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[Pages 115-116]

It is next to Oberwischau. The two settlements were united prior to the First World War. In 1930, there were 530 Jews in Mitelwischau, comprising 25.3% of the population, which was Romanian. (In 1830, there were 88 Jews out of 626 residents.)

Not one Jew was listed in Mitelwischau in the censuses of 1722, 1734, and 1745. It was only in 1768 that Jews were listed in all three of the localities – Unterwischau, Oberwischau, and Mitelwischau. Leib Lazarovitch, married and without children, was listed in Mitelwischau. He was listed as a peddler, and paid 30 florin of lease fees, a significant sum, annually. Apparently, he was a well–off peddler, conducting business with valuable merchandise, for all others registered as peddlers did not pay such a high sum. It is possible that he was not even a peddler at all, but was just registered as such. Apparently, he was a lessee of estates and a grain merchants, as were the majority of the well–off Jews of Maramures of that period. We have no information about whether Leib Lazarovitch remained in the locality, or whether I was just a waystation on his way to the interior of the country.

One of the veteran residents of Mitelwischau was Reb Yaakov Polak, who arrived from Kolomyja, Galicia in the year 5539 (1779). His gravestone remains in the old cemetery to this day. Many Jews of the town were his descendants, even though the family name changed as the generations went on. He earned his livelihood from agriculture, and ran a small store and tavern. He was a Hassid of Kosow and would cross the Carpathian Mountains by horse to visit the Tzadkim of Kosow between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

The following heads of families were registered in Mitelwischau in the census of 1830: (number of family members in parentheses)

Wolf Gnot (6), Zelig Polak (5), Mozes Marmor (3), Mozes Stern (4), Marco Marmor (4), Meir Daskel (6), Shimshi Gnot (7), the widow of David Weider (6), Yaakov Sobo (4), Moshe Pasternak (6), David Gnot (7), Yankel Polak (6), Shmuel Lazar (7), Lazer Gnot (7), Berl Eisenberg (7), Leib Polak (5), Marco Shultzrer (6), Moshe Polak (5), Avraham Marmor (4).

The community of Mitelwischau maintained its separate identity despite the municipal unification with Oberwischau. Nevertheless, the community belonged to the district of Oberwischau, along with 12 other villages and settlements.

Between the years 5620 – 5670 (1860–1910) the community notables included Reb Nisan Moshe Cohen, Reb Mordechai Segal Marmor, Reb Shmuel Segal Marmor, Reb Mordechai Gnot, Reb David Aryeh Gnot, Reb Yosef Gnot, Reb Yitzchak Tzvi Stern, Reb Shlomo Polak (apparently a descendant of the aforementioned Reb Yaakov Polak), Reb Moshe Yisrael Feldman, Reb Avraham Tzvi Segal Marmor, Reb Mordechai Stein, Reb Moshe Miller, Reb Binyamin Marmor, Reb Chaim Yehuda Aryeh Gertner, Reb Eliezer Gertner, Reb Dov Bercha Gnot, Reb Avraham Nisan Neiman, Reb Avraham David the shochet Fuchs.

Between the two world wars, the communal notables included Reb Tzvi Kahana, Reb Tzvi Segal Marmor who served as head of the community for almost the entire period, Reb Baruch Gnot, Reb Shlomo Dov Gnot, Yezir Kasner, Reb Nachman Marmor, Reb Raziel Stern, Reb Yosef Stern, Reb Tovia Appel, Reb Meir Gnot, Reb Eliezer Gnot, Reb Asher Zelig Polak, Reb Yitzchak Polak, Reb Yisrael Berkovitz, Reb Shlomo Weg, Reb Yechiel Mechel Fuchs the son of the aforementioned shochet, Reb Menachem Marmor, Reb Mordechai Feldman, Reb Yisrael Schechter, Reb Gedalia Schechter, Reb Leib Ber Steinmetz, Reb Shmuel Malek the son of Reb Mendel Malek. Mendel Malek's house was next to the synagogue, and he opened and closed the synagogue. He was one of the first ten to arrive for the recitation of Psalms. Other notables were Reb Dov Gnot, and Reb Asher Zelig Gnot who served as the head of the community for many years. During his time and through his generosity, butcher shops were opened next to the synagogue solely for kosher meat. Every butcher received a stall for free, without any fee. Reb Ezra Gnot taught Chok LeYisrael every morning. Rabbi Moshe Kliger was a shochet, a rabbinical judge, and the cantor for the High Holidays and the festivals. Reb Shaul Kliger was the final shochet. He perished in Ukraine in the year 5703 (1943).

[Page 116]

One of the natives of this town, Reb Shmuel Eliezer Feldman the son of the aforementioned Reb Moshe Yisrael Feldman. He settled in the city of Arad, Transylvania, where he played an important role in the life of the Orthodox community and was the delegate of the Hassidic community to the communal council. He was intelligent and a scholar. He did a great deal for the development of the Orthodox community and Torah life in the city.

{Photo page 116: Reb Moshe Kliger the shochet.}

The community maintained a synagogue built of stone which had a unique, beautiful Holy Ark, a slaughterhouse, and a large mikva (ritual bath) with a dwelling for the attendant as well as a sauna.

Oberwischau no longer had an old cemetery at that time. Therefore, the dead of Oberwischau were buried along with the dead of Mitelwischau ^[1].

The fate of the Jews of Mitelwischau during the Holocaust was the same as the fate of their brethren in Oberwischau.

Some of the books listed in the article on Oberwischau also apply to the article on Mitelwischau.
“Subscriptions” in the following books:
Kisey Rachamim, Ungvar 1868; Imrei Shoham Kolomyja 5640 (1880); Toldot Avraham, Przemysl 5642 (1882); Em Lebina, Oberwischau 5686.
Magyar–Zsido Okleveltar, vol. XVI, Budapest 1976, p. 100.

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