Gorlice, Poland

Gorlice; the Building and Destruction
of the Community
(Gorlice, Poland)
49°40' / 21°10'

Translation of
Sefer Gorlice; ha-kehila be-vinyana u-ve-hurbana

Editors: M. Y. Bar-On, Israel, Association of Former Residents of Gorlice and Vicinity in Israel

Published in Israel, 1962

Acknowledgments
Project Coordinator
Dorron Lemesh

Sidney Gelb (emeritus)

This is a translation from: Sefer Gorlice; ha-kehila be-vinyana u-ve-hurbana
(Gorlice book; the Building and Destruction of the community),
Editors: M. Y. Bar-On, Israel, Association of Former Residents of Gorlice and Vicinity in Israel, 1962 (H,Y, 338 pages)

Note: The original book can be seen online at the NY Public Library site: Gorlice

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Translated by Sara Mages

Title Page		3
Behold - This Memorial…		6

Chapter 1 - A memorial Generations of Jewish Gorlice
Chapters of history	Chaim Chen	9
Sources to the history of Gorlice's Jews		19

Chapter 2 - Authorities, Institutions, Assests
The community and its leaders	Mordechai Zitronenbaum	23
Jews in the development of the city's economy	Yechezkel Wild	26
The Jewish Bank [Y]	Yosef Dorman	33
The “Jewish Labor Association“ in Gorlice [Y]	Pinchas Arenberg	36

Chapter 3 - Spritual Gorlice
A city of faith and tradition	Avraham Yisrael Arenberg	43
Houses of prayer and “minyanim”	Yosef Dorman	45
The way of Torah in the public and the individual	Avraham Yisrael Arenberg	47
“Chevrat Tehillim” and “Chevrat Ner Tamid”	Yechezkel Wild	48
When we were schoolchildren	Chaim Chen	50
From the Yeshiva to the soul of the nation	Avraham Kornfeld	53
From strength to strength in the way of the Torah	Yoel Rappaport	54
The “Hebrew Heder” in the city in the 1930s	Yisrael Isar	56
Jewish and general education in our city	Chaim Chen	58
The Government High-School in our city	Pepka Bergman	62
Charitable organizations in the city	Avraham Yisrael Arenberg	65
Social–Medical Help [Y]	Yosef Durman	67

Chapter 4 - Memories and Way of Life
Our city through the mirror of our childhood	Yankel Landa	71
Beloved Zawodzie	Yoel Rappaport	75
Memories from my youth	Shimon Bergman	76
Our Jews Pray [Y]	Yosef Durman	77
The cantors that I remember	Avraham Yisrael Arenberg	80
By sight and hearsay	Luba Biran neé Finsterblau	80
Sights and events during the First World War	Chaim Chen	82
A small scale culture war in our city	Dr. Yosef Reiner	86
“Beit Hayeled” [orphanage] in our city	Pepka Bergman	87
We came from afar to Gorlice	Mayer Chabyon	89
we remembered Zion in Gorlice	Rivka Rapelovitz-Kopito	91
Paulus… a deputy for transgression	Yankel Landa	92
Village Jews in the vicinity of Gorlice [Y]	Yoysef Durman	93
Segments of memories	Mordechai Weinfeld	94
Laborers and craftsmen	Chaim Chen- Yehezkel Wild	96
A bereaved family	Dr. A. Bergman	102
Meetings	Moshe Ayshon	103
Jews in the oil industry in the Gorlice area	Shimon Gref	107

Chapter 5 - Political Parties and Organizations
The struggles of the Zionist movement in our city	Chaim Chen	113
Public figures in the Zionist movement in our city	Dr. Yakov Blech	120
“Agudat Yisrael” and its institutions	Avraham Yisrael Arenberg	122
The Religious Working Youth – “Po'alei Agudes Yisro'el” [Y]	Avrom Kornfeld	124
“Mizrachi” and “Tzeirei Mizrachi” in our city	Yehezkel Wild	126
The assosiation of “Mizrachi” daughters - “Bruriah”	Miriam Krisher	131
The Zionist federation and its daughters	Dov Aronreich	132
The view of the youth of our town	Esther Biron-Brendsdofer	136
Zionist Youth	Pepka Bergman	140
Zionist Youth - “Akivah”	Hadasa Bester-Shtorch	143
The chapter of “Hashomer Hatzair” in Gorlice and its activities	Yosef Tena (Tekech)	144
The National women's library in Gorlice	Pepka Bergman	146
I was a youth in the “Beitar” movement	Yehudah Ben David	147
Brothers to one family	Sarah Sholdenfry	149

Chapter 6 - People and Figures
Our Rabbi R' Alisha Halberstam	Avraham Yisrael Arenberg	153
HaGaon, R' Shmuel Firer, the “Genius from Sękowa”	HaRav Ben-Zion Firer	154
The rabbis from the Halberstam-Tietelbaum family	Chaim Chen	156
HaRav Mesholem Kleigar	Ben Zion Rov	159
R' Eliezer (Leizerel) Landau	Ben Zion Rov	160
R' Shlomo Yitzchak son of R' Yakov Freidman	Ben Zion Rov	161
R' Yehusha Hesel Frenkel	Yosef Dorman	161
R' Aharon Englard and his home in Gorlice	Y. Rappaport-Y. Blumnfeld	161
R' Eliezer Bodnar	Yankel Landa	164
R' Yecheal Hollander	H. Ben-Chana	164
R' Yosef Einhorn	Ben Zion Omen	164
Tzvi Heuberger	Yehezkel Wild	165
Sabbath and holidays Jews	Chaim Gertner	166
The Rabi from Labova	Avraham Kornfeld	168
The family of R' Moshe'le Binder	Dov Binder	168
Baruch Tzvi Shtorch	Yoel Rappaport	169
Rabbi Moyshe Miller [Y]	Yosef Dorman	170
Talented youths [Y]	Abraham Kornfeld	173
The Family of R' Yosef Shalom Kahane	Yechezkel Mehar	174
The family tree of one family	Yosef Dorman	175
The Blech family	Yechezkel wild	176
The Shebreshiner family	Chaim Chen	177
The Lichtenberg family	Yosef Lichtenberg	179
Max (Nohem, Menachem–Mendel) Gabel [Y]		179
Tova (Gitel) Kister née Schwimer	H.H.	180
Henya Wild née Etzyoni (Klepholtz)	Ben Zion Rov	180
Chief of a congragation	Pinchas Wagshal	181
The wandering adventurer writer Asher Yeshayahu Halevi		183
The teacher writer and thinker Moshe Shpitz (Shepphy)		184
Natan Ginsburg says “Nishmat Kol Chai”	Shlomo Yahalomi (Diament)	187
The geneology of a Bobowa family	Refael Plenter	189
The music workd of Bobowa	David Yosifun	190
Bobowa's Gentiles greeted the Rabbi	M. Ben Shlomo	191
From Bobowa's to Bat-Yam	Dr. Menachm HaCohen Metzner	193

Chatper 7 - Immigrants, Builders, Warriors
The first immigrants	Chaim Chen	197
From the “grandchildren” home to a cooprative settelemnt	Elimelech Kerem ( Kramer)	198
We were like dreamers	Esther Biran Schwersner	201
Ben-Zion Omanski (Oman) - one of the Hebrew teachers	Pepka Bergman	205
I immigrated to Israel in an illigal immigrant shipe	Yehudah Ben David	206
From Gorlice to the shore of Caesarea in Aliyah Bet	Yechezkel Rinhold	208
Illigal immigrants from Gorlice - victims of “Patria”	Yechezkel wild	209
Around the world - to Israel thrugh the African jungle		210
Simcha (Micha) Erenriech z”l	Dov Erenriech	211
The account of a Jewish Brigade soldier in Gorlice after the destruction		211
The participation of Mendel Feldmesser in the bombing of the Radar Station for the detection of Illegal ships	Yoram Taharlev	212
Natan Hochberger		215
On his guard	Etka Adler (Klozner)	216
A bundle of letters from the underground	Yehudah Ben David (Wagner)	218

Chapter 8 - Destruction and Holocaust
This is how we were taken captive before the enemy	Yoel Rappoport	227
The years in which we saw evil	Pepka Bergman-Kojnik	228
The first victims among the Jews of Gorlice	Sala Schwartz Schop	237
This is how we lived in Gorlice Ghetto	Luba Biram neé Finsterblau	239
I returned alone	Rivka Refaelowitz (Kopito)	240
Testimony of Akivah Ben-Meir and Rachel Matles		241
Testimony of Yechezkel Kahane		243
Testimony of R' Bezalel Moshe Balzam		244
Testimony of Aharon Rubin		244
Testimony of Moshe so of Yehoshua Tzvi Bergman		245
Testimony of Yehoshua Mendel Trenzer		246
The story of Monek Shtark		247
Jewish partisans enter Gorlice Ghetto		247
Father and his son stood the test - and didn't reveal		247
Testimony of Betzalel Papial [Y]		249
Testimony of Meir Shvimer [Y]		249
Testimony of David Buksboym [Y]		251
Testimony of Moshe Spanner [Y]		251
Woe unto the eyes that witnessed this [Y]	Rivka Seltenreich–Halbershtam	252
The Sufferings of Job [Y]	Yeshayahu Binder	253
In Russian Exile [Y]	Baruch Moyshe Parnes	258

Chapter 9 - The Community of Gorlice mourns its martyrs
Necrology of Holocaust Maryrs		261
Yahrzeit candles shine and remind		273
A monument to those we lost in recent years		312

Chapter 10 - Gorlitzers in Israel and the Diaspora
The activities of our organization since its inception	Yechezkel Shraga	320
The Gorlice “Relief” in America (short overview)	Freida Angel–Nuch, Yos Tkacz (Tene)	326
The Gorlitzer “relief” in America [Y]		327
HaRav Elimelech E. Erenberg	Avraham Har-Marom	327
Postscript	The editorial board	328
Key to names		329
Table of Contents		337

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Emerita Yizkor Book Project Manager, Joyce Field z”l
Contact person for this translation Dorron Lemesh
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