Association of Former Residents of Rokitno and its Vicinity in Israel {cont.}
After the grove was planted we began a second commemorative project – to commemorate the partisans and soldiers from the Rokitno area who served in various armies and who fell in World War II.
At one time, Yad Vashem management approached our executive committee asking for details about our partisans who fell in battle against the Nazis. They planned a general memorial book published by Yad Vashem and dedicated to all the fallen partisans.
For that purpose we issued a special newsletter on 27 Tammuz (7/22/1960) to all partisans from our town who were residing in Israel. We invited them to a meeting in the Yad Vashem offices in Tel Aviv with the editorial committee of the memorial book. Many responded and gave details. Their stories appeared in the “Book of Partisans”.
As was previously explained, the project of commemorating the martyrs of our town and its surroundings was our prime concern since the association was founded. The above-mentioned participation served as a modest prelude to the bigger commemorative project – publishing the Rokitno and Surroundings Book.
We knew the organization served a purpose – to stoke the dying embers and to not allow the flame of our martyrs to go out.
Presiding Committee At The Memorial Assembly In Haifa
Commemorating The Fifteenth Anniversary Of The Destruction Of Rokitno And Area
From right: 1. Aharon Lifshitz 2. Yeshayahu Meiri (Meirson) 3. Dina Vardy (Roitblat) 4. Ziporah Blizhovsky 5. Yitzhak Litvak
From left: 1. Yaakov Rotman 2. Haim Shteinman 3. Issachar Trossman
Audience At The Memorial Assembly In Haifa Commemorating
The Fifteenth Anniversary Of The Destruction Of Rokitno And Area
Part Of The Audience At The Memorial Assembly In Haifa
Commemorating The Fifteenth Anniversary Of The Destruction Of Rokitno And Area
For that reason, our dearly beloved were always in front of our eyes. We continuously discussed their commemoration at every meeting and assembly. There was no doubt that the only method of commemoration of our dearly beloved was a literary one, a memorial book. This book would serve to relive the way of life of our parents, to keep the cultural heritage of the Jews of Rokitno and surroundings. We were convinced that as long as we did not fulfill our debt to the martyrs there was no purpose to our activities.
Our Children Participating In The Memorial Assembly In Haifa
Commemorating The Fifteenth Anniversary Of The Destruction Of Rokitno And Area
On right: Ronit Shabad On left: Edna Barman
To our great sorrow, not many of us remained alive. We were afraid that we could not fulfill this great mission of publishing a memorial book on our own. A great deal of money would be needed. Thus, we agreed to the request by the Sarny Association to publish a joint volume, which would contain Sarny, Rokitno, Bereznitz and Dombrovitz. The executive committee elected the late Baruch Levin, Yitzhak Litvak, and Haim Shteinman to speak to representatives of the Sarny Association to obtain details.
Later, a joint meeting of the representatives of these associations was held where the form and contents of the book were discussed. It was clear to us that we could not achieve real results because we were afraid, and rightly so, that Rokitno would be swallowed in a common book. We saw that we could only rely on ourselves. This decision entailed new and more strenuous activities. It was most important to dedicate all our energies to publishing the Rokitno and surroundings book.
In order to collect the necessary funds for publishing the book, the following members worked very hard: Itzhak Golod, Haya Volkon (Pinchuk), Issachar Trossman, Binyamin Modrik, Israel Pinchuk and others. They acted with dedication, understanding and reverence.
However, collecting the literary material was not as easy. We could not do it on our own. For many years we approached our members, in writing and at the annual memorial assemblies, asking them to provide us with material for the book.
Unfortunately, all this work was not successful. The little that did arrive was so thin that we could not think of publishing a book. Thus, it was decided to approach a professional, someone who was experienced in publishing memorial books and to assign him this sacred task.
Members Of The Editorial Board With The Editor
Standing right to left: 1. Shmaryahu Kravi (Korobochka) 2. Aharon Heruti (Freierman) 3. Aryeh (Liova) Geipman 4. Yosef Segal
Seated right to left: 1. Haim Shteinman 2. Bat Sheva Fishman (Shohet) 3. Editor Eliezer Leon 4. Aharon Lifshitz
At the executive committee meeting of 7/31/1963 it was decided to contact the editor Mr. Eliezer Leoni (born in Kovel) for the task of publishing the book. At the beginning of 1964 we signed a contract with the editor and we began our work. We issued a newsletter announcing the appointment of the editor and we asked the members to quickly produce material for the book. The editorial board also decided that the editor should interview some of our former residents and write down their stories.
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