Sabbath Rosh Chodesh – new month, the three festivals, the high holidays, special days, weddings and other happy occasions as well as sad days in the calendar and each prayer was for the right occasion with meaning, intention and devotion.

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For Rabbi Joshua the melody had a special meaning and a deep mystical expression. He used to say that one has to know how to gather in the various floating sounds to compose them into a harmonic melody, that creates joy and through it one penetrates the gates of heaven. With his voice, he produced a very pleasant, soothing feeling. It was very clear and this helped to heal and comfort broken hearts. In music, he saw strong human expression that can influence the lot of a person.

During the early hours of the morning at the Selichot service when he began “Haneshama Lach” – “The soul belongs to you, O, spare thy creation”. A vibration, a tremble went through the worshippers since each one felt as if his soul was attached to the creator. By his superb rendition, Rabbi Joshua caused his congregation a great deal of spiritual joy. He inspired his worshippers and at times he brought warm tears to their eyes. His prayers captured many hearts and thus strengthened the spirit of Jewish tradition, faith and Jewish values that sanctified G–d's name. Whoever did not hear Rabbi Joshua lead his congregation in prayer has not heard prayers that come from a pure heart. His melodies were full of sensitivity, sweetness and an outpouring soul. Chaim Leib, Shmuel Tzvi, and Nachum Uri, his senior sons stood on his right. Shlomo Yeshaya, Yosef and Moshe–Nechemya, the younger sons stood on his left on the steps that led to the “Aron Kodesh” – the holy ark. Rabbi Joshua prayed with the Nusach – mode that he acquired from his father who inherited it from previous generations. The worshippers listened with open mouths, sat as if they were frozen from the great “Nacha Ruach” – spiritual joy that Rabbi Joshua caused them by his renditions.

A number of his melodies were familiar to the worshippers and from time to time the congregation joined his singing that added a great deal of spiritual uplift. From time to time one of the sons sang a solo and the other brothers also harmonized. Rabbi Joshua sang certain prayers with joyous melodies through which he expressed his happiness, his overflowing heart in order to give thanks to the Almighty. There were

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other prayers that he sang with a broken heart with a sad melody as if he was a distraught person. There were times when he hurried with a melody as if he were running to approach a king to present him with a present. When Rabbi Joshua began the “Maariv” – evening service of the three festivals, a feeling of awe and joy overcame the worshippers. When he reached the prayer “Vayadaber Moshe” – “and Moses proclaimed the festivals of the Lord unto the children of Israel”, he raised his voice very high and thus filled the synagogue with his sweet voice. On “Shavuous” after the “Shacharis” – the morning prayer before the Torah reading, Rabbi Joshua recited the poem “Akdamut” – which describes the greatness of G–d, with a special traditional melody. This melody was greatly favored and admired by the Jews of Bilke that had an extraordinary flavor. This melody established the mood of the holiday. During “Hallel” – the selection recited during the important and minor festivals, Rabbi Joshua mesmerized the audience with his original melodies that captured the hearts of the worshippers. Especially when he reached the verse “Hodu lashem ki tov” and “Ana hashem hoshia na”, the congregation stood motionless and listened to his loud voice. During the holiday of “Sukkot” during the ritual of shaking the “Lulav” and “Estrog” in all the directions, he expressed his acceptance of the rule of the kingdom of G–d to whom the universe belongs.

After the Sabbath meal on Friday night, Rabbi Joshua used to review the portion of the week according to tradition once a verse of the Bible and then twice the verse of the “Targum” – the Aramaic commentary. He was an experienced Torah reader. He read Torah every Shabbat in the main synagogue for all the years he was the Cantor. On Shabbat “Zachor” the Saturday before “Purim”, for “Maftir”, he read the section about the destruction of Amalek – a historic enemy of Israel. He read the passage “Zachor et asher asah lecha Amalek” _ “Remember what Amalek did to you”, “Timche et Zecher Amalek mitachat hashamayim lo tashckach” – “Erase the memory of Amalek under the heavens do not forget”, with great feeling and loud voice. Meyer Berger, one of the members who had a good

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sense of humor said, “Rabbi Joshua finished him now”.

Rabbi Joshua was especially admired for his reading of “Megillat Esther” the Purim Megillah. He beautified the nusach of the Megillah by adding special melodies. He intertwined cantillation from the various modes of the top (cantillation) into the Megillah. There were times when he raised his voice high and other times when he lowered it. His voice rang out in the shul and one could hear every word clearly even in the women's section upstairs. When he reached the four verses of redemption he recited the melody of triumph and when he reached the verse of Haman's ten sons he sang it in one breath with storm. The verses “Asher begla meyerushalyim” – “When the Jews were exiled from Jerusalem” and “vehair Shushan Navocho” – “and the city of Shushan was perplexed “he read it with the melody of “Aicha” the sad melodies that emphasize the suffering of the Jewish people in exile. The larger crowd that filled the synagogue listened attentively with great interest, delight and pleasure.

During the high holidays, as Rabbi Joshua and his six sons stood in front of the pulpit ready to begin the singing and chanting it represented a special, holy and beautiful occasion. The melodies of the high holidays were special and were composed for that occasion. Rabbi Joshua was a devoted servant of G–d; he stood before the almighty and asked forgiveness for his congregation on the Day of Judgment. His voice was pleasant and sweet that captured the heart. The members of the Jewish community of Bilke saw in their Cantor Rabbi Joshua, their true and faithful ambassador who was capable of representing them before their creator with dignity. He always emphasized the prayers that had special meaning regarding the fate of the Jewish people. For example, at “Neilah” – the concluding service “Yisrael Nosha Bashem” – “Israel shall be saved by the Lord with everlasting salvation”. During the “musaf” service the section “Unesaneh Tokef” he sang the words of this very meaningful passage with special accentuation, raised and lowered his voice with coloratura, changing from a strong to a lyric voice with his sons

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harmonizing at various levels and cadences. At times they acted as soloists and at other times as a choral group. The entire congregation listened with great attention as they felt great pleasure, joy and satisfaction. During the “Aseres Yemei Teshuva” – The ten days of Repentance, many Jews in Bilke hummed Rabbi Joshua's melodies especially “Kevakura Roeh Edro” – As the shepherd mustered his sheep.

At weddings, Rabbi Joshua used to welcome the groom with the greeting “Baruch Habah” and “Me Adir Al Hakol” with the accompaniment of his six sons. When the “Kallah”, the bride, circled the groom seven times, Rabbi Joshua sang “Me Bon Siach” – He who understands the meditation of roses, the love of the bride, the joy of the loving groom will bless the Chatan – Groom and the Kallah – Bride. The unique poem was passed down in the family from generation to generation.

The family of Rabbi Joshua Doft the Shochet and Chazan was very special and became a sort of institution in the town of Bilke. They represented a real soliddepp rooted Jewish family. The family was the pride of the town. They had a natural noble and aristocratic posture, one of its kind. Rabbi Joshua and his wife Pearl had eleven children, five daughters and six sons: Leah, Sarah, Chaya Feige, Chaim Aryeh, Shmuel Tzvi, Nachum Uri, Miriam Eidel, Reizel, Shlomo Yeshayah, Yoseph and Moshe Nechemyah.

Rabbi Joshua, his family and the entire Jewish community were driven from their homes into ghetto Herehovo and from there to Auschwitz and other death camps. Rabbi Joshua, his wife Pearl, and their daughter Leah and her five children, their daughter Sarah and her daughter died in Auschwitz on the third day of Sivan 1944. Chayim Aryeh and Nachum Uri perished in the labor camps on the plains of the Ukraine in Russia and Yosef perished in the concentration camp in Plashow in Poland. Sixteen dear souls of the immediate family perished in the terrible holocaust. Chaya Feige, Miriam Eidel, Reizel, Shlom Yeshayah and Moshe Nechemya survived

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miraculously. They settled in the U.S.A. where they raised families. Shmuel Tzvi made Aliah to Eretz Yisrael in 1937, and established a family there. The sons and daughters of Joshua and Pearl continue the golden chain of their parents.

Until this day the remnants of the survivors of Bilke who miraculously overcame the Holocaust, who settled in Israel and the U.S.A., remember Rabbi Joshua – may his memory be a blessing – with great love and reverence that has not left their heart.

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The terrible Nazi holocaust that destroyed the Jewish communities of Europe also uprooted great personalities and heads of families who served as wonderful and exceptional examples to the Jews who lived in their midst. The tragic events that befell the Jews of the East European towns destroyed the pure and upright way of life that was sanctified by the many generations who sacrificed their lives for the Torah and its commandments. The tragic holocaust interrupted the continued rich Torah creativity that was prevalent in Eastern Europe before the destruction.

In this article, I wish to create a memorial for my beloved grandfather Rabbi Abraham Lipschitz– his blessed memory. I see it as a duty to create a spiritual memorial for my family, my community and my people. Many wonderful memories come to mind about marvelous and revered images, who lived a creative life before the consuming fire destroyed it all. A wicked hand devastate everything, it did not pity even the young Yeshiva students or the righteous scholars.

Rabbi Abraham Lipschitz, the son of Rabbi Shabsai Lipschitz, was one of those spiritual leaders, a popular revered and beloved personality in the town of Bilke and vicinity in the Carpathian Mountains. Rabbi Shabsai Lipschitz who was the chief judge of the Jewish court of the town of Irshava and the entire county became known as a great scholar and author,

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who wrote some fifteen books on Jewish laws and customs, as well as medical and psychological advice.

Rabbi Abraham was born in the town of Stretin in Galicia where his family then resided. When he was a young lad, he and his family immigrated to the Carpathian Mountains in order to avoid the draft of Rabbi Shabsai to the Austro–Hungarian army and to serve as a spiritual leaders to the Jews of that area who were in need of scholars and spiritual leaders.

Rabbi Avrum'che, as he was lovingly called by his followers, was appointed as a judge of the town of Zalizshe near the city of Mukachevo. After a short while he was appointed chief judge in the nearby town of Zavidov. He married Rachel Yitte, the daughter of Rabbi Chayim Leib Kahana, a descendant of the “Noda Beyehuda” Rabbi Ezekiel Landa, the chief Rabbi of Prague, Czechoslovakia. Rachel Yitte's genealogy from her mother's side reaches all the way to Rashi and from her father's side all the way to Ezra the scribe. She was beautiful, a real woman of valor, a strong personality, a righteous person and a great help to her husband. In the year 1911 a young man by the name of Joel Teitlebaum arrived in the town of Irshava. He later became known as the Rabbi of Satmar (which is located in Romania) who caused great strife in many of the Carpathian Mountain communities.

At that time Rabbi Shabsai, the father of Rabbi Abraham Lipschitz, served as chief judge of Irshava. When Rabbi Joel Teitlebaum was asked what his intentions were in the town, he answered that he had no plans, he just like to live in this town. However, soon after his arrival, he started to infringe on Rabbi Shabsai's and other professional's territory. He tried to impose himself on various communities by threats and blackmail and demanded that they follow his dictates. He disqualified the ritual slaughterers or Shochatim who were deeply committed, religious and observant, who refused to follow him since they adhered to the great Rabbis and judges of that time for many years before him.

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Some twelve towns and villages that comprised the county of Irshava refused to accept the authority of Rabbi Joel Teitlebaum and followed Rabbi Chayim Elazar Shapiro, the chief Rabbi of Munkatch. The followers of Rabbi Teitlebaum started to bully the people and introduced hooliganism that was foreign to Jewish behavior. This fight by Rabbi Teitlebaum was not for the sake of sanctifying the name of G–d. He introduced an extremism that was never practiced among Jews before. The great Rabbis of the vicinity held a “Din–Torah” – a trial, and Rabbi Teitlebaum was forced to leave. He later lived in the city of Krula and from there in 1928 he settled in Satmar.

The dispute and the antagonism with Rabbi Teitlebaum and his followers also strongly affected Rabbi Abraham Lipschitz who was then judge in Zalizshe. In the introduction to this book “Yalkut Avraham”, he expressed his frustration and anger toward the Satmarer and his followers in the following words, “I was persecuted and tgormented by wicked people, informers, gossipers, and betrayers, however with the grace of G–d he was not able to harm me, and if not for our holy Torah, I would have perished in my suffering”.

In the year 1926, Rabbi Abraham moved from Zalizshe to the town of Bilke. In Bilke, Rabbi Abraham's family became a sort of special institution. They represented a real solid deep–rooted Jewish family. They possessed a deep and comprehensive religious belief. The entire family had a natural noble and aristocratic posture. They had five sons and two daughters. They all excelled in their studies, knowledge and abilities. This was an exceptional family, one of its kind. Rabbi Abraham's family was the pride of the town. All boasted about them from young to old. The family had great distinction for generations. Its branches spread to a number of countries. In this family one could find Torah, greatness and leadership in one place.

All the inhabitants of the area, among them great scholars, had great respect for Rabbi Avrum'che. He was a scholar with great ability for

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writing that he seemed to have inherited from his father. From his fertile pen he brought forth the important book “Yalkut Avraham”. The book deals with commentaries on the Torah, interpretations on Halach, Agada (Legends) commentaries, Remez (hints), Drush (homily) and Sod (hidden secrets). The book has three parts, the first one is called “Yalkut Avraham” (Anthology of Abraham) which deals with the four sections of the Shulchan Aruch (The Code of Jewish Law). The second part is called “Vayosef Avraham” (and Avraham continued) which deals with the importance of the study of Torah. The third part is called “Avraham Ezkor” (Avraham Remembered) which deals with explanations of laws and customs concerning Shochatim and Mohalim. The other part is called “Rimzei Brehis” (hints in the word Breishis) which gives us clues for interpretation.

The book was first published in Czechoslovakia in the year 1931. The book made a great impression among scholars and Rabbis. Great Rabbis of that time gave their “Haskama”, approval of the book and praised it highly. Among those that endorsed it were Rabbi Chayim Elazar Shapiro of Munkatch, Rabbi Leib Winlere of Madi, Rabbi Shabsai Lipschitz the father of the author Rabbbi Naftali Tzvi Weis of Bilke who was the son of Sepinker Rabbi and many others. It is interesting to bring a few quotations of their endorsements. “His innovations and hints are pleasant and wonderful.” “He assembled precious stones in his anthology.” “Their reasons and arguments are sweeter than honey and nectar to the taste buds.” “He made decorations and flowers for the Torah.” “His words are inspiring to men and G–d alike.” “His words are lovely and sweet which entices the hearts of men.” “They are full of splendor and radiate brightness.”

His devotion to the study of Torah knew no limits. In his introduction to his book, Rabbi Abraham tells us how important the Holdy Books were to him. He knew that the “Book” is the homeland of the Jews, their possession, their luck and their domain. Nobody can exile them from the book. There is a good reason why the Jews are called “The People of the

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Book”. Although Rabbi Abraham lived a difficult financial and pressing life, he made every effort to purchase religious books from various sources, since he devoted all his life to study of Torah.

He describe his thirst for books in the following words. “Although I am lacking many books, I have bought a few books which are my life. I purchased them with difficulty and poverty. G–d Almighty is my witness that many times I was hungry for food because I was not able to afford both.”

His book also reached the U.S.A. in the 1930's; this saved the book from being forgotten. After the Holocaust in 1962, the book was reprinted in New York by his sons, grandchildren and his admirers. Special credit should be given to Mr. Yeshaya Karpen of Brooklyn, a grandson of the author, whose efforts made it possible to spread his fountain of knowledge among the new generations.

Rabbi Avrum'che used to go out of his house he was always spotless and splendidly dressed. As he walked in the street people bowed their heads to him as a sign of honor and respect. This phenomenon was also practiced by gentiles as they passed him on the street. They also showed him respect. It seems that his royal appearance and radiant face and his entire personality contributed to this honorable aura of awe.

He loved his children in general and especially his grandchildren. Every Saturday afternoon the grandchildren who lived in Bilke gathered in his house in order to show their beloved grandfather the knowledge they had acquired during the week. He listened very intently and derived great nachas (pleasure) from his descendants. I remember when I was a

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very young child, I loved to visit grandma and grandpa's house. Although I was only four or five years of age, already then I felt that my grandfather Rabbi Avrum'che was a treasured possession, holy and pure, a phenomenon we do not find anymore. Sometimes on Saturdays I carried for him his Siddur and Chumash from his home to the main synagogue in Bilke, where he worshipped for many years.

As he became older his eyes dimmed and later almost became blind. He travelled to Vienna to a famous eye doctor where he was operated on. However, the operation did not improve his eyesight. He knew entire sections of the Torah by heart and many pages of the Talmud and its commentaries. His sons and grandsons used to come to his home to study Torah with him. His son–in–law Rabbi Yehoshua Doft (may his memory be blessed), the Shochet and Chazan of Bilke, devoted his time to write the script of his book because of Rabbi Abraham's blindness. Rabbi Abraham expressed his appreciation for his untiring efforts in his introduction to the book.

When Rabbi Abraham became sick, a sadness descended on the family and the entire town of Bilke. His illness was serious and he was taken to the hospital in the city of Berehovo where he was operated on. Although the operation was a success, complications developed which caused his death. The doctors gave him only a few days. His sons and daughters who lived in Czechoslovakia and Hungary were alerted to his bedside. They rushed to Bilke to be near their beloved father during his last days. A few hours before he died, Rabbi Abraham requested of his youngest grandson, Moshe the son of Pearl and Joshua Doft, to his bedside. Rabbi Abraham asked him to recite with him the “Kerias Shema” (an important section from the morning and evening prayers). Shortly after that he returned his soul to his creator. As his soul departed there was a minyan (ten men) near his bed. They recited prayers and psalms as it is fitting for a revered Chasid as was Rabbi Avrum'che Lipschitz.

On the twelfth day of Adar the second, 1933 Rabbi Abraham's pure and

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holy soul returned to his maker. He was only sixty–nine years old at the time of his death. As it was customary then, as soon as it was determined that Rabbi Abraham died, they removed his body from the bed, placed it on the floor on a simple cloth and covered him with a white sheet. Two candles in candlesticks burned at his head. His sons, sons–in–law, grandsons and many members of the community recited psalms continuously in shifts. The “Chevra Kadisha” (the society that deals with the burial of the departed). The “Lavayah” (funeral) took place in the main synagogue since there was not enough room inside the synagogue. Hundreds of mourners gathered in the synagogue yard. Among them women, children, men, elderly, Rabbis, judges, Shochatim, scholars and others from the vicinity who came to pay their respects to a scholar who was revered by many. In the eulogies, an account was given of Rabbi Avrumche's wonderful deeds, his great contribution to the communities in the area, and about his righteousness, honesty and chasidus (piety).

Rachel Yitte, his wife, lived on until close to the holocaust. She died on the 29th day of Sivan 1940. She was buried in the ohel (mausoleum) at the side of her departed husband Rabbi Abraham (may his righteous memory be a blessing). She was seventy–seven years old at the time of her death.

After the Jews of Bilke were driven from their homes into the ghetto and from there to Auschwitz and other death camps, not one Jewish living soul remained there. Following the tragic holocaust, a handful of survivors returned to Bilke to search for their dear ones. They left Bilke soon after in great despair. The last Jew who left Bilke was Joshua Eckstein who became stuck in Bilke when the Carpathian Mountains were annexed by the Russians. He arrived in the U.S. a few years ago after many hardships. He revealed that the “Ohel” (mausoleum) of Rabbi Abraham and Rachel Yitte does not exist anymore. It was taken apart by the local population. Wicked people had a hand in it. Mr. Eckstein says that the watchman of

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the cemetery in Bilke is watching so that no harm should come to the matzevos (monuments) of Rabbi Abraham and Rachel Yitte (may they rest in peace and may the almighty take revenge on the wicked).

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Baruch Hashem, Tuesday, the portion of the week “Bereshis” – Genesis

Behold, a human being does not know his time, and a man is a man, and with the help of G-d, may he be blessed. I have reached old age, and as we learned in the Mishnah (the first commentary on the Bible) Avot (The Ethics of the Fathers) “at sixty to old age” (Avot 5:24) (and look in the “Tosefot Yom Tov” who says that at sixty to wisdom, and look in “Chidushe Agadot” in the Talmud tractate “Kidushin” page 28 side one, the passage that begins “at seventy to old age and at eighty to strength,” who also comes to the conclusion as I did study that at sixty to old age). And on Erev Rosh Chodesh Adar which past in good luck I became sixty years old.

I became feeble in all my limbs, and especially my sense of vision in my eyes became badly weakened. G-d, blessed be he in his great mercy and loving kindness, will still brighten up my eyes in our holy Torah, because they are my life and the length of my days, all the days of my existence. Therefore I said (or I decided) that while I still see to write I will write a written will in my handwriting and my signature, which will witness - compared to a hundred legal and credible witnesses.

First, I regret and confess all my sins and transgression, that I have transgressed from my first days until this day, those that are known to me and those that are not known to me, because, G-d forbid, not as rebellion

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or unfaithfulness did I do this or this, only because of the burden and toil of making a living was I brought to this. Especially because most of my years passed and passed away with worries and misfortunes, hardships and persecutions, and pressed hard in poverty to provide for my household and my dear children, all of them beloved and all equal in goodness, by the help of G-d blessed be he to guide them in ways of the Torah and reverence. Also, my wife until one hundred and twenty, was a great help and carried the burden with me equally, to feed them and to guide them in the righteous ways of the Torah and reverence, all my sons and daughters may they live long and happily, Amen. They will witness and tell, that many times I and my wife, may she live long, were actually hungry for bread, but for them (the children) we saw to it with all our strength, that they should not lack anything so that they could devote themselves to learn our holy Torah wholeheartedly and with an unoccupied heart. Our goal was always to this end.

With the help of the Creator, blessed be he, who saw our affliction and our oppression, this need and our efforts on behalf of our sons, to raise them in the ways of our holy Torah and reverence, and he (G-d) fulfilled our wishes for good, and there is not good only Torah. All of them individually they are, thank G-d, scholars and fearful of heaven, pious and respected. They too should merit this, all of them to this, to long days and years, with nachas of holiness Amen and Amen.

So, my dear and pleasant sons and sons-in-law, may they live long and happily, Amen, you know the truth, that with all our strength and our substance we did only good for you, so may G-d have mercy as it is mentioned above. So, you should deal kindly and truly with us, after our years will be completed to try to pray at the pulpit of prayer on Saturday and Holidays, and to recite the Kaddish, as it is customary in the evening and morning, and in learning “Mishnayos” you should be very constant for the entire year, and especially during the “Shloshim” (the thirty days) and during the “Shivah” (the week of mourning), and also you should

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follow the learning of “Mishnayos” as it says in my precious book (the book he wrote “Yalkut Avraham”). You should be prudent and study “Mishnayos” every Saturday night – as the holy Sabbath departs, even a little bit for the ascent of our souls. Each one of you should also donate to charity each day of the first year (after their death) according to his ability, even just a few pennies, and could even give this to “Rabbi Meir Bal Hanes fund.” At the time that he will donate to charity he should say the prayer which I wrote in my precious book.

If G-d will merit me to still be alive to publish my precious book, which is to me more precious than all the world's desires, I would like to ask of my beloved sons and my upright sons-in-law, and also of my delightful and precious grandchildren, that they should try to deliberate and study my book at all times that it will be possible for them, especially during the first year on Saturdays and Holidays, and so forever so that my lips shall recite in my grave.

As it says in the preface of my book (see there) to transfer the place of my burial and my place of rest, it would be very pleasant for me to lie at the place of my parents, meaning in Orshava (the town near Bilke where Rabbi Shabsai and his wife are buried) below the chosen place for the esteemed, crown of our head, the master, my father, may he live a long and happy life Amen. Since there is no more room on the side of this place because on one side is resting the judge who was there (Rabbi Shabsai) and on the other side is resting my mother the righteous, may she rest in peace, only below the above place immediately under it close by without any separation.

My hope is, G-d blessed be he, that I myself shall buy for myself there in Orshava this holy plot, at this place, and if not, I will request of my sons and my sons-in-law may they live long and happily Amen. That they should buy a plot for me to fulfill my wish for me to be buried near my parents. Also, my wife, may she live long, also is of this idea, and would like to be placed near me, nearby below the grave of my mother and

[Page 708]

righteous, may she rest in peace, the honorable wife.

For the ascent of our soul, before learning the “Mishnayos” they should say with their mouths, I am learning “Mishnayos” for so and so, the son of so and so, or for her the daughter of so and so – as it says in my book in the chapter “Vayosef Avraham” letter lamed dalet, and in another place as I pointed out, because the deceased are mentioned by their father, (see there) and also after the learning when they will say, I beseech you G-d full of compassion and mercy etc, it should be mentioned the name of the fathers. Also regarding the situation, for many years already we have brought soil (or dust) from the land of Israel which comes from the soil of Mount Olives in Jerusalem. There is plenty of it in one “kilo” (like two pounds) it should be divided in two halves, one half for me and one half for my wife, may she live a long life. They should follow the spreading of this soil as I write in my book chapter youd, shin samech gimel, letter koof heh, see there. Also look at “Orach Chayim” based on the sentence “now this time will my husband be joined unto me” (Genesis 29:34). In the name of our sages, (see there) and also look into the book “Bris Ovos” (this is by Rabbi Shabsai) verse 19, letter nun, see there. It will be very pleasant for us if our beloved children will do and behave as I am doing and behaving during this year after the passing away of my mother the righteous, may she rest in peace. It is already ten months that a candle burns constantly at our house, and because it should not be expensive, I bought a small lamp which is called night lamp. And so you should do, all my dear and pleasant children and my sons-in-law, the entire year after passing away, because 'The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord” (Proverbs 20:27). Therefore my pleasant sons and sons-in-law, listen to me, and thus you should do, and so you should behave for the good of all of us, as it says above, and you will fulfill a positive Mitzvah (commandment), which is written in our holy Torah “Honor thy father and thy mother” (Exodus 20:12). There is no greater honor than what is explained in our holy books, and then the blessing of our Torah will be fulfilled among you. “Happy shalt you be, and it shall be with thee” (Psalms

[Page 709]

128:2). As our sages explain it, “thou shalt be happy in this world, and it shall be well with thee in the world to come.” Whatever I will be able to do for you after my death, in the world of truth, I will make an effort to do good for you.

One thing I will ask of the Creator may his name be blessed, that he should help me yet during my living life and with the vision in my eyes, to publish my book which is named “Yalkut Avraham” (the compilation of Abraham) which is divided into three sections, that it should be published entirely and be distributed throughout the world, because this is the entire purpose and desire of my heart. After I saw that my script which was reviewed by scholars, renowned and learned Rabbis of international stature and righteousness, may they live long and happily Amen, who looked at it and derived from it great pleasure and satisfaction, and they answered and said “Barkaee” it is like the morning star (meaning that the book will light up the Jewish scholarly world like the morning star). Also, I in truth, see that I discovered and interpreted in this book of our holy Torah with the help of G-d blessed be he, things that I knew the truth, although I am poor and not worthy nor deserving of the task, only G-d blessed be he and blessed is his name, with his great mercy and his great kindness merited me to this, to keep me alive until this day. Therefore, my hope and prayer is as he helped me with his great mercy and his great kindness to see my book get to the press, Amen and Amen.

Although, it is true that a human being is a human being, and I did not know the day of my death, it is possible that I will not merit the occasion to present my book to the press, while I am still living. My soul desired and grieved very much that my book should be published, as it says in my preface, so that my lips may recite it in my grave. Therefore, I instruct in my will, that it should be printed in this manner with G-d's help may he be blessed.

I also ask, and with the ruling of the will that always on the day of my “Yahrtzeit” (the memorial day) that all my sons, may they live long

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and happily, Amen, should come and gather where my place of rest will be and they should make all efforts to come so that they may unite in brotherly love on that day (meaning the Yahrtzeit). If there are circumstances which will prevent some of them from coming, for sure they will be excused from it.

Thank G-d, Tuesday, of the portion “And shall cause him to be thoroughly healed” (Exodus 21:19 – the weekly portion of Mishpatim) the year of healing (which is in Gematriah – the numerical value 22 of Shevat 5687 (Jan. 25, 1927) here in Bilke (Czechoslovakia), may the cities of Judah be rebuilt. (It seems that he is talking about healing because he had an operation on his eyes).

Especially after my pleasant son Meyer who lived then in N.Y., may his light shine, offered to donate, and wrote to me to move my residence from where I lived and from my country (Rabbi Abraham lived in Zavidof not far from Mukachevo) and established my residence here (meaning in Bilke) may G-d guard him forever, and he (Meyer) will send me month after month a decent amount, enough for our needs. He is fulfilling his promise and he sends us all the time, with his good, pure and willing heart, with great honor and with great joy, more and more of what he undertook. (G-d blessed be he should help him with a “Refuah” – a cure and deliverance and all the best, as it is with his good heart, as the blessing upon him in our holy Torah).

My dear son Meyer, may his light shine, sends us enough money, as it is now, to cover our needs. So, also after my passing away he will send for the needs of my wife, who is your mother, may she live long. What comes out of all of this, my main purpose, is that in some way it should be concluded between my dear sons, may they live long and happily, Amen, that it should be worked out that my book should be published with the help of G-d. With this my soul, spirit and life will be complete. With this you will be fulfilling the Mitzvah – commandments, of honoring thy father. As you know, my dear sons how much my soul yearned for

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this, to publish my book.

I can't continue anymore about this because of my weakness of my sight. You will understand this by yourselves and so you should do this with integrity, and in such a manner that my book will be published. It is enough of this.

I am also writing in my will that my “Shas” (the set of the Babylonian Talmud) I am giving to my dear son Mordechai, may his light shine, that he should have it for a wedding gift for his daughter, my dear granddaughter Hinde, may she live long. Because, all my sons and sons-in-law may they live long and happily Amen, bought for themselves a “Shas,” only my dear son, a righteous man, may his light shine, did not buy a “Shas” yet for himself, and if he can afford it he will still buy one, with G-d's help, for himself. Although, my dear son, a righteous man, may his light shine, was a help to me in money matters, nevertheless, it is self understanding that my “Shas” belongs to my son Mordechai, may his light shine.

Thank G-d, Sunday “but all the children of Israel had light” (Exodus 10:23). The portion of the week “Bo” (29^th day of Tevet – 22^nd of January 1928). The year of blossom (in Gematriah – the numerical value is 5688-1928. Here in Bilke, may Zion and its cities be rebuilt).

The other books should be divided among them (among the children) which they will evaluate among themselves, in peace and serenity. Nevertheless, I will ask of you my dear children, may you live long and happily Amen, that about all things whether the books or the other belongings, my dear son-in-law Moshe, may his light shine, from Kashau (in Czechoslovakia) should get the largest share, because all of you, may you live long and happily, know the truth, that each one of you got more from me, except my above dear son-in-law, on the contrary, he was a constant help to me, during difficult times, G-d, blessed be he should be his help, and help to you, and wherever you will turn you may prosper

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and succeed each one of you, according to your heart's desire for good.

I the humble Abraham Lipschitz.

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Reb Moshe Aharon Blassberger – may G–d take revenge for his death – was a respected member of the Jewish community of Bilke in the Carpathian Mountains of Czechoslovakia. He was very active in communal affairs of the Jewish community of Bilke. Reb Moshe Aharon was a “Talmid Chacham” – learned man in Jewish sources, was knowledgeable in the Bible and Talmud, and devoted time for learning. He was a member of the “Chevra Kadisha” – the Jewish Burial Holy Society and a member of the Brotherhood of the study of the “Mishnah” with a festive dinner. For many yers, he was the leader of the “Gabbaim” – officers of the “Chevrah Mishnayoth”. He was a “Baal Tzedakah” – a generous giver to charity and looked out for the poor of Bilke and vicinity. He also took care of Jewish wayfarers. At the turn of the 20th century, when Bilke began to develop and expand, he urged the Jewish wayfarers to come and settle in Bilke, and try out their luck in his hometown. Reb Moshe Aharon also supported various Rabbis who published holy Jewish books. He was among a number of Bilker who contributed to the publication of the “Sefer Yalkut Avraham” of my grandfather, Rabbi Abraham Lipschitz, the “Dayan and More Tzedek” the “Judge” and “Shochet” who lived in Bilke later in his life. Many people used to come to Reb Moshe Aharon for advice on various matters. He was nicknamed “DER STERN ZE–ER”, the star gazer, like a seer who can foresee things.

Reb Moshe Aharon – may G–d take revenge for his death– and his wife Leah, may she rest in peace, raised seven children. Three boys, Shlomo, Yehoshua, and Kalman, and four girls, Rachel, Sara Feige, Yitte

[Page 714]

and Libah. At home, the Blassberger family spoke Yiddish. It was a family deeply rooted in Jewish tradition. A real Jewish spirit prevailed in the Blassberger home.

Reb Moshe Aharon made sure that his sons received a good basic Jewish education. They studied in “Cheder” and in “Yeshivoth”. Kalman, especially, was a “Talmid Chacham” – a scholar who devoted time to the study of Torah even after he became a business and family man.

Although Reb Moshe Aharon was a rich man, he himself lived a simple life. He did not care for luxuries. He did not waste his money, but used his wealth wisely. The Blassberger family had a large house with many rooms. A store of all kinds of leather goods was in the front to the house. In the yard, they had a smaller house for rental. My sister Leah lived in this house with her husband and children. The Blassberger family also had a large cowshed with cows, calves, a chicken coop for meat and eggs, and a large field in the back of the property. They also owned land and a number of fields around Bilke that was toiled by non–Jews.

Reb Moshe Aharon was very successful in his business. His leather goods store was the only one in Bilke and vicinity. People came to his store from near and far to purchase raw material for making shoes, boots, sandals (for the peasants), and house slippers. The shelves were always fully stocked with all kinds of types of soles, leathers in various colors and quality, linings for shoes and boots, shoe buckles, hooks and tools for shoemakers such as hammers, needles, nails of various sizes, glue, etc. Individual customers also came to the store after they got from their shoemaker the specifications of size and type of the raw material needed for making the shoes or boots, etc. In those days it was customary to have shoes made at a shoemaker rather than buying ready–made shoes. Ready–made shoes were scarce and very expensive and shoes made by a shoemaker were better and much stronger and lasted a long time.

Reb Moshe Aharon Blassberger was the head of the Blassberger family

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in Bilke. He was a strict individual. He taught and instructed his children, gave them a specific direction in their lives, and taught them how to build their future. At the marriage of each of his daughters, he gave a sum of money with the condition that the son–in–law start a leather goods store in Carpatia.

His oldest daughter Rachel married Avigdor Hersh Laks. They settled in the small town of “Welka Konyata” which is near the city of “Selish”, and opened a leather goods store. They gave birth to four boys, Modechai Shlomo, Hiller, Avraham Elya, Pinchas Chaim, and three girls, Gitel, Esther and Roiza. They moved to Selish in 1926 and Avigdor died a year later at the young age of forty–eight. Their oldest daughter, Gitel, was sixteen at the time, and she supported the family by working in a tobacco factory and as a seamstress. Gitel married Shmuel Chaim Lebovicz in 1934 and they continued to support her family after their marriage.

His daughter Sarah Feige married Shmuel David Gelb. They settled in the city of “Chust” where there was a large Jewish community and opened a leather goods store. They had seven children, six girls, Baila, Blimah, Rachel, Chava, Shaindel, Raizil and a boy Alter Shmayah.

His daughter Liba married Yaakov Eliezer Wieder. They established themselves in the town of “Doha”, not far from Bilke. They also opened a leather goods store modeled after the store in Bilke. They gave birth to three boys and a girl, Shlomo, Yisrael Gedaliah, Meir and Rachel.

His daughter Yitte married Yitzchok Leibish Mermestein. They settled in the city of “Selish” which had a large Jewish community. There they too opened a leather goods store modeled after the store in Bilke.

His son Shlomo married Sara Fischer and settled in Czechoslovakia in the city of Byrno. There they opened a factory of mattresses and became successful and wealthy. They gave birth to a son Alex and a daughter Olga.

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In this picture (153) we see the Blassberger family (seated), Reb Moshe Aharon Blassberger (in the back standing), Golda (Neuman) Blassberger (the wife of Kalman) (the little boy her son) Meir, (above him standing) Mendy (Golda's son). (Standing three daughters of Golda) Sarah, Reizel and Malka). This picture was taken in Bilke in the yard of the Blassberger family home in late 1930

His son Joshua married Sara Moskowitz and settled in the town of “Rachev” in the Carpatians. There he too opened a leather goods store modeled after the store in Bilke. They gave birth to Abraham, Beryl, Fayge Rifkah and Esther.

His youngest son Kalman married Golda, the daughter of Reb Yechiel Hersh Neuman of Bilke. The Neumans had a textile store in Bilke. They were well to do and respected people. Kalman was given a large sum of money as a bride's wedding gift by Reb Yechiel Hersh. They gave birth to two sons, Mendy and Meir, and three daughters, Sara, Raisy, and Malka.

Kalman took over the running of the business from his father Reb Moshe Aharon, and Reb Moshe Aharon devoted himself mostly to the estate, the fields, the cattle and chickens, etc.

When Shmuel David Gelb, the husband of Sara Feige in “Chust” died at a young age and left her a widow with five young children, Reb Moshe Aharon summoned this three sons, his two daughters and sons–in–law for an urgent meeting in Bilke. He placed the responsibility of supporting his Sarah Feige and her children on their shoulders. They listened to his demand and accepted the responsibility. They had a great respect for Reb Moshe Aharon and also realized that he was the driving force behind their success in business.

Kalman followed in the footsteps of his father. He took over the business and ran the s tore. He, too, set aside time for learning Torah. He was a member of the Great Synagogue where he and his father worshipped for many years near each other. They purchased a number of seats for the entire male family. Golda and Mrs. Leah prayed in the “Ezrath Nashim” – women's balcony. Kalman was a member of the “Chevra Shas” – the society for studying the Talmud. He used to rise early in the morning, enter the “Pulish” – the study hall of the Great Synagogue, take a “Gemarah” from the bookshelves and study “Talmud” until the morning service. He was very charitable and a supporter of Jewish scholars. Kalman's name

[Page 718]

also is mentioned in the preface to my grandfather's book “Yalkut Avraham”, as one of the Bilker donors to the publishing of his book. He also used to give “Tzedakah” – charity secretly and lend money to the needy without publicizing it.

Kalman had a very pleasant personality. He was an easy going and quiet person who never raised his voice to anyone. One never saw him angry. He conducted his business with ease and relaxation. He was a very honorable person and revered by all. His first wife Golda Neuman– may G–d take revenge for her death– was a modest person and great homemaker, devoted to her husband, children, and the entire family.

When the persecution of the Jews began as the Hungarians occupied Bilke in 1939, the Blassberger family was affected and suffered together with all the Jews in Bilke. The Hungarian authorities enacted discriminating laws against the Jews. Among the laws was the decree that all Jews must cease to conduct business. They were instructed to transfer their stores to the gentiles or to the government. The leather goods had to be delivered to the authorities since the army needed the material to outfit the soldiers, as their needs increased due to war.

In 1941, the Hungarians conscripted all Jewish males 18–50 to the “Munko Tabor” – forced labor units. Kalman was conscripted and the gamily “like most other Jewish families” remained without an able–bodied provider. Reb Moshe Aharon was already eighty years old, but he tried to conduct the activities of the family, taking care of the farm around the house and the fields. Kalman was transported with his unit to the Ukraine where they did physical work for the Hungarians and the Germans for the war effort. In the meanwhile. Mrs. Leah Blassberger passed away in 1941.

In 1944, the day after Pesach, the Blassberger family, together with the other Jews of Bilke who were still there, were transported to the ghetto of Berehovo. Reb Moshe Aharon, Golda, Kalman's first wife and five children were among the rest of the Jewish deportees. After five weeks,

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all the Jews from the ghetto Berhovo were transported in boxcars to Auschwitz in Poland, among them the Blassberger family from Bilke. From what we know, they all perished on the third day of Sivan, May 1944 – may G–d take revenge for their deaths. Kalman was at that time in the “forced labor camps” in the Ukraine.

Rachel Blassberger–Laks and her daughter Esther perished in Auschwitz and her son Avraham Elya died in the “forced labor camps ” – may G–d take revenge for their deaths. The remaining children miraculously survived. Gitel's husband escaped to America in 1938 and got her and their children out in 1939. They settled in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Gitel moved to California after her husband, Shmuel Chaim, died in 1988 and lives near her son in Los Angeles. Mordechai Shlomo was trapped behind the iron curtain until 1970 when he was brought to the United States by Gitel. He lived in Bridgeport until his death in 1994. Hillel established himself in Bridgeport. Roize and Pinchas Chaim made aliyah to Israel after the Holocaust and established themselves there. Pinchas Chaim has since passed away.

Liba Blassberger–Wieder from Doha, her husband Yaakov Eliezer, their sons Yisrael Gedaliah and Meir, and their daughter Rachel all perished in the Holocaust – may G–d take revenge for their deaths. Only their son shlomo miraculously survived. Shlomo Wieder resides in Brooklyn, New York with his wife Celia.

Sarah Feige Blassberger–Gelb from Chust, her children Alter Shmayah, Raizel and Shaindel perished in the Holocaust – may G–d take revenge for their deaths. Baila, Blima, Rachel, Chava miraculously survived. Baila established a family and lives in Flushing, New York with her husband Shamay Abraham. Their three other daughters Blima, Rachel, and Chava made Aliyah to Israel after the Holocaust and established themselves there.

Yitta Blassberger–Mermelstein – It is unknown what happened to her

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family. Joshua Blassberger from Rachev and his wife Sara Moskowitz, their children, Beryl, Fayge Rifkah and Esther perished in the Holocaust. Their son, Abraham Baldor, was also conscripted to the “Forced Labor Units”. He survived and made aliyah to Israel. He shares his time between New York and Israel. They live in Brooklyn, New York.

Shlomo Blassberger with his wife and two children survived the Holocaust. In 1944, they were taken from Bergen–Belsen with one thousand five hundred people on “the Kastner train”, a special transport to Switzerland. After the war, they went from Switzerland to Germany. They made aliyah to Israel in 1952 and established a factory for mattresses. Shlomo's wife Sara died on the twenty–first day of the Hebrew month of Kislev, 1970 and Shlomo died on the 19^th day of the Hebrew month of Elul, 1983. They are buried in Israel. Their children, Alex Baldor and Olga Boris live in Canada.

Kalman Blassberger was the only survivor of his immediate family. He emigrated to the U.S.A. He married again, Chaya Chana Beinhorn from Veretzky, a town in the Carpathians. They established a family and gave birth to two sons, Yechiel Michel and Moshe Aharon. Kalman established a business in Brooklyn.

Kalman believed very strongly in a traditional Jewish education. He enrolled his sons in “Yesiva Torah V'Daath”. His sons continued through the “Beth Midrash” of “Torah V'Daath” where they were ordained as Rabbis.

All who came in contact with Kalman admired and revered him because he had very good “Midoth” – attributes and qualities. He was a very honest and righteous person, in life and also in business. He treated each customer with kindness, fairness, and loyalty. Many customers came back time and again because of his respectful manner. He was known to everyone as a trustworthy businessman.

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Kalman never spoke to his sons in the U.S.A. about what he had gone through during the Holocaust years, and what happened to his first family. He kept the pain and the sorrow to himself, deep in his heart. It seems that he decided, like many other Holocaust survivors, not to burden the next generation with the horrors of the Holocaust.

Reb Kalman ben Moshe Aharon Blassberger died in Brooklyn, New York on the fifth day of the Hebrew month of Menachem–Av 1985 and was buried in Dean, New Jersey. Hundreds of people who knew Kalman, including a few landsleit from Bilke, participated in the “Levayah” – funeral. His wife Chay Chana died five years later on the first day of Chol–Hamoed Sukkot 1990 and is buried nearby.

[Page 723]

First let me introduce myself. My name was Mayer Jakubovich, born in Bilke in 1920, and was named after the Bilker Rabbi, Rabbi Meir Israels who was the Rav of Bilke before Rabbi Mordechai Liberman. Rabbi Meir Israels was the Rav in Bilke at the turn of the twentieth century. As the Rabbi of the Jewish community, it was his duty to keep the “Metrickel” the records of all the births and deaths of the Jews in Bilke and vicinity.

There were some Jews who tried to avoid conscription into the Austro-Hungariana army. It was difficult for Jews to serve in the military because of anti-Semitism and the observance of Jewish customs and laws such as the Sabbath.

Sometimes Rabbi Israels would change the birthday of the Jewish males, to make them older or younger to defer their conscription. Sometimes a male certificate was changed to a female in order to avoid the draft. When the Austro-Hungarian government got wind of it, Rabbi Israels and his helpers burned the records and he fled to Palestine in 1909. In 1920, Bilke received the news that Rabbi Israels died in Jerusalem. Since I was the first child that was born in Bilke after Rabbi Israels death, my parents decided to name me after him. Reb Yehoshua, the Bilker Shochet was my Kwater.

I left Bilke in the year 1935 and emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1936. The economy in America was slowly recovering from the 1929 crash. But it was still difficult to find jobs and if one found a job the wages were very low. I worked for as little as $5.00 a week and that was for fifty hours.

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> Some Bilker boys lived in Boarding houses with landsleit. It helped pay the rent and the boarder would get a home-cooked meal. From these small wages they managed to send home a few dollars to their parents in Bilke.

To observe the Sabbath was almost impossible even in New York City. Some Bilker eventually acquired small retail businesses. Saturday was the busiest day in these businesses. We knew that the situation was not good for the Jews in Europe, but we never ever dreamed of such persecution that we found out later and after the war. While we did not live actually in concentration camps here in the U.S.A., since my immediate family emigrated to the U.S.A. at various times before the second World War, our losses were the same as for many of us Bilker for we lost our dear ones; parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers, etc.

All the Bilker landsleit were busy adjusting themselves to the new country. Of course, Roosevelt was considered a hero by the Jewish people (when he spoke of security and minimum wages). Later on we found out differently. Maybe some Jewish leaders knew what was going on in Europe and if they did they chose to keep it a secret from the Jews in America.

At that time, there were no Jewish day schools. Jewish children attended Hebrew School for one or two hours twice or three times a week. The teachers were not professionals and most of the students did not like it. After the Bar Mitzvah they discontinued their Jewish education. Some of the Bilker boys served in the U.S. Army. I and my brother Al (Bumy) and (Emeric) Shlomo, and also Victor (Wolf) Klein, Mendil Heisler, Mendel Berger the sone of Hentshe grandson of Fishel Yosowich, and Weingarten der Volash Lerers stepson Shmuel Yakov, his last name was Stern. The above were the Bilker that served in the U.S. Military that I am aware of.

I myself served in China, in Burma, and in India. While I was in the

[Page 725]

In this picture (110) we see the Yakubovic (Jacoby) family. This picture was taken in 1929. (Seated from right to left) Reb Moshe Aharon and his wife Feige. (Standing in the back) their daughter Golda and their daughter Yolan. (Standing on the sides from left to right) their son Meir and their son Bumi.

army, the only news we got was how the war was progressing and some local news, but nothing about the Jewish situation.

After the war, I met Tuby Klein who came to the U.S.A.. We got married in 1949. My family emigrated to the U.S.A. at a different time before World War II. Two of my older sisters emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1920. Some of the others came later illegally. In 1934, my father Moshe Aharon der Schneider (Taylor) passed away in Bilke. He was from Irshava and had uncles in Bilke. They were Fishel der Schneider, Blasberger and a sister Yente Zisovich. We sold the house to Shlomo Gedaylovich when my family emigrated to the U.S.A.

My mother Feige, the Hollanderke, was the daughter of Rivka Gedaylovich, also emigrated to the U.S.A. Shad a sister Ethel Goldstein and a brother Nathan Holander who lived already in the U.S.A. My mother left her two sisters Gittel Klein Lenke Gedaylovich in Bilke and Hentshe Berger in Rakovic near Bilke.

Rivka was the daughter of Wolf der Nagid (Nugid) Gedaylovich who was the son of Gedalia. His brothers were: gedalia Shmuel, Yakov and Eliah Gedaylovich and a sister in Romania. All perished in the Holocaust.

My immediate family consisted of:

Raizel (Reggie) Leitman
Leah (Yolan) Waltz (Waltzavic)
Nute (Nat) Jacoby
Shlomo (Emerich) Jacoby
Voly (Victor) Jacoby
Goldie Peck (Peisikovich)
Bumi (Al) Jacoby
Meyer (Michael) Jacoby (Jakubovich)

[Page 727]

“Revenge is desirable as a tool for enforcing justice which brings about the remedy of the ills of society.”

(Rabbi Sa-ad-yah Gaon – “Emunot Ve-Deoth”)

The Jews of Bilke conducted an orderly and organized community until the very end “their deportation” in spite of non-Jews who always looked with envy at our democratic Jewish society. The Jewish community of Bilke was blessed with torah, Jewish scholarship and enlightenment, fellowship and friendship, and support for the fellow Jew. Although there were difference of opinion and controversies for the sake of Heaven (and also not for the sake of Heaven), Jewish Bilke consisted of almost two thousand souls with religious and social institutions that existed for almost three hundred years. For many generations in our town, Jews were a vital spirit, while the voice of Torah (learning), Tefilah (prayer) echoed throughout the town.

Some fifty years have passed since the eradication of the living community of Bilke, her thousands of families, our parents, brothers and sisters, and our dear ones of our families who were sentenced to annihilation at the hands of the Nazi Beast, the Hungarian Fascists, their

[Page 728]

satellites and their collaborators – with great sufferings and torture. The pain is so great that no elapse of time can heal it or cause it to be forgotten.

Our community was blessed over the generations with positive types who lived their lives according to our ancient Jewish tradition. Not only the Rabbi, the Shochet and Chazan (cantor) and the other scholars who excelled themselves in the love of the Jewish people and Torah, but also the merchants, the ordinary folks, the laborers, the artisans, the poor people, the ordinary multitude did not stray from the Golden Path. The very holiness that surrounded the Jews of our community added to their strength and immunity so that they were able to overcome the constant struggle of existence. The holiness was especially felt during holidays, festival and special days in the Jewish calendar.

When Czechoslovakia was overrun by the Germans – may their names be eradicated – the Jews of Bilke were destined to come under the yoke of the Hungarian Fascist Army. Soon after the Hungarian conquest they decreed harsh ordinances against the Jewish in habitants.

The first victim to fall was Reb Moshe Binyamin Klein, who was shot on the first evening of the occupation while on his way home from the House of Prayer and Learning after evening services. That first victim was an indication of what the Jews of Bilke could expect. The Hungarian government, under the reign of Admiral Horthy, instituted racial laws against the Jews of Hungary among whom were the Jews of Bilke (these anti-Jewish laws were already in force throughout Nazi-occupied Europe). Every Jew was required to wear a yellow badge, a Jewish Star of David, on their clothing. Jews were forbidden to conduct business; they were forbidden to practice their professions; their radios were confiscated, and they were forbidden to leave their homes in the evening. The Jews were ordered to register at the town hall and present documents to prove their citizenship.

Then in August 1941 came the first wave of deportations from Bilke

[Page 729]

to the town of Kamenets-Podolsk in the Ukraine. Some Jews who had lived in Bilke for many generations were deported because they did not have all the documents needed. The Hungarian Guards marched our fellow Jews, men and women, elderly and children, across the border. During the days they marched them further and further, and during the nights they concentrated them in large barns and other structures.

The Hungarians knew very well what was in store for the Jews in the Ukrainian wilderness. The Hungarian support units, the Ukraine Volunteers and the German Einsatzgruppen (S.S. mobile killing units) perpetrated a terrible slaughter of the Carpathian Jews, among them about one hundred Jews from Bilke. The murderers lined up the Jewish families in Kamenets-Podolsk and machine-gunned them with brutality.

The second great blow fell upon the Jews of Bilke when the Hungarians mobilized all Jewish males, ages eighteen to fifty, into “Munko tabor”, “forced labor units”. Hundreds of men- fathers, sons, brothers, cousins and brothers-in law – were taken away to forced labor and organized into army-like units under the command of the Hungarian Army. Many of these units were sent to the front lines in the Ukraine, Russia, Germany, Italy and Hungary. There they dug tunnels and trenches, built rail lines and fortifications.

Tens of thousands of Jews in the “forced labor units” died from hard labor, starvation, sickness, frostbite, enemy actions, at the hands of the fanatical anti-Semites. Many sons of Bilke perished. Among them were two brothers of this writer: Chaim Aryeh and Nachum Uri – may G_d revenge their deaths. Some of the units remained in Hungary where they performed similar work. They too suffered from the brutality of the Hungarian officers and many times were in deadly danger.

The non-Jews of Bilke who for generations had maintained outwardly cordial relations showed their true faces when they realized that shedding Jewish blood was cheap. Overnight, they changed their attitudes. All along

[Page 730]

they had coveted the property of the Jews, their way of life and all that the Jews stood for. Many Gentiles helped the Hungarians to execute the anti-Jewish decrees. The leaders of the Jewish community learned of a special meeting of Bilke's non-Jewish representatives at which they approved the deportation of all Jews of Bilke because they knew that their reward would be great. The old hatred of Jews came now to the fore in all its ugliness.

Reb Chayim Isaac Rosenbaum, the last president of the Bilker Jewish community, was ordered to present to the authorities a list of all Jews living in Bilke. This list served as a guide for the Hungarians in their subsequent treatment of the Jews of Bilke. They used it for deportations to the Ukraine, for the mobilization of males into forced labor units, for all kinds of work the Bilker Jews had to perform for the town; Jewish teenagers were forced to serve in the “levente”, they “youth battalions” and, finally, the list served to confirm the final expulsion of the remnant of Bilker Jews which left Bilke Judenrein – “free of Jews”.

On Mrch 18, 1944, the Germans took direct power over Hungary with the help of the Hungarian Fascists who with great zeal gave “permission” to Adolph Eichman and his hangmen to organize the deportation of the Jews from the Carpathian Mountains and other areas. They were deported into ghettos first, then a few weeks later to the Valley of Weeping, to the largest slaughter house in Auschwitz.

In spite of the frightening news which did reach the Jews of Bilke, the remnant of Bilker Jews and their families tried to observe the last holiday of Passover according to tradition. On the seventh day of Pesach 1944, the Hungarian authorities informed the Jews of Bilke that on the day after Passover, they must gather their elders, women and children in the yard of the great synagogue. They were told to bring their allotted baggage, fifty kilograms for each person; all other property they were to leave behind, all that they had gained over the generations.

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The bad news spread quickly among the Jews; preparations were made to abandon Bilke. The Jews packed clothing, bedding, durable foods such as sugar, coffee, hard-boiled eggs, wine for Kiddush; leftover “Matzo” from Passover was broken into small pieces. All of the above was packed into backpacks, valises and bags, The Hungarian police searched from house to house to make sure that all Jews had left before they sealed them.

The day after Passover, on April 15, 1944, the Jews of Bilke assembled with their baggage and families in the courtyard of their revered great synagogue. The police stood there and called out the names of Jews from their lists, family after family. Then, with their guns outstretched, the police marched the Jews to the train station. Since most of the males aged eighteen to fifty were already in labor camps, this march was difficult and took a long time. Each carried his or her own packages, and one tried to help another in this march. The Gentiles stood at the sides of the road leading to the train station and showed their great satisfaction with the expulsion of the Jews. One could see the great sorrow and pain in the eyes of the marching Jews, their grave worry about the destination awaiting them on their way into the unknown.

After a march of about two hours, they reached the train station where boxcars awaited them. They were loaded, some eighty to a hundred souls to a boxcar, along with their belongings. The Hungarian police and their local helpers, the Ruthenians, pushed the Jews into the boxcars and urged them to hurry because they wanted to get rid of this human cargo as fast as possible.

The deportation of Jews from the Carpathian Mountains served as an experiment for handling the rest of Hungarian Jewry. There they established the first ghettos and from there the first transports were sent to Auschwitz. In order to prevent panic and alarm throughout the rest of Hungary, a rumor was spread among the Jews that they were being repatriated to safe zones due to the closeness of the Russian front (the Russians were just across the border).

[Page 732]

Three transports of trains carried Bilker Jews to the Berehovo ghetto, about forty miles away. The Hungarians used this ghetto to concentrate Jews from the entire vicinity. Some fifteen thousand Jews were pressed into a very small area, into a brick factory. The area was sealed off with barbed wire and Hungarian guards. This factory, which had been used to store bricks, consisted of nothing more than a roof with poles at the corners and a few supporting columns. It had no walls, no doors, no windows; it was exposed to the elements, to the cold, wind and rain. Into such a structure the Jews of Bilke were placed. Each shed held many families; each family was designated a small area according to the number of its members. People were lined up on both sides of the barracks.

The first thing each family did was to roam the ghetto and bring bricks to make a kind of wall around the sides of the shed to protect themselves from the elements. Inside, they divided their area from their neighbors by hanging blankets over ropes to provide as much privacy as possible. They spread their bedding on the floor before going to sleep. The members of each family slept close together because the room allotted to each was very limited.

In the ghetto, the Bilker Jews made efforts to organize themselves and to conduct their lives in this new situation. Services were held three times a day inside their structure at the area of the Rabbi, Naftali Zvi Weiss and the Shochet, Reb Yehoshua Doft. Each family had to improvise its own meals. They tried to preserve as much as possible of the food products they brought with them, not knowing how long this would last.

Outside the structures, in the field, the men put together a few stones and bricks and made a makeshift cooking place. They gathered branches and pieces of wood to make a fire for cooking. Each woman tried to improvise and show her expertise in cooking. Once a day, the ghetto management provided soup, but many did not eat it since there was a questions whether it was kosher. Only the small portions of bread which was provided was eaten. My mother, Pearl Doft, used to make all kinds

[Page 733]

of goodies from the matza pieces we brought with us from home which lasted for a few weeks.

The men were ordered to shave their beards and peiot. Only Rabbi Naftali Zvi Weiss and Reb Yehoshua Doft did not shave their beards. They wrapped their beards with kerchiefs in order to hide them from the enemy.

A handful of Jews from Bilke who lived in one of the suburbs near the forest made an attempt to hide in a cave. After a few weeks they surrendered to the police and they were shipped into the ghetto. Also, a handful of elderly and critically ill, as well as one woman who was about to give birth any moment, remained for a short while in Bilke. Even these were finally brought into the ghetto.

The last one to be shipped to Ghetto Berehovo was the pharmacist, who was not known to be Jewish since he never had social or religious contact with the Jewish community. It seems that the Hungarians discovered his real identity, that he was also a Jew.

Also Miriam, the daughter of Isaac Hersh, the milkman who years ago had married a non-Jew, was shipped to the ghetto with her three boys. As she entered the ghetto, the Jews of Bilke did not believe their eyes when they saw them escorted by the Hungarian police. Being married to a Gentile did not help her. She told the Bilker Jews that her husband did not try to save them. It was said that her husband was actually very pleased to get rid of her since he had enough of the Jews.

One Jewish woman from Bilke lost her mind. She was running around in the ghetto yelling, “Save yourselves! Escape! Leave this place.” Some people thought that maybe she was not mad after all. Perhaps she saw what was going to happen. A number of very sick people were taken from the ghetto to the town's hospital. Among them was my sister Leah's small boy Eliezer. Just a day before the deportation from Berehovo to Auschwitz, all the sick were returned to the ghetto.

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Hygienic conditions in the ghetto were a big problem with thousands of people concentrated in a crowded area without shower facilities and without sewers. However, since the Jews always kept clean as part of their religious and culture, they made extraordinary efforts to keep clean and healthy. In order for someone to take a shower or a bath, one had to heat water on the makeshift stove outside in the field. From there, water was carried into the barracks in pails, inside the specific area where the family was placed, and the family members helped with this bath.

The ghetto management used certain people for various chores and work. They even sent some groups into the town of Beregszasz to work for the municipality. This activity opened the way for smuggling food and other articles such as money, silver and gold.

One morning, it was announced that all monies, jewelry, gold, etc. must be given to the authorities. The Hungarians designated Jews from the ghetto who made their rounds in the barracks and they demanded all valuables. They placed buckets in front of the barracks where one had to place his valuables such as money, watches, marriage rings, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, coins, gold and silver. It was announced that whoever disobeyed would be shot. The police threatened that they would search.

Before we left Bilke, my family decided to hide our valuables by sewing them into our garments. When the decree was made to give the Hungarians everything, my father – may G_d take revenge for his death – instructed all of us to take out the valuables and give them to the authorities. I, as a young boy, could not stand this injustice and yielding to the Gentiles, rebelled against my father – may he rest in peace. I ran away from the barracks and hid in the fields until the trouble passed. Actually, I did the right thing; with this money we were able to buy food on the black market that sustained us another few weeks.

All the valuables that the Hungarians confiscated from the Jews in

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the ghetto were kept until this day in the basement treasury of the Hungarian National Bank.

Some say that with the valuables of which the Hungarians robbed the Jews, they paid off war reparations that were levied against them by the Allies and that a good portion of the valuables serve now as the Hungarian gold reserve.

One day, Yitzchak Reisman arrived for a visit in the ghetto. He was stationed with his labor unit in Budapest. The Hungarian Army allowed him to visit his family in the ghetto. He claimed that his mother, Rachel, was very sick. Our townspeople did not know what to do with him. They welcomed him with great love and affection. He was looked upon as if he came from a different world. He was asked all kinds of questions, as if he had the answers. Many wanted to know if he had seen any of their loved ones. Each bit of good news and good rumor brought hope and life for the poor people in the ghetto.

The Jews of Bilke and the rest of the Jews of Ghetto Berehovo did not read the writing on the wall. They swung from fear of death to the hope of life; they were in the midst of a desperate struggle under impossible conditions, on a personal and community level. They coped by trying to put out of their minds the worst that might happen. Under the circumstances, the Jewish individual was alone, abandoned and exposed to the cruel enemy. This situation was one of the main reasons and causes that assisted the murderers of the Jew, the Hungarian, the Germans and their collaborators in their work of the destruction of the Jews. The Jews did everything in order to delay their end, except uprising and rebellion.

The Jews of Bilke, as the rest of European Jewry, did not believe the tragic news – just like Job, which came from various sources. Whoever related the horrors was shouted down, that he was spreading fear and despair, that he sees only darkness, because it was irrational, because what

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human being would take thousands of innocent women, children and men and kill them, make them disappear from this world? Because how could such a terrible thing happen in the twentieth century? However, in spite of all the rumors and all the terrible things they saw, there was no crying and no panic.

At the beginning of the Hebrew month of Sivan 5704 (1944), in the midst of the three days of the eve of the holiday of Shavuot, a rumor was spread in the ghetto that the Jews of Bilke, and then the rest of the ghetto Jews would be moved to a more secure place because the Soviet Army was advancing and was very near the area. Some Jews believed this story and thought that redemption was very near. However, there were others who knew that the fate of the Jews had been tragically decided. The next day, the Hungarians began to load the Bilker Jews into boxcars for their trip to the unknown – on their way to Auschwitz.

On May 15, 1944, a freight train consisting of forty-five boxcars, in them crowded some three thousand Jewish souls, left the brick factory compound in Berehovo. The entire Holy Community of the Bilker Jews who were still alive were in this transport. In each boxcar, the Hungarians loaded eighty to a hundred souls with their few things, to which they still clung. Hungarian police and military guarded the “important” train and accompanied it to the railroad station in Koshice, Slovakia where it was transferred to the S.S. henchmen, the Nazi units who were known for their cruelty. The train stopped at a number of stations and after a few days it s topped at the huge railroad station in Krakow, Poland.

In the boxcar where I and my family were located, there were a few other families from Bilke. Many of them were thinking aloud, expressing their fears of what one could expect outside the boxcars. My father – may G_d revenge his death, confessed before our family and before our townspeople by saying the following, “I had eleven children; one of them was smart or wise, who foresaw what will happen”. He referred to our brother, Shemuel Tzvi, may he be for a blessing, who was a scout pioneer

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of Jewish youth in Bilke. He made aliyah to Israel in 1937; in retrospect, they were proud of him.

From Krakow, the train continued to Auschwitz, the largest and most sophisticated slaughterhouse of the Germans for all Europe. In Auschwitz, the doors of the boxcars suddenly opened, with screams, beatings, pushing and shoving by the S.S., who spoke a strange language that most of us could not understand, all of us were forced to disembark.

Tired, broken up, weak and frightened, we arrived at a ramp where the demon Mengele stood and conducted the selection. He forcefully separated the dear and loved ones. The women, children, and elderly, - the martyrs – he sent directly into the gas chambers, into the kingdom of death. Those who appeared to Mengele as young and able-bodied to work were directed to the other side, into the camp. The fate of the Jews of Bilke was decided by the movement or signal of the oppressor Mengele's hand.

When I stood before him, I saw that he hesitated for a moment where to send me. Suddenly, he gave a signal for me to go to the right, together with my dear brother, Joseph – may G_d revenge his death. This was the last time I saw my father, mother, my sister Leah and her five small children, and my sister Sarah, with her small daughter, and the other Jews of Bilke with whom I lived all my life. At that time, I did not know that my three other sisters went to forced labor.

In the great confusion as we disembarked from the boxcars, we saw all kinds of people around us – military men in grey S.S. uniforms, guards in black uniforms, these were the units of various European nationalities who volunteered to take part in the annihilation effort against European Jewry, their soul enemies. Also, Jewish prisoners from Auschwitz and non-Jews in a peculiar uniform, like a shirt of many colors, were also there. Their job was to gather together the valises and all the items the Jews abandoned in the boxcars and on the ramps by the order of the S.S. and load them on wagons and trucks for assortment.

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Those of us who were chosen for forced labor, to slavery, were directed into a huge barrack for disinfection. First, they shaved the hair off our entire body, and then we were forced to immerse ourselves in some kind of disinfectant that had a horrible odor. They provided us with striped prisoners' clothes, with wooden shoes, something like wooden slippers.

We, some few hundred people, were then pushed into a barrack that had (inside on both sides) compartments built of wood. These shelves were a few stories high; these were the so-called beds on which eight people had to lie.

Each compartment was so narrow that if one wanted to turn, the whole group had to get up; otherwise it was impossible to turn. This problem, of course, caused much friction. These beds gave the prisoners a bit of rest but not any relaxation. The people, what was left of them from during the day, were actually only stored for the night in these compartments.

In the barrack where my brother Joseph – may G_d revenge his death – and I were placed, there were only a handful of Jews from Bilke. In the great confusion, those of the Bilke Jews were directed to go to slave labor, they were dispersed in various barracks.

A typical routine of the day was as follows. We were awakened at 5:00 a.m. with screams and whistles and beatings. We had to run to the so called latrines, washrooms. Each morning this huge crowd ran at once into the washrooms and it was impossible for anyone to get near a faucet or water.

A half-hour later, we had the morning apel, the lineup. Each barrack lined up five people across in front of the barrack in long lines. We were told that the tall people should stand in the back row and the short people in front of them. This lineup made it easier for the Germans to see each face. These lineups were mostly a time of torture for us. Not only did we have to stand in the rain, cold, snow and wind, but it served for all kinds of cruel punishments.

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The block eltser, the barracks commander (a non-Jew and also a prisoner) and the kapos (guards, also non-Jews and Jewish prisoners who turned against their own) stood in front of these units. They counted and recounted the prisoners to be sure that all were present. When the S.S. entourage arrived with the camp commander, the lager eltser, the prisoner commander, jumped to attention and roared the command, “Attention!” All the units jumped to attention. Nobody dared to move because we knew what would happen to us if we did. The prisoner camp commander reported to the S.S. officer a detailed report of how many prisoners were present, how many were in the infirmaries, how many at work, and at the end, how many died during the night. The S.S. officer walked around the rows and checked and counted.

After the roll call, “breakfast” was served which consisted of one small bowl of black coffee for every five people. There were always frictions and fights. The one who drank first was always asked not to drink too much so that something would be left for the others. The last of the five was sometimes left with nothing because his other four inmates finished it all.

Then all the units marched to their designated jobs. Each prisoner had to work; whoever was ill, his fate was sealed, and he was selected to die. At noon, we stopped working for about half an hour. They brought the food that consisted of soup to the place where we worked. Each person lined up in front of a huge kettle and was given a small bowl of soup. This soup mostly consisted of some colored water. If you were lucky, you would find in your soup a piece of carrot or cauliflower that was like a treasure.

After this break, we returned to our slavery. At night, we returned to the camp. The guards were German, Ukrainian, Latvian, Croat, Muslims from Yugoslavia and other nationalities who volunteered for this. They marched alongside us with their guns drawn. If anyone took just one step out of line, he was shot on the spot.

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At the camp entrance we had the evening roll call, the same as in the morning; we were counted and the S.S. officer came, checked it out and a report was given to him of the status of the unit.

Then we were released into the barracks where we received a slice of bread, jam, margarine and coffee. After a day's or night's work (because we worked in twelve hour shifts, one week days, one week nights) of slave labor, and after great stress and tension, we fell on our triple-deckers where we were crammed in. At 10:00 p.m. the sirens were sounded to signal for everyone to be in his barrack. Twenty minutes later, the lights went out. Anyone who stepped out after curfew was machine-gunned by the tower guards without any warning.

My brothe Joseph – may G_d revenge his death – and I were transported with a handful of Bilker Jews (among them were Mendy Mechlowitz and Yantzu Ekstein) from Auschwitz to the concentration camp Plashov near Krakow.

There we worked at all kinds of slave labor, mostly loading and unloading war supplies at the Krakow railroad station.

After a few months, I was suddenly taken from Plashov and shipped to various camps. Thus, did I lost contact with my brother Joseph – may he be a blessing to all of us – and with him the other Bilker Jews. Alone, without family or landsleit, I was transported from one harsh concentration camp to another, seven altogether, until I reached Buchenwald. There I was placed in the children's barrack, where I was liberated by the glorious U.S. Army in a state of utter despair, - weak, sick and barely alive.

I describe here only a trifle about the holy martyrs of Bilke. The dead and beloved souls who were cut down during their young and early years of their lives. Until this day I cannot divert my attention and mind from my dear family, all the holy Jewish martyrs of our town, Bilke, and all the Jewish martyrs who in their lives and deaths did not part.

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As a survivor of the Holocaust, a great deal of anger, rage and desire for revenge still fills my soul. To no avail were the survivors waiting, that the free and so-called enlightened world will punish the murderers and war criminals. The non-Jewish world quickly forgot about the greatest Jewish tragedy. But this is not enough since many today are denying that there was a Holocaust and that 6,000,000 Jews were murdered.

One may ask the question, is there at all an appropriate punishment for the crimes perpetrated against the Jews by the Germans, the Hungarians and all the other collaborators, wherever they are? Even the devil has not yet invented a proper punishment for the horror and crimes the German and Hungarian beasts perpetrated against the Jewish people.

Peace and tranquility cannot exist in the world as long as the Gentile world will not confess publicly to the sins and crimes they have committed against the Jews. Otherwise, it appears as if the victims died twice – once when they were murdered and again when the criminals deny their deaths altogether. The nations of the world are to ask forgiveness of the Jewish people in general and in particular of the State of Israel, the embodiment of the Jewish people. Only then may the blood of our brethren cease to cry out to Heave: Why? Why?

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